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diff --git a/40617-0.txt b/40617-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..da132cf --- /dev/null +++ b/40617-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21915 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40617 *** + + Transcriber's Notes: + +Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently corrected. A list +of other changes made can be found at the end of the book. Footnotes +were sequentially numbered and placed at the end of each chapter. The +page headers of the book on the odd numbered pages have been marked as +[Header]. For this text version, diacritical marks that cannot be +represented in plain text are shown in the following manner: + + Ligature [oe] is encoded as oe. + p. 87: [O] o with macron above (dOucement). + [E] e with macron above (doucemEnt). + p. 283: [^] upside down V. + + Mark up: _italics_ + =bold= + + + + +PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER + + +FRENCH SERIES No. III + + +THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IN ENGLAND + + + + + Published by the University of Manchester at THE UNIVERSITY PRESS (H. + M. McKECHNIE, Secretary) 12 LIME GROVE, OXFORD ROAD, MANCHESTER + + LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. + + LONDON: 39 Paternoster Row + + NEW YORK: 443-449 Fourth Avenue and Thirtieth Street + + CHICAGO: Prairie Avenue and Thirty-fifth Street + + BOMBAY: 8 Hornby Road + + CALCUTTA: 6 Old Court House Street + + MADRAS: 167 Mount Road + + + + + THE TEACHING AND CULTIVATION OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IN ENGLAND DURING + TUDOR AND STUART TIMES + + WITH AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER ON THE PRECEDING PERIOD + + BY + + KATHLEEN LAMBLEY, M.A. + + _Lecturer in French in the University of Durham_ + + _Sometime Assistant Lecturer in French in the University of Manchester_ + + + MANCHESTER + AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS + 12 LIME GROVE, OXFORD ROAD + LONGMANS, GREEN & CO. + LONDON, NEW YORK, BOMBAY, ETC. + 1920 + + + + + PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER No. CXXIX + + +_All rights reserved._ + + + + +PREFACE + + +The present work, begun during the author's tenure of a Faulkner +Fellowship in the University of Manchester, and completed in subsequent +years, is an endeavour to trace the history of the teaching and use of +French in England during a given epoch, ending with the Revocation of +the Edict of Nantes and the Revolution of 1689, which events mark the +beginning of a new period in the study of the French language in this +country. No attempt has been made to treat the wider topic of French +influence in England in its literary and social aspects (this has +already been done by competent hands), though this side of the question +is naturally touched upon occasionally by way of reference or +illustration. + +I gladly take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude to Professor +L. E. Kastner, at whose suggestion this investigation was undertaken, +for his generous assistance, and the unfailing interest he has shown in +my work during the whole course of its preparation. I am likewise +considerably indebted to Dr. Phoebe Sheavyn for helpful criticism and +advice, to Professor Tout for kindly reading through the introductory +chapter, and to Mr. J. Marks for a careful revision of the proofs and +many useful indications. I owe a great deal to my father also, whose +sympathetic advice and encouragement did much to lighten my task. Nor +can I close this list of acknowledgments without recording my obligation +to the Secretary of the Press, Mr. H. M. McKechnie, for the valuable +assistance he has so freely given me during the progress of this volume +through the Press. + + KATHLEEN LAMBLEY. + + DURHAM, _January 1920_. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS + + + PART I + + INTRODUCTORY + + CHAPTER I PAGE + + THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES 3 + + French grammars in mediaeval England--The use of the French + language--Latin, French, and English vocabularies--French at the + Universities--Popularity of French in the thirteenth century--Ceases + to be a vernacular in England--Treatises for teaching French--A + treatise on French verbs--The _Orthographia Gallica_--The _Tractatus + Orthographiae_--T. H. Parisiis studentis--Walter de + Bibbesworth--French in the schools and Universities--The fourteenth + century--Treatises on French--The _Nominale_--Model letters--Recovery + of English in the second half of the fourteenth + century--Deterioration of Anglo-French--English in official documents + and correspondence--Decline in use of French. + + CHAPTER II + + THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY 26 + + Triumph of continental French over Anglo-French--"Doux françois de + Paris" a foreign language--Standard of French taught in + England--_Femina_--Treatises on Grammar--Barton's + _Donait_--Epistolaries--Books of conversation in French--The + Cambridge manuscript in French and English--First printed books for + teaching French--Dialogues in French and English--Caxton, Wynkyn de + Worde, and Pynson--French by conversation--Approaching improvement in + the standard of French taught in England--Palsgrave's Grammar. + + PART II + + TUDOR TIMES + + CHAPTER I + + THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AT COURT AND AMONG THE NOBILITY 61 + + French at the Court of the Tudors--English neglected by + foreigners--Latin a spoken language--Defective pronunciation of the + English--Interest in modern languages awakened--French holds the + first place--Its use in correspondence and in official documents--The + French of Henry VIII., his courtiers, and the ladies--Of Anne Boleyn + and the other Queens--Of the royal family, Edward, Mary, and + Elizabeth--French tutors--Bernard André--French Grammars--Alexander + Barclay's _Introductory_--Practice and Theory--Pierre Valence, tutor + to the Earl of Lincoln--His _Introductions in French_--Fragment of a + Grammar at Lambeth--French Humanists as Language masters--Bourbon and + Denisot--England and the _Pléiade_. + + CHAPTER II + + FRENCH TUTORS AT COURT--GILES DUWES--JOHN PALSGRAVE--JEAN BELLEMAIN 86 + + French tutors at Court--John Palsgrave and Giles Duwes--Palsgrave's + _Esclarcissement_--The pronunciation of French--His second and third + books--The vocabulary--The _Introductorie_ of Duwes--His + Dialogues--The methods of the two teachers--Dates of composition and + editions--Attitude of the two teachers to each other--Duwes on + English teachers of French--Palsgrave's claims--Palsgrave's + acquaintance with French literature--Incidents in Duwes's career in + England--His royal pupils--Palsgrave's teaching career--Mary Tudor + his pupil--The Duke of Richmond, Gregory Cromwell, etc.--Palsgrave in + the North, at Oxford, and in London--Jean Bellemain, tutor to Edward + VI.--The King's French exercises--Intercourse with Calvin--Bellemain + on French orthography--French tutor to Elizabeth--Her translations + from the French--A. R. Chevallier. + + CHAPTER III + + THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS REFUGEES ON THE TEACHING OF FRENCH IN + ENGLAND--OPENINGS FOR THEM AS TEACHERS--DEMAND FOR TEXT-BOOKS--FRENCH + SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 114 + + Effects of the persecution of the Protestants on the teaching of + French in England--Protestant refugees--Registers and returns of + aliens--French churches in London--Reception and treatment of + foreigners--Incivility of the common people--Courtesy of the + gentry--Refugees received into English families--French in polite + education--French tutors and text-books--Converse with + foreigners--Shakespeare's French--Professional schoolmasters--No + opening in the grammar schools--French schools--Du Ploich's + school--His Treatise in French and English and method of + teaching--His works in manuscript--Claude Holyband--His _French + Schoolemaister_ and _French Littleton_--His French school--Holyband + as private tutor--His method of teaching--Schools in connection with + the French churches--Schools at Canterbury and elsewhere--Saravia's + school at Southampton--Joshua Sylvester--Place of French in the + public schools of Scotland--In the parish and private schools--No + French grammars produced in Scotland. + + CHAPTER IV + + HUGUENOT TEACHERS OF FRENCH--OTHER CLASSES OF FRENCH TEACHERS--RIVALRIES + IN THE PROFESSION--THE "DUTCH" AND ENGLISH TEACHERS 155 + + Importance of the Huguenot teachers in London--St. Paul's Churchyard + the centre of the profession--The group of Normans--Robert + Fontaine--Jacques Bellot--His French and English grammars, and + _Jardin de Vertu_--The _French Methode_--G. de La Mothe--His French + Alphabet and method of teaching--French teachers from the + Netherlands--Roman Catholic schoolmasters--Objections raised against + French teachers--The right of the English to teach French--John + Eliote--His attack on French teachers--His love of Rabelais and debt + to French literature--His 'merrie vaine'--The _Ortho-Epia Gallica_ + and his other works. + + CHAPTER V + + METHODS OF TEACHING FRENCH--LATIN AND FRENCH--FRENCH AND ENGLISH + DICTIONARIES--STUDY OF FRENCH LITERATURE 179 + + Usual methods of learning French--Reading and + translation--Pronunciation--Rules of grammar--Importance of + 'practice'--Latin and French text-books--Contrast of methods--Grammar + and Practice--Books in French and English--French by + translation--French dictionaries--Holyband's Dictionaries--Dictionary + printed by Harrison--A place given to French in some Latin + dictionaries--Veron--Baret--John Higgins--French-Latin + dictionaries--Cotgrave's great French-English Dictionary--Sherwood's + English-French Dictionary--Howell's editions of Cotgrave--The reading + of French literature--Attitude of French teachers--Favourite + authors--Histories and Memoirs of military life for soldiers and + statesmen. + + CHAPTER VI + + FRENCH AT THE UNIVERSITIES 198 + + Latin the language of the Universities--Retention of the use of + French formulae--Modern languages read--French a relaxation from + 'severer studies'--French tutors and French grammars--Morlet's + _Janitrix_--French grammars written in Latin--Antonio de Corro--John + Sanford--Wye Saltonstall--Henry Leighton--French grammarians and + teachers at Oxford--Robert Farrear--Pierre Bense--French teachers at + Cambridge--Gabriel du Grès at Cambridge and Oxford--On the teaching + of French--French at the Universities at the time of the + Restoration--The French of the Universities and of the fashionable + world--French at the Inns of Court--One-sidedness of the University + curriculum--Steps taken to supplement it. + + CHAPTER VII + + THE STUDY OF FRENCH BY ENGLISH TRAVELLERS ABROAD 211 + + Travel in France and on the Continent--In the suite of + ambassadors--Children in France--Course of studies--Girls in + France--Objections to children being sent to France--France and + Italy--Protests against travel--Prejudices against travel--Preference + for France--Necessity of the French language--The travelling + tutor--The age for travel--Literati as travelling tutors--Travel + without a governor--Books on travel--'Methods' of travel--The study + of French--Dallington and Moryson--Study of French before + travel--French 'by rote'--Language masters for travellers--French + grammars for travellers--Charles Maupas of Blois and his son--Antoine + Oudin--Other grammars--Père Chiflet--The 'exercises'--Travellers at + the Universities--At the Protestant Academies--Geneva--Isaac + Casaubon--The 'idle traveller'--The 'beau'--Affectations of newly + returned travellers--Commendation and censure of travel. + + CHAPTER VIII + + THE STUDY OF FRENCH AMONG MERCHANTS AND SOLDIERS 239 + + Merchants and the study of French--Text-books for + merchants--Relations with the Netherlands--The 'book from + Anvers'--Barlement's book of dialogues--Meurier's manuals for + teaching French to the English in Antwerp--The study of French in the + Netherlands--French for soldiers--The Verneys--John Wodroeph--The + difficulty of the French language--Necessity of rules as well as + practice--_The Marrow of the French Tongue_. + + PART III + + STUART TIMES + + CHAPTER I + + FRENCH AT THE COURTS OF JAMES I. AND CHARLES I.--FRENCH STUDIED BY THE + LADIES--FRENCH PLAYERS IN LONDON--ENGLISH GENERALLY IGNORED BY + FOREIGNERS 259 + + The French language in England in the time of the early Stuarts--In + the royal family--French tutors--John Florio--Guy Le + Moyne--Massonet--Sir Robert Le Grys--French among the + ladies--Erondelle's _French Garden_ for English ladies--His + dialogues--His career as a teacher--His earlier works--The French + Queen of England--French plays in London--The English language + neglected by foreigners--English literature ignored in + France--English players abroad--The study of English--English + grammars for foreigners in England--French teachers and merchants + further the study of English--Provision for teaching English in the + Netherlands and in France. + + CHAPTER II + + FRENCH GRAMMARS--BOOKS FOR TEACHING LATIN AND FRENCH--FRENCH IN PRIVATE + INSTITUTIONS 281 + + Robert Sherwood, teacher of French and English--His school and + _French Tutour_--William Colson, another English teacher--His + 'method' and writings--Maupas's French grammar in England--William + Aufeild--How to study French--The _Flower de Luce_--Laur du Terme on + the teaching of French--Paul Cogneau's French grammar--His + method--Continued use of the sixteenth-century French grammars--Latin + and French--Latin school-books adapted to teaching French--Books for + teaching Latin and French together--The _Janua_ of Comenius--Wye + Saltonstall--De Grave--French in private institutions--The _Museum + Minervae_--Gerbier's Academy--French in schools for ladies. + + CHAPTER III + + THE "LITTLE BLOIS" IN LONDON 301 + + The Blois group of French teachers--Claude Mauger and his French + grammar--Its popularity and development--Mauger's Letters--Other + writings--Life in London--Teaches English--Mauger's method of + teaching--Mauger at Paris--The demand for his grammar abroad--Paul + Festeau--His French and English grammars--Editions and + contents--Pierre Lainé--His French grammar--Encouragement of the + study of French literature. + + CHAPTER IV + + THE FRENCH TEACHING PROFESSION AND METHODS OF STUDYING THE + LANGUAGE 319 + + Vogue of French romances in England--Dorothy Osborne--Pepys on French + literature--His French books--French text-books and the _précieux_ + spirit--William Herbert--His criticism of the French teaching + profession--Rivalry among teachers--Need for protection--Herbert's + later works--His early career in England--Quarrels with a minister of + the French church--English gentry at the French church--Pepys a + regular attender--French teachers encourage the practice--The method + of 'grammar and rote'--French 'by rote'--Examples of how French was + studied--Latin by grammar--Calls for reform--The case against + grammar--French taught on the 'right method'--Attempts to teach Latin + on the same lines as French--Contrast between the learning of Latin + in England 'by grammar' and of French in France 'by rote.' + + CHAPTER V + + THE TOUR IN FRANCE 341 + + The Protestant schools and Academies--A group of English students at + Saumur--Travellers at the French Universities--A method of + travel--Attitude of the French teachers to the tour in France--Guide + books--Routes followed--Favourite resorts for study--_Auberges_ and + _pensions_--Language masters in France--Grammars for + travellers--Howell's instructions for travellers--Suitable books for + students--The 'Grand' and 'Petit' Tour in + France--Paris--Inexperienced young travellers--Sir John Reresby in + France. + + CHAPTER VI + + GALLOMANIA AFTER THE RESTORATION 361 + + Gallomania in England after the Restoration--The royal family in + France--Their knowledge of the language--English courtiers and gentry + in France--Men of letters in France--French and the French at the + English court after the Restoration--French 'salons' London--French + valets, cooks, dancing masters, tailors--The French language--French + among the ladies--The 'Frenchified' lady--The 'beaux' or English + 'monsieurs'--French influence at the theatre--Popularity of French + actors in London. + + CHAPTER VII + + THE TEACHING OF FRENCH AND ITS POPULARITY AFTER THE RESTORATION 381 + + French grammars after the Restoration--Pierre de Lainé, tutor to the + children of the Duke of York--The _Princely Way to the French + Tongue_--Guy Miège--His Dictionaries--His French Grammars--His method + of teaching--Rote and grammar--Miège's other works--Other French + Grammars--Pierre Berault--The universality of French--Supremacy over + Latin in the world of fashion and diplomacy--Position of French in + the educational world--The classics read in French--'All learning now + in French'--French recognized by writers on education--Projects for + reformed schools--Numerous French schools in and about + London--Villiers' school at Nottingham--Academies for + ladies--Academies for training gentlemen in the necessary social + accomplishments and for business--Effects of the Revocation of the + Edict of Nantes. + + APPENDICES + + I + + CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF MANUALS AND GRAMMARS FOR TEACHING FRENCH TO THE + ENGLISH 403 + + II + + BIBLIOGRAPHY, ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY, OF MANUALS FOR TEACHING THE + FRENCH LANGUAGE TO THE ENGLISH, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH + CENTURY TO THE END OF THE STUART PERIOD 410 + + INDEX 429 + + + + +PART I + +INTRODUCTORY + + + + +CHAPTER I + + THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH CENTURIES + + +The first important grammar of the French language was printed in +England and written by an Englishman. This enterprising student was John +Palsgrave, "natyf de Londres et gradué de Paris," whose work, entitled +_L'Esclarcissement de la langue francoyse_, was published in 1530. It is +an enormous quarto of over a thousand pages, full of elaborate, detailed +and often obscure rules, written in English in spite of the French +title. It was no doubt the solid value and exhaustiveness of Palsgrave's +work which won for it the reputation of being the earliest grammar of +the French language.[1] Yet Palsgrave himself informs us that such was +not the case, though he claims to be the first to lay down 'absolute' +rules for the language. + +The kings of England, he declares, have never ceased to encourage "suche +clerkes as were in theyr tymes, to prove and essay what they by theyr +dylygence in this matter myght do." "This like charge," he continues, +"have dyvers others had afore my dayes ... many sondrie clerkes have for +their tyme taken theyr penne in hande.... Some thyng have they in +writing lefte behynde them concerning into this mater, for the ease and +furtheraunce as well of suche as shilde in lyke charge after them +succede, as of them whiche from tyme to tyme in that tong were to be +instructed ... takyng light and erudition of theyr studious labours +whiche in this matter before me have taken paynes to write.... I dyd my +effectuall devoire to ensertche out suche bokes as had by others of this +mater before my tyme ben compyled, of which undouted, after enquery and +ensertche made for them dyvers came into my handes as well suche whose +authors be yet amongst us lyveng, as suche whiche were of this mater by +other sondrie persons longe afore my dayes composed." + +The living predecessors to whom Palsgrave refers--authors of short works +of small philological value, but of great interest to-day as evidence of +the wide use of the French language in England--were likewise acquainted +with earlier works on the subject. Giles Duwes, tutor in French to Henry +VIII. and other members of the royal family, frequently invokes the +authority of the 'olde grammar.' The poet Alexander Barclay, in his +French Grammar of 1521, informs us that "the said treatyse hath ben +attempted of dyvers men before my dayes," and that he had "sene the +draughtes of others" made before his time; moreover, in times past, the +French language "hath ben so moche set by in England that who hath ben +ignorant in the same language hath not ben reputed to be of gentyll +blode. In so moche that, as the cronycles of englande recorde, in all +the gramer scoles throughout englande small scolars expounded theyr +construccyons bothe in Frenche and Englysshe." + +Thus the French grammarians in England in the early sixteenth century +were acquainted with, and to some extent indebted to, a series of +mediaeval treatises on the French language,--a type of work which, even +at the time they wrote, was unknown on the Continent.[2] That England, +before other countries, took on herself the study of the French +language, was the result of events which followed the Conquest. From +that time French had taken its place by the side of English as a +vernacular. It was the language of the upper classes and landed gentry, +the cultivated and educated; English was used by the masses, while all +who read and wrote knew Latin, the language of clerks and scholars. For +nearly three centuries after the Conquest almost all writings of any +literary value produced in England were in French, though the bulk of +composition was in Latin; English never ceased to be written, but was +used in minor works for the most part. + +It is not surprising, therefore, to find that from an early date Latin +was at times construed or translated into French[3] as well as English +in the grammar schools, both languages serving as vernaculars. There are +still extant examples of this custom,[4] dating from the twelfth +century; for instance, a version of the psalter, in which the French +words are placed above the Latin without any regard to the order of the +French sentence.[5] Others are found in some of the first vocabularies +written for the purpose of teaching Latin,[6] which consist of lists of +words grouped round subjects and arranged, as a rule, in sentence form. +Two of these works seem to have been particularly well known, judging +from the number of manuscripts still in existence--those of the English +scholars, Alexander Neckam (1157-1217) and John de Garlande, both of +whom were indebted to France for most of their learning. Neckam, who in +1180 had attained celebrity as a Professor of the University of Paris, +was the author of a Latin Vocabulary--_De Utensilibus_--which was +glossed in Anglo-French.[7] In this he enumerates the various parts of a +house and the occupations and callings of men, and gives scenes from +feudal and agricultural life. The _Dictionarius_ (_c._ 1220) of John de +Garlande, a student of Oxford and Paris, and one of the first professors +of Toulouse University, deals roughly with the same topics.[8] It is +glossed in both French and English--the sign of a later period--as was +also a Latin vocabulary or _nominale_ of the names of plants,[9] dating +from a little later in the same century, though probably existing in +earlier manuscripts. + +At the universities a decided preference for French was shown in the +rare occasions on which the use of a vernacular was allowed. The +speaking of French was encouraged in some of the colleges at both Oxford +and Cambridge, chiefly those belonging to the second set of +foundations.[10] The scholars and fellows of Oriel could use either +Latin or French in their familiar conversation and at meals. Similar +injunctions were in force at Exeter and Queen's. Among the Cambridge +colleges[11] the statutes of Peterhouse allow French to be used for +"just and reasonable cause"; at King's it was permitted on occasion, and +at Clare Hall French was countenanced only if foreigners were present as +visitors. At Pembroke, founded by a Frenchwoman, Mary de Valence, +special favour was shown to Frenchmen in the election of Fellows, +provided that their total number did not exceed a quarter of the whole +body.[12] The cosmopolitanism of the mediaeval centres of learning +encouraged a number of such French students to come to England. In 1259, +for instance, owing to the disturbed state of the University of Paris, +Henry III. invited the Paris students to come to England and take up +their abode wheresoever they pleased;[13] no doubt those who accepted +his invitation settled at one or other of the two English universities. +We also find in the Treaty of Bretigny (1360) a clause to the effect +that the subjects of the French and English kings should henceforth be +free to resume their intercourse and to enjoy mutually the privileges of +the universities of the two countries, "comme ils povoient faire avant +ces presentes guerres et comme ils font a present."[14] On the other +hand, the English frequented the French universities in large numbers; +at Paris in the thirteenth century they formed one of the four nations +which composed the University.[15] The authors of the early Latin +vocabularies, Alexander Neckam and John de Garlande, were both +connected with the University of Paris, while most of the other English +scholars of the period were indebted for much of their learning to the +same great centre. Many, no doubt, could have written with Garlande: + + Anglia cui mater fuerat, cui Gallia nutrix + Matri nutricem praefero mente meam.[16] + +In the thirteenth century French was still widely used in England. The +fact that the fusion between conquerors and conquered was then +complete,[17] and that at the same time French was very popular on the +Continent undoubtedly helped to make its position in England stronger. +It was then that the Italian Brunetto Latini wrote his _Livres dou +Tresor_ (1265), in French rather than in his native tongue, because +French was "plus delitable et plus commune à toutes gens." During the +same century French came to be used in correspondence on both sides of +the Channel.[18] Little by little it was recognized as the most +convenient medium for official uses, and the language most generally +known in these sections of society which had to administer justice.[19] +In the second half of the thirteenth century Robert of Gloucester +complained that there was no land "that holdeth not to its kindly speech +save Englonde only," admitting at the same time, however, that ignorance +of French was a serious disadvantage. An idea of the extent to which the +language was current in England may be gathered from the fact that in +1301 Edward I. caused letters from the Pope to be translated into French +so that they might be understood by the whole army,[20] and in the +previous year the author of the _Miroir des Justices_ wrote in French as +being the language "le plus entendable de la comun people." French, +indeed, appears to have been used among all classes, save the very +poorest;[21] some of the French literature of the time was addressed +more particularly to the middle classes.[22] + +Nevertheless, as the thirteenth century advanced, French began to hold +its own with some difficulty. While it was in the unusual position of a +vernacular gradually losing its power as such, there appeared the +earliest extant treatise on the language. This, and those that followed +it, were to some extent lessons in the vernacular; yet not entirely, as +may be judged from the fact that they are set forth and explained in +Latin, the language of all scholarship. The first work on the French +language, dating from not later than the middle of the thirteenth +century, is in the form of a short Latin treatise on French +conjugations,[23] in which a comparison of the French with the Latin +tenses is instituted.[24] As it appeared at a time when French was +becoming the literary language of the law, and was being used freely in +correspondence, it may have been intended mainly for the use of clerks. +A treatise of considerably more importance composed towards the end of +the century, appears to have had the same purpose. That he did not +intend it exclusively for clerks, however, the author showed by adding +rules for pronunciation, syntax and even morphology as well as for +orthography. Like most of the early grammatical writings on the French +language, this _Orthographia Gallica_ is in Latin. The obscurity of many +of its rules, however, called forth commentaries in French which +appeared during the fourteenth century, and exceed the size of the +original work. The _Orthographia_ was a very popular work, as the number +of manuscripts extant and the French commentary prove. The different +copies vary considerably, and there is a striking increase in the number +of rules given; from being about thirty in the earliest manuscript, they +number about a hundred in the latest.[25] + +It opens with a rule that when the first or middle syllable of a French +word contains a short _e_, _i_ must be placed before the _e_, as in +_bien_, _rien_, etc.--a curious, fumbling attempt to explain the +development of Latin free short _e_ before nasals and oral consonants +into _ie_. On the other hand, continues the author, _e_ acute need not +be preceded by _i_, as _tenez_. It is not surprising that these early +writers, in spite of much patient observation, should almost always have +failed to grasp fundamental laws, and group a series of corresponding +facts into the form of a general rule. We continually find rules drawn +up for a few isolated examples, with no general application. The most +striking feature in the treatment of French orthography in this work is +the continual reference to Latin roots, and the clear statement of the +principle that, wherever possible, the spelling of French words should +be based on that of Latin. + +The _Orthographia_ does not by any means limit its observations to +spelling; there are also rules for pronunciation, a subject which in +later times naturally held a very important place in French grammars +written for the use of Englishmen, while orthography became one of the +chief concerns of French grammarians. That orthography received so much +attention at this early period in this country, is explained by the fact +that these manuals were partly intended for "clerks," who would +frequently have to write in French. As to the pronunciation, we find, +amongst others, the familiar rule that when a French word ending in a +consonant comes before another word beginning with a consonant, the +first consonant is not pronounced. An _s_ occurring after a vowel and +before an _m_, writes the author, in another rule, is not pronounced, as +in _mandasmes_, and _l_ coming after _a_, _e_, or _o_, and followed by a +consonant is pronounced like _u_, as in _m'almi_, _loialment_, and the +like. A list of synonyms[26] is also given, which throws some light on +the English pronunciation of French at this period, and there are also a +few hints for the translation of both Latin and English into French. + +Nor are syntax and morphology neglected; rules concerning these are +scattered among those on orthography and pronunciation, with the lack of +orderly arrangement characteristic of the whole work. Thus we are told +to use _me_ in the accusative case, and _moy_ in all other cases; that +we should form the plural of verbs ending in _t_ in the singular by +adding _z_, as _il amet_, _il list_ become _vous amez_, _vous lisez_; +that when we ask any one for something, we may say _vous pri_ without +_je_, but that, when we do this, we should write _pri_ with a _y_, as +_pry_, and so on. + +The claim of the _Orthographia Gallica_ to be the first extant work on +French orthography, has been disputed by another treatise, also written +in Latin, and known as the _Tractatus Orthographiae_. More methodically +arranged than the _Orthographia_, this work deals more particularly with +pronunciation and orthography.[27] It opens with a short introduction +announcing that here are the means for the youth of the time to make +their way in the world speedily and learn French pronunciation and +orthography. Each letter of the alphabet is first treated in turn,[28] +and then come a few more general observations. Like the author of the +_Orthographia_, the writer of the _Tractatus_ would have the spelling of +French words based on that of Latin whenever possible. He claims that +his own French is "secundum dulce Gallicum" and "secundum usum et modum +modernorum tam partibus transmarinis quam cismarinis." Though he +apparently places the French of England and the French of France on the +same footing, it is noteworthy that he carefully distinguishes between +the two. + +The _Tractatus Orthographiae_ bears a striking resemblance to another +work of like nature, which is better known--the _Tractatus Orthographiae_ +of Canon M. T. Coyfurelly, doctor in Law of Orleans[29]--and for some +time it was thought to be merely a rehandling of Coyfurelly's treatise +which did not appear till somewhere about the end of the fourteenth +century, if not later. But Coyfurelly admits that his work was based on +the labours of one 'T. H. Parisii Studentis,' and there appears, on +examination,[30] to be no doubt as to the priority of the anonymous +_Tractatus_ described above, which, on the contrary, is evidently the +treatise rehandled by Coyfurelly, and the work of 'T. H. Student of +Paris.' Besides being the original which Coyfurelly recast in his +_Tractatus_, it also appears that T. H. may reasonably dispute with the +author of the _Orthographia Gallica_, the honour of being the first in +the field. His work shows no advance on the rules given for +pronunciation in the _Orthographia_, while the orthography is of a +decidedly older stamp. + +At about the same time as these two treatises on orthography, probably a +few years earlier, there was composed a work of similar purpose but very +different character. It is of particular interest, and shows that, +towards the end of the thirteenth century, French was beginning to be +treated as a foreign language; the French is accompanied by a partial +English gloss, and the author states that "touz dis troverez-vous primes +le Frauncois et pus le Engleys suaunt." The author, Gautier or Walter de +Bibbesworth,[31] was an Englishman, and appears to have mixed with the +best society of the day. He was a friend of the celebrated statesman of +the reign of Edward I., Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. The only work by +which his name is known to-day, in addition to the treatise in question, +is a short piece of Anglo-Norman verse,[32] written on the occasion of +the expedition of Edward I. to the Holy Land in 1270, shortly before he +came to the throne. We gather from letters of protection granted him in +that year that Bibbesworth himself took part in this venture. In this +poem he is pictured discussing the Crusade with Lacy, and trying to +persuade his friend to take part in it. The name of Bibbesworth also +occurs several times[33] in official documents of no special interest, +and as late as 1302 a writ of Privy Seal was addressed to the Chancellor +suing for a pardon under the Great Seal to W. de Bibbesworth, in +consideration of his good services rendered in Scotland, for a breach of +the park of Robert de Seales at Ravenhall, and of the king's prison at +Colchester.[34] + +Bibbesworth, however, interests us less as a crusader or a disturber of +public order, than as the author of a treatise for teaching the French +language, entitled _Le Treytyz qe mounsire Gauter de Bibelesworthe fist +a ma dame Dyonisie de Mounchensy[35] pur aprise de langwage_. The large +number of manuscripts still in existence[36] suggest that it was a +popular text-book among the children of the higher classes of society. +The treatise reproduces, as might be expected, the chief characteristics +of the vocabularies for teaching Latin. In addition to giving a +collection of words and phrases arranged in the form of a narrative, it +also incidentally aims at imparting some slight grammatical information. +Its contents are of a very practical character, and deal exclusively +with the occurrences and occupations of daily life. Beginning with the +new-born child, it tells in French verses how it is to be nursed and +fed. Rime was no doubt introduced to aid the memory, as the pupil would, +in all probability, have to learn the whole by heart. The French is +accompanied by a partial interlinear English gloss, giving the +equivalent of the more difficult French words. This may, perhaps, be +taken as an indication of the extent to which French was regarded as a +foreign language.[37] + +After describing the life of the child during its earliest infancy, +Bibbesworth goes on to tell how it is to be taught French as soon as it +can speak, "that it may be better learned in speach and held up to scorn +by none": + + Quaunt le enfes ad tel age + Ke il set entendre langage, + Primes en Fraunceys ly devez dire + Coment soun cors deyt descrivere, + Pur le ordre aver de moun et ma, + Toun et ta, soun et sa, + _better lered_ + Ke en parlole seyt meut apris + _scorned_ + E de nul autre escharnys. + +In accordance with this programme the parts of the human body, which +almost invariably forms the central theme in this type of manual, are +enumerated. Special care is taken to distinguish the genders and cases, +to teach the children "Kaunt deivunt dire _moun_ et _ma_, _soun_ et +_sa_, _le_ et _la_, _moy_ et _jo_ . . .," and to explain how the meaning +of words of similar sound often depends on their gender: + + _lippe and an hare_ + Vous avet la levere et le levere, + _a pound_ _a book_ + Et la livere et le livere. + La levere si enclost les dens; + Le levere en boys se tent dedens; + La livere sert en marchaundye; + Le livere nous aprent clergye. + +Throughout Bibbesworth seizes every opportunity to point out +distinctions of gender of this kind, regardless, it appears, of the +difference between the definite and indefinite articles. When the pupil +can describe his body, the teacher proceeds to give him an account of +"all that concerns it both inside and out" ("kaunt ke il apent dedens et +deores"), that is of its clothing and food: + + Vestet vos draps mes chers enfauns, + Chaucez vos brays, soulers, e gauns; + Mettet le chaperoun, covrez le chef, etc. + +--a passage which illustrates the practical nature of the treatise, +Bibbesworth's aim being to teach children to know the properties of the +things they see ("les propretez des choses ke veyunt"). + +When the child is clothed, Bibbesworth next feeds him, giving a full +account of the meals and the food which is provided, and, by way of +variety, at the end of the dinner, he teaches his pupil the names given +to groups of different animals, and of the verbs used to describe their +various cries. ("Homme parle, cheval hennist," etc.). By this time the +child is ready to observe Nature, and to learn the terms of +husbandry,[38] and the processes by which his food is produced. From the +fields he passes to the woods and the river, where he learns to hunt and +to fish, subjects which naturally lead to the introduction of the French +names of the seasons, and of the beasts and birds that are supposed to +present themselves to his view. + +During the whole of this long category the verse form is maintained, and +the intention of avoiding a vocabulary pure and simple is manifest. How +superior this method was to the more modern lists of words separated +from the context is also evident. Besides giving a description of all +the objects with which the child comes in contact, and of all the +actions he has to perform, as well as examples for the distinctions of +genders and of _moy_ and _jo_--difficulties for which he makes no +attempts to draw up rules--Bibbesworth claims for his work that it +provides gentlemen with adequate instruction for conversational purposes +("tot le ordre en parler e respoundre ke checun gentyshomme covent +saver"). And as he did not wish to neglect any of the items of daily +life, he finally gives a description of the building of a house and +various domestic arrangements, ending with a description of an old +English feast with its familiar dish, the boar's head: + + Au primer fust apporté + _a boris heued_ + La teste de un sengler tot armé, + _the snout_ _wit baneres of flurs_ + E au groyn le colere en banere; + E pus veneysoun, ou la fourmenté; + Assez par my la mesoun + _tahen of gres tyme_ + De treste du fermeyson. + Pus avyent diversetez en rost, + Eit checun autre de cost, + _Cranes_, _pokokes_, _swannes_ + Grues, pounes, e cygnes, + _Wilde ges_, _gryses_ (_porceaus_), _hennes_, + Owes, rosées, porceus, gelyns; + Au tercez cours avient conyns en gravé, + Et viaunde de Cypre enfundré, + De maces, e quibibes, e clous de orré, + Vyn blanc e vermayl a graunt plenté. + _wodekok_ + Pus avoyunt fesauns, assez, et perdriz, + _Feldefares larkes_ + Grives, alowes, e pluviers ben rostez; + E braoun, e crispes, e fritune; + Ke soucre roset poudra la temprune. + Apres manger avyunt a graunt plenté + Blaunche poudre, ou la grosse dragé, + Et d'autre nobleie a fusoun, + Ensi vous fynys ceo sermoun; + Kar de fraunceis i ad assez, + De meynte manere dyversetez, + Dount le vous fynys, seynurs, ataunt + A filz Dieu vous comaund. + Ici finest la doctrine monsire Gauter De Byblesworde. + +As time went on a conscious effort was made to retain the use of the +French language in England. Higden, writing at about the middle of the +fourteenth century,[39] informs us that English was then neglected for +two reasons: "One is bycause that children than gon to schole lerne to +speke first Englysshe and then ben compelled constrewe ther lessons in +Frenssh"; "Also gentilmens children ben lerned and taught from theyr +yougthe to speke frenssh.[40] And uplandish men will counterfete and +likene them self to gentilmen and arn besy to speke frensshe for to be +more sette by. Wherefor it is sayd by a common proverbe Jack wold be a +gentilmen if he coude speke frensshe." + +At the University of Oxford, likewise, the Grammar masters were enjoined +to teach the boys to construe in English and in French, "so that the +latter language be not forgotten."[41] The same university gave some +slight encouragement to the study of French. There were special teachers +who, although not enjoying the privileges of those lecturing in the +usual academic subjects, were none the less recognised by the +University. They had to observe the Statutes, and to promise not to give +their lessons at times which would interfere with the ordinary lectures +in arts. The French teachers were under the superintendence of the +masters of grammar, and had to pay thirteen shillings a year to the +Masters in Arts to compensate them for any disadvantage they might +suffer from any loss of pupils; if there was only one teacher of French +he had to pay the whole amount himself. As for those learning "to +write, to compose, and speak French," they had to attend lectures in +rhetoric and grammar--the courses most akin to their studies[42]--and to +contribute to the maintenance of the lecturers in these subjects, there +being no ordinary lectures in French. + +In the meantime, more treatises for teaching French appeared; +Bibbesworth's book soon found imitators, and early in the new century an +anonymous author, clearly an Englishman, made free use of Bibbesworth in +a treatise called _The Nominale sive Verbale in Gallicis cum expositione +ejusdem in Anglicis_.[43] This anonymous writer[44] however, thought it +necessary to make the interlinear English gloss much fuller than +Bibbesworth had done, which shows that French had become more of a +foreign language in the interval between the two works. He also placed +the English rendering after the French, instead of above it. The later +work differs further from the earlier in the order of the subject +headings, as well as by the introduction of a few new topics. +Enumerating the parts of the body,[45] as Bibbesworth had done, the +author proceeds to make his most considerable addition to the subjects +introduced by Bibbesworth in describing "la noyse et des faitz que homme +naturalment fait": + + Homme parle et espire: + _Man spekyth & vndyth._ + Femme teinge et suspire: + _Woman pantyth & syketh._ + Homme bale et babeie: + _Man dravelith & wlaffyth._ + Femme bale et bleseie: + _Woman galpyth & wlispyth._ + +He then describes all the daily actions and occupations of men: + + Homme va a la herce: + _Man goth at the harewe._ + Femme bercelet berce: + _Woman childe in cradel rokkith...._ + Enfant sa lessone reherce: + _His lessone recordeth_, + +and so on for about 350 lines. Other additions are of little +importance, and, for the rest, the author treats subjects first +introduced by Bibbesworth, though the wording often differs to a certain +extent.[46] + +When, towards the end of the thirteenth century, French began to be used +in correspondence, need for instruction in French epistolary art arose; +and early in the fourteenth century guides to letter-writing in French, +in the form of epistolaries or collections of model letters, were +produced.[47] The letters themselves are given in French, but the +accompanying rules and instructions for composing them are in Latin. +French and Latin have changed rôles; in earlier times Latin had been +explained to school children by means of French. Forms for addressing +members of the different grades of society are supplied, from epistles +to the king and high state and ecclesiastical dignitaries down to +commercial letters for merchants, and familiar ones for private +individuals. Women, too, were not forgotten; we find similar examples +covering the same range--from the queen and the ladies of the nobility +to her more humble subjects. Each letter is almost invariably followed +by its answer, likewise in French. Some contain interesting references +to the great men or events of the day, but those of a more private +nature possess a greater attraction, and throw light on the family life +of the age. A letter from a mother to her son at school may be +quoted:[48] + + Salut avesque ma beniçon, tres chier filz. Sachiez que je desire + grandement de savoir bons nouelles de vous et de vostre estat: car + vostre pere et moy estions a la faisance de ces lettres en bon + poynt le Dieu merci. Et sachiez que je vous envoie par le portour + de ces lettres demy marc pur diverses necessaires que vous en avez + a faire sans escient de vostre pere. Et vous pri cherement, beau + tres doulz filz, que vous laissez tous mals et folyes et ne hantez + mye mauvaise compagnie, car si vous le faitez il vous fera grant + damage, avant que vous l'aperceiverez. Et je vous aiderai selon mon + pooir oultre ce que vostre pere vous donnra. Dieus vous doint sa + beniçon, car je vous donne la mienne. . . . + +From about the middle of the fourteenth century a feeling of discontent +with the prerogative of the French language in England becomes +prominent. The loss of the greater part of the French possessions, and +the continued state of hostilities with France during the reign of +Edward III. brought home forcibly to the English mind the fact that the +French were a distinct nation, and French a foreign tongue. This tardy +recovery is sufficient proof of the strong resistance which had to be +overcome. Chaucer is the greatest representative of the new movement. +"Let Frenchmen endite their quaint terms in French," he exclaims, "for +it is kindly to their mouths, but let us show our fantaisies in suche +words as we learned from our dames' tongues." His contemporary, Gower, +was less quick to discern the signs of the times. Of the four volumes of +his works, two are in Latin, one in French, and one in English; but the +order in which he uses these languages is instructive--first French, +then Latin, and lastly English. Some writers made a compromise by +employing a mixture of French and English.[49] French, however, +continued to hold an important place in prose writings until the middle +of the fifteenth century; but such works are of little literary value. +The reign of French as the literary language of England, as Chaucer had +been quick to discern, was approaching its end. + +The same period is marked by a growing disrespect for Anglo-French as +compared with the French of France. The French of England, cut off from +the living source, had developed apart, and often with more rapidity +than the other French dialects on the Continent. What is more, the +language brought by the invaders was not a pure form of the Norman +dialect; men from various parts of France had joined in William's +expedition. The invaders, always called 'French' by their contemporaries, +brought in a strong Picard element; and in the twelfth century there +was a similar Angevin influence. Moreover, during Norman and Angevin +times, craftsmen and others immigrated to England, each bringing with +him the dialectal peculiarities of his own province.[50] Thus no regular +development of Anglo-French was possible, and it can hardly be regarded +as an ordinary dialect, notwithstanding its literary importance.[51] +This disparity in the quality of Anglo-French is illustrated in a +remarkable way by the literature of the period. Those who had received +special educational advantages, or had travelled on the Continent, spoke +and wrote French correctly; others used forms which contrasted pitiably +with continental French. Moreover, the fourteenth century saw the +triumph of the Île de France dialect in France; the other dialects +ceased, as a rule, to be used in literature,[52] and this change was not +without effect on Anglo-French, which shared their degradation. Chaucer +lets us know the poor opinion he had of the French of England; his +Prioress speaks French "full fayre and fetisly," but + + After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe, + For French of Paris was to her unknowe. + +William Langland admits that he knew "no frenche in feith, but of the +ferthest ende of Norfolke."[53] As early as the thirteenth century +English writers had felt bound to apologize as Englishmen for their +French. Nor were their excuses superfluous in many cases; William of +Wadington, the author of the _Manuel des Pechiez_, for example, +wrote:[54] + + De le françois ne del rimer + Ne me doit nuls hom blamer, + Car en Engleterre fu né + Et nurri lenz et ordiné. + +Such apologies became all the more necessary as time went on. Even +Gower, whose French was comparatively pure,[55] owing no doubt to travel +in France in early life, deemed it advisable to explain that he wrote in +French for "tout le monde en general," and to ask pardon if he has not +"de François la faconde": + + Jeo suis Englois si quier par tiele voie + Estre excusé. + +At about the same time the anonymous author of the _Testament of Love_ +finds fault with the English for their persistence in writing in bad +French, "of which speech the Frenchmen have as good a fantasy as we have +in hearing of Frenchmen's English."[56] + +The notoriety of the French of Englishmen reached France. Indeed this +was a time when the English were more generally known in France than +they were to be for several hundreds of years afterwards--until the +eighteenth century. Englishmen filled positions in their possessions in +France, and during the long wars between the two countries in the reign +of Edward III., many of the English nobility resided in that country +with their families. Montaigne refers to traces of the English in +Guyenne, which still remained in the sixteenth century: "Il est une +nation," he writes in one of his Essays, "a laquelle ceux de mon +quartier ont eu autrefois si privée accointance qu'il reste encore en ma +maison aucune trace de leur ancien cousinage."[57] The opinions formed +by the French of the English were naturally anything but flattering. We +find them expressed in songs of the time.[58] But the recriminations +were mutual, and the English had already hit upon the epithet which for +centuries they applied to Frenchmen, and most other foreigners +indiscriminately: + + Franche dogue dit un Anglois. + Vous ne faites que boire vin, + Si faisons bien dist le François, + Mais vous buvez le lunnequin. (bière.)[59] + +Even in the _Roman de Renart_ we come across traces of familiarity with +English ways, and also of the English language.[60] + +It is not surprising, then, that Anglo-French was a subject of remark in +France, especially when we remember that already in the thirteenth +century the provincial accents of the different parts of France herself +had been the object of some considerable amount of raillery.[61] The +English, says Froissart, a good judge, for he spent many years in +England, "disoient bien que le françois que ils avoient apris chies eulx +d'enfance n'estoit pas de telle nature et condition que celluy de France +estoit."[62] And this 'condition' was soon recognized as a plentiful +store for facetious remarks and parodies of all kinds. In the _Roman de +Jehan et Blonde_, the young Frenchman's rival, the Duke of Gloucester, +is made to appear ridiculous by speaking bad French; and one of the +tricks played by Renart on Ysengrin, in the _Roman de Renart_, is to +pretend he is an Englishman:[63] + + Ez vos Renart qui le salue: + "Godehelpe," fait il, "bel Sire! + Non saver point ton reson dire." + +And Ysengrin answers: + + Et dex saut vos, bau dous amis! + Dont estes vos? de quel pais? + Vous n'estes mie nés de France, + Ne de la nostre connoissance. + +A _fabliau_ of the fourteenth century[64] pictures the dilemma of two +Englishmen trying to make their French understood in France; one of them +is ill and would have some lamb: + + Si tu avez un anel cras + Mi porra bien mengier ce croi. + +His friend sets out to try to get the 'anel' or 'lamb'; but no one +understands him, and he becomes the laughing-stock of the villagers. At +last some one gives him a 'small donkey' instead of the desired 'agnel,' +and out of this he makes a dish for the invalid who finds the bones +rather large. In the face of a reputation such as this it is no wonder +that the English found additional encouragement to abandon the foreign +language and cultivate their own tongue. + +English was also beginning to make its way into official documents.[65] +In 1362 the King's Speech at the opening of Parliament was pronounced +in English, and in the following year it was directed that all pleas in +the courts of justice should be pleaded and judged in English, because +French was "trope desconue en ledit realme." Despite that, the act was +very tardily obeyed, and English progressed but slowly, French +continuing to be written long after it ceased to be spoken in the Law +Courts. There were a few public documents issued in English at the end +of the century, but the Acts and Records of Parliament continued to be +written in French for many years subsequently. English first made its +way into the operative parts of the Statutes, and till 1503 the formal +parts were still written in French and Latin. Protests were made to +Henry VIII. against the continued use of French, "as thereby ys +testyfied our subjectyon to the Normannys"; yet it was not before the +eighteenth century that English was exclusively used in the Law Courts, +and for many years French, in its corrupt form, remained the literary +language of the English law. Till the seventeenth century works on +jurisprudence and reports on cases were mainly written in French. _Les +Cases de Gray's Inn_ shows French in accounts of discussions on +difficult legal cases as late as 1680.[66] Sir John Fortescue +(1394?-1476), Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench, in his _De +Laudibus Legum Angliae_, suggests that this Law French is more correct +at bottom than ordinary spoken French, which, he contends, is much +"altered by common use, whereas Law French is more often writ than +spoken." In later times no such illusions prevailed. Swift thus +estimates the value of the three languages of the English Law:[67] + + Then from the bar harangues the bench, + In English vile, and viler French, + And Latin vilest of the three. + +At about the same time as Swift wrote, the 'frenchified' Lady, then in +fashion, who prided herself on her knowledge of the "language à la mode" +is described as being able to "keep the field against a whole army of +Lawyers, and that in their own language, French gibberish."[68] And long +after French ceased to be used in the Law many law terms and legal and +official phrases remained, and are still in use to-day.[69] +Anglo-French also lingered in some of the religious houses after it had +fallen into discredit elsewhere, and continued to do so in some cases +till the time of their dissolution. The rules and accounts of the +nunneries were more often in French than not.[70] And John ap Rhys, +visitor of monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII., wrote to Cromwell +regarding the monastery of Laycock in Wiltshire, that he had observed +one thing "worthy th'advertisement; the ladies have their Rule, +th'institutes of their Religion and the ceremonies of the same written +in the Frenche tongue, which they understand well and are very perfyt in +the same, albeit that it varieth from vulgar Frenche that is now used, +and is moche like the Frenche that the common Lawe is written in."[71] + +During this same period English began to be used occasionally in +correspondence; but here again its progress was slow. Some idea of the +extent to which French was utilized for that purpose may be gathered +from the fact that three extant letters of William de Wykeham, addressed +to Englishmen, are all in that tongue. Not till the second and third +decades of the fifteenth century were English and French employed in +correspondence to an almost equal extent, and during the following +years, especially in the reign of Henry VI., English gradually became +predominant.[72] French remained in use longer in correspondence of a +public and official nature, but became more and more restricted to +foreign diplomacy. + +Towards the middle of the fourteenth century, at the beginning of the +long wars with France, French lost ground in England in yet another +direction. Edward III. is said to have found it necessary to proclaim +that all lords, barons, knights, burgesses, should see that their +children learn French for political and military reasons;[73] and when +Trevisa translated Higden's _Polychronicon_, he wrote in correction of +the earlier chronicler's description of the teaching of French in the +grammar schools of England:[74] "This maner was moche used before the +grete deth (1349). But syth it is somdele chaunged. Now (_i.e._ 1387) +they leave all Frensch in scholes, and use all construction in Englisch. +Wherin they have advantage on way that they lerne the soner ther gramer. +And in another disadvantage. For nowe they lerne no Frenssh ne can none, +whiche is hurte for them that shall passe the see," and thus children of +the grammar schools know "no more French than knows their lefte heele." + +Thus the custom of translating Latin into French passed out of use early +in the second half of the fourteenth century. No doubt there had been +signs of the approaching change in the preceding period, and it is of +interest here to notice that while Neckham's Latin vocabulary, which +dates from the second half of the twelfth century, is glossed in French +alone, that of Garlande, which belongs approximately to the third decade +of the following century, is accompanied by translations in both French +and English. In the universities, however, where French had been slower +in gaining a foothold, it remained longer; in the fifteenth century +teachers of French were still allowed to lecture there as they had done +previously, but it is to be noticed that in all the colleges founded +after the Black Death (1349), from which the change in the grammar +schools is dated, the regulations encouraging the speaking of French in +Hall are absent. The change appears also to have affected the higher +classes, who did not usually frequent the grammar schools and +universities, but depended on more private methods of instruction. +Trevisa here again adds a correction to the earlier chronicle, and +informs us that "gentylmen haveth now myche lefte for to teach their +children Frensch." + +We thus witness the gradual disappearance of the effects of the Norman +Conquest in the history of the use of the French language in England. +The Conquest had made Norman-French the language of the Court, and to +some extent, of the Church; it had brought with it a French literature +which nearly smothered the national literature and replaced it +temporarily; it had led to the system of translating Latin into French +as well as into English in the schools. In the later fourteenth century +French was no longer the chief language of the Court, and the king spoke +English and was addressed in the same tongue. In the Church the +employment of French had been restricted and transitory, though, as has +been mentioned, it lingered in some of the monasteries until the +sixteenth century; yet Latin never found in it a serious rival in this +sphere, and the ecclesiastical department of the law never followed the +civil in the adoption of the use of French. How French lost ground in +the other spheres has already been traced: in all these cases its +employment may be regarded as a direct result of the Conquest. + +This great event had also indirect results. French became the official +language of England, and the favourite medium of correspondence in the +thirteenth century, when the fusion between the two races was complete. +But it is highly improbable that French would have spread in these +directions if the Conquest had not in the first place made French the +vernacular of a considerable portion of Englishmen, and that the most +influential. With its use in official documents and in correspondence, +may be classed the slight encouragement French received at Oxford. In +all these spheres it remained longer than it had done where its status +had been a more direct result of the Conquest. + +Meanwhile the desire to cultivate and imitate the French of France had +been growing stronger and stronger; and when, towards the end of the +fourteenth century, the older influences were getting feebler, and in +some cases had passed away, the influence of the continental French, +especially the French of Paris, now supreme over the other dialects, +became more and more marked. And it is this language which henceforth +Englishmen strove to learn, gradually relinquishing the corrupt idiom +with which for so long their name had been associated. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] This was the opinion of Ames: "This seems to be the first grammar of +the French language in our own country, if not in Europe." Dibdin, +Herbert Ames's _Typographical Antiquities_, 1819, iii. p. 365. + +[2] The grammar of Jacques Sylvius or Dubois appeared in 1531, a year +after Palsgrave's. No attempt at a theoretical treatment of the French +language appeared in France in the Middle Ages. There are, however, two +Provençal ones extant. (F. Brunot, "Le Français à l'étranger," in L. +Petit de Julleville's _Histoire de la langue et de la littérature +française_, ii. p. 528.) + +[3] One of the chief effects of the Conquest in the schools is said to +have been the substitution of Norman for English schoolmasters (Leach, +_Schools of Mediaeval England_, 1915, p. 103). + +[4] The majority of early Latin vocabularies extant, however, are +accompanied by English translations (cp. T. Wright, _Volume of +Vocabularies_, 2 vols., 1857), as was also the comparatively well-known +_Promptorium Parvulorum_ (_c._ 1440), Camden Soc., 1865. + +[5] The text is given in L. E. Menger's _Anglo-Norman Dialect_, Columbia +University Press, 1904, p. 14. The psalms, together with Cato, Ovid, or +possibly Virgil, formed the usual reading material in the Grammar +Schools. Cp. Rashdall, _Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages_, +Oxford, 1895, ii. p. 603. + +[6] Adam du Petit Pont (_d._ 1150) wrote an epistle in Latin, many words +of which were glossed in French. But there is no evidence that it was +used in England. It was published by E. Scheler in his _Trois traités de +lexicographie latine du 12e et 13e siècles_, Leipzig, 1867. + +[7] Ed. T. Wright, _Volume of Vocabularies_, i. 96, and Scheler, _op. +cit._ Both editions are deemed unsatisfactory by Paul Meyer (_Romania_, +xxxvi. 482). + +[8] It has been published five times: (1) At Caen by Vincent Correr in +1508 (_Romania_, _ut supra_); (2) H. Géraud, in _Documents inédits sur +l'histoire de France_: "Paris sous Philippe le Bel d'après les documents +originaux," 1837; (3) Kervyn de Lettenhove, 1851; (4) T. Wright, _Volume +of Vocabularies_, i. pp. 120 _sqq._; (5) Scheler, _Trois traités de +lexicographie latine_. + +[9] Wright, _op. cit._ pp. 139-141. + +[10] _Statutes of the Colleges of Oxford_, 3 vols., Oxford and London, +1853; A. Clark, _Colleges of Oxford_, 1891, p. 140; H. C. Maxwell Lyte, +_History of the University of Oxford_, 1880, pp. 140-151. + +[11] _Documents relating to the Universities and Colleges of Cambridge_, +1852, ii. p. 33; J. Bass Mullinger, _The University of Cambridge_, 1873; +G. Peacock, _Observations on the Statutes of the University of +Cambridge_, 1841, p. 4. + +[12] J. Heywood, _Early Cambridge University and College Statutes_, +1885, ii. p. 182. + +[13] C. H. Cooper, _Annals of Cambridge_, Cambridge, 1852, i. p. 40. + +[14] Rashdall, _op. cit._ ii. p. 519 _n._ + +[15] Rashdall, _op. cit._ i. pp. 319 _et seq._ Later the English nation +was known as the German; it included all students from the north and +east of Europe. On the English in the University of Paris see Ch. +Thurot, _De l'organisation de l'enseignement dans l'Université de +Paris_, Paris, 1850; and J. E. Sandys, "English Scholars of Paris, and +Franciscans of Oxford," in _The Cambridge History of English +Literature_, i., 1908, chap. x. pp. 183 _et seq._ + +[16] Quoted, E. J. B. Rathery, _Les Relations sociales et +intellectuelles entre la France et l'Angleterre_, Paris, 1856, p. 11. + +[17] A writer of about 1180 says it was impossible to tell who were +Normans and who English ("Dialogus de Scaccario": Stubbs, _Select +Charters_, 4th ed., 1881, p. 168). + +[18] "Discours sur l'état des lettres au 13e siècle," in the _Histoire +littéraire de la France_, xvi. p. 168. + +[19] D. Behrens, in H. Paul's _Grundiss der germanischen Philologie_, +Strassbourg, 1901, pp. 953-55; Freeman, _Norman Conquest_, v. 1876, pp. +528 _sqq._; Maitland, "Anglo-French Law Language," in the _Cambridge +History of English Literature_, i. pp. 407 _sqq._, _History of English +Law_, 1895, pp. 58 _sqq._, and _Collected Papers_, 1911, ii. p. 436. At +the universities, where Latin was the usual language of correspondence, +letters and petitions were often drawn up in French (Oxford Hist. Soc., +_Collectanea_, 1st series, 1885, pp. 8 _sqq._). + +[20] Bateson, _Mediaeval England_, 1903, p. 319. + +[21] Maitland, _Collected Papers_, 1911, ii. p. 437. + +[22] Such are Bozon's _Contes moralisés_ (_c._ 1320), ed. P. Meyer, in +the _Anciens Textes Français_, 1889. In his Introduction Meyer lays +stress on the widespread use of French in England at this time, and its +chance of becoming the national language of England, an eventuality +which, he thinks, might have been a benefit to humanity. + +[23] MS. at Trinity Col. Cambridge (R. 3. 56). + +[24] Paul Meyer calls it the work of a true grammarian (_Romania_, +xxxii. p. 65). + +[25] There are four MSS. extant. These have been collated and published +by J. Sturzinger in the _Altfranzösische Bibliothek_, vol. viii., +Heilbronn, 1884; cp. _Romania_, xiv. p. 60. The earliest MS. is in the +Record Office, and was published by T. Wright in Haupt and Hoffman's +_Altdeutsche Blaetter_ (ii. p. 193). Diez quoted from this edition in +his _Grammaire des langues romanes_, 3rd ed. i. pp. 415, 418 _sqq._ The +three other MSS. are in the Brit. Mus., Camb. Univ. Libr. and Magdalen +Col. Oxon., and belong to the three succeeding centuries. Portions of +the Magdalen Col. MS. are quoted by A. J. Ellis, in his _Early English +Pronunciation_, pp. 836-839, and by F. Génin, in his preface to the +French Government reprint of Palsgrave's Grammar, 1852. It is the +British Museum copy, made in the reign of Edward III., which contains +the French commentary. + +[26] Early English writers on the French tongue were fond of drawing +attention to the opportunities for punning afforded by the language. + +[27] Edited by Miss M. K. Pope in the _Modern Language Review_ (vol. v., +1910, pt. ii. pp. 188 _sqq._), from the Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 17716, ff. +88-91; it also exists at All Souls, Oxford (MS. 182 f. 340), and at +Trinity Col. Cambridge (MS. B 14. 39, 40); in the last MS. the +introduction of the two preceding ones is lacking (cp. Meyer, _Romania_, +xxxii. p. 59). + +[28] For instance, we are told that _a_ is sounded almost like _e_ as in +_savez vous faire un chauncoun . . ._; that the phrases _a_, _en a_, _i +a_ which mean one and the same thing when they come from the Latin +_habet_, should be written without _d_; that _aura_, _en array_ should +be written without _e_ in the middle, and sounded without _u_, as +_aray_, _en array_, though the English include the _e_. + +[29] Published by Stengel, in the _Zeitschrift für neufranzösische +Sprache und Literatur_, 1879, pp. 16-22. + +[30] Miss Pope, _ut supra_. + +[31] His name has provoked some discussion as to its correct form. It is +frequently written as Biblesworth, and one MS. gives it the form of +Bithesway; the correct form, however, is Bibbesworth, the name of a +manor in the parish of Kempton (Herts), of which Walter was the owner +(P. Meyer, _Romania_, xv. p. 312, and xxx. p. 44 _n._; W. Aldis Wright, +_Notes and Queries_, 1877, 4th Series, viii. p. 64). + +[32] Printed from the MS. in the Bodleian, in Wright and Halliwell's +_Reliquiae Antiquae_, i. p. 134. + +[33] _Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1247-58_, pp. 58, 103, 187. He received +exemption from being put on assizes or juries in 1249. + +[34] _Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1301-1307_, p. 39. + +[35] She died in 1304; her father was one of the leaders on the king's +side at the battle of Lewes (1264). + +[36] There are many MSS. in the British Museum; others at Oxford and +Cambridge, and one in the Library of Sir Th. Phillips at Cheltenham. The +best-known edition of the vocabulary is that of T. Wright, _Volume of +Vocabularies_, i. pp. 142-174, which is the one here quoted, and which +reproduces Arundel MS. 220, collated with Sloane MS. 809. P. Meyer has +given a critical edition of the first eighty-six lines in his _Recueil +d'anciens textes--partie française_, No. 367 (cp. _Romania_, xiii. p. +500). + +[37] In the vocabularies written in imitation of Bibbesworth at later +dates, the English gloss is fuller, and in the latest one complete, as +French became more and more a foreign language. + +[38] "Pus to le frauncoys com il en court en age de husbonderie, com pur +arer, rebiner, waretter, semer, sarcher, syer, faucher, carier, batre, +moudre, pestrer, briser," etc. + +[39] _Polychronicon_, lib. 1, cap. 59 (ed. Babington and Lumly, Rolls +Publications, 41, 1865-66, vol. ii. pp. 159 _sqq._). + +[40] Cp. the thirteenth-century romance in which Jehan de Dammartin +teaches French to Blonde of Oxford (ed. Le Roux de Lincy, Camden Soc., +1858). + +[41] F. Anstey, _Monumenta Academica_, 1868, p. 438. + +[42] Anstey, _op. cit._, 1868, p. 302. + +[43] Published from a MS. in Cambridge University Library (Ee 4, 20), by +Skeat, in the _Transactions of the Philological Society_ (1903-1906). + +[44] The MS. in which the work is preserved dates from about 1340, but +is probably copied from an earlier one. + +[45] + + "Corps teste et hanapel + _Body heuede and heuedepanne_ + Et peil cresceant sur la peal. + _And here growende on the skyn_," etc. + +[46] How close the resemblance is between the two works may be judged by +the following quotations: + + Par le gel nous avons glas, + Et de glas vient verglas. (NOMINALE.) + + Pur le gel vous avomus glas, + Et pluvye e gele fount vereglas. (BIBBESWORTH.) + +And it is in words almost identical with those of Bibbesworth that the +author describes the difference in the meaning of some words according +to their gender: + + La levere deit clore les dentz. + _The lippe._ + Le levere en boys se tient de deynz. + _The hare._ + La livre sert a marchauntz. + _The pounde._ + Le livere aprent nous enfauntz. + _The boke._ + +[47] The earliest of these MSS. dates from the second decade of the +fourteenth century. These epistolaries are found in the following MSS.: +Harleian 4971 and 3988, Addit. 17716, in the Brit. Mus.; Ee 4, 20 in +Cantab. Univ. Library; B 14. 39, 40 in Trinity Col. Camb.; 182 at All +Souls, Oxford, and 188 Magdalen Col. Oxford (cp. Stürzinger, +_Altfranzösiche Bibliothek_), viii. pp. xvii-xix. The Introductions to +these letters were edited in a Griefswald Dissertation (1898), by W. +Uerkvitz. + +[48] Stengel, _op. cit._ pp. 8-10. + +[49] _Romania_, iv. p. 381, xxxii. p, 22. + +[50] W. Cunningham, _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, +Cambridge, 1896, pp. 635 _sqq._ + +[51] L. Menger, _Anglo-Norman Dialect_; Behrens, _art. cit._ pp. 960 +_sqq._; Brunot, _Histoire de la langue française_, i. pp. 319 _sqq._, +369. + +[52] Brunot, _op. cit._ i. p. 331. + +[53] Jusserand, _Histoire littéraire du peuple anglais_, 1896. p. 240 n. + +[54] Brunot, _op. cit._ i. p. 369. + +[55] P. Meyer commends Gower's French (_Romania_, xxxii. p. 43). + +[56] T. R. Lounsbury, _Studies in Chaucer_, London, 1892, p. 458. + +[57] Livre ii. ch. xii. + +[58] As in those of Olivier Basselin. + +[59] Eustache Deschamps, _Oeuvres_, ed. Crapelet, p. 91, quoted by +Rathery, _op. cit._ p. 181 (cp. also _English Political Songs_, ed. T. +Wright. Camden Soc., 1839). + +[60] Jusserand, _op. cit._ p. 153 n. The fourteenth branch of the +_Roman_ is specially mentioned: cp. Brunot, _op. cit._ i. p. 369, n. 4. + +[61] Brunot, _op. cit._ i. 330. It is not rare to find English +pronunciation of French ridiculed in France, and Englishmen represented +as talking a sort of gibberish; cp. _Romania_, xiv. pp. 99, 279, and +Brunot, _op. cit._ p. 369 n. + +[62] Behrens, _op. cit._ p. 957. + +[63] Ed. E. Martin, 1882, l. 2351 _sqq._ + +[64] _Recueil général et complet des fabliaux_, ed. Montaiglon et +Raynaud, ii. p. 178. + +[65] Maitland, _Collected Papers_, 1911, ii. p. 436; Freeman, _op. cit._ +p. 536; Brunot, _op. cit._ i. p. 373. + +[66] F. Watson, _Religious Refugees and English Education_, London, +1911, p. 6. There are numerous entries of such works in the _Stationers' +Register_. + +[67] Answer to Dr. Lindsey's epigram, _Works_, ed. 1841, i. p. 634. + +[68] [H. Dell], _The Frenchified Lady never in Paris_, London, 1757. + +[69] Pepys in his Diary notes the use of French in such phrases, and the +Abbé Le Blanc (_Lettres d'un Français sur les Anglais_, à la Haye, 1745) +was also struck by the custom. + +[70] Bateson, _Mediaeval England_, p. 342; Warton, _History of English +Poetry_, p. 10 n. + +[71] Ellis, _Original Letters_, 3rd series, 1846, i. p. xi. + +[72] M. A. E. Green (_née_ Wood), _Letters of Royal and Illustrious +Ladies_, London, 1846; _The Paston Letters_, new edition by J. Gairdner, +3 vols., London, 1872-75; H. Ellis, _Original Letters_, 3rd series, +London, 1846; J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, _Letters of the Kings of +England_, London, 1846; C. L. Kingsford, _English Historical Literature +in the Fifteenth Century_, Oxford, 1893, pp. 193 _et seq._; Hallam, +_Literature of Europe_, 6th ed., London, 1860, i. p. 54. + +[73] "Que tout seigneur, baron, chevalier et honestes hommes de bonnes +villes mesissent cure et dilligence de estruire et apprendre leurs +enfans le langhe françoise, par quoy il en fuissent plus avec et plus +costumier ens leurs gherres" (Froissart, quoted by Behrens, _op. cit._ +p. 957 n.). + +[74] Higden, _ut supra_. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY + + +These great changes which took place in the status of French in England +did not, however, affect fundamentally the popularity of the language: +they had to do with Anglo-French alone. French, as distinct from this +and as a foreign language, received more attention than ever before, +especially from the higher classes, and from travellers and merchants. +It was the language of politeness and refinement in the eyes of +Englishmen, not only as a result of the Conquest, but for its inherent +qualities; and so it retained this position when it gave way to English +or Latin in other spheres where its predominance had been due, either +directly or indirectly, to the Conquest. French had enjoyed a social +reputation in England before the arrival of the invaders,[75] and had +already made some progress towards becoming the language which the +English loved and cultivated above all modern foreign tongues, and to +which they devoted for a great many years more care than they did to +their own. "Doulz françois," writes an Englishman at the end of the +fourteenth century in a treatise for teaching the language,[76] is the +most beautiful and gracious language in the world, after the Latin of +the schools,[77] "et de tous gens mieulx prisée et amée que nul autre; +quar Dieu le fist se doulce et amiable principalement a l'oneur et +loenge de luy mesmes. Et pour ce il peut bien comparer au parler des +angels du ciel, pour la grant doulceur et biaultée d'icel"--a more +eloquent tribute even than the more famous lines of Brunetto Latini. +Another writer of the same period informs us that "les bones gens du +Roiaume d'Engleterre sont embrasez a scavoir lire et escrire, entendre +et parler droit François," and that he himself thinks it is very +necessary for the English to know the "droict nature de François," for +many reasons.[78] For instance, that they may enjoy intercourse with +their neighbours, the good folk of the kingdom of France; that they may +better understand the laws of England, of which a great many are still +written in French; and also because "beaucoup de bones choses sont misez +en François," and the lords and ladies of England are very fond of +writing to each other in the same tongue.[79] + +As a result of the altered circumstances which were modifying the +attitude of the English, there is a corresponding change in the standard +of the French which the manuals for teaching that language sought to +attain. All the best text-books of the end of the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries endeavour with few exceptions to impart a knowledge +of the French of Paris, "doux françois de Paris" or "la droite language +de Paris," as it was called, in contrast with the French of +Stratford-atte-Bowe and other parts of England. Those authors of +treatises for teaching French of whose lives we have any details, had +studied French in France, at Paris, Orleans, or some other University +town. The fact that many of their productions still contain numbers of +words belonging to the Norman and other dialects does not diminish the +importance and significance of their more ambitious aims. These pioneer +works on the French language, written in England by Englishmen without +the guidance of any similar work produced in France, were bound to +contain archaisms as well as anglicisms.[80] + +Fluency in speaking French was the chief need of the classes of society +in which the demand for instruction was greatest. Correctness in detail +was only of secondary importance, and grammar, though desirable, was not +considered indispensable. The importance of speaking French naturally +brought the subject of pronunciation to the fore. No doubt most of the +early teachers shared the opinions of their successors, that rules and +theoretical information were of little avail in teaching the sounds of +the language, compared with the practice of imitation and repetition; +nevertheless, many of them attempted to supply some information on the +subject. When, in the second decade of the fifteenth century, another +writer based a new treatise for teaching French on the vocabulary of +Bibbesworth, which had then been current for well over a century, the +chief point in which it differed from its original was precisely in the +provision of guidance to facilitate pronunciation. + +This new treatise was styled _Femina_,[81] because just as the mother +teaches her young child to speak his native tongue, so does this work +teach children to speak French naturally.[82] It covers almost exactly +the same ground as the vocabulary of Bibbesworth, but, as in the case of +the earlier imitation of the same work, the _Nominale_, the order of +arrangement varies, and the whole is permeated with a lively humour +which makes it at least equal in interest to the work on which it is +based. The French lines are octosyllabic and arranged in distichs, each +pair being followed by an English translation, which is given in full, +contrary to the practice in the earlier works of the same kind. The +author endeavours to teach the French of France[83] as distinguished +from that of England, and, although he lavishes provincialisms from the +local dialects of France--Norman, Picard, Walloon--in the main they are +French provincialisms, and many of them may be due to errors on the part +of the scribe. To assist pronunciation notes are provided at the bottom +of the page, giving pseudo-English equivalents of the sounds of words +written otherwise in the text. + +The treatise opens with an exhortation to the child to learn French that +he may speak fairly before wise men, for "heavy is he that is not +taught": + +Cap: primum docet rethorice loqui de assimilitudine bestiarum. + + a b + Beau enfaunt pur apprendre + c d + En franceis devez bien entendre + Ffayre chyld for to lerne + In french ye schal wel understande + + e + Coment vous parlerez bealment, + Et devaunt les sagez naturalment. + How ye schal speke fayre, + And afore ye wysemen kyndly. + + f g + Ceo est veir que vous dy, + h i + Hony est il qui n'est norry. + That ys soth that y yow say + Hevy ys he that ys not taugth + + k l + Parlez tout ditz com affaites + m + Et nenny come dissafaites + Spekep alway as man ys tauth + And not as man untauth. + + Parlez imprimer de tout assemblé + n o + Dez bestez que Dieu ad formé. + Spekep fyrst of manere assemble alle + Of bestes that God hath y maked. + + (_a_) beau debet legi bev, (_b_) enfaunt, (_c_) fraunceys, (_d_) bein, + (_e_) belement, (_f_) ce, (_g_) cet vel eyztt, (_h_) Iil, (_i_) neot, + (_k_) toutdiz, (_l_) afetes, (_m_) dissafetes, (_n_) beetez, (_o_) dv + et non Dieu. + +The subsequent chapters deal with the same subjects as in Bibbesworth, +and sometimes the wording is almost identical. The concluding chapter, +"De moribus infantis," is taken from another source, and gives +admonitions for discreet behaviour, quoting the moral treatise of the +pseudo-Cato, the Proverbs of Solomon, and the like. The passage in which +_Femina_ deals with the upbringing of the child may be of interest, as +showing how the later author repeats the earlier, while altering the +wording; and as throwing some light on the way French was then learnt: + + Et quaunt il court en graunt age + Mettez ly apprendre langage. + And when he runs in great age[84] + Put him to learn language. + + En fraunceys a luy vous devez dire + Comez il doit soun corps discrire. + In French to him ye shall say + How first he shall his body describe. + + Et pur ordre garder de moun et ma, + Toun et ta, son et sa, masculino et feminino. + And for order to kepe of mon and ma, + Toun and ta, soun and sa, for ma souneth. + + Quia ma sonat feminino moun masculino. + To femynyn gender and moun to masculyn. + + Cy que en parle soit bien apris, + Et de nule homme escharnis. + So that in speach he be well learned, + And of no man scorned. + +At the end is a 'calendar,' or table of words arranged alphabetically in +three parallel columns. The first gives the orthography of the word, the +second the pronunciation, and the third the explanation of its meaning +and construction, which usually takes the form of an English equivalent. + +In the meanwhile the grammatical study of French was not neglected. +There are still extant numerous small treatises[85] dealing with +different aspects of French grammar, chiefly the flexions, and belonging +to the end of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The conjugation of +verbs receives special attention, and there are several manuscripts +providing paradigms and lists of the chief parts of speech--often very +incorrect, and of more value as showing the interest taken in French in +England than as illustrating any development in the history of the +conjugations of French verbs. The usual verbs described in these +fragmentary works[86] are _amo_, _habeo_, _sum_, _volo_, _facio_, and +the French paradigms are generally accompanied by Latin ones, on which +they are naturally based, and which were intended to help the student to +understand the French ("cum expositione earundem in Latinis"). The two +most considerable of these works known add many verbs to the list +mentioned above. Of these the first, the _Liber Donati_,[87] gives +examples of law French rather than literary French;[88] but the other, +written in French, endeavours to teach "douce françois de Paris"--_cy +comence le Donait soloum douce franceis de Paris_.[89] The _Donait_ +belongs to the fifteenth century, and is the work of one R. Dove, who +also wrote some _Regulae de Orthographia Gallica_ in Latin,[90] which +show considerable resemblance to those of the earlier _Orthographia +Gallica_. The same is true of some of the rules devoted to orthography +in the _Liber Donati_, which also owes something to the work of 'T. H., +Student of Paris,' either in the original form, or, more probably, in +the recast, due to Canon Coyfurelly. In this respect, Coyfurelly +continues the efforts of the earlier writer to purify English spelling +of French--efforts which at this time would meet with more success than +was the case earlier.[91] + +Another topic touched on in the _Regulae_ of R. Dove is the formation of +the plural of nouns, and of the feminine of adjectives. The substance of +one of these rules may be quoted, as an example of the failure of these +early writers to grasp general principles. All nouns ending in _ge_, +like _lange_, says the grammarian, take _s_ in the plural, as _langes_; +all nouns ending in _urc_, as _bourc_, have _z_ or _s_ in the plural and +drop the _c_, as _bours_; all nouns ending in _nyn_, as _conyn_, take +_s_ in the plural, as _chemyns_; all nouns ending in _eyn_, as _peyn_, +form their plural by adding _s_, as _peyns_. Such is the rule for the +formation of the plural of nouns, and that for the feminine of +adjectives, which follows, is on the same lines. Pronouns also received +some attention from these early grammarians. The _Liber Donati_[92] +contains a few remarks on the personal, demonstrative and possessive +pronouns, giving the different forms for the singular and plural and the +various cases; thus it tells us that _jeo_ and sometimes _moy_ are used +for _I_ (_ego_) in the nominative case, and in other cases _moy_ or _me_ +in the singular, while _nous_ is used for the plural in all cases, and +so forth. + +We thus see that the verbs, nouns and pronouns received consideration, +varying in degree, at the hands of these pioneers in French grammar. +Neither were the indeclinable parts of speech neglected; at the end of +the _Liber Donati_ there is a list of some of these as well as of the +ordinal and cardinal numbers in both Latin and French, while the +_Donait_ gives the numbers only. Some manuscripts contain lists of +adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions in Latin and French.[93] Others +give lists of the cardinal and ordinal numbers in French, and one adds +to these a nomenclature of the different colours.[94] The names of the +days, months, and feast-days were another favourite subject. + +Of these small treatises that which nearest approaches the form of a +comprehensive grammar is the _Liber Donati_, which includes observations +on the orthography and pronunciation, on verbs and pronouns, and lists +of adverbs, conjunctions, and numerals. But there appeared at the +beginning of the fifteenth century, before 1409, a more comprehensive +treatise of some real value--the _Donait françois pur briefment +entroduyr les Anglois en la droit langue du Paris et de pais la +d'entour_,[95] a work which but for its very many anglicisms might be +placed on a level with some of the similar grammars of the sixteenth +century.[96] The origin of this _Donait_ is interesting. A certain +Englishman, John Barton, born and bred in the county of Cheshire, but a +student of Paris, and a passionate lover of the French language, engaged +some good clerks to compose the _Donait_, at his own great cost and +trouble, for the benefit of the English, who are so eager ("embrasez") +to learn French.[97] Judging from the lines with which Barton closes his +short but communicative preface, the work was intended mainly for the +use of young people--the "chers enfants" and "tres douces pucelles," +'hungering' to learn French: "Pur ce, mes chiers enfantz et tresdoulcez +puselles," he writes, "que avez fam d'apprendre cest Donait scachez +qu'il est divisé en belcoup de chapiters si come il apperera cy avale." +Barton then retires to make way for his 'clerks,' whose remarks are +entirely confined to grammatical teaching and who, like Barton, write in +French. + +Most of the early treatises on French grammar which appeared in England +are written in Latin. Latin appears to have been the medium through +which French was learnt and explained to a large extent, although in the +case of the riming vocabularies English was used for teaching the young +children for whom these nomenclatures were chiefly written. But grammar, +probably intended to be learnt by older students, was usually studied in +Latin, which was also found to be a help in learning French. Students +are told to base French orthography on that of Latin, and there are +constant references from French words to their Latin originals. The +_Donait soloum douce franceis de Paris_ is apparently the only work of +any importance written in French before that of Barton. English was not +used for this purpose before the sixteenth century, when it was almost +invariably employed, even by Frenchmen. A grammar such as Barton's +would, no doubt, be read and translated with the help of a tutor; and it +is highly probable that the children for whom it was intended would have +previously acquired some practical knowledge of French from some such +elementary treatise as Bibbesworth's vocabulary. Moreover, French was so +generally in use in the higher classes of society, and had been for so +long a kind of semi-national tongue, that it would hardly be approached +as an entirely foreign language, as in later times. In writing a French +grammar in French, Barton and those who followed the same course merely +adopted for the teaching of French a method in common use in the +teaching of Latin. The advisability of writing French grammars in French +was a question, as we shall see, much discussed in the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries as well as in much more recent times. + +The clerks employed by Barton made free use of the observations on +French grammar which had appeared previously. But their work had an +additional value; the rules are stated with considerable clearness and +are usually correct.[98] The opening chapters deal with the letters and +their pronunciation, set forth, like the rest of the grammar, in a +series of questions and answers: + + Quantez letters est il? Vint. Quellez? Cinq voielx et quinse + consonantez. Quelx sont les voielx et ou seroit ils sonnés? Le + premier vouyel est _a_ et serra sonné en la poetrine, la seconde + est _e_ et serra sonné en la gorge, le tiers est _i_ et serra sonné + entre les joues, le quart est _o_ et serra sonné du palat de la + bouche, le quint est _u_ et serra sonné entre les levres. + +To these observations on the vowels are added a few on the consonants, +and "belcoup de bones rieules" (six in all) treating the avoidance of +hiatus between two consonants and the effects of certain vowels and +consonants on each other's pronunciation. Next come a few observations +on the parts of speech; for "apres le Chapitre des lettres il nous fault +dire des accidens." Instead of giving a number of isolated instances as +rules for the formation of the plural, the general rule for the addition +of _s_ to the singular is evolved and emphasized by this advice: "Pour +ceo gardez vous que vous ne mettez pas le singuler pour le pulier +(pluriel) ne a contraire, si come font les sots." Further, we must avoid +imitating the 'sottez gens,' to whom frequent reference is made, in +using one person of a tense for another, and saying _je ferra_ for _je +ferray_.[99] In this section of the work the rules follow each other +without any orderly arrangement.[100] + +At about the same time an English poet is said to have written a French +grammar, as another poet, Alexander Barclay, actually did later. An +early bibliographer[101] includes in his list of Lydgate's works one +entitled _Praeceptiones Linguae Gallicae_, in one book, of which no +further trace remains to-day. Lydgate, however, was well acquainted with +French; he made the customary foreign tour, besides visiting Paris again +on a later occasion in attendance on noble patrons, and put his +knowledge of the language to the test by translating or adapting several +works from the French, like most contemporary writers.[102] The same +early authority informs us that, as soon as Lydgate returned from his +travels, he opened a school for the sons of noblemen, possibly at Bury +St. Edmunds. Probably Lydgate wrote a French grammar for the use of +these young noblemen, who would certainly have to learn the language; +and, after serving their immediate purpose, these rules, we may surmise, +were lost and soon forgotten. + +In the fifteenth century, instruction in French epistolary style of all +degrees continued to be supplied in collections of model letters; and at +the end of the fourteenth century a new kind of book for teaching French +appeared--the _Manière de Langage_ or model conversation book, intended +for the use of travellers, merchants, and others desiring a +conversational and practical rather than a thorough and grammatical +knowledge of French. Contrary to the custom, prevalent at this later +period, of providing English translations, the earliest of these contain +no English gloss, but simply the French text without any attempt at even +the slight grammatical instruction provided in the vocabularies. Their +sole purpose was to give the traveller or wayfarer a supply of phrases +and expressions on the customary topics; grammatical instruction could +be sought elsewhere. + +The earliest of these[103] is the first work for teaching French to +which a definite date can be assigned. A sort of dedication at the end +is dated from Bury St. Edmunds, "la veille du Pentecote, 1396." We have +not the same definite information as to the author.[104] The anglicisms +make it clear that he was an Englishman, while the references to Orleans +and its university, and the trouble there between the students and the +townspeople in 1389, suggest that he was a student of that university, +then much frequented by the English and other foreigners, especially law +students. He may have been Canon M. T. Coyfurelly, Doctor of Law of +Orleans,[105] and author of the contemporary recasting of T. H.'s +treatise on French orthography. The author tells us he undertook his +task at the request of a "tres honoré et tres gentil sire"; that he had +learnt French "es parties la mere," and that he wrote according to the +knowledge he acquired there, which, he admits, may not be perfect. +Indeed his French is full of anglicisms; _que homme_ is written for +'that man'; _oeuvrer_ for 'worker'; _que_ for 'why,' and so on; there +are also many grammatical mistakes such as wrong genders, _au homme_, +_de les_ for _des_, _de le_ for _du_. This "manière" must have enjoyed a +very considerable popularity, judging from the number of manuscripts, of +various dates, still in existence. And, in modern times, it presents a +greater interest to the reader than any of the treatises mentioned +before, partly from the naïveté and quaintness of its style, partly +owing to the vivid picture it gives us of the life of the time at which +it was written. + +It opens in a religious strain, with a prayer that the students of the +book may have "sens naturel" to learn to speak, pronounce, and write +"doulz françois": + + A noster commencement nous dirons ainsi: en nom du pere, filz et + Saint Esperit, amen. Ci comence la Maniere de Language qui + t'enseignera bien a droit parler et escrire doulz françois selon + l'usage et la coustume de France. Primiers, au commencement de + nostre fait et besogne nous prierons Dieu devoutement et nostre + Dame la benoite vierge Marie sa tres douce mere, et toute la + glorieuse compaigne du Saint reaume de Paradis celeste, ou Dieux + mette ses amis et ses eslus, de quoi vient toute science, sapience, + grace et entendement et tous manieres vertuz, qu'il luy plaist de + sa grande misericorde et grace tous les escoliers estudianz en cest + livre ainsi abruver et enluminer de la rousée de sa haute sapience + et entendement, qu'ils pouront avoir sens naturel d'aprendre a + parler, bien soner et a droit escrire doulz françois. + +Then, because man is the noblest of all created things, the author +proceeds to give a list of the parts of his body, which recalls the old +riming vocabularies. This, however, is the only portion in which +conversation is sacrificed to vocabulary. In the rest of the work, +though the vocabulary is increased by alternative phrases wherever +possible, it is never allowed to encroach too much on the conversation. + +The second chapter presents a scene between a lord and his page, in +which the page receives minute instructions for commissions to the +draper, the mercer, and upholsterer--an excellent opportunity of +introducing a large choice of words. Conversation for travellers is the +subject of the third chapter, the most important, and certainly the most +interesting in the whole book. It tells, "Coment un homme chivalchant ou +cheminant se doit contenir et parler sur son chemin qui voult aler bien +loin hors de son pais." After witnessing the preparations for the +journey, the reader accompanies the lord and his page through an +imaginary journey in France. Dialogue and narrative alternate, and the +lord talks with his page Janyn or whiles away the time with songs: + + Et quant il aura achevée sa chanson il comencera a parler a son + escuier ou a ses escuiers, ainsi disant: "Mes amys, il est bien pres + de nuyt," vel sic: "Il sera par temps nuyt." Doncques respont Janyn + au son signeur bien gentilment en cest maniere: "Vrayement mon + seigneur, vous ditez verité"; vel sic: "vous ditez voir"; vel sic: + "vous dites vray"--"Je panse bien qu'il feroit mieux pour nous + d'arester en ce ville que d'aller plus avant maishuy. Coment vous + est avis?"--"Ainsi comme vous vuillez, mon seigneur." "Janyn!"--"Mon + signeur?"--"Va devant et prennez nostre hostel par temps."--"Si + ferai-je, mon seigneur." Et s'en vait tout droit en sa voie, et + quant il sera venu a l'ostel il dira tout courtoisement en cest + maniere. "Hosteler, hosteler," etc. + +The page then proceeds to make hasty preparations for the coming of his +master to the inn, and we next assist at the arrival of the lord and his +evening meal and diversions--another opportunity for the introduction of +songs--and his departure in the morning towards Étampes and Orleans. + +More humble characters appear in the next chapter: "Un autre manière de +parler de pietalle, comme des labourers et oeuvrers de mestiers." Here +we have conversations between members of the working classes. A gardener +and a ditcher discuss their respective earnings, describe their work, +and finally go and dine together; a baker talks with his servant, and so +gives us the names of the chief things used in his trade, just as the +gardener gave a list of flowers and fruits. A merchant scolds his +apprentice for various misdemeanours, and then sends him off to market: + + Doncques l'apprentiz s'en vait au marchié pour vendre les danrées de + son maistre et la vienment grant cop des gens de divers pais de les + achater: et apprentiz leur dit tout courtoisement en cest + maniere,--'Mes amis venez vous ciens et je vous monstrerai de aussi + bon drap comme vous trouverez en tout ce ville, et vous en aurez de + aussi bon marché comme nul autre. Ore regardez, biau sire, comment + vous est avis; vel sic: comment vous plaist il; + +and after some bargaining he sells his goods. + +In the next "manière de parler" a servant brings a torn doublet to a +mender of old clothes, and enlists his services. A chapter of more +interest and importance is that dealing with greetings and salutations +to be used at different times of the day to members of the various ranks +of society: + + Quant un homme encontrera aucun au matinée il luy dira tout + courtoisement ainsi: "Mon signour Dieux vous donne boun matin et + bonne aventure," vel sic: "Sire Dieux vous doint boun matin et bonne + estraine, Mon amy, Dieux vous doint bon jour et bonne encontre." Et + a midi vous parlerez en cest maniere: "Monsieur Dieux vous donne bon + jour et bonnes heures"; vel sic: "Sire, Dieu vous beneit et la + compaignie!" A peitaille vous direz ainsi: "Dieux vous gart!" . . . + Et as oeuvrers et labourers vous direz ainsi: "Dieux vous ait, mon + amy," + +and so on. One traveller asks another whence he comes and where he was +born, and the other says he comes from Orleans, where there is a fierce +quarrel between the students and the townspeople; and was born in +Hainaut, where they love the English well, and there is a saying that +"qui tient un Henner (Hennuyer) par la main, tient un Englois par le +cuer." We are next taught how to speak to children: "Quant vous verez un +enfant plorer et gemir, vous direz ainsi: Qu'as tu, mon enfant," and +comfort him, and when a poor man asks you for alms, you shall answer, +"Mon amy, se je pourroi je vous aidasse tres volantiers. . . ." + +From this we return to subjects more suited to merchants and +wayfarers--how to inquire the road, and to go on a pilgrimage to the +tomb of St. Thomas-à-Becket. The work closes with a gathering of +companions in an inn, which, like the rest of the chapters, is full of +life and interest. Last of all, a sort of supplement is added in the +form of a short poem on the drawbacks of poverty: + + Il est hony qui pouveres est, + +and a _fatrasie_ in prose. + +Another treatise of the same kind, written about three years later, was +intended chiefly for the use of children, _Un petit livre pour enseigner +les enfantz de leur entreparler comun françois_.[106] It was not the +first of its kind. The metrical vocabularies of Bibbesworth and his +successors were chiefly intended for the use of children. There is also +some evidence to show that the grammatical treatises were used by +children; the commentary was added to the _Orthographica Gallica_ +because the rules were somewhat obscure "pour jeosne gentz," and Barton, +in his introduction, mentions the "chiers enfantz" and "tresdoulez +puselles," as those whom his grammar particularly concerns. + +In the _Petit livre_, however, the teaching is of the simplest kind, and +specially suited to children. The dialogue lacks the interest of the +earlier 'manière,' and inclines, in places, to become a list of phrases +pure and simple. The work opens abruptly with the words: "Pour ce sachez +premierement que le an est divisé en deux, c'est asscavoir le yver et +la esté. Le yver a six mois et la esté atant, que vallent douse," and so +on to the other divisions of the year and time. The children are then +taught the numbers in French, the names of the coins, and those of the +persons and things with which they come into daily contact. Then follow +appropriate terms for addressing and greeting different persons, and the +author even goes so far as to provide the child with a stock of +insulting terms for use in quarrels. The rest of the treatise does not +appear to be intended for children. There are conversations in a tavern, +lists of salutations, familiar talk for the wayside and for buying and +selling, all of which has little special interest, and is designed +apparently to meet the needs of merchants more than any other class. In +the chatter on the events of the day there occurs a passage which +enables us to date the work. The traveller tells the hostess of the +captivity of Richard II. as a recent event: + + "Dieu, dame, j'ay ouy dire que le roy d'Angleterre est osté."--"Quoy + desioie!"--"Par ma alme voir."--"Et les Anglois n'ont ils point de + roy donques?"--"Marie, ouy, et que celuy que fust duc de Lancastre, + que est nepveu a celluy que est osté."--"Voire?"--"Voire + vraiement."--"Et le roygne que fera elle?"--"Par dieu dame, je ne + sçay, je n'ay pas esté en conceille."--"Et le roy d'Angleterre ou + fust il coronné?"--"A Westmynstre."--"Fustez vous la + donques?"--"Marie, oy, il y avoit tant de presse que par un pou que + ne mouru quar a paine je eschapey a vie."--"Et ou serra il a + nouvel?"--"Par ma foy je ne sçay, mais l'en dit qu'il serra en + Escoce." + +The authorship is not so easy to ascertain. The manual may be due to +Canon T. Coyfurelly, probable author of the earlier and better-known +work also.[107] The many mistakes and anglicisms, such as _quoy_ for +_quelle_ ('what') and the exclamatory 'Marie' in the quotation just +given, show it to be the work of an Englishman. + +Another book of conversation appeared in 1415,[108] as may be gathered +from its first two chapters, in which a person fresh from the wars in +France tells of the siege of Harfleur and the battle of Agincourt, and +announces the return of the victorious English army. The rest of the +dialogues are represented as taking place in and about Oxford. There is +the usual tavern scene. Travellers from Tetsworth arrive at an Oxford +inn, and are present at the evening meal and diversions. The hostess +describes the fair at Woodstock and the articles bought and sold there; +her son, a boy of twelve years, wants to be apprenticed in London; he +goes to the school of Will Kyngesmylle, where writing, counting, and +French are taught. One of the merchants calls the lad and questions him +as to his knowledge of French: "Et que savez vous en fraunceys +dire?--Sir je say moun noun et moun corps bien descrire.--Ditez moy +qu'avez a noun.--J'ay a noun Johan, bon enfant, beal et sage et bien +parlant engleys, fraunceys et bon normand, beneyt soit la verge que +chastie l'enfant et le bon maistre qui me prist taunt! Je pri a Dieu +tout puissant nous graunte le joye tous diz durant!" The lad then +proceeds to give proof of his knowledge by naming the parts of his body +and his clothing, always, it appears, the first things learnt. + +This reference to the teaching of French in the school of an Oxford +pedagogue shows that, though French had at this time lost all +standing in the Grammar Schools, it was still taught in private +establishments.[109] It seems highly probable that Will Kyngesmylle was +the author of this work, and that he used his text-book as a means of +self-advertisement, a method very common among later teachers of French. +At the close comes a chapter belonging to another work of the same type, +which is only preserved in this fragment; no doubt other such works +existed and have been entirely lost. + +It is likely that in the fifteenth century these conversational manuals +supplanted, to a considerable extent, the earlier type of practical +manual for teaching French--the metrical vocabulary--with which they had +something in common. At any rate, there is no copy of such nomenclatures +extant after _Femina_ (1415). The 'manières' provided in their dialogues +much of the material found in the vocabularies, giving, wherever +possible, groups of words on the same topics--the body, its clothing, +houses, and men's occupations. Further, the vocabularies, which had +never departed from the type instituted by Bibbesworth in the thirteenth +century, dealt more with the feudal and agricultural life of the Middle +Ages, and so had fallen behind the times. The 'Manières de Langage' were +more in keeping with the new conditions. Towards the end of the century +(and perhaps at the beginning of the sixteenth century) we come to a +manual,[110] which, while resembling the 'manières' in most points, +reproduces some of the distinctive external marks of the vocabularies. +For instance, the French is arranged in short lines, which, however, do +not rime, and vary considerably in the number of syllables they contain; +and these are followed by a full interlinear English gloss, as in the +later vocabularies. The subject matter, however, is similar to that of +the early conversation books. First comes gossip at taverns and by the +wayside: + + Ditez puisse ie savement aler? + Saie may I saufly goo? + Ye sir le chemyn est sure assez. + Yes sir the wey is sure inough. + Mes il convent que vous hastez. + But it behoveth to spede you. + Sir dieu vous donne bon aventure. + Sir god geve you good happe. + Sir a dieu vous commaunde. + Sir to god I you betake. + + Sir dieu vous esploide. + Sir god spede you. + Sir bon aventure avez vous. + Sir good chaunce have ye. + Sir par saint Marie cy est bon servise. + Sir by saint Marie her is good ale. + Sir pernes le hanappe, vous comenceres. + Sir take the coppe, ye shal beginne. + Dame ie ne feray point devaunt vous. + Dame I wil not doo bifor you. + Sir vous ferrez verrement. + Sir ye shal sothely. + +After some disconnected discourse on inquiring the time, asking the way, +etc., we again return to the tavern: + + Dame dieu vous donne bon jour. + Dame god geve you good daie. + Dame avez hostel pour nous trois compaignons? + Dame have ye hostel for us iij felowes? + Sir quant longement voudrez demourer? + Sir how long wol ye abide? + Dame nous ne savons point. + Dame we wote not. + Et que vouldrez donner le iour pour vostre table? + And what wil ye geve a daie for your table? + Dame que vouldrez prendr pour le iour? + Dame what wol ye take for the daie? + Sir non meynns que vj deniers le iour. + Sir noo lesse thenne vj d. the day ... etc. + +Next comes the usual scene between buyers and sellers, followed by +another inn scene of greater length. After attending to their horses, +the travellers sup and spend the night at the inn, and set out the next +morning after reckoning with their hostess. The manuscript ends abruptly +in the midst of a list of salutations. The nature of the French[111] +betrays the author's nationality; he was evidently an Englishman. As to +the English, the quaint turn given to many of the phrases is usually +explained by the writer's desire to give a literal translation of the +French; many of the inaccuracies in both versions are probably due to +careless work on the part of the scribe. + +Merchants thus appear to have been one of the chief classes among which +there was a demand for instruction in French. In addition to the large +part assigned to them in the 'Manières de Langage,' and in the +epistolaries, where letters of a commercial nature are a usual feature, +there exist collections of model forms for drawing up bills, indentures, +receipts and other documents of similar import. They are usually called +'cartularies,' are accompanied by explanations in Latin, and may be +looked upon as the first text-books of commercial French.[112] One +author explains their origin and aim by this introductory remark:[113] +"Pour ceo qe j'estoie requis par ascunz prodeshommez de faire un +chartuarie pour lour enfantz enformer de faire chartours, endenturs, +obligations, defesance, acquitancez, contuaries, salutaries, en Latin et +Franceys ensemblement . . . fesant les chartours, escripts munimentz a +de primes en Latyn et puis en Franceys." + +More emphasis is laid on the demand for instruction in French among the +merchant class by the fact that the earliest printed text-books were +designed chiefly for their use. The first of these may be classed with +the new development of the 'Manières de Langage,' comprising dialogues +in French and English, although it does not exactly answer to this +description.[114] It was issued from the press of William Caxton in +about 1483, and at least one other edition appeared at a later +date.[115] In form it is a sort of narrative in French, with an English +translation opposite. The aim of the work is stated clearly in an +introductory passage which informs the reader that "who this book shall +learn may well enterprise merchandise from one land to another and to +know many wares which to him shall be good to be bought, or sold for +rich to become." Caxton thus recommends the book to the learner: + + Tres bonne doctrine Rygt good lernyng + Pour aprendre For to lerne + Briefment fransoys et engloys. Shortly frenssh & englyssh. + Au nom du pere In the name of the fadre + Et du filz And of the soone + Et du sainte esperite And of the holy ghost + Veul comnencier I wyll begynne + Et ordonner ung livre, And ordeyne this book, + Par le quel on pourra By the which men shall mowe + Raysonnablement entendre Resonably understande + Françoys et Anglois, Frenssh and Englissh, + Du tant comme cest escript Of as moche as this writing + Pourra contenir et estendre, Shall conteyne & stratche, + Car il ne peut tout comprendre. For he may not all comprise. + Mais ce qu'on n'y trouvera But that which cannot be founden + Declairé en cestui Declared in this + Pourra on trouver ailleurs Shall be founde somwhere els + En aultres livres. In other bookes. + Mais sachies pour voir But knowe for truthe + Que es lignes de cest aucteur That in the lynes of this auctour + Sount plus de parolles et de raysons Ben moo wordes & reasons + Comprinses, et de responses Comprised, & of answers + Que en moult d'aultres livres. Than in many other bookes. + Qui ceste livre vouldra aprendre Who this booke shall wylle lerne + Bien pourra entreprendre May well enterprise + Merchandises d'un pays a Marchandise fro one land to + l'autre, anoothir, + Et cognoistre maintes denrées And to know many wares + Que lui seroient bon Which to him shall be good to be + achetés bought + Ou vendues pour riche devenir. Or sold for rich to become. + Aprendes ce livre diligement, Lerne this book diligently, + Grande prouffyt y gyst vrayement. Grete prouffyt lieth therein truly. + +The 'doctrine' itself opens with a list of salutations with the +appropriate answers. A house and all its contents come next, then its +inhabitants, which introduces the subject of degrees of kinship: + + Or entendes petys et grands, + Je vous dirai maintenant + Dune autre matere + La quele ie commence. + Se vous estes mariés + Et vous avez femme + Et vous ayez marye, + Se vous maintiens paisiblement + Que vos voisins ne disent + De vous fors que bien: + Ce seroit vergoigne. + Se vous aves pere et mere, + Si les honnourés tousiours; + Faictes leur honneur;. . . + Si vous aves enfans, + Si les instrues + De bonnes meurs; + Le temps qu'ilz soient josnes + Les envoyes a l'escole + Aprendre lire et escripre. . . . + +At the end of the category come the servants and their occupations, +which affords an opportunity of bringing in the different shops to which +they are sent and of specifying the meat and drink they purchase there. +We then pass to buying, selling, and bargaining in general, and to +merchandise of all kinds, with a list of coins, popular fairs, and +fête-days. + +After an enumeration of the great persons of the earth comes the main +chapter of the work, giving a fairly complete list of crafts and trades. +This takes the form of an alphabetical list of Christian names, each of +which is made to represent one of the trades, beginning with Adam the +ostler: "For this that many words shall fall or may fall which be not +plainly heretofore written, so shall I write you from henceforth divers +matters of all things, first of one thing, then of another, in which +chapter I will conclude the names of men and women after the order of a, +b, c." The baker may be selected as a fair example: + + Ferin le boulengier Fierin the baker + Vend blanc pain et brun. Selleth whit brede and brown. + Il a sour son grenier gisant He hath upon his garner lieng + Cent quartiers de bled. One hundred quarters of corn. + Il achete a temps et a heure, He byeth in tyme and at hour, + Si qu'il n'a point So that he hath not + Du chier marchiet. Of the dere chepe (high buying prices). + +At last the author, "all weary of so many names to name, of so many +crafts, so many offices, so many services," finds relief in certain +considerations of a religious order: "God hath made us unto the likeness +of himself, he will reward those who do well and punish those who do not +repent of their sins, and attend the holy services: If ye owe any +pilgrimages, so pay them hastily; when you be moved for to go your +journey, and ye know not the waye, so axe it thus." The usual +directions for inquiring the way follow with the description of the +arrival at an inn, and the customary gossip. The reckoning and departure +on the following morning afford an opportunity of including a further +list of Flemish and English coins together with the numerals; and Caxton +concludes his work by commending it to the reader with a prayer that +those who study it may persevere sufficiently to profit by it: + + Cy fine ceste doctrine, Here endeth this doctrine, + + A Westmestre les Loundres At Westmestre by London + En formes impressée, In fourmes enprinted, + En le quelle ung chaucun In the whiche one everish + Pourra briefment aprendre May shortly lerne + François et Engloys. French and English. + La grace de sainct esperit The grace of the holy ghosst + Veul enluminer les cures Wylle enlyghte the hertes + De ceulx qui le aprendront, Of them that shall lerne it, + Et nous doinst perseverance And us gyve perseverans + En bonnes operacions, In good werkes, + Et apres cest vie transitorie And after lyf transitorie + La pardurable ioye et glorie! The everlasting ioye and glorie! + +The short introduction and epilogue were most probably the composition +of Caxton himself. The rest of the book is drawn from a set of dialogues +in French and Flemish, first written at the beginning of the fourteenth +century, called _Le Livre des Mestiers_ in reference to its main +chapter.[116] This would possibly be known to merchants trading with +Bruges and other centres of the Low Countries; and when we notice the +numerous points of resemblance between it and the English manuals of +conversation, the first of which did not appear before the end of the +same century, it seems very probable that the Flemish original had some +influence on the works produced in England. Caxton was a silk mercer of +London, and his business took him to the towns of the Low Countries, +especially Bruges, where the English merchants had a large commercial +connexion. There, no doubt, he became acquainted with the _Livre des +Mestiers_, and probably improved his knowledge of French by its help, +for he studied and read the language a good deal during his long sojourn +abroad. There also he probably added an English column to his copy of +the French-Flemish phrase-book, as a sort of exercise rather than with +any serious intention of publication; and when he had set up his press +at Westminster, remembering the need he had felt for French, in his own +commercial experience, and the little book which had assisted him, he +would decide to print it. Caxton's copy of the _Livre des Mestiers_ +belonged, no doubt, to a later date than the one extant to-day,[117] +probably to the beginning of the fifteenth century. It must have been +fuller, and have had different names attached to the characters, so +that, as the names are still arranged in alphabetical order, it is +difficult, at a glance, to distinguish the identity of the two texts. + +Caxton's rendering of the French is often inaccurate, owing perhaps to +the influence of the Flemish version from which he seems to have made +his translation.[117] Moreover, at the early date at which Caxton, +probably, added the English column to the _Livre des Mestiers_, his +knowledge of French had not yet reached that state of thoroughness which +was to enable him to translate such a remarkable number of French works +into English. He himself tells us in the prologue to the _Recuyell of +the Histories of Troy_ of Raoul le Fèvre (Bruges, 1475)--the first of +his translations from the French, and, indeed, the first book to be +printed in English--that his knowledge of French was not by any means +perfect. With the exception of the introductory and closing sentences, +Caxton made few additions to his original. He did indeed supply the +names of English towns, coins, bishoprics, and so on; but, on the whole, +the setting of the work is foreign; Bruges, not London, is the centre of +the action, and no doubt the place where the original was composed. + +Not long after the publication of Caxton's doctrine another work of like +character and purpose appeared. It claims to be "a good book to learn to +speak French for those who wish to do merchandise in France, and +elsewhere in other lands where the folk speak French." The atmosphere is +entirely English, and consequently its contents bear a closer +resemblance to its English predecessors. In the arrangement of the +dialogue it is identical with the Cambridge conversation book, except +that the English lines come before the French, and not the French before +the English.[118] The four subjects round which the dialogue turns, +namely, salutations, buying and selling, inquiring the way, and +conversation at the inn, were all favourites in the early "Manières de +Langage." For the rest it follows in the steps of its English +predecessors in confining itself to dialogue pure and simple, while +Caxton's 'doctrine' adopted the narrative form. In one point, however, +the work differs from the latest development of the old "Manière de +Langage," as preserved in the Cambridge Dialogues in French and English; +the dialogues are followed by a vocabulary, then a reprint of one of the +old books on courtesy and demeanour for children, with a French version +added, and finally commercial letters in French and English. The work is +thus made much more comprehensive than any of its type which had as yet +appeared, and includes samples, so to speak, of all the practical +treatises for teaching French which had appeared in the Middle Ages. + +It was printed separately by the two chief printers of the time, both +foreigners: Richard Pynson, a native of Normandy and student of Paris, +who came to England and began printing on his own account about +1590-1591; and Wynkyn de Worde, a native of Alsace, and apprentice to +Caxton, with whom he probably came to England from Bruges in 1476, and +to whose business he succeeded in 1491.[119] Although neither of the +printers dated their work, it seems probable that the earliest edition +was issued by Pynson. There is a unique copy of his edition in the +British Museum; it is without title-page, pagination, or catch-words, +and the colophon reads simply "Per me Ricardum Pynson." The colophon of +Wynkyn's work, of which there is a complete copy in the Grenville +Library (British Museum),[120] and a fragment of two leaves in the +Bodleian, is slightly more instructive and runs as follows: "Here endeth +a lytyll treatyse for to lern Englyshe and Frensshe. Emprynted at +Westmynster by my Wynken de Worde." Now as Wynkyn moved from Westminster +in 1500 to set up his shop in the centre of the trade in Fleet Street, +opposite to that of his rival Pynson, his edition of the work must have +appeared before that date, because it was issued from what had been +Caxton's house in Westminster. On the other hand, the type used by +Pynson is archaic,[121] and the work is evidently one of the earliest +issued from his press. It is inferior to Wynkyn's edition from the +technical point of view. A headline is all there is by way of title; +while in Wynkyn's copy we find a separate title-page, containing the +words, "Here begynneth a lytell treatyse for to lern Englishe and +Frensshe," and a woodcut of a schoolmaster seated in a large chair, with +a large birch-rod in his left hand, and, on a stool at his feet, three +small boys holding open books. This particular woodcut was a favourite +in school-books of the period;[122] it appears, for instance, in a +little treatise entitled _Pervula_, giving instructions for turning +English into Latin, which Wynkyn de Worde printed about 1495.[123] +Moreover, each page of Wynkyn's edition has a descriptive headline, +"Englysshe and Frensshe," which is not found in Pynson's. The text also +is in many places more accurate than that of the Norman printer, and +gives the impression of having been corrected here and there. It is +therefore probable that Pynson first printed the treatise shortly after +1490,[124] and that another edition was issued by Wynkyn de Worde during +the period intervening between the date of the issue of Pynson's edition +and the end of the century. A remnant, consisting of one page of yet +another edition, is preserved in the British Museum, and shows some +variations in spelling from the two other texts. + +This little book, then, seems to have enjoyed considerable popularity +during its short life. On the whole it is more elementary in character +than the 'doctrine' of Caxton. The first things taught are the numbers +and a list of ordinary mercantile phrases. The opening passage is very +much like that written by Caxton for his work: + + Here is a good boke to lerne to speke Frenshe. + Vecy ung bon livre apprendre parler françoys. + In the name of the fader and the sone + En nom du pere et du filz + And of the holy goost, I wyll begynne + Et du saint esperit, je vueil commencer + To lerne to speke Frensshe, + A apprendre a parler françoys, + Soo that I maye doo my marchandise + Affin que je puisse faire ma marchandise + In Fraunce & elles where in other londes, + En France et ailieurs en aultre pays, + There as the folk speke Frensshe. + La ou les gens parlent françoys. + And fyrst I wylle lerne to reken by lettre. + Et premierement je veux aprendre a compter par lettre. . . . + +Next come the cardinal numbers and a vocabulary of words "goode for +suche as use marchaundyse": + + Of gold & sylver. + D'or et d'argent. + Of cloth of golde. + De drap d'or. + Of perles & precyous stones. + De perles et Pieres precieuses. + Of velvet & damaskes. + De velours et damas etc. . . . + +and so on for nearly a page, in which the names of various cloths, +spices, and wines are provided. + +Then follows another "manner of speeche" in a list of salutations +arranged in dialogue form: + + Other maner of speche in frensshe. + Autre magniere de langage en françoys. + Syr, God gyve you good daye. + Sire, Dieu vous doint bon iour. + Syr, God gyve you goode evyn. + Sire, Dieu vous doint bon vespere. + Syr, God gyve you goode nyght & goode reste. + Sire, Dieu vous doint bon nuyt et bon repos. + Syr, how fare ye? + Sire, comment vous portez vous? + Well at your commaundement. + Bien a vostre commandement. + How fare my lorde & my lady? + Coment se porte mon seigneur et ma dame? + Ryght well blessyd be God. + Tres bien benoit soit Dieu. + + Syr, whan go ye agayne to my lorde, + Sire, quant retournez vous a mon seigneour, + I praye you that ye wyll recommaunde me unto hym, + Je vous prie que me recomandez a lui, + And also to my lady his wyfe. + Et aussi a ma dame sa femme. + Syr, God be wyth you. + Sire, Dieu soit avecques vous. + +Yet another favourite subject is next introduced--a conversation on +buying and selling: + + Other maner of speche to bye and selle. + Aultre magniere de langage pour vendre et achatter. + Syr, God spede you. + Sire, Dieu vous garde. + Syr, have ye not good cloth to sell? + Sire, n'avez vous point de bon drapt a vendre? + Ye syr ryght good. + Ouy sire tres bon. + Now lette me see it and it please you. + Or le me laisses voir s'il vous plest. + I shall doo it with a good wyll. + Je le feray voulentiers. + Holde, here it is. + Tenez sire, le veez cy. + Now saye how moche the yerde is worthe + Or me dites combyen l'aune vault. + Ten shelynges. + Dix solz. + Forsothe ye set it to dere. + Vrayment vous le faictez trop cher. + I shall gyve you eyght shelynges. + Je vous en donneray huyt soulz. + I wyll not, it is to lytell. + Non feroy, cest trop pou. + The yerde shall coste you nyne shelynges, + L'aune vous coustra neuf soulz, + Yf that ye have it. + Si vous l'airez. + Ye shall have it for no lasse. + Vous ne l'avrez pour riens mains. + +The merchant has also to be able to ask for directions on his way, and +to gossip with the landlady of the wayside inn; the phrases necessary +for these purposes are recorded in the next "manner of speech," where, +as in the first treatise of 1396, the scene is laid in France: + + For to aske the waye. + Pour demander le chemin. + Frende, God save you. + Amy, Dieu vous sauve. + Whiche is the ryght waye + Quelle est la voye droite + For to goo from hens to Parys? + Pour aller d'icy a Paris? + Syr, ye muste holde the waye on the ryght hande. + Sire, il vous fault tenir le chemin a la droite main. + Now saye me, my frende, + Or me ditez, mon amy, + Yf that any good lodginge + Y a il point de bon logis + Be betwixt this and the next vyllage? + Entre cy et ce prochayn village? + There is a ryght good one. + Il en y a ung tres bon. + Ye shall be there ryght well lodged, + Vous serez tres bien logé, + Ye & also your horse. + Vous et aussi vostre chevaul. + My frende, God yelde it you, + Mon ami, Dieu vous le rende, + And I shall doo an other tyme + Et ie feraye ung aultre foiz + As moche for you and I maye. + Autant pour vous se ie puis. + God be with you. + Dieu soit avecques vous. + +The passage proceeds to describe, always in the form of a dialogue, the +traveller's arrival at the inn, his entertainment there, and his +departure: + + Dame, shall I be here well lodged? + Dame, seroy ie icy bien logé? + Ye syr, ryght well. + Ouy sire, tres bien. + Nowe doo me have a good chambre + Or me faites avoir ungue bonne chambre + And a good fyre, + Et bon feu, + And doo that my horse + Et faites que mon chevaul + Maye be well governed, + Puisse estre bien gouverné, + And gyve hym good hay and good otes. + Et lui donnés bon foin et bon avoine. + Dame, is all redy for to dyne? + Dame, est tout prest pour aller digner? + Ye syr, whan it please you. + Oui sire, quant il vous plaise. + Syr, moche good do it you. + Sire, bon preu vous face. + I praye you make good chere + Je vous prie faictez bonne chere + And be mery, I drynke to you. + Et soyez ioieux, ie boy a vous. + Now, hostes, saye me how moche have we spende at this dyner. + Hostesse, or me dites combien nous avons despendu a ce digner. + I shall tell you with a good wyll. + Je vous le diray voulentiers. + Ye have in alle eyght shelyngs. + Vous avez en tout huyt solz. + Nowe well holde your sylver and gramercy. + Or bien tenez vostre argent et grandmercy. + Do my horse come to me. + Or me faittz venir mon cheval. + Is he sadled and redy for to ryde? + Est il sellé et appointé pour chevaucher? + Ye syr, all redy. + Ouy sire, tout prest. + Now fare well and gramercy. + Or adiu et grandmercy. + +Here the 'manière de langage' ends. It is followed by a list of nouns +arranged under headings. The enumeration begins with the parts of the +body,[125] followed by the clothing and armour--a list containing +valuable information on the fashions of the time; then come the natural +phenomena, the sun, the stars, water, the winds, and so on; the products +of the earth and the food they supply, and finally, the names of the +days of the week. With the exception of the last page, each word is +preceded by a possessive adjective or an article indicating its gender. +The English rendering is sometimes placed above the French word, +sometimes opposite. + +After the vocabulary, which covers nearly five pages, comes the courtesy +book in English and French, occupying the next seven pages. It is a +reprint of the _Lytylle Chyldrenes Lytil Boke_,[126] which contains a +set of maxims for discreet behaviour at meals, in which children are +told not to snatch meat from the table before grace is said; not to +throw bones on the floor; nor pick their teeth with their knife; nor do +many other things, which, when we remember that such books were intended +for the instruction of the gentry, throw interesting sidelights on +contemporary manners. The inclusion of such precepts for children in a +text-book for teaching French was not without precedent; in the last of +the series of riming vocabularies, _Femina_ (1415), there is a +collection of moral maxims taken, in this instance, from the ancient +writers, and printed in Latin, French, and English. + +In conclusion, the author reverts to the more strictly commercial side +of the treatise, with two letters, given in both French and English. One +is from an apprentice who writes to his master reporting on some +business he is transacting at Paris, and asking for more money. In the +second a merchant communicates to his 'gossip' the news of the arrival +at London and Southampton of ships laden with rich merchandise, and +proposes that they should "find means and ways in this that their shops +shall be well stuffed of all manner of merchandise." In both these +letters the English comes first: + + _A prentyse wryteth to his mayster, fyrste in Englysshe and after + in frensshe._[127] + + Ryght worshypful syr, I recommaunde me unto you as moche as I may, + and please you wete that I am in ryght goode helth thanked be God. + To whome I praye that so it may be of you and of all your good + frendes. As for the mater for the whiche ye sent me to Parys, I + have spoken with kynges advocate the which sayd to me I must go to + the kynge and enfourme his royalle majeste thereof, and have + specyal commaundement. Therfore consyderynge the tyme I have taryed + at Parys in the pursute of this and the grete coste and expence + done bycause of this. Please you for to knowe that for to pursue + that mater unto the kyng, the which is at Monthason next Tours, and + for to go thyder it is nedefull to sende me some monye and with the + grace of God I shalle do suche dylygence that I shall gete your + hertes desyre. No more wryte I to you at this tyme but God have you + in hys protectyon. Wryten hastely the XIX daye of this moneth. + + Tres honnoré sire, ie me recommande a vous tant comme je puis, et + plaise vous savoir que ie suis en tres bonne santé la marcy Dieu au + quel ie prie que ainsi soit il de vous et de tous vos bons amys. + Quant pour la matiere pour la quelle vous me envoiastes a Parys, + g'ay parlé avec l'advocat du roy le quel m'a dit quil me fault + aller au roy et advertir sa royalle maiesté de ce et ay un specyal + commandement. Pource consyderant le temps que j'ay attendu a Paris + en cest poursuite et lez granz costz et despens faitz par cause de + ce. Plaise vous savoir que pour poursuir ceste matiere au roy, le + qyel est a Monthason pres Tours, et pour aller la il est mestier de + m'enuoyer de l'argent. Et avecques la grace de Dieu je feray telle + diligence que aurez ce que vostre cueur desire. Aultre chos ne vous + escripz a ceste foiz mays que Dieu vous ayt en sa protection. + Escript hastivement le dixneufieme jour du moys. + +And so ends this interesting little book.[128] The texts of the two +complete editions are in the main identical. The arrangement of the +matter on the pages is different, and the spelling of the words, both +French and English, varies considerably. Slips which occur in Pynson's +text, such as the rendering of 'neuf' by 'ten,' or the accidental +omission of a word in the French version, are sometimes corrected in +Wynkyn's version. On the other hand, similar mistakes, though much fewer +in number, are found in Wynkyn's edition and not in Pynson's; while yet +others are common to both the printers. Dialect forms are scattered +through the two editions with equal capriciousness. Both texts contain +a few anglo-normanisms. Pynson's shows numerous characteristics of the +North-Eastern dialects, Picard or Lorrain, but at times there is a +Picard form in Wynkyn's version, where the pure French form occurs in +the other. Apart from such variations, the wording of the two editions +is usually similar. In cases where it differs, the improvements are +found in Wynkyn's edition, in spite of the fact that, as a general rule, +the output of Pynson's press reaches a higher literary level than that +of the more business-like Alsatian. This exception may, no doubt, be +explained by the fact that Pynson was the first to print the _Good Book +to learn to speak French_.[129] Yet here again mistakes are sometimes +common to both texts, as, for instance, the rendering of the lines: + + For the clerks that the seven arts can + Sythen that courtesy from heaven came, + +by the French: + + Pour les clers qui les sept arts savent + Puisque courtoisie de paradis vint, + +in which the wrong interpretation of the English 'for' (conjunction) and +'sythen' (taken as meaning 'since,' not 'say') destroys the sense. + +On the whole, the impression conveyed by the perusal of the two editions +is that the work is a compilation of treatises already in existence in +manuscript. Neither the letters nor the vocabulary present any +strikingly new features. The origin of the courtesy book is known, and +it is even possible that the fragment of one leaf preserved belongs, not +to another edition of the _Good Book to learn to speak French_, but to +an earlier edition of the courtesy book in French and English, printed +probably by Caxton, with the intention of imparting a knowledge of +polite behaviour and of the favourite language of polite society at the +same time. The fact that it reproduces the original courtesy book more +fully than does either of the complete texts of Wynkyn and Pynson, +suggests that it belonged to some such edition, or to an edition of the +_Good Book_ earlier than either of these. As to the dialogues, they may +have belonged to the group of conversational manuals, which were, no +doubt, fairly numerous. Caxton, while maintaining that his 'doctrine' +contains more than "many other books," adds: "That which cannot be found +declared in it, shall be found elsewhere in other books." That such +practical little books shared the fate of the great majority of school +manuals is not surprising. + +The hypothesis that the work is a compilation of older treatises would, +moreover, explain the variations in the quality of the French. The +dialogues and letters, it would appear, were in the first place written +by Englishmen. Pynson corrected them here and there, without, however, +eliminating all the anglicisms, archaisms, and provincial forms; and +when they passed through the hands of Wynkyn they underwent still +further emendation. The English version contains gallicisms, just as the +French contains anglicisms,[130] which were, however, probably due to a +desire to make the English tally with the French. This same supposition +also makes it easier to understand how it came about that the treatise +was printed by the two rival printers within the space of a few years, +and explains how it was they repeated the same obvious mistakes. + +Thus, of the matter found in the mediaeval treatises for teaching +French, grammar rules alone are unrepresented in this _Good Book_. Its +aim is entirely practical. It seeks to teach those who wish to "lerne to +_speke_ Frensshe" for practical purposes, that is, "to do their +merchaundise," and there is no mention of any deeper or wider knowledge +of the language. That the work was intended for the use of children as +well as for merchants is shown by the introduction of the courtesy book, +and, in the later edition, of the favourite frontispiece for children's +school-books described above. But these do not form a vital part of the +work itself, and are mere supplements, added probably with the intention +of increasing the public to which the book would appeal. The children +who used it, we may assume, would probably be of the class of the boy, +"John, enfant beal et sage," who appears in the 'manière' of 1415, and +learns French that he may the more quickly achieve his end of being +apprenticed to a London merchant. To such children the apprentice's +letter quoted above would be of much interest. + +Grammar did not hold a very large place in the teaching of French at +this time. Practice and conversation were the usual methods of acquiring +a knowledge of spoken French, and no doubt such books as those of Caxton +and of Pynson and Wynkyn de Worde found many eager students. The two +editions of the first and the three editions of the second with which we +are acquainted, all of which probably appeared in the course of the last +decade of the fifteenth century, bear testimony to this. Reference has +already been made to the probable existence of numerous works of a +similar scope in manuscript, and later in print. Such were the "little +pages, set in print, with no precepts," to which Claude Holyband, the +most popular French teacher of London in the second half of the +sixteenth century, refers with contempt; he accuses them of wandering +from the 'true phrase' of the language, and of teaching nothing of the +reading and pronunciation, "which is the chiefest point to be considered +in that behalf," and hence of serving but little to the "furtherance of +the knowledge of the French tongue." Yet, though such was the case in +all these early works, they seem, without exception, to have enjoyed +great popularity at the time they were written, when to speak French +fluently was an all-important matter. The difficulty of this +accomplishment was realised to the full. We find it expressed in a few +disconnected sentences added in French probably at the beginning of the +sixteenth century, at the end of the 'manière de langage' of 1396: "We +need very long practice before we are able to speak French perfectly," +says the anonymous writer, evidently an Englishman, "for the French and +English do not correspond word for word, and the fine distinctions are +difficult to seize." He proceeds to urge the necessity of a glib tongue +in making progress in French, and quotes the case of an unfortunate man, +good fellow though he might otherwise be, who lacked this faculty: "Il +ne luy avient plus a parler franceis qu'à une vache de porter une selle, +a cause que sa langue n'est pas bien afilée, et pour cela n'entremette +il pas à parler entre les fraunceis." + +In the early part of the sixteenth century, however, French began to be +studied with more thoroughness in England. Communication with France and +the tour in France were no longer fraught with the same dangers and +difficulties, and favoured the use of a purer form of French. Fluent was +no longer sufficient without correct pronunciation and grammar. The +standard of French taught was also raised by the arrival of numerous +Frenchmen, who made the teaching of their language the business of their +lives. Further, the spread of the art of printing had rendered French +literature more accessible, and supplied a rich material from which the +rules of the language might be deduced. And so it became possible for +John Palsgrave, the London teacher and student of Paris, to complete the +first great work on the French language, in which, however, he did not +forget to render due homage to his humble predecessors,[131] then fast +passing into oblivion. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[75] Freeman, _Norman Conquest_, ii., 1868, pp. 16 _sqq._, 28 _sqq._ + +[76] _Manière de Langage_, 1396; cp. _infra_, p. 35. + +[77] "Doulz françois qu'est la plus bel et la plus gracious language et +plus noble parler, apres latin d'escole, qui soit au monde." + +[78] Jehan Barton, _Donait François_, _c._ 1400. + +[79] "Afin qu'ils puissent entrecomuner bonement ove lour voisin c'est a +dire les bones gens du roiaume de France, et ainsi pour ce que les leys +d'Engleterre pour le graigneur partie et ainsi beaucoup de bones choses +sont misez en François, et aussi bien pres touz les sirs et toutes les +dames en mesme roiaume d'Engleterre volentiers s'entrescrivent en +romance--tresnecessaire je cuide estre aus Englois de scavoir la nature +de François." + +[80] Which no doubt became more numerous, as English, rather than Latin, +became the medium through which French was learnt. Thus we find _pour +honte_ written for 'for shame'; _il est haut temps_, for 'it is high +time'; _quoi_ ('why') for _pourquoi_; _de les_ for _des_, and so on. + +[81] Edited from a unique MS. in Trinity College, Cambridge, by W. Aldis +Wright, for the Roxburghe Club, 1909 (Camb. Univ. Press). G. Hickes +published part of the first chapter, with remarks on its philological +value, in his _Linguarum Veterum Septentrionalium Thesaurus +Grammatico-Criticus et Archaeologicus_, Oxford, 1705, i. pp. 144-151. + +[82] "Liber iste vocatur femina quia sicut femina docet infantem loqui +maternam, sic docet iste liber iuvenes rethorice loqui Gallicum prout +infra patebit." + +[83] P. Meyer, _Romania_, xxxii. pp. 43 _et seq._ + +[84] The English spelling, very corrupt in the original, is here +modernized. + +[85] These MSS. have been described and classified by J. Stürzinger, +_Altfranzösische Bibliothek_, viii. pp. v-x. + +[86] Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 4971; Addit. MS. 11716, and Camb. Univ. Libr. +MS. Ee 4, 20. + +[87] Camb. Univ. Libr. MSS. Dd 12, 23. and Gg 6, 44. + +[88] P. Meyer, _Romania_, xv. p. 262. + +[89] Brit. Mus. Sloane MS. 513, pp. 135-138. + +[90] Brit. Mus. Sloane MS. 513, fol. 139. + +[91] There is a fragment, very indistinct, on French pronunciation in +the Brit. Mus. MS. Harl. 4971: _Modus pronunciandi dictiones in +Gallicis_. + +[92] Cp. also the Brit. Mus. Addit MS. 17716, fol. 100. + +[93] Camb. Univ. Libr. MS., Ee 4, 20; Oxford, All Souls, MS. 182. + +[94] Brit. Mus. MS. Harl. 4971; MS. Addit. 17716 (preceding the +observations on pronouns and verbs mentioned above); Camb. Univ. Libr., +Ee 4, 20; Oxford Magdalen College, MS. 188, and All Souls, MS. 182. + +[95] Published by Stengel, _op. cit._ pp. 25-40, from MS. 182 of All +Souls, Oxford. + +[96] Brunot, _op. cit._ i. p. 376. + +[97] "A le honneur de Dieu et de sa tresdoulce miere et toutz les +saintez de paradis, je Johan Barton, escolier de Paris, née et nourie +toutes foiez d'Engleterre en la conté de Cestre, j'ey baillé aus +avantdiz Anglois un Donait françois pur les briefment entroduyr en la +droit language du Paris et de pais la d'entour la quelle language en +Engleterre on appelle doulce France. Et cest Donat je le fis la fair a +mes despenses et tres grande peine par pluseurs bons clercs du language +avantdite." + +[98] Brunot, _op. cit._ i. p. 376. + +[99] "Cy endroit il fault prendre garde qu'en parlant François on ne +mette pas une personne pour une aultre si come font les sottez gens, +disantz ainsi _je ferra_ pour _je ferray_. . . ." + +[100] We pass from the numbers of nouns to the person of verbs, then to +the genders and kinds (proper, appellative) of nouns and their cases, +six in number on the analogy of Latin, which is naturally the basis of +the terminology of this work and all others for many years after; then +come observations on the degrees of comparison, after which we return to +the verbs, and their moods and tenses. The following sections deal with +the parts of speech; the four indeclinables (adverbs, prepositions, +conjunctions, and interjections) are merely mentioned. Nouns, +adjectives, and pronouns receive some attention, but the chief subject +is the verb: "Cy maintenant nous vous baillerons un exemple coment vous +fourmeres touz les verbs françois du monde, soient-ils actifez, +soient-ils passivez, en quelque meuf ou temps qu'ils soient. Et ceste +exemple serra pour cest verbe _jeo aime_. . . ." But the verbs are not +classified, and only a few of the best known are conjugated as examples. +In the list of impersonal verbs which closes the treatise, English is +sometimes used to explain their meaning: "Me est avis, _Me seemth_." + +[101] J. Bale, _Illustrium Maioris Britanniae scriptorum summarium_. +Ipswich, 1548, p. 203. + +[102] _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[103] Preserved in a considerable number of MSS.: Brit. Mus. (Harl. +3988, Addit. 17716), Oxford (All Souls, 182), Camb. Univ. Libr. (Bd 12, +23), and in Sir Thomas Philipps's Library at Cheltenham (MS. No. 8188). +The earliest (Harl. 3988) was published by P. Meyer in the _Revue +Critique_, 1873, pp. 373-408. + +[104] The name of Kirmington, which occurs at the end, is no doubt that +of the copyist. + +[105] _Athenaeum_, Oct. 5, 1878: article by Stengel. + +[106] Published by Stengel, _op. cit._ pp. 12-15. + +[107] Stengel, _Athenaeum_, Oct. 5, 1878. Coyfurelly also rehandled the +_Tractatus Orthographiae_ of 'T. H., Student of Paris.' + +[108] Ed. Paul Meyer, _Romania_, xxxii. pp. 49-58. It exists in three +MSS.; at the end of _Femina_ in Camb. Univ. Libr. (Dd 12, 23), at +Trinity Col. Camb. (B 14. 39, 40), and in the Brit. Mus. (Addit. 17716). + +[109] French, however, still had some standing at Oxford at this date. + +[110] Preserved in Cambridge University Library. + +[111] Containing such anglicisms as the rendering of 'already' by _tout +prest_. + +[112] Such collections exist in MSS. Harl. 4971 and Addit. 17716, Brit. +Mus.; and in Ee 4, 20, Camb. Univ. Libr. + +[113] Harl. 4971; cp. Stürzinger, _op. cit._ p. xvi. + +[114] Early bibliographers seem to have been uncertain as to what +category it belonged to: for some time it was called a _Book for +Travellers_; then a _Vocabulary in French and English_ (Blades, _Life +and Typography of Wm. Caxton_, 1861-63), and finally by the more +appropriate title of _Dialogues in French and English_. + +[115] Caxton's edition contains ff. 24, with about 24 lines on a page. +There are three complete texts extant (at Ripon Cathedral, Rylands +Library, and Bamborough Castle), and one fragmentary one (in the Duke of +Devonshire's Library). The Ripon copy was reprinted for the Early +English Text Society in 1900, by H. Bradley (extra series lxxix.). The +other edition, of which a fragment exists in the Bodleian, was probably +printed by Wynkyn de Worde (W. C. Hazlitt, _Handbook ... to the +Literature of Great Britain_, 1867, p. 631). + +[116] Published from a MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale, by M. +Michelant: _Le Livre des Mestiers, dialogues français-flamands, composés +au 14e siècle par un maître d'école de la ville de Bruges_. Paris, 1875. + +[117] H. Bradley: Introduction to the edition of Caxton's _Dialogues_. + +[118] Caxton's arrangement of the French and English in opposite columns +is no doubt accounted for by the fact that he wrote the English version +by the side of the French in his copy of the original phrase book. + +[119] E. G. Duff, _A Century of the English Book Trade_, Bibliographical +Soc., 1905; and _Handlists of Books Printed by London Printers_, +Bibliog. Soc., 1913, ad nom. The work is here given the inappropriate +title of a "Vocabulary in French and English." + +[120] It was to have been reprinted by H. B. Wheatley in a collection of +early grammars, for the Early English Text Society. + +[121] W. C. Hazlitt, _Bibliographical Collections and Notes_, 3rd +series, London, 1887, p. 293. + +[122] For instance, the _Cato cum commento_ (1514), _Stans puer ad +mensam_ (1516), and _Vulgaria Stanbrigi_ (_c._ 1520). + +[123] "What shalt thou do when thou haste an englyssh to be made in +Latine? I shall reherce myn englyssh fyrst, ones, twyces, and loke out +my princypal verbe, and aske hym this questyon _who_ or _what_. And that +worde that answeryth to the questyon shall be the nomynatif case to the +verbe." + +[124] In the British Museum Catalogue Wynkyn's edition is dated 1493? +and Pynson's 1500?; the year 1500? is also put forward as the date for +the fragmentary edition. W. C. Hazlitt dates Wynkyn's edition at about +the year 1498, and Pynson's at about 1492-3 (_Bibliographical +Collections_, _ut supra_, and _Handbook_, London, 1867, p. 210). + +[125] + + My heres. + Mes cheveulx. + My browes. + Mez sourcieulx. + Myn eres. + Mez oreilles. + Myn teeth. + Mez dens. + My forhede. + Mon front. + Myn eyen. + Mez yeulx. + My nose. + Mon nez. + My tong. + Ma langue . . . etc. + +[126] Published by E. J. Furnivall, _Manners and Meals in Olden Time_, +1868, pp. 16 _sqq._ The MS. used by the compiler of the French manual +was no doubt of a later date than the one here printed. + +[127] Pp. 19-20 _in fine_. + +[128] It contains 11 quarto leaves, of the size of the time, with +usually 29 lines to a page. + +[129] Thus in Pynson's edition the order of the personal pronouns before +the verb is often inverted ("le vous diray," "le vous rende"), while it +is correct in Wynkyn's; and some lines of the French version of the +courtesy book are almost unintelligible, whereas their meaning is +clearly expressed by Wynkyn. + +[130] Such phrases as "say me my friend" for _dites-moi mon ami_; "do me +have a good chamber" for _faites-moi avoir une bonne chambre_. + +[131] In addition to the works already mentioned, some reference to +these mediaeval treatises is also found in an article by H. Oelsner, in +the _Athenaeum_ (Feb. 11, 1905); in A. Way's edition of the _Promptorium +Parvulorum_ (Camden Soc., 1865, No. 89; Appendix, pp. xxvii _sqq._ and +pp. lxxi _sqq._); Ellis, _Original Letters_, 3rd series, ii. p. 208. + + + + +PART II + +TUDOR TIMES + + + + +CHAPTER I + + THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AT COURT AND AMONG THE NOBILITY + + +At the beginning of the sixteenth century the gradual changes which +brought about the extinction of Anglo-French were complete to all +intents and purposes; this corrupt form of the language lingered only in +a few religious houses and the law courts. The French spoken at the +English Court in the Middle Ages had remained purer than elsewhere; for +centuries the kings of England were as much attached to France as to +England; they had spent much of their time in France and fought for the +French crown as their natural right, not as Englishmen in strife with +Frenchmen. From the thirteenth century, however, English was understood, +though not widely spoken, at Court. It progressed gradually until, two +centuries later, in the reign of Henry VI., it was used more frequently +than French. By the sixteenth century French was an entirely foreign +language at the English Court, and it was round the Court circles that +developed the new and more serious study of the language which then +arose--a study which led to the production of so important a work as +John Palsgrave's _L'Esclarcissement de la langue françoyse_. It will +therefore be well to consider the extent to which French was used among +the nobility and gentry of the time. + +The personal ascendancy of the Tudors and the pomp of their Court began +to attract the attention of foreigners, and to excite their curiosity. +Consequently numerous travellers made their way to the English capital; +and later in the same period religious persecution, raging on the +Continent, drove many Protestants, frequently men of distinction, to +seek refuge in England. What language would these visitors employ in +their intercourse with their hosts? English is excluded from the +purview, because at this time, and indeed for some time after, our +language received no recognition, and certainly no homage from any +foreigner, and but scant deference from English scholars themselves.[132] +Several foreign visitors in London have left an account of their +impressions on hearing this entirely unknown and strange language +spoken. Thus Nicander Nucius, the Greek Envoy at the Court of Henry +VIII., says of the English that "they possess a peculiar language, +differing in some measure from all others"; although it is "barbarous," +he finds in it a certain charm and attraction, and judges it "sweeter" +than German or Flemish.[133] Others formed a less favourable +opinion.[134] The physician Girolamo Cordano, for instance, when he +first heard Englishmen speaking, thought they were Italians gone mad and +raving, "for they inflect the tongue upon the palate, twist words in the +mouth, and maintain a sort of gnashing with the teeth." The Dutchman, +Immanuel von Meteren, gathered the impression that English is broken +German, "not spoken from the heart as the latter, but only prattling +with the tongue." + +We have, however, to recollect that, among the learned, Latin was in +general use as a spoken language; it was the ideal of the Humanists to +make Latin the universal language of the educated world. Erasmus was +able to live several years in England, and in familiar intercourse with +Englishmen, without feeling the necessity for learning English or using +any other modern language; but he mingled almost entirely with scholars, +such as Grocyn, Linacre, Latimer, Colet, and More--men with whom Henry +VIII. loved to surround himself. Still, the great Dutchman was an +exception even amongst Humanists, who nearly all, at some period in +their lives, forsook Latin for their native tongue. Moreover, Latin was +not fluently or colloquially spoken by the majority of the English +nobility and gentry. The poet, Alexander Barclay, tells us that "the +understandyne of Latyn," in the early years of the sixteenth century, +was "almost contemned by Gentylmen."[135] [Header: THE SPEAKING OF +LATIN] "I have not these twenty years used any Latin tongue,"[136] said +Latimer at his trial for heresy in 1554--a striking testimony on the +lips of one whose natural sympathies were towards Humanism. Some years +later the great Huguenot scholar, Hubert Languet, wrote to his young +English friend, Sir Philip Sidney--then newly returned from continental +travel--to express his apprehension lest the young man should forget all +his Latin at the English Court and entirely give up the practice of it; +he urges him to do his best to prevent this, and maintain his Latin +along with his French. Languet affirms that he has never heard Sidney +pronounce a syllable of French incorrectly, and wishes his pronunciation +of Latin were as perfect.[137] Sidney, however, does not appear to have +considered Latin of as much importance to a courtier as French: "So you +can speake and write Latine not barbarously," he wrote to his brother +Robert in 1580,[138] "I never require great study ordinarily in +Ciceronianisme, the cheife abuse of Oxford." No doubt Sidney voices a +general sentiment in this verdict. It is increasingly clear that the +supremacy of Latin was beginning to be questioned on all sides, and, +while Latin remained to a large extent the language of scholars, it was +not generally employed in society. + +Further, when the English did speak Latin, foreigners had considerable +difficulty in understanding them, on account of their notoriously bad +pronunciation. The great scholar Scaliger, who was in England in 1590, +tells that he once listened to an Englishman talking Latin for a quarter +of an hour, and at last excused himself, saying that he did not +understand English![139] To the same effect is the observation of Tom +Coryat, the traveller, who, on his journey on the Continent,[140] found +his Latin so little understood, that he had to modify his pronunciation. +At a later date, when the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosmo III., visited the +two English Universities,[141] he was unable to understand the Latin +speeches and orations with which he was greeted. A Latin comedy which +the Cambridge students performed in his honour was equally +unintelligible to him. "To smatter Latin with an English mouth," wrote +Milton in a well-known passage, "is as ill a hearing as Law French." + +At the same time a quickened interest in modern languages generally was +felt in England as in other countries. Two of these, Italian and +Spanish, entered the arena to challenge the supremacy of French in the +world of fashion and intellect. The real issue of the contest, however, +was never in doubt. The Renaissance and the new Humanism appeared for a +time to favour the Italian rival,[142] but the inherent merits of +French, with its particular genius for precision and clarity, easily won +the day. Those circles--often very brilliant circles--of distinguished +men and women for whom the Renaissance was as the dawn of a new day, +often made Italian a more serious object of study than French; but +though it was widely learned for the sake of its literature, it was +never so widely spoken or so universally popular as French. Italian, and +to a minor degree Spanish, were indeed seriously cultivated by the Tudor +group of distinguished linguists,[143] and so became a sort of fashion, +which, spreading to more frivolous circles, soon degenerated into mere +affectation. These dilettanti had been at a great feast of languages and +stolen the scraps, to use Shakespeare's words. Such affectation was +naturally felt to be dangerous. While Roger Ascham renders due homage to +the linguistic attainments of his queen,[144] he finds it necessary to +reproach the young gentlemen of the day with their deficiency in this +respect. [Header: INTEREST IN MODERN LANGUAGES] Professional teachers of +modern languages likewise complain of the lack of seriousness on the +part of many of their pupils. John Florio,[145] for example, bewails the +fact that when they have learned two words of Spanish, three words of +French, and four words of Italian, they think they have enough, and will +study no more; and a French teacher[146] expresses the same thought in +almost identical terms; according to him they learn a little French one +day, then a bit of Italian and a snatch of Spanish, and think themselves +qualified for an embassy to the Grand Turk. Shakespeare's Falconbridge, +the young baron of England, may be taken as a fair example of such +dilettantism.[147] + +Thus Italian was never a really dangerous rival to French, which had +struck its roots deep into the English soil long before Italian +influence reached our shores. Not only was this the case, but French was +also widely known throughout Europe. Even in the early years of this +period, the poet Alexander Barclay, himself the author of a French +grammar, affirms that French was spoken even by the Turks and Saracens. +The French themselves are said to have been in love with their own +language, and, as a result, to have neglected Latin;[148] when the +English ambassador at Paris, Sir Amias Poulet, sent to England for a +chaplain for his household, he wrote: "Yt were to be wished that he had +at the least some understandinge in the French tongue for his better +conference with the Frenche ministers, whereof many are not best able to +utter there mynde in Lattyn."[149] + +We may therefore safely conclude that French was the language commonly +spoken by Englishmen in their intercourse with foreigners, although +Latin was sometimes used in conversation, and Italians were occasionally +addressed in their own tongue. English was so little used in the Court +and its circles that foreigners were apt to forget that England had a +language of her own; one of them considers it a merit in Henry VIII. +that he was able to speak English! In London, indeed, the use of French +was so common that several foreign observers deemed the fact worthy of +note. Nicander Nucius, the Greek envoy who visited London in 1545, +remarks[150] that, for the most part, the English use the French +language, besides having a great admiration for everything else +French--an observation which cannot safely be taken as referring to any +other class than the nobility, as his relations would be almost wholly +restricted to that class. When the Duke of Württemberg visited the court +of Elizabeth, where he found ample occasion to exercise his own +admirable knowledge of French, he left on record the fact that many +English courtiers understood and spoke French very well. The spread of +French at the English Court attracted the attention of Frenchmen also, +and several years after Nicander's account, Peletier du Mans states that +in England, at least among the princes and their courts, French is +spoken on all occasions.[151] + +French was also not infrequently used in correspondence. Apart from such +diplomatic correspondence as exists, numerous examples of the +interchange of private letters in French among the English nobility have +come down to us. Even among scholars Latin was by no means the only +medium of communication. In the sixteenth century the chief scholars of +the two countries corresponded with each other, and, though Englishmen +never wrote in their native tongue, Frenchmen did occasionally use their +own language rather than Latin. Bacon wrote in French to the Marquis of +Effiat, and Hotman, on the other hand, in French to Camden: "Me sentant +detraqué de l'usage de la langue latine, je vous escris cette lettre en +françois pour renouveller avec vous notre amitié ancienne et +correspondance."[152] John Calvin corresponded with Edward VI. and +Protector Somerset in French, and Henry IV. of France carried on a +voluminous correspondence in his own language with his "tres chere et +tres aimée bonne soeur," Elizabeth, as well as with her chief +ministers.[153] [Header: FRENCH REGARDED WITH SPECIAL FAVOUR] French was +thus more than a mere accomplishment for the English gentleman, and soon +became an absolute necessity for all those who desired employment under +the Crown. It is true that an interpreter might be had, but the practice +was looked upon with great disfavour as very unsuitable where private +negotiations had to be conducted. The necessity for a knowledge of +French on the part of a minister of state may be gathered from the large +number of petitions and other documents addressed to them in that +language and preserved among the State Papers.[154] A rather curious +instance of the favour with which the use of French was regarded in +official circles is supplied by the case of a Scotch prisoner in London, +who, when he desired leave on parole, on the ground of ill-health, was +advised to make his application in French, "to shew his +scholarship."[155] Copies of proclamations, issued in foreign countries, +were frequently translated into French before being sent to the English +Government; and time after time we find a lack of knowledge of French +regarded as a serious disqualification for diplomatic or other public +service. One young gentleman regrets that he "cannot be engaged on any +work of importance as he does not know French." The drawbacks arising +from an inadequate knowledge of the language appear from the case of a +certain Thomas Thyrleby who writes from Valance to Wriothesly in 1538 +telling him how much discouraged he is concerning his knowledge of +French. He says he went with the Bishop of Winchester and Brian to the +Constable that morning at eight o'clock, and that he could understand +them, but not the Grand Master's answer, except by conjecture, guessing +at a word here and there; after dinner he had audience of the French +king and bore away never one word but "l'empereur, l'empereur" often +rehearsed; and he feels he must diligently apply himself to learn the +language or the king will be ill served when he is left alone.[156] + +The Tudors appear to have regarded the study of French with much favour. +The first king of this line had lived for many years in France and was +strongly imbued with French tastes.[157] He encouraged Frenchmen to +visit England, and appointed one of them, Bernard André, his Poet +Laureate and Historiographer as well as tutor to his sons. There were +also troupes of French comedians and minstrels who performed at Court +from time to time.[158] The king always received with favour at his +Court those who were fluent in the French tongue. No doubt Stephen Hawes +secured the king's patronage partly by his facility in the use of this +language, and partly from his really profound knowledge of French +literature, of which the king also was an eager student. Yet this first +of the Tudor kings belongs rather to the Middle Ages and the Old +Learning than to the Renaissance. + +Not until we reach the period of Henry VIII., a distinct favourer of the +New Learning, do we enter fully into the spirit of the new movement. In +a true sense Henry may be called the first King of England, for England +was his real home, and while using the ancient title "King of France," +he had no truly filial attachment to the country. He may thus be taken +as a fair example of the attitude of the cultivated English noble +towards foreign languages. He spoke French fluently though he had never +been in France, and also conversed in Latin with ease; Italian he +understood, but made no attempt to speak. He always addressed foreigners +in either French or Latin.[159] An admirer of French fashions, he copied +in such matters his friend and rival, the French king, even allowing his +beard to grow when he heard that Francis wore one, and having his hair +dressed "short and straight after the French fashion." When the Venetian +ambassador, Piero Pasqualigo, came from Paris to London in 1515, Henry +eagerly seized the opportunity to institute a comparison between himself +and the French king. Pasqualigo, meeting Henry at Greenwich, writes how +he on one occasion beheld his majesty mounted on a bay Frieslander, and +dressed entirely in green velvet; directly the envoy came in sight, he +began to make his horse to curvet and perform such feats, that +Pasqualigo says he thought himself looking upon Mars. He came into our +tent, the narrator continues, and, addressing me in French, said, "Talk +with me a while."[160] [Header: HENRY VIII.'S KNOWLEDGE OF FRENCH] +Henry then proceeded to question him about Francis and to induce him to +draw comparisons between himself and the French king. The ambassador +remarks that Henry spoke French "very well indeed." The campaign of 1513 +supplies another example of the ease with which Henry spoke French. The +English king was accompanied by Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, who later +incurred the royal anger by his presumption in marrying Henry's sister +Mary, the Dowager of France. On the present occasion, however, the +king's knowledge of French was of great service to Suffolk, who found +some difficulty in pressing his suit with the Lady Margaret of Savoy, +owing to his ignorance of that language. The Duke had half seriously +removed a ring from the lady's finger, and, as she particularly desired +to reclaim it, and he refused to return it, she called him a thief; but +he could not understand the word "larron," so she was forced to call +upon the king to explain.[161] + +There are extant several examples of Henry's compositions in French. +Much of his private correspondence was written in this tongue; and he +also essayed to write verses in French, possibly in imitation of Francis +I. Their quality may be judged from the following specimens:[162] + + Adieu madam et ma mastres, + Adieu mon solas et mon joy, + Adieu jusque vous revoy, + Adieu vous diz par graunt tristesse. + +or: + + Helas madam cel qe je metant [j'eme tant], + soffre qe soie voutre humble svant [servant]; + ie seray [vous] a tousiours e tant que ie + vivray alt n'airay qe vous.[163] + +We gather from Henry's spelling of French that he had learnt the +language chiefly by ear. + +There is a curious example of the fluency with which the king and his +courtiers spoke French, in a scene described by Wolsey's gentleman usher +and afterwards dramatized by Shakespeare.[164] The cardinal was among +the few at the Court of Henry VIII. who did not speak French with ease. +During a banquet he was giving at the palace of Whitehall, Henry and a +band of courtiers landed unexpectedly at the Whitehall Stairs, disguised +as foreign noblemen. Wolsey sent the Lord Chancellor to bid them +welcome, because he could not speak French himself.[165] The visitors +were introduced, and passed for a time as foreigners, the Lord +Chancellor acting as their interpreter to Wolsey. At last the royal +joker and his companions disclosed their identity amidst a tumult of +exclamations, and then joined in the festivities.[166] + +The ladies of the Court rivalled the noblemen in their knowledge of +French. When the French ambassadors with their brilliant suite, who had +come to England for the ratification of peace in 1514, were entertained +in great state at Greenwich, all the ladies and gentlewomen were able to +converse in good French with their French partners, "which delighted +them much to heare the Ladies speake to them in their owne +language."[167] It is not surprising, therefore, to find French holding +an important place in the education of women of high birth. The princess +Mary Tudor, one of the most attractive figures at the English Court, +had, like the king her brother, been early initiated in the difficulties +of the French language.[168] At the age of twelve she pronounced in +French her betrothal vows to the Prince of Castile (1513); and when it +fell to her lot to marry Louis XII. of France, she continued still more +to apply herself to the study of the language. She was able to write to +her future husband in his own tongue,[169] and even occasionally made +use of it in her correspondence with her brother, the English king. + +[Header: FRENCH AMONG THE LADIES] + +Henry's first queen did little to forward French tastes and never +modified her natural preference for all things Spanish, but with the +advent of Queen Anne Boleyn French acquired a powerful and enthusiastic +patroness. Anne was entirely French by education and tastes. She had +been brought up by a French governess,[170] and had from an early age +used the French language in her correspondence with her father during +his absences at the Court and elsewhere. It was her fluency in this +language which led to her rapid advancement on her arrival at Court. She +was soon chosen to accompany the king's sister Mary to France, and just +before her appointment wrote to her father in French, telling him that +the presence of the Queen of France would inspire her with a still +greater desire to speak French well.[171] Anne stayed in France several +years, first in the service of Mary during the few months she was Queen +of France, then in that of her successor, Queen Claude, consort of +Francis I., and finally in the more lively household of Margaret of +Alençon, afterwards Queen of Navarre. On her return to the English Court +she became maid of honour to Queen Katherine, and her skill in dress and +her French manners[172] did much to promote the taste for French +fashions. The famous Elizabethan antiquary Camden asserts that Anne's +French jollity first attracted to her the notice of Henry. At any rate +the courtship was largely carried on in French. Out of the seventeen +love letters of Henry to Anne Boleyn, which are preserved in the Vatican +Library, more than half are in French.[173] One of these may be quoted +as an example of the English king's powers in French prose. It was +written to Anne during one of the absences she deemed expedient to make +from the Court: + + Ma Maitresse et amie, moy et mon coeur s'en remettent en vos mains, + vous suppliant les avoir pour recommander a votre bonne grace, et + que par absence votre affection ne leur soit diminué. Car pur + augmenter leur peine ce seroit grande pitié, car l'absence leur fait + assez, et plus que jamais je n'eusse pensé . . . vous asseurant que + de ma part l'ennuye de l'absence deja m'est trop grande. Et quand je + pense a l'augmentation d'iceluy que par force faut que je soufre il + m'est presque intollerable, s'il n'estoit le ferme espoir que j'aye + de votre indissoluble affection vers moi, et pour le vous + rementevoir alcune fois cela, et voyant que personellement je ne + puis estre en votre presence, chose la plus approchante a cela qui + m'est possible au present, je vous envoye, c'est-a-dire ma picture + mise en braisselettes a toute la devise que deja sçavez, me + souhaitant en leur place quant il vous plairoit. C'est de la main + de--Votre serviteur et amy, + + H. R. + +Of Henry's other queens, Jane Seymour and Katherine Howard were both +ardent admirers of the French language. The former had, like Anne +Boleyn, completed her education at the French Court. Henry's chief +objection to Anne of Cleves was her lack of French refinements. We know +from the French ambassador Marillac that Henry was ill pleased at Anne's +German costume and made her dress in the French style,[174] which, +according to the same authority, had been favoured by Queen Katherine +Howard and all her ladies. Moreover, the new queen could speak neither +French[175] nor English, and her own language was displeasing to the +king's ears; consequently he refused to converse much with her by means +of an interpreter.[176] As for Katharine Parr, she was one of the most +distinguished linguists of her time, and did much to encourage the +studies of the royal family. + +French was one of the principal studies of Henry VIII.'s children. It +appears to have been the only modern foreign language with which Edward +VI. was acquainted; he is said to have been "in the French and Latin +Tongues singularly perfect."[177] Mary, on the other hand, knew Spanish +as well as she did French. This is, however, accounted for by the fact +that she was early destined to become the wife of the Emperor Charles +V. [Header: FRENCH STUDIED IN THE ROYAL FAMILY] The emperor had even +tried to persuade Henry to allow his daughter to be brought up in Spain. +His request was refused, but a promise was given that the princess +should be educated in all points as a Spanish lady.[178] In addition to +this, her mother, Katherine of Aragon, superintended her early +education, and her attendants were all Spanish. Thus Spanish was for a +time almost her native tongue. Yet French was by no means neglected, +especially after the Spanish marriage was broken off. Fresh impetus was +given to this study by the possibility of a French match, when in 1518 +negotiations for a union with the Dauphin, son of Francis I., were set +on foot. On the testimony of Marillac, Mary spoke and wrote French well; +the ambassador had seen letters of hers written in French at the time of +her mother's divorce.[179] The princess was also well acquainted with +Latin, and understood Italian, though, like many others, she did not +attempt to speak it.[180] + +Elizabeth alone of the royal family spoke Italian with almost as much +ease as she did French.[181] "French and Italian she speaks like +English," wrote her tutor, Roger Ascham, "Latin with fluency, propriety, +and judgment"; and in addition she had some knowledge of Greek. When +queen, she retained her early fancy for Italian, and prided herself on +using no other language in the presence of Italians.[182] The Scotch +ambassador, Sir James Melville, a very competent judge, remarks that she +spoke it "raisonable weill."[183] French, however, was her usual means +of intercourse with other foreigners, even when, like Melville, they +spoke English. The queen commended Melville's French. "She said my +French was gud," he writes in his memoirs, where he likewise gives his +own opinion of the queen's attainments in the language: "hir Maiestie +culd speak as gud Frenche as any that had never bene out of the +contrie, but yet she laiketh the use of the Frenche court language, +quhilk was frank and schort and had oft tymes twa significations, quhilk +discreit and famylier frendes tok always in the best part."[184] If not +idiomatic, the queen's French is generally allowed to have been fluent. +Her accent is reported to have been harsh and unpleasing; she spoke with +a drawl, and, according to M. Drizanval, resident in London for the +French king,[185] she constantly repeated the phrase "_paar Dieu, paar +maa foi_" in a ridiculous tone. Another visitor, the Duke of +Württemberg, records that he once heard her deliver an appropriate +speech in French,[186] which, as usual, was the language in which he +addressed her. Towards the end of her reign the queen still practised +the use of French and Italian. In 1598 the German Hentzner, travelling +in England, describes how he saw Elizabeth "as she went along in all her +State and magnificence," and how "she spoke very graciously first to one +then to another (whether foreign ministers or those who attend for +different reasons) in English, French, and Italian."[187] She also wrote +French with some ease. One of her earliest literary efforts was a +translation from the French of Margaret of Navarre's _Miroir de l'Ame +pécheresse_. She likewise composed devotions and prayers in French--a +habit which she retained after she had been queen for many years. At the +time when her marriage with the Duke of Alençon, her "little frog," as +she calls him, was under discussion, the queen compiled a curious little +volume, containing six prayers, written on vellum in a very neat hand; +in addition to devotions in French and English there are others in +Italian, Latin, and Greek. In the front of this work there is a +miniature of the Duke, and at the end, one of Elizabeth.[188] Other +examples of her compositions in French are found in her correspondence, +where this language holds a considerable place. + +It thus appears that the majority of the English nobility and gentry +spoke and understood French at least tolerably well. [Header: FRENCH +TUTORS AND FRENCH GRAMMARS] We are led to ask how they came by their +knowledge, and what facilities there were in England for learning +French, seeing that many of them never visited France. In the sixteenth +century private tuition played a large part in the education of the +gentry; and the professional tutor was, in many cases, a Frenchman, who +would naturally further the study of his native tongue. The Court itself +encouraged the custom of employing French tutors by engaging several in +its midst; and as, at this time, the Court became a powerful factor in +English social life, and the chief means of entering the service of the +State, noblemen and gentlemen wishing to figure on the social stage +endeavoured to adapt themselves to Court requirements. French tutors +were to be found in all the chief families of the time. Étienne Pasquier +remarks that there was no noble family in England without its French +tutor to instruct the children in the French language.[189] This +condition of things was still further developed a few years later when +religious persecution in France and the Netherlands drove increasingly +large numbers of Protestant refugees to take asylum in England. All +traces of the majority of these tutors have been lost; those of whom +anything is known were, for the most part, either the authors of manuals +for teaching French, or had won repute as writers or Humanists before +leaving their native land. + +One of these Humanists was Bernard André, familiarly called "Master +Barnard," the blind poet--an infirmity to which he frequently refers. He +was a native of Toulouse, and probably came to England with Henry VII., +his patron.[190] It is a curious fact that soon after his accession +Henry appointed this Frenchman, author of verses in French and Latin but +never a line in English, Poet Laureate of England. In addition to this +he bestowed on him repeated marks of favour. For a time André was +engaged as a tutor at Oxford, and in 1496 was chosen as governor to +Prince Arthur, and probably had much to do with the education of his +brother, afterwards Henry VIII. Appointed Historiographer Royal, he +began in this capacity to write his patron's life. Like so many other +men of education, André was in Holy Orders; he received preferment from +time to time, and was finally presented to the living of Guisnes near +Calais, which he resigned in 1521, having attained an "extreme old age." + +In the early sixteenth century, as in the Middle Ages, England took the +initiative in the production of French grammars.[191] The numbers which +appeared are so many testimonies to Englishmen's interest in the French +language. The chief and best known of these grammars is the great work +of John Palsgrave (1530), already mentioned, which stands out in +contrast with the slight treatises which had previously appeared on the +subject in England. Considering the time when it was written and the +irregular and unsettled condition of the language with which it deals, +it is truly remarkable for its fulness and comprehensiveness. Almost +alone of its predecessors and its immediate successors, it answered more +than a merely temporary and professional purpose, and is still of very +great value to the student of the English and French languages at that +time, and a great storehouse of obsolete words in both languages. +Perhaps the very reason which makes it so valuable to the student of +to-day hindered its success in the sixteenth century; most students of +French then preferred the shorter and more practical manuals. Palsgrave +had a very exalted idea of the French tongue; he desired to place it on +a level with the "three perfect tonges"--Latin, Greek, and Hebrew--and +to make it a fourth and classical tongue, by drawing up "absolute" rules +for its use. + +Palsgrave's grammar acquires additional importance from the fact that no +similar work had been produced in France. It is the first systematized +attempt to formulate rules for the French language, or indeed for any +modern tongue. Only one year later, however, Sylvius or Dubois published +his _In Linguam Gallicam Eisagoge_ (1531). In the address to Henry +VIII., which precedes his work, Palsgrave speaks of the "great nombre of +clerkes, whiche before season of this mater have written nowe sithe the +beginnyng of your most fortunate and most prosperous raigne." All these +"clerkes," he says, have treated chiefly of two things, which they +judged specially useful to the English--the pronunciation of French, and +"wherein the true analogie of the two tongues did rest." [Header: +BARCLAY'S "INTRODUCTORY"] No doubt many of these treatises were in +manuscript and are among the lost treasures of the sixteenth century. +Yet some have come down to us. Palsgrave mentions three writers by name, +Alexander Barclay, Petrus Vallensys, and Giles Duwes, copies of whose +works are still in existence. + +The earliest of these grammars--so far as is known the first French +grammar ever printed--was the work of Alexander Barclay, well known as a +prolific writer and poet, who devoted much of his time to translation +and did much to make contemporary French literature known in England. +Barclay had spent a time "full of foly and unprofytable stody" at some +university, possibly Paris; he had travelled, and was well acquainted +with French; from his youth upwards, he says, he had been exercised in +the two languages of French and English. It was late in his literary +career, when he had "withdrawen" his pen from its "olde dylygence," that +he undertook to compose a grammar of the French language, at the request +of the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Treasurer of England, and of "certain other +gentlemen." The work appeared in 1521[192] under the title of _Here +begynneth the introductory to wryte and to pronounce frenche compyled by +Alexander Barclay, compendiously at the commandement of the right hye +excellent and myghty prynce, Th. duke of Northfolke_. The printer, +Robert Coplande, himself a good French scholar, composed some lines on +the coat of arms of the Duke in French, and printed them at the +beginning of the book; at the end he placed a translation of Lambert +Danneau's _Traité des Danses_, also from his own pen.[193] + +Barclay's endeavour is to make his grammar as short and concise as +possible; his rules, so far as they go, are stated very clearly; he +plunges straight away into his subject without any preliminary +observations: "_je_ in frenche," he begins, "is as moche to say in +english as I, _tu_, thou, _il_, he, _nous_, _vous_, _ilz_ or _els_: we +may use sometyme _ceux_ for this worde _ilz_. If we answere to a +question by this worde 'I' usynynge no verbe withall then shall not +'_ie_' be set for 'I' but '_moy_,' as in this example, '_qui fist ce +livre_' ... If I sholde answere saynge I, addynge no verbe withall, I +must say '_moy_,' and not '_ie_.'" After giving similar rules for the +second person singular, he proceeds to explain how, when the words +_nous_, _vous_, _ilz_ are placed before a verb beginning with a +consonant, their last consonant is not pronounced, although it remains +in the spelling; but if they come before a verb beginning with a vowel, +the consonants are pronounced. He then turns to the conjugation of the +two auxiliaries and some of the most common irregular verbs, to show +"how these pronouns are ioyned with verbes." On the back of folio 4 he +begins his "introductory of orthography or true wrytynge wherby the +diligent reder may be infourmed truly and perfytely to wryte and +pronounce the Frenche tunge after the dyvers customes of many contress +of France." Barclay, then, does not adopt an exclusive attitude towards +provincial accents; he rather calls attention to them,[194] though +probably merely stating facts and drawing distinctions with no intention +of teaching provincial forms. Palsgrave, on the other hand, deals only +with the French spoken between the Seine and the Loire, which he +regarded as the only pure French. Barclay's attitude to dialectal forms +may possibly be explained by the fact that he transcribed freely from +the mediaeval treatises, especially the _Donait françois_ of John +Barton. His debt was early noted by Palsgrave, who wrote: "I have sene +an olde boke written in parchment, in all thynges lyke to his sayd +_Introductory_, whiche, by conjecture, was not unwritten this hundred +yeares."[195] So freely, indeed, and so carelessly did Barclay use his +sources, that he did not even trouble to modernize the spelling, which +contains many obsolete forms; in this connexion Palsgrave, who +criticizes Barclay very severely when occasion arises,[196] remarks on +his use of _k_ for _c_. + +Having exemplified the pronunciation of some of the French letters by +comparison with English sounds,[197] Barclay suddenly[198] passes to the +consideration of the number and gender of nouns,[199] besides supplying +a short list of nouns beginning with the first two letters of the +alphabet. After this digression he concludes his observations on the +pronunciation,[200] and proceeds to give an alphabetical vocabulary of +nouns,[201] adjectives and verbs, apparently the earliest known attempt +at an alphabetical French-English vocabulary; the earlier method of +arranging words under headings is discarded, though it continued to be +the usual form adopted in most French grammars until the end of the +eighteenth century. Barclay's vocabulary consists of a list of words +pure and simple, with no indication of gender or flexions. The +_Introductory_ ends with lists of ordinal numerals, days, seasons, and +so on, together with words of learned origin common to both languages +"amonge eloquent men," and, last of all, pieces of prose composition in +both French and English, arranged in alternate lines.[202] + +As is usual in these early grammars, there is an obvious lack of orderly +arrangement, and the work, as a whole, gives the impression of being a +collection of rough notes rather than a carefully planned treatise. +Barclay does not, however, make any claim to completeness, nor pretend +to lay down "absolute" rules as Palsgrave claimed to do. He shared the +opinion, common at that time among Frenchmen, that it was impossible to +formulate anything like adequate rules for the French language. The +sketchy nature of his rules may be judged by that given for the position +of the objective pronoun: "oft times that thynge whiche cometh before +the verbe in Englyshe commyth after it in frenche as il m'a fait +tort . . . je ne me puis lever." He was of opinion that rules were not +of much use in learning French: that language is best learnt by "custome +and use of redynge and spekynge, by often enquirynge and frequentynge of +company of frenchmen and of suche as have perfytnes in spekynge the sayd +language." This opinion prevailed throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth +centuries in England, and, as a result, rules are reduced to a minimum +in manuals for teaching French. + +"Who so desyreth to knowe more of the sayd language, must provyde for mo +bokes made for the same intent," Barclay notes at the end of his short +and interesting treatise. Charles, Duke of Suffolk, the husband of Mary, +sister to Henry VIII. and Dowager Queen of France, was soon to make the +necessary provision. This "syngular good lorde," says Palsgrave, "by +cause that my poore labours required a longe tracte of tyme, hath also +in the meane season encouraged maister Petrus Vallensys, scole maister +to his excellent yong sonne the Erle of Lyncolne to shewe his lernynge +and opinion on this behalfe." Such was the origin of the _Introductions +in Frensche for Henry the Yonge Erle of Lyncoln (childe of greate +esperaunce) sonne of the most noble and excellent princesse Mary (by the +grace of God, queen of France etc.)_,[203] which is undated and +anonymous, but clearly the work of Petrus Vallensys or Pierre Valence, +French tutor to the Earl of Lincoln, and must have been written sometime +in the third decade of the century.[204] Valence is said to have taught +French after a "wonderesly compendious facile prompte and ready +waye,"[205] and Gregory Cromwell, whom he also counted among his pupils, +is reported to have made good progress under his direction. [Header: +PIERRE VALENCE, TEACHER OF FRENCH] Pierre Valence was one of the +natives of Normandy, so numerous in England at this time that the fact +was commented on by Étienne Perlin, a French priest who visited England +at the end of the reign of Edward VI. He describes them as being "du +tout tres mechans et mauditz François," worse than all the English, +which, according to him, is a very grave charge.[206] The date at which +Valence came to England is unknown, but he is said to have studied at +Cambridge in or about 1515.[207] He was in all probability a refugee for +religious reasons. He is known to have held Lutheran opinions, and, +whilst at Cambridge, caused a disturbance by defacing a copy of the +Pope's general indulgence, which had been set up over the gates of the +schools. Vigorous but ineffectual attempts were made to discover the +writer, against whom the Chancellor pronounced sentence of +excommunication. Valence is alleged finally to have acknowledged the act +as his, to have expressed contrition, and to have been absolved. There +are several points of contact between this man and his greater +contemporary, John Palsgrave: both were students at Cambridge, possibly +at the same time, though Palsgrave was the senior; both had as their +pupil the son of Mr. Secretary Cromwell--the one for French and the +other for Latin; both were protégés of the Dowager Queen of France +(sister of Henry VIII. and Palsgrave's pupil for French) and of her +husband the Duke of Suffolk. In 1535 Valence received a grant of letters +of denization,[208] and ultimately became domestic chaplain and almoner +to Dr. Goodrich, Bishop of Ely, and appears to have maintained this +position under the bishop's successor. He was still living in 1555, +since, in that year, he visited some heretics in Ely jail, and conjured +them to stand loyally by the truth of the Gospel.[209] + +Among the works of "dyvers clerkes" on the French language, to which +Palsgrave refers, is probably to be reckoned a short treatise bearing +the date 1528. This work is only known by a fragment consisting of two +leaves now preserved in the library at Lambeth.[210] These pages are of +quarto size and bear the signature "B. B." The right-hand page is in +French, the left in English; the former is in Roman characters, the +latter in black letter. Although these two pages contain the date, and +the last is not full, they do not appear to be the end of the work, as +the writer refers to what is to come hereafter.[211] One gathers from +internal evidence that the author was a foreigner--no doubt a Frenchman. +He speaks, for instance, of the "gentz Englois" as though he was not one +of them; and it appears to be quite certain that the work was originally +composed in French, and translated into English rather carelessly, and +probably by another hand, for in the version it is rendered almost +unintelligible by the translation of the French illustrative examples as +well as the text itself. + +The contents are of a light and entertaining character. The author holds +that many rules do but "trouble and marre" the understanding. He +counsels students rather to follow the example of good writers as likely +to be more helpful. + +He treats entirely of the pronunciation, and devotes special attention +to the difficulties of the English,[212] laying emphasis on the +importance of placing the accent on the right syllable. The rules are +put in an amusing way, thus: "_a_ should be pronounced fro the botom of +the stomake and all openly, _e_ a lytell higher in the throte there +properly where the Englishman soundeth his _e_; _i_, in the roundnesse +of the lippes; _u_, in puttynge a lytell of wynde out of the mouthe." +Further uses of the vowel _a_ are thus set forth: it may be placed +before all verbs, in the infinitive mood, and before all manner of nouns +and pronouns, as "to Robert," "to May," and so on. Again, "it betokeneth +'have' when it cometh of the Latin verb _habeo_." The consonants are +next dealt with and disposed of in much the same way. Some attention is +also given to the question, then much discussed, whether the +etymological consonants in the words where they are not pronounced +should be retained or not. The author's opinion was that every letter in +a word ought to be sounded, yet he feels himself utterly unable to +struggle against custom, and falls back on the rule "go as you please": +[Header: TWO FRENCH POETS TEACH FRENCH] "Pronounce ech one as he shal +please, for to difficyl it is to correct olde errours." + +Among the French teachers in England at this time were also two +Frenchmen of considerable literary distinction--Nicolas Bourbon, the +Latin poet and well-known scholar, friend of Rabelais and Marot; and +Nicolas Denisot, who likewise held an important place among French +humanists, and finished his literary education under Daurat, the famous +Hellenist. + +Bourbon came to England under the protection of Anne Boleyn, who appears +to have taken a special interest in him;[213] she had, he tells us, +procured his liberation from imprisonment. Bourbon was for some time a +private tutor in Paris, and soon after he regained his freedom he +crossed to England, intending to continue his work there. He had a +cordial welcome, and invariably speaks of his stay and treatment in +London with gratitude. His Latin verses[214] show him to be acquainted +with the chief Englishmen who gathered round the Court, where he +occupied his leisure by writing satirical verses against the queen's +enemies, especially Sir Thomas More,[215] and in eulogizing Cromwell, +Cranmer, and the Reform Party then in power. It was on the +recommendation of the king and queen, he informs us, that he was engaged +as French tutor in several families of distinction, including the +Carews, Norrisses, and Harveys. John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was +one of his patrons, and from him Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of +Leicester, together with his brothers, learnt French as children. +Bourbon left England in 1535, on hearing of the death of his father. He +had probably been in the country at least two years, and, perhaps +happily for himself, left it a year before the fall of his patroness +Anne Boleyn. + +At a somewhat later date, 1547, the elegant poet and artist Nicolas +Denisot arrived in England, driven from Paris by an unfortunate love +affair.[216] His nephew, Jacques Denisot, declares he was "fort bien +accueilliz dans la cour d'Angleterre où son estime et sa reputation +estoit deja cogneue." He mixed with the writers and politicians[217] of +the day, and attracted the notice of the Court by writing verses in +honour of the young king, Edward VI.[218] He soon found himself in the +distinguished position of French and Latin tutor to the three daughters +of the Protector Somerset,--Anne, Margaret, and Jane,--who were destined +shortly to become famous in Paris as his pupils, and to form an +important link in the literary relations of the two countries. Calvin +corresponded with one of Denisot's pupils, the Lady Anne; and in 1549 he +wrote requesting her to use her knowledge of French in transmitting to +her mother an expression of his gratitude for a ring he had received +from that lady, he being unable to do so, on account of his ignorance of +English.[219] In this same year, 1549, Denisot's engagement in the house +of Somerset came to an end rather abruptly, probably on account of some +misunderstanding with the duke. He returned to France after spending +three years in England, and thence kept up a friendly correspondence +with his former pupils. On the death of Queen Margaret of Navarre, whom, +no doubt, Denisot had taught them to admire, the sisters composed four +hundred Latin distichs in her honour, and sent them to their former +master, who welcomed them with enthusiasm, and published them in 1550. +In the following year the verses appeared again, accompanied by French, +Italian, and Greek translations, and verses from the pen of Ronsard, Du +Bellay, and other literary friends of Denisot.[220] It is a striking +fact that before the Pléiade was fully known in France, the fame of some +of its members had reached England, where a particular interest would be +taken in this development of the work of the three princesses. Ronsard, +Denisot's intimate friend, wrote one of his earliest odes in honour of +Denisot's pupils, in which he celebrates the intellectual union of +France and England: [Header: THE PLÉIADE IN ENGLAND] + + Denisot se vante heuré + D'avoir oublié sa terre + Et passager demeuré + Trois ans en Angleterre. + . . . . les espritz + D'Angleterre et de la France + Bandez d'une ligue ont pris + Le fer contre l'ignorance, + Et (que) nos Roys se sont faitz + D'ennemys amys parfaitz + Tuans la guerre cruelle + Par une paix mutuelle. + +Herberay des Essarts, the translator of the famous _Amadis_, wrote a +letter in praise of the princesses, which was printed at the beginning +of Margaret's "tombeau." With full justice has Denisot been called the +"ambassador" of the French Renaissance in England. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[132] It was, however, an English scholar, Richard Mulcaster, Headmaster +of Merchant Taylors' School (1561) and of St. Paul's School (1596), who +boldly urged that the English language was a subject worthy of study by +Englishmen, though this was not till 1582, when his _Elementarie_ was +published. + +[133] _The Second Book of the Travels of Nicander Nucius_, 1545, Camden +Society, London, 1841, p. 13. + +[134] W. B. Rye, _England as seen by Foreigners_, London, 1865, +_passim_. + +[135] Translation of Sallust's _Bellum Jugurthinum_: Dedication to the +Duke of Norfolk. + +[136] _Remains_, Parker Society, p. 470. Quoted by J. J. Jusserand, +_Histoire littéraire du peuple anglais_, Paris, 1904, p. 86, n. 3. + +[137] _The Correspondence of Sir Philip Sidney and Hubert Languet_, ed. +W. A. Bradly, Boston, 1912, pp. 41 and 112. + +[138] _Sidney Papers_, ed. A. Collins, in _Letters and Memorials of +State_, 2 vols., London, 1746, vol. i. pp. 283-5. + +[139] _Letters of Descartes_, quoted by E. J. B. Rathery, _Les Relations +sociales et intellectuelles entre la France et l'Angleterre . . ._ +Paris, 1856. + +[140] Which provided the material for that "bonnie bouncing book," as +Ben Jonson called it--Coryat's _Crudities: Hastily gobled up in Five +Months' Travells in France_, etc. 1611. + +[141] Rye, _op. cit._ pp. xxxv-xxxvii. + +[142] L. Einstein, _The Italian Renaissance in England_, New York, 1907. + +[143] The Tudor group of distinguished linguists includes the names of +many women. The chronicler Harrison remarks that it is a rare thing to +hear of a courtier that has but his own language, and to tell how many +ladies are skilled in French, Spanish, and Italian is beyond his power +(_Holinshed's Chronicle_, 1586, i. p. 196). Nicholas Udal writes in the +same strain in his dedication to Queen Katherine Parr of his translation +of Erasmus's _Paraphrase of the Gospels_; we are told that a great +number of noble women at that time in England were given to the study of +human sciences and of strange tongues; and that it was a common thing to +see "young virgins so nouzled and trained in the study of letters that +thei willingly set all other vain pastymes at nought for learnynge's +sake." Amongst the most accomplished of such "Queens and Ladies of high +estate and progeny" were Queen Katherine Parr and Lady Jane Grey. +Mulcaster in his _Positions_ (1581) praises English ladies for their +fondness of serious study, and so does the Italian teacher Torriano in +his _Italian reviv'd_ (1673), p. 99. Many examples of fluent linguists +are found in Ballard's _Memoirs of Several Ladies of Great Britain_, 2nd +ed., 1775. + +[144] Elizabeth's command of foreign languages was constantly a subject +of remark. Dr. William Turner in the dedication of his _Herbal_ (1568) +to the queen, addresses her thus: "As to your knowledge of Latin and +Greek, French, Italian, and others also, not only your own faythful +subiectes, beynge far from all suspicion of flattery, bear witness, but +also strangers, men of great learninge, in their books set out in Latin +tonge, give honourable testimonye." Best known of these learned +observers was Scaliger (_Scaligeriana_, Cologne, 1695, p. 134). Similar +eulogies in verse were left by French poets: Ronsard, _Elegies, +Mascarades et Bergeries_ (1561), reproduced in _Le Bocage royal_ (1567); +Jacques Grévin, _Chant du cygne_; Du Bartas, _Second Week_; and Agrippa +d'Aubigné; also by John Florio, _First Frutes_, 1578, ch. xiii. + +[145] _First Frutes_, 1578, ch. i. + +[146] John Eliote, _Ortho-Epia Gallica_, 1596. + +[147] _Merchant of Venice_, Act I. Scene 2. + +[148] Cp. Brunot, _Histoire de la langue française_, ii. pp. 2 _sqq._ +Dallington in his _View of France_ remarks on the same neglect. In _The +Abbot and the Learned Woman_, Erasmus praises the latter for studying +the classics and not, as was usual, confining herself to French +(_Colloquia_, Leiden, 1519). + +[149] _Copy Book of Sir Amias Poulet's Letters_, Roxburghe Club, 1866, +p. 129. + +[150] _The Second Book of the Travels of Nicander Nucius_, Camden Soc., +1841, p. 14. + +[151] _Dialogue de l'ortografe et pronunciacion françoese departi en +deus livres_, Lyon, 1558. + +[152] Peiresc wrote in French to the scholars Selden and Camden, who +answered in Latin. Other French scholars who maintained a correspondence +with Englishmen are de Thou, Jérôme Bignon, Duchesne, du Plessis Mornay, +H. Estienne, Hubert Languet, Pibrac, and the Sainte-Marthe brothers. + +[153] _Lettres missives de Henri IV_, 9 tom., Paris, 1843. For an +example of Elizabeth's French in her intercourse with her neighbours, +see Rathery, _Les Relations sociales et intellectuelles entre la France +et l'Angleterre_, Paris, 1856, p. 31 n.; _Unton Correspondence_, +Roxburghe Club, 1847, _passim_. + +[154] See the _Calendars of State Papers_ for the period. + +[155] _Calendar of State Papers_, Domestic, 1595-97, p. 328. + +[156] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._, vol xiii. pt. i. +No. 977. + +[157] Henry VII.'s mother, the Countess of Richmond, was also an +accomplished French scholar; she translated several works from the +French, and encouraged others to follow her example. + +[158] J. P. Collier, _Annals of the English Stage_, 1831, vol. i. pp. +48, 51, 53. + +[159] Cp. Rye, _op. cit._ pp. 76, 79. + +[160] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._, ed. Brewer, vol. +ii. No. 411; Rawdon Brown, _Four Years at the Court of Henry VIII._, +1854, vol. i. pp. 76-79 and 86. + +[161] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._, vol. i. p. +xxiii. + +[162] _Songs, Ballads, and Instrumental Pieces composed by King Henry +VIII._, Oxford, 1912. Barclay says in his _Eclogues_ that French +minstrels and singers were highly favoured at Court. Jamieson, _Life and +Writings of Barclay_, 1874, p. 44. + +[163] "Je serai à [vous] toujours et tant que je vivrai autre n'aimerai +que vous." + +[164] _Henry VIII._, Act I. Scene 4. + +[165] Wolsey spoke Latin well. Like Charles II. he considered it +diplomatic to affect ignorance of French at times. Such is his advice to +those who accompanied him on his embassy to France: "The nature of the +Frenchmen is such that at their first meeting they will be as familiar +with you as if they had knowne you by long acquaintance, and will +commune with you in their French Tongue as if you knew every word. +Therefore use them in a kind manner, and bee as familiar with them as +they are with you: if they speake to you in their natural tongue, speake +to them in English, for if you understand not them, no more shall they +you." Puttenham, in his _Arte of English Poesie_, advises ambassadors +and messengers not to use foreign languages of which they have not +perfect command, lest they commit blunders similar to that of the +courtier who said of a French lady, "Elle chevauche bien,"--blunders +which might have serious results in diplomatic transactions. + +[166] _The Negociations of Th. Wolsey, The Great Cardinal of England, +containing his Life and Death. Composed by one of his own servants, +being his gentleman usher_ (G. Cavendish?), London, 1641. + +[167] _Negociations of Th. Wolsey_, _ut supra_. + +[168] M. E. A. Green, _Lives of the Princesses of England_, 1849-1855, +v. p. 20. + +[169] Green's _Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies_, 1846. See also +Ellis, _Original Letters_, 1st series, vol. i. p. 115. + +[170] _Life of Anne Boleyn_, in Strickland's _Lives of the Queens of +England_, London, 1884, ii. pp. 179, 181. + +[171] Ellis, _Orig. Letters_, 2nd series, vol. ii. p. 11. Anne's French +spelling is curious and suggests that, like Henry VIII., she learnt +French mainly by ear: "Mons. Je antandue par vre lettre que aves envy +que tout onnete feme quan je vindre à la courte et ma vertisses que Rene +prendra la pein de devisser a vecc moy, de quoy me regoy bien fort de +pensser parler a vecc ung personne tante sage et onnete, cela me ferra a +voyr plus grante anvy de continuer a parler bene franssais." + +[172] A French poem of the time, preserved in MS. and quoted by Rathery, +_op. cit._ p. 21, celebrates Anne's French accomplishments--_Traité pour +feue dame Anne de Boulant, jadis royne d'Angleterre, l'an 1533_: + + "La tellement ses graces amenda + Que ne l'eussiez oncques jugée Angloise + En ses fachons, ains naïve Françhoise. + Elle sçavoit bien danser et chanter, + Et ses propos sagement agencer, + Sonner du luth et d'autres instrumens + Pour divertir les tristes pensemens." + +[173] Pub., with English translation, in the _Harleian Miscellany_, vol. +iii., 1745, pp. 52-62. + +[174] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._, xv. 179, and +xvi. 12. + +[175] Ellis, _Orig. letters_, series 1, vol. ii. p. 122. + +[176] Strickland, _Lives of the Queens_, 1884, ii. p. 299. + +[177] This is the testimony of Girolamo Cordano, a physician and +astrologer of Milan who was called upon to exercise his art on the young +king of England in 1552. Rye, _England as seen by Foreigners_, pp. +lxviii _sqq._ + +[178] Strickland, _op. cit._ ii. pp. 477-8. + +[179] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._, xvi. No. 1253. + +[180] Ellis, _Original Letters_, 3rd series, ii. p. 236. + +[181] One of Elizabeth's Italian masters was Baptista Castiglione, a +religious refugee in 1557. Elizabeth, however, had acquired some +knowledge of Italian before 1544; in that year she addressed a letter in +Italian to Queen Katharine Parr (printed in G. Howard's _Lady Jane Grey +and her Times_, 1822). Other Italian letters of the queen are published +in Green's _Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies_, 1846. + +[182] Account of the Venetian ambassador at the Court of Mary--Michel +Giovanni. Rye, _op. cit._ p. 266. + +[183] _Memoirs of his own Life, 1549-93_, Bannatyne Club, 1827, p. 125. +Elizabeth's Dutch he pronounces "not gud," and later says that neither +the King of France nor the Queen of England could speak Dutch (p. 341). + +[184] _Memoirs of his own Life, 1549-93_, Bannatyne Club, 1827, p. 117. + +[185] J. Nichols, _Progresses of Queen Elizabeth_, 1788-1821, i. p. x. + +[186] Rye, _op. cit._ p. 12. + +[187] Rye, _op. cit._ p. 104. + +[188] The MS. was reproduced in facsimile in 1893. The prayers in French +begin thus: "Mon Dieu et mon pere puis qu'il t'a pleu desployer les +tresors de ta grande misericorde envers moy ta tres humble servante, +m'ayant de bon matin retirée des profonds abismes de l'ignorance +naturelle et des superstitions damnables pour me faire iouir de ce grand +soleil de justice . . . etc." + +[189] _Lettres_, Amsterdam, 1723, liv. i. p. 5. + +[190] An account of the little that is known of André's life is given in +Gairdner's _Memorials of Henry VII._, pp. viii _et seq._ + +[191] Of foreign countries, the Netherlands seem to have come next to +England in zeal for the study of French, and Germany takes the next +place. Countries in which sister Romance tongues were spoken, Italy and +Spain, were apparently entirely dependent on practice for learning +French. + +[192] The printing was completed by Robert Coplande on the 22nd March +1521. The book consists of sixteen leaves of the folio size of the time, +in black letter, with signatures A-B in sixes and C in fours. There is a +unique copy in the Bodleian. + +[193] Bale, _Scriptorum Britanniae Summarium_, 1548, p. 723, and Pits, +_Relationes Historicae de rebus Anglicis_, 1619, p. 745, attribute to +Barclay a work called _De pronuntiatione linguae gallicae_. This +suggests that possibly the _Introductory_ was first written in Latin. + +[194] Time after time he mentions the usages of different parts of the +country, as _piecha_ for _pieça_ in certain districts; _jeo_ and _ceo_ +for _je_ and _ce_ in Picard and Gascon; the writing of the names of +dignitaries and officers in the plural instead of the singular, as _luy +papes de Rome_. + +[195] _L'Esclarcissement de la langue françoyse_, bk. i. ch. xxxv. + +[196] "There is a boke which goeth about in this realme, intitled _The +Introductory to write and pronounce French_, compyled by Alexander +Barclay. I suppose it is sufficient to warne the lerner that I have red +over that boke at length, and what my opinion is therein it shall well +apeare in my boke's self, though I make thereof no further expresse +mencion." + +[197] Thus the vowel _a_ is sometimes a letter, sometimes a word. In the +former case it is often sounded like English _a_; when it is a word _d_ +should not be added. This section of the work is reprinted in A. J. +Ellis's _Early English Pronunciation_, Early Engl. Text Soc., 1869, +etc., pt. iii. pp. 804 _sqq._ + +[198] On the back of folio 5. + +[199] "Howsoever the singular number end, the plural number must end in +_s_ or _z_." Such is the rule for the formation of the plural. As for +the genders, he gives a few isolated examples and converts them into +rules. + +[200] On folio 8vº. + +[201] Folios 9-14. The vocabulary begins with the letter M, and after +proceeding to the end of the alphabet, resumes at the beginning--an +arrangement probably due to some blunder on the part of the printer. + +[202] Both deal with agricultural subjects; the first gives the life of +a grain of wheat, and the second may explain itself: + + "Dieu sauve la charue, + God save the ploughe, + Et celui qui la mane. + And he the whiche it ledeth. + Primierement hairois la terre, + Firste ere the grounde, + Apres semer le blé ou l'orge. + After sow the whete or barley. + Les herces doivent venir apres, + The harrowes must come after, + Le chaclir oster l'ordure. + The hoke to take away wedes, + En Aoust le foyer ou faucher, + In August reap it or mowe it, + D'une faucille ou d'une faux." + +There is no English rendering of the last line. + +[203] In the Library of the Marquis of Bath. + +[204] The Earl was born in 1516. + +[205] Ellis, _Orig. Letters_, 1st series, i. pp. 341-43. + +[206] _Description des royaulmes d'Angleterre et d'Escosse_, Paris, +1558. + +[207] C. H. and T. Cooper, _Athenae Cantabrigienses_, vol. i., 1858, p. +155. + +[208] _List of Denizations, 1509-1603_, Huguenot Society Publications +VIII. + +[209] _Athenae Cantab._ _ut supra_. + +[210] S. R. Maitland, _List of some of the early printed books in the +Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth_, 1843, pp. 290 _et seq._ + +[211] "'_a_' also betokeneth 'have' or 'has,' when it cometh of this +verbe in Latin, _habeo_, as hereafter ye may see." + +[212] "Sur toultes choses doibuit noter gentz Englois que leur fault +accustomer de pronuncer la derniere lettre du mot françois quelque mot +que ce soit (rime exceptée) ce que la langue engleshe ne permet, car la +ou l'anglois dit 'goode breade,' le françois diroit 'goode' iii sillebes +et 'breade' iii sillebes." + +[213] J. A. Jacquot, _Notice sur Nicolas Bourbon de Vandoeuvre_, Troyes +et Paris, 1857. Bourbon was born in 1503, and died in 1550. He went to +Paris in 1531, leaving behind him in his native town a reputation won by +his Latin verses. On his return from England, Queen Margaret of Navarre +entrusted to him the education of her daughter, Jeanne, who was the +mother of Henry IV. + +[214] _Nicolai Borbonii vandoperani Lingonenis_ [Greek: Paidagôgeion], +Lugduni, 1536. + +[215] J. H. Marsden, _Philomorus_, 2nd ed., 1878, p. 261. + +[216] Clement Jugé, _Nicolas Denisot du Mans, 1515-1559_, Paris and Le +Mans, 1907. + +[217] He also began his work as a secret agent in the service of France, +and it is said that Calais was recovered by the French in 1558, from a +plan which Denisot submitted to the Duc de Guise. + +[218] There was a MS. copy of Latin poems by Denisot in the Library of +Edward VI. (Nichols, _Literary Remains_, 1857.) + +[219] J. Bonnet, _Récits du seizième siècle_, 1864, p. 348. + +[220] _Le Tombeau de Marguerite de Navarre faict premierement en +Distiques latins par les trois soeurs, Princesses en Angleterre: Depuis +Traduits, en Grec, Italien et François par plusieurs des excellentz +Poetes de la France. Avecques plusieurs Odes, Hymnes, Cantiques, +Epitaphes sur le mesme subiect._ Paris, 1551. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + FRENCH TUTORS AT COURT--GILES DUWES--JOHN PALSGRAVE--JEAN BELLEMAIN + + +The two most popular French tutors at the Court of Henry VIII. were +undoubtedly Giles Duwes and John Palsgrave. Palsgrave is the only one of +these early French tutors who is well known to-day as a writer on the +French tongue. He was a Londoner, and received his education at +Cambridge and Paris. Giles Duwes was a Frenchman and seems to have +enjoyed a greater popularity in his own day. He had been teaching French +at the English Court for over ten years when Palsgrave received his +first appointment there, as French tutor to the king's "most dere and +entierly beloved" sister Mary, afterwards Queen of France. Both teachers +were protégés of Henry VIII., and taught in the royal family--Duwes was +tutor to the king himself; and both were authors of grammars of the +French language. That of Palsgrave has been mentioned already. It +appeared in 1530 under the title of _L'Esclarcissement de la langue +françoyse_. Duwes's was not published till three years later +approximately, at the request of his pupil, Princess Mary, afterwards +Queen of England. It was called _An Introductorie for to learne to rede, +to prononce and to speke French trewly, compyled for the rigid high +excellent and most vertuous Lady Mary of Englande, daughter to our most +gracious soveraign, Lorde Kyng Henry the Eight_.[221] His treatise is a +small quarto of 102 leaves, forming a striking contrast to Palsgrave's +enormous folio[222] of over 1000 pages. + +The contents and style of the two books are as different as their size. +[Header: JOHN PALSGRAVE'S FRENCH GRAMMAR] Like all the French +grammarians of the time, Palsgrave opens his work with rules for the +pronunciation, and the whole of the first book is devoted to an +elaborate study of this subject. Earlier writers had treated it very +slightly, if at all, trusting that the student would find some +opportunity of learning the sounds of the language by mixing with those +who spoke it. We are told[223] that as a result there was no means of +acquiring a good pronunciation, save in early youth by practice and use +for a year or two. And it came to be supposed in a manner a thing +impossible; "in so much that whereas there be hundreds in this realm, +which with a little labour and the aid of Latin, do so perfectly +understand this tongue that they be able to translate at the first sight +anything out of the French tongue into ours, yet have they thought the +thing so strange to leave the consonants unsounded whiche they saw +written in such books as they studied, that they have utterly neglected +the Frenchmen's manner of pronunciation, and so read French as their +fantasy or opinion did lead them and, by that means, perceiving in +themselves a want and swerving from the truth, which they wot not how to +amend, utterly leave to speak or exercise the language as a thing which +they despair of."[224] One of the chief difficulties of these early +students then was the numerous consonants found in French words for +etymological reasons, and which were not pronounced. Other difficulties +were found in the accentuation of vowel sounds. The English were in the +habit of placing the accent on the wrong syllable, saying _doUcement_ +instead of _doucemEnt_, and of not giving the vowel its full and pure +sound, both mistakes being due to peculiarities of their native tongue. +"We must leave that kind of reading and pronouncing if we will sound the +French Tongue aright," says Palsgrave, "for the French in their +pronunciation do chiefly regard three things: to be armonious in theyr +speking, to be brefe and sodayne in soundyng of theyr words, avoydyng +all manner of harshenesse in theyr pronunciation, and thirdly to gyve +every worde that they abyde and reste upon theyr most audible sounde." +There is something solemn about his assurance of the successful results +to be attained by the study of his rules: "whereas nowe the very grounde +and consyderation of the Frenchmen in this behalf ones knowen, it hath +been proved by experience that it is but a senyghts labour, or, at the +most, a fournyghtes to lerne this poynt concernyng to theyr +pronounciatyon an to be sure herof for ever." + +Palsgrave devotes attention to each letter of the alphabet in turn, and +seeks to elucidate the value of the sounds by reference to contemporary +English or Italian, and by attempting to give the position of the vocal +organs.[225] _A_, he says, has two diverse sounds. "Sometimes he is +sounded as in English, and sometimes like the diphthong _au_ and a +little in the nose. The most usual pronunciation given it by the French, +is the same as those who speak the best English, that is like the +Italian sound _a_, or those of the English who sound the Latin tongue +aright. When _m_ or _n_ follow the vowel it is pronounced as _au_ and +somewhat in the nose, _chambre_ being sounded _chaumbre_," etc. More +general topics are also touched on--the accent, the length of vowels, +and the intonation which is so "brief, so sudden and so hard." + +In his second book,[226] Palsgrave treats what he calls the second +difficulty of the French tongue--the accidence of the nine parts of +speech. Throughout, constant reference is made to the third book, +"whiche is a very comment expositour unto my second." This last book +deals with the more syntactical side of the subject, and was added on +the model of Theodore Gaza's Greek grammar. It occupies by far the +largest portion of the whole work,[227] and besides giving elaborate and +often obscure rules to govern every French inflexion,[228] includes an +English-French alphabetical vocabulary which reaches the size of a +dictionary. This vocabulary is arranged according to the parts of +speech, and numerous phrases and idioms illustrative of different uses +of the words are freely given. [Header: THE "INTRODUCTORIE" OF GILES +DUWES] Nothing like it in dimensions had yet appeared, and, contrary to +custom, the English is placed before the French. + +Duwes's manual, on the other hand, opens with an acrostich in French +with an interlinear English translation containing the author's +name--Giles Duwes or de Vadis,--followed by a short address in verse to +the Princess Mary, "filleule a saincte Marie" (also in French, +accompanied by an English interlinear version), and lists of French +words beginning with each of the letters of his royal pupil's name. The +grammar itself is written in English, for Duwes was one of the few +Frenchmen of the time who knew English; neither Bourbon nor Denisot, +though they lived in England some years, and taught French to English +pupils, knew our language; and no doubt they helped to continue the +long-standing relation between the teaching of Latin and the teaching of +French. Duwes's work is divided into two books, the first of which is +devoted to rules of grammar. He dismisses the pronunciation with seven +short and inadequate rules, and proceeds to give his pupil a copious +vocabulary of words and phrases, in which the English word is printed +over the French one. The headings with which the earlier vocabularies +have made us familiar are again utilized, though with variety in detail, +and many passages are reminiscent of the mediaeval nomenclatures. After +his pupil has gained a knowledge of pronunciation, and acquired a good +vocabulary, Duwes proceeds to give him an insight into the grammar of +the language. He treats the parts of speech, with the exception of the +verb, in a very summary fashion; thus, with regard to the gender of +pronouns, all he has to say is that those ending in _a_ are feminine, +and those ending in _on_ or _e_ are masculine. "But there be certain +names of the feminine, which do require the pronouns masculine, that +must be accepted (excepted), as _mon ame_; _me_ and _se_ be +indifferent." He devotes nearly the whole of his space to a lengthy and +elaborate treatment of the French verb, which he divides into two +conjugations, according as there is not or is an _s_ before the +termination _-ons_ of the first person plural, present indicative! Thus +the forms _aimons_, _avons_, _batons_, _donons_ prove the verbs _aimer_, +_avoir_, _batir_, _donner_ to belong to the first conjugation; and +similarly the forms _baisons_, _taisons_, etc., indicate that these +verbs belong to the second conjugation--an arrangement not at all +conducive to lucidity. A considerable part of his work is occupied by +the conjugation of verbs of all sorts, in a variety of forms and both +negatively and interrogatively. He usually adopts the practice, frequent +in modern text-books, of attaching words to the verbs as he conjugates +them, and so providing them with a context. Thus he writes _j'ai grand +desir_, and not simply the verb form _j'ai_. A knowledge of French verbs +was, in Duwes's opinion, the key to the knowledge of the French +language.[229] + +The second book occupies more than half the volume. It contains +practical exercises in the form of "letters missive in prose and in +rime, also diverse communications by way of dialogue, to receive a +messenger from the emperor, the French King or any other prince, also +other communications of the propriety of meat, of love, of peace, of +wars, of the exposition of the mass, and what man's soul is, with the +division of time and other conceits." Each exercise is provided with an +interlinear English translation, and all, as may be gathered from their +subject matter, were in the first place written specially for the use of +the Princess Mary. They deal with the daily events of her life, and, +though occasionally public affairs are touched on, these exercises are +of greatest interest in disclosing the affectionate relations existing +between Mary and her tutor. Whenever possible, Duwes introduces +alternative phrases as well as variations of number and gender, and this +attention to his pupil's vocabulary and knowledge of the flexions often +encumbers his sentences. As for the English version, it gives a +word-for-word rendering of the French, without regard to the natural +order of words in an English sentence. + +The methods of the two teachers seem to have been as different as their +works. Everything tends to prove that Duwes's manner of teaching was +practical, light, and entertaining, and at the same time efficient--a +rare combination of good qualities. [Header: HIS METHOD] Henry VIII.'s +skill in French has already been noticed, and Duwes's other pupils seem +to have been equally accomplished. In his opinion, a good vocabulary and +a thorough knowledge of the verbs were the two essentials in teaching +French. To learn French quickly, he thinks, the student must practise +turning the verbs in all possible ways, affirmatively, negatively, and +interrogatively--a principle of repetition. In this way he acquires +fluency of speech and is able to "make diverse and many sentences with +one word, and perconsequent come shortly to the French speach." For +instance, thirty-six variations may be got in one tense, by turning each +person in six different ways, "that is to say, the affirmative three +ways, and the negative likewise." Duwes reaches this large total by +giving the following forms of each person: "I have, have I?, why have +I?" for the singular of affirmation, "I have not, have I not?, why have +I not?" for the singular of negation, and so on with other persons and +the corresponding plural forms. He further counsels the student to +practise 108 similar variations in the same tense, by means of the use +of the pronouns _me_, _te_, _se_; "for the first person, I have me, I +have thee, I have him, and we turn it, we shall have, Have I me, have I +thee, have I him. Then putting why before it we shall have, Why have I +me," etc., and so on, on lines exactly similar to the example for +thirty-six variations. Apparently such exercises were the mainstay of +his grammatical instruction, for rules of grammar are reduced to a +minimum. Practice held a higher place than theory in Duwes's estimation, +and his attitude towards attempts to draw up rules for the French +language was very sceptical; to be complete, the numbers of such rules +would be infinite, and, what is more, rules are of more use to the +teacher than to the learner. + +Palsgrave, on the contrary, had a firm belief in the value and soundness +of grammar rules. He seems to have been the first to advocate the +learning of French chiefly by means of grammar. The earliest treatises +had been intended more to correct the French of those who read them than +to teach the language; and though in later times the rules were intended +to impart a knowledge of the language, they were not put in the first +place, and it was always felt that they were very secondary to "custom +and the use of reading and speaking." Before Palsgrave's grammar +appeared, declares his enthusiastic pupil Andrew Baynton, Englishmen did +in a manner despair of learning French except by an "importune and long +continued exercise and that begun in young and tender age." Sir Thomas +Elyot in _The Boke of the Governour_, which appeared a year after +Palsgrave's grammar, seems to regret this interference with +long-standing custom, by means of which French was "brought into as many +rules and figures and as long a grammar as is Latin or Greek."[230] He +was afraid that the "sparkes of fervent desire of learnynge" should be +"extincte with the burdone of grammar, lyke as a lytell fyre is sone +quenched with a great heape of small stickes: so that it can never come +to the principale logges where it shuld longe bourne in a great +pleasaunt fire." Many years elapsed, however, before the deadening +effect of too much grammar, apprehended by Elyot, was felt in the +teaching of French. + +Palsgrave's method of teaching, therefore, was the reverse of that of +his fellow-worker, although he professes a desire to induce his pupils +not only to love their studies, but to be merry over them.[231] It +appears that he was fond of making his pupils learn rules by heart,[232] +while the dynamic of his method was translation from English into +French--an exercise not very popular amongst teachers at this time. So +great was his faith in his rules that he felt that the student might, +with their aid, even dispense with the assistance of a teacher. By an +attentive study of the first book the reader "shal undouted attayne to +the right and naturall pronunciation of this sayde tonge." And he +assures the student that by reading the general information in the +introduction to his first two books, and by learning by heart the three +perfect verbs in his second book (_Je parle_, _Je convertis_, _Je fais_, +representatives of the three conjugations into which Palsgrave arranges +French verbs) and the three irregulars (_J'ai_, _Je suis_, and _Je m'en +vais_), he will know French tolerably well, and be able, with the help +of the vocabulary in the third book, to translate from English into +French, and "so incontinente accustome hym to have theyr common +speache"; and, again using the vocabulary, he will be able to read any +French author by his own study, without help or teacher, if he knows the +second book perfectly. [Header: HIS DIALOGUES IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH] +However, he advises those who desire to attain perfection, or to +qualify themselves for foreign service, to read and study the whole of +the three books. + +Palsgrave seems to assign the priority to Duwes by mentioning him as one +of his immediate predecessors, although Duwes's work was not published +until after Palsgrave's. Yet it is improbable that the debt on either +side was anything but trifling. Duwes had been teaching many years +before we first hear of Palsgrave. As he taught he drew up grammatical +rules for the use of his pupils; and when he was tutor to the Princess +Mary, she requested him to collect together and publish the material he +had used in teaching the king, her father, as well as other members of +the royal family.[233] According to Palsgrave, diverse noblemen +supported the princess's request. Thus most of the rules published in +Duwes's grammar had been composed very many years before they were +published, for Duwes had then been teaching for over thirty years. And +no doubt Palsgrave, who was also employed at Court, had opportunities of +seeing them in manuscript. As to the dialogues and other practical +exercises, they were all specially written for the use of the princess, +and so are of later date than most of the rules. Duwes had doubtless +composed for the benefit of his earlier pupils similar exercises, which +remained in manuscript form and were lost. Some idea of the dates at +which the dialogues were written and of the period during which Duwes +was engaged in teaching the princess may be gathered from references to +topical events which occur in the text. For instance, mention is made of +a peace newly proclaimed throughout the kingdoms of France and England, +which was, no doubt, that of 1525, when England joined with France to +counteract the excessive power of Spain. We also find a somewhat vague +reference to a possible marriage for the princess with a "king or +emperor," and remember that it was in 1525 that negotiations for her +marriage with Charles V. were broken off, and others for an alliance +with the French king, Francis I., begun. Another circumstance points to +this same period. One of the dialogues takes place at Tewkesbury Park; +it was in 1526 that Mary was created Princess of Wales, and sent to +Ludlow to hold her Court there, and in November of the same year six of +her Council addressed a letter to Wolsey from Tewkesbury. Duwes is not +mentioned by name in a list of the princess's household appointed on +this occasion, probably because he was already in her service; and it is +interesting to note that the Countess of Salisbury, her lady governess, +had instructions "without fatigacion or weariness to intende to her +learninge of Latine tongue and French," as well as her music, dancing +and diet.[234] In May 1527, Mary had returned to London, and took part +in the festivities given at Greenwich in honour of the French +ambassadors who had come to ask for her hand on behalf of the French +king's second son, Henry, Duke of Orleans. We may therefore conclude +that Duwes's grammar rules were composed at various dates from the +beginning of the century, and the dialogues probably between the years +1524 and 1527. + +Palsgrave, on the other hand, began his great work when Henry VIII. +appointed him French tutor to his sister Mary, the future Queen of +France, in 1512. He had "conceyved some lyttle hope and confidence" by +receiving such a noble charge, and thought it a convenient occasion for +showing his gratitude by means of his works. Several years later he +completed "two sondrie bookes" on the subject, which he offered in +manuscript to his former pupil, the Dowager Queen of France, and her +husband the Duke of Suffolk. On their advice and encouragement he +undertook to enlarge these and to add a third, and present the whole to +the king. In 1523, Palsgrave had planned the whole of the three books, +for in that year he made a contract with the printer, Richard Pynson, in +which it is stipulated that "the sayd Richarde, his executors and +assignes shall imprint or cause to be imprynted on boke callyd 'lez +lesclarcissement de la langue Françoys,' contayning iii sondrye bokes, +where in is shewyd howe the saide tong schould be pronownsyd in reding +and speking, and allso syche gramaticall rules as concerne the +perfection of the saide tong, with ii vocabulistes, oone begynnyng with +English nownes and verbes expownded in frenshe, and a general vocabulist +contayning all the wordes off the frenshe tong expound in Englishe." +Pynson undertook to begin at once and to print every whole working day, +at the rate of a sheet a day, interrupting the work for nothing save a +royal order. [Header: POPULARITY OF DUWES] The third book was not fully + written when the first two passed into the hands of the printer, as +Palsgrave constantly refers in it to the mistakes made already by the +printer in his second book,--mistakes unavoidable in so "newe and +unaccustomed worke." He also seems to have modified his plan for the +vocabulary; in that which actually appeared in the third book there is a +separate English-French dictionary for each part of speech--noun, +adjective, verb, adverb, conjunction, and interjection. In the meantime, +Pynson died, and the book was completed by John Hawkins, this being the +only known production of his press. The two writers, then, were both +engaged on their work for a great many years. Duwes was the first in the +field, but he wrote with no view to publication, merely to satisfy the +needs of his pupils. Palsgrave, on the other hand, from the very first +intended to publish his work, and had great ambitions. Although he no +doubt saw some of Duwes's manuscript, his debt was of the slightest +character, if it can be called a debt at all. The respective size of the +two volumes is enough to prove this. + +Duwes's small treatise, however, seems to have enjoyed a greater +popularity than that of Palsgrave;[235] the latter did not reach a +second edition, whereas the former went through three in rapid +succession. This was no doubt largely due to its conciseness and +practical nature, which would appeal to the student, discouraged at the +sight of Palsgrave's immense work. The first edition (as far as is +known) of Duwes's _Introductorie_ must have appeared at least three +years after Palsgrave's _Esclarcissement_. The first two editions, +printed, one by Thomas Godfray, and the other by Nicholas Bourman for +John Reyns at the sign of the George in Paul's Churchyard, were +published during the years when Anne Boleyn was queen, and after the +birth of the Princess Elizabeth, as they both contain a "laude and +prayse" of the King, Queen Anne, and her daughter. This leaves a period +of under three years for the publication of the two editions, seeing +that Elizabeth was born in September 1533, and Anne was put to death on +the 19th of May 1536, Jane Seymour becoming queen in her stead on the +20th. The third edition[236] appeared after Duwes's death in 1535, as +perhaps the second edition may have done also. The dedication to Anne is +omitted, and a new one inserted, addressed to Henry alone. The second +part is here said to be "newly corrected and amended"; but it is +difficult to find in what the corrections consist, for, with the +exception of slight variations of spelling, the edition is identical +with the two earlier ones. It was issued from the press of John Waley, +who began to practise his trade as printer in about the year 1546.[237] +Most probably, then, this edition appeared in the last months of the +reign of Henry VIII. (1547), and was one of the earliest works issued +from Waley's press. It is hardly likely that he would have inserted the +"laude and prayse" of the king if the work had appeared after his +Majesty's death. + +Several reasons combine to explain how it was that Palsgrave's work does +not appear to have been as widely used as that of Duwes.[238] While his +book was still in the press, alarming rumours as to its size began to +circulate, and caused the great demand there had been for the work +previously to diminish noticeably. Some of Palsgrave's pupils made +efforts to stop the report, one of whom was Andrew Baynton, already +mentioned, a favourite courtier of Henry VIII. and vice-chamberlain to +three of his queens. "The labour needed to master the book is not in +proportion to his size!" he wrote indignantly to three distinguished +fellow-students, who helped him to contradict the rumour. On the +contrary, he argues, it may rather be thought too small; it is as +complete as can be expected when we consider that it is the first of its +kind: clerks have laboured for years at Latin grammar and still find +something new; French grammar, then, cannot be expected to attain +completeness in this first attempt. But "he that will seek, may find and +in a brief time attain to his utterest desire." Palsgrave deemed it wise +to publish this letter as a prefatory notice to his grammar; it may, +indeed, have been written in the first place with that object in view. +[Header: SALE OF PALSGRAVE'S GRAMMAR] He also judged it expedient to +explain how students, not wishing to study the whole, might learn enough +French to serve their purpose by selecting and learning certain sections +of the grammar.[239] + +Moreover, Palsgrave himself restricted the sale of his book. On account +of "his great labours, the ample largeness of the matter, and the great +difficulty of the enterprise," as well as its "great costs and charges" +(for he had the work printed at his own expense), he was anxious to keep +his grammar for himself, his friends, and his pupils, "lest his profit +by teaching the French tongue might be minished by the sale of the same +to such persons as besides him were disposed to study the French +tongue." His chief aim was to keep his book out of the hands of rival +teachers, who might use it for their own ends. Yet this attitude +conflicts strangely with Palsgrave's generous declaration in his epistle +to the king, expressing the hope that by means of his poor labours on +this occasion "the frenche tongue may hereafter by others the more +easely be taught, and also be attayned unto by suche as for their tyme +therof shal be desyrous." Nor was this the only precaution taken by +Palsgrave to ensure safety and fair dealing for his grammar. He obtained +from Henry VIII., to whom he dedicated the work, a privilege for seven +years,[240] the king being greatly "moved and stirred by due +consideration of his said long time and great diligence about this good +and very necessary purpose employed." The fact that Palsgrave altered +his original contract with Pynson twice[241] shows how careful he was in +all his proceedings. He wished to be sure of having complete control of +the 750 copies which were printed. He did not trust the "sayd Richarde" +further than he could help, and intended to see that Pynson "used good +faith" in his dealings with him. Pynson was to give Palsgrave six copies +to present to the king and his friends. The rest were to be left at +Pynson's house, in a room of which Palsgrave kept the key, and to be +sold only to such as Palsgrave desired. When Pynson had paid +himself,[242] the remaining books were to be given to Palsgrave, either +to take away or leave, as he willed. A striking example of the +difficulty there was in obtaining Palsgrave's grammar is illustrated by +the case of Stephen Vaughan. Again and again he begged Palsgrave to let +him have a copy, but Palsgrave would not grant this favour at any price; +and it is easy to form an idea, from Vaughan's persistence, of the great +value attached to the grammar among serious students; so great and +unparalleled a work was credited with almost supernatural powers. +Finally, in despair, Vaughan wrote to his patron Cromwell, asking him to +use his influence with the French teacher in obtaining this +"jewell."[243] Cromwell had received one of Palsgrave's presentation +copies, and, as a last resort, Vaughan begs him to let him have this. It +is to be hoped that the young man succeeded in getting a copy. At any +rate he seems to have made good progress in the French language.[244] + +It is not surprising to find that the fashionable Court tutors were +personally acquainted with each other. Palsgrave seems to have had a +great respect for Duwes, and to have set a high value on the opinions of +"that singular clerk." He feels he "cannot too much praise his judgment +concerning the French Tongue." And he quotes Duwes's authority on the +subject of mean verbs, a matter about which he had consulted him +personally. We thus see that Palsgrave probably was more indebted to +Duwes in this direct way, than by any help he received from such +manuscripts as came into his hands. "Maister Gyles," who was librarian +to the king, also showed Palsgrave a very old text of the _Roman de la +Rose_ in the Guildhall, "to shewe the difference betweene tholde Romant +tong and the right french tong." The _Roman de la Rose_ was a text +frequently quoted by Palsgrave in support and illustration of his rules. + +Thus Palsgrave has nothing but praise for Duwes, and no doubt Duwes took +a friendly interest in his younger rival, though he could not bring +himself to excuse what seemed to him his presumption in attempting to +write rules for a language not his own. [Header: DUWES ON ENGLISH +TEACHERS OF FRENCH] Like many Frenchmen of the time, Duwes firmly +believed that it was not possible to draw up anything like infallible +rules for the French language, and that Englishmen should presume, not +only to teach it, but to do this also, appeared to him preposterous. +Would it not seem strange, he cries, to see a Frenchman endeavouring to +teach the Germans their own language? Why should it be considered less +strange for Englishmen to teach French and lay down rules and principles +for the French language, a thing very few of those who have the language +"by nature" are able to do? That these presumptuous Englishmen may be +well read, and possess a good knowledge of French--"au moins pour non +estre natif du territoire et pais"--does not alter the case; for Art, +though it follow Nature closely, can never overtake her. Duwes himself, +he tells us, had been teaching his language for over thirty years, he +had searched and worked hard, but had never been able to find these +so-called infallible rules--for it is not possible to do so. Yet there +are Englishmen who claim to have done this great thing, though they have +been studying French for but a short time. With Greek and Latin the +matter is different. The rules of these languages have grown up through +the ages, and are the common property of all nations. This tirade +against English writers on the French language is evidently aimed at +Palsgrave and his predecessors, all those who since the beginning of +Henry's "well-fortuned reign of this thing had written"--but above all +at Palsgrave and his ambitious aspirations. + +Duwes's half-ironical assumption of humility as to the value of his own +rules, although the fruit of over thirty years' experience in teaching, +is probably meant as a rebuke to Palsgrave, who claimed to have "reduced +the French tongue under a rule and grammar certain," and to have laid +down "rules certain and precepts grammatical like as the other three +perfect tongues." And when Duwes expresses, time after time, his +intention of avoiding all prolixity and 'super-fluity' of words, we are +also led to think that he is perhaps directing his remarks at +Palsgrave's wordy rules and the size of his work. Duwes may have been a +little annoyed at being anticipated in publication by his younger rival. +But it is still more likely he resented, as a Frenchman, that the honour +of having first produced a great work on the French language should be +generally ascribed to an Englishman. + +For Palsgrave, with very natural and just pride, laid claim to this +honour, and was supported by his contemporaries. Andrew Baynton, in the +letter already mentioned, speaks of his "master" as being "the first +author of our nation or of the french mennes selfe that hath so farre +waded in all maner thinges necessary to reduce that tong under rules +certayne." The French, it is true, were beginning to take some interest +in their own language, and a French writer of the time, Geoffrey Tory of +Bourges, had urged the necessity of reducing the French language to +rules in his _Champ fleury_ (1529). "Would to God," he cried, "that some +noble soul would busy himself in drawing up and writing rules for our +French tongue!"[245] Palsgrave was acquainted with Tory's work, and +thought he had realized Tory's ideal and "done the thynge which by the +testimony of the excellent clerke, maister Geffroy Tory de Bourges (a +late writer of the French nation) in his boke entituled _Champ fleury_, +was never yet amongst them of that contraes self hetherto so moche as +ones effectually attempted." Leonard Coxe, the Principal of Reading +College, a popular philological writer of the time, also connects the +names of Tory and Palsgrave in some Latin verses that were printed at +the beginning of the grammar. The short interval which elapsed between +the appearance of the two volumes renders it impossible for Palsgrave to +have got his first suggestion from Tory, and makes it very improbable +that Tory had even the smallest influence on his work.[246] Tory had +begun his work in 1522. Before this date Palsgrave had already completed +two books of his Grammar. He notes, however, as a coincidence, that Tory +and himself quote the same French authors. [Header: PUPILS OF DUWES] +Throughout his Grammar, Palsgrave continually alludes to the authority +of French authors, for he studied French a great deal in books. It would +not indeed have been possible to produce so comprehensive a work in +England without constant reference to French writers, who, owing to the +spread of printing, were becoming more and more accessible. Palsgrave +refers most frequently to Alain Chartier and Jean Lemaire de Belges, +while Guillaume de Lorris (_Roman de la Rose_), Octovian de St. Gelais, +Jean Meschinot, Guillaume Alexis, and Froissart are all consulted and +quoted--a list in which, it will be noticed, the name of no contemporary +French poet figures. Palsgrave was not content with simply referring to +his authorities; he sought to awake an interest in French literature by +quoting selections in verse and prose, with guides for pronunciation. + +Apparently Duwes's attack on Palsgrave was only one of many. Much before +this Palsgrave had complained of unreasonable opposition from his +contemporaries, and the "unpleasantness" to which he had to submit. One +should not, however, attach too much importance to such complaints, for +they seem to have been more or less habitual among writers of the day. +Duwes appears to have suffered in a similar way, judging by the acrostic +which closes his first book, and contains an unusually vehement attack +on the "correcteurs et de toutes oeuvres repreveurs," those "grosses +gens de rudes affections, ivrognes bannis de vray sentement." It is hard +to imagine whence came such severe criticism; probably from other French +teachers, but most certainly not from Court circles, where both these +teachers enjoyed the greatest popularity. + +Nearly all the members of the royal family for two generations learnt +French from Duwes. He counted among his pupils Henry VIII. when prince, +his elder brother Arthur, his sister Margaret, who became Queen of +Scotland, and his daughter Mary, afterwards Queen of England, besides +many English noblemen. There is also evidence that Henry's favourite +sister Mary, afterwards Queen of France, learnt the first principles of +French from Duwes before she became the pupil of Palsgrave. His +favourite scholar, however, appears to have been the Princess Mary, +afterwards queen, at whose request he published his observations on the +French language. When Duwes began to teach her he was an old man, and a +little inclined to melancholy. He was beginning to feel the effects of +the English climate and complains bitterly of his chief enemies, +December and January: + + Par luy (Decembre) ay fait pleurs et soupirs mains, + Ja ne sera que ne m'en remembre, + luy et Janvier mont tollu ung membre + qui me fera que tant que je vivray + en grant doulleur doresavant iray; + pourquoy je crains qu'en grant melancolie, + en fin fauldra que j'en perde la vie. + +Gout, his chief affliction, often nailed him to his chair, and prevented +him from attending his pupil--a greater sorrow, he says, than to suffer +sickness and danger. On one occasion he was so ill that he feared he +would not see the princess again, and sent a letter, asking pardon if +ever he had rebuked her in his lessons. His whole consolation "lies in +the hope that Spring, seeing him in such a piteous state, will take pity +on him." + +Mary seems to have returned fully the affection of her old master. He +was her almoner and treasurer, and she playfully called him her "adopted +husband." Duwes spent a great deal of his time with his pupil, and his +"adopted wife" appears to have become impatient when his gout or any +other reason kept him from her. In one of the dialogues she is shown +rebuking him for his absence one evening: + + _Mary._ Comment Giles, vous montrés bien qu'avés grant cure et + soing de m'aprendre quand vous vous absentés ainsy de moy. + + _Gyles._ Certes madame, il me semble que suis continuellement ici. + + _Mary._ Voire, et ou estiés vous hier a soupper je vous prie. + + _Gyles._ Veritablement, madame, vous avez raison, car je + m'entroubliay ersoir a cause de compagnie et de communication. + + _Mary._ Je vous prie, beau sire, faictes nous parçonniere de + vostre communication, car j'estime quelle estoit de quelque bon + purpos. + + _Gyles._ Certes, madame, elle estoit de la paix, laquelle (come on + disoit) est proclamée par tout ce royaume. . . . + +Then master and pupil are pictured discussing at length the subject of +peace. Love, the nature of the soul, and the meaning of the celebration +of Mass were other topics on which they had long conversations; and they +would accompany their supper--for the princess begged her master to dine +with her as often as possible, in order to talk French--by discourse on +health and diet, in the course of which Duwes gave the princess much +friendly advice. [Header: QUEEN MARY'S FRENCH STUDIES] His eloquence on +the subject suggests that when he calls himself a "doctor" he means a +doctor of medicine. Thus Mary's practice in the language was not by any +means limited to regular lessons, and these lessons were always kept in +close contact with her daily life. She is taught how to receive a +messenger from the king, her father, or from any foreign potentate, in +French, or how to accept presents from noble friends. Duwes sometimes +used his lessons as a means of conveying to Mary messages from different +members of her household. Lady Maltravers exhorts her to study French +seriously that reports of her ability may not be belied, and that she +may be able to speak French with the king her father, and her future +husband, "whether king or emperor"; and her carver, John ap Morgan, +writes to her when she is ill, to express his hopes for her speedy +recovery. When Duwes's gout prevented him from waiting on the princess, +he would send her a poem of his own composition, in French with an +interlinear English version--Duwes wrote singularly crude and +inharmonious verses--which the princess learnt by heart by way of +lesson. Or he would excuse his absence in a letter, which, he assures +her, "will not be of small profit" to her if she learns it. + +Such were the relations of Duwes with his favourite pupil. Little else +is known of his life beyond the fact that he taught French for nearly +forty years in the highest ranks of English society. He himself tells us +that he was a Frenchman, and in all probability he was a native of +Picardy, for his name is of Picard origin, and there are a few traces of +picardisms in his work. We also know that he was librarian to both Henry +VII. and Henry VIII.,[247] and that in 1533 he was appointed a gentleman +waiter in the Princess Mary's household, and his wife one of the +ladies-in-waiting;[248] that, curiously enough, he was a student of +alchemy and wrote a Latin dialogue, _Inter Naturam et Filium +Philosophiae_, dated from the library at Richmond (1521), and dedicated +to his friend "N. S. P. D.";[249] that he died in 1535, about two years +after the publication of his _Introductorie_; and that he was buried in +the Parish Church of St. Olave in Old Jury, where he was inscribed as +"servant to Henry VII. and Henry VIII., clerke to their libraries, and +schoolmaster of the French Tongue to Prince Arthur, and to the Ladie +Mary"--a by no means complete list of his illustrious pupils. + +Among Duwes's earliest pupils had been Henry's sister Mary, afterwards +Queen of France. This princess, however, was to continue her study of +the language under John Palsgrave, and the first we hear of Palsgrave as +a teacher of French is on the occasion of his appointment by Henry VIII. +as tutor to his sister, probably towards the end of 1512, when +negotiations for the princess's marriage with the Prince of Castile, +afterwards Charles V., were in progress.[250] And when at last it fell +to the lot of the princess to marry, not the emperor, but the French +king, Louis XII., in 1514, Palsgrave remained in her service, and +accompanied her to France in the capacity of almoner. Like the majority +of her English followers, he was soon dismissed from her service. Yet +Mary did not forget her former tutor. From time to time she wrote to +Wolsey, seeking to obtain preferment for him;[251] like many other men +of his standing, Palsgrave was in Holy Orders, and became later chaplain +to the king. In November 1514 the Queen of France wrote to Wolsey to beg +his favour on behalf of Palsgrave that he may continue at "school."[252] +From this we may conclude that Palsgrave was continuing the studies he +had begun at an earlier date at the University of Paris. He calls +himself "gradué de Paris" in 1530, and no doubt also, his work on the +French language was making headway. + +How long he remained in France is uncertain, but we are told that on his +return he was in great demand as a teacher of French and Latin to the +young English nobility and gentry.[253] Sir Thomas More, writing to +Erasmus in 1617, mentions that Palsgrave is about to go to Louvain to +study there. This second sojourn at a foreign university was not of long +duration, for Erasmus, in a letter dated July the same year, informs +Tunstall that Palsgrave had started for England.[254] Palsgrave was soon +to receive from the king a second important appointment as tutor. +[Header: PALSGRAVE'S PUPILS] On the formation of the household of his +natural son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, in 1525, when his "worldly +jewel," as Henry called the young duke, was made Lieutenant-General of +the North, the king entrusted Palsgrave with the charge of bringing him +up "in virtue & learning."[255] Palsgrave was allowed three servants and +an annual stipend of £13:6:8. He took great pains with his young pupil's +education, and the king seems to have approved of his method.[256] Such +was not the case with Gregory Cromwell, who, it appears, shared the +lessons of the duke. When Gregory went to Cambridge under John Cheking's +care, the latter wrote to Cromwell that he had to unteach his charge all +he had learnt, and that if such be Palsgrave's style of teaching, he +does not think he will ever make a scholar.[257] Palsgrave declares that +he suffered much, when in the North, from poverty and calumny.[258] His +friend, Sir Thomas More, lent him money, and Palsgrave begged him to +continue to help him to "tread underfoot" that horrible monster poverty. +He also petitions his constant patroness the Dowager Queen of France and +her husband the Duke of Suffolk. All he has to live by and pay his debts +and maintain his poor mother is little more than £50.[259] + +Among Palsgrave's other pupils of note were Thomas Howard, brother to +the Earl of Surrey; my Lord Gerald, probably the brother of the fair +Geraldine, the object of Lord Surrey's passionate sonnets; Charles +Blount, son and heir of Lord Montjoie; Thomas Arundel, who later lost +his head for conspiring with the Duke of Somerset against +Northumberland, and Andrew Baynton, who has been mentioned already: all +students of French, who were acquainted with his book before it was +published, and knew his "hole intente and consyderation therein," and +who called Palsgrave "our mayster" with a certain amount of pride. + +The year after the publication of his grammar, Palsgrave went to Oxford, +where he was incorporated M.A. and took the degree of B.D.[260] He was, +however, back in London in the following year, taking pupils into his +house and visiting others daily. He had, for instance, promised to serve +Mr. Baynton and Mr. Dominico in the house of the latter till Candlemas. +Of the pupils who were "with him," the "best sped child for his age" was +William St. Loe, afterwards Sir William and captain of Elizabeth's +Guard. Palsgrave seems to have suffered much from interruptions in his +pupils' studies caused by visits to their mothers, or by their leaving +London on account of the unhealthiness of the city. He writes to William +St. Loe's father that if he takes his son away for either of these +reasons the child will not "recover this three years what he has lost in +one," and moreover he will have "killed a schoolmaster," for Palsgrave +vows he will never teach any more. He also writes that after spending a +little time at Cambridge, where he could take the degree of D.D., he +intends to keep school in Black Friars, and have with him Mr. St. Loe's +son, Mr. Russell's son (who is a good example of what results from +interruption of studies by a visit home), the younger brother of Mr. +Andrew Baynton, and Mr. Norice's son, of the Privy Chamber.[261] At +Cambridge, also, he would be able to get an assistant, as at present the +strenuous and continuous application to teaching is ruining his health. +Nothing else is known of Palsgrave's teaching career. He seems to have +spent a good deal of time towards the end of his life at one or other of +the rectories[262] to which he was collated by Archbishop Cranmer, and +where, no doubt, he continued to receive pupils till the time of his +death in 1554. + +Palsgrave's great French Grammar was not his only professional work. He +also published a text-book for the use of students of Latin. This was a +Latin comedy, Acolastus,[263] which had made its way into English +schools. Palsgrave added an English translation of his own, and the +whole appeared in 1540, with a dedication to the king. He says it is a +translation according to the method of teaching Latin in grammar +schools, "first word for word, and then according to the sense." +[Header: EDWARD VI.'S FRENCH EXERCISES] Palsgrave had also announced his +intention of publishing a book of French proverbs; he had written in his +grammar: "There is no tongue more aboundante of adages or darke +sentences comprehendyng great wysdome. But of them I differ at this time +to speake any more, intendyng by Goddes grace to make of thes adages a +booke aparte." There is, however, nothing to show that he ever realized +this intention, even partially. + +Another French teacher in the royal family was Jean Bellemain, tutor to +Edward VI. Edward refers to his French master in the passage in his +diary[264] in which he gives an account of his education. Speaking of +himself in the third person, he writes: "He was brought up until he came +to six years old among the women. At the sixth year of his age he was +brought up in learning by master Dr. Cox, who was after his almoner, and +John Chepe, M.A., two well-learned men, who sought to bring him up in +learning of Tongues, of scripture, philosophy and all liberal sciences: +also John Belmaine, French man, did teach him the French language." It +appears from a letter of Dr. Cox to Secretary Paget, that the prince had +his first lesson in French on October 1, 1546.[265] His teacher was a +zealous Protestant, a friend and correspondent of Calvin, and he had +probably some influence on the religious opinions of his pupil. + +The three French exercises in the king's hand which are still in +existence show that he made rapid progress in the language.[266] They +all bear on religious subjects, showing how carefully Bellemain +attracted the attention of his young pupil to this matter. All were +written after his accession to the throne (1547), and were dedicated to +his uncle, Protector Somerset. The first two are very similar in +composition. Edward made a collection of texts out of the Bible in +English, bearing on two subjects, Idolatry and Faith. He then proceeded +to turn these from English into French as an exercise in translation. +After they had been corrected by his master, the king had them +transcribed into a paper book--the first consisting of twenty pages, +the second of thirty-five--and sent them to the Protector.[267] The +first was written when Edward had been learning French for about a year +(in 1547), and the second shortly afterwards. + +The third exercise is much longer than the two earlier ones, and differs +from them in being not a translation, but a composition of Edward's own +in French. It is entitled, _A l'encontre des abus du Monde_, and was +begun on December 13, 1548, and finished on March 14 of the following +year, so that its composition occupied Edward for over three months. The +manuscript is corrected throughout by Bellemain, who makes the +interesting entry at the end, that the young king, who was then not yet +twelve, had written the whole without the help of any living person. +Bellemain seems to have been very proud of his pupil's performance; he +sent a copy of it to Calvin as "flowers whose fruit would be seen in due +season."[268] Calvin in turn sent Bellemain observations on the +composition for him to transmit to his pupil, and advised its +publication, which Edward would not hear of.[269] Bellemain remarks that +Edward took great delight in Calvin's works, and from time to time the +French tutor acted as a medium of communication between the two, as in +the case just mentioned. Calvin did not scruple to give the young +monarch advice on religious subjects,[270] while Cranmer invited him to +write to the young king. Bellemain himself made a translation of the +English Liturgy of 1552, and sent it to Calvin to have his opinion on +it.[271] + +Besides these three exercises, two of Edward's French letters have also +survived. One is addressed to Queen Katharine Parr and the other to the +Princess Elizabeth. In the former he compliments the queen, whom he more +usually addressed in Latin, on her beautiful handwriting.[272] [Header: +JEAN BELLEMAIN] The other is to Elizabeth, who, it appears, had written +to him in French, inviting him to reply in the same language. He takes +her advice: + + Puisque vous a pleu me rescrire, tres chere et bien aymée soeur, je + vous mercie de bien bon cuer, et non seullement de vostre lettre, + mais aussy de vostre bonne exhortation et example, laquelle, ainsy + que j'espere, me servira d'esperon pour vous suivre en apprenant. + Priant Dieu vous avoir en sa garde. De Titenhanger, 18 jour de + decembre et l'an de nostre seigneur, 1548.--Vostre frere, + + EDWARDUS. PRINCE. + + a ma treschere et bien + aymée soeur Elizabeth.[273] + +We see from the date of this letter that Edward had been learning French +nearly three months when it was written. + +Bellemain's salary as French tutor to the king was £6:12:4 per quarter. +In 1546 he received an annuity of fifty marks for life; in 1550 a lease +for twenty-one years of the parsonages of Minehead and Cotcombe, county +Somerset; in 1553 a lease of the manor of Winchfield in Hampshire;[274] +and in 1551 a grant of letters of denization.[275] He stayed in England +until the king's death in 1553, and was present at his funeral. No +doubt, with his religious sympathies, he would find the England of +Mary's time an uncongenial home, and leave it at as early a date as +possible. + +Bellemain did not compose any treatise on the French language. He says +that he had long nourished the hope of writing some rules for French +pronunciation and orthography; but he changed his mind, thinking it mere +folly to attempt to give rules for that which was not yet fixed and +certain. In a translation into French of the Greek Epistle of Basil the +Great to St. Gregory upon solitary life, which he dedicated to the +Princess Elizabeth,[276] he expresses his opinion upon the new style of +French orthography, then promoted by certain writers, with whom he did +not agree on most points. These writers[277] wished to make the +orthography tally with the pronunciation and to discard the letters +which are not pronounced; they would thus change the spelling still used +for the most part by scholars and courtiers, and which in Bellemain's +opinion is preferable to that proposed by the so-called reformers. He +argues that an alteration of the spelling of French would necessitate a +corresponding change in Latin, where the letters have the same sound and +meaning, a thing which appears ridiculous to the merest observer. +Besides, the derivative consonants are useful, as they serve to +distinguish words of identical sound but different meaning and +derivation, and to indicate the length of the preceding vowel. On the +other hand, letters have been added by versifiers merely to suit their +rimes, and these writers have done more than any others to corrupt +French orthography. Of what avail is it, asks Bellemain, to compose +rules on a subject so much in dispute? For these reasons he abstained +from increasing the number of works on the French language produced in +England. + +In the dedication to Elizabeth of his translation of Basil the Great's +Epistle to St. Gregory, Bellemain shows that he was familiar with the +books which the princess read, and also expresses his desire that she +will not let her French be corrupted by the so-called reformed +orthography she may meet in some of these books.[278] Thus Bellemain +took an interest in Elizabeth's French, and it is highly probable that +he was her tutor in that language.[279] [Header: QUEEN ELIZABETH'S +KNOWLEDGE OF FRENCH] In the year 1546, when he began to teach Edward +French, the Princess Elizabeth shared for some time her brother's +studies. It is said that they began with religious instruction in the +morning, and the rest of the forenoon, breakfast alone excepted, was +devoted to the languages, science, and moral learning. Edward then went +to his outdoor exercises and Elizabeth to her lute or viol.[280] No +doubt, then, she received lessons from the French tutor until she left +her brother in December. Elizabeth, however, had made considerable +progress in the language some years before this date, and before 1544, +so that it is extremely likely that Bellemain had been teaching her for +several years before he was appointed French tutor to Edward, perhaps +owing to his success with Elizabeth. At any rate there does not seem to +be any trace of any other French tutor to the princess, and the fact +that he received an annuity of £50 for life suggests that he had already +rendered some service in the royal family. + +The scholar Leland praised Elizabeth's skill in French and Latin when he +saw her at Ampthill with her brother, and already in 1544 she had +completed the first composition in which she exerted her early activity +in the French language. This was a translation of Margaret of Navarre's +_Miroir de l'ame pecheresse_,[281] which she called _The Miroir or +Glasse of the Synneful Soul_, and dedicated to Queen Katharine +Parr.[282] It was published in 1564 under the title, _A godly meditacyon +of the Christian soule concerning a love towards God and Hys Christe, +compyled in Frenche by Lady Margarete, Quene of Naver, and aptly +translated into Englysh by the right vertuous lady Elizabeth, daughter +of our late Soverayne Kynge Henri the VIII._[283] The translation itself +is not very good, and the style is awkward. But Elizabeth was only +eleven years old when she undertook it, and observes apologetically that +she "joyned the sentences together as well as the capacite of (her) +symple witte and small lerning coulde expende themselves." In the +following year (1545) she translated some prayers and meditations +written in English by the queen, Katharine Parr, into Latin, French, and +Italian, and dedicated them to her father.[284] Of greater interest is a +little book the princess wrote in French, and also offered to the +king--a translation into French of the _Dialogus Fidei_ of Erasmus, thus +inscribed: "A Treshaut Trespuissant et Redoubté Prince Henry VIII de ce +nom, Roy d'Angleterre, de France et d'Irlande, défenseur de la foy, +Elizabeth sa Treshumble fille rend salut et obedience." This treatise, +composed before the death of the king in 1547,[285] was preserved in the +Library at Whitehall, and often attracted the attention of foreign +visitors in London.[286] + +Thus Elizabeth was well accomplished in French before the reign of +Edward VI. It was while her brother was king that the great Hebrew +scholar, Antony Rudolph Chevallier, commonly called Monsieur Antony, was +for a short time her tutor in French. Chevallier was a Norman who had +studied Hebrew under Vatable at Paris, and had been forced to take +refuge in England on account of his religious opinions. He studied at +Cambridge and lived for a year in the house of Archbishop Cranmer,[287] +who brought him to the notice of the young king (then famous for his +patronage of foreign scholars of the Reform) and of Protector Somerset, +who appointed him tutor to the Princess Elizabeth.[288] + +On the death of Edward VI., Chevallier, like Bellemain, left England. He +taught Hebrew at Strasburg and Geneva, where he came into contact with +English student refugees under the reign of Mary I., and made the +acquaintance of Calvin. He returned to England in the reign of Elizabeth +(1568) to solicit the queen's help for the French Protestants. He +received a good welcome, and in 1569 was made a lecturer in Hebrew at +Cambridge, where "he was accounted second to none in the realme." He +returned to France before the Massacre of St. Bartholomew (1570), and +died as a result of the hardships he suffered in making his escape. + +[Header: RELIGIOUS OPINIONS OF FRENCH TUTORS] + +It is a curious fact that the religious opinions of the French tutors in +Henry VIII.'s family were reflected in the reigns of their pupils--the +Protestant Edward VI., the Roman Catholic Mary, and the Protestant +Elizabeth. Both Duwes and Bellemain allowed the subject of religion to +make its way into their lessons, and they probably exercised some +influence, differing in degree, on the religious convictions of their +pupils. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[221] First edition. Printed at London, by Th. Godfray, _c._ 1534. Sig. +A-Ea in fours. + +[222] Both these grammars were reprinted by Génin, in the _Collection +des documents inédits sur l'Histoire de France_. II. _Histoire des +lettres et sciences_. Paris, 1852. + +[223] By Andrew Baynton, in a letter prefixed to Palsgrave's grammar. + +[224] Palsgrave in his grammar. + +[225] Both Palsgrave's and Duwes's observations on the pronunciation of +French are utilized by M. Thurot: _De la prononciation française depuis +le commencement du_ 16e _siècle d'après les témoignages des +grammairiens_. 2 tom. Paris, 1881. + +For further treatment of Palsgrave's grammar, see A. Benoist, _De la +syntaxe française entre Palsgrave et Vaugelas_. Paris, 1877. + +[226] The second book begins on folio xxxi. and ends on folio lix. In the +third book the pagination begins anew: folio 1 to folio 473. + +[227] Four hundred and seventy-three folios, while the first and second +books together occupy only fifty-nine folios. + +[228] The fulness, originality, and exhaustive character of the work may +be illustrated by the treatment of such a point as the agreement of the +past participle with its subject, when used with the auxiliary _avoir_. +"... yet when the participle present followeth the tenses of _Je ay_, it +is not ever generall that he shall remain unchaunged, but ... yf the +tenses of _Je ay_ have a relatyve before them or governe an accusative +case eyther of a pronoune or substantyve, the participle for the most +part shall agree with the sayd accusatyve cases in gendre and nombre, +and in such sentences not remayne unchaunged. Helas, I have loved her, +_helas je l'ay aimée_ ..." etc. + +[229] Duwes's plan is as comprehensive as Palsgrave's, as is seen by the +following table: + +"In the first part shal be treated of rules, that is to say, howe the +fyve vowelles must be pronounced in redynge frenche, and what letters +shal be left unsounde, and the course thereof. + +"The second part shal be of nounes, pronounes, adverbes, participles, +with verbes, propositions, and coniunctions. + +"Also certayne rules for coniugation. + +"Item fyve or syx maners of coniugations with one verbe. + +"Item coniugations with two pronounes and with thre and finally +combining or ioinyng 2 verbes together." + +[230] _The Boke of the Governour ..._ ed. H. H. S. Croft, 1883, vol. i. +p. 55. + +[231] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._ iv. 5806. + +[232] _Ibid._ iv. 4560. + +[233] ". . . m'a comandé et enchargé de reduire et mectre en escript la +maniere coment g'ay procedé envers ses dictz progeniteurs et +predecesseurs, coe celle aussi y la quelle ie l'ay (tellement +quellement) instruit et instruis iournellment. . . ." + +[234] _Privy purse expenses of the Princess Mary_, ed. F. Madden, 1831, +pp. xli-xliii. + +[235] "Duwes avait d'une main leste et sure esquissé la petite grammaire +de Lhomond: Palsgrave avait laborieusement compilé la grammaire des +grammaires: L'in-folio fut étouffé par l'in-8vo. Cela se voit souvent +dans la littérature où le quatrain de St. Aulaire triomphe de la Pucelle +de Chapelain" (Génin's Introduction). + +It seems an exaggeration to use the word "étouffer." At any rate the +victory was not final. Palsgrave's work is not forgotten to-day, like +that of Duwes. + +[236] There are copies of all three editions in the Bodleian. The +British Museum contains one copy of Bourman's edition, and two of +Waley's (the third). Génin used Godfray's edition in his reprint. + +[237] E. G. Duff, _A Century of the English Book Trade_, Bibliog. +Society, 1905. + +[238] There are, however, a larger number of Palsgrave's one edition +extant than of Duwes's three. This is, no doubt, because its size and +value prevented it from being used with the lack of respect with which +school-books are usually treated. There is a copy of the +_Esclarcissement_ in the Bibliothèque Mazarine at Paris; two in the +British Museum; one in the Bodleian, one in Cambridge University +Library, and one in the Rylands Library. + +[239] _Supra_, p. 92. + +[240] Dated September 2, twenty-second year of his reign (_i.e._ 1530). + +[241] There were three drafts of the indenture with Pynson, _Letters and +Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._ iii. 3680, iv. 39. The first two +were probably drawn up in 1523. The last is dated January 18, 1524. The +first two were printed by Dr. Furnivall for the Philological Society, +1868. The third draft is in Cromwell's hand, corrected by Palsgrave. +There is a clause that Pynson shall not print more than the given +number--750--until that number is sold. Pynson seems to have printed +only the first two parts of 59 leaves. After this there comes a third +part, with a fresh numbering of leaves from 1 to 473. The printing was +finished July 18, 1530, by J. Hawkins. + +[242] At the rate of 6s. 8d. a ream. + +[243] Ellis, _Orig. Letters_, 3rd series, vol. ii. p. 214. + +[244] He found it useful in diplomatic service. He writes to his patron: +"I am well asseyed here and my little knowledge of French well +exercised" (Brussels, Nov. 20, 1538), _Letters and Papers of the Reign +of Henry VIII._ xiii. pt. ii. No. 882. + +[245] "O devotz amateurs de bonnes lettres pleust a Dieu que quelque +noble coeur s'employast a mettre et ordonner par regle nostre langaige +françois! Ce seroit moyen que maints milliers d'hommes se evertueroient +a souvent user de belles et bonnes paroles. S'il n'y est mis et ordonné +on trouvera que de cinquante en cinquante ans la langue françoise pour +la plus grande part sera changée et pervertie" (folio 1, verso). Tory +sketched a plan of a great work on the language to which his _Champ +fleury_ was intended only as an introduction. + +[246] Génin is 'certain' that the date given on the frontispiece of +Palsgrave's work is a year earlier than that on which it actually +appeared. He draws this conclusion from the date of the king's +privilege, twenty-second year of Henry VIII., who came to the throne in +1509; 9 + 22 = 31. This leaves Palsgrave a longer period to gather what +he could from Tory's work, says Génin. But the twenty-second year of the +reign of Henry VIII. began in April 1530, and the printing of +Palsgrave's work was completed on the 18th of July. + +[247] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._ i. Nos. 513 and +3094. + +[248] _Ibid._ vi. No. 1199. Duwes also received numerous grants of money +and licences to import Gascon wine. + +[249] Printed in _Theatrum Chemicum_, Ursel, 1602, vol. ii. pp. 95-123, +and reprinted in J. J. Manget's _Bibliotheca Chemica_, Geneva, 1702, +vol. ii. Two copies of an English translation are in the Bodleian +(Ashmole MSS.). See _Dict. Nat. Biog._ + +[250] He is called "schoolmaster to my Lady Princess of Castile," in the +Book of Payments, March 1513, _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry +VIII._ ii. No. 1460. + +[251] _Ibid._ ii. 295. + +[252] _Ibid._ i. 5582. + +[253] Bale, _Britanniae Scriptorum_, 1548, fol. 219. + +[254] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._ ii. pt. 2, 1107. + +[255] J. G. Nichols, _Memoir of the Duke of Richmond_, 1855, Camden +Society, _Miscellany_, iii. pp. xxiii-xxiv; also _Letters and Papers of +the Reign of Henry VIII._ iv. 5806, and v. 1596, 1793, 2069, 2081. + +[256] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._ iv. 5806. + +[257] _Ibid._ iv. 4560: Letter dated July 27, 1528. + +[258] _Ibid._ iv. 5806, 5807. + +[259] "Instructions for Syr Wm. Stevynson, what he shall do for one John +Palsgrave with the Frenche Queenes Grace and the Duke of Suffolk her +espouse": _ibid._ v. 5808. + +[260] Wood, _Athen. Oxon._ ed. Bliss, i. 121. + +[261] _Letters and Papers_, v. 621-622: Letter dated Oct. 18, 1532. + +[262] Palsgrave received ecclesiastical preferment from time to time. +Amongst others, he was collated to the prebend of Portpoole in St. +Paul's Cathedral by Bishop Fitzjames in 1514, and to the Rectory of St. +Dunstan-in-the-East by Cranmer in 1533, and to that of Wadenhoe, +Northamptonshire, in 1545, by the same Archbishop. (Thompson Cooper in +the _Dict. Nat. Biog._) + +[263] Written by a Dutch contemporary, Fullonius, in 1529. + +[264] J. G. Nichols, _Literary Remains of Edward VI._, Roxburghe Club, +1857, p. 210. + +[265] _Ibid._ p. lxxviii. + +[266] These have been printed by J. G. Nichols in his _Literary +Remains_, p. 144 _et seq._ The MS. of the first is at Trin. Col. Cantab. +R 7, 31, of the second in the Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 9000, and of the +third at Biblio. Pub. Cantab. Dd 12, 59, and Brit. Mus. Addit. 5464. +Nichols uses the text of the first of these. + +[267] "Apres avoir noté en ma Bible en Anglois plusieurs sentences qui +contredisent a toute ydolatrie, a celle fin de m'apprendre et exercer en +l'ecriture Françoise, je me suis amusé a les translater en ladite langue +Françoise, puis les ay fait rescrire en ce petit livret, lequel de tres +bon coeur je vous offre" (_Literary Remains ..._, p. 144). + +[268] "Lettre inédite de Bellemain": _Bulletin de la Soc. de l'Hist. du +Protestantisme Français_, vol. xv., 1866, pp. 203-5. + +[269] It was, however, translated into English and published in 1681 +(two copies in the Brit. Mus.), and reprinted by Rev. J. Duncan in 1811 +(no copy known), and by the Religious Tract Soc., _Vol. of Writings of +Ed. VI._, etc. + +[270] Calvin wrote to Edward VI. in French: "C'est grand chose d'estre +roy, mesme d'un tel pays. Toutesfois je ne doubte pas que vous n'estimez +sans comparaison mieux d'estre chrestien. C'est doncq un privilege +inestimable que Dieu vous a faict, Sire, que vous soiez roy chrestien, +voire que luy servez de lieutenant pour ordonner et maintenir le +royaulme de J. Christ en Angleterre" (_Bulletin_, _ut supra_). + +[271] There is a copy of this in Brit. Mus. Royal MSS. 20, A xiv. + +[272] Ellis, _Orig. Letters_, ser. 1, vol. i. p. 132, and translated in +Halliwell's _Letters of the Kings of England_, ii. 33. + +[273] J. C. Nichols, _Literary Remains_, p. 32. + +[274] _Ibid._ p. li. + +[275] Huguenot Soc. Publications, vol. viii. ad nom. + +[276] Brit. Mus. Royal MSS. 16, E 1. The whole consists of only eighteen +small leaves, of which five are occupied by the dedication. No date is +attached. The dedication continues: + +". . . S'ainsy estoit (Tresnoble et Tresillustre Dame) que i'attendisse +le temps auquel ie peusse trouver et inventer chose digne de presenter a +vostre excellence, certes, madame, i'estime que ce ne seroit de long +temps: car quelle chose est ce qu'on pourroit monstrer de nouveau a +celle a qui rien n'est caché, soit en langue grecque ou latine ou en la +plus part des autres langues vulgaires de l'Europe: soit en la +congnoissance des histoires ecrites en icelles ou en philosophie et +autres liberales sciences. Puis donc qu'ainsy est que peu de livres +antiques se peuent trouver que n'ayez leuz ou au moins desquels n'ayez +ouy aucunement parler, ioint aussy qu'estes maintenant comme en lieu +solitaire, ie vous vueil seulement ramentevoir une epistre de Basile le +grand que i'estime qu'avez autres fois leue: en laquelle il recommande +fort la vie solitaire ou au moins exempte des cures et solicitudes de ce +monde: et ce a intention de pouoir induire celuy a qui il l'envoioit a +la contemplation de Dieu et de la vie future: qui sont les choses +ausquelles devons le plus penser durant que sommes en ce monde comme +estans les causes qui plus nous donnent occasion de bien vivre. . . ." + +[277] Sylvius (1530) had proposed a new system of orthography based on +etymology and pronunciation. Meigret, however, was the chief exponent of +the reformers, who sought to make orthography tally with pronunciation +(in his _Traité touchant le comun usage de l'escriture françoise_, 1542 +and 1545, and other works). Meigret was supported by Peletier du Mans +(_Dialogue de l'ortografe et prononciation françoese_, 1549) and others, +and bitterly attacked by the opposing party. The question, once opened, +continued to be discussed until the decision of the Academy (founded +1649) settled the matter. Brunot, _op. cit._ ii. pp. 93 _sqq._ + +[278] "Ie vous ay escrit ce petit avertissement de paour que +paraventure, en lisant tant de diversitéz d'impressions comme pourriez +faire en ceste langue, ne sceussiez laquelle devriez suivre en ecrivant; +mais il sera bon de suivre la plus part des modernes qui s'accordent +quant a cela." + +[279] Stevenson, _Cal. of State Papers_, foreign series, 1558-9, p. xxv, +takes it for granted that Bellemain was Elizabeth's tutor in French. + +[280] Strickland, _Lives of the Queens of England_, 1884: Life of +Elizabeth, iii. pp. 9, 13. + +[281] First printed at Alençon, 1531. + +[282] This is at present in the Bodleian Library. It has an embroidered +cover, probably by the princess herself. See Cyril Davenport, _English +Embroidered Bookbindings_, London, 1899, p. 32. It was reprinted in +1897. + +[283] There are two copies of this rare little volume in the Brit. Mus. +Another edition, varying considerably from the first, occurs in +Bentley's _Monuments of the Nations_, iv., London, 1582 (Stevenson, _ut +supra_, p. xxvi). It was republished in 1897. + +[284] See Davenport, _ut supra_, p. 33. The original is in the Brit. +Mus. + +[285] This little work appears to have been lost. + +[286] Such as Hentzer the German, in 1598; Justus Zinzerling, 1610; +Peter Eisenburg the Dane, 1614. See Rye, _England as Seen by +Foreigners_, pp. 133, 171, 268, 282. + +[287] D. C. A. Agnew, _Protestant Exiles from France ..._, 3rd ed., +1886, vol. i. p. 45. + +[288] Haag, _La France Protestante_, and Cooper, _Athen. Cant._ i. 306. +Agnew, _op. cit._, does not mention that Chevallier was tutor to +Elizabeth. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS REFUGEES ON THE TEACHING OF FRENCH + IN ENGLAND--OPENINGS FOR THEM AS TEACHERS--DEMAND FOR + TEXT-BOOKS--FRENCH SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND + + +Religion, the question of all questions in the sixteenth century, was +destined, incidentally, to exercise a great influence on the teaching of +French in England. The conflicts resulting from the fierce hatreds +aroused by the Reformation compelled many Protestants to seek asylum +from the triumphant Catholic reaction abroad, and England was the land +to which many of them fled.[289] Among these refugees were many who took +upon themselves the task of teaching their native tongue to the English. +The second half of the sixteenth century was the time when this +influence was most strongly felt, although it is not altogether +negligible in the years immediately preceding. In France the Reformation +had at first been favourably received at Court, but in the third decade +of the century persecution began to drive some Protestants from their +native land. They made their way to England with some trepidation at +this early date,[290] for Henry VIII., in spite of his breach with Rome, +had but little sympathy with the Protestants, although he refused on +several occasions to surrender fugitive heretics to the French +king.[291] [Header: FOREIGNERS IN ENGLAND] On the accession of Edward +VI. in 1547, however, England became a more hospitable abode for the +Protestants, driven from France in increasing numbers by the +persecutions sanctioned by Henry II., whose reign coincided with that of +Edward. When Mary came to the throne all protection extended to these +fugitives was withdrawn, and we find many of their protectors fleeing in +their turn "to the Church and Christian congregation, then dispersed in +foreine realmes, as to the safest bay."[292] + +The return of the English Government to Protestantism in the reign of +Elizabeth coincided with the period of increased persecution on the +Continent. Refugees arrived in great numbers, not only Huguenots from +France, but also subjects of Philip II., Dutch, Flemings, and Walloons, +fleeing from the cruelties of Alva.[293] These inhabitants of the Low +Countries came to England in greater numbers than the Huguenots.[294] +Many of them, such as the Walloons and Burgundians, spoke French; and, +while the chief teachers of the time were drawn from the Huguenots, a +large group of these French-speaking Netherlanders also joined the +profession. To these two classes of French teachers must be added a +third, the Roman Catholics, who formed the largest proportion of the +foreigners in England.[295] + +The number of foreigners, augmented by the arrival of the refugee Dutch +and French, created a situation which required serious consideration. +These foreigners now formed a large fraction of the general +population--probably about one in twenty of the inhabitants of +London.[296] It became indispensable to keep some record of them, +especially as there was a danger that spies and Roman Catholic +emissaries might enter the country under the guise of refugees, and the +overcrowding resulting from the arrival of so many aliens was becoming a +serious matter. In earlier reigns the names of strangers in London had +been registered; but in the time of Elizabeth a census, both numerical +and religious, was taken more systematically, and at more and more +frequent intervals. In these returns of aliens dwelling in London,[297] +the names of many French teachers are preserved. Frequently their +profession is stated, and we are told what church they attended and +whether or not they were denizens, as well as the part of London in +which they dwelt, and, in the lay subsidies, the amount they had to pay +towards the heavy taxes levied on strangers. + +Other names are preserved in the lists of the grants of letters of +denization.[298] This grant made the precarious position of foreigners +in England more secure. Denization became almost indispensable to any +one wishing to exercise a craft or trade. These letters gave the +recipient much the same privileges as a native, except that he was still +subject to special taxation.[299] Only those intending to settle in +England would trouble to take out letters of denization; and that many +of these foreigners' stay in England was only temporary is shown by the +fact that, when the number of strangers was greatest, as after the St. +Bartholomew massacre, there is no marked increase in the number of +denizations granted. + +Means for registering the Protestant section of the community of +foreigners were provided through the Dutch and French churches in +London.[300] In 1550, Edward VI. had granted the dissolved monastery of +the Austin Friars to the foreigners as a place of worship; some months +later, owing to their increase in numbers, they were allowed the use of +another building--St. Antony's Hospital in Threadneedle Street. The +congregation was divided, the Dutch part remaining in the original +church, while the French and the Walloons and other French-speaking +refugees moved to Threadneedle Street. Both churches, each with two +pastors,[301] were under the control of a Superintendent. But when, in +the time of Elizabeth, the churches rose to new life, after their +suppression in the reign of Mary, the Superintendent was replaced by the +Archbishop of Canterbury. [Header: RECEPTION OF REFUGEES IN ENGLAND] +This change, however, did not prevent the refugee congregations from +enjoying many of their former liberties, for in the time of Elizabeth +the Archbishops, who had themselves experienced the hardships of exile +in the reign of Mary, took a particular interest in the cause of the +refugees. The English, indeed, complained, not entirely without reason, +that the foreigners were allowed greater religious freedom than they +themselves. + +As French and Dutch refugees settled in different parts of the country, +similar churches arose in these settlements. By the end of the reign of +Elizabeth there were French-Walloon churches in existence at Canterbury, +Glastonbury, Sandwich, Southampton, Rye, and Norwich. In 1552 all +strangers were ordered to repair either to their own church or to the +English parish church. These injunctions were renewed in the time of +Elizabeth and became a useful means of checking the number of refugees +in London. From time to time, during this reign, the Archbishop +requested the ministers of the foreign churches to send him a list of +their communicants. Foreigners who did not attend any church were not +allowed to apply for the privilege of letters of denization. + +Thus the aliens who arrived in England in such large numbers in the +second part of the sixteenth century had many restrictions placed upon +them, especially if they were engaged in any craft or trade which might +arouse the commercial jealousy of the English. In the teaching +profession such rivalry would not be felt to the same extent, though it +did actually exist. In any circumstance, however, all the exiles had to +endure the hatred and insults of the common people, from which, nearly +two centuries later, Voltaire only escaped without injury thanks to his +ready wit. Riots such as those of Evil May Day (1517) were directed +mainly against foreign traders, but all foreigners, especially +Frenchmen, were a continual butt for the insults of the mob. Nicander +Nucius remarks that the common people in England do not entertain one +kindly sentiment towards the French. "Ennemis du françois" is one of the +epithets applied to the English by De la Porte in his collection of +epithets (Paris, 1571) on the different nations. The French priest, +Étienne Perlin, who was in England during the last two years of the +reign of Edward VI., and thoroughly hated the country, calling it "la +peste d'un pays et ruine," speaks bitterly of the contrast between the +courteous reception the English receive in France, and the greeting of +the French in England with the cry, "French dogue": "it pleaseth me not +that these churls being in their own country spit in our faces, and they +being in France are treated with honour, as if they were little +gods."[302] All foreign visitors to England are at one in their +complaints of the lack of courtesy among the people. The great scholar +Casaubon says he was more insulted in London than he ever was in Paris; +stones were thrown at his window day and night, and once he was wounded +in the street on his way to pay his respects at Court.[303] + +All these visitors, nevertheless, recognize that the English nobility +and gentry and those in authority are "replete with benevolence and good +order," and as courteous and affable as the people are uncivil.[304] And +thus we find foreigners, especially refugees, welcomed to chairs at the +English universities, and foreign students having their fees refunded on +showing they had suffered "for religion," and receiving ecclesiastical +preferment.[305] Most of the chief families in the realm, we are told, +received refugees into their midst. Laurence Humphrey[306] exhorts these +noble families to fulfil the sacred duty of hospitality towards +strangers, especially religious exiles, whose sufferings many of them +had themselves experienced in the reign of Mary, and to provide them +with necessary livings, admit them to fellowships, and allow them yearly +stipends. "Which well I wot, the noblest Prince Edward of happy memory +most liberally did both in London and either university, whom some +Dukes, Nobles, and Bishops imitated, chiefly the reverend Father and +late Primate of England ... Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury.... +Amongst the Nobles not the least praise earned Henry Gray, Marquis of +Dorset, and Duke of Suffolk now a noble citizen of Heaven, who liberally +relieved many learned exiles. The like may be said of many others." + +Cranmer had entertained at Lambeth Pierre Alexandre and "diverse other +pious Frenchmen," including Antony Rudolph Chevallier, who was tutor to +Elizabeth for a short time. [Header: TUTORS IN PRIVATE FAMILIES] Matthew +Parker, his successor to the see in the time of Elizabeth, followed his +example and declared it to be a Christian duty to befriend "these gentle +and profitable strangers." Cecil, Walsingham, and other dignitaries of +the time also became their protectors, and, recognizing the advantages, +both intellectual and commercial, which accrued to the country, sought +by all means to ward off the hostile measures demanded from time to time +by the English _bourgeoisie_. + +One French teacher of the time, G. de la Mothe, says that so great was +the affection of the English nobility and gentry for the French that few +of them were without a Frenchman in their houses. Thus Pierre Baro, a +native of Étampes and student of civil law who came to England at the +time of the St. Bartholomew massacre, was "kindly entertained in the +family of Lord Burghley, who admitted him to eat at his own table." +Subsequently he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, and became Lady +Margaret Professor of Divinity at that university on the recommendation +of his patron, besides being admitted to the degrees of Bachelor and +Licentiate of Civil Law, and Doctor of Divinity (1576).[307] Lord +Buckhurst had for a time in his house Claude de Sainliens or Holyband, +the most popular French teacher of the time, and several other +strangers; while Sir Nicholas Throckmorton gave shelter to two +Burgundians, one Dutchman, and four Frenchmen, "whose names cannot be +learned."[308] + +In many instances we know that these refugees taught French when thus +received into noble families, and it is extremely probable that such was +almost always the case, for French was one of the chief studies of the +higher classes of society and held an important place in the courtly +education of the time. This partiality for the language was called one +of the rare vocations which distinguished the English nobility. An idea +of the intellectual accomplishments necessary to a young gentleman of +the time may be gathered from the programme drawn up for Gregory, the +son of Mr. Secretary Cromwell;[309] this comprises "French, Latin, +writing, playing at weapons, casting of accounts, pastimes of +instruments." Wilson, the author of the earliest treatise on rhetoric in +English,[310] varies this scheme slightly; he commends the gentleman +"for his skill in French, or Italian, or cosmography, Laws, Histories of +all countries, gifts of inditing, playing on instruments, painting, and +drawing." Lord Ossory, Duke of Ormond, for example, rode very well, was +a good tennis-player, fencer, and dancer, understood music and played +well on the guitar and on the lute; French he spoke elegantly, while he +read Italian with ease--a careful and significant distinction between +the two languages--and, in addition, he was a good historian and well +versed in romances.[311] + +Thus a place had to be assigned to French in the education of gentlemen. +Thomas Cranmer,[312] for instance, wrote to Cromwell in 1539, making +suggestions for the establishment of a College in the Cathedral Church +at Canterbury, to provide for the instruction of forty students "in the +tongues, in sciences, and in French"--a proposal which came to nothing, +but is none the less important, as being the first attempt to reinstate +French in an educational institution. + +In the sixteenth century the long-standing custom among gentlemen of +sending their sons to the houses of noblemen for education was still +practised to some extent, and French was taught in these little +communities.[313] The usual subjects of study were reading, probably +writing, and languages, chiefly Latin and French. Sir Thomas More and +Roger Ascham were both educated in this way. More, at the age of three, +was sent to the house of John Morton, the chancellor, where he learnt +French, Latin, Greek, and music. Ascham spent his early years in the +house of Sir Humphrey Wingfield, who "ever loved and used to have many +children in his house."[314] Sir Henry Wotton was "pleased constantly to +breed up one or more hopeful youths which he picked out of Eton School, +and took into his own domestic care."[315] It was also customary for +young peers to become royal wards. In 1561 Sir Nicholas Bacon devised a +plan for their "bringing up in virtue and learning" which he submitted +to Cecil. [Header: FRENCH IN EDUCATION OF GENTRY] According to these +articles,[316] the wards were to attend divine service at six in the +morning, then to study Latin till eleven; nothing is said of breakfast, +but an hour is allowed for dinner; from noon till two o'clock they were +to be with the music master, from two to three with the French master, +and from three to five with the Latin and Greek masters. The rest of the +evening was devoted to prayers, honest pastimes, and music under the +direction of a master. No doubt Cecil put this advice into practice. +Some years later, Sir Humphrey Gilbert drew up an admirable scheme for +the "erection of an Academy in London for the education of her majesty's +wards, and others, the youth of Nobility and Gentlemen," which was laid +before the queen, probably in 1570. Although this scheme was never +carried out, it is of great interest as showing what were the subjects +most likely to be taught. Gilbert's plan is very extensive. French, of +course, is included in the curriculum--"also there shall be one Teacher +of the French tongue which shall be yearly allowed for the same £26. +Also he shall be allowed one usher, of the yearly wage of £10." Gilbert +urges also the teaching of other modern languages--Italian, to which he +assigns about as large a place as to French, and Spanish and High Dutch, +to which less importance is attached.[317] + +French, then, was a recognized part of the education of the nobility and +gentry. Italian, it will be noticed, was also considered desirable, but +chiefly for reading purposes.[318] In the Elizabethan era Italian +literature had perhaps more influence on English writers than that of +France, although it not infrequently reached England through a French +medium. But when the first enthusiasm of the early days of the +Renaissance had burnt itself out, Italian was not cultivated generally, +except by those specially interested in literature or by those who had +special reasons for learning it. Nor was Spanish much studied, except +for practical purposes and the government services; Richard Perceval, +for instance, put his excellent knowledge of the language at the +disposal of Lord Burghley for the purpose of deciphering the packets +containing the first intelligence of the Armada.[319] Neither language +could be a dangerous rival to French, which alone was studied generally, +and by ever-increasing numbers. + +It was in private tuition that those Frenchmen desirous of teaching +their language, or driven to do so by stress of circumstances, would +find the readiest opening and the largest demand for their services. +Turning to the various registers of aliens, the earliest notices we find +of French tutors are in the grant of letters of denization for the year +1544.[320] In that year one, John Verone, a French and Latin tutor to +the children of William Morris, a gentleman usher to the king, received +the grant, as did also a certain Honorie Ballier, a Frenchman who had +been ten years in England, and was engaged in teaching his language to +the children of the Lord Admiral, Lord Lisle, Duke of Northumberland. +Yet another teacher received the same privilege in this year--John +Veron, one of the "eminentest preachers" of the time, and the author of +various religious controversial works. He gained considerable preferment +in the Anglican Church, and once preached before the queen at the Cross +in St. Paul's Churchyard,--"a bold as well as an eloquent man," and a +perfect master of the English tongue.[321] In the earlier part of his +life in England, where he arrived about 1536, Veron had been engaged in +teaching gentlemen's children; a task in which, say his letters of +denization (1544), he "doth yet continue with intent ever so to +persevere." Veron manifested his interest in the teaching of Latin and +French by publishing a Latin, French, and English dictionary in 1552, +the first dictionary, published in England, in which a place is given to +French. It is based on the Latin-French Dictionary of Robert +Éstienne,[322] with the addition of a column in English, and entitled +_Dictionariolum puerorum tribus linguis Latina, Anglica, et Gallica +conscriptum cui anglicam interpretionem adjecit Joannes Veron_.[323] + +The impetus imparted to the teaching of French by the arrival of these +large numbers of refugees naturally led to an increased production of +books for teaching the language. [Header: TEXT-BOOKS FOR TEACHING +FRENCH] Nearly all the grammars written in the second half of the +sixteenth century are the work of Frenchmen,[324] the English, after +their first initiative, soon giving place to the French writers on the +language, although not without some protest. Some of these teachers no +doubt made use of one or other of the grammars which had appeared in +French; many of them taught without any such help, and a few were able +to use one or other of the grammars which had already been published in +England, while yet others set to work to compile text-books of their +own. As many of them were, or had been, employed in noblemen's houses, +and had composed their grammars from material used in teaching in these +noble families, it was easy for most of them to find patrons for their +works,[325] and thus secure a greater measure of success by offering +them to the public under the protection of some well-known and powerful +name, which would "shadow these tender plants" from the "over violent +rays of reproachful censurings." To dedicate a grammar to some famous +pupil, with praise of his rare knowledge of French acquired by means of +its contents and the excellent method employed by his tutor, the author, +was a very good form of self-advertisement, freely used by the French +teachers of the time. Among patrons of French grammars were Edward VI. +and particularly Elizabeth, who is, says one of these writers, "le vray +port de retraite et asyle asseuré de ceux qui, faisans profession de +l'Evangile, souffrent ores persecution soubs la Tyrannie de +l'Antichrist"; another adds that she has "des estrangers les coeurs a +volonté." Lord Burghley, Sir Henry Wallop, Sir Philip Wharton, and other +influential men of the time also figure among the patrons of French +teachers. + +These French grammars which appeared in the second half of the sixteenth +century are of a decidedly more popular kind than those of Palsgrave and +Duwes, and appeal to a larger public. The earlier grammars were written +for the special use of royalty and the highest ranks of the nobility. +Barclay, however, differs from his rivals in having a wider aim; his +grammar is intended for the "pleasure of all englysshe men as well +gentylmen marchauntes, as other common people that are not expert in the +sayd langage." Palsgrave also, by way of epilogue, expresses the hope +that the "nobility of the realm and all other persons, of whatever state +and condition whatsoever, may in their tender age, by means of it the +sooner acquire a knowledge of French by their great pains and study"; +but it is clear that the size and price of his book, not to mention the +restrictions he placed on its sale, would prevent it from fulfilling any +such aim. + +In this new series of French text-books there appeared nothing which +could compare in importance with the great work of Palsgrave; they were +all the hasty product of teachers, and intended to meet a pressing +practical demand. The authors had not the time, even if they had had the +ability, to produce any comprehensive study of the language, and, +consequently, their works are of more value as showing how French was +taught in England, and its popularity here, than as a store of +philological material for the historical grammarian. Rules of grammar +are usually reduced to as small a compass as possible; and the largest +part of the volumes is occupied by dialogues in French and English, +which give lively and often dramatic pictures of contemporary family +life, and of the busy London streets of the time. A place is also given +to familiar phrases, collections of proverbs, and golden sayings. + +The public to which such text-books appealed was wider, including +merchants and commoners, as well as the gentry. Nor was the demand for +tutors in the language confined to the higher classes. At this time the +great middle classes were rising to wealth and prominence, and demanding +a share in the intellectual distinctions of their social betters. "As +for gentlemen, they be made good cheap in England," writes Sir Thomas +Smith,[326] in reference to the democratic movement. In this new class +of Englishman, the teachers of French recruited a large number of their +pupils. And so the French teacher who visited a clientèle of pupils +became a familiar figure in the London of the later sixteenth century. + +The numerous French-speaking inhabitants of London, occupied in various +trades and crafts in the city, were, so to speak, his unconscious +collaborators, for the proportion of such foreigners in London was large +enough to have some influence on the spread of the knowledge of French. +[Header: SHAKESPEARE'S KNOWLEDGE OF FRENCH] We have an instance of this +indirect influence in the case of Shakespeare. From 1598 he lodged for +about six years, and possibly longer, in the house of a Huguenot, one +Christopher Montjoy, who lived in Silver Street, Cripplegate[327]--a +well-to-do neighbourhood, and the resort of many foreigners. Montjoy was +one of the French head-dressers who were in such demand at that time. +His wife, daughter, and also his apprentice, Stephen Bellot, formed the +rest of the household, with whom Shakespeare seems to have lived on +fairly intimate terms; he acted as a mediator in arranging a marriage +between Montjoy's daughter and Bellot, and, some years later, was drawn +into a family quarrel concerning a dowry which Bellot claimed and +Montjoy refused to pay; in 1612 Bellot took the matter into the Court of +Requests, and Shakespeare was one of the witnesses summoned. Finally the +matter was referred to the consistory of the French Church, which +decided in Bellot's favour.[328] It was no doubt during his sojourn in +the house of this Huguenot family that he improved his knowledge of +French, of which he gives evidence in his works.[329] The two plays in +which he uses the language most freely--_Henry V._ and _The Merry Wives +of Windsor_--were produced during the early time of his residence with +Montjoy, whose name is given to a French Herald in _Henry V._ In _The +Merry Wives_ the French physician, Doctor Caius, speaks a mixture of +broken English and French,[330] and in _Henry V._ French is introduced +freely into a number of the scenes,[331] while one, in which Katharine +of France receives a lesson in English from her French maid, is entirely +in French, and is here quoted for convenience' sake:[332] + + (Enter _Katharine_ and _Alice_.) + + _Kath._ Alice, tu as esté en Angleterre, et tu parles bien le + langage. + + _Alice._ Un peu, madame. + + _Kath._ Je te prie, m'enseignez; il fault que j'apprenne à + parler. Comment appellez-vous la main en Anglois? + + _Alice._ La main? elle est appellée de hand. + + _Kath._ De hand. Et les doigts? + + _Alice._ Les doigts? ma foy, j'oublie les doigts; mais je me + soubviendra. Les doigts? je pense y qu'ils sont appellez de fingres; + ouy, de fingres. + + _Kath._ La main, de hand; les doigts, de fingres. Je pense que je + suis le bon escholier. J'ay gagné deux mots d'Anglois vistement. + Comment appellez-vous les ongles? + + _Alice._ Les ongles? nous les appellons, de nails. + + _Kath._ De nails. Escoutez: dites-moy, si ie parle bien: de hand, + de fingres, et de nails. + + _Alice._ C'est bien dict, madame; il est fort bon Anglois. + + _Kath._ Dites-moi l'anglois pour le bras. + + _Alice._ De arm, madame. + + _Kath._ Et le coude. + + _Alice._ D'elbow. + + _Kath._ D'elbow. Je m'en fais la répétition de tous les mots que + vous m'avez appris dès à present. + + _Alice._ Il est trop difficile, madame, comme je pense. + + _Kath._ Excusez-moy, Alice; escoutez: de hand, de fingre, de + nails, de arm, de bilbow. + + _Alice._ De elbow, madame. + + _Kath._ O Seigneur Dieu! je m'en oublie; de elbow. Comment + appelez-vous le col? + + _Alice._ De nick, madame. + + _Kath._ De nick: et le menton? + + _Alice._ De chin. + + _Kath._ De sin. Le col, de nick: le menton, de sin. + + _Alice._ Ouy. Saulve vostre honneur, en vérité vous prononcez les + mots aussi droict que les natifs d'Angleterre. + + _Kath._ Je ne doubte poinct d'apprendre, par la grace Dieu, et en + peu de temps. + + _Alice._ N'avez vous pas desjà oublié ce que je vous ay enseigné? + + _Kath._ Non, je réciteray a vous promptement. De hand, de fingre, + de mails-- + + _Alice._ De nails, madame. + + _Kath._ De nails, de arme, de ilbow. + + _Alice._ Saulve vostre honneur, de elbow. + + _Kath._ Ainsi dis-je; de elbow, de nick, et de sin: comment + appelez-vous le pied and la robbe? + + _Alice._ De foot, madame; et de coun. + + _Kath._ De foot, et de coun? O Seigneur Dieu! ce sont mots de son + maulvais, corruptible, gros, et impudique, et non pour les dames + d'honneur d'user. Je ne vouldrois prononcer cez mots devant les + Seigneurs de France, pour tout le monde. Il fault de foot, et de + coun, neant-moins. Je reciteray une aultre fois ma leçon ensemble: + de hand, de fingre, de nails, de nick, de sin, de foot, de coun. + + _Alice._ Excellent, madame! + + _Kath._ C'est assez pour une fois; allons-nous à disner. + +It is not surprising, remembering Shakespeare's friendship with the +Huguenots, to find him quoting from the Genevan Bible in the same +play.[333] [Header: FRENCH NEGLECTED IN GRAMMAR SCHOOLS] When he +composed it, he must have had a strong inclination to write French, as +he sometimes uses the language rather inconsistently, making the +Dauphin, for instance, speak French one moment and English the next. + +On the whole, Shakespeare's French seems to have been fairly correct +grammatically, if not quite idiomatic.[334] It contains just enough +mistakes and anglicisms to make it extremely unlikely that he received +help from any Frenchman; for example, we find the Princess Katharine of +France saying, "Je suis semblable _a les_ anges." On other occasions, +when Englishmen are speaking, Shakespeare purposely makes their French +incorrect and clumsy. That he could read French is shown by the fact +that some of the originals on which he based his plays were not +translated into English.[335] Moreover, he probably read Montaigne in +the original, unless, like Cornwallis, Florio allowed him to see his +translation in manuscript--a rather remote possibility, as the French +would be easier of access. No doubt many others besides Shakespeare owed +a good deal of their knowledge of French to direct intercourse with +Frenchmen, a means of improvement strongly advocated by the professional +teachers of the time. "Get you acquainted with some Frenchman" is their +cry. + +In addition to the refugees, students or men belonging to no particular +craft or profession who took up the teaching of their language on their +arrival in England, there were also professional schoolmasters--French, +Flemish, and Walloon. Many of the latter, we may surmise, were no doubt +driven from their country by the edict issued by Margaret, Duchess of +Parma, in 1567. One clause was particularly directed against +schoolmasters who might teach any error or false doctrine. None of these +teachers, however, would find any opening in the grammar schools, which +were then "little nurseries of the Latin tongue." The memorizing of +Latin grammar, with the study of rhetoric in the Latin writers, both in +verse and prose, formed almost the whole of the curriculum.[336] In the +books on education of the time the study of French was equally ignored. +These works, however, are mainly from the pen of pedants, and have but +little bearing on practical education.[337] For them French was not a +'learned' tongue, in spite of the efforts of Palsgrave to secure its +recognition as such. + +But it is not difficult to reconcile the general prevalence of the study +of French with its absence from the grammar schools. At this time, and +throughout the seventeenth century, there was a great division between +scholastic education and social requirements.[338] The school and +educational writers, in refusing to recognize French, held aloof from +the social needs of the day: "non vitae sed scholae discimus"; and in +retaining the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the Middle Ages they ignored +the new spirit of nationalism which called modern languages into +prominence. The school had little, if any, effect in retarding the +progress of French, which came to be looked upon in the light of an +'extra,' to be studied privately and with the help of tutors. Many +scholars of the public or grammar schools had a private tutor who would +teach them French when occasion served. Such, for instance, was the case +with Sir Philip Sidney. Fulke Grenville and Sidney both entered +Shrewsbury School at the age of ten, in the year 1564. Two years later a +letter of Sir Henry Sidney informs us that he had received two letters +from his son, one in Latin and the other in French, "whiche I take in +good parte, and will you to exercise that Practice and Learning often: +For that will stand you in most steade, in that profession of lyf that +you are born to live in."[339] Apparently, then, Sidney had received +lessons in French either at home or out of school hours. He had also, in +all probability, had a French tutor before he went to Shrewsbury. + +French, however, was not entirely neglected in all schools. As the +grammar schools were "Latin" schools, there arose in the second half of +the sixteenth century a considerable number of private "French" +schools, where this language received special attention. [Header: +PRIVATE FRENCH SCHOOLS] The earliest of these owed their origin to the +refugees, both professional schoolmasters and others. St. Paul's +Churchyard, the busy centre of city life, was the quarter round which +many of these schools were grouped. There they were most likely to get a +good clientèle, partly, it may be, among those boys attending St. Paul's +School who desired, like Sir Philip Sidney, to extend their studies. In +St. Paul's Churchyard, also, lived the chief booksellers, who generally +seem to have cultivated friendly relations with French teachers, +especially those whose books they were commissioned to sell. Frequently +they acted as agents for the teachers, who in their grammars advise +prospective pupils to "inquire" at the bookseller's. And, at this time, +when indications of address were given by reference to the nearest place +of importance, printers' signs are frequently used to locate the +situation of French schools. At least one of these schools seems to have +been very well known, for in 1590 the printer W. Wright, senior, gave as +his address, "neare to the French School."[340] + +All of them, however, did not owe their origin to the French refugees. +We hear, for instance, of a certain John Love, an Englishman, son of the +steward of the Jesuit college founded by the English Catholics at Douay, +who had a French school near St. Paul's, at the end of the century. But +he was suspect, as it was feared he might be an "intelligenceer."[341] +Among the earliest, however, if not the first of these French schools, +was that of Peter Du Ploich, a Frenchman, and no doubt a refugee; at any +rate the text-book for teaching French which he published shows his +strong sympathy with the Protestants. This was entitled _A Treatise in +English and Frenche right necessary and profitable for al young +children_, and was first issued in about 1553 from the press of Richard +Grafton, who had "privilege de l'imprimer seul."[342] Of this +schoolmaster's life little is known.[343] From his little French +text-book, "right necessary to come to the knowledge of the same," we +learn that he kept his school at the sign of the Rose in Trinity +Street; that he was married, and probably received some of his pupils +into his house; and that he taught French, Latin, and writing. Probably +religious instruction also formed part of the curriculum, as it did in +the other schools of the time; both Henry VIII. and Edward VI. issued +orders that the Paternoster, the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles' +Creed should be taught to children.[344] Not only Du Ploich but other +French teachers of the time provided religious formularies in their +books for teaching the language, and in 1559-1560 the printer William +Griffith received a licence to print a Catechism in Latin, French, and +English.[345] + +The Catechism, Litany, Suffrages, and prayers occupy a large part of Du +Ploich's _Treatise_, which is of quarto size, and consists of about +fifty leaves.[346] All these formularies are given in both French and +English, arranged in two columns on each page.[347] Then come three +familiar dialogues which constitute the third, fourth, and fifth +chapters of the book. The first of these gives us a lively picture of +family life at the time. From the street, where we meet friends and are +taught how to greet and address them, we pass into the house, where we +are spectators of the family repast and of the arrival of the guests, +and hear conversation on many subjects in which Du Ploich finds an +opportunity for self-advertisement by mentioning his school and address. +A child reads a passage from the New Testament, and the meal is preceded +and followed by lengthy thanksgivings, which, however, do not interfere +with the joviality and conviviality of the host. + + Sir, you make no good chere. Mons., vous ne faictes pas bonne chere. + You say nothing. Vous ne dictes rien. + What sholde I say? Que diroys-ie? + I cannot speake frenche. Je ne sais pas parler françois. + I understande you not. Je ne vous entens pas. + O God, what say you? O Dieu, que dictes-vous? + You speake as well as I doo Vous parlez aussy bien que je fais + and better. et mieus aussy. + Pardon me. Pardonnez moy. + It pleaseth you to say so. Il vous plaist de dire ainsy . . . etc. + +[Header: PETER DU PLOICH] + +The next two dialogues deal with subjects characteristic of these books +for teaching French--asking the way, the arrival and entertainment at an +inn, and finally, buying, selling, and bargaining--all topics useful for +merchants and merchants' apprentices, from whose ranks Du Ploich +probably recruited a number of his pupils. "L'aprentif" is the word he +uses in speaking of his pupils, though there is no proof to show that he +employed it in any special sense. Then comes a fifth chapter containing +the following headings: "Pour demander le chemin," "Aultre communication +en chevauchant," "Pour aller coucher," "Pour soy descoucher," and +beginning thus: + + Sir, we be oute of Monsieur, nous somes hors de + our way. nostre chemin. + We be not. Non sommes. + But we be. Si sommes. + We go well. Nous allons bien. + We doo not. Non faisons. + But we doo, abyde. Si faisons, attendez. + Beholde there cometh a woman. Voyla une femme qui vient. + We will aske her Nous voulons lui demander + whiche is the way. ou est le droict chemin. + Good wife, shew me M'amie, monstre moy + the ryghte way le droict chemin d'icy + here hence to the nexte towne. au prochain village. + Streyghte before you. Tousiours devant vous. + Upon whiche hande? A quelle main? + On the lefte hande. A la main gauche, etc. + +In the sixth chapter the merchants leave the inn in the early morning to +transact their business: + + Wil we go see if we Voulons nous aller veoir sy nous + can bye some thyng? pourrons acheter quelque chose? + That shold be wel done, Ce seroit bien faict, + but it is yet too tymely. mais il est encore trop tempre. + By your licence it is tyme. Pardonnez moy il est temps. + Have you any Eglyshe cloth? Avez vous dez draps d'Engleterre? + Ye, what colour. Ouy, quelle couleur . . . etc. + +At the end come the names of the figures, necessary for such +transactions, and finally information and advice in verse form, without +any English rendering, "pour gens de finance": + + Toy qui est receveur du Roy + Je te prie entens et me croy. + Reçoy avant que tu escripves, + Escriptz avant que tu delivres, + De recevoir faitz diligence + Et fais tardifve delivrance. + En tes clers pas tant ne te fie + Que veoir te fais souvent oublie. + Regarde souvent en ton papier + Quant, quoy, combien il fault payer. + Prens lettres quy soyent vaillables, + Aye parrolles amiables, + Et soys diligent de compter. + Ainsy pourras plus hault monter. + +Du Ploich seems to have brought with him to England a Genevan "A B C," +or book of elementary instruction and prayers for children, such as was +common in France as well as in England. The next section of his treatise +treats of the French A B C in words identical with those of an _A B C +françois_ printed at Geneva in 1551. This is followed by a few very +slight rules in English, which tell us not to pronounce the last letter +of a French word, except _s_, _t_, and _p_, when the next word begins +with a consonant; to neglect a vowel at the end of a word when the +following word begins with another vowel; also that the accusative +precedes the verb; that after _au_, _ou_, _i_, and _eu_, _l_ is not +sounded; that the consonants _sp_, _st_, and _ct_ should not be +separated in pronunciation; and that the negative is formed by placing +_ne_ before the verb and _pas_ or _point_ after it. To this scanty +grammatical information, which bears considerable resemblance to that +contained in some previous works,[348] the eighth and last chapter adds +the conjugation of the two auxiliaries in Latin, English, and French. +The treatise closes with a Latin poem addressed to "preceptor noster Du +Ploich" by John Alexander, one of his pupils, and with a table of +contents. + +No doubt French was the basis of the whole of the instruction given by +Du Ploich in his school. His pupils learnt to write from this French +text-book, and memorized the Latin verbs with the French verbs. The fact +that Du Ploich places his few grammar rules at the end of the work, and +after the practical reading-exercises, shows what slight importance he +attached to them. He would, we may assume, refer his pupils to them as +occasion arose, but practical exercises and conversation formed the +chief part of his lessons. He made free use of English in explaining the +meaning of the French, and throughout his book he sacrifices the English +phrase in order to render more closely the meaning of the French, for +which he duly apologizes: "that none blame or reprove this sayd +translacion thus made in Englishe because that it is a litle corrupt. +[Header: DU PLOICH'S METHOD OF TEACHING] For the author hath done it for +the better declaryng of the diversitie of one tounge to the other, and +it is turned almost worde for worde and lyne for lyne, that it may be to +his young scholars more easy and lyght." + +Du Ploich was thoughtful for his young pupils. "A little at a time, and +that done well" was his motto. On this method, he says, the child will +learn more in a week than he would do in two months by attempting a +great deal at the beginning. The master should repeat the lesson two or +three times before allowing the child to say it, and be ready to explain +difficulties, and not wait for the child to guess. If not, the pupil +will lose patience and the little courage he possesses. Du Ploich would +have the verbs learnt on the plan already advocated on a larger scale by +Duwes, that is, he advises the student to practise them negatively and +interrogatively as well as in the usual affirmative form. + +Some time later, probably after Du Ploich's death, or when he had left +England, there appeared another edition of his grammar. This was printed +by John Kingston, and finished on the fourteenth day of April 1578.[349] +An important change in the arrangement of the chapters distinguishes it +from the edition of 1553; in the later edition the chapter on the +alphabet and grammar is placed at the beginning, although in both issues +the chapter on the two auxiliaries closes the work. Kingston--for he was +probably responsible for the change--thus yielded to the tendency, which +became stronger and stronger as time advanced, of placing theoretical +before practical instruction. In addition to slight variations, other +differences between the two works are the omission of the verses for +"gens de finance," and of the Latin poem addressed to Du Ploich by one +of his pupils. + +_The Little Treatise in English and French_ was not the only work +produced by Du Ploich during his residence in England. On its completion +he turned his attention to the composition of a work on the estate of +princes, which he called a _Petit Recueil tresutile et tresnecessaire de +l'Etat dez Princes, dez Seigneurs temporelz et du commun peuple, faict +par Pierre Du Ploych_.[350] This _Recueil_ is written in French. Its +subject matter is not of much interest, but the Latin verses with which +it closes inform us that Du Ploich had a law degree (Licentiatus Legum). +He dedicated the manuscript, which is not dated, to the "Roy tres +puissant Eduard sixieme de ce nom," who graciously received it and +rewarded Du Ploich's industry by a generous gift.[351] This favourable +reception encouraged the French teacher to present another work to his +"Soverain lord and master" in the course of the following year. This +second manuscript is shorter than the earlier _Recueil_;[352] it bears +the title of _Petit Recueil des homaiges, honneurs et recognoissances +deubz par les hommes a Dieu le createur, avec certaines prieres en la +recognoissance de soy mesme_. At the end occurs a passage of some +interest in which Du Ploich expresses his intention of providing the +work, unworthy as it is, with an English translation, as soon as he +finds time and opportunity for such an undertaking, for he has not +English "de nature."[353] This rendering, he says, will be "mot pour mot +et ligne pour ligne, affin d'augmenter les couraiges des professeurs." +We may infer from this that he thought of having the work printed in +French and English for the use of students. + +A French school very similar to that of Du Ploich, but of which we have +more details, was kept by Claude de Sainliens, De Sancto Vinculo, or, as +he anglicized it, Holyband. A native of Moulins and a Huguenot, Holyband +probably sought refuge in England from the persecutions. In 1571 he is +said to have been in England seven years;[354] hence he must have begun +his long career in London as a teacher of French in the year 1564. In +1566 he took out letters of denization.[355] Holyband was not exactly a +scholar, but rather a man of broad interests, sustained by extraordinary +vitality, and before he had been in England three years he had published +two books for teaching French, which became very popular, and continued +to be reprinted for nearly a century. There is no extant copy of the +earliest edition of the first of these, but it appeared most probably +in 1565. [Header: CLAUDE HOLYBAND] The earliest copy known is dated +1573, and bears the title, _The French Schoolemaister, wherin is most +plainlie shewed the true and most perfect way of pronouncinge of the +French Tongue_. The contents of this little book are of the kind which +became characteristic of works for teaching French. It opens with rules +for pronunciation and grammar in English, of little value or +originality, and purposely made as concise as possible. These are +followed by dialogues, collections of proverbs, golden sayings, prayers, +and graces before meat, and a large vocabulary. The dialogues are by far +the most interesting portion of the work. Like those of Du Ploich, they +show a close connexion between the teaching of French and the daily +concerns of life. They give us a picture of the busy London of the time, +and especially of St. Paul's Churchyard, as well as lively family +scenes, together with the usual wayside and tavern conversation. We see +the boy setting off to school in the morning, threading his way through +the busy streets, and again see him return to the hearty and hospitable +family dinner, during which he finds occasion to speak of his French +studies. These dialogues are given in French and English arranged on +opposite pages. Their dramatic interest may be gathered from the opening +passage, where we listen to the servant hurrying the boy off to school: + + Hau François, levez vous et allez Ho Francis, arise and go to + a l'eschole: vous serez battu, schoole: you shall be beaten, + car il est sept heures passées: for it is past seven: + abillez vous vistement. make you ready quickly. + Dites voz prieres, puis vous Say your prayers, then you + aurez vostre desiuner: shall have your breakfast: + sus, remuez vous. go to, stirre. + Marguerite, baillez moy mes chausses. Margaret, give me my hosen. + Despeschez vous ie vous prie: où est Dispatch I pray you: where is + mon pourpoint? apportez me iartieres my doublet? bring my garters + et mes souliers: and my shoes: + donnez moy ce chausse-pied. give me that shooing-horne. + Que faites vous là? What do you there? + que ne vous hastez vous? why make you no haste? + Prenez premierement une chemise blanche, Take first a cleane shirt, + car la vostre est trop sale: for yours is too foule: + n'est elle pas? is it not? + Hastez vous donc, Make haste then, + car ie demeure trop. for I do tarry too long. + Elle est encore moite, attendez un peu It is moist yet, tarry a litle + que ie la seiche au feu: that I may drie it by the fire: + i'auray tost fait. I will have soone done. + Je ne sauroye tarder si longuement. I cannot tarry so long. + Allez vous en, ie n'en veux point. Go your way, I will none of it. + Vostre mere me tancera Your mother will chide me + si vous allez a l'eschole if you go to school + sans vostre chemise blanche. without your clean shirt. + +And after quarrelling with Margaret, and using rather bad language, +Francis receives his parents' blessing, and starts off to school. +Unfortunately we are not spectators of his doings there. + +Whether Holyband had opened his French school or not when he composed +the _French Schoolemaister_ is uncertain; but the school was evidently +in full swing at the time his second work appeared, about a year later, +in 1566. The contents of the new work, _The French Littleton, a most +easie, perfect, and absolute way to learn the French tongue_, are much +the same as those of the _French Schoolemaister_. There is, however, one +important difference between the two works. In the _Schoolemaister_ the +rules precede the practical exercises, but this order is reversed in the +_Littleton_. In the first work Holyband does not appear to have fully +evolved his method of teaching French. By the time he wrote the _French +Littleton_ he was able to lay down principles, based, no doubt, on +experience, and consequently he attached a higher value to the second of +his works, and used it himself in teaching. The _French Schoolemaister_ +was intended more for the use of private pupils. It was described as a +"perfect way" of learning French without any "helpe of Maister or +teacher,[356] set foorthe for the furtherance of all those whiche doo +studie privately in their own study or houses." Holyband himself does +not seem to have given it much attention after its first appearance. +Nevertheless it enjoyed as great a popularity and went through as many +editions, or nearly so, as its author's more favoured work. Other French +teachers made up for Holyband's neglect by editing it themselves in the +early seventeenth century. So great indeed was its success that in 1600 +a tax of 20 per cent was levied on each edition for the benefit of the +poor.[357] We may perhaps conclude from this that those who studied +French privately were numerous. + +The value of the _French Littleton_ is more educational; it expounds all +the favourite theories of its author. The name is taken from the popular +work on English law, the text-book for all law-students, Littleton's +_Tenures_. While the _French Schoolemaister_ was a small octavo, the +_Littleton_ was printed to the size of a tiny pocket-book, in 16mo. +[Header: HOLYBAND'S FRENCH GRAMMARS] First come practical exercises in +the form of dialogues in French and English,[358] but of less lively +interest than those of the _Schoolemaister_. They deal, however, with +the same subjects,[359] only, as we read them we do not forget, as we +were inclined to do in the earlier book, that we are reading exercises +intended for school use. Then follow proverbs, golden sayings, prayers, +the creed, the fifth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, a treatise on +the iniquity of dancing (_Traité des Danses_), and finally a vocabulary +less comprehensive and of less value than that of the _French +Schoolemaister_. + +The _French Littleton_ derives additional interest from the fact that in +it Holyband sets forth a new system for rendering the pronunciation of +French easier to the English. He realized the difficulties placed in +their way by the many unsounded letters present in certain French words. +He had no desire, however, to join the extremists, who advocated the +omission of all such consonants in orthography as well as in +pronunciation. Holyband considered such letters an essential part of the +word, and often a useful indication of the pronunciation of vowels and +of the derivation. He therefore proposed a compromise which he thought +would please both parties: he retains the unsounded letters, but +distinguishes them from those which were pronounced by placing a small +cross below them,[360] a device adopted in later editions of the _French +Schoolemaister_ also. A short quotation from the conversation for +travellers and merchants will show how Holyband applied his method: + + Monsieur ou pikez vous si bellement? Sir whither ride you so softly? + x + + A Londres To London + à la foire de la Berthelemy. to Barthelomews faire. + x + Je vay au Landi à Paris, je vay I go to Landi to Paris, + à Rouen. to Rouen. + + Et moy aussi: allons ensemble: And I also: let us go together: + x + je suy bien aise I am very glad + d'avoir trouvé compagnie. to have found company. + + Allons de par Dieu: Let us go in God's name: + x + picquons un peu, let us pricke a littell, + j'ay pour que nous ne venions pas là I fear we shall not come thither + x x x + de jour, car le soleil by daylight: the sunne + x + s'en va coucher. goeth downe. + + Mais où logerons nous? où est But where shall we lodge? where is + x x x + le meilleur logis? la meilleure the best lodging? the best + x + hostelerie? inne? + + Ne vous souciez pas de cela: Care you not for that: it is + x x + c'est au grand marché a l'enseigne at the great market, at the sign + x x + de la fleur de lis, vis à vis of the flower Deluce, right over + de la croix. against the crosse. + + Je suy joyeux d'estre arrivé, car I am glad that I am arrived, for + x x + certes g'ay bon appetit: truly I have a good stomacke: + J'espère de faire à ce soir I hope to make to-night + x + souper de marchant. a marchauntes supper. + + Nous disons en nostre pais We say in our country, + x x + que desiuner that hunters + de chasseurs, disner d'advocats, breakefast, lawyers dinner, + x x x + souper de supper of + marchants et collacion de moynes marchauntes, and monkes drinking + x x + est is + xx + la meilleure chere qu'on sauroit the best cheere that one can + x x + faire, make, + et pour vivre en epicurien. and to live like an epicure. + x + + Et on dit en nostre paroisse And they say in our parish + x x + que jeunes that young + x + medecins font les cymetieres phisitions make the churchardes + x + bossus crooked + et vieux procureurs, procès tortus: and old attornies sutes to go awry, + x x + mais au but on the + contraire que jeunes procureurs et contrary that young lawyers, + x + vieux medecins, jeune chair, olde phisitions, young flesh, + x + et vieil poisson sont les meilleurs. and old fishe be the best. + x x x x x + + Or bien, irons nous acheter Well shall we go and buy + ce qu'il that whiche + nous faut? Nous demourons trop. we doe lack? We tarie to long. + x x + + Roland que ne te leves-tu? ouvre Roland, why doest thou not rise? + x + ouvre open + la boutique: est tu encore au lit? the shop: are you yet a bed? + x x + + Tu aimes bien la plume: si mon Thou loveth the fethers well: if my + x + maistre descend, et qu'il ne treuve maister commeth downe and find not + x x x + la boutique ouverte, the shop opened, + x + il se courroucera. he will be angry. + + Messieurs, monsieur, madame, Sirs, sir, my lady, + mesdames, mademoiselle, maistres, gentlewoman, + que demandez vous? que cerchez vous? what lack you? what seek you? + x x + + Qu'acheteriez vous volontiers? What would you buy willingly?... + x x + +The most interesting of the dialogues in the _French Littleton_, +however, is that in which we have a picture of Holyband's school, which +was first opened in St. Paul's Churchyard at the sign of Lucrece--the +shop of the printer Thomas Purfoote. Here we see children arriving for +their lessons early in the morning, each with his own books and other +materials. The schoolroom seems to have been a lively place; the +scholars are represented as fighting, pulling each other's hair, tearing +their books, and indulging in other pranks of the kind. Holyband sought +to keep order by means of a birch, and one of the many offences which +called it into action was the speaking of English. [Header: HOLYBAND'S +FRENCH SCHOOL] In this little school of his, Holyband appears to have +laboured at the task he set himself of leading the English nation "comme +par la main au cabinet de (nostre) langue françoyse," under excellent +conditions. The whole atmosphere seems to have been French. The +curriculum, however, was not confined to this one language. Holyband had +to safeguard his interests by instructing his pupils in the subjects +taught in the ordinary English schools, and so we find him teaching +Latin, writing, and counting, as well as French, and probably by means +of French. With some of his pupils Holyband studied Terence, Vergil, +Horace, the _Offices_ of Cicero, and with others, Cato, the _Pueriles +Confabulatiunculae_, and Latin grammar, according to their capacity. Yet +others learnt reading, writing, and French only. Morning school, which +closed with prayer at eleven, was devoted chiefly to the study of Latin. +The afternoon was given over entirely to French; and it does not seem +unreasonable to suppose that other scholars came then specially for +instruction in French. The pupils returned for afternoon work at +mid-day, and began by translating French into English and then +retranslated the English back into French, using, we may be sure, +Holyband's _French Littleton_. Next came a little practice in +vocabulary, in which "maister Claude" asked them the French for various +English words. Grammar was not neglected, but questions concerning it do +not appear to have been invited until some difficulty in the text +rendered it necessary. The pupils were also required to decline various +nouns and verbs which occurred in the text. The auxiliaries they were +expected to learn by heart. Not until five o'clock did the long French +lesson draw to a close, and then the scholars lit their torches or +lanterns and set off home after being dismissed with evening prayers. +Before their departure, they received instructions to read the lesson +for the following day six or seven times after supper. By doing this, +their master assured them, it would appear easy on the morrow, and be +learnt without effort. + +Holyband informs us that his charges were one shilling a week or fifty +shillings a year. He allows that this was more than the fees asked for +in most schools, but justifies the higher charge by the superior +instruction imparted. At any rate his school was very prosperous. In +1568, when it had been in existence for at least two, and perhaps three +years, we find him assisted by an usher, one John Henrycke, said to be +a Frenchman.[361] He was, no doubt, the Jehan Henry "Maistre d'Eschole," +who wrote a dizain in praise of Holyband's _French Schoolemaister_ +(1573), where, in rather questionable French, he summoned the students +of France to devote all their attention to "ce poli et belle oeuvre," +and not to read + + Des ravaudeurs le reste, + Qui souloyent quelques regles escrire, + Mais, au vray indignes de les lire. + +Holyband, as we have noticed, was a very active and somewhat restless +person, never staying long in one place, and it is difficult to follow +him in his frequent changes of residence. For a time he removed his +school to Lewisham, then outside London. Here, sometime before 1573, he +had an interview with Queen Elizabeth, who perhaps visited his school as +she passed through the village, for the head boy, Harry Edmondes, +pronounced a discourse before Her Majesty. + +In 1576 Holyband had given up his French school, and entered the ranks +of French private tutors, living in the house of a patron. He was one of +the aliens dwelling in Salisbury Court, the residence of Lord Buckhurst, +and, no doubt, was engaged in teaching French to the younger children of +his protector. He had previously come into contact with this noble +family, and had probably received some assistance from this quarter on +his arrival in England, and may have taught French to the eldest son, +Robert Sackville, now at Oxford,[362] to whom he dedicated both his +early works. + +When we first hear of Holyband he was already married and had children. +His wife died probably before he went to Salisbury Court. Two years +later he married an Englishwoman, Anne Smith,[363] and had resumed his +French school in St. Paul's Churchyard, but his address was now at the +sign of the Golden Bell, for the printer Thomas Purfoote had moved his +sign to Newgate Market. [Header: HOLYBAND'S TEACHING CAREER] Here he +remained for some time, until 1581 at the earliest, and probably +somewhat later. He also attended the French Church. At this period of +his life he again turned his attention to writing on the French +language, and collecting together notes which he had no doubt compiled +in past years. In 1580 three new works on French appeared from his pen. +One was a _Treatise for Declining Verbs_--a subject which he calls "the +second chiefest worke of the Frenche tongue"--written at the request of +several gentlemen and merchants. The book itself is of little value, and +did not by any means share the popularity of his earliest books. Still, +two other editions appeared, one in 1599 and the other much later, in +1641. The second of these works, dealing with French pronunciation on +much the same lines as the _French Littleton_, was even less popular. It +was intended for the "learned," and consequently written in Latin--_De +Pronuntiatione linguae gallicae_.[364] Holyband was also becoming more +ambitious in his dedications; probably through Lord Buckhurst, the +queen's cousin on his mother's side, he was able to dedicate his +treatise "ad illustrissimam simulque doctissimam Elizabetham Anglorum +Reginam." At the end Holyband added a dialogue in three different kinds +of spelling--the new, the old, and his own--as well as a Latin sermon on +the Resurrection. A French-English Dictionary was the third of these +works, published in 1580, with the title: _The Treasurie of the French +Tong, Teaching the way to varie all sorts of Verbs, Enriched so +plentifully with Wordes and Phrases (for the benefit of the studious in +that language), as the like hath not before bin published._ Many years +later, in 1593, Holyband again gave proof of his deep interest in French +lexicography by the publication of his _Dictionarie French and English, +published for the benefit of the studious in that language_, based on +his earlier work, but on a much larger scale.[365] + +Meanwhile he had had an opportunity to extend his knowledge and to +refresh his mind by a long journey on the Continent. Once more he had +yielded to his love of change and movement, and entered the service of +another powerful patron, Lord Zouche, to whom he dedicated his +dictionary of 1593. In the dedication we are told how he had undertaken +a "long, lointain, penible et dangereux voyage" with his noble +protector, who was to him "plutot pere ou baston de vieillesse que non +pas maistre, Seigneur ou commandeur." Thus we may conclude that, when +Lord Zouche crossed to Hamburg by sea in March 1587, intending to +qualify himself for public service on the Continent, as well as to "live +cheaply," Holyband accompanied him, and, no doubt, found many +opportunities for serious study. They proceeded to Heidelberg, where +their names were inscribed on the matriculation register of the +university in May.[366] Zouche then travelled to Frankfort, Basle +(1588), Altdorf (1590), and thence to Vienna (1591), and on to Verona, +returning to England in 1593.[367] + +After the publication of this last of his works in 1593, we lose sight +of Holyband in his rôle of teacher of French. He was, however, still in +England in 1597, when he dedicated a new edition of his _French +Littleton_ to a new patron, Lord Herbert of Swansea. Thereafter he is +not mentioned, and subsequent editions of his most popular works--the +_Schoolemaister_ and _French Littleton_--were issued without his +supervision. Probably he had returned to his native country, for in the +last of his published works he assumes the title of "gentilhomme +bourbonnais," which suggests that he had come into the possession of +some property in his native province, where his name was still known in +the seventeenth century.[368] Certain it is that he did not remain in +England. There is no further trace of his children, of whom he had at +least four.[369] Thus silently, as if forgetful of his former habits, he +slipped out of sight after he had spent nearly forty years teaching his +language in England. He won the praise of the scholar Richard Mulcaster, +soon to be appointed Head of St. Paul's School, near which Holyband had +so long had his own modest establishment; and the poet George Gascoigne +wrote a sonnet in his honour: [Header: HOLYBAND'S METHOD OF TEACHING +FRENCH] + + The pearl of price which Englishmen have sought + So farre abroade, and cost them there so dere, + Is now founde out within our country here, + And better cheape amongst us may be bought. + I mean the French that pearle of pleasant speech, + Which some sought for, and bought it with their lives, + With sicknesse some, yea some with bolts and gives, + But all with payne this peerlesse pearle did seeke. + Now Holyband, a friendly French indeede, + Hath tane such paynes, for everie English ease, + That here at home we may this language learne, + And for the price he craveth no more meede + But thankfull harts to whome his pearles may please. + Oh, thank him then, that so much thanke dothe earne. + +Holyband, like his predecessor Du Ploich, was an advocate of the +practical teaching of languages. A perfect knowledge of French, in his +eyes, consisted in being able to read and pronounce the language +accurately. Thus the first thing to be done by those desiring to study +the language is to begin to read at once. The learner must not "entangle +himself at the first brunte" with rules; but, "after he hath read them +over, let him take in hand the dialogues, and as occasion requireth he +shall examine the rules, applying their use unto his purpose."[370] He +must first "frame his tongue by reading them aloud, noting carefully +which letters are not pronounced, looking for the reasons why they are +lefte in the rules of pronunciation," so that "when he shall happen +uppon other bookes printed without these caracters he may remember which +letters ought to be uttered and which ought not." In these rules[371] +Holyband endeavours to explain French sounds by comparison with English +sounds. His treatment of the letter _a_ may be given as an example of +his method. "Sound our _a_," he says,[372] "as you sound the first +sillable in Laurence, or Augustine in English. When _a_ is joined with +_in_ it loseth his sound, or at the least it is very little heard: as +_pain_, _hautain_.... Pronounce then as if they were written thus: +_pin_, _hautin_.... But if _e_ followeth _n_, then _i_ goeth more +towards _n_, thus: _balaine_, _semaine_ ...," and then he proceeds to +describe in like fashion the sounds of the diphthong _ai_. His treatment +of the sound _gn_ is quaint and interesting. "When you find any word +written with _gn_, remember how you pronounce these English words, +_onion_, _minion_, _companion_, and such like: so melting _g_, and +touching smoothly the roofe of the mouth with the flat of the tongue, +say: _mignon_, _oignon_, _compagnon_; say then, _cam-pa-gne_, +_campa-gnie_, and not _cam-pag-ne_, _campag-nie_, separating _g_ from +_n_; but rather sound them as if they were written thus in your English +tongue, _campaine_, _campanie_." + +Such rules alone, however, were of little value in Holyband's opinion, +and we cheerfully agree with him. The reader must be very circumspect in +his use of them, and his teacher a very skilful Frenchman, "or else all +will go to wracke." He seems to have thought that much more depended on +the tutor than on rules. No doubt he fully shared the opinion stated +earlier by Duwes, that rules are of more use to the teacher than the +learner. "Oh how busie is this tongue," he says of French, "and into +what maze doth the learner enter which doth take it in hand: therefore +let his tutor be sevenfold skilfull." We are prepared, then, to find +Holyband agreeing with Henry VIII.'s tutor on another point--the +teaching of French and writing of French grammars by the English. To him +it appeared obvious that "it is not the part of a stranger, except he be +learned and of a long continuance in France, to give precepts concerning +the pronunciation of the (French) tongue: yea neither of the best +Frenchmen, be he never so learned or eloquent in the same, except he +hath practised the premises by teaching or otherwise by a long and +diligent observation." There can be no question of committing rules to +memory; they merely serve to throw light on the reading matter. Yet the +practice of memorizing is not neglected. There were two purposes for +which it was called into use, the verbs, chiefly the two auxiliaries, +and vocabulary, to which Holyband attached much importance. + +According to Holyband himself, his method had excellent results. He was +especially proud of the pronunciation of his pupils. In teaching this he +followed a plan which strikes the modern reader as curious, but which +had already been employed in an early sixteenth-century grammar, that of +the poet Alexander Barclay. According to this plan he taught his +scholars the main characteristics of the different dialects of France, +as well as the pure French in which they were encouraged to speak. His +reason for doing so was to put them on their guard against the variety +of dialects, chiefly Picard and Walloon, spoken by the numerous refugees +scattered all over London. [Header: FRENCH CHURCH SCHOOLS] When new +scholars came to his school from "other French schools," he assures us +that on hearing them speak and pronounce any letter incorrectly, his own +pupils "spie the faultes as soone as I, yea they cannot abide it: and +which is more they will discerne whether the maister which taught them +first was a Burgonian, a Norman, or a Houyet." + +The reading, which Holyband made the basis of his language teaching, was +always explained by means of English renderings. In his dialogues he +makes no attempt to retain the purity of the English phrase. English for +him was merely a vehicle for interpreting to his young scholars the +meaning of the French, "for I do not pretend to teach them any other +thing then the French tongue," and so he begs his readers not to "muse" +at the English of his book, but to take the French with such goodwill as +it is offered. It will be noticed that on this point, as on many +others--placing the rules after the practical exercises, for +instance--Holyband resembles Du Ploich, and no doubt he was acquainted +with the _Treatise_ of his less well known fellow-teacher. The points of +resemblance between the dialogues of the two works are sufficient proof +of this, although Du Ploich's cannot compare with Holyband's in +interest. Another work which had some influence on his dialogues was the +_Linguae Latinae Exercitatio_ of the great Spanish scholar and +educationist Vives--a book containing Latin dialogues, dealing with the +life of the schoolboy at home and at school, at work and at play. This +was a very popular school-book in the sixteenth century, and was most +likely used by Holyband in the Latin lessons at his own school. He also +incorporated the Latin dialogues of Vives in a work which he called the +_Campo di Fior, or flowery field of four languages, Italian, Latin, +French and English_, giving the dialogues in these four languages. This +work appeared in 1583, when he was probably still teaching in St. Paul's +Churchyard.[373] + +Besides these French schools kept by private individuals, there were +others in connexion with the French churches. After the foundation of +the French Church in Threadneedle Street, other churches had arisen in +different parts of the country. The education of the children attending +these institutions had to be seen to, and very soon schools were +established under the supervision of the churches themselves.[374] +Although these schools were primarily intended for the instruction of +the children of the refugees, they also undertook to teach those "who +would wish to learn the French language." Just as some English attended +the services of the French Church, so also some sent their children to +the school associated with it. And it must be remembered that to some +Englishmen the French Church presented greater attractions than the +English Church did at that time; for there naturally grew up a bond of +sympathy between the Protestant refugees and the English Nonconformists, +many of whom sought in the French Church, with its Genevan discipline, a +form of worship not sanctioned by the English Church. Others attended +these churches for the same reason as the "Italianate gentleman," +censured by Roger Ascham,[375] went to the Italian Church: "to heare the +(French) tongue naturally spoken, not to heare God's doctrine trewly +preached." This was a practice strongly advocated by many of the French +teachers of the time. The number of Englishmen of both kinds must have +been considerable. In 1573 Elizabeth issued an Order forbidding the +French Church to give communion to those English who, by curiosity or +dislike for their own ceremonies, wished to receive it in the French +Church. The church in Threadneedle Street took steps to limit the number +of its English adherents. These were required to produce evidence of a +sober life, and of loyalty to their own church, before they were allowed +to communicate.[376] English names are not uncommon in the Threadneedle +Street Registers. Even members of the nobility stood as sponsors to the +children of the French strangers, for instance, the Marquis of Hamilton, +the Earl of Pembroke, and the Countess of Bedford, in the year +1624.[377] The French Church at Southampton also had numerous English +members and communicants,[378] while at Canterbury a rule was made that +all the English connected with the church should know French; on one +occasion, a person was refused as a sponsor on account of his ignorance +of that tongue.[379] [Header: FRENCH SCHOOL AT CANTERBURY] Considering +the esteem in which the French churches were held by many Englishmen, +we may assume that some of the latter were glad to take advantage of the +willingness of the French Church to receive their children into its +schools. The refugees, on their part, did not always send their children +to their own schools. The sons of the wealthier strangers would go to +the English grammar schools, and thence, in many cases, to the +University.[380] + +The subjects taught in these French church schools were, no doubt, much +the same as those of the private French schools, including religious +instruction, writing, reading, arithmetic, and possibly music. The +curriculum appears to have been of quite an elementary nature. As to the +teachers, they were required to be of sober life, and members of the +French Church. They had to be appointed by the minister and presented to +the bishop. They also were required to give the minister an account of +the books they read to the children, and of the methods followed, and be +willing to adopt the advice of their superiors "sans rien entreprendre à +leur fantaisie." Further, it was their duty to conduct the children to +church on Sunday for the catechism.[381] Such were the regulations laid +down in the second Discipline, drawn up on the restoration of the French +Church after the accession of Elizabeth. When this was revised some +years later, in 1588, a few changes were made. The presentation to the +bishop was dispensed with, and the teachers were no longer obliged to +conduct the children to the catechism: they had only to prepare them to +answer it. And the ministers, on their side, were required to visit the +schools, accompanied by the elders and deacons, at least four times a +year; their attention was specially called to "those who teach +languages."[382] + +The French teachers attached to the Church at Canterbury are those of +whom we have most detailed information. In one of the articles of a +petition, which the group of refugees there addressed to the city +authorities, in the reign of Elizabeth, they crave that permission may +be given to the schoolmaster whom they have brought with them to teach +both their own youth and also other children who desire to learn the +French tongue.[383] Their request appears to have been well received, +as a French church and school were established not long after. Among the +names of the petitioners was that of Vincent Primont, teacher of youth, +who seems to have been the first schoolmaster of this little community. +He was a refugee from Normandy, and arrived at Rye in 1572.[384] To the +office of schoolmaster, which he held for many years, was added that of +Reader to the congregation--a post he resigned in 1584, owing to some +action of the consistory which did not meet with his approval. The last +mention we have of him, as schoolmaster, occurs in December 1583, when a +member of the congregation was reproved for allowing his workmen to set +a bad example to Master Vincent's scholars. He probably filled his +position for some time after this date. In August 1581, however, another +teacher, Nicholas du Buisson, obtained permission "to go from house to +house to teach children," and in 1583 received a small quarterly +allowance for taking charge of the children at the services in the +Temple.[385] The demand for teachers apparently increased considerably +at this time; in 1582 we hear of a third schoolmaster, Paul Le Pipre, +who had already been teaching for some time previous to this date. Le +Pipre several times took steps to defend his monopoly and prevent the +admission of other schoolmasters. In 1582 he opposed the application of +Jan Roboem or Jean Robone, who sought permission to hold school. Roboem, +who had been Reader in the French Protestant Church at Dieppe, fled +thence to Rye in 1572, in company with his wife and two children.[386] +He was in very poor estate on arriving at Canterbury, and the consistory +of the French Church at last prevailed on Le Pipre to agree to his +admission, promising him that if any disadvantage accrued to him thereby +it should be remedied. Roboem was therefore told he might put his notice +on the door of the Temple--the usual form of advertisement--whenever he +pleased.[387] He did not, however, keep it there long, moving to London +in the same year. He is no doubt to be identified with the John Robonin, +"schoolmaster of the French tongue," who was living in the "Warde of +Chepe," and attending the French Church, at the end of 1582.[388] + +[Header: PAUL LE PIPRE] + +Paul Le Pipre was again approached in 1583 with regard to the +appointment of another schoolmaster, probably a successor to Robonin. He +was told that another teacher was necessary, and that one had come +forward, a destitute refugee, who wished for permission to teach in +order to earn his living. Le Pipre replied "that he held to his +agreement with the Church, namely that he could not leave without giving +three months' notice." Ultimately it was decided "that the aforesaid +should not be permitted to keep school, both on account of the agreement +and because he was not as yet sufficiently known to be of the religion." +This teacher, whose name is not given, was, however, allowed to instruct +"certain married people, and others grown up and over fourteen years of +age who did not go to Paul's school, in consideration of his +poverty."[389] + +Paul Le Pipre retained the position he was so unwilling to share with a +colleague, for many years after this. The last we hear of him is in +September 1597, when he was censured by the consistory for holding +school on Sunday. + +French schools likewise arose in other provincial towns, where French +Churches had been established. There were also, it appears, similar +private schools, with the primary object of teaching French to the +English, and unconnected with the churches. At any rate, French and +Walloon schoolmasters arrived in some of these towns. At Rye in 1572, +for instance, we come across Nicholas Curlew and Martin Martin, +fugitives from Dieppe,[390] though probably, like Vincent Primont and +John Robone, they did not settle in the town. At Norwich, in 1568, was a +Pierre de Rieu of Lille who had arrived ten months before, and in 1622 +Francis Boy and John Cokele.[391] At Dover, in the same year, Francis +Rowland and Nicholas Rowsignoll, both French schoolmasters, had "come +out of France by reason of the late troubles yet continuing."[392] And +lastly, at Southampton, we hear in 1576 of Nicholas Chemin, who, in +1578, was refused communion at the church on account of his causing some +disturbance in the congregation; of a M. Du Plantin, dit Antoine Ylot, +in 1576, and of a Pierre de la Motte, 'mestre d'escolle,' in 1577.[393] +No doubt most of these schoolmasters taught under the auspices of the +French Churches. + +M. Du Plantin was one of a large number of ministers who took refuge in +England, and his school was probably a French Church school, for seven +of his young scholars are mentioned as communicants. Many French pastors +like him, no doubt, took to the teaching profession during their stay in +England, their numbers being far in excess of the ministers needed in +the churches. The famous reformer, John Utenhove of Ghent, was in 1549 +tutor to the son of a London gentleman.[394] Valerand Poullain, a +converted priest, who, after being pastor at Strasburg, came to England, +for a time held a similar post in the household of the Earl of +Derby;[395] he afterwards became minister of the French Church at +Glastonbury on the recommendation of Utenhove. Another minister, Jean +Louveau, Sieur de la Porte, spent the time of exile from his Church of +Roche Bernard, after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, in teaching +languages in London, and there were many others in like case.[396] + +At Southampton there was a French school of special interest. Its +teacher, like Du Plantin, was a pastor, though the school does not seem +to have had any close connexion with the French Church. This +schoolmaster and divine was the once famous Dr. Adrian Saravia, a +learned refugee from Flanders. He became later Professor of Divinity at +Leyden and an intimate friend of Casaubon; and when he took refuge in +England for a second time in 1587, he enjoyed some ecclesiastical +preferment, and was one of the translators of the Authorised Version of +the Bible.[397] During his first sojourn in England, however, he was +engaged on a more humble task. He first arrived at Southampton in about +1567,[398] after having been for some years headmaster of a grammar +school in Guernsey. Saravia's school at Southampton was limited to +sixteen or twenty youths of good family. It was a rule that all the +scholars should speak French. Any one who used English, "though only a +word," was obliged to wear a fool's cap at meals, and continue to wear +it until he caught another in the same fault.[399] [Header: FRENCH +SCHOOL AT SOUTHAMPTON] Two Englishmen, who later became well known as +translators, acquired their knowledge of French in this school. One was +Joshua Sylvester, famous for his translation of Du Bartas, and the other +Robert Ashley, who turned Louis le Roy's _De la Vicissitude ou Variété +des choses de l'univers_ (1579) into English (1594). Sylvester informs +us that he learnt his French at Saravia's school "in three poor years, +at three times three years old"; "I have never been in France," he +writes to his uncle, William Plumb, "whereby I might become so perfect." +Elsewhere he expresses his affection for his master and his debt of +gratitude to him: + + My Saravia, to whose revered name + Mine owes the honour of Du Bartas' fame. + +Sylvester did not put his knowledge of French into practice only by +translations into English. He also wrote some original verses in French; +the sonnet with which he offered to James I. his translation of the +works of Du Bartas, a poet for whom the king had a great admiration, +will show his skill in a difficult art: + + Voy, sire, ton Saluste habillé en Anglois + (Anglois, encore plus de coeur que de langage:) + Qui, connaissant loyall ton Royale héritage, + En ces beaux Liz Dorez au sceptre des Gaulois + (Comme au vray souverain des vrays subjects françois), + Cy à tes pieds sacrez te fait ton sainct Hommage + (De ton Heur et Grandeur éternal temoinage). + Miroir de touts Heros, miracle de tous Roys, + Voy (sire) ton Saluste, ou (pour le moins) son ombre, + Ou l'ombre (pour le moins) de ses Traicts plus divins + Qui, ores trop noyrcis par mon pinceau trop sombre, + S'esclairciront aux Raiz de tes yeux plus benins. + Doncques d'oeil benin et d'un accueil auguste, + Reçoy ton cher Bartas, et Voy, sire, Saluste.[400] + +Another of Sylvester's contemporaries at Saravia's school was Sir Thomas +Lake,[401] who became Secretary of State in the reign of James I., and +is said to have read Latin and French to Queen Elizabeth towards the end +of her reign. His French accent, unlike that of his schoolfellows, seems +to have left much to be desired. In 1612 he incurred much ridicule by +reading the French contract of marriage at the wedding of the Princess +Elizabeth to the Elector with a very bad accent. + +Saravia, it seems, encouraged his pupils to attend the French Church. +Two of their names occur in the registers of the Church for the year +1576, viz. Nicholas Essard and Nicholas Carye, both probably Englishmen. +Saravia himself and his wife were also regular attenders; in 1571 and +again in 1576 he stood godfather at baptisms. The latest mention of him +occurs in 1577. Usually the descriptive title "minister" is added after +his name.[402] He is mentioned in the town records under the year 1576 +as Master of the Grammar School, and in the following year the town paid +36s. "for four yardes of broade cloth for a gowne for Mr. Adrian Saravia +the schoolmaster at 9s. the yarde."[403] Apparently he had abandoned his +private school, although it is very likely that he continued to take +private pupils into his house, and that the grammar school scholars had +ample opportunity to learn French; but it is hardly probable that he +introduced the language into the grammar school curriculum, where, no +doubt, Latin retained its usual supremacy.[404] + +Thus we see that in the England of the sixteenth century French had no +footing in the ordinary schools, but was taught in a growing number of +small private schools kept by Frenchmen, French-speaking refugees from +the Netherlands, and sometimes by Englishmen. + +In Scotland, on the other hand, French received more recognition in the +grammar schools, although it did not form part of the ordinary +curriculum, which was based on Latin, as in England. Yet in several +schools its use was distinctly encouraged on lines which, we may +conclude, were followed at Southampton grammar school in Saravia's time. +For instance, the boys of Aberdeen grammar school, in the middle of the +sixteenth century, were enjoined to address each other in French, while +the use of the vernacular was forbidden. In the famous grammar school of +Perth, when John Rowe, the reformer, was master there, and many of the +scholars boarded with him, we are informed that "as they spake nothing +in the schoole and fields but Latine so nothing was spoken in his house +but French." It is of interest to note that in this school French is put +side by side with the ancient tongues, as Palsgrave had wished. +[Header: FRENCH IN THE SCHOOLS OF SCOTLAND] After meals a selection from +the Bible was read; if from the Old Testament, in Hebrew, if from the +New Testament, in Latin, Greek, or French.[405] + +Turning to the more elementary education, we find French holding a still +larger place in some of the parish schools of Scotland, where it was +taught as part of the regular course by the side of Latin. An +interesting account of one of these schools has been left by James +Melville, in his diary.[406] He records that in 1566, at the age of +seven, he, together with his elder brother, was sent to a school kept by +a kinsman, minister at Logie, a few miles from Montrose. This "guid, +lerned, kind man" attended to the children's education, while his sister +was "a verie loving mother" to them, and to a "guid number of gentle and +honest mens berns of the country about," who also were at the school. +"Ther we lerned," he continues, "to reid the catechisme, prayers and +scripture, to rehers the catechisme and prayers par coeur.... We lerned +ther the Rudiments of the Latin grammar, with the vocables in Latin and +French, also divers speitches in Frenche, with the reading and right +pronunciation of that toung." Melville also assures us that his master +had "a verie guid and profitable form of resolving the authors," and +that he treated them "grammaticallie, bothe according to etymologie and +syntaxe"; but, unfortunately, he gives us no further details on the +teaching of French. After spending five years at this school, where, he +admits, he learnt but little, "for his understanding was yet dark," he +went to the grammar school at Montrose. There, although he had a French +Protestant refugee, Pierre de Marsilliers, to teach him Greek, he does +not appear to have had occasion to continue his study of the French +tongue. + +In Scotland, as in England, there were also special schools for teaching +French. For instance, the French schoolmaster Nicholas Langlois, or +Inglishe, who came to England in 1569, and in 1571 was installed in +Blackfriars, London, with his wife and two children,[407] moved to +Scotland in about 1574. He opened a French school in Edinburgh, which +was subsidized by the Town Council, and where he taught French, +arithmetic and accounts until the time of his death in 1611. The Town +Council of Aberdeen also showed itself favourable to French schools; in +1635 it granted to a certain Alexander Rolland a licence "to teach a +French school," and allowed him "for that effect to put up one brod or +signe befoir his schoole door." + +Yet in spite of the fact that French received greater recognition in the +schools of Scotland than it did in those of England, there is nothing to +show that the same general interest was taken in the study of the +language. While in England large numbers of grammars and other +text-books were published, there is only one notice of the production of +a similar work in Scotland during the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries. This solitary work, which a certain William Nudrye received a +licence to print in 1559,[408] was entitled _Ane A B C for Scottes men +to read the frenche toung, with an exhortation to the nobles of Scotland +to favour their old friends_. The plea that French was learnt by the +help of French grammars imported from France, or on conversational +methods, or yet again in France by direct intercourse with Frenchmen, +may be applied with as much force to England as to Scotland, though it +is not improbable that in Scotland such methods were relied on to a +greater extent; the friendly relations which existed between Scotland +and France from the thirteenth century onwards encouraged large numbers +of Scots to seek instruction in France, just as it led some Frenchmen to +the Scottish centres of learning.[409] French tutors were said to be as +common in Scotland as in England; a Spanish ambassador reported to +Ferdinand and Isabella as early as 1498 that "there is a good deal of +French education in Scotland, and many speak the French language." Yet +the fact remains that while one small French A B C appears to have been +the only work on the language issued in Scotland, there was a whole +series of such works published in England. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[289] Sources for the History of the Persecutions: L. Batiffol, _The +Century of the Renaissance_, London, 1916; D. C. A. Agnew, _Protestant +Exiles from France_, 3rd ed., 1886, vol. i.; J. S. Burn, _The History of +the French, Walloon, Dutch, and other Foreign Protestant Refugees +settled in England_, London, 1846; S. Smiles, _The Huguenots, their +Settlements, Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland_, London, +1867. + +[290] Early refugees also came in small numbers from Italy where the +Inquisition was established in 1542; and a few others from Spain, where +it was set up in 1588. Their arrival in England imparted some slight +impetus to the study of their respective languages; cp. F. Watson, _The +Beginnings of the Teaching of Modern Subjects in England_, London, 1909, +chapters xii. and xiii. + +[291] _Huguenot Society Publications_, xv., 1898; F. W. Cross, _History +of the Walloon and Huguenot Church at Canterbury_ (Introduction). + +[292] L. Humphrey, _The Nobles or of Nobilitye_, London, 1563, 2nd book. + +[293] See A. Rahlenbeck, "Les Réfugiés belges au 16me siècle en +Angleterre," in the _Revue Trimestrielle_, Oct. 1865. + +[294] The following numbers show the proportion of the Netherlanders to +the French: in 1567, 3838 Flemish to 512 French; in 1586, 5225 to 1119. + +[295] _Huguenot Soc. Pub._ i., 1887-88; O. J. W. Moens, _The Walloons +and their Church at Norwich_, ch. ix. + +[296] W. Besant, _London in the Time of the Tudors_, London, 1904, pp. +80, 200, 203. The population of London is taken as about 120,000. + +[297] _Hug. Soc. Pub._ x., 1900-1908, 4 parts. + +[298] _Hug. Soc. Pub._ viii., 1893: _Letters of Denization and Acts of +Naturalisation for Aliens in England_, 1509-1603, ed. W. Page. + +[299] Naturalization by Act of Parliament, which gave additional rights, +such as that of succession to and bequeathment of real property, was in +general of more advantage to Englishmen born abroad than to foreigners. + +[300] On the French churches in England, see F. de Schickler, _Les +Églises du refuge en Angleterre_, 3 tom., Paris, 1892. + +[301] The first ministers appointed to the French church were François +Pérussel, dit la Rivière, and Richard Vauville. Perlin visited the +French church: "La prechoit un nommé maistre Françoys homme blond, et un +autre nommé maistre Richard, homme ayant barbe noire" (_Description des +royaulmes d'Angleterre et d'Escosse_, Paris, 1558, p. 11). Perlin was +one of the few Frenchmen who came to England at this time. + +[302] _Op. cit._ p. 11. Perlin also says that the English tried several +times to set fire to the French church. + +[303] See accounts in Rye, _England as seen by Foreigners_. + +[304] This was naturally not without exceptions. For instance, Sir +Nicholas Bacon, father of Francis, was noted for his support of the +attempt to drive all the French from the country after the St. +Bartholomew massacre (_Archaeologia_, xxxvi. p. 339). + +[305] F. Foster Watson, "Religious Refugees and English Education," +_Proceedings of the Huguenot Society_, London, 1911. + +[306] _The Nobles or of Nobilitye_, _ut supra_. + +[307] _Athenae Cantab._ ii. 274. A certain L. T. attacked Baro about a +sermon of his on the text in the third chapter of the Epistle to the +Romans, twenty-eighth verse (Brit. Mus. Catalogue). + +[308] _Hug. Soc. Pub._ x. pt. iii. p. 360. + +[309] Ellis, _Original Letters_, 1st series, i. pp. 341-3. + +[310] _Arte of Rhetorique_ (1553), ed. G. H. Mair, 1909, p. 13. + +[311] _Lord Herbert of Cherbury's Autobiography_, ed. Sir S. Lee (2nd +ed. 1906), p. 37, n. + +[312] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._, xiv. pt. ii. No. +601; and _Works_, Parker Society, i. p. 396. + +[313] E. J. Furnivall, _Manners and Meals in Olden Time_, pp. ix et seq. + +[314] Ascham, _Toxophilus_, quoted by Nichols: _Literary Remains ..._, +p. xl. + +[315] _Reliquiae Wottoniae_, London, 1657 ("Life of Sir Henry Wotton"), +n.p. + +[316] J. Payne Collier, in _Archaeologia_, vol. xxxvi. pp. 339 _et seq._ + +[317] _Queene Elizabeth's Academy_, ed. Furnivall, Early English Text +Society, 1869. + +[318] This purpose is expressly stated in the earliest grammar for +teaching Italian to the English, dated 1550: _The Principal Rules of +Italian Grammar, with a Dictionary for the better Understandynge of +Boccace, Petrarcha, and Dante_ (also in 1562 and 1567). Cp. F. Watson, +_Modern Subjects_, chapter xii. + +[319] Cp. F. Watson, _Modern Subjects_, chapter xiii.; and J. G. +Underhill, _Spanish Literature in England of the Tudors_, New York, +1899. + +[320] _Hug. Soc. Pub._ viii.: List of Denizations. + +[321] _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[322] _Thesaurus Linguae Latinae_, 1532, the first of Latin-French +dictionaries. + +[323] Printed by T. Wolfe. + +[324] The first French grammar for teaching French to the Germans, +mentioned in Stengel's _Chronologisches Verzeichniss französischer +Grammatiken_ (Oppeln, 1890), was the work of a Frenchman Du Vivier, +schoolmaster at Cologne, and was published in 1566. + +[325] Cp. Ph. Sheavyn, _The Literary Profession in the Elizabethan Age_, +Manchester, 1909, chap. i. + +[326] _De Republica Anglorum_, ed. L. Alston, Camb., 1906, p. 139. + +[327] C. W. Wallace, "New Shakespeare Discoveries," _Harper's Magazine_, +1910, and _University Studies_, Nebraska, U.S.A.; Sir S. Lee, _Life of +Shakespeare ..._, new ed., London, 1915, pp. 17, 276. + +[328] Unfortunately the registers of the Threadneedle Street Church, +previous to 1600, have been lost. It would have been interesting to have +found Shakespeare brought into contact with this church by his Huguenot +friends. + +[329] A list of French words and phrases used by Shakespeare is given in +A. Schmidt's _Shakespeare Lexicon_, 2 vols., Berlin, 1902, p. 1429. + +[330] Act I. Sc. 4; Act II. Sc. 3; and other Scenes in which the Doctor +appears. + +[331] Act III. Sc. 6; Act IV. Sc. 2, Sc. 4, Sc. 5; Act V. Sc. 2. + +[332] Act III. Sc. 4. + +[333] Act III. Sc. 6. The quotation from 2 Peter ii. 22 bears closest +resemblance to the edition of the Bible issued at Geneva, 1550; H. R. D. +Anders, _Shakespeare's Books_, Berlin, 1904, p. 203. + +[334] Often what appear to be mistakes to-day are due to change in +pronunciation; as when Pistol takes the French soldier's "bras" ('arm') +for English 'brass,' a possibility at this period when the final _s_ was +still sounded (Thurot, _Prononciation française_, ii. pp. 35-36; Anders, +_op. cit._ pp. 50-51.) + +[335] Anders, _op. cit._ p. 51 _et seq._ + +[336] Cp. A. F. Leach, _English Grammar Schools of the Reformation_, +1896: F. Watson, _The English Grammar Schools up to 1660_, Cambridge, +1908, and _The Curriculum and Text-Books of English Schools in the First +Half of the Seventeenth Century_, Bibliog. Soc., 1906. + +[337] The author of the _Institution of a Gentleman_, 1555 and 1560, +mentions the "knowledge of tongues as necessary to gentlemen," but he +does not seem to have meant modern languages. William Kemp, in his +_Education of Children in Learning_, 1588, names the ancient tongues, +especially Latin, and other writers do the same. For a list of similar +works, cp. Watt, _Bibliotheca Britannica_, under "Education." + +[338] Cp. J. W. Adamson, _Pioneers in Modern Education_, Cambridge, +1905, pp. 178 _sqq._ + +[339] _Sidney Papers_, ed. A. Collins; _Letters and Memorials of State_, +vol. i. p. 8. + +[340] E. Arber, _Transcript of the Registers of the Company of +Stationers, 1554-1640_, v. p. 162. + +[341] _Calendar of State Papers, Domestic: Addenda, 1580-1625_, p. 413. + +[342] _Handlists of Books printed by London Printers, 1501-56_, Bibliog. +Soc., 1913: Grafton, p. 13. + +[343] There is no trace of Du Ploich's name in any of the registers of +aliens published by the Hug. Soc. The only trace of a name resembling +his is that of Peter de Ploysse, butcher, in Breadstreet Ward (Lay +Subsidies, 1549). + +[344] F. Watson, _Grammar Schools_, pp. 69 _et seq._ + +[345] Arber, _Stationers' Register_, i. p. 126. + +[346] Sig. A-N in fours. + +[347] French in Roman type, English in black letter. + +[348] Especially the Lambeth fragment, and the _Introductorie_ of Duwes. + +[349] Sig. A-I in fours. Like the first edition, this is preserved in a +unique volume in the Brit. Mus. The copy of Kingston's edition is not +complete, wanting all before signature A3. + +[350] Brit. Mus. Royal MSS. 16, E xxxvii., 63 quarto leaves. + +[351] Edward had the MS. placed in his Library. Nichols, _Literary +Remains_, p. cccxxxiv. + +[352] Royal MSS. 16, E xxiii., 29 quarto leaves. + +[353] "Et je ne suis pas si presumptueux de vouloir dire que celuy livre +je soye suffissant a translater du tout en englois, a cause que je ne +l'ay de nature. Mais a mon simple entendement, ayant l'opportunité et le +loisir, l'ensuivray au plus pres que ie pourray." + +[354] _Returns of Aliens in London_, Hug. Soc. Pub. x. + +[355] _Lists of Denizations_, Hug. Soc. Pub., ad nom. (a Sancto +Vinculo). Other details of his life are given in Miss L. E. Farrer's _La +vie et les oeuvres de Claude de Sainliens_, Paris, 1907. + +[356] Yet in this work Holyband refers several times to the necessity of +having a good tutor. + +[357] Farrer, _op. cit._ p. 21. + +[358] As in the _French Schoolemaister_, French and English are arranged +on opposite pages, the French in Roman characters, and the English in +black letter. + +[359] Des escholiers et l'eschole--Pour voyageurs--Du Logis, Du Poidz, +Vendre et acheter, Pour marchans. + +[360] Sylvius (1530) had placed a small vertical line over final +unsounded consonants. + +[361] Hug. Soc. Pub. x. pt. iii. p. 400. The name John Henricke occurs +frequently in the registers of aliens. There was a John Henryke, a +"Dutchman," who, in 1567, was living in Broadstreet Ward, and had been +three weeks in England; and, in 1571, in St. Mary Alchurch Parish, when +he is said to have been five years in England, and to be a native of +Barowe in Brabant and nineteen years old. In 1582 one of the same name +was living in Blackfriars and had two servants (Hug. Soc. Pub. x. pt i. +p. 322; pt. ii. pp. 91, 253). In 1579 a John Hendricke from the dominion +of the Bishop of Liége received letters of denization (Hug. Soc. Pub. +viii. ad nom.). It does not seem likely that Holyband employed one of +the Walloons, whose accent he taught his pupils to avoid. + +[362] Foster, _Alumni Oxonienses_, ad nom. + +[363] Farrer, _op. cit._ p. 1. + +[364] C. Livet, _La Grammaire française et les grammairiens du 16e +siècle_, Paris, 1859, pp. 500 _et seq._ + +[365] For his sources, etc., see Farrer, _op. cit._ pp. 73 _et seq._ + +[366] Schickler, _Églises du Refuge_, i. p. 358. + +[367] _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[368] Farrer, _op. cit._ p. 16. Miss Farrer suggests that Holyband was +connected with the family of Thuillier de Saint Lyens of Moulins (_op. +cit._ pp. 8, 9). + +[369] Latin poem in the _Campo di Fior_, 1583. + +[370] In the _Schoolemaister_, on the contrary, the exercises follow the +rules, "to the end that I may teache by experience and practice that +which I have shewed by arte." + +[371] The philological side of Holyband's work has been fully treated by +Farrer, _op. cit._ + +[372] In the _Schoolemaister_. The rules of the _French Littleton_ are +much the same, only less quaintly worded. + +[373] Holyband was the author of a work for teaching Italian: _The +Italian Schoolmaster_, 1583, and again in 1591, 1597, and 1608. + +[374] Schickler, _Églises du Refuge_, iii. pp. 167-171. The members of +the Church attended to the interests of the schools, and donations were +made from time to time. Cp. for instance, Schickler, _op. cit._ i. p. +123. + +[375] _The Scholemaster_, ed. Arber, 1869, p. 82. + +[376] Schickler, _op. cit._ i. p. 211. + +[377] _Registers of Threadneedle Street, London_, Hug. Soc. Pub. ix. + +[378] _Registre de l'Église wallonne de Southampton_, Hug. Soc. Pub. +iv., 1890. In 1584 three baptisms were performed by Mr. Hopkins, an +English minister. + +[379] _Registre de l'Église de Cantorbéry_, Hug. Soc. Pub. v. pt. i., +1890. + +[380] W. J. C. Moens (_The Walloons and their Church at Norwich_, Hug. +Soc. Pub. i., 1887-8, p. 58) enumerates eighteen sons of strangers at +Norwich who went to the Grammar School and thence to Cambridge. + +[381] Schickler, _op. cit._ i. p. 106. + +[382] _Ibid._ p. 346. + +[383] Schickler, _op. cit._ i. p. 281; F. W. Cross, _History of the +Walloon and Huguenot Church at Cantuar_, Hug. Soc. Pub. xv., 1898, p. +15. + +[384] W. J. Hardy, _Foreign Refugees at Rye_, Proceedings Hug. Soc. ii., +1887-8, p. 574. + +[385] Cross, _op. cit._ p. 53. + +[386] Hardy, _op. cit._ p. 570 (cp. Durrant Cooper, _Refugees in +Sussex_, Sussex Archaeological Collections, xiii., 1861). The name is +here written John Robone. + +[387] F. W. Cross, _ut supra_. + +[388] Cross, _ut supra_; Schickler, _op. cit._ i. p. 283. + +[389] Hug. Soc. Pub. x. + +[390] Hardy, _op. cit._ p. 572. + +[391] Moens, _The Walloons and their Church at Norwich_; W. Durrant +Cooper, _Lists of Foreign Protestants and Aliens resident in England, +1618-1688_, Camden Soc., 1862. + +[392] G. H. Overend, _Strangers at Dover_, p. 166; and D. Cooper, _Lists +of Foreign Protestants_. + +[393] _Registre de l'Église wallonne de Southampton_, Hug. Soc. Pub. iv. + +[394] Schickler, _op. cit._ i. 25. + +[395] _Ibid._ i. 59. + +[396] For example, John Veron, J. R. Chevallier, mentioned above. + +[397] _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[398] In 1568 letters of denization were granted him (Hug. Soc. Pub. +viii., ad nom.). + +[399] MS. Memoir of Robert Ashley (Sloane, 2105); cp. Sylvester's +_Works_, ed. Grosart, 1880, i. p. x. + +[400] _Works_, ed. Grosart, i. p. 4. See also i. p. lvii, and ii. pp. +52, 301, 322. + +[401] 1567?-1630. _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[402] _Registre de l'Église wallonne de Southampton_, Hug. Soc. Pub. +iv., 1890. + +[403] J. S. Davids, _History of Southampton_, Southampton, 1883, p. 311. + +[404] Another Fleming, Thomas Hylocomius, a native of Brabant, was +master of St. Alban's Grammar School, 1570-1596 (Watson, _Protestant +Refugees_, pp. 137-139). But there is nothing to show that he encouraged +the study of French. + +[405] Authorities for the use of French in Scotch schools are: J. +Strong, _Secondary Education in Scotland_, Oxford, 1909, pp. 44 _et +seq._, 76, 142; T. P. Young, _Histoire de l'enseignement primaire et +secondaire en Écosse_, Paris, 1907, pp. 12 _et seq._, pp. 64 _et seq._; +J. Grant, _Burgh Schools of Scotland_, London and Glasgow, 1876, pp. 64, +404; F. Michel, _Les Écossais en France et les Français en Écosse_, +1862, ii. p. 78. + +[406] _Autobiography and Diary of Mr. James Melville, minister of +Kilrenny and Professor of Theology in the University of St. Andrews_, +ed. R. Pitcairn (Wodrow Soc., Edinburgh, 1842), pp. 16 _et seq._ + +[407] His daughter Esther, who married a Scotch minister Kello, became +famous for her calligraphy. Some of her work, preserved in the Bodleian, +was admired by Hearne (_Collections and Recollections_, Oxf. Hist. Soc., +1885, i. p. 38). + +[408] D. Murray, _Some Early Grammars, etc., in use in Scotland_, in the +Proceedings of the Royal Philos. Soc. of Glasgow, xxxvii. pp. 267-8. In +the _List of Books printed in Scotland before 1700_, by H. G. Aldis +(Edinburgh Bibliog. Soc., 1904), there is not one book on the French +language amongst the 3919 titles recorded. + +[409] Pasquier, _Letters_, Amsterdam, 1723, lib. i. p. 5. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + HUGUENOT TEACHERS OF FRENCH--OTHER CLASSES OF FRENCH + TEACHERS--RIVALRIES IN THE PROFESSION--THE "DUTCH" AND ENGLISH + TEACHERS + + +We have seen that some of the refugees who came to England as a result +of the persecutions in France and the Netherlands were professional +schoolmasters; others joined the profession on their arrival, through +force of circumstances, or as a means of repaying hospitality. The lot +of such teachers varied considerably. Some lived and taught in +gentlemen's families; others thrived by waiting on a private +aristocratic clientèle; others gained a more precarious livelihood under +less powerful patronage; and yet others opened private schools, often +with decided success. Many of these teachers[410] were denizens, and had +long teaching careers, chiefly in London; a certain Abraham Bushell, for +instance, a native of "Rotchell," had been a "schoolmaster of the French +tongue" in London for twenty-two years in 1618, during which time he had +attended the French Church. Many other French teachers were members of +the French Church, which naturally, seeing that it fostered a French +school itself, took a particular interest in the French schoolmasters +generally. Thus in 1560 all French schoolmasters having schools in +London were summoned before the consistory, which was seeking to +ascertain how many belonged to the Church, and also what book they used +in teaching the children. Eight were ready to conform to the Church and +its discipline;[411] a ninth, one Gilles Berail, refused to conform, on +the plea that he attended the English parish church and understood +English as well as French. + +With the exception of Holyband, the chief Huguenot teachers who gathered +round St. Paul's Churchyard would seem to have been Normans. One of +these was Robert Fontaine, a friend of Holyband. He had a long and +varied career in England as a teacher of French. Arriving in 1550, he +remained in England during the reign of Mary, modifying his religious +convictions to suit the exigencies of the time. He returned to his +former faith early in the reign of Elizabeth, and expressed contrition +for his "falling off to idolatry."[412] He attended the French Church +faithfully in the early time of its revival, but he appears to have gone +more frequently to the Anglican Church in later years, and possibly his +sympathies were more in that direction. The favourite neighbourhood, St. +Paul's Churchyard, was the scene of his activities, and there he lived +for many years with one of his countrymen, Mr. Bowry, a purse-maker. In +1571 he had been living seventeen years in the vicinity of the +Cathedral, and in 1582, the latest mention of him in the returns of +aliens, he was still in the same district, and appears to have been very +prosperous. + +Some of this group of Normans added to their activities that of writing +books for teaching French--an occupation for which Fontaine, presumably, +had not time or inclination. One such author was Jacques Bellot, a +"gentleman of the city of Caen in Normandie," who came to England in +1578, or the end of 1577, probably driven from his native land by the +persecutions. He was received into the household of Sir Philip Wharton, +third baron of that name, and in a surprisingly short time produced a +French Grammar, which he dedicated to his patron, with an expression of +his gratitude. Bellot, it appears, had already a considerable connexion. +His work is preceded by numerous commendatory poems, after the fashion +of the time. The poet Thomas Newton of Chester wrote two of these, one +in Latin and the other in English, laying stress on the debt due by his +countrymen to these French grammarians: + +[Header: JACQUES BELLOT] + + Thankes therefore great and threefold thankes are due + By right to those, whose travaile, toyle and penne + Dothe breake the yce for others to ensue, + By rules and practice for us Englishmen, + An easye way, a methode most in use + Amonge the Learn'de t' enduce to knowledge sure. + +Other verses are written in French by John and William Wroth, no doubt +two of the numerous sons of the politician Sir Thomas Wroth. + +This new work, entitled _The French Grammar, or An Introduction orderly +and Methodically by ready rules, playne preceptes and evident examples, +teachinge the French Tongue_, differs from the popular books of +Holyband, and also from most other French manuals, in that it deals with +grammar alone. It opens with the usual observations on pronunciation. +Each letter is taken in turn, and the position of the organs necessary +to produce it is given. The author makes no attempt to compare the +French sounds with the English equivalents. He had probably not yet had +time to master the intricacies of English pronunciation, although the +whole book is written in English; and he also, no doubt, made free use +of grammars written in France. He tells us, for instance, that "_c_ +ought to be pronounced with the tongue against the roof of the mouth, +and the mouth somewhat open"; that "_f_ is pronounced holding the nether +lip against the upward teeth"; and that "_h_ is but aspiration, which +loseth his sound after _e_ feminine, and also after every consonant." +Then, after a few general observations and lists of numbers, months, and +other familiar words, we reach the second part of the Grammar, which +deals with the eight parts of speech. Each is defined and commented on +in turn. The wording is often quaint; for instance, verbs are defined as +"words which be declined with Modes and tenses, and are betokenynge +doing." This second book treats of the accidence. In the third we pass +to the consideration of syntax with the following warning: + + Dire, _sy ay_ (quoy qu'usage on en face) + N'est point parlé en courtois et bien nay: + Bien seant n'est aussy, dire, _non ay_: + _Sauf votre honneur_, ou bien _sauf votre grace_ + Seroient trouvéz de trop meilleure grace. + _Je ne l'ay fait_, est trop desordonné: + _Pardonnez moy_, seroit mieux ordonné, + Car grand fureur douce parolle efface. + _Nous estions_, _Nous y pensons_, faut dire, + Non, _J'estions_, on ne s'en fait que rire, + Ne _J'y pensons_, tout cela est repris. + Les bons François ne parlent point ainsy. + Acunement pris ne doit estre aussy + _Petit_, pour _peu_, ny _peu_ pour _petit_ pris. + +This part of the work is not extensive, and consists of a miscellaneous +collection of observations; we are, for instance, told that the +antecedent governs its relative, that the adjective agrees with its +noun, and we are supplied also with rules for the gender and number, the +negative, and so on. To this Bellot adds a fourth book, which is perhaps +the most curious part of the work. It deals with French versification. +We are first favoured with a description of the structure of various +forms of poems, such as the "chant royal," the "ballade," the sonnet, +rondeau, "dixain," and so on, each accompanied by an example, by way of +illustration. The various forms of rime are next described and +exemplified; and some of the complicated forms dear to the +"rhétoriqueurs" find a place here. This is followed by a description of +the various kinds of metres, again with examples; and finally rhythm, +colour or "lizière," the caesura, elision, the "coupe féminine," and the +use of the apostrophe are treated. Such is this little treatise on the +"French poeme," which shows incidentally that Bellot had not yet learned +the lesson enforced by the _Pléiade_ more than twenty years before he +wrote. + +What strikes one most, perhaps, in Bellot's Grammar is that he makes no +attempt to deal with the difficulties which the French language presents +to the English in particular. No comparison of the two languages is +instituted; no emphasis is laid on points in which they differ. Were it +not written in English, it might be taken for a study of the language on +the model of those produced in France. Considering that the work was +published in the year of his arrival in England, it seems almost certain +that he had begun his study before his arrival, and translated it +himself, or had it translated into English. This would account for its +unusual character. + +Bellot opens and closes his Grammar with apologies. He repudiates all +claim to completeness, and writes, he says, merely to provoke the +"learned" to do better. "Yet the worke is not so leane and voide of +fruite, but there is in it some taste. The bee gathereth honey from the +smallest flowers, and so may the wise man from this small work." + +Some time after the publication of his Grammar, he joined the group of +French teachers dwelling in the neighbourhood of St. Paul's Churchyard. +He was there in 1582, and made the acquaintance of Holyband, who had +then resumed his French school in that locality. In the following year +he wrote a quatrain and a sonnet in praise of Holyband's latest work, +the _Campo di Fior_ (1583): + + Goustez Anglois, Gent bien heureuse, + Les fleurs qu'en vostre Isle argenteuse + Vous donne Holybande pour un gage. + +It is not certain how Bellot employed his time there. He may have had a +school, or have taught privately. In any case he was a member of the +French Church, and in the returns of aliens he calls himself a +"schoolmaster" and a "teacher of children."[413] But the title on which +he is most insistent is that of "gentleman." He is a "gentilhomme +cadomois," or a gentleman of Caen, and usually attaches the abbreviation +G.C. to his name. His attitude to the usual type of French teacher is +distinctly supercilious. He prided himself on belonging to the "noblesse +instruite et de Savoir," and had the reputation of teaching elegant +French. + +In 1580 he dedicated to no less a person than François de Valois,[414] +brother to Henry III., a work for teaching English to foreigners. Like +Holyband, he gave his book the title of "Schoolmaster": _Maistre +d'Escole Anglois pour les naturelz françois, et autre estrangers qui ont +la langue françoyse, pour parvenir a la vraye prononciation de la langue +Angloise_.[415] The work contains rules of pronunciation and grammar, +given in opposite columns in French and English; it was evidently +written in French in the first place, and then somewhat carelessly +translated into English, for in the English column the illustrative +examples are given in French. This produces a curious effect, and +involves such statements as: "_quand_ should be pronounced as _Houen_" +(when), etc. In the dedication he refers to his "misfortune," by which, +presumably, he means his exile.[416] + +Bellot was busily occupied in the production of other text-books also +during his residence in Paul's Churchyard. The _Maistre d'Escole +Anglois_ appeared in January 1580, and in 1581 was followed by a third +work, in the form of a collection of moral dicta, entitled _Le Jardin de +vertu et bonnes moeurs plain de plusieurs belles fleurs et riches +sentences, avec le sens d'icelles, recueillies de plusieurs +autheurs_,[417] and intended to be used as a "reader." It was published +by the French refugee printer Thomas Vautrollier, who, at the same time, +issued a new edition of Holyband's _French Littleton_. The works of the +two friends were of the same size, and are bound together in the copy +preserved in the British Museum. + +Holyband, with his long-standing reputation, may have been able to +further Bellot's interests. In 1580 he had dedicated his Latin work on +French pronunciation to the queen, and in the following year Bellot +obtained the same favour for his little work. He accordingly opened his +book with six French sonnets in honour of Her Majesty, celebrating her +generous reception of strangers, not omitting to beg her protection for +the "garden": + + Reçoy donc ce jardin: te plaise a l'appuyer + De ta faveur Royalle: et pren le jardinier + En ta protection contre la gent hargneuse: + Alors il tachera (sans appouvrir la France) + L'Angleterre enrichir d'oeuvres d'autre importance, + Pour façonner l'Anglois au Françoys, en son estre, + Alors il chantera tes vertus en tout lieu. . . . + +The whole of the _Jardin_ is printed in French and English; each maxim +or saying is accompanied by explanations of the most difficult words, by +means of synonyms, paraphrases, and definitions, as in the following +example: + + La memoire du prodigue est nulle. Of the prodigall ther is no memory. + + Prodigue est:-- Prodigal is:-- + un degasteur, un rioteux et a wastefull, a riotious and + un excessif depenseur, an outrageous spender, + un consomme-tout, qui degaste a spendall that will lavishe + et depense où il n'en est and spende where + nul besoin et a l'endroit de it needeth not and upon whom + qui n'en a besoin. it needeth not. + Memoire est:-- Memory is:-- + une souvenance, une resconte pensée, a remembrance, and having in minde, + une chose non mise en oubly. a not forgetting. + Le Moral:-- The meaning:-- + La renommée et fame du The prodigall mans fame and renown + prodigue ne dure ny continue long endureth nor continueth + temps: si tost qu'il est mort not long; as sone as he is gone + et passé il est oublié and dead he is forgotten + et hors de toute souvenance. and out of all remembrance. + Cicero en Paradox dit:-- Cicero in Paradox saith:-- + Les prodigues employent et Prodigall men employ and + degastent leurs biens en wast their goods upon + choses dont ils ne peuvent thinges whereof they can not + laisser qu'une courte memoire leave but a short memory + de eux, ou point du tout. of them, or none at all. + +[Header: NORMANS IN ENGLAND] + +It will be noticed that Bellot had not fully mastered the English idiom, +although he had written an English grammar. The rest of the "beautiful +flowers of vertue" which he planted in his "garden" are similar in +character and treatment. He characteristically closes his little book +with a prayer, which he quaintly compares to a fence to keep the "goats" +from harming the "flowers." + +In 1583 Bellot was still living near St. Paul's Churchyard. But after +this date we lose all trace of him until 1588, when the printer Robert +Robinson received a licence to print "a booke intytuled a grammar in +Frenche and Englishe, the auttour is James Bellot."[418] This second +French Grammar was known as _The French Methode_.[419] + +To the numerous band of Normans in England also belonged, perhaps, G. De +la Mothe, who wrote the letter "N" after his name. De la Mothe was +another refugee for the sake of religion, and he speaks with gratitude +of the generous welcome he received in England.[420] He tells us that +the cruel civil wars in France had "burnt the wings of his studies" and +ruined his fortune.[421] On his arrival in England, he began his career +as a teacher of French in the same way as many others; he became a +tutor in a noble family, and shortly after produced a book for teaching +French. He was first appointed French tutor to the son of Sir Henry +Wallop, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and a prominent patron of the +refugees, on the return of his lordship to England in 1589. De la Mothe +was also received, at some date before 1592, into the midst of another +important English family, the Wenmans, of Thame Park, Oxfordshire. He +taught French to the girls, and early in 1592, if not before, was at +Oxford with the eldest son, Richard Wenman,[422] afterwards Sir Richard, +and his brothers. + +De la Mothe had in the meantime written a French text-book which he +called _The French Alphabet, Teaching in a very short time by a most +easie way, to pronounce French naturally, to read it perfectly, to unite +it truly, and to speak it accordingly, Together with a Treasure of the +French Tongue_.[423] He divided it into two parts, which he dedicated to +each of his patrons--the first to Sir Henry Wallop and the second to Sir +Richard Wenman's mother, at whose request he had undertaken the work. De +la Mothe acknowledges his debt of gratitude to both, and also to the +country which had received him so hospitably, in terms which contain +something more than the usual trite expressions. + +The _French Alphabet_ was licensed to the printer Richard Field in +1592,[424] but no copy of this earliest edition has been preserved. +Field succeeded to Vautrollier's successful business, and in this same +year showed his friendship for his fellow-townsman[425] Shakespeare, by +printing the first work he published, _Venus and Adonis_. It is of +course pure conjecture to suggest that Shakespeare saw and even read the +little book printed by his friend. Whether this be so or not, it was +perhaps through Field and his Huguenot connexions--he had married +Vautrollier's widow--that Shakespeare became acquainted with the family +of Christopher Montjoy. + +[Header: G. DE LA MOTHE, N.] + +A new edition of the _Alphabet_ appeared in 1595, from the press of +Edward Alde. At this date De la Mothe had joined the group of teachers +in St. Paul's Churchyard. He taught at the "Signe of the Helmet," and +"there you shall finde him ever willing to show you any favour or +curtesie he may; and most ready to endeavour himselfe to satisfie you in +all that can be possible for hime to doe." The Sign of the Helmet was +the address of the bookseller Thomas Chard.[426] Any one desirous of +becoming acquainted with the author for his better furtherance in the +French tongue could also make enquiries at the Sign of St. John the +Evangelist in Fleet Street, beneath the Conduit, where lived the printer +and bookseller Hugh Jackson, commissioned to sell the book--further +instances of the friendly relations between the French teachers and the +printers and booksellers of the time, through whom these teachers would, +no doubt, get a large proportion of their clientèle. The Huguenot +sympathies of many of the printers, such as Vautrollier and Field, +account in part for this cordial feeling. + +After the 1595 edition of his work we hear nothing further of De la +Mothe. Although the name occurs frequently in the returns of aliens, +none can be identified with him. He probably seized an early opportunity +of returning to his native land. His manual, however, did not disappear +with him. Second in popularity only to the works of Holyband in the +sixteenth century, it enjoyed numerous editions in the seventeenth.[427] +Excepting the omission of De la Mothe's advertisement, all the later +editions are identical. They were issued from the press of Field's +successor, George Miller.[428] It is difficult to understand how the +1595 edition came to be printed by Edward Alde, though his work was +evidently countenanced by De la Mothe. + +The _French Alphabet_ is a very practical little work. It contains rules +for pronunciation and familiar dialogues in the usual style. The whole +is given in French and English arranged on opposite pages. His treatment +of pronunciation is much the same as Holyband's, and he sometimes +transcribes freely from his active contemporary's work.[429] He +explains the sounds chiefly by comparison with English, giving the +nearest equivalent to each letter. After the letters he deals with the +syllables and then the words. The rules are arranged in the form of +dialogues between master and pupil: + + Sir, will it please you do me Monsieur, vous plaist il me faire + so much favour (or would tant de faveur (ou voudriez + you take the pain) to vous prendre la peine) de + teach me to speak French? m'apprendre a parler François? + With all my heart, if Tres volontiers, si vous + you have a desire to it. en avez envie. + I desire nothing more. Je ne desire rien plus. + If you desire it you Si vous le desirez vous + shall learn it quickly, l'apprendez bien, + if you please to take s'il vous plaist de prendre + some pain. un peu de peine. + There is nothing though never so hard Il n'y a rien si difficile + but by labour it may be made easie. qui par labeur ne soit facile. + You say true, Vous dites vray, + I believe you. je vous en croy. . . . + How do you pronounce Comment prononcez vous + the letter a? la lettre a? + A is pronounced plaine and long as A se prononce ouvert et long comme + this English word awe, to be in awe, ce mot Anglois awe, to be in awe, + as ma, ta, sa, la, comme ma, ta, sa, la, + bat, part, blanc, etc. bat, part, blanc, etc. + +And the next lesson takes the following form: [Header: HIS FRENCH +ALPHABET] + + Sir, can you say your lesson? Monsieur, sçaves vous vostre leçon? + Have you learnt to pronounce your Avés vous apprins a prononcer vos + letters? lettres? + Yea, as well as I can. Ouy, le mieux qu'il m'est possible. + I have done nothing but study it Je n'ay fait autre chose qu'estudier. + since you did heare me yesterday depuis que vous me feistes dire hier. + It is very well done, C'est tresbien fait, + I am glad then. i'en suis bien aise. + Go to, let me heare you how you do Or aus, que je voye comment vous + pronounce. prononcez. + I will, I am content. Je le veux, i'en suis content. + Say then, begin, speak Dites, doncq, commencez, parlez + aloud. haut. + Pronounce distinctly. Softly, Prononcez distinctement. Tout beau, + make no haste, open your ne vous hastez point, ouvrez la + mouth. bouche. + That is very well, that is well Voyla qui est bien, cela est bien + said. dit. + Repeat it once again. Repetez encore une fois derechef. + Do I pronounce it well? Yea, Prononce-je bien? Ouy, + you pronounce well. vous prononcez bien. + Help me, I pray you. Aydez moy, je vous prie. + How do you pronounce that letter? Comment se prononce ceste lettre? + Before we go any further Devant que passer oultre + you must il faut que vous + pronounce perfectly your letters. prononciez vos lettres parfaitement. + Now that you can tell your letters Maintenant que vous sçavez vos + well, lettres, + learne your syllables, apprenez vos syllables, + say after me. dictes après moy. + +After dealing with the sounds of the French language, De la Mothe passes +to more general considerations. He touches on the much-discussed +question of the reform of the orthography, and expresses his strong +disapproval of all attempts to make it tally with the pronunciation. +Then he deals with the pronunciation of the Law French of the +English,[430] which he puts down to such fanciful experiments. Lawyers +write their French as they pronounce it, and pronounce it as they write +it, so that it is now quite corrupt. He next proceeds to give his pupils +a short history of the chief Romance tongues, French, Italian, and +Spanish, and finally of the English language. + +The remainder of the first part of the _Alphabet_ is occupied by short +familiar dialogues on the usual subjects--greetings, the weather, the +divisions of time, buying and selling, and the occurrences of daily +life--as follows: + + _For to aske the way._ _Pour demander le chemin._ + + How many miles to London? Combien y a il d'icy à Londres? + Ten leagues, twenty miles. Dix lieues, vingt mil. + What way must we keep? Quel chemin faut il tenir? + Which is the shortest Où est le plus court + way to goe to Rye? chemin d'icy à Rye? + Keepe alwayes the great way. Suyvez tousjours le grand chemin. + Do not stray neither to the right Ne vous fourvoyez ny à dextre + nor to the left hand. ny à sinestre. + What doe I owe you now? Combien vous doy-je maintenant? + Two shillings. Here it is. Deux sols. Les voylà. + Bring me my horse. Amenez moy mon cheval. + Will you take horse? Vous plaist il monter à cheval? + Yea, I hope I shall not alight Ouy, j'espere que je ne descendrez + till I be come to London. que je ne soys arrivé à Londres. + God be with you. Farewell. Adieu. Bonne vie et longue. + +At the end of these dialogues comes the second part of De la Mothe's +book, entitled the _Treasure of the French Tongue_. It consists of a +collection of French and English proverbs and golden sayings, +"diligently gathered and faithfully set in order after the Alphabeticall +manner, for those that are desirous of the French tongue." These early +teachers of French were fond of such collections. They usually included +proverbs in their grammar books, and Palsgrave, as we have seen, hoped +to publish a separate work on them. His intention seems to have been +first fully realised by De la Mothe, although Holyband had included a +smaller list in both his popular text-books. + +From De la Mothe's _French Alphabet_, more than from any other of these +early works, we can form a fairly adequate idea of the method of +teaching French prevalent at the time. Much importance was attached to +pronunciation and to reading, which were made the first subject of +study. Rules were felt to be desirable for learning the sounds, but more +stress was laid on the services of a good teacher; "for do not think," +says De la Mothe, "that my book is by itself to make thee a good +Frenchman." His own method was to make his pupils repeat the sounds +after him. He believed that the acquirement of a good pronunciation +depended on a mastery of each separate sound in the language. According +to him, any one who can pronounce each letter correctly must, perforce, +enunciate words correctly, and on the same plan, sentences also; a +rather questionable theory this, but we must remember that De la Mothe +took for granted the daily attendance of a French tutor. The +understanding of the language De la Mothe regards as the second stage in +the pupil's progress. This he considers a natural consequence of a +perfect command of the pronunciation and reading of the language. Lastly +comes the speaking of the language, which, according to him, results +from understanding it. + +De la Mothe does not only expound his theories; he also gives fairly +detailed information as to how they may be put into practice. After +engaging a good teacher, the student should learn to pronounce his +letters and syllables perfectly. Then he may begin to read, very slowly +at first, at the rate of from three to four lines a day, "or more or +less according as your capacity can reach or your patience permit." +[Header: HIS METHOD FOR LEARNING FRENCH] Each word should be spelt four +or five times, and in the spelling and reading the pupil should "not let +passe any letter or syllable without bringing them to the trial of his +rules." When you can "read truly and pronounce perfectly, then go about +to English it." First translate the French passages into English, with +the help of the word for word translation provided, then copy out the +French into a book provided for the purpose, close the _Alphabet_ and +attempt to translate your copy into English at sight, correcting the +version by referring again to the _Alphabet_. Next proceed to +retranslate the English back into French on a similar method. "Continue +this order for a month, every day repeating three or four times, both +your letters and your syllables, and reading and Englishing as many +times your old from the beginning till your latter lesson." ... "Being +once able to reade and pronounce perfectly with your rules, two or three +leaves of your book, at most, I can assure you that there is not any +French book though never so hard, but you shall be able to reade it and +pronounce it as truly as can be wished. For in less than one leaf of +your book, all your rules are to be observed, three or four times at +least. For there is not a word but in it is one or two rules to be +noted." + +When the learner has thus fully mastered the rules of pronunciation, he +may go forward speedily, translating from English into French, and from +French into English, and revising constantly. "This is the only ready +way to learn to read and pronounce, to write and speak French." Not a +single day should be allowed to pass without exercises of this kind, and +"you shall find in less than five or six weeks your labour and dilegence +afford you much profit, and advancement, that you will wonder at it, and +much greater than I dare promise you." + +Those who have made some progress in the language, De la Mothe advises +to make the acquaintance of some Frenchman, if possible, "to the end +that you may practice with him by daily conference together, in speech +and talk, what you have learned. And if you be in place where the +Frenchmen have a Church for themselves, as they do in London, get you a +French Bible or a New Testament, and every day go both to their lectures +and Sermons. The one will confirm and strengthen your pronunciation, and +the other cause you to understand when one doth speak." And, finally, if +you wish to understand the hardest and most "eloquent" French, and to +speak it naturally, you must not neglect reading, but provide yourself +with a French Dictionary, and the hardest book you can find, and set +about translating it, on the method already described. If the student +will not take the pains to translate the book, he should at least read +it carefully, and write out a list of the hardest words and of +appropriate phrases "to serve his turn, either to speak or write when he +has need of them." + +Although De la Mothe makes no mention of grammar, when he describes his +method of teaching, he did not consider it unnecessary. Indeed he +declares it is not possible to speak French perfectly without such +rules, which he no doubt used for purposes of reference, as he did the +rules of pronunciation. He even promises to produce shortly a _French +Tutor_, "that will teach you in so short and easie a way as may be, both +by the perfect knowledge of the parts of your speeches, and syntaxe, not +only to speak perfectly, but also to know if one doth not speak well, to +reprove him when he doth speak ill, and to teach him to amend his bad +speech: a thing which yet before has never been taught. The promise is +great, but the performance shall not be less if this be acceptable to +you." Unfortunately this promise does not seem to have been kept. That +his _Alphabet_ did not prove "acceptable" cannot be the reason. Most +probably De la Mothe left England before he had time to show his +gratitude to the English nobility by the production of this second book. + +We have seen that these teachers of French did not always look upon each +other as rivals. Bellot wrote verses in honour of Holyband, who was a +friend of Fontaine, another of the group of French teachers in St. +Paul's Churchyard. But such friendly relations were not general. The +teachers just mentioned belonged to what formed, no doubt, the highest +rank of the profession. Bellot calls himself a "gentilhomme," and so +does Holyband; and both refer to criticism and attacks upon them by +other French teachers.[431] Holyband calls attention to the +unscrupulousness of many of them, who take money in advance and do +nothing to earn it; and expresses his contempt for his critics--Frenchmen +ignorant of English, Burgundians, or Englishmen who do not know +French thoroughly. [Header: FRIENDSHIPS AND RIVALRIES] The many +French-speaking schoolmasters from the Netherlands--chiefly +Walloons and Burgundians--and the English teachers of French formed +separate groups apart from the Huguenots. Yet another group was +recruited from the ranks of the Roman Catholics. + +The Burgundians, who did not come from Burgundy, but from that portion +of the Netherlands which had been under the rule of the House of +Burgundy, formed a very considerable proportion of the foreign +population of London. In 1567 there were only forty-four of them in +London, but by 1571 their number had risen to four hundred and +twenty-four--almost as many as the total number of French in the +city.[432] The Walloons were still more numerous, and no doubt +outnumbered the French. Such instructors were an obstacle in the way of +those desirous of raising the standard of the French taught in England. +Against the peculiarities of the French spoken in the Netherlands, +Holyband is constantly warning his pupils. "You shall know them," he +says, "at the pronunciation of _c_, as the proper mark of their +language," for they sound it as the English _sh_ or the French _ch_, +saying _shela_ for _cela_.[433] Warnings were also given against the +barbarisms of the Picard dialect. + +Of the many "Dutch" teachers in London--an epithet which usually +includes the Flemings and Walloons--it is impossible to say which +actually taught French.[434] Apparently those who attended the French +Church taught that language; a certain Gouvert Hawmells, for example, a +native of Antwerp, who came to England in 1568--"for religion"--is +specially mentioned as a teacher of the French language; in 1571 he was +living with his family in the house of one Thomas Grimes in St. +Margaret's parish. He attended the French Church and was not a +denizen.[435] Apparently his case was not an exceptional one. What is +more, there were in London French schoolmistresses from the Low +Countries. Marry Lemaire, "by trade a French schoolmistress," was a +native of Antwerp and came to England in 1578; for over forty years she +kept school in Southwick. Another French schoolmistress, Anness Deger, +born in Tournay, came to England some ten years earlier, and in 1618 was +still practising her "trade" in Tenter Abbey. Her qualifications were +not of the first order; in the Register of Aliens she was unable to sign +her name, for which she substituted a cross. There was also a "goodwife +Frances schoolmistress, in Popinjay Alley," mentioned in 1598 and 1599, +but whether she taught French or not is not specified. + +Although the chief French teachers who were responsible for the manuals +of the second half of the sixteenth century were Huguenots, it is +extremely probable that Roman Catholic teachers were in the majority. +When a census of the foreigners dwelling in London was taken in 1563, +only 712 out of a total of 4534 had come to England on religious +grounds.[436] Naturally the proportion of Protestants greatly increased +as the persecutions grew more severe, until the passing of the Edict of +Nantes in their favour in 1598. Then it probably again decreased; in the +time of Charles I. there were at least five French papists to one French +Protestant.[437] These Roman Catholic teachers were as a matter of +course regarded as suspect by those in authority, and Jesuit priests +teaching in noble English families, or those conversant with them, were +carefully watched.[438] The suspicions aroused by the John Love who had +a French school in St. Paul's Churchyard have already been noticed. This +feeling became particularly strong after the Gunpowder Plot (1605). In +the "Constitutions, Laws, Statutes, Decrees and Ordinances" of the Bury +St. Edmunds Town Council of 1607 an article was inserted "to prevent the +infectinge of youth in Poperie by Schoolmasters."[439] [Header: CLASSES +OF FRENCH TEACHERS] The constables of every ward in the borough had to +certify the Aldermen, Recorder, and Justices of the Peace, of the names +of all persons "that do keep any school for the teaching of youth to +write, read, or understand the English, Latin, French, Italian and +Spanish Tongues, upon pain to forfeit for every default 6s. 8d." This +notification had to be made quarterly. Others than the master or usher +of the free grammar school, wishing to teach any of these languages, had +to obtain special licence; and any one sending his children to a school +kept by a teacher who had no licence was liable to forfeit for every +week the sum of 6s. 8d. + +Fear of proselytism was not the only incentive which aroused the +animosity of certain sections of the English public. Many young +Englishmen received much of their education from French tutors, +frequently refugees, who taught them the usual subjects as well as +French. One objection raised against them was that they corrupted their +pupils' English if they spoke and wrote English themselves, as they did +almost without exception. Thus they "pul downe with one hand more than +they can build with the other," wrote Th. Morrice in 1619.[440] Such +complaints, however, cannot have been very general or have had much +effect on the lot of French teachers. + +A further attack was to come from another quarter. In the early years of +the sixteenth century, as in the Middle Ages, Englishmen had held an +important place in the French teaching profession. They had been called +to important positions as tutors, and had written grammars of the +language. After the appearance of Palsgrave's Grammar, however, we hear +no more of these English teachers of French, driven into the background, +no doubt, by the great invasion of French teachers. Probably Duwes's +earlier attack had helped either to turn public favour from the native +teachers or to discourage them. Holyband, too, had endorsed the opinion +of Duwes somewhat later, and expressed the little importance he attached +to their criticisms. To acquire the true French pronunciation and idiom, +he declares, it is necessary to learn from a Frenchman. + +Towards the end of the sixteenth century, however, an English teacher of +French came forward, and energetically took up the defence of his +fellow-teachers of English birth. This was John Eliote, a man of +boisterous spirits and a lover of good wine--a taste which he had +acquired in France, where he had lived many years. There, if the +dialogue he wrote for the help of students of French may be taken as +autobiographical, he had spent three years in the College of Montagu at +Paris, taught for a year in the Collège des Africains at Orleans, lived +for ten months at Lyons, and spent a year amongst the Benedictine monks. +On the murder of Henri III. in 1589, Eliote returned to England, +strongly imbued with a love for the country in which he had lived so +long. + + "Surely for my part," he writes, "France I love well, Frenchmen I + hate not, and unto you I sweare by S. Scobe cap de Gascongne, that + I love a cup of new Gascon or old Orleans wine, as well as the best + French of you all. Which love, you must know, was engendered in the + sweet soile of Fraunce, where I paissed like a bon companion, with + a steele at my girdle, till the Friars (a canker of the cursed + Convent) fell to drawing of naked knives, and kild indeed the good + King Henrie of France, the more the pitye. Since which time I + retired myself among the merrie muses, and by the worke of my pen + and inke, have dezinkhornifistibulated a fantasticall Rapsody of + dialoguisme, to the end that I would not be found an idle drone + among so many famous teachers and professors of noble languages, + who are very busy daily in devising and setting forth new bookes & + instructing our English gentry in this honourable citie of London." + +This "fantasticall rapsody" was published in 1593, and entitled the +_Ortho-Epia Gallica. Eliot's Fruits for the French enriched with a +double new invention, which teacheth to speake truly, speedily, voluably +the French tongue. Pend for the practice, pleasure and profit of all +English gentlemen, who will endevour by their owne paine, study, and +diligence, to attain the naturall accent, the true pronunciation and +swift and glib Grace of this noble, famous and courtly Language._[441] + +It was dedicated to the young Sir Robert Dudley,[442] son of the famous +Earl of Leicester, whom Eliote possibly instructed in the French tongue. +Eliote had taken up the teaching of French, "that most ticklish of all +tongues," on his return to England, and in his book he speaks of his +long practice in learning and teaching the language. He proceeds, in the +first place, to make fun of the "learned Professors of the French Tongue +in the city of London." [Header: ENGLISH TEACHERS OF FRENCH] He +burlesques the dedicatory epistles of his predecessors, especially that +of Bellot,[443] and declares he is fully aware that, to be in the +fashion, he ought to "dilate in some good speeches of the dignitie of +the French tongue, and then show what ease this book of mine shall bring +to the learning of the French, more than other bookes have done +heretofore." But he must first ask pardon for his presumption in writing +on this subject. + + "Do no blame me," he says, addressing the "gentle doctors of + Gaule," as he called them, "if because I would not be found a + loyterer in mine own countrie, amongst so many virtuously occupied, + I have put my pen to paper: if I have bene busie, labourd, sweat, + dropt, studied, devised, fought, bought, borrowed, turned, + translated, mined, fined, refined, interlined, glossed, composed, + and taken intollerable toil to shew an easie entrance and + introduction to my deare countrimen, in your curious and courtesan + French tongue, to the end to advance them as much as may bee, in + the knowledge of all virtuous and noble qualities, to the which + they are all naturally adicted." + +He is quite ready to have his book criticised as the work of an +Englishman, and challenges these "gentle doctors" "to be ready quickly +to cavill at his booke." + + "I beseech you," he continues, "heartily calumniate my doings with + speede, I request you humbly controll my method as soone as you + may, I earnestly entreat you hisse at my inventions, I desire you + to peruse my periodicall punctuations, find fault with my pricks, + nicks, and tricks, prove them not worth a pin, not a point, not a + pish: argue me a fond, foolish, frivolous, and phantasicall author, + and persuade every one that you meet, that my booke is a false, + fained, slight, confused, absurd, barbarous, lame, imperfect, + single, uncertaine, childish, piece of work, and not able to teach + and why so? Forsooth because it is not your owne but an + Englishman's doing. Faile you not to do so, if you love me, and + would have me do the like for you another time." + +While admitting that there may be a few good French teachers amongst the +refugees, he outlines a picture of the ordinary type which is far from +flattering; and we gather that he had himself studied French with +several refugees. He implies that the French teachers receive money in +advance, and then do nothing else but "take their eases and, as the +renowned poet saith, + + Saulter, dancer, faire les tours, + Boire vin blanc et vermeil, + Et ne rien faire tous les jours + Que conter escuz au soleil. + +Mercurie the god of Cunning, and Dis the Father of French crowns are +their deities." They care nothing for the progress of their scholars; +all they do is to give them a short lesson of half an hour, in which +they read and construe about half a page of French. They are equally +indifferent to the troubled state of their country, provided they +themselves are comfortable and well provided with French wines. + + "Messires, what newes from France, can you tell?" he asks them, + "still warres, warres. A heavy hearing truly, yet if you be in good + health, have many scholars, get good store of crowns, and drink + good wine, I doubt not but you shall do well, and I desire the good + God of Heaven to continue it so still. Have they had a fruitful + vintage in France this year, or no? me thinks our Bordeaux wines + are very deare, and in good faith I am very sorry for it. But they + will be at a more reasonable reckoning, if these same loftie + Leaguers would once crouch and come to some good composition ... + that we may safely fetch their deifying liquer, which dieth quickly + our flegmaticke faces into a pure sanguine complexion." + +The style of the introduction is maintained throughout the rest of the +book. Eliote says he wrote the whole "in a merrie phantasicall vaine to +confirme and stir up the wit and memorie of the learner," and +"diversified it with a varietie of stories no lesse authenticall than +the devices of Lucian's dialogues." He admits that he had turned over +some French authors, and where he "espied any pretie example that might +quicken the capacitie of the learner," he "presumed to make a peece of +it flie this way, to set together the frame of (his) fantasticall +comedie ... and out of every one (he) had some share for the better +ornament of (his) worke." Eliote was well acquainted with French +literature. He considered Marot the best poet, and gave Ronsard the +second place only. He also read Du Bartas, Belleau, Desportes, and other +sixteenth-century writers. But most of his admiration was reserved for +Rabelais, "that merrie grig," and it is clear that he modelled his style +on that of the great French humorist. Like Rabelais, he occasionally +affects a sort of gibberish, coins words, and, like him also, he strings +words together and is fond of exaggeration. Numerous passages in the +_Ortho-Epia Gallica_ are reminiscent of famous incidents in _Gargantua_ +and _Pantagruel_. Like Panurge, he defends debts and debtors: + + "Quoy! Debtes! O chose rare et antiquaire. Il n'est bon chrestien + qui ne doibt rien," and, in the style of Rabelais, he assures us + that his book contains "profound and deep mysteries, ... and very + worthie the reading, and such as I thinke you have not had + performed in any other book that is yet extant.... Doest thou see + what a sea, what a gulfe there is? Thou hadst need of Theseus' + thread to guide thee out of that Labyrinth." + +The _Ortho-Epia Gallica_ forms a striking contrast to Palsgrave's rather +austere _Esclarcissement_, the last work on the French language composed +by an Englishman before that of Eliote. [Header: JOHN ELIOTE] The +dialogues occupy nearly the whole volume. The first few pages, however, +contain a table of French sounds with their pseudo-English equivalents. +The pronunciation was, in Eliote's opinion, one of the chief +difficulties of this difficult language, "deemed a jewel, so dearly +bought, and so much desired by all"; and he considered that, with the +help of Ramus and Peletier for the pronunciation, he had succeeded in +reducing "the gulf of difficulties into a small stream" by "sounding the +French by our English alphabet." + +He arranges his dialogues, which he calls _Le parlement de Babillards, +id est, The Parlaiment of Prattlers_, into three groups. The first of +these consists of three long dialogues on the method of learning foreign +languages, on the excellence of writers in both ancient and modern +tongues, and on travel through the chief towns of Europe. The first +dialogue ends with the quotation from Du Bartas in praise of Queen +Elizabeth and her accomplishments, accompanied by a translation in +English verse by Eliote himself. + +The second part, styled "_M. Eliote's first booke_," is of a much more +elementary character than the one just described. Eliote had referred +elsewhere to a work entitled _The Scholler_, in which he propounded a +"general method of learning and teaching all languages contrived by +nature and art, conformable to the precepts of Aristotle." This, or part +of it, evidently formed the first part of the _Ortho-Epia Gallica_, +where it is separately paged.[444] + +In his first and second books, which thus form the second and third +parts of the work, he expounds "his double new invention, which teacheth +Englishmen to speake truly, speedily and volubly the French tong." The +first part of this "invention" consists in placing by the side of the +French and English a third column, giving the French in pseudo-English +equivalents--"the true pronunciation of each word wholly and certain +little stripes (called approches) between the sillables that are to be +spoken roundly and glib in one breath." The twelve dialogues of Eliote's +first book are fairly simple in character, and some of them were +probably suggested by Vives's _Exercitatio_. Their subject matter does +not differ much from earlier dialogues, but their treatment is +decidedly original. The following quotation is taken from the first +dialogue: + + Hau Garcon Ho Garssoon What boy + dors tu dortu slepeth thou + vilain? debout, veelein? deboo, villain? up, + debout, ie te deboo, ie te up, I shall + reveilleray tantost reue-lheré tant-tot shall wake thee soon + avec un bon baton. tavec-keun boon batoon. with a good cudgell. + Je me leve, monsieur. Ie me léveh moonseewr. I rise sir. + Quelle heure est-il? Qel-heur et-til? What o'clock is it? + Il est six heures. Il-é see-zewres. It is six o'clock. + Donnez moy mes Donné moe' mes Give me my + chausses de velours shosséh de veloor my green velvet + verd. vert. breeches. + Lesquelles? Le-keles? Which? + C'est tout un; mes Set-toot-tewn; mes It is all one; my + chausses rondes de shosseh roondeh de round red + satin rouge. . . . sateen roz-eh. . . . satin ones, etc. + +There are twelve dialogues in all, but only each alternate one is +accompanied by this curious guide to pronunciation.[445] + +In the second book and third part the dialogues are longer and more +numerous, dealing with the different trades and occupations--"les devis +familiers des mesters fort delectables a lyre." They do not, however, +confine themselves to the characters usually introduced into similar +dialogues; besides the mercer, the draper, the shoemaker, the innkeeper, +and so on, we have the armourer, the robber, the debtor, the apothecary, +and other characters which offer ample scope for treatment in the +Rabelaisian vein, of which Eliote was so fond. Some suggest that Eliote +was acquainted with Holyband's works. This book contains the second part +of his "double new invention." The French and English are printed on +opposite pages, and in the margin the sounds of the most difficult +French letters are indicated, thus: + + _ai_ sound _e_ + _ay_ sound _e_ + _am_ sound _ein_ + _aine_ sound _eineh_, and so on. + +This table he describes "as Mercurie's finger to direct thee in thy +progress of learning," and he repeats it on the margin of every pair of +opposite pages. + +[Header: THE "ORTHO-EPIA GALLICA"] + +After these twenty dialogues comes the "Conclusion of the parlaiment of +prattlers," which depicts a group of friends walking by the Thames and +St. Paul's, "prattling, chatting, and babbling." The arrangement is the +same as in the previous dialogues, and the work closes with a quotation +from Du Bartas's praise of France: + + O mille et mille fois terre heureuse et féconde, + O perle de l'Europe! O Paradis du monde! + France je te salue, O mère des guerriers. + +In his dialogue called _The Scholar_, incorporated in the first part of +the _Ortho-Epia_, Eliote explains his 'new' method of learning +languages, by nature and art. By "nature" he means the acquirement of a +vocabulary of all created things, by use and common practice; and by +"art" the rules and precepts for combining these into sentences, and +also the authority of learned men. Such rules chiefly concern nouns, +verbs, and pronunciation, "in which the greatest mystery of all +languages consists." Thus, although he gives no grammatical information +in his _Ortho-Epia Gallica_, he recognized its importance. + +Before introducing his pupils to the method of "Nature and Art," Eliote +would have them well grounded in nouns and verbs, and able to translate +dialogues, comedies in verse, and prose writings. He attached much +importance to translation from English into French, just as Palsgrave +did. He directs the student to make out the meaning of the French first +by comparing it with the English column, and then to cover over the +French version, and attempt to translate the English into French. "This +I have learned by long experience to be the readiest way to attaine the +knowledge of any language, that we of Englishmen make French, and not of +French learn English." As to the theory of "Nature and Art," it seems to +have been little more than the method, common at the time, of making +practice the basis of the study of French, and confirming this by rules +as need for them arose. + +In addition to the _Ortho-Epia Gallica_,[446] Eliote also wrote a +_Survey or topographical description of France_, collected from sundry +approved authors. This was published in 1592, and dedicated to Sir John +Pickering, Keeper of the Privy Seal. He also translated from French +into English[447] a number of unimportant works, mostly of topical +interest, one of them being dedicated to Robert, Earl of Essex. Little +else is known of him, except that he was born in Warwickshire in 1562, +and entered Brasenose College, Oxford, on the 12th of December 1580, at +the age of eighteen years.[448] He tells us that he held the degree of +Doctor of Divinity, but there is no record of his having taken any such +degree there. Robert Greene was among his friends, and he wrote a sonnet +in questionable French on Greene's _Perimedes or the Black Smith_, with +which it was published in 1588. These are all the details we possess +concerning this amusing and striking figure among the French teachers of +the sixteenth century. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[410] The names of many have been lost, owing to the incompleteness of +the records, or to the fact that no profession is indicated. A few are +known from other sources to have been schoolmasters or private tutors; +cp. Huguenot Society Publications, vol. x., _Returns of Aliens dwelling +in London_; vols. viii., xviii., _Letters of Denization_. + +[411] Evrard Erail, Onias Ganeur, Charles Bod, Robert Fontaine, Charles +Darvil d'Arras, Jean Vaquerie, Baudouin Mason, and Adrian Tresol +(Schickler, _Églises du Refuge_, i. p. 124). Of these names only that of +Robert Fontaine is found in the _Returns of Aliens_. Charles Darvil and +Adrian Tresol are again mentioned in connexion with the Church in 1564. +Baudouin Mason received letters of denization in 1565, and Adrian +Tresol, a Netherlander, in 1562. In 1571 there were three other +schoolmasters connected with the Church: Adrian Tressel, John Preste of +Rouen, and Nicolas Langlois or Inglish. All these, however, are +mentioned in the _Returns of Aliens_. + +[412] Schickler, _op. cit._ i. p. 182. + +[413] _Returns of Aliens_, Hug. Soc. Pub. x. pt. ii. pp. 228, 335. + +[414] Duc d'Alençon, who died in 1584. + +[415] Printed by Henry Dizlie for Thomas Purfoote. Reprinted by T. Spiro +in the _Neudrucke frühneuenglischer Grammatiken, herausgegeben von R. +Brotanek_, Bd. 7, Halle, 1912. It contains 75 pages, 8vo. + +[416] Bellot's name does not occur in the Registers (vol. i., Lymington, +1908). + +[417] 16º, pp. 80. + +[418] _Stationers' Register_, 19th February 1588. + +[419] Hazlitt, _Handbook_, 1867, p. 36. + +[420] Perhaps he was a member of the La Motte Fouqué family whose name +became so closely connected with the Protestant cause in France. In 1551 +René La Motte left Saintonge and went to Normandy, where he died, +leaving two sons and three daughters. Cp. Crottet, _History of the +Reformed Church in Saintonge_, quoted by T. F. Sanxay, _The Sanxay +Family_, 1907. + +[421] "Estant donc refugié a l'ombre favorable du Sceptre de sa +serenissime majesté, qui est le vray port de retraicte et asyle asseuré +de ceux qui faisans profession de l'Evangile souffrent ores persecution +soubs la Tyrannie de l'Antichrist, j'ay tasché de tout mon pouvoir de +faire en sorte par mes labeurs que ceste noble Nation qui maintenant +nous sert de mere et de nourrice peust tirer quelque proffit d'iceux, +afin que par ce moyen je peusse eviter le vice enorme de l'ingratitude. +. . . Or entre toutes les belles et rares vertus dont la Noblesse +angloise se rend tant renommée par tout le monde, admirée des +estrangiers, et honorée en son pays, est l'Estude des bonnes lettres, et +cognoissance des langues, qui leur sont si familieres et communes qu'il +s'en trouve peu parmi eux, non seulement entre les Seigneurs et +Gentilhommes, qui n'en parlent trois ou quatre pour le moins, mais aussi +entre les Dames et Damoiselles, exercise veritablement louable, par +lequel toute vertu s'honore et se rend immortelle et sans lequel nulle +autre n'est parfait ni digne d'estre aucunement estimé. Or c'est ce qui, +outre la singuliere affection que naturellement ils portent aux +estrangers et la grande courtoisie dont ils ont a coustume de les +traicter, leur faict faire tant d'estat des François, si bien qu'il y en +a fort peu qui n'en ait un avec soy." + +[422] Who first went to Oxford in 1587. Foster, _Alumni Oxonienses_, ad +nom. + +[423] _Containing the rarest Sentences, Proverbs, Parables, Similies, +Apothegmes and Golden sayings of the most excellent French Authors as +well Poets as Orators._ + +[424] Arber, _Register of the Company of Stationers_, ii. 614. Miss +Farrer in her book on Holyband takes this entry, _l'Alphabet François +avec le Tresor de la langue françoise_, to refer to another edition of +Holyband's _Treasurie_, which, she assumes, was prevented and superseded +by the publication of his dictionary in 1592. + +[425] Field was born at Stratford in the same year as Shakespeare; cp. +S. Lee, _Life of Shakespeare_, pp. 42 _et seq._ + +[426] _A Dictionary of Printers and Booksellers, 1557-1640_, Bibliog. +Soc., 1910: Index of London Addresses. + +[427] 1625, 1631, 1633, 1639, 1647. + +[428] In 1626 the work was made over to Miller by Field's widow. Arber, +_Transcript_, iv. 157. + +[429] How closely, may be judged by comparing the following selection +with the description of Holyband's rules on p. 142, _supra_. + + How do you pronounce g before n? Comment prononcez vous g devant n? + Gn is hardly pronounced by Gn se prononce difficilement par + Englishmen. les Anglois. + Notwithstanding if they will take Toutesfois s'ils veulent prendre + heed garde + how they do pronounce _minion_ ... comment ils prononcent minion, + onion, companion, + it will be more easy for them to il leur sera plus aisé de + pronounce it: for though we le prononcer: car encore que nous + do write the selfesame words escrivions ces mesmes mots + with gn, par gn, + neverthelesse there is small neantmoins il y a peu de + difference between difference de + their pronunciation and ours: leur prononciation a la nostre: + let them take heed only seulement qu'ils prennent garde à + to sound g mettre g + in the same syllable that n is, en la mesme syllable que n, + and then they et ils + shall not finde any hardnesse ne trouveront aucune difficulté + in his pronunciation, en sa prononciation, + as mignon ... mi-gnon. comme mi-gnon. . . . + +[430] "Et pourroit a bon droict estre comparé a quelques vieilles +masures d'un bastiment où il a tant creu de ronces et espines, qu'à +grand peine il apert que jamais il y ait eu de maisons. Car devant qu'on +eust trouvé l'imprimerie, on l'a tant de fois coppié, et chaque écrivain +l'escrivant à la fantaisie et ne retenant l'orthographe françoise, que +maintenant il semble qu'il n'y ait presque langage plus esloigné du vray +François que ce François de vos loix." + +[431] Bellot frequently refers to the _gent hargneuse_ and the +"aiguillons envenimez des langues qui se plaisent à detracter les +oeuvres d'autruy et qui deprisent tout ce qui n'est tiré de leurs +boutiques, iaçoit que souvente fois leur estofe ne soit que biffes et +hapelourdes." + +[432] _Returns of Aliens_, Hug. Soc. Pub. x. pt. i. pp. xii, xiv. + +[433] And again: "Or vous noterés qu'en tous les noms terminés en _ent_, +_t_ n'est pas exprimé en la fin: quant aux verbes, il est prononcé, mais +bien doucement: donnés vous donc garde d'ensuivre en ceci les +Bourgignons qui expriment leur _t_ si fort que de deux syllabes ilz en +font trois: comme quand nous disons _ils mangent_ . . . le Walon dira; +_ilz mangete_." And yet again: "Sounde _ch_ as _sh_ in English: you +shall not follow in this the Picard or Bourgignions, for they doo +pronounce _ch_ like _k_, say _kien_ for _chien_." + +[434] French was widely used in the Spanish Netherlands, and there was +hardly any opening for the teaching of any of the Germanic languages in +England at this early time, when they were only learnt in exceptional +cases. There were no doubt a few such teachers, here and there. We are +told that in London "there be also teachers and professors of the Holy +or Hebrew language, of the Caldean, Syriack or Arabicke or Tartary +Languages, of the Italian, Spanish, French, Dutch and Polish Tongues. +And here be they which can speake the Persian and the Morisco, and the +Turkish and the Muscovian Language, and also the Sclavonian tongue, +which passeth through seventeen nations. And in divers other languages +fit for Ambassadors and Orators, and Agents for Merchants, and for +Travaylors and necessarie for all commerce or Negociation whatsoever." +Buck, _The Third Universitie of England_, 1619, ch. xxxvii. "Of +Languages." The earliest work for teaching Dutch to Englishmen was +probably the _Dutch Tutor_ of 1660; cp. F. Watson, _Modern Subjects_, +ch. xv. John Minsheu taught a number of languages in London, and wrote a +_Ductor in Linguas_ (1617), in eleven languages. + +[435] Hug. Soc. Pub. x. pt. ii. p. 81. + +[436] _Returns of Aliens_, Hug. Soc. Pub. x. pt. i. p. xi. + +[437] Moens, _The Walloons and their Church at Norwich_, Hug. Soc. Pub. +i. p. 90. + +[438] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., Addenda, 1580-1625_, p. 294. + +[439] _Victoria County Histories: Suffolk_, ii. p. 317. + +[440] _Apologie for Schoolmasters._ + +[441] Sm. 4to, pp. 1-60, and 17-173. Printed by J. Wolfe. Licence dated +18 Dec. 1592. Preface dated 18 April 1593. + +[442] Born 1574; at Oxford in 1588. + +[443] Bellot, in his quality of "gentleman," compares his labours to +those of Diogenes rolling his tub up and down a hill, in order not to be +idle while the Corinthians were busy preparing to defend their city +against Philip of Macedon. Eliote takes up the theme and turns it to +ridicule. + +[444] The first part is paged from 1 to 60, and has signatures A-L in +fours. In _Eliote's first booke_ the pagination begins afresh at p. 17 +and continues to p. 175 at the end of the work: it has signatures _c-y_ +in fours. + +[445] Palsgrave had accompanied his French quotations with similar +indications: + + "Au diziesme an de mon doulant exil + Avdiziemavndemoundoulauntezil." + +[446] He announces his intention of producing a book called _De Natura +et Arte Linguae Gallicae_. + +[447] _Advice given by a Catholike gentleman to the Nobilitie & Commons +of France_, Lond., 1589; _Newes sent unto the Lady Princesse of Orange_, +1589; _Discourses of Warre and single combat ..._ from the French of B. +de Loque, 1591. + +[448] Foster, _Alumni Oxon._, ad nom. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + METHODS OF TEACHING FRENCH--LATIN AND FRENCH--FRENCH AND ENGLISH + DICTIONARIES--STUDY OF FRENCH LITERATURE + + +Eliote gives some information concerning the fees charged by French +teachers in the later part of the sixteenth century. He asserts that the +usual charge was a shilling a week,[449] but we are left in doubt as to +how many lessons this entitled the student to. He affirms, probably not +seriously, that he would charge a gentleman £10 a year, and a lord from +£20 to £30. + +We are indebted to him also for an account, very prejudiced, no doubt, +of the usual method employed by French teachers generally. This +consisted, according to him, in reading a page of French and then +translating it. Fortunately we are enabled, by means of the French +text-books that have come down to us, to draw a fuller picture of the +French lessons of the time. It has been seen that as a rule these books +contained four parts--rules of pronunciation, rules of grammar, reading +exercises, and a vocabulary. They are generally written throughout in +French and English (in parallel columns[450]), the reason of this being +the importance attached to reading and to double translation, from +French into English and English into French. In the English version the +idiomatic phrase is sacrificed in order to give a more literal rendering +of the French, and also, possibly, because these Frenchmen were +incapable of writing any other. As is to be expected, translation from +French into English was the more usual exercise. Translation from +English into French, however, was by no means neglected, and appears to +have been recommended principally by English teachers of French, and +more especially by Palsgrave and Eliote. Edward VI.'s French exercises, +it will be remembered, are translations from English into French, or +free composition in French. + +In addition to reading and translating, much importance was attached to +pronunciation. It was generally considered best to learn the sounds of +the language by repetition after a teacher with a good accent; but rules +were thought necessary to confirm the knowledge thus acquired. As to +rules of grammar, there was no question of learning the language by +means of them. A grammar was treated as a book of reference, just as a +dictionary. Thus the student usually learnt the pronunciation by reading +the French aloud with his tutor, referring to the rules of pronunciation +whenever necessary, and then translating and retranslating the +dialogues, grammar being supplied as the need for it was felt. Although +these early teachers strictly limited the place of grammar, they almost +all agree in emphasizing its importance within the limits indicated. +Grammar rules were reduced to a minimum. Attention was called to what +were considered important general rules, but those with numerous +exceptions, it is argued, were better learnt by "use" and persistent +reading, "so as not to weary with long discourses which would be +necessary to explain things learnt better by practice than by rule." + +The dialogue form in which almost all the reading material is given, and +the proverbs and familiar phrases, show the importance attached to a +practical and colloquial knowledge of the language. The teaching of +French was of a decidedly business-like nature, and closely in touch +with the concerns of life. One of the chief reasons for this, no doubt, +was that it was learnt for social or other immediate requirements. The +fact that French was not taught in the grammar schools undoubtedly +assisted it to maintain its close connexion with practical life. It is +only about a century and a half later, when French began to gain a +foothold in these schools, that it was taught more and more on +grammatical lines, and less and less as a living language. + +Latin, although most of the school statutes of the time encourage the +scholars to speak it, was taught chiefly on grammatical lines.[451] The +memorizing of Latin grammar was a foremost subject even in the Middle +Ages.[452] [Header: LATIN AND FRENCH] In the sixteenth century the Latin +grammar usually known as Lily's was the prescribed national grammar, +with rules of accidence in English and of syntax in Latin.[453] Familiar +dialogues in the style of those for French were also used, the chief +difference between the Latin and French dialogues being that the Latin +are separate and complete works in themselves, and are not, as a rule, +provided with an English translation. They were memorized as the grammar +was. From the dialogues, or colloquies as they were called, dealing with +typical occurrences of life, the Latin scholar passed on to the reading +of school authors--Cato, Cicero, Ovid, Virgil, Terence, etc.[454] Nor +was vocabulary neglected, for in the schools of the Renaissance the +practice of learning so many words a day, prevalent in the Middle Ages, +was still in vogue. + +It thus appears that the books generally used in teaching Latin were not +without some influence in determining the types of manuals employed for +teaching French. The practice of including religious formulae, which we +find in some books, was sanctioned by their place in the national Latin +grammar, while it is clear that the Latin colloquia of the time had +considerable influence on the French dialogues. In the early sixteenth +century the dialogues of the scholar Vives,[455] who received honours at +both Oxford and Cambridge during his short stay in England, were much in +vogue. Like the French dialogues of the time, they kept closely in touch +with the interests of the pupils and dealt with such topics as rising in +the morning, going to school, returning home, and children's play and +meals, and students' chatter. Similar works were the _Sententiae +pueriles_,[456] a book for beginners, first published at Leipzig in +1544, and containing a collection of familiar phrases rather than +dialogues, and the _Pueriles Confabulatiunculae_ by Evaldus Gallus. In +the second half of the sixteenth century two other manuals of +conversation were added to those already in use in England: the +_Colloquia_ of Mathurin Cordier, first published in Latin in 1564, and +Castellion's _Sacred Dialogues_ based on the Scriptures, printed in +Latin at Basle, in 1555.[457] + +With the text-books, however, all close resemblance between the teaching +of Latin in grammar schools and the teaching of French ends. As we have +seen, reading, pronunciation, and conversation were the main concerns of +the French student; translation held a large place and grammar rules a +subsidiary one. The grammar-school boy, on the contrary, would first +gain an elementary knowledge from rules written in English, and memorize +the vocabulary and phrases; learn his Latin grammar, and then parse and +construe[458] the usual school authors.[459] The sons of the aristocracy +and well-to-do classes probably learnt by a more practical method, as +they were able to have private tutors, who devoted all their time to +providing the necessary atmosphere. As late as 1607, when Latin was less +used colloquially, the writer Cleland, a great advocate of the teaching +of French, condemns the practice of those parents who have their +children brought up to speak Latin only; they neglect their mother +tongue and the language of elegance, French, and soon forget their Latin +when once removed from their tutor's care.[460] That such cases were the +exception rather than the rule, even in the early sixteenth century, may +be gathered from the two great educational writers of the time, Sir +Thomas Elyot and Roger Ascham. Both the _Governour_ (1531) and the +_Scholemaster_ are protests against the common school usage of placing +grammar in the first place, and a summons to base the study of the +language on the reading of authors. They believed with Quintilian that +"Longum et difficile iter est per praecepta, breve et efficax per +exempla." Colet in his _Aeditio_ had laid down the same principle, to +the effect that the "reading of good books, dyligent information of +taught masters, studious advertence and taking heed of learners, hearing +eloquent men speak, and finally busy imitation with the tongue and pen, +more availeth shortly to get the true eloquent speech than all the +tradition of rule and precepts of masters"; [Header: GRAMMAR AND +TRANSLATION] and he adds, "men spoke not Latin because such rules were +made, but contrariwise because men spoke such Latin, upon that followed +the rules and so were made."[461] Yet it seems that the force of +tradition prevailed, and that these precepts were only put into practice +in exceptional cases. + +It is striking to notice how close was the resemblance between the +actual methods used by French teachers and those advocated by would-be +reformers of the teaching of Latin. Colet's words express almost exactly +the sentiments and practice of Holyband, De la Mothe, and other French +teachers; and the same is true of Elyot and Ascham. "Nothing can be more +convenient," writes Elyot in referring to students of Latin, "than by +little and little to train and exercise them in the speaking of Latin, +informing them to know first the names in Latin of all the things that +come in sight, and to name all the parts of their bodies, and giving +them somewhat that they covert or desire in most gentle manner to teach +them to ask it again in Latin." He even goes so far as to say that the +pupil may "as sone speake good latin" on this method "as he may do pure +frenche,"[462] thereby showing that he probably derived suggestions from +the prevalent methods of teaching French. Elyot, however, realized that +the use of Latin as a familiar tongue was not as practicable in schools +as in many noble families, where it might well happen that the pupil +would have "none other persons to serve him or keep hym company but +suche as can speake Latine elegantly." How successful the sole use of +Latin could be in such circumstances is exemplified in the well-known +case of Montaigne. Ascham, like Elyot, recognized the exceptional +conditions required for such a method. He believed the "dailie use of +speaking" would be the best way of learning the language if the child +could only hear it spoken perfectly, but failing this he considered the +practice dangerous.[463] It is probable, however, that in the best +French schools, and certainly in that of Holyband, this ideal was +realized in the case of French. + +As regards the respective importance of reading and grammar, the French +teachers of the time appear to have put into practice the ideas of the +reformers. All agree that grammar rules should be as few as possible, +and be taught in connexion with reading. The general method of French +teachers was to refer to the rule as the need for it arose in reading. +Ascham also pleads for the study of grammar, "so hardlie learned by the +scholar in all common scholes," along with authors; and the educational +reformer Mulcaster, in his _Elementarie_ of 1582, writes that grammar is +best learnt by being applied to the matter, and that the child's mind +should not be clogged with rules. Elyot differs slightly from them in +detail but not in principle. He allows grammar to precede the study of +authors, provided it is reduced to the smallest possible amount. +"Grammar," he says, "being but an introduction to the study of authors," +care should be taken "not to detain the child too longe in that tedious +labour, for a gentyll wytte is there with some fatigate," and "hit in a +maner mortifieth his corage" before he "cometh to the most swete and +pleasant readinge of olde authors."[464] Both these views as regards +grammar--that of Ascham and Mulcaster, and that of Elyot--were prevalent +among French teachers of the time. There are only small differences in +detail; the general principles are identical. + +In the matter of translation, "most common and most commendable of all +other exercises of youth,"[465] there is a striking resemblance between +the method of double translation common among French teachers, and the +same method set out by Ascham, who marks the transition from oral to +written methods of teaching Latin.[466] In the case of De la Mothe, the +resemblance is so clear and close that we are led to believe he was +acquainted with the work of Elizabeth's tutor,[467] published in 1570, +over twenty years before the _French Alphabet_. Ascham's system +consisted of the double translation of a model book, and it is +interesting to compare it with the method of De la Mothe. The pupil has +first to parse and translate the Latin into English; "after this the +child must take a paper booke, and sitting in some place where no man +shall prompe him, by him self, let him translate into Englisshe his +former lesson. [Header: BOOKS IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH] Then showing it to +his master, let the master take from him his Latin booke, and pausing +an houre, at the least, than let the childe translate his owne Englishe +into latin againe, in an other paper booke." And when this is done, the +master should compare it with the original Latin, "and laie them both +togither."[468] + +There was thus much in common between the teaching of Latin and the +teaching of French. The dialogues, which form so important a feature in +the French text-books of the time, were certainly indebted to the Latin +Colloquia, although they also continue the tradition of the mediaeval +French conversation-books. The Latin Dialogues of Vives had much +influence on the French, and Holyband based one of his books, the _Campo +di Fior_, on the _Exercitatio_ translated in French, Italian, and +English. Eliote also acknowledged his debt to the Spanish scholar. In +other cases the debt was almost inevitable and probably unconscious; for +the French teachers, who often taught Latin as well, would use such +books daily, and had moreover probably acquired their own knowledge of +Latin from them. Holyband, we have seen, read the _Sententiae pueriles_ +with his pupils. + +The importance attached to reading and double translation by teachers of +French led to the appearance of a great number of books in French and +English, on the lines of Bellot's _Jardin de Vertu_. For instance, part +of the _Semaines_ of Du Bartas, the most popular French poet in England +in the sixteenth century, was published in this form in 1596, and again +in 1625, on the occasion of the marriage of Charles I. This translation +is due to William L'Isle of Wilbraham,[469] the pioneer in the study of +Anglo-Saxon, who dedicated it in the first place to Lord Howard of +Effingham, Earl of Nottingham, Lord Admiral, and subsequently to Charles +I. It is entitled _Part of Du Bartas, English and French, and in his own +kinde of verse, so near the French Englished, as may teach Englishmen +French, or a Frenchman English. Sequitur Victoria Junctos_,[470] and +consists of the first two days of the _Second Week_, with the French +and English arranged on opposite pages, followed by an English +translation of the commentary of Simon Goulart de Senlis. + +Guy du Faur, Sieur de Pibrac, was another French writer widely read in +England, and his _Quatrains_ were frequently commended by French +teachers to their scholars. They were translated into English verse by +Sylvester, the translator of Du Bartas, and published with the French +original in 1605. Sylvester dedicated the quatrains to Prince Henry, and +the copy in the British Museum contains an epigram in English in the +handwriting of his brother, afterwards Charles I., and a manuscript +dedication to the younger prince in that of the translator.[471] The +quatrains appeared again with the subsequent editions of Sylvester's +works. About this time Prince Henry made Sylvester a Groom of his +Chamber, and gave him a small pension of £20 a year.[472] The story goes +that the prince valued him so highly that he made him his first "poet +pensioner," and it seems that Sylvester took advantage of his position +to encourage his royal patron's French studies. Many other works of the +kind appeared in French and in English.[473] The educational writer +Charles Hoole tells us that masters frequently taught languages by using +interlinearies, "not to speak of their construing the French and Spanish +Bible by the help of an English one."[474] Lord Herbert of Cherbury, +philosopher and gallant, ambassador in France in the time of James I., +learnt French, Italian, and Spanish, on this translation method, whilst +living in the University or at home. He mastered them, he assures us, +without the help of a tutor, solely by means of Latin or English books +translated into those languages, and of dictionaries.[475] + +[Header: FRENCH AND ENGLISH DICTIONARIES] + +De la Mothe advised his advanced pupils to read difficult French books +with the help of a dictionary, and there was some supply of works of +this kind at the disposal of Lord Herbert and other students of the +language. It is true that the widespread use of books in both languages +diminished the demand for such manuals, which may not have been easy to +acquire. Yet there was a considerable choice of such works. Holyband had +produced two French-English dictionaries, in 1580 and 1593 respectively, +in which he referred to "those which broke the ice before him." There +had appeared in 1571 an anonymous _Dictionarie Frenche and +English_,[476] printed by Henry Bynneman for Lucas Harrison. This work, +which does not confine itself to words only, but includes phrases as +well, was no doubt known to Holyband. Its author had probably drawn +largely on an earlier dictionary, already mentioned, in which a place +was given to French--the Latin, English, and French Dictionary of John +Veron (1552). The inclusion of French in such a work is a striking +testimony to the importance of French at that time. But when a second +edition of Veron's dictionary was prepared by Ralph Waddington, in 1575, +he "of purpose thought good to leave out the French, both because (he) +saw it was not necessary for English students of Latin, as for that +Maister Barret hath five years since set forth an alvearie sufficient to +instruct those which are desirous to travel in th'understanding of the +French Tongue." + +This "alvearie" appeared in 1573, two years after the French-English +dictionary printed for Harrison. It was entitled "_An alvearie or Triple +Dictionarie in English, Latin and French, very profitable for all such +as be desirous of any of those three languages ..._" and was dedicated +to Wm. Cecil, Lord Burghley, then Chancellor of Cambridge University. +Baret had been teaching at Cambridge for eighteen years "pupils studious +of the Latin tongue," and part of their daily task was to translate some +piece of English into Latin "for the more speed and easie attayning of +the same." At last, "perceiving what great trouble it was to come +runnying to (him) for every word they missed,"[477] he made them collect +each day a number of Latin words and phrases, together with their +English equivalents. Within a year or two they had gathered together a +great volume of work, to which, "for the apt similitude between the good +scholers and diligent bees in gathering them wax and honey into their +hive," Baret gave the title of _Alvearie_. At first he had no intention +of publishing the work, but when he went to London he was finally +persuaded to do so, and received help from many of his old pupils who +were then at the Inns of Court, and from several of the best scholars in +various English schools. How Baret first thought of adding French to his +dictionary is not known. He owns that he did not trust his own skill in +this matter, although he had formerly "travelled in divers countries +beyond the seas both for languages and for learning"; but that he "used +the help of M. Chaloner and M. Claudius." By 'M. Claudius,' Baret +possibly meant Holyband, who was often called "Maistre Claude." M. +Chaloner may have been the author of the French-English dictionary +published by Harrison in 1571. + +According to the custom of the time, Baret's dictionary was preceded by +a number of commendatory addresses, one of which was by the head-master +of Merchant Taylors' School, Richard Mulcaster. In the dictionary +itself, every English word is first explained, and then its equivalent +in Latin and French given. At the end are tables of the Latin and French +words "placed after the order of the alphabet, whatsoever are to be +found in any other dictionarie. And so as to turn them backwards againe +into Englishe when they reade any Latin or French authors and doubt of +any harde worde therein." + +Baret had "gone to God in Heavenlie seates" before the close of 1580, +when there appeared a posthumous second edition of the _Alvearie_. In +this final form Greek has a place by the side of the other languages, +and the title runs, _An Alvearie or quadruple Dictionarie containing +four sundrie tongues, namely, English, Latine, Greeke, and Frenche, +newlie enriched with varietie of wordes, phrases, proverbs, and divers +lightsome observations of grammar_. But there is no table of the Greek +words, as for the Latin and French. Such was the third dictionary of +French words which appeared before Holyband's.[478] + +[Header: FRENCH IN LATIN DICTIONARIES] + +The place given to French in these early Latin dictionaries is worthy of +notice. No doubt French first entered the schools in this indirect way. +Both Veron's and Baret's works were used in schools; and Baret's +dictionary is included in the list of books mentioned by Charles Hoole +as being specially useful to schoolboys.[479] There are at least two +other school vocabularies in which French was introduced, both due to +the poet and compiler John Higgins, who is said to have been "well read +in classick authors, and withall very well skilled in French."[480] The +first of his lexicographical works was a new and revised edition of +_Huloet's Dictionarie_,[481] which occupied him two years. It appeared +in 1572,[482] a year before Baret's work. Higgins calls himself "late +student in Oxforde," and dedicates the volume to Sir John Peckham. This +edition by Higgins is so much altered that it is almost a new work. One +of the chief changes was the addition of a French version to the Latin +and English, "by whiche you may finde the Latin or French of anye +Englishe woorde you will." For the French, Higgins seems to have drawn +chiefly on the Latin-French dictionary of Robert Estienne, which had +already been published in French, English, and Latin by Jean Veron, in +1552. Higgins also acknowledges his debt to Thierry, whose French-Latin +dictionary appeared twelve years later in 1564. There was a close +relationship between French-Latin and French-English dictionaries. +French is first found side by side with English, in one of these +French-Latin dictionaries--that of Veron; and in subsequent years the +French-English dictionaries are mostly based on one or other of the +French-Latin lexicons. Those due to Robert Éstienne and to Thierry were +probably the sources from which the author of the French-English +dictionary of 1571 drew his material; while Holyband based his +_Treasurie_ (1580), and his Dictionary (1593), respectively, on the +augmented editions of Thierry's work due to Nicot, which appeared in +1573 and 1584.[483] + +The second lexicographical work of Higgins, published in 1585, was a +translation, entitled _Nomenclator or Remembrancer of Adrianus Junius, +Physician, divided into two tomes_. It professed to supply the +appropriate names and apt terms for all things under their convenient +titles, in Latin, Greek, French, and English.[484] The English column +was added by Higgins. + +Thus by the end of the sixteenth century there had appeared in England +three French-English dictionaries, and several others in which French +found a place by the side of the classical languages. And we may add to +these the French-Latin dictionaries on which they were usually based, +for it seems extremely likely that those students of French who knew +Latin--and practically all of them would know this chief and first of +school subjects--used the French-Latin lexicons as well, in their study +of French, when other means were not available. + +Early in the seventeenth century, in 1611, Holyband's French dictionary +of 1593 was succeeded by the celebrated French-English dictionary of +Randle Cotgrave,[485] which occupies in the seventeenth century the +place that Palsgrave's _Esclarcissement_ does in the sixteenth among the +works on the French language produced in England. Although Cotgrave's +work is on a much larger scale than Holyband's, and much superior to +it,[486] there is a close connexion between the two. In the _Stationers' +Register_ Cotgrave's is entered as a dictionary in French and English +first collected by Holyband, and since augmented and altered by +Cotgrave.[487] But the work which no doubt was of most help to Cotgrave +was another French-Latin dictionary, Aimar de Ranconnet's _Tresor de la +Langue Françoise_, revised by Nicot (1606).[488] He had, moreover, read +all sorts of books, old and new, in all dialects, where he found words +not heard of for hundreds of years, which he included in his book, to be +used or left as the reader thought fit. J. L'Oiseau de Tourval,[489] a +Parisian, and friend of Cotgrave, who wrote in French an epistle +prefixed to the dictionary, thought it advisable to assure the reader +that none of these words were of Cotgrave's invention, observing at the +same time that it would be well to revive some of these obsolete and +provincial terms. [Header: COTGRAVE'S DICTIONARY] He also adds that +Cotgrave had sent to France in his eager search for words. M. Beaulieu, +secretary to the British ambassador at Paris, was no doubt Cotgrave's +collaborator in this quest, as Cotgrave tells us elsewhere[490] that he +had received valuable help from M. Beaulieu, as well as from a certain +Mr. Limery. + +Cotgrave dedicated his dictionary to Wm. Cecil, Lord Burghley, "his very +good Lord and Maister," whose secretary he was. He declares that he +would have produced a more substantial work to offer to his patron had +not his eyes failed him and forced him "to spend much of their vigour on +this bundle of words." He also offered a copy to the eldest son of James +I., Prince Henry, and received from him a gift of £10.[491] The price of +the dictionary seems to have been 11s. Cotgrave sent two copies to M. +Beaulieu at Paris, and wrote requesting payment of 22s., which they cost +him; for, he says, "I have not been provident enough to reserve any of +them and therefore am forced to be beholden for them to a base and +mechanicall generation, that suffers no respect to weigh down a private +gain."[492] + +Cotgrave's dictionary was much superior to anything of the sort which +had yet appeared. In addition to giving the meaning of each French word +in English, with an indication of its gender in the case of nouns, and, +in the case of adjectives, of the formation of the feminine form, +Cotgrave supplied a collection of illustrative phrases, idioms, and +proverbs. At the end are found "briefe directions for such as desire to +learne the French tongue," giving a succinct treatment of the +pronunciation of the letters, followed by a description of the various +parts of speech. + +This really remarkable work, which is still of considerable utility to +the modern student, reigned supreme throughout the greater part of the +seventeenth century. A second edition was issued in 1632, when Cotgrave +was still alive. The only change in this issue is the addition of a +"most copious Dictionarie of the English set before the French by R. S. +L." This R. S. L. was Robert Sherwood, Londoner, who taught French and +English in London, and also had a French school for a time. He gave his +dictionary the title of _Dictionarie Anglois et François pour l'utilité +de tous ceux qui sont desireux de deux langues_,[493] and addressed it +to the "favorables lecteurs françois, alemans et autres." The English +reader he advises to look for fuller information as to "the gender of +all French nouns, and the conjugation of all French verbs" in Cotgrave's +dictionary; the small space to which he was limited did not allow him to +provide such information. Like Cotgrave, Sherwood closes with rules of +grammar, in the form of observations on English pronunciation and on the +English verbs. Sherwood's work is the earliest of the English-French +dictionaries. Both Baret and Higgins had placed English before French, +and no doubt Sherwood made use of their works, as well as of +English-Latin dictionaries. Baret, however, gives an indication of the +greater demand there was for French-English vocabularies, by supplying a +table of French words at the end of his work. Moreover, the object of +Sherwood's lexicon was less to facilitate translation from English to +French than to teach English to foreigners. + +In 1650 Cotgrave's dictionary was issued in a revised and augmented +edition by James Howell, the famous letter-writer.[494] This edition is +preceded by a lengthy essay on the French language, tracing its growth +from the earliest times, and taken, without acknowledgement, from +Pasquier's _Recherches_. Howell had already put much of the same matter +in a series of letters addressed to the Earl of Clare in his _Epistolae +Ho-Elianae_,[495] and repeated it in his glossary of English, French, +Italian, and Spanish, the _Lexicon Tetraglotten_ (1660). He quotes +several examples of old French in both prose and verse, and adds on his +own account a praise of Richelieu and the Academy recently founded by +the cardinal. [Header: JAMES HOWELL] He also discusses the question as +to where the best French was spoken--at the Court, among scholars at the +University, or lawyers at the Courts of Parliament--and is inclined to +share the general opinion of the day, which made the Court the supreme +arbiter in matters of language. + +Cotgrave, it has been seen, included all sorts of words in his +dictionary. Howell thought it necessary to distinguish obsolete and +provincial words, and, accordingly, with the help of "a noble and +knowing French gentleman," he marked such terms with a small cross. He +also initiated another change by placing the grammar before the +dictionary instead of after it, as Cotgrave did: "for a dictionary which +contains the whole bulk of a language to go before the grammar is to +make the building precede the basis. Therefore it was held more +consentaneous to reason, and congruous to order that the grammar should +be put here in the first place, for Art observes the method of Nature to +make us creep before we go." He likewise made a few additions to +Cotgrave's rules, and appended a dialogue in French and English, +"consisting of some of the extraordinary and difficult criticall phrases +which are meer Gallicismes, and pure idiomes of the French tongue"; and +also a passage of French prose, in the old spelling and also according +to the reformed orthography introduced by the Academy. + +In 1660 appeared another edition of Cotgrave, still further enlarged by +Howell.[496] Some years previously copies of the edition of 1650, "with +blank pages sown between the leaves," had been sent by the printer "to +knowing persons, true lovers of the French," who were invited to enter +on the blank pages any word they came across in their reading which was +not in the dictionary; by means of this plan several hundred additional +words were gathered together, many being "new invented terms, which the +admired Mons. Scudéry, and other late Romancers have so happily publisht +in their printed volumes." After Howell's death there appeared yet +another issue of his edition of Cotgrave, in 1673.[497] The printer +employed the same means to increase the number of words as had been so +successfully adopted in 1660. + +The appearance of French dictionaries naturally facilitated the reading +of French literature, which in its turn had much influence on the spread +of the knowledge of the language. Lord Herbert of Cherbury, it has been +seen, gained his first knowledge of French by reading it with the help +of a dictionary. And, in spite of the fact that French literature was +widely read in translations,[498] there were many who preferred to read +it in the original. The number of French books in private libraries is +enough to show this. One translator of the time felt it necessary to +apologize for offering an English version (1627) "of the French Knight +Lisander and his lady Calista," contrary to the fashion of the time, +"which is all French."[499] Further testimony is found in the many +French books which were printed in England,[500] in addition to the +books in both French and English. And many English writers of the time +introduced French freely into their own English compositions.[501] + +Almost all Englishmen of education could read French, and many, no +doubt, learnt it as Herbert did. [Header: STUDY OF FRENCH LITERATURE] +Milton, who differed from most of his countrymen in his decided +preference for Italian, taught both languages to his two pupils and +nephews, Edward and John Philips, on this method of reading. For Italian +they read Giovanni Villani's _History_, and for French "a great part of +Pierre Davity, the famous geographer of France in his time."[502] In +fashionable circles the case was the same, and French romances and +collections of _nouvelles_ were much in vogue. Lady Brilliana Harley, +for instance, who later distinguished herself by defending her castle in +Herefordshire against the Royalists, spent much of her time reading +French literature. She wrote asking her son, then at Magdalen College, +Oxford (1638-9), to send her books in French, as she "had rather reade +any thinge in that tounge than in Inglisch."[503] She would even while +away days of sickness by translating passages of Calvin, whom the +English Protestants, yielding to the general prejudice in favour of all +things French, followed in preference to Luther. Not infrequently, +moreover, works in other languages were read in French versions, just as +such versions were frequently the medium of translation; Drummond of +Hawthornden read _Orlando Furioso_ and the _Azolani_ of Bembo in French, +as well as the works of the Swiss theologian and follower of Zwingli, +Thomas Erastus.[504] + +Among the most eager advocates of the reading of French literature were +naturally the French teachers of the time. One of the chief objections +raised against Holyband's system of distinguishing the unpronounced +letters was that the student would be at a loss when he came to read +French books. Holyband, however, protested that such was not the case, +and that "the cavillation of these ignorantes who measure other men's +wit according to their owne" was in contradiction to his experience, +which daily showed him the contrary. As to his reading, Holyband would +first have the learner "reade halfe a score chapters of the New +Testament, because it was both easie and profitable:[505] then let him +take in hand any of the works of Monsieur de Launay, otherwise called +Pierre Boaystuau, as the best and the most elegant writer of our tongue. +His workes be _le Theatre du monde_, the tragicall histories, the +prodigious histories. Sleidan's commentaries in frenche be excellently +translated. Philippe de Commins, when he is corrected is very profitable +and wise." The _Nouveau Testament_ of de Bèze, Boiasteau's _Théâtre du +monde_, and Sleidan's _Commentaries_[506] were all books well known in +England, and Holyband himself prepared an edition of Boiasteau.[507] An +additional reason, according to him, for retaining the unsounded +consonants was to facilitate the reading of the older monuments of the +French language. He also advised the perusal of Marot's works, of the +_Amadis_ of Herberay des Essarts, of François de Belleforest's _Histoire +Universelle du monde_, of the _Vies et Morales de Plutarque_, in Amyot's +version, and of the collection of stories, on the plan of the +_Decameron_, which its author, Jacques Yver, had entitled _Le Printemps_ +(1572),[508] by way of contrast with his own name. + +Evidently Holyband's choice of French literature was influenced to some +extent by his religious sympathies. It is curious that he makes no +mention of Ronsard, who was much read in England, and one of the +favourite authors of the Queen. Bellot in his Grammar had similar if not +identical ambitions. He sought to enable his pupils to read the _Amadis_ +of Des Essarts, Marot, de Bèze, du Bellay's lyrics, Froissart, Ronsard, +Collet[509] and Jodelle "racontans l'un l'amour et l'autre la guerre +cruelle." Pibrac and Du Bartas have already been mentioned as favourite +authors. It was to encourage his pupils to take delight in the "profound +learning and flowing sweetness of the French poets, especially the +divine works of that matchlesse du Bartas," that a French teacher of the +seventeenth century, Pierre Erondell, printed at the end of his book for +teaching the language, the New Testament story of the Centurion, +rendered by himself into French verse. "This poor work," he quaintly +writes, will encourage learners to read better ones, "because everything +is better known by his contrarye and the sweet sweeter, after that the +mouth hath tasted of the sharpe sower." + +Naturally writings of a religious character were much in favour with +these teachers. [Header: AUTHORS USUALLY READ] Holyband advised the +reading of de Bèze's New Testament, and several times we hear of "the +French Bible" being printed in England.[510] The Liturgy in French[511] +was also printed, and would be useful to English students of French +attending the French Church. + +French teachers were not the only zealous advocates of the reading of +French literature. Most of the writers on polite education of the time +give similar advice, although for different reasons. "For statesmen, +French authors are the best," wrote Francis Osborne in his _Advice to a +son_,[512] "and most fruitful in negociations, and memoirs left by +public ministers, and by their secretaries published after their +deaths." Cleland names the works of the many learned historiographers of +France he would have the future diplomat and aspirant to the services of +the State read: "Engerrand of Munstrellet, Philip of Commines, the Lord +of Haillant, who is both learned and profitable and pleasant in my +conceit. The Commentaries of Bellay and the Inventorie of John Serres, +newlie printed and worthie to be read, both for the good and compendious +compiling of the storie and also for the French eloquence wherin he +floweth. For militarie affairs, yee maie read the Lord of Noue, who is +somwhat difficil for some men, and also the Commentaries of the L. +Monluc, which are good both for a young souldier, and an old +captaine."[513] + +Bodin was another of the authors specially recommended. Sir Philip +Sidney counsels his brother Robert to read him with particular +attention, and James Howell[514] includes him in a list of "good French +writers," which varies slightly from that of Cleland: "For the general +history of France, Serres is one of the best, and for the modern times, +d'Aubigni, Pierre Mathieu, and du Pleix: for the politicall and martiall +government du Haillan, De la Noue, Bodin, and the Cabinet: Touching +Commines, who was contemporary with Machiavel, 'twas a witty speech of +the last Queen mother of France that he made more Heretiques in policy +than Luther ever did in religion. Therefore he requires a reader of +riper years." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[449] This was the fee charged by Holyband in his French school. + +[450] The interlinear arrangement used in the Middle Ages had been +abandoned in all but a few exceptional cases. These teachers no doubt +agreed with the pedagogue John Brinsley, the chief exponent of the +method of translation, that interlinears were confusing because the eye +catches the two languages simultaneously. + +[451] F. Watson, _English Grammar Schools_, Cambridge, 1908, pp. 305 +_sqq._ J. E. Sandys, "Education in Shakespeare's England," in +_Shakespeare's England_, i. pp. 231 _sqq._ + +[452] Cp. Rashdall, _Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages_, ii. p. +603. + +[453] Article on Lily in _Dict. Nat. Biog._, and Watson, _Grammar +Schools_, pp. 243 _sqq._ + +[454] Cp. W. Lilly's _History of His Life_, "Autobiographies," I., +London, 1828, pp. 12, 13; _The Autobiography of Adam Martindale_, +Chetham Soc., 1845, pp. 14, 15, and similar diaries and memoirs. + +[455] Published at Brabant, 1538; cp. F. Watson, _Tudor Schoolboy Life_, +1908. + +[456] By Leonard Culman. + +[457] Less widely used were the _Dialogues_ of John Posselius, a German +philosopher. They treat of the school and the study of the classical +tongues. They were printed in London in Latin and English in 1625, as +_Dialogues conteyning all the most familiar and usefull words of the +Latin Tongue_. + +[458] Which took the form of translating: "For all your constructions in +Grammar Scholes be nothing els but translations," Ascham, _The +Scholemaster_ (1570), ed. Arber, 1869, p. 92. + +[459] C. Hoole, _An advertisement touching ... school books_, 1659. + +[460] _Institution of a young nobleman_, 1607, p. 78. + +[461] Quoted by F. Watson, _Grammar Schools_, p. 246. + +[462] _The Boke named the Governour_, ed. Crofts, 1883, i. p. 33. + +[463] _The Scholemaster_ (1570), ed. Arber, London, 1869, p. 28. + +[464] Elyot, _op. cit._ i. p. 54. + +[465] Ascham, _op. cit._ p. 92. + +[466] F. Watson, _Grammar Schools_, p. 264. "Much writing breedeth ready +speaking," was one of his precepts. + +[467] Ascham himself got his ideas mainly from Cicero (_De Oratore_). + +[468] _The Scholemaster, ed. cit._ p. 26. Ascham also suggests the use +of a third paper book, in which a collection of the different forms of +speech and phrases should be made from the material read. + +[469] 1574?-1637, the second of the five sons of Edmund Lisle of +Tanbridge in Surrey, _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[470] This is the title of the 1625 edition, printed by John Hoviland. +That of 1596 was printed by L. Bollifant for R. Wilkins, and entitled +_Babilon a part of Du Bartas his second Weeke_ (Pyne, _List of Books_, +1874-8, i. p. 132); cp. _Stationers' Register_, iii. 98 (_A Booke called +the Colonyes of Bartas with the commentarye of S. G. S. englished and +enlarged by Wm. L'Isle_, 1597). + +[471] This is a copy bound separately from the rest of the 1605 edition +of Sylvester's _Divine Weekes_, with which it was issued. + +[472] S. Lee, in _Dict. Nat. Biog._ + +[473] A long list may be compiled from the _Registers of the Stationers' +Company_. J. Wolfe and R. Field, both printers of French grammars, +received many licences to print books in French and English. See also +Upham, _French Influence in English Literature_, New York, 1908 +(Appendix I., pp. 471-505). Many of these works are on religious topics; +others belong to no particular category, in the style of Bellot's +_Jardin de Vertu_; many on topical subjects, such as news-letters and +pamphlets on the French wars, were printed in French more to appeal to a +larger public than to give instruction in the language. + +[474] _An advertisement touching ... school books_, 1659. + +[475] _Autobiography_, ed. S. Lee, 2nd ed., 1906, p. 23. + +[476] Hazlitt, _Bibliog. Collections_, iv. 111. In 1584 Newbury and +Denham received licence to print "the Dictionary in French and English, +in 4to, and all other dictionaries French and English in quarto," +_Stationers' Register_, ii. 438. + +[477] "Knowing then of no other dictionary to help us, but Sir Thomas +Eliot's _Librarie_, which was come out a little before." + +[478] On Holyband's debts to these works see Miss E. Farrer's _La Vie et +les oeuvres de Claude de Sainliens_, pp. 70 _sqq._ + +[479] F. Watson, _Grammar Schools_, p. 458. + +[480] _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[481] _Abcedarium Anglico-Latinum_, London, 1552. + +[482] Folio, printed by Thomas Marshe. + +[483] Farrer, _op. cit._ p. 72. + +[484] First appeared at Leyden in 1567. Higgins' edition was printed for +Ralph Newberie and Henrie Denham, 8vo. + +[485] _A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues._ London, printed +by A. Islip, 1611, folio. + +[486] Cp. _Revue des Deux Mondes_, 1901, v. p. 243. + +[487] _Stationers' Register_, iii. 432. + +[488] Farrer, _op. cit._ p. 86. + +[489] Himself a good linguist, who translated some of James I.'s +compositions into French, and was for many years in the service of the +English Foreign Office; cp. S. Lee, _Beginnings of French Translations +from the English_. Transactions of the Bibliog. Soc. vii., 1908. + +[490] In an autograph letter; cp. _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[491] _Rolls of expenses of Prince Henry_, "Revels at Court," ed. P. +Cunningham, New Shakespeare Soc., 1842 (Preface). + +[492] Harl. MSS. 7002, quoted _Dict. Nat. Biog._ At the end of one of +the Brit. Mus. copies is the MS. inscription: "Mr. James Winwood, his +book and sent him out of England by John More the 18th May [1611]." +Evidently Cotgrave's work made its way rapidly into France. + +[493] Printed by Adam Islip, 4to. + +[494] _A French English Dictionary, compil'd by Mr. Randle Cotgrave, +with another in English and French. Whereunto are newly added the +Animadversions and Supplements etc. of James Howell, Esquire._ London, +printed by W. H. for Rd. Whitaker ... 4to. Sherwood's dictionary was +printed by Susan Islip. + +[495] Ninth ed., 1726, pp. 470 _sqq._ + +[496] _A French and English Dictionary composed by Mr. Randle Cotgrave, +with another in English and French. Whereunto are added sundry +animadversions with supplements of many hundreds of words never before +printed; with accurate castigations throughout the whole work, and +distinctions of the obsolete words from those that are now in use. +Together with a dialogue consisting of all gallicisms, with additions of +the most useful and significant proverbs, with other refinements +according to cardinall Richelieu's late Academy. For the furtherance of +the young learners, and the advantage of all others that endeavour to +arrive to the most exact knowledge of the French this work is exposed to +publick...._ Printed by Wm. Hunt in Pye Corner. + +[497] Title same as in 1660. "Printed for Anthony Dolle, and are to be +sold by Th. Williams at the Golden Ball in Hosier Lane." + +[498] Many important literary productions in different languages came +into England through the medium of a French version--for instance, +Plutarch, _Amadis_, the _Politics_ of Aristotle. Cp. Upham, _French +Influence in English Literature_, p. 13. The influence of Senecan +tragedy reached England through the intermediary of the "French Seneca," +Robert Garnier (Schelling, _Elizabethan Drama_, ii. pp. 5 _sqq._ and p. +512). In 1612 licence was granted N. Bulter to print an English +translation from French of so popular a work as Ovid's _Metamorphoses_ +(_Stationers' Register_, iii. 489). + +[499] The _Histoire tragi-comique de nostre temps sous les noms de +Lysandre et de Caliste_ (1615) was the work of d'Audigier. + +[500] Thus the _Préau des Fleurs meslées, contenant plusieurs et +differentz discours_ of François Voilleret, sieur de Florizel, was +printed in London in 1600 (?), and dedicated to the Prince of Wales. In +1620 it was licensed to be printed in French and English, provided the +English translation be approved. In 1619 a French translation of Bacon's +_Essays_ was published at London, and in 1623 Field received a licence +to print a French translation of Camden's _Annals_ (originally in Latin) +by J. Bellequent, avocat au Parlement de Paris (_Stationers' Register_, +iv. 106). + +[501] As did Shakespeare (cp. Schmidt, _Shakespeare Lexicon_, Berlin, +1902, vol. ii.) and several of the lesser poets. French refrains were +also sometimes used, as in Greene's _Never too Late_ (Infida's song): + + "Wilt thou let thy Venus di, + N'oseres vous mon bel amy? + Adon were unkinde say I, + Je vous en prie, pitie me: + N'oseres vous mon bel, mon bel, + N'oseres vous, mon bel amy?" + +See S. Lee, _French Renaissance in England_, Oxford, 1910, p. 243. +Sylvester even ventured to write poems in French. + +[502] _Lives of Ed. and John Philips, nephews of Milton_ (1694), +reprinted by William Godwin, 1815, pp. 362-3. + +[503] _Letters_, Camden Soc., 1854, p. 13, and _passim_. + +[504] Upham, _op. cit._ p. 8. + +[505] In 1551 the New Testament and a Book of Prayers in French were +printed by Thomas Gaultier. _Handlist of Books_, Bibliographical +Society, 1913. + +[506] The German historian's commentary, _De Statu religionis et +reipublicae Carolo Quinto Caesare_, appeared in Latin in 1555, and in +French in 1557. + +[507] _Le théâtre du monde . . . revue et corrigé par C. de Sainliens_, +1595. Printed by George Bishop and dedicated to "the Scotch Ambassador, +Jacques de Betoun, Archevesque de Glasco." + +[508] Which was very popular. It reached twelve editions before the end +of the century. + +[509] No doubt the poet Claude Collet. + +[510] Cp. _Stationers' Register_, iii. 468. Another work of a religious +nature was the _Catechisme ou instruction familiere sur les principaus +points de la Religion Chrestienne_ (par M. Dielincourt), _Stationers' +Register_, iii. 410. + +[511] _Stationers' Register_, ii. 451, 452. + +[512] 1656, pp. 12-13. + +[513] _Institution of a young nobleman_, p. 152. + +[514] _Directions for forreine travel_ (1642), ed. Arber, 1869, p. 21. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + FRENCH AT THE UNIVERSITIES + + +The universities set the grammar schools the example by neglecting the +study of French and other subjects necessary to a polite education. Even +the limited encouragement given to the modern language at the +universities during the Middle Ages no longer existed in the sixteenth +century. At this date Latin reigned supreme at Oxford and Cambridge, and +its use was rigorously enforced. The students were required "to speak in +Latin at public places" or otherwise "incur the penalty contained in the +statute regarding this point."[515] It is true that these regulations +were not always obeyed; Fynes Moryson says that scholars in the +universities shun occasions of speaking Latin. But it was none the less +the chief language cultivated at the universities,[516] where no modern +languages received official recognition. + +The mediaeval custom of using French on various academic occasions had +not, however, disappeared without leaving a few traces. Some of the +French forms of procedure favoured in the Middle Ages, probably owing to +the influence of the University of Paris, were still in use at Cambridge +in the seventeenth century. The books of two Cambridge beadels, Beadel +Stokys (_c._ 1570) and Beadel Buck (1665),[517] show that on several +occasions these officials were instructed to use French during public +ceremonies. Thus, at the solemn exercise of determination, one of the +beadels gave thanks for the money he and his fellows received, in the +following terms: [Header: FRENCH AND ITALIAN READ] "Noter Determiners je +vous remercie de le Argent que vous avez donner a moy et a meis +companiouns, pourquoy je prie a Dieu que il vous veuille donner tres +bonne vie et en la Fin la Joye de Paradise." In similar +"Stratford-atte-Bowe" French they summoned the lecturers in the +'schools' to be present on commencement day: "Nostre Seigneur Doctor, +une parolle sil vous Plaist, nostres Peres de nostres Seigneurs +Commencens vous prient que vous estes demayn a son commencement en +l'église de nostre Dame." And throughout the ceremonies[518] in Arts and +Theology similar French formulae, often interspersed with Latin, were +frequently used, though they had probably passed out of use by the +beginning of the eighteenth century. But even at that time the summons +to dinner at New College still retained a trace of the old custom; two +choristers walked from the chapel door to the garden gate crying, +"Tempus est vocando, mangez tous seigneurs." + +Yet modern languages were not entirely neglected by all university +students. Gabriel Harvey, in an interesting letter to a certain Mr. +Wood, says that the students of Cambridge have "deserted Thomas Aquinas +and the whole rabblement of schoolmen for modern French and Italian +works such as Commines and Machiavell, Paradines in Frenche, Plutarche +in Frenche, and I know not how many outlandish braveryes of the same +stamp." "You can not stepp into a schollars studye," he adds, "but (ten +to on) you shall litely finde open either Bodin _de Republica_ or Le +Royes exposition uppon Aristotles Politiques, or some other like Frenche +or Italian Politique Discourses."[519] + +Thus we may safely conclude that French and to a less extent Italian +books were widely read at the universities. No doubt, those who learnt +Italian did so with the help of a dictionary or an English translation, +like Lord Herbert of Cherbury. But there were additional opportunities +for learning the more popular language. French tutors and French +grammars were not unknown at both Oxford and Cambridge. But it was at +Oxford that they were by far the more numerous. The tutors taught French +privately to those of the students who were willing to learn. And +Holyband in dedicating his _French Schoolemaister_ (1573) to the young +Robert Sackville, then a student at Oxford, throws light on the attitude +taken towards that language: "not that you shuld leave off your +weightier and worthier studies in the Universitie, but when your mind is +amazed and dazled with long readinge, you may refresh and disport you in +learninge this [French] tongue." + +Protestant refugees formed an important section of the little band of +private French tutors at Oxford. Many Huguenots, frequently scholars of +distinction, settled at the English centres of learning. Some were +promoted to positions in the University,[520] on which they had a very +beneficial influence, just as others received preferment in the English +Church. The French tutors were among the humbler and more numerous +exiles who "taught privately," as the seventeenth-century historian of +the University, Anthony à Wood, tells us. Apart from those who actually +taught French, the presence of considerable numbers of Frenchmen[521] +cannot have been without some indirect influence on the study of French +at Cambridge, as well as at Oxford. + +In addition, several French tutors accompanied their pupils to the +University, and spent some time with them there. Such, no doubt, was the +case of Peter Du Ploich who, for some unknown reason, was residing in +Barnard College (now St. John's), Oxford, early in the second half of +the sixteenth century. Another well-known French tutor, G. De la Mothe, +accompanied his pupil Richard Wenman to Oxford, some time between 1587 +and 1592. About ten years before, we come across a famous Protestant, +Jean Hotman, sieur de Villiers St. Paul, resident at Oxford with his +pupils, the sons of Lord Poulet, English ambassador at Paris; while +attending to the education of his charges he completed his own, and +received the degree of Doctor. Subsequently he became secretary to +Leicester, and was thus brought into contact with the English +Court.[522] The younger Pierre Du Moulin likewise remained with his +pupil Richard Boyle when at Oxford.[523] [Header: FRENCH GRAMMARS +PRINTED AT OXFORD] Among tutors who spent a short time at Oxford, and +then joined the larger and more successful group of language teachers +in London, was John Florio,[524] well known as a writer of books for +teaching Italian, and himself of Italian parentage, though born in +London. In about 1576 he became tutor for French and Italian to +Emmanuel, son of Richard Barnes, Bishop of Durham, and to several other +Oxford students. He was, we are told, a "very useful man in his +profession." Shortly after, he removed to London, where he enjoyed +favour at Court. + +Of more importance, however, is the group of private tutors who settled +at Oxford, found a clientèle among the University students, and +frequently wrote and published French grammars for the use of their +pupils. There was evidently some demand for instruction in French at +Oxford early in the sixteenth century. The bookseller John Donne enters +a book called _Frans and Englis_ twice in the register of books he sold +in 1520;[525] this may have been either Caxton's Book in French and +English, or the similar collection of dialogues printed by Pynson and +Wynkyn de Worde in turn. + +The first book for teaching French printed at Oxford was due to a +Frenchman called Pierre Morlet, a native of Auteuil, who taught French +at Oxford in the last decade of the sixteenth century. His _Janitrix +sive institutio ad perfectam linguae gallicae cognitionem acquirendum_ +was issued from the press of Joseph Barnes in 1596.[526] The dedication, +dated from Broadgates Hall the 5th of March of the same year, is +addressed to Morlet's former pupil, Sir Robert Beal. This rare little +treatise contains a few observations on the pronunciation of the +letters, followed by a concise treatment of each part of speech in turn. +It is preceded by a number of commendatory verses in Latin and Greek, +tributes from Morlet's pupils, students of the various colleges. Morlet +had previously prepared a revised edition of Jean Garnier's French +grammar, which was published at Jena in 1593,[527] no doubt before his +coming to England. + +As might be expected, most of the early Oxford French grammars, written +for the use of Oxonians, differ from those published at London in that +they are composed in Latin. They differ further in containing no +practical exercises and restricting their contents to rules of grammar. + +All the French grammars published at Oxford were not due to Frenchmen. +In 1584 a Spanish refugee, Antonio de Corro, resident at Christ Church, +after acting as minister of the Spanish Church in London, had +anticipated Morlet by adding a few rules on French pronunciation and +accidence to his Spanish Grammar,[528] written in his own language. This +was subsequently translated into English in 1590 by J. Thorius, also of +Christ Church, and printed in London as _The Spanish Grammer with +certaine Rules teaching both the Spanish and French tongues_. Several +grammars were likewise produced by Englishmen resident at Oxford, and +teaching the French language. Among others was John Sanford, or +Sandford, chaplain of Magdalen College, and the author of the French +grammar which succeeded Morlet's. Sanford wrote in Latin, and entitled +his work _Le Guichet François, sive Janicula et Brevis Introductio ad +Linguam Gallicam_. It was published by Joseph Barnes in 1604,[529] and +dedicated to Dr. Bond, president of Magdalen. Sanford compiled his +observations on the pronunciation and parts of speech from the various +French grammars published in both France and England; he drew largely on +Morlet, as well as Bellot and Holyband; and made equally free with de +Bèze, Pillot, and Ramus. + +He varied his duties as chaplain by giving lessons in French. In 1605 he +was teaching French to that "hopefull young gentleman Mr. William Grey, +son to the Rt. Honourable Arthur Lord Grey of Wilton," and found "good +contentement" in his "happy progresse therein." Called away temporarily +by other duties, Sanford made an English translation of the Latin work, +which he addressed to his young charge "as a pledge of my duteous love +towards your good deserts, and as my substitute to supplie my absence, +being willing also for your sake to make a publicke use therof." The +_Janicula_ appeared in its new form, much abridged as well as +translated, in 1605, under the title of _A Briefe Extract of the former +Latin Grammar_.[530] It is significant that although this English +translation was printed by Barnes at Oxford, it was mainly intended for +a London public, and was "to be sold in Paules Church Yard at the signe +of the Crowne by Simon Waterson." + +[Header: SALTONSTALL AND LEIGHTON] + +Sanford retained his position at Magdalen for some years after the +appearance of his grammars. In about 1610 he was travelling abroad as +chaplain to Sir John Digby, whose acquaintance he had made when Sir John +was a student at Balliol.[531] + +Other well-known English teachers of French at Oxford were Wye +Saltonstall and Henry Leighton. Wye Saltonstall came of a noble family +in Essex. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, where "his descent +and birth being improved by learning, flatter'd him with a kinder +fortune than afterwards he enjoyed his life being all _Tristia_." He is +said to have then gone to Gray's Inn, Holborn, without taking a degree +at Oxford, and afterwards to have become a perfect master of French, +which he had acquired during his travels. In 1625 he returned to Oxford +for purposes of study and converse with learned men. There he taught +Latin and French, and was still living in good repute in 1640 and +after.[532] + +Henry Leighton, on the other hand, had not so good a reputation at the +University. He is said to have been a man of debauched character, and to +have obtained the degree of M.A. in anything but a straightforward +manner; when Charles I. created more than seventy persons M.A. on the +1st of November 1642, Leighton, who then bore a commission in the king's +army, contrived to have the degree conferred on himself by presenting +himself at dusk, when the light was very low, though his name was not on +the list. When the king's cause declined, Leighton, who had received the +greater part of his education in France, and was an accomplished French +scholar, settled at Oxford as a teacher of French, and had a room in St. +John's College. Apparently he continued to teach French until 1669, the +year of his death.[533] + +He was the author of a French grammar written in Latin, called _Linguae +Gallicae addiscendae regulae_, printed in 1659,[534] and again in 1662. +Beginning with rules for the pronunciation of each letter, the author +passes to observations on the articles, nouns, pronouns, and verbs; he +then returns to the pronunciation, gives fuller rules for the more +difficult sounds, and closes with a list of irregular verbs.[535] +Leighton says he published his work at the request of his friends. He +dedicated it (in French) to Henry O'Brien, baron of Ibrecken, only son +of the Earl of Thomond, expressing, in words very like those used by +Holyband on a similar occasion, the hope that this "divertissement," as +he calls the grammar, may help to while away time not occupied by more +serious and important studies. Thus we see that the general attitude +towards the study of French was still, in the middle of the seventeenth +century, very much what it had been in the preceding century. + +In the meantime other grammars had appeared from the pens of French +sojourners at Oxford. One, Robert Farrear, a teacher of French, wrote a +grammar in English for the use of his pupils, _The Brief Direction to +the French Tongue_, printed at Oxford in 1618. Nothing further is known +of its author. Anthony à Wood[536] informs us that in the title of the +book Farrear inscribed himself M.A., but "whether he took that degree or +was incorporated therein in Oxford" he could not discover. + +The works on French which appeared at Oxford were not all formal +grammars of the type described. Pierre Bense, a native of Paris, who +taught Italian and Spanish as well as French, was the author of the +_Analogo-Diaphora seu Concordantia Discrepans et Discrepantia Concordans +trium linguarum Gallicae, Italicae et Hispanicae_, commended by Edward +Leigh in his _Foelix Consortium or a fit Conjuncture of Religion and +Learning_ (1663). This comparison of the resemblances and differences in +the grammar of the three languages is dedicated to the University of +Oxford, and was printed at the author's own expense in 1637.[537] As to +Bense himself we are told that he was partly bred "in good letters" at +Paris, and then, coming to England, "he went by letters commendatory to +Oxon where being kindly received and entertained, became a sojourner +there, was entred into the public library, and taught for several years +the French, Italian and Spanish tongues." For the rest we must be +content to add with Wood: "What other things he hath written I know not, +nor any thing else of the author."[538] + +[Header: GABRIEL DU GRÈS] + +As yet no French grammars had appeared at Cambridge, and French teachers +do not seem to have made their presence felt there.[539] In 1631, +however, one of the best known of this group of university French tutors +arrived at Cambridge--Gabriel Du Grès, a native of Saumur, and a member +of a good family from Angers. He arrived in England as a refugee on +account of his Protestant faith, received a warm welcome at Cambridge, +and taught French to several of the students in various colleges.[540] +In the fifth year of his residence, the liberality of his pupils enabled +him to publish his _Breve et Accuratum Grammaticae Gallicae compendium +in quo superflua rescinduntur et necessaria non omittuntur_ (1636), a +work on the same lines and of about the same dimensions as that of +Morlet.[541] It is preceded by Latin verses addressed to the author by +members of different colleges, and is dedicated to the students of the +University, especially those engaged in the study of French. This +grammar of Du Grès appears to be the only work of its kind printed at +Cambridge before the eighteenth century.[542] + +Shortly after its publication Du Grès joined the group of French tutors +at Oxford,[543] and this removal points to the more ready openings +offered there to those of his profession. When he published his _Dialogi +Gallico-Anglico-Latini_[544] at Oxford in 1639, he was teaching French +in that "most illustrious and famous university." These dialogues are +dedicated to Charles, Prince of Wales. Twenty-one in number, they deal +with the usual familiar topics, greetings and the ordinary civilities, +visiting and table talk, the house and its contents, man and the parts +of his body, wayfaring, a journey to France, and so forth, many being of +much interest on account of the light they throw on the customs of the +time. Considerable space is devoted to instructions for writing letters. + +A second edition appeared in 1652, enlarged with "necessary rules for +the pronunciation of the French tongue, very profitable unto them that +are desirous of it," giving a pseudo-English equivalent of the sound of +each French letter, and followed by a few general rules for reading +French and a table of the auxiliary and regular verbs. This little book, +which has more in common with the productions of the London teachers +than with the Oxford manuals, enjoyed a greater popularity than those of +Du Grès's rivals. In 1660 a third edition appeared, without the +additions found in the second. + +He was also the author of an interesting little work in English on the +Duke of Richelieu,[545] printed in London in 1643. Probably Du Grès had +removed to London at that date; in the second edition of his grammar, +printed, like the first, by Leonard Lichfield at Oxford, he describes +himself as "late teacher of the same in Oxford." + +In his dialogues Du Grès gives some account of his ideas on the teaching +of French:[546] + + Commençons à l'abécé. + + Escusez moy. + + Entendez moy, oyez moy, prononcer les lettres. Remarquez bien + comment je prononce les voyelles, et principalement _u_, car il est + bien malaisé a prononcer à vous autres mm. les Anglois, comme aussi + _e_ entre les consonnes. Prononcez apres moy. + + Voilà qui va bien. + + Prononce-je bien? + + Fort bien. Essayez encore une fois. + + Ce mechant _u_ me donne bien de la peine. + + Il ne sauroit tant vous en donner que votre _th_ ou _ch_ nous en + donne. + + Il est malaisé d'avoir la proprieté de votre langue. + + L'exercice et la lecture des bons autheurs vous apprendront avec le + temps, etc. + +He agreed with most of the French teachers of the day in attaching much +importance to conversational practice and reading. He also recommended a +certain amount of memorising and the study of grammar; general rules and +rules of syntax he considered indispensable; but for pronunciation he +thought practice of more avail than rules. It is possible, he admits, to +learn French by rote, without any grammar rules. But it is not the best +way in his opinion. Without grammar rules the student cannot distinguish +good French from bad, nor can he translate, write letters, or read; and +reading, thought Du Grès, was an essential condition if the cultivation +of French in England was to be maintained. [Header: FRENCH AT +CAMBRIDGE] Those who learn by ear are at a loss as soon as they no +longer hear French spoken daily. As for those who promise to teach +French in a short time, they are nothing but mountebanks. Du Grès held +that a man of moderate intellect could, with hard work, learn to +understand an ordinary French author in three or four months. He had +had, he declares, some pupils at Cambridge who learnt to read and speak +fairly well in four months and others who learnt practically nothing in +a whole year. + +At the end of the seventeenth century the status of French at the +universities had undergone no marked change. At the time of the +Restoration, a certain Philemon Fabri petitioned Williamson for an +appointment as Professor of French eloquence at Oxford, "he having held +a similar situation at Strasburg"; he supported his request by an +address to the king in French verses, entitled _Le Pater Noster des +Anglais au Roi_. Apparently Fabri did not receive the desired +position.[547] At Cambridge we find still less encouragement given to +the study of French than at Oxford. During the Commonwealth, Guy Le +Moyne, formerly French tutor to Charles I., lived at Cambridge, and no +doubt continued to teach French there, as he had done in London and at +Court.[548] At the Restoration he petitioned Charles II. to let him have +the Fellowship at Pembroke Hall reserved for Frenchmen.[549] Le Moyne +was then seventy-two years old, and wished, he said, to end his days at +Cambridge.[550] At Cambridge, as at Oxford, there were also French +tutors in charge of particular pupils. Many of these were French +Protestants. Thus the famous Pierre Du Moulin, arriving in England as a +destitute refugee in 1588, was received into the service of the Countess +of Rutland, who sent him to Cambridge as tutor to her son. There he +remained until 1592, continuing his own studies as well as attending to +those of his young charge. He thoroughly disliked his position, and +seized the first opportunity of leaving it.[551] We also hear of Herbert +Palmer, President of Queen's College (1644-47), who had learnt French +almost as soon as he could speak, and could preach in French as well as +in English.[552] He won considerable distinction as a college tutor, but +whether he placed his knowledge of French at the service of students, as +Sanford and Leighton did at Oxford, is not specified. + +Yet, even at Oxford, the efforts of this band of French teachers were +not on a large enough scale to have any very noticeable effect. Some +gentlemen who, like Sanford's pupil, William Grey, had gone to the +University to make themselves "fit for honourable imployments +hereafter," took advantage of such opportunities as there were of +studying French. Thus Henry Smith, while acting as tutor to Mr. +Clifford, learnt French himself, and wrote to Williamson in that +language.[553] And no doubt the French tutors found enough pupils among +those who were drawn more towards the fashionable than the scholastic +world. But the inability of the young Oxford student to speak French +when in polite London circles was a subject of comment in the +seventeenth century as the language became more and more widely +cultivated. To speak French was even considered incompatible with a +university education, to judge from this passage in one of Farquhar's +comedies:[554] + + _Sir H. Wildair._ Canst thou danse, child? + + _Bantu._ Oui, monsieur. + + _Lady Lurewell._ Heyday! French too! Why, sure, sir, you could + never be bred at Oxford! + +To the same intent Pepys relates[555] how an Oxford scholar, "in a +Doctor of Lawe's gowne," whom he met at dinner at the Spanish +ambassador's, sat like a fool for want of French, "though a gentle sort +of scholar"; nor could he speak the ambassador's language, but only +Latin, which he spoke like an Englishman. Pepys, on the other hand, was +very pleased at the display he was able to make of his own French on +this occasion. The famous diarist was a competent judge, and spoke and +wrote the language with ease. Unfortunately we know nothing of how he +acquired this knowledge, beyond the fact that he had not been to +France.[556] [Header: ONE-SIDEDNESS OF UNIVERSITY EDUCATION] He often +criticizes the French of those he meets, and a certain Dr. Pepys, +according to him, "spoke the worst French he had ever heard from one who +had been beyond sea." Pepys's brother spoke French, "very plain and +good," and Mrs. Pepys, the daughter of a refugee Huguenot, was as +familiar with that language as with English.[557] + +Thus the universities, like the schools, failed to keep in touch with +practical life by their neglect of the broader education necessary to +persons of quality and fashion. At the Inns of Court, where gentlemen +usually spent some time on leaving the university,[558] or where they +sometimes went instead of to the university,[559] the state of things +was somewhat better. Some knowledge of French was indispensable to those +studying the law, and the position of the Inns, almost all of them +within the boundaries of the ward of Farringdon Without, the favourite +abode of the French teachers, was such as to offer exceptional +facilities for the study of the language. When Robert Ashley was at the +Inner Temple he studied Spanish, Italian, and Dutch, as well as French. +We are told[560] that in earlier times "knights, barons, and the +greatest nobility of the kingdom often placed their children in those +Inns of Court, not so much to make the laws their study, much less to +live by the profession ... but to form their manners and to preserve +them from contagion of vice." There, could be found "a sort of gymnasium +or academy fit for persons of their station, where they learn singing +and all kinds of music, dancing, and other such accomplishments and +Diversions ... as are suitable to their quality and such as are usually +practiced at Court." French was, without doubt, one of these +accomplishments. Towards the end of the seventeenth century the Inns of +Court were still much in favour, and gentlemen's sons could enjoy there +good company and the innocent recreations of the town, as well as +improve themselves in the "exercises." Clarendon calls the Inns of Court +the suburbs of the Court itself. + +None the less, the gentleman with a university education, even when it +was followed by residence at one of the Inns of Court, was felt to be +inadequately equipped. Almost invariably he sought on the Continent the +polite accomplishments and knowledge of languages, which were necessary +qualifications for high employment at Court, in the army, and elsewhere. +Travel came to be regarded as "an especial part"[561] of the education +of a gentleman, and as such occupies an important place in the +educational treatises of the time. The usual course advised for the sons +of gentlemen was an early study of Greek and Latin, followed by +residence at one of the Universities and at the Inns of Court, and, +finally, "travel beyond seas for language and experience" and the study +of such arts as could not be easily acquired in England. + +In some cases gentlemen were educated quite independently of the English +schools and universities[562]--at home with private tutors, and in +France. Lady Brilliana Harley, for instance, feared that her son would +not find much good company at Oxford. "I believe," she wrote, "that +theare are but feawe nobellmens sonne in Oxford, for now, for the most +part, they send theaire sonnes into France when they are very yonge, +theaire to be breed."[563] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[515] J. Heywood, _Cambridge Statutes_ (sixteenth century), London, +1840, p. 267. + +[516] Cooper, _Annals of Cambridge_, 1852, iii. p. 429; Mullinger, +_History of the University of Cambridge_, iii. p. 368. + +[517] Printed in Peacock's _Observations on the Statutes of the +University of Cambridge_, 1841 (Appendix). + +[518] Cp. C. Wordsworth, _Scholae Academicae_, 1877, pp. 209 _sqq._ + +[519] _Letter Book of Gabriel Harvey_ (1573-1580), Camden Soc., 1884, +pp. 78-9. The tutor of John Hall, author of the _Horae Vacivae_ (1646), +testified to his pupil's attainments in French, Spanish, and Italian +literature. Mullinger, _History of the University of Cambridge_, ii. p. +351. + +[520] One, Jean Verneuil, became underlibrarian of the Bodleian in 1625. +Cp. Schickler, _Les Églises du Refuge_, i. p. 424; Foster Watson, +_Religious Refugees and English Education_, Hug. Soc. Proceedings, 1911; +Agnew, _Protestant Exiles_, i. ch. v. and pp. 137, 147, 148, 156, 163; +ii. pp. 260, 274, 388; Smiles, _The Huguenots_, ch. xiv. + +[521] There were also numerous French Protestant students at the +University of Edinburgh; cp. Schickler, _op. cit._ i. p. 366. + +[522] Schickler, _op. cit._ i. p. 244. + +[523] Wood, _Fasti Oxonienses_ (Bliss), ii. 195. + +[524] Wood, _Athenae Oxon._ (Bliss), ii. 380. + +[525] Oxford Historical Society: _Collectanea_, i., 1885, pp. 73 _sqq._ + +[526] 8vo, pp. 92. + +[527] E. Stengel, _Chronologisches Verzeichnis französischer +Grammatiken_, Oppeln, 1890. + +[528] F. Madan, _Oxford Books, 1468-1640_, 1895-1912, i. p. 22; ii. p. +24. Another Spanish Grammar, by d'Oyly, had appeared at Oxford in 1590. + +[529] 4to, 21 leaves. + +[530] Printed by Joseph Barnes, 4to, 8 leaves. + +[531] He visited Spain, and wrote _An Entrance to the Spanish Tongue_ +(1611). While at Oxford he had composed _An Introduction to the Italian +Tongue_ (1605). Cp. Wood, _Athenae Oxon._ (Bliss), ii. 471; C. Plummer, +_Elizabethan Oxford_, Ox. Hist. Soc., 1887, p. xxviii; _Dict. Nat. +Biog._, ad nom. + +[532] Wood, _Athen. Oxon._ (Bliss), ii. 676; Foster, _Alumni Oxon._, ad +nom. + +[533] Wood, _Fasti Oxon._ (Bliss), ii. 29, 30; _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad +nom. + +[534] 12º, pp. 31. + +[535] In the copy in the Cambridge Univ. Library these are accompanied +by a MS. translation into Latin. Some additional rules in Latin are +written on the last blank leaf. + +[536] _Athenae Oxon._ (Bliss), ii. 277. + +[537] Printed by William Turner, 8º, pp. 72. + +[538] _Athenae Oxon._ (Bliss), ii. 624. + +[539] Valence, French tutor to the Earl of Lincoln, had studied at +Cambridge early in the sixteenth century. + +[540] "Eandem linguam in celeberrima Cantabrigiensi Academia docens." + +[541] Sm. 8vo, pp. 96. + +[542] Cp. R. Bowes, _Catalogue of Books printed at Cambridge, +1521-1893_. + +[543] The statement of Wood (_Athenae Oxon._ iii. 184), that Du Grès had +studied at Oxford before going to Cambridge, is probably incorrect. + +[544] 8vo, pp. 195, printed by Leonard Lichfield. + +[545] _Jean Arman Du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu and Peere of France his +Life_, etc., followed by a translation, "out of the French copie," of +_The Will and Legacies of the Cardinall Richelieu ... together with +certaine Instructions which he left the French King. Also some +remarkable passages that hath happened in France since the death of the +said Cardinall._ + +[546] He charged 10s. a month for an hour's lesson daily. + +[547] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661-62_, p. 439. + +[548] Le Moyne also translated _The Articles of Agreement between the +King of France, the Parlaiment and Parisians. Faithfully translated out +of the French original copy._ London, 1649. + +[549] In the Middle Ages, Pembroke College gave preference to Frenchmen +in the election of Fellows; cp. _supra_, p. 6. + +[550] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1660-61_, p. 162. + +[551] "Autobiographie de Pierre du Moulin," _Bulletin de la Société de +l'histoire du Protestantisme Français_, vii. pp. 343 _sqq._ + +[552] Mullinger, _History of the University of Cambridge_, 1911, iii. p. +300. + +[553] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1670_, p. 275. Evelyn (_Diary_, ed. +Wheatly, 1906, ii. p. 306) describes verses written in Latin, English, +and French by Oxford students and added to _Newes from the dead_, an +account of the restoration to life of one Anne Green, executed at +Oxford, 1650. + +[554] _Sir Harry Wildair_, Act III. Sc. 2; cp. Mockmode in the same +dramatist's _Love and a Bottle_. + +[555] _Diary_, 5th May 1669. + +[556] He long looked forward to a journey there--a hope which was not +fulfilled until his failing eyesight had compelled him to stop writing +his diary. + +[557] She spent some time in France, until her father ordered her back +to England on account of her leaning towards Roman Catholicism. Many +times she expressed a wish to go and live in France. + +[558] Cp. Shakespeare, _2 Henry IV._ Act III. Sc. 2: + + "He's at Oxford still, is he not? + A' must then to the Inns a' Court shortly." + +[559] Higford (_Institution of a Gentleman_, 1660, p. 58) blames those +of his countrymen who neglect the Inns of Court. + +[560] J. Fortescue, _De Laudibus Legum Angliae ... Translated into +English ... with notes by Selden_, new ed., 1771, p. 172. + +[561] Higford, _The Institution of a Gentleman_, 1660, p. 88. + +[562] Perlin says of the English in the middle of the sixteenth century, +referring no doubt to the nobility: "Ceux du pays ne courent gaire ou +bien peu aux deux universités, et ne se donnent point beaucoup aux +lettres, sinon qu'à toute marchandise et à toute vanité" (_Description +des royaulmes d'Angleterre et d'Escosse_, p. 11). + +[563] _Letters_ (1638), Camden Soc., 1854, p. 8. Nearly half a century +later, Chancellor Clarendon wrote: "I doubt our Universities are +defective in providing for those exercises and recreations, which are +necessary even to nourish and cherish their studies, at least towards +that accomplished education which persons of quality are designed to; +and it may be want of those Ornaments that may prevail with many to send +their sons abroad, who since they cannot attain the lighter with the +more serious Breeding, chuse the former which makes a present shew, +leaving the latter to be wrought out at leisure" (_Miscellaneous Works_, +1751, p. 326). + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + THE STUDY OF FRENCH BY ENGLISH TRAVELLERS ABROAD + + +One of the favourite methods of learning French was a sojourn in France. +To speak the language well a visit there was considered imperative, and +to speak it "as one who had never been out of England"[564] was +synonymous with speaking it badly. Consequently a journey to France was +common among the young gentry and nobility of the time. Moreover, those +who pursued their travels further, and undertook the Grand Tour as many +gentlemen did on leaving the university, invariably visited France +first, and spent the greater part of their time there. Eighteen months +in France, nine or ten in Italy, five in Germany and the Low Countries, +was considered a suitable division of a three years' tour. Most young +Englishmen of family and fortune spent some time on the Continent. Sir +Francis Walsingham, said by one of his contemporaries to have been the +most accomplished linguist of his day,[565] had acquired his proficiency +abroad, as had also Lord Burghley, who wrote to Walsingham from France +in 1583 to report on his progress in the language.[566] Both ministers +in their turn were patrons to numerous young travellers in France. A +certain Charles Danvers wrote to Walsingham from Paris, in French, to +show his progress and thank him for his favours.[567] And Burghley gave +one Andrew Bussy a monthly allowance of £5 to enable him to study French +at Orleans, where, according to his own account, he took great pains to +make good progress so as to serve his patron the better on his +return.[568] It was generally held that travel was "useful to useful +men,"[569] and that "peregrination" well used was "a very profitable +school, a running Academy."[570] + +Many young English gentlemen went to the French Court in the train of an +ambassador,[571] or with a private tutor;[572] Henry VIII. sent his +natural son, the Duke of Richmond, Palsgrave's pupil, to the French +Court, in the care of Lord Surrey the poet. Richard Carew, the friend of +Camden, was sent to France with Sir Henry Nevill, ambassador to Henri +IV., and Bacon visited Paris in his early youth in the suite of the +diplomat Lord Poulet. The last-mentioned ambassador had several young +Englishmen in his charge. Of few, however, could he make so favourable a +report as he did of the son of Sir George Speake: "I am not unacquainted +with your son's doings in Parris," he wrote to Sir George, "and cannot +comend him inoughe unto you aswell for his dilligence in study as for +his honest and quiett behaviour." One of these young travellers, a Mr. +Throckmorton, he was particularly glad to be rid of; the young man "got +the French tongue in good perfection," we are informed, but he was of +flippant humour, and before he left for England, Poulet told him his +mind freely, and forbade him to travel to Italy, as he intended to do +later, without the company of "an honest and wyse man." The ambassador +had kept him and his man in food during the whole of his stay in Paris, +and, besides, provided him with a horse, which he had also "kept att his +chardges."[573] + +Children too were often sent abroad for education. Thomas Morrice, in +his _Apology for Schoolmasters_ (1619), commends "the ancient and +laudable custom of sending children abroad when they can understand +Latin perfectly"; for then they learn the romance languages all the more +easily, "because the Italian, French and Spanish borrow very many words +of the said Latin, albeit they do chip, chop and change divers letters +and syllables therein." [Header: ENGLISH GENTRY AT THE FRENCH COURT] And +Thomas Peacham[574] tells us in the early seventeenth century that as +soon as a child shows any wildness or unruliness, he is sent either to +the Court to act as a page or to France, and sometimes to Italy. The +number of English children in France was, we may assume, considerable; +and when the news of the terrible massacre of St. Bartholomew reached +England, one of its most noticeable effects was to fill with concern and +apprehension all parents who had children in France. "How fearfull and +carefull the mothers and parents that be here be of such yong gentlemen +as be there, you may easely ges," wrote Elizabeth's secretary of state +to Sir Francis Walsingham, the English ambassador at Paris.[575] Among +these "yong gentlemen" was Sir Philip Sidney, then newly arrived at the +French Court, whom Walsingham himself sheltered in the ambassador's +quarters during that awful night. + +James Basset, the son of Lord Lisle, deputy at Calais for Henry VIII., +was sent to Paris in the autumn of 1536 to complete his education, after +having been for some time in the charge of a tutor in England. There he +went to school with a French priest, whom he soon left for the College +of Navarre. He appears to have attended the college daily, and boarded +with one Guillaume le Gras, who, in June 1537, wrote to Lady Lisle that +her son would soon be able to speak French better than English. "I think +when he goes to see you," writes the Frenchman to her ladyship who did +not understand French, "he will need an interpreter to speak to you." +James himself wrote to tell his mother how he was progressing "at the +large and beautiful college of Navarre, with Pierre du Val his Master +and Preceptor."[576] The following letter[577] giving details on the +course pursued by a young English gentleman studying French in Paris may +no doubt be taken as fairly typical. "In the forenoone ... two hours he +spends in French, one in reading, the other in rendryng to his teacher +some part of a Latin author by word of mouth.... In the afternoon ... he +retires himself into his chamber, and there employs two other hours in +reading over some Latin author; which done, he translates some little +part of it into French, leaving his faults to be corrected the morrow +following by his teacher. After supper we take a brief survey of all.... +M. Ballendine [apparently the teacher] hath commended unto us Paulus +Aemilius in French, who writeth the history of the country. His counsell +we mean to follow." + +Girls also were occasionally sent to France for purposes of education. +Two of James Basset's young sisters, Anne and Mary, spent some time in +that country. To prevent their hindering each other's progress, Anne was +committed to the care of a M. and Mme. de Ryon, at Pont de Remy, while +Mary was sent to Abbeville to a M. and Mme. de Bours. Both girls wrote +letters in French to their mother, Lady Lisle, and it appears that they +had almost forgotten their mother tongue. When Anne returned to England, +where she became maid of honour to Jane Seymour, she had to apologize to +her mother for not being able to write in English, "for surely where +your Ladyship doth think that I can write English, in very deed I +cannot, but that little that I can write is French,"[578] and Mary wrote +to her sister Philippa in French expressing her wish to spend an hour +with her every day in order to teach her to speak French. In France the +two sisters acquired, besides French, the usual accomplishments +befitting their sex--needlework, and playing on the lute and +virginals.[579] + +The traveller Fynes Moryson did not unreservedly approve of the custom +of sending children "of unripe yeeres" to France; "howsoever they are +more to be excused who send them with discreet Tutors to guide them with +whose eyes and judgments they may see and observe.... Children like +Parrots soone learne forraigne languages and sooner forget the same, +yea, and their mother tongue also." He relates how a familiar friend of +his "lately sent his sonne to Paris, who, after two yeeres returning +home, refused to aske his father's blessing after the manner of England, +saying _ce n'est pas la mode de France_."[580] Milton in the same vein +deplores the fact that his compatriots have "need of the monsieurs of +Paris to take their hopeful youth into their slight and prodigal +custodies and send them over back again transformed into mimics, apes +and kickshows."[581] [Header: ENGLISH CHILDREN IN FRANCE] "My +countrymen in England," wrote Sir Amias Poulet from Paris in 1577, +"would doe God and theire countreye good service if either they woulde +provide scolemasters for theire children at home, or else they woulde +take better order of their educacion here, where they are infected with +all sortes [of] pollucions bothe ghostly and bodylie and find manie +willinge scolemasters to teache theme to be badd subiects."[582] + +Nor were such sentiments confined to individual cases. Queen Elizabeth +was constantly making inquiries concerning her subjects beyond the seas +generally, often for political reasons or on account of her Protestant +fears of popery. She found "noe small inconvenience to growe into the +realm" by the number of children living abroad "under colour of learning +the languages." In 1595 she ordered a list of such "children" to be sent +to her with the names of their parents or guardians and tutors,[583] and +there were frequent examinations of subjects suspected of desiring to go +abroad; in 1595 the Mayor of Chester writes to Burghley to know what he +is to do with two boys, aged fifteen and seventeen, who have been +brought before him on suspicion of intending to travel into France to +learn the language, and thence into Spain. + +The objections raised against the journey to France were few, however, +in comparison with those alleged as regards Italy. Italy held a place +second only to France in the Grand Tour on the Continent, and in the +early sixteenth century the first enthusiasm awakened by the Renaissance +attracted many Englishmen there. Scholars, such as Linacre and Colet, +set the example. Then others, including most literary men of the time, +made their way as pilgrims to the centre of the revived learning, +passing through France on their way.[584] Soon the journey became +largely a matter of fashion. This rapid development of the custom of +continental travel was looked upon as a danger in matters political and +religious; popish plots were suspected and foreign intrigues of all +kinds feared. In Elizabeth's time leave "to resort beyond seas for his +better increase in learning, and his knowledge of foreign languages"[585] +was not freely granted to any who might apply. Lord Burghley would +often summon before him applicants for licences to travel, and look +carefully into their knowledge of their own country,[586] and if this +proved insufficient, would advise them to improve it before attempting +to study other countries.[587] + +Voluble were the protests against foreign travel which were made in the +sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. France and above all Italy were +made responsible for all the vices of the English. It was urged that +trade and state negotiations were the only adequate reasons for travel +abroad. "We are moted in an Island, because Providence intended us to be +shut off from other regions," Bishop Joseph Hall affirms, in his _Quo +Vadis: a juste censure of travel as it is commonly undertaken by +gentlemen of our own nation_ (1617). So strong were the prejudices of +some of these critics that the grandfather of the royalist Sir Arthur +Capell wrote--in 1622--a pamphlet containing _Reasons against the +travellinge of my grandchylde Arthur Capell into the parts beyond the +sea_, in which he draws an alarming picture of the dangers of infection +from popery, and seeks to prove that the time could be much better spent +at home.[588] The chronicler Harrison went so far as to assert that the +custom would prove the ruin of England.[589] And even the courtly Lyly +could write: "Let not your mindes be carried away with vaine delights, +as travailing into farre and straunge countries, wher you shall see more +wickednesse then learn virtue and wit."[590] + +But it was Italy much more than France that excited the fears of these +alarmists. There was a common saying at the time that an Englishman +Italianate was a devil incarnate. "I was once in Italy myself," wrote +Roger Ascham,[591] "but I thank God my abode there was but nine +dayes"--in which he saw more wickedness than he had beheld during nine +years in London. "Suffer not thy sons to pass the Alpes, for they shall +learn nothing there but Pride, Blasphemy and Atheism; [Header: PROTESTS +AGAINST FOREIGN TRAVEL] and if by travelling they get a few broken +Languages, that will profit them no more than to have the same meat +served in divers dishes," was the advice of Lord Burghley.[592] Many +were the precautions taken to prevent English subjects from travelling +to Rome of all places. Travellers who were suspected of such intentions +or who had travelled abroad without permission were rigorously examined. +One such traveller confessed that he went to Brittany and France to see +the countries and learn the language, but swore he had never been to +Rome or spoken to the papist Cardinal Allen.[593] Many passports issued +for the Grand Tour stipulated specifically that the traveller should not +repair to Rome.[594] + +George Carleton gave expression to the general feeling when he wrote to +his brother Dudley, afterwards Lord Dorchester: "I like your going to +France much better than if you had gone to Italy."[595] "France is above +all most needful for us to mark," was the advice Sir Philip Sidney sent +to his brother Robert on his travels.[596] Sir John Eliot gave similar +injunctions to his sons.[597] France was, he said, a country full of +noble instincts and versatile energy; and what his own experience had +been, he recommended his sons to profit by. Some friend had warned them +of possible dangers in France. Heed them not, says Eliot; any hazard or +adventure in France they will find repaid by such advantages of +knowledge and experience as observation of the existing troubles there +is sure to convey. But he will not allow them even to enter Spain; and +the Italian territories of the Church they must avoid as dangerous: +"stagnant and deadly are the waters in the region of Rome, not clear and +flowing for the health-seeking energies of man." He thought, however, +that some parts of Italy might be visited with profit. To attempt to +learn the Italian language before some knowledge of French had been +acquired, was not discreet. "Besides it being less pleasant and more +difficult to talk Italian first," he writes, "it was leaving the more +necessary acquirement to be gained when there was, perchance, less +leisure for it. Whereas by attaining some perfection in French, and then +moving onward, what might be lost in Italy of the first acquirement, +would be regained in France as their steps turned homeward." + +Not only were fears of Roman Catholicism and corrupt manners directed +more specifically toward Italy than France, but the French language was +considered a much more necessary acquirement than Italian. It was +generally agreed that the country most requisite for the English to know +was France, "in regard of neighbourhood, of conformity in Government in +divers things and necessary intelligence of State."[598]. "French is the +most useful of languages--the richest lading of the traveller next to +experience--Italian and Spanish not being so fruitful in learning," +remarks Francis Osborne in his _Advice to a Son_.[599] + +Thus the main object of study of the traveller in France was usually the +language itself, and next to that the polite accomplishments. Those who +continued their travels into Italy were attracted chiefly by the country +and its antiquities. When Addison was in France, after a short stay in +Paris in 1699[600] he settled for nearly a year at Blois to learn the +language, living in great seclusion, studying, and seeing no one but his +teachers, who would sup with him regularly. In 1700 he returned to +Paris, qualified to converse with Boileau and Malebranche. But he spent +his time in Italy very differently, living in fancy with the old Latin +poets, taking Horace as his guide from Naples to Rome, and Virgil on the +return journey: there was no question of settling down in a quiet town +to study Italian. The experience of Lord Herbert of Cherbury at the end +of the sixteenth century and of Evelyn in the middle of the seventeenth +was of a similar nature. Though travellers continued to include Italy in +their tour, the feeling in favour of France became stronger and +stronger. It reached its climax in the latter half of the seventeenth +century, when Clarendon wrote: "What parts soever we propose to visit, +to which our curiosity usually invites us, we can hardly avoid the +setting our feet first in France." And he invites travellers, on +returning there after visiting Italy, to stay in Paris a year to +"unlearn the dark and affected reservation of Italy." [Header: THE +TRAVELLING TUTOR] As for Germany, he thinks they have need to remain two +years in France that they may entirely forget that they were ever in +Germany![601] + +The sons of gentlemen setting out on the Grand Tour were usually +accompanied by a governor or tutor,[602] and the need for such a guide +was generally recognized by writers on travel; all urge the necessity of +his being acquainted with the languages and customs of the countries to +be visited. "That young men should Travaile under some Tutor or grave +Servant, I allow well: so that he be such a one that hath the language +and hath been in the Countrey before," wrote Bacon. And if any one was +not able or did not wish to "be at the charges of keeping a Governor +abroad" with his son, he was advised[603] to "join with one or two more +to help to bear the charges: or else to send with him one well qualified +to carry him over and settle him in one place or other of France, or of +other Countries, to be there with him 2 or 3 months, leave him there +after he hath set him in a good way, and then come home." We also gather +from Gailhard's _The Compleat Gentleman_ that it was "a custom with many +in England to order Travelling to their sons, as Emetick Wine is by the +Physician prescribed to the Patient, that is when they know not what +else to do, and when schools, Universities, Inns of Court, and every +other way hath been tried to no purpose: then that nature which could +not be tamed in none of these places, is given to be minded by a +Gouvernor, with many a woe to him."[604] + +The suitable age for the Grand Tour, as distinct from the shorter +journey in France, was the subject of much discussion. It was usually +undertaken between the ages of sixteen and twenty, and occupied from +three to five years. Some, and among them Locke,[605] agreed with +Gailhard in thinking that travel should not come at the end. They +argued that languages were more easily learnt at an earlier age, and +that children were then less difficult to manage. Others, regarding +travel as a necessary evil,[606] held that, at a later age, travellers +are less receptive of evil influences and the snares of popery. This was +the current opinion. + +In many cases, especially in later times, the travelling tutor was a +Frenchman. Many Englishmen, however, found in this capacity an +opportunity for travel which they might not otherwise have had. For +example, Ben Jonson visited Paris in 1613 as tutor to the son of Sir +Walter Raleigh, and became better known there as a reveller than as a +poet.[607] In the same way Ben Jonson's friend, the poet Aurilian +Townsend, accompanied Lord Herbert of Cherbury on his foreign tour in +1608, and was of much help to him on account of his fluent knowledge of +French, Italian, and Spanish.[608] The time-serving politician Sir John +Reresby travelled with a Mr. Leech, a divine and Fellow of +Cambridge.[609] And the philosopher Thomas Hobbes spent as travelling +tutor in the Cavendish family many years which he calls the happiest +time of his life. He visited France, Germany, and Italy. For a time he +left the Cavendishes to act as tutor to the son of Sir Gervase Clifton, +with whom he remained eighteen months in Paris. It was while travelling +with his pupils that Hobbes became known in the philosophic circles of +Paris.[610] Addison was offered a salary of £100 to be tutor to the Duke +of Somerset, who desired him "to be more of a companion than a +Governor," but did not accept the offer.[611] In some cases the +travelling tutor had several pupils. Thus Mr. Cordell, the friend of Sir +Ralph Verney, was tutor to a party of Englishmen.[612] + +On the other hand, Sir Philip Sidney travelled without a governor. +[Header: BOOKS ON TRAVEL] At Frankfort, in the house of the Protestant +printer Andreas Wechel, he began his life-long friendship with the +Huguenot scholar Hubert Languet, who, to some degree, supplied his +needs. Languet, however, expresses his regret that Sidney had no +governor, and when the young Englishman continued his journey into Italy +they kept up a correspondence, in the course of which Languet sent +Sidney much good advice. At his instigation Sidney practised his French +and Latin by translating some of Cicero's letters into French, then from +French into English, and finally back into Latin again, "by a sort of +perpetual motion."[613] John Evelyn the diarist also travelled without a +governor, while the eldest son of Lord Halifax first made the Grand Tour +in the usual fashion, and afterwards returned to his uncle, Henry +Savile, English ambassador at Paris, without the "encumbrance" of a +governor. Savile superintended his nephew's reading, providing him with +books on such subjects as political treaties and negotiations, and +warning him against "nouvelles" and other "vain _entretiens_."[614] + +The practice of travelling abroad called forth many books on the +subject, often written by travellers desiring to place their experience +at the service of others. Such books usually include indications of the +routes to be followed and the places to be visited, and sometimes advice +as to the best way of studying abroad. Some, such as those of Coryat, +Fynes Moryson, and Purchas,[615] are descriptions of long journeys. +Others deal more especially with the method of travel.[616] A few were +written for the particular use of some traveller of high rank; for +instance, when the Earl of Rutland set out on his travels in 1596, his +cousin Essex sent him letters of advice, which circulated at Court, and +were published as _Profitable Instructions for Travellers_ in +1633.[617] Further information was supplied in the treatises on polite +education.[618] + +The subject of travel was thus continually under consideration, and the +different books of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which deal +with this topic are of great interest. Robert Dallington, the author of +an early guide to France,[619] thought it necessary, seeing the few +teachers there were in France, to "set downe a course of learninge." "I +will presume to advise him," he says of the traveller to France, "that +the most compendious way of attaining the tongue is by booke. I mean for +the knowledge, for as for the speaking he shall never attaine it but by +continuall practize and conversation: he shall therefore first learne +his nownes and verbs by heart, and specially the articles, and their +uses, with the two words _sum_ and _habeo_: for in these consist the +greatest observation of that part of speech." He also urges the future +traveller to engage a Frenchman to assist him, chiefly, no doubt, with +reading and pronunciation. This "reader," as Dallington calls him, +"shall not reade any booke of Poetrie at first, but some other kinde of +stile, and I thinke meetest some moderne comedie. Let his lecture +consist more in questions and answers, either of the one or the other, +then in the reader's continued speech, for this is for the most part +idle and fruitlesse: by the other many errors and mistakings either in +pronunciation or sense are reformed. After three months he shall quit +his lectures, and use his Maister only to walk with and discourse, first +the one and then the other: for thus shal he observe the right use of +the phrase in his Reader, heare his owne faults reproved and grow readie +and prompt in his owne deliverie, which, with the right straine of the +accent, are the two hardest things in language." He should also read +much in private, and "to this reading he must adde a continuall talking +and exercising of his speech with all sorts of people, with boldnesse +and much assurance in himselfe, for I have often observed in others +that nothing hath more prejudiced their profiting then their owne +diffidence and distrust. [Header: A "METHOD OF TRAVEL"] To this I would +have him adde an often writing, either of matter of translation or of +his owne invention, where againe is requisite the Reader's eye, to +censure and correct: for who so cannot write the language he speaks, I +count he hath but halfe the language. There, then, are the two onely +meanes of obtaining a language, speaking and writing, but the first is +the chiefest, and therefore I must advertise the traveller of one thing +which in other countries is a great hinderer thereof, namely, the often +haunting and frequenting of our own Countrimen, whereof he must have a +speciall care,[620] neither to distaste them by a too much +retirednesse[621] nor to hinder himselfe by too much familiaritie." + +A few years later Fynes Moryson[622] offered equally sound advice to the +traveller "for language." "Goe directly to the best citie for the +puritie of language," he tells him, and first "labour to know the +grammar rules, that thy selfe mayst know whether thou speaketh right or +no. I meane not the curious search of those rules, but at least so much +as may make thee able to distinguish Numbers, Cases, and Moodes." +Moryson thought that by learning by ear alone students probably +pronounced better, but, on the other hand, with the help of rules, "they +both speake and write pure language, and never so forget it, as they may +not with small labour and practice recover it again." The student, he +adds, should make a collection of choice phrases, that "hee may speake +and write more eloquently, and let him use himselfe not to the +translated formes of speech, but to the proper phrases of the tongue." +For this purpose he should read many good books, "in which kind, as also +for the Instruction of his soule, I would commend unto him the Holy +Scriptures, but that among the Papists they are not to be had in the +vulgar tongue, neither is the reading of them permitted to laymen. +Therefore to this purpose he shall seeke out the best familiar epistles +for his writing, and I thinke no booke better for his Discourse then +Amadis of Gaule.... In the third place I advise him to professe +Pythagoricall silence, and to the end he may learne true pronunciation, +not to be attained but by long observation and practice, that he for a +time listen to others, before he adventure to speake." He should also +avoid his fellow-countrymen, and, having observed these rules, "then let +him hier some skilfull man to teach him and to reprove his errors, not +passing by any his least omission. And let him not take it ill that any +man should laugh at him, for that will more stirre him up to endevour to +learne the tongue more perfectly, to which end he must converse with +Weomen, children and the most talkative people; and he must cast off all +clownish bashfulnesse, for no man is borne a Master in any art. I say +not that he himselfe should rashly speake, for in the beginning he shall +easily take ill formes of speaking, and hardly forget them once taken." + +The learning of French in England before going abroad did not, as a +rule, enter into the plan of writers on the subject of travelling. +Moryson, however, realized that "at the first step the ignorance of +language doth much oppresse (the traveller) and hinder the fruite he +should reape by his iourney." And Bacon went a step further when he +wrote that "he that travaileth into a Country, before he hath some +entrance into the language, goeth to schoole, and not to travaile.... If +you will have a Young Man to put his Travaile into a little Roome, and +in a short time to gather much, this you must doe. First, as was said, +he must have some Entrance into the Language before he goeth. Then he +must have such a Servant, or Tutor, as knoweth the country."[623] Later +writers usually agree that it would be of benefit to have "something of +the French"[624] before leaving England, "though it were only to +understand something of it and be able to ask for necessary things," or +to have "some grammatical instruction in the language, as a preparation +to speaking it."[625] And indeed many travellers had some previous +knowledge of French. Sir Philip Sidney, for instance, could manage a +letter in French when he was at school at Shrewsbury; Lord Herbert of +Cherbury had studied the language with the help of a dictionary; Sir +John Reresby, at a later date, had learnt French at a private school, +though, like many students nowadays, he could not speak the language on +his arrival in France. [Header: STUDIES PREVIOUS TO TRAVEL] Several +went abroad to "improve" themselves in French, and no doubt the phrase +"to learn the French tongue"[626] often meant to learn to speak it. + +In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, however, many of those +who studied French seriously in England did not go to France. Among +these were the ladies, to whose skill Mulcaster[627] draws the attention +of travellers, as a proof that languages can be learnt as well at home +as abroad; and not a few of the younger sons of noblemen,[628] as well +as the prosperous middle class--the frequenters of the French schools in +St. Paul's Churchyard, and the pupils of Du Ploich and Holyband, neither +of whom makes any reference to the tour in France. + +The "common practice" in the sixteenth century among young travellers +was to proceed to France knowing no French. They fully expected to learn +the language there, with no further exertion than living in the country. +They are constantly warned of the futility of such expectations. +Dallington, Fynes Moryson, and others lay much emphasis on the necessity +of some serious preliminary study of grammar and reading of good +literature. French teachers in England compared the poor results +obtained in France by these leisurely methods with those achieved by +their own efforts in England. No doubt they found the practice of +learning French by residence in France a serious rival to their own +methods. De la Mothe,[629] for instance, declares he knows English +ladies and gentlemen who have never left England and yet speak French +incomparably better than others who have been in France three or four +years trying to pick up the language by ear, as most travellers do. +Another French teacher[630] writes: "I have knowne three Gentlemen's +sonnes, although I say it that should not say it, who can testify yet, +that in their return from France (after they had remained foure yeares +at Paris, spending a great deal of money) perused my rules but six +moneths and did confesse they reaped more good language in that short +space I taught them then in all the time they spent in France. And +sundry others I have helped who never saw France, and yet could talke, +read and write better language in one yeare than those who have bene at +Paris two yeares, learning but the common phrase of the countrie, +shacking off a litle paines to learne the rules." + +While holding that French could be better learnt in England with rules +than in France without any such assistance, the French teachers of +London admitted that the language could perhaps be best learnt in +France, but only with the help of a good teacher and serious study, as +in England. However, there were hardly any language teachers in France, +according to them, while in England it was easy to find many good ones. +Dallington more specifically bewails the fact that the traveller finds a +"great scarcitie" of such tutors, and directs him to a certain M. +Denison, a Canon of St. Croix in Orleans, after whom he may inquire, +"except his good acquaintance or good fortune bring him to better." + +There was indeed little provision for the serious study of French in +France before the end of the sixteenth century. Most travellers, we are +told, "observed only for their owne use." Few Frenchmen took up the +teaching of their own language to foreigners as a profession, and those +who taught from time to time or merely upon occasion rarely proved +successful. Yet the earliest grammars produced in France were intended +largely for the use of foreigners. Special attention is paid to points +which usually offered difficulty to foreigners, such as the +pronunciation and its divergencies from the orthography.[631] Sylvius or +Du Bois, writing in Latin,[632] remarks that his principles may serve +the English, the Italians and Spaniards, in short, all foreigners; no +doubt those he had chiefly in mind were the numbers of English and other +foreign students at the University of Paris. [Header: LANGUAGE TEACHERS +IN FRANCE] When the earliest grammar written in French appeared, its +author, Louis Meigret,[633] sought to justify his use of the vernacular +by suggesting that foreign students should first learn to understand +French by speaking and reading good French literature, instead of +depending on Latin for the first stages. He had noticed the +peculiarities of the English pronunciation of French, especially the +habit of misplacing the accent; "they raise the voice on the syllable +_an_ in _Angleterre_, while we raise it on the syllable _ter_: so that +French as spoken by the English is not easily understood in France." +From other grammarians foreigners always received some attention. +Pillot[634] and Garnier[635] both wrote in Latin with a special view to +foreigners; and Peletier,[636] who used French, retains all the +etymological consonants, that strangers may find Latin helpful in +understanding French. + +Not before the end of the sixteenth century, however, do we hear of the +first important language teacher in France--Charles Maupas of Blois, a +surgeon by profession, who spent most of his life, more than thirty +years, teaching French to "many lords and gentlemen of divers nations" +who visited his native town. He was "well known to be a famous teacher +of the French tongue to many of the English and Dutch nobility and +gentry." For his English pupils Maupas showed particular affection.[637] +And from them he received in turn numerous proofs of friendship. Among +the Englishmen who learnt French under his care was George Villiers, +Duke of Buckingham, who, at about the age of eighteen, travelled into +France, where "he improved himself[638] well in the language for one +that had so little grammatical foundation, but more in the exercises of +that Nobility for the space of three years and yet came home in his +naturall plight, without affected formes (the ordinary disease of +Travellers)."[639] Maupas bears stronger testimony to his pupil's +attainments in the French language, and some years later he gratefully +dedicated to the Duke his French grammar, first issued publicly in 1618. + +Maupas's _Grammaire françoise contenant reigles tres certaines et +adresse tres asseurée a la naïve connoissance et pur usage de nostre +langue. En faveur des estrangers qui en seront desireux_, was first +privately printed in 1607.[640] He had not originally intended it for +publication. The work grew out of the notes and observations he compiled +in order to overcome his pupils' difficulties. As these rules increased +in number and importance, many students began to make extracts from +them; others made copies of the whole, a "great and wearisome labour." +Finally, Maupas, touched by this keenness, resolved to have a large +number of copies printed. He distributed these among his pupils and +their friends, till, contrary to his expectation, he found he had none +left. It was then that the first public edition was issued at Lyons in +1618, and was followed by six others, which were not always authorized. +A Latin edition also appeared in 1623. + +Maupas insists on the necessity of employing a tutor. "Let them come to +me," he says, addressing foreigners desirous of learning French, "if it +is convenient."[641] To learn the language by ear and use alone is +impossible. The small outlay required to engage a teacher saves much +time and labour. As to the grammar, it should be read again and again, +and in time all difficulties will disappear; it will be of great use +even to those already advanced in French. He undertook to teach and +interpret the grammar in French itself, without having recourse to the +international language Latin, the usual medium of teaching French to +travellers; he tells us that many of his pupils were ignorant of Latin, +and that the practice of interpreting the grammar in French had been +adopted by many of his fellow-teachers in other towns. The great +advantage of this method was, he thought, that reading and pronunciation +are learnt conjointly with grammar, the phrases and style of the +language together with its rules and precepts. Besides, the student must +read some book; and a grammar was, in his opinion, preferable to the +little comedies and dialogues usually resorted to for this purpose. He +did not, however, forget that some light reading was a greater incentive +to the learner, and in practice used both. + +Maupas died in 1625, when a new edition of his grammar was in +preparation. His son, who assisted him in teaching, saw the work through +the press, and invited students to transfer to him the favours they had +bestowed on his father. Apparently the younger Charles Maupas continued +to teach his father's clientèle for some time. [Header: CHARLES MAUPAS +OF BLOIS] In 1626 he gave further proof of his zeal for the cause in +editing and publishing a comedy which both he and his father had +frequently read with pupils not advanced enough for more serious matter. +We are told vaguely that this comedy, entitled _Les Desguisez: Comedie +Françoise avec l'explication des proverbes et mots difficiles par +Charles Maupas a Bloys_, was the work of one of the _beaux esprits_ of +the period.[642] Maupas, however, only had one copy, and knew not where +to procure more. He was induced to have it printed on seeing the great +labour and time expended by many of his pupils in making copies of it +for their own use. For the benefit of students who had no tutor, he +added an explanatory vocabulary of proverbs and difficult words. + +Maupas's _Grammaire et syntaxe françoise_ is still looked on with +respect.[643] The reputation it enjoyed in the seventeenth century is +the more remarkable in that it was the work of a provincial who had no +relations with the Court, then the supreme arbiter in matters of +language. But the grammar passed into oblivion in the course of time, as +more modern manuals took its place. Maupas's hope that it would be used +by foreign students of French as long as the language was held in esteem +was not to be fulfilled. + +His Grammar was superseded by that of Antoine Oudin--_Grammaire +Françoise rapportée au langage du temps_, Paris, 1632. Oudin's original +intention had been merely to enlarge the grammar of his predecessor. But +as his work advanced he found "force antiquailles" and many mistakes, +besides much confusion, repetition, and pedantry. He felt no compunction +in telling the reader that he had enormously improved all he had +borrowed from Maupas--although he is careful to note that he has no +intention of damaging his rival's reputation, and is proud to share his +opinion on several points. He had a great advantage over Maupas in +having spent all his life in close connexion with the Court; his father, +César, had been interpreter to the French king, and Antoine succeeded +him in that office. He also appears to have had continual relations with +foreigners, and he tells us on one occasion that he received from them +"very considerable benefits." His grammar was certainly much used by +foreign students, although it does not seem to have enjoyed as great a +popularity in England as that of Maupas. Oudin's _Curiositez Françoises_ +(1640) was also addressed "aux estrangers," and his aim was to show his +gratitude by attempting to call attention to the mistakes which had made +their way into grammars drawn up for their instruction.[644] + +_L'Eschole Françoise pour apprendre a bien parler et escrire selon +l'usage de ce temps et pratique des bons autheurs, divisée en deux +livres dont l'un contient les premiers elements, l'autre les parties de +l'oraison_ (Paris, 1604), by Jean Baptiste du Val, avocat en Parlement +at Paris and French tutor to Marie de Medicis, was also intended partly +for the use of foreigners. He seeks to console foreign students coping +with the difficulties of French pronunciation and orthography, by +assuring them that though the French themselves may be able to speak +correctly, they cannot prescribe rules on this score. As for his +grammar, the student will learn more from it in two hours than from any +other in two weeks. He also takes up a supercilious attitude, natural in +one who exercised his profession in the precincts of the Court, towards +anything that resembled a provincial accent; better no teacher at all +than one with a provincial accent. + +Among other grammars of similar purport is that of Masset in French and +Latin, _Exact et tres facile acheminement a la langue Françoyse, mis en +Latin par le meme autheur pour le soulagement des estrangers_ +(1606);[645] and to the same category belongs also the _Praecepta +gallici sermonis ad pleniorem perfectioremque eius linguae cognitionem +necessaria tum suevissima tum facillima_ (1607), by Philippe Garnier, +who, after teaching French for many years in Germany, settled down at +Orleans, his native town, as a language tutor.[646] + +Another work widely used by travellers, and well known in England, was +the _Nouvelle et Parfaite Grammaire Françoise_ (1659) of Laurent +Chiflet, the zealous Jesuit and missionary, which continued to be +reprinted until the eighteenth century, and enjoyed for many years the +highest reputation among foreign students of French. [Header: FRENCH +GRAMMARS FOR TRAVELLERS] The Swiss Muralt relates how he and a friend +were inquiring for some books at one of the booksellers of the Palais, +the centre of the trade; and how the bookseller answered them civilly +and tried to find what they desired, until his wife interfered, crying, +"Ne voiez vous pas que ce sont des etrangers qui ne savent ce qu'ils +demandent? Donnez leur la grammaire de Chiflet, c'est là ce qu'il leur +faut."[647] + +Chiflet is very explicit in his advice to foreign students. In the first +place the pronunciation should be learnt by reading a short passage +every day with a French master, and the verbs most commonly in use +committed to memory. Then the other parts of speech and the rules of +syntax should be studied briefly; but care should be taken not to +neglect reading, and to practise writing French, in order to become +familiar with the orthography. One of his chief recommendations is to +avoid learning isolated words; words should always be presented in +sentence form, which is a means of learning their construction and of +acquiring a good vocabulary at the same time. The rest of the method +consists in translating from Latin or some other language into French, +and in conversing with a tutor who should correct bad grammar or +pronunciation. When once a fair knowledge of French is acquired, it +should be strengthened by reading and reflecting upon some good book +every day. Such reading is the shortest way of learning the language +perfectly. Excellence and fluency in speaking may be attained by +repeating or reciting aloud the substance of what has been read.[648] + +The acquisition of the French language was not the only ambition of the +English gentleman abroad. His aim was also to acquire those polite +accomplishments in which the French excelled--dancing, fencing, riding, +and so on. For this purpose he either frequented one of the "courtly" +academies or engaged private tutors; and "every master of exercise," it +was felt, served as a kind of language master.[649] We are indebted to +Dallington[650] for an account of the cost of such a course abroad. +"Money," he says, "is the soule of travell. If he travel without a +servant £80 sterling is a competent proportion, except he learn to ride: +if he maintain both these charges, he can be allowed no less than £150: +and to allow above £200 were superfluous and to his hurt. The ordinary +rate of his expense is 10 gold crowns a month his fencing, as much his +dancing, no less his reading, and 10 crowns monthly his riding except in +the heat of the year. The remainder of his £150, I allow him for +apparell, books, travelling charges, tennis play, and other +extraordinary expenses." + +Some of the more studious travellers resorted to one or other of the +French universities. John Palsgrave and John Eliote, the two best known +English teachers of French in the sixteenth century, had both followed +this course. Palsgrave was a graduate of Paris, and John Eliote, after +spending three years at the College of Montague in Paris, taught for a +year in the Collège des Africains at Orleans. The religious question had +much influence in determining the plan of study in France. The +university towns of Rheims and Douay were the special resorts of English +Catholics.[651] On the suppression of the religious houses in England +and the persecution of the English Roman Catholics, English seminaries +arose at Paris, Louvain, Cambrai, St. Omer, Arras, and other centres in +France. English Roman Catholics flocked to the French universities and +colleges, and there is in existence a long list of English students who +matriculated at the University of Douay. + +On the other hand, the schools,[652] colleges,[653] and academies[654] +founded by the Huguenots offered many attractions to Protestant England. +The colleges had much in common with the modern French lycée, and the +chief subjects taught were the classical languages. They did not take +boarders, with the exception of that at Metz, and the students lived _en +pension_ with families in the town. The same is true of the academies, +institutions of university standing. They were eight in number, and +situated at Nîmes, Montpellier, Saumur, Montauban, Die, Sedan, Orthez +(in the principality of Béarn[655]), and Geneva. Some Englishmen and +many Scotchmen[656] held positions in the Protestant colleges and +academies. [Header: BRITISH STUDENTS AT FRENCH UNIVERSITIES] Many +English Protestants, during their enforced sojourn on the Continent +during the reign of Mary, took advantage of their exile to study at one +or other of the Protestant academies, as well as to perfect their +knowledge of French. A great number flocked to Geneva, including the +Protestant author Michael Cope, who frequently preached in French.[657] + +Of the colleges, that of Nîmes attracted a large number of foreigners. +Montpellier likewise was very popular during the short period at the +beginning of the seventeenth century when the town was Protestant. Among +the academies in France, Saumur, Montauban,[658] and Sedan were much +frequented by English travellers. Saumur in particular quickly attained +to celebrity; its rapid growth may be partly accounted for by the fact +that Duplessis Mornay, Governor of the town in 1588, naturally became a +zealous patron of the Academy. Three years after its foundation the +number of foreign students was considerable, and throughout the +seventeenth century students from England, Scotland, Holland, and +Switzerland thronged to the town. + +The Academy at Geneva likewise was very popular.[659] Though not French, +it was largely attended by French students, who had some influence in +raising the standard of the French spoken in the town, which was rather +unsatisfactory in the sixteenth century. It greatly improved in the +following century, and when the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes +(1685), which dealt the death-blow to the French Protestant foundations, +drove many students to Geneva, their influence in all directions was +still more strongly felt. Some years before, in 1654, the regents were +enjoined to see to it that their pupils "ne parlent savoyard et ne +jurent ou diabloyent," but in 1691 Poulain de la Barre, a doctor of the +Sorbonne, could say that "à Geneve on prononce incomparablement mieux +que l'on ne fait en plusieurs provinces de France."[660] + +The Protestant academies usually consisted of faculties of Arts and +Theology. At Geneva[661] there were lectures in Law, Theology, +Philosophy, Philology, and Literature; the teaching was chiefly in +Latin, but sometimes in French. At the end of the sixteenth century a +riding school, known as the _Manège de la Courature_, on the same lines +as the polite academies of France, was started. The instruction given at +Geneva was on broader lines than that of the less popular academies. +Nîmes and Montpellier, for instance, were mainly theological.[662] + +Of the many Englishmen who went to Geneva, as to other Protestant +centres, not all attended lectures at the Academies. Some went merely to +learn French, "the exercises and assurance of behaviour," as the general +belief in England was that they did so with less danger in the towns +tempered by a Calvinistic atmosphere. Among the Englishmen who visited +Geneva in the sixteenth and early seventeenth century we find the names +of Henry Withers, Roger Manners, fifth Earl of Rutland, Robert Devereux, +third Earl of Essex, the son of Elizabeth's unfortunate favourite, and +others. Thomas Bodley, the celebrated founder of the Oxford Library, +followed all the courses at the University in 1559. It was considered a +great honour to lodge in the house of one or other of the professors; +Anthony Bacon, the elder brother of the great Bacon, had the good +fortune to be received into the house of de Bèze. Casaubon likewise +received into his house certain young gentlemen who came to the town +with a special recommendation to him. These included the young Henry +Wotton, then on the long tour on the Continent, during which he acquired +the remarkable knowledge of languages which qualified him for the +position of ambassador which he subsequently occupied. In 1593 Wotton +wrote to Lord Zouch: "Here I am placed to my great contentment in the +house of Mr. Isaac Casaubon, a person of sober condition among the +French." The learned professor soon became very fond of Wotton, so far +as to allow him to get into debt for his board and lodging, and the +young man left Geneva without paying his debts, leaving Casaubon to face +his numerous creditors in the town. Casaubon was in despair; but +fortunately the episode ended satisfactorily, for Wotton lived up to his +character, and paid his debts in full as soon as he was able.[663] + +[Header: THE AFFECTED TRAVELLER] + +When later Casaubon was at Paris (1600-1610) and his fame was +widespread, most travellers and scholars passing through the city seized +any opportunity of visiting him. Coryat relates his visit to the great +humanist as the experience he enjoyed above all others. Lord Herbert of +Cherbury was also among the English travellers received by Casaubon into +his house at this period. "And now coming to court," writes Lord +Herbert, "I obtained licence to go beyond sea, taking with me for my +companion Mr. Aurilian Townsend ... and a man to wait in my chamber, who +spoke French, two lacqueys and three horses.... Coming now to Paris +through the recommendation of the Lord Ambassador I was received to the +house of that incomparable scholar Isaac Casaubon, by whose learned +conversation I much benefited myself. Sometimes also I went to the Court +of the French King Henry IV., who, upon information of me in the Garden +of the Tuileries, received me with much courtesy, embracing me in his +arms, and holding me some while there."[664] + +By the side of the serious traveller we are introduced to the frivolous +type, travelling merely as a matter of fashion. These "idle travellers," +as they were called, were the cause of most of the objections raised +against the journey to France and the longer tour on the +Continent--apart from questions of religion and politics. Few such +travellers "scaped bewitching passing over seas."[665] When Lord Herbert +of Cherbury arrived in Paris he remarked on the great number of +Englishmen thronging about the ambassador's mansion. They had, most of +them, studied the language and fashions in some quiet provincial town, +such as Orleans or Blois, and returned to Paris full of affectations. +Herbert draws a picture[666] of one such "true accomplish'd cavalere": + + Now what he speaks are complimental speeches + That never go off, but below the breeches + Of him he doth salute, while he doth wring + And with some strange French words which he doth string, + Windeth about the arms, the legs and sides, + Most serpent like, of any man that bides + His indirect approach. + +Many travellers did not follow Moryson's advice "to lay aside the +spoone and forke of Italy, the affected gestures of France, and all +strange apparrell" on their return to England. Their affectation of +foreign languages and customs proved disagreeable to many of their +countrymen. The Frenchified traveller and his untravelled imitators were +known as _beaux_ or _mounsiers_. Nash speaks of the "dapper mounsieur +pages of the Court," and Shakespeare of the young gallants who charm the +ladies with a French song and a fiddle, and fill the Court with +quarrels, talks, and tailors.[667] When the English nobles and gentlemen +who had held official appointments at Tournai returned to England, after +lingering some time at the French Court, the chronicler Hall[668] +declares they were "all French in eating, drinking, yea in French vices +and brages, so that all estates of England were by them laughed at." + +The English _beau_ thought it his duty to despise English ways, +fashions, and speech, and to ape and dote upon all things French:[669] + + He struts about + In cloak of fashion French. His girdle, purse, + And sword are French; his hat is French; + His nether limbs are cased in French costume. + His shoes are French. In short from top to toe + He stands the Frenchman. + +Above all, he loves to display his "sorry French" and chide his French +valet in public, and + + if he speak + Though but three little words in French, he swells + And plumes himself on his proficiency. + +And when his French fails him, as it soon does, he coins words for +himself which he utters with "widely gaping mouth, and sound acute, +thinking to make the accent French": + + With accent French he speaks the Latin Tongue, + With accent French the tongue of Lombardy, + To Spanish words he gives an accent French, + German he speaks with the same accent French, + All but the French itself. The French he speaks + With accent British. + +Thus the _beau_ cannot be ranked among the genuine students of French. + + Would you believe when you this monsieur see + That his whole body should speak French, not he? + +asks Ben Jonson.[670] [Header: "FRENCH-ITALIANATE" GENTLEMEN] We have a +picture, in Glapthorne's _The Ladies' Privilege_, of a travelled gallant +who undertakes to teach French to a young gentleman desiring thereby to +be "for ever engallanted." They confer on rudiments; "your French," says +the gallant, "is a thing easily gotten, and when you have it, as hard to +shake off, runnes in your blood, as 'twere your mother language." Until +you have enough of the language to sprinkle your English with it, answer +with a shrug, or a nod, or any foreign grimace.[671] The author of the +_Treatyse of a galaunt_ bemoans the fact that "Englysshe men sholde be +so blynde" as to adopt the "marde gere" of the French.[672] Many were +the outbursts of patriotic indignation roused by the affectation of the +newly returned travellers, who "brought home a few smattering terms, +flattering garbes, apish cringes, foppish fancies, foolish guises and +disguises and vanities of neighbour nations."[673] In the sixteenth +century France was not exclusively responsible for the fopperies of the +English _beau_, who might often be described as "French Italianate."[674] +He spoke his own language with shame and lisping.[675] Nothing "will +down but French, Italian and Spanish."[676] "Farewell, Monsieur +Traveller," says Rosalind to Jacques, "look you lisp, and wear strange +suits; disable all the benefits of your own country; be out of love with +your nativity, and almost chide God for making you that countenance you +are."[677] The affected _beau_ will "wring his face round about as a man +would stirre up a mustard pot and talke English through the teeth."[678] +He sprinkles his talk with overseas scraps. "He that cometh lately out +of France will talke French-English, and never blush at the matter, and +another chops in with English Italianated."[679] And what profit has he +from the journey on which he has gathered such evil fruit? Nothing but +words, and in this he exceeds his mother's parrot at home, in that he +can speak more and understands what he says.[680] And this is often no +more than to be able to call the king his lord "with two or three +French, Italian, Spanish or such like terms."[681] His attire, like his +tongue, speaks French and Italian.[682] He censures England's language +and fashions "by countenances and shrugs," and will choke rather than +confess beer a good drink. In time the _beau_ forgot what little he had +learnt of Italian, and in the seventeenth century was generally known as +the _English monsieur_, or the _gentleman à la mode_. + +There were two very different attitudes towards the journey to France, +as there were two types of traveller, the serious and the flippant. The +prejudiced and insular-minded asked with Nash:[683] "What is there in +France to be learned more than in England, but falsehood in fellowship, +perfect slovenry, to love no man but for my pleasure, to swear _Ah par +la mort Dieu_ when a man's hands are scabbed. But for the idle traveller +(I mean not for the soldier), I have known some that have continued +there by the space of half a dozen years, and when they come home, they +have hid a little weerish lean face under a broad hat, kept a terrible +coil in the dust in the street in their long cloaks of gray paper, and +spoke English strangely. Nought else have they profited by their travel, +save learned to distinguish the true Bordeaux grape and know a cup of +neat Gascoigne wine from wine of Orleans." The opposite view is +expressed in the message George Herbert sent to his brother at +Paris:[684] "You live in a brave nation, where except you wink, you +cannot but see many brave examples. Bee covetous then of all good which +you see in Frenchmen whether it be in knowledge or in fashion, or in +words; play the good marchant in transporting French commodities to your +own country." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[564] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._ vol. xvi. No. +238. + +[565] Sir Rt. Naunton, _Fragmenta Regalia_, 1824, p. 69. + +[566] _Cal. State Papers, Dom.: Add., 1580-1625_, p. 99. + +[567] _Ibid._ p. 119. A certain Charles Doyley wrote in similar terms +from Rouen. + +[568] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1595-97_, p. 293. + +[569] _Purchas Pilgrimes_, 1625. + +[570] Howell, _Epistolae Ho-Elianae_. + +[571] As did Sir James Melville (_Memoirs_, Bannatyne Club, 1827, p. +12), "to learn to play upon the lut, and to writ Frenche," at the age of +fourteen. Similarly, Barnaby Fitzpatrick, Edward VI.'s youthful +favourite and proxy for correction, was sent to Paris to study fashions +and manners (Nichols, _Literary Remains_, p. lxx). + +[572] The practice was also very common in Scotland, especially when the +reformers assumed the power of approving private tutors as well as +schoolmasters. Gentlemen were driven to evade this restriction by +sending their sons to France in the care of what they considered +suitable tutors. The Assembly then tried to assert its power by granting +passports only to those whose tutors they approved. See Young, _Histoire +de l'Enseignement en Écosse_, p. 52. + +[573] _Copy Book of Sir Amias Poulet's Letters_, Roxburghe Club, 1866, +pp. 16, 231. + +[574] _The Compleat Gentleman_ (1622), 1906, p. 33. + +[575] Ellis, _Original Letters_, 3rd series, iii. 377. + +[576] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._ vol. viii. 517; +vol. ix. 1086; vol. xii. pt. i. 972, etc. + +[577] Dated 1610. Ellis, _Original Letters_, 2nd series, iii. 230. + +[578] Green, _Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies of Great Britain_, +London, 1846, ii. pp. 294 _et seq._ + +[579] _Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII._ vol. xiii. pt. i. +512. + +[580] _Itinerary_, 1617, pt. iii. bk. i. p. 5. + +[581] _Of Education._ To Master Samuel Hartlib. + +[582] _Copy Book_, p. 90. + +[583] _State Papers, Dom., 1598-1601_, p. 162; and _1601-1603_, p. 29. +In 1580 a list of some English subjects residing abroad was sent to the +queen (_ibid., Addenda, 1580-1625_, p. 4.) + +[584] Greene left an account of his impressions of France and Italy in +his _Never too Late_ (Works, ed. Grosart, viii. pp. 20 _sqq._). + +[585] Frequently the wording in passports (_Cal. State Papers_). + +[586] There were many complaints throughout the two centuries of the +travellers' neglect of everything concerning their own country. "What is +it to be conversant abroad and a stranger at home?" asks Higford. See +also Penton, _New Instructions to the Guardian_, 1694; and F. B. B. D., +_Education with Respect to Grammar Schools and Universities_, 1701. + +[587] Ellis, _Original Letters_ (3rd series, iv. p. 46), publishes one +of the licences which had to be obtained. + +[588] Reprinted by Lady T. Lewis, _Lives from the Pictures in the +Clarendon Galleries_, 1852, i. p. 250. + +[589] _Description of Britaine_, 1577, Lib. 3. ch. iv. + +[590] _Euphues_, ed. Arber, 1868, p. 152. + +[591] _Scholemaster_, ed. Arber, 1870, p. 82. Mulcaster was also +eloquent on the evil result of travel (_Positions_, 1581). + +[592] _Instructions for Youth ..._, by Sir W. Raleigh, etc., London, +1722, p. 50. + +[593] Who founded the English seminary at Douay. + +[594] See entries in _Cal. of State Papers_. + +[595] March 25, 1601 (_Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1601-1603_, p. 18). + +[596] _Correspondence with Hubert Languet_, 1912, p. 216. + +[597] Letter dated September 1, 1631 (J. Forster, _Sir John Eliot, a +Biography_, London, 1864, i. pp. 16, 17). + +[598] J. Howell, _Instructions for Forreine Travel_, 1642 (ed. Arber, +1869), p. 19. + +[599] 1656, p. 102. + +[600] Spence's _Anecdotes_, 1820, p. 184; _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[601] _A Dialogue concerning Education_, in _Miscellaneous Works_, +London, 1751, pp. 313 _et seq._ + +[602] Cp. Entries of Passports, in the _Cal. State Papers_. The +necessity of such a course was considered specially urgent if the +traveller was himself ignorant of languages (_The Gentleman's Companion, +by a Person of Quality_, 1672, p. 55). + +[603] Gailhard, _The Compleat Gentleman_, 1678, p. 16. + +[604] Gailhard, _op. cit._ pp. 19, 20. A gentleman, he thinks, should be +sent abroad betimes to prevent his being hardened in any evil course. + +[605] _Some Thoughts on Education_, 1693. + +[606] Walker, _Of Education, especially of Young Gentlemen_, 1699, 6th +ed. + +[607] _Notes on Ben Jonson's Conversations with William Drummond of +Hawthornden_ (1619), Shakespeare Soc., 1842, pp. 21, 47. + +[608] _Autobiography_, ed. Sir Sidney Lee (2nd ed., 1906), p. 56. + +[609] _Memoirs of Sir John Reresby_, ed. J. J. Cartwright, 1875, p. 26. + +[610] _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[611] Addison was well acquainted with French literature and criticism. +He frequently quotes Boileau, Racine, Corneille, and also Bouhours and +Lebossu. His _Tragedy of Cato_ is closely modelled on the French +pattern. See A. Beljame, _Le Public et les hommes de lettres en +Angleterre au 18e siècle_, 1897, p. 316. + +[612] _Memoirs of the Verney Family_, 1892, iii. p. 36. + +[613] _The Correspondence of Philip Sidney and Hubert Languet_, ed. W. +A. Bradly (Boston, 1912), p. 26. + +[614] _Savile Correspondence_, Camden Soc., 1858, pp. 133, 138. O. +Walker, in his _Of Education_, differs from other writers in proposing +that young gentlemen should travel without a governor. + +[615] In the same category may be placed the _Traveiles of Jerome +Turler_, a native of Saxony, whose work was translated into English in +the year of its appearance (1575). It was specially intended for the use +of students. + +[616] T. Palmer, _Essay on the Means of making our Travels into Forran +Countries more Profitable and Honourable_, 1606; T. Overbury, +_Observations in his Travels_, 1609 (France and the Low Countries). +William Bourne's _Treasure for Travellers_ (London, 1578) has no bearing +on travel from the language point of view. Of special interest are +Dallington's _Method for Travell, shewed by taking the View of France as +it stoode in the Yeare of our Lorde 1598_, London (1606?), and his _View +of France_, London, 1604. Other works are _A Direction for English +Travellers_, licensed for printing in 1635 (Arber, _Stationers' +Register_, iv. 343); Neal's _Direction to Travel_, 1643; Bacon's _Essay +on Travel_, 1625; Howell's _Instructions for Forreine Travel_, 1624. + +[617] The versatile master of the ceremonies to Charles I., Sir +Balthazar Gerbier, wrote his _Subsidium Peregrinantibus or an Assistance +to a Traveller in his convers with--1. Hollanders. 2. Germans. 3. +Venetians. 4. Italians. 5. Spaniards. 6. French_ (1665), in the first +place as a _vade mecum_ for a princely traveller, the unfortunate Duke +of Monmouth. It claimed to give directions for travel, "after the latest +mode." Cp. also _A direction for travailers taken by Sir J. S._ (Sir +John Stradling) _out of_ (the _Epistola de Peregrinatione Italica of_) +_J. Lipsius, etc._, London. 1592. + +[618] List in Watt's _Bibliographia Britannia_, 1824 (heading +_Education_); and in _Cambridge History of English Literature_, ix. ch. +xv. (Bibliography). + +[619] _Method for Travell_, 1598, and _View of France_, 1604. + +[620] The constant warnings against mixing with Englishmen abroad show +how numerous the latter must have been. "He that beyond seas frequents +his own countrymen forgets the principal part of his errand--language," +wrote Francis Osborne in his _Advice to a Son_ (1656). + +[621] As did Lord Lincoln, who "sees no English, rails at England, and +admires France." + +[622] _Itinerary_, 1617. + +[623] Bacon, _Essay on Travel_, 1625. + +[624] Gailhard, _op. cit._ p. 48. + +[625] S. Penton. _New Instructions to the Guardian_, 1694, p. 104. + +[626] Cp. Entries of passports to France in the _Calendar of State +Papers_. + +[627] _Positions_, 1581. + +[628] It appears from a deleted note in the MS. of Defoe's _Compleat +English Gentleman_ that travel was not always considered necessary for +younger sons (ed. K. Bülbring, London, 1890). + +[629] _French Alphabet_, 1592: "Car la plus part de ceux qui vont en +France apprennent par routine, sans reigles, et sans art, de sorte qu'il +leur est impossible d'apprendre, sinon avec une grande longueur de +temps. Au contraire ceux qui apprennent en Angleterre, s'ils apprennent +d'un qui ait bonne methode, il ne se peut faire qu'ils n'apprennent en +bref. D'avantage ce qu'ils apprennent est beaucoup meilleur que le +françois qu'on apprend en France par routine. Car nous ne pouvons parler +ce que nous n'avons apris et que nous ignorons. Ceux qui apprennent du +vulgaire ne peuvent parler que vulgairement . . . d'un françois +corrompu. Au contraire ceux qui apprennent par livres, parlent selon ce +qu'ils apprennent: or est il que les termes et phrases des livres sont +le plus pur et naif françois (bien qu'il y ayt distinction de livres); +il ne se peut donc qu'ils ne parlent plus purement et naivement (comme +j'ay dict) que les autres." + +[630] Wodroeph, _Spared houres of a souldier_, 1623. + +[631] Livet, _La Grammaire française et les grammairiens au 16e siècle_, +1859, p. 2. + +[632] _In linguam gallicam Isagoge_, 1531. + +[633] _Le Traité touchant le commun usage de l'escriture françoise_, +1542, 1545; cp. Livet, _op. cit._ pp. 49 _sqq._ + +[634] _Gallicae linguae institutio Latino sermone conscripta_ (1550, +1551, 1555, 1558, etc.). + +[635] _Institutio gallicae linguae in usum iuventutis germanicae_ (1558, +1580, 1591, 1593). + +[636] _Dialogue de l'ortografe et prononciacion françoese, departi en +deus livres_, 1555. + +[637] "J'ay tousiours eu plus ordinaire hantise, plus de biens et +d'honneur et de civile conversation de la nation Angloise que de nul +aultre." + +[638] Villiers had no doubt some previous knowledge of French. From the +age of thirteen he had been taught at home by private tutors. + +[639] _Reliquiae Wottonianae_, London, 1657, p. 76. + +[640] 12º, pp. 386. + +[641] + + "Etranger desireux de nostre langue apprendre, + Employe en ce livret et ton temps et ton soin, + Que si d'enseignement plus ample il t'est besoin, + Viens t'en la vive voix de l'autheur mesme entendre." + +[642] It differs from _Les Desguisez_, a comedy written by Godard in +1594. + +[643] E. Winkler, "La Doctrine grammaticale d'après Maupas et Oudin," in +_Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie_, Heft 38, 1912. + +[644] Towards the end of his career, Oudin was appointed to teach Louis +XIV. Spanish and Italian; he was the author of several manuals for +teaching these languages, and it is worthy of note that sometimes the +German language is included. + +[645] Printed with Nicot's edition of Aimar de Ranconnet's _Thresor de +la langue françoyse_, Paris, 1606. + +[646] Garnier was also the author of familiar dialogues, published in +French, Spanish, Italian, and German in 1656. + +[647] _Lettres sur les Anglais et sur les Français_ (end of seventeenth +century), 1725, p. 305. + +[648] Another grammar specially intended for the use of strangers was +_Le vray orthographe françois contenant les reigles et preceptes +infallibles pour se rendre certain, correct et parfait a bien parler +françois, tres utile et necessaire tant aux françois qu'estrangers. Par +le sieur de Palliot secretaire ordinaire de la chambre du roy._ 1608. + +[649] Gailhard, _op. cit._ p. 33. + +[650] _Method for Travell_, 1598. + +[651] _Records of the English Catholics_, i. pp. 275 _et sqq._; F. C. +Petre, _English Colleges and Convents established on the Continent ..._, +Norwich, 1849; G. Cardon, _La Fondation de l'Université de Douai_, +Paris, 1802. + +[652] Cp. p. 343 _infra_. + +[653] Cp. account by M. Nicolas, in _Bulletin de la société de +l'Histoire du Protestantisme Français_, iv. pp. 503 _sqq._ and pp. 582 +_sqq._ Twenty-five such colleges are named. + +[654] _Bulletin_, i. p. 301; ii. pp. 43, 303, 354 _sqq._; also articles +in vols. iii., iv., v., vi., ix., and Bourchenin's _Études sur les +Académies Protestantes_. + +[655] Suppressed as early as 1620. + +[656] Driven from Scotland, in many cases, by James I.'s attempt to +introduce the English Liturgy into the Scottish churches. Robert +Monteith, author of the _Histoire des Troubles de la Grande Bretagne_, +was professor of philosophy at Saumur for four years (_Dict. Nat. +Biog._). + +[657] He composed in French _A faithful and familiar exposition of +Ecclesiastes_, Geneva, 1557; cp. _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[658] Cp. Nicolas, _Histoire de l'ancienne Académie de Montauban_, +Montauban, 1885. + +[659] There was an early Academy at Lausanne which emigrated to Geneva +and assured the latter's success (1559); cp. H. Vuilleumier, _L'Académie +de Lausanne_, Lausanne, 1891. + +[660] _Essai de remarques particulières sur la langue françoise pour la +ville de Genève_, 1691. Quoted by Borgeaud, _Histoire de l'Université de +Genève_, 1900, p. 445. + +[661] C. Borgeaud, _op. cit._ + +[662] They were united at Nîmes in 1617, and finally suppressed in 1644. + +[663] Pattison, _Isaac Casaubon_, Oxford, 1892, pp. 40-42, 155. On the +English at Geneva, cp. _ibid._ p. 20. + +[664] _Autobiography_, ed. Sir S. Lee (2nd ed., 1906), p. 56. + +[665] T. Scot, _Philomythie_, London, 1622. + +[666] _Satyra_ (addressed to Ben Jonson), 1608. _Poems of Lord Herbert +of Cherbury_, ed. J. Churton Collins, London, 1881. + +[667] _Henry VIII._, Act I. Sc. 3. + +[668] A. T. Thomson, _Memoirs of the Court of Henry VIII._, London, +1826, i. p. 259. + +[669] Epigram by Sir Th. More: translated from Latin by J. H. Marsden, +_Philomorus_, 2nd ed., 1878, p. 222. + +[670] _English Monsieur: Works_, London, 1875, viii. p. 190. Cp. other +satires and epigrams of the time: Hall, _Satires_, lib. iii. satire 7; +_Skialetheia_, 1598, No. 27; H. Parrot, _Laquei_, 1613, No. 207; +_Scourge of Villanie_, ed. Grosart, 1879, p. 158. + +[671] H. Glapthorne, "The Ladies' Privilege," _Plays and Poems_, 1874, +ii. pp. 81 _sqq._ It was sometimes the good fortune of the gallant to +"live like a king," "teaching tongues" (T. Scot, _Philomythie_, 1622). + +[672] 1510? Colophon: "Here endeth this treatise made of a galaunt. +Emprinted at London in the Flete St. at the sygne of the sonne by Wynkyn +de Worde." Alex. Barclay, Andrew Borde, Skelton and others, all satirize +the mania for French fashions. Every opportunity of getting the latest +French fashion was eagerly seized. Thus Lady Lisle, wife of Henry +VIII.'s deputy at Calais, constantly sent her friends in England +articles of dress "such as the French ladies wear" (_Letters and Papers +of the Reign of Henry VIII._, i. 3892). Moryson says the English are +"more light than the lightest French." + +[673] Purchas, _Pilgrimes_, 1625. + +[674] Sylvester, _Lacrymae Lacrymarum: Works_ (ed. Grosart), ii. p. 278. + +[675] Sir T. Overbury, _Characters_, 1614: "The Affected Traveller." + +[676] George Pettie, _Civile Conversation_, 1586 (preface to translation +of Guazzo's work). + +[677] _As You Like It_, Act IV. Sc. 1. + +[678] Nash, _Pierce Pennilesse_, quoted by J. J. Jusserand, _The English +Novel in the Time of Shakespeare_, 1899, p. 322. + +[679] Wilson, _Arte of Rhetorique_ (1553), ed. G. H. Mair, 1909, p. 162. + +[680] Hall, _Quo Vadis_, 1617. + +[681] Humphrey, _The Nobles or of Nobilitye_, London, 1563. + +[682] Overbury, _Characters_, 1614. + +[683] _The Unfortunate Traveller_ (1587), Works, ed. McKerrow, ii. p. +300. + +[684] _Letters_ (1618), ed. Warner, _Epistolary Curiosities_, 1818, p. +3. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + THE STUDY OF FRENCH AMONG MERCHANTS AND SOLDIERS + + +Merchants, always a very important and influential class in England, +claim a place by the side of the higher classes as learners of French. +They were continually in need of foreign languages, and French was +certainly the most useful, and, for those trading with France and the +Netherlands, quite indispensable. As to their own language, we are told +that when English merchants were out of England "it liketh them not, and +they do not use it."[685] Those sons of gentlemen and others who wished +to engage in trade were usually apprenticed to merchants. For instance, +Sir William Petty (b. 1623) first went to school where he got a +smattering of Latin and Greek, and, at the age of twelve, was bound +apprentice to a sea captain. At fifteen he went to Caen in Normandy +aboard a merchant vessel, and began to trade there with such success +that he managed to maintain and educate himself. He learnt French and +perfected himself in Latin, and had enough Greek to serve his turn. +Thence he travelled to Paris and studied anatomy.[686] Sylvester, no +doubt, had many opportunities of putting to the test the French he first +learnt in Saravia's school when later in life he became a merchant +adventurer. It appears that many merchants belonged to the class of +travellers who picked up the language abroad by mixing with those who +spoke it. Fynes Moryson accuses merchants, women, and children of +neglecting any serious study of languages and "rushing into rash +practice." "They doe many times," he admits, "pronounce the tongue and +speake common speeches more gracefully than others, but they seldome +write the tongue well, and alwaies forget it in short time, wanting the +practice." The many practical little manuals of conversation which had +appeared in the Middle Ages, and the "litle pages set in print without +rules or precepts" which succeeded them, would certainly encourage this +"rushing into rash practice"; such, indeed, was their aim. The majority +of merchants acquired their French, we may be sure, either by the help +of such little handbooks, intended to be learnt by heart, or simply by +"ear." + +Dialogues for merchants are provided in almost all French text-books of +the time, giving phrases for buying and selling and enquiring the way. +Barclay describes his grammar (1521) as particularly useful to +merchants. There was, moreover, a very popular little book specially +intended for that class--_A plaine pathway to the French Tongue, very +profitable for Marchants and also all other which desire the same, aptly +devided into nineteen chapters_, which appeared first in 1575, and in at +least one,[687] and probably several other editions.[688] The aim of the +book would explain how it has come about that only one copy has survived +the wear and tear of the demands made upon it. Again James Howell +dedicated his edition of Cotgrave's dictionary (1650) to the nobility +and gentry, and to the "merchant adventurers as well English as the +worthy company of Dutch here resident and others to whom the language is +necessary for commerce and foren correspondence." Books such as those of +Holyband and Du Ploich were written for the use of the middle class, +and, no doubt, for merchants also; and a later writer, John Wodroeph, +describes his collection of common phrases as "more profitable for the +merchants than for the loathsome curtier who cannot digest such coarse +meats." + +Dutch merchants are mentioned by Howell in the dedication of Cotgrave's +dictionary, and the close relations, existing between England and the +Netherlands in the time of Elizabeth, possibly account for the fact that +the Netherlanders took some part in instructing the English, chiefly +merchants, in the French tongue. It has already been seen how +unfavourably the Huguenot teachers in England criticized their +fellow-teachers of French from the Low Countries, and we are not +surprised to find that the latter contented themselves with teaching the +language orally, and avoided the risk of committing their views to +paper. [Header: FRENCH TEXT-BOOKS FOR MERCHANTS] In the Netherlands, +however, no such compunction was felt, and some manuals composed there +made their way to England. At an early date one was reprinted in London. +Holyband, the chief of the group of Huguenot teachers, was quickly up in +arms against it. "Je ne diray rien," he writes in 1573, "d'un nouveau +livre venu d'Anvers, et dernierement imprimé à Londres, à cause que, ne +gardant ryme ne raison, soit en son parler, phrase, orthographe, maniere +de converser et communiquer entre gens d'estat; et cependant qu'il +pindarise en son iargon il monstre de quel cru il est sorti, que si nos +chartiers d'Orleans, Bourges ou de Bloys avoyent oui gazouiller +l'autheur d'icelluy, ilz le renvoyeroient bailler entre ses geais, apres +luy avoir donné cinquante coups de leur fouet sur ses échines." Let this +writer teach his jargon to the Flemings, the Burgundians, and the people +of Hainault; it is a true saying that a good Burgundian was never a good +Frenchman. "Lesquelles choses considerées," concludes the irate +Holyband, "i'espere que l'autheur de ce beau livre ne nous contraindra +point de manger ses glands, ayans trouvé le pur froment." + +What was this book newly come from Antwerp? Probably an edition of a +very popular collection of phrases and conversations, written originally +in French and Flemish in the early years of the sixteenth century, by a +schoolmaster of Antwerp, Noel de Barlement or Barlaiment.[689] By the +middle of the century the work had appeared in four languages. In 1556 +it was printed at Louvain in Flemish, French, Latin, and Spanish, and in +1565 it appeared at Antwerp in Flemish, French, Italian, and Spanish. In +1557 a London printer, Edward Sutton, received licence to print "a boke +intituled Italian, Frynshe, Englesshe and Laten,"[690] and in 1568 a +"boke intituled Frynsche, Englysshe and Duche" was licensed to John +Alde.[691] Both of these volumes, we may safely conclude, were +adaptations of the Flemish handbook, and either may have been the "book +from Anvers" reviled by Holyband. Another English edition of the work +was issued in 1578, a few years after Holyband's attack, by George +Bishop, who received licence to print a _Dictionarie colloques ou +dialogues en quattre langues, Fflamen, Ffrançoys, Espaignol et Italien_, +"with the Englishe to be added thereto."[692] + +This vocabulary of Barlement probably enjoyed considerable popularity in +England in its foreign editions also. It was widely used by English +merchants and travellers after it had been adapted to their use by the +addition of English to its columns; and they would, no doubt, bring +copies back with them from the Netherlands. The earliest edition in +which English has a place was probably that of 1576, entitled _Colloques +or Dialogues avec un Dictionaire en six langues, Flamen, Anglois, +Alleman, François, Espagnol et Italien. Tres util a tous Marchands ou +autres de quelque estat qu'ils soyent, le tout avec grande diligence et +labeur corrigé et mis ensemble. A Anvers 1576_. By the end of the +century a seventh and finally an eighth language were added. There are +copies of two further editions of the work issued in England in the +first half of the seventeenth century. The first included four languages +and appeared in 1637, under the title of _The {English French}{Latine +Dutch} Scholemaster or an introduction to teach young Gentlemen and +Merchants to travell or trade. Being the only helpe to attaine to those +languages_. It was printed for Michael Sparke, who issued another +edition in eight languages in 1639 as _New Dialogues or colloquies or a +little Dictionary of eight languages. A Booke very necessary for all +those that study these tongues either at home or abroad, now perfected +and made fit for travellers, young merchants and seamen, especially +those that desire to attain to the use of the Tongues._ Michael Sparke +recommends the convenience of this portable little volume: "And if +parents use to send their children beyond the sea to learne the language +and to gaine the learning of forraine nations, judge what may be said of +the benefit of this booke (I had almost said of the necessity of it) +which being read doth by daily experience furnish the Reader with a full +and perfect knowledge of divers tongues." He also tells you "in your +eare" that "since the worke has been published in England and the +Netherlands," not so perfect an edition has appeared. + +Turning to the contents of the little handbook, we are at once struck by +the close resemblance between its dialogues and those of the French +text-books produced in England--still further evidence of the use of +the book in our country. [Header: THE DIALOGUES OF BARLEMENT] Its +contents, which in all the varied forms in which it appeared are +fundamentally the same, are divided into two parts. The first consists +of four chapters, and opens with table talk very similar to that of the +English-French dialogues, especially those of Du Ploich. There is a +passage, for example, in which the schoolboy speaks of his school, found +in varying form in several of the early manuals produced in England: + + Peter is that your son? Pierre est cela vostre filz? + Ye it is my sonne. Ouy c'est mon filz. + It is a goodly child. C'est un bel enfant. + God let him alwayes Dieu le laisse tousiours + prosper in vertue. prosperer en bien. + I thanke you cousen. Je vous remercie cousin. + Doth he not goe to schoole? Ne va-il point a l'escole? + Yes, he learneth to speake French. Ouy, il apprend a parler François. + Doth he? Fait-il? + It is very well done. C'est tres bien fait. + John can you Jean sçavez vous bien + speake good French? parler françois? + Not very well, cousen, Ne point fort bien, mon cousin, + but I learne. mais ie l'apprends. + Where go you to schoole? Ou allez vous a l'escole? + In the Lombarde Street. En la rue de Lombarts. + Have you gone Avez vous longuement + long to schoole? allé à l'escole? + About halfe a yeare. Environ un demy an. + Learn you also to write? Apprenez vous aussi a escrire? + Yea, cousen. Ouy, mon cousin. + That is well done, C'est bien fait, + learne alwayes well. apprenez tousiours. + Well cousen, if it please God. Bien mon cousin, s'il plait a Dieu. + +The second chapter deals with buying and selling; the third with +counting, demanding payment of debts, and so on; and the fourth gives +specimens of commercial letters and documents. The second part contains +an alphabetical vocabulary of common words, followed by directions for +reading and speaking French, in the guise of a slight grammar. A few +rules for pronunciation and the different parts of speech are +accompanied by advice to seek fuller information in other French +grammars. Then come a few rules for the other languages--Italian, +Spanish, and Flemish. + +So popular was this handbook in England that it was reprinted without +much alteration, and no modernization, at the beginning of the +nineteenth century: _The Dialogues in six languages Latin, French, +German, Spanish, Italian, and English_, appeared at Shrewsbury in 1808. +We are informed that "this book contains common forms of speach, one +being a literal translation of the other, and as near as the idiom of +the language will bear, so that they correspond almost word for word, +and will be found extremely useful for beginners." The second part of +the work, although mentioned in the table of contents, is omitted. + +A similar polyglot manual, which was probably less well known in +England, was the _Vocabulaire de six langues, Latin, François, +Espagniol, Italien, Anglois et Aleman_, printed at Venice, probably in +1540--an enlarged edition of a vocabulary in five languages (Antwerp, +1534, and Venice, 1537) in which English had no place. This handbook +passed through several other editions,[693] and no doubt became fairly +well known in England through the intermediary of the numerous Italian +merchants who came to London, and the English traders and travellers +visiting Italy; editions which appeared at Rouen in 1611 and 1625 would +also be easily obtainable. The dictionary is described as a very useful +vocabulary for those who wish to learn without going to school--artisans, +women, and especially merchants. The first part consists of a +vocabulary, arranged under fifty-five headings, dealing with the usual +subjects, beginning with the heavens; the second contains a list of +verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns, together with a +collection of phrases and idioms. The interesting dialogue of the +Flemish vocabulary is lacking. + +In the second half of the sixteenth century there lived at Antwerp a +language master, Gabriel Meurier, who counted many English among his +pupils. Meurier was a native of Avesnes in Hainault, where he was born +in about 1530. But for many years he taught languages--French, Spanish, +Flemish, and Italian--at Antwerp, which had by this time supplanted +Bruges as the chief trading centre of the Low Countries. His pupils were +largely merchants, and his first work on the language, the _Grammaire +françoise contenante plusieurs belles reigles propres et necessaires +pour ceulx qui desirent apprendre la dicte Langue_, 1557,[694] was +dedicated to "Messeigneurs et Maistres, les gouverneurs et marchans +Anglois." [Header: GABRIEL MEURIER] In 1563 was issued at Antwerp +another work specially for the use of the English--_Familiare +communications no leasse proppre then verrie proffytable to the Inglishe +nation desirous and nedinge the ffrench language_, dedicated to his most +honoured lord, John Marsh, governor of the English nation, and intended +for the use of "Marchands, Facteurs, Apprentifs, and others of the +English nation." These dialogues on subjects specially useful to +merchants are divided into seventeen chapters, giving familiar talk for +the members of the different trades with lists of their merchandise, +directions for travellers, the names of different artisans and +tradesmen, instructions for collecting debts, receiving money and +writing receipts. Meurier teaches his pupils the words used daily by +merchants at the Exchange, and then the degrees of kinship, numbers, +coins, the days and feast days, the parts of the body and clothing, food +and table talk, and, finally, commercial notes and letters.[695] Another +edition of the book was published at Rouen in 1641, being intended, in +this case, to teach both French and English. The title given to it was +_A treatise for to learne to speake Frenshe and Englishe together with a +form of making letters, indentures, and obligations, quittances, letters +of exchange, verie necessarie for all Marchants that do occupy trade or +marchandise_. Meurier also composed numerous other books which have no +direct bearing on the teaching of French to Englishmen. They were almost +all written for the use of merchants, whom they sought to instruct in +French and Flemish, and sometimes in Spanish and Italian as well. That +the English were always in the author's mind is shown by the fact that +he sometimes explains pronunciation by comparison with English sounds. +He also did important lexicographical work. He prepared French-Flemish +vocabularies in 1562 and 1566, and in 1584 his French-Flemish Dictionary +was published at Anvers. This dictionary is said to have been one of the +sources which helped Cotgrave to compile his famous work, and Meurier +seems to have outdone the later writer in collecting rare and obsolete +words.[696] + +There were thus many faculties for learning French in the Netherlands. +Francis Osborne wrote regarding the study of French abroad:[697] "for +the place I say France, if you have a purse, else some town in the +Netherlands or Flanders, that is wholesome and safe: where the French +may be attained with little more difficulty then at Paris, neither are +the humours of the people so very remote from your owne." Thus the +Netherlanders taught French to the English both in their own +country[698] and in England. The connexion was a long-standing one. +Caxton had taken his French and English Dialogues from a Flemish +text-book, and in later times, as has been seen, Flemish works were +published in England, and had some influence on the dialogues of the +English manuals of French. The debt, however, was not all on one side. +Holyband's _French Schoolemaister_, for instance, was adapted to the use +of Flemings and printed at Rotterdam in 1606,[699] and in 1647 was +published at the end of the _Grammaire flamende et françoise_ (Rouen) of +Jan Louis d'Arsy. Moreover, the grammar of the seventeenth-century +French teacher whose popularity equalled that of Holyband in the +sixteenth century--Claude Mauger--was published in the Low Countries at +the same time as in England. + +Another link between the teaching of French in the Netherlands and in +England is found in the book by John Wodroeph--an interesting figure +among teachers of French. He spent many years in the Netherlands, and in +his French text-book he adapted what he called his "court and country +dialogues" from some French-Flemish ones written for the instruction of +the Court of Nassau in the former language. Writing of the importance of +a knowledge of French, he emphasises its usefulness to the nobility. +But, he adds, it is still more profitable to merchants, for, excepting +Latin, it is the most widely used language in Christendom, and, "si +j'osoye dire," much more useful. + +Wodroeph was a soldier, and soldiers, like merchants, gave much impetus +to the study of French. [Header: FRENCH IN MILITARY CIRCLES] In +Barlement's book of dialogues, soldiers are ranked with merchants, +travellers, and courtiers as those to whom the knowledge of languages +is most necessary: "soit que quelcun face merchandise ou qu'il hante la +court, ou qu'il suive la guerre, ou qu'il aille par villes et champs." +The wars raging almost incessantly in France and the Low Countries +attracted numbers of Englishmen. The army was an opening for younger +sons, and so "Some to the wars to try their fortunes there." Judging +from the epigrams and satires of the time, the swaggering gallant home +from the wars was a familiar figure in London. This sworded and martial +_beau_ is + + He that salutes each gallant he doth meete + With "farewell sweet captaine fond heart _adieu_"; + +one who + + hath served long in France, + And is returned filthy full of French, + +and who, at night when leaving the inn, "thinking still he had been +sentinell of warlike Brill, crys out _que va la? Zounds que?_ and stabs +the drawer with his Syringe straw."[700] + +Those who were moved by the spirit of adventure and liked the +picturesque crowded to the camp of Henry IV. of France who counted many +admirers in this country. One of these, Dudley Carleton, afterwards Lord +Dorchester, writes from the king's camp in 1596 that he is busy studying +French, though "Mars leaves little room for Mercury." Later he perfected +his knowledge by studying at Paris, and wrote thence to John +Chamberlain, the letter writer, to tell him how one Sir John Brooke, +with Coppinger, a Kentish gentleman, "lately come to learn the +language," are the "logs in our French school."[701] Unfortunately we +have no more details of this little group of Englishmen studying French +at Paris. One of the Englishmen who served in Normandy in 1591 with the +troops sent by Queen Elizabeth to help Henry IV. against the League kept +a daily journal from the 13th of August till the 24th of December +following.[702] This soldier, Sir Thomas Coningsby, a friend of Sir +Philip Sidney, acted as muster master to the English detachment, and was +in frequent intercourse with Henry before Rouen. + +An interesting example of how the army and service abroad offered +opportunities for the study of French is found in the memoirs of the +Verney family. The three younger sons of Sir Edmund Verney (1590-1642) +all became soldiers. Tom took service in the army of France, while +Edmund (1616-1649), after studying at Oxford, joined the army of the +States in Flanders (1640). When in winter quarters at Utrecht, he "made +up for his former idleness," and studied for seven or eight hours a day +for many months to improve his knowledge of French and Latin. His +Frenchman, he writes to tell his father, is the same that was Sir +Humphry Sidenham's; he "warrants I shall speak it perfectly before we +draw into the field, and truly, I am confident I shall."[703] He was +reading Plutarch's _Lives_ in French. Edmund was soon after killed in +the Civil War. His younger brother, Harry, was intended from his youth +for a soldier, and early sent to Paris to study French. There he seems +to have spoilt his English without making any very rapid progress in +French, for French grammar had a powerful rival in horses and dogs--his +chief interest in life. "Pleade for me in my behalfe to my father," he +implores his eldest brother, "if I have not write in french so well as +he expects, but howsoever, I presume a line to testifie some little +knowledge in the same, and hope in time to expresse myselfe more radier, +as the old proverbe is ... _il fault du temps pour apprendre_." Harry +Verney later took part in the Thirty Years' War, and was present at the +recapture of Breda by the Prince of Orange in 1637.[704] + +It was during the Thirty Years' War also that John Wodroeph served in +the Netherlands. He tells us in 1623 that he had been "following the +uncertaine warres" for "these seven years past." During this period of +service, "by the spared dayes and houres of (his) watch and guarde," he +composed a book for teaching French, to which he gave the title of _The +Spared Houres of a Souldier in his travells or The true Marrowe of the +French tongue_. It was printed at Dort, near Rotterdam, in 1623, and +dedicated to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles I. Wodroeph was a +"gentleman," and we gather from the interest he shows in Scotland that +he hailed from that country. [Header: JOHN WODROEPH] At both the +beginning and the end of his book are several poems of all sorts +dedicated to courtiers who had followed James from Scotland to +England--the Duke of Lennox, Earl Ramsey, James, Lord of Hay, and +others. He also addresses the Elector Palatine and his queen, Elizabeth, +James I.'s daughter. Many other poems, some in French and some in +English, are written in honour of the Lords of the States-General and of +sundry Flemish gentlemen. All these give this work, written in the midst +of the British army abroad, a strong local colour. In addition, Wodroeph +wrote poems to celebrate the virtues and learning of numerous Scottish +and English officers--Colonel William Brog, Colonel Robert Henderson, +Captain Roger Orme, Captain Edwards, Captain Drummond, and John +Monteith, his very kind captain. To many of these and other "sons of +gentlemen" Wodroeph had taught French, when his military duties +permitted, and he mentions Captain Drummond as being among his most +enthusiastic pupils. He also addresses lines to his very good friend +John Cameron, the Scotch theologian and the minister of the French +Church at Bordeaux, one of the many Scotchmen who held important +scholastic positions in France. These verses must have been written +between 1608 and 1617, the period when Cameron was at Bordeaux. Later +Cameron became professor of divinity at Saumur and Montauban. He spoke +French with unusual purity, and also wrote some of his theological +treatises in French.[705] + +Apart from its martial atmosphere, this curious volume has also a strong +Calvinistic flavour, another indication of Wodroeph's Scottish +sympathies. He wrote many "godly songs" in French, to be sung to various +psalm tunes, and even introduced the spirit into his grammar itself. His +verbs are "truly formed and constructed after the order of Geneva, which +retaineth alwaies entirely the true marrow, method and rules of verbs, +or any other part of speech, both in their Bibles, Psalms, and other +godly books: forsaking all new corruptions, of poets, and other vaine +toyes, threatening to deface the old authority of the Orthographie." +Moreover, a godly gentleman, "maister John Douglas, minister of the Word +of God to the English and Scotch troopers within Utrecht," persuaded him +to undertake the translation into French of Sir William Alexander's +_Doomesday_, which at this date embraced four books or "houres," +subsequently extended to twelve. _Doomesday_, thought Wodroeph, would be +greatly "liked of in France, yea, even as well as a second Du Bartas." +He was, however, unable to complete his task, "finding the style so +excellent and so high, and also somewhat harsh, to agree with French +verse, because that our English tongue (and chiefly by this +extraordinary poet) can affoorde more sense and matter with ten of its +syllables than ever I have been able to construe with twelve or thirteen +of the French. Therefore I was constrained to leave it off, partly for +want of tyme and commoditie, and partly that it was so constrained." The +one 'Houre' he completed was included in his book, with an apology and +the expression of the hope that "any kind French poet would end out the +rest, and also help these few rude lines which are translated in haste +out of his week and shallow braine." + +Wodroeph wrote French, both verse and prose, with remarkable ease. In +addition to the poems already mentioned, there are many others scattered +through his works. One of these, "Chanson Spirituelle de la vie des +vertueux hommes," is written to the tune of Desportes' song, "O nuit, +jalouse nuit, contre moy conjurée." He tells us that whenever possible +he used French in correspondence in preference to English. He spoke the +language with equal fluency, and assures us that he did so with greater +facility than English. He had not acquired this mastery of the language +without much study, but by "many cold winter nights sitting at it," and +by much practice. He appears to have been fairly widely read in French +literature, and shared the admiration felt by many of his countrymen for +Du Bartas and the _Quatrains_ of Pibrac. + +Thus Wodroeph was perfectly conscious of the many difficulties offered +by the French language, and censured in strong terms those who pretend +to teach it in a short space of time. "I have shamefully heard say a +teacher (in my tyme) that he could give rules, that any might read and +write and understand the French language in six weeks. O what a weake +ground should hee build therein! Yea not in sixteene months, hee and his +gentle teaching! Unlesse he dazell his eyes much, and straine his memory +out of her limits." [Header: METHOD OF STUDY] At an earlier date, +Holyband had deplored the existence of the many "thornie and inepte +bookes" claiming to give a knowledge of the language, and Wodroeph, in +his turn, shows the small esteem in which he held the many "small wares" +by which it is impossible to prove a good speaker. He had seen very many +treatises on verbs, "confused (for want of space), confusing those who +read them," and so many pamphlets and books making believe "by wordes +rather than by effects that the French tongue can be truly learned by +the same." No doubt most of these little pamphlets are among the many +school-books of which all trace has been lost. There is, however, +mention of one, _A shorte method for the Declyning of Ffrench Verbes_, +by J. S., licensed in 1623 to the printer, Richard Field.[706] + +Wodroeph, therefore, earnestly begs the student of French not to fancy +he can "spare the marrow of his famous braines" and pick French up by +ear alone, as many seek to do. He must, on the contrary, be prepared "to +storm the citadel of grammar, and do as the valiant captaine, that is to +say, besiege the strongest houldes which commande over the lesser and +weaker sort." "Loving Reader," he writes, "if I could persuade thee to +believe what profit the diligent and serious Man doth reape learning the +true methode of French Tongue and what advantage he gaineth above him +who thinketh to obtaine the said Tongue by the eare only: truly thou +wouldest use thine earnest diligence and celeritie perusing these +rules." Otherwise learners will speak "scurvily, harshly and painfully, +that they make the Frenches take their sport at them, even as the +English do at the Welshes ... taking sometyme the male for the female, +and the hand for the foote; applying to the woman that which should +apply to the man: and to the leg which ought apply to the arme: as _la +garçon_, _le femme_, _ma sieur_, and _mon dame_: ... O what language +this is in the eares of the Frenches! I think truely it should make Père +Coton him selfe to laugh at it, who said in a sermon (the King and Queen +present), that hee had neither sinned nor laughed in fiftene yeares +tyme, yea and any man else." Verbs are a special difficulty, and there +"be many that can never speake true French for lack of knowing their +methode. For where it ought to be spoken thus: _Il y eut_ or _il y avait +un homme là_, some will say _il fut_, _il estoit un homme là_. Fine +French! And so will the ignorant speake through all the moodes and +tenses, whereat the Frenches take often their sport." Thus those who +have learnt no grammar "go wallowing in the painefull and muddy mire of +confused and backward broyles, doubting and fearing (without any +assurance) what words to speak first in framing their phrases." + +But Wodroeph, in spite of the great emphasis he laid on the study of +rules, fully recognizes the importance and value of practice. "I do not +meene (for all this)," he writes, "to condemne common practice of the +tongue by the eare, but do praise both wayes; esteeming (nevertheless) +the method of the rules for the better and surer way, as I have +certainlie found (and many others), by myne owne experience practicing +them bothe." "Certes il vous faut parler tousiours," he says, "soit-il +ou en bien ou en mal." To make progress "il vous faut frequenter, +hanter, accoynter, accoster, discourir, babiller, caquetter, baiser, +lecher, parler hardiment et discretement, aymer, rire, gausser, jouer, +vous rejouir, et jouir de leurs bonnes faveurs et graces: et +principalement ès compagnies honestes: asçavoir, parmi les seigneurs et +Dames, Damoiselles honestes, pudiques matrones, femmes et filles de +vertu et d'honneur; captaines et dignes chefs de guerre, là où il y a +tousiours quelque chose a esplucher, si c'est de leurs prouesses, +entreprises, ou de leurs faicts heroiques et memorables . . . sans vous +esbahir pour le bruit non plus que fait le bon cheval de trompette." +Wodroeph doubtless based his advice on his own experience. Moreover, a +bold and enterprising spirit has much to do with the successful study of +French: "si vous n'estes hardi prompt, diligent, et vigilent, vous +n'apprendrez pas la langue françoise par songe . . . mais cela vient par +grande peine, diligence et priere a Dieu. Certes, . . . si un homme +estoit marié a une femme françoise . . . il me semble qu'il apprendroit +plustost en disant, Mme, ou m'amie, permettez moy que ie vous recerche +en tout honeur et mariage . . . a celle fin de vous faire ma chere +moitié, et fidele espouse: que par ce moyen, ie puisse et avoir vostre +alliance et apprendre vostre language, autrement, madame, il me +cousteroit beaucoup plus de temps, de peine et de mes moyens." + +Wodroeph's book for teaching French is one of the most comprehensive. He +assures the student that it lacks "nothing to make him a perfect +Frenchman but the birth and delygence though he never read any other." +It fills more than five hundred folio pages. [Header: "THE SPARED HOURES +OF A SOULDIER"] Putting his theories into practice, he begins with rules +of pronunciation and grammar, "set downe by God's helpe as I have +practiced in my time and by the tracke of best Authours, which have +professed this tongue heretofore." His debt to Holyband makes it evident +that he ranked the popular sixteenth-century teacher among these. He +would have the student pay special attention to three things: first the +pronunciation, which, as was usual, he bases on comparison with English +sounds; then the genders, learning every noun with its article "to lead +to the same in right gender"; and, finally, and most important of all, +the verbs, which should be committed to memory. In his grammar he +follows the usual order, treating each part of speech in turn. He +endeavours to avoid all superfluous rules, fearing the "loathsomeness of +the unlearned." + +The rules occupy about a hundred pages. Then follows a most +comprehensive collection of practical exercises, intended for all sorts +and conditions--courtiers, merchants, and the middle classes, "the +learned and the unlearned." The dialogues are accompanied by a verbatim +English translation. In the introductory ones the reader is referred to +the margin for the pronunciation of the most difficult words, where it +is given in English spelling. The "true English phrase" is added in the +footnote where necessary. Wodroeph was strongly in favour of sacrificing +if need be the purity of the English for the sake of rendering the +meaning of the French clearer. He did not pretend, he says, to teach his +countrymen their "own ornate English." "Verbatim, therefore, sometimes +must be had, because it is requisite that it should not always be closed +up in a phrase, but showed bare, as it fals very often: then (nil thou +wilt thou) thou must have a coat to cover it, that is to say his true +signification, or else thou must leave it, and run to the Dictionarie, +and dazle thy eyes there awhile, and be even so wise as thou wast +before; for sometymes they are not to be found at all in it, and +sometymes it will fall in some tense of some mood which no Dictionarie +can yield: yea even thousands." + +The first section of the dialogues, that accompanied by the guides to +pronunciation, deals with familiar subjects, more useful than elegant +and more profitable for the middle classes and merchants than for the +"loathsome courtier." "Thou hast in this Booke all household stuffe and +other pretty necessary words meete for thy dailie use in this tongue. +Also an Introduction to frame all common and ordinarie phrases +pertaining to a house: as of victuals, dressing, voyaging through the +land. Also the partes and cloathing of a Man, his body, all in +remarkable phrases; whereof I will shew thee vively, yea every Member, +from the crowne of the Head unto the Foot." Though Wodroeph's dialogues +are on a much larger scale than usual in French manuals, they treat of +much the same topics. He advises the student to read this first set of +dialogues several times, as much to get a good foundation of common +talk, as to learn the pronunciation by means of the guides provided. +They are followed by lists of common phrases to be learnt by heart, +"every day one or two, for ordinarie use," and to facilitate an early +use of French in conversation, and also by French idioms "very necessary +for Translations of this tongue into any other." + +After about sixty pages of this introductory matter we pass to what +Wodroeph calls "The first booke of familie Dialogues, wherein is treated +of all kinds of common necessary phrases as well for the use of the +fields, labourage and contries, as for all sortes of home affaires for a +house"--all accompanied by a verbatim English translation. These +dialogues comprise conversations between members of most ranks of +society, from a king and queen, ladies and gentlemen, to family scenes, +and discussions between various tradesmen and peasants, not forgetting +the schoolmaster and his pupil and the military officer and his +subordinates; for, whenever occasion arises, Wodroeph introduces +military talk. This section of the work closes with a list of the proper +terms in which to address the higher and lower classes. + +Next come the dialogues taken from _Le verger des Colloques recréatifs_, +offered by a Walloon to Prince Henry of Nassau, for his furtherance in +the same tongue in his younger years. Wodroeph claims to have purified +this book, written in "scurvie Wallons language." It had already been +adapted to the instruction of the English in the Italian language, by +John Florio in his _Second Frutes_. These dialogues are naturally more +of the courtly type, and are concerned with the daily occurrences of the +life of a gentleman. + +They are followed by _The Springwell of Honour and Vertue_, a collection +of moral sayings and counsels, "composed both by ancient and moderne +philosophers not only for the benefit of the corrupted youth, but also +for all folkes, of all qualities, and chiefly for the yong gentilitie." +[Header: END OF WODROEPH'S CAREER] Wodroeph explains how this +collection came to have a place in his book: "being once invited to +supper of a worthy and virtuous gentleman (one who had showed me much +favour for clearing his eldest sone of some doubts of the French +tongue), I saw that hee (his owne selfe) did copie some Theames out of +this same Worke ... for to instruct one of his children being (for that +present) at the French schoole; I entreated him to lend it me for a +Tyme, who did it willingly until I had viewed it, and corrected the +French and read it all out." The _Springwell_ is divided into three +bookes: the first deals with the "means of acquiring Honour and Vertue"; +the second with the old subject of the six or, as Shakespeare has it, +seven ages of man; and the third with the worship of God and our duty to +our neighbours. + +After sundry poems, addressed to English, Scottish, and Flemish +gentlemen, and the translation of Sir William Alexander's _First Hour_, +given in both French and English, come directions for writing letters, +with thirty-six epistles in French and English, and themes gathered out +of French authors for the use of some of his pupils, "before I made them +frame any letters: very profitable to begin with and out of the best and +purest French." Finally we have the usual proverbs, so much in favour at +this period, "picked" from those of the learned Mathurin Cordier, and +"sundry other Authours and writers." The work closes with "a +Thankesgiving (of the Authour) unto God for his helpe in the finishing +of this worke," and the quotation of Wodroeph's device--"Vers Dieu c'est +le meilleur." + +In 1625 a second edition of this curious volume appeared in London, +under the title of _The Marrow of the French Tongue_. This edition is +said to be "revised and purged of much gross English" which had made its +way into the former edition, printed abroad. It is considerably +abridged, and lacks the living interest of the Dort edition. The actual +instructions for the French tongue remain intact, but all the little +chatty autobiographical scraps, and observations to the "Loving Reader," +as well as the addresses to officers, which gave such a characteristic +personal touch to the earlier edition, are here omitted, and the work is +about one hundred and seventy pages shorter. The dedication to Charles +Stuart, now newly crowned Charles I., still stands. Wodroeph had no +doubt returned to England, where he was known to several of the +prominent men of the time. In 1623 he had mentioned favours received +from James, Lord of Hay, at Hampton Court, sixteen years before. We may +presume that he continued to teach French among the higher classes of +society after his return, though there does not appear to be any further +trace of him. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[685] Florio, _First Frutes_, 1578. + +[686] J. Aubrey, _Brief Lives_ (ed. A. Clark, Oxford, 1898), ii. p. 140. + +[687] A fragment of one leaf, the title page, leaving no date; British +Museum, Harl. MSS. 5936. + +[688] Arber, _Transcript of the Stationers' Register_, iii. 413; iv. 152 +and 459. + +[689] _Vocabulaire de nouveau ordonné et derechief recorigé pour +aprendre legierement a bien lire, escripre, et parler françoys et +flameng_, Anvers, 1511 (E. Stengel, _Chronologisches Verzeichnis_, p. 22 +n.; and Michelant, _Livre des Mestiers_, Introduction). + +[690] Arber, _Stationers' Register_, i. 343. + +[691] _Ibid._ i. 389. + +[692] Arber, _Stationers' Register_, ii. 338. + +[693] Cp. Ch. Beaulieux, "Liste de Dictionnaires, Lexicographes et +vocabulaires français antérieurs au Thrésor de Nicot" (1606), in +_Mélanges de Philologie offerts à Ferdinand Brunot_, Paris, 1904. + +[694] Cp. E. Stengel, "Über einige seltene französische Grammatiken," in +_Mélanges de Philologie romane dédiés à Carl Wahlund_. Macon, 1896, pp. +181 _sqq._ + +[695] Of similar import, no doubt, were the _Boke of Copyes Englesshe, +Ffrynshe and Italion_, licensed to Vautrollier in 1569-70 (_Stationers' +Register_, i. 417); and the _Bills of Lading English, French, Italian, +Dutch_, licensed to Master Bourne in 1636 (_ibid._ iv. 364). + +[696] H. Vaganey, _Le Vocabulaire français du seizième siècle_, Paris, +1906, pp. 2 _sqq._ + +[697] _Advice to a Son_, 1656, p. 83. + +[698] Cp. _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1666-67_, pp. 57, 104. At a later +date A. de la Barre, a schoolmaster of Leyden, published a _Methode ou +Instruction nouvelle pour les etrangers qui desirent apprendre la +manière de composer ou écrire a la mode du temps et scavoir la vraye +prononciation de la langue françoise_, Leyden, 1642. In 1644 he issued, +also at Leyden, a book probably intended as reading material for his +pupils, and called _Les Leçons publiques du sieur de la Barre, prises +sur les questions curieuses et problematiques des plus beaux esprits de +ce temps_. + +[699] Farrer, _La Vie et les oeuvres de Claude de Sainliens_, +Bibliography. + +[700] G. S. Rowlands, _The Letting of Humour's blood in the Head-Vaine_ +(1600). Edinburgh, 1814. + +[701] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1595-97_, p. 173; _1601-1603_, pp. 18, +111. + +[702] Printed in the _Camden Miscellany_, vol. i., 1847, pp. 65 _sqq._ + +[703] _Memoirs of the Verney Family_, i. 171. + +[704] During the Commonwealth there were many English troops in the +service of France, and the Duke of York, afterwards James II., spent +much of his first exile in serving under Turenne. + +[705] Cp. _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. An Englishman, Gilbert Primrose, +was for a time minister at Bordeaux (till 1623), and afterwards of the +Threadneedle Street Church, London (_Dict. Nat. Biog._). + +[706] Arber, _Stationers' Register_, iv. 100. + + + + +PART III + +STUART TIMES + + + + +CHAPTER I + + FRENCH AT THE COURTS OF JAMES I. AND CHARLES I.--FRENCH STUDIED BY + THE LADIES--FRENCH PLAYERS IN LONDON--ENGLISH GENERALLY IGNORED BY + FOREIGNERS + + +The coming of the Stuarts strengthened considerably the connexion +between France and England. French was widely used at the Court of James +I. The King himself does not appear to have been well acquainted with +other foreign languages than French and Latin, both of which he employed +freely in conversation[707] and correspondence.[708] In one or other of +these tongues he conversed with the learned foreigners he loved to +gather at his Court, such as Isaac Casaubon[709] and the famous +Protestant preacher, Pierre Du Moulin, minister of Charenton. The latter +has left an account[710] of the warm welcome he received from the +English monarch; he tells us that at meal times he usually stood behind +His Majesty's chair and conversed with him. James requested Du Moulin to +write an answer to Cardinal Du Perron's pamphlet concerning the power of +the Pope over monarchs, in which he had been attacked. Du Moulin +complied, and his work was printed at London in 1615 as the _Declaration +du Sérénissme Roy Jacques I_. He also preached in French before James at +the Chapel Royal at Greenwich, and received marks of distinction from +the University of Cambridge, which conferred the degree of D.D. upon +him.[711] + +An idea of the extent to which French was used in intercourse with +ambassadors and other foreigners may be gathered from the _Finetti +Philoxenus_, a series of observations by Sir John Finett, knight and +master of the ceremonies to the two first Stuart kings of England, +touching the reception and precedence, treatment and audience of foreign +ambassadors. The French language was making important progress at this +time, and Latin was rapidly losing ground. James was the last king of +England to employ Latin in familiar conversation, and this is partly +accounted for by his pedantic turn of mind. The spread of the use of +French in England was hastened too by its growing popularity all over +Europe. The Flemish Mellema, in his Flemish-French Dictionary of 1591, +says French is used everywhere in Europe and the East.[712] To be +unacquainted with French was accounted a great deficiency in a +gentleman. It was said of the language that _qui langue a jusqu'à Rome +va_,[713] and in England the general conviction was that "No nobleman, +gentleman, soldier, or man of action in business between Nation and +Nation can well be without it."[714] + +James seems to have acquired his knowledge of French chiefly by means of +intercourse with the many Frenchmen at the Scottish Court, one of whom, +Jérôme Grelot, was among the young noblemen who shared his studies.[715] +He also read much French literature, however, and later took a great +interest in the language studies of his children. They were constantly +required to send him letters in French and Latin to allow him to judge +of their progress. + + "Sir," wrote the Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Queen of Bohemia, + "L'esperance que j'ay de vous voir bien tost et d'avoir l'honneur + de recepvoir voz commandemens m'empeschera de vous faire ma lettre + plus longue que pour baiser tres humblement les mains de vostre + Majesté."[716] + +The king's eldest son, Henry, made acquaintance with French at a very +early age. In 1600, when only seven years old, he addressed a letter in +French to the States-General of Holland. He calls this epistle "les +primices de nostre main,"[717] and probably received some help in its +composition. He also wrote in French to Henry IV., who had recommended +to him his riding master, M. St. Antoine,[718] and to the Dauphin, +offering him two _bidets_.[719] [Header: FRENCH STUDIES OF THE STUART +FAMILY] At this time many of the riding-masters in England were +Italians, but almost all the dancing-masters were Frenchmen.[720] +The young prince, however, had a French master for both these +exercises.[721] One of his language masters was John Florio, best known +by his translation of Montaigne's _Essais_, published in 1600, who +taught both French and Italian and was the author of several books for +teaching the latter. Florio had spent many of his earlier years at +Oxford, and at the beginning of the seventeenth century was in London, +teaching languages, and well acquainted with many of the chief men of +the day. It is uncertain at what date he became tutor to Prince +Henry,[722] but in 1603 he was appointed Reader in Italian to Queen +Anne, and in the following year "Gentleman extraordinary and Groom of +the Privy Chamber." His royal pupil was a great lover of Pibrac's +_Quatrains_, popular among teachers of French. The prince wrote to his +mother in 1604, sending her a copy of one of the quatrains, and telling +her that if she likes he will undertake to learn the whole by heart +before the end of the year; and, in reminding his father of a promise to +give ecclesiastical preferment to his tutor, Mr. Adam Newton, he quotes +one of them as appropriate:[723] + + Tu ne saurois d'assez ample salaire + Recompenser celui qui t'a soigné + En ton enfance et qui t'a enseigné + A bien parler et sur tout a bien faire. + +Prince Charles, afterwards Charles I., seems to have been the most +accomplished of James's family in so far as French is concerned. He was +able to carry on a conversation in it with his father and the Duke John +Ernest of Saxe-Weimar when he was thirteen years old.[724] Evidence of +his fluency is provided by the well-known episode of his visit to Spain +to see the Infanta. The Queen of Spain, daughter of Henry IV. and sister +of Henrietta Maria, was delighted when the English prince, on his +arrival at the Spanish Court, addressed her in her native idiom. She +warned him not to speak to her again without permission, as it was +customary to poison all gentlemen suspected of gallantry towards the +Queen of Spain. She managed to obtain leave to speak with Charles, +however, and had a long conversation with him in her box at the theatre, +in the course of which, it is said, she confided to him her desire for +his marriage with her sister.[725] When Charles married Henrietta she +was quite ignorant of English, and his knowledge of French was again put +to the test. He was also called upon to employ French with his +mother-in-law, Marie de Medecis, during her stay in England. His letters +to her show how accomplished a writer of French he was. He possessed a +more elegant style than his French wife, thanks largely to Guy Le +Moyne,[726] who was also French tutor to the Duke of Buckingham[727] and +other members of the nobility. + +Among the French masters employed in the family of Charles I. was Peter +Massonnet, a native of Geneva, who attended the princes, Charles (II.) +and James (II.), in the capacity of sub-tutor, writing-master, and +French teacher. We have no details as to how he taught them, nor do we +know if Charles learnt from one or other of the French manuals which had +been dedicated to him. Massonnet received a salary and pension from +Charles I., in whose service he remained for thirty-two years, first as +French tutor to his children and then, in the time of his adversity, as +clerk to the Patents, and Foreign Secretary. During the Commonwealth he +spent some time at Oxford, and was created D.Med. on the 9th of April +1648, being described as second or under tutor to James, Duke of +York.[728] At the time of the Restoration Massonnet was in a very +destitute condition. His pension had not been paid during the troubled +period of the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth, and to crown all he was +outlawed for debt. He had to petition Charles II., his former pupil, +several times for the payment of his salary and arrears before his +appeal had any real effect. From time to time he received instalments, +but in 1668 he was still "the saddest object of pity of all the king's +servants, and ready to perish."[729] + +[Header: FRENCH TUTORS AT COURT] + +In 1633 Sir Robert le Grys, Groom of the Chamber to James I. and Charles +I.,[730] offered his services as tutor to Prince Charles (II.), then +three years old. He undertook to make Latin the prince's mother tongue +by the age of seven, using an easy method, not "dogging his memory with +pedantic rules, after the usual fashion." French was to be the language +first studied, and Italian and Spanish also entered the programme.[731] +What sort of reception these proposals met with is not known, but in May +of the same year Sir Robert was granted the office of captain of the +Castle of St. Mewes for life.[732] Another tutor, named Lovell, taught +French and Latin to two of Charles I.'s children during the Civil War. +He was employed at Penhurst by the Countess of Leicester, to whose care +the children had been committed.[733] + +Ladies were among the most eager lovers of the French language at the +Court of the early Stuarts, and were noted for their proficiency in that +tongue. We hear that wealthy ladies go to Court, "and there learn to be +at charge to teach the paraquetoes French."[734] Not only was he that +could not _parlee_ not considered a gentleman, but the ladies had to +talk French if they wished to play a part at Court. French had entirely +supplanted Euphuism, the high-flown, bombastic speech which had held +sway in polite circles after the appearance of Lyly's _Euphues_ in 1579. +"Now a lady at Court who speaks no French," wrote Th. Blount in +1623,[735] "is as little regarded as she who did not parley euphuisme" +in the earlier days. Girls, to be considered well brought up, had to +"speak French naturally at fifteen, and be turned to Spanish and Italian +half a year later."[736] It is improbable that Spanish was learnt in any +but a few exceptional cases. Italian, however, was fairly widely learnt +for purposes of reading as we may conclude from the title of a book +printed at London in 1598 by Adam Islip--_The Necessary, Fit and +Convenient Education of a young Gentlewoman, Italian, French, and +English_.[737] John Evelyn's favourite daughter, Mary, was as familiarly +acquainted with French as with English. Her knowledge of Italian was +limited and characteristic of the general attitude taken up towards that +language; she understood it, and was able "to render a laudable account +of what she read and observed." His other daughter, Susanna, was also a +good French scholar, but apparently knew no Italian, though she had read +most of the Greek and Roman authors. Sir Ralph Verney, who dissuaded +women from deep study, recognised that French was indispensable, and +encouraged them to read French romances especially. + +While Italian was sometimes read, French was almost always spoken in +polite circles. Milton's avowed preference for Italian forms a +noticeable exception to the general rule, and even he acquired some +knowledge of French at an early age.[738] There were also many more +facilities for learning French than there were for Italian. It is +certain--some of the dialogues of the French text-books prove it--that +many ladies picked up a conversational knowledge of the language from +their French maids. This was how the young daughters of Lord Strafford +acquired their knowledge, as we see from the following account of their +progress which he sent to their grandmother: "Nan, I think, speaks +French prettily ... the other (Arabella) also speaks, but her maid, +being of Guernsey, her accent is not good."[739] + +Women, however, had had at all times no small influence on the +production of French text-books. One of the first written in England, +the _Treatyz_ of Walter de Bibbesworth, was composed in the first place +for the use of Lady Dionysia de Mounchensy. [Header: LADIES STUDY +FRENCH] The two chief grammars of the early sixteenth century, the +_Introductorie_ of Duwes and the _Esclarcissement_ of Palsgrave, both +owed their origin to royal princesses, and early in the seventeenth +century there appeared a grammar written specifically to enable women to +"match old Holliband" and "_parlee_ out their part" with men--_The +French Garden for English Ladyes and gentlewomen to walke in, or a +Summer dayes labour_, by Peter Erondell or Arundell, a native of +Normandy, and one of the group of refugee Huguenots, who taught the +French language in London. Erondell informs us he had long felt the +urgent need of such a book in his own teaching experience. "It is to be +wondered," he writes, "that among so many which (and some very +sufficiently) have written principles concerning our French Tongue +(making the dialogues of divers kinds), not one hath set forth any +respecting or belonging properly to women, except in the French +Alphabet,[740] but as good never a whit as never the better; not that I +finde faulte with it, but it is so little, as not to contayne scarce a +whole page, so that it is to be esteemed almost as nothing. I knowe not +where to attribute the cause, unles it be to forgetfulnes in them that +have written of it. For seeing that our tongue is called _Lingua +Mulierum_, and that the English ladyes and gentlewomen are studious and +of a pregnant spirits, quicke concertes and ingeniositie, as any other +country whatsoever, me thinketh it had been a verie worthie and specious +subject for a good writer to employ his Pen." Accordingly Erondell +undertook "to break the yce first," as he puts it. + +He opens his _Garden_ with some rules of pronunciation in English, "as a +gate through the which wee must (and without the which we cannot) enter +into our French Garden." He acknowledges that he has selected these +rules "out of them which have written thereof." Many are taken from De +la Mothe's _French Alphabet_, and Holyband, as well as Bellot, are also +reckoned amongst those "which have written best of it." On one point, +however, Erondell claims to make an observation "never noted before in +any book." This had to do with the change in pronunciation of the +diphthong _oi_.[741] "Whereas our countrymen were wonte to pronounce +these words _connoistre_ ... as it is written by _oi_ or _oy_; now since +fewe yeeres they pronounce it as if it were written thus, _conètre_." + +Erondell reduces the grammar rules to the smallest possible number. "He +wishes the student to learn by heart" the first two verbs _avoir_ and +_estre_, and for the rest to "help him selfe by the treatise that M. +Holliband made thereof,[742] as being the best (French and English) that +I have yet seen, notwithstanding it is not amisse to make you knowe our +persons and the number of our conjugations, which M. Bellot, in his +_French Guide_,[743] saith to be sixe, and I can number no more." In +dealing with grammar, Erondell claims to correct a gross error common in +England--the use of _de_ for the preposition _from_ before a masculine +noun preceded by _le_; "because that in English it is said ... _I come +from the country_, so the English students do commonly say, insteade of +_Je viens du pays_, ... _Je viens de le pays_.... But why should I finde +faulte in the English students," says Erondell, "whereas I my selfe have +heard the French teachers (I mean of our language) commit commonly that +error?" + +Erondell's grammar rules occupy but ten pages. They contain a few +observations on the gender and number of nouns, on verbs, notes on _du_, +_au_, _de la_, _a la_, _en_, _y_, and on the negative and degrees of +comparison. He considers that the rules usually contained in French +text-books are too many. Except for a few indispensable rules, "without +the which our language can never be intelligiblie spoken," the rest are +"rather a trouble and discouragement to the student then any +furtherance." He compiled his book "for them of judgement and capacity +only, which may far sooner attaine to the perfect knowledge of our +tongue, by reason of cutting off those over-many rules, wherein the +student was overmuch entangled." His first idea, indeed, had been to +make a set of dialogues for women without any rules, but he realised +that to do this would have been like building a "house without a doore"; +"and so, the gate being wider open, they may walke in who will." +Gentlemen also may find some "flowers" to please them, and the garden is +an "arbour for the child": + + Who with the busie mother now and then + May prattle of each point, in phrases milde + The witty Boies, of bookes of sport and play, + The pretty lasses of their worke all day. + +The dialogues, thirteen in number, and all of considerable length, form +the main part of the work. As usual they are in French and English, and, +in addition, the pronunciation of the more difficult French words is +given in English spelling in the margin. [Header: PETER ERONDELL] They +deal with the events in the daily life of a lady, from her rising in the +morning till bed-time. The first portrays the lady, who is of a rather +pedantic turn of mind, rising and dressing. The second introduces her +two daughters and their French governess. There is much talk on the +education of children, and we are spectators of the French tutor's +(Erondell) arrival and of the French lesson, which forms the fourth +dialogue. Each of the two girls in turn reads in French and then +translates. The more advanced is given some English to translate into +French, and the beginner is asked to conjugate certain French verbs. +This is how the lesson opens: + + Sister Charlotte I pray you goe, Ma soeur Charlotte, Je vous prie + fetch our bookes, bring our allez querir nos livres, apportez + French Garden, and all our nostre jardin Francois, et tous + other bookes: nos aultres livres: + now in the name of God let us begin. or ça commençons au nom de Dieu. + Mistres Fleurimond read first: Mlle. F. lisez premierement: + speake somewhat louder parlez un peu plus haut + to th' end I may heare afin que j'oye + if you pronounce well: si vous prononcez bien: + say that worde againe. dites ce mot la derechef. + Wherefore do you sounde Pourquoy prononcez vous + that s? cette s la? + Doe you not knowe that it must be ne savez vous pas qu'il la faut + left? Well, it is well said, laisser? Et bien, c'est bien dit, + read with more facilitie, lisez avec plus de facilité, + without taking such paines. sans tant vous peiner. + Construe me that, what is that? Traduisez moy cela, qu'est cela? + Do you understand that? tell me Entendez vous cela? dites m'en + the signification in English--Truly la signification en Anglois--Certes + Sir I cannot tell it, Mons. je ne le scauroye dire, + I understand it not, je ne l'entend point, + I beseech you tell it me, je vous supplie de me le dire, + and I will remember it against et je le retiendray pour une + another time--Give me your paper autre fois--Baillez moy vostre + and I will write it, to th' end papier et ie l'escripray, afin + you forget it not ... etc. que vous ne l'oubliez. . . . + +At the end of her lesson, Florimond has to point out her younger +sister's mistakes; for, says Erondell, "in teaching others, one learns +oneself." His rule for learning to read was, "observe your rules and +read as you do in English"--a method which explains his system of guides +to pronunciation. From the dialogues the student passes to the reading +of French literature. The girls' French tutor came between seven and +eight in the morning, the dancing-master at nine, the singing-master at +ten, and another music-master at four in the afternoon. + +In the following dialogues the lady visits first the nursery, and next +her sons and their tutors. She is then pictured receiving guests, going +out shopping, presiding at the dinner-table,[744] and taking part in +the conversation. Finally, in the evening, the company take a walk by +the Thames, and the thirteenth and last dialogue "treateth of going to +bed, prayers (including the Creed), and night-clothes." + +In order to give students an introduction to French verse as well as +prose, Erondell adds to his book the story of the Centurion in the New +Testament put into French verse by himself. He does not provide any +English translation, and considers that the pupil who has progressed so +far in the study of the language can very well do without it. For the +same reason he here omits, as he does in the last dialogue also, the +guides to pronunciation. + +For a time Erondell had been tutor in the Barkley family, and dedicated +the _Garden_ to the Lady Elizabeth Barkley, with an expression of his +gratitude for the many favours he had received from her. The verses on +the Centurion are dedicated to Thomas Norton, of Norwood, whom he calls +his "très intime et très honoré amy." As was usual at this time, +Erondell's book is preceded by commendatory poems, including lines by +William Herbert, author of _Cadwallader_, and by Nicholas Breton. There +is also a sonnet by the "Sieur de Mont Chrestien, Gentilhomme françois," +possibly the famous Antoine de Montchrétien, who in about 1605 was +forced to leave France on account of a duel, and visited both England +and Holland. Erondell appears to have been many years in England before +he produced his _Garden_. At this date he had a large clientèle, +including "many honourable ladies and gentlemen of great worth and +worship." In about 1613 he engaged an assistant to help him, one John +Fabre, a Frenchman, "born in the precinct of Guyand, a town of Turnon"; +in 1618 Fabre was still "professeing the teaching of the French tongue +with Mr. Peter Arundell."[745] + +In addition to compiling the _French Garden_, Erondelle prepared four +new editions of Holyband's _French Schoolemaister_. Although they are +said to be "newly corrected and emended by P. Erondell," he made no +noticeable changes. The first of these editions appeared in 1606, and +the others in 1612, 1615, and 1619. This last date is the latest at +which we hear of him. + +[Header: ERONDELL'S WORKS] + +The earliest notice we have of Erondell is found in 1586, when he +published a _Declaration and Catholic Exhortation to all Christian +Princes to succour the Church of God and Realme of France_,[746] +faithfully translated out of French, and printed side by side with the +original--another of the many similar pamphlets in French and English. +He had thus been in England at least twenty years when his book for +teaching French was published, and its tardy appearance led one of his +admirers to ask: + + Swift Erondell, why hast thou been so slowe + Whose nature is to bring the summer in? + +In earlier years Erondell had no doubt made use of Holyband's works; he +evinces a high esteem for the sixteenth-century teacher, and shows +intimate acquaintance with his _Schoolemaister_ and his _Treatise on +Verbs_. It is an interesting fact that until the middle of the +seventeenth century and probably much later Holyband's sixteenth-century +French was still being taught in England; as late as 1677 the _French +Schoolemaister_ was among the books advertised for sale by Thomas +Passenger at the sign of the Three Bibles on London Bridge.[747] The +great changes taking place in the evolution of the French language +reached England but slowly. + +Erondell translated another French work into English.[748] One day +Richard Hakluyt, the geographer, brought him the whole volume of the +Navigations of the French Nation to the West Indies to translate. From +this Erondell selected the _Nova Francia, or the Description of that +part of New France, which is one continent with Virginia, described in +the three late voyages ... made by M. de Monto, M. du Pont Grave, and M. +de Poutrincourt, into the countries called by the French men La Cadre, +lying to the southwest of Cape Breton ..._, which was published in 1609 +and dedicated to the "Bright Starre of the North, Henry, Prince of Great +Britaine." + +The arrival of the French Queen of England, Henrietta Maria, in 1625, +gave further stimulus to the already strong French influence at the +Court. When she came she knew no English, and for many years after her +arrival waywardly refused to study the language. Her numerous suite of +French ladies and gentlemen, including Mme. Georges, the Duc and +Duchesse de Chevreuse, and Père Sancy, shared her ignorance, as indeed +did practically all foreigners. The English Court was thus called upon +to exercise its French to the uttermost. The small French colony in +London managed to make itself very unpopular, not only with the King but +also with the whole Court. Their ignorance of English and English ways +caused them to commit blunders which prejudiced people against them. +Such was the case when Henrietta and her suite strolled, chattering and +making a great noise, through an assembly of English people listening to +a sermon. The preacher asked if he must stop, but no notice was taken, +and soon the whole retinue returned in the same fashion, evidently not +understanding a word of what was going on.[749] Within a year of their +arrival, however, most of the French attendants were dismissed. + +Four years after the arrival of the French queen, who had a passion for +the theatre, a French company arrived in London and acted before an +English audience.[750] They first played a farce at Blackfriars on the +17th of November, but did not meet with much success, being "hissed, +hooted, and pipinpelted." This hostile reception was partly due to the +fact that women[751] took part in the acting--a thing hitherto unknown +in England--and partly because the play was a "lascivious and unchaste +comedye," and the company was formed of "certain vagrant French players +who had beene expelled from their owne country." No wonder that they +gave "just offence to all vertuous and well disposed persons in the +town." Yet the French actors were not discouraged. They waited a +fortnight, and then obtained a licence to play at the Red Bull. This +second attempt does not appear to have been more successful than the +first. After some three weeks had elapsed, however, the company decided +to make a last effort. This time they acted at the Fortune, but with so +little success, that the Master of the Revels refunded them half his fee +"in respect of their ill-fortune." The failure of the venture was due +largely to its novelty, and the popular dislike of the French. [Header: +FRENCH PLAYERS IN LONDON] Though we are told that there was a "great +resort" to the French plays,[752] apparently people went more for the +sake of rioting than for the pleasure of hearing the French plays. + +The stormy reception of 1629 did not, however, hinder other French +actors from coming to our country. In 1635 a new company arrived, this +time under the special patronage of the Queen.[753] They first played +before Her Majesty, who recommended them to the King. Through his +influence they were allowed the use of the Cockpit Theatre in Whitehall. +There, on the 17th of February, they presented a French comedy called +_Mélise_--either Corneille's _Mélite_, or more probably Du Rocher's +comic pastoral, _La Mélize, ou les Princes Reconnus_.[754] The King, +Queen, and Court were present. The acting met with approval and the +players received £10. There was no repetition of the riotous behaviour +which had characterised the performances of 1629, probably because there +were no women in the company, and also because the players were +specially patronised by the Court and the aristocracy. A few days after +the King gave orders to the Master of the Revels, Sir Henry Herbert, +brother of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, that the French company should be +allowed to act at Drury Lane Theatre on the two sermon days of each week +during Lent, and through the whole of Passion week, when they would +avoid rivalry with Beeston's English players, who did not perform on +those days. Sir Henry Herbert, himself a good French scholar, tells us +he "did all these courtesies to the French gratis," wishing to render +the Queen his mistress an acceptable service. + +The French actors now enjoyed increasing popularity. When, at the end of +Lent, they had to relinquish the Cockpit, Drury Lane, to the English +players, their services were still in demand. On Easter Monday they +acted before the Court in a play called _Le Trompeur puny_, no doubt the +tragi-comedy of that name by Georges de Scudéry.[755] Their success was +even greater than on the occasion of the Court performance of _Mélise_, +and on the 16th of April following, they presented _Alcimedor_,[756] +under the same circumstances, and "with good approbation." These three +plays acted at the Court are the only part of their repertoire that is +named in the record of the Master of the Revels. On the 10th of May they +received £30 for three plays acted at the Cockpit, probably that in +Whitehall, where they first acted _Mélise_ before the Court, nearly four +months earlier, and not the Cockpit, Drury Lane, where they had played +during Lent. + +The question now arose of providing the French players with a special +theatre of their own. Arrangements were made for converting part of the +Riding School in Drury Lane into a play-house, and on the 18th of April +the King signified to Sir Henry Herbert his royal pleasure that "the +French comedians should erect a stage, scaffolds and seats, and all +other accommodations." On the 5th of May following a warrant was granted +to Josias d'Aunay and Hurfries de Lau (so Sir Herbert spells their +names)[757] and others, empowering them to act at the new theatre +"during pleasure." How long the French company, whose director was +Josias Floridor, continued to act in London is not known. But it is a +striking fact that in 1635 there was a regular French theatre +established in the city, and its presence must have had considerable +effect. The French company under Floridor again appeared before the +Court, in December 1635; we do not know what they played, beyond the +fact that it was a tragedy. On the twenty-first of the same month, the +Pastoral of _Florimène_ was acted in French at Whitehall by the French +ladies who attended the Queen. The King, the Queen, Prince Charles, and +the Elector Palatine, were present, and the performance was a great +success. + +The Queen did not persist in her obstinate refusal to learn English. +When she had been in the country about seven years, she began to study +the language seriously. Mr. Wingate was her tutor, and her love of the +theatre was put to practical use by the performance of long masques and +pastorals in English in which she took part. It is not surprising that +Henrietta Maria was ignorant of English, for our language was +practically unknown in France in the sixteenth and seventeenth +centuries. [Header: ENGLISH IGNORED ON THE CONTINENT] Italian and +Spanish were the fashionable modern foreign languages in France. English +was either entirely ignored or regarded as barbarous, and since French +was widely spoken at the English Court, and Latin was used by scholars, +the need for it was not felt.[758] No foreign ambassador ever knew +English. Of the Frenchmen who visited England,[759] only a few learnt +the language. Chief among these were the French teachers, the pioneers +among Frenchmen in the study of the English tongue. Of individuals, the +Sieur de la Hoquette, man of letters and traveller, is said to have +visited England to see Bacon, and learnt English in order to read the +Chancellor's works in the original. He discussed Bacon's works and +English novels with J. Bignon, and was surprised to find that scholar +acquainted with them. Jean Doujat also knew English, as did La Mothe le +Vayer, who married a Scotchwoman, and also perhaps Regnier Desmarais, +who draws a few comparisons with it in his grammar.[760] But these were +isolated exceptions. Among the languages in which Panurge addresses +Pantagruel on their first meeting, English has a place, but is hardly +recognisable in its Scottish dress.[761] And the Maréchal de Villars +relates in his memoirs[762] that the Duc de la Ferté, "quand il avait un +peu bu," would break out in English to the great astonishment and +amusement of all who were present. There is a tradition that Corneille +kept a copy of the English translation of the _Cid_, which he showed to +his friends as a curiosity. + +Yet the general ignorance of English outside England did not discourage +English actors from making professional tours abroad. They seem to have +enjoyed considerable popularity in Germany and the Low Countries,[763] +where they played at first in English. No doubt dancing, mimicry, and +music had much to do with their success, and the clown probably took +advantage of his position to offer interpretations from time to time. +However, the actors soon learnt some German by mixing with German +actors. A band of English acrobats had performed at Paris in 1583. Some +years later, in 1598, a troupe of English comedians hired the Hôtel de +Bourgogne,[764] the only theatre in Paris, from the _Confrérie de la +Passion_, who usually played there. The English actors, at whose head +was one Jehan Sehais, got into trouble for playing outside the Hôtel, +contrary to the privileges of the _Confrérie_, and had to pay an +indemnity. How much these actors made use of their language for +attracting an audience is not certain. At a somewhat later date, another +company played at Fontainebleau before Henry IV. and his son, afterwards +Louis XIII. The "wild dramas" acted by the English players seem to have +made a great impression on the young prince, who afterwards would amuse +himself by dressing as a comedian and crying in a very loud voice, +"Toph, toph, milord!" pacing about with great strides in the fashion of +the English actors.[765] But it is highly probable that these few words +were all the English the future king of France could muster. + +Like the language, English literature was generally ignored in France. +Those men of letters who wrote Latin--More, Camden, Selden, etc.--were +known under their Latin names. In the early years of the seventeenth +century, however,[766] the French began to take an interest in English +literature, and a few translations of prose works appeared, though +English poetry and drama remained unnoticed. The first French version of +an English work was that of Bishop Hall's _Characters of Vertues and +Vices_ which appeared in 1610, and again in 1612 and 1619, and may have +had some influence on La Bruyère's _Caractères_. [Header: NEGLECT OF +ENGLISH] It is also interesting to note that this enterprising +translator was no other than J. L'Oiseau de Tourval, Parisien, who wrote +so enthusiastically of Cotgrave's dictionary, which appeared in the +following year (1611).[767] In the course of the next twenty years about +a score of other translations saw the light, including versions of +Greene's _Pandosta_ (1615), of Sidney's _Arcadia_, and of Bacon's +_Essays_. The translation of the _Arcadia_ was the subject of a violent +literary quarrel. Two versions came out at the same time, and both +claimed priority. One was due to J. Baudouin, who had lived two years in +England learning the language. He was also responsible for the +translation of Bacon.[768] His rival was one Mlle. Chappelain. + +"English is a language that will do you good in England, but past Dover +it is worth nothing," wrote John Florio the language teacher, in his +_First Frutes_ (1578). And more than half a century later English was +still despised in foreign countries. While French was of use "in all +furthest parts of Europe," English still served "but in the Brittaine +lland,"[769] and even there did not receive due homage. English, we are +told by an indignant upholder of the claims of our language,[770] was +left for him who drives the plough; all the scholars, all the courtiers +you passed in the street, were good scholars in foreign tongues; many of +them chatted French as glibly as parrots, but could not write a single +English line without a solecism. But in the meantime the study of +English had had its advocates.[771] Richard Mulcaster has already been +mentioned as the first Englishman who emphatically urged that English +should be studied as thoroughly as foreign languages. "What reason is +it," he asked, "to be acquainted abrode and a stranger at home? to know +foreign things by rule, and our own but by rote? If all other men had +been so affected, to make much of the foren and set light by their own, +we should never by comparing have discerned the better. They proined +their own speche, both to please themselves and to set us on edge." This +was in 1582. Scholars took up the defence of the claims of English +against French, just as they did the claims of Latin. Camden seeks to +prove that English contains as many Greek words as French,[772] and so +is as worthy of respect. And Osborne, in his _Advice to a Son_, tells +the young diplomat to employ an interpreter in his dealings with these +foreigners who refused to recognize the value of English, "it being too +much an honouring of their Tongue, and undervaluing of your owne, to +propose yourself a master therein, especially since they scorn to learn +yours." There were, however, a few facilities for learning English at +the disposal of foreigners, in addition to residence in England. The +marriage of Charles I. with Henrietta Maria had been hailed both in +France and England by books which taught the languages of the two +countries conjointly, and so strengthened the new bond between them. In +England appeared a new edition of Du Bartas, in French and English, for +teaching "an Englishman French, or a Frenchman English." Wodroeph's +_Marrow of the French Tongue_ (1625), which saw the light at the same +time, was said to be "aussi utile pour le François d'apprendre l'Anglois +que pour l'Anglois d'apprendre le François," though only the dialogues +in French and English could serve this purpose, as, indeed, they might +in any other French text-book.[773] This notice is evidently added +merely as a concession to topical events; it had not figured in the +earlier edition (1623). + +In France, on the other hand, was published a work in which English was +treated more seriously. This was a _Grammaire Angloise pour facilement +et promptement apprendre la langue angloise. Qui peut aussi aider aux +Anglois pour apprendre la langue Françoise: Alphabet Anglois contenant +la pronunciation des lettres avec les declinaisons et conjugaisons_, +dedicated to Henrietta Maria, and probably arranged by one of the +professors of the Collège de Navarre, from which it is dated. We are +informed that the princess, and those intending to accompany her to her +new home, studied English daily. These lessons, if they were really +given, were no doubt a matter of form, and we may judge from the results +that they were not taken seriously. + +[Header: ENGLISH GRAMMARS] + +This grammar issued in 1625 was not original; it had appeared at Rouen +in 1595,[774] and before that date there had been several other +editions. The 1595 edition was enlarged and corrected by a certain E. +A., who, for about ten years previously, had spent much of his time +translating French pamphlets on topical events and similar works from +French into English.[775] E. A., who was probably the original compiler +of the work, dedicated it to Queen Elizabeth. He says he had collected +the material from different authors in the leisure time allowed him by +his studies. In its contents the work resembles the usual French manuals +produced in England. It opens with rules for the pronunciation of +English, followed by grammar rules for the same language, all given in +French and English. Then come the dialogues, taken textually and without +acknowledgement from Holyband's _French Littleton_, and one dialogue +specially for courtiers, which may have been original.[776] The book +closes with the vocabulary of Holyband's _French Schoolemaister_. The +grammatical part of the work is also taken from one of the productions +of the French teachers in England--the _Maistre d'escole anglais_ +(1580), written by Jacques Bellot for teaching English to foreigners in +England and dedicated to a member of the royal family of France. + +Bellot protests against the general neglect of the English language, +rich enough in his opinion to rank with the most famous living tongues. +He claims to be the first to draw up precepts for teaching it. There is +little exaggeration in Bellot's claim, for hardly any works on English +had as yet been written, and these were chiefly treatises on the +orthography, more scholastic than pedagogic in intention.[777] At the +close of the year in which Bellot's work was published, however, +appeared the first work on English by an Englishman, designed to give +instruction to foreigners as well as his own countrymen. This was +William Bullocker's _Booke at large for the Amendment of Orthographie +for English Speech_, to which was added "a ruled grammar ... for the +same speech to no small commoditie of the English Nation, not only to +come to easie, speedie and perfect use of our owne language, but also to +their easie and speedie and readie entrance into the secrets of other +Languages, and easie and speedie pathway to all strangers, to use our +language, heretofore very hard unto them." + +Two years later came Mulcaster's _Elementarie_, urging the claims of the +vernacular, and expounding his method for teaching it. Other grammars +followed, some in Latin, some in English,[778] but in hardly any of them +is any attention paid to foreigners--a striking contrast with those +published in France, in which foreigners were always an important +consideration. In 1632, however, appeared Sherwood's English-French +Dictionary, of which, it is said, the French were "great buyers." +Towards the middle of the seventeenth century foreigners received more +and more attention in such books, as English became better known. Simon +Daines's _Orthoepia anglicana_,[779] for instance, intended for the use +of both natives and foreigners, was published in 1640, as was also _The +English grammar made by Ben Jonson for the benefit of all strangers out +of his observation of the English language now spoken and in use_.[780] +Ben Jonson had made a collection of grammars, and he speaks of a most +ancient work written in the Saxon tongue and character. "The profit of +grammar is great to strangers, who have to live in communication and +commerce with us," he wrote, "and it is honourable to ourselves." In +1644 another work of like aim was issued under one of the usual florid +titles affected at that time: _The English Primrose far surpassing +others of this kind that ever grew in any English garden._ It professed +to teach "the true spelling, reading and writing of English," and was +"planted" by Richard Hodges, schoolmaster in Southwark, "for the +exceeding great benefit both of his own countrymen and strangers." +Similarly J. Wharton's grammar of 1655 claimed to be "the most certain +guide that ever yet was extant" for strangers that desire to learn our +language. + +[Header: ENGLISH GRAMMARS FOR FOREIGNERS] + +Thus travellers to England would find some provision for learning +English. In the early seventeenth century several French teachers in +London undertook to teach English to foreigners, and these were the +earliest professional teachers of the language. They had all learnt +English after their arrival in the country on very practical methods, an +experience which must have reacted on their methods of teaching French. +Most of them wrote English with ease, if not always idiomatically. As +time advanced, especially in the latter part of the seventeenth century, +they composed several English grammars for teaching the language to +their pupils. Merchants as well as French teachers were pioneers in +advancing the study of English by foreigners. In 1622 George Mason, one +of the merchants in London skilled in the French tongue, wrote a +_Grammaire Angloise, contenant reigles bien exactes et certaines de la +Prononciation, Orthographie et construction de nostre langue, en faveur +des estrangers qui en sont desireux_, but especially, he tells us, for +the use of "noz françois tant a leur arrivée en ce pais, que en leur +demeure en iceluy." This English grammar[781] is written in French, and +gives rules for pronunciation and the parts of speech. It is followed by +dialogues[782] in French and English, in the usual style, bearing much +resemblance to the Latin colloquies and the dialogues of De la Mothe's +_French Alphabet_. A new edition was issued at London in 1633. The +earliest conversation books in French and English printed by Caxton, +Wynkyn de Worde, and Pynson are called books for teaching English as +well as French. They were indeed equally adapted for either language, +but it is very improbable that at this early date even the most +enterprising merchants learnt English. + +Yet the first foreigners to recognize the importance of English were +merchants. English was given a place by the side of Latin, French, +Spanish, Italian, and German in the edition of the polyglot dictionary +for the use of merchants and travellers, printed at Venice in 1540,[783] +and at a later date in the polyglot collection of dialogues which +developed from the French and Flemish dialogues of Noel de Barlement; +not, however, till 1576, when the book had been in vogue for about +three-quarters of a century. Gabriel Meurier, schoolmaster of Antwerp, +who taught French to many of the numerous English merchants always in +the town, was acquainted with our language, but does not appear to have +had any opening for teaching it, as he did French, Flemish, Italian, and +Spanish. At a later date, however, we find an Englishman gaining his +livelihood by teaching his own language in the Netherlands. In 1646 he +published at Amsterdam _The English schole-master; or certaine rules and +helpes, whereby the natives of the Netherlands may be in a short time, +taught to read, understand and speake the English tongue, by the helpe +whereof the English may be better instructed in the knowledge of the +Dutch tongue, than by any vocabulars, or other Dutch and English Books, +which hitherto they may have had for that purpose_. This work contains +an English grammar, followed by selections from the Scriptures, moral +and familiar sayings, proverbs, dialogues, letters in English and Dutch. +The "Vocabulars" to which he refers furnished him with most of his +dialogues. A new edition appeared in 1658. + +Rouen, ever a busy centre for merchants, was the place where provision +for teaching English was first made in France. Editions of the polyglot +dictionary, which included English in the edition of Venice in 1540, +were printed at Rouen in 1611 and 1625, and again at Paris in 1631. The +1595 edition of E. A.'s English grammar appeared at Rouen, as had +probably the earlier editions. This compilation of the English grammar +of Bellot and the dialogues of Holyband was in vogue for a very long +time. In addition to the Paris issue on the occasion of the marriage of +Henrietta Maria with Charles I. (1625), editions appeared at Rouen in +1639, 1668, 1670, 1679, and most probably at other dates also; another +was issued at London, 1677. Perhaps the first book for teaching English +printed in France was a _Traicté pour apprendre a parler Françoys et +Anglois_, published at Rouen in 1553, apparently an early edition of +Meurier's work, printed at Rouen in 1563 as a _Traité pour apprendre a +parler françois et anglois, ensemble faire missives, obligations,_ etc., +and again at Rouen in 1641. + +It was long before English won recognition from foreigners other than +merchants. Not until the eighteenth century was it learnt for the sake +of its literature, and as a means of intercourse with the people who +spoke it. This state of things made it incumbent on Englishmen to equip +themselves with some foreign tongue, and they naturally chose French, +the most universal language at that time. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[707] See accounts in Rye, _England as seen by Foreigners_. + +[708] J. O. Halliwell, _Letters of the Kings of England_, London, 1846. + +[709] Rye, _op. cit._ p. 153. + +[710] "Autobiographie," _Bull. de la Soc. de l'Hist. du Protestantisme +Français_, vii. pp. 343 _sqq._ + +[711] Another famous Frenchman at the Court of James I. was Theodore +Mayerne the Court Doctor (cp. _Table Talk of Bishop Hurd_, Ox. Hist. +Soc. Collectanea, ser. 2, p. 390); also Jean de Schelandre and +Montchrétien among men of letters. James refused to give audience to the +poet Théophile de Viau, exiled for his daring satires. Boisrobert, St. +Amant, Voiture, likewise visited England at this period. + +[712] Thurot, _Prononciation française_, i. p. xiv. + +[713] Gerbier, _Interpreter of the Academy_, 1648. + +[714] Aufeild: Translation of Maupas's _Grammar_, 1634. + +[715] Young, _L'Enseignement en Écosse_, p. 78. + +[716] Ellis, _Original Letters_, 1st series, iii. 89. + +[717] T. Birch, _Life of Henry Prince of Wales_, London, 1760, p. 20. + +[718] On Henry's death, St. Antoine became equerry to his brother +Charles (Rye, _op. cit._ p. 253). + +[719] Ellis, _Orig. Letters_, ser. 1, iii. 95. + +[720] "The French fashion of dancing is most in request with us" +(Dallington, _Method for Travell_, 1598). + +[721] His dancing-master was a M. du Caus. There were other Frenchmen in +his service. Cp. "Roll of Expenses of Prince Henry," _Revels at Court_, +ed. P. Cunningham, New Sk. Soc., 1842. + +[722] J. Aubrey, _Brief Lives_, ed. Clark, 1898, i. p. 254; Wood, +_Athen. Oxon._ (Bliss). + +[723] T. Birch, _op. cit._ pp. 38, 66, 67. + +[724] Rye, _op. cit._ p. 155. + +[725] _Mémoires de Madame de Motteville_, in Petitot et Monmerqué, +_Collection des Mémoires relatifs à l'Histoire de France_, tom. 37, +1824, pp. 122-3. + +[726] _Cal. State Papers, 1660-61_, p. 162; cp. p. 207, _supra_. + +[727] Probably the second Duke, whom Charles, out of friendship for his +father, the first Duke, brought up in his own family. + +[728] Foster, _Alumni Oxon._, ad nom. + +[729] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1663-64_, pp. 384, 526, 527; _1668-69_, +p. 129; Shaw, _Calendar of Treasury Books, 1667-68_, pp. 346, 365, 620. + +[730] He received the order of knighthood from Charles I. in 1629. + +[731] _Cal. State Papers, 1633_, p. 349. + +[732] Le Grys translated several works from Latin into English. He died +early in 1635; cp. _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[733] E. Godfrey, _English Children in Olden Time_, New York, 1907, p. +133. + +[734] Davenant, _The Wits_, Act II.; cp. Upham, _French Influence in +English Literature_, p. 7. + +[735] Preface to Lyly's _Euphues_, 1623. + +[736] T. Middleton, _More Dissemblers among Women_, Act I. Sc. 4; cp. +Upham, _op. cit._ p. 6. + +[737] Watt, _Bibliotheca Britannica_, 1824, ad nom. + +[738] Probably before he left school (Masson, _Life of Milton_, 1875, i. +p. 57). + +[739] E. Godfrey, _op. cit._ p. 178. + +[740] De la Mothe devoted a short chapter to enumerating women's +clothing. + +[741] Thurot, _Prononciation française_, pp. 374, 376. + +[742] _Treatise for Declining French Verbs_, 1580, 1599, and 1641. + +[743] Perhaps this is Bellot's _French Methode_ of 1588, of which there +is no copy in the British Museum, the Bodleian, or Cambridge University +Library. There is no trace of his having written a third grammar called +the _French Guide_; in his French Grammar of 1578 the verbs are arranged +in five conjugations. + +[744] This section in particular bears a close resemblance to the +_Exercitatio_ of Vives. See Dialogue 17, in F. Watson's _Tudor Schoolboy +Life_. + +[745] In Broad Street Ward; see Cooper, _List of Aliens_, Camden Soc., +1862; Hug. Soc. Pub., x. Pt. iii. p. 187. + +[746] Lambeth Library, 8vo, B-E in fours. Hazlitt, _Bibliog. Collections +and Notes_, ii. 206. + +[747] It is included in almost all the Sale Catalogues of private +libraries at the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the +eighteenth century. + +[748] Erondell was probably also responsible for numerous other +translations from French into English; cp. p. 277, note 2, _infra_. + +[749] Strickland, _Lives of the Queens of England_, 1884, iv. p. 160. + +[750] J. Payne Collier, _History of English Dramatic Poetry, and Annals +of the Stage_, 1879, i. pp. 451 _sqq._; F. G. Fleay, _A Chronicle +History of the English Stage_, 1890, p. 334. + +[751] "Not women but monsters," wrote the Puritan Prynne in his +_Histriomastrix_, 1633, p. 114. + +[752] Prynne, _op. cit._ p. 215. + +[753] Payne Collier, _op. cit._ ii. pp. 2 _sqq._; Fleay, _op. cit._ p. +339. + +[754] The former was first acted in France in 1629 and the latter in +1633; cf. Upham, _French Influence in English Literature_, p. 373. + +[755] Scudéry's work is in verse; a king and queen of England figure +among the characters. It was first performed in France in 1631. + +[756] Probably a tragi-comedy by Du Ryer, acted in 1634; Upham, _op. +cit._ p. 373. + +[757] Diary, reprinted: Malone's _Historical Account of the English +Stage_, in an edition of Shakespeare's works, completed by Boswell, +1821, iii. pp. 120, 122. Herbert makes many of his entries in French. + +[758] Meurier, _Communications familières_, 1563. + +[759] While the English visited France in great numbers, very few +Frenchmen came to England, except those engaged on diplomatic missions, +or exiles. Thus, Ronsard, Jacques Grévin, Brantôme, Bodin, in the +sixteenth century; Schelandre, d'Assoucy, Boisrobert, Le Pays, Pavillon, +Voiture, Malleville, and a few others in the early seventeenth century, +spent a short time in England. Among scholars, Peiresc, Henri Estienne, +Justel, Bochart, and Casaubon visited our country. St. Amant was twice +in England, and on the occasion of his second visit wrote a satirical +poem, _Albion_, in which he gave vent to his dislike of the people and +the country (_Oeuvres_, ed. Livet, 1855, vol. ii.). Guide-books to +England were few, and far from giving a good impression of the country. +See Jusserand, _Shakespeare in France_, pp. 8, 129. + +[760] Rathery, _Relations sociales et intellectuelles entre la France et +l'Angleterre_, pp. 22-23, 48 sqq. + +[761] "Lord ghest tholb be sua virtiuff be intelligence, aff yi body +schal biff be naturall rehutht tholb suld of me pety have for natur ..." +(_Oeuvres de Rabelais_, ed. C. Marty Laveaux, i. 261). + +[762] Petitot et Monmerqué, _Collection des Mémoires_, tom. 68, Paris, +1828. + +[763] A. Cohn, _Shakespeare in Germany in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth +Centuries_, London, 1865, pp. xxviii, cxxxiv, cxxxv. + +[764] Jusserand, _Shakespeare in France_, 1899, pp. 51 _sqq._; E. +Soulié, _Recherches sur Molière_, Paris, 1863, p. 153. + +[765] _Journal de Jean Hervard sur l'enfance et la jeunesse de Louis +XIII, 1601-28_, Paris, 1868. Quoted by Jusserand, _op. cit._ p. 57 n. +One of Louis's tutors was an Englishman, Richard Smith. + +[766] S. Lee, "The Beginnings of French Translations from the English," +_Proceedings of the Bibliog. Soc._ viii., 1907, pp. 85-112. + +[767] Tourval was for long engaged on turning James I.'s compositions +into French, and complains of not receiving any reward nor even his +expenses. + +[768] He also translated Godwin's _Man in the Moon_, 1648, which had +some influence on Cyrano de Bergerac. He was probably the Jean Baudouin +who studied at Edinburgh in 1597. + +[769] Gerbier, _Interpreter of the Academy_, 1648. + +[770] T. B. Squire, in Simon Daines's _Orthoepia Anglicana_, reprinted +by R. Brotanek in _Neudrucke frühneuenglischer Grammatiken_, Bd. iii., +1908. + +[771] By the end of the sixteenth century it was quite a usual thing for +learned subjects to be treated in English. Ascham apologised for using +English in his _Toxophilus_ (1545), but in his _Scholemaster_ (1570) he +used it as a matter of course. + +[772] Jusserand, _Histoire littéraire du peuple anglais_, 1904, p. 316. + +[773] Florio makes the same claim in his _First Frutes_ for teaching +Italian and English. + +[774] _Grammaire Angloise et Françoise pour facilement et promptement +apprendre la Langue angloise et françoise._ A Rouen, chez la veuve +Oursel, 1595, 8vo. The Brit. Mus. copy contains MS. notes of a French +student. + +[775] In 1586 he translated three letters of Henry of Navarre, and in +following years a continuous series of similar works; in 1587 the +_Politicke and Militarie Discourse_ of La Noue; in 1588 the _Discourse +concerning the right which the House of Guise have to the crown of +France_, etc. His latest translation appears to have been Louis XIII.'s +_Declaration upon his Edicts for Combats_, 1613. This E. A. may have +been identical with Erondell (or, as sometimes written, Arundel), who +gives his name as "P. Erondell (E. A.)" in his translation of the +_Declaration and Catholic exhortation_ (1586). + +[776] It bears a strong resemblance to the first dialogue in Erondell's +_French Garden_. + +[777] Such as the works of Sir Thomas Smith, John Cheke, John Hart, all +of which appeared before 1580. + +[778] By P. Greenwood (1594), Ed. Coote (1596), A. Gill (1619), J. +Herves (1624), Ch. Butler (1633). Some are reprinted by Brotanek, _op. +cit._; cp. F. Watson, _Modern Subjects_, chap. i. + +[779] Reprinted by Brotanek, _op. cit._ vol. iii., 1908. + +[780] _Works_, 1875, vol. ix. pp. 229 _sqq._ + +[781] Reprinted by R. Brotanek, _op. cit._ Heft i., 1905, pp. 105. + +[782] Pp. 60 _sqq._ + +[783] It had no place in the earlier editions of 1534 and 1537. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + FRENCH GRAMMARS--BOOKS FOR TEACHING LATIN AND FRENCH--FRENCH IN + PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS + + +One of the most noted teachers of English as well as of French was +Robert Sherwood, who in 1632 completed his English-French Dictionary +which was appended to the new edition of Cotgrave's work issued in that +year.[784] Sherwood was born in Norfolk,[785] although he later called +himself a Londoner. In July 1622 he entered Corpus Christi College, +Cambridge, and graduated B.A. in 1626. He then moved to London and +opened a language school in St. Sepulchre's Churchyard, where he +continued to teach for many years. He also taught English to many +French, German, Danish, and Flemish nobles and gentlemen who visited +London. To these distinguished visitors he dedicated his dictionary in +1632, as well as the second edition of his French grammar in 1634, +expressing the hope that he would soon be able to produce an English +grammar "toute entière," for only the practical exercises in French and +English could be of use to them in their study of English. His French +grammar was intended "for the furtherance and practice of gentlemen, +scollers and others desirous of the said language." We gather that +Sherwood's school was limited entirely to the higher classes, and was +very different from Holyband's noisy and bustling establishment. + +The first edition of Sherwood's _French Tutour_, as he called his +grammar, saw the light in 1625,[786] just before he graduated at +Cambridge. He had probably worked at it as well as at his dictionary +during his residence there, and appears to have taught French to private +pupils. How he first acquired his knowledge of French, we do not know. +He may have spent some years in France before going to Cambridge, since +he would not find much opportunity of studying the language there. His +work is little more than a translation of selections from the French +grammar of Charles Maupas of Blois (1625). Perhaps he studied the +language with Maupas himself, of whom he speaks with great respect. In +parts of his grammar, however, Sherwood drew on his own "long +experience" in teaching French. + +The second edition of the _French Tutour_ (1634) is said to be carefully +corrected and enlarged. In it Sherwood follows the usual order of +treatment. First come rules of pronunciation, then of grammar, which +show "the nature and use of the Articles, a thing of no small importance +in this language: also the way to find out the gender of all nounes: the +conjugation of all the verbs regular and irregular; and after which +followeth a list of most of the indeclinable parts (which commonly do +much hinder learners) Alphabetically Englished; with a most ample syntax +of all the parts of speech." This section closes with an alphabetical +index "interpreting such nounes and verbes as are unenglished in the +grammar." The practical exercises are in the form of "three dialogues +and a touch of French compliments," in French and English, arranged in +two parallel columns on a page. The first deals with familiar talk by +the wayside, depicting travellers on their road to London, and, on their +arrival, taking lodgings at the Black Swan in Holborn, doing their +shopping, and taking their evening meal. The other two dialogues treat +of less familiar subjects; and, on the whole, Sherwood's book was not of +a popular kind, but was intended for the "learned." One describes the +exercises and studies of the nobility, dancing, riding, fencing, +hunting, geography, cosmography, and so forth; and the other turns on +the subject of travel in foreign countries, in which Sherwood emphasizes +the necessity for the traveller of "some good and fundamental beginning +in the language of the country whither he goeth." The _Tutour_ closes +with a selection of French compliments from the book of M. L. Miche on +French courtesy, to which Sherwood added an English version. + +Another Englishman also ventured in the early years of the seventeenth +century to write on the French language--William Colson, who called +himself a Professor of Literal and Liberal Sciences. He had spent many +years abroad as [Header: WILLIAM COLSON] travelling companion to young +English gentlemen, "as well learning as teaching such laudable arts and +qualities as are most fitting for a gentleman's exercise." Seemingly he +spent some time in the Low Countries, and he may have found his pupils +among the English troops serving there, as in 1603 he published at Liége +a book in French on arithmetic which also provides military information. +Before 1612 he had returned to London, where he composed a similar work +in English, dedicated to the Lords of the Privy Council.[787] He tells +us that on his return from his travels he wrote "certaine litteral +workes," mostly on the teaching of languages, and like an earlier +English writer, John Eliote, evolved a special method which he called +"arte locall or the arte of memorie." He expounds his "method," which is +very vague and obscure in its application, in one of his French +text-books which appeared in London in 1620 and was called _The First +Part of the French grammar, Artificially Deduced, into Tables by Arte +Locall, called the Arte of Memorie_. Colson desired to reconcile the old +orthography with the new, as Holyband had done earlier, by means of a +reformed alphabet of twenty-six letters, and of a triple distinction of +characters, Roman, Italian, and English. Roman type was to stand for the +_proper_ pronunciation, that is, letters which are pronounced as they +are written; the Italian for the _improper_, that is, letters which are +not given their usual pronunciation; and finally the letters written but +not sounded were to be printed in black letter. In his reformed alphabet +he divides the letters into seven vowels and eighteen consonants, and +subdivides the consonants into semivowels and mutes. He gives each +letter its usual name, and then its special name according to his own +scheme, as follows: + + A E' E O I Y V | H | S Z X I | L R N M | + a é e o i y u | éh | és éz éx éi | él ér én ém | + proper names | | | | + speciall names | he | sé zé xé ié | lé ré né mé | + \_____________/ \__________________________/ + Aspiration 8 semivowels + + F [^] B P : D T G K | C Q + éf é[^] éb ép : éd ét ég ék | éc éq + | + fé [^]é bé pé : dé té gé ké | cé qé + \________________________________/ + 10 mutes + \______________________________/ + 7 vowels 18 consonants + \___________________________________________________________/ + Elements and Letters + +And all the said Alphabet is briefly contained in these five artificiall +words to be learnt by heart:--Haeiou--sezexeie--lereneme--fe[^]ebepe-- +detegeke. + +After treating of the letters, Colson proceeds to deal with the other +three chief parts of grammar--"the sillible, the diction, and the +locution" (the last two dealing with accidence and syntax respectively) +in a similarly intricate and obscure style. It is difficult to imagine +what can have been his reasons for his scheme of complicated divisions +and sub-divisions, more like a puzzle than anything else. Yet he appears +to have been serious, and assures us that once his reformed alphabet is +mastered "the perfect pronunciation, reading, and writing of the French +tongue is gotten in the space of one month or thereabouts." It is not +surprising that his attempted reform passed quite unheeded. + +This _First Part of the French grammar_, which is dedicated to "the +Worshippfull, worthie and vertuous gentleman, M. Emanuel Giffard, +Esquire," seems to be the only one of Colson's works on the French +language which has survived. At its close is a large folding sheet, +containing the table of his reformed alphabet, dedicated to Sir Michael +Stanhope and Sir William Cornwallis by their affectionate servant. The +date is 1613. Colson informs us that he had also compiled a French +grammar divided into four parts, after a new method. He likewise refers +to "all his bookes tending to the instruction of the French tongue," +such as his "booke of the declination of nouns, and conjugation of +Verbes," and his "three repertories of the English, French, and Latine +tongues, compounded by arte locall for aiding the memorie in learning +most speedily the words of the foresaide tongues by heart in halfe +time": his "Repertoire of all syllables in general and of all French +words in particular containing the Art to learn them easily by heart in +verie short time and with little labour to the great contentment of him +which is desirous of the French tongue, all reduced into Tables by Art +Locall as before said": and "other works of ours shortly to be printed +tending to the knowledge of the foresaid tongues, in which works is set +downe by Art and order local (called the Art of Memory) most easy and +brief rules to learne the foresaid bookes by heart." Most of these, no +doubt, were short pamphlets, perhaps in the shape of the large folding +sheet inserted at the end of the Grammar of 1620, and so stood but +little chance of survival. + +At this same period the popular French grammar of Charles Maupas, well +known to many travellers to France, was translated into English by +William Aufeild and published in 1634. [Header: WILLIAM AUFEILD] +Maupas's grammar, first printed at Blois in 1607, had won a considerable +reputation in England, and was not without noticeable influence on the +French grammars published in London. Sherwood, who had made free use of +Maupas, praised him very highly. James Howell, in his edition of +Cotgrave's Dictionary, advises students to seek fuller grammatical +information in Maupas's Grammar, "the exactest and most scholarlike of +all." William Aufeild, the translator of the book--"the best +instructions for that language by the consent of all that know the book, +that were ever written"--considers that it excels all the French +grammars ever produced in England: "all of them put together do not +teach half so well the idiom of the French tongue as this one doth." We +are assured that the work was in great demand when it first appeared in +England, and that a great number of the nobility and gentry were +commonly taught by means of it. Finding that the fact that it was +written in French was a great drawback, as it could only be used by +those who already understood French, Aufeild decided to translate it into +English, and dedicated his work to the young Duke of Buckingham,[788] +son of the duke to whom Maupas had offered the original. Aufeild tells +that he had been studying French for ten years when he undertook his +task. He called the translation _A French grammar and Syntaxe, +contayning most exact and certaine Rules for the pronunciation, +Orthography, construction and use of the French language_.[789] + +To adapt the work to the use of the English, the translator placed a +small cross under letters not pronounced in the French word, thus +adopting Holyband's plan. These letters were also printed in a different +type, "that better notice might be taken of them." He also endeavours to +give the sounds of the French alphabet in English spelling, so that if +the student "pronounce the one like an Englishman, he must needs +pronounce the same sounds, written after the French manner, like a +Frenchman." This, he says, is the only invention which he claims as his +own in the whole work. "The examples as well as the text, are englished +to save the reader so many lookings in his Dictionary"; and the word to +which the rule has special reference is printed in different type from +the rest of the example. Occasionally the text is expanded by additional +explanations, included in parentheses. + +Aufeild advises the student of French to read the whole grammar through +first, in order to get a general notion of the language. It is vain, he +argues, to begin learning rules for the pronunciation of a language of +which you are totally ignorant. Especially is this so in the case of the +"unlearned," that is, those unacquainted with Latin grammar. For +instance, "you shall find that in all the third persons plural of verbes +ending in _-ent_, _n_ is not pronounced," and so on. Now, "unless a man +can distinguish an adverbe from a verbe," he says, "or till he know how +the plurall number is made of the singular how shall he know ... when to +leave out _n_ before _t_?" "In my opinion," he adds, "it is but a dull +and wearisome thing for a man to take a great deale of paines, in +learning to pronounce what he understandeth not." Clearly his ideal was +a preliminary grounding in the general principles of grammar. When you +have a general knowledge of the whole language you may begin at the +pronunciation and "so goe through it againe in order as it lieth." In +the second reading the student should take into account the less +important rules which are omitted in the first perusal. + +Aufeild's final piece of advice is at variance with the general practice +among teachers of the time. He would have the pupil postpone all +attempts at speaking the language until the last stages: "be not too +greedy," he warns the reader, "to be thought a speaker of French before +you are sure you understand what you read." The best known teacher of +Italian in the seventeenth century, Torriano, was of the same opinion: +"for the avoiding of a vulgar error or fault very predominant in many, +namely of being over hasty to be speaking of a language, before it be +well understood, I thought not amiss to produce the quotation of one Mr. +Wm. Aufeild.... I jump with him that they who are last at speaking speak +the best and surest and so much I find by my experience among my +scholars."[790] Many years before, Roger Ascham had expressed the same +view with regard to the teaching of Latin. [Header: AUFEILD'S ADVICE TO +STUDENTS] He admitted that the "dailie use of speaking was the best +method," but only provided the learner could always hear the language +spoken correctly and avoid "the habit of the evil choice of words, and +crooked forming of sentences"; but as it is, _loquendo male loqui +discunt_, and he advises the postponement of speaking until some +progress had been made.[791] + +Considering Aufeild's ideas as to the speaking of French, we quite +expect to find him condemning attempts to pick up the language without +the help of rules; "for if with Rules, you shall be often at a loss, +certainly you shall stick at every word without them." It may be that +"they which take another way, may speake more words in halfe a yeare +then you shall in twelve month; but in a year's space you may, with +diligence and industry, speake better (and after a while more) than +another shall doe all his life time, unless there be a vast disparity +between your abilities of mind." + +His attitude as to the respective importance of grammatical study and +its practical application was not in keeping with that of Maupas, of +whom he said, "I know not whom you can equal to him." Maupas had written +his grammar in French instead of the international language, Latin, +because he advocated the study of the grammar in the French language +itself; he taught reading and pronunciation by means of reading the +grammar in French. Aufeild, on the contrary, considered it a drawback +that when English students travelled into France they had to learn +enough French to converse with their teachers before they could learn of +their teachers how to converse with others. This was the reason which +induced him to translate the grammar, although in doing so he, no doubt +unconsciously, set at nought Maupas's principal reason for writing it in +French. + +We know of no other French grammar produced in France which was +specially favoured by English learners of French. But no doubt many +Englishmen, besides those who travelled, studied from French grammars. +English travellers returning from France would, no doubt, bring back +grammars which might also arrive through other channels. Even in the +time of Elizabeth foreign books had been freely imported into England, +and the foreign trade of the stationers of London was very extensive. +That the early French grammars were known in England is shown by their +influence on those produced in England, although in many cases this is +more readily explained by the circumstance that they were the work of +Frenchmen newly arrived from France. However, it is not likely that +these French grammars were ever widely used in England for learning the +language, when books in English were ready to hand and easier to use. In +Scotland, on the other hand, where such books were not in existence, +they were probably more widely employed. Both countries, Scotland in +particular, made free use of foreign text-books for the teaching of +Latin; but the case is hardly the same for the international language. + +In the meantime the production of French grammars in England continued +uninterruptedly. _The Flower de Luce planted in England_ was the title +of a grammar which appeared in 1619. This work was due to one Laur Du +Terme, of whom nothing is known beyond the fact that he was a Frenchman +and a protégé of Bacon, then Lord Chancellor. Du Terme had evidently +been in England long enough to acquire some knowledge of English, in +which he wrote his grammar. After imploring his patron to water his +'flower' with a few drops of favourable approbation, he proceeds to +address the gentle reader in these words: "Looke not in this Treatise, +for any eloquent words, nor polished sentences, for I doe not go about +to begge any favour nor insinuate into any man's love by coloured and +misticall phrases.[792] Neither do I intend to teach my masters, but in +requitall of your kind curtesie in teaching mee this little English I +have, do in the same set downe suche precepts as I find best for the +pronouncing, understanding, and speaking of the French tongue." These +precepts he selected from other grammars "used by many both teachers and +learners, yet I presume this will be as agreeable as any were yet, and +in brief containing more than ever I saw yet in English." The +pronunciation is explained by comparison with English sounds, and then +each part of speech is treated in turn; constant analogies with Latin +occur, and he also gives a list of French suffixes with their Latin +roots, and endeavours to introduce the Latin gerund and supine into +French grammar, not being of those who sought to delatinize French +grammar. For the verbs he refers the student to the rules given by +Cotgrave at the end of his dictionary, "very profitable for every +learner to reade," where they are arranged in four conjugations, "while +some authors make three, some five, some six, and little enough for the +understanding of all the verbs." [Header: LAUR DU TERME] He makes no +claim to completeness--"and if by chance I have applied a rule instead +of an exception or an exception instead of a rule, the teacher may +easily mend it, and your courteous censure in reciprocall of the +good-will I beare unto you I hope will excuse it. Reade it over, but not +slightly, consider every rule and way every word in it." + +Du Terme's aim in his rules is to be brief and plain. He desired them to +be regarded in the light of a reference book. The student was to begin +to read from the very first. The _Flower de Luce_ does not provide the +usual stock of reading-exercises, and Du Terme advises the student to +use "any good French author he likes best; and what word soever he goes +about to reade, let him looke upon his Rules concerning the +pronunciation of the letters, how they are pronounced in several places, +first the vowell, then what consonants are before and after, and, having +compared and brought all the Rules concerning those letters together, he +shall easily finde the true pronunciation of any word." The sounds of +the language should be thoroughly mastered at the outset: "Bestow rather +five days in learning five vowels, then to learne and passe them over in +a day, as being the chief and only ground of all the rest, without the +which you shall loose your labour, not being able to pronounce one +diphthongue unless you pronounce the vowels well, perfectly, neatly and +distinctly, without confounding one with another. The which case you +must observe in the consonants." For the proper understanding of the +matter read, he recommends the use of "some bookes that are both English +and French, as the Bible, the Testament, and many others that are very +common in England." He admits that this method is slow and difficult at +first, "yet notwithstanding, after a little labour, will prove exceeding +easie, as by experience hath been tryed: in so much as some have learned +perfectly to reade and understande the most part in less than the +quarter of a year, onely applying themselves unto it one hour and a half +in a day." + +Paul Cougneau or Cogneau, another French teacher of London, also wrote a +French grammar at this period. He called it _A sure Guide to the French +tongue_, and published it in 1635. Cogneau had no mean opinion of his +book. "It hath in some things a peculiar way, not commonly traced by +others," he tells us. "In the beginning are rules of pronunciation, then +for the declension of articles, nouns and pronouns, and in the end the +conjugation of diverse verbs, both personal and impersonal ... and +throughout the whole book there is so great a multiplicity of various +phrases congested as no one book for the bulk contains more. All which +besides are set forth with plainness as fit it for the capacity even of +the meanest. Much pains hath been employed about it, and I hope not +without great benefit and profit in the right use of it, and +consequently not unworthy of the kind acceptance which I heartily wish." +But the work has little value or originality, in spite of its interest +to the modern reader. The rules occupy thirty pages only. They are taken +mainly from Holyband and De la Mothe. The nouns, articles, and pronouns +receive very meagre treatment, but the auxiliaries and verbs, the +regular and a few irregular verbs, are fully conjugated at the end of +the book, being arranged in sentence form, as in many modern text-books: + + J'ay bien dormi ceste nuit. + Tu as trop mangé. + Il a trop bu, etc. + +The practical exercises, which fill the next three hundred pages, +reproduce the dialogues of the same sixteenth-century writers--the only +two who retained their popularity in the seventeenth. The exercises of +the _French Schoolemaister_, the _French Littleton_, and the _French +Alphabet_ are all repeated without any acknowledgement. + +Like Du Terme, Cogneau attached much importance to pronunciation and +reading. He held that pronunciation was best learnt with the help of a +teacher, and that rules were not of much use in this case. + + "I have observed," he writes, "how many of my countrymen have taken + great pains and labour to show the English how to pronounce the + French letters, by letters; but these men labour in vain: for I + know that the true pronunciation of any tongue whatsoever cannot be + taught so: nor none can learn it so; I mean, to speak it well and + truly as it ought to be: to learn to understand it by such rules, + one may in time and with great pains, but, as I have said, never to + speak it well and perfectly, without he be taught by some master. I + say not that the rules are unprofitable, no, for they are very + profitable being well used, and the learner being well directed to + understand them aright; but, as I have said, so I say still, that + whosoever will learn this noble and famous tongue, must chuse one + that can speak good French, and one that hath a good method in + teaching, and the first thing to learn of him must be to pronounce + perfectly our 22 letters, and give every one its due sound and + pronunciation." + +The student should undertake nothing until he has mastered the sounds of +the letters and syllables. [Header: PAUL COGNEAU] Then he may pass to +the reading, "and in that reading learn to spell perfectly, for it is +that which will perfect thee, so that thou wilt be able to correct many +Frenchmen both in their speaking and writing, if thou wilt take pains to +learn it perfectly and be as perfect in it as in thy native tongue. If +thou dost mark well what I have said, and do it, and if thou hast a good +teacher, thou maiest learn the French tongue easily in a year." Cogneau +gives his grammar rules in both French and English, and evidently +intended them to form part of the reading material on which the student +was to begin as soon as he had mastered the French sounds. From these he +proceeds to the dialogues. "Thou must learn this book perfectly, to read +the French in English and also the English in French perfectly, and I +durst warrant that whosoever shall learn this book perfectly will be a +perfect Frenchman, and shall be able both to speak and write the French +tongue much better than the most part of Frenchmen." The only +differences, then, between the methods advocated by Laur Du Terme and +Cogneau are that the first would have the student learn the +pronunciation by reading, and the second from the lips of a master +before the student begins to read; and that Cogneau adopts the method of +double translation, so strongly urged by De la Mothe, while Du Terme +mentions only translation of French into English. In fact, Cogneau's +method was probably suggested by the sixteenth-century teachers. + +Cogneau's _Guide_ was in vogue for a number of years. In 1658 a French +teacher, Guillaume Herbert, who appears to have had no mean opinion of +his own abilities, edited the fourth edition. He describes the earlier +form of the work as a "blind" guide rather than a sure one, but now that +it has been revised by him "both masters and scholars may with more +confidence venture upon it as the most correct book now extant of this +kind and in these tongues, and I dare promise them that if I live to see +and oversee the next edition, I will so purge and order it that every +reader may (if ingenious and ingenuous) give it deservedly the name of a +Sure Guide." It is difficult to see in what the improvements he boasts +of consist, for his is little more than a reprint of the earlier +editions. With Herbert's edition the popularity of the _Sure Guide_ came +to an end, no doubt owing to the appearance of more recent works. + +William Aufeild complained, not without reason, that most professors +teach only what other men "have set downe to their hand in English many +years agoe," and it is undeniable that several of the sixteenth-century +French grammars continued to be used in England as late as the middle of +the seventeenth century. Holyband was specially in favour, and so was De +la Mothe. Peter Erondell, it has been seen, prepared new editions of the +_French Schoolemaister_ in 1606, 1612, 1615, and 1619. Another French +professor, James Giffard, was responsible for other editions in 1631, +1636, 1641, 1649, 1655, and it appears to have been printed again in +1668; this Giffard was probably the Jacques Giffard who attended the +Threadneedle Street Church;[793] he is said to have been a native of the +isle of Sark, and in 1640 he married Elizabeth Guilbert of Guernsey. +Editions of the _French Littleton_ saw the light in 1602, 1607, 1625, +1630, 1633, and 1639. None of these editions contains any very +noticeable alterations. The new editions of De la Mothe's _French +Alphabet_ (1625, 1631, 1633, 1639, and 1647) are merely reprints of the +first edition of 1592. Thus it came about that the French of the +sixteenth century was still taught in England in the seventeenth, +regardless of the great changes which had been accomplished in the +language in the meantime. + +The first half of the seventeenth century was also a period during which +French began to receive greater recognition in the educational world. +Latin, it is true, retained its supremacy in the grammar school; but it +is significant that a considerable number of Latin school-books were +adapted to teaching French, and helped to swell the number of such +manuals at the service of students. Thus French gained a place by the +side of Latin, and some went so far as to question the supremacy of +Latin as the "learned" tongue of Europe. In 1619 Thomas Morrice[794] +deemed it necessary to refute the "error" of those of his countrymen who +placed French before Latin--"a most absurd paradox" in his opinion, for +"French was never reckoned a learned tongue; it belongs by right to one +country alone, where the people themselves learn Latin." Such protests +had little effect. In the first years of the century we have the +earliest recognition of French as distinct from other modern languages, +at the hands of a writer on education; [Header: FRENCH MAKES HEADWAY] J. +Cleland held that a young gentleman's tutor should be skilled in the +French as well as the Latin tongue, because "it is most used now +universallie,"[795] and that the student, after translating English into +Latin, should proceed to turn his Latin into French, "that he may profit +in both the Tongues together."[796] + +It was indeed by no means uncommon for French and English tutors to give +instruction in both these tongues. Denisot, Palsgrave, Holyband, and +many other French teachers had done so. Joseph Rutter, tutor to the son +of the Earl of Dorset, at whose request he translated the _Cid_ into +English, is said to have made his pupil his collaborator in this task, +and probably taught him French as well as Latin, and his case does not +appear to have been exceptional. Evelyn, the diarist, learnt the +rudiments of Latin from a Frenchman named Citolin, and probably picked +up some French at the same time; travel abroad and his marriage with the +daughter of Sir Richard Browne, English ambassador at Paris, who from +her youth upwards had lived in France, gave him opportunities for +improving his knowledge of the language, in which he was soon able to +converse with ease.[797] Evelyn's son Richard also studied the two +languages together; when he died in 1658, at the early age of five, he +was able to say the catechism and pronounce English, Latin, and French +accurately, also "to read an script, to decline nouns and conjugate all +regular and most of the irregular verbs." He had likewise "learn'd +_Pueriles_, got by heart almost the entire vocabulary of Latine and +French primitives and words, and could make congruous syntax, turne +English into Latine and _vice versa_, construe and prove what he read, +and did the government and use of relatives, verbs, substantives, +elipses, and many figures and tropes, and made a considerable progress +in Comenius's _Janua_, began himself to write legibly, and had a strong +passion for Greek."[798] + +The manuals for teaching Latin and French together, either Latin +school-books with French added, or works specially written for giving +instruction in the two languages, probably resulted from this connexion. +At an early date French had found a place in several Latin +dictionaries.[799] Soon afterwards it made its way into some of the +Latin Colloquia and school authors. In 1591 the printer John Wyndet +received a licence to print the dialogues of Corderius in French and +English.[800] There is also a notice of an edition of Castellion's +_Sacred Dialogues_ in the same two languages.[801] Aesop's _Fables_ were +printed in English, French, and Latin in 1665, with the purpose of +rendering the acquisition of these languages easier for young gentlemen +and ladies; each fable is accompanied by an illustration due to Francis +Barlow, and followed by a moral reflection. Thomas Philpott was +responsible for the English version, and Robert Codrington, M.A., a +versatile translator of the time, for the Latin and French. At least two +other editions appeared in 1687 and 1703. Another favourite author was +published in the same three languages at a later date--the _Thoughts of +Cicero ... on (1) Religion, and (2) Man.... Published in Latin and +French by the Abbé Olivet, to which is now added an English translation, +with notes_ (_by A. Wishart_) (1750 and 1773). Of these few examples of +Latin and French text-books, two are known only by hearsay. It is likely +that others, adapted to the same purpose, have disappeared without +leaving any trace at all; as such school-books were usually printed with +a privilege, their names are not preserved in the registers of the +Company of Stationers. Little wonder that such manuals, subjected to the +double wear and tear of teaching both Latin and French, have been +entirely lost. The one volume which has come down to us is Aesop's +_Fables_ in French, Latin, and English, and its survival is explained by +the elaborate and costly form in which it was issued. + +In 1617 was published the _Janua Linguarum Quadralinguis_ of Jean +Barbier, a Parisian. The work, originally written in Spanish and Latin +(1611) for the use of Spaniards, was in time adapted to teaching Latin +and incidentally Spanish to the English, by the addition of an English +translation in 1615. The fact that French was added two years later by +Barbier is not without significance. Foremost among books for teaching +French and Latin together, however, was the famous _Janua Linguarum_ of +Comenius, from which Evelyn's son learnt his Latin, and presumably his +French also. It was printed in England in English, French, and Latin, in +the very year in which it had first come out at Leszna in Latin and +German (1631). [Header: BOOKS FOR TEACHING LATIN AND FRENCH] In this +form it was given the title of _Porta Linguarum trilinguis reserata et +aperta, or the Gate of Tongues unlocked and opened_. The _Janua_ +contains a thousand sentences, dealing with subjects encyclopaedic in +plan, beginning with the origin of the world, and ending with death, +providence, and the angels. The intervening chapters treat of the earth +and its elements, animals, man, his life, education, occupations, +afflictions, social institutions, and moral qualities. J. A. Anchoran, +Licentiate in Divinity, a friend of Robert Codrington and apparently a +Frenchman, was responsible for the edition of the _Porta Linguarum_ in +English, French, and Latin. He declares he prepared it "in behalf of" +the young Prince Charles (II.), then about a year old, and of "British, +French and Irish youth." His efforts proved successful; there were two +issues of the work in 1631, and other editions appeared in 1633, 1637, +and 1639. + +With the second and following editions was bound an index to the French +and Latin words contained in the _Porta Linguarum_, entitled: _Clavis ad +Portam or a Key fitted to open the gates of tongues wherein you may +readily find the Latine and French for any English word, necessary for +all young scholars._ It was dedicated to the schoolmasters and ushers of +England, and printed at Oxford, being the work of Wye Saltonstall, +teacher of Latin and French in that University. + +Yet another brief treatise was commonly bound with the 1633 edition of +the _Porta Linguarum_--_The Pathway to the Gate of Tongues, being the +first Instruction for little children_, intended as an introduction to +Comenius, but chiefly to give instruction in French. It was due to one +of the French teachers in London, Jean de Grave, no doubt the son of the +"Jean de Grave natif d'Amsterdam" who came to England in the early years +of the seventeenth century and died some time before 1612. De Grave was +a member of the French Church, and in 1615 was twice threatened with +expulsion owing to his sympathy with the Brownists; but he saved the +situation by recanting.[802] De Grave's _Pathway_ to Comenius opens with +a table of the numbers, the catechism, graces, and prayers, all given in +Latin, English, and French. The main section gives the conjugation of +the four regular verbs (_j'aime_, _je bastis_, _je voy_, _je li_) and +of _aller_, _avoir_, _estre_, _il faut_ and _on aime_, in French +accompanied by English and Latin equivalents in parallel columns. De +Grave makes a point of omitting all the compound tenses usually +introduced into French verbs on the model of the Latin ones, as such +forms can only be expressed by means of paraphrases or of the verbs +_avoir_ and _estre_; thus French rather than Latin was in the author's +mind: "Or m'a semblé qu'il ne fallait pas charger au commencement la +memoire des petits enfants de choses desquelles le maistre diligent et +industrieux, pourveu qu'il soit homme lettré et bien entendu en la +grammaire françoise, pourra instiller peu à peu en leur esprit, plus par +diligente pratique que par cette facheuse et prolixe circonlocution qui +n'apporte aucun profit." He agreed with most of the French teachers of +the time that few rules and much practice under the guidance of a good +master, was the best way of learning French. + +In the first half of the seventeenth century also, the private +institutions in which French had a place increased considerably in +number, especially during the latter years of the reign of Charles I. +and the Commonwealth. There were several projects, of which a few were +actually realized for a time, for founding academies in England on the +model of those in France. Their aim was to provide instruction in modern +languages and polite accomplishments, in order to counterbalance the +one-sidedness of the Universities, and save parents the expense of +sending their children abroad, and protect the latter from the dangers +to which they might be exposed in foreign countries. + +In 1635 the accomplished courtier Sir Francis Kynaston founded the +_Museum Minervae_ at his house in Bedford Square, Covent Garden. Latin, +French, and Italian were the chief languages of the curriculum. No +foreigner was allowed to act as either regent or professor. A regulation +stipulated that "noe Gentleman shall speak in the forenoon to the Regent +about any businesse, but either in Italian, French, or Latin; but if any +gentleman be deficient in all these languages, then shall he deale with +some professour or other to speak unto the regent for him in the +morning, but in the afternoon free accesse shall be granted to all that +have any occasion to conferre with him."[803] A certain Michael Mason +was the professor of languages. The Academy was short-lived, and +probably did not survive its founder, who died at the beginning of the +Civil War. + +[Header: FRENCH IN PRIVATE ACADEMIES] + +On the 19th of July 1649, another Academy of similar nature but wider +scope was opened by the adventurous Sir Balthazar Gerbier in his house +at Bethnal Green. In 1648 he published a prospectus, which appeared in +several different forms, announcing to "all fathers of noble families +and lovers of vertue" that "Sir Balthazar Gerbier, knight, erects an +Academy wherein forraigne Languages, Sciences and all noble exercises +shall be taught ... whereunto shall serve several treatises set forth by +the said Sir B. G. in the Forraigne languages aforesaid, the English +tongue being joyned thereunto ... whiche Treatises shall be continually +at Mistresse Allen's Shop at the signe of the crown in Pope's head Alley +neere the olde Exchange, London." Gerbier's intention was to teach the +sciences and languages simultaneously, and by means of each other. +French seems to have been the only foreign language which received +special treatment at his hands. He was the author of _An Introduction to +the French Tongue_, a work of very slight value, treating of the +pronunciation and parts of speech and followed by a lengthy and +wearisome dialogue between three travellers. Carrying out his expressed +aim, he wrote several pamphlets on the subjects of polite education in +French accompanied by a literal English translation.[804] Every Saturday +afternoon a public lesson was read in the Academy, "as well concerning +the grounds and rules of the aforesaid languages, as touching the +sciences and exercises, which will give much satisfaction to all Fathers +of noble families and lovers of vertue." There was also an "open +lecture" by which the deserving poor were to be instructed gratis, on +due recommendation. Gerbier is also said[805] to have started an Academy +for languages at Whitehall. None of his efforts, however, met with much +response. The private Academy as such was an institution which never +really took root in England. Moreover, Gerbier was not a gifted man. The +works he wrote for use in his Academy have very little value, and his +lectures were severely criticised. Walpole calls one of them, typical of +the rest, "a most trifling superficial rhapsody." + +Several other schemes[806] for courtly academies were never realised at +all. Such were those of Prince Henry, son of James I., and of Lord +Admiral Buckingham. A play of the Commonwealth period, Brome's _New +Academy_ (1658), gives an amusing picture of one of these institutions +and introduces us to a group of pushing French men and women who profess +_inter alia_ to "teach the French Tongue with great alacrity." + +Private schools, on the contrary, were better patronised. There were +undoubtedly numerous French schools in the style of those of the +sixteenth century; Wodroeph refers to one, without giving any details, +and the language school kept by Sherwood was well known. In many +instances also French found a place in other private schools alongside +the more usual studies. Sir John Reresby, for example, was sent at the +age of fifteen to a school at Enfield Chase, where he was instructed in +Latin, French, writing, and dancing. There he stayed two years and "came +to a very passable proficiency in Latin, Greek, French, and +rhetoric."[807] The elder brother of Thomas Ellwood, Milton's +amanuensis, also learnt French and Latin at a private school at Hadley, +near Barnet in Hertfordshire, before going with Thomas to learn Latin +and some Greek at the free school of Thame.[808] Such schools seem to +have been relatively numerous at the time of the Commonwealth. One was +kept by Edward Wolley, D.D. of Oxford, who had been domestic chaplain to +Charles I., and taken refuge in France on his sovereign's death. After +spending seven years abroad as chaplain to Charles II. in exile, he +returned to England and opened a school at Hammersmith. In 1654 the +Protector issued stringent orders against "scholemasters who are or +shall be Ignorant, Scandalous, Insufficient or Negligent." Many +royalists were affected, and it was no doubt as a result of this measure +that in 1655 Wolley had to petition Cromwell to allow him to continue +his "painful employment" of instructing youth in Latin, Greek, French, +and other commendable exercises. He pleads that since his return from +France he has demeaned himself irreproachably, and that he causes "the +Holy Scriptures to be read and religious duties to be daily used" in +his school, and takes the children to church on Sunday; [Header: FRENCH +IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS] moreover "they have always spoken with honour and +reverence of his Highness."[809] Among the few royalist and episcopal +schoolmasters who were not affected by the measure of 1654 was Samuel +Turberville, a "very good schoolmaster," who kept school in Kensington. +Sir Ralph Verney's second son Jack, afterwards apprenticed to a +merchant, spent three years there (1656-59), and Turberville commends +his "amendement in writing, the mastery of his grammar and an +indifferent Latin author, his preservation of the ffrench, and the +command of his Violl."[810] Sir Ralph Verney's son had previously +acquired French in France, and wrote it fluently though not always +correctly.[811] His fellow-pupils, we are told, called him the "young +mounseer." + +There were also numerous schools for young ladies and gentlewomen in and +about London and elsewhere. One French teacher, Paul Festeau, advertises +the French boarding-school of Monsieur de la Mare at Marylebone, where +girls were taught "to write, to read, to speak French, to sing, to +dance, to play on the guitar and the spinette."[812] M. de la Mare was a +Protestant, and a reader at the French Church. His wife was a good +mother to the girls, we are told, and his daughter spoke French with +much elegance. Another French teacher, Pierre Berault, mentions the +pension for young ladies kept by his friend M. Papillon in Charles +Street, near St. James's Square. French, writing, singing, dancing, and +designing were the subjects of study. In other cases schools for girls +and young ladies were attended by a visiting French master. The most +popular French teacher of the time, Claude Mauger of Blois, was employed +for some time after his arrival in England as French teacher to the +young ladies of Mrs. Kilvert's once famous Academy. This practice became +more and more widespread as the seventeenth century advanced, and was +very common in the eighteenth century, as it still is nowadays. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[784] See p. 191, _supra_. + +[785] _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[786] _Catalogue of Books of some learned Men deceased_, 1678. It was +licensed to the printer Humphrey Lownes on 3rd January 1625 (Arber, +_Stationers' Register_, iv. 133). + +[787] General Treasury of Accounts, London, 1612. + +[788] Guy Le Moyne was probably his French tutor; cp. p. 262, _supra_. + +[789] _Written in France by Charles Maupas of Bloys. Translated into +English with additions and explications peculiarly useful to us English, +together with a preface and an introduction wherein are contained divers +necessary instructions for the better understanding of it._ + +[790] _Italian reviv'd_, 1673. + +[791] _The Scholemaster_, ed. Arber, 1869, p. 28; cp. p. 182, _supra_. + +[792] Is this a reference to Eliote's _Ortho-Epia Gallica_? + +[793] _Threadneedle Street French Church Registers_, Hug. Soc. Pub. +xiii. Pts. i. and ii. The earliest mention of Giffard occurs in 1629, +and the latest in 1649. + +[794] _Apologie for Schoolmasters._ + +[795] Cleland, _Institution of a young nobleman_, 1607, pp. 28-29. + +[796] _Ibid._ p. 80. + +[797] His first literary attempt was a translation (1648) from the +French of La Mothe le Vayer's essay on Liberty and Servitude. + +[798] _Diary_, January 27, 1658. + +[799] Cp. pp. 187 _sqq._, supra. + +[800] Arber, _Stationers' Register_, ii. 576; iii. 466. An edition in +French and Latin was printed in London as late as the eighteenth +century. + +[801] R. Clavell, _Catalogue of Books printed in London, 1666-1680_. + +[802] Schickler, _Églises du Refuge_, i. 409. His name occurs frequently +in the _Threadneedle Street Church Registers_, Hug. Soc. Pub. ix. and +xiii. + +[803] _The Constitution of the Museum Minervae_, 1636. Charles I. +granted £100 from the Treasury, and Kynaston himself provided books and +other material. + +[804] _The Interpreter of the Academy for forrain languages and all +noble sciences and exercises_, 1648. + +[805] Pepys, _Diary_, ed. Wheatley, iv. p. 148 n. + +[806] Oxford Historical Soc., 1885, _Collectanea_, series 1, pt. vi. pp. +271 _sqq._ John Dury proposes a special class of schools for languages, +which should teach the classics to those desiring "learning," and modern +languages to those intended for commerce (_Reformed School_, 1650, +quoted by F. Watson, _Modern Subjects_, p. xxvii). + +[807] _Memoirs of Sir John Reresby_, 1875, p. 22; and _Memoirs and +Travels_, ed. A. Ivatt, London, 1904, p. xv. + +[808] _Ellwood's Autobiography_, London, 1714, p. 4. + +[809] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1655-56_, p. 76. On the Restoration, +Wolley enjoyed ecclesiastical preferment, and finally became Bishop of +Clonfert. He published an English translation from the French of +Scudéry's _Curia Politiae_, in 1546, and other works in English, of no +special interest. See _Dict. Nat. Biog._, ad nom. + +[810] _Memoirs of the Verney Family_, iii. p. 361. + +[811] He usually wrote home in French. In the following extract he asks +for a taper, then in fashion among his school-mates: "Je vous prie de +m'anvoier de la chandelle de cirre entortillée, car tous les garçons en +ont pour brullay (_sic_) et moy ie n'en ay point pour moy." + +[812] Two parents discuss the school in a dialogue: + + Où allez vous? Whither are you going? + Je m'en vais voir ma fille. I am going to see my daughter. + En quel lieu? In what place? + A Maribone. At Maribone. + Que fait elle là? What doth she do there? + Comment, ne sçavez vous pas What, do you not know that I + que je l'ay mise en pension? have put her at a Boording school? + Chez qui? With whom? + Chez un nommé Mons. de la At one Mons. de la Mare that + Mare qui tient escole Françoise. keeps a French school. + Vrayement, je n'en sçavois rien. Truly, I did not know it. + Qu'apprend elle là? What does she learn there? + Elle apprend à écrire, à lire, She learns to write, to read, + à parler françois, à chanter, to speak French, to sing, + à danser, à jouer de la guitare, to dance, to play on the guitar, + et de l'épinette. and the spinette. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + THE "LITTLE BLOIS" IN LONDON + + +In the second half of the seventeenth century we come across a band of +French teachers in London, which corresponds, in importance, to that +which grouped itself round Claude Holyband in the vicinity of St. Paul's +Churchyard at the same period in the sixteenth century. At its head was +Claude Mauger, a native of Blois. Mauger had as long a teaching +experience in London as Holyband; he arrived in about 1650, and we do +not hear the last of him till the first decade of the next century. He +was forced to quit his native town by "intestine distempers," probably +an allusion to the persecutions which broke out there in the middle of +the century. He appears to have been a Huguenot. Before coming to +England he had been a student at Orleans, and for seven years had taught +French to travellers, "the flowre of all Europe," at Blois,[813] where +some years previously Maupas had laboured at the same task; among his +pupils was Gustavus Adolphus, Prince of Mecklenburg. On arriving in +England, Mauger exercised the same profession. And several others, +driven from Blois like himself, gathered around him as friends, +admirers, and fellow-workers. Among these, he tells us, he reckons +Master Penson and Master Festeau as specially good masters of language. +Of Penson nothing is known, save that he wrote some lines addressed to +Mauger's critics. Festeau, however, is mentioned elsewhere by Mauger +with high commendation, and the two seem to have been close friends. He +came to England about the same time as Mauger, and may have accompanied +him. These members of the "Little Blois" in London prided themselves on +teaching the accent of Blois, "where the true tone of the French tongue +is found, by the unanimous consent of all Frenchmen." The accent of +Blois had already been recommended by some of the earlier French +teachers. Charles Maupas was its foremost champion. + +Fate had been very unkind to him before his arrival in England, Mauger +tells us. But he soon forgot his sorrows in his busy and successful life +in London. Pupils flocked to him, and, as we saw, he was called upon by +Mrs. Margaret Kilvert to teach French in her Academy for young +gentlewomen--a place, according to him, "which needs nothing, only a +name worthy to expresse its excellency." At the same time he was busy +writing a French grammar, which appeared in 1653, and was dedicated to +Mrs. Kilvert--_The True Advancement of the French Tongue, or a New +Method and more easie directions for the attaining of it than ever yet +have been published_, preceded by verses addressed to no less than fifty +of his lady pupils. It does not differ materially as regards its +contents from previous works of the kind and had apparently been first +written in French, for Mauger says his work "hath now put on a language +to which it was before a stranger." Rules of grammar and pronunciation +occupy the first hundred and twenty pages, and the remaining half of the +book comprises reading exercises in French and English, and a +vocabulary. The sound of each letter is explained, then the declinable +parts are treated in turn, and followed by a few scattered rules of +syntax. The whole is a little incoherent, and lacks order. Mauger was +evidently acquainted with the work of his fellow-townsman Charles +Maupas. + +The second section of Mauger's grammar begins with lists of anglicisms +to be avoided,[814] and then of "certaine francisms," or French idioms, +and of familiar French phrases for common use. The dialogues turn +chiefly on the study of French, and include discussions between students +of French, talk of travel in France, and polite and gallant +conversations between French and English ladies and gentlemen. +Considering Mauger's many women pupils, it is not surprising to find a +considerable part of his book devoted to them: two ladies discuss French +and their French teacher, criticise the French accent of their friends, +or receive visits or lessons from their French, music, or dancing +masters. [Header: CLAUDE MAUGER] And as the two latter, especially the +dancing-master, were usually French, they did much to assist the +language tutor. French maids are also often introduced, and represented +as instructing their mistresses in the French language as well as in +French fashions. It is no doubt Mrs. Kilvert's Academy that is referred +to in the following dialogue: + + Mon père, je vous prie, donnés moy I pray, Father, give me + vostre bénédiction. your blessing. + Ma fille, soyés la bien revenue. Daughter, you are welcome home. + Comment se porte How does + Mme. votre Maîtresse? your mistress? + Mons. elle se porte bien. She is very well, Sir. + N'avés vous point oublié votre Have you not forgot your + Anglois? English quite? + Non, mon père. No, sir. + Je croy que vous parlés extrêmement I suppose you speak French + bien. excellently well by this time? + J'entends beaucoup mieux que I understand it better than + je ne parle. I can speak it. + Laquelle est la plus sçavante de vous Which of you two is the best + deux? proficient? + C'est ma soeur.--Je ne pense pas. My sister, Sir.--I don't believe + that. + Expliqués moy ce livre là en Render me some of that book back + François. into French. + Que signifie cela en François? What's that in French? + Entendés vous cette sentence là? Do you understand that sentence? + Ouy, Mons. Yes, Sir. + Vous avez bien profité. . . . You have made good proficiency.... + Sçavez vous travailler en ouvrages? Have you learnt any needlework + there? + Vostre luth n'est pas d'accord. . . . Your lute is out of tune.... + Et vous, ma fille, vous ne dites But you, daughter, have you + rien? nothing to say? + J'attendois vos ordres. I expect your commands. + Qu'avez vous appris? What have you learnt? + Approchez vous de moy. Come nearer to me. + Dancés une courante. Dance me a Courante. + +In another dialogue a French gentleman compliments an English lady on +her French: + + Où avés vous appris à parler François, Mademoiselle? + + Monsieur, je ne parle pas, je ne fais que bégayer. + + Je vous proteste que d'abord j'ay creu que vous fussiés Françoise. + + Il est impossible à une Angloise de posséder vostre langue. + + Vous m'excuserés, il s'en trouve beaucoup. + + J'eus l'honneur il y a quelque temps d'entretenir une Dame qui + parle aussi nettement qu'une Françoise. + + Je voy que vous avez inclination pour le François. + + Fort grande. + + Vous avez l'accent fort pur et net. + + De qui apprenés vous? + + D'un François nouvellement arrivé qui est de Blois. + + Il est vray que la pureté du langage se trouve là, non pas + seulement l'accent, mais la vraye phrase. + + Tout le monde le dit. + + Vostre langue est fort difficile. + + Je voudrois parler aussi bien que vous. + +There is only one dialogue on a subject usually contained in French +manuals--phrases for buying and selling. The vocabulary, which closes +the book, is of a more usual kind. It is arranged under headings, +beginning with the Godhead and ending with a list of things necessary in +a house. + +This book of Mauger's enjoyed a greater and longer-lived popularity than +any that had yet appeared. Edition followed edition until the end of the +first decade of the eighteenth century, and it continued to be +plagiarised for another fifty years. Its success can hardly have been +due to the scholastic value of its rules, which are few and confused, +but rather to its practical nature and lively dialogues. Mauger +constantly revised his grammar; of the earliest editions, no two are +identical. In each case he wrote new dedications, new addresses to the +reader, new dialogues, and varied the form of the grammar rules. The +second edition is much more typical than the first. Mauger had been ill +in 1653, and had not been able to correct the proofs himself. This task +he entrusted to a friend (perhaps Festeau), who "betrayed his +expectation, and corrected it not exactly." He was likewise unable to +add the English column to the dialogues, a task which was undertaken by +the corrector of the press. In the case of the second edition, however, +he attended "three times a day at the Presse," that he might correct it +according "to the expectation of those who will honour it with their +reading." He called it _Mr. Mauger's French Grammar_, and this was the +title under which it continued to be published. + +Mauger dedicated the second edition to Colonel Bullar, mentioning the +many favours heaped upon him by that officer. He again addresses French +verses to numerous English ladies, his pupils. The grammar rules are +much the same; the chief change in this part is the addition of a Latin +translation to the English, "for to render it generally useful to +strangers" visiting London, "which is this day accounted one of the most +glorious cities of the world." That Mauger provided for the teaching of +French to foreign visitors to England shows how important a place the +study of the language held in our country, and we know that he numbered +a few foreigners among his many students of the language. In this second +edition he attempted, as Holyband had done before him, to adapt the +orthography to the pronunciation, but without success. [Header: MAUGER'S +FRENCH GRAMMAR] "I had thought," he writes, "for your greater advantage, +to have fitted the writing to the pronunciation, but having found that +I could not do so, without an absolute totall subverting of the +foundations of the language, I had rather teach you to read and speak +together than to show you how to speak without being able to read, or to +read without knowing how to speak. They might say nevertheless that it +would prevent many difficultyes if we did write as we speak." Mauger +decided to follow the rules of the French Academy, instead of his own +_caprichio_ which would "teach you to speak French without being able to +read any other book than that I should present you with": for "our +language," he said, "which is so highly esteemed by all strangers for +its noble etymologies of Greeke and Latine, will not suffer itself to be +so dismembered by the ignorance of those which profess it, not having +one letter which doth not distinguish one word from another, the +singular number from the plurall, the masculine gender from the +foeminine, or which makes not a syllable long or short." + +The dialogues are new, but very similar to those of the first edition, +the chief change being the introduction of a long and "exact account of +the state of France, ecclesiastical, civil, and military as it +flourisheth at present under King Louis XIV.," which was brought up to +date in each subsequent edition. + +In following years the dialogues become more numerous; they number +eighty in the sixth edition (1670). Each new issue promises additions, +"of the last concern to the reader." A new feature in the sixth and +seventh editions is a versified rendering of the grammar rules, entitled +_Le Parterre de la langue françoise_. The verses were written at the +request of the Duke of Mecklenburg, his former pupil, and arranged in +the form of a dialogue between Mauger and the Duke, who first addresses +his master: + + Le Langage françois est si plein de merveilles + Que ses charmans appas, ravissans nos oreilles, + Nous jettent sur vos bords pour gouster ses douceurs, + Et pour en admirer les beautéz et les fleurs. + Mais, pour nous l'acquérir il faut tant d'artifice, + Qu'en ses difficultés il estreint nos delices, + Estouffe nos desseins, traverse le plaisir + Qui flatoit nostre espoir d'y pouvoir réussir. + Les articles _de la_, _de_, _du_, sont difficiles. + Si vous ne les monstrez par vos reigles utiles, + Ils nous font bégayer presques à tous momens, + Et ternissent l'éclat de nos raisonnemens. + +And Mauger answers him with an invitation to take what he will from the +"parterre." + +Additional matter was introduced in 1673 in the shape of short rules for +the pronunciation of English, which in the following editions were +developed into a short English grammar, written in French dialogues. +Later Mauger modified the arrangement of his French grammar rules, +giving them in parallel columns of French and English, in the form of +question and answer. The section dealing with the parts of speech is +recast in the form of a conversation between a French master and his +lady pupil. As to the dialogues, which are all "modish"--there is not a +word in them but is "elegant"--they were divided into two categories, +one elementary and the other advanced. In the twelfth edition, for +instance, we have forty-six dialogues, in the style of those of the +earlier editions, and then ten longer and more difficult ones. Mauger +made hardly any changes in the issues that followed the twelfth, and in +this shape it passed down to the eighteenth century. In the course of +its development it had grown to nearly twice its original size. + +Mauger's popularity as a teacher of French grew apace with his grammar. +The commendatory poems, one by John Busby, which are prefixed to the +first two editions, show that even at that early date he was held in +high esteem by many influential Englishmen; and each new edition was +offered to some new patron. + +Mauger also published a collection of letters in French and English, +which he considered "a great help to the learner of the French tongue," +for "those who understand it with the help of the English, are capable +of explaining afterwards any French author, being written on several +subjects." The _Lettres Françoises et Angloises de Claude Mauger sur +Toutes sortes de sujets grands et mediocres_ were dedicated to Sir +William Pulteney. They were first issued in 1671, and again in 1676, +with the addition of fifty letters. Many are addressed to gentlemen of +note who had been his students at Blois, and continued to correspond +with him for the purpose of practice in French. "Puisque vous désirez +que je continue à vous écrire des Lettres Françoises," he wrote to the +Count of Praghen in 1668, "pour vous exercer en cette langue qui est +tant usitée dans toutes les cours de l'Europe, je reçois vos ordres avec +joye." Others are addressed to pupils in London, including some of his +large clientèle of ladies. [Header: MAUGER'S FRENCH AND ENGLISH LETTERS] +For instance, he writes to a certain Mrs. Gregorie: + + Ayant ouï dire que vous estes allée a la campagne pour quinze + jours, durant cette belle saison en laquele la nature déploye ce + qu'elle a de plus beau, j'ay pris la hardiesse de vous écrire cette + lettre en François pour vous exercer en cette langue que vous + apprenez avec tant de diligence. Je suis bien aise que vous vous y + adonniez si bien, car, comme vous avez la mémoire admirable, vous + en viendriez bien tost à bout. + +He seems to have made a regular practice of exercising his pupils' +French by writing to them in the language.[815] Among his young English +pupils was William Penn, the Quaker, to whom he wrote a letter dated +1670: + + Je n'entendrois pas bien mes interests si Dieu m'ayant fait si + heureux de vous monstrer le François que vous apprenez si bien, je + n'en témoignois de la joye, en faisant voir à tout le Monde, que + l'honneur que vous me faites de vous servir de moy, pour vous + l'acquérir est tres grand. En effet monsieur, n'est-ce pas un + bon-heur? Car je perdrois mon credit si Dieu ne me suscitoit de + tems en tems des personnes comme vous, qui par leur diligence et + capacité avec l'aide de ma méthode le soutiennent. . . . J'ay bien + de la satisfaction qu'elle [_i.e._ l'Angleterre] sçache que vous + m'avez choisy pour vous donner la connaissance d'une langue qui + vous manquoit, qui est si estimée, et si usitée par toute la Terre. + Terre. . . . + +Whether these letters were ever actually sent to his pupils is a +question of some uncertainty, which we are inclined to answer in the +affirmative. In any case, they provided him with an excellent +opportunity of advertising himself by calling attention to some of his +well-known pupils. Many were addressed to friends in France, where he +seems to have had a very good connexion. He closes his collection with a +short selection of commercial letters. + +Mauger was the author of several other short works--a _Livre d'Histoires +curieuses du Temps_, destined for his pupils' reading; a _Tableau du +jugement universal_ (1675), which sold so well that there were very few +copies left at the end of the year; and a Latin poem of one hundred and +four lines, entitled _Oliva Pacis_, celebrating the declaration of peace +between Louis X. of France and Philip II. + +Besides many influential friends, he seems to have had several relatives +in London.[816] One of these was a Master Keyser, his brother-in-law, a +Dutch gentleman and painter, who lived in "Long Aker between the +Maidenhead and the Three Tuns Tavern," and acted as a sort of agent for +Claude. Mauger himself lived "in Great Queen Street, over against Well's +Street, next door to the strong water shop," in 1670. Before 1673 he had +moved to "within two doors of Master Longland, a Farrier in Little Queen +St., over against the Guy of Warwick near the King's Gate in Holborn"; +and in 1676 to "Shandois Street, over against the Three Elmes, at Master +Saint André's." It was probably about the year 1670 that he began to +teach English to foreigners visiting England. He had the honour "of +helping a little to the English tongue both the French ambassadors, +Ladyes, ambassadresses and several great Lords, who come daily from the +court of France to the court of England." With many of these he had much +familiar intercourse, and it was at their request that he wrote his +rules for the English language. One of his letters is addressed to the +sharp-witted Courtin, and others to the Marquis de Sande and Monseigneur +Colbert's surgeon. Some of the numerous French nobility, "who come daily +from the court of France to the court of England," attracted by the gay +and Frenchified court of Charles II., also studied English under Mauger. + +He describes his method of teaching as discursive, "avec raisonnement." +Practice and reading are the chief exercises. In one of his dialogues a +lady pupil describes her French lesson;[817] it consisted in reading, +with special attention to the pronunciation, and telling a story in +French, no doubt a repetition of the matter read. For the pronunciation, +Mauger considered "the living voice of a master better than all that can +be set down in writing"; but none the less he provided rules for +acquiring the true accent of Blois. He took little interest in grammar, +but fully realized the necessity of guiding rules; "some man perhaps," +he writes, "will answer me that he speaketh his naturall tongue well +enough, without all these rules. I confesse he may speak reasonably +well, because it is a natural thing for him to do. But you needs must +confesse that a Latine schollar, who hath been acquainted with all such +rules of grammar, speaketh better than such a one." Mauger would have +the student first master his rules, and then begin "by all means" to +read, "pour joindre la pratique à la speculation des règles." [Header: +MAUGER'S METHOD OF TEACHING] He no doubt intended the student to attempt +to speak at the outset with the guidance of a French master, whom he +held absolutely indispensable. The following talk between two students +throws light on the practical methods advocated: + + Apprenez-vous encore le françois? Do you learn French still? + Ouy, je n'y suis pas encore parfait. Yes, I am not yet perfect in it. + Et moi je continue aussi. And I continue also. + Je commence à l'entendre. I begin to understand it. + J'entens tout ce que je lis. I understand all I read. + Avez vous un valet de pié françois? Have you a French foot boy? + Ouy, monsieur. Yes, Sir. + L'entendez-vous bien? Do you understand him well? + Fort bien. Very well. + Quel Autheur lisez vous? What author do you read? + Je lis l'_Histoire de France_. I read the _French History_. + L'avez-vous leüe? Have you read it? + Je l'ay leüe en Anglois. I have read it in English. + Je l'acheteray. I will buy it. + Ou la pourray-je trouver? Where shall I find it? + Partout. Everywhere. + Avez-vous leüe l'_Illustre Have you read the _Illustrious + Parisienne_? Parisien_? + Allez-vous au sermon? Do you go to sermon? + Ouy, Monsieur. Yes, Sir. + Qui est-ce qui prêche? Who preaches? + C'est un habile homme. 'Tis an able man. + Avez-vous le Dictionnaire de Miège?[818] Have you Miège's Dictionary? + Ouy, je l'ay. Yes, I have it. + Voulez-vous me le prêter? Will you lend it me? + Il est à votre service. It is at your service. + Je vous remercie. I thank you. + La langue françoise n'est-elle pas Is not the French tongue + belle? fine? + Je l'aime fort. I love it extreamly. + Elle est fort à la mode. 'Tis very modish. + +"My dialogues," writes Mauger, "are so useful and so fit to learn to +speak, that one may easily attain the French tongue by the assistance of +a Master, if he will take a little pains on his side." He also advises +his pupils to read the lengthy heroical romances so popular at the +time--_L'Astrée_, and the enormous folios of De Gomberville, La +Calprenède, Mlle. de Scudéry, and other romances of the same type--as +well as the works of Corneille, Balzac, and Le Grand. With Antoine le +Grand, Mauger claims personal acquaintance, and recommends his works +with special emphasis, giving his pupils notice of a book newly +published by him: "There is a French book newly printed at Paris called +_L'Epicure spirituel_, written in good French by M. Antony le Grand, +Author of _L'Homme sans passions_. You may have it at Mr. Martyn's shop +[Mauger's publisher] at the sign of the Bell in St. Paul's Churchyard." +He also advocates, for purposes of translation, the reading of the Bible +and Common Prayers in French, books specially suitable owing to the ease +with which English renderings could be found; and adds further that "at +Mr. Bentley's shop, in Russel St. in Covent Garden, you may be furnished +with French Bibles, French Common Prayers, French Testaments, and French +Psalms." These would be of special use to his own students, as he +encouraged them to frequent the French Church for the benefit of hearing +the language. As for Mauger himself, although he appears to have +professed the Protestant religion and to have come first to England as a +refugee for the sake of his principles, he does not seem to have given +much attention to religious matters. Neither does he manifest any +particular interest in the French Church,[819] other than as an +excellent place for his pupils to accustom themselves to the sounds of +the French language. + +After he had spent some thirty years in England we find him moving to +Paris, where he was constantly with "some of the ablest gentlemen of +Port Royal," who assured him that his French Grammar and his Letters in +French and English were in their library. This break in Mauger's long +teaching career in England occurred some time about 1680, after the +appearance of the eighth edition of his grammar in 1679. He now took up +his residence in the fashionable quarter of Paris, usually frequented by +foreigners, the Faubourg St. Germain, where he taught French to English +travellers, and English to any one wishing to learn it. This change of +abode modified his exclusive attitude towards the Blois accent. At an +earlier date he had acknowledged that "after Blois the best +pronunciation is got at Orleans, Saumur, Tours, and the Court," and in +1676 he writes, "Je suys exactement le plus beau stile de la Cour," and +tells us that he had daily intercourse with French courtiers "tant +ambassadeurs qu'autres grands seigneurs, à qui j'ay aussi l'honneur de +monstrer la langue angloise." He also read all the latest books, and +carried on a correspondence with learned men in Paris, among others +Antoine le Grand. But in the same year that he was praising the French +of Paris, he wrote, encouraging a noble Englishman to take up the study +of French in England: [Header: MAUGER IN PARIS] "Si vos affaires ne +vous permettent pas d'aller à Paris, pour vous y adonner, de quoy vous +souciez-vous si vous avez Blois dans Londres qui est la source? En effet +sa prononciation ne change jamais: de plus à cause du commerce qu'il y a +entre les deux cours, l'une communique à l'autre sa pureté. Et je dy +assurément qu'il y a icy quantité de personnes qui parlent aussi bien à +la mode qu'au Faubourg Saint Germain. Et comme les fonteines font couler +leurs eaux bien loin par de bons canaux sans se corrompre, vous +trouverez des Maîtres en cette ville qui vous enseigneront aussi +purement que sur les lieux." However, when he had himself spent two +years in Paris, he gave up praising the merits of Blois, and always +describes himself as "late professor of languages at Paris," which he +now called "the centre of the purity of the French Tongue, where the +true French phrase is to be found." From this time on his grammar claims +to contain everything that can be desired in order to learn French as +spoken at the Court of France, and "all the improvements of that Famous +Language as it is now flourishing at the Court of France." + +During his stay at Paris, which extended from about 1680 to 1688, the +popularity of his grammar in England did not diminish. Four editions +were printed in London after having been corrected by himself at +Paris--the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth. The last was dedicated +to the young Earl of Salisbury, who had studied French with Mauger when +on the usual continental tour. + +Three motives, he states, induced him to return to England, "after +having gathered the finest flowers of the French tongue at Paris to +enrich my workes withall for the better satisfaction of those that learn +it: The first the extream love which I bear to this generous +country,[820] that has obliged me so much as to approve so generally of +my books, that for her sake they are received very well beyond Sea, and +especially in France. The second, to correct the thirteenth edition my +self exactly, many faults of printing having crept into the four last +editions which were Printed here in my absence though I corrected them +at Paris. The third to see my relations and friends." + +After his return to England, he composed his _Book of Curious stories of +the Times_ in French and English for the use of his pupils. The new +editions of his grammar, however, are identical with the thirteenth, +which itself bears very great resemblance to the twelfth issued while +Mauger was still at Paris. How many years he continued to superintend +the new issues of his grammar is not certain; the nineteenth edition of +1702 is the last described as "corrected and enlarged by the Author." + +Again and again he refers to the popularity of his book in England, and +the "unexpressible courtesies" he received at the hands of his English +patrons. "This grammar sells so well," he wrote in the sixth edition +(1670), "as you may see, being printed so often, and many thousands +every time, that I cannot but acknowledge the kindness of this generous +nation towards me in raising its credit both at home and abroad, in so +much that other Nations, following the general approbation concerning it +of so wise a people, use it as commonly everywhere beyond the Sea, as +they do here in London, and in all the dominions of his majesty of Great +Britain." It was also looked on with much favour in France. In 1689 a +French edition, called the thirteenth, was printed at Bordeaux. But it +was in the Netherlands that the grammar received almost as warm a +welcome as in England. The book thus forms another link between the +study of French in England and the Low Countries. In 1693 this Dutch +edition of the grammar was issued for the thirteenth time, and in 1707 +for the fifteenth, both at the Hague. It was usually published with an +English grammar of more importance than the short one added by Mauger to +the English editions--that of Festeau, Mauger's friend and +fellow-townsman. Their combined work was known as the _Nouvelle double +grammaire Françoise-Angloise et Angloise-Françoise par messieurs Claude +Mauger et Paul Festeau, Professeurs de Langues à Paris et à Londres_. +The two grammars are followed by Mauger's dialogues and a collection of +twenty-one "plaisantes et facetieuses Histoires pour rire," in French +and English, entitled _l'Ecole pour rire_. The growing popularity of +English from the beginning of the reign of William of Orange, the editor +tells us in 1693, induced him to add the English grammar to the French +grammar of Mauger, and he chose Festeau's because it was in as high +favour for learning English as Mauger's was for learning French. + +[Header: PAUL FESTEAU] + +Paul Festeau was the author of a French as well as an English +grammar,[821] and, like Mauger, he taught English to foreign visitors in +London, as well as French to English people. Indeed his career bears a +close resemblance to that of Mauger, of whom he seems to have been a +sort of protégé. Like Mauger he had taught at Blois, and the two +teachers probably came to England together; at any rate they arrived at +much the same time. He enjoyed a greater popularity than Mauger as a +teacher of English, and was also looked upon with respect as a teacher +of French.[822] + +Festeau's French Grammar, first published in 1667, occupies an important +second place among the French text-books produced in the third quarter +of the seventeenth century. It was dedicated to Colonel Russel, of the +King's Guard, who had learnt French under Festeau's guidance. As a +grammar it is fuller and more clearly arranged than Mauger's, and, in +main outline, there is much similarity between the two. The rules, which +occupy the first two hundred pages, are written in English and provide +information on pronunciation and on each part of speech in turn. Each is +accompanied by a considerable number of illustrative examples, which, +Festeau thought, were of great help in impressing the rule on the +memory, and of more use than dialogues. He also included dialogues in +his work, and was attacked on account of their prolixity. He argued, in +reply, that "if the reader pleases to consider the store of phrases in +the body of the Work amongst the Rules which do contain near two hundred +pages, he will very well apprehend that, when a scholar hath learnt all +these Phrases without book in learning the rules, he needs not at all +burden his memory with many dialogues: for ... I have found by +experience that those who have learned them were able afterwards to +translate French into English, with the aid of a dictionary and I do +maintain that it is not necessary to learn such abondance of Dialogue by +heart, it is enough to read and English them, and next to that to +explain them from English into French, and so doing the words and +phrases do insensibly make an impression in the memory and the discreet +scholar goeth forward with a great deal of ease. As for young children I +yield that it is good they should continue the Dialogues: but after they +have learned short phrases, they must of necessity learn long ones, +otherwise they could never attain to the capacity of joyning words +together. Beside when a master doth teach his scholar, he must not ask +him a whole long phrase at once, he must divide it in parts according to +the distinction of points. As for instance, if I will ask this long +phrase of a child | Quand on a gaigné une fois | le jeu attire +insensiblement | en esperance de gaigner davantage |. I will ask it him +at three several times." Festeau gives the pupil the English in three +separate phrases, and requires him to give the French rendering. "Them +that will take the pains to peruse it," to use Festeau's own words in +describing his grammar, "will observe a very new method, clear and +intelligible Rules to the least capacities, fine remarks upon all the +parts of speech and particularly upon the gender of nouns, and the use +of moods and tenses. They will find the difficulties of the particles, +_en_, _on_, and _que_ explained, which give commonly so much trouble to +the learner, they will see the use and good order of impersonal verbs, +as well active as passive, likewise also of the reciprocal and reflected +verbs. Finally they will see familiar dialogues on divers sorts of +subjects, very useful and profitable for them that desire to speak +properly: no barbarous kind of words and phrases as are found in some +other grammars, by reason that the Author professes to speak and to +write his own language well." A vocabulary of thirty pages, in the style +of Mauger's, and rules for the accents and the length of the vowels fill +the rest of the volume. This was how the work stood in the third +edition, which, Festeau explains, "might rightly be said the fourth, +seeing that there was fifteen hundred copies drawn off the second +edition, and two thousand of this, whereas they use to draw but a +thousand at most: and considering the time it first came out, it seems +that it sells pretty well. If some other former grammars have had more +editions, it cannot be inferred thence that this comes short of them: we +can buy nothing at market but what is to be sold, and when this hath +been in the light as long, no doubt but (especially being better known) +it may have as many editions." [Header: PIERRE LAINÉ] Possibly he was +referring to Mauger's popularity, and the two friends may have become +rivals during the latter part of their stay in England. On similar +grounds he claimed that the sixth edition might be called the tenth, as +two thousand copies were drawn of the four last editions. Mauger, +however, states that "many thousand" copies of his grammar were drawn at +every edition. + +By this time Festeau's grammar had acquired a considerable reputation. +"The approbation that it hath received," he writes, "of the most learned +of the nation, who have esteemed it the neatest, the easiest and most +correct, is not a small advantage to it: It is that which hath +encouraged me to bring it to a better perfection." There is, however, +very little difference between the half score or so editions which were +issued. + +Like Mauger, Festeau soon began to modify his attitude towards the Blois +accent. In 1679, while still advertising himself proudly as a "native of +Blois, where the true tone of the French Tongue is found by the +unanimous consent of all Frenchmen," he claims to teach the "Elegancy +and Purity of the French Tongue as it is now spoken at the Court of +France." However, it is uncertain whether Festeau went to Paris or not. +At the time when he first wrote of Court French he was teaching in +London, and we are informed that "if any gentleman have occasion for the +author of this grammar, his Lodging is in the Strand near St. Clement's, +at Mr. John King's house, at the sign of the wounded heart." He was +still there in 1693. In 1675 we see him requesting any "gentleman or +others desiring to speak with him to inquire for him in Haughton Street, +next door to the Joyner's Arms, near Claire Market," or at Mr. Loundes, +his bookseller and publisher. At about this time he began to teach +mathematics as well as, and by means of French; he was prepared to +instruct gentlemen in all its branches. It was at the request of several +gentlemen, with whom he "did often discourse of the same in French," +that he added to the fourth edition of his grammar a long dialogue +covering the whole field of mathematics, and giving "a clear and fair +idea thereof." + +Another French tutor who flourished at the same time as Mauger, and who +wrote a French grammar which, like his, appeared during the +Commonwealth, was Peter Lainé. Lainé is not very communicative as +regards himself; he does not even tell us from what part of France he +came. All we know of him is that he was a protégé of Robert Paston, to +whom he dedicated his book, and who, no doubt, had been his pupil for +French. Of his grammar he writes, "I here expose to thy view a work +which might rather be counted an Errata than a book"--a state of things +for which both himself and the printer were to blame. For his part, he +says, he does not write for the sake of seeing his name in print, or +because he fancies he excels others. "I rather count myself inferior to +the least of them. But the urgent importunities of some persons whom I +have had, and still have the honour to inform in French, have made me +undertake it to satisfie their desires, and my gratitude." + +His sympathy with the Protestants emerges clearly from the contents of +his grammar. Apparently he did not belong to the Blois group. He differs +from them in adopting the new orthography in which many of the unsounded +letters were omitted. It was a pity to spoil the purity and elegance of +the pronunciation by the old orthography, he thought; moreover the clear +resemblance between the orthography and the pronunciation renders the +language easier to foreigners; "seeing that we both write and speak any +vulgar Tongue to be understood and to entertain Society, it is in my +judgement, not only convenient but even necessary to bring as near a +conformity betwixt the Tongue and the Pen, as may without prejudice to +the material grounds of our language, afford all the facility that is +possible to those that are strangers to it." It is curious to recall +that Peletier, and other earlier writers, had, on the contrary, retained +the etymological consonants of the old orthography, with the idea that +the foreigner's Latin would thereby be of greater service to him. + +Lainé's _Compendious Introduction to the French Tongue, teaching with +much ease, facility and delight, how to attain briefly and most exactly +to the true and modern pronunciation thereof_, is very similar to +Mauger's grammar in the distribution of the matter. Rules for the +pronunciation, which as usual are briefly explained by means of +comparison with English sounds, are followed by observations on each +part of speech in turn;[823] finally come familiar phrases "to be used +at the first learning of French," ten long dialogues, and a vocabulary, +all in French and English. [Header: LAINÉ'S DIALOGUES] The book closes +with what Lainé calls "an alphabetical rule for the true and modern +orthography of that French now spoken, being a catalogue of very +necessary words never before printed"--an alphabetical list of words. +The grammatical section of the work is written in English. In the +dialogues he purposely adapts the English to the French phrase. "I have +been more careful," he explains, "in the whole course of the treatise, +to observe the French, then the English phrase: to the end I might make +its signification more intelligible, to vary less from the sense, and to +afford most delight and more facility to the learner." + +According to him, the first thing to be learned by the student of French +are the sounds of the language. He should commit to memory as many of +the familiar phrases as he can easily retain, and from them pass to the +"dialogical discourses." Their substance is much the same as in +Mauger--polite and gallant conversations mainly between students of +French, talk and guidance for travellers in France, etc. The following +specimen is from a dialogue between an English gentleman and his +language master: + + Quel beau livre est-ce là? What fine book is that? + Mons., c'est le romant comique. Sir, it is the comic romance. + Qui en est l'autheur? Who is the author of it? + Mons. C'est Mons. Scarron. Sir, it is Mr. Scarron. + Est-il fort célèbre? Is he very famed? + Est il fort estimé? Is he much esteemed? + Mons., c'est un esprit sublime et Sir, it is a sublime and + transcendant. transcendant wit. + De quoi traite cet ouvrage? What doth this work deal on? + Mons., il n'est plein que Sir, it is full but + de drolleries facesieuses. . . . of pleasant drolleries.... + Lisons un peu: faites moi Let us read a little: do me + la faveur de m'antandre the favour to understand me + lire. read. + Prononcez hardiment; Pronounce boldly; + Observez vos accents. Observe your accents. + Ne prenez point de mauvaise habitude. Take no ill habit. + Lisés distinctement. Read distinctly. + Vou lisez trop vîte. You read too fast. + Notre langue est ennemi de la Our tongue is enemy to + précipitation. precipitation. + +Lainé evidently intended that the dialogues, at least some of them, +should be committed to memory, as well as read and translated; "after +that," he continues, "as his sufficiency shall permit, he may proceed to +Reading any Histories, among which the Holy Writ ought to have the +pre-eminence, had not divine Providence, and the Eternal Spirit that +dictated it, purposely rejected the affected smoothness and polishedness +of the style." We recall, as we reflect on this strange reason for +rejecting the Holy Scriptures as reading material, the unenviable +reputation the refugees themselves had as regards literary style. As the +Bible is left us "for divine study only," Lainé advises his pupils to +make use of moral histories for purposes of reading. Many, he says, have +been produced of late years. Nor did he limit his pupils' choice to +these; he encouraged them to read the heroic romances so popular at the +time--_Artamène ou le grand Cyrus_ and _Clélie_ by Mlle. de Scudéry, +_Cassandre_ and _Cléopâtre_ by La Calprenède; also the _Poésies +spirituelles_ of Corneille, the commentaries of Caesar in French, and +Scarron's _Roman comique_. Lighter fare could be found in the _Gazette +françoise_. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[813] "Which city, lying in the very middle of France, is the most +famous for the true pronunciation of the language." + +[814] "What are you doing? You must not render this in French, _qu'estes +vous en faisant?_ but thus, _Que faites-vous?_" ... and so on. + +[815] The practice was a common one at the time. Thus Sir Charles +Cotterel wrote in Italian to Mrs. Katherine Philipps, who thanks him for +the care he takes to improve her in Italian by writing to her in that +language. Letter of April 12, 1662, in _Letters of Orinda to +Poliarchus_, 1705. + +[816] One of his letters (No. 18) is addressed to Adrien Mauger (1675), +Bachelor of Divinity, Claude's nephew, whom he calls the head of the +family, and who apparently lived at Blois. + +[817] His fee was 40s. a month, for three lessons a week. + +[818] Cp. p. 383, _infra._ + +[819] The names Mauger and Maugier occur frequently in the Registers of +the Threadneedle Street Church, but none can be connected with Claude. + +[820] "L'Angleterre que j'aime infiniment," he writes in his twelfth +edition. + +[821] The first edition appeared in 1672. The second edition was +advertised in 1678 (Arber, _Term Catalogues_, i. 323). + +[822] + + "De tous les professeurs de la langue françoyse, + Festeau c'est de toi seul dont je fais plus de cas. + Si tu es éloquent dans nostre langue angloise, + Dans la tienne, pourquoy ne le serois-tu pas?" + +Thus wrote one of his pupils, Mr. P. Hume, probably the famous statesman +and Covenanter. + +[823] Pp. 48-130. Lainé retains the usual six Latin cases; the verbs are +divided into four conjugations; the indeclinables are given in lists. A +vocabulary of nouns which have two meanings according as they are +masculine or feminine is included. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + THE FRENCH TEACHING PROFESSION AND METHODS OF STUDYING THE LANGUAGE + + +From their very first appearance the voluminous French romances of the +time enjoyed great popularity in England,[824] partly, perhaps, on +account of the lack of a supply of similar works in the vernacular. +Several English translations appeared, but many preferred to read them +in the original. Their importance in the eyes of the French teachers may +also have increased their vogue. They were especially affected by +Charles I.; and when on the eve of his death, he was distributing a few +of his favourite possessions among his friends, he left the volumes of +La Calprenède's _Cassandre_ to the Earl of Lindsey.[825] Later on, Pope +describing, in his _Rape of the Lock_, the adventurous baron in quest of +the much-coveted lock, pictures him imploring Love for help, and +declares he + + to Love an altar built + Of twelve vast French Romances neatly gilt. + +Among the most eager readers of French romances was Dorothy Osborne. We +are enabled to trace part of her course in reading from the charming +letters she wrote to Sir William Temple, her future husband. They are +full of references to things French, and replete with French words; she +uses English words in a French sense: _injury_ with her means _insult_; +and she writes to explain that when she said _maliciously_ she really +meant "a French _malice_, which you know does not signify the same +thing as an English one." A little note sent to Temple when she was in +London, shortly before their marriage, evidently in answer to one from +him, may be quoted as a specimen of her French, and her total disregard +of spelling and grammar: + + Je n'ay guere plus dormie que vous et mes songes n'ont pas estres + moins confuse, au rest une bande de violons que sont venue jouer + sous ma fennestre m'ont tourmentés de tel façon que je doubt fort + si je pourrois jamais les souffrire encore; je ne suis pourtant pas + en fort mauvaise humeur et je m'en voy ausi tost que je serai + habillée voire ce qu'il est posible de faire pour vostre + satisfaction; apres je viendré vous rendre conte de nos affairs et + quoy qu'il en sera vous ne sçaurois jamais doubté que je ne vous + ayme plus que toutes les choses du monde.[826] + +The French romances were Dorothy's constant companions, and her letters +are full of criticisms of and references to her favourite passages. She +sent the volumes to Temple by instalments,[827] as she finished them, +pressing him for his opinion. _Le Grand Cyrus_ seems to have been her +favourite. She had also a great admiration for _Ibraham ou l'Illustre +Bassa_, which, like _Polexandre et Cléopâtre_ and the four volumes of +_Prazimène_, was her "old acquaintance." _Parthenissa_, the English +romance in the French style by Lord Broghill, did not meet with her +approval. "But," she confides to Temple, "perhaps I like it worse for +having a piece of _Cyrus_ by me that I am highly pleased with, and that +I would fain have you read. I'll send it you." As for the English +translations of her favourites, she had no patience with them. They are +written in a language half French and half English, and so changed that +Dorothy, their old friend, hardly recognizes them in this strange garb. + +French romances were not the only French interest Dorothy Osborne and +Temple had in common. They had first become acquainted while travelling +to France, the Osbornes on their way to join their father at St. Malo, +and Temple setting out on the usual "tour." Temple, apparently, lingered +with his new friends in France, until his father, hearing of this, +ordered him to Paris.[828] There he evidently acquired the knowledge of +French which Dorothy playfully declares a necessary qualification for +_her_ husband: for she could not marry one who "speaks the French he +has picked up out of the old Laws"; [Header: PEPYS'S FRENCH BOOKS] or, +the other extreme, the "travelled monsieur whose head is all feather +inside and out, that can talk of nothing but dances and duels, and has +courage enough to wear slashes when every one else dies with cold to see +him."[829] + +Another instance of the popularity of these romances and other French +writings is found in Pepys's _Diary_.[830] Both Pepys and more +particularly his wife, who was the daughter of a French refugee, were +great readers of the romances. Pepys himself seems to have found them a +little tiresome, and relates how on a certain occasion Mrs. Pepys +wearied him by telling him long stories out of the _Grand Cyrus_, and +how he hurt her feelings by checking her outpourings. She would sit up +till past midnight reading _Cyrus_ or _Polexandre_. He would often stop +at his bookseller's to buy French books for his wife, including +_L'Illustre Bassa_ in four volumes, and _Cassandre_. One evening she +read to him the epistle of _Cassandre_, which he pronounced "very good +indeed." When they went to see Dryden's _Evening Love, or the Mock +Astrologer_, Mrs. Pepys recognized at once its debt to _L'Illustre +Bassa_, and on the following afternoon "she read in the _L'Illustre +Bassa_ the plot of yesterday's play, which is exactly the same." + +His French books seem to have been a great source of interest to Pepys, +and to have served him on many occasions. Being ill, "taking physique +all day," he beguiled the time by reading "little French romances." He +appears to have been particularly attracted by Sorbière's _Voyage en +Angleterre_, which on its appearance caused some indignation at the +English Court. Pepys read the book in the year of its publication +(1664).[831] Unfortunately he has not left us a very full account of the +other French books he knew. However, on the 1st May 1666, he writes that +he went "by water to Redriffe, reading a new French book my Lord +Bruncker did give me to-day, _L'Histoire Amoureuse des Gaules_" [by the +Comte de Bussy], "being a pretty libel against the amours of the Court +of France." Another volume which pleased Pepys was a "pretty" work, _La +Nouvelle allégorique_, "upon the strife between rhetorique and its +enemies, very pleasant." His choice of French literature was wide, +ranging from Du Bartas, which he judged "very fine as anything he had +seen," to Helot's "idle roguish book," _L'Eschole des Filles_, which he +burnt, "that it might not stand in the list of books, nor among them to +disgrace them if it be found."[832] + +At both Allestry's and Martin's, Pepys's booksellers, there was a great +variety of French and foreign books, which often tempted him. "To my new +bookseller's, Martin's," he writes on the 10th January 1667-8, "and +there did meet with Fournier the Frenchman, that hath wrote of the sea +and navigation,[833] and I could not but buy him." He was much +interested in French treatises on music,[834] and sent to France for +Mersenne's _L'Harmonie Universelle_, which he could not get at his +bookseller's. Pepys's friend, William Batelier, brought him "one or two +printed musick books of songs"[835] from France, among other French +books. "Home," he again notes, on the 26th January 1668, "and there I +find Will Batelier hath also sent the books which I made him bring me +out of France, among others _L'Estat de France_, _Marnix_, _etc._,[836] +to my great content, and so I was well pleased with them and shall take +a time to look them over ... but my eyes are now too much out of tune to +look upon them with any pleasure." And when his failing eyesight +prevented him from reading with ease, his wife, Batelier, and his +brother-in-law, Balty St. Michel, would read to him in French as well as +in English. He got Balty to read to him out of Sorbière's _Voyage en +Angleterre_, and under the date the 30th of January 1668-9 we find this +entry: "I spent all the afternoon with my wife and Will Batelier +talking, and then making them read, and particularly made an end of Mr. +Boyle's _Book of Formes_, which I am glad to have over, and then fell to +read a French discourse which he hath brought over with him for me." + +[Header: POLITE CONVERSATION FASHIONABLE] + +No doubt the polite French literature which the French teachers +recommended so strongly to their pupils had some influence on the +character of the dialogues which form part of their manuals. Mauger, +Festeau, and Lainé all include polite conversations in their dialogues, +and leave the old familiar subjects of buying and selling, wayside and +tavern talk. Polite conversation was the fashion, and coteries for +fostering it grew up in England on the model of those in France. Mrs. +Katherine Philipps, generally known as "the matchless Orinda," is +perhaps the most prominent of the ladies who tried, without any +permanent success it is true, to introduce the refinements of the French +_salons_ into England.[837] Each member of the "Society of Friendship" +she gathered round her assumed fanciful names in the style of those +affected by the adherents of the Parisian salons. "Orinda" was of course +a great reader of French literature, and knew French perfectly. She is +chiefly remembered for her translations of some of Corneille's plays +into English.[838] French books of conversation, such as Mlle. de +Scudéry's _Conversations sur divers sujets_[839] or the similar volume +by Clerombault, which was rendered into English by a "person of honour" +[1672], also give some clue to the tastes and tendencies of the time, +though they had no direct influence on the dialogues specially written +for students of French. But, like them, they turn on such subjects as +the pleasures, the passions, the soul, love, beauty, merit, and so +forth. Thus the French teachers of the time, in introducing a new style +into their dialogues, undoubtedly yielded, to some extent at all events, +to the tastes of their numerous lady pupils. A large proportion of +Mauger's pupils were ladies. He praised their accent, and considered it +clearer and more correct than that of their brothers. And in the later +editions of his treatise the grammar rules are given in the form of a +conversation between a lady and her French master. Another French +teacher of the time, the author of a collection of dialogues in which +the new style is the dominating feature, also shows a decided preference +for his lady pupils. This writer was William or Guillaume Herbert, the +author of the _French and English dialogues in a more exact and +delightful method then any yet extant_. + +The thirty-four dialogues contained in this collection are all, with the +exception of the first which is autobiographical, written in the +_précieux_ style, full of points and conceits,[840] and all, with the +same exception, are very alike and a little wearisome. Herbert says he +does not write for every one, but for "les plus subtils." And in his +first dialogue, which gives a free account of his condition and +opinions, he proceeds to ridicule the traditional style of the French +and English dialogues. A stranger addresses a friend of the author: + + Pourquoi ne parle-t-il point de vendre et d'acheter? + + Parce qu'il n'a rien à vendre et que fort peu d'argent pour + acheter; et que les autres faiseurs de livres François en ce pais + ont tout vendu et tout acheté avant qu'il allât au marché. + + Pourquoi ne dit-il rien du Manger et du Boire? + + Pour tant qu'il y prend fort peu de plaisir, faute d'appétit, et + que quelques-uns de ceux qui l'ont precédé l'ont fait pour lui, + nommant fidèlement toutes les viandes qu'ils ont portées à la table + de leurs maîtres. Qui lèche les plats, en peut bien parler. + + Pourquoi ne parle-t-il point des Habits, et de La Mode, du Lever et + du Coucher, de la Chambre et du Lit? + + Parce que nos maîtres, qui ont été valets de chambre ou laquais, + lui ont épargné ce travail, comme leur étant plus propre qu'à lui. + + Pourquoi se tait-il des Merciers, des Tailleurs et des Cordonniers? + + Parce qu'ils aiment mieux argent contant que des paroles et que + n'étant point dans leurs livres il ne se souvient guère d'eux et + s'en soucie encore moins. + + Pourquoi laisse-t-il les Ministres, les Médecins et les + Jurisconsultes, sans faire attention d'eux? + + Parce qu'ils ont assez d'esprit pour ne s'oublier pas: et assez de + langue pour parler pour eux-mêmes. Et toutefois il en parle à la + dérobée, sans leur donner un discours à part, quoiqu'il honore ces + professions-là, et aime fort passionément plusieurs personnes de + ces trois états, pour leurs rares mérites. + + N'a-t-il rien des Apoticaires, des Chirurgiens et des Barbiers? + + Pas un seul mot, monsieur, parce qu'il se sert rarement des + premiers, et que, par la grâce de Dieu, il n'a ni playes ni ulcères + ni vérole pour les seconds, et que, les derniers le tenant à la + gorge, il n'oseroit parler. + + Il pourroit dire quelque chose des Parens et des Alliéz. + + Qu'en diroit-il, les siens lui étant si peu courtois? S'il parloit + d'eux, ce seroit moyen de renouveler ses douleurs. + +[Header: STATE OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION] + +Herbert, it will be seen, had not a very high opinion of the social +origin or ability of the majority of his fellow-teachers. He was a very +unwilling member of the profession. He does not style himself "Professor +of the French Language" on the title-page of his dialogues, although he +taught both in his house and away from home, because few people care to +boast of their cross, and his cross was--to be reduced to belong to a +profession "que tant de valets, de mécaniques, et d'ignorants rendent +tous les jours méprisable." He draws a far from flattering picture of +the common sort of French teacher. He is a "brouillon," a shuffling +fellow, who boasts, dresses well, and intrudes everywhere, cringing and +offering his services at a cheaper price than the genuine teachers. He +can hardly write seven or eight lines of French correctly. Yet men such +as this, says Herbert, pass for first-class teachers, and some take upon +themselves to correct and write books. What is more, they count many +pupils, even among the nobility. + +Yet another cause of annoyance to Herbert was what seemed to him the +presumption of the Blois fraternity. It is the fashion, he remarks +scornfully, to say you come from Blois. And you do so if you happen to +come from Normandy. He is not ashamed of his province, though he takes +good care not to advertise it needlessly; Brittany (of which he was +evidently a native) is better than Blois, according to him. Thus we may +conclude that Herbert was one of the 'enemies' to whom members of the +Blois group frequently allude. Festeau refers to them as being ignorant +and envious persons, while Mauger describes them foaming with envy and +jealousy, and trying to harm him in the eyes of his pupils, as well as +casting aspersions on his grammar;[841] but he did not regard what they +said, England having raised his grammar so high that "their envy cannot +reach to it." And Mauger goes on to censure a certain section of the +French teaching profession, "broken Frenchmen," who make their pupils +speak rapidly, but not distinctly. "Have a speciall care," he exclaims, +"that you have not to do with those that are not true Frenchmen as your +Normans or Gascons. I confesse that a Norman that is a man of some +quality or one that hath seen the world or that is a good scholar may +possibly have the right accent, but any other that hath not such parts +can never give the true accent." Herbert retorted that the Blois clique +tried to persuade every one that Bretons and Normans cannot speak +correct French. He naturally resented such assertions, and was not +himself nearly so exclusive in the list of those who were not "good +Frenchmen." He merely states that the English are greatly mistaken in +their estimation of the French living here, "considering as such all +those that speak their tongue, so that the high Germans, Switzers of the +French tongue, Danes, Swedes, Dutch, Walloons, and those of Geneva pass +for good French in the opinion of many, although in truth there are not +here two naturall French 'mongst ten, which are taken for such, and who +for their profit would gladly go for such." + +There was every need, thought Herbert, of protecting the profession from +these incompetent teachers. Before a tutor is engaged he should be made +to translate a passage from a good author from English into French, and +then from French into English, and both the pieces should be examined by +competent judges of both languages; for, according to him, a teacher +must know English, or some other language with which the scholar is +acquainted, such as Latin, so that there may be some foundation on which +to build the new edifice. + +Beyond the importance he attached to translation, we know little of +Herbert's ideas on the teaching of French. He devotes more space to +criticizing the teachers. He does tell us, however, that French +orthography is best learnt by transcribing French passages, by which +operation it impresses itself on the mind without effort. He was also an +advocate of much and careful reading. Grammatical rules he considered +necessary, and he had intended to publish a grammar together with his +dialogues, but he was prevented from doing so by illness. He hoped, +however, to issue it a few months later, but apparently he was again +prevented from carrying out his design. [Header: GUILLAUME HERBERT] Yet +two years after the appearance of his dialogues he published another +work but of quite a different character--_Considerations on the behalf +of Foreiners which reside in England, and of the English who are out of +their own country, to allay the tempest which is too often raised in the +minds of the vulgar sort, and to sweeten the bitterness of a bilious or +cholerick humour against strangers_, in which he showed "that of all the +Nations of Europe, the English and French should love one another best, +as well for their vicinity as for the great commerce that is 'mongst +them in time of peace, and for their consanguinitie, there being in this +country thousands of families which are descended from the French, and +as many or more in France whose progenitours are English." These +'considerations,' twenty in number, are mainly a plea in favour of the +foreign churches in England and of the liberty of aliens to trade and +work in this country, with an allusion to the "good usage of +neighbouring Nations" towards the English fugitives of Mary's reign. +They are dated from the Charterhouse, June 1662, and appear to have been +the only work Herbert published after his _Dialogues_. He had, however, +previously shown his interest in the teaching of French by editing in +1658 the fourth edition of Cogneau's _Sure Guide to the French +Tongue_,[842] which consisted largely of the style of dialogue which he +ridiculed at a later date. + +Herbert had had a long career in England before we first hear of him as +a teacher of French. He had composed treatises in French and in English, +both of which he wrote with equal facility. His language gives no clue +to his nationality, but, as we saw, we may conclude from his +autobiographical dialogue that he was a native of Brittany. He was, no +doubt, the William Herbert, native of France, who received a grant of +letters of denization in 1636. At that date he was living at +Pointington, Somerset, and was married to an Englishwoman, Frances +Sedgwicke. In the previous year he had prepared for the press a work in +French called _La Mallette de David_.[843] How he spent his time in +Pointington is not clear, but in 1640 he was tutor to the sons of +Montague Bertie, second Earl of Lindsey. On the death of his wife in +1645 he moved to London, and published a number of devotional works in +English, which he had composed at Pointington, chiefly for the benefit +of his wife and children. He refers to the unfavourable reception of +these compositions in his French and English dialogues, which he hoped +would meet with a better fate. + +Herbert also took a great interest in the foreign churches of London. He +dedicated his _Quadripartit Devotion_ of 1648 to the "learned, pious, +and reverend Pastors, Elders, and Deacons of all the French and Dutch +congregations in England." At a later date he published a biting +pamphlet against a French Pastor, Jean Despagne,--the _Réponse aux +Questions de Mr. Despagne adressées à l'Eglise Françoise de Londres_ +(1657), accusing "le ridicule Despagne" of blasphemy and immorality, as +well as criticising his French. In this work Herbert agrees with Lainé +in omitting a number of superfluous letters, with the intention of +facilitating reading for foreigners, though he was opposed to too many +changes, for fear of offending the partisans of the old orthography. The +_Dialogues_ and the _Considerations in behalf of Strangers_ were the two +works issued subsequently to the attack on Despagne, and with them ends +all we know of the career of Herbert, critic of the French teaching +profession, and earliest advocate of the "registration" of teachers. + +The Jean Despagne attacked so bitterly by Herbert was none the less a +welcome guest in this country, and was the only truly French minister in +London during the Commonwealth. English as well as French, attracted by +his excellent sermons, gathered round him. Thus he co-operated in a +sense, and no doubt unconsciously, with Mauger and the other French +teachers of the time, who were busy encouraging their pupils to attend +the French church. Despagne was minister, not of the old church of +Threadneedle Street, but of a new congregation in Westminster, which met +at first in Durham House in the Strand, and when that was pulled down, +at the chapel in Somerset House (1653).[844] He held aloof from the +older church, and went so far as to criticise Calvin. He was attacked +and accused of schism, but was protected by his powerful patrons, chief +among whom was the Earl of Pembroke. An important group of the royalist +English nobility and gentry found in Despagne a means of satisfying +their religious needs when the Anglican church was in abeyance. Among +them was the diarist John Evelyn, who heard Despagne preach in the +Savoy church. [Header: THE FRENCH CHURCHES] Another adherent, and a very +faithful one, was a certain Henry Brown, who, in his English translation +of one of Despagne's works,[845] speaks of the great resort of the +English nobility and gentry to the "excellent sermons and Doctrines" of +the French pastor. Many continued to attend after the Restoration, +Evelyn among others; as late as 1670 he remarks that "a 'stranger' +preached at the Savoy French church, the liturgie of the Church of +England being now used altogether, as translated into French by Dr. +Durell." + +The Savoy church had been authorized by Charles II. at the Restoration +on condition that the English Liturgy in French should be used. The +Threadneedle Street church, on the contrary, continued to use the +Calvinistic 'discipline,' and regarded with jealousy and suspicion the +church rising in Westminster. It refused all co-operation, and +endeavoured to bring about the suppression of the new church. The Savoy +church benefited on account of its situation in the fashionable +residential quarter, while Threadneedle Street was away in the city. +Consequently many members of the English aristocracy and gentry +continued to frequent the Westminster church even after the Restoration. +The use of the Anglican Liturgy was no doubt an additional attraction. +When service was opened there in 1661, by J. Durel,[846] among the +English present were the Duke and Duchess of Ormond, the Countess of +Derby and her daughters, the Earl of Stafford, and the Dukes of +Newcastle and Devonshire. Indeed the English gentry seem to have +occupied the attention of the French churches just as much as the +refugees themselves. The Threadneedle Street church felt the advantages +of its Westminster rival in this respect, and at the Restoration, +offered to establish a French Sabbath Lecture at Westminster for those +of the English gentry and French Protestants who found Threadneedle +Street too remote, hoping by this means to prevent division by having a +separate church there.[847] The Threadneedle Street church, however, was +not without its English adherents. Pepys went from time to time to both +French churches, but more frequently to Threadneedle Street, as far as +can be gathered from his diary, where he does not always specify which +of the churches is meant. "At last I rose," he writes on the 28th +September 1662, "and with Tom to the French church at the Savoy, where I +never was before; a pretty place it is; and there they have the Common +Prayer Book read in French, and which I never saw before, the minister +do preach with his hat off, I suppose in further conformity with our +Church." Pepys as a rule went to the Anglican church in the morning, and +to the French in the afternoon. He usually has a very good word for the +sermon, though on one occasion it was so "tedious and long that they +were fain to light candles to baptize the children by." There were also +services held at the French ambassador's, which many of the nobility +attended, as well as French sermons at Court from time to time. Evelyn +was present on one of these occasions: "At St. James's chapel preached, +or rather harangued, the famous orator, Monsieur Morus, in French. There +were present the King, the Duke, the French ambassador Lord Aubigny, the +Earl of Bristol, and a world of Roman Catholics, drawn thither to hear +this eloquent Protestant." This was on the 12th of January 1662. At a +much later date, September 1685, he heard another Frenchman, "who +preached before the King and Queene in that splendid chapell next St. +George's Hall." + +It appears therefore that the practice, common among French teachers, of +urging their pupils to go to the French church, met with some response, +as did their advice as regards the reading of French literature. On both +these points the teachers of the middle of the seventeenth century are +at one with those of the sixteenth, and, as a general rule, there is +very little difference between the methods used in the two centuries. +Reading remained the basis of the teaching; dialogues were committed to +memory and translated into English, less importance being attached to +retranslation into French in later times. As for pronunciation, the +teachers of the seventeenth century realised the inadequacy of teaching +it by comparison with English sounds; they laid all the more emphasis on +the services of a good tutor, continuing, none the less, to supply +certain rules, though not without a warning. As time went on, more +importance was attached to the grammar, which, though still limited in +theory to essential general rules, was often studied in the first place, +and not left till need for it arose in practice. The general opinion is +thus expressed by James Howell: "What foundations are to material +fabriques the same is grammar to a language. [Header: FRENCH BY "GRAMMAR +AND ROTE"] If the foundation be not well laid, 'twill be but a poor +tottring superstructure; if grammatical rules go not before, there is no +language can be had in perfection. Yet there are no precepts so +punctuall, but much must be left to observation, which is the grand +Mistresse that guides and improves the understanding in the research and +poursute of all humane knowledge, _Quod deficit in praecepto, suppleat +observatio._" Students who learnt on this method, called a combination +of "grammar and rote," would read aloud with their tutor, chiefly for +practice in pronunciation; study the principal grammar rules and commit +to memory the vocabulary of familiar phrases, and a few short dialogues; +read and translate[848] French dialogues, and then pass to the favourite +French authors; sometimes they would translate from English into French, +or write French letters; finally they would converse as much as possible +with their tutor, repeat stories they had read in French, and seize +every opportunity of speaking the language and hearing it spoken. + +Such was the method employed by the more serious French teachers of the +time. There were, however, others, and apparently very many, who taught +"by rote" alone without any grammar rules--a common method of learning +modern languages. "In England, the French, Spanish, and Italian +Languages are not the languages of our country, and spoke only by few +Persons, yet 'tis evident they are taught in London, and several other +places in the Kingdom, purely by conversation." "For it is well known," +argues a writer on education,[849] "that there are Grammars writ for the +French, Italian, and Spanish languages, and yet notwithstanding, these +Languages are learned by Conversation ... little children, who know not +what Grammar means, are bred up to speak foreign languages fluently and +correctly.... There are some indeed, in England that teach Modern +Languages by Grammar. But this is not at all necessary, as is +unanswerably evident from those Persons who perfectly learn them without +it. However, those who reach the Modern Languages by Grammar only teach +their scholars so much of it as to know how to decline Nouns and Verbs +and understand some few rules. For as for the Languages themselves, they +are generally taught not by Books but Conversation, which is found by +experience to be much the readiest, easiest, and best Method of teaching +them.... Some by great application have learn'd French or Italian in +half a year's time by conversation, and indeed any foreign Tongue is +ordinarily taught in a year or a year and a half. And such as are two +years in learning any of them are accounted either very negligent or +else very incapable of retaining them.... Men who know little or nothing +of French, Italian, or Spanish, quickly learn any one of these languages +only by going twice or thrice a week to a club where they are obliged to +speak it." + +How common such practical methods of learning French were may be +gathered from the fact that the few memoirs and similar writings which +give any detail on the subject invariably mention them. For instance, +the mother of Mrs. Hutchinson, the wife of the regicide and Governor of +Nottingham, was sent to board in the house of a refugee minister in +order to learn French.[850] As to Mrs. Hutchinson herself, she had a +French nurse, and was taught to speak English and French together.[851] +Others had tutors. Thus the mother of Lady Anne Halkett, the royalist +and writer on religious subjects, paid masters to teach Lady Anne and +her sister "to write, speak French, play on the lute and virginals and +dance";[852] and Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, held up by +Mrs. Makin as an example to "all ingenious and Vertuous Ladies," also +had tutors for the polite accomplishments, and refers to her language +lessons as "prating."[853] She acquired a good knowledge of French, +became attendant to Queen Henrietta Maria, and accompanied her in her +exile in France. + +[Header: FRENCH BY CONVERSATION] + +An example of the opportunities of acquiring a knowledge of French, "in +any leisure hour," as Milton said of Italian, is found in the Letters of +Robert Loveday, the translator of part of La Calprenède's _Cléopâtre_. +Loveday lived during the Commonwealth as a dependent in the house of +Lady Clinton at Nottingham, where, he says, French "was familiarly +spoken by the best sort of the family."[854] He therefore had every +opportunity of learning the language, and was much helped by an old +Italian gentleman, skilled in French, who was living in the house on the +same footing as himself. As a result of his application he was able to +translate several French works into English "in those empty spaces of +time which were left by those that command me at my disposall." He +procured a copy of Cotgrave's dictionary and asked a friend in London to +make enquiries at the booksellers if there was "any new French book of +indifferent volume that was worth the translating and not enterprised by +any other."[855] Loveday hoped by this means to give "larger scope to +(his) narrow condition" at Nottingham. One of his first enterprises was +the translation of a "mad fantastick Dream" he met with in Sorel's +_Francion_, which he sent to his brother; but his chief work was a +rendering of the first three parts of _Cléopâtre_, which was hardly of +the "indifferent size" he writes of. The several parts appeared in 1652, +1654, and 1655 respectively, under the title of _Hymen's Praeludia, or +Love's Masterpiece_, and were dedicated to his "ever-honoured lady" Lady +Clinton. In the complete version, the fourth, fifth, and sixth parts are +also ascribed to Loveday. + +Thus practical methods gained a firm hold in the teaching of French; +when grammar was studied, it was within limited boundaries, and only so +far as desirable for practical purposes. In the teaching of Latin, on +the other hand, more and more importance was attached to the study of +grammar, which took the foremost place, literature being regarded as +little more than a collection of illustrative examples of the +rules.[856] Grammar had become "a full swolen and overflowing stream, +which, by a strong hand, arrogates to itself (and hath well-nigh gotten) +the whole traffic in learning, especially of languages."[857] The use +of the Grammar and reading books in Latin alone was another practice +which engaged the attention of the reformers.[858] "A book altogether in +Latin is a mere Barbarian to our children," wrote Charles Hoole,[859] +who published many of the popular Latin school-books with English +translations, in the style of those which are always present in the +French text-books. His opinion was that "no language is more readily got +than by familiar discourse in it, and ability therein is in no way +sooner gained then by comparing the tongue we learn with that we know, +and asking how they call this or how they say that in another language, +which we are able to express in our own." A writer of the time[860] thus +describes "that wild goose chase usually led": "ordinarily boys learn a +leaf or two of the Pueriles, twenty pages of Corderius, a part of Esop's +Fables, a piece of Tullie, a little of Ovid, a remnant of Virgil, +Terence, etc. ... to read the accidence, to get it without book, is +ordinarily the work of one whole year. To construe the Grammar and to +get it without book is at least the task of two years more, and then, it +may be, it is little understood until a year or two more is spent in +making plain Latin ... when it is all done, besides declining nouns and +forming verbs and getting a few words, there is very little advantage to +the child." And a French teacher,[861] writing at about the same time, +has left a very similar picture. [Header: GRAMMATICAL STUDY OF +LANGUAGES] He describes how the child slaves till the age of fifteen or +sixteen, forced to learn against his will a little Latin and Greek, with +little result after seven or eight years of hardship. "Not 10 per cent +really know either; they are buried under a _fatras_ of words and rules, +which stun the memory and overturn the judgment, and all under the rule +of the rod." Such is the learning of a foreign language "by grammar." + +The feeling of dissatisfaction with the usual method of teaching Latin +in grammar schools, however, seems to have been general in the +seventeenth century, and many were the protests and appeals for reform. +"No man can run speedily to the mark of languages that is shackled and +ingiv'd with grammar precepts," wrote Joseph Webbe,[862] who draws a +careful distinction between the grammar-Latin thus acquired and what he +calls Latin-Latin,[863] that is, "Such as the best approved authors +wrote and left us in their books and monuments of use and custom," as +distinct from "that Latin which we now make by grammar rules, and their +collection out of that custom and those authors was to make us write and +speak such Latin as that custom and those authors did, which was +Latin-Latin, but it succeeded not." + +Consequently there arose a belief that "practice"--in speaking, reading, +and writing the language--should take its place by the side of grammar. +Writers pleaded, in the style of Elyot and Ascham, for the teaching of +Latin on more practical lines, quoting Montaigne's experience.[864] +Thomas Grantham[865] opened a private school, in which he sought to +deliver youth from their "great captivity" and the hardship and +uselessness of learning grammar word for word without book and in Latin, +which the boy does not understand, "just as if a man should teach one an +art in French when he understands not French." Grantham, on the +contrary, taught his scholars to understand the rules first, and by +repeatedly applying them they came to know them without book, whether +they would or no. Similar was the method of the French teachers, who +often carried the idea further, and taught their pupils the rules as +need for them arose in practice. + +John Webster thus puts the case for and against learning by "rule." "As +for grammar," he says,[866] "which hath been invented for the more +certain and facile teaching and obtaining of languages, it is very +controvertible whether it perform the same in the surest, easiest and +shortest way or not, since hundreds speak their mother tongue and other +languages very perfectly, use them readily, and understand them +excellent well, and yet never knew or were taught any grammar rules, nor +followed the wayes of Conjugations and Declensions, Noun or Verb. And it +is sufficiently known that many men, by their own industry, without the +method or rules of grammar, have gotten a competent understanding in +divers languages: and many unletter'd persons will, by use and exercise, +without Grammar rules, learn to speak and understand some languages in +far shorter time than any do learn them by method and rule, as is +clearly manifest by those that travel.... And again, if we conceive that +languages learnt by use and exercise render men ready and expert in the +understanding and speaking of them, without any aggravating or pushing +the intellect and memory, when that which is gotten by rule and method, +when we come to use and speak it, doth exceedingly rack and excruciate +the intellect and memory: which are forced at the same time, not only to +find fit words agreeable to the present matter discoursed of, and to put +them into a good Rhetorical order, but must at the same instant of +speaking, collect all the numerous rules of number, case ... as into one +centre, where so many rayes are united and yet not confounded, which +must needs be very perplexive and gravaminous to memorative faculty: and +therefore none that attains languages by grammar do ever come to speak +and understand them perfectly and readily, until they come to a perfect +habit in the exercitation of them, and so thereby come to lose and leave +the use of those many and intricate rules, which have cost us so many +pains to attain to them, and so to justifie the saying that we do but +_discere dediscenda_." Those who learn by "use and exercitation," on the +other hand, acquire languages more quickly and with better results. If +the study of grammar is insisted on, it should be made very brief. The +indeclinables require no rules, but are learnt by use. [Header: LOCKE +ON THE TEACHING OF FRENCH] Of the declinables the only ones that present +any difficulties are the noun and the verb, regular and irregular. As to +the irregulars, they are best learnt by "use," as rules only "render the +way more perplexed and tedious. And the way of the regulars is facile +and brief, being but one rule for all." + +Many others wrote in a similar strain,[867] advocating the teaching of +Latin on lines widely used in the teaching of French. Several actually +specified the modern language, which was first mentioned in books on +education in this connexion. Thomas Grantham, in his _Brain Breaker's +Breaker_ (1644), points out that many young gentlemen and ladies learn +to speak French in half a year without grammar, and argues that the same +purpose could be achieved with Latin and Greek in a twelvemonth. +Similarly George Snell argued that Latin might be learnt "in as short a +time as a Monsieur can teach French,"[868] for the pronunciation, so +great a task in learning the living tongue, is of no importance in the +dead language. At a somewhat later date, when French had made more +headway in the scholastic world, Locke plainly states that people are +accustomed to the right way of teaching French, "which is by talking it +into children by constant conversation, and not by Grammatical +Rules,"[869] and proposes that the same method should be applied to +Latin. "When we so often see a Frenchwoman teach an English girl to +speak and read French perfectly in a year or two, without any rule of +grammar, or anything else but prattling to her, I cannot but wonder how +gentlemen have overseen this way for their sons, and thought them more +dull and incapable than their daughters."[870] Elsewhere Locke again +draws comparisons between the teaching of Latin and that of French,[871] +and a French teacher of the early part of the eighteenth century +recognized the importance of this tribute when he published a grammar +intended to confirm the knowledge acquired by "practice."[872] + +Yet all these proposals and protests do not seem to have had much effect +on the teaching of Latin. In a few cases, however, experiments were +attempted, usually in connexion with French. Several were made with the +_Janua_ of Comenius, which had early been adapted to the teaching of +French as well as Latin. The theories of Comenius himself had no doubt +inspired the English reformers. He had written that rules are thorns to +the understanding, that no one ever mastered a language by precept +alone, though it is often done by practice; rules, however, should not +be entirely discarded.[873] + +J. T. Philipps, who was later tutor to the Duke of Cumberland, son of +George II., relates[874] how he taught both Latin and French on +practical lines with the help of Comenius. His pupil first got a good +notion of the Latin tongue by studying the verbs and nouns, and then +learning the Latin column of the _Janua Linguarum_. "I likewise at som +leisure Hours," continues Philipps, "taught him to read French and when +he had good the pronunciation, he labour'd for some time, as he did +before in the Latin, to make himself Master of the French Verbs and +Nouns, and then began to learn the sentences in another column of the +_Janua Linguarum_, which, by the assistance of the Latin, he mastered in +a very short time. So that before the end of the first year, he could +read Fontaine's _Fables_ from French into English, and give me an +account of the French Minister's text which he heard, and part of the +sermon; [Header: LANGUAGES LEARNT WITHOUT GRAMMAR] for I charg'd him +never to miss the French Church, that he might the better accustom +himself to the true Accent of that Tongue.... I spent an hour every +Sunday Morning all the time the Boy was with me, to read over several +short Catechisms or systems in Divinity both in French and Latin."[875] + +The learned Mrs. Bathsua Makin, who had been governess to the daughters +of Charles I., and later kept a school at Tottenham High Cross, also +advocated the use of the _Janua Linguarum_ for learning Latin and +French. The young ladies of her school learnt ten Latin sentences of the +_Janua_ a day thoroughly, spending "but six hours a day in their books." +By the end of six months they had a fair knowledge of the language, and +turned to French: "If the Latin tongue may be learnt in 6 months, where +most of the words are new, then the French may be learnt in three, by +one that understands Latin and English, because there is not above one +word of ten of the French Tongue, that may not fairly, without force, be +reduced to the Latin or English."[876] + +We are also told[877] of a boy of seven who spoke Latin, French, and +English with equal facility, "by reason that his father talked to him in +nothing but Latin, and his mother, who was a Frenchwoman, in nothing but +French, and the rest of the family in nothing but English." And the Rev. +Henry Wotton of Corpus Christi, Cambridge, has left an account of how, +when he undertook the education of his son, "leaving off the Accidence +in that Method that ordinarily children are trained up in, (he) +immediately thought with (him)self to make an experiment whether +children of his years might not be taught the Latin Tongue as ordinarily +children are taught the French and Italian, and without the torture of +grammar, to make them, by reading a Latin book, to understand Nouns and +Verbs, Declensions and Moods, and that without the vast circuit, that +ordinarily takes up 3 or 4 years, as preparatory to read any Latin +author."[878] Evelyn bears witness to the success of Wotton's +experiment. He saw the young William Wotton in London at the age of +eleven, and pronounced him "a miracle."[879] To Evelyn also we are +indebted for an account of another case of similar precocity due to the +same method. He relates how he and Pepys saw a child of twelve, the son +of one Dr. Clench, "who was perfect in the Latine authors, spake French +naturally, and possessed amazing knowledge. His tutor was a Frenchman, +who had not troubled him to learn even the rules of grammar by heart, +but merely read to him, first in French, and then in Latin."[880] + +In no case, however, was the contrast between the prevalent methods of +teaching Latin and French so marked as in the learning of Latin in +Grammar Schools, and of French in France by "rote" or with the help of a +few general grammar rules; the older the student, the more necessary +were grammar rules considered. Richard Carew, for instance, was struck +by the fact that he learnt more French without rules in three-quarters +of a year in France than he had learnt Latin in more than thirteen +years' strenuous study of grammar. He had gone to France on leaving the +university. On his arrival he was at a loss for words, knowing nothing +of the language; but after a short stay, spent in the midst of French +people, talking and reading nothing but French, he surmounted the +difficulties of the language with surprising ease, and wished students +of Latin to benefit by his experience.[881] The two languages, indeed, +were not infrequently studied together by the considerable number of +English children who were sent to France for purposes of education. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[824] "It is most astonishing that there ever could have been people +idle enough to write and read such endless heaps of the same stuff. It +was, however, the occupation of thousands in the last century, and is +still the private though disavowed amusement of young girls and +sentimental ladies," wrote Chesterfield in the eighteenth century +(_Letters to his Son_, 1774, p. 242). Even Johnson read and enjoyed +these lengthy romances. + +[825] Jusserand, _The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare_, p. 381. + +[826] _Letters from Dorothy Osborne to Sir Wm. Temple, 1652-54_, London, +1888, p. 318. + +[827] He in turn passed them on to Lady Diana Rich. + +[828] T. P. Courtney, _Memoirs of the Life, Works and Correspondence of +Sir Wm. Temple_, London, 1836, i. p. 5. + +[829] _Letters_, p. 172; ep. Goldsmith, _Essay on the Use of Language_: +"If again you are obliged to wear a flimsy stuff in the midst of winter, +be the first to remark that stuffs are very much worn at Paris." + +[830] Pepys used Cotgrave's Dictionary; _Diary_, February 26, 1660-1. + +[831] This book was very widely read in England. But there does not seem +to have been an English translation of it before 1709 (Pepys's _Diary_, +Oct. 13, 1664, ed. Wheatley, 1904). + +[832] _Diary_, Jan. 13, Feb. 8 and 9, 1667-8. + +[833] _L'Hydrographie contenant la théorie et la pratique de toutes les +parties de la navigation_, 1643. + +[834] He read Descartes's _Musicae Compendium_, but did not think much +of it. + +[835] Pepys relates how one evening Penn and he fell to discoursing +about some words in a French song Mrs. Pepys was singing--_D'un air tout +interdict_: "wherein I laid twenty to one against him, which he would +not agree to with me, though I know myself in the right as to the sense +of the word, and almost angry we were, and were an houre and more upon +the dispute, till at last broke up not satisfied, and so home." + +[836] _Les Résolutions Politiques ou Maximes d'État_, par Jean de +Marnix, Baron de Potes, Bruxelles, 1612. + +[837] Cp. E. Gosse, _Seventeenth Century Studies_, 1897; J. J. +Jusserand, _The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare_, p. 373. + +[838] D. Canfield, _Corneille and Racine in England_, 1904. How common +was the presence of Frenchmen in English families of high standing may +be gathered from Orinda's statement that "one, Legrand, a Frenchman +belonging to the Duchess of Ormond, has by her order set the fourth +[song in _Pompey_ to music], and a Frenchman of my Lord Orrery's the +second" (_Letters of Orinda to Poliarchus_, London, 1705, Letter dated +Jan. 31, 1663). + +[839] Fifth ed., Amsterdam, 1686. Translated into English by F. Spence, +London, 1683. Queen Henrietta Maria had done much to foster the spirit +of the _Astrée_ and the Hôtel de Rambouillet in England: cp. J. B. +Fletcher, "Précieuses at the Court of Charles I.," in the _Journal of +Comparative Philology_, vol. i. 1903. + +[840] Between ladies and "cavaliers." Herbert explains that by +"cavalier" he means _galant homme_. Here is a specimen of their style: +"_Cavalier_: La voilà, je la vois.--_Dame_: Que voyez-vous, mons.?--Je +vois la Gloire du beau sexe, l'Ornement de ce siècle, et l'Objet de mes +affections.--Vous voyez ici bien des choses.--Toutes ces choses sont en +une.--C'est donc une merveille.--Dites, ma chère Dame, la merveille des +merveilles.--Je le pourrois dire après vous, car votre bel esprit ne se +sauroit tromper.--Il se peut bien tromper, mais non pas en ceci.--Je +veux qu'il soit infaillible en ceci: il faut pourtant que je voye cette +Gloire, cet Ornement et cet Objet, pour en pouvoir juger.--Vous ne les +sauriez voir que par réflexion.--Je ne vous entens pas.--Approchez-vous +de ce miroir, et vous verrez ce que je dis. Qu'y voyez-vous, ma +Belle?--Je vous y vois, monsieur.--Voilà une belle réponse.--Belle ou +laide, elle est vraye.--Elle l'est effectivement: mais n'y voyez-vous +rien que moi?--Je m'y vois aussi bien que vous.--Vous voyez donc cette +illustre merveille, etc." + +[841] "Il y a des particuliers qui ne sont pas dans mes intérêts, qui +les (_i.e._ his works) décrient hautement, non pas tant par malice que +par jalousie, quelques-uns étant des personnes intéressées qui sont de +ma profession, ou des critiques ignorans qui trouvent à redire à tout ce +que les autres font, pour faire paroître ce qu'ils n'ont point, +s'imaginant qu'on les prend pour des hommes d'esprit, quand on les +entend reprendre les choses les mieux faites." + +[842] See p. 290, _supra_. + +[843] Arber, _Stationers' Register_, iv. 333. + +[844] Schickler, _Églises du Refuge_, ii. pp. 148-9, and 153. Despagne +became a denizen in 1655 (Hug. Soc. Pub. xviii.). Cp. also Haag, _La +France protestante_, ad nom., and the _Bulletin de la société de +l'Histoire du Protestantisme français_, viii. pp. 369 _et seq._ He died +in 1658. + +[845] _Harmony of the Old and New Testament_, 1682, Brown's preface. + +[846] Schickler, _op. cit._ ii. p. 224. + +[847] _Cal. of State Papers, Dom., 1660-61_, p. 277. + +[848] That translation was not always the means of interpretation is +shown by the following passage from Mauger; a stranger questions one of +his pupils: + + Entendez-vous tout ce que vous lisés? + J'en entends une partie. + Entendez-vous bien le sens? + Fort bien, monsieur. + +Probably French was not 'construed' word for word, as Latin was, the +clause, on the contrary, being made the starting-point. "Construing word +for word is impossible in any language," wrote Joseph Webbe in his +_Petition to the High Court of Parliament_, quoting as an example the +"barbarous English of the Frenchman, '_I you pray, sir_,' for _Je vous +prie, monsieur_." + +[849] _An Essay on Education_, London, 1711. + +[850] _Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson_, ed. C. H. Firth, +London. 1885, i. p. 16. + +[851] _Ibid._ p. 23. + +[852] _Autobiography of Lady Anne Halkett, 1622-1699, 1701_, Camden +Society, 1875, p. 2. + +[853] _The Lives of Wm., Duke of Newcastle and of his wife Margaret ... +written by the thrice noble and illustrious princess Margaret, Duchess +of Newcastle_, ed. M. A. Lower, 1872, p. 271. + +[854] _Loveday's Letters, Domestick and forrain to several persons ..._, +London, 1659, p. 31. + +[855] _Letters_, p. 105. Cp. also pp. 26, 47, 79, 135, etc. It is +evident from the letter of Dorothy Osborne quoted above, p. 320, that +she had learnt French chiefly by ear. Several of the inaccuracies, such +as the use of the past participle for the infinitive, would not be +noticeable in pronunciation. + +[856] F. Watson, _Grammar Schools_, pp. 276 _sqq._ + +[857] J. Webbe, _An Appeale to Truth in the Controversie between Art and +Verse about the best and most expedient course in languages_, 1622. + +[858] There was a strong feeling at this period in favour of a freer use +of English in the teaching of Latin, chiefly on account of the time such +a course would save. Thus Milton recognized the mistake of spending a +great number of years in learning one language "making two labours of +one by learning first the accidence, then the grammar in Latin, ere the +language of those rules be understood." The remedy, he thought, was the +use of a grammar in English (A. F. Leach, "Milton as Schoolboy and +Schoolmaster," _Proceedings of the British Academy_, iii. 1908). Snell +(_Right Teaching of Useful Knowledge_, 1649), Mrs. Makin or M. Lewis (?) +(_Essay to Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen_, 1671), and +others also argued that English should be the groundwork of the teaching +of Latin. Most of the English grammars produced in the seventeenth +century claim to be useful to scholars as an introduction to the +rudiments of Latin; and it was on this footing, no doubt, that English +grammar first made its way into the schools. Chief among these, perhaps, +was J. Poole's _English Accidence for attaining more speedily the Latin +Tongue, so that every young child, as soon as he can read English, may +by it turn any sentence into Latin. Published by Authority, and +commended as generally necessary to be made use of in all schooles of +this commonwealth_, London, 1655. For a list of English grammars cp. F. +Watson, _Modern Subjects_, chap. i. Lily's Grammar came to be almost +always used with the English rendering by Wm. Hume. Cp. Watson, _Grammar +Schools_, p. 296. + +[859] _An advertisement ... touching school books_, 1659. + +[860] _An Essay to Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen_, London, +1673 (by Mrs. Makin or Mark Lewis). + +[861] G. Miège, _A New French Grammar_, 1678, p. 377. + +[862] _Appeale to Truth_, 1622, p. 41. + +[863] _Petition to the High Court of Parliament, in behalf of auncient +and authentique Authours, for the universall and perpetuall good of +every man_, 1623. + +[864] _Essais_, liv. i., ch. xxv. + +[865] Cp. _The Brain Breaker's Breaker, or the Apologie of Th. Grantham +for his Method of Teaching_, 1644. + +[866] _The Examination of Academies, wherein is discussed ... the +Matter, Method and Customes of Academick and Scholastick Learning, and +the insufficiency thereof discovered and laid open_, 1653, p. 21. + +[867] Thus Sir Wm. Petty, in his _Advice to S. Hartlib for the +advancement of some particular parts of learning_ (1648), argues that +languages should be taught by "incomparably more easy wayes then are now +usuall." An anonymous "Lover of his Nation" proposed that children +should learn Latin as they do English, by having no other language +within their hearing for two years; and similarly with other languages +(Watson, _Modern Subjects_, p. 482). Ch. Hoole, teacher at a private +grammar school in London, also proposes that Latin should be learnt by +speaking and hearing it spoken, and attributes the unsatisfactory +knowledge of the language to the too frequent use of English in schools +(_New Discoverie of the old art of Teaching Schooll_, 1660). The French +teacher Miège suggests that Latin should be taught in special schools, +on the same lines as French was taught in the French ones (_French +Grammar_, 1678). In 1685 was published _The Way of Teaching the Latin +Tongue by use to those that have already learn'd their Mother Tongue_; +and in 1669 had appeared a work translated from the French, called _An +Examen of the Way of Teaching the Latine Tongue to little children by +use alone_. Among other publications of similar import are: _An Essay on +Education, showing how Latin, Greek, and other Languages may be learn'd +more easily, quickly and perfectly than they commonly are_, 1711; and +_An Essay upon the education of youth in Grammar Schools in which the +Vulgar Method of Teaching is examined, and a new one proposed for the +more easy and speedy training up of Youth, to the knowledge of the +Learned Languages ..._, by J. Clarke, Master of the Public Grammar +School in Hull (London, 1720). + +[868] _Right Teaching of Useful Knowledge to fit scholars for some +honest Profession_, London, 1649, p. 186. + +[869] Locke, _Some thoughts concerning Education_ (1693), ed. J. W. +Adamson, in _Educational Writings of Locke_, London, 1912, p. 125. + +[870] _Op. cit._ p. 127. + +[871] "Why does the Learning of Latin and Greek need the rod, when +French and Italian need it not?" (_op. cit._ p. 69). And again, "Those +who teach any of the modern languages with success never amuse their +scholars to make speeches or verses either in French or Italian, their +business being language barely and not invention" (_op. cit._ p. 71). + +[872] J. Palairet, _New Royal French Grammar_, The Hague, 1738. + +[873] Languages, he held, were best learnt by rules of a simple nature, +comparison of the points of difference and resemblance between the known +and unknown language, and exercises on familiar subjects. + +[874] _A compendious way of teaching Ancient and Modern Languages ..._, +2nd edition, London, 1723, pp. 45 _et seq._ + +[875] He would then learn Italian and Spanish on the same plan. + +[876] _An Essay to Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen ..._, +1673. + +[877] _Essay on Education_, 1711. The case of Queen Elizabeth, who is +said to have learnt only one or two Latin rules, is also quoted. + +[878] _An Essay on the education of children in the first rudiments of +learning, together with a narrative of what knowledge Wm. Wotton, a +child of 6 years of age, had attained unto upon the Improvement of those +Rudiments in the Latin, Greek and Hebrew Tongues._ Reprinted, London, +1753, p. 38. + +[879] _Diary_, July 6, 1679. + +[880] _Ibid._, Jan. 27, 1688. + +[881] For this purpose he wrote _The True and readie way to learne the +Latin Tongue, expressed in an answer to the Question whether the +ordinary way of teaching Latin by Rules of Grammar be best_, 1654. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + THE TOUR IN FRANCE + + And now methinks I see a youth advance + Ready prepared to make the tour of France. + + _Satire against the French_, 1691. + + +When, in the middle of the seventeenth century, England was torn in +twain by civil war and party quarrels, even the Puritans willingly sent +their children to be brought up in France. It was at this period that +Thomas Grantham, a severe critic of the usual method of teaching Latin +in Grammar Schools,[882] wrote this significant passage: "Let a boy of +seven or eight years of age be sent out of England into France: he shall +learn in a twelvemonth or less to write and speak the French tongue +readily, although he keep much company with English, read many English +books, and write many English letters home, and all this with pleasure +and delight." The number of English children in France at this period +was considerable.[883] At St. Malo, for instance, when proceedings were +taken against the English in the town, the chief victims were the +"English boys sent to learn French."[884] + +The memoirs of the Verney family afford a detailed picture of one of the +numerous families of royalist sympathies, cut off from English public +school and university life, and brought up in France. Sir Ralph Verney +had taken the side of Parliament in the long struggle, but in 1643 went +into voluntary exile in France rather than sign the Covenant. He +settled at Blois with his family, and procured French tutors for his +boys. Apparently he had some trouble at first, one of the tutors being +dismissed "for drinking, lying and seeking to proselytise." Finally the +education of the boys was entrusted to the Protestant pastor, M. +Testard, who received foreign pupils. The young students worked hard at +Latin and French under the minister's supervision. Testard reported of +Edmund, the elder, "Il fait merveille. . . . Je luy raconte une histoire +en français, il me la rend extempore en Latin."[885] And one day Mme. +Testard found the young John hard at work in bed in the early morning +with two books in French and Latin. The children wrote in French to +their mother when she was absent in England making valiant and finally +successful attempts to get the sequestration taken off Sir Ralph's +estate. And when, after her death, Sir Ralph sought to divert his mind +by travelling in Italy, Edmund,[886] then aged thirteen, wrote this +letter--which shows clearly the dangers of a purely oral method: + + Plust à Dieu qu'il vous donnast la pensée de retourner à Blois. Les + jours me semblent des années tant il m'ennuye d'ettre icy comme + dans un desert de solitude; car quoy est cequi me peut desormais + plaire dans cette ville, comment est ceque cette lumiere de la vie, + et cette respiration de l'air me peuvent-elle estre agreeables, + puisqu'y ayant perdu cequi m'estoit le plus au Monde et qu'il + m'interesse plus q'une seule personne dont je suis privé de + l'honneur de sa presence, au reste, graces a Dieu, nous nous porte + fort bien et pourcequi et de moy je vous asseure que je ne + manqueray jamais à mon devoir, c'espourquoy finissant je demeure et + demeureray aternellement, + + Votre tres humble et fidel fils, + + EDMOND VERNEY. + +Sir Ralph had also in his charge two girls, his young cousins, whom +their mother had entrusted to him: "Sweet nephew, I have after A long +debate with my selfe sent my tow gurles where I shall desier youre care +of them, that they may be tought what is fite for them as the reding of +the french tong, and to singe, and to dance and to right and to playe of +the gittar."[887] + +Sir Ralph regarded France as "the fittest place to breed up youth." +[Header: SIR RALPH VERNEY'S VIEWS] "I wish peace in France for my +children's sake," he wrote to M. Du Val, a French tutor. After bringing +up his own family there, he would have liked to send his grandchildren +to France with a sober and discreet governor, rather than to any school +in England; but his son Edmund thought the advantage of learning to +speak French fluently did not compensate for the loss of English public +school life, which he himself had never enjoyed. Sir Ralph soon became a +versatile source of information to parents desiring details of the cost +of living and education in France. He considered £200 a year a proper +allowance for an English youth to be boarded in a good French family, +and that homes in which there were children were best, on account of the +continual prattle of the young inmates. The families of French pastors +were naturally preferred; and as the pastors were in the habit of taking +French pupils also,[888] no doubt the young English boys found suitable +companions. + +The Protestant schools,[889] established wherever possible by the French +reformers in the vicinity of their churches, were also in favour with +English parents. These schools, in which the subjects usually taught +were reading, writing, arithmetic, and the catechism, were for obvious +reasons looked on with suspicion by the Government; one by one they were +dispersed, especially when the feeling against the Protestants became +more acute towards the middle of the seventeenth century. Thus the +schools of Rouen were closed in 1640; and shortly afterwards Sir Ralph +Verney wrote, in reply to an inquiry about a school, that Rouen is a +very unfit place, as no Protestant masters are allowed to keep school +there; moreover, living is dear in the town, and the accent of the +inhabitants bad. In some cases, when the schools had been closed or +converted into Jesuit establishments, the ejected schoolmasters gave +private lessons, or received a few _pensionnaires_ in their homes. Even +this was forbidden in 1683. And two years later the Revocation of the +Edict of Nantes dealt the severest blow of all. + +Regarding the Protestant Academies,[890] Sir Ralph sent the following +report to his friends in England: "There are divers Universities at +Sedan, Saumur, Geneva and other fine places, as I am told at noe +unreasonable rate, and not only Protestant schoolmasters, but whole +colleges of Protestants."[891] Many young Englishmen were sent to one or +other of these towns, either to attend lectures at the Academies, or, +more often, to study French and the "exercises" privately, in a +Protestant atmosphere. Sir Orlando Bridgman, a friend of Sir Ralph +Verney, after letting his son study with two other English boys under a +M. Cordell at Blois, intended to send him either to Saumur or Poitiers, +then to Paris, and so to the Inns of Court,[892] and Sir Thomas Cotton +sent his sons to Saumur to perfect themselves in French.[893] In the +middle of the seventeenth century, Sir Joseph Williamson, the future +statesman and diplomat of the reign of Charles II., was living at Saumur +with several young Englishmen in his care.[894] After graduating at +Oxford, he had left England in the capacity of tutor to a young man of +quality, possibly one of the sons of the Marquis of Ormonde. At Saumur, +Williamson kept a book of notes relating to the studies of his pupils +and containing the letters which he wrote to their parents in answer to +inquiries concerning their progress. He and his pupils lived _en +pension_ in a private house in the town, "with very civil company,"--"the +best way to get the language which is much desired." On the whole +Williamson's pupils do not seem to have made as rapid progress as either +he himself or their parents desired. One anxious father writes to ask +Williamson to let his son practise writing French daily; another exhorts +his son to devote himself seriously to learning French by reading good +authors and conversing. The Academies of Montauban and Sedan, though +they never attained a popularity equal to that of Saumur, were not +neglected, and attracted many foreign students. The Academy at Montauban +was moved to Puy Laurens in 1659, where it remained until its +suppression at the time of the Revocation. In 1678 Henry Savile, English +ambassador at Paris, informed his brother, Lord Halifax, that there are +only two Protestant Universities in France, at Saumur and Puy Laurens, +and that of these Saumur is beyond dispute the better.[895] [Header: +TRAVELLERS AT FRENCH UNIVERSITIES] From this we see that these two +Academies were then the best known;[896] no doubt the rest, which had +never been quite so popular, were much enfeebled by the hostile edicts +which preceded the Revocation. Lord Halifax at first intended to send +his sons to the College at Chastillon. Savile, however, stopped them +when they arrived at Paris, as he had heard that the only teaching given +at the College was reading, writing, and the catechism--the curriculum +of the Protestant schools. In the end the boys were sent with their +governor to the Academy at Geneva. On their return to England in 1681, +one of them went to complete his education at the University and the +other to the academy which was opened that year by the Frenchman M. +Foubert, who had set up as a teacher of the "exercises" in London. + +Other travellers spent some time at one of the French Universities. The +University of Paris usually counted a considerable number of English +among its students, and Clarendon tells us that those who have been +there "mingle gracefully in all companies." The Universities of +Bordeaux, Poitiers, and Montpellier were also favourite resorts. +Montpellier particularly, with its "gentle salutiferous air," attracted +those suffering from the "national complaint."[897] When Will Allestry +was there in 1668, he spent the greater part of his time learning +French, and what leisure he had he employed in studying the +Institutions.[898] Orleans, famous for the study of law, was also much +patronised. The custom of studying in French Universities, however, did +not meet with general approval in England. Sir Balthazar Gerbier +pronounced it "no less than abusing the Universities of Oxford and +Cambridge and the famous free schools of this realme to withdraw from +them the sons of Noble families and those that are lovers of vertue." +The same opinion is voiced by Samuel Penton, Master of Exeter Hall, +Oxford, who did not omit even the Protestant Academies from his +condemnation. "The strangeness of New Faces, Language, Manners and +Studies may prove perhaps uneasie, and then their great want of +discipline to confine him to Prayers, Exercises and Meals is dangerous: +all he will have to do is to keep in touch with a Lecturer, and what is +learned from him, most young Gentlemen are so civil as to leave behind +them when they return."[899] + +The governors who usually accompanied young travellers, especially those +of high birth, were not infrequently Frenchmen. We are told that it was +a rare sight to see a young English nobleman at a foreign court with a +governor of his own nation,[900] though some preferred an English +governor, and cautioned travellers against foreign tutors. Samuel Penton +warns us that if the young traveller is committed, for cheapness or +curiosity, to a foreigner instead of an English governor, "there are +some in the world who without a fee will tell you what that is like to +come to."[901] One of the English governors, J. Gailhard, who was tutor +abroad to several of the nobility and gentry, including the Earl of +Huntingdon, Lord Hastings, and Sir Thomas Grosvenor, lays down "a method +of travel" which is of special interest, as it is the one which he +followed with his own pupils.[902] His view was that, if possible, the +traveller should have some knowledge of French before setting out on his +travels. The first thing he should do on arriving at Paris is to go to +the famous Protestant temple at Charenton, and there give thanks for his +safe journey so far--whether he understand French or not. He will do +well to make but a short stay at Paris, where his progress will be +hindered by the great number of his countrymen there. The best places to +reside in are the towns along the valley of the Loire, where there are +plenty of good masters to be had. Perhaps Angers is the best. The +student is further urged to keep a diary, and talk as much as +possible--"with speaking we learn to speak." The masters for the riding +and fencing exercises, dancing and music, are to be looked upon as so +many additional language teachers. Although "of ten words he could not +speak two right, yet let him not be ashamed and discouraged at it: for +it is not to be expected he should be a Master before he hath been a +scholar." The language master should teach his pupil to read, write and +spell correctly, and to speak properly. [Header: GUIDE-BOOKS FOR +TRAVELLERS] The material for reading must be carefully chosen; romances, +such as those of Scudéry, are often dangerous; it is better to use books +which give instruction in such subjects as history, morality, and +politics. Every evening there should be a repetition of what has been +learnt during the day. Gailhard also draws attention to the necessity of +respecting and observing the customs of the places visited: "Here in +England, the manner is for the master of the House to go in before a +stranger, this would pass for a great incivility in France; so here the +Lady or Mistress of the House uses to sit at the upper end of the Table, +which in France is given to Strangers. So if we be many in a company we +make no scruple to drink all out of a glass, or a Tankard, which they +are not used to do, and if a servant would offer to give them a glass +before it was washed every time they drink, they would be angry at it. +Here when a man is sneezing we say nothing to him, but there they would +look upon't as a want of civility. Again, we in England upon a journey, +use to ask one another how we do, but in France they do no such +thing--amongst them that question would answer to this, 'what aileth you +that you look so ill?'" + +The attitude of the French teachers in England towards the foreign tour +gradually changed. They no longer saw in it a rival institution, +depriving them of many of their pupils, but, on the contrary, a means of +giving the finishing touch to the results of their own efforts in +England. All strongly advise their pupils to go to France, and most of +them add directions for travel in their text-books.[903] Mauger's +dialogues include "most exact instructions for travel, very useful and +necessary for all gentlemen that intend to travel into France," and +Lainé's grammar is "enriched with choice dialogues useful for persons of +quality that intend to travel into France, leading them as by the hand +to the most noted and principal places of the kingdom." + +As the tour in France increased in popularity, the directions furnished +by French teachers were supplemented by guide-books properly so called; +towards the end of the seventeenth century books such as _The Present +State of France_ and _The Description of Paris_ were to be had at every +bookseller's in London.[904] As early as 1604 Sir Robert Dallington had +written his _View of France_, in which he refers to a book called the +_French Guide_, which "undertaketh to resemble eche countrie to some +other thing, as Bretaigne to a horse-shoe, Picardy to a Neat's toung +etc., which are but idle and disproportioned comparisons." Peter Heylyn, +chaplain at the Courts of Charles I. and Charles II., was the author of +two popular books of this type: _France painted to the Life by a learned +and impartial Hand_,[905] and _A Full relation of two Journeys, the one +in the mainland of France, the other in some of the adjacent +Islands_.[906] Some of these guides are descriptions of the country, +others are relations of journeys made there; to the first category +belongs _A Description of France in its several governments by J. S. +Gent_ (1692), and to the second, _A Journey to Paris in the year 1698 by +Dr. Martin Lister_. Some include advice as to the course of study to be +followed. And as Italy was still frequently included in the tour, +travellers were sometimes supplied with information regarding that +country.[907] + +So popular did the tour in France become in the seventeenth century that +guide-books for travellers were produced on the spot. The earliest +French books of this kind had not been specially designed for the use of +foreign visitors; they were as a rule descriptions of the towns and +their geographical positions, or notices on their history and +antiquities.[908] In time, however, they assumed a character more +particularly adapted to strangers.[909] [Header: ROUTES USUALLY +FOLLOWED] One of the best known and most popular was _Le Voyage de +France, dressé pour l'instruction et commodité tant des Français que des +étrangers_, first published in 1639. The author, C. de Varennes, gives +directions for the study of French. He thinks Oudin's Grammar the most +profitable, on account of the manner in which it deals with the chief +difficulties of foreigners, and Paris and Orleans the best towns for +study. For the rest, the help of a tutor should be enlisted, and the +student should converse as much as possible with children, and with +persons of learning and ability; he should also read widely, preferably +dialogues in familiar style and the latest novels; and write French, for +which exercise he will find much help in the _Secrétaire de la Cour_ and +the _Secrétaire à la mode_,[910] collections of letters and +"compliments," which, we may say incidentally, enjoyed a popularity +greatly exceeding their merit. + +The short tour in France grew in popularity as the seventeenth century +advanced, and many were content to spend the whole of their sojourn +abroad there, without undertaking the longer continental tour. Others +went to France to prepare themselves for the longer tour. Naturally the +tour in France alone engaged the attention of French teachers. We are +told that the cost of a tour of three months need not be more than £50. +"If you take a friend with you 'twill make you miss a thousand +opportunities of following your end: you go to get French, and it would +be best if you could avoid making an acquaintance with any Englishman +there. To converse with their learned men will be beside your purpose +too, if you go for so short a time: they talk the worst for conversation +and you had rather be with the ladies."[911] + +The chief routes which French masters in England advised their pupils to +take were those from Dover to Boulogne and from Rye to Dieppe, whence it +was usual to proceed through Rouen to Paris.[912] Locke, for instance, +landed at Boulogne when on his way to the South of France; thence he +made his way to Paris, chiefly on foot.[913] "If Paris be heaven (for +the French with their usual justice, extol it above all things on +earth)," he writes after a night spent at Poy, "Poy certainly is +purgatory on the way to it." His impressions of Tilliard were more +favourable: "Good mutton, and a good supper, clean linen of the country, +and a pretty girl to lay it (who was an angel compared with the fiends +of Poy) made us some amends for the past night's suffering." It was on +the same route to Paris that the Norman Claude du Val, afterwards +notorious on the English highways, first came into contact with the +English as he was journeying to Paris to try his fortune there. At Rouen +he met a band of young Englishmen on their way to Paris with their +governors, to learn the exercises and to "fit themselves to go a-wooing +at their return home; who were infinitely ambitious of his company, not +doubting but in those two days' travel (from Rouen to Paris) they should +pump many considerable things out of him, both as to the language and +customs of France: and upon that account they did willingly defray his +charges." When the young Englishmen arrived at Paris and settled in the +usual quarter, the Faubourg St. Germain, Du Val attached himself to +their service, and betook himself to England on the Restoration, which +drained Paris of many of its English inhabitants.[914] + +Many travellers, however, agreed with the French teachers that Paris was +not a suitable place for serious study of French, both on account of the +many distractions it offered and of the great number of English people +resident there. It therefore became customary with the more +serious-minded to retire for a time to some quiet provincial town where +the accent was good. The French teacher Wodroeph tells us as much: +"Mais, Monsieur, je vois bien que vous estes estranger et vous allez à +la cour à Paris pour y apprendre nostre langue françoise. Mais mieux il +vous vaut d'aller à Orleans plustost que d'y aller pour hanter la cour +et baiser les Dames et Damoiselles. . . . Parquoy je vous conseille +mieux vous en esloigner et d'aller à Orleans là où vous apprendrez la +vraye methode de la langue vulgaire."[915] The towns in the valley of +the Loire were favourite resorts for purposes of study.[916] Orleans, +Blois, and Saumur seem to have been the most popular. [Header: LOIRE +TOWNS FAVOURED] For instance, James Howell, after spending some time in +Paris, where he lodged near the Bastille--"the part furthest off from +the quarters where the English resort," for he wished "to go on to get a +little language"[917] as soon as he could--went to Orleans to study +French; he describes it as "the most charming town on the Loire, and the +best to learn the language in the purity." The town was never without a +great abundance of strangers.[918] The fame of Blois and its teachers +was widespread; and Bourges, Tours, Angers, and Caen were noted for the +purity of their French. Saumur and other towns in which the Protestants +were powerful were also much frequented. John Malpet, afterwards +Principal of Gloucester Hall, Oxford, spent two years in France with his +pupil, Lord Falkland, visiting Orleans, Blois, and Saumur.[919] John +Evelyn visited Paris, Blois, Orleans, and Lyons, and finally settled at +Tours, where he engaged a French master and studied the language +diligently for nineteen weeks. + +While studying in one or other of these towns, English travellers +usually lodged in hotels, _auberges_, or _pensions_,[920] and sometimes +with French families. One of their chief difficulties appears to have +been to avoid their fellow-countrymen in such places. Gabriel Du Grès +suggests that when English students are thus thrown together they should +come to an agreement that any one who spoke his native tongue should pay +a fine. A further though less serious impediment was the speaking of +Latin, still considered necessary to the traveller by scholars such as +John Brinsley.[921] For this reason travellers "for language" are +advised to frequent the company of women and children, and "polite" +society, rather than that of scholars. It is a great inconvenience, +observes Du Grès, if your landlord can speak Latin. The majority of +travellers, however, do not appear to have experienced any embarrassment +in this respect; on the contrary, those with little previous knowledge +of French found their Latin of use in their first French lessons if they +studied the language "grammatically" with a master. French teachers in +England usually recommended suitable _pensions_ to their students. +Gabriel Du Grès, for instance, gives a list of such lodgings at Saumur, +his native town; Mauger, of those of Blois, Orleans, and other towns in +the Loire valley.[922] In like manner they addressed their pupils to +recommendable academies for instruction in the polite accomplishments +and military exercises. However, for the most part they advised their +pupils to go to private masters, who would attend to their French as +well as the "exercises." The house of M. Doux, who had a riding school +at Blois, was considered a particularly appropriate residence for those +desiring to learn French, on account of his daughters, who spoke +"wondrously well," as was also that of a certain M. Dechaussé, who kept +an academy for teaching young gentlemen to ride. + +What is more, French teachers in England, no longer regarding their +fellow-workers in France as rivals but rather as collaborators, as we +have seen, not infrequently entertained friendly relations with them, +and even went so far as to direct pupils to them. Claude Mauger, for +instance, sent as many of his pupils as possible to M. Gaudrey at Paris, +the author of verses in praise of Mauger's _Tableau du Jugement +Universel_. This change of attitude is probably explained by the fact +that in the seventeenth century French was studied more seriously in +England than in the sixteenth century; and students on their arrival in +France had often had preliminary instruction under the care of a French +tutor in England; Clarendon significantly states that in France "we +quickly _renew_ the acquaintance we have had with the language by the +practice and custom of speaking it." Students going abroad for purposes +of study are therefore addressed to M. Nicolas, an excellent master at +Paris, M. le Fèvre, an _avocat en parlement_ at Orleans, and others. We +are also informed that _abbés_ were fond of teaching their language to +strangers, especially the English.[923] Moreover, several French +teachers in England had previously exercised their profession in France. +The most popular of all, Claude Mauger, had spent seven years teaching +French at Blois. [Header: FRENCH GRAMMARS FOR TRAVELLERS] Many years +later, when he had made his reputation as a successful teacher of +French in London, he went for a time to Paris, where he settled in the +Faubourg St. Germain, and was busily occupied in teaching French to +travellers, among others to the Earl of Salisbury. He also tells us that +his books were very popular in France, and used by the great majority of +English students there. + +Several of the French teachers in France wrote books for the use of +their pupils. Mauger himself quotes the authority of "all French +Grammarians that are Professors in France for the teaching of travellers +the language." Yet in the seventeenth century, when the French language +became one of the chief preoccupations of polite society as well as of +scholars, many grammars paid no attention to teaching the language to +foreigners. There were, however, several well-known teachers of +languages at Paris who wrote grammars specially for their use. Alcide de +St. Maurice, the author of the _Guide fidelle des estrangers dans le +voyage de France_ (1672), composed a grammar called _Remarques sur les +principales difficultez de la langue françoise_ (1674), which has little +value, and is compiled chiefly from Vaugelas and Ménage. His chief aim +was to overcome the usual difficulties--pronunciation and orthography. +Several years previously he had written a collection of short stories +inspired by the _Decameron_. The _Fleurs, Fleurettes et passetemps ou +les divers caractères de l'amour honneste_, as he called them, were +published at Paris in 1666, and were no doubt intended as reading matter +for his pupils. + +A work called the _Nova Grammatica Gallica_, written in Latin and French +for the use of foreigners, appeared at Paris in 1678. It is mainly +compiled from Chiflet and other French grammarians. A certain M. +Mauconduy was responsible for the grammar, which was on much the same +lines as that of Maupas. The French theologian M. de Saint-Amour, of the +Sorbonne, addressed several foreigners to Mauconduy, who issued for +their use daily _feuillets volants_, containing remarks on the language. +His pupils made rapid progress, and usually knew French fairly well in +three months, we are told. + +Another of these teachers, Denys Vairasse d'Allais,[924] lived, like +Mauger, in the Faubourg St. Germain, and like him taught English as well +as French. He had spent some time in England in his youth, and perhaps +taught French there. He also corresponded with Pepys, the famous +diarist. Vairasse had a particular affection for his English pupils, +and they appear to have been in the majority. He was a strong advocate +of the study of grammar, and condemned attempts to learn French "by +imitation" alone. His _Grammaire Méthodique contenant en abrégé les +principes de cet art et les regles les plus necessaires de la langue +françoise dans un ordre claire et naturelle_ appeared at Paris in +1682.[925] In it he criticizes severely all the French grammars for the +use of strangers produced either in France or in foreign countries. +Shortly afterwards the grammar was abridged and translated into English +as _A Short and Methodical Introduction to the French Tongue composed +for the particular benefit of the English_, printed at Paris in 1683. +This French grammar published in English at Paris is a striking +testimony to the importance of the English as students of French. + +René Milleran, like Vairasse d'Allais, taught English as well as French. +He was a native of Saumur, but spent most of his life at Paris teaching +languages, and for a time acted as interpreter to the king. He composed +for the use of his pupils a French grammar entitled _La Nouvelle +Grammaire Françoise, avec le Latin à coté des exemples devisée en deux +parties_ (Marseilles, 1692), which is no doubt a first edition of his +_Les deux Gramaires Fransaizes_ (Marseilles, 1694), in which he expounds +his new system of orthography. His collection of letters, _Lettres +Familieres Galantes et autres sur toutes sortes de sujets, avec leurs +responses_, of which the third edition appeared in 1700, enjoyed a great +popularity, like most similar collections at this time: successive +editions appeared right into the eighteenth century. This, he says, was +the first work which won for him the favour of so many foreign noblemen. +His method was to give the students copies of the letters in either +Latin or their own language, and to let them translate them into French. +He announced an edition of the letters with English, German, and Latin +translations for the use of his pupils, but it does not appear to have +been published. Like most writers connected with the Court, Milleran +calls attention to the purity of his style, and announces that no other +books give such exact rules for the language of the Court. A special +feature of his work was the selection of letters by members of the +French Academy. [Header: HOWELL'S ADVICE TO TRAVELLERS] Nor was the +more familiar side neglected: there are numerous letters to and from +students of French, reporting on their progress in the language, with +mutual congratulations on improvement in style, etc. It is said of +Milleran's compositions that their chief merit is their scarcity, and +few will agree with De Linière, the satirist and enemy of Boileau, who +wrote in praise of Milleran: + + Cet homme en sa Grammaire étale + Autant de sçavoir que Varron, + Et dans ses Lettres il égale + Balzac, Voiture et Cicéron. + +Not a few English travellers dispensed with the services of a tutor in +France. Among these was James Howell, who studied French at Paris, +Orleans, and Poissy, where he endangered his health by too close +application; he acted for a time as travelling tutor to the son of Baron +Altham. He put his knowledge of French to the test by translating his +own first literary production, _Dodona's Grove_. This, he says, he +submitted to the new _Académie des beaux esprits_, founded by Richelieu, +which gave it a public expression of approbation.[926] The translation +was printed at Paris in 1641 under the title of _Dendrologie ou la Forêt +de Dodone_. Howell left instructions for travellers, based on his own +experience of study abroad, and typical of the theories current at the +time. He advises[927] the student who has settled in some quiet town to +choose a room looking on to the street, "to take in the common cry and +language"; to keep a diary during the day, and in the evening to write +an essay from this material, "for the penne maketh the deepest furrowes, +and doth fertilize and enrich the memory more than anything else." He +should avoid the company of his countrymen, "the greatest bane of +English Gentlemen abroad," and frequent cafés and ordinaries,[928] and +engage a French page-boy "to parley and chide withal, whereof he shall +have occasion enough."[929] Howell strongly felt the necessity of +travelling in France at an early age in order to gain a good +pronunciation, "hardly overcome by one who has past the minority ... +the French tongue by reason of the huge difference betwixt their writing +and speaking will put one often into fits of despair and passion." He +draws a grotesque picture of "some of the riper plants" who "overact +themselves, for while they labour to _trencher le mot_, to cut the word +as they say, and speake like naturall Frenchmen, and to get the true +genuine tone ... they fall a lisping and mincing, and so distort and +strain their mouths and voyce so that they render themselves fantastique +and ridiculous: let it be sufficient for one of riper years to speak +French intelligibly, roundly, and congruously, without such forced +affectation." It is equally important to avoid bashfulness in speaking: +"whatsoever it is, let it come forth confidently whether true or false +sintaxis; for a bold vivacious spirit hath a very great advantage in +attaining the French, or indeed any other language." + +The student will also do well to repair sometimes "to the Courts of +pleading and to the Publique Schools. For in France they presently fall +from the Latine to dispute in the vulgar tongue." He should also combine +the study of grammar--that of Maupas is the best--with his practical +exercises, and begin a course of reading, making notes as he goes on. +The most suitable books are those dealing with the history of France, +such as Serres and D'Aubigné. Much judgment is needed in the choice of +books on other subjects, "especially when there is such a confusion of +them as in France, which, as Africk, produceth always something new, for +I never knew week pass in Paris, but it brought forth some new kinds of +authors: but let him take heed of tumultuary and disjointed Authors, as +well as of the frivolous and pedantique." However, "there be some French +poets will affoord excellent entertainment specially Du Bartas, and +'twere not amisse to give a slight salute to Ronsard and Desportes, and +the late Théophile.[930] And touching poets, they must be used like +flowers, some must only be smelt into, but some are good to be thrown +into a limbique to be Distilled." + +The student is likewise admonished to make a collection of French +proverbs, and translate from English into French--the most difficult +task in learning the language, "for to translate another tongue into +English is not hard or profitable." [Header: USUAL COURSE] Finally, "for +Sundayes and Holydayes, there bee many Treasuries of Devotion in the +French Tongue, full of patheticall ejaculations, and Heavenly raptures, +and his closet must not be without some of these.... Peter du Moulin +hath many fine pieces to this purpose, du Plessis, Allencour and others. +And let him be conversant with such bookes only on Sundayes and not +mingle humane studies with them. His closet must be his Rendez-vous +whensoever hee is surprized with any fit of perverseness, as thoughts of +Country or Kindred will often affect one." + +Having acquired some knowledge of French in this retirement, "hee may +then adventure upon Paris, and the Court, and visit Ambassadours," and +go in the train of some young nobleman. In addition he should enter into +the life of the town, read the weekly gazettes and newspapers, "and it +were not amisse for him to spend some time in the New Academy, erected +lately by the French Cardinall Richelieu, where all the sciences are +read in the French tongue which is done of purpose to refine and enrich +the Language." He may also frequent one of the divers Academies in +Paris, for private gentlemen and cadets. + +It was also customary to make either the _Grand_ or the _Petit Tour_ of +France, after the period of studious retirement. The _Grand Tour_ +included Lyons, Marseilles, Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Paris; the _Petit +Tour_, Paris, Tours, and Poitiers.[931] Paris, we can guess, was the +chief attraction to most young Englishmen of family and fortune. Dryden +thus describes the education of a young gentleman of fashion:[932] "Your +father sent you into France at twelve years old, bred you up at Paris, +first at a college and then at an Academy." Much importance was attached +to a course of study at the University there, and many recognized the +advantages gained therefrom. But on the other hand there were not a few +complaints of the dangers of lack of discipline and the company of +dissolute scholars, and still more, of the neglect of all serious study. +Clarendon[933] assures us that many English travellers never saw the +University nor knew in what part of Paris it stood; but "dedicate all +that precious season only to Dancing and other exercises, which is +horribly to misspend it"; with the result that when such a traveller +returns to England, all his learning consists in wearing his clothes +well, and he has at least one French fellow to wait upon him and comb +his periwig. He is a "most accomplish'd Harlequin:"[934] + + Drest in a tawdrey suit, at Paris made, + For which he more than twice the value paid. + French his attendants, French alone his mouth + Can speak, his native language is uncouth. + If to the ladies he doth make advance, + His very looks must have the air of France. + +Such being the case, Admiral Penn thought well to send his son William +to France[935] in the hope that the brilliant life there would make him +forget the Quaker sympathies formed at Oxford.[936] The plan succeeded +for the time being; Penn returned "a most modish person, a fine +Gentleman, with all the latest French fashions," and Pepys[937] reports +that he perceived "something of learning he hath got, but a great deale, +if not too much of the vanity of the French garbe and affected manner of +speech and gait. I fear all real profit he hath made of his travel will +signify little." + +No doubt many "raw young travellers" did "waste their time abroad in +gallantry, ignorant for the most part of foreign languages, and no +recommendation to their own country."[938] Costeker in _The Compleat +Education of a Young Nobleman_ pictures what the young traveller abroad +often is, and what he might be. To begin with, "the utmost of his +thoughts and ideas are confined to the more fashionable part of dress." +Then, "according to custom, our Beau is designed to Travel; the Tour +proposed is to France, Italy and Spain. Were I to act the part of an +impartial Inquisitor I would ask for what? Why, most undoubtedly, I +might expect to be answered, to see the World again and perfect his +Studies, and by that means compleat the fine Gentleman. Thus equiped +with a fine Estate, little Learning, and less Sense, and intirely +ignorant of all Languages but his own, he launches into a foreign +Nation, without the least knowledge of his own, where the sharpers will +find him out, discover his Intellects, and make the most of him; they +besiege him with fulsome Adulation, against which his feminine refined +Understanding is too weak to resist. [Header: SIR JOHN RERESBY IN +FRANCE] I will not dwell long upon the subject of his stay there, +supposing he has made his Tour, and seen all the most remarkable and +wondrous curiosities of those Nations, he returns a little better than +he went, except for smattering a little of the tongues, and can give us +but as bad and imperfect an Account of their nation as he was capable of +giving them of ours; all the Advantage he brings from thence is their +Modes and Vices ... the incommoding a French Peruke unmans the Bow at +once."[939] And next to himself he "loves best anyone who will call him +a _Bel Esprit_." How different a picture from that of the traveller +which is painted as a model to young Englishmen: at the age of twenty he +goes abroad for two years, after having acquired a true knowledge of his +own nation and made himself master of French and Latin. He is capable of +learning more in a month than another ignorant of languages can in +twelve. "I am confident were all our young Noblemen educated in this +manner the French Court would no longer bee esteem'd the Residence of +Politeness and Belles Lettres but must then yield to the British one in +many degrees, by reason our young Gentlemen would not only be perfect +Masters in their exterior but intellectual Perfections, and England will +then be fam'd for the Excellency of Manners and Politeness as it is now +for the incomparable Beauty of the Ladies."[940] + +Sir John Reresby's account of how he spent his time abroad may be given +as a fairly typical example.[941] He went to France, in company with Mr. +Leech, his governor, in 1654. They travelled from Rye to Dieppe, and +thence to Paris, passing through Rouen. Their stay at Paris was very +short, as Reresby found the great resort of his countrymen there a great +"prevention" to learning the language. "I stayed no longer in Paris," he +tells us, "than to get my clothes, and to receive my bills of exchange, +and so went to live in a pension or boarding house at Blois.... I +employed my time here in learning the language, the guitar and dancing, +till July, and then, there having been some likelihood of a quarrel +between me and a Dutch gentleman in the same house, my governour +prevailed with me to go and live at Saumur[942].... At Saumur in +addition to the exercises I learnt at Blois, I learned to fence, and to +play of the lute. Besides that I studied philosophy and the +mathematicks, with my governor, who read lectures of each to me every +other day. After eight months' stay I had got so much of the language to +be able to converse with some ladies of the town, especially the +daughters of one M. du Plessis.... In the month of April I began to make +the little tour or circuit of France, and returned to Saumur after some +six weeks' absence. In July, I went (desirous to avoid much English +company resident at Saumur) to Le Mans, the capital town of Mayence, +with the two Mr. Leeches and one Mr. Butler. We lodged, and were in +pension at the parson's or minister's house; there were there no +strangers. There were several French persons of quality that lived there +at that time, as the Marquis de Cogne's widow, the Marquis de Verdun, +and several others, who made us partakers of the pastimes and diversions +of the place. All that winter few weeks did pass, that there were not +balls three times at the least, and we had the freer access by reason +that the women were more numerous than the men. I stayed there till +April 1656, and then returned to Saumur with my Governor alone." After +staying there for some time, Reresby dismissed his governor and made a +tour in Italy. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[882] _Discourse in derision of the Teaching in Free Schools_, 1644. + +[883] One John Gifford, for instance, obtained permission to spend seven +years in France in order to educate his family there (_Cal. State +Papers, Dom., 1623-25_, p. 282). Mr. Storey sent his grandson Starky to +France to learn the language (_ibid., 1649-50_, p. 535). + +[884] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1654_, p. 427. Care was taken to prevent +English students abroad from going to Roman Catholics; in 1661 Francis +Cottington made a successful application for the remission of a +forfeiture he incurred by going to Paris without a licence and living +three months in the house of a Papist (_Cal. State Papers, Dom., +1661-62_, p. 566). + +[885] _Memoirs of the Verney Family_, i. pp. 477, 497. + +[886] Among the books he read were Monluc's _Commentaires_, the +_Secrétaire à la mode_, and the _Secrétaire de la cour_ (_Memoirs of the +Verney Family_, iii. p. 80). + +[887] _Memoirs_, iii. p. 66. + +[888] An Edict of 1683 restricted the number of such pupils allowed to +French pastors to two. + +[889] An account of the schools of the French Protestants is given by M. +Nicolas in the _Bulletin de l'Histoire du Protestantisme français_, vol. +iv. pp. 497 _et seq._ + +[890] Cp. pp. 233 _sqq._, _supra_. The names of many famous families are +found in the registers of Geneva University--the Pembrokes, Montagus, +Cavendishes, Cecils, etc. Borgeaud, _L'Académie de Genève_, p. 442. + +[891] _Memoirs_, i. p. 358. + +[892] _Verney Memoirs_, vol. i. p. 358. + +[893] _Cal. of State Papers, Dom., 1661-62_, p. 283. + +[894] _Ibid., 1656-56_, pp. 182, 188, 281, 288, 316. + +[895] _Savile Correspondence_, Camden Society, 1858, pp. 80, 71 _sqq._, +228. + +[896] When the Academy of Saumur was suppressed in 1684, the town lost +about two-thirds of its inhabitants. + +[897] Locke was one of those who went to the South of France "carrying a +cough with him"; cp. his Journal in King, _Life of Locke ... with +Extracts from his ... Journal_, 1830, i. pp. 86 _sqq._, Nov. 1675-March +1679. + +[898] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1667-68_, p. 69. + +[899] _New Instructions to the Guardian_, 1694, p. 101. + +[900] Cooper, _Annals of Cambridge_, iv. 184. + +[901] _New Instructions to the Guardian_, 1694, p. 101. + +[902] _The Compleat Gentleman or Directions for the Education of Youth +as to their breeding at home and Travelling Abroad_, 1687, pp. 33 _sqq._ + +[903] Eliote seems to have been the first to have described the Grand +Tour--in his grammar, _Ortho-Epia Gallica_ (1593). Sherwood followed his +example in 1625. After the middle of the century such dialogues assume a +more educational and guide-like and less descriptive form. + +[904] Lister, _A Journey to Paris in the year 1698_, p. 2. Lister had +previously visited France in about 1668. In 1698 he visited the aged +Mlle. de Scudéry and the Daciers, and frequented the French theatres. + +[905] Second edition, 1657. + +[906] London, 1656. Another edition appeared in 1673, entitled _The +Voyage of France, or a compleat Journey through France_. + +[907] As in _A Tour in France and Italy made by an English Gentleman_ +(J. Clenchy), 1675 and 1676, reprinted in _A Collection of Voyages_, +1745, vol. i.; and _Remarks on the Grand Tour of France and Italy lately +performed by a person of quality_ (W. Bromley), 1692 and 1693 (when it +was entitled _Remarks made in Travels through France and Italy with many +public inscriptions. Lately undertaken by a Person of Quality_). Cp. pp. +220 _sqq._, supra. + +[908] For instance: _Le Guide des chemins pour aller et venir par tous +les pays et contrées du Royaume de France . . . par C. Estienne_, Paris, +1552, 1553; Lyons, 1556. _Les Antiquitez et Recherches des Villes, +chasteaux, et places plus remarquables de toute la France_, 6e éd., +1631. L. Coulon, _Le fidèle conducteur pour le voyage de France montrant +exactement les Routes et choses remarquables qui se trouvent en chaque +ville, et les distances d'icelles avec un dénombrement des Batailles qui +s'y sont données_, Paris, 1654. + +[909] As _Le Guide Fidelle des étrangers dans le voyage de France_, +Paris, 1672 (by Aloide de St. Maurice); _Les Délices de la France ou +description des provinces et villes capitales d'icelles_, Leyde, 1685; +_Le Gentilhomme étranger voyageant en France, par le baron G.D.N._, +1699--borrowed, without acknowledgement, from _Le Guide Fidelle_ of +1672. Cp. A. Babeau, _Les Voyageurs en France depuis la Renaissance +jusqu'à la Révolution_, Paris, 1885, chapter v. + +[910] By La Serre. The former, which first appeared in 1625, went +through fifty editions. + +[911] Lockier, in Spense's _Anecdotes_, 1820, p. 75. + +[912] _Journal_, p. 89. + +[913] Riding on horseback was the more usual mode of travelling, the +horses being hired from town to town; cp. Locke's _Journal_, p. 149. +Wherever possible, travellers went from one town to another by water--as +from one of the Loire towns to another. + +[914] _The Memoirs of M. du Val ... intended as a severe reflexion on +the too great fondness of English ladies towards French valets which at +that time was a common complaint_, London, 1670, Harleian Miscellany, +iii. p. 308. + +[915] _Spared Houres of a Souldier_, 1623. + +[916] Moryson mentions Orleans as a good town; Edward Leigh, Blois and +Orleans (_Foelix Consortium_, 1663); Evelyn, Blois and Bourges; Lookier, +Orleans and Caen. + +[917] _Epistolae Ho-Elianae_, 9th ed., 1726, p. 38. + +[918] Heylyn, _Voyage of France_, 1673, p. 294. + +[919] He kept a diary in Latin (1648-50); cf. Wood, _Athenae Oxon._ +(Bliss), iii. 901. + +[920] Gailhard, _The Compleat Gentleman_, 1678. + +[921] Who, in his _Ludus Literarius_, urges boys to practise speaking +Latin "to fit them if they shall go beyond the seas, as Gentlemen who go +to travel, Factors for merchants, and the like." + +[922] He tells us that at Rouen the English usually went to an inn kept +by a certain Mr. Madde; at Dieppe, Madame Godard's house was very +popular; at Paris, the best hotel was the "Ville de Venize." At Orleans, +good lodging was found at the "Croix Blanche," kept by one M. Richard, +and at the house of M. Marishall Laisné. + +[923] J. Rutledge, _Mémoire sur le caractère, et les moeurs des Français +comparés à ceux des Anglais_, 1776, p. 55. + +[924] Vairasse was born _c._ 1630, probably at Allais. + +[925] Another grammar of similar intent was that of Ruau, _La vraie +methode d'enseigner la langue françoise aux estrangers expliquée en +Latin_, Paris, 1687. + +[926] _Epistolae Ho-Elianae_, 9th ed., 1726, p. 283. + +[927] _Instructions for forreine travel_, 1642, ed. Arber, 1869, pp. 19 +_sqq._ + +[928] Bacon had many years before advised the traveller to keep a diary: +and further "let him sequester himself from the company of his +countrymen, and diet in such places where there is a good company of the +nation where he travaileth" (_Essay on Travel_). + +[929] A Huguenot boy of about sixteen was considered a suitable valet +(Lainé, _French Grammar_, 1650). + +[930] _I.e._ Théophile de Viau. + +[931] St. Maurice, _Guide Fidelle_, 1672. + +[932] _Limberman or the Kind Keeper_, Act I. Sc. 1. + +[933] _On Education._ Miscellaneous Works, 1751, pp. 322-3. + +[934] _Satire against the French_, 1691. + +[935] Webb, _The Penns and Penningtons of the Seventeenth Century in +their Domestic and Religious Life_, 1867, p. 154. + +[936] Gibbon, on the contrary, was sent to the house of a pastor of +Lausanne, in the hope that he would abjure the doctrines of Roman +Catholicism, which he had affected at the same University. + +[937] _Diary_, August 26 and 27, 1664; August 30, 1664. + +[938] D. Fordyce, _Dialogues on Education_, 1745, i. p. 417. + +[939] _The Compleat Education of a Young Nobleman_, 1723, pp. 13 and 14. + +[940] Costeker, _op. cit._ pp. 50-51. + +[941] _Memoirs of Sir John Reresby, 1634-1689_, London, 1875, pp. 26 +_sqq._, and _Memoirs and Travels of Sir John Reresby_, London, 1904, p. +21. + +[942] Travelling by boat on the Loire, as was usual, and passing by +Tours. They were accompanied by a band of French men and women who, says +Reresby, tried to make the journey more pleasant by singing, and made it +less so. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + GALLOMANIA AFTER THE RESTORATION + + +The French teachers of London at the time of the Restoration, chief +amongst whom were Claude Mauger, Paul Festeau, Pierre Lainé, and +Guillaume Herbert, all urged students to travel in France as a means of +completing the knowledge of French acquired in England; yet at the same +time they naturally and in their own interests lay emphasis on the +facilities for learning the language in England, especially after the +Restoration, when, to use Mauger's words, there was a little France in +London, as well as a little England in Paris; "there being so great a +correspondence between the two Courts of England and France that we see +here continually the Lords of the latter, as they see at Paris persons +of quality of the former, besides an infinity of others going and coming +from thence." This indeed was the period in which Francomania reached +its height in England. During the Commonwealth the English Court and +many of the nobility and gentry had sojourned in France, and returned +thence imbued with admiration for everything French. This admiration was +intensified by the universal popularity of the French language and +French fashions. Gentlemen from all parts of Europe repaired to France +to learn the language and "frenchify" their manners. France was the +country to which English gentlemen resorted "to get their breeding"; and +the Chancellor Clarendon held that their manners were much improved by +the contact. On the other hand, French men and women of the same class +came to the English Court in larger numbers than ever before. Some +returned with their English friends at the Restoration. Others followed +later, for the English Court offered more attractions to +pleasure-seekers than did the French Court, now under the influence of +Madame de Maintenon. + +The indignation and dismay aroused in France by the execution of +Charles I.[943] made the welcome offered to the royalist emigrants all +the warmer in the first instance. We are told that Paris, and indeed all +France, was full of loyal fugitives.[944] The exiled English Court was +sheltered at the Louvre and the Palais Royal in turn.[945] The queen +arrived in her native land in 1644, and shortly afterwards came Prince +Charles, then about sixteen years old, and James, the young Duke of +York. Mlle. de Montpensier, the grand-daughter of Henry IV., remarks on +the French of the two young princes. James, she thought, spoke the +language with ease, and very well indeed, and Mademoiselle was no +lenient critic.[946] But Charles had not drawn as much profit from the +lessons received in England.[947] He found the pronunciation an almost +insuperable difficulty, stammered and hesitated, and during the early +part of his stay remained almost mute for want of words. Mademoiselle +says he could not utter one intelligible sentence in French, though he +understood all she said to him. Charles, however, soon felt the benefit +of his sojourn abroad. When he returned to France from Holland in 1648, +he had already made much progress and answered the French king readily +in French, when that monarch inquired about the horses and dogs of the +Prince of Orange. He was ready enough to talk of hunting in French, but +when the queen wished to know about the progress of his affairs, and to +talk of serious matters, he excused himself, declaring he could not +speak French.[948] He would also sit silent for long periods in Mlle. de +Montpensier's presence, and only ventured to convey his compliments to +her through Lord Jermyn, one of the chief counsellors of Charles I., who +remained in the service of the queen during her exile in France. +[Header: THE ENGLISH COURT IN FRANCE] But the princess was delighted to +see a great improvement in his speaking of the language at the time of +his return from the expedition into Scotland, and the fatal battle of +Worcester. He forgot his shyness and spoke French well, relating to her +the thrilling story of his escape, and how he was "furieusement ennuyé" +in Scotland, where they think it a sin to listen to a violin. He was +also able to make the princess very pretty compliments in French, and on +these occasions, she remarks, he spoke the language particularly +well.[949] + +Charles is even said to have gone incognito to several French reformed +churches during his stay in France. The presence of Cromwell's +ambassador prevented his going to the famous church of Charenton, but he +went to others. On one occasion he listened to the sermon in the +Protestant church of La Rochelle, in company with the Duke of Ormond, +and expressed his satisfaction to one or two of the congregation to whom +he revealed his identity.[950] + +Many other Englishmen improved their French during their enforced stay +on the Continent. Most of the high officials of the Court of Charles I., +the courtiers, nobles, and gentlemen round the king, spent the greater +part of the interregnum in Paris, although some of them were disturbed +by the French understanding with Cromwell in 1656. John Evelyn[951] +enumerates most of the distinguished Englishmen he met in France,[952] +and remarks on the number of French courtiers who paid their respects to +the king (Charles II.); he himself kissed His Majesty's hand at St. +Germain's. French courtiers had free intercourse with the English at +concerts, festivals, and other entertainments.[953] They also met at the +Academies so fashionable at the time. On the 13th March 1650, for +instance, Evelyn witnessed a "triumph" in Mr. Del Campo's Academy, where +"divers of the French and English noblesse, especially my Lord of +Ossory, and Richard, sons to the Marquis of Ormond (afterwards Duke), +did their exercises on horseback in noble equipage before a world of +spectators and great persons, men and ladies." And again, on the 24th of +May, he writes, "we were invited by the Noble Academies to a running, +where were many brave horses, gallants and ladies, my Lord Stanhope +entertaining us with a collation." The king's brother, the young Duke of +Gloucester, set the example by daily attending one of these academies. +Sir John Reresby, that time-serving politician, has also left an account +of his journey in France during the Commonwealth. On his arrival at +Paris in 1654 he saw the king, the Duke of York, and Prince Rupert +playing at billiards in the Palais Royal; "but was incognito, it being +crime sufficient the waiting upon His Majesty to have caused the +sequestration of his estates."[954] Reresby was again in France in 1659, +and was well received by Henrietta Maria. Almost alone of the English +exiles, Sir Edward Hyde, the Chancellor, who found the discomforts of +the exiled Court very great, failed to become a fluent speaker of +French, chiefly because he was unable to overcome the difficulties of +the pronunciation. After the Restoration he was the one high official of +the English Court who did not speak the language with fluency. It was +not till the time of his exile in France, after his disgrace in 1668, +that he mastered the language sufficiently to read its literature; but +he still found "many inconveniences" in speaking it.[955] + +Men of letters formed a considerable section of the English colony in +France. Waller, Denham, Cowley, Davenant, Hobbes, Killigrew, Shirley, +Fanshawe, Crashaw, etc., and later Roscommon, Rochester, Buckingham, +Wycherley, Vanbrugh, and others lived in France, and some mixed freely +in French literary circles, then centring round the Hôtel de +Rambouillet, and such names as those of Malherbe, Vaugelas, Corneille, +Bossuet, Scudéry, La Calprenède. English literature of the Restoration +gives ample proof of their familiarity with both the language and +literature of their hosts.[956] Waller, for instance, after spending +some time at Rouen, moved to Paris, where he lived "in great splendour +and hospitality."[957] [Header: ENGLISH MEN OF LETTERS IN FRANCE] +Cowley, who had followed the queen to Paris, became secretary to Lord +Jermyn, afterwards Earl of St. Albans, and deciphered the letters which +passed between the king and queen of England. The dramatist Davenant was +twice in France, where he remained several years on his second visit. +Hobbes, who for many years acted as a travelling tutor, made his mark in +the philosophic circles of Paris, and knew Mersenne, Sorbière, and +Gassendi. He fled to Paris during the civil wars, and for a time was +engaged in teaching arithmetic to the Prince of Wales.[958] + +Among the many children sent to France for education during the Civil +War and Commonwealth were several future literary men. Both Vanbrugh and +Wycherley were brought up in this way. At the age of fifteen Wycherley +was "sent for education to the Western parts of France, either to +Saintonges or the Angoumois. His abode there was either upon the Banks +of the Charente, or very little remov'd from it. And he had there the +Happiness to be in the neighbourhood of one of the most accomplish'd +Ladies of the Court of France, Mme. de Montausier, whom Voiture has made +famous by several very ingenious letters, the most of which were writ to +her when she was a Maid, and call'd Mlle. de Rambouillet. I have heard +Mr. Wycherley say he was often admitted to the Conversation of that +lady, who us'd to call him the Little Hugenot: and that young as he was, +he was equally pleased with the Beauty of her Mind, and with the Graces +of her person."[959] + +One of the young royalists who received his education in France during +the Commonwealth so completely mastered the French language that he +gained an important place among French men of letters: the famous +Anthony Hamilton, the author of short stories in French[960]--masterpieces +in the light vein[961]--and of the well-known life of his +gallant brother-in-law, the Comte de Grammont, which gives a +vivid picture of the life at the Court of Charles II. Hamilton has +been placed second only to Voltaire as a representative of the _esprit +français_.[962] + +At the Restoration, Hamilton returned to England with the rest of the +English emigrants, together with a considerable number of Frenchmen who +had attached themselves to the English Court. He was followed two years +later by the hero of his _Mémoires_,[963] the Comte de Grammont, who +pronounced the English Court so like that of France in manners and +conversation that he could hardly realize he was in another +country.[964] French was the language freely used by the English +emigrants on their return to London, and by others in imitation of them. +"French is the most in use," wrote William Higford in the year of the +Restoration, "a most sweet tongue called the Woman's tongue, and as I +think for the address from the servant to the mistress, and from the +servant to the soveraigne, there is no sweeter nor more civil."[965] The +use of the French language was spreading all over Europe, but nowhere +was it so popular as in England: "indeed it is most alamode and best +pleases the ladies and we cannot deny but Messieurs of France are +excellent wits."[966] + +The presence of so many of these _messieurs_ in London intensified the +already strong French atmosphere. Several famous names occur in the list +of French ladies and gentlemen who took up their abode in England at +this time. Shortly before De Grammont, St. Evremond had arrived in +England, where he spent over thirty years, and died in 1703. Both played +important parts in the social life of the time. De Grammont especially +was very popular. [Header: FRENCH COURTIERS IN LONDON] He received a +warm welcome at Court, where he met many old friends and was overwhelmed +with hospitality; to make an engagement with him it was necessary to see +him a fortnight beforehand. He himself added to the Court festivities by +giving French entertainments in the Parisian style. + +At the numerous festivities held in honour of De Grammont, St. +Evremond[967] was almost invariably one of the guests. He soon became +the centre of a _coterie_, half English and half French, including his +literary companion the Dutchman Vossius, Canon of Windsor, the French +doctor Le Fèvre, professor of chemistry to Charles II.,[968] and the +learned Huguenot Henri Justel, who had charge of the royal library at +St. James's. What contributed most to reconcile St. Evremond to his life +in England, however, was the arrival of Hortense Mancini, Duchesse de +Mazarin, niece of the cardinal. The French ambassador Courtin said +England was the refuge of French wives who had quarrelled with their +husbands, and the Duchesse was one of these.[969] In her _salon_ St. +Evremond met the most distinguished Englishmen and foreign ministers of +the day. He saw her daily, and she inspired much of his best work. +There, too, met French Catholics, Huguenots, and Englishmen, free from +all religious prejudice, and talked of the subjects which interested +them most. Another of Mazarin's nieces, the Duchesse de Bouillon,[970] +was also in London for a time, and received in her _salon_ Waller, St. +Evremond, and others; at one time there was a possibility of La Fontaine +joining her circle. La Fontaine seems to have felt some interest in +England and the English, who, he says, + + pensent profondément; + Leur esprit, en cela, suit leur tempérament, + Creusant dans les sujets, et forts d'expériences, + Ils étendent partout l'empire des sciences. + +To Mrs. Harvey, sister of Lord Montagu and friend of the Duchess of +Mazarin, he dedicated his fable _Le Renard Anglais_. + +Both St. Evremond and the Duchess of Mazarin ended their days in +England.[971] St. Evremond enjoyed the favour of three English kings. +Charles II. gave him a pension, and when William III. dined with one of +his courtiers, he is said to have always stipulated that the French +writer should be of the party, as he took great delight in his +conversation. Though St. Evremond received permission in 1689 to return +to his native land, he did not avail himself of the offer, preferring to +remain in the midst of his English friends, who were accustomed to his +ways and manners and his peculiarities.[972] But during the whole of his +thirty years' stay in England he made no attempt to speak English. +French was the language in which he and the rest of his countrymen +carried on their daily intercourse with their hosts. + +Pepys also refers frequently to the Frenchmen he met in London.[973] On +one occasion at the Cockpit his attention was diverted from the stage by +a group of loquacious Frenchmen in a box, who, not understanding +English, were amusing themselves by asking a pretty lady, who knew both +languages, what the actors said. "Lord! what sport they made!" says +Pepys. On another occasion at Whitehall he met a very communicative +Frenchman with one eye, who shared a coach with him, and told him the +history of his own life "without asking." + +Covent Garden, we are told, was the favourite resort of the French +residents, "nearer the Court, than the Exchange."[974] Their presence, +however, was not confined to Court circles; for the French were +beginning to take an interest in England and to visit the country,[975] +although, as yet, their curiosity had not extended to the language. In a +few cases English was studied. Mauger even tells us that several of his +contemporaries learnt it in France. It is certain that some employed the +services of the French teachers of London, who were willing to teach +their newly acquired language to their countrymen; for this purpose the +practice of attaching English grammars to French ones--a combination +first instituted by Mauger, who urged the French and English to avail +themselves of this opportunity of exchanging lessons--became more and +more common as the seventeenth century drew to its close. [Header: +FRENCH VALETS AND "FEMMES DE CHAMBRE"] In the meanwhile guide-books[976] +and relations of travel in England appeared. The writer of one of these, +M. Payen,[977] remarks on the great number of strangers, especially +Frenchmen, in London.[978] At the time of the Restoration, however, the +chief significance of their presence lies in the need they created for +the English to speak French. + +The great demand for everything French, including the language, offered +an opening for many Frenchmen in London; for all the men and women of +fashion were not in the position of De Grammont, who sent his valet, +Thermes, to France every week to bring back the latest fashions from +Paris. "Nothing will go down with the town now," writes a contemporary +author, "but French fashions, French dancing, French songs, French +servants, French wines, French kickshaws, and now and then French sawce +come in among them, and so no doubt but French doctors may be in esteem +too."[979] In almost every book written at the time there is some +reference to the mania for French fashions. And some time later the Abbé +Le Blanc relates how, on one occasion in England, a self-satisfied +Englishman taunted him thus: "Il faut que votre pays soit bien pauvre, +puisque tant de gens sont obligés de le quitter pour chercher à vivre en +celui-ci. C'est vous qui nous fournissez de Maîtres à danser, de +Perruquiers, de Tailleurs, et de Valets de chambre: et nous vous devons +cette justice, pour la Frisure ou pour le Menuet, les François +l'emportent sur toutes les autres Nations. Je ne comprens pas comment on +aime si fort la Danse dans un Pays où l'on a si peu sujet de rire. +N'est-il pas triste, par exemple, de ne cultiver vos Vignes que pour +nous?"[980] + +Regarding the French _valets_ and _femmes de chambre_ in London, the +Abbé writes: "Il n'est pas étonnant que l'on trouve en Angleterre tant +de Domestiques François. A Londres on se plaît à parler notre Langue, on +copie nos usages, on imite nos moeurs: ils entretiennent du moins dans +nos manières ceux qui les aiment: et les Anglois les payent à +proportion de l'utilité qu'ils en retirent."[981] We are told that the +French lackey was "as mischievous all the year as a London apprentice on +Shrove Tuesday";[982] yet he was indispensable: + + His Lordship's Valet must be bred in France, + Or else he is a clown without Pretence: + The English Blockheads are in dress so coarse, + They're fit for nothing but to rub a horse. + Her Ladyship's ill manner'd or ill bred, + Whose Woman Confident or Chamber Maid, + Did not in France suck in her first breath'd Air, + Or did not gain her education there.[983] + +French cooks were also in great demand, and it was a point of gentility +to dine at one of the French ordinaries. Thus Briske, in Shadwell's +_Humourists_, is condemned as "a fellow that never wore a noble or +polite garniture, or a white periwig, one that has not a bit of interest +at Chatelin's, or ever ate a good fricacy, sup, or ragoust in his life"; +for now, "like the French we dress, like Frenchmen eat." "Substantial +beef" is "boil'd in vain," and "our boards are profaned with +fricassee":[984] + + Our cooks in dressing have no skill at all, + French cooks are only of the modish stamp. + +Pepys did not care for the new French restaurants. At the most popular, +Chatelin's,[985] he says, they serve a "damned base dinner at the charge +of 8s. 6d." He preferred the old English ordinaries where English food +was given a French name. Yet he admits that at the French houses the +table is covered and the glasses clean, all in the French manner; and +when he dined with his patrons of the Admiralty, he usually was given a +"fine French dinner."[986] + +[Header: THE FRENCH TAILOR] + +As to the French dancing-master, he is a "very Paladin of France when +he comes into England once, where he has the Regimen of the Ladies leges +and is the sole Pedagoge of their feet, teaching them the French +Language, as well as the French Pace."[987] French music was also the +vogue. We are told that during the reign of Charles II. "all musick +affected by the beau mond ran in the ffrench way."[988] John Bannester, +the first violin to the king, is said to have lost his post[989] for +having upheld, within the hearing of His Majesty, that the English +musicians were superior to the French. Soon after the Restoration, +Charles on one occasion gave great umbrage to the English musicians by +making them stop their performance and bidding the French music play +instead. + +In the same way the French tailor is "the King of Fashions and Emperor +of the Mode, not onely in France, but most of its Neighboring Nations, +and his Laws are received where the King of France's will not +pass";[990] and thus the French + + Now give us laws for pantalons, + The length of breeches and the gathers, + Port-cannons, periwigs and feathers.[991] + +There was a French peddling woman at Court, Mlle. Le Boord, who "us'd to +bring peticoates, and fanns and baubles out of France to the +Ladys,"[992] and whose opinion had great weight. De Grammont won the +favour of the English ladies by having French trinkets sent them from +France. "Let the fashion be French, 'tis no matter what the cloth +be."[993] Travellers from France were beset with questions as to the +latest mode. Some devotees were said to receive weekly letters from +France providing information on this subject.[994] At one moment +Charles protested against the rage for French fashions by adopting a +simple garment after the Persian style, which was first worn at Court on +the 18th October 1666. Divers gentlemen went so far as to wager that His +Majesty would not persist in this change; and when Louis XIV. retorted +by ordering his pages to be attired in the same Persian garb, Charles +withdrew. "It was a comely and manly attire," writes Evelyn, "too good +to hold, it being impossible for us in good earnest to leave the +Monsieurs' vanities long."[995] + +Francomania indeed was carried to extremes: + + And as some pupils have been known + In time to put their tutors down, + So ours are often found t'ave got + More tricks than ever they were taught.[996] + +We are told of an "English captain that threw up his commission because +his company would not exercise after the French Discipline."[997] Dryden +even accuses the French of influencing the course of English +politics:[998] + + The Holy League + Begot our Cov'nant; Guisards got Whig, + Whate'er our hot-brain'd sheriffs did advance, + Was like our fashions, first produced in France, + And when worn out, well scourg'd and bannish'd there. + Sent over, like their godly Beggars, here. + +A French patent was said to authorize any crime.[999] "Now what a Devil +'tis should make us so dote on these French," says Flecknoe,[1000] and +another writer adds:[1001] + + Our native speech we must forget e'er long + To learn the French that much more modish Tongue. + Their language smoother is, hath pretty Aires, + But ours is Gothick if compar'd with theirs. + The French by arts of smooth insinuation + Are now become the Darlings of the Nation. + +[Header: FRENCH SPOKEN AT COURT] + +The example was set at Court, where French was commonly in use, and +where to be able to speak it well was a necessity and proof of good +breeding. "Mark then, I makes 'em both speak French to show their +breeding," says the author Boyes of his two kings in Buckingham's +_Rehearsal_.[1002] Sir John Reresby first attracted notice at Court by +his fluent French. "It was this summer," he writes in 1661, "that the +Duke of York first took any particular notice of me. I happened to be in +discourse with the French Ambassador and some other gentlemen of his +nation, in the presence at Whitehall, and the Duke joined us, he being a +great lover of the French tongue and kind to those who spoke it. The +next night he talked with me a long while as he was at supper with the +king."[1003] And Reresby, with a keen eye for his own advancement, took +advantage of this to secure the patronage of the Duke. He also tells us +that the King, Duke, and French ambassador were very often merry and +intimate together at Louise de Kerouaille's (now Duchess of Portsmouth) +lodgings,[1004] where French alone would be used, for it was an unknown +thing for a French ambassador to speak English. There was not a +courtier[1005] who did not speak French with ease, Clarendon alone +excepted. + +The ladies of the Court were equally well versed in the language. When +De Grammont, who had made the acquaintance of most of the courtiers in +France, came to make that of the ladies, he needed no interpreter, for +all knew French--"assez pour s'expliquer et toutes entendaient le +françois assez bien pour ce qu'on avait à leur dire."[1006] Amongst them +was Miss Hamilton, Anthony's sister, who became De Grammont's +wife,[1007] and was much admired at the Court of Louis XIV. The +accomplishments of Miss Stuart may be quoted as typical of the rest: +"elle avoit de la grâce, dansoit bien, parloit françois mieux que sa +langue naturelle: elle étoit polie, possédoit cet air de parure après +lequel on court et qu'on n'attrappe guères à moins de l'avoir pris en +France dès sa jeunesse."[1008] The least gifted lady of the Court was +Miss Blake, who "n'entendoit presque point le françois." When the +Countess of Berkshire recommended one of her near relatives as one of +the queen's dressers, the fact that she had been twelve years in France, +and could speak French exceedingly well, was mentioned as her chief +qualification.[1009] The Portuguese queen[1010] was indeed out of place +in her Frenchified Court. She could not speak French, and Spanish was +her means of intercourse with Charles II. and the Duke of York, who both +spoke this language fairly well, and were able to act as interpreters +between their French mother and the young queen. Catherine's Portuguese +attire was the subject of much amusement, and her efforts to induce the +ladies of the Court to adopt it were of no avail. James II., when he was +an exile in France for the second time, told the nuns of Chaillot that +she had endeavoured to prevail on King Charles to use his influence with +them: "but the ladies dressed in the French fashions and would not hear +of any other, constantly sending artificers and dressmakers to Paris to +import the newest modes, as they do to this very day."[1011] The country +ladies caught the fashion as it was going out in London.[1012] + +In many cases the passion for all things French became a mania with the +ladies, as is frequently pictured in the drama of the time.[1013] A +Frenchified lady would have a French maid, "born and bred in France, who +could speak English but brokenly," with whom she would talk a mixture of +broken French and English; while many a one like Melantha of Dryden's +_Marriage à-la-mode_,[1014] doted on any new French word: "as fast as +any bullion comes out of France, she coins it into English, and runs +mad in new French words."[1015] [Header: THE FRENCHIFIED LADY] She +importunes those returned from the tour in France, or who have +correspondence with Parisians, to know the latest words used in Paris. +Her maid supplies her daily with a store of French words: + + _Melantha._ ... You _sot_ you, come produce your Morning's work.... + O, my Venus! 14 or 15 words to serve me a whole day! Let me die, at + this rate I cannot last till night! Come read your words.... + + _Philotis._ _Sottises._ + + _Melantha._ _Sottises, bon._ That's an excellent word to begin withal: + as for example, he or she said a thousand _sottises_ to me. Proceed. + + _Philotis._ _Figure_: as what a _Figure_ of a man is there! _Naïve_ + and _Naïveté_. + + _Melantha._ _Naïve!_ as how? + + _Philotis._ Speaking of a thing that was naturally said: it was so + _naïve_. Or such an innocent piece of simplicity: 'twas such a + _Naïveté_. + +And as Melantha becomes excited with her new acquisitions, she bestows +gifts on her maid at each new word. + +A new catechism[1016] for the ladies was invented on these lines: + + --Of what Nation are you? + --English by birth: my education _à la mode de France_. + --Who confirms you? + --Mademoiselle the French Mantua maker. + +We are told that the Frenchified lady was educated in a French +boarding-school, by a French dancing master, a French singing master, +and a French waiting woman. "Before I could speak English plain," she +tells us, "I was taught to jabber French: and learnt to dance before I +could go: in short I danced French dances at 8, sang French at 10, spoke +it at 13, and before 15 could talk nothing else." + +Among the gentlemen _à la mode_, "to speak French like a magpie" was +also the fashion: + + We shortly must our native speech forget + And every man appear a French coquett. + Upon the Tongue our English sounds not well, + But--oh, monsieur, la langue françoise est belle;[1017] + +wrote a satirist of the time. And so the Francomaniacs, designated as +_beaux_ or English _monsieurs_, became the subject for satire and +ridicule. Their French was often not of a very high standard. Pepys met +one of the _monsieurs_, "full of his French," and pronounced it "not +very good." Many, no doubt, had to be content "t' adorn their English +with French scraps." + + And while they idly think t' enrich, + Adulterate their native speech: + For, though to smatter ends of Greek + Or Latin be the rhetorique + Of pedants counted and vainglorious, + To smatter French is meritorious, + And to forget their mother tongue + Or purposely to speak it wrong.[1018] + +Butler says that "'tis as ill breeding now to speak good Englis, as to +wrote good Englis,[1019] good sense or a good hand," and "not to be able +to swear a French oath, nor use the polite French word in conversation," +debarred one from polite society. The town spark or _beau garzion_ is +frequently introduced in the comedies of the time. Not being master of +his own language, he intermingles it with scraps of French that the +ladies may take him for a man of parts and a true linguist.[1020] Such +is Sir Foppington, who walks with one eye hidden under his hat, with a +toothpick in prominence, and a cane dangling at his button;[1021] and +Sir Novelty Fashion, who prefers the title of _Beau_ to that of Right +Honourable;[1022] and the _Monsieur_ of Paris of Wycherley's _Gentleman +Dancing Master_, "mightily affected with French Language and Fashions," +preferring the company of a French valet to that of an English squire, +and talking "agreeable ill Englis." Etherege's Sir Fopling Flutter[1023] +presents us with a telling picture of what was considered good breeding +and wit at the Court of Charles II. [Header: THE ENGLISH "MONSIEUR"] Sir +Fopling is "a fine undertaking French fop, arrived piping hot from +Paris," bent on imitating the people of quality in France and on +speaking a mixture of French and English. "His head stands for the most +part on one side, and his looks are more languishing than a lady's when +she lolls at stretch in her coach, or leans her head carelessly against +the side of a box in the playhouse." He judges everything according to +what is done at Paris, and English music and dancing make him shudder. +And as it was _à la mode_ to be + + Attended by a young petit garçon + Who from his cradle was an arch Fripon,[1024] + +he walks about with a train of French valets. Mr. Frenchlove of James +Howard's "English Monsieur" (1674) is likewise "a Frenchman in his +second nature, that is in his fashion, discourse and clothes"; he cannot +discover a _divertissement_ in the whole of London, but finds "some +comfort that in this vast beef-eating city, a French house may be found +to eat at." + +The French ordinaries held an important place in the daily round of the +_beau_. His toilet occupied the whole of the early part of the day. He +would then go to the French ordinary,[1025] where he boasts of his +travels to the untravelled company, and if they receive this well, plies +them with "more such stuff, as how he, simple fellow as he seems to be, +had interpreted between the French King and the Emperor." Or, if his +accomplishments will not stand this strain, "flings some fragments of +French or small parcels of Italian about the table."[1026] He may then +take the promenade or _Tour à la Mode_, where he salutes with _bon +meen_, and has a hundred _jolly rancounters_ on the way.[1027] He +usually ended his day at the play. + +And here again he would find the desired French atmosphere. Many +translations or adaptations of French plays were acted,[1028] and the +English drama of the period is so full of French words and phrases that +it is hardly intelligible to any one without a good knowledge of +French.[1029] The Frenchified Gallants and Ladies, the French Valets, +and other French characters introduced so freely into the plays, offered +ample opportunity for the use of French words.[1030] Dryden, alone, is +responsible for the introduction of more than a hundred such +words.[1031] As literature was fashionable at the time, most of the +dramatic authors were themselves gentlemen _à la mode_ with strong +French tastes. Sedley, for instance, had a great reputation in the world +of fashion. Wycherley and Vanbrugh had both been educated in France. +Etherege had probably resided many years in Paris. Cibber, who always +played the part of the fop in his own plays, went twice to France +specially to study the airs and graces of the French _petit-maître_,--at +no better place, however, than a _table d'Auberge_, the Abbé Le Blanc +tells us:[1032] "Il faut lui pardonner ses erreurs sur ses modèles, il +n'étoit à portée d'en voir d'autres: si même il n'a pas aussi bien imité +ceux-ci que les Anglois se le sont persuadé, je n'en suis pas surpris: +il m'a avoué de bonne foi qu'il n'entend pas assez notre langue pour +suivre la conversation." It is unlikely, however, that Cibber's French +was as scanty as the _abbé_ reports. At any rate his daughter Charlotte, +afterwards Mrs. Clarke, tells us that she understood the alphabet in +French before she was able to speak English.[1033] + +The prologues and epilogues of the Restoration plays are frequently +addressed to the gallants, and often in a language which would appeal to +them; for instance, a French Marquis speaks the epilogue in Farquhar's +_Constant Couple_: + + ... Vat have you English, dat you call your own, + Vat have you of grand plaisir in dis towne, + Vidout it come from France, dat will go down? + Picquet, basset: your vin, your dress, your dance, + 'Tis all, you zee, tout à-la-mode de France. + +[Header: FRENCH PLAYS IN LONDON] + +The Francomaniacs of the time would find still more to their taste at +the French play. During nearly twenty years after the Restoration, +London was hardly ever without a company of French players. The beaux +and gallants flocked to see "a troop of frisking monsieurs," and cry +"Ben" and "keep time to the cadence of the French verses":[1034] + + Old English authors vanish and give place + To these new conquerors of the Norman race, + +wrote Dryden, protesting against the caprice of the town for the French +comedians; and he adds elsewhere:[1035] + + A brisk French troop is grown your dear delight, + Who with broad bloody bills, call you each day, + To laugh and break your buttons at their play. + +There was a great rush to the French plays, both tragedies and comedies. +Valets went hours in advance to reserve a place for their masters. There +is no need, says Dryden, to seek far for the reason of their +popularity,--they are French, and that is enough. People go to show +their breeding and try to laugh at the right moment. The English +dramatist insinuates that the comedians let in their own countrymen free +of charge that they might lead the applause, and give the cue to the +ladies. + +The English Court and its followers had evidently acquired a taste for +French plays during their sojourn abroad. Immediately after the +Restoration a French company settled in London, and the king became +their special patron and protector. In 1661 he made a grant of £300 to +Jean Channoveau to be distributed among the French comedians,[1036] and +in 1663 they obtained permission to bring from France their stage +decorations and scenery. It seems to have always been the king's +"pleasure" that "the clothes, vestments, scenes, and other ornaments +proper for and directly designed for their own use about the stage +should be imported customs free."[1037] The earliest troupe of French +actors, under Jean Channoveau, acted at the Cockpit in Drury Lane; and +there, on the 30th August 1661, Pepys took his wife to see a French +comedy. He carried away a very bad impression of the play, describing +it as "ill done, the scenes and company and everything else so nasty and +out of order and poor, that (he) was sick all the while in (his) mind to +be there." He vented his ill humour on a friend of Mrs. Pepys whom she +had met in France; and "that done, there being nothing pleasant but the +foolery of the farce, we went home." + +French comedies were also acted at Court. Evelyn, who went very little +to the theatre, witnessed one of these on the 16th December 1662, but +makes no observation on it. In the _Playhouse to be let_ of Davenant, +who directed the Duke's company playing at Dorset Gardens,[1038] figures +a Frenchman who has brought over a troupe of his countrymen to act a +farce. The French actor Bellerose is said to have made a fortune by +playing in London.[1039] Another of these actors who ventured to London +was Henri Pitel, sieur de Longchamp, who came in 1676 with his wife and +two daughters.[1040] He stayed nearly two years in England, and shone at +the Court of Charles II. Charles himself is said not to have missed one +of the French plays,[1041] at which his mistress, Louise de Kerouaille, +Duchess of Portsmouth, Mme. Mazarin, the French ambassador, and many +courtiers were always present. In 1684 the "Prince's French players" +were again expected in England,[1042] no doubt the same troupe, directed +by Pitel and known as _Les comédiens de son Altesse sérénissime M. le +Prince_. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[943] Expressed in the _Lettres_ of Guy Patin, and numerous pamphlets +published at the time. + +[944] Evelyn, _Diary_, Sept. 1, 1650. + +[945] In the _Journal de voyage de deux jeunes Hollandais à Paris, +1656-58_ (ed. A. P. Faugère, 2nd ed., Paris, 1899), there is some +information concerning the exiled Court. The teacher Lainé mentions a +lady in the suite of the exiled queen in his _Dialogues_. + +[946] _Mémoires_, 4 vols., Paris, 1859, i. pp. 102, 137, 225, etc. + +[947] _Supra_, pp. 262 _sqq._ + +[948] After the Restoration he would also try to get out of a difficult +situation on the same plea. He talked French freely to Mlle. de +Kerouaille. However, when the French Ambassador, Courtin, wished to +discuss with him the negotiations with the Dutch, he excused himself on +the ground that he had forgotten nearly all his French since his return +to England, and asked for delay to reflect on anything proposed in that +language. He offered the same excuse for his Council, but Courtin +retorted that many of them spoke French as well as English. Cp. J. J. +Jusserand, _A French Ambassador at the Court of Charles II._, London, +1892, p. 143. + +[949] "Il me disoit des douceurs, à ce que m'ont dit les gens qui nous +écoutoient et parloit si bien françois, en tenant ces propos-là, qu'il +n'y a personne qui ne doive convenir que l'Amour étoit plutôt françois +que de toute autre nation. Car, quand le roi parloit sa langue (la +langue de l'amour) il oublioit la sienne et n'en perdoit l'accent +qu'avec moi: car les autres ne l'entendirent pas si bien" (_Mémoires_, +_ed. cit._ i. p. 322). + +[950] _Lettre de M. de L'Angle à un de ses amis touchant la religion du +sérénissime roy d'Angleterre_, Geneva?, 1660, p. 18. + +[951] Evelyn was in France in 1643, on his way to study anatomy at +Padua, and again in 1646-7 on his return, and yet again in 1649. + +[952] Lord High Treasurer Cottington, Sir Ed. Hyde, etc.; cp. _Diary_, +Aug. 1 and 18, Sept. 7, 12, 13, Oct. 2, 7, 1649, etc. + +[953] Thus the King invited the Prince of Condé to supper at St. Cloud +... "where I saw a famous (tennis) match betwixt Mons. Saumaurs and +Colonel Cooke, and so returned to Paris." Evelyn, _Diary_, Sept. 13, +1649. + +[954] _Memoirs of Sir John Reresby of Thribergh, Bart., M.P. for York, +etc., 1634-1689_, ed. J. J. Cartwright, London, 1875, pp. 26, 42 (cp. +pp. 359 _sqq._, supra). + +[955] Sir Henry Craike, _Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon_, 1911, ii. +pp. 321 _sqq._ + +[956] W. Harvey-Jellie, _Les Sources du Théâtre anglais à l'époque de la +Restauration_, Paris, 1906, pp. 37 _sqq._ + +[957] Evelyn visited Waller several times. + +[958] Evelyn met Hobbes at Paris in September 1650. + +[959] Dennis, _Original Letters, familiar, moral and critical_, London, +1723, i. p. 215. At a later date he was again in France for reasons of +health. The king gave him £500 to pay the expenses of a journey to the +South of France. He was at Montpellier from the winter of 1678 to the +spring of 1679. + +[960] ". . . cette langue dont il savait toutes les plus délicates +ressources en grâce, en malice plaisante et en ironie." Cf. Sayous, +_Histoire de la littérature française à l'étranger_. + +[961] "Hamilton dans le conte (says Sayous, _op. cit._) l'emporte sur +Voltaire qui eut été le premier, si au lieu de se jeter dans les +allégories philosophiques il s'était abandonné, comme notre Écossais, au +plaisir plus innocent de laisser courir son imagination et sa plume." + +[962] The Scotch Chevalier de Ramsay (1686-1743), the friend of Fénelon, +also wrote French with remarkable purity. His best known work is _Les +Voyages de Cyrus avec un discours sur la mythologie_ (Paris, 1727; +London, 1730). At a later date Thomas Hales (1740?-1780), known as +d'Hèle, d'Hell, or Dell, a French dramatist of English birth, also made +himself a name in French literature (Sylvain van de Weyer, _Les Anglais +qui ont écrit en français_, Miscellanies, Philobiblon Soc., 1854, vol. +i.). + +[963] Hamilton, _Mémoires du Comte de Grammont. Histoire amoureuse de +la Cour de Charles II_, ed. B. Pifteau, Paris, 1876, Preface. Voltaire +often quoted the beginning of _Le Bélier_ as a model of style. + +[964] "Il trouvoit si peu de différence aux manières et à la +conversation de ceux qu'il voyoit le plus souvent, qu'il ne lui +paroissoit pas qu'il eut changé de pais. Tout ce qui peut occuper un +homme de son humeur s'offroit partout aux divers penchans qui +l'entrainoient, come si les plaisirs de la cour de France l'eussent +quitté pour l'accompagner dans son exil" (_Mémoires_, _ed. cit._ p. 83). +Grammont had been banished from the French Court on account of a +presumptuous love affair. + +[965] _Institution of a Gentleman_, London, 1660, p. 88. The book first +appeared as _Institutions, or Advice to his Grandson_, in 1658. + +[966] J. Smith, _Grammatica Quadralinguis_, 1674. + +[967] Sayous, _op. cit._ ii. ch. iv. + +[968] Evelyn once accompanied His Majesty "to M. Favre to see his +preparation for the composition of Sir Walter Raleigh's rare cordial," +when the chemist made a learned discourse in French on the nature of +each ingredient. + +[969] _Revue Historique_, xxix., Sept.-Oct. 1885, p. 25. + +[970] J. J. Jusserand, _Shakespeare in France_, London, 1899, pp. 132, +135, 136. Mme. d'Aulnoy, the fairy-tale writer and authoress of the +_Mémoires de la cour d'Angleterre_, was also among the French ladies in +London at this time. + +[971] St. Evremond was buried at Westminster at the age of ninety-one. +The Duchess died at Chelsea in 1699. + +[972] In a letter to Justel he spoke of the Thames as "nostre Thamise." + +[973] Evelyn's Diary, likewise, is full of mentions of meetings with +Frenchmen. + +[974] Sorbière, _Relation d'un voyage en Angleterre . . ._, Paris, 1664, +p. 32. + +[975] Cp. Ch. Bastide, _Anglais et Français du 17e siècle_, Paris, 1912. + +[976] Jusserand, _Shakespeare in France_, p. 136, note 2. + +[977] _Les Voyages de M. Payen_, Paris, 1667. + +[978] Mauger calls London "une des merveilles du monde. On y vient de +tous côtez, pour admirer sa magnificence." + +[979] _The Ladies' Catechism_, 1703. + +[980] J. B. Le Blanc, _Lettres d'un Français_, à La Haye, 1745, iii. p. +67. + +[981] _Ibid._ i. p. 145. Mrs. Pepys assisted Lady Sandwich to find a +French maid (_Diary_, Nov. 15, 1660), and was herself very desirous of +one. + +The prejudiced Rutledge writes nearly a century later: "As the lower +classes of the French are so completely qualified for Domestics, it is +not surprising that such numerous colonies of French _valets de +chambre_, cooks and footmen are planted all over Europe: and that the +nobility and fashionable people of so many countries shew an avowed +Propensity to Prefer them even to their fellow natives" (_Account of the +Character and Manners of the French_, 1770, pt. ii. p. 172). + +[982] Flecknoe, _Characters ..._ (1665), London, 1673, p. 8. "They (the +French) have gained so much influence over the English Fops that they +furnish them with their French Puppydogs for _Valets de Chambre_" +(_French Conjuror_, 1678). Addison (_Spectator_, No. 45) says he +remembers the time when some well-bred Englishwomen kept a _valet de +chambre_ "because, forsooth, they were more handy than one of their own +sex." + +[983] _Satire on the French_, 1691. Reprinted as the _Baboon à la Mode_, +1701. + +[984] _Satirical Reflections_, 1707, 3rd pt. + +[985] Cp. Wycherley, _Country Wife_, Act I. Sc. 1. + +[986] _Diary_, Oct 19, 1663; May 30, 1665; May 12, 1667; Feb. 18, March +13 and 26, 1668. + +[987] Flecknoe, _Characters_, p. 12. Pepys describes a French dance at +Court (_Diary_, Nov. 15, 1666), which was "not extraordinarily +pleasing." He much admired the dancing of the young Princess Mary, +taught by a Frenchman (_Diary_, March 2, 1669). The _maîtres d'armes_ +were often Italians and Spaniards. There were protests against the +French and Italian singing and dancing "taught by the dregs of Italy and +France" (_Satirical Reflections_, 1707). + +[988] Pepys's _Diary_, ed. H. B. Wheatley, v. p. 332, note, and vi. p. +187. + +[989] A Frenchman was appointed in his place; cp. _Cal. of State Papers, +1660-61_, p. 7; _1663-64_, pp. 214, 607. Children were sent to France to +learn music. Pepys did not like the "French airs" (_Diary_, July 27, +1661; June 18, 1666). + +[990] Flecknoe, _Characters_, p. 48. French gardeners (_Cal. State +Papers, 1661-62_, pp. 175, 294) and French barbers were also in favour. +Pepys went to the French pewterer's (March 13, 1667-8). + +[991] S. Butler, _Hudibras_. + +[992] Evelyn, _Diary_, March 1671. + +[993] Vincent, _Young Gallants' Academy_, 1674. + +[994] Cp. Sedley, _Mulberry Garden_ (Sir J. Everyoung: "Which is the +most à la mode right revered spark? points or laces? girdle or shoulder +belts? What say your letters out of France?"). There is hardly a comedy +of the time without some such references to French fashions; cp. +Etherege, _Sir Fopling Flutter_; Shadwell, _Humours of the Army_, etc. + +[995] Evelyn, _Diary_, Oct. 18, 1666. Evelyn had himself written a +pamphlet called _Tyrannus or the Mode_, an invective against "our +overmuch affecting of French fashion," in which he praised the +comeliness and usefulness of the Persian style of clothing. This he had +presented to the king: "I do not impute to this discourse the change +whiche soone happen'd, but it was an identity that I could not but take +notice of" (_Diary_, Oct. 18 and 30, 1666). + +[996] Butler, _Satire on our ridiculous imitation of the French_; "A +l'étranger on prend plaisir à enchérir sur toutes les Nouveautez qui +leur viennent de France. . . ." Muralt (_Lettres_, 1725). + +[997] _French Conjuror_, 1678. + +[998] _Duc de Guise_, Prologue; cp. Prologue to _Albion and Albanius_: + + "Then 'tis the mode of France without whose Rules + None must presume to set up here as fools." + +[999] French money was said to be most successful in bribes. Farquhar, +_Constant Couple_, iv. 2. + +[1000] Flecknoe, _Characters_, p. 12. + +[1001] _Satire against the French_, 1691. + +[1002] Acted 1671; Act II. Sc. 2. + +[1003] _Mémoires_, _ed. cit._ pp. 51-52. + +[1004] _Ibid._ p. 143. + +[1005] Lord Rutherford, for instance, begs pardon for his English, being +more accustomed to the French tongue (_Cal. of State Papers, 1661-62_, +p. 4). + +[1006] Hamilton, _op. cit._ p. 82. + +[1007] The story goes that Grammont was leaving England without marrying +Miss Hamilton, when her brother overtook him and told him he had +forgotten something, whereat he realized his oversight and returned to +repair it. It is said that this incident supplied Molière with the +subject of his _Mariage forcé_. + +[1008] Hamilton, _op. cit._ p. 82. + +[1009] _Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1661-62_, p. 28. + +[1010] Two grammars for teaching Portuguese greeted the new queen. One +was a _Portuguese Grammar_ in French and English by Mr. La Mollière, a +French gentleman, 1662 (_Register of the Company of Stationers_, ii. +307); and the other, J. Howell's _Grammar for the Spanish or Castilian +tongue with some special remarks on the Portuguese Dialect_, with a +description of Spain and Portugal by way of guide. It was dedicated to +the queen. + +[1011] Fragment of the Journal of the Convent of Chaillot, in the secret +archives of France, Hôtel de Soubise. Quoted by Strickland in _Lives of +the Queens_, 1888, iv. p. 383. + +[1012] Cp. Sedley, _Mulberry Garden_. + +[1013] Such as Lady Lurewell of Farquhar's _Constant Couple_; Lady +Fanciful in Vanbrugh's _Provoked Wife_; Brome's _Damoiselle_ (1653); or +Mrs. Rich in _The Beau Defeated_ (1700?). + +[1014] _The Frenchified Lady never in Paris_ was the name given her by +Henry Dell in his play, based on Dryden's and printed 1757 and 1761. + +[1015] There is a book called _The Art of Affectation_ teaching ladies +to speak "in a silly soft tone of voice and use all the foolish French +words which will infallibly make your person and conversation charming" +(Etherege, _Sir Fopling Flutter_). + +[1016] _The Ladies' Catechism_, 1703? + +[1017] _Satire against the French_, 1691, p. 14. + +[1018] _Satire on our ridiculous imitation of the French_; Chalmers, +_English Poets_, viii. p. 206. + +[1019] Cp. Swift, _Poem written in a Lady's Ivory Table Book_ (1698): + + "Here you may read, + Here in beau-spelling--tru tel deth." + +[1020] _Character of the Beau_, 1696. + +[1021] Cibber, _Careless Husband_, Act I. Sc. 1. + +[1022] Cibber, _Love's last shift or the Fool in fashion_. Sedley's Sir +Charles Everyoung, Ned Estridge, and Harry Modish are all "most +accomplished monsieurs," as are Clodis in Cibber's _Love Makes a Man or +the Fop's Fortune_; Sir Harry Wildair in Farquhar's play of that name; +Lord Foppington of Vanbrugh's _Relapse or Virtue in Danger_; Bull Junior +in Dennis's _A Plot and no Plot_; Clencher, senior, the Prentice turned +Beau in Farquhar's _Constant Couple_; Mrs. Behn's _Sir Timothy Tawdry_; +Crowne's _Sir Courtly Nice_, etc. In 1697 appeared a work called _The +Compleat Beau_. + +[1023] _Sir Fopling Flutter or the Man of Mode_, 1676. Supposed to be a +portrait of the then notorious Beau Hewitt. + +[1024] _Satire against the French_, 1691. + +[1025] _Character of the Beau_, 1691. Most of the accomplished +"monsieurs" frequented the French houses (Sedley, _Mulberry Garden_). +Act II. Sc. 2 of Wycherley's _Love in a Wood_, and Act II. Sc. 2 of his +_Gentleman Dancing Master_, both take place in a French house. Cp. +_Character of the Town Gallant_, 1675. + +[1026] Vincent, _Young Gallants' Academy_, 1674, p. 44. + +[1027] Flecknoe, _Characters_, 1673. The 1665 edition of his +_Aenigmatical Characters ..._, 1665, contains a description in French of +the _Tour à la Mode_: ". . . C'est une bataille bien rangée où l'on ne +tire que des coups d'Oeillades, et où les premiers ayant fait leur +descharge, ilz s'en vont pour donner place aux autres" . . ., etc. (p. +21). + +[1028] Charles II. openly avowed his preference for the French drama. +Dryden wrote his _Essay of Dramatic Poesy_, "to vindicate the Honour of +our English writers from the censure of those who unjustly prefer the +French before them." Pepys saw many of the French plays acted in +English. Cp. H. McAfee, _Pepys on the Restoration Stage ..._, Yale Univ. +Press, 1916. + +[1029] A. Beljame, _Le Public et les hommes de lettres au 18e siècle_, +Paris, 1897, p. 139. + +[1030] As in Etherege's _Comical Revenge or Love in a Tub_, _Sir Fopling +Flutter_, and the plays of Cibber, Vanbrugh, Mrs. Behn, Shadwell, +Farquhar, Wycherley, etc.; _The French Conjuror_, 1678; _The Beau +Defeated_, 1700?, etc. + +[1031] A. Beljame, _Quae e Gallicis verbis in Anglicam linguam Johannes +Dryden introduxerit_, Paris, 1881. On French influence in Restoration +Drama, see Charlanne, _L'Influence française en Angleterre_, pp. 64 +_sqq._ + +[1032] _Lettre à M. de la Chaussée_: _Lettres_, 1745, ii. p. 240. + +[1033] _Narrative of her Life, written by Herself_, pub. in series of +Autobiographies, London, 1826, vol. vii. p. 12. Most of the writers of +the time were able to write some French. Flecknoe, for instance, wrote +some of his _Characters_ in the language, and wrote a French dedication +of his Poems (1652), "à la plus excellente de son sexe." + +[1034] Dryden, "Prologue spoken at the opening of the new house, 26 +March, 1674," _Works_, ed. Scott and Saintsbury, x. p. 320. + +[1035] "Prologue to Arviragus and Phihera by L. Carlell, revival," +_Works_, x. 405. + +[1036] Shaw, _Calendar of Treasury Books, 1660-67_, p. 311. + +[1037] _Ibid., 1672-75_, pp. 14, 24, 29, etc.; _1677-78_ (vol. v.), pp. +692, 803; _1684_ (vol. vii.), p. 1444. + +[1038] Charles had granted two privileges: one to Henry Killigrew, who +directed the King's company acting at Drury Lane, and the other to Sir +William Davenant, who directed the Duke's company. The rival companies +united in 1682. + +[1039] Chardon, _La troupe du roman comique dévoilée et les comédiens de +la campagne au 17e siècle_, Le Mans, 1876, p. 47. + +[1040] Chardon, _op. cit._ p. 98. + +[1041] _Revue Historique_, xxix., Sept.-Oct. 1858, p. 23. + +[1042] _Historical MSS. Commission Reports_, v. p. 186. French dancers +and singers also attracted the English from the performances of their +own actors; cp. Cibber, Epilogue to _The Careless Husband_, and +Farquhar, Preface to _The Inconstant_. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + THE TEACHING OF FRENCH AND ITS POPULARITY AFTER THE RESTORATION + + +In the meantime French grammars were being published in England in +considerable numbers.[1043] So plentiful were they that there was +"scarce anything to be seen anywhere but French grammars." The manuals +of Mauger and Festeau were still in vogue, and that of Mauger was +frequently reedited. Among new grammarians figures the tutor to the +children of the Duke of York (James II.), Pierre de Lainé, who may +possibly have been identical with the Pierre Lainé who published a +grammar in 1655.[1044] His French grammar, written in the first place +for the Lady Mary (afterwards Mary II.), was published in 1667,[1045] +when the princess was about five years old. It was subsequently placed +at the service of the Lady Anne, afterwards queen, and a second edition +appeared in 1677, with the title: _The Princely Way to the French Tongue +as it was first compiled for the use of her Highness the Lady Mary and +since taught her royal sister the Lady Anne etc. by P. D. L. Tutor for +the French to both their Highnesses_.[1046] + +"Before you begin anything of Letters or rules," says Lainé, "you may +Learn how to call in French these few things following. + + Ma Tête, say maw tate my Head + Mes Cheveuz, say maysheveu my Hair," + +and so on for the parts of the body, the numbers, days, and months, with +similar guides to pronunciation. He then proceeds to treat of the +sounds of letters and syllables, based on comparison with English. These +rules occupy less than a fifth of the book; the remainder contains +practical exercises. First come familiar phrases and dialogues, strongly +religious in tone, including prayers, the catechism, commandments, etc., +and conversation specially suited to royal princesses. A chronological +abridgement of the sacred scriptures by way of dialogue is followed by +rules of grammar, likewise in dialogue form. Lastly come the _Fables_ of +Aesop put into "burlesque French" for the use of her Highness the Lady +Mary when a child, and models of letters suitable for children, and +accompanied by answers. + +In later years Lainé spent some time at Paris as secretary[1047] to Sir +Henry Savile, the English envoy at the French Court, who did so much to +prepare a favourable reception in England for the refugees at the time +of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.[1048] Lainé was the first +teacher to receive a grant of letters of denization under the Order in +Council of the 28th July 1681.[1049] Shortly afterwards the same +privilege was bestowed on Francis Cheneau, whose _French Grammar, +enrich'd with a compendious and easie way to learne the French tongue in +a short time_, was licensed for printing in 1684.[1050] For many years +Cheneau continued to teach French, and in time added Latin, English, and +Italian to his repertory. He describes himself as a native of Paris, +"formerly slave and Governor of the Isles of Nacsia and Paros in the +Archipelago." At the time of the appearance of his second work on the +French language, in 1716, he was "living in his House in Old Fish St. +next door to the Faulcon in London," where could be seen his short +grammars for Latin, Italian, and English. + +The most versatile compiler of French manuals at this period was Guy +Miège, a native of Lausanne, who came to England at the time of the +Restoration. For two years he was employed in the household of Lord +Elgin, and was then appointed under-secretary to the Earl of Carlisle, +ambassador extraordinary to Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. After spending +three years abroad with the embassy, he travelled in France on his own +account from 1665 till 1668, preparing a _Relation of the Three +Embassies_ in which he had taken part. [Header: THE DICTIONARIES OF GUY +MIÈGE] His book was published in 1669, on his return to London. He then +settled in England as a teacher of French and geography, and wrote many +works for teaching the language. The first was _A New Dictionary French +and English and English and French_ (1677), dedicated to Charles Lennox, +Duke of Richmond. As usual, this French-English Dictionary is based on a +French-Latin one--in this case that of Pomey. Miège was also closely +acquainted with Howell's edition of Cotgrave's dictionary, last +published in 1670; but he held it very defective in retaining so many +obsolete words, and in not being adapted to the "present use and modern +orthography--which indeed is highly pretended to in the last edition +thereof, but so performed that the title runs away with all the credit +of it." He looked upon Cotgrave "as a good help indeed for reading of +old French books (a thing which few people mind)." For his own part, his +design was to teach the latest Court French, and he made a point of +omitting all the provincial and obsolete words Cotgrave had searched out +so carefully, words "that offend the eyes and grate the ears, but the +Rubbish of the French Tongue." To "season the naturall dulness of the +work" he included many proverbs, descriptions, and observations in both +the English and French parts. + +Considering that "the way to understand the bottom of a language is to +learn how the derivatives are formed from their primitives and the +compounds from their simples,"[1051] he arranged all the derivatives +after their respective primitives; that nothing might be wanting, +however, he placed them in their alphabetic order also, with a reference +to the necessary primitive. + +Miège's innovation in excluding all obsolete terms from his dictionary +raised such a storm at its first appearance[1052] that he felt himself +bound to yield to public opinion by making a separate collection of such +words, which he called _A Dictionary of barbarous French or A +Collection, by way of Alphabet, of Obsolete, Provincial, misspelt, and +Made Words in French, taken out of Cotgrave's dictionary with some +additions_. It was, he said, "performed for the satisfaction of such as +read old French." By the time of its publication in 1679, however, the +storm raised by his first work had died away. + +Miège continued his lexicographical labours. In 1684 appeared _A Short +French Dictionary English and French, with another in French and +English_, a work of no ambitious aims, containing a list of words pure +and simple, with no descriptions or observations, intended for +beginners, travellers, and those who could not afford the price of the +larger one, and, above all, for foreigners reading English. The English +were too eager and advanced in the study of French to find much help in +so slight a work, but foreigners evidently adopted the dictionary; +editions appeared at the Hague in 1691, 1701 (the fifth), and +1703;[1053] another was issued at Rotterdam as late as 1728. + +For the use of English students and those desiring to study either +language more thoroughly, Miège prepared, during many years of hard +work, an enlarged edition of his first French dictionary of 1677, which, +he tells us, was compiled under great disadvantages; "the Publick was in +haste for a French Dictionary, and they had it accordingly, hurried from +the design to the composition, and from under my pen to the press." The +new work, on a much larger scale, was known as _The Great French +Dictionary, in two parts_, and published in 1688, eleven years after the +appearance of its nucleus, the _New French Dictionary_ (1677). It gives +words according to both their old and modern orthography, "by which +means the reader is fitted for any sort of French book," and, writes +Miège, "although I am not fond of obsolete and barbarous words, yet I +thought fit to intersperse the most remarkable of them, lest they should +be missed by such as read old Books." Each word is accompanied by +explanations, proverbs, phrases, "and as the first part does, here and +there, give a prospect into the constitution of the kingdom of France, +so the second does afford to foreiners what they have hitherto very much +wanted, to wit, an Insight into the Constitution of England...." In the +_Great Dictionary_ Miège abandoned his plan of arranging the derivatives +under their primitives, because it had made his former work "swarm with +uneasy references"; he followed the alphabetical order strictly, "but in +such a manner that, where a derivative is remote from its primitive, I +show its extraction within a Parenthesis." [Header: MIÈGE'S FRENCH +GRAMMARS] Each of the two sections of the _Great Dictionary_ is preceded +by a grammar of the language concerned. First comes the _Grounds of the +French Tongue_, before the French-English Dictionary, and then a +_Méthode abrégée pour apprendre l'Anglois_. This French grammar was a +reprint of one of those which Miège had compiled while working at his +dictionaries. + +In 1684 Miège tells us that he had "put forth two French grammars, both +of them well approved by all unprejudiced persons. The one is short and +concise, fitted for all sorts of learners, but especially new beginners; +the other is a large and complete piece, giving a curious and full +account of the French Tongue. To this is annexed a copious vocabulary +and a long Train of useful Dialogues." The more advanced of these +grammars was the first to appear, being published in 1678 under the +title of _A New French Grammar, or a New Method for learning the French +Tongue_. After dealing with pronunciation, he passes to the accidence +and syntax, with special attention to his favourite theory of the +importance of a knowledge of primitives and derivatives. He is much +indebted to the grammars of Vaugelas and Chiflet, especially in his +observations on letter-writing, on repetition of words, and on style. +The second half of the book contains a vocabulary, arranged under the +usual headings, and familiar dialogues, without which he dare not offer +the work to a public "so well convinced of their Usefulness, as to the +speaking part of a Language"; therefore, "though it were something +against the grain," he included such exercises, "exceeding even Mr. +Mauger's in number." The one hundred and fifteen familiar dialogues are +followed by four more advanced ones in French alone, "for proficient +learners to turn into English." The first deals with the education of +children, and the others with geography, a subject Miège taught in +either French or English "as might be most convenient." + +The elementary grammar had been issued about 1682[1054] as _A short and +easie French Grammar fitted for all sorts of learners; according to the +present use and modern orthography of the French with some Reflections +on the ancient use thereof_. In 1682 the vocabulary and dialogues of the +earlier grammar were, each of them, issued separately, probably to +facilitate their use with this second grammar. + +In 1687 appeared the _Grounds of the French Tongue or a new French +Grammar_,[1055] which Miège incorporated in his _Great French +Dictionary_ in the following year. In general outline its contents +resemble those of the grammar which had appeared ten years before. It +is, however, an entirely new work. Most of the rules differ,[1056] and +the vocabulary and dialogues are new. He breaks away from the old +tradition of introducing the Latin declension of nouns into French +grammars.[1057] The _Grounds of the French Tongue_ is about a hundred +pages shorter than the grammar of 1678, and on the whole it is less +interesting from the point of view of the student of French. The second +part, called the _Nouvelle Nomenclature Françoise et Angloise_, which +might be obtained apart from the grammar, had originally appeared in +1685 as part of Miège's _Nouvelle méthode pour apprendre +l'Anglois_.[1058] Consequently the dialogues are more suited to the +student of English than to the student of French, as they deal chiefly +with life in England and the impressions of a Frenchman in London, +including an account of the coffee-houses, the penny post, the churches, +English food and drink, and so forth. + +Lastly, in about 1698,[1059] appeared _Miège's last and best French +Grammar, or a new Method to learn French, containing the Quintessence of +all other Grammars, with such plain and easie rules as will make one +speedily perfect in that famous language_. A second edition was issued +in 1705. The work was based on his first grammar (1678), which thus +benefited by his long experience as a writer on the French language and +teacher of that tongue. + +Miège held that French was best learnt by a combination of the methods +of rote and grammar, either being insufficient without the other; as for +attempting to learn foreign languages at home by rote, "'tis properly +building in the air. [Header: BEST METHOD OF STUDY] For whatever +progress one makes that way, unless he sticks constantly to it, the +Language steals away from him, and, like a Building without a +foundation, it falls insensibly." Englishmen who learn French by ear in +France soon find the fluency of which they are so proud slipping away +from them after their return to England;[1060] and even Frenchmen who +have never studied their language grammatically begin to lose the purity +of phrase after they have been some time in England. + +Accordingly "a great care ought to be taken to pitch upon the best sort +of Grammar and to make choice of a skilful Master. Now a skilful master +must be first such a one as can speak the true modern French: A Thing +few people can boast of, besides courtiers and scholars, so nice a +language it is." Therefore the student should not waste his time, as +many do, with the common sort of teachers, who speak, for the most part, +but a corrupt and provincial French, and yet are patronized by many. In +the second place, the teacher should be a man of some learning; and in +the third, he should have "some skill in the English tongue, not that he +should use much English with his scholars,[1061] but because, without +it, 'tis impossible he can teach by the grammar, or explain the true +meaning of words." Lastly, he should himself be thoroughly acquainted +with the grammar, and be able to find out what should be learnt "by +rote, what by heart, and what passages need not at all be learnt." But, +when all is done, "there is an art in teaching not to be found amongst +all men of knowledge." + +Thus the right use of a grammar depends much on the skill and judgement +of the teacher. Miège declares against overburdening the memory with +abstruse and difficult rules. In most cases it is enough if the learner +understands the rule; there is no need to confine him to the author's +words or to make him learn long lists of exceptions. "The best thing to +exercise his memory in, besides the general and most necessary rules, is +to learn a good store of words with their signification. And then, +whether he comes to read French, or to hear it spoke, one word doth so +help another, that by degrees, he will find out the meaning." As for the +dialogues, only a few, and those of a familiar type, should be learnt +"without book." "An analysis is the best use they can be put to, but +some teachers will find it too hard a task." + +The best way, therefore, is "to lay a good foundation with grammar +rules, and to raise the Superstructure by Practice"; the more +adventurous the learner is in speaking French the better. If, however, +"one be so very averse from Grammar rules as to look upon them as so +many Bug bears, my opinion is that he may begin by Rote, provided he +make good at last his Proficiency that Way, with the help of a choice +Grammar. And then the Rules will appear to him very plain, easy and +delectable." + +In 1678 Miège was receiving pupils for French and geography at his +lodging in Penton Street, Leicester Square, and we are told that in 1693 +he was taking in _pensionnaires_ in Dean's Yard, near Westminster Abbey. +Towards the end of his teaching career in England he appears to have +been on very friendly terms with another teacher of French, Francesco +Casparo Colsoni, an Italian minister, who also taught Italian and +English. Colsoni wrote a book for teaching the three languages,[1062] +called _The New Trismagister_ (1688), in which he drew freely from the +works of Mauger, Festeau, and his friend Miège. In the meantime other +manuals appeared, including a translation of a grammar which was first +published at Paris in 1672[1063]--_A French Grammar, teaching the +knowledge of that language.... Published by the Academy for the +reformation of the French Tongue_ (1674), printed in parallel columns of +English and the original French. _A Very easie Introduction to the +French Tongue_ was published in about 1673, which claimed to be "proper +for all persons who have bad memories." A certain John Smith, M.A., J. +G. D'Abadie, formerly of the Royal Musketeers and for a time teacher of +French at Oxford, Jacob Villiers, who had a French school at Nottingham, +and Jean de Kerhuel, a French minister,[1064] all published grammars at +about the same time.[1065] + +[Header: PIERRE BERAULT] + +Among the more interesting French teachers of the period is Pierre +Berault, a French monk who was converted to Protestantism when he was +on the point of setting out for England to work among the refugees as a +Jesuit emissary.[1066] On the 2nd of April 1671 he "abjured all the +errors of the Church of Rome" in the French Church of the Savoy, London, +and subsequently devoted himself to teaching French. Until nearly the +end of the century he lived in various parts of London, "waiting upon +any Gentlemen or Gentlewomen who have a mind to learn French," and +using, according to his own account, a very sound method. At the same +time he was busy with his pen. He began with a compilation setting forth +his religious principles,[1067] and with books on moral and religious +subjects, in French and English for the benefit of learners.[1068] Later +he wrote _A New, plain, short and compleat French and English grammar_ +(1688), which had an "extraordinary sale and reception," and passed +through numerous editions. Berault's motto as regards the teaching of +French was _omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci_,--a fit +combination of grammar rules and practical exercises. The grammar, which +occupies less than half the book, begins with an explanation of +grammatical terms for the benefit of those ignorant of Latin; it then +deals shortly with the pronunciation and the declinable parts of +speech;[1069] lastly come a few rules of syntax and short vocabularies +of the indeclinables. The reading exercises open with the catechism, +creeds, commandments, and prayers. The dialogues, accompanied, contrary +to custom, by an interlinear translation, are at first very simple, and +arranged in syllables for the benefit of beginners, but they become more +difficult. The following is a dialogue between a French tutor and his +scholar: + + Good morrow, Sir, how do you do? + Bonjour, Monsieur, comment vous portez vous? + + Very well to serve you. + Fort bien pour vous servir. + + Do you teach the French tongue? + Enseignez-vous la langue Françoise? + + Yes sir, and the Latin also. + Ouy, monsieur, et aussi la Latine. + + Will you teach me these two tongues? + Voulez vous m'enseigner ces deux langues? + + I will do it willingly. + Je le feray volontiers. + + * * * * * + + What method do you hold? + Quel méthode voulez-vous tenir? + + Because you understand Latin + Parce que vous entendez la langue Latine + + I will begin by the pronunciation + Je commenceray par la prononciation + + Which you can learn in two lessons. + Que vous pouvez apprendre en deux leçons. + + Then I will teach you the nouns, + Puis je vous enseigneray les noms, + + Pronouns, verbs and other parts of speech. + Pronoms, verbes et autres parties d'oraison. + + And afterwards the rules of syntax. + Et ensuite les règles de Composition. + + How long will I be in learning all that? + Combien seray-je à apprendre tout cela? + + But little time if you will follow me. + Peu de temps si vous voulez me suivre. + +Berault added a selection of Cordier's Colloquies in French and English +to his work, as well as the usual proverbs, idioms and polite letters, +and a vocabulary. The letters have no English translation, Berault +believing that "whoso will peruse this grammar, he will not only be able +to explain them but any other French book whatsoever." Accordingly he +supplied a list of what he considered suitable modern French books, all +of which could be obtained from one or other of the French booksellers +in London. + +In the second half of the seventeenth century the position of the French +language in England was further strengthened by its growing popularity +all over Europe. "I have visited," wrote the dramatist Chappuzeau in +1674,[1070] "every part of Christendom with care. [Header: FRENCH AND +LATIN] It has been easy for me to observe that to-day a prince with only +the French language which has spread everywhere, has the same advantages +that Mithridates had with twenty-two." The French language was regarded +as "one of the chiefest qualifications of accomplished persons," and +"the common language of all well-bred people, and the most generally +used in the commerce of civil life." Bayle states that in many parts of +Europe there were people who spoke and wrote French as purely as the +French themselves, and that in many foreign towns all the men and women +of quality and many of the common people spoke French with ease. Writers +of the time are unanimous in describing French as the universal +language; and most French teachers write in the style of Guy Miège to +the effect that "the French tongue is in a manner grown universal in +Europe ... and of all the parts of Europe next to France none is more +fond of it than England." + +Thus, in the second half of the seventeenth century, French was in a +position to dispute its ground with Latin. France herself set the +example. French was the language used at Court, while Latin was used +only by scholars. Significant it is that in 1676 Louis XIV., in +consequence of Charpentier's _Défense de la langue françoise pour +l'inscription de l'arc de Triomphe_, replaced the Latin inscriptions on +his triumphal arches by others in French. Replying to Charpentier's +essay, a Jesuit, P. Lucus, wrote a treatise in defence of Latin.[1071] +Charpentier retorted by two laboured volumes, _De l'excellence de la +langue françoise_ (1683), and finally won the day. In this he refers to +the universality of French, and draws attention to the advantages which +would result to science if it were studied in that language. The long +Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, which first reached England from +France, also shows the spirit of the times. And Bayle asserts as +evidence of the supremacy of French that: "Veut-on qu'un libelle courre +bien le monde, aussitôt on le traduit en françois, lors même que +l'original est en Latin: tant il est vrai que le latin n'est pas si +commun en Europe aujourd'hui que la Langue françoise."[1072] + +In England French had long been a rival to Latin as the most commonly +used foreign tongue, and after the Restoration it was generally +recognized, among courtiers, men of fashion, ministers of state, and +diplomats, as the more convenient means of intercourse. Only scholars +and the universities continued to uphold the traditional supremacy of +the Latin tongue, and even at the universities Latin had passed out of +colloquial use before the Restoration, though still used in disputations +and other prescribed exercises.[1073] The victory of French in the world +of fashion was an easy one. It had "long since chased Latin from the +gallant's head," declares Sedley,[1074] and Ravenscroft in his prologue +to the _English Lawyer_,[1075] in which a jargon made up of Latin and +English predominates, thus addresses the gallants: + + Gallants, pray what do you doe here to-day? + Which of you understands a Latine play?... + This age defies th' accomplishments of Schools, + The Town breeds Wits, the Colleges make Fools. + +Samuel Vincent,[1076] instructing the gallant how to behave at an +ordinary, warns him to "beware how (he) speaks any Latin there: your +ordinaries most commonly have no more to do with Latin, than a desparate +town or Garrison hath."[1077] + +Latin also lost what ground it held as the official language. Milton had +been Latin secretary during the Commonwealth, but after the Restoration +French was the language used. "Since Latin hath ceased to be a Language, +if ever it was any, which I am not sure of, at least in this present +age," wrote Lord Chancellor Clarendon,[1078] "the French is almost +naturalised through Europe, and understood and spoken in all the +Northern Courts and hath nearly driven the Dutch out of its own country, +and almost sides the Italian in the Eastern Parts, where it was scarce +known in the last Age." French, therefore, had little to fear from Latin +as the language of intercourse with ambassadors and other foreigners in +England; and still less from English, which was not to receive any +recognition at the hands of foreigners for years to come. [Header: +FRENCH IN THE SCHOLASTIC WORLD] Considering the almost universal +popularity of French, and the general neglect of English, most +Englishmen were obliged to agree with Clarendon that it was "too late +sullenly to affect an ignorance" of that language because the French +"will not take the Pains to understand ours," and we may gain much by +being conversant in theirs. He adds "it would be a great Dishonour to +the court if, when Ambassadors come thither from Neighbour Princes, no +body were able to treat with them, or converse with those who accompany +them in no other language but English, of which not one of them +understand one word; not to mention how the king shall be supplied with +Ministers, or Secretaries of State, or with Persons fit to be sent +Ambassadors abroad," if those who aspire to such rank are not acquainted +with the necessary foreign language. + +Before the Restoration, French, in spite of the important place it held +in the world of polite education, had received very little recognition +at the hands of educational writers. Cleland alone, in his _Institution +of a Nobleman_ (1607), had treated it seriously. After 1660, however, +its widespread use and popularity rendered this omission no longer +possible, and at this time occurs a break in the tradition of classical +scholarship.[1079] The case for French was put most forcibly and with +greatest effect by Locke in his _Thoughts on Education_. Referring to +the young scholar, he writes: "As soon as he can speak English, 'tis +time for him to learn some other Language. This no body doubts of, when +French is proposed ... because French is a living language, and to be +used more in speaking, that should be first learned, that the yet pliant +Organs of Speech might be accustomed to a due formation of those sounds +and he get the habit of pronouncing French well, which is the harder to +be done the longer it is delay'd. When he can speak French well, (which +on conversational methods is usually in a year or two), he should +proceed to Latin."[1080] For the same reasons Clarendon would have +French learnt first, by "rote," "without the Formality or Method of +grammar."[1081] + +Even in the world of scholarship the traditional deference shown to +ancient learning received some check, and the educational value of the +ancient languages was called in question. Some believed that "a +gentleman might become learned by the only assistance of modern +languages." Evelyn wrote a discourse on the subject at the request of +Sir Samuel Tuke for the Duke of Norfolk; unfortunately it was lost, "to +his griefe"[1082] and ours. It contained, he told Pepys, "a list of +Authors and a method of reading them to advantage ... nor was [he] +without some purpose of one day publishing it, because 'twas written +with a vertuous designe of provoking our court fopps and for +encouragement of illustrious persons who have leisure and inclinations +to cultivate their minds beyond a farce, a horse, a whore and a dog, +which, with very little more are the confines of the knowledge and +discourse of most of our fine gentlemen and beaux." Learning, he felt, +would assume a more attractive form in the eyes of the majority, if it +were attained through modern languages. Defoe likewise thought Latin and +Greek were not indispensable to scholarship, and considered it a pity to +lock up all learning in the dead languages.[1083] Hobbes even went so +far as to suggest in his _Behemoth_ (_c._ 1668) that it would be well to +substitute French, Dutch, and Italian for Latin, Greek, and Hebrew at +the universities. Others recommended that the classics should be read in +French translations, and it is probable that men of fashion at the time +read them in this form, if at all. Sedley implies that to read Terence +in Latin was a mark of ill-breeding.[1084] The fashionable Etherege, who +knew neither Latin nor Greek, had a large number of French translations +of classical plays amongst his books.[1085] And at a somewhat later date +the Abbé Le Blanc remarks[1086] that the English have become so fond of +French that they prefer to read even Cicero in that language. He writes +to tell Olivet how eagerly his translations are received in England. +"Celle des Tusculanes que vous venez de publier de concert avec M. Le +Père Bouhour a été goûtée en Angleterre de tous ceux qui sont en état de +juger des Beautés de l'Original et de la fidélité avec laquelle chacun +de vous les a rendues." + +The readiness with which the English read French books also attracted +the Abbé's attention.[1087] [Header: PROPOSALS FOR REFORMED SCHOOLS] It +was no new thing for French literature to be widely appreciated in +England. But before the Restoration it had received but little +recognition as a profitable subject of study, except for students of +statecraft and military tactics. In 1673, however, one writer[1088] +takes a new step in stating that "all learning is now in French," and +goes on to say that if it were in English "those dead languages would be +of little use, only in reference to the scriptures." Similarly Mary +Astell, the author of _A Serious Proposal to the Ladies_ (1694), urges +the ladies, who most of them know French, to study French Philosophy, +Descartes and Malebranche, rather than restrict themselves to idle +novels and romances. And when Locke was in Paris in 1677 he bought the +best class-books and manuals in French and Latin for the use of Lord +Shaftesbury's grandson. The many English gentlemen who had French tutors +were frequently taught not only the French language, but other subjects +from French text-books. + +There were, moreover, several proposals for reformed schools,[1089] in +which French was given a place by the side of Latin. In the ideal school +as pictured by Clarendon, the master is well acquainted with the French +language; and "those that teach the exercises" are Frenchmen, both that +the scholars "may be accustomed to that language, and retain what they +are supposed to have learnt before, and because they do teach all +Exercises best."[1090] Thomas Tryon, the "Pythagorean," proposed a +school in which there was to be a tutor for French and Latin, or one for +each language, and a music master.[1091] The scholars should begin at an +early age, and nothing but French and Latin be spoken in their hearing. +The school should stand apart, so that the pupils have no intercourse +with "wild" children. In about a year they learn French and Latin by +conversation, and then other subjects with the help of these languages. +Newcomers soon pick up a colloquial knowledge of the language by mixing +with their schoolfellows. When they speak the languages perfectly, then +is the time, says Tryon, to study the grammar; "for to speak is one +thing, and the Art or Reason of speaking is another. The first must be +done by Imitation and Practice, the other is the Work of time, and must +be improved by degrees. They that learn the Art of speaking before they +can speak invert the true Method ... for the Reason and Philosophy of +speaking is a great Art and the work of Time, and not at all to be +taught to children." Before studying rules the learners should not only +speak, but read perfectly. After learning the letters they should read +daily for two or three hours, "in any book that treats of Temperance and +Vertue." + +Notwithstanding the increased importance attached to French in all +spheres, the modern language received no status in the grammar schools, +where the sole aim pursued was "to make good Latin and Greek scholars +and minute philosophers."[1092] On the other hand, the private +institutions in which the language was taught naturally increased very +greatly in number. Many Huguenot refugees opened schools in and about +London, and one French observer was struck by their number.[1093] Some +arose in provincial towns. At Nottingham, for instance, an Englishman, +Jacob Villiers, had a school of some importance. Villiers himself was a +well-known citizen. His name appears in the Charter of 1682 as one of +the chief councillors of the town; and he was one of "the council of +eighteen" who were displaced by an order of the Privy Council of 10th +February 1688.[1094] He was described on his gravestone in St. Mary's +Churchyard as a descendant of a collateral branch of the family of the +great favourite of James I. and Charles I. The family "continued still +in Nottingham" in the middle of the eighteenth century.[1095] + +Villiers's French school was flourishing some years before the first +mention of him as a public character. [Header: FRENCH SCHOOL AT +NOTTINGHAM] He had acquired his knowledge of French abroad, having +travelled for many years in France[1096] and Germany, where he gave +English lessons and received favours from the Prince Elector Palatine, +elder brother of Prince Rupert. It was no doubt after his return that he +opened his school for gentlemen and ladies. He also completed a book on +the French and English languages, which was published in London in 1680, +"to gratify the ladies and gentlemen his scholars, and all such who have +a mind so to be." His chief aim was to encourage the French and English +to learn each other's language by pointing out the close affinity +between them. The _Vocabularium Analogicum, or the Englishman speaking +French, and the Frenchman speaking English, Plainly shewing the nearness +or affinity betwixt the English, French and Latin_,[1097] contains a +vocabulary of similar words in the three languages--"a verbal eccho +repeating words thrice and that without any considerable +variation"--which occupies the main part of the work.[1098] It is +preceded by rules for pronouncing French, taken, without acknowledgement, +chiefly from Wodroeph, and followed by selections from Pierre de Lainé's +_Royal French Grammar_ of 1667. Learners of French are advised to master +the pronunciation first, and to engage a French master. A collection +of familiar phrases and commendatory and other French verses, some +of them also taken from Wodroeph, close the volume. + +Several schools or academies in which young ladies studied French, as +well as philosophy and other serious subjects, were started at this +time, such as that kept by Mrs. Bathsua Makin, a learned Englishwoman of +the day, who for some time was governess to the daughters of Charles I. +Subsequently she opened a school for gentlewomen, first at Putney (1649) +and afterwards at Tottenham High Cross, "where, by the blessing of God, +Gentlewomen may be instructed in the Principles of Religion, and in all +manner of sober and vertuous education. More particularly in all things +ordinarily taught in other schools as works of all sorts, dancing, +musick, singing etc." Half their time was employed in acquiring these +arts and the other half in learning the Latin and French tongues. +"Gentlewomen of eight or nine years old, that can read well, may be +instructed in a year or two, according to their parts, in the Latin and +French tongues, by such plain and short rules, accommodated to the +grammar of the English Tongue, that they may easily keep what they have +learned, and recover what they shall lose." Those wishing to pursue +their studies further could learn other languages, Greek, Hebrew, +Italian, or Spanish, or could study astronomy, geography, and other +subjects. The usual fee was £20 a year, but more was charged if the +pupil made good progress. Parents were advised to apply for details at +Mr. Mason's Coffee House in Cornhill, near the Royal Exchange, on +Tuesday, or on Thursdays at the Bolt and Tun in Fleet Street, from three +to six in the afternoon.[1099] + +Mary Astell, another learned Englishwoman, to whom we have already +alluded, came forward with a proposal advocating a scheme of study for +women, in the retirement of an establishment "more academic than +monastic." She urges her sex to study rhetoric, logic, and philosophy, +and, as most of them know French, to read Descartes and Malebranche, and +not idle novels and romances. The project ultimately fell to the ground, +however, chiefly on account of the opposition of Bishop Burnet, who +condemned it as a popish design. Shortly afterwards Defoe, who "would +deny women no sort of learning," proposed an academy for women,[1100] in +which they should be taught "all sorts of breeding suitable to both +their genius and their quality, and in particular music and dancing, +which it would be cruelty to bar the sex of, because they are their +darlings: but besides this they should be taught languages, as +particularly French and Italian; and I would venture the injury of +giving a woman more tongues than one." As to reading, history is the +best subject. + +There are traces of other academies in which modern languages and the +"exercises" were the chief studies.[1101] At the end of _Musick or a +Parley of Instruments_, a musical entertainment performed by the +students of one of these academies, is an advertisement of the +curriculum; instruction in French and Italian was given by foreigners, +and mathematics, music, and the "exercises" received attention. [Header: +FRENCH IN PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS] Mark Lewis, the friend of Mrs. +Makin,[1102] taught like her in a school or "gymnasium" at Tottenham +High Cross, where "any person, whether young or old, as their Quality +is, may be perfected in the Tongues by constant conversation." The +school flourished about 1670, and there was then "an apartment for +French," while Italian and Spanish were "to receive attention +hereafter."[1103] Lewis's method of teaching so pleased the Earl of +Anglesey, then Lord Privy Seal, that he sent his grandsons to the +school, and enabled Lewis to secure letters patent for his method. A +similar academy was kept by a certain Mr. Banister in Chancery Lane near +the Pump. There was a wide choice of studies, including Latin, Greek, +and French, for the languages, and the usual "exercises." Any person +that desired could be accommodated in Mr. Banister's house "with diet +and lodging at reasonable Rates, ... or they may come thither at set +times and be Instructed in the things before mentioned." The academy +kept by Thomas Watts in Little Tower Street differed from the majority +in aiming at qualifying young gentlemen for business. Writing, +arithmetic, and merchants' accounts were taught, as well as mathematics +and experimental philosophy: a master resident in the house gave lessons +in French, a language absolutely necessary to business men, and "so far +universal that the place is not known where 'tis not spoken." +Accordingly it received special attention; and "as a just notion of +grammar, so the opportunity of frequent conversation, is absolutely +necessary, if one would ever arrive at any Perfection in this Language," +Watts, therefore, not only "fix'd on a Master capable of doing the +first, but entertained him constantly in his house, where all those +young gentlemen that learn French are obliged always to speak it, and +have their master daily to converse with."[1104] Some academies confined +themselves chiefly to the exercises. But even then the atmosphere was +French. Such was the academy opened in London in 1682 by M. Foubert, a +Frenchman lately come from Paris. He was helped by a royal grant, and +seems to have been fairly successful. On his arrival his goods were +delivered at the house of M. Lainé,[1105] probably the French teacher of +that name. + +As time went on such schools became more and more numerous and the +demand for instruction in French increased. The language was no longer +limited chiefly to certain classes: the gentry, merchants, soldiers, and +others requiring it for practical purposes. It came to be regarded as a +necessary part of a liberal education. The ever-growing call for +teachers of French was met by the great invasion of Protestant refugees +caused by the renewal of the fierce persecutions which culminated in the +Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The reception of the +fugitives was doubtful under James II., who looked upon them with +disfavour, but could not, for political reasons, refuse them +hospitality. With the advent of William of Orange in 1689, however, +their position was assured, and they became ardent supporters of the new +monarch. They arrived in such multitudes, says a contemporary, that it +was impossible to calculate their number; there was hardly an English +family of standing in which one or more refugees did not find a +home--often a permanent one. + +From this time dates a new period in the teaching of French in England, +dominated by the influence of these refugees, from whose ranks the chief +tutors and schoolmasters were recruited, and whose French grammars and +manuals continued, in some cases, to be used till the end of the +eighteenth century, and even later. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1043] A play called _The French Schoolmaster_ appeared in 1662 (Fleay, +_Chronicle of English Drama_, 1891, ii. p. 338). + +[1044] There are, however, no points of resemblance between that work +and the grammar which appeared about twelve years later. + +[1045] Catalogue of the Library of Dean Smallwood, 1684. + +[1046] Cp. Arber, _Term Catalogues_, i. 269. Anne was three years +younger than Mary. + +[1047] Schickler, _Les Églises du Refuge_, ii. p. 311. + +[1048] _Savile Correspondence_, Camden Society, 1856, _passim_. + +[1049] Huguenot Society Publications, xviii. p. 138. + +[1050] _Stationers' Register_, iii. p. 277. + +[1051] Such was also the opinion of J. Minsheu, author of the _Ductor in +Linguas_ (1617): "I have always found that the true knowledge and sure +holding of them in our memories, consisted in the knowing of them by +their causes, originalls and etymologies, that is by their reasons and +derivations." + +[1052] His work suffered in having to strive against Cotgrave's long +settled reputation. + +[1053] The third edition appeared, like the first, at London, 1690. + +[1054] Arber, _Term Catalogues_, i. 477. + +[1055] 8vo: pp. 168, 142. Printed for Th. Bassett.... + +[1056] For instance, that for the gender of nouns, in 1678, states that +those ending in "e" or "x" are masculine, and the rest feminine; in +1687, those ending in "e" and "ion" are feminine and the rest masculine; +in both cases long lists of exceptions are given. + +[1057] "To follow the old road I should now decline a noun or two with +these articles, and six cases to be sure, to wit, the nominative, +accusative, dative, vocative, and ablative, whether our language can +afford them or not. But why should I perplex the learned with so +improper and needless a thing? For the distinction of cases is come from +the variable termination of one and the same noun. A thing incident (I +confess) to the Latine tongue, but not to our vulgar speech." + +[1058] A second edition of Miège's English Grammar appeared in 1691. + +[1059] Arber, _Term Catalogues_, iii. 67, 487. + +[1060] But if they have been grounded in the principles before +travelling, they make quicker progress, and do not lose their knowledge. + +[1061] "Car il n'y a rien de tel pour apprendre une langue que de +l'entendre parler." + +[1062] Later he added rules for Spanish to his work. Colsoni also wrote +_Le Guide de Londres pour les Estrangers_ (1st edition, 1693), and +several works chiefly on topical subjects, of little interest. In 1694 +his _Guide_ was followed by Richard Baldwin's _Booke for Strangers_. + +[1063] And again in 1679. + +[1064] Who translated one of Tillotson's sermons into French (1673). + +[1065] See Bibliography. + +[1066] Schickler, _op. cit._ ii. p. 282. + +[1067] _The Church of Rome evidently proved Heretick_ (1680); _The +Church of England evidently proved the holy catholick Church_ (1682). +Towards the end of his career he wrote a _Discourse of the Trinitie ... +etc._ (1700). Berault calls himself a French minister, and he served as +chaplain on several of His Majesty's ships during the war with France at +the end of the century. + +[1068] _Le Véritable et assuré Chemin du Ciel en François et en Anglois_ +(1681), and the _Bouquet ou un Amas de plusieurs veritez Théologiques_ +(1685), dedicated to Anne Stuart, afterwards queen. + +[1069] Berault is behind the times in retaining most of the Latin cases +and tenses. His grammar, on the whole, is fuller and more detailed than +most of its kind. + +[1070] _Le Théâtre françois_ (1674). ed. Monval, 1876, p. 62. Jean +Blaeu, in translating from English into French Ed. Chamberlain's +_Present State of England_ (1669), states: "Je ne l'ay pas sitost veu en +Anglois que j'ay jugé qu'il méritoit de paroistre dans la langue +françoise, comme estant plus universelle dans la chrestienté qu'aucune +autre" (1671). Jusserand, _Shakespeare in France_, p. 20, note. + +[1071] _De monumentis publicis latine inscribendis._ Goujet, +_Bibliothèque françoise_ (1740-56), i. p. 13. + +[1072] Bayle, _Oeuvres_, iv. p. 190, quoted by Charlanne, _L'Influence +française en Angleterre_, pt. ii. p. 202. + +[1073] F. Watson, _Grammar Schools_, p. 312. + +[1074] Epilogue to _Bellamira_. + +[1075] London, 1678. + +[1076] _Young Gallants' Academy_, 1674, p. 44. + +[1077] A little later Swift wrote that "the current opinion prevails +that the study of Latin and Greek is loss of time...." (_Works_, 1841, +ii. p. 291). + +[1078] _A Dialogue ... concerning Education_, Miscellaneous Works, +London, 1751, p. 338. + +[1079] Even the universities had to give some recognition to the modern +language. A Professorship of Modern History and Modern Languages was +founded at both universities in 1724. Cp. Cooper, _Annals of Cambridge_, +iv. 128. + +[1080] "Some Thoughts," _Educational Writings of Locke_, 1912, p. 125. + +[1081] The same opinions are voiced by later writers, such as Costeker, +_Education of a Young Nobleman_, 1723, p. 18; and the author of a +pamphlet _On Education_, 1734. + +[1082] Evelyn, _Diary_, Dec. 6, 1681. + +[1083] _The Compleat Gentleman_ (1728), ed. K. D. Bülbring, 1890. + +[1084] Epilogue to _Bellamira_. + +[1085] _Works_, ed. A. Wilson, Verity, London, 1888, Preface. + +[1086] Le Blanc, _Lettres d'un Français_, à la Haye, 1745, ii. p. 1. + +[1087] He tells Maupertuis of the great success of his _De la Figure de +la Terre_ (1738) in England, where it was awaited with impatience and +received with acclamation (_Lettres_, ii. 244). + +[1088] _An Essay to revive the antient Education of Gentlewomen_ (Mrs. +Makin or Mark Lewis). + +[1089] French no doubt often reached grammar school boys indirectly. +Thus Charles Hoole in 1660 (_A New Discoverie of the old Art of Teaching +School_) recommends the Dialogues of Du Grès for their private reading; +perhaps, however, he was thinking more of the Latin than of the French +part. + +[1090] _Miscellaneous Works_, 1751, pp. 320-1. + +[1091] _A New Method of Educating Children ..._, 1695. + +[1092] Th. Sheridan, _Plan of Education_, 1769, p. 42. + +[1093] M. Misson, _Mémoires et Observations d'un voyageur en +Angleterre_, à la Haye, 1698, p. 99. + +[1094] Information supplied by J. Potter Briscoe, Esq., of Nottingham. + +[1095] C. Deering, _An Historical Account of the ancient and present +State of the Town of Nottingham_, Nottingham, 1751, p. 32. + +[1096] He remarks on the desire to learn English expressed by several +French persons he met, chiefly Huguenots. + +[1097] Printed by J. D. for Jonathan Robinson at the Golden Lion, and +George Wells, at the Sun in Paul's Churchyard. 8vo, pp. 224. + +[1098] Pp. 17-132. + +[1099] _An Essay to revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen ..._, +London, 1673. + +[1100] _Essay on Projects_ (1697), London, 1887, pp. 164 _sqq._ + +[1101] Cp. Loveday, _Letters_, 1639, p. 178. + +[1102] Lewis also interviewed parents any Thursday in the afternoon +between three and six o'clock, at the Bolt and Tun in Fleet Street. + +[1103] _Model for a school for the better education of Youth_, and +Advertisement at the end of his _Plan and Short Rules for pointing +periods ..._ (_c._ 1670). + +[1104] Advertisement in _An Essay on the Proper Method for forming the +Man of Business_, 4th ed., 1722, pp. 44-45. + +[1105] _Calendar of State Papers, Treasury Books, 1679-80_, pp. 132, +140. + + + + +APPENDICES + + + + +APPENDIX I + + CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF MANUALS AND GRAMMARS FOR TEACHING FRENCH TO THE + ENGLISH + + +I + +The Middle Ages + +_A. Manuscripts_ + +* Indicates that there are also other manuscripts of later date. + + Henry III. (1216-1272): + + _c._ 1250 Short Treatise on French Verbs (Trinity College, + Cambridge, R. 3, 56). + + Edward I. (1272-1307): + + * Le treytyz ke moun sire Gautier de Bibelesworthe + fist a ma dame Dionisie de Mounchensy pur aprise de + langwage (ed. T. Wright, "Volume of Vocabularies," + 1857). + + * Tractatus Orthographiae of T. H. Parisii Studentis + (ed. M. K. Pope, "Modern Language Review," April 1910). + + _c._ 1300 * Orthographia Gallica (ed. J. Stürzinger, + "Altfranzösische Bibliothek," viii., Heilbronn, 1884). + + Edward II. and Edward III. (1307-1377): + + Commentaries in French on the Orthographia Gallica + (ed. Stürzinger, _ut supra_). + + Epistolaries, or Collections of model letters (MSS. + Harl. 4971, Harl. 3988, Addit. 17716 Brit. Mus.; Ee 4, + 20, Camb. Univ. Libr.; B 14. 39, 40, Trinity Col. Camb.; + 182, All Souls, Oxon.; 188, Magdalen Col.). + + Cartularies, or Collections of Bills, Indentures, etc. + (Harl. 4971; Ee 4, 20, Camb. Univ. Libr.; Addit. + 17716). + + Undated Vocabularies and Verb Tables and Fragments + on Grammar (Ee 4, 20, Camb. Univ. Libr.; Harl. 4971, + Addit. 17716, Brit. Mus.; 188, Magdalen Col., Oxon.). + + _c._ 1340 Nominale sive Verbale in Gallicis cum expositione + eiusdem in Anglicis (ed. Skeat, "Transactions of the + Philological Soc.," 1903-1906). + + Richard II. (1377-1399): + + Tractatus Orthographiae of Coyfurelly, Doctor in Law + of Orleans (ed. Stengel, "Zeitschrift für + neufranzösische Sprache und Literatur," vol. i., 1878). + + 1396 * Maniere de Language (ed. P. Meyer, "Revue critique," + 1873). + + 1399 Petit Livre pour enseigner les enfanz de leur entreparler + comun francois (ed. Stengel, _op. cit._). + + _c._ 1409 Donait francois pur briefment entroduyr les Anglois + et la droit language de Paris et de pais la d'entour + fait aus despenses de Johan Barton par pluseurs bons + clercs du language avandite (ed. Stengel, _op. cit._). + + Conjugation of Verbs, by R. Dove. Le Donait soloum + douce franceis de Paris (Sloane MSS. 513). + + _c._ 1415 Liber Donati (MSS. Dd 12, 23, Gg 6, 44, Camb. Univ. + Libr.; Addit. 17716 Brit. Mus.). + + Femina. Liber iste vocatur Femina, quia sicut Femina + docet infantemloqui maternam, sic docet iste liber + iuvenes rethorice loqui Gallicum prout infra patebit + (ed. W. A. Wright, Roxburghe Club, 1907). + + 1415 Maniere de Language (ed. P. Meyer, "Romania," xxxii., + 1903). + + John Lydgate, Praeceptiones linguae gallicae, li. 1. + (Bale, "Scriptores Britanniae," fol. 203.) + + _c._ 1500? Dialogues in French and English (MS. Ii. 6, 17, Camb. + Univ. Libr.). + + +_B. Printed Books_ + + _c._ 1483 Tres bonne doctrine pour aprendre briefment francoys + et engloys. Printed by William Caxton. B.L. 4to. (Ed. + H. Bradley, "Early English Text Society," extra series, + lxxix., 1900.) + + Another edition. Fragment of one leaf in the Bodleian. + + _c._ 1492? Here is a good boke to lerne to speke French. B.L. + 4to. Colophon: Per me Richardum Pynson. + + _c._ 1498? Here beginneth a Lytell treatyse for to lerne + Englisshe and Frensshe. B.L. 4to. Colophon: Here endeth + a lytyll treatyse for to lerne Englysshe and Frensshe. + Emprinted at Westmynster by my Wynken de Worde. + + Another edition. Fragment of one leaf in the British + Museum. B.L. 4to. + + +II + +TUDOR AND STUART TIMES + + 1521 BARCLAY. The introductorie to wryte and to pronounce frenche. + + ? VALENCE. Introductions in frensche.... + + 1528 Fragment of grammar in Lambeth Library. + + 1530 PALSGRAVE. Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse. + + _c._ 1534 DUWES. An introductorie for to lerne ... french trewly. + + _c._ 1535 DUWES. An introductorie for to lerne ... french trewly. + + _c._ 1547 DUWES. An introductorie for to lerne ... french trewly. + + 1552 VERON. Dictionariolum puerorum.... + + 1553? DU PLOICH. A Treatise in English and Frenche.... + + 1553? Traicté pour apprendre a parler françoys et angloys. + + 1557 G. MEURIER. La Grammaire Françoise. . . . + + 1557 (BARLEMENT.) A Boke intituled Italion, Frynsshe, Englysshe Latin. + + 1559 Ane A.B.C. for Scottes men to read the frenche toung.... + + 1563 MEURIER. Communications familieres. + + 1565 HOLYBAND. The French Schoolemaister. + + 1566 HOLYBAND. The French Littleton. + + 1568 (BARLEMENT.) A Boke intituled Ffrynshe, Englysshe and Duche. + + 1571 A Dictionarie french and english. + + 1572 HIGGINS. Huloets dictionarie ... the French thereunto annexed. + + 1573 HOLYBAND. The French Schoolemaister. + + 1574 BARET. An Alvearie ... in Englishe, Latin and French. + + 1575 * A plaine pathway to the French Tongue. + + 1576 LEDOYEN DE LA PICHONNAYE. A Plaine Treatise to larne ... French. + + 1578 BELLOT. The French Grammer. + + 1578 DU PLOICH. A Treatise in English and Frenche, new ed. + + 1578 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1578 (BARLEMENT.) Dictionaire . . . en quattre Langues. + + ? HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1580 HOLYBAND. A Treatise for Declining of Verbs. + + 1580 HOLYBAND. De Pronuntiatione Linguae Gallicae. + + 1580 HOLYBAND. The Treasurie of the French Tong. + + 1581 BARET. Alvearie ... New ed. + + 1581 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1581 BELLOT. Le Jardin de Vertu. + + 1582 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1583 HOLYBAND. Campo di Fior. + + 1585 HIGGINS. The Nomenclator or Remembrancer of Adrianus Junius. + + 1588 BELLOT. The French Methode. + + ? HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1590 DE CORRO. The Spanish Grammer with certeine Rules teaching ... + French. + + 1591 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1591 CORDERIUS. Dialogues in French and English. + + 1592 DE LA MOTHE. The French Alphabet. + + 1593 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1593 HOLYBAND. A Dictionarie French and English. + + 1593 ELIOTE. Ortho-Epia Gallica. + + 1595 E. A. Grammaire Angloise et Françoise. + + 1595 DE LA MOTHE. French Alphabet. + + 1596 MORLET. Janitrix ... ad perfectam Linguae Gallicae cognitionem. + + 1597 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1598 The Necessary ... Education of a Young Gentlewoman, Italian, + French and English. + + 1599 HOLYBAND. A Treatise for Declining of Verbs. + + 1602 A Short Syntaxis of the French Tongue. + + 1602 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1604 SANFORD. Le Guichet François. + + 1605 SANFORD. A Briefe Extract of the former grammar ... in English. + + 1605 ERONDELL. The French Garden. + + 1606 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1607 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1611 COTGRAVE. A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues. + + 1612 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1615 The Declining of Frenche Verbes (HOLYBAND?). + + 1615 The French A.B.C. + + 1615 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1617 JEAN BARBIER. Janua Linguarum Quadralinguis. + + 1618 FARREAR. A Brief Direction to the French Tongue. + + 1619 LAUR DU TERME. The Flower de Luce. + + 1619 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1620 COLSON. The First Part of the French Grammar. + + 1623 WODROEPH. The spared Houres of a souldier in his Travels. + + 1623 J. S. A Shorte Method for the Declyning of Ffrench Verbes. + + 1625 SHERWOOD. The French Tutour. + + 1625 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1625 DE LA MOTHE. French Alphabet. + + 1625 WODROEPH. The True Marrow of the French Tongue. + + 1625 L'ISLE. Part of Du Bartas, French and English. + + 1625 Grammaire Angloise et Françoise. + + 1630 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1631 ANCHORAN. Comenius's Janua Linguarum. + + 1631 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1631 DE LA MOTHE. French Alphabet. + + 1632 COTGRAVE. French-English Dictionary, with SHERWOOD'S + English-French Dictionary. + + 1633 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1633 DE LA MOTHE. French Alphabet. + + 1633 ANCHORAN. Comenius's Janua Linguarum. + + 1633 SALTONSTALL. Clavis ad Portam. + + 1633 DE GRAVE. The Pathway to the Gate of Tongues. + + 1634 SHERWOOD. The French Tutour, 2nd ed. + + 1634 AUFEILD. A French Grammar and Syntaxe. + + 1635 COGNEAU. A Sure Guide to the French Tongue. + + 1636 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1636 DU GRÈS. Breve et accuratum grammaticae gallicae Compendium. + + 1637 (BARLEMENT.) The English, Latine, French, Dutch Scholemaster. + + 1637 BENSE. Analogo Diaphora ... trium Linguarum, Gallicae, Hispanicae + et Italicae. + + 1637 ANCHORAN. Comenius's Janua. + + 1639 DE LA MOTHE. French Alphabet. + + 1639 HOLYBAND. French Littleton. + + 1639 Grammaire Angloise et Françoise. + + 1639 DU GRÈS. Dialogi Gallico-Anglico-Latini. + + 1639 ANCHORAN. Comenius's Janua. + + 1639 (BARLEMENT.) New Dialogues or Colloquies ... + + 1641 MEURIER. A treatise for to learne to speake Frenshe and Englishe. + + 1641 HOLYBAND. Treatise for Declining of French Verbs. + + 1641 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1643 GOSTLIN. Aurisodinae Linguae Gallicae. + + 1645 COGNEAU. Sure Guide ... + + 1647 DE LA MOTHE. French Alphabet. + + 1648 GERBIER. An Introduction of the French Tongue. + + 1649 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1650 COTGRAVE. French Dictionary. + + 1651 COGNEAU. Sure Guide. + + 1652 DU GRÈS. Dialogi ... + + 1653 MAUGER. True Advancement of the French Tongue. + + 1655 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1655 LAINÉ. A Compendious Introduction to the French Tongue. + + 1656 MAUGER. French Grammar, 2nd ed. + + 1658 COGNEAU. Sure Guide. + + 1658 MAUGER. French Grammar, 3rd ed. + + 1659 LEIGHTON. Linguae Gallicae addiscendae Regulae. + + 1660 DU GRÈS. Dialogi ... + + 1660 COTGRAVE. Dictionary. + + 1660 HERBERT. French and English Dialogues. + + 1660 HOWELL. Lexicon Tetraglotton. + + 1662 MAUGER. French Grammar, 4th ed. + + 1662 LEIGHTON. ... Regulæ. + + 1666 Æsop's Fables in English, French and Latine. + + ? Castellion's Sacred Dialogues ... French and English. + + 1667 MAUGER. French Grammar, 5th ed. + + 1667 FESTEAU. French Grammar. + + 1667 DE LAINÉ. Princely Way to the French Tongue. + + 1668 HOLYBAND. French Schoolemaister. + + 1668 Grammaire Françoise et Angloise. + + 1668 Grammaire Françoise et Angloise. + + 1670 MAUGER. Grammar, 6th ed. + + 1671 MAUGER. Lettres françoises et angloises. + + 1671 FESTEAU. Grammar, 2nd ed. + + 1673 MAUGER. Grammar, 7th ed. + + 1673 COTGRAVE. Dictionary. + + 1674 A French Grammar ... Published by the Academy. + + 1674 SMITH. Grammatica Quadralinguis. + + 1674 A very easie Introduction to the French Tongue. + + 1675 FESTEAU. Grammar, 3rd ed. + + 1676 D'ABADIE. A New French Grammar. + + 1676 MAUGER. Grammar (the English edition). + + 1676 MAUGER. Lettres, 2nd ed. + + 1677 DE LAINÉ. Princely Way, 2nd ed. + + 1677 Grammaire françoise et angloise. + + 1677 MIÈGE. A New Dictionary, French and English. + + 1678 MIÈGE. A New French Grammar. + + 1679 MAUGER. Grammar, 8th ed. + + 1679 FESTEAU. Grammar, 4th ed. + + 1679 Grammaire Françoise et Angloise. + + 1679 MIÈGE. Dictionary of Barbarous French. + + 1680 VILLIERS. Vocabularium Analogicum. + + 1681 BERAULT. Chemin du Ciel. + + 1682 MAUGER. Grammar, 10th ed. + + 1682 MIÈGE. Short and Easie French Grammar. + + 1683 VAIRESSE D'ALLAIS. Short and Methodical Introduction. + + 1684 MIÈGE. A Short French Dictionary. + + 1684 KERHUEL. Grammaire Françoise. + + 1684 MAUGER. Grammar, 11th ed. + + 1684 CHENEAU. French Grammar. + + 1685 FESTEAU. Grammar, 5th ed. + + 1685 BERAULT. Bouquet . . . de Plusieurs Veritez Theologiques. + + 1686 MAUGER. Grammar, 12th ed. + + 1687 Æsop's Fables in English, French and Latine. + + 1687 MIÈGE. Grounds of the French Tongue. + + 1688 MIÈGE. Great French Dictionary. + + 1688 BERAULT. New ... French and English Grammar. + + 1688 COLSONI. The New Trismagister. + + 1689 MAUGER. Grammar, 13th ed. + + 1690 MIÈGE. Short French Dictionary, 3rd ed. + + 1690 MAUGER. Grammar, 14th ed. + + 1690 COLSONI. A new Grammar of three languages. + + 1691 MIÈGE. Short French Dictionary. + + 1691 BERAULT. Grammar, 2nd ed. + + _c._ 1691 LANE. French Grammar. + + ? GROLLEAU. Compleat French Tutor. + + 1693 FESTEAU. Grammar, 6th ed. + + 1693 BERAULT. Grammar, 3rd ed. + + 1693 Eloquent Master of Languages. + + 1694 BOYER. Compleat French Master. + + 1694 MAUGER. Grammar, 16th ed. + + 1695 COLSONI. New and Accurate Grammar [new edition]. + + 1698 MIÈGE. Last and Best French Grammar. + + 1698 BERAULT. French and English Grammar. + + 1698 MAUGER. French Grammar. + + 1699 MAUGER. French Grammar [new edition]. + + 1699 BOYER. French Master, 2nd ed. + + ? VASLET. Nomenclator Trilinguis. + + 1699 BOYER. Royal French Dictionary. + + + + +APPENDIX II + + BIBLIOGRAPHY, ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY, OF MANUALS FOR TEACHING THE + FRENCH LANGUAGE TO THE ENGLISH, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH + CENTURY TO THE END OF THE STUART PERIOD + + +A., E.: + + Grammaire Angloise et Françoise pour facilement et promptement + aprendre la langue Angloise et Françoise. Revûë et corrigée tout de + nouveau d'une quantité de fautes qui étoient aux précédentes + impressions par E. A. Augmentée en cette dernière édition d'un + vocabulaire Anglois et François. Rouen, 1595. Cp. sub "Anonymous + Works," Grammaire Angloise et Françoise. + +ÆSOP: Cp. CODRINGTON. + +ANCHORAN, J. A.: + + Porta Linguarum Trilinguis reserata et aperta, sive seminarium + linguarum et scientiarum omnium, hoc est compendiaria Latinam, + Anglicam, Gallicam (et quamvis aliam) Linguam una cum artium et + scientiarum fundamentis sesquianni spatio ad summum docendi et + perdiscendi methodus sub titulis centum periodis mille comprehensa. + The Gate of Tongues unlocked and opened.... London, George Millar + for Michael Sparke, 1631. + + Another issue, George Millar for the Author, 1631. + + Another ed.: Porta linguarum ... J. A. Anchorani ... Th. Cotes + sumptibus M. Sparke, 1633. + + 3rd ed. Anna Griffin sumptibus M. Sparke. London, 1637. + + 4th ed. E. Griffin for M. Sparke, 1639. + +ANONYMOUS WORKS (Arranged chronologically): + + De la Prosodie, etc. (Fragment in the Lambeth Library dated 1528.) + + (BARLEMENT.) A boke intituled Italion, Frynsshe, Englysshe and + Laten. London, Ed. Sutton, 1557. + + Another ed.: A Boke intituled Ffrynsshe, Englysshe and Duche. + London, John Alde, 1569. + + Another ed.: Dictionaire, Colloques ou Dialogues en Quattre + langues, Flamen, Ffrançoys, Espaignel et Italien, with the Englishe + to be added thereto. George Bishop, 1578. + + Another ed.: + The English}{French + Latine }{Dutch Scholemaster, or an Introduction to teach young + Gentlemen and Merchants to travell or trade. Being the only helpe + to attaine to those Languages. London, for Michael Sparke, 1637. + + Another ed.: New Dialogues or Colloquies and a little Dictionary of + eight Languages. A Booke very necessary for all those that study + these tongues either at home or abroad, now perfected and made fit + for travellers, young merchants and seamen, especially those that + desire to attain to the use of the tongues. London, Printed for + Michael Sparke, 1639. + + Ane A, B, C for Scottes men to read the frenche toung with ane + exhortatioun to the noblis of Scotland to favour thair ald + friendis. Licensed to Wm. Nudrye, 1559. + + A Dictionarie french and english. 1571. Col.: Imprinted at London + by Henry Bynneman for Lucus Harrison. An. 1570.[1106] + + A plaine pathway to the French Tongue, very profitable for + Marchants and also all other which desire the same, aptly devided + into nineteen chapters. The contents whereof appear in the next + Page. Printed in London by Thomas East, 1575. + + Another ed. Newly corrected. London, by Th. East (date unknown). + + Corderius. Dialogues in French and English. John Wyndet, 1591. + + Grammaire Angloise et Françoise . . . Revûë et corrigée . . . par + E. A. (_q.v. sub_ A., E.) + + Another ed.: Grammaire Angloise pour facilement et promptement + apprendre la langue angloise. Qui peut aussi aider aux Anglois pour + apprendre la langue Françoise. Alphabet anglois contenant la + prononciation des Lettres avec les declinaisons et conjugaisons. + Paris, 1625. + + Another ed. Rouen, 1639. + + Another ed. Rouen, 1662. + + Another ed. Rouen, 1670. + + Another edition. London, 1677. + + The Necessary, fit and convenient Education of a young Gentlewoman, + Italian, French and English. Adam Islip, 1598. + + A Short Syntaxis in the French Tongue. 12º. London, 1602. + + The French A. B. C. Licensed to Rd. Field, 1615. + + The Declining of Frenche Verbes. Rd. Field, 1615 (another edition + of Holyband's Treatise for declining of Verbs?). + + (Sébastien Châteillon.) Sacred Dialogues translated out of Latin + into French and English for the benefit of youth. Sold by R. Hom + and J. Sims. (Date unknown, between 1666 and 1668?) + + A French Grammar Teaching the knowledge of that language, how to + read and write it perfectly without any other precedent Study than + to have learnt to Read only. Published by the Academy for + Reformation of the French Tongue. London. Printed by W. G. for Wm. + Copper at the sign of the Pelican in Little Britain, 1674. + + A very easie Introduction to the French Tongue, or A very brief + Grammar, proper for all persons who have bad memories. Containing + all the principal grounds for the more speedy practice of + discourse. Also many peculiar phrases; with a very useful Dialogue + for young factors. 8vo. Sold by J. Sims at the King's Head in + Cornhill, _c._ 1673. + +AUFEILD, WILLIAM: + + A French Grammar and Syntaxe contayning most exact and certaine + rules for the pronunciation, orthography, construction and use of + the French Language. Written in French by Charles Maupas, of Bloys. + Translated into English with additions and explications peculiarly + useful to us English; together with a preface and an Introduction + wherein are contained divers necessary instructions for the better + understanding of it, by W. A. London, printed for Rich. Mynne, + dwelling in little Britaine at the signe of St. Paul, 1634. + +BARBIER, JEAN: + + Janua Linguarum Quadralinguis, or The Gate to the Latine, English, + Frenche and Spanish Tongues. London, 1617.[1107] + +BARCLAY, ALEXANDER: + + Here begynneth the introductory to wryte and to pronounce frenche, + compyled by Alexander Barclay, compendiously at the commandement of + the right hye excellent and myghty prynce Thomas, duke of + Northfolke. [Col.] Imprynted at London in the Flete strete at the + sygne of the rose Garlande by Robert Coplande, 1521, the yere of + our lord MCCCCCXXI ye XXII day of Marche. + +BARET, JOHN: + + An Alvearie or triple Dictionarie in Englishe, Latin, and French. + Very profitable for all such as be desirous of any of those three + languages. Also by the two tables at the ende of this booke they + may contrariwise finde the most necessarie Latin or French words, + placed after the order of an Alphabet, whatsoever are to be found + in any other Dictionarie. And so to turne them backwardes againe + into Englishe when they reade any Latin or French authors and doubt + of any harde worde therein. London, Henry Denham, 1574. + + A new edition: An Alvearie or quadruple dictionarie containing four + sundrie tongues, namelie, Englishe, Latine, Greeke and Frenche. + Newlie enriched with a varietie of wordes, phrases, proverbs and + divers lightsome observations of Grammar. By the Tables you may + contrariwise finde out the most necessarie wordes placed after the + Alphabet, whatsoever are to be found in any other dictionarie. + Which Tables also serving for lexicons, to lead the learner unto + the English of such hard wordes as are often read in Authors, being + faithfullie examined, are truelie numbered. Verie profitable for + such as be desirous of anie of those languages. London, Henry + Denham, 1581. + +BARLEMENT. Cp. Entry under "Anonymous Works." + +BELLOT, JACQUES: + + The French Grammer, or an Introduction orderly and Methodically, by + ready rules, playne preceptes and evident examples, teachinge the + Frenche Tongue: Made and very commodiously set forth for their + sakes that desire to attayne the Perfecte knowledge of the same + Language, by James Bellot, Gentleman of Caen in Normandy. Imprinted + at London in Fleet Street by Th. Marshe, 1578. + + Le jardin de vertu et bonnes moeurs, plain de plusieurs belles + fleurs et riches sentences avec le sens d'icelles recueillies de + plusieurs autheurs, et mises en lumiere par J. B. gent. Cadomois. + Imprimé à Londres par Th. Vautrollier, 1581. + + The French Methode. London, 1588. + +BENSE, PIERRE: + + Analogo Diaphora seu Concordantia Discrepans et Discrepantia + Concordans trium linguarum Gallicae, Hispanicae et Italicae. Unde + innotescat, quantum quaque a Romanae linguae, unde ortum duxere, + idiomate deflexerit; earum quoque ratio et natura dilucide et + succinte delineantur. Operâ et studio Petri Bense, Parisini, apud + Oxon. has linguas profitentis. Oxoniae. Excudebat Guilielmus Turner + impensis authoris, 1637. + +BERAULT, PIERRE: + + A new, plain, short and compleat French and English Grammar. Wherby + the learner may attain in few months to speak and write French + correctly as they do now in the Court of France, and wherein all + that is dark, superfluous and deficient in other grammars is plain, + short and methodically supplied. Also very useful to strangers that + are desirous to learn the English tongue: for whose sake is added a + short but very exact English Grammar. Omne tulit punctum qui + miscuit utile dulce. London, 1688. + + Second edition, _c._ 1691. + + Third edition, with additions, 1693. + + Fourth edition, 1700. + + Another edition: A New and Compleat French and English Grammar, + plainly showing the shortest and easiest way to understand, speak, + and write spedily those Languages, but especially the French. + Containing above twenty pleasant and useful Dialogues translated + into English by Sir R. L'Estrange, and here rendered into French + with several others, almost word for word. To which is added a + short but exact English Grammar. Also a French and English + Dictionary, where the parts of speech are ranged separately. + Comprehending all that's necessary for any Persons that have a + desire to learn either Language, by Peter Berault, French + Minister, lately chaplain of Her Majesty's ships Kent, Victory, + Scarborough, and Dunkirk. London, 1707. + + Le Véritable et assuré chemin du ciel en François et en Anglois. + London, 1680. + + Bouquet ou un amas de plusieurs veritez théologiques propres pour + instruire toutes sortes de personnes, particulierement pour + consoler une ame dans ses Troubles. London, 1685. + +BEYER, GUILLAUME: + + La vraye instruction des trois langues la Françoise, l'Angloise et + la Flamende. Proposée en des règles fondamentales et succinctes. Un + assemblage des mots les plus usités, et des colloques utiles et + récréatifs; où hormis d'autres discours curieus, le gouvernement de + la France se réduit. Historiquement et Politiquement mise en trois + langues. Seconde ed. augmentée. Dordrecht, 1681. (Date of first + edition unknown.) + +CHÂTEILLON (or CASTELLION), S. Cp. entry under "Anonymous Works." + +CHENEAU, FRANÇOIS: + + Francis Cheneau's French Grammar, enrich'd with a compendious and + easie way to learne the French Tongue in a very short time. + Licensed to Ch. Mearne, _c._ 1684. + + The Perfect French Master teaching in less than a month to turn any + English into French by Rule and Figure, Alphabetically, in a Method + hitherto altogether unknown in Europe. With the regular and + irregular Verbs. By Mr. Cheneau of Paris, Professor of the Latin, + English, French, Italian Tongues, formerly slave and Governor of + the Isles of Nacsia and Paros in the Archipelago, now living in his + house in Old Fish St. next door to the Faulcon in London. Where may + be seen his short grammars for all these tongues, after the same + way. W. Botham for the author. London, 1716. + +CODRINGTON, ROBERT: + + Æsop's Fables, With his life in English, French and Latine. The + English by Tho. Philipott, Esq., the French and Latine by Rob. + Codrington, M.A. Illustrated with one hundred and ten sculptures. + By Francis Barlow, and are to be sold at his House, The Golden + Eagle in New Street near Shoe Lane, 1665-6. + + Another ed. London, 1687. + + Another ed. [London], 1703. + +COGNEAU, PAUL: + + A Sure Guide to the French Tongue, teaching by a most easy way to + pronounce it naturally, to reade it perfectly, write it truly and + speke it readily. Together with the Verbes personal and impersonal + and useful sentences added to some of them, most profitable for all + sorts of people to learn. Painfully gathered and set in order after + the alphabetical way, for the better benefit of those that are + desirous to learn the French, by me Paul Cogneau. London, 1635. + + Another ed. [London] 1645. + + Another ed. [London] 1651. + + Fourth ed., exactly corrected, much amplified, and better ordered. + (By Wm. Herbert, _q.v._) London, 1658. + +COLSON, WILLIAM: + + The First Part of the French Grammar, Artificially reduced into + Tables by Arte locall, called the Arte of Memorie. Contayning + (after an extraordinary and most easy method) the Pronunciation and + Orthographie of the French Tongue according to the new manner of + writing, without changing the originall or old, for the + understanding of both by a reformed alphabet of twenty-six letters + and by a triple distinction of characters (Roman, Italian and + English) representing unto the eye three sorts of pronunciation + distinguished by them. Proper, signified by a Roman character: + Improper, noted by an Italian: and superfluous, marked by an + English.... And as most amply is declared in the explication of the + foresaid reformed alphabet, and letters in it otherwise ordered, + and named then heretofore, and two otherwise shaped ... for _j_ and + _v_ consonants. In which is taught, the universall knowledge of the + four materiall parts of Grammar ... for the better understanding of + the rules of the triple pronunciation aforesaid. Also the + Artificiall and generall declination terminative of Nounes and + Verbes. Lately compiled by William Colson of London, Professor of + Litterall and Liberall Sciences. London, Printed by W. Stansby, + 1620. + +COLSONI, FRANCISCO CASPARO: + + The New Trismagister. Or the New Teacher of three Languages by whom + an Italian, an English and a French Gentleman may learn to + discourse together, each in their several languages: in four parts. + (I.) The Italian learns to speak English. (II.) The English and + Italian Gentlemen learn to speak French. (III.) The French and the + English Gentlemen learn to speak Italian. (IV.) The Frenchman + learns to speak English. 1688. + + Another edition: A New and Accurate Grammar whereby French and + Italian, the Spaniard and the Portuguese may learn to speak English + well, with rules for the learning of French, Italian, and Spanish. + Nouvelle et curieuse Grammaire par laquelle. . . . Par F. Colsoni, + M.(A). et Maitre des dites Langues demeurant dans Falcon Court en + Lothbury. 8vo. Printed for S. Manship at the Ship in Cornhill, _c._ + 1695. + +COMENIUS. Cf. entry under "Anonymous Works." + +CORDERIUS. Cf. entry under "Anonymous Works." + +CORRO, ANTONIO DE: + + The Spanish Grammer, with certeine Rules teaching both the Spanish + and French tongues. By which they that have some knowledge in the + French tongue may the easier attaine to the Spanish, and likewise + they that have the Spanish with more facilitie learne the French: + and they that are acquainted with neither of them, learne either or + both. Made in Spanish by M. Anthonie de Corro, translated by John + Thorius, Graduate in Oxeford. London, 1590. + +COTGRAVE, RANDLE: + + A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, compiled by Randle + Cotgrave. London, 1611. + + Another ed. ... Whereunto is also annexed a most copious dictionary + of the English set before the French, by R. S. L. (Robert Sherwood, + Londoner, _q.v._) London, 1632. + + Another ed. ... Whereunto are newly added the animadversions and + Supplements of James Howell, Esquire. Inter Eruditos Cathedram + habeat Polyglottes. London, 1650. + + Another ed. ... Whereunto are added sundry Animadversions, with + supplements of many hundreds of words never before printed: with + accurate castigations throughout the whole work, and distinctions + of the obsolete words from those that are now in use. Together with + a large Grammar, a dialogue consisting of all Gallicisms, with + additions of the most significant proverbs, with other refinements + according to Cardinal Richelieu's late Academy. For the furtherance + of young learners, and the advantage of all others that endeavour + to arrive to the most exact knowledge of the French Language, this + work is exposed to publick, by James Howell, Esqr. London, 1660. + + Another ed. London, 1673. + +D'ABADIE, J.G.: + + A new French Grammar, containing at large the principles of that + tongue, or the most exact rules, criticall observations, and fit + examples for teaching with a good method and attaining the French + Tongue as the Witts or the Gentlemen of the French Academy speak + and pronounce it at this present time. Composed for the use of the + English gentry by J.G. d'Abadie, Esq. Oxford, Printed by H. Hall, + Printer to the University, for J. Crosby, 1676. + +DE GRAVE, JEAN: + + The Pathway to the Gate of Tongues, being the first instruction for + little children, with A short manner to conjugate French Verbes. + Ordered and made Latine, French and English by Jean de Grave, + Professor of the French Tongue in the City of London. Oxford, 1633. + (Bound with second ed. of Comenius's Porta Linguarum. London, + 1633.) + +DE LA MOTHE, N., G.: + + The French Alphabet, teaching in a very short time, and by a most + easie way, to pronounce French naturally, to read it perfectly, to + write it truly and to speak it accordingly. Together with the + treasure of the French tongue, containing the rarest sentences, + proverbs, parobles, similies, apothegmes, and Golden sayings of the + most excellent French Authors, as well Poets as Oratours. The one + diligently compiled and the other painfully gathered and set in + order, after the alphabetical maner, for the benefit of those that + are desirous of the French tong. Printed by E. Alde, and are to be + solde by H. Jackson, dwelling in Fleet Street, beneath the Conduit + at the sign of St. John Evangelist, 1595. + + First edition. London, Richard Field, 1592 (no copy known). + + Another edition. London, Geo. Miller, 1625. + + Another edition. London, Geo. Miller, 1631. + + Another edition. London, Geo. Miller, 1633. + + Another edition. London, Geo. Miller, 1639. + + Another edition. London, A. Miller, 1647. + +DE LA PICHONNAYE, LEDOYEN: + + A Plaine Treatise to larne in a shorte space of the French Tongue. + London, H. Denham, 1576. + +DE SAINLIENS, CLAUDE. Cf. HOLYBAND. + +DU GRÈS, GABRIEL: + + Breve et Accuratum grammaticae Gallicae Compendium in quo superflua + rescinduntur et necessaria non omittuntur, per Gabrielem du Grès, + Gallum, eandem linguam in celeberrima Cantabrigiensi Academia + edocentem. Cantabrigiae. Impensis Authoris amicorum gratiâ. 1636. + + Dialogi Gallico-Anglico-Latini, per Gabrielem Dugrès Linguam + Gallicam in illustrissima et famosissima Oxoniensi Academia (haud + ita pridem privatim) edocentem. Oxoniae, L. Lichfield, 1639. + + Editio secunda, priori emendatior. Oxoniae, 1652. + + Editio tertia. Oxoniae, 1660. + +DU PLOICH, PIERRE: + + A Treatise in English and Frenche right necessary and proffitable + for al young children (the contentes whereof apere in a table at + the ende of this boke), made by Peter du Ploiche, teacher of the + same dwelling in Trinitie lane at the signe of the Rose. Richard + Grafton, [1553?] + + Another ed. Imprimé à Londre par Jean Kingston, La xiiii. Auvril, + 1578. + +DU TERME, LAUR: + + The Flower de Luce, planted in England, or a short Treatise and + brieffe compendium wherein is contained the true and lively + pronunciation and understanding of the French tongue. Compiled by + Laur du Terme, Teacher of the same. London, Printed by Nicholas + Okes, 1619. + +DUWES, GILES: + + An Introductorie for to lerne to rede, to pronounce, and to speke + Frenche trewly, compyled for the right high excellent and most + vertuous lady, the lady Mary of Englande, daughter to our most + gracious soverayn Lorde Kyng Henry the Eight. Printed at London by + Thomas Godfray, cum privilegio a rege indulto, [1533?] + + Another ed. Printed at London by Nicolas Bourman for John Reyns in + Paules churchyarde at the signe of the George. [1534?] + + Another ed., newly corrected and amended. Printed by John Waley, + [1546?] + +ELIOTE, JOHN: + + Ortho-Epia Gallica. Eliot's Fruits for the French. Enterlaced with + a double new invention, which teacheth to speke truely, speedily + and volubly the French Tongue. Pend for the practice, pleasure and + profit of all English Gentlemen who will endevour by their owne + paine, studie and dilligence to attaine the naturall accent, the + true pronunciation, and swift and glib Grace of that noble, famous + and courtly Language. Natura et Arte. London, Printed by John + Wolfe, 1593. + +ERONDELL, PIERRE: + + The French Garden for English Ladyes and Gentlewomen to walke in or + a sommer dayes labour. Being an instruction for the attayning unto + of the French tongue: wherein for the practise thereof are framed + thirteene dialogues in French and English, concerning divers + matters, from the rising in the morning till Bedtime. Also the + Historie of the Centurion mencioned in the Gospell: in French + Verses. Which is an easier and shorter Methode then hath beene yet + set forth to bring the lovers of the French tongue to the + perfection of the same. By Peter Erondell, Professor of the same + language. London, Printed for Ed. White, 1605. + + Cf. HOLYBAND, French Schoolemaister. + +FARREAR, ROBERT: + + A brief Direction to the French Tongue. Oxford, 1618. + +FESTEAU, PAUL: + + A new and Easie French Grammar, or a Compendious way how to Read, + Speak and Write French exactly, very necessary for all Persons + whatsoever. With variety of Dialogues. Whereunto is added a + Nomenclature English and French. London. Printed for Th. + Thornycroft and are to be sold at the Eagle and Child near + Worcester House in the Strand, 1667. + + Second ed., c. 1671. + + [Another ed.]: Paul Festeau's French Grammar, being the newest and + exactest Method now extant for the attaining to the purity of the + French Tongue. Augmented and enriched with several choice and new + dialogues.... The third ed., Diligently corrected, amended and much + enlarged with the Rules of the Accent, by the Author, Native of + Blois, and now Professor of the French Tongue in London. London, + 1675. + + [Another ed.]: Paul Festeau's French Grammar being the newest and + exactest method ... for the attaining of the Elegancy and Purity of + the French Tongue as it is now spoken at the Court of France. + Augmented and enriched with several choice and new Dialogues, + furnished with rich phrases, proverbs and sentences, profitable and + necessary for all persons. Together with a Nomenclature English and + French, and the Rules of Quantity. The fourth ed., Diligently + corrected, amended and very much enlarged by the author, native of + Blois, a city in France where the true tone of the French tongue is + found by the Unanimous consent of all Frenchmen. London, 1679. + + Fifth ed. 1685. + + Another ed., _c._ 1688. + + Another ed. 1693. + + Another ed., _c._ 1699. + + Another ed., corrected and enlarged by the author, _c._ 1701. + +GERBIER, SIR BALTHAZAR: + + An Introduction of the French tongue, (in) "The Interpreter of the + Academie for forrain languages and all noble sciences and + exercises." The first part. London, 1648. + +GIFFARD, JAMES. Cf. HOLYBAND, French Schoolemaister. + +GOSTLIN: + + Aurisodinae linguae Gallicae. 8vo. London, 1643. + +GRAVE. Cf. DE GRAVE. + +GROLLEAU: + + Grolleau's Compleat French Tutor. (Date unknown, some time after + 1685.) + +HERBERT, WILLIAM: + + French and English Dialogues. In a more exact and delightful method + then any yet extant. London, 1660. Cf. COGNEAU. + +HIGGINS, JOHN: + + Huloet's Dictionarie, corrected and amended and set in order and + enlarged with many names of men, townes, beastes, foules, fishes, + trees, shrubbes, herbes, fruites, places, instrumentes, etc. In + eche place fit phrases gathered out of the best Latin authors. Also + the French thereunto annexed, by which you may finde the Latin or + Frenche of anye Englishe woorde you will. By John Higgins, late + student in Oxeforde. Londoni, in aedibus Thomae Marshij, anno 1572. + + The Nomenclator or Remembrancer of Adrianus Junius, Physician, + divided into two Tomes, conteining proper names, and apt termes for + all thinges under their convenient Titles, which within a few + leaves doe follow. Written by the said Adrianus Junius in Latine, + Greek, French, and other forrein tongues, and now in English by + John Higgins. With a full supplie of all such words as the last + inlarged edition affoorded; and a dictional index, conteining above + 1400 principall words with their numbers directly leading to their + interpretations. Of special use for all scholars and learners of + the same languages. London, 1585. + +HOLYBAND, CLAUDE, or DE SAINLIENS: + + The French Schoolemaistr, wherein is most plainlie shewed the true + and most perfect way of pronouncinge of the French tongue, without + any helpe of Maister or Teacher: set foorthe for the furtherance of + all those whiche doo studie privately in their owne study or + houses: Unto the which is annexed a Vocabularie for al such woordes + as bee used in common talkes: by M. Claudius Hollybande, professor + of the Latin, French and Englishe tongues. Imprinted at London, by + William How for Abraham Veale, 1573. + + First ed. 1565 (no copy known). + + Another ed. (Date unknown; after 1580.) + + Another ed.: The French Schoolemaister of Claudius Hollybande. + Newly corrected.... London, 1582. + + Another ed. Newly corrected by C. Hollyband. London. (Date + unknown.) + + Another ed.: The French Schoolemaister, wherein is most plainely + shewed the true and perfect way of pronouncing the French tongue, + to the furtherance of all those which would gladly learne it. First + collected by Mr. C. H., and now newly corrected and amended by P. + Erondelle, Professor of the said tongue. London, 1606. + + Another ed. London, 1612. + + Another ed. London, 1615. + + Another ed. London, 1619. + + Another ed.: The French Schoolemaister.... First collected by Mr. + C. H. ... and now ... corrected ... by James Giffard. London, 1631. + + Another ed. ... newly corrected and amended by James Giffard, + Professor of the said tongue. London, 1636. + + Another ed. ... new corrected, amended and much enlarged, with + severall quaint Proverbes and other necessary rules, by James + Giffard, Professor of the said Tongue. London, 1641. + + Another ed. London, 1649. + + Another ed. London, 1655. + + Another ed.: The French Schoolmaster teaching easily that language. + London, 1668. + + The French Littelton, A most easie, perfect and absolute way to + learne the Frenche tongue. Newly set forth by Claude Holliband, + teaching in Paules Churchyarde by the signe of the Lucrece. Let the + reader peruse the epistle to his owne instruction. Imprinted by T. + Vautrollier: London, 1566. + + Another ed. London, 1578. + + Another ed. London, 1579. + + Another ed.: Set forth by Claudius Holliband, teaching in Pauls + Churchyard at the sign of the Golden Ball. London, 1581. + + Another ed. ... London, 1591. + + Another ed. ... by Claudius Holliband, Gentilhomme Bourbonnois. + London, 1593. + + Another ed. London, 1597. + + Another ed. London, 1602. + + Another ed. London, 1607. + + Another ed. London, 1609. + + Another ed. London, 1625. + + Another ed. London, 1630. + + Another ed. London, 1633. + + Another ed. London, 1639. + + A Treatise for Declining of Verbs which may be called the second + chiefest worke of the frenche tongue: Set forthe by Claudius + Hollyband, teaching at the signe of the Golden Ball in Paules + Church Yarde. London, 1580. + + Another ed. London, 1599. + + Another ed. London, 1641. + + De Pronuntiatione. Claudii a Sancto Vinculo de pronuntiatione + linguæ Gallicæ libri duo. Ad illustrissimam simulq doctissimam + Elizabetham Anglorum Reginam. T. Vautrollerius; Londoni. 1580. + + The Treasurie of the French Tong: teaching the waye to varie all + sortes of verbes. Enriched so plentifully with wordes and phrases + (for the benefit of the studious in that language) as the like hath + not before bin published. Gathered and set forth by C. Hollyband. + For the better understanding of the order of the dictionarie peruse + the Preface to the reader. London, 1580. + + Campo di Fior, or the Flowery Field of four languages, Italian, + Latin, French and English. London, 1583. + + A Dictionarie French and English. Published for the benefite of the + studious in that language. Gathered and set forth by Claudius + Hollyband. London, 1593. + +HOWELL, JAMES: + + Lexicon Tetraglotton, and English, French, Italian, Spanish + Dictionary. Whereunto is adjoined a large nomenclature of the + proper terms (in all four) belonging to several arts and sciences, + to recreations, to professions both liberal and mechanick etc. + Divided into fifty-two sections. With another Vocabulary of the + choicest Proverbs.... London. Printed by J. G. for Cornelius Bee at + the King's Arms in Little Brittaine, 1660. + + Cf. COTGRAVE. + +HULOET. Cf. HIGGINS. + +KERHUEL, JEAN DE: + + Grammaire Françoise, composée par Jean de Kerhuel, Professeur de la + ditte Langue. A French Grammar.... 8vo. Printed for J. Wickins at + the Miter in Fleet Street, 1684. + +LAINÉ, PIERRE: + + A compendious Introduction to the French Tongue. Teaching with much + ease, facility and delight, how to attain and most exactly to the + true and modern pronunciation thereof. Illustrated with several + elegant expressions and choice Dialogues, useful for persons of + Quality that intend to travel into France, leading them, as by the + hand, to the most noted and principal places of that Kingdom. + Whereunto is annexed an alphabetical Rule for the true and modern + orthography of that French now spoken, being a catalogue of very + necessary words never before printed. By Peter Lainé, a teacher of + the said tongue now in London. London. Printed by T. N. for Anthony + Williamson at the Queen's Arms in St. Paul's Churchyard, near the + West End. 1655. + +LAINÉ, PIERRE DE: + + The Princely way to the French Tongue, as it was first compiled + for the use of her Highness the Lady Mary and since taught her + royal sister the Lady Anne. To which is added a Chronological + abridgement of the sacred scriptures by way of dialogue. Together + with a longer explication of the French Grammar, Choice fables of + Æsop in Burlesque French, and lastly some models of letters French + and English, by P.D.L. 2nd ed. London. Printed by J. Macock for H. + Herrington etc., 1677. + + First ed. 1667. (No copy known.) + +LEIGHTON, HENRY: + + Linguæ Gallicæ addiscendæ regulæ. Collectæ opera et industria H. + Leighton, A.M. Hanc linguam in celeberrima Academia Oxoniensi + edocentis. Oxoniae, 1659. + + Another ed. 1662. + +LISLE OF WILBRAHAM, WM.: + + Part of Du Bartas, English and French, and in his owne kinde of + verse, so near the French Englished, as may teach an Englishman + French, or a Frenchman English. Sequitur Victoria Junctos. By Wm. + L'isle of Wilburgham, Esquier for the King's Body. London. Printed + by John Hoviland, 1625. + +MAUGER, CLAUDE: + + The true advancement of the French Tongue, or A new Method, and + more easie directions for the attaining of it, then ever yet have + been published. Whereunto are added many choice and select + dialogues, containing not onely familiar discourses, but most exact + Instructions for Travell, in a most elegant style and phrase, very + useful and necessary for all gentlemen that intend to travel into + France. Also a chapter of Anglicismes, wherein those errors which + the English usually commit in speaking French are demonstrated and + corrected. By Claudius Mauger, late professor of the French Tongue + at Blois, and now teacher of the said Tongue here in London. + London. Printed by Tho. Roycroft for J. Martin and J. Allestry at + the Bell in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1653. + + Another ed.: Mr. Mauger's French Grammar. Enriched with severall + choise Dialogues containing an exact account of the State of + France, Ecclesiastical, civil, and Military, as it flourisheth at + present under King Louis the xivth. Also a chapter of Anglicisims, + with instructions for travellers into France. The second edition, + enlarged and most exactly corrected by the Authour, late professor + at Blois. London. Printed by R. D. for John Martin and J. Allestree + at the Bell in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1656. + + Third ed. London, 1658. + + Another ed. ... enriched with 50 new short dialogues. Containing + for the most part an exact account of England's Triumphs, with the + state of France ... as it flourisheth now since Cardinal Mazarin's + death. With a most curious and most ingenious addition of 700 + French verses upon the rules. Also a Chapter of Anglicisms, with + instructions for Travellers into France. Fourth ed. Exactly + corrected, enlarged and perused by the great care and diligence of + the author, late publick Professor of Blois, in France, for all + Travellers. London. Printed for John Martin ... 1662. + + Fifth ed. London, 1667. + + Another ed. ... Enlarged and Enriched with 80 new dialogues, both + familiar and high with compliments, and the exact pronunciation. + All digested in a most admirable order, with the State of + France.... Also a chapter of Anglicisms and Francisms. With 700 + French verses containing all the rules of the French Tongue. As + likewise the Generall Rules of the English Pronunciation. Sixth ed. + Exactly corrected by the author.... London. Printed for J. Martin + at the sign of the bell, and James Allestry at the Rose and Crown + in Paul's Churchyard, 1670. + + Another ed.: La Grammaire françoise de Claude Mauger expliquée en + Anglois, Latin et en François, enrichie de regles plus courtes et + plus substantielles qu'auparavant, comme du regime des verbes, de + la conjugaison de tous les irreguliers par toutes leurs personnes, + d'un Traité de l'accent etc. Et à la fin, d'un abrégé des regles + generales de la Langue Angloise, en dialogues françois, outre ce + qui étoit dans la sixième édition. La 7e. éd. Reveue et corrigée + par l'autheur . . . à Londres. Londres. Imprimée par T. Roycroft + pour Jean Martin et se vendent à l'enseigne de la cloche au + cymitière de Sainct Paul. 1673. Claudius Mauger's French Grammar, + etc. + + Another ed., with additions: The "English Edition." London, Printed + by John Martyn, c. 1676. + + Eighth ed. Londres, J. Martyn, 1679. + + Tenth ed. Corrected by the author, now professor of the Languages + at Paris. London, 1682. + + Eleventh ed. London, T. Harrison, c. 1683. + + Twelfth ed. . . . avec des augmentations de Mots à la Mode d'une + nouvelle Methode et de tout ce qu'on peut souhaiter pour s'acquirir + ce beau Language comme on le parle à present à la cour de France. + Où on voit un ordre extraordinaire et methodique pour l'acquisition + de cette langue, sçavoir, une très parfaite pronuntiation, la + conjugaison de tous les Verbes irreguliers, des Regles courtes et + substantielles, ausquelles sont ajoutez un Vocabulaire et une + nouvelle Grammaire Angloise pour l'utilité de tant d'estrangers qui + ont envie de l'apprendre. La douzième édition exactement corrigée + par l'autheur à present Professeur des Langues à Paris. Londres. R. + E. pour R. Bently et S. Magnes demeurant dans Russel St. au Covent + Gardin. 1686. + + Thirteenth ed. ... Corrected by the author, late at Paris and now + at London. London, 1688. + + Fourteenth ed. ... Corrected and Enlarged by the author. London. + Sold by T. Guy at the Oxford Arms in Lombard Street. 1690. + + Sixteenth ed. ... exactly corrected and Enlarged by the Authour. + Late Professor of the Languages at Paris. London. R. E. for R. + Bently in Russel St. in Covent Gardin, 1694. + + Eighteenth ed. ... corrected and enlarged by the author. London, + for T. Guy, 1698. + + Nineteenth ed. ... corrected and enlarged by the Author, late + professor of the Languages at Paris. London, R. Wellington, 1702. + + Twentieth ed. ... Faithfully corrected from all the errors in the + former by a French Minister. London, R. Wellington, 1705. + + Twenty-first ed. ... with additions. London, R. Wellington, 1709. + + Mauger's Letters. Written upon several subjects, faithfully + translated into English, for the greater facility of those who have + a desire to learn the French Tongue. Corrected and Revised by the + author, formerly professor of French at Bloys, now at London. + London, 1671. + + Another ed.: Lettres Françoises et Angloises de Claud Mauger sur + Toutes sortes de sujets grands et mediocres avec augmentation de 50 + lettres nouvelles, dont il y en a plusieurs sur les dernières et + grandes Revolutions de l'Europe. Très exactement corrigée, polies + et écrites, dans le plus nouveau stile de la cour, dans lesquelles + la pureté et l'élégance des deux langues s'accordent mieux + qu'auparavant. Très utiles à ceux qui aspirent au beau language, et + sont curieux de sçavoir de quelle manière ils doivent parler aux + personnes de quelque qualité qu'elles soient. Outre Quantité de + Billets à la fin du Livre, qui sont très necessaires pour le + commerce. La seconde édition. Londres, imprimée par Tho. Roycroft + et se vendent chez Samuel Lowndes vis à vis de l'Hostel d'Exeter + dans la Strand. 1676. + +MEURIER, GABRIEL: + + La Grammaire Françoise contenante plusieurs belles reigles propres + et necessaires pour ceulx qui desirent apprendre la dicte langue + par Gabriel Meurier. . . . Anvers, 1557. + + Traicté pour apprendre a parler Françoys et Angloys. Rouen, Etienne + Colas, 1553. + + Communications familieres non moins propres que tresutiles a la + nation Angloise desireuse et diseteuse du langage François, par G. + Meurier. Familiare Communications no leasse proppre then verrie + proffytable to the Inglis nation desirous and nedinge the ffrenche + language, by Gabriel Meurier. En Anvers. . . . Chez Pierre de + Keerberghe sus le Cemitiere nostre Dame a la Croix d'or. 1563. + + Another ed.: Traité pour apprendre a parler François et Anglois: + ensemble un Formulaire de faire missives, obligations, Quittances, + Lettres de Change, necessaire a tous marchands qui veulent + trafiquer. A Treatise for to learne to speake Frenshe and + Englische, together with a form of making letters, indentures, and + obligations, quittances, letters of exchange, verie necessarie for + all Marchants that do occupy trade of Marchandise. A Rouen, chez + Jacques Cailloué, tenant sa boutique dans la Court du Palais. 1641. + +MIÈGE, GUY: + + A New Dictionary French and English with another English and French + according to the present use and modern orthography of the French, + inrich'd with new words, choice phrases and apposite proverbs. + Digested into a most accurate method and contrived for the use of + both English and Foreiners, by Guy Miège, Gent. London. Printed by + T. Dawks for T. Basset at the George near Clifford's Inn in Fleet + Street, 1677. + + A New French Grammar or a New Method for learning of the French + Tongue. To which are added for a help to young beginners a large + vocabulary, and a store of familiar Dialogues, besides Four curious + discourses of Cosmography in French for proficient learners to turn + into English. By Guy Miège, Gent., author of the New French + Dictionary, professor of the French Tongue and of Geography. + London. Th. Basset.... 1678. + + A Dictionary of Barbarous French or a Collection by Way of Alphabet + of Obsolete, Provincial, Misspelt and Made Words in French. Taken + out of Cotgrave's Dictionary with some additions. A work much + desired and now performed for the satisfaction of such as read old + French. By Guy Miège, Gent., author of the New French Dictionary. + London, for Th. Basset, 1679.[1108] + + A Short and Easie French Grammar, fitted for all sorts of learners: + according to the present use and modern orthography of the French, + with some Reflections on the ancient use thereof. London, Th. + Basset, 1682. + + A Large Vocabulary English and French for the use of such as learn + French or English. London, Th. Basset, 1682. + + One Hundred and Fifteen Dialogues French and English fitted for the + use of learners. London, Th. Basset, 1682. + + A Short French Dictionary, English and French with another in + French and English, according to the present use and modern + orthography, by Guy Miège, Gent. London, for Th. Basset, 1684. + + Another ed. London, 1690. + + Another ed. The Hague, 1691. + + Fifth ed. The Hague, 1701. + + Another ed. 1703. + + Another ed. Rotterdam, 1728. + + The Grounds of the French Tongue, or a new French Grammar according + to the present use and modern orthography. Digested into an easy, + short and accurate Method with a Vocabulary and Dialogues. London, + for Th. Basset, 1687. + + The Great French Dictionary in two parts. The first part French and + English. The second English and French. According to the ancient + and modern orthography: wherein each language is set forth in its + greatest latitude. The various senses of words both proper and + figurative are orderly digested, and illustrated with apposite + phrases and proverbs. The hard words explained: and the proprieties + adjusted. To which are prefixed the Grounds of both Languages in + two Discourses, the one English, the other French, by Guy Miège, + Gent. London, for Th. Basset, 1688. + + Miège's last and best French Grammar, or a new Method to learn + French, containing the Quintessence of all other Grammars, with + such plain and easie rules as will make one speedily perfect in + that famous language.... London, W. Freeman and A. Roper, 1698. + + Another ed., the second. London, J. Freeman, 1705. + +MORLET, PIERRE: + + Janitrix sive Institutio ad perfectam linguae Gallicae cognitionem + acquirendam. Authore Petro Morleto Gallo. Oxoniae, excudebat + Josephus Barnesius, 1596. + +PALSGRAVE, JOHN: + + Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse compose par maistre Jehan + Palsgrave Angloys natyf de Londres et gradue de Paris. 1530. [Col.] + The printing fynysshed by Johan Hawkyns, the xviii daye of July. + The yere of our lorde God M.C.C.C.C.C. and XXX. + +S., J.: + + A short method for the Declyning of Ffrench Verbes etc., by J. S., + _c._ 1623. + +SALTONSTALL, WYE: + + Clavis ad Portam, or a key fitted to the gates of tongues. Wherein + you may readily find the Latine and French for any English word, + necessary for all young schollers. [Oxford?] Printed by Wm. Turner, + 1634. (Bound with the 1633 edition--London--of Anchoran's + Comenius.) + +SANFORD, JOHN: + + Le Guichet François. Sive janicula et brevis introductio ad linguam + Gallicam. Oxoniae. Excudebat Josephus Barnesius, 1604. + + A briefe extract of the former Latin Grammar, done into English for + the easier instruction of the Learner. At Oxford. Printed by Joseph + Barnes, and are to be sold in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the + Crowne by Simon Waterson. 1605. + +SHERWOOD, ROBERT: + + The Frenche Tutour, London, Humphrey Lownes, 1625 (no copy known). + + The French Tutour by way of grammar exactly and fully Teaching all + the most necessary Rules for the attaining of the French tongue, + whereunto are also annexed three Dialogues; and a touch of French + compliments all for the furtherance of Gentlemen, Schollers and + others desirous of the said language. Second ed. carefully + corrected and enlarged by Robert Sherwood, Londoner. London, + Printed by Robert Young, 1634. + + Dictionnaire Anglois-François. 1632. Cf. COTGRAVE. + +SMITH, J.: + + Grammatica Quadrilinguis, or brief Instructions for the French, + Italian, Spanish and English Tongues, with the Proverbs of each + Language fitted for those who desire to perfect themselves therein. + By J. Smith, M.A. Printed for J. Clarke at the Star, in Little + Britain, and J. Lutton at the Anchor in Poutry. London, 1674. + +THORIUS, J. Cf. CORRO. + +VAIRASSE D'ALLAIS, DENYS: + + A short and methodical introduction to the French tongue, composed + for the particular benefit and use of the English. Paris, 1683. + +VALENCE, PIERRE: + + Introductions in Frensche for Henry the Yonge Erle of Lyncoln + (childe of greate esperaunce), sonne of the most noble and + excellente pryncesse Mary (by the grace of God queene of France + etc.). [No date or place.] + +VERON, JOHN: + + Dictionariolum puerorum, tribus linguis, Latina, Anglica et Gallica + conscriptum. Latino gallicum nuper ediderat Rob. Stephanus + Parisiis, cui Anglicam interpretationem adiecit Joannes Veron. + London, John Wolfe, 1552. + +VILLIERS, JACOB: + + Vocabularium Analogicum, or the Englishman speaking French, and the + Frenchman speaking English. Plainly showing the nearness or + affinity betwixt the English, French and Latin. Alphabetically + digested. With new and easy directions for the attaining of the + French tongue, comprehended in rules of pronouncing, rules of + accenting and the like. To which is added the explanation of + Mounsieur de Lainé's French Grammar by way of dialogue set forth + for the special use and encouragement of such as desire to be + proficients in the same language. The like not extant. By Jacob + Villiers, Master of a French School in Nottingham. London, printed + by J. D. for Jonathan Robinson, at the Golden Lion, and George + Wells, at the Sun in St. Paul's Church yard, 1680. + +WODROEPH, JOHN: + + The spared houres of a souldier in his travels, or The true marrowe + of the French Tongue, wherein is truly treated (by ordre) the nine + parts of speech, together with two rare and excellent bookes of + Dialogues, the one presented to that illustrious prince Count Henry + of Nassau, in his younger yeares for his Furtherance in this + tongue, newly reviewed and put in pure French Phrase (easie and + delightfull) from point to point; and the other formed and made + (since) by the Authour himselfe. Added yet an excellent worke, very + profitable for all the ages of man, called the Springwell of Honour + and Vertue, gathered together very carefully, both by ancient and + Moderne Philosophers of our Tyme. With many Godly songs, sonets, + Theames, Letters missives, and sentences proverbiales: so orderly, + plain and pertinent, as hath not (formerly) beene seene in the + most famous Ile of great Britaine. By John Wodroephe, Gent. Les + Heures de relasche. . . . Imprimé à Dort, Par Nicolas Vincentz, + Pour George Waters, Marchant Libraire, demeurant près le Marché au + Poisson, à l'Enseigne des Manchettes dorées. 1623. + + Second edition: The Marrow of the French Tongue, containing: + + 1. Rules for the true pronunciation of every letter as it is + written or spoken. + + 2. An exact Grammar containing the nine parts of speech of the + French Tongue. + + 3. Dialogues on French and English, fitted for all kind of + discourse for courtiers, citizens, and countrymen, in their affairs + at home or travelling abroad. + +With variety of other helps to the learner as Phrases, Letters missive, +sentences, proverbes, Theames, and in both languages. So exactly +collected and compiled by the great paines and industry of M. John +Wodroephe, that the meanest capacity either French or Englishman, that +can but reade, may in a short time by his owne industry without the +helpe of any Teacher attaine to the perfection of both languages. Ce +livre est aussi utile pour le François d'apprendre l'Anglois que pour +l'Anglois d'apprendre le François. The second edition. Reviewed and +purged of much gross English, and divers errors committed in the former +edition printed at Dort. London. Printed for Rd. Meighen at the signe of +the Leg in the Strand, and in St. Dunstan's Churchyard in Fleet Street, +1625. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1106] Licensed to Harrison (Arber, _Stationers' Register_, i. 364); +assigned over to Th. Woodcock by Harrison's widow, 1578 (_ibid._ ii. +331). + +[1107] Based on Bathe's _Janua Linguarum_ in Latin and Spanish, 1611. + +[1108] Sometimes bound with the Dictionary of 1677. + + + + +INDEX + + +_The names of those who taught French or wrote French grammars are +marked with an asterisk._ + + *A., E., 277, 280 + + *Abadie, J. G. d', 388 + + A B C of Geneva, 132 + + _A B C for Scottes men_, 154 + + Académie française, 110 _n._, 192, 193, 305, 354, 355, 357, 388 + + Academies, 120 _sq._, 231, 296 _sq._, 345, 397 _sq._; + academies in France, 352, 357, 363 _sq._; + Protestant academies in France, 232 _sq._, 343 _sq._ + + Addison, Joseph, 218, 220, 370 _n._ + + Aesop, in French, 294, 382 + + Aimar de Ranconnet, 190, 230 _n._ + + Alexander, Sir Wm., 250, 255 + + Alexandre, Pierre, 118 + + Alexis, Guillaume, 101 + + Allen, Cardinal, 217 + + _Amadis de Gaule_, 85, 194 _n._, 196, 223 + + Amyot, Jacques, 196, 199 + + *Anchoran, J. A., 295 + + Ancients and Moderns, quarrel of, 391 + + *André, Bernard, 68, 75, 76 + + Angers, 205, 346, 351 + + Anglo-French, 18 _sq._, 26 + + Anne, Queen of England, 381, 389 _n._ + + Anne of Cleves, 72 + + Anvers, 241 _sq._, 244, 245, 279 + + Arithmetic, 139, 154, 399 + + Ascham, Roger, 64, 73, 120, 146, 182, 183, 184, 216, 275 _n._, 286, 335 + + Ashley, Robert, 151, 129 + + Astell, Mary, 395, 398 + + Aubigné, Agrippa d', 65 _n._, 197, 356 + + *Aufeild, Wm., 260 _n._, 284 _sq._, 292 + + Aulnoy, Mme. d', 367 _n._ + + Auteuil, 201 + + + Bacon, Anthony, 234 + + Bacon, Francis, 66, 118 _n._, 194 _n._, 212, 219, 221 _n._, 224, 273, + 275, 288, 355 _n._ + + Bacon, Nicholas, 118 _n._, 120 + + Balzac, Guez de, 309, 355 + + Banister's Academy, 399 + + *Barbier, Jean, 294 + + *Barclay, Alexander, 4, 34, 62, 65, 69 _n._, 77 _sq._, 123, 144, 237, + 240 + + *Baret, James, 187 _sq._, 189, 192 + + Barkley, Lady Elizabeth, 268 + + *Barlement, Noel de, 241 _sq._, 246, 279 + + Baro, Pierre, 119 + + *Barton, Jehan, 27 _n._, 32 _sq._, 38, 78 + + Basset, James, 213, 214 + + *Baudouin, Jean, 275 + + Bayle, Pierre, 391 + + Baynton, Andrew, 87 _n._, 91, 96, 100, 105, 106 + + Beal, Sir Robert, 201 + + _Beau, Character of the_, 376 _n._, 377 _n._ + + _Beau, The Compleat_, 376 + + _Beau, The Defeated_, 374 _n._, 378 _n._ + + Beaux, 235 _sq._, 247, 321, 357 _sq._, 370 _n._, 375 _sq._, 378, 394 + + Belleau, Remi, 174 + + Belleforest, François de, 196 + + *Bellemain, Jean, 107 _sq._, 112, 113 + + Bellerose, 380 + + *Bellot, Jacques, 156 _sq._, 168, 172, 185, 186 _n._, 196, 202, 265, + 266, 277, 280 + + *Bense, Pierre, 204 + + *Berail, Gilles, 156 + + *Berault, Pierre, 300, 388 _sq._ + + Bèze, Théodore de, 196, 197, 202, 234 + + *Bibbesworth, Walter de, 11 _sq._, 16, 28, 38, 40, 264 + + Bignon, Jérôme, 66 _n._, 273 + + Blois, 218, 227 _sq._, 235, 241, 282, 284, 301 _sq._, 325, 342, 344, + 350, 351, 352, 359 + + Blount, Th., 263 + + *Bod, Charles, 155 _n._ + + Bodin, Jean, 197, 199. 273 _n._ + + Bodley, Sir Th., 234 + + Boiasteau, Pierre, 195, 196 + + Boileau, 218, 220 _n._, 355 + + Boisrobert, 259 _n._, 273 _n._ + + Boleyn, Anne, 71, 72, 83, 95 + + Booksellers and French teachers, 129, 138, 163 + + Bossuet, 364 + + Bouhours, le Père, 220 _n._, 394 + + Bouillon, Duchesse de, 367 + + *Bourbon, Nicolas, 83, 89 + + Bourges, 241, 351 + + *Boy, Francis, 149 + + Boyle, Richard, 200 + + Bozon, Nicolas, 8 _n._ + + Brantôme, 273 _n._ + + Bretons: teach French, 325, 326 + + Brinsley, John, 179 _n._, 351 + + Brome, Rd., 298, 374 _n._ + + Buck _Third Universitie_, 169 _n._ + + Buckingham, George Villiers, first Duke, 227, 262, 285, 298, 396; + second Duke, 364, 373 + + Bullar, Colonel, 304 + + Burghley, Wm. Cecil, Lord, 119, 121, 123, 187, 191, 211, 215, 217 + + Burgundians, 115, 119, 145, 168 _sq._, 241 + + Busby, John, 306 + + *Bushell, Abraham, 155 + + Bussy, le Comte de, 321 + + Butler, Mr., 360 + + Butler, Samuel, 371 _n._, 372 _n._, 376 _n._ + + + Caen, 156, 159, 239, 351 + + Calvin, Jean, 66, 84, 107, 108, 112, 195, 328 + + Camden, Wm., 66, 71, 194 _n._, 212, 274, 276 + + Cameron, John, 249 + + _Campo di Fior_, 143 _n._, 145, 159, 185 + + Canterbury, French school at, 120 _sq._ + + Capell, Sir Arthur, 216 + + Carew, Richard, 212, 340 + + Carleton, Dudley, 217, 247 + + Cartularies, 42 + + Casaubon, Isaac, 118, 150, 234 _sq._, 259, 273 _n._ + + Castellion, dialogues of, 182, 294 + + Castiglione, Baptista, 73 _n._ + + Catechism, in French, 130, 147, 153, 295, 339, 382, 389 + + _Catechism, The Ladies'_, 369 _n._, 375 + + Caxton, Wm., 42 _sq._, 47, 48, 54, 55, 56, 201, 246, 279 + + Chamberlain, John, 247 + + _Champ fleury_, 100 + + Chappuzeau, 390 + + Charenton, 259, 346, 363 + + Charles I., 170, 185, 194 _n._, 203, 207, 248, 255, 261 _sq._, 271, + 272, 276, 280, 296, 298, 319, 323 _n._, 339, 348, 362, 363, 396, 397 + + Charles II., 70 _n._, 205, 207, 262, 263, 272, 295, 298, 308, 329, 330, + 344, 348, 362 _sq._, 366, 367, 368, 371, 372, 373, 374, 376, 377 _n._, + 380 + + Charpentier, 391 + + Chartier, Alain, 101 + + Chaucer, Geoffrey, 18, 19 + + Cheking, John, 105 + + *Chemin, Nicholas, 149 + + *Cheneau, Francis, 382 + + Chesterfield, Lord, 319 _n._ + + *Chevallier, A. R., 112, 119, 150 _n._ + + *Chiflet, Laurent, 230 _sq._, 353, 385 + + Children and study of French, 12, 32, 38 _sq._, 52, 55, 212 _sq._, 239, + 242, 295 _sq._, 331, 338 _sq._, 340, 341 _sq._, 357, 365, 371 _n._, + 382, 395 + + Church, use of French in the, 24 + + Churches: foreign, in England: Dutch, 116 _sq._; + French, 116 _sq._, 145 _sq._, 151, 155 _sq._, 159, 167, 169, 295, + 299, 309, 310, 328 _sq._, 339, 389; + Italian, 146; + Walloon, 117; + Protestant, in France, 363. _See_ Charenton + + Cibber, Colley, 376 _n._, 378, 380 _n._ + + Clarendon, Ed. Hyde, Earl of, 209, 210 _n._, 218, 345, 352, 357, 361, + 364, 373, 392, 393, 395 + + Cleland, James, 182, 197, 293, 393 + + Clinton, Lady, 333 + + *Codrington, Rt., 294, 295 + + *Cogneau, Paul, 289 _sq._, 327 + + *Cokele, John, 149 + + Colet, John, 62, 182, 183, 215 + + Collège de Navarre, 213, 276 + + Colleges: in France, 357; + English Roman Catholic, in France, 232; + Protestant, in France, 232, 345 + + Collet, Claude, 196 + + *Colson, Wm., 282 _sq._ + + *Colsoni, F. C., 388 + + Comedians. _See_ Theatre + + Comenius, 293, 294 _sq._, 338, 339 + + Commercial French, 42, 53, 65, 169 _n._, 243, 245, 307, 399. _See_ + Merchants + + Commines, Philippe de, 196, 197, 199 + + Commonwealth, 262, 296, 298, 315, 333, 341, 361, 366 + + Coningsby, Sir Th., 247 + + Cooks, French, 370 + + Cordano, Girolamo, 62, 72 _n._ + + *Cordell, M., 220 + + Cordier, Mathurin, 181, 255, 294, 334, 390 + + Corneille, Pierre, 220 _n._, 271, 273, 293, 309, 323, 364 + + Corneille, Th., 318 + + Cornwallis, Sir Wm., 127, 284 + + Correspondence: use of French in, 17, 23, 66, 69, 71 _sq._, 108, 259, + 260, 262, 299 _n._, 319 _sq._, 342, 353 + + *Corro, Antonio de, 202 + + Coryat, Tom, 63, 221, 235 + + Cosmo III. of Tuscany, 63 + + Costeker, J. L., 358, 393 + + *Cotgrave, Randle, 190 _sq._, 240, 245, 275, 281, 285, 288, 321 _n._, + 333, 383 + + Cotterel, Sir Ch., 307 _n._ + + Courtesy book, 47, 52 + + Courtin, French ambassador, 308, 362 _n._, 367 + + Cowley, 364, 365 + + Coxe, Leonard, 100 + + *Coyfurelly, Canon, 10, 35, 38 + + Cranmer, 83, 112, 118, 120 + + Cromwell, Secretary, 81, 83, 98, 105, 119, 120 + + Cromwell, Gregory, 80, 105, 119 + + *Curlew, Nicholas, 149 + + + Daines, Simon, 275 _n._, 278 + + Dallington, Sir Rt., 65 _n._, 221 _n._, 222 _sq._, 225, 226, 231, 261 + _n._, 348 + + Dancing, 94, 137, 209, 231, 232, 261, 267, 282, 298, 299, 303, 332, + 342, 346, 357, 359, 369, 371, 397, 398 + + Dancing-master: French, 369, 370, 375, 376 + + Danneau, Lambert, 77 + + *Darvil d'Arras, Ch., 155 _n._ + + Davenant, Sir Wm., 263 _n._, 364, 365, 380 + + Defoe, Daniel, 225 _n._, 394, 398 + + *Deger, Anness, 170 + + *De la Barre, 246 _n._ + + *De la Mare, 299 + + *De la Mothe, G., 119, 161 _sq._, 183, 184, 186, 200, 225, 265, 279, + 290, 291, 292 + + De la Porte: epithets, 117 + + *Denisot, Nicolas, 83 _sq._, 89, 293 + + Descartes, 395, 398 + + Despagne, Jean, 328, 329 + + Desportes, 174, 250, 356 + + Dialects, French, 27, 28, 54, 144, 145, 169, 241, 326 + + Dialogues: French, 36 _sq._, 43 _sq._, 48 _sq._, 93, 102, 124, 130 + _sq._, 135, 137 _sq._, 164 _sq._, 176, 193, 206, 241 _sq._, 254, 267, + 282, 291, 294, 299 _n._, 302 _sq._, 305, 309, 313 _sq._, 317, 324, 347, + 349, 385, 386, 389; + Latin, 145, 181, 185, 294 + + Dictionaries: French and English, 95, 122, 141, 168, 187 _sq._, 192, + 199, 253, 281, 383 _sq._; + Latin, influence on French, 122, 187, 189, 190, 293, 383 + + Digby, Sir John, 203 + + Diplomacy: use of French in, 7, 22, 23, 65, 67, 70 _n._, 169 _n._, + 260, 392, 393 + + Doctors, French, 259 _n._, 369 + + _Donait_, 30 _sq._, 33 + + Douay, 129, 217 _n._, 232 + + Doujat, Jean, 273 + + *Dove, R., 31 + + Drama: French influence, 364, 378 + + Drummond of Hawthornden, 195, 220 _n._ + + Dryden, 321, 357, 372, 374, 378, 379 + + Du Bartas, 65 _n._, 151, 174, 175, 177, 185, 186, 196, 250, 276, 322, + 356 + + Du Bellay, 84, 196 + + *Du Buisson, 148 + + *Du Grès, Gabriel, 205 _sq._, 351, 352, 395 _n._ + + Du Moulin, Pierre, senior, 207, 259 + + Du Moulin, Pierre, junior, 200, 357 + + Du Perron, Cardinal, 259 + + *Du Plantin, 149, 150 + + Du Plessis, 360 + + Duplessis-Mornay, 66 _n._, 233, 357 + + *Du Ploich, 129 _sq._, 143, 145, 200, 225, 240, 243 + + Dutch, 115 _sq._, 119, 169 _n._, 209, 227, 240 _sq._, 280, 326, 394. + _Cp._ Netherlands + + _Dutch Tutor_, 169 _n._ + + *Du Terme, Laur, 288 _sq._, 290, 291 + + Du Val, Claude, 350 + + *Du Val, J. B., 230 + + *Du Val, M., 343 + + Du Val, Pierre, 213 + + *Duwes, Giles, 4, 77, 86 _sq._, 113, 123, 132 _n._, 133, 144, 171, 264 + + + Edward VI., King, 66, 72, 83, 107 _sq._, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116, 118, + 123, 130, 134, 180, 212 _n._ + + Effiat, Marquis d', 66 + + _Elementarie_, 62 _n._, 184, 278 + + Eliot, Sir John, 217 + + *Eliote, John, 65, 127 _sq._, 179, 180, 232, 288 _n._, 347 _n._ + + Elizabeth, Queen, 64 _n._, 66, 67, 73, 74, 95, 108 _sq._, 110 _sq._, + 113, 115, 117, 123, 140, 141, 146, 147, 151, 156, 160, 196, 215, 240, + 247, 277, 287, 339 _n._ + + Elizabeth Stuart, Princess, 151, 175, 249, 260 + + Ellwood, Th., 298 + + Elyot, Sir Th., 92, 182, 183, 184, 187 _n._, 335 + + English language, 4, 7, 18, 21, 23, 48, 62, 66, 89, 129, 141, 145, 171, + 192, 241 _sq._, 262, 264, 269, 270, 272 _sq._, 281, 288, 308, 310, 334 + _n._, 368, 384, 390 _n._, 392, 397; + taught in France, 353, 354, 397; + broken English, 171, 236 _sq._, 374, 376, 378; + grammars of the, 159, 276 _sq._, 281, 306, 312, 334 _n._, 385, 386, + 389 + + English literature, 190 _n._, 274 _sq._ + + Englishmen: judged by foreigners, 20, 117 _sq._, 367; + write in French, 365, 366 _n._, 378 _n._ + + English teachers of French, 99, 123, 144, 152, 159, 168, 171 _sq._, + 180, 283 + + Epistolaries, 17 _sq._, 35, 42 + + *Erail, Evrard, 155 _n._ + + Erasmus, 62, 64 _n._, 65 _n._, 104, 112 + + *Erondell, Pierre, 196, 264 _sq._, 269 _n._, 277 _n._, 292 + + _Esclarcissement, l'_, 3, 61, 78 _n._, 86 _sq._, 190, 264. + _See_ Palsgrave + + Essex, Rt. Devereux, Earl of, 234 + + Estienne, H., 66 _n._, 273 _n._ + + Estienne, Rt., 122, 189 + + Etherege, Sir George, 371 _n._, 374 _n._, 376, 378, 394 + + Eton, 120 + + _Euphues_, 216 _n._, 263 + + Evelyn, John, 218, 221, 264, 293, 294, 328, 329, 330, 340, 350 _n._, + 351, 362 _n._, 363, 365 _n._, 367 _n._, 368 _n._, 371 _n._, 372, 380, + 394 + + "Exercises," 231, 352, 395, 398 + + Expenses of travellers, 232, 343, 349 + + + *Fabre, John, 268 + + *Fabri, Philémon, 207 + + Farquhar, George, 208, 372 _n._, 374 _n._, 376 _n._, 378, 380 _n._ + + *Farrear, Rt., 204 + + Fashions, French, 68, 71, 236 _sq._, 303, 321 _n._, 358. 361, 369, 371, + 372, 373, 376, 377 + + Fees of French teachers, 139, 179, 206 _n._, 308 _n._ + + _Femina_, 28 _sq._, 39 _n._, 40, 52 + + Fencing, 231, 232, 282, 346, 360, 371 _n._ + + *Festeau, Paul, 299, 301, 304, 312 _sq._, 323, 325, 361, 381, 388 + + Field, Rd., 162, 163 + + Finett, Sir John, 260 + + Flecknoe, Rd., 370 _n._, 371 _n._, 372, 377 _n._, 378 _n._ + + Flemings, 115, 127, 152 _n._, 169, 241, 255. _Cp._ Netherlands + + Flemish, 45, 62, 241 _sq._, 246, 260, 280 + + *Florio, John, 65, 127, 201, 239 _n._, 254, 261, 275, 276 _n._ + + *Fontaine, Rt., 155 _n._, 156, 168 + + Foreigners visit England, 6, 61, 63, 66, 74, 114 _sq._, 124 _sq._, 259, + 277 _sq._, 281, 304, 308, 313, 327, 368 _sq._ + + Foubert's Academy, 345, 399 + + _France, Survey of_, 177 + + François I. of France, 68, 69, 71, 73, 93 + + François de Valois, 159 + + _Frans and Englis_, 201 + + _French Alphabet_, 162 _sq._, 184, 225 _n._, 265, 279, 290, 292 + + _French Conjuror_, 370 _n._, 372 _n._, 378 _n._ + + _French Garden_, 264 _sq._ + + _French Littleton_, 136 _sq._, 141, 142 _sq._, 160, 277, 290, 292 + + _French Methode_, 161, 266 _n._ + + _French Schoolemaister_, 135 _sq._, 140, 142 _sq._, 199, 246, 268, 269, + 277, 290, 292 + + _French Schoolmaster_, 381 _n._ + + _French Tutor_, 168 + + _French Tutour_, 281 _sq._ + + Froissart, 21, 23, 101, 196 + + + Gailhard, J., 219, 224 _n._, 346, 351 _n._ + + _Galaunt, Treatyse of a_, 237 + + Gallants. _See_ Beaux + + *Ganeur, Onias, 155 _n._ + + Garlande, John de, 5, 7, 24 + + Garnier, Jean, 201 + + Garnier, Philippe, 230 + + Garnier, Robert, 194 _n._ + + Gascoigne, George, 142 + + Gascons, 326 + + Geneva, 233 _sq._, 249, 326, 343 _n._, 344, 345 + + _Gentleman's Companion_, 219 + + Geography, 383, 385, 388, 398 + + *Gerbier, Sir Balthazar, 222 _n._, 260 _n._, 275 _n._, 297, 345 + + German language, 62, 73 _n._, 121, 169 _n._, 230 _n._, 236, 242 _sq._, + 279, 295, 354 + + Germans, 123 _n._, 326 + + Germany, 211, 219, 220 + + Gibbon, 358 _n._ + + *Giffard, James, 292 + + Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 121 + + Glapthorne: _The Ladies' Privilege_, 237 + + Goldsmith, 321 _n._ + + Gomberville, de, 309 + + _Good Boke to lerne Frenshe_, 47 _sq._, 54 _sq._ + + Governors. _See_ Tutors + + _Governour, The_, 92, 182, 183 _n._ + + Gower, 18, 19 + + Grammar: rules of French, 9, 10, 13, 31 _sq._, 77 _sq._, 80, 82, 88 + _n._, 89 _sq._, 92, 132, 143 _sq._, 157 _sq._, 265 _sq._, 286, 288, + 290, 305, 386 + + Grammont, le Comte de, 366, 369, 371, 373 + + Grantham, Th., 335, 337, 341 + + *Grave, Jean de, 295 _sq._ + + Greek, 64 _n._, 73, 74, 84, 88, 92, 120, 121, 153, 188, 190, 210, 239, + 276, 293, 298, 305, 335 _n._, 337, 338 _n._, 394, 398, 399 + + Greene, Rt., 178, 194 _n._, 215, 275 + + Grelot, Jérôme, 260 + + Grenville, Fulke, 128 + + Grévin, Jacques, 65 _n._, 273 _n._ + + Grey, Lady Jane, 64 _n._, 73 _n._ + + Grey, Lord of Wilton, 202, 208 + + Grocyn, 62 + + Guide-books for travellers: in England, 273 _n._, 321, 369, 388, 396 + _n._; + in France, 221 _sq._, 347 _sq._ + + + *H. T., Parisiis Studentis, 11, 35 + + Hainault, 38, 145, 241 + + Hakluyt, Rd., 269 + + Halkett, Lady Anne, 332 + + Hall (chronicler), 236 + + Hall, Joseph, 216, 237 _n._, 238, 274 + + Hamilton, Anthony, 365 _sq._, 373 + + Hamilton, Miss, 373 + + Harley, Lady Brilliana, 195, 210 + + Harrison (chronicler), 64 _n._, 216 + + Harrison, Lucus, 187, 188 + + Harvey, Gabriel, 199 + + Hawes, Stephen, 68 + + *Hawmells, Gouvert, 169 + + Hebrew, 153, 169 _n._, 398 + + Henrietta Maria, 261 _sq._, 269 _sq._, 276, 280, 323 _n._, 332, 362, + 364 + + Henry III. of France, 159 + + Henry IV. of France, 66, 235, 247, 260, 261, 274, 362 + + Henry VII. of England, 68, 75, 103 + + Henry VIII. of England, 4, 22, 62, 66, 68 _sq._, 71, 72, 75, 76, 86, + 90, 96, 97, 101, 103, 112, 114, 130, 212, 213, 237 _n._ + + Henry Stuart (Prince), 186, 191, 260 _sq._, 298 + + *Henry, Jean, 140 + + Hentzner (traveller), 74, 112 _n._ + + Herberay des Essarts, 85, 194 _n._, 196, 223 + + Herbert, George, 238 + + *Herbert, Guillaume, 291, 324 _sq._, 361 + + Herbert, Sir Henry, 271, 272 + + Herbert, Wm. (poet), 268 + + Herbert of Cherbury, Lord, 186, 187, 194, 199, 218, 220, 224, 235, 271 + + Herbert of Swansea, Lord, 142 + + Heylyn, Peter, 348, 351 _n._ + + Higden: _Polychronicon_, 15, 24 + + Higford, Wm., 209, 210 _n._, 216 _n._, 366 + + *Higgins, John, 189 _sq._, 192 + + Hobbes, 220, 264, 265, 394 + + *Holyband, 56, 119, 134 _sq._, 156, 157, 159, 160, 162 _n._, 163, 164 + _n._, 166, 168, 169, 171, 176, 179 _n._, 183, 185, 187, 188, 189, 190, + 195, 196, 197, 199, 202, 204, 225, 240, 241, 246, 250, 253, 264, 265, + 268, 269, 277, 280, 281, 283, 285, 290, 292, 293, 301, 304 + + Hoole, Charles, 182 _n._, 186, 189, 334, 337 _n._, 395 _n._ + + Hotman, François, 66 + + *Hotman, Jean, 200 + + Howard, Katherine, 72 + + Howell, James, 192 _sq._, 197, 212 _n._, 218 _n._, 221 _n._, 240, 285, + 330, 351, 355, 374 _n._, 383 + + Huguenot. _See_ Refugees + + _Huloet's Dictionarie_, 189 + + Hume, P., 313 + + Humphrey: _The Nobles_, 115 _n._, 118, 238 _n._ + + Hutchinson, Mrs., 332 + + + Inns of Court, 188, 203, 209, 210, 219, 344 + + _Institution of a Gentleman_ (Higford), 209, 210 _n._, 216 _n._, 366 + + _Institution of a Nobleman_ (Cleland), 182, 197, 293, 393 + + Institutions, educational. _See_ Academies, Colleges, Schools, + Universities + + Italian, 64, 65, 68, 73, 74, 84, 88, 112, 120, 121, 145, 165, 169 _n._, + 171, 185, 186, 192, 195, 199, 201, 203 _n._, 204, 209, 212, 217, 218, + 220, 230 _n._, 236 _sq._, 241 _sq._, 254, 261, 263 _sq._, 273, 276 + _n._, 279, 280, 286, 296, 307 _n._, 331, 333, 338 _n._, 339, 371 _n._, + 377, 382, 388, 392, 394, 398, 399 + + Italy, 211, 212, 213, 215, 216 _sq._, 219, 220, 221, 236, 244, 348, + 358, 360 + + + James I., 151, 186, 190 _n._, 232 _n._, 249, 259 _sq._, 275 _n._, 298, + 396 + + James II., 248 _n._, 262, 362, 373, 374, 381, 400 + + _Jardin de Vertu_, 160, 185, 186 _n._ + + Jermyn, Lord, Earl of St. Albans, 362, 365 + + Jodelle, Étienne, 196 + + Jonson, Ben, 220, 237, 278 + + Justel, Henri, 367, 368 _n._ + + + Katherine of Aragon, 71, 73 + + Katherine of Braganza, 374 + + *Kerhuel, Jean de, 388 + + Kerouaille, Mlle. de, Duchess of Portsmouth, 362 _n._, 373, 380 + + Killigrew, Henry, 364, 380 _n._ + + Kilvert, Mrs., 300, 302, 303 + + Kynaston, Sir Francis, 296 + + + La Bruyère, 275 + + La Calprenède, 309, 318, 320, 321, 333, 364 + + La Fontaine, 338, 367 + + *Lainé, Pierre, 315 _sq._, 323, 328, 347, 355 _n._, 361, 362 _n._ + + *Lainé, Pierre de, 381 _sq._, 397, 399 + + Lake, Sir Th., 151 + + Lambeth fragment, 81 _sq._, 132 _n._ + + La Mothe le Vayer, 273, 293 _n._ + + Langland, Wm., 19 + + *Langlois or Inglishe, 153 _sq._, 156 _n._ + + Languet, Hubert, 63, 66 _n._, 217, 221 + + La Serre, 342 _n._, 349 + + Latimer, 62, 63 + + Latin and French, 4, 5, 8, 9, 24, 33, 42, 87, 89, 104, 153, 180 _sq._, + 201, 212, 213, 221, 227, 228, 231, 236, 241 _sq._, 246, 248, 263, 276, + 284, 286, 287, 288, 292 _sq._, 296, 305, 316, 326, 331 _n._, 333 _sq._, + 335, 337 _sq._, 341, 342, 351, 353, 354, 376, 386, 390, 391 _sq._, 394, + 395, 397; + use and study of, 62 _sq._, 65, 66, 68, 72, 73, 74, 88, 92, 106, 111, + 112, 119, 120, 121, 127, 130, 132, 139, 151, 171, 198, 208, 210, 234, + 239, 259 _sq._, 273, 298, 351, 356, 376, 382, 397, 399; + text-books, 5 _n._, 106, 139, 145, 181, 185, 279, 293, 334 + + Latini, Brunetto, 7, 26 + + Law French, 22, 30, 61, 64, 165, 321 + + Le Blanc, Abbé, 23 _n._, 369, 378, 394 + + Le Fèvre (chemist), 367 + + Le Fèvre, Raoul, 46 + + Le Grand, Antoine, 309, 310 + + *Le Grys, Sir Rt., 263 + + Leicester, Rt. Dudley, Earl of, 83, 172, 200 + + Leicester, Countess of, 262 + + Leigh, Ed., 204, 350 _n._ + + *Leighton, Hy., 203 _sq._, 208 + + *Lemaire, Mary, 170 + + Lemaire de Belges, 101 + + Le Mans, 360 + + *Le Moyne, Guy, 207, 262, 285 _n._ + + *Le Pipre, Paul, 148 _sq._ + + Le Roy, Louis, 151 + + Letters: model French, 17, 35, 245, 255, 306 _sq._, 331, 349, 354, 390 + + Lewis, Mark, 334 _n._, 395 _n._, 398 _n._, 399 + + Lewisham, French school at, 140 + + _Liber Donati_, 30 _sq._ + + Lily's Grammar, 181, 334 _n._ + + Linacre, 62, 215 + + Lincoln, Earl of, 80 + + Lindsey, Montagu Bertie, Earl of, 327 + + Lisle, Lady, 213, 214, 237 _n._ _See_ Basset + + Lisle of Wilbraham, 185 + + Lister, Martin, 348 + + Literature, French, study of, 24, 57, 101, 174, 194 _sq._, 199, 220 + _n._, 221, 223, 229, 231, 248, 250, 261, 267, 289, 309, 317, 319 _sq._, + 330, 333, 342, 347, 349, 356, 390, 395, 398 + + _Livre des Mestiers_, 45 _sq._ + + Locke, 219, 337, 338, 345 _n._, 349, 393, 395 + + L'Oiseau de Tourval, 190, 275 + + Lorris, G. de, 101 + + Louis XII. of France, 70, 104 + + Louis XIII. of France, 274, 372 + + Louis XIV. of France, 230 _n._, 305, 373 + + *Louveau, Jean, Sieur de la Porte, 150 + + *Love, John, 129, 170 + + Loveday, Rt., 333, 398 + + *Lydgate, John, 34 + + Lyly, John, 216, 263 + + + Maids, French, 264, 303, 332, 369, 370, 374, 375 + + Maintenon, Mme. de, 361 + + Makin, Mrs. Bathsua, 332, 334 _n._, 339, 395 _n._, 397, 398 + + Malebranche, 218, 395, 398 + + Malherbe, 364 + + Malpet, John, 351 + + _Manière de Langage_, 26 _n._, 35 _sq._, 38, 39, 40, 42, 47, 52 + + Margaret of Navarre, 71, 74, 84, 111 + + Margaret of Savoy, 69 + + Margaret of Scotland, 101 + + Marie de Medicis, 230, 262 + + Marillac (ambassador), 72, 73 + + Marot, Clément, 83, 174, 196 + + Marseilles, 357 + + Marsilliers, Pierre de, 153 + + *Martin, Martin, 149 + + Mary I. of England, 72, 73, 86, 89, 90, 93 _sq._, 101 _sq._, 109, 112, + 113, 115, 116, 156, 233, 327 + + Mary II. of England, 371 _n._, 381, 382 + + Mary Tudor, Queen of France, 69, 70, 71, 80, 81, 86, 94, 101, 104, 105 + + *Mason, Baudouin, 155 _n._, 156 _n._ + + Mason, George, 279 + + *Masset, Jean, 230 + + *Massonnet, Peter, 262 _sq._ + + Mathematics, 283, 315, 360, 398, 399 + + *Mauconduy, 353 + + *Mauger, Claude, 246, 300, 301 _sq._, 313, 314, 315, 317, 323, 325, + 326, 328, 331 _n._, 347, 352, 353, 361, 368, 370 _n._, 381, 385, 388 + + *Maupas, Charles, 227 _sq._, 230, 282, 284 _sq._, 287, 301, 302, 353, + 356 + + *Maupas, junior, 228 _sq._ + + Maupertuis, 395 _n._ + + Mayerne, Théodore, 259 _n._ + + Mazarin, Duchesse de, 367, 380 + + Mecklenburg, Duke of, 301, 305 + + Meigret, Louis, 110 _n._, 226 + + Melville, James, 153 + + Melville, Sir James, 73, 212 _n._ + + Ménage, Gilles, 353 + + Merchants: study of French by, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41 _sq._, 49, 50, 53, + 55, 124, 137, 141, 169 _n._, 239 _sq._, 253, 299, 400 + + Meschinot, Jean, 101 + + Meteren, Immanuel von, 62 + + Methods of studying French, 56, 82, 90 _sq._, 133, 139, 143 _sq._, 166 + _sq._, 177, 179 _sq._, 184 _sq._, 195, 206, 222 _sq._, 225 _sq._, 228, + 231, 250 _sq._, 267, 283, 286 _sq._, 289, 290 _sq._, 296, 308 _sq._, + 314, 317, 326, 330 _sq._, 346, 349, 354, 355 _sq._, 386 _sq._, 395 + _sq._ + + *Meurier, Gabriel, 244 _sq._, 273 _n._, 279, 280 + + Middleton, Th., 263 _n._ + + *Miège, Guy, 309, 334 _n._, 337 _n._, 382 _sq._, 388, 391 + + *Milleran, René, 354 _sq._ + + Milton, 64, 194, 214, 264, 298, 333, 334 _n._, 392 + + Minsheu, J., 169 _n._, 383 _n._ + + Misson, M., 396 _n._ + + Molière, 373 + + Monluc, 197, 342 _n._ + + Montaigne, 20, 127, 183, 261, 335 + + Montauban, 232, 233, 249, 344 + + Montausier, Mme. de., 365 + + Montchrétien, 259, 268 + + Montjoy, Christopher, 125, 162 + + Montpellier, 232, 233, 234, 345, 365 _n._ + + Montpensier, Mlle. de, 262, 263 + + More, Sir Th., 62, 83, 104, 105, 120, 236, 274 + + *Morlet, Pierre, 201, 202, 205 + + Morrice, Th., 171, 212, 292 + + Moryson, Fynes, _Itinerary_, 198, 214, 221, 223 _sq._, 225, 235, 237 + _n._, 239, 350 _n._ + + Motteville, Mme. de, 262 _n._ + + Mulcaster, Rd., 62 _n._, 64 _n._, 142, 184, 188, 216 _n._, 225, 275, + 278 + + Muralt, 230, 372 _n._ + + Music, 94, 120, 121, 147, 209, 214, 267, 299, 303, 322, 332, 342, 346, + 359, 371; + French music, 395, 397, 398 + + + Nantes, Edict of, 170, 233, 343, 345, 382, 400 + + Nash, 236, 237 _n._, 238 + + Neckam, Alexander, 5, 7, 24 + + Netherlands, 45, 75, 76 _n._, 115, 211, 239, 249, 283, 312; + French taught in the Netherlands, 240 _sq._; + teachers from the Netherlands, 152, 169 + + Newcastle, Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of, 329, 332 + + New Testament: in French, 130, 137, 153, 167, 186, 195, 196, 197, 222, + 268, 289, 298, 310, 317, 318, 382 + + Newton, Th., 156 + + Nicot, 189, 190, 230 _n._, 244 _n._ + + Nîmes, 232, 233, 234 + + _Nomenclator_, of Adrian Junius, 189 + + _Nominale_, 16, 28 + + Normans in England, 47, 81, 112, 145, 146, 156, 161, 265, 326 + + Norton, Th., 268 + + Nottingham: French school at, 396 + + Nucius, Nicander, 62, 66, 117 + + + Ordinaries, 355, 370, 377, 392 + + Orleans, 27, 35, 37, 38, 221, 226, 230, 232, 235, 241, 301, 310, 345, + 350, 351, 352, 355 + + _Orthographia Gallica_, 8 _sq._, 38 + + Orthography, French, 8 _sq._, 10 _sq._, 31, 35, 78, 87, 109 _sq._, 137, + 165, 283, 305, 316, 326, 328, 354, 383, 384 + + Osborne, Dorothy, 318 _sq._, 333 _n._ + + Osborne, Francis, 197, 218, 223 _n._, 245, 276 + + Ossory, Lord, Duke of Ormond, 120, 364 + + *Oudin, Antoine, 229 _sq._, 249 + + Oudin, César, 229 + + Overbury, Sir Th., 221, 237 _n._, 238 _n._ + + + *Palairet, J., 338 + + Palmer, Herbert, 207 + + Palmer, T., 221 + + *Palsgrave, J., 3 _sq._, 57, 61, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 86 _sq._, 123, + 128, 153, 166, 171, 176 _n._, 177, 180, 190, 212, 232, 264, 293 + + *Papillon, 300 + + Parker, Matthew, 119 + + Parr, Katherine, 64 _n._, 72, 108, 111, 112 + + Pasqualigo, Piero, 68 + + Pasquier, Étienne, 75, 154 _n._, 192 + + Passports, 215, 216, 219 _n._ + + Paston, Rt., 316 + + Pastors: French, 116, 150, 328, 332, 342, 343, 360, 388, 389 _n._ + + Patin, Guy, 362 _n._ + + Peacham, Th., 213 + + Peiresc, 66 _n._ + + Peletier du Mans, 66, 110 _n._, 175, 227, 316 + + Penn, Wm., 307, 322 _n._, 358 + + *Penson, M., 301 + + Penton, Samuel, 216 _n._, 224 _n._, 345, 346 + + Pepys, Samuel, 23 _n._, 208, 321 _sq._, 330 _sq._, 340, 353, 358, 370, + 371 _n._, 375, 377 _n._, 379, 394 + + Pepys, Mrs., 209, 321, 380 + + Perlin, Étienne, 81, 116 _n._, 117, 118 _n._, 210 _n._ + + Pettie, George, 237 _n._ + + Petty, Sir. Wm., 239, 337 _n._ + + *Philippe, J. T., 338 + + Philipps, Katherine, 307 _n._, 323 + + Pibrac, 66 _n._, 186, 196, 250, 261 + + Picard, 103, 144, 169 + + Pillot, 202, 227 + + Pléiade, 84, 158 + + Poitiers, 344, 345, 357 + + Pope, Alex., 319 + + Port Royal, 310 + + Portuguese grammar, 374 _n._ + + _Positions_, 64 _n._, 216 _n._, 225 _n._ + + Poulet, Sir Amias, 65, 200, 212, 215 + + *Poullain, Valerand, 150 + + Prayers in French, 130, 135, 137, 153, 268, 295, 310, 382, 389 + + Précieuses, 323, 324 + + *Preste, John, 156 _n._ + + *Primont, Vincent, 148, 149 + + Pronunciation, of French, 8 _sq._, 28 _sq._, 33, 79, 82, 87, 89, 110, + 132, 137, 141, 143, 157, 164 _sq._, 175 _sq._, 206, 224, 227, 228, 231, + 236, 253, 265 _sq._, 283, 285, 288, 290, 302, 305, 316, 330 _sq._, 355, + 381, 390 + + Protestants. _See_ Refugees + + Proverbs, 107, 124, 135, 137, 166, 180, 356, 384, 390 + + _Purchas Pilgrimes_, 212, 221, 237 _n._ + + Purfoote, Th., 138, 141 + + Puttenham _Arte of Poesie_, 70 _n._ + + Pynson, Rd., 47 _sq._, 53 _sq._, 56, 94 _sq._, 97 _sq._, 201, 279 + + + Rabelais, 83, 174, 176, 273 + + Racine, 220 + + Raleigh, Sir Walter, 217 _n._, 220, 367 _n._ + + Rambouillet, Mlle. de, 365 + + Rambouillet, Hôtel de, 364 + + Ramus, Petrus, 175, 202 + + Ramsay, Chevalier de, 366 _n._ + + Ravenscroft, Ed., 392 + + Readers: in French and English, 134, 160, 185, 186 _n._, 187, 276, 306, + 307, 311, 353, 389 _n._ + + Reading. _See_ Methods + + Refugees, 61, 75, 114 _sq._, 122, 125, 129, 146 _sq._, 149, 153, 155 + _sq._, 161, 169 _sq._, 173, 200, 207, 240 _sq._, 301, 329, 396, 400 + + Register of aliens, 159, 163, 170 + + Régnier-Desmarais, 273 + + Religious Houses: use of French in, 23, 61 + + Religious instruction in French, 147, 181. _Cp._ New Testament, Prayers + + Reresby, Sir John, 220, 224, 298, 359, 364, 373 + + Rheims, 232 + + Rhétoriqueurs, 158 + + Richelieu, Cardinal, 192, 206, 357 + + Richmond, Hy. Fitzroy, Duke of, 105, 212 + + Riding, 231, 261, 282, 346 + + *Rieu, Pierre de, 149 + + *Robone, Jean, 148, 149 + + *Rolland, Alexander, 154 + + Roman Catholics (teachers), 115, 129, 169, 170 + + _Roman de Jehan et Blonde_, 21 + + _Roman de la Rose_, 98, 101 + + _Roman de Renart_, 20, 21 + + Romances, French, 120, 193, 195, 264, 309, 318, 319 _sq._, 346, 349, + 395, 398 + + Ronsard, 65 _n._, 84, 174, 196, 273 _n._, 356 + + Rouen, 156 _n._, 244, 245, 247, 277, 280, 343, 349, 350, 359, 364 + + Rowe, John, 152 + + *Rowland, Francis, 149 + + *Rowsignoll, Nicholas, 149 + + Russel, Colonel, 313 + + Rutland, Roger, 5th Earl of, 234 + + Rutledge, J., 352 _n._, 370 _n._ + + Rutter, Joseph, 293 + + + Sackville, Rt., 140, 200 + + Saint Amant, 259 _n._, 273 _n._ + + Saint Amour, M. de, 353 + + Saint Gelais, Octovian de, 101 + + Saint Évremond, 366, 367 _sq._ + + Saint Malo, 341 + + *Saint Maurice, Alcide de, 348 _n._, 353, 357 _n._ + + St Paul's Churchyard, 129, 135, 138, 140, 156, 159, 161, 163, 168, 170, + 202, 225, 301 + + Salons, 323, 367 + + *Saltonstall, Wye, 203, 295 + + *Sanford, J., 202 _sq._, 208 + + *Saravia, Adrian, 150 _sq._, 239 + + Saumur, 205, 232, 233, 249, 310, 344, 345, 350, 351, 352, 354, 359 + _sq._ + + Savile, Sir Hy., 221, 344 _sq._, 382 + + Scaliger, 63, 65 _n._ + + Scarron: _Roman Comique_, 317, 318 + + Schelandre, Jean de, 259 _n._, 273 _n._ + + Scholars: attitude to French, 63, 128, 198 _sq._, 208, 271, 337, 392, + 393 _sq._ + + _Scholemaster, The_, 146 _n._, 182, 183 _n._, 216 _n._, 275 _n._, 287 + _n._ + + _Schoolmasters, Apologie for._ _See_ Morrice + + Schoolmistresses, 170 + + Schools: Grammar Schools and French, 4, 5, 15, 24, 40, 127 _sq._, 149, + 152 _sq._, 171, 180, 182, 189, 209, 210, 292, 335, 341, 395 _n._, 396; + private schools and French, 40, 219, 298, 335, 339, 395 _sq._, 397 + _sq._; + French schools, 129 _sq._, 134 _sq._, 150 _sq._, 153 _sq._, 179 _n._, + 183, 192, 225, 243, 247, 255, 281, 299, 375, 396; + French Church Schools, 145 _sq._, 150; + Protestant Schools in France, 232, 343, 345; + Scotch Schools and French, 152 _sq._ + + Scotland: French in schools of Scotland, 152 _sq._; + tutors, 212 _n._; + French Grammars in Scotland, 154, 288 + + Scudéry, Georges de, 193, 271, 299 _n._ + + Scudéry, Mlle, de, 309, 318, 320, 321, 323, 347, 348 _n._, 364 + + Sedley, Ch., 371 _n._, 374 _n._, 376 _n._, 377 _n._, 378, 392 _n._, 394 + + Selden, John, 66 _n._, 274 + + Seymour, Anne, Jane, and Margaret, 84 + + Seymour, Jane (Queen), 72, 95, 214 + + Shadwell, Th., 370, 371 _n._, 378 _n._ + + Shakespeare, 64, 65, 69, 125 _sq._, 162, 194 _n._, 209 _n._, 236, 237, + 255, 272 _n._ + + Sheridan, 396 _n._ + + *Sherwood, Rt., 192, 278, 281 _sq._, 285, 298, 347 _n._ + + Shrewsbury School, 128, 224 + + Sidenham, Sir Humphrey, 248 + + Sidney, Sir Philip, 63, 128, 129, 197, 213, 217, 220 _sq._, 224, 247, + 275 + + Singing, 69, 267, 300, 342, 369, 371 _n._, 397 + + Singing-master, French, 375 + + Smith, Hy., 208 + + *Smith, John, M.A., 388 + + Smith, Sir Th., 124, 277 _n._ + + Snell, George, 334 _n._, 337 + + Soldiers and French, 197, 238, 246 _sq._, 260, 400 + + Somerset, Protector, 66, 84, 105, 107, 112 + + Sorbière: _Voyage en Angleterre_, 321, 322, 364, 368 _n._ + + Sorel: _Francion_, 333 + + Southampton: French School at, 150 + + Spain, 215, 217, 358 + + Spaniards, 371 _n._ + + Spanish, 64, 65, 72 _sq._, 121, 164, 169 _n._, 171, 186, 192, 199 _n._, + 202, 203 _n._ 204, 209, 212, 218, 220, 230 _n._, 236 _sq._, 241 _sq._, + 263, 273, 279, 280, 294, 331, 374, 388 _n._, 399 + + Stanhope, Sir Michael, 284 + + Strafford, Lord, 264 + + Suffolk, Brandon, Duke of, 69, 80, 81, 94, 105 + + Swift, 22, 376 _n._, 392 _n._ + + Swiss teachers, 326, 382 + + Sylvester, Joshua, 151, 186, 194 _n._, 237 _n._, 239 + + Sylvius, 4 _n._, 76, 110 _n._, 137 _n._, 226 + + + Tailors, French, 369, 371 + + Teachers of French criticised, 173, 250, 266, 325 _sq._, 387 + + Temple, Sir Wm., 318, 320 + + Theatre: French comedians in England, 68, 270 _sq._, 379; + Frenchmen at the Cockpit, 368; + English players abroad, 274 + + Thierry, J., 189 + + *Thorius, 202 + + Torriano, 64 _n._, 286 + + Tory, Geoffrey, 100 + + Toulouse, 357 + + Tours, 310, 351, 357, 359 _n._ + + Townsend, A., 220, 235 + + _Tractatus Orthographiae_, 10, 11 + + Translations: French, of English and Latin writings, 178, 194, 269, + 277 _n._, 319, 320, 323, 355, 390 _n._, 394 + + Travel and Travellers, 35 _sq._, 43, 51, 137, 169 _n._, 210, 211 _sq._, + 242 _sq._, 247, 282, 284, 287, 317, 320, 336, 340, 341 _sq._, 359, 361, + 363 _sq._, 371, 384, 387 _n._, 397 + + *Tresol, Adrian, 155 _n._, 156 _n._ + + *Tressol, A., 156 _n._ + + Trevisa, John of, 24 + + Tryon, Th., 395 _sq._ + + Turberville, S., 299 + + Turler, Jerome: _Traveiles_, 221 _n._ + + Turner, Dr. Wm., 64 _n._ + + Tutors, travelling, 212, 215, 219, 220, 222, 224, 231, 248, 346, 355, + 359 + + + Udal, Nicholas, 64 _n._ + + Universities, English: and the French language, 6, 7, 15, 24, 40 _n._, + 75, 118, 186, 195, 198 _sq._, 261, 262, 281, 295, 296, 345, 388, 392, + 393 _n._, 394 + + Universities, French: English students at, 5, 6, 27, 77, 104, 172, 210, + 213, 226, 232, 345, 357 + + Utenhove, John, 150 + + + *Vairasse d'Allais, Denys, 353 _sq._ + + *Valence, Pierre, 77, 80 _sq._, 205 _n._ + + Valets, French, 309, 350, 355, 358, 359, 369, 370, 376, 377, 378, 379 + + Vanbrugh, Sir John, 364, 365, 374 _n._, 376 _n._, 378 + + Vaquerie, Jean, 155 _n._ + + *Varennes, C. de, 349 + + Vaugelas, 353, 364, 385 + + Vaughan, Stephen, 98 + + Vautrollier, Th., 160, 162, 163, 245 _n._ + + Verneuil, Jean, 200 _n._ + + Verney, Sir Ralph, 220, 248, 264, 298, 341 _sq._ + + Veron, John, 122, 150 _n._, 187, 189 + + Verone, John, 122 + + Versification, French, 158 + + Viau, Théophile de, 259 _n._, 356 + + Villars, Maréchal de, 273 + + *Villiers, Jacob, 388, 396 _sq._ + + Vincent, Samuel, 371 _n._, 377 _n._, 392 + + Vives, 145, 175, 181, 185, 268 _n._ + + Vocabularies, 5, 11 _sq._, 16, 28, 36, 38, 40, 52, 88, 91, 135, 137, + 177, 241 _sq._, 245 _n._, 279, 280, 302, 304, 314, 316, 385, 390, 397 + + Voiture, 259 _n._, 273 _n._, 355, 365 + + Voltaire, 117, 365 _n._, 366 + + Vossius, 367 + + + Waddington, Ralph, 187 + + Wadington, Wm. of, 19 + + Waiting-women, French. _See_ Maids + + Walker, O.: _Of Education_, 220 _n._, 221 _n._ + + Waller, Edmund, 364, 367 + + Walloons, 115, 127, 144, 168, 254, 326 + + Wallop, Sir Hy., 123, 162 + + Walsingham, 119, 211, 213 + + Watts, Th., 399 + + Webbe, Joseph, 331, 334 _n._, 335 + + Webster, John, 336 + + Wenman, Sir Rd., 162, 200 + + Wharton, Sir Philip, 123, 156 + + William III., 312, 368, 400 + + William of Wykeham, 23 + + Williamson, Sir Joseph, 207, 208, 344 + + Wilson: _Arte of Rhetorique_, 120, 238 _n._ + + Withers, Hy., 234 + + *Wodroeph, 225 _n._, 240, 246, 248 _sq._, 276, 298, 350, 397 + + Wolley, Ed., D.D., 298 + + Wolsey, Cardinal, 69, 70, 94, 104 + + Women, and study of French, 12, 22, 27, 64 _n._, 70, 214, 225, 239, + 244, 263 _sq._, 299, 304, 306, 308, 323, 324, 334 _n._, 337, 339, + 342, 373 _sq._, 378, 395, 397 _sq._; + the Frenchified lady, 22, 374 _sq._ + + Wood, Anthony A., 200, 204 + + Wotton, Sir Henry, 120, 234 + + *Wotton, Rev. Henry, 339 + + Writing, 119, 130, 139, 147, 262, 298, 299, 332, 399 + + Wroth, Sir Th., 157 + + Würtemberg, Duke of, 66, 74 + + Wycherley, 364, 365, 370 _n._, 376, 377 _n._, 378 + + Wykeham, Wm. de, 23 + + Wynkyn de Worde, 47 _sq._, 53 _sq._, 56, 201, 237, 279 + + + Yver, Jacques, 196 + + + Zouche, Lord, 142 _sq._, 234 + + +THE END + + + _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. + + + + +FRENCH + +MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY FRENCH SERIES + + +No. I. LES OEUVRES DE GUIOT DE PROVINS. POÈTE LYRIQUE ET SATIRIQUE + + Edited by JOHN ORR, M.A., _Professor of French Language, University + of Manchester_. Demy 8vo. =10s. 6d. net.= + + "This is an excellent edition of the complete works of a French + poet of the time of Philippe Auguste.... If we mistake not, this + edition is the first old French text published in England having no + immediate bearing upon English history. There have been some such + texts published ... elsewhere, but none, I believe, of this + importance, nor any edited with this degree of thoroughness or this + wealth of illustrative commentary."--Professor T. A. JENKINS, + Chicago, in _Modern Philology_. + +No. II. OEUVRES POÉTIQUES DE JEAN DE LINGENDES + + Edited by E. T. GRIFFITHS, M.A., _Late Lecturer in French Language + and Literature in the University of Manchester_. Crown 8vo. Cloth. + =6s. net.= + + "Cette réimpression fait honneur aux publications de l'Université + de Manchester, et l'exécution typographique mérite les mêmes éloges + que l'information savante de l'éditeur."--L. ROUSTAN in _Revue + critique d'histoire et de littérature_. + +No. III. THE TEACHING AND CULTIVATION OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IN ENGLAND +DURING TUDOR AND STUART TIMES, WITH AN INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER ON THE +PRECEDING PERIOD + + By KATHLEEN LAMBLEY, M.A., _Sometime Assistant Lecturer in French + in the University of Manchester; Lecturer in French in the + University of Durham_. =14s. net.= + + + THE MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS + 12 LIME GROVE, OXFORD ROAD + LONGMANS, GREEN & COMPANY + LONDON, NEW YORK, BOMBAY, ETC. + + + + +_MODERN LANGUAGE TEXTS_ + + +_FRENCH SERIES_ + +ROUSSEAU. DU CONTRAT SOCIAL. Edited by Emeritus Professor C. E. VAUGHAN, +M.A. Paper, 5s. net; cloth, 6s. net. + +ALFRED DE VIGNY. POÈMES CHOISIS. Edited by E. ALLISON PEERS, M.A. Paper, +3s. 6d. net; cloth, 4s. 6d. net. + +PASCAL. LETTRES PROVINCIALES. Edited by H. F. STEWART, D.D. Paper, 7s. +6d. net; cloth, 8s. 6d. net. _Also an edition de luxe on hand-made +paper._ 21s. net. + +B. CONSTANT. ADOLPHE. Edited by Professor G. RUDLER, D. ès L. Paper, 6s. +net; cloth, 7s. 6d. net. _Also an edition de luxe on hand-made paper._ +21s. net. + +LE MYSTÈRE D'ADAM. Edited by Professor PAUL STUDER, M.A., D.Litt. Paper, +4s. 6d. net; cloth, 5s. 6d. net. + +AUCASSIN ET NICOLETE. (_Third edition._) Edited by F. W. BOURDILLON, +M.A. Paper, 4s. 6d. net; cloth 5s. 6d. net. + +A. DUMAS père. HENRI III. Edited by J. G. ANDERSON, B.A. [In Preparation. + +PAUL-LOUIS COURIER. A SELECTION FROM THE WORKS. Edited by Professor E. +WEEKLEY, M.A. Paper, 5s. net; cloth, 6s. net. + +P. CORNEILLE. LA GALERIE DU PALAIS. Edited by Professor T. B. +RUDMOSE-BROWN, M.A. [_In the Press._ + +E. VERHAEREN. SELECTIONS FROM THE POEMS. Edited by Dr. F. POLDERMANN. +[_In Preparation._ + +LAMARTINE. A SELECTION FROM THE POEMS. Edited by Professor A. BARBIER, +L. ès L. [_In Preparation._ + +GUIBERT D'ANDRENAS. A CHANSON DE GESTE OF THE CYCLE DE GUILLAUME. Edited +by JESSIE CROSLAND, M.A. [_In Preparation._ + +MONTAIGNE. A SELECTION FROM THE ESSAYS. Edited by A. TILLEY, M.A., +D.Litt. [_In Preparation._ + + +_ENGLISH SERIES_ + +EDWARD YOUNG. CONJECTURES ON ORIGINAL COMPOSITION. Edited by Professor +EDITH J. MORLEY. 4s. 6d. net. + +THE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLE. Edited by E. CLASSEN, M.A., Ph.D. [_In the +Press._ + +WARTON'S ESSAY ON POPE. Edited by Professor EDITH J. MORLEY. [_In the +Press._ + + +_GERMAN SERIES_ + +GOETHE. TORQUATO TASSO. Edited by Professor J. G. ROBERTSON, M.A., Ph.D. +Paper, 4s. net; cloth, 5s. net. + +HEINE. BUCH DER LIEDER. Edited by JOHN LEES, M.A., Ph.D. [_In the Press._ + + + THE MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS + 12 LIME GROVE, OXFORD ROAD + LONGMANS, GREEN & COMPANY + LONDON, NEW YORK, BOMBAY, ETC. + + + + +Transcriber's notes: + +Corrections: + +"Lord Burghly" which appears from p. 211 to p. 217 was normalised to +"Lord Burghley" as elsewhere in the book. + +The first line indicates the page or the note number and original text, +the second the corrected text. + + p. x: Travelers at the French Universities + Travellers at the French Universities. + + p. 37: il dira tout courtoisenent + il dira tout courtoisement. + + p. 39: le roy d'Angliterre est osté + le roy d'Angleterre est osté. + + p. 39: Maris, oy, il y avoit tant de presse + Marie, oy, il y avoit tant de presse. + + p. 160: a wastefull, a riotious and + and an outrageous spender + + a wastefull, a riotious and + an outrageous spender. + + p. 166: deligently gathered and faithfully set + diligently gathered and faithfully set. + + p. 176: Qe-heur et-til? + Qel-heur et-til? + + p. 237: a thing easily gotton + a thing easily gotten. + + p. 239: For instance Sir Willam Petty + For instance Sir William Petty. + + p. 241: Lesquelles choses considererées + Lesquelles choses considerées. + + p. 252: de leurs prouesses, entreprinses + de leurs prouesses, entreprises. + + p. 398: accomodated to the grammar + accommodated to the grammar. + + p. 411: Qui peut aissi + Qui peut aussi. + + p. 414: of Nacsia and Paros in the Archipeligo + of Nacsia and Paros in the Archipelago. + + p. 414: ou hormis d'autres discours curieus + où hormis d'autres discours curieus. + + p. 423: se vendent a l'enseigne + se vendent à l'enseigne. + + n. 126: E. J. Furnival + E. J. Furnivall. + + n. 433: the Picard or Bourgonions + the Picard or Bourgignions. + + n. 671: H. Glapthorne, "The Ladies Privilege" + H. Glapthorne, "The Ladies' Privilege." + + + Errata list: + + p. 41: "pernes" should be "prenez" ("Sir pernes le hanappe"). + + p. 43: "comnencier" should be "commencier" ("Veul comnencier"). + + p. 92, n. 230: "The Boke of the Governour" appears as "The Boke named + the Governour" in n. 462. + + p. 104: "Sir Thomas More, writing to Erasmus in 1617" should be "Sir + Thomas More, writing to Erasmus in 1517." + + p. 137-138: the small cross below the unsounded letters in the + quotation does not always correspond to modern pronunciation. The + original has been retained. + + p. 283, n. 361: Liége should be Liège. + + p. 293: "to read an script" should be "to read a script." + + n. 126, 313: Author "E. J. Furnivall" should be "F. J. Furnivall." + + n. 276: "congnoissance" should be "cognoissance" ("la congnoissance + des histoires"). + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Teaching and Cultivation of the +French Language in England during Tudor and Stuart Times, by Kathleen Lambley + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40617 *** |