Ientlenes in teaching. therein. For I know by good experience, that a childe shall take more profit of two fautes, ientlie warned of, then of foure thinges, rightly hitt. For than, the master shall haue good occasion to saie vnto him. N. Tullie would haue vsed such a worde, not this: Tullie would haue placed this word here, not there: would haue vsed this case, this number, this person, this degree, this gender: he would haue vsed this moode, this tens, this simple, rather than this compound: this aduerbe here, not there: he would haue ended the sentence with this verbe, not with that nowne or participle. etc. In these fewe lines, I haue wrapped vp, the most tedious part of Grammer: and also the ground of almost all the Rewles, that are so busilie taught by the Master, and so hardlie learned by the Scholer, in all common Scholes which after this sort, the master shall teach without all error, and the scholer shall learne without great paine: the master being led by so sure a guide, and the scholer being brought into so plaine and easie a waie. And therefore, we do not contemne Rewles, but we gladlie teach Rewles and teach them, more plainlie, sensiblie, and orderlie, than they be commonlie taught in common Scholes. For whan the Master shall compare Tullies booke with his Scholers translation, let the Master, at the first, lead and teach his Scholer, to ioyne the Rewles of his Grammer booke, with the examples of his present lesson, vntil the Scholer, by him selfe, be hable to fetch out of his Grammer, euerie Rewle, for euerie Example: So, as the Grammer booke be euer in the Scholers hand, and also vsed of him, as a Dictionarie, for euerie present vse. This is a liuely and perfite waie of teaching of Rewles: where the common waie, vsed in common Scholes, to read the Grammer alone by it selfe, is tedious for the Master, hard for the Scholer, colde and vncumfortable for them bothe. Let your Scholer be neuer afraide, to aske you any dout, but vse discretlie the best allurements ye can, to encorage him to the same: lest, his ouermoch fearinge of you, driue him to seeke some misorderlie shifte: as, to seeke to be helped by some other booke, or to be prompted by some other Scholer, and so goe aboute to begile you moch, and him selfe more. With this waie, of good vnderstanding the mater, plaine construinge, diligent parsinge, dailie translatinge, cherefull admonishinge, and heedefull amendinge of faultes: neuer leauinge behinde iuste praise for well doinge, I would haue the Scholer brought vp withall, till he had red, & translated ouer ye first booke of Epistles chosen out by Sturmius, with a good peece of a Comedie of Terence also. Latin speakyng. G. Budæus. All this while, by mine aduise, the childe shall vse to speake no latine For, as Cicero saith in like mater, with like wordes, loquendo, male loqui discunt. And, that excellent learned man, G. Budæus, in his Greeke Commentaries, sore complaineth, that whan he began to learne the latin tonge, vse of speaking latin at the table, and elsewhere, vnaduisedlie, did bring him to soch an euill choice of wordes, to soch a crooked framing of sentences, that no one thing did hurt or hinder him more, all the daies of his life afterward, both for redinesse in speaking, and also good iudgement in writinge. In very deede, if childre were brought vp, in soch a house, or soch a Schole, where the latin tonge were properlie and perfitlie spoken, as Tib. and Ca. Gracci were brought vp, in their mother Cornelias house, surelie, than the dailie vse of speaking, were the best and readiest waie, to learne the latin tong. But, now, commonlie, in the best Scholes in England, for wordes, right choice is smallie regarded, true proprietie whollie neglected, confusion is brought in, barbariousnesse is bred vp so in yong wittes, as afterward they be, not onelie marde for speaking, but also corrupted in iudgement: as with moch adoe, or neuer at all, they be brought to right frame againe. Yet all men couet to haue their children speake latin: and so do I verie earnestlie too. We bothe, haue one purpose: we agree in desire, we wish one end: but we differ somewhat in order and waie, that leadeth rightlie to that end. Other would haue them speake at all aduentures: and, so they be speakinge, to speake, the Master careth not, the Scholer knoweth not, what. This is, to seeme, and not to bee: except it be, to be bolde without shame, rashe without skill, full of wordes without witte. I wish to haue them speake so, as it may well appeare, that the braine doth gouerne the tonge, and that reason leadeth forth the taulke. Plato. Socrates doctrine is true in Plato, and well marked, and truely vttered by Horace in Arte Poetica, that, where so euer knowledge doth accompanie the witte, there best vtterance doth alwaies awaite vpon the tonge: For, good vnderstanding must first be bred in the childe, which, being nurished with skill, and vse of writing (as I will teach more largelie hereafter) is the onelie waie to bring him to speakyng. iudgement and readinesse in speakinge: and that in farre shorter time (if he followe constantlie the trade of this litle lesson) than he shall do, by common teachinge of the comon scholes in England. Much writyng breedeth ready But, to go forward, as you perceiue, your scholer to goe better and better on awaie, first, with vnderstanding his lesson more quicklie, with parsing more readelie, with translating more spedelie and perfitlie then he was wonte, after, giue him longer lessons to translate: and withall, begin to teach him, both in nownes, & verbes, what is Proprium, and what is Translatum, what Synonymum, what Diuersum, which be Contraria, and which be most notable Phrases in all his lecture. The secōd degree and order in teachyng. The thyrd Your scholer then, must haue the third paper booke: in the which, after he hath done his double translation, let him write, after this sort foure of these forenamed sixe, diligentlie marked out of euerie lesson. Propria. paper boke. Or else, three, or two, if there be no moe: and if there be none of these at all in some lecture, yet not omitte the order, but write these. Diuersa nulla. Contraria nulla. etc. This diligent translating, ioyned with this heedefull marking, in the foresaid Epistles, and afterwarde in some plaine Oration of Tullie, as, pro lege Manil: pro Archia Poeta, or in those three ad C. Cas: shall worke soch a right choise of wordes, so streight a framing of sentences, soch a true iudgement, both to write skilfullie, and speake wittlelie, as wise men shall both praise, and maruell at. If your scholer do misse sometimes, in marking rightlie these foresaid sixe thinges, chide not hastelie: for that shall, both dull his witte, and discorage his diligence: but monish him gentelie: which shall make him, both willing to amende, and glad to go forward in loue and hope of learning. Ientlenes I haue now wished, twise or thrise, this gentle nature, to be in a Scholemaster: And, that I haue done so, neither by chance, nor without some reason, I will now declare at large, why, in mine opinion, loue is fitter then feare, ientlenes better than beating, to bring vp a childe rightlie in learninge. Loue. Feare. With the common vse of teaching and beating in common scholes of England, I will not greatlie contend: which if I did, it were but a small grammaticall controuersie, neither belonging to heresie nor Common treason, nor greatly touching God nor the Prince: although in very deede, in the end, the good or ill bringing vp of children, doth as much serue to the good or ill seruice, of God, our Prince, and our whole countrie, as any one thing doth beside. Sharpe Scholemasters. I do gladlie agree with all good Scholemasters in these pointes to haue children brought to good perfitnes in learning: to all honestie in maners: to haue all fautes rightlie amended: to haue euerie vice seuerelie corrected: but for the order and waie that leadeth rightlie to these pointes, we somewhat differ. For commonlie, many scholemasters, some, as I haue seen, moe, as I haue heard tell, be of so crooked a nature, as, when they meete with a hard witted scholer, they rather breake him, than bowe him, rather marre him, then mend him. For whan the scholemaster is angrie with some other matter, then will he sonest faul to beate his scholer: and though he him selfe should be punished for his folie, yet must he beate some scholer for his pleasure: though there be no cause for him to do so, nor yet fault in the scholer to deserue so. These ye will say, be fond scholemasters, and fewe they be, that be found to be soch. They be fond in deede, but surelie ouermany soch be found euerie where. But this will I say, that euen the wisest of your great beaters, do as oft punishe nature, as they do correcte faultes. Yea, many times, the better nature, is sorer punished: For, if one, by quicknes of witte, take his lesson readelie, an other, by hardnes of witte, taketh it not so speedelie: the first is alwaies commended, the other is commonlie punished: whan a wise scholemaster, should rather discretelie consider the right disposition of both their natures, and not so moch wey what either of them is able to do now, as what either of them is likelie to do hereafter. Quicke wittes for For this I know, not onelie by reading of bookes learnyng. in my studie, but also by experience of life, abrode in the world, that those, which be commonlie the wisest, the best learned, and best men also, when they be olde, were neuer commonlie the quickest of witte, when they were yonge. The causes why, amongest other, which be many, that moue me thus to thinke, be these fewe, which I will recken. Quicke wittes commonlie, be apte to take, vnapte to keepe: soone hote and desirous of this and that: as colde and sone Nature punished. |