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ROGER AS CHAM. 
 
 THE SCHOLEMASTER. 
 
 Written between 1563-8. Posthumously published. 
 
 FIRST EDITION, I57O; COLLATED WITH THE SECOND- 
 EDITION, 1572. 
 
 Edited by EDWARD ARBP;R, F.S.A., etc 
 
 Fellow of King's Coll., London; Hon. Mem. of the Virginia Historical Soc. 
 PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, 
 SIR JOSIAH MASON'S COLLEGE, BIRMINGHAM. 
 
 B I R M I N G H A M : 
 i MONTAGUE ROAD. 
 
 10 June, 1870. 
 No. 23. 
 
 (A II rights reserved.} 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION . . . . . .3 
 
 ASCHAM'S METHOD of teaching Latin . 9 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . .12 
 
 THE SCHOLEMASTER . 13 
 
 Preface [MARGARET ASCHAM'S dedication to Sir W. CECIL] 15 
 A Praeface to the Reader [by R. ASCHAM] . .17 
 
 THE FIRST BOOK FOR THE YOUTH . 25 
 
 1. Ascham's Method of teaching Latin, FIRST and SECOND STAGES: 
 
 see analysis at pp. 9-11 ...... 25-30 
 
 2. " Why, in mine opinion, Love is fitter than Fear, Gentleness better 
 
 than Beating, to bring up a child rightly in learning," . . 31 
 
 3. The difference between Quick Wits and Hard Wits . . 32-35 
 
 4. The ill choosing of scholars to go to the Universities . . 35-38 
 
 5. Plato's seven plain notes to choose a good wit in a child for learning 38-42 
 
 6. Obj. Some men laugh at us, when we thus wish and reason that 
 
 young children should be rather allured to learning by gentle- 
 ness and love, than compelled to learning by beating and fear . 42 
 Ans. The judgment of Socrates, No learning ought to be learned 
 
 'with bondage . . . . . . .43 
 
 7. Obj. Some will say, children of nature love pastime and mislike 
 
 learning : because, in their kind, the one is easy and pleasant, 
 the other hard and wearisome ..... 44 
 Ans. An opinion not so true as some men ween. If ever the nature 
 of man be given at any time more than other, to receive good- 
 ness : it is in innocency of yong years : before expeiience of evil 
 has taken root in him ...... 45 
 
 8. Besides cruelty in Schoolmasters in beating away the Love of 
 
 Learning from children ; there is a clean contrary fault . 46 
 
 From Seven to Seventeen yong gentlemen be carefully enough 
 brought up : but from Seventeen to Seven and Twenty (the most 
 dangerous time of all a man's life and most slippery to stay well in) 
 they have commonly the reins of all license in their own hand, and 
 specially such as do live in the Court . . . . 49-71 
 
 9. The Italianated Englishmen ..... 71-86 
 
 THE SECOND BOOK. . . 87 
 
 10. Ascham's Method of teaching Latin, THIRD and FOURTH STAGES : 
 
 see analysis at pp. 9-11 ...... 87-90 
 
 11. The six ways appointed by the learned men for the learning of 
 
 tongues and increase of eloquence . . . 92-132 
 
 Translation of Languages 92-96 
 
 Paraphrase . . 96-104 Epitome . . 110-116 
 
 Metaphrase . 104-110 Imitation . . 116-138 
 
 Declamation [not included in this work, possibly not written by 
 
 Ascham, at his death]. 
 
 12. The true difference of authors . . . . 138-141 
 
 13. A survey of the Latin tonguein its purity, scarce one hundred years 141-160 
 PLAUTUS and TERENCE, The Correspondents of Cicero 142-144, 150-1 
 VARRO . 152-154. SALLUST (The criticism of Sir J. Cheeke) 154-159 
 QESAR [only begun] . 159-160. CICERO [probably not written]. 
 
 14. Criticism of recent English verse .... 144-150 
 Classical feet v. Rhyme. Dactyles are seldom found in English. 
 .... Hexameters do rather trot and hobble than run smoothly. 
 
 Yet I am sure, our English tongue will receive Iambics as 
 naturally as Greek and Latin ^-r- \ ATI/' . . . 145-146 
 
. 
 
 THE SCHOLEMASTER. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ||T is a part of the Divine Providence of the World, that the Strong 
 shall influence the Weak : not only on the Battlefield and in 
 Diplomacy; but also in Learning and Literature. Thus the 
 Nations of Modern Europe have been influenced by the Writings 
 of Greece and Rome : and they have influenced each other, m 
 turn, with their own Power and Beauty in Thought and Expres- 
 sion. Thus, Modern English has been subject in succession to the influence 
 of Classical Literature in the time of Ascham; to the literary fascination 
 of Italy, in the age of Elizabeth ; of France, at the Restoration; and of 
 Germany, in more recent times : without at all ceasing in the natural pro- 
 gression of its innate capabilities, for all the fashions and forms which, for 
 a time, it pleased to adopt. In like manner, English Literature has allured 
 the German, the Frenchman, and the Italian: thereby restoring benefit for 
 benefit in the commerce and free trade of the Mind. 
 
 2. The stream of Ancient Literature and Cultivation, which, after the fall 
 of Constantinople, advanced from East to West ; at length reached our 
 shores in the reign of Henry the Eight. In the planting and engraftment 
 of Classical learning in England at that time, St. John's College, Cambridge, 
 founded on gth April 1511 had a most distinguished share. Its Master 
 and Fellows whether they adhered to the older or the newer 'faith' 
 strove alike most earnestly to promote the new 'learning.' 
 
 THOMAS NASHE, writing twenty years after Ascharn's death some- 
 what severely on ' our triuiall translators,' in his address To the Gentle- 
 men Students, prefixed to R. Greene's Menaphon, 1580 : bears honourable 
 testimony to the worthiness of this College. ... "1 will propound to 
 your learned imitation, those men of import, that haue laboured with credit 
 in this laudable kinde of Translation ; In the forefront of whom, I cannot 
 but place that aged Father Erasmus, that inuested most of our Greeke 
 Writers, in the roabes of the auncient Romaines\ in whose traces, Philip 
 Melancthon, Sadolet. Plantine, and manie other reuerent Germaines insist- 
 ing, haue reedified theruines of our decayed Libraries, and merueilouslie in- 
 riched the Latine tongue with the expence of their toy le. Not long after, 
 their emulation beeing transported into England, euerie priuate Scholler, 
 William Turner, and who not, beganne to vaunt the smattering of Latine, 
 in English Impressions. But amongst others in that age, Sir Thomas E Hots 
 elegance did seuer it selfe from all equalls, although Sir Thomas Moore with 
 his Comicall wit, at that instant was not altogether idle : yet was not Know- 
 ledge fullie confirmed in hir Monarchic amongst vs, till that most famous 
 and fortunate Nurse of all learning, Saint lohns in Cambridge, that at that 
 time was as an Vniuersitie within it selfe; shining so farre aboue all other 
 Houses, Halls, and Hospitalls whatsoeuer, that no Colledge in the Towne, 
 was able to compare with the tythe of her Students; hauing (as I haue 
 hearde graue men of credite report) more candles light in it, euerie Winter 
 Morning before fowre of the clocke, than the fowre of clocke bell gaue 
 stroakes ; till Shee (I saie) as a pittying Mother, put too her helping hande, 
 and sent from her fruitfull wombe, sufficient Schollers, both to support her 
 owne weale, as also to supplie all other inferiour foundations defects, and 
 namelie that royall erection of Trinitie Colledge, which the Vniuersitie 
 Orator, in an Epistle to the Duke of Somerset, aptlie tearmed Colonia 
 diducta from the Suburbes of Saint lohns. In which extraordinarie con- 
 ception, vno partu in rempublicam prodiere, the Exchequer of eloquence 
 Sir Ihon Cheeke, a man of men, supernaturally traded in al tongues, Sir 
 John Mason, Doctor Watson, Redman, Aschame, Grindall, Leuer, Pil- 
 kington : all which, haue either by their priuate readings, or publique workes, 
 repurged the errors of Artes, expelde from their puritie, and set before our 
 eyes, a more perfect Methode of Studie. 
 
 135 
 
4 Introduction. 
 
 3. THOMAS BAKER in his History of the College of St. John the Evangelist, 
 Ed. by J. E. B., Mayor, 1869; tells us that about 1520-30, " i2d per week 
 was allowed in commons to a fellow, and only 7d to a scholar. These were 
 times when ,120 was sufficient to found a fellowship [for the private founda- 
 tions usually run thereabouts], and when 6 per an. was enough to maintain 
 a fellow," p. 81, "as ^3 per annum was enough to found a scholar,"^. 99. 
 
 Baker also gives us a Statement of the finances of the College when Doctor 
 Metcalfe became its third 'master, about Dec. 1518, which fully corrobo- 
 rates Ascham's account at p. 133: which Statement may be thus sum- 
 marized : 
 
 Total revenues from lands ..... 234 14 4 
 
 Less value of private foundations . . . . 48 o o 
 
 186 14 4 
 
 Less the ordinary charges incident to these revenues 125 9 9 
 Remaining to the sustentation of all such as be to be found of 
 the said lands, i.e., for their only commons, stipend, and 
 livery yearly . . . . . . . 61 4 6 
 
 The charges of these viz. of the master, twenty-eight fellows, 
 
 six scholars and of several servants, is yearly . . 162 
 
 Excess of Outgoings over Receipts 
 
 Yet Doctor Metcalfe in ways like those described by Ascham, as well as by 
 obtaining the property of the suppressed Nunneries of Higham and Brome- 
 hall, raised the finances of the College to a flourishing condition, until it 
 was spending 1000 a year (equal to .15,000 now) in the spread of know- 
 ledge. 
 
 4. But the College was not more fortunate in wealth than in learning 
 when, in 1530, Roger Ascham, a Yorkshire lad of 15, entered it. John 
 Cheke had been elected Fellow on the soth of March in that year: 
 and John Redman became a fellow on 3d of November following. 
 Ascham thus distinctly attributes the race of Scholars that were bred 
 up in St. John's College to the unwearying efforts of these two men. 
 " At Cambrige also, in S. Johns Colledge, in my tyme, T do know, that, 
 not so much the good statutes, as two lentlemen, of worthie memorie, Syr 
 lohn Cheke, and Doctour Readman, by their onely example of excellency 
 
 uersitie of Louaine, in many yeares was neuer able to affourd,"/- 67. 
 
 As Redman became Master of King's College in 1542, and Cheke went to 
 Court on 10 July 1544 to be Tutor to Prince Edward; the period of Study to 
 which Ascham so gladly and so often reverts in this his last work, ' my 
 swete tyme spent at Cambridge,' would not exceed fifteen years, at the 
 longest ; so_far at least as the time during which Cheke and Redman gave so 
 mighty an impulse to classical Learning. 
 
 5. These Planters of the ancient Literature in England hoped well of 
 their Mother Tongue. The more they learnt of the subtilty of Greek elo- 
 quence or the gunning elegance of Roman prose : the more they desired 
 that English might be kept pure, the mc-re they believed it to be capable of 
 a worthy literature. 
 
 ROGER ASCHAM^ while a Fellow of St. John's, deliberately wrote his Tox- 
 ophihts, published in 1545, in plain and pure English; thus, how strangely to us, 
 defends^ himself. "If any man woulde blame me, eyther for takynge such a 
 matter in hande, or els for writing it in the Englyshe tongue, this answere I may 
 make hym, that whan the beste of the realme thinke it honest for them to vse, 
 Ioneofthemeanestsorte,oughtnottosupposeitvileformetowrite: And though 
 to haue written it in an other tonge, had bene bothe more profitable for my 
 study, and also more honest for my name, yet I can thinke my labour wel 
 bestowed, yf with a little hynderaunce of my profyt and name, maye come 
 any fourtheraunce, to the pleasure or commoditie, of the gentlemen and 
 yeomen of Englande, for whose sake I touke this matter in hande. And as 
 
Introduction. 5 
 
 for ye Latin or greke tonge, euery thing is so excellently done in them, 
 that none can do better : in the Englysh tonge contrary, euery thinge in a 
 maner so meanly, bothe for the matter and handelynge, that no man can do 
 worse. For therein the least learned for the moste parte, haue ben alwayes 
 moost redye to wryte. And they whiche had leaste hope in latin, haue bene 
 moste boulde in englyshe : when surelye euery man that is moste ready to 
 taulke, is not moost able to wryte. He that wyU wryte well in any tongue, 
 muste folowe thys councel of Aristotle, to speake as the common people do, 
 to thmke as wise men do ; and so shoulde euery man vnderstande hym, and 
 the iudgement of wyse men alowe him. Many English writers haue not 
 done so, but vsing straunge wordes as latin, french and Italian, do make all 
 thinges darke and harde,"/- *8. Ed. 1868. 
 
 THOMAS HOBY, afterwards knighted, having, after many delays, finished his 
 translation of Baldassare Castiglione's work, spoken of so highly by Ascham at 
 p 66: in his Epistle, has the following. "As I therefore haue to my smal 
 skil bestowed some labour about this piece of woorke, euen so coulde 1 wishe 
 with al my hart, profounde learned men in the Greeke and Latin shoulde 
 make the lyke proofe, and euerye manne store the tunge accordinge to hys 
 knowledge and delite aboue other men, in some piece of learnynge, that we 
 alone of the worlde may not bee styll counted barbarous in oure tunge, as in 
 time out of minde we haue bene in our maners. And so shall we perchaunce 
 in time become as famous in Englande, as the learned men of other nations 
 haue ben and presently are." 
 
 While the work was yet in MS., Hoby sent it to Sir JOHN CHE.KE to look 
 over. Cheke wrote the following letter in reply ; which is important as 
 coming from one who, Sir T. Wilson says, had ' better skill in our English 
 speache to iudge of the Phrases and properties of wordes and to diuide sen- 
 tences : than any one else had that I haue knowne.' It is also interesting as 
 showing that uniform spelling had nothing to do with clean English. 
 
 This letter was written while Sir John was fading out of life ; for shame 
 at his recantation of the Protestant faith at his pardon, for having acted 
 out of zeal for that faith as Secretary of State to Lady Jane Grey. He 
 died in the Sept. following of that year, 1557, at the house of his friend 
 Peter Osborne, in Woodstreet. The letter is printed verbatim at the end 
 of the first edition of The Courtier, 1561. 
 
 C To his louing frind Mayster Thomas Hoby. 
 
 FOr your opinion of my gud will vnto you as you wnit, you can not be 
 cleceiued : for submitting your doinges to mi iudgement, I thanke 
 you : for taking this pain of your translation, you worthilie deseru great 
 thankes of all sortes. I haue taken sum pain at your request cheflie in your 
 preface, not in the reading of it for that was pleasaunt vnto me boath for the 
 roundnes of your saienges and welspeakinges of the saam, but in changing 
 certein wordes which might verie well be let aloan, but that 1 am verie 
 curious in mi freendes matters, not to determijn, but to debaat what is best. 
 Whearin, I seek not the bestnes hapliebi truth, but bi mijn own phansie, and 
 shew of goodnes. 
 
 I am of this opinion that our own tung shold be written cleane and pure, 
 vnmixt and ynmangeled with borowing of other tunges, wherein if we take 
 not heed bi tijm, euer borowing and neuer payeng, she shall be fain to keep 
 her house as bankrupt. For then doth our tung naturallie and praisablie 
 vtter her meaning, when she bouroweth no conterfeitness of other tunges to 
 attire her self withall, but vseth plainlie her own with such shift, as nature 
 craft, experiens, and folowing of other excellent doth lead her vnto, and if she 
 want at ani tijm (as being vnperfight she must) yet let her borow with suche 
 bashfulnes, that it mai appeer, that if either the mould of our own tung could 
 serue us to fascion a woord of our own, or if the old denisoned wordes could 
 content and ease this neede we wold not boldly venture of vnknowen wordes 
 This I say not for reproof of you. who haue scarslie and necessarily vsed 
 whear occasion serueth a strange word so, as it seemeth to grow out of the 
 matter and not to be sought for : but for mijn own defens, who might be 
 counted ouerstraight a deemer of thinges, if I gaue not thys accompt to you, 
 mi freer d and wijs, of mi marring this your handiwork. But I am called 
 
6 Introduction. 
 
 awai, I prai you pardon mi shortnes, the rest of mi saienges should be but 
 praise and exhortacion in this your doinges, which at moar leisor I shold do 
 better. From my house in Woodstreete the 16 of luly, 1557. 
 
 Yours assured IOAN CHEEK. 
 
 These three instances may suffice to show the close connection between their 
 study of the ancient Literature and their care over their native speech. Some 
 of these Classical Students were the best Prose Writers of their time : just as 
 the best Poets then, were those who drew their inspiration from Italy. The 
 two literary influences prepared a way, by creating a favourable literary 
 atmosphere, for our Master Writers in Elizabeth's reign, Spenser and Shake- 
 speare ; Bacon and Hooker. 
 
 6. Of these Classical Pioneers, Sir JOHN CHEKE was the chief. His influence 
 on the English Literature of that and the next age has hardly been adequately 
 recognized : partly because his principal work was Oral Teaching : and partly 
 because only three or four of his thirty to forty known writings (many now 
 lost) are in English. Sir Richard Sackville calls him ' the best Master . . . 
 in our tyme,' at /. 21. Ascham quotes him ever and anon in this work as 
 an authority from whom there was hardly any appeal, and in particular, 
 relates at //. 154-159, with a fresh memory, Cheke's criticism of Sallust, 
 made to him about twenty-five years before. Cheke was a Teacher of 
 Teachers. The influence of simply Oral Teachers rests chiefly in the hearts 
 and minds of the Taught, and it shows itself most in their after Lives and 
 Works. Cheke taught Edward VI. ; Sir W. Cecil ; W. Bill, 7 th Master of 
 St Johns ; R. Ascham ; Sir T. Wilson ; and many more celebrities of that 
 time : and their characters and careers reflect his teaching. 
 
 T, afterwards Sir T. WILSON, in his Epistle, dated 10 June 1570, to Sir W. 
 Cecil [It would be an interesting list, if English books were grouped accord- 
 ing to their dedicatees : as c howing the influence of the Nobility and Gentry 
 on Literature], prefixed to his translation of the Olynthiacs of Demosthenes 
 into English : thus ably conveys to us a conception of the surpassing abilities 
 and character of Sir John Cheke. 
 
 " Great is the force of vertue (Right Honorable Counseller) to wynne loue 
 and good will vniuersally, in whose minde soeuer it is perfitelye knowne, to 
 haue once gotte a dwelling. I speake it for this ende, that being solitarie of 
 late time from my other studies, and musinge on this world, in the middest 
 of my bookes : I did then (as I haue oftentimes else done) deepelye thinke of 
 Sir lohn Cheeke Knyght, that rare learned man, and singular ornament of 
 this lande. And as the remembrance of him was deare vnto me, for his mani- 
 folde great gifts and wonderfull vertues : so did I thinke of his most gentle 
 nature and godly disposed minde, to helpe all those with his knowledge and 
 vnderstanding, that any waye made meanes vnto him, and sought his fauour. 
 And to say for my selfe amongest others, I founde him such a friende to me, 
 for communicating the skill and giftes of hys minde, as I cannot but during 
 my life speake reuerentlye of so worthie a man, and honor in my hart the 
 heauenly remembrance of him. And thinking of my being with him in 
 Italic in that famous Vniuersitie of Padua: I did cal to minde his care thai 
 he had ouer all the Englishe men there, to go to their bokes : and how gladly 
 - he did reade to me and others, certaine Orations of Demosthenes in Greeke, 
 the interpretation wherof, I and they had then from his mouth. And so re- 
 membring the rather this world by the very argument of those actions : I did 
 thenseeke out amongest my other writings for the translation of them, and 
 happily finding some, although not all : I wascaried streightways (I trust by 
 Gods good motion) to make certaine of them to be acquainted so nigh as I coulde 
 with our Englishe tongue, aswell for the aptnesse of the matter, and needefull 
 knowledge now at this time to be had : as also for the right notable, and 
 mo-t excellent handling of the same. And here must I saye," confessing 
 mine owne weakenesse and imperfection, that I neuer founde in my life any 
 thing so harde for me to doe. . . 
 
 Maister Cheeke (whome I dare match with any one before named for his 
 knowledge in the Greeke tongue,) hauing traueyled in Demosthenes as much 
 as any one of them all, and famous for his learning throughout Europe : yet 
 was he neuer so passing in his translations that no exception coulde be made 
 against him. And then what shall I thinke of my selfe, after the naming of 
 
Introduction* 7 
 
 so manye excellent learned men, but onely submit my doings to the 
 fauour of others, and desire men to beare with my weakenesse. For this 
 must I needes confesse, that I am altogither vnable to doe so in Eng- 
 lishe, as the excellencie of this Orator deserueth in Greeke. And yet the 
 cunning is no lesse, and the prayse as great in my iudgement, to translate 
 any thing excellently into Englishe, as into any other language. And I thinke 
 (.although there be many doers) yet scant one is to be found worthie amongst 
 vs, for translating into our Countrie speach. Such a hard thing it is to bring 
 matter out of any one language into another. And perhaps it may be that 
 euen those who take themselues to bee much better learned than I am (as 
 what is he that is not, hauing any name for learning at all ?) will finde it an 
 harder peece of woorke than they thinke, euen to make Greeke speake 
 Englishe, if they will make proofe thereof as I haue done. Whose labor and 
 trauayle I woulde as gladly see, as they are lyke now to see mine, that such 
 an Orator as this is, might bee so framed to speake our tongue, as none were 
 able to amende him, and that he might be founde to be most like himselfe. 
 The which enterprise if any might haue bene moste bolde to haue taken vpon 
 him, Sir lohn Cheeke was the man, of all that euer I knew, or doe yet know 
 in Englande. Such acquaintance had he with this notable Orator, so gladly 
 did he reade him, and so often : that I thinke there was neuer olde Priest 
 more perfite in his Portreise, nor supersticious Monke in our Ladies Psalter 
 as they call it, nor yet good Preacher in the Bible or testament, than this 
 man was in Demosthenes. And great cause moued him so to be, for that he 
 sawe him to be the perfitest Orator that euer wrate for these two thousand 
 yeares almost by past (for so long it is since he was) and also for that he per- 
 ceyued him to haue before his eyes in all his Orations the aduauncement of 
 vertue as a thing chiefly to be sought for, togither with the honor and wel- 
 fare of his countrie. Besides this, maister Cheekes iudgement was great in 
 translating out of one tongue into an other, and better skill he had in our 
 English speach to iudge of the Phrases and properties of wordes, and to 
 diuide sentences : than any else had that I haue knowne. And often he woulde 
 englyshe his matters out of the Latine or Greeke vpon the sodeyne, by look- 
 ing of the booke onely without reading or construing any thing at all : An 
 vsage right worthie and verie profitable for all men, aswell for the vnder- 
 standing of the booke, as also for the aptnesse of framing the Authors mean- 
 ing and bettering thereby their iudgement, and therewithall perfiting their 
 tongue and vtterance of speach. Moreouer he was moued greatly to like 
 Demosthenes aboue all others, for that he sawe him so familiarly applying 
 himselfe to the sense and vnderstanding of the common people, that he 
 slicked not to say, that none euer was more fitte to make an English man 
 tell his tale praise worthily in an open hearing, either in Parlament or in Pul- 
 pit, or otherwise, than this onely Orator was. . . . 
 
 And although your honour hath no neede of these my doinges, for that 
 the Greeke is so familiar vnto you, and that you also, as well as I, haue hearde 
 Sir lohn Cheeke read the same Orations at other times : yet I thinke for 
 diuers causes I shoulde in right present vnto your honour this my traueyle 
 the rather to haue it through your good liking and allowance, to be made 
 common to many. First the sayd Sir lohn Cheeke (whome I doe often name, 
 for the honour and reuerence due of so worthie a man) was your brother in 
 lawe [Sir W. Cecil's first wife -was Cheeked sister], your deare friende, your 
 good admonisher, and teacher in your yonger yeares, to take that way of 
 vertue, the fruite whereof you do feele and taste to your great ioy at this day, 
 and shall for euer be remembered therefore " . . . Ed. 1570. 
 
 We may not wonder then ; if Ascham so affectionately refers to Cheke 
 in this work ; as ' that lentleman of worthie memorie, my dearest frend and 
 teacher of all the poore learning I haue,"/. 138. 
 
 [We would here add, out of the N same Epistle, by way of parenthesis, Wil- 
 son's defence of Translations, which was possibly provoked by Ascham's re- 
 marks, at/. 127. " But such as are grieued with translated bokes, are lyke to 
 them that eating fine Manchet, are angry with others that feede on Cheate 
 breade. And yet God knoweth men would as gladly eate Manchet as they, 
 if they had it. But all can not weare Veluet, or feede with the best, and 
 therefore such are contented for necessities sake to weare our Countrie 
 cloth, and to take themselues to hard fare, that can liaue no better."] 
 
8 Introduction. 
 
 7. We have noticed a few of the influences on Ascham in his earlier life : 
 in order to understand his outlook on the Literature of his day ; while as he 
 was growing from 48 to 53 years of age he wrote this book. The Italian 
 influence had come in like a flood after the publication of Tottel's Miscellany in 
 June 1557. In his rejection of this influence, while he kept up with the classical 
 learning of the time, we judge him to be a Scholar of Henry's time, surviving 
 into the reign of Elizabeth. We do not allude to his Invective against 
 Italianated Englishmen, for which he .had doubtless adequate grounds : but 
 to his shunning the airy Kghtsomeness of Italian poesy, which so much 
 characterizes English Verse for the next forty years. Every one is en- 
 titled to a preference in such matters, and Ascham with others. Though he 
 contended for English Iambics, he confessed he never had a " poeticall head." 
 He owned to loving the Italian language next after Greek and Latin : but 
 Fiction and Rhyme he could not abide. So we realize him as the strong 
 plain Englishman of Henry's day, with his love for all field sports and for 
 cock-fighting, his warm generous heart, his tolerant spirit, his thorough 
 scholarship, his beautiful penmanship : a man to be loved and honoured. 
 
 8. Ascham's special craft was teaching the young, Latin and Greek. He 
 had taught the Queen, as he tells us at/. 96 : and now read Greek with her, 
 as she desired. Being thus about the Court, and the Comt resting at Wind- 
 sor on. the loth Dec. 1563 ; the officers in attendance dined together under 
 the presidency of the Secretary of State. Of the Table Talk on that 
 occasion and its results: Ascham's own account is the best: and need not 
 be repeated here. 
 
 9. Looking within the book ; we see that begun in December 1563, it 
 was prosecuted off and on for two years and a half, until Sir Richard Sack- 
 ville's death in July 1566. It was then, for sorrow's sake, flung aside. 
 'Almost two yeares togither, this booke lay scattered, and neglected,' and 
 then finished, so far as we now possess it, by the encouragement of Cecil, 
 in the last six or eight months of Ascham's life. Ascham died 30 Dec : 1568. 
 
 If a guess might be hazarded : it would seem that the Author had but 
 gathered the materials together, up to Sir Richard Sackville's death : and 
 that he wove them together in their present form, after he resumed the 
 book again. The allusion at p. 137, to the Queen's visit to Cambridge, in 
 August 1564, as ' late being there,' would show that that part was written 
 about 1565 : while the phrase at p. 71, * Syr Richard Sackuille, that worthy 
 lentleman, of ivorthie memorie, as I sayd in the begynnynge* would proue 
 that at least The Preface and the Invective against Italianated Englishmen 
 were written after the resumption of the book in 1568 : and consequently 
 that it was after then, that the work was finally planned. The first book 
 was then completed, and the second far proceeded with, when Death parted 
 for euer, the busy worker from his Book. This is also confirmed by Ascham's 
 last letter to Sturm : which proves him to haue been intent on the work just 
 before his decease. 
 
 10. Thanks to the editions of Upton and Bennet, The Scholemaster 
 (which, like so many of the books of Elizabeth's time, had been quite for- 
 gotten in the previous sixteenth century) has obtained, for a hundred years or 
 more, the reputation of an historic English work of general as well as of 
 professional interest. With it, more than with any other of his works, is 
 Ascham's name usually associated. As Toxophilus was the gift of his man- 
 hood towards the cultivation of the Body : so in this work the legacy almost 
 of his last hours we inherit his ripest, his most anxious thought upon the 
 Education of the Mind and Heart. 
 
 11. Among that first race of modern learned Englishmen, who fed and 
 carried aloft the Lamp of Knowledge through all those changing and tem- 
 pestuous times into the peaceful days of Elizabeth : none has become more 
 famous than Roger Ascham: who, taught by the greatest English Teacher 
 of his youth-tide, Sir John Cheeke : in due time became, to his undying de- 
 light, the Instructor of the most noble Scholar within the realm : the Virgin 
 Queen herself. 
 
ROGER ASCHAM'S METHOD OF TEACHING LATIN. 
 
 1. That part of The Scholemaster which describes English life and man- 
 ners of that age, is for us an heritage of authentic information : his Criticism 
 of Ancient and Contemporary Latin writers, establishes a test of the Classical 
 acumen of his time : but his system of teaching Latin and mtttatis -mu- 
 tandis other languages deserves our study as a contribution in aid of Edu- 
 cation, for all time. 
 
 2. We would wish to associate with this Reprint, an excellent book, 
 Essays on Educational Reformers, by the Rev. R. H. QUICK, M. A., Lon- 
 don, 1868 : js. 6d, but worthy of being perpetually sold at a shilling as a 
 companion volume to this reprint ; inasmuch as it is in some measure a con- 
 tinuation and completion of The Scholemaster. For in these Essays, Mr. 
 Quick ably analyses and compares the successive systems of Instruction 
 adopted by THE JESUITS, ASCHAM, MONTAIGNE, RATICH, MILTON, Co- 
 MENIUS, LOCKE, ROUSSEAU, BASEDOW, PESTALOZZI, JACOTOT, and HER- 
 BERT SPENCER. We cannot therefore too strongly recommend the work to 
 the attention of all those who desire to acquaint themselves with Modern 
 Thought and Experiment in the Science and Art of Teaching. 
 
 3. Ascham's Method is avowedly based upon B.I.c. 34 of Cicero's De Ora- 
 tore, of which the following is a translation : and more especially upon the 
 latter portion of it. " But in my daily exercises I used, when a youth, to 
 adopt chiefly that method which I knew that Caius Carbo, my adversary, 
 generally practised ; which was, that, having selected some nervous piece of 
 poetry, or read over such a portion of a speech as I could retain in my 
 memory, I used to declaim upon what I had been reading in other words, 
 chosen with all the judgment that I possessed. But at length I perceived 
 that in that method there was this inconvenience, that Ennius, if I exercised 
 myself on his verses, or Gracchus, if I laid one of his orations before me, had 
 forestalled such words as were peculiarly appropriate to the subject, and 
 such as were the most elegant and altogether the best; so that, if I used the 
 same words, it profited nothing; if others, it was even prejudicial to me, as 
 I habituated myself to use such as were less eligible. Afterwards I thought 
 proper, and continued the practice at a rather more advanced age, to trans- 
 late the orations of the best Greek orators ; by fixing upon which I gained 
 this advantage, that while I rendered into Latin what I had read in Greek, 
 I not only used the best words, and yet such as were of common occurrence, 
 but also formed some words by imitation, which would be new to our country- 
 men, taking care, however, that they were unobjectionable." Ed. 1855. 
 
 4. Upon these hints, Ascham after considering all possible means of 
 teaching languages, which he there discusses in the second book insisted 
 upon the exhaustive study of one or two books, each to be of the highest 
 excellence in its way. 
 
 In fact his system might be labelled as 
 
 THE DOUBLE TRANSLATION OF A MODEL BOOK. 
 
 Mr. Quick remarks, " There are three ways in which the model-book may 
 be studied, ist, It may be read through rapidly again and again, which was 
 Ratich's plan and Hamilton's; or, 2nd, each lesson may "be thoroughly 
 mastered, read in various ways a dozen times at the least, which was 
 Ascham's plan ; or, 3rd, the pupil may begin always at the beginning, and 
 advance a little further each time, which was Jacotot's plan,"/. 215. 
 
 5. Ascham, at/. 94, quotes Pliny and Dionysius Halicarnasseus in support 
 of his Method, in a passage we have not space to quote, but which is the key 
 to his system. In the brief space that remains to us, we can but outline the 
 process of study he laid down, commending the method to the careful con- 
 sideration of all teachers. 
 
 PREPARA TOR Y. 
 
 LEARNER. After the child hath learned perfectly the eight 
 parts of speech : let him then learn the right joining together of substan- 
 tives with adjectives, the noun with the verb, the relative with the ante- 
 cedent,/. 25. 
 
 A. DOUBLE TRANSLATION. 
 
 The Model Book, to begin with, which Ascham recommended in his time 
 was John Sturm's selection of Cicero's letters, for the capacity of children. 
 
10 ROGER ASCHAM'S METHOD OF TEACHING LATIN. 
 
 This work was first published at Strasburg in 1539, under the title oi 
 Ciceronis Epistolce Libri iv, puerili educationi confectt \ and again in 1572. 
 
 I. MA S TE R. a. Let him teach the child, cheerfully and plainly, the 
 
 cause and matter of the letter, p. 26. 
 b. Then let him construe it into English, so often, as the child may easily 
 
 carry away the understanding of it, p. 26. 
 C. Let him parse it over perfectly,-/. 26. 
 
 II. LEA R N E R. a. Let the child, by and bye, both conspire [i.e. com- 
 bine] and parse it over again. So that it may appear, that the child 
 doubteth in nothing that his master taught him before, p. 26. 
 
 . * . So far it is the Mind and Memory comprehending and reproducing the 
 Oral Teaching. 
 
 fc. Then the child must take a paper book, and sitting in some place where 
 no one shall prompt him, by himself, let him translate into English his 
 former lesson, p. 26. 
 MA S TE'R. c. Then shewing it to his master: let his master take from 
 
 him his Latin book. 
 
 LEARNER. tJ. Then, pausing an hour at the least: let the child 
 translate his own English into Latin, in another Paper Book. 
 
 I II. MA S TE R. a. When the child bringeth it, turned into Latin ; let the 
 Master, at the first, lead and teach his Scholer, to join the Rules of his 
 Grammar Book, with the examples of his present lesson, until the Scholar, 
 by himself, be able to fetch out of his Grammar, every Rule for every 
 Example. So, as the Grammar book be ever in the Scholars hand, and 
 also used of him as a Dictionary, for every present use, p. 26. 
 
 1). The Master must compare the child's Retranslation with Cicero's 
 book, and lay them both together, /. 26. 
 
 Praising him where he doth well, either in choosing or true placing of 
 Cicero's words. 
 
 But if the child miss, either in forgetting a word, or in changing a 
 good for a worse, or misordering the sentence . . . the master shall 
 have good occasion to say. " N. [like M. or N. in the Catechism] Tully 
 would have used such a word, not this. Tully would have placed this 
 word here, not there : would have used this case, this number, this per- 
 son, this degree, the gender : he would have used this mood, this tense, 
 this simple rather than that compound ; this adverb here not there ; he 
 would have ended the sentence with this verb, not with that noun or 
 participle, &c. 
 
 In these few lines, I have wrapped up the most tedious part of Gram- 
 mar and also the ground of almost all the Rules . . . Which after 
 this sort, the master shall teach without all error, and the scholar shall 
 learn without great pain : the Master being lead by so sure a guide and 
 the Scholar being brought into so plain and easy a way, p. 27. 
 Axiom. A child shall take more profit of two faults, gently warned of, then 
 of four things rightly hit, /. 27. 
 
 . * . All this while, the child shall use to speak no Latin, p. 28. 
 With this way of good understanding the matter, plain construing, diligent 
 parsing, daily translating, cheerfull admonishing, and heedfull amending of 
 faults; never leaving behind just praise for well doing: I would have the 
 Scholar brought up : while he had read and translated over the first book of 
 Cicero's Epistles chosen out by Sturm ; with a good piece of a Comedy of 
 Terence [Terence at that time held a position in Latin Education, which has 
 not since been maintained], /. 28. ' 
 
 B. ANALYSIS. 
 
 As you perceive your scholar to go better and better on away : first, with 
 understanding his lesson more quickly, with passing more readily, with 
 translating more speedily and perfectly than he was wont. 
 
 IV. MA S T E R. a. After, give him longer lessons to translate. 
 
 fo. Begin to teach him, both in NOUNS and VERBS ; what is Proper or Lite- 
 ral^, what is Figurative**, what is Synonymotts, what is Diverse, which 
 be Opposites : and which be the most notable Phrases in all his reading. 
 
 V. LEARNER, a. Your scholar, after he hath done his Double trans- 
 
 lating, let him write in a third Paper Book four of the fore-named six, 
 diligently marked out of every lesson. As 
 
ROGER ASCHAM'S METHOD OF TEACHING LATIN, i r 
 
 (Proper. If there be none 
 
 Figures. of these all / n -/r j TVT 
 
 Synonymes. in some reading \n& ? K*' 
 Different*. yet omit not \ Opposite^ None. 
 
 Oposites. the order ^ > 
 
 ^ Phrases. but write. 
 
 This diligent translating, joined with this heedful marking, in the foresaid 
 Epistles : and afterward in some plain Oration of Tully, as, pro Lege Manilla 
 pro Archaia, Poeta, or in those three Ad Cafum Ceesarem shall work such a 
 right choice of words, so straight a framing of sentences, such a true judge- 
 ment, both to write skilfully and speak witty, as wise men shall both praise 
 and marvel at, pp. 29-31. 
 
 C. READING AND A SECOND KIND OF TRANSLATION. 
 After that your Scholar shall come indeed : first to a ready perfectness in 
 translating, then to a ripe and skilful choice in marking out his six points,/. 87. 
 
 VI. LEARNER, a. I would have him read now, a good deal now at 
 every lecture, these books, p. 88. 
 
 [i.] Some book of Cicero, as the Third Book of Epistles chosen out by 
 Sturm, de Amicit., de Senect. : or the first book Ad Quint, frat. 
 
 [2.] Some Comedy of Terence or Plautus (But in Plautus, skilful choice 
 must be used by the Master to train his scholar to a judgement, in 
 perfecting, and cutting out over old and improper words). 
 
 [3.] Caesar's Commentaries, in which is seen the unspotted propriety of 
 the Latin tongue ; even when it was at its acme. 
 
 [4.] Some Orations of Livy, such as be both longest and plainest, 
 b. He shall not now daily use translation : but only construe again and 
 
 parse where ye suspect is any need. Yet let him not omit in these books, 
 
 marking diligently and writing out orderly his six points. 
 
 VII. MA S T E R. a. For translating, use you yourself, every second and 
 third day, to choose out some Epistle Ad Atticum, some notable com- 
 monplace out of Cicero's Orations, or some other part of Tully, by your 
 discretion : j. hich your Scholar may not know where to find. 
 
 Translate it you yourself into plain natural English, and then give it 
 him to translate into Latin again : allowing him good space and time to 
 do it : both with diligent heed and good advisement. 
 
 Here his wit will be new set on work; his judgment for right choice, 
 truly tried ; his memory for sure retaining, better exercised than by 
 learning anything without the book. And here, how much he hath pro- 
 fited, shall plainly appear. 
 
 VIII. MA S T E R. n. When he bringeth it translated unto you, bring you 
 forth the place of Cicero. Lay them together. Compare the one with 
 the other. Commend his good choice and right placing of words. Show 
 his faults gently, but blame them not over sharply. For of such miss- 
 ings gently a'dmonished of, proceedeth Glad and Good Heed-taking. 
 Of Good Heed-taking, springeth chiefly Knowledge, which after groweth 
 to perfectness : if this Order be diligently used by the Scholar and gently 
 handled by the Master, p. 88. 
 
 D. A THIRD KIND OF TRANSLATION. 
 
 When, by this diligent and speedy reading over those forenamed good 
 books of Cicero, Terence, Caesar, and Livy : and by the second kind oi 
 translating out of your English, time shall breed skill, and use shall bring 
 perfection : then you may try, if you will, your scholar, with the third kind 
 of translation. Although the two first ways, by mine opinion, be not only 
 sufficient of themselves, but also surer both for the Master's teaching and 
 Scholar's learning, than this third way is. Which is this. 
 
 IX. MASTER. Write you in English, some letter, as it were from him 
 to his father or to some other friend ; naturally, according to the disposi- 
 tion of the child : or some tale or fable, or plain narration. But yet use 
 you yourself such discretion for choice therein as the matter may be 
 within the compass, both for words and sentences, of his former learning. 
 
 X. LEARNER. Let him translate it into Latin again, abiding in such 
 place where no other scholar may prompt him. 
 
 And now take heed, lest your Scholar do not better in some point than you 
 yourself: except you have been diligently exercised in these kinds of trans- 
 lating before, pp. 89, 90. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 THE SCHOLE MA S T E R. 
 
 * Editions not seen. 
 
 (a) Issues in tfje Sfatfjor'g lifetime. 
 None. 
 
 (b) Issues since ti;e ^utfjar's foeatfj. 
 I. As a separate publication. 
 
 1. 1570. London, i vol. 4to. Editio princeps. See title on opposite page. 
 It was thus entered at Stationers Hall, early in 1570. 
 
 "Rd. of m r Daye for his lycense for printinge of a boke intituled the 
 
 schole m r of Wynsore made by m r Askecham " iijd. 
 
 Ext. ofRegrs. ofStat. Co. Ed. by J. P. Collier, i. 217. Ed. 1848. 
 
 2. 1571. London. The same title as No. \, from which it differs in spelling 
 i vol. 4to. and punctuation. Neither of these two first editions are to be 
 
 preferred to the other, as regards accuracy in these respects. 
 There are stated to be editions in 4to of ""1572, ^1573, *i579, ^1533; but 
 there are no copies either in the British Museum or the Bodleian; neither 
 does Herbert quote them. 
 
 3. 1589. London. The Scholemaster. . . . As in No. i. At London, 
 i vol. 410. Printed by A B E L L I E F FES, Anno 1589. 
 
 . * . TJien the "work as it ivere goes out of memory for 120 years. 
 
 4. 1711. London. The Scholemaster : or a plain and perfect Way of teach- 
 i vol. 8vo. ing Children to Understand, Write, and speak the Latin 
 
 Tongue Now Corrected, and Revised with an 
 
 Addition of Explanatory Notes, by the Reverend Mr. JAMES 
 UPTON, A.M., Rector of Brimptor. in Somersetshire ; and late 
 Fellow of King's College in Cambridge. 
 5* 1743. London. The Scholemaster : shewing a Plain and Perfect Way 
 
 i vol. 8vo. of Teaching the learned Languages Now revis'd a 
 
 second time, and much improved, by JAMES UPTON, A.M., 
 Rector of Monksilver in Somersetshire > and late Fellow of 
 King's College in Cambridge. [A second Edition of No 4]. 
 
 10. 1863 London. The Scholemaster, by Roger Ascham. Edited with 
 i vol. 8vo. notes by JOHN E. B. MAYOR, M.A., Fellow of St. John's 
 
 College, Cambridge. [This is the best edition that has yet 
 appeared]. A reprint of No. 1 corrected by No. 2. 
 
 12. 10 June 1870. London. English Reprints', see title at/, i. A reprint 
 i vol. 8vo. of No. 1, collated by No. 2, the important variations appear in [ ]. 
 
 II. With other works. 
 
 6* 1771. London. The English Works of Roger Ascham, . . . With 
 i voi. 4to. Notes and Observations, and the Author's Life. By JAMES 
 BENNET, Master of the Boarding-School at Hoddesdon in Hert- 
 fordshire. The Schole Master occupies //. 187-347. [The 
 Dedication, and Life were by Dr. Johnson, who states that 
 Ascham ' was scarcely known as an author in his own language 
 till Mr. Upton published his Scholemaster^ p. xvi]. 
 
 7. N. d. London, t vol. 410. Another impression of No. 6. 
 
 8. 1815. The English Works of Roger Ascham. A new Edition. 
 London. [Only 250 Copies printed. Ed. by J. G. COCHRANE]. Occupy- 
 
 i vol. 8vo. ing//. 183-333 is " The Scholemaster. Corrected and revised 
 with explanatory Notes, by the Rev. JAMES UPTON, A.M.": 
 This is therefore a Reprint of No. 8, 
 9 N. d. i vol. 8vo. A reissue with a new title and without a date of No. 8. 
 
 11. I864- 1 ;. London. The whole works of Roger Ascham. Ed. by Rev. 
 
 Dr. Giles, formerly Fellow of C. C.C. Oxford. The Scholemaster 
 occupies ii-ooo. It is strange that after the appearance of Mr. 
 Mayor's Edition of the previous year, that this edition should 
 be 'a Reprint of 1815, [No. 8, which is itself a Reprint of 1743 
 No. 5J collated with the earlier Editions,' and that it should not 
 have been wholly based on the original editions. 
 
THE 
 
 SCHOLEMASTER 
 
 Orplaine andperfite way of tea- 
 
 chyng children, to vnderftand, write, and 
 fpeake, in Latin tong, but fpecially purpofed 
 for the priuate brynging vp of youth in lentle- 
 men and Noble mens houfes, and commodious 
 a If o for all fuch, as haue forgot the Latin 
 tonge, and would, by themf elites, with- 
 out a Scholemaster, in Jliort tyme, 
 and wit hf mail p aims, recouera 
 fufficient habilite, to vnder- 
 stand, write, and 
 fpeake Latin. 
 
 1 By Roger Afcham. 
 
 IF An. 1570. 
 A T L O N D ON. 
 
 Printed by lohn Daye, dwelling 
 ouer Alderfgate. 
 
 H Cum Gratia et Priuilegio Regicz Maieflatis, 
 
^ To the honorable Sir William 
 
 Cecill Knight, principall Secretarie to 
 the Queries moft excellent Maieftie. 
 
 j Ondry and reaf enable be the caufes why 
 learned men haue vfed to offer and 
 dedicate fuch workes as they put 
 abrode, to fome fuch perfonage as 
 they thinke jitteft, either in refpefl of 
 abilitie of defenfe, orfkill for iuge- 
 ment, or priuate regard of kindeneffe and dutie. Euery 
 one ofthofe confederations, Syr, moue me of right to offer 
 this my late hufbands M. Afchams worke vnto you. For 
 well remembryng how much all good learnyng oweth 
 vnto you for defenfe therof, as the Vniuerfitie of Cam- 
 brige, of which my faid late hufband was a member, 
 haue in chofing you their worthy Chaunceller acknow- 
 ledged, and how happily you haue f pent your time in fuch 
 ftudies and caried the vfe therof to the right ende, to 
 the good feruice of the Qiienes Maieftie and your contrey 
 to all our benefites, thyrdly how much my fayd hufband 
 was many wayes bound vnto you, and how gladly and 
 comfortably he vjed in hys lyfe to recognife and report 
 your goodneffe toward hym, leauyng with me then 
 hys poore widow and a great fort of orphanes a good 
 comfort in the hope of your good continuance, which 
 I haue truly found to me and myne, and therfore do 
 duely and dayly pray for you and yours : I could not 
 
1 6 Preface. 
 
 finde. any man for whofe name this booke was more agre 
 able for hope \pf^\ protection, more mete for fubmifsion to 
 iudgement, nor more due for refpecJ of worthyneffe of your 
 part and thankefulneffe of my hufbandes and myne. 
 Good I trust it Jhall do, as I am put in great hope by 
 many very well learned that can well iudge therof. 
 Mete therefore I compt it that fuch good as my hufband 
 was able to doe and leaue to the common weale, it JJiould 
 be receiued vnder your name, and that the world Jhould 
 owe thanke therof to you, to whom my hufband the 
 authour of it was for good receyued of you, mojl dutiefully 
 bounden. And fo befechyng you, to take on you the de- 
 fen fe of this booke, to auaunce the good that may come of 
 it by your allowance and furtherance to publike vfe and 
 benefite, and to accept the thankefull recognition of me and 
 my poor e children, truflyng of the continuance of your 
 good memorie 0/"M. Afcham and his, and dayly 
 commendyng the prof per ous estate of you 
 and yours to God whom you ferue 
 and whoes you are, I reji 
 to trouble you. 
 
 Your humble Margaret 
 Afcham. 
 
A Prczface to the 
 
 Reader. 
 
 | Hen the great plage was at Lon- 
 don, the yeare 1563. the Quenes 
 Maieftie Queene Elizabeth, lay at 
 herCaftle of Windfore: Where, vpon 
 the 10. day of December, it for tuned, 
 that in Sir William Cicells chamber, 
 hir Highneffe Principall Secretarie, 
 there dined togither thefe perfon- 
 ages, M. Secretarie him felfe, Syr William Ptter, Syr 
 y. Mafon, D. Wotton, Syr Richard Sackuille Treafurer 
 of the Exchecker, Syr Walter Mildmaye Chauncellor 
 of the Exchecker, M. Haddon Mafler of Requefles, 
 M.Jb/in Astley Mafler of the lewell houfe, M. Bernard 
 Hampton, M. Nicafius, and J. Of which number, the 
 mofl part were of hir Maieflies mofl honourable priuie 
 Counfell, and the reafl feruing hir in verie good place. 
 I was glad than, and do reioice yet to remember, that 
 my chance was fo happie, to be there that day, in the 
 companie of fo manie wife and good men togither, as 
 hardly than could haue beene pi[c]ked out againe, out 
 of all England befide. 
 
 M. Secretarie hath this accuftomed maner, though 
 his head be neuer fo full of mofl weightie affaires of 
 the Realme, yet, at diner time he doth feeme to lay 
 them alwaies afide : and findeth euer fitte occafion to 
 taulke pleafantlie of other matters, but mofl gladlie of 
 fome matter of learning : wherein, he will curteflie 
 heare the minde of the meanefl at his Table. 
 
 Not long after our fitting doune, I haue flrange 
 B 
 
!S A P reef ace to the Reader. 
 
 newes brought me, fayth M. Secretarie, this morning, 
 M. Secreta- that diuerfe Scholars of Eaton, be runne 
 ri'e. awaie from the Schole, for feare of beat- 
 
 ing. Whereupon, M. Secretarie tooke occafion, to 
 wifhe, that fome more difcretion were in many 
 Scholemailers, in vfmg correction, than commonlie 
 there is. Who many times, punifhe rather, the weake- 
 nes of nature, than the fault of the Scholer. Whereby, 
 many Scholers, that might elfe proue well, be driuen 
 to hate learning, before they knowe, what teaming 
 meaneth : and fo, are made willing to forfake their 
 booke, and be glad to be put to any other kinde of 
 liuing. 
 
 M. Peter. M. Peter^ as one fomewhat feuere of 
 
 nature, faid plainlie, that the Rodde onelie, was the 
 fworde, that mufl keepe, the Schole in obedience, and 
 M. Wotton. the Scholer in good order. M. Wotton, a 
 man milde of nature, with loft voice, and fewe wordes, 
 inclined to M. Secretaries Judgement, and faid, in mine 
 Ludusii- opinion, the Scholehoufe fhould be in 
 terarum. decde, as it is called by name, the houfe of 
 
 playe and pleafure, and not of feare and bondage: 
 Plato de an( ^ as I do remember, fo faith Socrates in 
 Rep. 7- one place of Plato. And therefore, if a 
 
 Rodde carie the feare of a'Sworde, it is no maruell, if 
 thofe that be fearefull of nature, chofe rather to for- 
 fake the Plaie, than to fland alwaies within the feare 
 of a Sworde in a fonde mans handling. M. 
 M. Mason. Mofon, after his maner, was verie merie 
 with both parties, pleafantlie playing, both, with the 
 ihrewde touches of many courfte boyes, and with the 
 fmall difcretion of many leude Scholemaflers. M. 
 M. Haddon. Hciddon was fulKe of M. Peters opinion, 
 and faid, that the beft Scholemafler of our time, was 
 the greateft beater, and named the Perfon. Though, 
 The Author of q u th ]> ^ was m ' s 8 ood fortune, to fend 
 this booke. from his Schole, vnto the Vniuerfitie, one 
 of the befl Scholers in deede of all our time, yet wife 
 men do thinke, that that came fo to pafle, rather, by 
 
A P reef ace to the Reader. T9 
 
 the great towardnes of the Scholer, than by the great 
 beating of the Matter : and whether this be true or no, 
 you your felfe are befl witnes. I faid fomewhat farder 
 in the matter, how, and whie, yong children, were foner 
 allured by loue, than driuen by beating, to atteyne 
 good learning : wherein I was the bolder to fay my 
 minde, bicaufe M. Secretarie curteflie prouoked me 
 thereunto : or elfe, in fuch a companie, and namelie 
 in his prsefence, my wonte is, to be more willing, to 
 vfe mine eares, than to occupie my tonge. 
 
 Syr Walter Mildmaye, M. Astley, and the reft, faid 
 verie litle : onelie Syr Rich. Sackuill, faid nothing at 
 all. After dinner I went vp to read with the Queenes 
 Maieftie. We red than togither in the Greke tonge, 
 as I well remember, that noble Oration D e most 
 of Demosthenes againft ALfchines, for his we/rt Tra- 
 falfe dealing in his Ambalfage to king pwpcffp. 
 Philip of Macedonie. Syr Rich. Sackuile came vp 
 fone after : and finding me in hir Male- s y r /- y 
 ilies priuie chamber, he tooke me by communication 
 the hand, and carving me to a windoe, ^ lth ^ e ,^ u " 
 
 .,.,_-'... Til / 1 t " 1 " * l " 1S 
 
 laid, M. Afcnam y I would not for a good booke. 
 deale of monie, haue bene, this daie, abfent from 
 diner. Where, though I faid nothing, yet I gaue as 
 good eare, and do confider as well the taulke, that 
 palled, as any one did there. M. Secretarie faid very 
 wifely, and moft truely, that many yong wittes be 
 driuen to hate learninge, before they know what 
 learninge is. I can be good witnes to this my felfe : 
 For a fond Scholemafter, before I was fullie fourtene 
 yeare olde, draue me fo, with feare of beating, from 
 all loue of learninge, as nowe, when I know, what 
 difference it is, to haue learninge, and to haue litle, or 
 none at all, I feele it my greateft greife, and finde it 
 my greateft hurte, that euer came to me, that it was my 
 fo ill chance, to light vpon fo lewde a Scholemafter. 
 But feing it is but in vain, to lament thinges pafte, and 
 alfo wifdome to looke to thinges to cum, furely, God 
 willinge, if God lend me life, I will make this my mif- 
 
20 A Prceface to the Reader. 
 
 hap, fome occafion of good hap, to litle Robert Sack- 
 uile my fonnes fonne. For whofe bringinge vp, I 
 would gladlie, if it fo pleafe you, vfe fpeciallie your 
 good aduice. I heare faie, you haue a fonne, moch 
 of his age : we wil deale thus togither. Point you out 
 a Scholemafter, who by your order, fhall teache my 
 fonne and yours, and for all the reft, I will prouide, 
 yea though they three do cofl me a couple of hundred 
 poundes by yeare : and befide, you mail finde me as 
 fafl a Frend to you and yours, as perchance any you 
 haue. Which promife, the worthie lentleman furelie 
 kept with me, vntill his dying daye. 
 
 We had than farther taulke togither. of 
 
 The cheife ... r . ., . / i r 
 
 pointes of bringing vp of children : of the nature, of 
 this booke. quicke, and hard wittes : of the right choice 
 of a good witte : of Feare, and loue in teachinge 
 children. We paffed from children and came to yonge 
 men, namely, lentlemen : we taulked of their to moch 
 libertie, to Hue as they lufl : of their letting loufe to 
 fone, to ouermoch experience of ill, contrarie to the 
 good order of many good olde common welthes of the 
 Perfians and Grekes : of witte gathered, and good 
 fortune gotten, by fome, onely by experience, without 
 learning. And lafllie, he required of me verie earnefl- 
 lie, to fhewe, what I thought of the common goinge 
 of Englifhe men into Italic. But, fayth he, bicaufe this 
 place, and this tyme, will not fuffer fo long taulke, as 
 thefe good matters require, therefore I pray you, at 
 my requefl, and at your leyfure, put in fome order of 
 writing, the cheife pointes of this our taulke, concern- 
 ing, the right order of teachinge, and honeflie of 
 liuing, for the good bringing vp of children and yong 
 men. And furelie, befide contentinge me, you fhall 
 both pleafe and profit verie many others. I made 
 fome excufe by lacke of habilitie, and weakenes of 
 bodie : well, fayth he, I am not now to learn e, what 
 you can do. Our deare frende, good M. Goodricke, 
 whofe Judgement I could well beleue, did once for 
 all, fatiffye me fullie therein. Againe, I heard you 
 
A P reef ace to the Reader. 2 i 
 
 fay, not long agoe, that you may thanke Syr John 
 Cheke, for all the learninge you haue : And I know 
 verie well my felfe, that you did teach the Quene. 
 And therefore feing God did fo bleffe you, to make you 
 the Scholer of the beft Matter, and alfo the Schole- 
 mafter of the beft Scholer, that euer were in our tyme, 
 furelie, you mould pleafe God, benefite your countrie, 
 and honeft your owne name, if you would take the 
 paines, to impart to others, what you learned of foch 
 a Mafter, and how ye taught fuch a fcholer. And, in 
 vttering the ftuffe ye receiued of the one, in declaring 
 the order ye tooke with the other, ye mall neuer lacke, 
 neither matter, nor maner, what to write, nor how to 
 write in this kinde of Argument. 
 
 I beginning fome farther excufe, fodeinlie was called 
 to cum to the Queene. The night following, I flepl 
 litle, my head was fo full of this our former taulke, 
 and I fo mindefull, fomewhat to fatiffie the honeft re- 
 queft of fo deare a frend. I thought to prepare fome 
 litle treatife for a New yeares gift that Chriftmas. But, 
 as it chanceth to bufie builders, fo, in building thys 
 my poore Scholehoufe (the rather bicaufe the forme 
 of it is fomewhat new, and differing from others) the 
 worke rofe dailie higher and wider, than I thought it 
 would at the begin ninge. 
 
 And though it appeare now, and be in verie deede, 
 but a fmall cotage, poore for the ftuffe, and rude for 
 the workemanfhip, yet in going forward, I found the 
 fite fo good, as I was lothe to giue it ouer, but the 
 making fo coftlie, outreaching my habilitie, as many 
 tymes I wifhed, that fome one of thofe three, my deare 
 frendes, with full purffes, Syr Tho. Smithe, M. Haddon, 
 or M. Watfon, had had the doing of it. (Smith. 
 Yet, neuerthelefle, I my felfe, fpending *{** 
 gladlie that litle, that I gatte at home by Syr /. cheke. 
 good Syr John Cheke, and that that I bor- i- sturminus. 
 rowed abroad of my frend Sturmius, befide P J-siotie 
 fomewhat that was left me in Reuerfion acero. 
 by my olde Mafters, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, 
 
22 A Prceface to the Reader. 
 
 I haue at laft patched it vp, as I could, and as you 
 fee. If the matter be meane, and meanly handled, I 
 pray you beare, both with me, and it : for neuer worke 
 went vp in worfe wether, with mo lettes and floppes, 
 than this poore Scholehoufe of mine. Weftminfter 
 Hall can beare fome witneffe, befide moch weakenes 
 of bodie, but more trouble of minde, by fome foch 
 fores, as greue me to toche them my ielfe, and there- 
 fore I purpofe not to open them to others. And, in 
 middes of outward iniuries, and inward cares, to en- 
 Syr JP. creafe them withall, good Syr Rich. Sack- 
 
 sackuitt. uiie dieth, that worthie lentleman : That 
 earned fauorer and furtherer of Gods true Religion : 
 That faithfull Seruitor to his Prince and^Countrie : A 
 louer of learning, and all learned men : Wife in all 
 doinges : Curteffe to all perfons : mewing fpite to 
 none : doing good to many : and as I well found, to 
 me fo faft a frend, as I neuer loft the like before. 
 Whan he was gone, my hart was dead. There was 
 not one, that woare a, blacke gowne for him, who 
 caried a heuier hart for him, than I. Whan he was 
 gone, I caft this booke awaie : I could not looke vpon 
 it, but with weping eyes, in remembring him, who was 
 the onelie fetter on, to do it, and would haue bene, 
 not onelie a glad commender of it, but alfo a fure and 
 certaine comfort, to me and mine, for it. Almoft two 
 yeares togither, this booke lay fcattered, and negledled, 
 and had bene quite giuen ouer of me, if the goodneffe 
 of one had not giuen me fome life and fpirite againe. 
 God, the mouer of goodneffe, profper alwaies him and 
 his, as he hath many times comforted me and mine, 
 and, I truft to God, fhall comfort more and more. Of 
 whom, moft iuftlie I may faie, and verie oft, and al- 
 waies gladlie, I am wont to fay, that fweete verfe of 
 Sophocles, fpoken by Oedipus to worthie Thefeus. 
 
 0ed h Col. *X W > [r^p a ] x> 8ict ere, KOVK aAAov /J/oorwi/. 
 
 Thys hope hath helped me to end this booke : which, 
 if he allowe, I (hall thinke my labours well imployed, 
 
A Prceface to the Reader. 23 
 
 and fhall not moch aefteme the mifliking of any others. 
 And I truft, he (hall thinke the better of it, bicaufe he 
 fhall finde the beft part thereof, to cum out of his 
 Schole, whom he, of all men loued and liked beft. 
 
 Yet fome men, frendly enough of nature, but of 
 fmall iudgement in learninge, do thinke, I take to 
 moch paines, and fpend to moch time, in fettinge 
 forth thefe childrens affaires. But thofe pi a to in initio 
 good men were neuer brought vp in So- T , hea p s ^ 
 crates Schole, who faith plainlie, that no ^"0 
 man goeth about a more godlie purpofe, 0aor<?/?ov 
 than he that is mindfull of the good bring- &v8pwiros to 
 ing vp, both of hys owne. and other mens 
 children. I 
 
 Therfore, I truft, good and wife men, T 
 will thinke well of this my doing. And of KO.I T&V 
 other, that thinke otherwife, I will thinke l lwv. 
 my felfe, they are but men, to be pardoned for their 
 follie, and pitied for their ignoraunce. 
 
 In writing this booke, I haue had earneft refpecfte 
 to three fpeciall pointes, trothe of Religion, honeftie 
 in liuing, right order in learning. In which three 
 waies, I praie God, my poore children may diligently 
 waulke : for whofe fake, as nature would, and reafon 
 required, and neceflitie alfo fomewhat compelled, I 
 was the willinger to take thefe paines. 
 
 For, feing at my death, I am not like to leaue them 
 any great ftore of liuing, therefore in my life time, I 
 thought good to bequeath vnto them, in this litle 
 booke, as in my Will and Teftament, the right waie 
 to good learning : which if they followe, with the feare 
 of God, they fhall verie well cum to fufficiencie of 
 liuinge. 
 
 I wifhe alfo, with all my hart, that yong M. Rob. 
 Sackuille, may take that fructe of this labor, that his 
 worthie Grauntfather purpofed he fhould haue done : 
 And if any other do take, either proffet, or pleafure 
 hereby, they haue caufe to thanke M. Robert Sackuille, 
 for whom fpeciallie this my Scholemafter was prouided. 
 
24 ^4 Prceface to the Reader. 
 
 And one thing I would haue the Reader confider 
 in readinge this booke, that bicaufe, no Scholemafter 
 hath charge of any childe, before he enter into hys 
 Schole, therefore I leaning all former care, 'of their 
 good bringing vp, to wife and good Parentes, as a 
 matter not belonging to the Scholemafter, I do appoynt 
 thys my Scholemafter, than, and there to begin, where 
 his office and charge beginneth. Which charge lafteth 
 not long, but vntill the Scholer be made hable to go 
 to the Vniuerfitie, to precede in Logike, Rhetoricke, 
 and other kindes of learning. 
 
 Yet if my Scholemafter, for loue he beareth to hys 
 
 Scholer, fhall teach hym fomewhat for hys furtherance, 
 
 and better iudgement in learning, that may ferue 
 
 him feuen yeare after in the Vniuerfitie, he 
 
 doth hys Scholer no more wrong, nor de- 
 
 ferueth no worfe name thereby, than he 
 
 doth in London, who fellinge filke 
 
 or cloth vnto his frend, doth 
 
 giue him better meafure, 
 
 than either hys pro- 
 
 mife or bargaine 
 
 was. 
 
 farewell in Christ* 
 
The firjl booke for the youth. 
 
 j|Fter the childe hath learned per- 
 fitlie the eight partes of fpeach, let 
 him then learne the right ioyning 
 togither of fubftantiues with adiec- 
 tiues, the nowne with the verbe, 
 the relatiue with the antecedent. 
 And in learninge farther hys Syn- 
 taxis, by mine aduice, he mall not 
 vfe the common order in common fcholes, for making 
 of latines : wherby, the childe commonlie learneth, 
 firtt, an euill choice of wordes, (and right etc. de 
 choice of wordes, faith Ccefar, is the cia. or. 
 foundation of eloquence) than, a wrong placing of 
 wordes: and lafllie, an ill framing of the fentence, 
 with a peruerfe iudgement, both of wordes and fen- 
 tences. Thefe faultes, taking once roote in yougthe, 
 be neuer, or hardlie, pluckt away in age. MakingofLat . 
 Moreouer, there is no one thing, that hath tines marreth 
 more, either dulled the wittes, or taken children - 
 awaye the will of children from learning, then the care 
 they haue, to fatiffie their maflers, in making of latines. 
 
 For, the fcholer, is commonlie beat for the making, 
 when the matter were more worthie to be beat for the 
 mending, or rather, marring of the fame : The matter 
 many times, being as ignorant as the childe, what to 
 faie properlie and fitlie to the matter. 
 
 Two fcholematters haue fet forth in print, either of 
 them a booke, of foch kinde of latines, Herman 
 Horman and Whittington. whittington. 
 
 A childe mail learne of the better of them, that, 
 which an other daie, if he be wife, and cum to iudge- 
 ment, he mutt be faine to vnlearne againe. 
 
26 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 There is a waie, touched in the firfl booke of 
 i De Or. Cicero De Oratore, which, wifelie brought 
 
 into fcholes, truely taught, and conftantly vfed, would 
 not onely take wholly away this butcherlie feare in 
 making of latines, but would alfo, with eafe and plea- 
 fure, and in fhort time, as I know by good experience, 
 worke a true choice and placing of wordes, a right 
 ordering of fentences, an eafie vnderflandyng of the 
 tonge, a readines to fpeake, a facultie to write, a true 
 iudgement, both of his owne, and other mens doinges, 
 what tonge fo euer he doth vfe. 
 
 The waie is this. After the three Concordances 
 learned, as I touched before, let the mailer read vnto 
 hym the Epiftles of Cicero, gathered togither and 
 chofen out by Sturmius, for the capacitie of children. 
 
 Firfl, let him teach the childe, cherefullie and plainlie, 
 The order of tne caufe, and matter of the letter : then, let 
 teaching. him conflrue it into Englifhe, fo oft, as the 
 childe may eafilie carie awaie the vnderflanding of it : 
 Lafllie, parfe it ouer perfitlie. This done thus, let 
 the childe, by and by, both conflrue and parfe it 
 ouer againe: fo, that it may appeare, that the childe 
 douteth in nothing, that his mafler taught him be- 
 fore. After this, the childe mufl take a paper booke, 
 and fitting in fome place, where no man mail prompe 
 him, by him felf, let him tranflate into Englifhe his 
 TWO paper former leffon. Then mewing it to his 
 bokes. mafler, let the mafler take from him his 
 
 latin booke, and paufing an houre, at the leafl, than 
 let the childe tranflate his owne Englifhe into latin 
 againe, in an other paper booke. When the childe 
 bringeth it, turned into latin, the mafler mufl compare 
 it with Tullies booke, and laie them both togither : and 
 where the childe doth well, either in chofing, or true 
 Children learne placing of Tullies wordes, let the mafler 
 by prayse. praife him, and faie here ye do well. For I 
 affure you, there is no fuch whetflone, to fharpen a good 
 witte and encourage a will to learninge, as is praife. 
 
 But if the childe miffe, either in forgetting a worde, 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 27 
 
 or in chaunging a good with a worfe, or mifordering 
 the fentence, I would not haue the mailer, either 
 froune, or chide with him, if the childe haue done his 
 diligence, and vfed no trewandfhip therein. For I 
 know by good experience, that a childe mall take more 
 profit of two fautes, ientlie warned of, then i en tieness in 
 of foure thinges, rightly hitt. For than, teaching. 
 the mailer mall haue good occafion to faie vnto him. 
 N. Tullie would haue vfed fuch a worde, not this : 
 Tullie would haue placed this word here, not there : 
 would haue vfed this cafe, this number, this perfon, 
 this degree, this gender : he would haue vfed this 
 moode, this tens, this fimple, rather than this com- 
 pound : this aduerbe here, not there : he would haue 
 ended the fentence with this verbe, not with that 
 nowne or participle, etc. 
 
 In thefe fewe lines, I haue wrapped vp, the moil 
 tedious part of Grammer: and alfo the ground of 
 almoil all the Rewles, that are fo bufilie taught by 
 the Mailer, and fo hardlie learned by the Scholer, in 
 all common Scholes : which after this fort, the mailer 
 ihall teach without all error, and the fcholer mall 
 learne without great paine : the mailer being led by 
 fo fure a guide, and the fcholer being brought into fo 
 plaine and eafie a waie. And therefore, we do not 
 contemne Rewles, but we gladlie teach Rewles : and 
 teach them, more plainlie, fenfiblie, and orderlie, than 
 they be commonlie taught in common Scholes. For 
 whan the Mailer ihall compare Tullies booke with his 
 [the] Scholers tranflation, let the Mailer, at the firfl, 
 lead and teach his Scholer, to ioyne the Rewles of his 
 Grammer booke, with the examples of his prefent 
 leffon, vntill the Scholer, by him felfe, 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 alfo vfed of him, as a Dictionarie, 
 for euerie prefent vfe. This is a liuely and perfite 
 waie of teaching of Rewles : where the common waie, 
 vfed in common Scholes, to read the Grammer alone 
 
28 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 by it felfe, is tedious for the Matter, hard for the 
 Scholer, colde and vncumfortable for them bothe. 
 
 Let your Scholer be neuer afraide, to alke you any 
 dou[b]t, but vfe difcretlie the beft allurements ye can, 
 to encorage him to the fame : left, his ouermoch hear- 
 inge of you, driue him to feeke fome miforderlie mifte : 
 as, to feeke to be helped by fome other booke, or 
 to be prompted by fome other Scholer, and fo goe 
 aboute to beg[u]ile you moch, and him felfe more. 
 
 With this waie, of good vnderttanding the ma[t]ter, 
 plain e conttruinge, diligent parfinge, dailie tranflat- 
 inge, cherefull admoniminge, and heedefull amendinge 
 of faultes : neuer leauinge behinde iutte praife for 
 well doinge, I would haue the Scholer brought vp 
 withall, till he had red, and tranflated ouer ye firtt booke 
 of Epittles chofen out by Sturmius, with a good peece 
 of a Comedie of Terence alfo. 
 
 All this while, by mine aduife, the childe mall vfe 
 to fpeake no latine : For, as Cicero faith in like matter, 
 Latin speak- w ^ tn ^^ e wordes, loquendo, male loqui 
 yng. difcunt. And, that excellent learned man, 
 
 G. Budxus. Q u ja u ^ j n his Greeke Commentaries, 
 fore complaineth, that whan he began to learne the 
 latin tonge, vfe of fpeaking latin at the table, and elfe- 
 where, vnaduifedlie, did bring him to foch an euill 
 choice of wordes, to foch a crooked framing of fen- 
 tences, that no one thing did hurt or hinder him more, 
 all the daies of his life afterward, both for redineffe in 
 fpeaking, and alfo good iudgement in writinge. 
 
 In very deede, if children were brought vp, in foch 
 a houfe, or foch a Schole, where the latin tonge were 
 properlie and perfitlie fpoken, as Tib. and Ca. Gracci 
 were brought vp, in their mother Cornelias houfe, 
 furelie, than the dailie vfe of fpeaking, were the befl 
 and readiett waie, to learne the latin tong. But now, 
 commonlie, in the bett Scholes in England, for wordes, 
 right choice is fmallie regarded, true proprietrie whollie 
 neglected, confufion is brought in, barbarioumeffe is 
 bred up fo in yong wittes, as afterward they be, not 
 onelie marde for fpeaking, but alfo corrupted in iudge- 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 29 
 
 ment: as with moch adoe, or neuer at all, they be 
 brought to right frame againe. 
 
 Yetallmen couet to haue their children fpeake latin : 
 and fo do I verie earneftlie too. We bothe, haue one 
 purpofe : we agree in defire, we wifh one end : but we 
 differ fomewhat in order and waie, that leadeth rightlie 
 to that end. Other would haue them fpeake at all 
 aduentures : and, fo they be fpeakinge^ to fpeake^the 
 Mailer careth_not 3 the Schole^Jknoweth^nqt^ what. 
 This is, to feeme, and not to bee : except it be, to be 
 bolde without fhame, rafhe without (kill, full of wordes 
 without witte. I wifh to haue them fpeake fo, as it 
 may well appeare, that the braine doth gouerne the 
 tonge, and that reafon leadeth forth the taulke. So- 
 crates doctrine is true in Plato, and well piato. 
 marked, and truely by Horace in Arte Herat. 
 Poetica, that, where fo euer knowledge doth accom- 
 panie the witte, there bell vtterance doth alwaies awaite 
 vpon the tonge: For, good vnderflanding mufl firft 
 be bred in the childe, which, being nurifhed , 
 
 i rt -n i r r , / T ii ^ i Much wntyilg 
 
 with fkill, and vfe of writing (as I will teach breedeth ready 
 more largelie hereafter) is the onelie waie s P eak y n s- 
 to bring him to Judgement and readineffe in fpeakinge: 
 and that in farre fhorter time (if he followe conflantlie 
 the trade of this lit[t]le leffon) then he (hall do, by 
 common teachinge of the common fcholes in England. 
 But, to go forward, as you perceiue, your fcholer to 
 goe better and better on awaie, firft, with vnderftand- 
 ing his leifon more quicklie, with parfing more readelie, 
 with tranflating more fpedelie and perfitlie then he 
 was wonte, after, giue him longer leffons to tranflate : 
 and withall, begin to teach him, both in nownes, and 
 verbes, what is Proprium, and what is 
 Tranjlatum, what Synonymum, what Di- ^ree'and 
 uerfum, which be Contraria, and which be order in 
 moft notable Phrafes in all his leclure. 
 
 As: 
 
 D , . f Rex Sepultus est 
 
 Propnum. < .j* 
 
 * \ magnifice. 
 
The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 ( Cum illo principe^ 
 Tranflatum. < fepulta est et gloria 
 
 ( et Salus R$j\public(R. 
 
 Synonyma. 
 
 Diuerfa. 
 
 Contraria. 
 
 Phrafes. 
 
 {En/is, Gladius. 
 Laudare, prczdicare. 
 
 ( Diligere, Amare. 
 < Calere, Exardefcere 
 ( Inimicus, Hostis. 
 
 f Acerbum et luftuofum 
 
 bellum. 
 
 ( Dulds et fata 
 Pax. 
 
 ( Dare verba. 
 
 \ abjicere obedientiam. 
 
 Your fcholer then, muft haue the third paper booke : 
 The thyrd i n the which, after he hath done his double 
 paper boke. tranflation, let him write, after this fort 
 foure of thefe forenamed fixe, diligentlie marked out 
 of euerie leffon. 
 
 Quatuor. 
 
 Propria. 
 
 Tranflata. 
 
 Synonyma. 
 
 Diuerfa. 
 
 Contraria. 
 
 Phrafes. 
 
 Or elfe, three, or two, if there be no moe : and if 
 there be none of thefe at all in fome lecture, yet not 
 omitte the order, but write thefe. 
 
 f Diuerfa nulla. 
 
 \ Contraria nulla. etc. 
 
 This diligent tranflating, ioyned with this heedefull 
 marking, in the forefaid Epiflles, and afterwarde in 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 3 i 
 
 lome plaine Oration of Tullie, as, pro lege Manil : pro 
 Archia Poeta, or in thofe three ad. C. Caf\ fhall worke 
 foch a right choife of wordes, fo flreight a framing of 
 fentences, foch a true Judgement, both to write fkil- 
 fullie, and fpeake wittlelie, as wife men fhall both 
 praife, and maruell at. 
 
 If your fcholer do miffe fometimes, in marking 
 rightlie thefe forefaid fixe thinges, chide not haflelie : 
 for that fhall, both dull his witte, and dif- i en tienes in 
 corage his diligence : but monifh him gen- teaching, 
 telie : which fhall make him, both willing to amende, 
 and glad to go forward in loue and hope of learning. 
 
 I haue now wifhed, twife or thrife, this gentle nature, 
 to be in a Scholemafler : And, that I haue done fo, 
 neither by chance, nor without fome reafon, I will 
 now declare at large, why, in mine opinion, Loue. 
 loue is fitter then feare, ientienes better Feare. 
 then beating, to bring vp a childe rightlie in learninge. 
 
 With the common vfe of teaching and beating in com- 
 mon fcholes of England, I will not greatlie Common 
 contend : which if I did, it were but a fmall Scholes - 
 grammaticall controuerfie, neither belonging to herefie 
 nor treafon, 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 ferue to the 
 good or ill feruice, of God, our Prince, and our whole 
 countrie, as any one thing doth befide. 
 
 I do gladlie agree with all good Scholemaflers in 
 thefe pointes : to haue children brought to good per- 
 fitnes in learning : to all honeflie in maners : to haue 
 all fau[l]tes rightlie amended : to haue euerie vice feue- 
 relie corrected : but for the order and waie that lead- 
 eth rightlie to thefe pointes, we fomewhat differ. For 
 commonlie, many fcholemaflers, fome, as sharpe 
 I haue feen, moe, as I haue heard tell, Schoiem 
 be of fo crooked a nature, as, when they meete 
 with a hard witted fcholer, they rather breake him, 
 than bowe him, rather marre him, then mend him. 
 For whan the fcholemafter is angrie with fome other 
 
32 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 matter, then will he foneft faul to beate his fcholer : 
 and though he him felfe mould be punifhed for his 
 folie, yet muft he beate fome fcholer for his pleafure : 
 though there be no caufe for him to do fo, nor yet 
 fault in the fcholer to deferue fo. Thefe ye will fay, 
 be fond fcholemailers, and fewe they be, that be found 
 to be foch. They be fond in deede, but furelie ouer- 
 many foch be found euerie where. But this will I 
 Nature fay, that euen the wifeft of your great 
 
 punished. beaters, do as oft punifhe nature, as they 
 do correcte faultes. Xga, many times, the better na- 
 ture, is forer punifhed : For, if one^ by qufcTuies~ oi 
 witte, take his lefibn readelie, an other, by hardnes of 
 witte, taketh it not fo fpeedelie : the firft is alwaies 
 commended, the other is commonlie punifhed : whan 
 a wife fcholemafler, mould rather difcretelie confider 
 the right difpofition of both their natures, and not 
 fo moch wey what either of them is able to do now, 
 Quicke wittes as what either of them is likelie to do 
 foriearnyng. hereafter. For this I know, not onelie 
 by reading of bookes in my ftudie, but alfo by 
 experience of life, abrode in the world, that thofe, 
 which be commonlie the wifeft, the beft learned, and 
 beft men alfo, when they be olde, were neuer com- 
 monlie the quickeft of witte, when they were yonge. 
 The caufes why, amongeft other, which be many, that 
 moue me thus to thinke, be thefe fewe, which I will 
 recken. Quicke wittes commonlie, be apte to take, 
 vnapte to keepe : foone hote and defirous of this and 
 that: as colde and fone wery of the fame againe : 
 more quicke to enter fpedelie, than hable to pearfe 
 farre: euen like ouer fharpe tooles, whofe edges be 
 verie foone turned. Soch wittes delite them felues in 
 eafie and pleafant ftudies, and neuer paffe farre for- 
 ward in hie and hard fciences. And therefore the quick- 
 eft wittes commonlie may proue the beft Poetes, but 
 not the wifeft Orators : readie of tonge to fpeak bold- 
 Quicke wittes, He, not deepc of Judgement, either for good 
 formers and counfell or wife ^fog. Alfo, for maneis 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 33 
 
 and life, quicke wittes commonlie, be, in defire, 
 newfangle[d], in purpofe, vnconflant. light to promife 
 any thing, readie to forget euery thing: both bene- 
 fite and iniurie : and therby neither fail to frend, nor 
 fearefull to foe : inquifitiue of euery trifle, not fecret in 
 greatefl affaires : bolde, with any perfon : bufie, in euery 
 matter : fo[o]thing, foch as be prefent : nipping any that 
 is abfent : of nature alfo, alwaies, flattering their betters, 
 enuyirig their equals, defpifmg their inferiors : and, by 
 quicknes of witte, verie quicke and readie, to like 
 none fo well as them felues. 
 
 Moreouer commonlie, men, very quicke of witte, be 
 alfo, verie light of conditions : and thereby, very readie 
 of difpofition, to be caried ouer quicklie, by any light 
 cumpanie, to any riot and vnthriftines when they be 
 yonge : and therfore feldome, either honefl of life, or 
 riche in lining, when they be olde. For, quicke in 
 witte, and light in maners, be, either feldome troubled, 
 or verie fone we[e]ry, in carying a verie heuie purfe. 
 Quicke wittes alfo be, in mofl part of all their doinges, 
 ouer quicke, haflie, rafhe, headie, and brainficke. 
 Thefe two laft wordes, Headie, and Brainficke, be 
 fitte and proper wordes, rifmg naturallie of the matter, 
 and tearmed aptlie by the condition, of ouer moch 
 quickenes of witte. In yoygthe alfo they be, readie 
 fcoffers, priuie mockers, and euer ouer light and mer[r]y. 
 In aige, fone teflie, very wafpifhe, and alwaies ouer 
 miferable : and yet fewe of them cum to any great 
 aige, by reafon of their mifordered life when they were 
 yong : but a greate deale fewer of them cum to fhewe 
 any great countenance, or beare any great authoritie 
 abrode in the world, but either liue obfcurelie, men 
 know not how, or dye obfcurelie, men marke not whan. 
 They be like trees, that fhewe forth, faire blofibms and 
 broad leaues in fpring time, but bring out fmall and 
 not long lafling fruite in haruefl time : and that onelie 
 foch, as fall, and rotte, before they be ripe, and fo, 
 neuer, or leldome, cum to any good at all. For this 
 ye mall finde mod true by experience, that amongefl a 
 
34 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 number of quicke wittes in youthe, fewe be found, in 
 the end, either verie fortunate for them felues, or verie 
 profitable to ferue the common wealth, but decay and 
 vanifh, men know not which way : except a very 
 fewe, to whom peraduenture blood and happie paren- 
 tage, may perchance purchace a long (landing vpon 
 the flage. The which felicitie, becaufe it commeth 
 by others procuring, not by their owne deferuinge, and 
 Hand by other mens feete, and not by their own, what 
 owtward brag fo euer is borne by them, is in deed, of 
 it felfe, and in wife mens eyes, of no great eftimation. 
 
 Some wittes, moderate enough by nature, be many 
 Som sciences tymes marde by ouer moch fludie and vfe 
 andmaTmrn? of fome fciences, namelie, Muficke, Arith- 
 manors. metick, and Geometrie. Thies fciences, 
 
 as they fharpen mens wittes ouer moch, fo they change 
 mens maners ouer fore, if they be not moderatlie 
 mingled, and wifelie applied to fom good vfe of life. 
 Mathematicaii Marke all Mathematicall heades, which be 
 heades. onely and wholy bent to thofe fciences, 
 
 how folitarie they be themfelues, how vnfit to liue with 
 others, and how vnapte to ferue in the world. This 
 is not onelie knowen now by common experience, but 
 vttered long before by wife mens Judgement and fen- 
 Gaien. tencc. Gtil&U faith, moch Mufick mar- 
 
 Plato. reth mens maners : and Plato hath a not- 
 
 able place of the fame thing in his bookes de Rep. 
 well marked alfo, and excellentlie tranflated by Tullie 
 himfelf. Of this matter, I wrote once more at large, 
 xx. yeare a go, in my booke of fhoting : now I thought 
 but to touch it, to proue, that ouer moch quicknes of 
 witte, either giuen by nature, or iharpened by fludie, 
 doth not commonlie bring forth, eyther greatefl learn- 
 ing, bed maners, or happiefl life in the end. 
 
 Contrariewife, a witte in youth, that is not ouer 
 Hard wits m dulle, heauie, knottie and lumpiihe, but 
 learning. hard, rough, and though iomwhat ftaffiftie, 
 
 as Tullie wifheth otium, quietum, non languidum : and 
 negotium cum labore, non cum periculo^ fuch a witte I 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 3S 
 
 fay, if it be, at the firfl well handled by the mother, 
 and rightlie fmo[o]thed and wrought as it fhould, not 
 ouer[t]whartlie, and againfl the wood, by the fchole- 
 mafler, both for learning, and hole courfe of Huing, 
 proueth alvvaies the bed. In woode and Hone, not 
 the foftefl, but hardeft, be alwaies apteft, for portra- 
 ture, both fairefl for pleafure, and moil durable for 
 proffit. Hard wittes be hard to receiue, but lure to 
 keepe : painefull without werineffe, hedefull without 
 wauering, conflant without newfanglenes : bearing 
 heauie thinges, thoughe not lightlie, yet willinglie; 
 entring hard thinges, though not eafelie, yet depelie ; 
 and fo cum to that perfitnes of learning in the ende, 
 that quicke wittes, feeme in hope, but do not in deede, 
 or elfe verie feldome, euer attaine vnto. Hard wits 
 Alfo, for maners and life, hard wittes com- in maners 
 monlie, ar[e] hardlie caried, either to defire 
 euerie new thing, or elfe to maruell at euery flrange 
 thinge : and therefore they be carefull and diligent in 
 their own matters, not curious and bufey in other mens 
 affaires : and fo, they becum wife them felues, and alfo 
 ar[e] counted honefl by others. They be graue, fledfaft, 
 filent of tong, fecret of hart. Not haflie in making, 
 but conflant in ke[e]ping any promife. Not rafhe in 
 vttering, but war[y]e in confidering euery matter : and 
 therby, not quicke in fpeaking, but deepe of iudge- 
 ment, whether they write, or giue counfell in all 
 waightie affaires. And theis be the men, that becum 
 in the end, both mofl happie for themfelues, and al- 
 waife befl eflemed abrode in the world. 
 
 I haue bene longer in defcribing, the nature, the 
 good or ill fucceffe, of the quicke and hard witte, than 
 perchance fom will thinke, this place and The best wittes 
 matter doth require. But my purpofe was ? e ny n g 
 hereby, plainlie to vtter, what iniurie is other Huyng. 
 offered to all learninge, and to the common welthe 
 alfo, firfl, by the fond father in chofing, but chieflie by 
 the lewd fcholemafler in beating and driuing away the 
 befl natures from learning. A childe that is flill, filent, 
 
3 6 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 conflant, and fomwhat hard of witte, is either neuer 
 chofen by the father to be made a fcholer, or elfe, 
 when he commeth to the fchole, he is finally regarded, 
 little looked vnto, he lacketh teaching, he lacketh co- 
 raging, he lacketh all thinges, onelie he neuer lacketh 
 beating, nor any word, that may moue him to hate 
 learninge, nor any deed that may driue him from 
 learning, to any other kinde of liuing. 
 
 And when this fadde natured, and hard witted 
 Hard wits child, is bette from his booke, and becum- 
 euerykynde n meth after eytfier ftudent of the common 
 of lyfe. lawe, or page in the Court, or feruingman, 
 
 or bound prentice to a merchant, or to fom handie- 
 crafte, he proueth in the ende, wifer, happier and 
 many tymes honefter too, than many of theis quick 
 wittes do, by their learninge, 
 
 Learning is, both hindred and iniured to[o], by the ill 
 choice of them, that fend yong fcholers to the vniuer- 
 fities. Of whom muft nedes cum all oure Diuines, 
 Lawyers, and Phyficions. 
 
 Thies yong fcholers be chofen commonlie, as yong 
 The m choice apples be chofen by children, in a faire 
 of wittes for garden about A lames tyde : a childe will 
 chofe a fweeting, becaufe it is prefentlie 
 faire and pleafant, and refufe a Runnet, becaufe it is 
 than grene, hard, and fowre, whan the one, if it be 
 eaten, doth breed, both wormes and ill humors : the 
 other if it fland his tyme, be ordered and kepte as it 
 mould, is holfom of it felf, and helpeth to the good 
 digeflion of other meates : Sweetinges, will receyue 
 wormes, rotte, and dye on the tree, and neuer or 
 feldom cum to the gathering for good and lafling 
 flore. 
 
 For verie greafe of hearte I will not applie the fimi- 
 litude : but hereby, is plainlie feen, how learning is 
 robbed of hir beft wittes, firfl by the greate beating, 
 and after by the ill chofing of fcholers, to go to the 
 vniuerfities. Whereof cummeth partelie, that lewde 
 and Ipitefull prouerbe, founding to the greate hurte of 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 37 
 
 learning, and fhame of learned men, that, the greateft 
 Clerkes be not the wifefl men. 
 
 And though I, in all this difcourfe, feem plainlie to 
 prefer, hard and rough e wittes, before quicke and light 
 wittes, both for learnyng and maners, yet am I not 
 ignorant that fom quicknes of witte, is a fmguler gifte 
 of God, and fo moil rare emonges men, and namelie 
 fuch a witte, as is quicke without lightnes, fharpe with- 
 out brittlenes, defirous of good thinges without new- 
 fanglenes, diligent in painfull thinges without werifom- 
 nes, and conflant in good will to do all thinges well, 
 as I know was in Syr John Cheke, and is in fom, that 
 yet Hue, in whome all theis faire qualities of witte ar[e] 
 fullie mette togither. 
 
 But it is notable and trewe, that Socrates faith in 
 Plato to his frende Crito. That, that piato. in 
 number of men is fewefl, which far ex- Critone - 
 cede, either in good or ill, in wifdom or folie, but the 
 meane betwixt both, be the greateft num- Verie good or 
 ber: which he proueth trewe in diuerfe be^wes^ 
 other thinges : as in greyhoundes, emonges number. 
 which fewe are found, exceding greate, or exceding 
 litle, exceding fwift, or exceding ilowe : And ther- 
 fore, I fpeaking of quick and hard wittes, I ment, 
 the common number of quicke and hard wittes, 
 emonges the which, for the mofl parte, the hard witte, 
 proueth manie times, the better learned, wifer and 
 honefter man : and therfore, do I the more lament, 
 that foch wittes commonlie be either kepte from learn- 
 ing, by fond fathers, or be[a]t[e] from learning by lewde 
 fcholemaflers. 
 
 And fpeaking thus moche of the wittes of children 
 for learning, the opportunitie of the place, Horsemen be 
 and goodnes of the matter might require wiser in know- 
 
 i i j i j _i /-i r TI ledge of a good 
 
 to haue here declared the mofl fpeciall Coftc, than 
 notes of a good witte for learning in a Schoiemasters 
 childe, after the maner and cuflume of a knowledge of 
 good horfman, who is fkilfull, to know, a s odwitte - 
 and liable to tell others, how by certein fure fignes, a 
 
3 8 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 man may choife a colte, that is like to proue an other 
 day, excellent for the faddle. And it is pit[t]ie, that 
 commonlie, more care is had, yea and that emonges 
 A good Rider veric wife men, to finde out rather a cun- 
 
 ed'thanTgood n 7 n e man for their horfe > than a cunnyng 
 Schoiemaster. man for their children. They fay nay in 
 worde, but they do fo in dede. For, to the one, they will 
 gladlie giue a ftipend of 200. Crounes by [the] yeare, 
 and loth to offer to the other, 200. fhillinges. God, that 
 fitteth in heauen laugheth their choice to fkorne, and 
 Horse well rewardeth their liberalise as it mould : for 
 broken, chii- he fuffereth them, to haue, tame and well 
 :aught ordered horfe, but wilde and vnfortunate 
 Children : and therfore in the ende they finde more plea- 
 fure in their horfe, than comforte in their children. 
 
 But concerning the trewe notes of the beft wittes 
 for learning in a childe, I will reporte, not myne own 
 opinion, but the very iudgement of him, that was 
 counted the beft teacher and wifeft man that learning 
 Plato in 7 maketh mention of, and that is Socrates in 
 de Rep. Plato, who cxpreffeth orderlie thies feuen 
 
 plaine notes to choife a good witte in a child for 
 learninge. 
 
 f i 
 
 3 
 
 -I 4 *.AArovos. 
 
 5 
 6 
 
 And bicaufe I write Englifh, and to Englifhemen, I 
 will plainlie declare in Englime both, what thies wordes 
 of Plato meane, and how aptlie they be linked, and 
 how orderlie they fol[l]ow one an other. 
 
 witte. Is he, that is apte by goodnes of witte, 
 
 win. and appliable by readines of will, to learn- 
 
 ing, hauing all other qualities of the minde and partes 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 39 
 
 of the bodie, that mufl an other day ferue learning, not 
 tro[u]bled, mangled, and halfed, but founde, whole, full, 
 and hable to do their office : as, a tong, The tong. 
 not ftamering, or ouer hardlie drawing forth wordes, 
 but plaine, and redie to deliuer the meaning of the 
 minde : a voice, not fofte, weake, piping, The voice, 
 womannime, but audible, flronge, and manlike : a 
 countenance, not werifhe and crabbed, but Face, 
 faire and cumlie : a perfonage, not wretched and 
 deformed, but taule and goodlie: for Stature, 
 furelie a cumlie countenance, with a goodlie flature, 
 geueth credit to learning, and authoritie Learnyng 
 to the perfon : otherwife commonlie, either fSJK 1 * 
 open contempte, or priuie diffauour doth personage, 
 hurte, or hinder, both perfon and learning. And, euen 
 as a faire (lone requireth to be fette in the fineft gold, 
 with the bell workmanfhyp, or elfe it lefeth moch of the 
 Grace and price, euen fo, excellencye in learning, and 
 namely Diuinitie, ioyned with a cumlie perfonage, is a 
 meruelous lewell in the world. And how can a 
 cumlie -bodie be better employed, than to ferue the 
 faireft exercife of Goddes greatefl gifte, and that is 
 learning. But commonlie, the fairefl bodies, ar[e] be- 
 ftowed on the foulefl purpofes. I would it were not 
 fo : and with examples herein I will not medle : yet I 
 wifhe, that thofe mold, both mynde it, and medle with 
 it, which haue mofl occafion to looke to it, as good 
 and wife fathers mold do, and greatefl authoritie to 
 amend it, as good and wife magiflrates ought to do : 
 And yet I will not let, openlie to lament the vnfortun- 
 ate cafe of learning herein. 
 
 For, if a father haue foure fonnes, three faire and 
 well formed both mynde and bodie, the 
 fourth, wretched, lame, and deformed, his crLures 
 choice fhalbe, to put the word to learning, c mnion!ie set 
 
 , ' r i i to learnyng. 
 
 as one good enoughe to becum a fcholer. 
 I haue fpent the mofl parte of my life in the Vniuer- 
 fitie, and therfore I can beare good witnes that 
 many fathers commonlie do thus : wherof, 1 haue hard 
 
4 o The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 many wife, learned, and as good men as euer I knew, 
 make great, and oft complain te : a good horfeman will 
 choife no foch colte, neither for his own, nor yet for 
 his mailers fadle. And thus moch of the firfl note. 
 
 2. 
 
 Memorie. Good of memorie, a fpeciall parte of the 
 
 firfl note tvforjs, and a mere benefite of nature : yet it 
 is fo neceffarie for learning : as Plato maketh it a 
 feparate and perfite note of it felfe, and that fo princi- 
 pal! a note, as without it, all other giftes of nature do 
 Aui. Gel. fmall feruice to learning, Afranius, that 
 olde Latine Poete maketh Memone the mother of 
 learning and wifedome, faying thus. 
 
 Vfus me genuit) Mater peperit memoria, and though 
 it be the mere gifte of nature, yet is memorie well 
 preferued by vfe, and moch encreafed by order, as our 
 Three sure fcholer mufl leame an other day in the 
 goodmlf-* Vniuerfitie : but in a childe, a good me- 
 morie. morie is well known, by three properties : 
 
 that is, if it be, quicke in receyuing, fure in keping, 
 and redie in deliuering forthe againe. 
 
 3 
 
 Giuen to loue learning : for though a child haue all 
 the giftes of nature at wifhe, and perfection of memorie 
 at will, yet if he haue not a fpeciall loue to learning, he 
 mall neuer attaine to moch learning. And therfore 
 Ifocrates, one of the noblefl fcholemaflers, that is ill 
 memorie of learning, who taught Kinges and Princes, 
 as Halicarnaffaus writeth, and out of whofe fchole, as 
 Tullie faith, came forth, mo noble Capitanes, mo wife 
 Councelors, than did out of Epeius horfe at Troie. 
 This Ifocrates, I fay, did caufe to be written, at the 
 entrie of his fchole, in golden letters, this golden 
 fentence, eav ?Js <iAo//,a#?)s, eaiy 7roAiyxa#??s which 
 excellentlie faid in Greeke, is thus rudelie in Englifhe, 
 if thou loueft learning, thou malt attayne to moch 
 learning. 
 
the brynging ^up of youth. 4* 
 
 Is he, that hath a lufl to labor, and a will to take 
 paines. For, if a childe haue all the benefites of nature, 
 with perfection of memorie, loue, like, and praife 
 learning neuer fo moch, yet if he be not of him felfe 
 painfull, he fhall neuer attayne vnto it. And yet where 
 loue is prefent, labor is feldom abfent, and namelie in 
 fludie of learning, and matters of the mynde : and ther- 
 fored id Ifocrates rightlie iudge, that if his fcholer were 
 <tAo/m#??s he cared for no more. Ariftotle, variing 
 from Ifocrates in priuate affaires of life, but agreing with 
 Ifocrates in common iudgement of learning, for loue and 
 labor in learning, is of the fame opinion, vttered in thefe 
 wordes, in his Rhetorike ad Theodeclen. Li- 2 Rhet ad 
 bertiekindlethloue: Loue refufeth no labor: Theod. 
 and labor obteyneth what fo euer it feeketh. And yet 
 neuertheleffe, Goodnes of nature may do little good : 
 Perfection of memorie, may ferue to fmall vfe : All loue 
 may be employed in vayne : Any labor may be fone 
 graualed, if a man trufl alwaies to his own finguler 
 witte, and will not be glad fomtyme to heare, take ad- 
 uife, and learne of an other : And therfore doth Socrates 
 very notablie adde the fifte note. 
 
 He, that is glad to heare and learne of an other. 
 For otherwife, he mail flicke with great troble, where 
 he might go eafelie forwarde : and alfo catche hardlie 
 a verie litle by his owne toyle, whan he might gather 
 quicklie a good deale, by an others mans teaching. 
 But now there be fome, that haue great loue to learn- 
 ing, good lufl to labor, be willing to learne of others, 
 yet, either of a fonde fhamefaflnes, or elfe of a proud 
 folie, they dare not, or will not, go to learne of an 
 nother : And therfore doth Socrates wifelie adde the 
 fixte note of a good witte in a childe for learning, and 
 that is. 
 
42 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 6 
 
 He, that is naturallie bold to afke any queflion, de iirous 
 to fearche out any dou[b]te, not afhamed to learne of the 
 meanefl, not affraide to go to the greatefl, vntill he be 
 perfitelie taught, and fullie fatiffiede. The feuenth 
 and laft poynte is. 
 
 He, that loueth to be praifed for well doing, at his 
 father, or mailers hand. A childe of this nature, will 
 earneftlie loue learnyng, gladlie labor for learning, 
 willinglie learne of other, boldlie afke any dou[b]te. And 
 thus, by Socrates iudgement, a good father, and a wife 
 fcholemafter, fhold chofe a childe to make a fcholer 
 of, that hath by nature, the forefayd perfite qualities, 
 and cumlie furniture, both of mynde and bodie, hath 
 memorie, quicke to receyue, fure to keape, and readie 
 to deliuer : hath loue to learning : hath lufl to labor : 
 hath defire to learne of others : hath boldnes to afke 
 any queflion : hath mynde holie bent, to wynne praife 
 by well doing. 
 
 The two firfte poyntes be fpeciall benefites of nature : 
 which neuertheleffe, be well preferued, and moch en- 
 creafed by good order. But as for the fiue lade, loue, 
 labor, gladnes to learne of others, boldnes to afke 
 dou[b]tes, and will to wynne praife, be wonne and main- 
 tened by the onelie wifedome and difcretion of the 
 fcholemafler. Which fiue poyntes, whether a fchole- 
 mafler mall work fo[o]ner in a childe, by fearefull 
 beating, or curtefe handling, you that be wife, iudge. 
 
 Yet fome men, wife in deede, but in this matter, 
 more by feueritie of nature, than any wifdome at all, 
 do laugh at vs, when we thus wiflie and reafon, that 
 yong children mould rather be allured to learning by 
 ientilnes and loue, than compelled to learning, by 
 beating and feare : They fay, our reafons ferue onelie 
 to breede forth talke, and paffe a waie tyme, but we 
 neuer faw good fcholemafler do fo, nor neuer red of 
 wife man that thought fo. 
 
the brynging up of youth. 43 
 
 Yes forfothe : as wife as they be, either in other mens 
 opinion, or in their owne conceite, I will bring the con- 
 trarie iudgement of him, who, they them felues mail con- 
 feffe, was as wife as they are, or elfe they may be iufllie 
 thought to haue fmall witte at all : and that is Socrates, 
 whofe iudgement in Plato is plainlie this in thefe Ptato in 7 
 wordes : which, bicaufe they be verie notable, de Rep. 
 I will recite them in his owne tonge, ov^v /xa$?7/>ia /^era 
 cn) fj.av0a.vtw: ot p^v yap rov crw/zaros TTOVOI /3iy 
 
 Se, /Jt'cuov ovftkv l//,/*oi/oi> /za^/xa: in Englifhe thus, No 
 learning ought to. be learned with bondage: For, bodelie 
 labors, wrought by compulfion, hurt not thebodie: but 
 any learning learned by compulfion, tarieth not long in 
 the mynde : And why ? For what foeuer the mynde doth 
 learne vnwillinglie with feare, the fame it doth quicklie 
 forget without care. And left, proude wittes, that loue 
 not to be contraryed, but haue lufl to wrangle or trifle 
 away troth, will fay, that Socrates meaneth not this 
 of childrens teaching, but of fom other higher learn- 
 yng, heare, what Socrates in the fame place doth more 
 plainlie fay : prj roivvv /3ia ; to apicrre, roi>s TTCU&XS ev 
 rots fJia9r)fjLa(riv, aAAa -Tra/^oi/ras T/3e</>6, that is to fay, 
 and therfore, my deare frend, bring not vp your child- 
 ren in learning by compulfion and feare, but by play- 
 ing and pleafure. And you, that do read Plato, as ye 
 mold, do well perceiue, that thefe be no Theright 
 Queftions alked by Socrates, as doutes, but readyng of 
 they be Sentences, firfl affirmed by Socrates, Plat0 ' 
 as mere troth es, and after, giuen forth by Socrates, 
 as right Rules, moil neceffarie to be marked, and fitte to 
 befolowed of all them, that would haue children taughte, 
 as they mould. And in this counfell, iudgement, 
 and authoritie of Socratts I will repofe my felfe, vntill 
 I meete with a man of the contrarie mynde, whom I 
 may iuftlie take to be wifer, than I thinke Socrates was. 
 Fonde fcholemafters, neither can vnderftand, Yong lentie- 
 nor will folow this good counfell of Socrates, ^^if 6 " 
 but wife ryders, in their office, can and will to ryde, by 
 
44 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 common <j o berth : which is the onelie caufe, that 
 
 ryders, than 1,1 ,1 /---, n 
 
 to leame, by commonly, the yong lentlemen of England, 
 Scho7e- n g fo vnwillinglie to fchole, and run fo fail 
 masters. to the liable i For in verie deede fond fchole- 
 maflers, by feare, do beate into them, the hatred of 
 learning, and wife riders, by ientle allurementes, do 
 breed vp in them, the loue of riding. They finde feare, 
 and bondage in fcholes, They feele libertie and free- 
 dome in ftables : which caufeth them, vtterlie to ab- 
 hor[r]e the one, and mod gladlie to haunt the other. 
 And I do not write this, that in exhorting to the one, 
 I would diffuade yong ientlemen from the other : yea 
 I am forie, with all my harte, that they be giuen no 
 Rydmg. more to riding, then they be : For, of all 
 
 outward qualities, to ride faire, is mofl cumelie for him 
 felfe, mofl neceffarie for his contrey, and the greater he 
 is in blood, the greater is his praife, the more he doth 
 exce[e]de all other therein. It was one of the three ex- 
 cellent praifes, amongefl the noble ientlemen the old 
 Perfians, Alwaife to fay troth, to ride faire, and mote 
 well : and fo it was engrauen vpon Darius tumbe, as 
 Strabo. 15. Strabo beareth witneffe. 
 
 Darius the king, lieth buried here, 
 
 Who in riding andjhoting had neuer peare. 
 
 But, to our purpofe, yong men, by any meanes, lee- 
 fmg the loue of learning, whan by tyme they cum to 
 their owne rule, they carie commonlie, from the fchole 
 with them, a perpetuall hatred of their mafler, and a 
 continuall contempt of learning. If ten lentlemen be 
 afked, why they forget fo fone in Court, that which 
 they were learning fo long in fchole, eight of them, or 
 let me be blamed, will laie the fault on their ill hand- 
 ling, by their fcholemafters. 
 
 Cufpinian doth report, that, that noble Emperor 
 Maximilian, would lament verie oft, his miffortune 
 herein. 
 
 Pastime. Yet, fome will fay, that children of na- 
 
 Leamyng. ture, loue paflime, and miflike learning : 
 
the brynging up of youth. 45 
 
 bicaufe, in their kinde, the one is eafie and pleafant, 
 the other hard and werifon : which is an opinion not 
 fo trewe, as fome men weene : For, the matter lieth 
 not fo much in the difpofition of them that be yong, as 
 in the order and maner of bringing vp, by them that 
 be old, nor yet in the difference of learnyng and paflime. 
 For, beate a child, if he daunce not well, and cherim 
 him, though he learne not well, ye mail haue him, vn- 
 willing to go to daunce, and glad to go to his booke. 
 Knocke him alwaies, when he draweth his fhaft ill, and 
 fauo[u]r him againe, though he fau[l]t at his booke, ye 
 mail haue hym verie loth to be in the field, and verie 
 willing to be in the fchole. Yea, I faie more, and not 
 of my felfe, but by the Judgement of thofe, from whom 
 few wifemen will gladlie diffent, that if euer the nature 
 of man be giuen at any tyme, more than other, to re- 
 ceiue goodnes, it is, in innocencie of yong yeares, 
 before, that experience of euill, haue taken roote in 
 hym. For, the pure cleane witte of a fweete yong 
 babe, is like the newefl wax, mofl hable to receiue the 
 befl and fayrefl printing : and like a new bright filuer 
 dime neuer occupied, to receiue and kepe cleane, anie 
 good thyng that is put into it. 
 
 Will. ' 
 
 >in children. 
 
 Witte,/ 
 
 And thus, will in children, wifelie 
 wrought withall, maie eafelie be won 
 to be verie well willing to learne. And 
 witte in children, by nature, namelie 
 memorie, the onely keie and keper of all learning, is 
 readied to receiue, and furefl to kepe anie maner of 
 thing, that is learned in yougth : This, lewde and learned, 
 by common experience, know to be mofl trewe. For 
 we remember nothyng fo well when we be olde, as 
 thofe things which we learned when we were yong : 
 And this is not flraunge, but common in all natures 
 workes. Euery man fees, (as I fayd be- Yongyeares 
 fore) new wax is befl for printyng : new aptest for 
 claie,fittefl for working: newfhorne wo[o]ll, learn y n s- 
 apteft for fone and furefl dying : new frefh flefh, for 
 good and durable falting. And this fimilitude is not 
 
4 6 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 rude, nor borowed of the larder houfe, but out of his 
 fcholehoufe, of whom, the wifefl of England, neede not 
 be afhamed to learne. Yong Graftes grow not onelie 
 fonefl, but alfo faireft, and bring alwayes forth the beft 
 and fweetefl frute : yong whelpes learne eafelie to carie : 
 yong Popingeis learne quicklie to fpeake : And fo, to 
 be fhort, if in all other thinges, though they lacke 
 reafon, fens, and life, the fimilitude of youth is fitted 
 to all goodneffe, furelie nature, in mankinde, is mofl 
 beneficiall and effectuall in this behalfe. 
 
 Therfore, if to the goodnes of nature, be ioyned the 
 wifedome of the teacher, in leading yong wittes into a 
 right and plaine waie of learnyng, furelie, children, 
 kept vp in Gods feare, and gouerned by his grace, 
 maie mofl eafelie be brought well to ferue God, and 
 contrey both by vertue and wifedome. 
 
 But if will, and witte, by farder age, be once allured 
 from innocencie, delited in vaine fightes, fil[l]ed with 
 foull taulke, crooked with wilfulneffe, hardned with 
 flubburneffe, and let loufe to difobedience, furelie it is 
 hard with ientleneffe, but vnpoffible with feuere crueltie, 
 to call them backe to good frame againe. For, where 
 the one, perchance maie bend it, the other mail furelie 
 breake it : and fo in flead of fome hope, leaue an 
 affured defperation, and fhameleffe contempt of all 
 Xen. i. Cyri goodneffe, the fardefl pointe in all mifchief, 
 Paed - as Xenophon doth mofl trewlie and mofl 
 
 wittelie marke. 
 
 Therfore, to loue or to hate, to like or contemne, to 
 plie this waie or that waie to good or to bad, ye mall 
 haue as ye vfe a child in his youth. 
 
 And one example, whether loue or feare doth worke 
 more in a child, for vertue and learning, I will gladlie 
 report : which maie be h[e]ard with fome pleafure, and 
 folowed with more profit. Before I went into Ger- 
 manic, I came to Brodegate in Le[i]ceflerfhire, to take 
 Lady lane my leaue of that noble Ladie lane Grey, to 
 Grey. whom I was exceding moch beholdinge. 
 
 Hir parentes, the Duke and Duches, with all the 
 
the bringyng *vp of youth. 47 
 
 houfliold, Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, were hunt- 
 inge in the Parke : I founde her, in her Chamber, 
 readinge Phczdon Platonis in Greeke, and that with as 
 moch delite, as fom ientlemen wold read a merie tale 
 in Bocafe. After falutation, and dewtie done, with 
 fom other taulke, I afked hir, whie (he wold leefe foch 
 paftime in the Parke ? fmiling me anfwered me : I 
 wiffe, all their fporte in the Parke is but a fhadoe to 
 that pleafure, that I find in Plato : Alas good folke, 
 they neuer felt, what trewe pleafure ment. And howe 
 came you Madame, quoth I, to this deepe knowledge 
 of pleafure, and what did chieflie allure you vnto it : 
 feinge, not many women, but verie fewe men haue 
 atteined thereunto. I will tell you, quoth me, and 
 tell you a troth, which perchance ye will meruell at. 
 One of the greateft benefites, that euer God gaue me, 
 is, that he fent me fo fharpe and feuere Parentes, and 
 fo ientle a fcholemafter. For when I am in prefence 
 either of father or mother, whether I fpeake, kepe 
 filence, fit, ftand, or go, eate, drinke, be merie, or fad. 
 be fowyng, plaiyng, dauncing, or doing anie thing els, 
 I mufl do it, as it were, in foch weight, mefure, and 
 number, euen fo perfitelie, as God made the world, or 
 elfe I am fo (harplie taunted, fo cruellie threatened, 
 yea prefentlie fome tymes, with pinches, nippes, and 
 bobbes, and other waies, which I will not name, for 
 the honor I beare them, fo without meafure mifordered, 
 that I think e my felfe in hell, till tyme cum, that I 
 mufl go to M. Elmer, who teacheth me fo ientlie, fo 
 pleafantlie, with foch faire allurementes to learning, 
 that I thinke all the tyme nothing, whiles I am with 
 him. And when I am called from him, I fall on 
 weeping, becaufe, what foeuer I do els, but learning, 
 is ful of grief, trouble, feare, and whole mifliking vnto 
 me : And thus my booke, hath bene fo moch my 
 pleafure, and bringeth dayly to me more pleafure and 
 more, that in refpect of it, all other pleafures, in very 
 deede, be but trifles and troubles vnto me. I re- 
 member this talke gladly, both bicaufe it is fo worthy 
 
4 8 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 of memorie, and bicaufe alfo, it was the laft talke that 
 euer I had, and the laft tyme, that euer I faw that 
 noble and worthie Ladie. 
 
 I could be ouer long, both in fhewinge iuft canfes, 
 and in recitinge trewe examples, why learning fhold 
 be taught, rather by loue than feare. He that wold 
 fee a perfite difcourfe of it, let him read that learned 
 stumiius. treatefe, which my frende loan. Sturmius 
 de inst. Princ. wrote de inftitutione Prindpis, to the Duke 
 of Cleues. 
 
 Oui arcit ^ e 8^ Q counfels of Salomon and 
 
 virgce, odit lefus the fonne of Sirach, for fharpe kepinge 
 fihura. j n ^ an( j bridleinge of youth, are ment rather, 
 
 for fatherlie correction, then mafterlie beating, rather 
 for maners, than for learninge : for other places, than 
 for fcholes. For God forbid, but all euill touches, 
 wantonnes, lyinge, pickinge, flouthe, will, flubburn- 
 neffe, and difobedience, mold be with fharpe chaftife- 
 ment, daily cut away. 
 
 This difcipline was well knowen, and diligentlie vfed. 
 among the GraaoMS, and old Romanes, as doth 
 appeare in Ariftophanes, Ifocrates, and Plato, and alfo 
 in the Comedies of Plautus : where we fee that 
 children were vnder the rule of three perfones: Pr&cep- 
 
 1. Schoiemaster. tore * Padagogo, Parcnte: the fcholemafter 
 
 2. Gouemour. taught him learnyng withall ientlenes : the 
 
 3 . Father. Gouemour corrected his maners, with 
 moch iharpeneffe : The father, held the fterne 
 of his whole obedience : And fo, he that vfed to 
 teache, did not commonlie vfe to beate, but remitted 
 that ouer to an other mans charge. But what mall 
 we faie, when now in our dayes, the fcholemafter is 
 vfed, both for Praceptor in learnyng, and Padagogus in 
 maners. Surelie, I wold he fhold not confound their 
 offices, but difcretelie vfe the dewtie of both fo, that 
 neither ill touches fhold be left vnpunifhed, nor 
 ientle[ne]ffe in teaching anie wife omitted. And he 
 mall well do both, ifwifelie he do appointe diuerfitie of 
 tyme, and feparate place, for either purpofe : vfmg 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 49 
 
 alwaife foch difcrete moderation, as the Theschoie- 
 fcholehoufe ftiould be counted a fanctuarie house> 
 againfl feare : and verie well learning, a common 
 perdon for ill doing, if the fault, of it felfe be not ouer 
 heinous. 
 
 And thus the children, kept vp in Gods feare, and 
 preferued by his grace, finding paine in ill doing, and 
 pleafure in well ftudiyng, mold eafelie be brought to 
 honeflie of life, and perfitenes of learning, the onelie 
 marke, that good and wife fathers do wifhe and labour, 
 that their children, (hold mofl bufelie, and carefullie 
 mot at. 
 
 There is an other difcommoditie, befides crueltie 
 in fcholemaflers in beating away the loue Y outh of 
 of learning from children, which hindreth England 
 learning and vertue, and good bringing vp with^cnmich 
 of youth, and namelie yong ientlemen, llbertie - 
 verie moch in England. This fault is cleane contrary 
 to the firft. I wimed before, to haue loue of learning 
 bred vp in children : I wifhe as moch now, to haue 
 yong men brought vp in good order of liuing, and in 
 fome more feuere discipline, then commonlie they be. 
 We haue lacke in England of foch good order, as the 
 old noble Perfians fo carefullie vfed : X en. 7 c y ri 
 whofe children, to the age of xxi. yeare, Ped - 
 were brought vp in learnyng, and exercifes of labor, 
 and that in foch place, where they fhould, neither fee 
 that was vncumlie, nor heare that was vnhoneft. Yea, 
 a yong ientlemen was neuer free, to go where he 
 would, and do what he lifle him felf, but vnder the 
 kepe, and by the counfell, of fome graue gouernour, 
 vntill he was, either maryed, or cal[le]d to beare fome 
 office in the common wealth. 
 
 And fee the great obedience, that was vfed in old 
 tyme to fathers and gouernours. No fonne, were he 
 neuer fo old of yeares, neuer fo great of birth, though 
 he were a kynges fonne, might not mary, [might marry] 
 but by his father and mothers alfo content. Cyrus the 
 great, after he had conquered Babylon, and fubdewed 
 
S o The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 Riche king Crcefus with whole A/la minor, cummyng 
 tryumphantlie home, his vncle Cyaxeris offered him 
 his daughter to wife. Cyrus thanked his vncle, and 
 praifed the maide, but for mariage he anfwered him 
 with thies wife and fweete wordes, as they be vttered 
 
 Xen. 8. Cyri ty XenopJlOH, to KVa^dprj, TO T ytVOS 
 Pg d* 7rat]/(3 Kal Trjv TralSa /cat rex Stopa* /3ov\ofJLai 
 
 Se, ?<>75 <rw TTJ TOU Trarpos yvw/xTy Kal rff rfjs /x^rpos ravrd 
 croi a-vvaivecrai, &c., that is to fay : Vncle Cyaxeris, I 
 commend the ftocke, I like the maide, and I allow 
 well the dowrie, but (fayth he) by the counfell and 
 confent of my father and mother, I will determine 
 farther of thies matters. 
 
 Strong Samjon alfo in Scripture faw a maide that 
 liked him, but he fpake not to hir,' but went home to 
 his father, and his mother, and defired both father and 
 mother to make the mariage for him. Doth this 
 modeflie, doth this obedience, that was in great kyng 
 Cyrus, and ftoute Samfon, remaine in our yongmen at 
 this daie ? no furelie : For we liue not longer after 
 them by tyme, than we liue farre different from them 
 by good order. Our tyme is fo farre from that old 
 difcipline and obedience, as now, not onelie yong 
 ientlemen, but euen verie girles dare without all feare, 
 though not without open fhame, where they lift, and 
 how they lift, marie them felues in fpite of father, 
 mother, God, good order, and all. The caufe of this 
 euill is, that youth is leaft looked vnto, when they ftand 
 [in] moft neede of good kepe and regard. It auail- 
 eth not, to fee them well taught in yong yeares, and 
 after whan they cum to luft and youthfull dayes, to 
 giue them licence to liue as they luft them felues. 
 For, if ye fuffer the eye of a yong lentleman, once to 
 be entangled with vaine fightes, and the eare to be 
 corrupted with fond or filthie taulke, the mynde mail 
 quicklie fall feick, and fone vomet and caft vp, all the 
 holefome doctrine, that he receiued in childhoode, 
 though he were neuer fo well brought vp before. And 
 being ons [once] inglutted with vanitie, he will ftreight 
 
the brynging up of youth. 5 i 
 
 way loth all learning, and all good counfell to the 
 fame. And the parentes for all their great coil and 
 charge, reape onelie in the end, the fru[i]te of grief and 
 care. 
 
 .This euill, is not common to poore men, Great mens 
 as God will haue it, but proper to riche sonnes worst 
 and great mens children, as they deferue brou s htv P- 
 it. In deede from feuen, to feuentene, yong ientle- 
 men commonlie be carefullie enough brought vp : But 
 from feuentene to feuen and twentie (the moft danger- 
 ous tyme of all a mans life, and mofl flipperie to flay 
 well in) they haue commonlie the reigne of all licens 
 in their owne hand, and fpeciallie foch as wise men f on d 
 do Hue in the Court. And that which is fathers, 
 moft to be merueled at, commonlie, the wifeft and alfo 
 beft men, be found the fondefl fathers in this behalfe. 
 And if fom good father wold feick fome remedie 
 herein, yet the mother (if the houfe hold of our Lady) 
 had rather, yea, and will to, haue her fonne cunnyng 
 and bold, in making him to lyue trimlie when he is 
 yong, than by learning and trauell, to be able to ferue 
 his Prince and his contrie, both wifelie in peace, and 
 floutelie in warre, whan he is old. 
 
 The fault is in your felues, ye noble Meane mens 
 men[s] fonnes, and therefore ye deferue the to ni reat C me 
 greater blame, that commonlie, the meaner authentic. 
 mens children, cum to be, the wifefl councellours, and 
 greatefl doers, in the weightie affaires of this Realme. 
 And why ? for God will haue it fo, of his prouidence : 
 bicaufe ye will haue it no otherwife, by your negli- 
 gence. 
 
 And God is a good God, and wifefl in all his doinges, 
 that will place vertue, and difplace vice, Nobiiitie with- 
 in thofe kingdom es, where he doth go- outwisedome. 
 uerne. For he knoweth, that Nobiiitie, without ver- 
 tue and wifedome, is bloud in deede, but bloud trewe- 
 lie, without bones and finewes : and lo of it felfe, 
 without the other, verie weeke to beare the burden of 
 weightie affaires. 
 
/Wisedome. 
 
 5 2 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 The greatefl fhippe in deede commonlie carieth the 
 greatefl burden, but yet alwayes with the greatefl 
 ieoperdie, not onelie for the perfons and goodes com- 
 Nobiiitie with mitted vnto it, but euen for the fhyppe it 
 wisedome. felfe, except it be gouerned, with the 
 greater wifdome. 
 
 But Nobilitie, gouerned by learning and wifedome, 
 is in deede, mofl like a faire 
 fliippe, hauyng tide and winde at 
 will, vnder the reule of a fkilfull 
 mafler : whan contrarie wife, a 
 me> fhippe, carried, yea with the hiefl 
 tide and greatefl winde, lacking a fkilfull mafler, mofl 
 commonlie, doth either, fmck it felfe vpon fandes, or 
 breake it felfe vpon rockes. And euen fo, how manie 
 haue bene, either drowned in vaine pleafure. 
 
 Vame pleasure, > . . ^ ' 
 
 andstoute or ouerwhelmed by flout wilfulneffe, the 
 ]e!rtest s ' tw hiftories o f England be able to affourde 
 enemies to ouer many examples vnto vs. Therfore, 
 ye great and noble mens children, if ye 
 will haue rightfullie that praife, and enioie furelie that 
 place, which your fathers haue, and elders had, and left 
 vnto you, ye mufl kepe it, as they gat it, and that is, by 
 the onelie waie, of vertue, wifedome and worthineffe. 
 
 For wifedom, and vertue, there be manie faire 
 examples in this Court, for yong lentlemen to fopjlow. 
 But they be, like faire markes in the feild, out of a 
 mans reach, to far of, to fhote at well. The befl and 
 worthiefl men, in deede, be fomtimes feen, but feldom 
 taulked withall : A yong lentleman, may fomtime 
 knele to their perfon, fmallie vfe their companie, for 
 their better inflruction. 
 
 But yong lentlemen are faine commonlie to do in 
 the Court, as yong Archers do in the feild : that is to 
 take foch markes, as be nie them, although they be 
 in companie neuer fo foule to fhote at. I meene, they 
 marreth youth. fo e driuen to kepe companie with the 
 worfle : and what force ill companie hath, to corrupt 
 good wittes, the wifefl men know befl. 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 53 
 
 And not ill companie onelie, but the ill opinion alfo 
 of the mod part, doth moch harme, and The Court 
 namelie of thofe, which (hold be wife in g^SSSl 
 the trewe decyphring, of the good difpofi- in youth, 
 tion of nature, of cumlinefle in Courtlie maners, and 
 all right doinges of men. 
 
 But error and phantafie, do commonlie occupie, 
 the place of troth and Judgement. For, if a yong 
 ientleman, be demeure and ftill of nature, they fay, he 
 is fimple and lacketh witte : if he be bafhefull, and will 
 foone blufhe, they call him a babifhe and ill brought 
 vp thyng, when Xenophon doth precifelie xen. in t. 
 note in Cyrus, that his bafhfulnes in youth, c ^ p <**- 
 was ye verie trewe figne of his vertue and floutnes 
 after : If he be innocent and ignorant of ill, they fay, 
 he is rude, and hath no grace, fo vngraci- The Grace 
 ouflie do fom graceleffe men, mifufe the in Courte. 
 faire and godlie word GRACE. 
 
 But if ye would know, what grace they meene, go, 
 and looke, and learne emonges them, and ye mail 
 fee that it is : Firfl, to blufh at nothing. And blufh- 
 yng in youth, fayth Ariftotle is nothyng els, but feare 
 to do ill : which feare beyng once luflely fraid away 
 from youth, then foloweth, to dare do any Grace of Courte. 
 mifchief, to contemne ftoutly any goodnefle, to be 
 bufie in euery matter, to be fkilfull in euery thyng, to 
 acknowledge no ignorance at all. To do thus in 
 Court, is counted of fome, the chief and greatefl grace 
 of all : and termed by the name of a vertue, called 
 Corage and boldnefle, whan Craffus in dc. 3. de Or. 
 Cicero teacheth the cleane contrarie, and that moil 
 wittelie, faying thus: Audere, cum bonis Boidnes, yea in 
 etiam rebus coniunflum, per feipfum est ^to be*"**' 
 magnopere fugiendum. Which is to fay, to praised. 
 be bold, yea in a good matter, is for it felf, greatlie to 
 be exchewed. 
 
 Moreouer, where the fwing goeth, there to follow, 
 fawne, flatter, laugh and lie luftelie at other More Grace of 
 mens liking. To face, Hand formeft, fhoue Courte. 
 backe : and to the meaner man, or vnknowne in the 
 
54 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 Court, to feeme fomwhat folume, coye, big, and dan- 
 gerous of looke, taulk, and anfwere : To thinke well of 
 him felfe, to be luftie in contemning of others, to haue 
 fome trim grace in a priuie mock. And in greater 
 prefens, to beare a braue looke : to be warlike, though 
 he neuer looked enimie in the face in warre : yet fom 
 warlike figne muft be vfed, either a ilouinglie bulking, 
 or an ouerftaring frounced hed, as though out of euerie 
 heeres toppe, mould fuddenlie flart out a good big 
 othe, when nede requireth. Yet praifed be God, Eng- 
 land hath at this time, manie worthie Capi- 
 
 Men of warre, . . i / i T i i i 
 
 best of tames and good fouldiours, which be in 
 
 conditions. decde, fo honefl of behauiour, fo cumlie 
 of conditions, fo milde of maners, as they may be 
 examples of good order, to a good fort of others, 
 which neuer came in warre. But to retorne, where I 
 left : In place alfo, .to be able to raife taulke, and 
 make difcourfe of euerie rime : to haue a verie good 
 will, to heare him felfe fpeake : To be feene in Palm- 
 Paimistrie. eftrie, wherby to conueie to chaft eares, 
 fom fond or filthie taulke : 
 
 And, if fom Smithfeild Ruffian take vp, fom flrange 
 going : fom new mowing with the mouth : fom wrinch- 
 yng with the moulder, fom braue prouerbe : fom frefh 
 new othe, that is not flale, but will rin [run] round in the 
 mouth : fom new difguifed garment, or defperate hat, 
 fond in facion, or gaurilh in colour, what foeuer it coft, 
 how fmall foeuer his liuing be, by what fhift foeuer it 
 be gotten, gotten muft it be, and vfed with the firft, or 
 els the grace of it, is flale and gone : fom part of this 
 graceleffe grace, was difcribed by rae, in a little rude 
 verfe long ago. 
 
 f To laughe, to lie, to flatter, to face: 
 
 | Foure waies in Court to win men grace. 
 
 \ If thou be thrall to none of theise, 
 
 1 Away good Peek goos, hens lohn Cheefe : 
 
 Marke well my word, and marke their dede, 
 L And thinke this verfe part of thy Creed. 
 
 Would to God, this taulke were not trewe, and that 
 
the brynging *vp of youth. 55 
 
 fom mens doinges were not thus I write not to hurteany 
 but to proffit fom : to accufe none, but to monifh focn 
 who, allured by ill counfell, and folowing ill f Counceii. ' 
 example, contrarie to their good bringyng 
 vp, and againfl their owne good nature, 
 yeld ouermoch to thies folies and faultes : 
 I know many feruing men, of good order, VCom P an 3 r. 
 and well flaide : And againe, I heare faie, there be 
 fom feruing men do but ill feruice to their Seminge men. 
 yong matters. Yea, rede Terence and Terentius. 
 Plaut\us\ aduifedlie oner, and ye mail finde Plant. 
 in thofe two wife writers, almofl in euerie commedie, 
 no vnthriftie yong man, that is not brought Serui C orru P te- 
 there vnto, by the fotle inticement of fom lse iuuenum. 
 lewd feruant. And euen now in our dayes Getce and 
 Daui, Gnatos and manie bold bawdie Phormios to, 
 bepreafmg in, to^pratle on euerie flage, MukiGetae 
 to medle in euerie matter, whan honefl paud 
 Parmenos fliall not be hard, but beare Parmenones - 
 fmall fwing with their maflers. Their companie, 
 their taulke, their oner great experience in mif- 
 chief, doth eafelie corrupt the beft natures, and beft 
 brought vp wittes. 
 
 But I meruell the lefTe, that thies miforders be 
 emonges fom in the Court, for commonlie Misorders in 
 in the contrie alfo euerie where, innocencie the countrey. 
 is gone : Bafhfulneffe is banifhed : moch prefumption 
 in yougthe : fmall authoritie in aige : Reuerence is 
 neglected : dewties be confounded : and to be fhorte, 
 difobedience doth ouerflowe the bankes of good order, 
 almofle in euerie place, almofte in euerie degree of 
 man. 
 
 Meane men haue eies to fee, and caufe to lament, 
 and occafion to complaine of thies miferies : but other 
 haue authoritie to remedie them, and will do fo to, 
 whan God mall think time fitte. For, all thies mif- 
 orders, be Goddes iufte plages, by his fufferance, brought 
 iuflelie vpon vs, for our finnes, which be infinite in 
 nomber, and horrible in deede, but namelie, for the 
 
S 6 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 greate abhominable fin of vnkindneffe : but what vn- 
 kindneffe ? euen fuch vnkindneffe as was 
 
 Contempt of . . . ~ , , 
 
 Gods trewe m the lewcs, in contemnmge Goddes voice, 
 in fhrinking from his woorde, in wilhing 
 backe againe for ^Egypt^ in committing aduoultrie 
 and hordom, not with the women, but with the doc- 
 trine of Babylon, did bring all the plages, definitions, 
 and Captiuities, that fell fo ofte and horriblie, vpon 
 Ifraell. 
 
 We haue caufe alfo in England to beware of vnkind- 
 neffe, who haue had, in fo fewe yeares, the Candel of 
 Goddes worde, fo oft lightned, fo oft put out, and yet will 
 Doctrina venture by our vnthankfulneffe in doctrine 
 Mores. and finfull life, to leefe againe, lighte, 
 
 Candle, Candlefticke and all. 
 
 God kepe vs in his feare, God grafte in vs the trewe 
 knowledge of his woorde, with a forward will to folowe 
 it, and fo to bring forth the fweete fruites of it, and 
 then fhall he preferue vs by his Grace, from all maner 
 of terrible dayes. 
 
 The remedie of this, doth not fland onelie, in mak- 
 Puiiica: Leges, ing good common lawes for the hole 
 Realme, but alfo, (and perchance cheiflie) in obferuing 
 Domestic* priuate difcipline euerie man carefullie in 
 disdpuna. hi s own houfe i and namelie, if fpeciall 
 regard be had to yougth : and that, not fo much, in 
 Cogiiitio boni. teaching them what is good, as in keping 
 them from that, that is ill. 
 
 Therefore, if wife fathers, be not as well ware in 
 ignoratio weeding from their Children ill thinges, 
 ali - and ill companie, as they were before, in 
 
 graftinge in them learninge, and prouiding for them 
 good fcholemafters, what frute, they fhall reape of all 
 their cofle and care, common experience doth tell. 
 
 Here is the place, in yougthe is the time whan fom 
 
 ignorance is as neceffarie, as moch know- 
 Some ignor- _ . . . r j 
 
 ance, a* good ledge i and not in matters ot our dewtie 
 as knowledge. towar( ies God, as fom wilful wittes willing- 
 lie againft their owne knowledge, perniciouilie againfte 
 
the bringyng <vp of youth. 57 
 
 their owne confcience, haue of late openlie taught. 
 In deede S. Chryfoftome, that noble and chrisost. de 
 eloquent Doctor, in a fermon contra fatum, Fato - 
 and the curious ferchinge of natiuities, doth wifelie faie, 
 that ignorance therein, is better than knowledge : But 
 to wring this fentence, to wrefte thereby out of mens 
 handes, the knowledge of Goddes doctrine, is without 
 all reafon, againfl common fence, contrarie to the 
 iudgement alfo of them, which be the difcretefl men, 
 and bed learned, on their own fide. I know, lu- 
 lianus Apoftata did fo, but I neuer hard or ///*. Apostat. 
 red, that any auncyent father of the primitiue chirch, 
 either thought or wrote fo. 
 
 But this ignorance in yougthe, which I i nn ocencym 
 fpake on, or rather this fimplicitie, or moil y uth - 
 trewlie, this innocencie, is that, which the noble 
 Perfians, as wife Xenophon doth teflifie, were fo carefull, 
 to breede vp their yougth in. But Chriflian fathers 
 commonlie do not fo. And I will tell you a tale, as 
 moch to be mifliked, as the Perfians example is to be 
 folowed. 
 
 This laft fomer, I was in a lentlemans houfe : where 
 a yong childe, fomewhat pafl fower yeare A childe m 
 olde, cold in no wife frame his tonge, to brought vp . 
 faie, a litle fhorte grace : and yet he could roundlie 
 rap out, fo manie vgle othes, and thofe of the neweft 
 facion, as fom good man of fourefcore yeare olde hath 
 neuer hard named before : and that which was mofl 
 deteflable of all, his father and mother in Parentes. 
 wold laughe at it. I moche doubte, what comforte, 
 an other daie, this childe mail bring vnto them. This 
 Childe vfmg moche the companie of feruinge men, and 
 geuing good eare to their taulke, did eafelie learne, 
 which he (hall hardlie forget, all [the] daies of his life 
 hereafter : So likewife,in theCourte, if a yong lentleman 
 will venturfe] him felf into the companie of Ruffians, it 
 is ouer greate a ieopardie, left, their facions, maners, 
 thoughtes, taulke, and deedes, will verie fone, be euer 
 like. The confounding of companies, breedeth con- 
 
5 s The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 in companie. fufion of good maners both in the Courte, 
 and euerie where elfe. 
 
 And it maie be a great wonder, but a greater fliame, 
 to vs Chriftian men, to vnderfland, what a heithen 
 isocrates. writer, Ifocrates, doth leaue in memorie of 
 writing, concerning the care, that the noble Citie of 
 Athens had, to bring vp their yougthe, in honeft com- 
 panie, and vertuous discipline, whofe taulke in Greke, 
 is, to this effect, in Englifhe. 
 
 " The Citie, was not more carefull, to fee their Chil- 
 in Orat " dren well taughte, than to fee their yong 
 
 Ariopag. men we n gouerned : which they brought 
 
 " to paffe, not fo much by common lawe, as by priuate 
 " difcipline. For, they had more regard, that their 
 " yougthe, by good order (hold not offend, than how, 
 " by lawe, they might be punifhed : And if offenfe 
 " were committed, there was, neither waie to hide it, 
 " neither hope of pardon for it. Good natures, were 
 " not fo moche openlie praifed as they were fecretlie 
 " marked, and watchfullie regarded, left they mould 
 " leafe the goodnes they had. Therefore in fcholes of 
 "finging and dauncing, and other honeft exercifes, 
 " gouernours were appointed, more diligent to ouerfee 
 " their good maners, than their maflers were, to teach 
 " them anie learning. It was fom fhame to a yong 
 " man, to be feene in the open market : and if for 
 " bufmeffe, he paffed throughe it, he did it, with a 
 " meruelous modeflie, and bafhefull facion. To eate, 
 " or drinke in a Tauerne, was not onelie a fhame, but 
 " alfo punifhable, in a yong man. To contrarie, or to 
 " Hand in termes with an old man, was more heinous, 
 "than in fom place, to rebuke and fcolde with his 
 " owne father : with manie other mo good orders, and 
 faire difciplines, which I referre to their reading, that 
 haue lufl to looke vpon the defcription of fuch & 
 worthie common welthe. 
 
 Good sede, And to know, what worthie frute, did 
 
 worthie frute. fpring of foch worthie feade, I will tell yow 
 the mofl meruell of all, and yet foch a trothe, as no 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 59 
 
 man (hall denie it, except fuch as be ignorant in 
 knowledge of the befl ftories. 
 
 Athens, by this difcipline and good ordering of 
 yougthe, did breede vp, within the circu[i]te Athene*. 
 of that one Citie, within the compas of one hondred 
 yeare, within the memorie of one mans life, fo manie 
 notable Capitaines in warre, for worthineffe, wifdome 
 and learning, as be fcarfe matchable no Roma. 
 not in the ftate of Rome, in the compas of thofe 
 feauen hondred yeares, whan it florifhed mofte. 
 
 And bicaufe, I will not onelie faie it, but alfo proue 
 it, the names of them be thefe. Miltiades, The noble 
 Themiftocles, Xantippus, Pericles, Cymon, Cap.tainesof 
 Alcybiades, Thrafybulus, Conon, Iphicrates, ' 
 Xenophon, Timotheus, Theopompus, Demetrius, and di- 
 uers other mo : of which euerie one, maie iuftelie be 
 fpoken that worthie praife, which was geuen to Scipio 
 Africanus, who, Cicero douteth, whether he were, more 
 noble Capitaine in warre, or more eloquent and wife 
 councelor in peace. And if ye beleue not me, read 
 diligentlie, sEmilius Probus in Latin, and JEmii.Probus. 
 Plutarche in Greke, which two, had no Piutarchus. 
 caufe either to flatter or lie vpon anie of thofe which 
 I haue recited. 
 
 And befide nobilitie in warre, for excellent and 
 matchles mailers in all maner of learninge, The learned of 
 in that one Citie, in memorie of one aige, Athenes - 
 were mo learned men, and that in a maner altogether, 
 than all tyme doth remember, than all place doth 
 affourde, than all other tonges do conteine. And I 
 do not meene of thofe Authors, which, by iniurie of 
 tyme, by negligence of men, by crueltie of fier and 
 fworde, be loft, but euen of thofe, which by Goddes 
 grace, are left yet vnto us : of which I thank God, 
 euen my poor ftudie lacketh not one. As, in Philo- 
 fophie, Plato, Ariftotle, Xenophon, Euclide, and Theo- 
 phraft : In eloquens and Ciuill lawe, Demoflhenes, 
 s&fchines, Lycurgus, Dinarchus, Demades, Ifocrates> 
 If&us, Lyfias, Antiflhenes, Andocides : In hiftories, He- 
 
60 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 rodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon : and which we lacke, to 
 our great loffe, Theopompus and ph\orus\ : In Poetrie, 
 jEfchylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Ariflophanes, and fome- 
 what of Menander, Demofthenes fifter[s] fonne. 
 
 Now, let Italian, and Latin it felf, Spanifhe, French, 
 Leamyng, Douch, and Engliflie bring forth their lern- 
 chiefly coA- ing and recite their Authors, Cicero onelie 
 
 temed in the , j i T 
 
 Greke, and in excepted, and in one or two moe in Latin, 
 no other tong. j^y fo Q ^ patched cloutes and ragges, in 
 comparifon of faire wouen broade cloathes. And 
 trewelie, if there be any good in them, it is either 
 lerned, borowed, or flolne, from fome one of thofe 
 worthie wittes of Athens. 
 
 The remembrance of foch a common welthe, vfmg 
 foch difcipline and order for yougthe, and thereby 
 bringing forth to their praife, and leauing to vs for 
 our example, fuch Capitaines for warre, foch Councel- 
 ors for peace, and matcheles mailers, for all kinde of 
 learninge, is pleafant for me to recite, and not irkfum, 
 I trufl, for other to heare, except it be foch, as make 
 neither counte of vertue nor learninge. 
 
 And whether, there be anie foch or no, I can not 
 Contemners of well tell : yet I heare faie, fome yong len- 
 learnyng. tlemen of oures, count it their fhame to be 
 counted learned : and perchance, they count it their 
 fhame, to be counted honefl alfo, for I heare faie, they 
 medle as litle with the one, as with the other. A mer- 
 uelous cafe, that lentlemen (hold fo be amamed of 
 good learning, and neuer a whit amamed of ill maners : 
 lentlemen of foch do laie for them, that the lentlemen 
 France. o f jT rance d o f o : which is a lie, as God 
 
 will haue it. Langceus, and Bellaus that be dead, and 
 the noble Vidam of Chartes, that is aliue, and infinite 
 mo in France, which I heare tell of, proue this to be 
 moft falfe. And though fom, in France, which will 
 nedes be lentlemen, whether men will or no, and haue 
 more ientlefhipe in their hat, than in their hed, be at 
 deedlie feude, with both learning and honeflie, yet I 
 beleue, if that noble Prince, king Francis the firll were 
 
the brynging *vp of youth. 61 
 
 aliue, they fhold haue, neither place in his Franclscus T 
 Courte, nor penfion in his warres, if he had Nobiiis. Fran- 
 knowledg of them. This opinion is not corum Rex - 
 French, but plaine Turckifhe : from whens, fom 
 French fetche moe faultes, than this : which, I praie 
 God, kepe out of England, and fend alfo thofe of cures 
 better mindes, which bend them felues againfle vertue 
 and learninge, to the contempte of God, difhonor of 
 their contrie, to the hurt of manie others, and at length, 
 to the greatefl harme, and vtter deflruction of them- 
 felues. 
 
 Some other, hauing better nature, but lefle witte, 
 (for ill commonlie, haue ouer moch witte) do not vt- 
 terlie difpraife learning, but they faie, that , 
 
 . , .' Experience 
 
 without learning, common experience, without 
 knowledge of all facions, and haunting all learn y n s- 
 companies, mail worke in yougthe, both wifdome, and 
 habilitie, to execute anie weightie affaire. Surelie long 
 experience doth proffet moch, but mode, and almoft 
 onelie to him (if we meene honefl affaires) that is dili- 
 gentlie before inflructed with preceptes of well doinge. 
 For good precepts of learning, be the eyes of the 
 minde, to looke wifelie before a man, which waie to 
 go right, and which not. 
 
 Learning teacheth more in one yeare Leamyng. 
 than experience in twentie : And learning Experience, 
 teacheth fafelie, when experience maketh mo miferable 
 then wife. He hafardeth fore, that waxeth wife by 
 experience. An vnhappie Matter he is, that is made 
 cunning by manie mippe wrakes : A miferable mer- 
 chant, that is neither riche or wife, but after fom bank- 
 routes. It is coftlie wifdom, that is bought by exper- 
 ience. We know by experience it felfe, that it is a 
 meruelous paine, to finde oute but a fhort waie, by 
 long wandering. And furelie, he that wold proue wife 
 by experience, he maie be wittie in deede, but euen 
 like a fwift runner, that runneth fad out of his waie, 
 and vpon the night, he knoweth not whither. And 
 verilie they be fewefl of number, that be happie or 
 
62 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 wife by vnlearned experience. And looke well vpon 
 the former life of thofe fewe, whether your example be 
 old or yonge, who without learning haue gathered, by 
 long experience, a litle wifdom, and fom happines : 
 and whan you do confider, what mifcheife they haue 
 committed, what dangers they haue efcaped (and yet 
 xx. for one, do perifhe in the aduenture) than thinke 
 well with your felfe, whether ye wold, that your owne 
 fon, mould cum to wifdom and happines, by the waie 
 of foch experience or no. 
 
 Syr Roger ^ t is a notable tale, that old Syr Roger 
 
 ckamioe. Chamloe, fometime cheife luftice, wold tell 
 
 of him felfe. When he was Auncient in Inne of Courte, 
 certaine yong lentlemen were brought before him, to 
 be corrected for certaine miforders : And one of the 
 lufliefl faide: Syr, we be yong ientlemen, and wife 
 men before vs, haue proued all facions, and yet thofe 
 haue done full well : this they faid, becaufe it was well 
 knowen, that Syr Roger had bene a good feloe in his 
 yougth. But he aunfwered them verie wifelie. In 
 deede faith he, in yougthe, I was, as you ar[e] now: and 
 I had twelue feloes like vnto my felf, but not one of 
 them came to a good ende. And therfore, folow not 
 my example in yougth, but folow my councell in aige, 
 if euer ye thinke to cum to this place, or to thies yeares, 
 that I am cum vnto, leffe ye meete either with pouer- 
 tie or Tiburn in the way. 
 
 Experience. Thus, experience of all facions in 
 
 yougthe, beinge, in profe, alwaife daungerous, in iffhue, 
 leldom lucklie, is a waie, in deede, to ouermoch know- 
 ledge, yet vfed commonlie of foch men, which be either 
 caried by fom curious affection of mynde, or driuen by 
 fom hard neceffitie of life, to hafard the triall of ouer 
 manie perilous aduentures. 
 
 Erasmus. Erafmus the honour of learning of all 
 
 oure time, faide wifelie that experience is the common 
 Experience, fcholehoufe of foles, and ill men : Men, of 
 of e F S oies Ie and Se w ^ tte anc * honeflie, be otherwife inftructed. 
 m men. ' For there be, that kepe them out of fier, 
 
the brynging <vp of youth. 6 3 
 
 and yet was neuer burned : That beware of water, and 
 yet was neuer nie drowninge : That hate harlottes, 
 and was neuer at the flewes : That abhorre falfhode, 
 and neuer brake promis themfelues. 
 
 But will ye fee, a fit Similitude of this aduentured 
 experience. A Father, that doth let loufe his fon, to 
 all experiences, is moll like a fond Hunter, that letteth 
 flippe a whelpe to the hole herde. Twentie to one, 
 he mail fall vpon a rafcall, and let go the faire game. 
 Men that hunt fo, be either ignorant perfones, preuie 
 dealers, or night walkers. 
 
 Learning therefore, ye wife fathers, and good bring- 
 ing vp, and not blinde and dangerous experience, is 
 the next and readiefl waie, that muft leede your Chil- 
 dren, firfl, to wifdom, and than to worthineffe, if euer 
 ye purpofe they fhall cum there. 
 
 And to faie all in fhorte, though I lacke How ex P eri - 
 
 ,, -Ti -i ence may 
 
 Authontie to gme counfell, yet I lacke not proffet. 
 good will to wiffhe, that the yougthe in England, 
 fpeciallie lentlemen, and namelie nobilitie, fhold be 
 by good bringing vp, fo grounded in iudgement of 
 learninge, fo founded in loue of honeflie, as, whan 
 they (ho[u]ld be called forthe to the execution of great 
 affaires, in feruice of their Prince and co[u]ntrie, they 
 might be hable, to vfe and to order, all experiences, 
 were they good were they bad, and that, according to 
 the fquare, rule, and line, of wifdom, learning, and 
 vertue. 
 
 And, I do not meene, by all this my Diiigente 
 taulke, that yong lentlemen, mould al- ^^g^^ 
 waies be poring on a booke, and by vfmg with pleasant 
 goodfludies, fhold leafe honefl pleafure, SSdtek. 
 and haunt no good pailime, I meene no- lentieman. 
 thing leffe : For it is well knowne, that I both like and 
 loue, and haue alwaies, and do yet ftill vfe, all exer- 
 cifes and paftimes, that be fitte for my nature and 
 habiiitie. And befide naturall difpofition, in iudge- 
 ment, alfo, I was neuer, either Stoick in doctrine, or 
 Anabaptif in Religion to miflik' a merie, pleafant, 
 
6 4 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 and plaifull nature, if no outrage be committed, 
 againfl lawe, me[a]fure, and good order. 
 
 Therefore, I wo[ujld wifhe, that, befide fome good 
 time, fitlie appointed, and conftantlie kepte, to encreafe 
 by readinge, the knowledge of the tonges and learning, 
 yong ientlemen mold vfe, and delite in all Courtelie 
 Learn n excrcifes, and lentlemanlike paflimes. 
 
 ioynTcfwith And good caufe whie : For the felf fame 
 pastimes. ^ Q ^ Q q^ of ^thcnes, iuftlie commended 
 of me before, did wifelie and vpon great confideration, 
 appoint, the Mufes, Apollo, and Pallas, to be patrones 
 Miisa>. of learninge to their yougthe. For the 
 
 Mufes, befides learning, were alfo Ladies of dauncinge, 
 Apollo. mirth e and miniflrelfie : Apollo, was god of 
 
 mooting, and Author of cunning playing vpon Inflru- 
 Paiias. mentes : Pallas alfo was Laidie miflres in 
 
 warres. Wherbie was nothing elfe ment, but that 
 learninge (hold be alwaife mingled, with honefl mirthe, 
 and cumlie exercifes : and that warre alfo (hold be 
 gouerned by learning, and moderated by wifdom, as 
 did well appeare in thofe Capitaines of Athenes named 
 by me before, and alfo in Scipio and Cctfar the two 
 Diamondes of Rome. 
 
 And Pallas, was no more feared, in weering ^Egida, 
 
 Learnin rewl- t * ian m6 WaS P ra ^d, for chofmg OUua \ 
 
 eth^botlfwlTre whereby fhineth the glory of learning, 
 and peace. w hich thus, was Gouernour and Miftres, 
 in the noble Citie of Athenes, both of warre and peace. 
 
 Therefore, to ride cumlie : to run faire at the tilte 
 or ring : to plaie at all weapones : to ihote faire in 
 bow, or furelie in gon : to vaut luftely : to runne : to 
 The pastimes leape : to wreftle : to fwimme : To daunce 
 c a urtile fitte f r cumne : to fing? an d playe of inflrumentes 
 ientlemen. cunnyngly \ to Hawke : to hunte : to playe 
 at tennes, and all paftimes generally, which be ioyned 
 with labor, vfed in open place, and on the day light, 
 conteining either fome fitte exercife for warre, or fome 
 pleafant paflime for peace, be not onelie cumlie and 
 decent, but alfo verie neceffarie, for a Courtlie lentle- 
 man to vfe. 
 
the brynging Dp of youth. 55 
 
 But, of all kinde of paftimes, fitte for a lentleman, I 
 will, godwilling, in fitter place, more at large, declare 
 fullie, in my booke of the Cockpitte : which The Cokpitte. 
 I do write, to fatiffie fom, I trull, with fom reafon, 
 that be more curious, in marking other mens do- 
 inges, than carefull in mendyng their owne faultes. 
 And fom alfo will nedes bufie them felues in meruel- 
 ing, and adding thereunto vnfrendlie taulke, why I, a 
 man of good yeares, and of no ill place, I thanke God 
 and my Prince, do make choife to fpend foch tyme in 
 writyng of trifles, as the fchole of (noting, the Cock- 
 pitte, and this booke of the firfl Principles of Grammer, 
 rather, than to take fome weightie matter in hand, 
 either of Religion, or Ciuill difcipline. 
 
 Wife men I know, will well allow of my choife 
 herein : and as for fuch, who haue not witte of them 
 felues, but mufl learne of others, to iudge right of mens 
 doynges, let them read that wife Poet A booke of 
 Horace in his Arte Poetica, who willeth lofty title, bear- 
 wifemen to beware, of hie and loftie Titles, ouergrau! 
 For, great fhippes, require cofllie tackling, P romise - 
 and alfo afterward dangerous gouernment : Small boates, 
 be neither verie chargeable in makyng, nor verie oft in 
 great ieoperdie : and yet they cary many tymes, as 
 ^ood and cofllie ware, as greater veffels do. A meane 
 Argument, may eafelie beare, the light The right 
 burden of a fmall faute, and haue alwaife cl J oise A to chose 
 
 ' afitte Argument 
 
 at hand, a ready excufe for ill handling : to write vpon. 
 And, fome praife it is, if it fo chaunce, to be better in 
 deede, than a man dare venture to feeme. A hye 
 title, doth charge a man, with the heauie burden, of to 
 great a promife : and therefore fayth Horace verie 
 wittelie, that, that Poete was a verie foole, Hor ^ in Arte 
 that began hys booke, with a goodlie verfe Poet - 
 in deede, but ouer proude a promife. 
 
 Fortunam Priami cantabo et nobile bellum, 
 And after, as wifelie. 
 
 Quantb retlius hie, qui nil molitur inepte etc. 
 
 
 
66 The firft booke teachyng 
 
 Homers wisdom Meening Homer, who, within the compafle 
 Argument his ^ a ^^ Argument, of one harlot, and of 
 one good wife, did vtter fo much learning in 
 all kinde of fciences, as, by the iudgement of Quintil- 
 ian, he deferueth fo hie a praife, that no man yet defer- 
 ued to fit in the fecond degree beneth him. And thus 
 moch out of my way, concerning my purpofe in fpend- 
 ing penne, and paper, and tyme, vpon trifles, and 
 namelie to aunfwere fome, that haue neither witte nor 
 learning, to do any thyng them felues, neither will nor 
 honeftie, to fay well of other. 
 
 To ioyne learnyng with cumlie exercifes, Conto 
 The Cortegian, Baldefar Castlgllom in his booke, Cor- 
 boo1Te C for ? teglane, doth trimlie teache : which booke, 
 ientieman. aduifedlie read, and diligentlie folowed, 
 but one yeare at home in England, would do a yong 
 ientieman more good, I wiffe, then three yeares tra- 
 uell abrode fpent in Italie. And I meruell this booke, 
 is no more read in the Court, than it is, feyng it is fo 
 well tranflated into Englifh by a worthie Ientieman 
 Syr Tho. Syr Th. Hobble, who was many wayes well 
 Hobble. furnifhed with learnyng, and very expert in 
 
 knowledge of diuers tonges. 
 
 And befide good preceptes in bookes, in all kinde 
 of tonges, this Court alfo neuer lacked many faire ex- 
 amples, for yong ientlemen to folow : And furelie, one 
 example, is more valiable, both to good and 
 
 Examples ... '. .' i 
 
 better than ill, than xx. preceptes written in bookes : 
 
 preceptes. an( ^ fo pl a f Q ^ no ^ i n one or two, ^^ diuerfc 
 
 places, doth plainlie teach. 
 
 King Ed. 6. If kyng Edward had liued a litle longer, 
 
 his onely example had breed foch a rafe of worthie 
 
 learned ientlemen, as this Realme neuer yet did af- 
 
 fourde. 
 
 And, in the fecond degree, two noble Primerofes of 
 The yong Duke Nobilitie, the yong Duke of Suffolke, and 
 of Suffolke. LordZT. Matreuers, were foch two examples 
 L. H. Mar- to the Court for learnyng, as our tyme may 
 tracers. rather wifhe than looke foi agayne 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 67 
 
 At Cambrige alfo, in S. lohns Colledge, in my 
 tyme, I do know, that, not fo much the good flatutes, 
 as two lentlemen, of worthie memorie Syr Syr j ohn 
 lohn Cheke, and Doclour Readman, by Chekc. 
 their onely example of excellency in learnyng, of god- 
 nes in liuyng, of diligence in fludying, of council in 
 exhorting, of [by] good order in all thyng, D. Readman. 
 did breed vp, fo many learned men, in that one College 
 of S. lohns, at one time, as I beleue, the whole Vni- 
 uerfitie of Louaine, in many yeares, was neuer able to 
 affourd. 
 
 Prefent examples of this prefent tyme, I lift not to 
 the touch : yet there is one example, for all Queene 
 lentlemen of this Court to fol[l]ow, that &*****. 
 may well fatiffie them, or nothing will ferue them, nor 
 no example moue them, to goodnes and learning. 
 
 IJ^is^^uMhame, (I fpeake to you all, you yong \/ 
 lentlemerToTEnglarid) that one maydfe] mould go be- 
 yond you all, in excellencie of learnyng, and knowledge 
 of diuers tonges. Pointe forth fix of the befl giuen 
 lentlemen of this Court, and all they together, mew 
 not fo much good will, fpend not fo much tyme, 
 beflow not fo many houres, dayly, orderly, and con- 
 flantly, for the increafe of learning and knowledge, as 
 doth the Queenes Maieftie her felfe. Yea I beleue, 
 that befide her perfit readines, in Latin, Italian, French. 
 and SpaniJJi, me readeth here now at Windfore more 
 Greeke euery day, than fome Prebendarie of this 
 Chirch doth read Latin in a whole weeke. And 
 that_which isjgoft praife worthie ojLalU-^yithia, the 
 walles of her priuie chamber, me hath obteyned 
 that excellencie of learnyng, to vnderftand, fpeake, 
 and "write, both wittely with head, and faire with 
 hand, as fcarce one or two rare wittes in both the 
 Vniuerfities haue in many yeares reached vnto. 
 Amongefl all the benefites yat God hath bleffed me 
 with all, next the knowledge of Chriftes true Re- 
 ligion, I counte this the greatefl, that it pleafed God 
 to call me, to be one poore minifler in fettyng for 
 
68 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 ivard thefe excellent giftes of learnyng in this moil 
 excellent Prince. Whofe onely example, if the 
 reft of our nobilitie would folow, than might Eng- 
 rii Examples land be, for learnyng and wifedome in 
 haue more nobilitie, a fpectacle to all the world 
 
 force, tnen good _ _ , 7 ._ , . n ., ,-. 
 
 examples. befide. Butjeejhe mimarjjaf men : The 
 beft examples haue neuer fuch forfe to moue to any 
 goodnes, as the bad, vaine, light and fond, haue to all 
 ilnes. 
 
 And one example, though out of the com pas of 
 learning, yet not out of the order of good maners, was 
 notable in this Courte, not fullie xxiiij. yeares a go, 
 when all the actes of Parlament, many good Procla- 
 mations, diuerfe flrait commaundementes, fore punifh- 
 ment openlie, fpeciall regarde priuatelie, cold not do fo 
 moch to take away one miforder, as the example of 
 one big one of this Courte did, flill to kepe vp the 
 fame : The memorie whereof, doth yet remaine, in a 
 common prouerbe of Birching lane. 
 
 Take hede therfore, ye great ones in ye Court, yea 
 though ye be ye greateft of all, take hede, 
 
 Great men in . J , i i i i T T- 
 
 Court, by their what ye do, take hede how ye hue. tor 
 
 orSre' "u^ as y ou g reat ones v ^ e to do, * a ^ ^leane 
 other mens .-men loue to do. You be in deed, makers 
 or marrers, of all mens maners within the 
 Realme. For though God hath placed yow, to be 
 cheife in making of lawes, to beare greateft authoritie, 
 to commaund all others : yet God doth order, that all 
 your lawes, all your authoritie, all your commaunde- 
 mentes, do not halfe fo moch with meane men, as doth 
 Example in y our example and maner of liuinge. And 
 Religion. f or example euen in the greatefl matter, 
 if yow your felues do ferue God gladlie and orderlie 
 for confcience fake, not coldlie, and fomtyme for 
 maner fake, you carie all the Courte with yow, and 
 the whole Realme befide, earneftlie and orderlie to do 
 the fame. If yow do otherwife, yow be the onelie 
 authors, of all miforders in Religion, not onelie to the 
 Courte, but to all England befide. Infinite mail be 
 
the brynging up of youth. 69 
 
 made cold in Religion by your example, that neuer 
 were hurt by reading of bookes. 
 
 And in meaner matters, if three or foure great ones 
 in Courte, will nedes outrage in apparell, Example in 
 in huge hofe, in mon(l[e]rous hattes, in a PP arell 
 gaurifhe colers, let the Prince Proclame, make Lawes, 
 order, punifhe, commaunde euerie gate in London dailie 
 to be watched, let all good men befide do euerie where 
 what they can, furelie the miforder of apparell in mean 
 men abrode, mail neuer be amended, except the greatefl 
 in Courte will order and mend them felues firft. I 
 know, fom greate and good ones in Courte, were 
 authors, that honeil Citizens in London, fhoulde 
 watche at euerie gate, to take mifordered perfones in 
 apparell. I know, that honed Londoners did f o : 
 And I fawe, which I fawe than, and reporte now with 
 fome greife, that fom Courtlie men were offended with 
 thefe good men of London. And that, which greued 
 me mofl of all, I fawe the verie fame tyme, for all theis 
 good orders, commaunded from the Courte and exe- 
 cuted in London, I fawe I fay, cum out Masters>Vshers , 
 of London, euen vnto the prefence of the and Scholars of 
 Prince, a great rable of meane and light fense< 
 perfons, in apparell, for matter, againfl lawe, for mak- 
 ing, againfl order, for facion, namelie hofe, fo without 
 all order, as he thought himfelfe mofl braue, that durfl 
 do mofl in breaking order and was mofl monflerous in 
 miforder. And for all the great commaundementes, 
 that came out of the Courte, yet this bold miforder, 
 was winked at, and borne withall, in the Courte. I 
 thought, it was not well, that fom great ones of the 
 Court, durfl declare themfelues offended, with good 
 men of London, for doinge their dewtie, and the good 
 ones of the Courte, would not mew themfelues offended, 
 with the ill men of London, for breaking good order. 
 I fownde thereby a fayinge of Socrates to be mofl trewe 
 that ill men be more haflie, than good men be forwarde, 
 to profecute their purpofes, euen as Chrifl himfelfe 
 faith, of the Children of light and darknes. 
 
7 o The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 Befide apparell, in all other thinges to, not fo moch, 
 good lawes andflrait commaundementes as the example 
 and maner of liuing of great men, doth carie all meane 
 men euerie where, to like, and loue, and do, as they 
 do. For if but two or three noble men in the Court, 
 Example in wold but beghme to fhoote, all yong 
 shootyng. lentlemen, the whole Court, all London, 
 the whole Realme, would flraight waie exercife mooting. 
 
 What praife (hold they wynne to themfelues, what 
 commoditie fhold they bring to their contrey, that 
 would thus deferue to be pointed at : Beholde, there 
 goeth, the author of good order, the guide of good 
 men. I cold fay more, and yet not ouermoch. But 
 perchance, fom will fay, I haue ftepte to farre, out of 
 my fchole, into the common welthe, from teaching a 
 yong fcholer, to monime greate and noble 
 forgreat^L, men ' yet I trufl good and wife men will 
 but for great thinke and iudge of me, that my minde 
 
 rnens children. & u t. r j i. i j 
 
 was, not fo moch, to be bufie and bold 
 with them, that be great now, as to giue trewe aduife 
 to them, that may be great hereafter. Who, if they 
 do, as I wifhe them to do, how great fo euer they be 
 now, by blood and other mens meanes, they mall be- 
 cum a greate deale greater hereafter, by learninge, 
 vertue, and their owne defertes : which is trewe praife, 
 right worthines, and verie Nobilitie in deede. Yet, if 
 fom will needes preffe me, that I am to bold with great 
 men, and flray to farre from my matter, I will anfwere 
 Ad Philip. them with S. Paul, fine per contentionem, 
 fiue qiwcunque modo> modb Chriftus pr&dicetnr, etc. euen 
 fo, whether in place, or out of place, with my matter, or 
 befide my matter, if I can hereby either prouoke the 
 good, or flaye the ill, 1 mall thinke my writing herein 
 well imployed. 
 
 But, to cum downe, from greate men, and hier 
 matters, to my litle children, and poore fchoolehoufe 
 again e, I will, God willing, go forwarde orderlie, as I 
 purpofed, to inilructe Children and yong men, both 
 for learninge and maners. 
 
 Hitherto, 1 bane (hewed, what harme, ouermoch 
 
the brynging <vp of yotith. 7 i 
 
 feare bringeth to children : and what hurte, ill com- 
 panic, and ouermoch libertie breedeth in yougthe : 
 meaning thereby, that from feauen yeare olde, to 
 feauentene, loue is the bed allurement to learninge : 
 from feauentene to feauen and twentie, that wife men 
 mold carefullie fee the fleppes of yougthe furelie flaide 
 by good order, in that mofl flipperie tyme : and fpeci- 
 allie in the Courte, a place mofl dangerous for yougthe 
 to liue in, without great grace, good regarde, and dili- 
 gent looking to. 
 
 Syr Richard Sackuik, that worthy lentleman of 
 worthy mernorie, as I fayd in the begynnynge, in the 
 Queenes priuie Chamber at Windefore, Traueiimg 
 after he had talked with me, for the right into Italie - 
 choice of a good witte in a child for learnyng, and of 
 the trewe difference betwixt quicke and hard wittes, of 
 alluring yong children by ientlenes to loue learnyng, 
 and of the fpeciall care that was to be had, to keepe 
 yong men from licencious liuyng, he was mofl earneft 
 with me, to haue me fay my mynde alfo, what I thought, 
 concernyng the fanfie that many yong lentlemen of 
 England haue to trauell abroad, and namely to lead a 
 long lyfe in Italie. His requefl, both for his authentic, 
 and good will toward me, was a fufficient commaunde- 
 ment vnto me, to fatiffie his pleafure, with vtteryng 
 plainlie my opinion in that matter. Syr quoth I, I 
 take goyng thither, and liuing there, for a yonge ientle- 
 man, that doth not goe vnder the ke[e]pe and garde of 
 fuch a man, as both, by wifedome can, and authentic 
 dare rewle him, to be meruelous dangerous. And 
 whie I faid fo than, I will declare at large now : which 
 I faid than priuatelie, and write now openlie, not bi- 
 caufe I do contemne, either the knowledge of flrange 
 and diuerfe tonges, and namelie the Italian T1 e i ta ii an 
 tonge, which next the Greeke and Latin ton s- 
 tonge, I like and loue aboue all other : or elfe bicaufe 
 I do defpife, the learning that is gotten, or the experi- 
 ence that is gathered in flrange contries : or for any 
 priuate malice that bcare to Italie : which Italia. 
 
72 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 Roma. contrie, and in it, namelie Rome, I haue 
 
 alwayes fpeciallie honored : bicaufe, tyme was, whan 
 Italic and Rome, haue bene, to the greate good of vs 
 that now liue, the beft breeders and bringers vp, of 
 the worthieil men, not onelie for wife fpeakinge, but 
 alfo for well doing, in all Ciuill affaires, that euer was 
 in the worlde. But now, that tyme is gone, arid 
 though the place remayne, yet the olde and prefent 
 maners, do differ as farre, as blacke and white, as 
 vertue and vice. Vertue once made that contrie 
 Miflres ouer all the worlde. Vice now maketh that 
 contrie flaue to them, that before, were glad to feme 
 it. All man feeth it : They themfelues confeffe it, 
 namelie foch, as be bell and wifeft amongeft them. For 
 fmne, by luft and vanitie, hath and doth breed vp 
 euery where, common contempt of Gods word, priuate 
 contention in many families, open factions in euery 
 Citie : and fo, makyng them felues bonde, to vanitie 
 and vice at home, they are content to beare the yoke 
 of feruyng flraungers abroad. Italie now, is not that 
 Italie^ that it was wont to be : and therfore now, not 
 fo fitte a place, as fome do counte it, for yong men to 
 fetch either wifedome or honeflie from thence. For 
 furelie, they will make other but bad Scholers, that be 
 fo ill Mailers to them felues. Yet, if a ientleman will 
 nedes trauell into Italie, he fhall do well, to looke on 
 the life, of the wifeft traueller, that euer traueled thether, 
 fet out by the wifeft writer, that euer fpake with tong, 
 Gods doctrine onelie excepted : and that is Vlyffes in 
 viysses. Homere. Vlyffes ', and his trauell, I wifhe 
 
 Home. our trauelers to looke vpon, not fo much 
 to feare them, with the great daungers, that he many 
 tymes fuffered, as to inflruct them, with his excellent 
 wifedome, which he alwayes and euery where vfed. 
 Yea euen thofe, that be learned and wittie trauelers, 
 when they be difpofed to prayfe traueling, as a great 
 commendacion, and the beft Scripture they haue for 
 it, they gladlie recite the third verfe of Homere , in his 
 firft booke of Odyffea, conteinyng a great prayfe of 
 
the brynging <vp of youth. 73 
 
 Vlyffes, for the witte he gathered, and wife- o5us, a. 
 dome he vfed in trauelling. 
 
 Which verfe, bicaufe, in mine opinion, it was not 
 made at the firfl, more naturallie in Greke by Homere, 
 nor after turned more aptelie into Latin by Horace, 
 than it was a good while ago, in Cambrige, tranf- 
 lated into Englifh, both plainlie for the fenfe, and 
 roundlie for the verfe, by one of the befl Scholers, that 
 euer S. lohns Colledge bred, M. Watfon, myne old 
 frend, fomtime Bifhop of Lincolne, therefore, for their 
 fake, that haue lufl to fee, how our Englifh tong, in 
 avoidyng barbarous ryming, may as well receiue, right 
 quantitie of fillables, and trewe order of verfifiyng (of 
 which matter more at large hereafter) as either Greke 
 or Latin, if a cunning man haue it in [the] handling, 
 I will fet forth that one verfe in all three tonges, for 
 an Example to good wittes, that fliall delite in like 
 learned exercife. 
 
 fjomerttg. 
 
 OV S* dvOplOTTWV ZStV CUTTCd KGU VOOV 
 
 H oratht*. 
 Qui mores hominum multorum vidit et vrbes. 
 
 p. S2Rat$ott. 
 
 All travellers do gladly report great pray fe ofVlyffes, 
 For that he knew many metis maners, and Jaw many Cities. 
 
 And yet is not Vlyffes commended, fo much, nor 
 fo oft, in Homere, bicaufe he was 
 s, that is, fkilfull in many 
 
 7 Vlys* 
 
 mens manners and facions, as bi- 
 caufe he was TroAu/^Tts, that is, wife 
 
 ( 
 
 in allpurpofes,andwar[y]ein all places : which wifedome 
 and warenes will not ferue neither a tra- Pallas from 
 ueler, except Pallas be alwayes at his heauen. 
 elbow, that is Gods fpeciall grace from heauen, to kepe 
 him in Gods feare, in all his doynges, in all his ieorneye. 
 
Cyclops. 
 Calypso, 
 
 Sirenes. 
 
 Scylla. 
 CaribdisJ 
 
 Circes. 
 
 U*. 
 
 74 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 For, he lhall not alwayes in his ab fence out of Eng- 
 . 68. 2. land, light vpon the ientle Alcynous, and 
 walke in his faire gardens full of all 
 harmeleffe pleafures : but he fhall fome- 
 tymes, fall, either into the handes of fome 
 68. i. cruell Cyclops, or into the lappe of fome 
 68. e> wanton and daly ing Dame Calypfo: and 
 fo fuffer the danger of many a deadlie 
 Denne, not io full of perils, to diftroy 
 the body, as, full of vayne pleafures, to 
 poyfon the mynde. Some Siren mail 
 ling him a fong, fweete in tune, but 
 fownding in the ende, to his vtter de- 
 flruction. If Scylla drowne him not, 
 Carybdis may fortune fwalow hym. 
 68. K. Some Circes mail make him, of a plaine 
 Englifh man, a right Italian. And at length to hell, or 
 to fome hellifh place, is he likelie to go : from whence 
 is hard returning, although one Vlyffes, and that by 
 68. A. Pallas ayde, and good counfell of Tirefias 
 
 once efcaped that horrible Den of deadly darkenes. 
 
 Therfore, if wife men will nedes fend their fonnes 
 into Italic, let them do it wifelie, vnder the kepe and 
 garde of him, who, by his wifedome and honcuie, by 
 his example and authoritie, maybe hable to kepe them 
 fafe and found, in the feare of God, in Chrifles trewe Re- 
 ligion, in good order and honeflie of liuyng : except they 
 will haue them run headling [headlong], into ouermany 
 ieoperdies, as Vlyffes had done many tymes, if Pallas 
 had not alwayes gouerned him : if he had not vfed, to 
 65. fj,. ftop his eares with waxe : to bind him felfe 
 68. K. to the mail of his (hyp: to feede dayly, vpon 
 
 Moiy Herba. that fwete herbe Moly with the bla[c]ke roote 
 and white floore, giuen vnto hym by Mercuric, to auoide 
 all inchantmentes of Circes. Wherby, the Diuine Poete 
 Homer merit couertlie (as wife and Godlymen do iudge) 
 that loue of honeflie, and hatred of ill, which Dauid 
 Psai. 33. more plainly doth call the feare of God : 
 
 the oriely remedie agaynft all inchantementes of fmne. 
 I know diuerie noble perfonages, and many worthie 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 75 
 
 lentlemen of England, whom all the Siren fonges of 
 Italic, could neuer vntwyne from the mafte of Gods 
 word : nor no incharitment of vanitie, ouerturne them, 
 from the feare of God, and loue of honeftie. 
 
 But I know as many, or mo, and fome, fometyme 
 my deare frendes, for whofe fake I hate going into that 
 countrey the more, who, party ng out of England fer- 
 uent in the loue of Chrifles doctrine, and well furnifhed 
 with the feare of God, returned out of Italic worfe 
 tranfformed, than euer were any in Circes Court. I 
 know diuerfe, that went out of England, men of inno- 
 cent life, men of excellent learnyng, who returned out 
 of Italic, not onely with worfe manners, but alfo with 
 leffe learnyng : neither fo willing to Hue orderly, nor 
 yet fo hable to fpeake learnedlie, as they were at 
 home, before they went abroad. And why ? Plato^ 
 yat wife writer, and worthy traueler him felfe, telleth 
 the caufe why. He went into Sicilia, a countrey, no 
 nigher Italy by fite of place, than Italie that is now, is 
 like Sicilia that was then, in all corrupt maners and 
 licencioufnes of life. Plato found in Sicilia, euery 
 Citie full of vanitie, full of factions, euen as Italic is 
 now. And as Homere, like a learned Poete, doth 
 feyne, that Circes, by pleafant inchantmentes, did 
 turne men into beafles, fome into Swine, fom in 
 Affes, fome into Foxes, fome into Wolues etc. euen 
 fo, Plato, like a wife Philofopher, doth Plat ad Dionys> 
 plainelie declare, that pleafure, by licenti- E P ist - 3- 
 ous vanitie, that fweet and perilous poyfon of all youth, 
 doth ingender in all thofe that yeld vp themfelues to 
 her, foure notorious properties. 
 
 2. vo-paiav The fruits ot 
 
 3. d$>p<xn)Vr]V vayne pleasure. 
 
 4. vfipiv. 
 
 The firft, forgetfulnes of all good thinges learned 
 before : the fecond, dulnes to receyue either causes why 
 learnyng or honeflie euer after : the third, f e ^H e r 7esse 
 a mynde embracing lightlie the worfe learned and * 
 opinion, and baren of difcretion to make worsemanered - 
 
7 6 Tkefirft booke teachyng 
 
 trewe difference betwixt good and ill, betwixt troth, 
 and vanitie, the fourth, a proude difdainfulnes of othei 
 Homer and good men, in all honefl matters. Homert 
 
 fiato loyned -ir-i 
 
 and expounded, and Plato, haue both one meanyng, looke 
 both to one end. For, if a man inglutte himfelf with 
 A Swyne. vanitie, or waiter in filthines like a Swyne, 
 all learnyng, all goodnes, is fone forgotten : Than, 
 AnAsse. quicklie (hall he becum a dull Affe, to 
 vnderRand either learnyng or honeftie : and yet mall 
 A Foxe. he be as futle as a Foxe, in breedyng of 
 
 mifchief, in bringyng in miforder, with a bufie head, a 
 difcourfmg tong, and a factious harte, in euery priuate 
 affaire, in all matters of flate, with this pretie propertie, 
 typotrivq, alwayes glad to commend the worfe partie, 
 Quid, et vnde. and euer ready to defend the falfer opinion. 
 And why? For, where will is giuen from goodnes to 
 vanitie, the mynde is fone caryed from right iudge- 
 ment to any fond opinion, in Religion, in Philofophie, 
 or any other kynde of learning. The fourth fruite of 
 vfipts. vaine pleafure, by Homer and Platos 
 
 Judgement, is pride in them felues, contempt of others, 
 the very badge of all thofe that ferue in Circes Court. 
 The true meenyng of both Homer and Plato, is plainlie 
 declared in one fhort fentence of the holy Prophet of 
 Hieremas God Hieremie, crying out of the vaine and 
 4 . Cap. vicious life of the Ifraelites. This people 
 
 (fayth he) be fooles and dulhedes to all goodnes, but 
 fotle, cunning and bolde, in any mifchiefe. etc. 
 
 The true medecine againfl the inchantmentes of 
 Circes, the vanitie of licencious pleafure, the intice- 
 mentes of all finne, is, in Homer e, the herbe Moly, 
 with the blacke roote, and white flooer, fower at the 
 Hesiodus de firft, but fweete in the end : which, Hefiodus 
 virtute. termeth the fludy of vertue, hard and irkfome 
 in the beginnyng,butintheend,eafie andpleafant. And 
 that, which is moft to be marueled at. the diuine Poete 
 Homerus diui- Homere fayth plainlie that this medicine 
 nus Poeta. againfl finne and vanitie is not found out by 
 man, but giuen and taught by God. And forfome [ones] 
 fake, that will haue delite to read that fweete and Godlie 
 
the brynging <vp of youth. 77 
 
 Verfe, I will recite the very wordes of Homer e and alfo 
 turne them into rude Englifh metre. 
 
 XaA,7roi> 8e r opvcrcreiv 
 avSpctcrt ye $1/77x0 icrt, Oeol Se Travra Swavrt. 
 
 In Englifh thus. 
 
 No mortall man, with fweat of browe, or folk of minde, 
 But onely God, who can do all, that herbe doth finde. 
 
 Plato alfo, that diuine Philofopher, hath many Godly 
 medicines agaynfl the poyfon of vayne pleafure, in 
 many places, but fpecially in his Epiflles to Dionifius 
 the tyrant of Sicilie : yet agaynfl thofe, Plat. ad. Dio. 
 that will nedes becum beafles, with feruyng of 
 Circes, the Prophet Dauid, ciieth moft loude, Nolite 
 fieri ficut eques et mulus : and by and by Psai. 32. 
 giueth the right medicine, the trewe herbe Moly, In 
 camo et freno maxillas eorum conjlringe, that is to fay, 
 let Gods grace be the bitte, let Gods feare be the bridle, 
 to flay them from runnyng headlong into vice, and to 
 turne them into the right way agayne. Dauid in the 
 fecond Pfalme after, giueth the fame medi- Psai. 33 . 
 cine, but in thefe plainer wordes, Diuerte a malo et fac 
 bonum. But I am affraide, that ouer many of our 
 trauelers into Italie, do not exchewe the way to Circes 
 Court: but go, and ryde, n <1 runne, and flie thether, 
 they make great hall to cum to her : they make great 
 fute to ferue her : yea, I could point out fome with my 
 finger, that neuer had gone out of England, but onelie 
 to ferue Circes, in Italie. Vanitie and vice, and any 
 licence to ill liuyng in England was counted Rale and 
 rude vnto them. And fo, beyng Mules and Horfes 
 before they went, returned verie Swyne and Affes home 
 agayne: yet euerie where verie Foxes with as futtle 
 and bufie heades ; and where they may, verie Woolues, 
 with cruell malicious hartes. A maruelous A trewe pic 
 monfler, which, for nlthines of liuyng, for tureofaknight 
 dulnes to learning him felfe, for wilineffe ofCircesCourt - 
 in dealing with others, for malice in hurting without 
 caufe, mould carie at once in one bodie, the belie of 
 a Swyne, the head of an Affe, the brayne of a Foxe, 
 
7 8 The fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 the wombe of a wolfe. If you thinke, we iudge amiffe, 
 and write to fore againft you, heare, what the Italian 
 The Italians fayth of the Englifh Man, what the matter 
 Judgement of reporteth of the fcholer : who vttereth 
 
 Englishmen / ,. , . . , , , , . , . 
 
 brought vp in playnhe, what is taught by him, and what 
 italic. learned by you, faying, Englcfc Italianato, 
 
 e vn diabolo incarnate ', that is to fay, you remain e menin 
 fhape and facion, but becum deuils in life and condi- 
 tion. This1rno1^th^TJpTnfon"of on^foFIblnTpnuate 
 fpite, but the iudgement of all, in a common Prouerbe, 
 which rifeth, of that learnyng, and thofe maners, which 
 The Italian dif- y ou g at; her in Italic \ a good Scholehoufe 
 fameth them of wholefome doctrine, and worthy Mailers 
 
 selfe, to shame r 111011 i ^ -\ir r 
 
 the Engiishe of commendable Scholars, where the Maf- 
 man - ter had rather diffame hym felfe for hys 
 
 teachyng, than not fhame his Scholer for his learnyng. 
 A good nature of the maifter, and faire conditions of 
 the fcholers. And now chofe you, you Italian Eng- 
 lifhe men, whether you will be angrie with vs, for call- 
 ing you monflers, or with the Italiams, for callyng you 
 deuils, or elfe with your owne felues, that take fo much 
 paines, and go fo farre, to make your felues both. If 
 fome yet do not well vnderfland, what is an Englifh 
 man Italianated, I will plainlie tell him. He, that by 
 An English ^ u ^ n &> an( ^ traueling in Italic, bringeth 
 man home into England out of Italic, the Re- 
 
 itaiianated. ii g i on> t h e learning, the policie, the ex- 
 perience, the maners of Italic. That is to fay, for Re- 
 ligion, Papiflrieor worfe: forlearn- 
 yng,leffe commonly thajrdiej^caried 
 out with them: for polhcie, a factious 
 har^a'difcuiTrfmghead, amynde"to 
 
 1. Religion. 
 
 2. Learn- 
 
 ing. 
 
 3. Pollicie. 
 
 4- Experi- 
 ence. 
 
 ,5. Maners. 
 
 gotten 
 
 itaiie me dle in all mens matters : for ex- 
 perience, plentieof new mifchieues 
 neuer knowne in England before : 
 for maners, varietie of vanities, 
 and chaunge of filthy lyuing. Thefe be the in- 
 chantementes of Circes, brought out of Italic, to 
 marre mens maners in England ; much, by ex- 
 ample of ill life, but more by preceptes of fonde 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 79 
 
 bookes, of late tranflated out rt^Italian ^ute^L 
 into Englifh, fold in euery (hop in Lon- English. 
 don, commended by honeft titles the fo[o]ner to corrupt 
 honeft maners : dedicated ouer boldlie to vertuous and 
 honourable perfonages, the eafielier to beg[u]ile fimple 
 and innocent wittes. It is pitie, that thofe, ^~ 
 which haue authoritie and charge, to allow and -sO* 
 diffalow bookes to be printed, be no more circumfpect 
 herein, than they are. Ten Sermons at Paules Croffe 
 do not fo moch good for mouyng men to trewe doc- 
 trine, as one of thofe bookes do harme, with inticing 
 men to ill liuing. Yea, I say farder, thofe bookes, 
 tend not fo moch to corrupt honeft liuing, as they do, 
 to fubuert trewe Religion. Mo Papiftes be made, by 
 your mer[r]y bookes of Italic, than by your earneft bookes 
 of Louain. And bicaufe our great Phificians, do winke 
 at the matter, and make no counte of this fore, I, 
 though not admitted one of their felowfhyp, yet hauyng 
 bene many yeares a prentice to Gods trewe Religion, 
 and truft to continewe a poore iorney man therein all 
 dayes of my life, for the dewtie I owe, and loue I beare, 
 both to trewe doctrine, and honeft liuing, though I 
 haue no authoritie to amend the fore my felfe, yet I 
 will declare my good will, to difcouer the fore to others. 
 
 S. Paul faith, that fectes and ill opinions, Ad Gal. 5. 
 be the workes of the flefh, and frutes of fmne, this is 
 fpoken, no more trewlie for the doctrine, than fenliblie 
 for the reafon. And why? For, ill doinges, breed 
 ill thinkinges. And of corrupted maners, fpryng per- 
 uerted iudgementes. And how? there be in man 
 two fpeciall thinges : Mans " 
 will, mans mynde. Where 
 will inclineth to goodnes, the 
 mynde is bent to troth : Where will is caried from 
 goodnes to vanitie, the mynde is fone drawne from 
 troth to falfe opinion. And fo, the readieft way to 
 entangle the mynde with falfe doctrine, is firft to in- 
 tice the will to wanton liuyng. Therfore, when the 
 bufie and open Papiftes abroad, could not, by their 
 contentious bookes, turne men in England fail enough, 
 
 Voluntas 
 
 A /'Bonum. 
 
 |-Respicit-< 
 
 J 
 
 Mens ) vV 
 
8o 7^ he fir ft booke teachyng 
 
 from troth and right Judgement in doctrine, than the 
 -, futle and fecrete Papiftes at home, procured 
 ^^ bawdie bookes to be tranflated out of the 
 
 Italian tonge, whereby ouer many yong willes and 
 wittes allured to wantonnes, do now boldly contemne 
 all feuere bookes that founde to honeftie and godlines. 
 In our forefathers tyme, whan Papiftrie, as a ftandyng 
 poole, couered and ouerflowed all England, fewe 
 bookes were read in our tong, fauyng certaine bookes 
 Cheualrie, as they fayd, for paflime and pleafure, which, 
 as fome fay, were made in Monafteries, by idle Monkes, 
 or wanton Chanons : as one for example, Morte Ar~ 
 Morte Arthur, thure \ the whole pleafure of which booke 
 ftandeth in two fpeciall poyntes, in open mans Daughter, 
 and bold bawdrye : In which booke thofe be counted 
 the noblefl Knightes, that do kill mod men without any 
 quarrell, and commit fowled aduoulter[i]es by futleft 
 miftes : as Sir Lanncelote, with the wife of king Arthure. 
 his mailer : Syr Triflram with the wife of king Marke 
 his vncle : Syr Lamerocke with the wife of king Lotc, 
 jrj^* that was his own aunte. This is good 
 
 ftuffe, for wife men to laughe at, or honeft 
 men to take pleafure at. Yet I know, when Gods 
 Bible was banifhed the Court, and Morte Arthure re- 
 ceiued into the Princes chamber. What toyes, the 
 dayly readyng of fuch a booke, may worke in the will 
 of a yong ientleman, or a yong mayde, that liueth 
 welthelie and idlelie, wife men can iudge, and honeft 
 men do pitie. And yet ten Morte Arthures do not the 
 tenth part fo much harme, as one of thefe bookes, 
 ~. made in Italic, and tranflated in England. 
 
 ^ They open, not fond and common wayes 
 
 to vice, but fuch fubtle, cunnyng, new, and diuerfe 
 fhiftes, to cary yong willes to vanitie, and yong wittes 
 to mifchief, to teach old bawdes new fchole poyntes, 
 as the fimple head of an Englilhman is not liable to . 
 inuent, nor neuer was hard of in England before, yea 
 when Papiftrie ouerflowed all. Suffer thefe bookes to 
 be read, and they fhall foone difplace all bookes ot 
 godly learnyng. For they, carying the will to vanitie 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 81 
 
 and marryng good maners, fhall eafily 
 corrupt the mynde with ill opinions, and 
 falfe iudgement in doctrine : firfl, to thinke nothyng 
 of God hym felfe, one fpeciall pointe that is to be 
 learned in Italic, and Italian bookes. And ^^ 
 
 that which is mofl to be lamented, and ** 
 
 therfore more nedefull to be looked to, there be moe 
 of thefe vngratious Vookes fet out in Printe within thefe 
 fewe monethes, than haue bene fene in England many 
 fcore yearefs] before. And bicaufe our Englifh men 
 made Italians can not hurt, but certaine perfons, and in 
 certaine places, therfore thefe Italian bookes are made 
 Englifh, to bryng mifchief enough openly and boldly, to 
 all flates great and meane, yong and old, euery where. 
 
 And thus yow fee, how will intifed to wantonnes, 
 doth eafelie allure the mynde to falfe opinions : and 
 how corrupt maners in liuinge, breede falfe iudgement 
 in doctrine : how finne and flefhlines, bring forth fectes 
 and herefies : And therefore fuffer not vaine bookes to 
 breede vanitie in mens willes, if yow would haue 
 Goddes trothe take roote in mens myndes. 
 
 That Italian, that firfl inuented the Italian Prouerbe 
 againfl our Englifhe men Italianated, ment no more 
 their vanitie in liuing, than their lewd opinion in Reli- 
 gion. For, in calling them Deuiles, he The Italian 
 carieth them cleane from God: and yet prouerbe 
 he carieth them no farder, than they wil- expou 
 Knglie go themfelues, that is, where they may freely 
 fay their mindes, to the open contempte of God and 
 all godlines, both in liuing and doctrine. 
 
 And how ? I will expreffe how, not by a Fable of 
 Homere, nor by the Philofophie of Plato , but by a 
 plaine troth of Goddes word, fenfiblie vttered by Dauid 
 thus. Thies men, abhominabiles fafti in studijs fuis, 
 thinke verily, and finge gladlie the verfe before, Dixit 
 infipiens in Corde jno, non eft Deus : that is Psa. 14. 
 to lay, they geuing themfelues vp to vanitie, fhakinge 
 of the motions of Grace, driuing from them the feare 
 of God, and running headlong into all finne, firfl, 
 luflelie contemne God, than icornemllie mocke his 
 
 F 
 
82 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 worde, and alfo fpitefullie hate and hurte all well willers 
 thereof. Than they haue in more reuerence, the 
 triumphes of Petrarch e : than the Genefis of Mofes : 
 They make more account of Tallies offices, than S. 
 Paules epiftles : of a tale in Bocace, than a florie of the 
 Bible. Than they counte as Fables, the holie mifteries 
 of Chriftian Religion. They make Chrift and his Gof- 
 pell, onelie ferue Ciuill pollicie : Than neyther Religion 
 cummeth amiffe to them : In tyme they be Promoters 
 of both openlie : in place againe mockers of both pri- 
 uilie, as I wrote oncein a rude ryme. 
 
 Now new, now olde, now both, now neither, 
 
 To feme the worldes courfe, they care not with whether. 
 
 For where they dare, in cumpanie where they like, 
 they boldlie laughe to fcorne both proteflant and Pap- 
 ift. They care for no fcripture : They make no counte 
 of generall councels : they contemne the confent of 
 the Chirch : They paffe for no Doctores : They 
 mocke the Pope : They raile on Luther : They allow 
 neyther fide : They like none, but onelie themfelues : 
 The marke they mote at, the ende they looke for, the 
 heauen they defire, is onelie, their owne prefent plea- 
 fure, and priuate proffit: whereby, they plainlie declare, 
 of whofe fchole, of what Religion they be : that is, 
 Epicures in liuing, and afoot in doctrine : this laft 
 worde, is no more vnknowne now to plaine Englifhe 
 men, than the Perfon was vnknown fomtyme in Eng- 
 land, vntill fom[e] Englifhe man tooke peines to fetch 
 that deuelifh opinion out of Italic. Thies men, thus 
 The Italian Italianated abroad, can not abide our 
 chirche in Godlie Italian Chirch at home : they be 
 not of that Pariih, they be not of that fe- 
 lowfhyp : they like not yat preacher : they heare not 
 his fermons : Excepte fometymes for companie, they 
 cum thither, to heare the Italian tongue naturally 
 fpoken, not to hear Gods doctrine trewly preached. 
 
 And yet, thies men, in matters of Diuinitie, openlie 
 pretend a great knowledge, and haue priuately to them 
 felues, a verie compendious vnderflanding of all, which 
 neuertheles they will vtter when and where they lifte : 
 
the brynging vp ofyoutk. 83 
 
 And that is this : All the mifteries of Mofes, the whole 
 lawe and Cerimonies, the Pfalmes and Prophetes, 
 Chrift and his Gofpell, GOD and the Deuill, Heauen 
 and Hell, Faith, Confcience, Sinne, Death, and all 
 they fhortlie wrap vp, they quickly expounde with this 
 one halfe verfe of Horace. 
 
 Credat ludczus Appella. 
 
 Yet though in Italie they may freely be of no Reli- 
 gion, as they are in Englande in verie deede to, neuer- 
 theleffe returning home into England they muft 
 countenance the profeffion of the one or the other, 
 howfoeuer inwardlie, they laugh to fcorne both. And 
 though, for their priuate matters they can follow, fawne, 
 and flatter noble Perfonages, contrarie to them in all 
 refpectes, yet commonlie they allie them- Papistneand 
 felues with the worfl Papifles, to whom im P iet |e 
 
 , , , . , agree in three 
 
 they be wedded, and do well agree togitber opinions. 
 in three proper opinions : In open contempte of 
 Goddes worde : in a fecret fecuritie of finne : and in 
 a bloodie defire to haue all taken away, by fword and 
 burning, that be not of their faction. They that do 
 read, wi th indifferent iudgement, Pygius and Pigius. 
 Machiauel, two indifferent Patriarches of Mackiawius. 
 thies two Religions, do know full well what I fay trewe. 
 
 Ye fee, what manners and doctrine, our Englifhe 
 men fetch out of Italie : For finding no other there, 
 they can bring no other hither. And therefore, manie 
 godlie and excellent learned Englifhe men, Wise and hon 
 not manie yeares ago, did make a better est traueiers. 
 choice, whan open crueltie draue them out of this 
 contrie, to place themfelues there, where Chrifles doc- 
 trine, the feare of God, punifhment of finne, Germanic. 
 and difcipline of honeflie, were had in fpeciall regarde. 
 
 I was once in Italie my felfe : but I thanke Venice. 
 God, my abode there, was butix. dayes : And yet I fawein 
 that lit[t]le tyme,in one Citie,more libertie to finne, than 
 euer I h[e]ard tell of in our noble Citie of London. 
 London in ix. yeare. I fawe, it was there, as free to finne, 
 not onelie without all punifhment, but alfo without any 
 mans marking, as it is free in the Citie of London, to 
 
8 4 Thefirft booke teachyng 
 
 chofe, without all blame, whether a man lull to weare 
 Shoo or Pantocle. And good caufe why : For being 
 vnlike in troth of Religion, they mufl nedes be vnlike 
 in honeflie of liuing. For bleffed be Chrifl, in our Citie 
 SeruiceofGod of London, commonlie the commande- 
 in England. mentes of God, be more diligentlie taught, 
 and the feruice of God more reuerentlie vfed, and that 
 day lie in many priuate mens houfes, than they be in 
 SeririceofGod Italic once a weeke in their common 
 in italic. Chirches . where, mafking Ceremonies, to 
 
 delite the eye, and vaine foundes, to pleafe the eare, 
 do quite thruft out of the Chirches, all feruice of God 
 The Lord Maior in fpirit and troth. Yea, the Lord Maior of 
 of London. London, being but a Ciuill officer, is com- 
 monlie for his tyme, more diligent, in punifhing fmne, 
 the bent enemie againft God and good order, than all 
 The inquisitors the bloodie Inquifitors in Italic be in fea- 
 in italic uen yeare. For, their care and charge is, 
 
 not to punifh fmne, not to amend manners, not to 
 purge doctrine, but onelie to watch and ouerfee that 
 Chriftes trewe Religion fet no fure footing, where the 
 Pope hath any luriidiction. I learned, when I was at 
 An yngodiie Venice, that there it is counted good pol- 
 poiiicie. Hcie, when there be foure or fiue brethren 
 
 of one familie, one, onelie to marie : and all the reft, 
 to waulter, with as litle fhame, in open lecherie, as 
 Swyne do here in the common myre. Yea, there be as 
 fayre houfes of Religion, as great prouifion, as diligent 
 officers, to kepe vp this miforder, as Bridewell is, and 
 all the Mafters there, to kepe downe miforder. And 
 therefore, if the Pope himfelfe, do not onelie graunt 
 pardons to furder thies wicked purpofes abrode in 
 Italic, but alfo (although this prefent Pope, in the be- 
 ginning, made fom fhewe of mifliking thereof) affigne 
 both meede and merite to the maintenance of ftewes 
 and brothelhoufes at home in Rome, than let wife men 
 thinke Italic a fafe place for holfom doctrine, and 
 godlie manners, and a fitte fchole for yong ientlemen 
 of England to be brought vp in. 
 
 Our Italians bring home with them other faultes 
 
the brynging vp of youth. 85 
 
 from Italic, though not fo great as this of Religion, yet a 
 great deale greater, than many good men well beare. 
 For commonlie they cum home, common contempt 
 contemners of manage and readie per- fmaria ge. 
 fuaders of all other to the fame : not becaufe they 
 loue virginitie, nor yet becaufe they hate prettie yong 
 virgines, but, being free in Italic, to go whither fo euer 
 lufl will cary them, they do not like, that lawe and 
 honeflie mould be foch a barre to their like libertie at 
 home in England. And yet they be, the greateft 
 makers of loue, the daylie daliers, with fuch pleafant 
 wordes, with fuch fmilyng and fecret countenances, 
 with fuch fignes, tokens, wagers, purpofed to be loft, 
 before they were purpofed to be made, with bargaines 
 of wearing colours, floures, and herbes, to breede oc- 
 cafion of ofter meeting of him and her, and bolder 
 talking of this and that, etc. And although I haue feene 
 fome, innocent of ill, and ftayde in all honeftie, that 
 haue vfed thefe thinges without all harme, without all 
 fufpicion of harme, yet thefe knackes were brought firft 
 into England by them, that learned them before in Italic 
 in Circes Court: and how Courtlie curteffes fo euer they 
 be counted now, yet, if the meaning and maners of fome 
 that do vfe them, were fomewhat amended, it were no 
 great hurt, neither to them felues, nor to others. 
 
 An other propertie of this our Englifh Italians is, to 
 be meruelous fingular in all their matters : Singular in 
 knowledge, ignorant of nothyng : So fingular in wife- 
 dome (in their owne opinion) as fcarfe they counte the 
 bed Counfellor the Prince hath, comparable with 
 them : Common difcourfers of all matters : bufie 
 fearchers of moft fecret affaires : open flatterers of 
 great men : priuie miflikers of good men : Faire 
 fpeakers, with milling countenances, and much cmteffie 
 openlie to all men. Ready ba[c]kbiters, fore nippers, 
 and fpitefull reporters priuilie of good men. And 
 beyng brought vp in Italic, in fome free Citie, as all 
 Cities be there : where a man may freelie difcourfe 
 againft what he will, againft whom he lufl : againft any 
 Prince, agaynft any gouernement, yea againft God him 
 
86 The brynging up of youth. 
 
 felfe, and his whole Religion : where he muft be, either 
 Guelphe or Gibiline, either French or Spani/h : and al- 
 wayes compelled to be of fome partie, of fome faction, 
 he ftiall neuer be compelled to be of any Religion : 
 And if he medle not ouer much with Chrifles true Re- 
 ligion, he mail haue free libertie to embrace all Reli- 
 gions, and becum, if he luft at once, without any let or 
 punifhment, lewifh, Turkifh, Papifh, and Deuillifh. 
 
 A yong lentleman, thus bred vp in this goodly fchole, 
 to learne the next and readie way to finne, to haue a bufie 
 head, a factious jart, a talkatiue tonge, fed with dif- 
 courfing of factions: led to contemne God and his Reli- 
 gion, mall cum home into England, but verie ill taught, 
 either to be an honed man him felf, a quiet fubiect to his 
 Prince, or willyng to ferue God, vnder the obedience of 
 trewe doctrine, or with in the order of horieft liuing. 
 
 I know, none will be offended with this my generall 
 writing, but onelie fuch, as finde them felues giltie 
 priuatelie therin : who mail haue a good leaue to be 
 offended with me, vntill they begin to amende them 
 felues. I touch not them that be good : and I fay to 
 litle of them that be nought. And fo, though not 
 enough for their deferuing, yet fufficientlie for this 
 time, and more els when, if occafion fo require. 
 
 And thus farre haue I wandred from my firft pur- 
 pofe of teaching a child, yet not altogether out of the 
 way, bicaufe this Whole taulke hath tended to the 
 onelie aduancement of trothe in Religion, an honeflie 
 of liuing : and hath bene wholie within the compaffe 
 of learning and good maners, the fpeciall pointes be- 
 longing in the right bringing vp of youth. 
 
 But to my matter, as I began, plainlie and fimplie 
 with my yong Scholer, fo will I not leaue him, God 
 willing, vntill I haue brought him a perfite Scholer out 
 of the Schole, and placed him in the Vniuerfitie, to be- 
 cum a fitte ftudent, for Logicke and Rhetoricke: and fo 
 after to Phificke, Law, or Diuinitie, as aptnes of nature, 
 aduife of frendes, and Gods difpofition mail lead him. 
 
 The ende of the fir ft booke. 
 
The fecond booke. 
 
 Fter that your fcholer, as I fayd 
 before, mall cum in deede, firft, to 
 a readie perfitnes in tranflating, 
 than, to a ripe and fkilfull choice 
 in markyng out hys fixe pointes, 
 as 
 
 1. Proprium. 
 
 2. Tranflatum. 
 
 3. Synonynum. 
 
 4. Contrarium. 
 
 5. Diuerfum. 
 U. Phrafes. 
 
 Than take this order with him : Read dayly vnto 
 bim, fome booke of Tullie, as the third Cicero. 
 booke of Epiftles chofen out by Sturmius, de Amicitia, 
 de Senettnte, or that excellent Epiflle conteinyng almofl 
 the whole firft booke ad Q. fra : fome Comedie of 
 Terence or Plautus : but in Plautus, fkilfull Terentius. 
 choice mud be vfed by the matter, to traine Plautus. 
 his Scholler to a iudgement, in cutting out perfitelie 
 ouer old and vnproper wordes : Cczf. // Casar. 
 Commentaries are to be read with all curiofitie, in fpecially 
 without all exception to be made either byfrendeorfoe,is 
 feene, the vnfpotted proprietie of the Latin tong, euen 
 whan it was, as the Grecians fay, in CIK/AT/, that is, at 
 the hiefl pitch of all perfiteneffe : or fome Orations of 
 T. Liuius, fuch as be both longefl and T. Limits. 
 plain eft. 
 
 Thefe bookes, I would haue him read now, a good 
 deale at euery lecture : for he (hall not now vfe da[i]lie 
 tranflation, but onely conflrue again e, and parfe, where 
 
88 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 ye fufpect is any nede : yet, let him not omitte in thefe 
 bookes, his former exercife, in marking diligently, and 
 writyng orderlie out his fix pointes. And for tranflat- 
 ing, vfe you your felfe, euery fecond or thyrd day, to 
 chofe out, fome Epiflle ad Atticum, fome notable com- 
 mon place out of his Orations, or fome other part of 
 Tullie, by your difcretion, which your fcholer may not 
 know where to finde : and tranflate it you your felfe, 
 into plain e naturall Englifh, and than giue it him to 
 tranflate into Latin again e : allowyng him good fpace 
 and tyme to do it, both with diligent heede, and 
 good aduifement. Here his witte fhalbe new fet on 
 worke : his iudgement, for right choice, trewlie tried : 
 his memorie, for fure reteyning, better exercifed, than 
 by learning, any thing without the booke : and here, 
 how much he hath proffited, mail plainly appeare. 
 Whan he bringeth it tranflated vnto you, bring you 
 forth the place of Tullie\ lay them together : compare 
 the one with the other: commend his good choice, 
 and right placing of wordes : Shew his faultes iently, 
 but blame them not ouer fharply : for, of fuch miffmgs, 
 ientlie admonimed of, proceedeth glad and good heed 
 taking : of good heed taking, fpringeth chiefly know- 
 ledge, which after, groweth to perfitneffe, if this order, 
 be diligentl ie vfed by the fcholer and iently handled 
 by the matter : for here, fhall all the hard pointes of 
 Grammer, both eafely and furelie be learned vp : 
 which, fcholers in common fcholes, by making of 
 Latines, be groping at, with care and feare, and yet in 
 many yeares, they fcarce can reach vnto them. I re- 
 member, whan I was yong, in the North, they went to 
 the Grammer fchole, litle children : they came from 
 thence great lubbers : alwayes learning, and litle pro- 
 fiting : learning without booke, euery thing, vnder- 
 ftandyng with in the booke, little or nothing. Their 
 whole knowledge, by learning without the booke, was 
 tied onely to their tong and lips, and neuer afcended 
 vp to the braine and head, and therfore was fone 
 fpitte out of the mouth againe : They were, as men, 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 89 
 
 alwayes goyng, but euer out of the way : and why ? 
 For their whole labor, or rather great toyle without 
 order, was euen vaine idleneffe without proffit. In deed, 
 they tooke great paynes about learning : but employed 
 fmall labour in learning : Whan by this way prescribed 
 in this- booke, being ftreight, plaine, and eafie, the 
 fcholer is alwayes laboring with pleafure, and euer 
 going right on forward with proffit : Alwayes laboring 
 I fay, for, or he haue conflrued, parced, twife tranflated 
 ouer by good aduifement, marked out his fix pointes 
 by (kilfull iudgement, he fhall haue neceffarie occafion, 
 to read ouer euery lecture, a dofen tymes, at the leaft. 
 Which, bicaufe he fhall do alwayes in order, he fhall 
 do it alwayes with pleafure : And pleafure allureth 
 loue : loue hath lull to labor : labour alwayes obtein- 
 eth his purpofe, as mod trewly, both Ariftotle in his 
 Rhetoricke and Oedipus in Sophocles do teach, 
 faying, TTGLV yap eKTrovov/zevov a/Ucr/cc. et cet. Rhet. 2 
 and this oft reading, is the verie right in Oedip. Tyr. 
 folowing, of that good Counfell, which E pist. lib. 7 . 
 Plinie doth geue to his frende Fufcus, faying, Multum, 
 non multa. But to my purpofe againe : 
 
 Whan, by this diligent and fpedie reading ouer, 
 thofe forenamed good bokes of Tullie, Terence, Ccefar 
 and Liuie, and by this fecond kinde of tranflating out 
 of your Englifh, tyme fhall breed fkill, and vfe fhall 
 bring perfection, than ye may trie, if you will, your 
 fcholer, with the third kinde of tranflation : although 
 the two firfl wayes, by myne opinion, be, not onelie 
 fufficent of them felues, but alfo furer, both for the 
 Maflers teaching, and fcholers learnyng, than this third 
 way is : Which is thus. Write you in Englifh, fome 
 letter, as it were from him to his father, or to fjme 
 other frende, naturallie, according to the difpofition of 
 the child, or fome tale, or fable, or plaine narration, 
 according as Aphthonius beginneth his exercifes of 
 learning, and let him tranflate it into Latin againe, 
 abiding in foch place, where no other fcholer may 
 prompe him. But yet, vfe you your felfe foch difcre- 
 
9 o The fecond booke teackyng 
 
 tion for choice therein, as the matter may be within 
 the compas, both for wordes and fentences, of his 
 former learning and reading. And now take heede, 
 left your fcholer do not better in fome point, than you 
 your felfe, except ye haue bene diligentlie exercifed 
 in thefe kindes of tranilating before : 
 
 I had once a profe hereof, tried by good experience, 
 by a deare frende of myne, whan I came firft from 
 Cambrige, to ferue the Queenes Maieftie, than Ladie 
 Elizabeth, lying at worthie Sir Ant. Denys in Cheflon. 
 lohn Whitneye, a yong ientleman, was my bedfeloe, 
 who willyng by good nature and prouoked by mine 
 aduife, began to learne the Latin tong, after the order 
 declared in this booke. We began after Chriflmas : I 
 read vnto him Tullie de Amicitia, which he did euerie 
 day twife tranflate, out of Latin into Englifh, and out 
 of Englifh into Latin agayne. About S. Laurence 
 tyde after, to proue how he proffited, I did chofe out 
 Torquatus taulke de Amicitia, in the lat[t]er end of the 
 firft booke definib. becaufe that place was, the fame in 
 matter, like in wordes and phrafes, nigh to the forme 
 and facion of fentences, as* he had learned before in 
 de Amicitia. I did tranflate it my felfe into plaine 
 Englifh, and gaue it him to turne into Latin : Which 
 he did, fo choiflie, fo orderlie, fo without any great 
 miffe in the hardefl pointes of Grammer, that fome, in 
 feuen yeare in Grammer fcholes, yea, and fome in the 
 Vniuerfities to, can not do halfe fo well. This worthie 
 yong Ientleman, to my greateft grief, to the great 
 lamentation of that whole houfe, and fpeciallie to that 
 mofl noble Ladie, now Queene Elizabeth her felfe, 
 departed within few dayes, out of this world. 
 
 And if in any caufe a man may without offence of 
 God fpeake fomewhat vngodlie, furely, it was fome 
 grief vnto me, to fee him hie fo haftlie to God, as he 
 did. A Court, full of foch yong lentlemen, were 
 rather a Paradife >han a Court vpon earth. And 
 though I had neuer Poeticall head, to make any verfe, 
 in any tong, yet either loue, or for[r]ow, or both, did 
 wring out of me than, certaine carefull thoughtes of 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 9 i 
 
 my good will towardes him, which in my m[o]urning for 
 him, fell forth, more by chance, than either by (kill or 
 vfe, into this kinde of miforderlie meter. 
 
 Myne owne lohn Whitney, now farewell, now death doth 
 
 parte vs twaine, 
 No death, but partyng for a while, whom life fJiall 
 
 ioyne agayne. 
 Therfore my hart ceafe fighes andfobbes, ceafe for\r\oives 
 
 feede tofow, 
 Wherof no gaine, but greater grief, and hurtfull care 
 
 may grow. \lent, 
 
 Yet, whan I thinke vpon foch giftes of grace as God him 
 My lojfe, his gaine, I mujl a while, with ioyfull teares 
 
 lament. 
 Yong yeares to yelde foch frute in Court, where feede of 
 
 vice is f owne. \knowne. 
 
 Is fometime read, in fome place feene, among fl vs feldom 
 His life he ledde, Chrijles lore to learne, with \w~\ill to 
 
 worke the fame : 
 He read to know, and knew to Hue, and liued to praife 
 
 his name. 
 
 So f aft to frende, fo foe to few, fo good to euery wight, 
 I may well wi/Jie, but fear celie hope, agayne to haue in fight. 
 The greater ioye his life to me, his death the greater payne: 
 His life in Chrift fo furelie fet, doth glad my hearte 
 
 agayne: [care, 
 
 His life fo good, his death better, do mingle mirth with 
 My fpirit with ioye, my flejh with grief, fo deare a 
 
 frend to fpare. 
 Thus God the good, while they be good, doth take, and 
 
 leaues vs ill, 
 
 That wefhould mend our finfull life, in life to tary ftill. 
 Thus, we well left, be better reft, in heauen to take his place, 
 That by like life, and death, at laft, we may obteine like grace. 
 Myne owne John Whiteney agayne Jairewell, a while 
 
 thus parte in iwaine, 
 Whom payne doth part in earthj in heauen great ioye 
 
 /hall ioyne agayne. 
 
9 2 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 In this place, or I precede farder, I will now declare, 
 by whofe authorise I am led, and by what reafon I am 
 moued, to thinke, that this way of d[o]uble tranflation 
 out of one tong into an other, in either onelie, or at 
 leafl chiefly, to be exercifed, fpeciallie of youth, for 
 the ready and fure obteining of any tong. 
 
 There be fix wayes appointed by the bed learned 
 men. for the learning of tonges, and encreace of 
 eloquence, as 
 
 'i. Tranflatio linguarum. 
 
 2. Paraphrafis. 
 
 3. Mdaphrafis. 
 
 4. Epitome. 
 
 5. Imitatio. 
 (.6. Declamatio. 
 
 All theis be vfed, and commended, but in order, and 
 for refpectes : as perfon, habilitie, place, and tyme 
 (hall require. The fiue laft, be fitter, for the Mafler, 
 than the fcholer : for men, than for children : for the 
 vniuerfities, rather than for Grammer fcholes : yet 
 neuertheleffe, which is, fitted in mine opinion, for our 
 fchole, and which is, either wholie to be refufed, or 
 partlie to be vfed for our purpofe, I will, by good 
 authoritie, and fome reafon, I trufl perticularlie of 
 euerie one, and largelie enough of them all, declare 
 orderlie vnto you. 
 
 T Tranflatio Linguarum. 
 Tranflation, is eafle in the beginning for the fcholer, 
 and bringeth all[fo]moch learning and great iudgement 
 to the Mafler. It is moil common, and moil com- 
 mendable of all other exercifes for youth : moil com- 
 mon, for all your conflructions in Grammer fcholes, be 
 nothing els but tranflations : but becaufe they be not 
 double tranflations, as I do require, they bring forth 
 but fimple and fingle commoditie, and bicaufe alfo 
 they lacke the daily vfe of writing, which is the onely 
 thing that breedeth deepe roote, both in ye witte, for 
 good vnderflanding, and in ye memorie, for fure keep- 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 93 
 
 ing of all that is learned. Mofl commendable alfo, 
 and that by ye iudgement of all authors, which intreate 
 of theis exercifes. Tullie in the perfon of i. de. Or. 
 L. Craffus, whom he maketh his example of eloquence 
 and trewe iudgement in learning, doth, not onely praife 
 fpecially, and chofe this way of tranilation for a yong 
 man, but doth alfo difcommend and refufe his owne 
 former wont, in exercifing Paraphrafin et Metaphrafin. 
 Paraphrafis is, to take fome eloquent Oration, or fome 
 notable common place in Latin, and expreffe it with 
 other wordes : Metaphrafis is, to take fome notable 
 place out of a good Poete, and turn the fame fens into 
 meter, or into other wordes in Profe. Craffus , or 
 rather Tullie, doth miflike both thefe wayes, bicaufe 
 the Author, either Orator or Poete, had chofen out 
 before, the fittefl wordes and apteil compofition for 
 that matter, and fo he, in feeking other, was driuen to 
 vfe the worfe. 
 
 Quintilian alfo preferreth tranflation before all other 
 exercifes : yet hauing a luft, to diffent, from Quint, x. 
 Tullie (as he doth in very many places, if a man read 
 his Rhetoricke ouer aduifedlie, and that rather of an 
 enuious minde, than of any iuft caufe) doth greatlie 
 commend Paraphrafis, croffing fpitefullie Tullies iudge- 
 ment in refufmg the fame : and fo do Ramus and 
 Talczus euen at this day in France to. But fuch fingu- 
 laritie, in diffenting from the bed mens iudgementes, 
 in liking onelie their owne opinions, is moch mifliked 
 of all them, that ioyne with learning, difcretion, and 
 wifedome. For he, that can neither like Ariftotle in 
 Logicke and Philofophie, nor Tullie in Rhetoricke and 
 Eloquence, will, from thefe fleppes, likelie enough pre- 
 fume, by like pride, to mount hier, to the milliking of 
 greater matters : that is either in Religion, to haue a 
 diffentious head, or in the common wealth, to haue a 
 factious hart : as I knew one a ftudent in Cambrige, 
 who, for a fingularitie, began firft to diffent, in the 
 fcholes, from Ariflotle, and fone after became a peruerfe 
 Arian, againft Chrifl and all true Religion : and 
 
9 4 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 fludied diligentlie Origene, Bafileus, and S. Hierome, 
 onelie to gleane out of their workes, the pernicious 
 herefies of Celfus, Eunomius, and Heluidius, whereby 
 the Church of Chrift, was fo poyfoned withall. 
 
 But to leaue thefe hye pointes of diuinitie, furelie, 
 in this quiet and harmeles controuerfie, for the liking, 
 or mifliking of Paraphrafis for a yong fcholer, etien as 
 far, as Tullie goeth beyond Quintilian, Ramus and 
 Talczus, in perfite Eloquence, euen fo moch, by myne 
 opinion, cum they behinde Tullie, for trew iudgement 
 in teaching the fame. 
 
 * Piinius Se- * Plinius Secundus, a wife Senator, of 
 dedft QuFntiiiano S reat experience, excellentlie learned him 
 praeceptori suo, felfe, a li Derail Patrone of learned men, and 
 Si^ nium the purefl writer, in myne opinion, of all his 
 [6ooio] numum. a g e> I except not Suetonius, his two fchole- 
 maflers Quintilian and Tacitus, nor yet his mofl ex- 
 Epist lib. 7, cellent learned Vncle, the Elder Piinius, 
 Epist. 9, doth expreffe in an Epiftle to his frende 
 
 Fufcus, many good wayes for order in fludie : but he 
 beginneth with tranflation, and preferreth it to all the 
 reft : and becaufe his wordes be notable, I will recite 
 them. 
 
 Vtile in primis, vt multi prczcipiunt, ex Grceco in Lati- 
 num, et ex Latino vertere in Grczcum: Quo genere 
 exercitationis, proprietas splendorque verborum, ap- 
 ta struftura fententiarum, figurarum copia et ex- 
 
 plicandi vis colligitur. Prczterea, imitatione optimo- 
 rum, facultas fimilia inueniendi paratur : et qucz 
 legentem, fefelliffent, tranfferentem fugere non pof- 
 
 funt. Intelligentia ex hoc, et indicium acquiritur. 
 
 Ye perceiue, how Plinie teacheth, that by his exer- 
 cife of double tranflating, is learned, eafely, fenfiblie, 
 by litle and litle, not onelie all the hard congruities of 
 Grammer, the choice of apteft wordes, the right fram- 
 ing of wordes and fentences, cumlines of figures and 
 formes, fitte for euerie matter, and proper for euerie 
 tong, but that which is greater alfo, in marking dayly, 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 95 
 
 and folowing diligentlie thus, the fleppes of the bell 
 Aut[h]ors, like inuention of Argumentes, like order in 
 difpofition, like vtterance in Elocution, is eafelie ga- 
 thered vp : whereby your fcholer fhall be brought not 
 onelie to like eloquence, but alfo, to all trewe vnder- 
 danding and right iudgement, both for writing and 
 fpeaking. And where Dionyf. Halicarnaffaus hath 
 written two excellent bookes, the one, de deleftn opti- 
 morum verborum, the which, I feare, is loft, the other, 
 of the right framing of wordes and fentences, which 
 doth remaine yet in Greeke, to the great proffet of all 
 them, that trewlie fludie for eloquence, yet this waie 
 of double tranflating, fhall bring the whole proffet of 
 both thefe bookes to a diligent fcholer, and that eafelie 
 and pleafaritlie, both for fitte choice of wordes, and 
 apt compofition of fentences. And by theis authorities 
 and reafons am I moued to thinke, this waie of double 
 tranflating, either onelie or chieflie, to be fitted, for the 
 fpedy and perfit atteyning of any tong. And for fpedy 
 atteyning, I durd venture a good wager, if a fcholer, 
 in whom is aptnes, loue, diligence, and condancie, 
 would but tranflate, after this forte, one litle booke in 
 Tullie, as defeneftute, with two Epidles, the firfl ad Q. 
 fra : the other ad Lentulum, the lad faue one, in the 
 fird booke, that fcholer, 1 fay, fhould cum to a better 
 knowledge in the Latin tong, than the mod part do, 
 that fpend four or fiue yeares, in toffing all the rules of 
 Grammer in common fcholes. In deede this one 
 booke with thefe two Epidles, is not fufficient to 
 affourde all Latin wordes (which is not neceffarie for 
 a yong fcholer to know) but it is able to furnifhe him 
 fully, for all pointes of Grammer, with the right placing, 
 ordering, and vfe of wordes in all kinde of matter. 
 And why not ? for it is read, that Dion. Pruffczus, that 
 wife Philofopher, and excellent orator of all his tyrne, 
 did cum to the great learning and vtterance that was 
 in him, by reading and folowing onelie two bookes, 
 Phcedon Platonis, and Demofthenes mod notable oration 
 t Tra/xxTT/oecr/Jeias. And a better, and nerer example 
 
9 6 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 herein, may be, our mofl noble Queene Elizabeth, who 
 neuer toke yet, Greeke nor Latin Grammer in her 
 hand, after the firft declining of a nowne and a verbe, 
 but onely by this double tranflating of Demofthenes and 
 Ifocrates dailie without miffing euerie forenone, for the 
 fpace of a yeare or two, hath atteyned to foch a perfite 
 vnderflanding in both the tonges, and to foch a readie 
 vtterance of the latin, and that wyth foch a Judgement, 
 as they be fewe in nomber in both the vniuerfities, or 
 els where in England, that be, in both tonges, com- 
 parable with her Maieflie. And to conclude in a 
 fhort rowme, the commodities of double tranilation, 
 furelie the mynde by dailie marking, firft, the caufe 
 and matter : than, the wordes and phrafes : next, the 
 order and compofition : after, the reafon and argu- 
 mentes : than the formes and figures of both the 
 tonges: laflelie, the meafure and compas of euerie 
 fentence, muft nedes, by litle and litle drawe vnto it 
 the like fhape of eloquence, as the author doth vfe, 
 which is re[a]d. 
 
 And thus much for double tranflation. 
 
 Paraphrafis. 
 
 Lib. x. Paraphrafis, the fecond point, is not 
 
 onelie to expreffe at large with moe wordes, but to 
 ftriue and contend (as Quintilian faith) to tranflate the 
 beft latin authors, into other latin wordes, as many or 
 thereaboutes. 
 
 This waie of exercife was vfed firft by C. Crabo, and 
 taken vp for a while, by Z. Craffus, but fone after, 
 vpon dewe profe thereof, reiected iufllie by Craffus 
 and Cicero : yet allowed and made flerling agayne by 
 M. Quintilian : neuertheleffe, fliortlie after, by better 
 affaye, difalowed of his owne fcholer Plinius Secundus, 
 who termeth it rightlie thus Audax contentio. It is a 
 bold comparison in deede, to thinke to fay better, than 
 that is bell. Soch turning of the beft into worfe, is 
 much like the turning of good wine, out of a faire 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 97 
 
 fweete flagon of filuer, into a foule muftie bottell of 
 ladder : or, to turne pure gold and filuer, into foule 
 braffe and copper. 
 
 Soch kinde of Paraphrafis, in turning, chopping, 
 and changing, the bell to worle, either in the mynte 
 or fcholes, (though M. Brokke and Quintilian both fay 
 the contrary) is moch mifliked of the beft and wifeft 
 men. I can better allow an other kinde of Paraphrafis, 
 to turne rude and barbarus, into proper and eloquent : 
 which neuertheleife is an exercife, not fitte for a fcholer, 
 but for a perfite mailer, who in plentie hath good 
 choife, in copie hath right iudgement, and grounded 
 Ikill, as did appeare to be in Sebaftian Caftalio, in 
 tranflating Kemppes booke de Imitando Christo. 
 
 But to folow Quintilianus aduife to Paraphrafis, were 
 euen to take paine, to feeke the worfe and fowler way, 
 whan the plaine and fairer is occupied before your 
 eyes. 
 
 The olde and bell authors that euer wrote, were 
 content if occafion required to fpeake twife of one 
 matter, not to change the wordes, but /fyrws, that is, 
 worde for worde to expreffe it againe. For they 
 thought, that a matter, well expreffed with fitte wordes 
 and apt compofition, was not to be altered, but liking 
 it well their felues, they thought it would alfo be well 
 allowed of others. 
 
 A fcholemafter (foch one as I require) knoweth that 
 I fay trewe. 
 
 He readeth in Homer, almoft in euerie Home. 
 booke, and fpeciallie in Secundo et nono Iliados, not 
 onelie fom verfes, but whole leaues, not to / 2 . 
 
 be altered with new, but to be vttered with PJM 
 the old felfe fame wordes. 
 
 He knoweth, that Xenophon, writing Xenopko*. 
 twife of Agefilaus, once in his life, againe in the his- 
 toric of the Greekes, in one matter, kepeth alwayes the 
 felfe fame wordes. He doth the like, fpeaking of So- 
 crates, both in the beginning of his Apologia and in 
 the laft ende of aTro/AV 
 
9 8 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 Demosthenes. Demofthenes alfo in 4. Philippica, doth 
 borow his owne wordes vttered before in his oration 
 de Cherfonefo. He doth the like, and that more at 
 large, in his orations, againtt Andration and Timocrates. 
 Cicero. In latin alfo, Cicero in fom places, and 
 
 virgiiius. Virgil in mo, do repeate one matter, with 
 the felfe fame wordes. Thies excellent authors, did 
 thus, not for lacke of wordes, but by iudgement and 
 fkill : whatfoeuer, other, more curious, and leffe fkil- 
 full, do thinke, write, and do. 
 
 Paraphrafis neuertheleffe hath good place in 
 learning, but not, but myne opinion, for any fcholer, 
 but is onelie to be left to a perfite Matter, eyther .to 
 expound openlie a good author withall, or to compare 
 priuatelie, for his owne exercife, how fome notable 
 place of an excellent author, may be vttered with other 
 fitte wordes : But if ye alter alfo, the compofition, 
 forme, and order than that is not Paraphrafis, but 
 Imitatio, as I will fullie declare in fitter place. 
 
 The fcholer mall winne nothing by Paraphrafis, but 
 onelie, if we may beleue Tullie, to choofe worfe wordes, 
 to place them out of order, to feare ouermoch the 
 iudgement of the matter, to miflike ouermoch the 
 hardnes of learning, and by vfe, to gather vp faultes, 
 which hardlie will be left of againe. 
 
 The matter in teaching it, mall rather encreafe 
 hys owne labo[u]r, than his fcholers proffet : for when 
 the fcholer fhall bring vnto his matter a peece of 
 Tullie or Cczfar turned into other latin, then mutt the 
 matter cum to Quintilians goodlie leffon de Emenda- 
 tione, which, (as he faith) is the mott profitable part of 
 teaching, but not in myne opinion, and namelie for 
 youthe in Grammer fcholes. For the matter nowe 
 taketh double paynes : firtt, to marke what is amiffe : 
 againe, to inuent what may be fayd better. And here 
 perchance, a verie good matter may eafelie both de- 
 ceiue himfelfe, and lead his fchol[l]er[s] into error. 
 
 It requireth greater learning, and deeper iudge- 
 ment, than is to be hoped for at any Icholematters 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 99 
 
 hand : that is, to be able alwaies learnedlie and per- 
 fitelie. r i ne ptum eft: 
 
 Tranfmutare quod peruerfum eft: 
 Rep I ere quod dee/I; 
 Detrahere quod obest : 
 . Expungere quod inane eft. 
 
 And that, which requireth more fkill, and deaper 
 
 confideracion. c n ,. 
 
 1 Premere tumentia : 
 
 Extollere humilia: 
 Astringere luxuriantia: 
 
 ^ Componere diffoluta. 
 The mailer may here onelie ftumble, and perchance 
 faull in teaching, to the marring and mayning of the 
 Scholer in learning, whan it is a matter, of moch 
 readyng, of great learning, and tried iudgement, to 
 make trewe difference betwixt. 
 
 f Sublime ', et Tumidum : 
 
 \ Grande, et immodicum : 
 
 | Decorum, et ineptum: 
 
 [ Perfeflum, et nimium. 
 
 Some men of our time, counted perfite Maifters of 
 eloquence, in their owne opinion the bed, in other 
 mens iudgements very good, as Omphalius euerie 
 where, Sadoletus in many places, yea alfo my frende 
 Oforius, namelie in his Epiflle to the Queene and in 
 his whole booke de lusticia, haue fo ouer reached them 
 felues, in making trew difference in the poyntes afore 
 rehearfed, as though they had bene brought vp in 
 fome fchole in Afia, to learne to decline rather then 
 in Athens with Plato, Ariftotle, and Demofthenes, (from 
 whence lullie fetched his eloquence) to vnderfland, 
 what in euerie matter, to be fpoken or written on, is, 
 in verie deede, Nimium, Satis, Parum, that is for to 
 fay, to ail confiderations, Decorum, which, as it is the 
 hardeft point, in all learning, fo is it the fairefl and 
 onelie marke, that fcholers, in all their ftudie, mufl 
 alwayes mote at, if they purpofe an other day to be, 
 
ioo The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 either founde in Religion, or wife and difcrete in any 
 vocation of the common wealth. 
 
 Agayne, in the lowefl degree, it is no low point of 
 learning and iudgement for a Scholemafler, to make 
 trewe difference betwixt. 
 
 ( Humile et deprefsum : 
 
 I Lene et remiffum: 
 
 \ Siccum et aridum: 
 
 \ Exile et macrum : 
 
 ^Inaffeftatum et negleftum. 
 
 In thefe poyntes, fome, louing Melancthon well, as 
 he was well worthie, but yet not confidering well nor 
 wifelie, how he of nature, and all his life and fludie 
 by iudgement was wholly fpent in genere Dijriplinabili, 
 that is, in teaching, reading, and expounding plainlie and 
 aptliefchole matters, and therefore imployed thereuntoa 
 fitte, fenfible, and caulme kinde of fpeaking and writing, 
 fome I fay, with very well liuyng [likyng?], but not with 
 verie well weying Melanfthones doinges, do frame them 
 felues a flyle, cold, leane, and weake, though the mat- 
 ter be neuer fo warme and earneft, not moch vnlike 
 vnto one, that had a pleafure, in a roughe, raynie, 
 winter day, to clothe him felfe with nothing els, but a 
 demie bukram caffok, plaine without pl[ajites,and fingle 
 without lyning : which will neither beare of winde nor 
 wether, nor yet kepe out the funne, in any hote day. 
 
 Some fuppofe, and that by good reafon, 
 v^ui LC c^ : Mdanfthon him felfe came to this low 
 
 hath hm-t^f * kinde of writing, by vfmg ouer moch Para- 
 fnwridng. sd[e phrafis in reading: For iludying therbie 
 to make euerie thing flreight and eafie, in 
 fmothing and playning all things to much, neuer leaueth, 
 whiles the fence it felfe be left, both lowfe and lafie. 
 And fome of thofe Paraphrafis of Melanfthon be fet 
 out in Printe, as, Pro Archia Poeta, et Marco Marcello : 
 But a fcholer, by myne opinion, is better occupied in 
 playing or fleping, than in fpendyng time, not onelie 
 vainlie but alfo harmefullie, in foch a kinde of exercife. 
 If a Mailer woulde haue a perfite example to folow, 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 101 
 
 how, in Genere fullimi, to auoide Nimium, or in Medi- 
 ocri, to atteyne Satis, or in Humili, to exchew Parum, 
 let him read d iligently for the firfl, Secundam Cicero. 
 Philippicam, for the meane, De Natura Deorum, and 
 for the loweft, Partitiones. Or, if in an other tong, ye 
 looke for like example, in like perfection, for all thofe 
 three degrees, read Pro Ctefiphonte, Ad Demosthenes. 
 Leptinem, et Contra Olympiodorum, and, what witte, 
 Arte, and diligence is hable to affourde, ye mail 
 plainely fee. 
 
 For our tyme, the odde man to performe all three 
 perfitlie, whatfoeuer he doth, and to know the way to 
 do them fkilfullie, whan fo euer he lift, is, in my poore 
 opinion, Johannes Sturmius. loan. stur. 
 
 He alfo councelleth all fcholers to beware of Para- 
 phrafis, except it be, from worfe to better, from rude 
 and barbarous, to proper and pure latin, and yet no 
 man to exercife that neyther, except foch one, as is 
 alreadie furnifhed with plentie of learning, and grounded 
 with ftedfaft iudgement before. 
 
 All theis faultes, that thus manie wife men do finde 
 with the exercife of Paraphrafis, in turning the beft 
 latin, into other, as good as they can, that is, ye may 
 be fure,into a great deale worfe, than it was, both in right 
 choice for proprietie, and trewe placing, for good order 
 is committed alfo commonlie in all common fcholes, 
 by the fcholemafters, in toffmg and trobling yong wittes 
 (as I fayd in the beginning) with that boocherlie feare 
 in making of Latins. 
 
 Therefore, in place of Latines for yong fcholers, 
 and Paraphrafis for the mafters, I wold haue double 
 tranilation fpecially vfed. For, in double tranflating 
 a perfite peece of Tullie or Ccefar, neyther the fcholer 
 in learning, nor ye Mailer in teaching can erre. A 
 true tochftone, a fure metwand lieth before both their 
 eyes. For, all right congruitie : proprietie of wordes : 
 order in fentences : the right imitation, to inuent good 
 matter, to difpofe it in good order, to confirme it with 
 good reafon, to expreffe any purpofe fitlie and orderlie, 
 
joa The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 is learned thus, both eafelie and perfitlie : Yea, to 
 miffe fomtyme in this kinde of tranflation, bringeth 
 more profFet, than to hit right, either in Paraphrafi or 
 making of Latins. For though ye fay well, in a latin 
 making, or in a Paraphrafis, yet you being but in 
 do[u]bte, and vncertayne whether ye faie well or no, ye 
 gather and lay vp in memorie, no fure frute of learning 
 thereby: But if ye fault in tranflation, ye ar[e] eafelie 
 taught, how perfitlie to amende it, and fo well warned, 
 how after to exchew, all foch faultes againe. 
 
 Paraphrafis therefore, by myne opinion, is not meete 
 for Grammer fcholes : nor yet verie fitte for yong men 
 in the vniuerfitie, vntill fludie and tyme, haue bred in 
 them, perfite learning, and fledfaft iudgement. 
 
 There is a kinde of Paraphrafis, which may be vied, 
 without all hurt, to moch proffet : but it ferueth onely 
 the Greke and not the latin, nor no other tong, as to 
 alter linguam lonicam aut Doricam into meram Atti- 
 cam : A notable example there is left vnto vs by a 
 notable learned man Diony : Halicarn : who, in his 
 booke, ?T/)t crwra^eos, doth tranflate the goodlie florie 
 of Candaulus and Gyges in i Herodoti, out of lonica 
 lingua, into Atticam. Read the place, and ye mail 
 take, both pleafure and proffet, in conference of it. A 
 man, that is exercifed in reading, Thucydides, Xeno- 
 phon, Plato, and Demofthenes, in vfmg to turne, like 
 places of Herodotus, after like forte, mold fhortlie cum 
 to fuch a knowledge, in vnderflanding, fpeaking, and 
 writing the Greeke tong, as fewe or none hath yet 
 atteyned in England. The like exercife out of Dorica 
 lingu-a may be alfo vfed, if a man take that litle booke 
 of Plato, Timosus Locrus, de Animo et natura, which is 
 written Dorice, and turne it into foch Greeke, as Plato 
 vfeth in other workes. The booke, is but two leaues : and 
 the labor wold be, but two weekes : but fureliethe profFet, 
 for eafie vnderflanding, and trewe writing the Greeke 
 tonge, wold conteruaile wyth the toile, that fom men 
 taketh, in otherwife coldlie reading that tonge, two yeares. 
 
 And yet, for the latin tonge, and for the exercife of 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 103 
 
 Paraphrafis, in thofe places of latin, that can not be 
 bettered, if fome yong man, excellent of witte, couragious 
 in will, luflie of nature, and defirous to contend euen 
 with the beft latin, to better it, if he can, furelie I 
 commend his forwardnefle, and for his better inflruction 
 therein, I will fet before him, as notable an example of 
 Paraphrafis, as is in Record of learning. Cicero him 
 felfe, doth contend, in two fondrie places, to expreffe 
 one matter, with diuerfe wordes : and that is Para- 
 phrafis, faith Quint illian. The matter I fuppofe, is 
 taken out of Panatius: and therefore being tranflated 
 out of Greeke at diuers times, is vttered for his pur- 
 pofe, with diuers wordes and formes : which kind of 
 exercife, for perfite learned men, is verie profitable. 
 
 2. De Finib. 
 
 #. Homo enim Rationem habet d natura menti datam 
 qua, et caufas rerum et confecutiones videt, etfimilitudines, 
 tranffert, et difiunfta coniungit, et cum prcefentibus futura 
 copulat, omnemque compleftitur vita confequentis ftatum. 
 b. Eademque ratio facit hominem hominum appetendum, 
 cumquehis, natura, etfermone in vfu congruentem: vt pro- 
 feftus a caritate domefticorum acfuorum, currat longius, 
 et fe implicet, primo Ciuium, deinde omnium mortalium 
 focietati: vtquenonfibifolifenatum meminerit,fedpatricz, 
 fed fuis, vt exigua pars ipfi relinquatur. t. Et quoniam 
 eadem natura cupiditatem ingenuit homini veri inueni- 
 endi, quod facillime apparet, cum vacui curis, etiam quid 
 in ccelofiat, fcire avemus, etc. 
 
 i. Officiorum. 
 
 a Homo autem, qui rationis est particeps, per quam 
 confequentia cernit, et caufas rerum videt, earumque pro- 
 grefsus, et quafi antecefsiones non ignorat,fimilitudines, 
 comparat, rebufque prczfentibus adiungit, atque anneftit 
 futuras, facile totius vitcz curfum videt, ad eamque de- 
 gendam prczparat res necefsarias. b. Eademque natura 
 vi rationis hominem conciliat homini, et ad Orationis 
 et ad vitce focietatem : ingener atque imprimis pr&cipuum 
 
104 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 quendam amor em in eos, qui procreati funt, impellitquevt 
 hominumccetuset celebrari inter fe,et fibi obediri \afeobiri\ 
 velii, ob eafque caufas studeatpanre ea, qua fuppeditent 
 ad cultum et ad viclum, nee fibi foil, fed coniugi, liberis, 
 caterifque quos charos habeat, tuerique debeat. c. Qua 
 cura exfufcitat etiam animos, et maiores ad rem gerendam 
 facit : imprimifque hominis est propria veri inquifitio 
 atque inueftigatio : ita cum fumus neceffarijs negocijs 
 curifque vacui, turn auemus aliquid videre, audire, addif- 
 cere, cognitionemque rerum mirabilium, etc. 
 
 The conference of thefe two places, conteinyng fo 
 excellent a peece of learning, as this is, expreffed by 
 fo worthy a witte, as Tullies was, mull needes bring 
 great pleafure and proffit to him, that maketh trew 
 counte, of learning and honeflie. But if we had the 
 Greke Author, the firft Patterne of all, and therby to 
 fee, how Tullies witte did worke at diuerfe tymes, how, 
 out of one excellent Image, might be framed two 
 other, one in face and fauor, but fomwhat differing in 
 forme, figure, and color, furelie, fuch a peece of worke- 
 manfhip compared with the Paterne it felfe, would 
 better pleafe the eafe of honefl, wife, and learned 
 myndes, than two of the fairefl Venuffes, that euer 
 Apelles made. 
 
 And thus moch, for all kinde of Paraphrafis, fitte or 
 vnfit, for Scholers or other, as I am led to thinke, not 
 onelie, by mine owne experience, but chiefly by the 
 authoritie and iudgement of thofe, whom I my felfe 
 would gladlieft folow, and do counfell all myne to do 
 the fame : not contendyng with any other, that will 
 otherwife either thinke or do. 
 
 Metaphrafis. 
 
 This kinde of exercife is all one with Paraphrafis, 
 faue it is out of verfe, either into profe, or into fome 
 other kinde of meter : or els, out of profe into verfe, 
 piato in which was Socrates exercife and paflime 
 
 Phaedone. (as Plato reporteth) when he was in prifon, 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 105 
 
 to tranflate <d,fopes Fabules into verfe. Quintilian doth 
 greatlie praife alfo this exercife : but bicaufe Tullie 
 doth difalow it in young men, by myne opinion, it 
 were not well to vfe it [in] Grammer Scholes, euen for 
 the felfe fame caufes, that be recited againft Para- 
 phrafis. And therfore, for the vfe or mifufe of it, the 
 fame is to be thought, that is fpoken of Paraphrafis 
 before. This was Sulpitius exercife : and he gathering 
 vp thereby, a Poeticall kinde of talke, is iuftlie named 
 of Cicero, grandis et Tragicus Orator : which I think 
 is fpoken, not for his praife, but for other mens warn- 
 ing, to exchew the like faulte. Yet neuertheles, if our 
 Scholemafter for his owne inflruction, is defirous, to fee 
 a perfite example hereof, I will recite one, which I 
 thinke, no man is fo bold, will fay, that he can amend 
 it: and that is Chrifes the Prieftes Oration to the 
 Grekes, in the beginnyng of Homers Ilias, Hom. i. //. 
 turned excellence into profe by Socrates Pia. 3 . Rep. 
 him felfe, and that aduifedlie and purpofelie for other 
 to folow : and therfore he calleth this exercife, in the 
 fame place, ppjcris, that is, Imitatio, which is moft 
 trew : but, in this booke, for teachyng fake, I will 
 name it Metaphrafis, reteinyng the word, that all 
 teachers, in this cafe, do vfe. 
 
 ^omeni:* I. IAia8. 
 
 6 yap rj\0 Ooas kirl vrjas 'A)(cuc3i/, 
 os T Ovyarpa, <epwi/ r* aTrepeio-i' aTrocva, 
 
 uv Iv \epa-iv Kr]/36Xov 'ATroAAeoi/os, 
 ctva crKrjirTpip * KCU JAtcro-ero Travras 
 a 8e /^aAtcrra 8va>, /cocr/z^ro/oe Aawv. 
 etSat re, KOL aAAot eu 
 JLev Oeol Sotei/, 'OXvfJiTria 8co//ar 7 l 
 
 l/C7T/00-at HpidfJLOlO TToAiV, V 6' OtKaS' tKCT0a6* 
 
 ?rata 8' efJLoi Xvcrai re </)6A^v, ra r' airoiva 
 a6[j,evoi Atos vlov ei<rj/36\ov ' 
 
 iivO' aAAot /xev Travres eTr 
 
 atSetfr^at 0* tep^a, KCU ayAaa Se^Oat, OLTTOWCI' 
 aAA' OVK 'ArpeiSy 'Aya/xe/xvovt rjvSavz Ovpo), 
 
io6 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 a'AAa /ca/ca>s a'c^tet, Kparepov & eVt pvOov eTeAAei/. 
 /i?7 ore, yepov, KoiXyo-iv lya> Trapa v??i>crt /a^etco, 
 
 7? VW $rj@VVOVT\ 7j V(TTpOV dVTLS tOl/Ttt, 
 
 /z?7 vv rot ov xpatoy/.?7 O-K^TTT^OV, /cat crre/z/za #eoio. 
 T?;V 8 J eya) OTJ Avo-co, TrptV /zti/ Kai yrjpas eTretcrti/, 
 rjfj,Tpoy evl OIK(J), IvApyet, rrjXoOi Trdrprjs, 
 ICTTOV eTrot^o/xei/T^i/, /cat c/zov Aeyos avrtococrav 
 a'AA' t'$6, /A^ jU,' epeQifc crawrepos co's K ve^at. 
 
 oj's e^aT 1 ' eSSeicrev 8' 6 yepwv, Kai brelOero [JLV0u>' 
 /3rj 8 J a/ccoi/ Trapa ^tva 7roA 
 TroAAa 8 J 7T6T' UTrdvevOe KLO)V rjpaO* 6 yepatos 
 
 vaKTt, TOV Tf]VKOfJLO<S 9 TK 
 
 , dpyvpoTog, 6s 
 re ^a^eTyv, TeveSoto re 
 v* h TTore rot \apievr* eVt v^di/ 
 TTore rot Kara irtova fj.rjpi 1 <=Krja 
 r)8* atycov, roSe /zot Kprjrjvov le 
 Aavaot />td SaKpva o-otcrt /3eAccro"6i'. 
 
 in 3 ^ ^/ faith thus. 
 
 yap dev j 
 ov yd/) el/z6 
 T^S re Ovyarpos Xvrpa ^epw^ /cat tK 
 
 JAoVra? r^v T/ootav, avro^s 
 Se crcu^i/at, r^v 8e Ovyarepa ot avrcp Avcrat, Se^a/xei/ovs 
 Ct7roti/a, /cat TOV #oi/ atSeo-^evras. Totavra 8e etTroi/ros 
 avVov, ot />tv dAAot ccreySoj/TO /cat crvvyvovv, 6 8e 'Aya- 
 fjt,fjbv<j)v T^yptatvev, eVreAAo/Aevos vvi/ re aVteWt, /cat av6t,s 
 
 fJLYf eA^etV, /A?) aVT^) TO T CrKTJTTTpOV, Kdl TO, TOV BtOV 
 
 (TTe'fJifJLara OVK eTrapfcecrot. Trptv 8e Ai;07ji/at avrov Ovyarepa, 
 ev'Apyei <$>r) yrjpd<reiv perd ov. aTrtevat 8e efceAeve, /cat /XT) 
 v, tVa o-(3s otKaSe eXOoi* 6 Se Trpecr/Ji/T^s a^ova-as 
 /<at aV^et crtyTy, aVo^wp^Vas 8 ? /< TOV (rrpa- 
 
 TToA/Cd TO) 'ATToAAtoVt 1>^TO, T(XS T 7TCOVi;/>ttaS 
 
 i; aVa/<aAc3v /cat UTro/zt^v^cr/cwv /cat aVatTWi/, et rt" 
 iy ev vao>v ot/co8o//,^a'eo~tv ^y ev tepwv Overlap 
 
 piv Karcv^ro Trat 
 Ta a Sa/cpva TOIS 1/cetVov j8e / Aeo"ti/. 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 107 
 
 To compare Homer and Plato together, two wonders 
 of nature and arte for witte and eloquence, is moll 
 pleafant and profitable, for a man of ripe iudgement. 
 Platos turning of Homer in this place, doth not ride a 
 loft in Poeticall termes, but goeth low and foft on foote, 
 as profe and Pedestris oratio mould do. If Sulpitius 
 had had Platos confideration, in right vfmg this exer- 
 cife, he had not deferued the name of Tragicus Orator, 
 who mould rather haue fludied to expreffe vim Demos- 
 thenes, than furorem Pocetce, how good fo euer he was, 
 whom he did follow. 
 
 And therfore would I haue our Scholemafler wey 
 well together Homer and Plato, and marke diligentlie 
 thefe foure pointes, what is kept; what is added ; what 
 is left out : what is changed, either, in choife of wordes, 
 or forme of fentences ; which foure pointes, be the right 
 tooles, to handle like a workeman, this kinde of worke : 
 as our Scholer mail better vnderfland, when he hath 
 be[e]ne a good while in the Vniuerfitie : to which tyme 
 and place, I chiefly remitte this kind of exercife. 
 
 And bicaufe I euer thought examples to be the beft 
 kinde of teaching, I will recite a golden fentence out 
 of that Poete, which is next vnto Homer ; not onelie in 
 tyme, but alfo in worthines : which hath beene a 
 paterne for many worthie wittes to follow, by this kind 
 of Metaphrafis, but I will content my felfe, with foure 
 workemen, two in Greke, and two in Latin, foch, as in 
 both the tonges, wifer and worthier, can not be looked 
 for. Surelie, no {lone fet in gold by moll cunning worke- 
 men, is in deed, if right counte be made, more worthie 
 the looking on, than this golden fentence, diuerflie 
 wrought upon, by foch foure excellent Mailers. 
 
 2. 
 
 1. DITTOS fJLtv TravaptoTOS, 6s aura) ravra 
 <pacrW//,evos ra K' evretra KOI Is reAos # 
 
 2. cr$Aos 8 1 av /ca/ceiVos, os ev eiTrovrt TrlOrjraL. 
 ,3. os Se K fJLTJr' O/UTOS voe??, /J"}T' aXXov OLKOVWV 
 
 iv Oviug fJdXXrjrai, 6 8' avr' dxpfyos avrfp. 
 
io8 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 IF Thus rudelie turned into bafe Englifh. 
 
 1. That man in wifedome paffeth all, 
 to know the beft who hath a head: 
 
 2. And meetlit wife eeke counted fhall, 
 who yeildes him felfe to wife mens read. 
 
 3. Who hath no witte, nor none will heare, 
 amongeft allfooles the belles may beare. 
 
 in Antigone. 
 
 1. 3??^' eycoye Trpecr/Jei/en/ Tro 
 <&vvai TOI> ai/Spa TTOLVT' eTTicm 
 
 2. Ei 8* ovv (<tA,ei yotp TOVTO fj,rj ravrrj 
 Kai rcoi/ Aeyovrwv ev /caAov TO j 
 
 Marke the wifedome of Sophocles , in leauyng out the 
 lafl fentence, becaufe it was not cumlie for the fonne 
 to vfe it to his father. 
 
 in his Exhortation to youth. 
 
 TOT? 'HcrtoSov, os (fryer L, dpurrov fAv (Ivan rov 
 Trap 1 tavTOv rot Slopra ^vvopwvra. 2. 'Ecr^Aoj/ Sc /ca/cet- 
 vov, TOV rot?, Trap* Irepcov VTroStiyjOei&iv eTTo/xevov. 3. rov 
 8c ?rpos o-uSere/oov eTrtr^Setov d^oetov e^i/ai TT/OOS cJtTravra. 
 
 T JE. die. Pro. A. Cluentio. 
 
 I. Sapientifsimum effe dicunt eum, cut, quod opus fit, ipfi 
 veniat in mentem: 2. Proxime accedere ilium, qui 
 alteriusbene inuentis obtemperet. 3. Injlulticia contra 
 eft: minus enimftultus eft is, cui nihil in mentem venit, 
 qiiam ille, qui, quod ftulte alteri venit in mentem com- 
 probat. 
 
 Cicero doth not plainlie expreffe the laft fentence, 
 but doth inuent it fitlie for his purpofe, to taunt the 
 folie and fimplicitie in his aduerfarie Actius, not weying 
 ing wifelie, the fubtle doynges of Chryfogonus and 
 Stalenus. 
 
 T Sit. fitrittg in Orat Minutij. Lib. 22. 
 
 I. Scepe ego audiui milites; eum primum effe virum, qui 
 ipfe confulat, quid in rem fit\ 2. Secundum eum, qui 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 109 
 
 bene monenti obediat: 3. Qui, nee ipfe confulere, nee 
 alieri parere fci\a\t, eum extremieffe ingenij. 
 Now, which of all thefe foure, Sophocles, S. Bafil, 
 Cicero, or Liuie, hath expreffed Hefiodus bell, the 
 iudgement is as hard, as the workemanfhip of euerie one 
 is mofl excellent in deede. An other example out of 
 the Latin tong alfo I will recite, for the worthines of 
 the workeraan therof, and that is Horace, who hath fo 
 turned the begynning of Terence Eunuchus, as doth 
 vvorke in me, a pleafant admiration, as oft fo euer, as 
 I compare thofe two places togither. And though 
 euerie Mailer, and euerie good Scholer to, do know 
 the places, both in Terence and Horace, yet I will fet 
 them heare, in one place togither, that with more plea- 
 fure, they may be compared together. 
 
 IT Steretxtiujsi in Eunucho. 
 
 Quid igitur faciam ? non earn? ne nunc quidem cum ac- 
 ceffor vltrd? anpotius it a me comparem, non perpeti mere- 
 tricum contumelias? exclufit: reuocat, redeam ? non,fi me 
 obfecret. FARMENOa little after. Here, qua res in se 
 neque con/Ilium neque modum habet vllum, earn confilio 
 regere non potes. In A more hcec omnia infunt vitia, in- 
 iuri(z,fufpiciones, inimicitice, inducice, bellum,pax rurfum. 
 Incerta h&cjl tu poflules ratione cert a facer e, nihilo plus 
 agas, quamft des operam, vt cum ratione infanias. 
 
 f ^oratitx^, lib. Ser. 2. Saty. 3. 
 
 Nee nunc cum me vocet vitro, 
 Accedam ? an potius mediter Jinire dolor es ? 
 Exclufit: reuocat, redeam? non fi obfecret. Ecce 
 Seruus non Paulo fapientior : b Here, quce res 
 Nee modum habet, neque confilium, ratione modbque 
 Tractari non vult. In amore, hcecfunt mala, bellum, 
 Pax rurfum: hcecfi quis tempeftatis prope ritu 
 Mobilia, et cceca fluitantia forte, labor et 
 Reddere certa, fibi nihilo plus explicet, acfi 
 Infanire paret certa natione, modbque. 
 
 This exercife may bring moch profite to ripe heads, 
 
no 
 
 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 and flayd iudgementes : bicaufe in traueling in it, the 
 mynde mufl nedes be verie attentiue, and bufilie 
 occupied, in turning and toffmg it felfe many wayes : 
 and conferryng with great pleafure, the varietie of 
 worthie wittes and iudgementes togither: But this 
 harme may fone cum therby, and namelie to yong 
 Scholers, leffe, in feeking other wordes, and new forme 
 of fentences, they chance vpon the worfe: for the 
 which onelie caufe, Cicero thinketh this exercife not 
 to be fit for yong men. 
 
 Epitome. 
 
 This is a way of fludie, belonging, rather to matter, 
 than to wordes: to memorie, than to vtterance: to 
 thofe that be learned alreadie, and hath fmall place at 
 all amonges yong fcholers in Grammer fcholes. It 
 may proffet priuately fome learned men, but it hath 
 hurt generallie learning it felfe, very moch. For by 
 it haue we loft whole Trogus, the beft part of T. Linius, 
 the goodlie Dictionarie of Pompeius feftus, a great deale 
 of the Ciuill lawe, and other many notable bookes, for 
 the which caufe, I do the more miflike this exercife, 
 both in old and yong. 
 
 Epitome, is good priuatelie for himfelfe that -doth 
 worke it, but ill commonlie for all other that vfe other 
 mens labor therein : a filie poore kinde of ftudie, not 
 vnlike to the doing of thofe poore folke, which neyther 
 till, nor fowe, nor reape themfelues, but gleane by 
 ftelth, vpon other mens growndes. Soch haue emptie 
 barnes, for deare yeares. 
 
 Grammar scholes haue fewe Epitomes to hurt them, 
 except Epitheta Textoris, and fuch beggarlie gatheringes, 
 zsHorman, Whittington, and other like vulgares for mak- 
 ing of latines : yea I do wifhe, that all rules for yong 
 fcholers, were fhorter than they be. For without doute, 
 Grammatica it felfe, is fooner and furer learned by ex- 
 amples of good authors, than by the naked rewles of Gram- 
 marians. Epitome hurteth more, in the vniuerfities and 
 fludie of Philofophie : but moil of all, in diuinitie it felfe. 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong 
 
 In deede bookes of common places be verie necef- 
 farie, to induce a man, into an orderlie generall know- 
 ledge, how to referre orderlie all that he readeth, ad 
 certa rerum Capita, and not wander in fludie. And 
 to that end did P. Lombardus the mafter of fentences 
 and Ph. Melancthon in our daies, write two notable 
 bookes of common places. 
 
 But to dwell in Epitomes and bookes of common 
 places, and not to binde himfelfe dailie by orderlie 
 ftudie, to reade with all diligence, principallie the 
 holyeft fcripture and withall, the befl Doctors, and fo 
 to learne to make trewe difference betwixt, the autho- 
 ritie of the one, and the Counfell of the other, maketh 
 fo many feeming, and fonburnt miniflers as we haue, 
 whofe learning is gotten in a fommer heat, and warned 
 away, with a Chriflmas fnow againe: who neuerthe- 
 leffe, are leffe to be blamed, than thofe blind buffardes, 
 who in late yeares,of wilfull malicioufnes, would neyther 
 learne themfelues, nor could teach others, any thing 
 at all. 
 
 Paraphrafis hath done leffe hurt to learning, than 
 Epitome \ for no Paraphrafis, though there be many, 
 mail neuer take away Dauids Pfalter. Erafmus Para- 
 phrafis being neuer fo good, mail neuer banifhe the 
 New Teftament. And in an other fchole, the Para- 
 phrafis of Brocardus, or Sambucus, fhal neuer take 
 Ariftotles Rhetoricke, nor Horace de Arte Poetica, out 
 of learned mens handes. 
 
 But, as concerning a fchole Epitome, he that wo[u]ld 
 haue an example of it, let him read Lucian ircpl /caAAovs 
 which is the verie Epitome of Ifocrates oration de 
 laudibus Helena, whereby he may learne, at the leaft, 
 this wife leffon, that a man ought to beware, to be 
 ouer bold, in altering an excellent mans worke. 
 
 Neuertheles, fome kinde of Epitome may be vfed, by 
 men of fkilful iudgement, to the great proffet alfo of 
 others. As if a wife man would take Halles Cfhjronicle, 
 where moch good matter is quite marde with Inden- 
 ture Englifhe, and firfl change, flrange and inkhorne 
 
112 
 
 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 tearmes into proper, and commonlie vfed wordes: 
 next, fpecially to wede out that, that is fuperfluous and 
 idle, not oneiie where wordes be vainlie heaped one 
 vpon an other, but alfo where many fentences, of one 
 meaning, be fo clowted vp together as though M. Hall 
 had bene, not writing the florie of England, but vary- 
 ing a fentence in Hitching fchole: furelie a wife 
 learned man, by this way of Epitome, in cutting away 
 wordes and fentences, and dimmiming nothing at all 
 of the matter, mold leaue to mens vfe, a florie, halfe 
 as moch as it was in quantitie, but twife as good as 
 it was, both for pleafure and alfo commoditie. 
 
 An other kinde of Epitome may be vfed like wife very 
 well, to moch proffet. Som man either by luilines of 
 nature, or brought by ill teaching, to a wrong iudge- 
 ment, is ouer full of words, [and] fentences, and matter, 
 and yet all his words be proper, apt and well chofen : all 
 his fentences be rownd and trimlie framed : his whole 
 matter grownded vpon good reafon, and fluffed with 
 full arguments, for this intent and purpofe. Yet when 
 his talke fhalbe heard, or his writing be re[a]d, of foch 
 one, as is, either of my two dearefl friendes, M. Haddon 
 at home, or lohn Sturmius in Germanic, that Nimium 
 in him, which fooles and vnlearned will mofl commend, 
 mall eyther of thies two, bite his lippe, or fhake his 
 heade at it. 
 
 This fulnes as it is not to be mifliked in a yong man, 
 fo in farder aige, in greater fkill, and weightier affaires, 
 it is to be temperated, or elfe difcretion and Judgement 
 mall feeme to be wanting in him. But if his flile be 
 flill ouer rancke and luflie, as fome men being neuer fo 
 old and fpent by yeares, will flill be full of youthfull 
 conditions as was Syr F. Bryan, and euermore wold haue 
 bene, foch a rancke and full writer, mufl vfe, if he will 
 do wifelie the exercife of a verie good kinde of Epitome, 
 and do, as certaine wife men do, that be ouer fat and 
 flefhie : who leauing their owne full and plentifull table, 
 go to foiorne abrode from home for a while, at the 
 temperate diet of fome fober man, and fo by litle and 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. n 3 
 
 litle, cut away the grofneffe that is in them. As for an 
 example : If Oforius would leaue of his luflines in 
 firming againfl S. Auften, and his ouer rancke rayling 
 againil poore Luther, and the troth of Gods doctrine, 
 and giue his whole fludie, not to write any thing of his 
 owne for a while, but to tranflate Demoji l Junes , with fo 
 ftraite, fafl, and temperate a flyle in latin e, as he is in 
 Greeke, he would becume fo perfit and pure a writer, 
 I beleue, as hath be[e]ne fewe or none fence Ciceroes 
 dayes : And fo, by doing himfelf and all learned moch 
 good, do others leffe harme, and Chrifles doctrine 
 leffe iniury, than he doth : and with all, wyn vnto him- 
 felfe many worthy frends, who agreing with him gladly, 
 in ye loue and liking of excellent learning, are forie to 
 fee fo worthie a witte, fo rare eloquence, wholie fpent 
 and confumed, in firming with God and good men. 
 
 Emonges the reft, no man doth lament him more 
 than I, not onelie for the excellent learning that I fee 
 in him, but alfo bicaufe there hath paffed priuatelie 
 betwixt him and me, fure tokens of moch good will, 
 and frendlie opinion, the one toward the other. And 
 furelie the diftance betwixt London and Lyfbon, mould 
 not floppe, any kinde of frendlie dewtie, that I could, 
 eyther mew to him, or do to his, if the greatefl matter 
 of all did not in certeyne pointes, feparate our myndes. 
 
 And yet for my parte, both toward him, and diuerfe 
 others here at home, for like caufe of excellent learning, 
 great wifdome, and gentle humanitie, which I haue feene 
 in them, and felt at their handes my felfe, where the 
 matter of difference is mere confcience in a quiet minde 
 inwardlie, and not contentious malice with fpitefull 
 rayling openlie, I can be content to followe this rewle, 
 in mifliking fome one thing, not to hate for anie 
 thing els. 
 
 But as for all the bloodie beafles, as that Psai 80. 
 fat Boore of the wood : or thofe brauling Bulles of 
 Bafan: or any lurking Dorm\o\us, blinde, not by nature, 
 but by malice, and as may be gathered of their owne 
 teftimonie, giuen ouer to blindnes, for giuing ouer God 
 
 H 
 
1 1 4 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 and his word ; or foch as be fo luflie runnegates, as 
 firft, runne from God and his trew doctrine, than, from 
 their Lordes, Mailers, and all dewtie, next, from them 
 felues and out of their wittes, laflly from their Prince, 
 contrey, and all dew allegeance, whether they ought 
 rather to be pitied of good men, for their miferie, or 
 contemned of wife men, for their malicious folie, let 
 good and wife men determine. 
 
 And to returne to Epitome agayne, fome will iudge 
 moch boldnes in me, thus to iudge of Oforius flyle : 
 but wife men do know, that meane lookers on, may 
 trewelie fay, for a well made Picture : This face had 
 bene more cumlie, if that hie redde in the cheeke, were 
 fomwhat more pure fanguin than it is : and yet the 
 ftander by, can not amend it himfelfe by any way. 
 
 And this is not written to the difpraife but to the 
 great commendation of Oforius, becaufe Tullie him- 
 felfe had the fame fulnes in him : and therefore went 
 to Rodes to cut it away : and faith himfelfe, recepi me 
 domum prope mutatus, nam quafi referuerat iam oratio. 
 Which was brought to paffe I beleue, not onelie by 
 the teaching of Molo Appollomius but alfo by a good 
 way of Epitome, in binding him felfe to tranflate meros 
 Atticos Or at ores, and fo to bring his flyle, from all lowfe 
 grofneffe, to foch firme faftnes in latin, as is in Demof- 
 thenes in Greeke. And this to be mod trew, may eafelie 
 be gathered, not onelie of L. Craffus talke in i. de 
 Or. but fpeciallie of Ciceroes owne deede in tranflating 
 Demofthenes and ^Ef chines orations TTC/H orec^. to that 
 verie ende and purpofe. 
 
 And although a man growndlie learned all readie, 
 may take moch proffet him felfe in vfing, by Epitome, 
 to draw other mens workes for his owne memorie fake, 
 into fhorter rowme, as Contents hath done verie well 
 the whole Metamorphofis of Ouid, and Dauid Cythr&us 
 a great deale better, the. ix. Mufes of Herodotus, and 
 Melancthon in myne opinion, far befl of all, the whole 
 florie of Time, not onelie to his own vfe, but to other 
 mens proffet and hys great prayfe, yet, Epitome is mofl 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. n S 
 
 neceffarie of all in a mans owne writing, as we learne 
 of that noble Poet Virgill, who, if Donatus fay trewe, 
 in writing that perfite worke of the Georgickes, vfed 
 dailie, when he had written 40. or 50. verfes, not to 
 ceafe cutting, paring, and pollifhing of them, till he 
 had brought them to the nomber of x. or xij. 
 
 And this exercife, is not more nedefullie done in a 
 great worke, than wifelie done, in your common dailie 
 writing, either of letter, or other thing elfe, that is to fay, 
 to perufe diligentlie, and fee and fpie wifelie, what is 
 alwaies more then nedeth : For, twenty to one, offend 
 more, in writing to moch, than to litle : euen as twentie 
 to one, fall into fickneffe, rather by ouer mochfulnes, 
 than by anie lacke or emptineffe. And therefore is he 
 alwaies the beft Englifh Phyfition, that befl can geue a 
 purgation, that is, by way of Epitome, to cut all ouer much 
 away. And furelie mens bodies, be not more full of ill 
 humors, than commonlie mens myndes (if they be 
 yong, luftie, proude, like and loue them felues well, as 
 moil men do) be full of fan[ta]fies, opinions, errors, and 
 faultes, not onelie in inward inuention, but alfo in all 
 their vtterance, either by pen or taulke. 
 
 And of all other men, euen thofe that haue ye inuen- 
 tiuefl heades, for all purpofes, and rounded tonges in 
 all matters and places (except they learne and vfe this 
 good leffon of Epitome) commit commonlie greater 
 faultes, than dull, flaying filent men do. For, quicke 
 inuentors, and faire readie fpeakers, being boldned with 
 their prefent habilitie to fay more, and perchance better 
 to, at the foden for that prefent, than any other can 
 do, vfe leffe helpe of diligence and fludie than they 
 ought to do: and fo haue in them commonlie, leffe 
 learning, and weaker iudgement, for all deepe confide- 
 rations, than fome duller heades, and flower tonges 
 haue. 
 
 And therefore, readie fpeakers, generallie be not 
 the befl, playneft, and wife ft writers, nor yet the deepefl 
 iudgers in weightie affaires, bicaufe they do not tarry to 
 weye and iudge all thinges, as they mould : but hauing 
 
n6 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 their heades ouer full of matter, be like pennes ouer 
 full of incke, which will foner blotte, than make any 
 faire letter at all. Tyme was, whan I had experience 
 of two Ambaffadors in one place, the one of a hote 
 head to inuent, and of a haflie hand to write, the other, 
 colde and ftayd in both : but what difference of their 
 doinges was made by wife men, is notvnknowne to fome 
 perfons. The Bifhop of Winchefler Steph. Gardiner 
 had a quicke head, and a readie tong, and yet was not 
 the beft writer in England. Cicero in Brutus doth 
 wifelie note the fame in Serg: Galbo, and Q. Hortentius, 
 who were both, hote, luftie, and plaine fpeakers, but 
 colde, lowfe, and rough writers : And Tullie telleth the 
 caufe why, faying, whan they fpake, their tong was 
 naturally caried with full tyde and wynde of their witte : 
 whan they wrote their head was folitarie, dull, and 
 caulme, and fo their flyle was blonte, and their writing 
 colde : Quod vitium, fayth Cicero, peringeniofis homini- 
 bus nequefatis doctis plerumque accidit. 
 
 And therfore all quick inuentors, and readie faire 
 fpeakers, muft be carefull, that, to their goodnes of 
 nature, they adde alfo in any wife, ftudie, labor, leafure, 
 learning, and iudgement, and than they fhall in deede, 
 paffe all other, as I know fome do, in whome all thofe 
 qualities are fullie planted, or elfe if they giue ouer 
 moch to their witte, and ouer litle to their labor and 
 learning, they will foneft ouer reach in taulke, and 
 fardeft cum behinde in writing whatfoeuer they take in 
 hand. The methode of Epitome is mofl neceffarie for 
 foch kinde of men. And thus much concerning the vfe 
 or mifufe of all kinde of Epitome in matters of learning. 
 
 Q Imitatio. 
 
 Imitation, is a facultie to expreffe liuelie and per- 
 fitelie that example : which ye go about to fol[l]ow. And 
 of it felfe, it is large and wide : for all the workes of 
 nature, in a maner be examples for arte to folow. 
 
 But to our purpofe, all languages, both learned and 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. n 7 
 
 mother tonges, be gotten, and gotten onelie by Imita- 
 tion. For as ye vfe to heare, fo ye learne to fpeake : 
 if ye heare no other, ye fpeake not your felfe : and 
 whome ye onelie heare, of them ye onelie learne. 
 
 ' And therefore, if ye would fpeake as the befl and 
 wifeft do, ye muft be conuerfant, where the befl and 
 wifeft are : but if yow be borne or brought vp in a 
 rude co[u]ntrie, ye fhall not chofe but fpeake rudelie : 
 the rudeft man of all knoweth this to be trewe. 
 
 Yet neuertheleffe, the rudenes of common and 
 mother tonges, is no bar for wife fpeaking. For in 
 the rudeft contrie, and moft barbarous mother lan- 
 guage, many be found [yat] can fpeake verie wifelie : 
 but in the Greeke and latin tong, the two onelie learned 
 tonges, which be kept, not in common taulke, but in 
 priuate bookes, we finde alwayes, wifdome and elo- 
 quence, good matter and good vtterance, neuer or 
 feldom a fonder. For all foch Authors, as be fulled 
 of good matter and right iudgement in doctrine, be 
 likewife alwayes, mofl proper in wordes, moft apte in 
 fentence, mofl plaine and pure in vttering the fame. 
 
 And contrariwife, in thofe two tonges, all writers, 
 either in Religion, or any feet of Philofophie, who fo 
 euer be founde fonde in iudgement of matter, be com- 
 monlie found as rude in vttering their mynde. For 
 Stoickes, Anabaptiftes, and Friers : with Epicures, 
 Libertines and Monkes, being mofl like in learning 
 and life, are no fonder and pernicious in their opinions, 
 than they be rude and barbarous in their wri tinges. 
 They be not wife, therefore that fay, what care I for a 
 mans wordes and vtterance, if his matter and reafons 
 be good. Soch men, fay fo, not fo moch of ignorance, 
 as eyther of fome fingular pride in themfelues, or fome 
 fpeciall malice or other, or for fome priuate and parciall 
 matter, either in Religion or other kinde of learning. 
 For good and choice meates, be no more requifite for 
 helthie bodies, than proper and apte wordes be for 
 good matters, and alfo plaine and fenfible vtterance 
 for the befl and de[e]pefl reafons : in which two pointes 
 
1 1 8 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 flandeth perfite eloquence, one of the fairefl and rarefl 
 giftes that God doth geue to man. 
 
 Ye know not, what hurt ye do to learning, that care 
 not for wordes, but for matter, and fo make a deuorfe 
 betwixt the tong and the hart. For marke all aiges : 
 looke vpon the whole courfe of both the Greeke and 
 Latin tonge, and ye mail furelie finde, that, whan apte 
 and good wordes began to be neglected, and properties 
 of thofe two tonges to be confounded, than alfo began, 
 ill deedes to fpring : ftrange maners to oppreffe good 
 orders, newe and fond opinions to flriue with olde and 
 trewe doctrine, firft in Philofophie : and after in Re- 
 ligion : right iudgement of all thinges to be peruerted, 
 and fo vertue with learning is contemned, and ftudie 
 left of : of ill thoughtes cummeth peruerfe iudgement : 
 of ill deedes fpringeth lewde taulke. Which fower mis- 
 orders, as they mar mans life, fo deftroy they good 
 learning withall. 
 
 But behold the goodneffe of Gods prouidence for 
 learning : all olde authors and fectes of Philofophy, 
 which were fondefl in opinion, and rudeft in vtterance, 
 as Stoickes and Epicures, firfl contemned of wife men, 
 and after forgotten of all men, be fo confumed by 
 tymes, as they be now, not onelie out of vfe, but alfo 
 out of memorie of man : which thing, I furelie thinke, 
 will fhortlie chance, to the whole doctrine and all the 
 bookes of phantaflicall Anabaptiftes and Friers, and 
 of the beaillie Libertines and Monkes. 
 
 Againe behold on the other fide, how Gods wifdome 
 hath wrought, that of Academici and Peripatetic^ thofe 
 that were wifefl in iudgement of matters, and purefl in 
 vttering their myndes, the firft and chiefeft, that wrote 
 moft and beft, in either tong, as Plato and Ariftotle in 
 Greeke, Tullie in Latin, be fo either wholie, or fuffi- 
 ciently left vnto vs, as I neuer knew yet fcholer, that 
 gaue himfelfe to like, and loue, and folowe chieflie thofe 
 three Authors but he proued, both learned, wife, and 
 alfo an honeft man, if he ioyned with all the trewt 
 doctrine of Gods holie Bible, without the which, the 
 
the ready way to the Latin ton'g. II9 
 
 other three, be but fine edge tooles in a fole or mad 
 mans hand. 
 
 But to returne to Imitation agayne : There be three 
 kindes of it in matters of learning. 
 
 The whole doctrine of Comedies and Tragedies, is 
 a perfite imitation, or faire liuelie painted picture of the 
 life of euerie degree of man. Of this Imitation writeth 
 Plato at large in 3. de Rep. but it doth not moch belong 
 at this time to our purpofe. 
 
 The fecond kind of Imitation, is to folow for learn- 
 ing of tonges and fciences, the bell authors. Here 
 rifeth, emonges proude and enuious wittes, a great 
 controuerfie, whether, one or many are to be folowed : 
 and if one, who is that one : Seneca, or Cicero : Saluft 
 or Ccefar, and fo forth in Greeke and Latin. 
 
 The third kinde of Imitation, belongeth to the fecond : 
 as when you be determined, whether ye will folow one 
 or mo, to know perfitlie, and which way to folow that 
 one : in what place : by what meane and order : by 
 what tooles and inilrumentes ye mall do it, by what 
 fkill and iudgement, ye mall trewelie difcerne, whether 
 ye folow rightlie or no. 
 
 This Imitatio, is difsimilis materei fimilis traflatio : 
 and 2\to, fimilis materei difsimilis tracJatio, as Virgill 
 folowed Homer : but the Argument to the one was 
 Vlyffes, to the other ^Eneas. Tiillie perfecuted Antonie 
 with the fame wepons of eloquence, that Demqflhenes 
 vfed before againft Philippe. 
 
 Horace foloweth Pindar, but either of them his owne 
 Argument and Perfon : as the one, Hiero king of Sicilie, 
 the other Auguftus the Emperor : and yet both for like 
 refpectes, that is, for their coragious ftoutnes in warre, 
 and iuft gouernment in peace. 
 
 One of the beft examples, for right Imitation 
 we lacke, and that is Menander, whom our Terence, 
 (as the matter required) in like argument, in the 
 fame Perfons, with equall eloquence, foote by foote 
 4id folow. 
 
 Som peeces remaine, like broken lewelles, whereby 
 
120 
 
 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 men may rightlie efleme, and iufllie lament, the loffe 
 of the whole. 
 
 Erafmus, the ornament of learning, in our tyme, 
 doth wifh that fom man of learning and diligence, 
 would take the like paines in Demofthems and Tullie, 
 that Macrobius hath done in Homer and Virgill, that 
 is, to write out and ioyne together, where the one doth 
 imitate the other. Erafmus wifhe is good, but furelie, 
 it is not good enough : for Macrobius gatherings for 
 the SEneodos out of Homer, and Eobanus Heffus more 
 diligent gatherings for the Bucolikes out of Theocritus, 
 as they be not fullie taken out of the whole heape, as 
 they mould be, but euen as though they had not fought 
 for them of purpofe, but fownd them fcatered here and 
 there by chance in their way, euen fo, onelie to point 
 out, and nakedlie to ioyne togither their fentences, with 
 no farder declaring the maner and way, how the one 
 doth folow the other, were but a colde helpe, to the 
 encreafe of learning. 
 
 But if a man would take his paine alfo, whan he hath 
 layd two places, of Homer and Virgill, or of Demqfthenes 
 and Tullie togither, to teach plainlie withall, after this 
 fort. 
 
 1. Tullie reteyneth thus moch of the matter, thies 
 fentences, thies wordes : 
 
 2. This and that he leaueth out, which he doth 
 wittelie to this end and purpofe. 
 
 3. This he addeth here. 
 
 4. This he diminimeth there. 
 
 5. This he ordereth thus, with placing that here, 
 not there. 
 
 6. This he altereth, and changeth, either, in proper- 
 tie of wordes, in forme of fentence, in fubilance of the 
 matter, or in one, or other conuenient circumftance of 
 the authors prefent purpofe. In thies fewe rude Eng- 
 lifh wordes, are wrapt vp all the neceffarie tooles and 
 inflrumentes, where with trewe Imitation is rightlie 
 wrought withall in any tonge. Which tooles, I openlie 
 confeffe, be not of myne owne forging, but partlie left 
 
the ready way to the Latin fong. I2 1 
 
 vnto me by the cunni[n]geft Mailer, and one of the 
 worthieft lentlemen that euer England bred, Syr lohn 
 Cheke: partelie borowed by me out of the fhoppe of 
 the dearefl frende I haue out of England, lo. St. 
 And therefore I am the bolder to borow of him, and 
 here to leaue them to other, and namelie to my Chil- 
 dren : which tooles, if it pleafe God, that an other day, 
 they may be able to vfe rightlie, as I do wifh and daylie 
 pray, they may do, I fhal be more glad, than if I were 
 able to leaue them a great quantitie of land. 
 
 This forefaide order and doctrine of Imitation, would 
 bring forth more learning, and breed vp trewer iudge- 
 ment, than any other exercife that can be vfed, but 
 not for yong beginners, bicaufe they fhall not be able 
 to confider dulie therof. And trewelie, it may be a 
 fhame to good ftudentes who hauing fo faire examples 
 to follow, as Plato and Tullie, do not vfe fo wife wayes 
 in folowing them for the obteyning of wifdome and 
 learning, as rude ignorant Artificers do, for gayning a 
 fmall commoditie. For furelie the meaneft painter 
 vfeth more witte, better arte, greater diligence, in hys 
 fhoppe, in folowing the Picture of any meane mans 
 face, than commonlie the bell ftudentes do, euen in 
 the vniuerfitie, for the atteining of learning it felfe. 
 
 Some ignorant, vnlearned, and idle ftudent : or fome 
 bufie looker vpon this litle poore booke, that hath 
 neither will to do good him felfe, nor ikill to iudge right 
 of others, but can luftelie contemne, by pride and igno- 
 rance, all painfull diligence and right order in ftudy, will 
 perchance fay, that I am to precife, to curious, in marking 
 and piteling [pidling] thus about the imitation of others : 
 and that the olde worthie Authors did neuer bufie their 
 heades and wittes, in folowyng fo precifelie, either the 
 matter what other men wrote, or els the maner how 
 other men wrote. They will fay, it were a plain e 
 ilauerie, and iniurie to, to fhakkle and tye a good witte, 
 and hinder the courfe of a mans good nature with fuch 
 bondes of feruitude, in folowyng other. 
 
 Except foch men thinke them felues wifer then 
 
T 2 2 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 Cicero for teaching of eloquence, they muft be content 
 to turne a new leafe. 
 
 The beft booke that euer Tullie wrote, by all mens 
 Judgement, and by his owne teflimonie to, in wrytyng 
 wherof, he employed mofl care, ftudie, learnyng and 
 iudgement, is his booke de- Orat. ad Q F. Now let 
 vs fee, what he did for the matter, and alfo for the 
 maner of writing therof. For the whole booke con- 
 fifteth in thefe two pointes onelie: In good matter, 
 and good handling of the matter. And firft, for the 
 matter, it is whole Ariflotles, what fo euer Antonie in 
 the fecond, and Craffus in the third doth teach. Trull 
 not me, but beleue Tullie him felfe, who writeth fo, 
 firft, in that goodlie long Epiftle ad P. Lentulum, and 
 after in diuerfe places ad Atticum. And in the verie 
 booke it felfe, Tullie will not haue it hidden, but both 
 Catulus and Craffus do oft and pleafantly lay that 
 ftelth to Antonius charge. Now, for the handling of 
 the matter, was Tullie fo precife and curious rather to 
 follow an other mans Pat erne, than to inuent fome newe 
 fhape him felfe, namelie in that booke, wherein he pur- 
 pofed, to leaue to pofteritie, the glorie of his witte ? 
 yea forfoth, that he did. And this is not my gaffing 
 and gathering, nor onelie performed by Tullie in verie 
 deed, but vttered alfo by Tullie in plaine wordes : to 
 teach other men thereby, what they mould do, in tak- 
 ing like matter in hand. 
 
 And that which is efpecially to be marked, Tullie 
 doth vtter plainlie his conceit and purpofe therein, by 
 the mouth of the wifeft man in all that companie: for 
 fayth Scczuola him felfe, Cur non imitamur, Craffe, 
 Socratem ilium, qui est in Phcedro Platonis etc. 
 
 And furder to vnderfland, that Tullie did not obiter 
 and bichance, but purpofelie and mindfullie bend him 
 felfe to a precife and curious Imitation of Plato, con- 
 cernyng the fhape and forme of thofe bookes, marke I 
 pray you, how curious Tullie is to vtter his purpofe and 
 doyng therein, writing thus to Atticus. 
 
 Quod in his Oratory's libris, quos tantopere laudas* 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 123 
 
 perfonam defideras Scczuolce, non earn temerk dimoui: 
 Sed fed idem, quod in TroAere/p- Deus ille nofter Plato, 
 -:um in Pirceeum Socrates venifset ad Cephalum locuple- 
 tem et feftiuum Senem, quoad primus ille fermo habere- 
 tur, adest in difputando fenex : Deinde, cum ipfe quoque 
 commodifsime locutus effet, ad rem diuinam dicit fe velle 
 difcedere, neque poftea reuertitur. Credo Platonem vix 
 putaffe fatis confonum fore, fi hominem id cetatis in tarn 
 longo fermone diutius retinuiffet: Multo ego fatius hoc 
 mihi cauendum putaui in Scmwla, qui et estate et vale- 
 tudine erat ea qua meminijli, et his honoribus, vt vix 
 fatis decorum videretur eum plures dies effe in Crafsi 
 Tufculano. Et erat primi libri fermo non alienus a 
 Scceuolce fludijs: reliqui libri TexvoXoo-iyv habent, vt 
 fas. Huic ioculatoria difputationi fenem ilium vt nor as, 
 intereffe fane nolui. 
 
 If Cicero had not opened him felfe, and declared 
 hys owne thought and doynges herein, men that be 
 idle, and ignorant, and enuious of other mens diligence 
 and well doinges, would haue fworne that Tullie had 
 neuer mynded any foch thing, but that of a precife 
 curiofitie, we fayne and forge and father foch thinges 
 of Tullie, as he neuer ment in deed. I write this, not 
 for nought: for I haue heard fome both well learned, 
 and otherwayes verie wife, that by their luflie mifliking 
 of foch diligence, haue drawen back the forwardnes of 
 verie good wittes. But euen as fuch men them felues, 
 do fometymes ftumble vpon doyng well by chance and 
 benefite of good witte, fo would I haue our fcholer 
 alwayes able to do well by order of learnyng and 
 right fkill of iudgement. 
 
 Concernyng Imitation, many learned men haue 
 written, with moch diuerfitie for the matter, and ther- 
 fore with great contrarietie and fome ftomacke amongeil 
 them felues. I haue read as many as I could get 
 diligentlie, and what I thinke of euerie one of them, I 
 will freelie fay my mynde. With which freedome I 
 truil good men will beaie, bicaufe it fhall tend to 
 neither fpiiefull nor harmefull controuerfie. 
 
1 24 Thefeeond booke teackyng 
 
 Cicero. In Tullie, it is well touched, fhortlie 
 
 taught, not fullie declared by Ant. in 2. de Or at: and 
 afterward in Orat. ad Brutum, for the liking and mif- 
 liking of Ifocrates: and the contrarie iudgement of 
 Tullie agaynfl Caluus, Brutus, and Calidius, de genere 
 dicendi Attko et Afiatico. 
 
 DioHaiicar. Dionif. Halic. Trept jut/Ar/crccDs. I feare is 
 loft: which Author next Ariftotle, Plato, and Tullie, 
 of all other, that write of eloquence, by the iudge- 
 ment of them that be beft learned, deferueth the next 
 prayfe and place. 
 
 Quintn. Quintilian writeth of it, mortly and cold- 
 
 lie for the matter, yet hotelie and fpitefullie enough, 
 agaynil the Imitation of Tullie. 
 
 Erasmus. Erafmus, beyng more occupied in fpy- 
 
 ing other mens faultes, than declaryng his owne aduife, 
 is miftaken of many, to the great hurt of fludie, for his 
 authoritie fake. For he writeth rightlie, rightlie vnder- 
 ftanded : he and Longolius onelie differing in this, that 
 the one feemeth to giue ouermoch, the other ouer litle, 
 to him, whom they both, beft loued, and chiefly al- 
 lowed of all other. 
 
 Budaus. Budczus in his Commentaries roughlie 
 
 and obfcurelie, after his kinde of writyng : and for the 
 matter, caryed fomewhat out of the way in ouermuch 
 mifliking the Imitation of Tullie. 
 ph. Meianch. Phil. Melanclhon, learnedlie and trewlie. 
 loo. Camer. Camerarius largely with a learned iudge- 
 
 ment, but fumewhat confufedly, and with ouer rough 
 a flile. 
 
 Sambucus. Sambucus, largely, with a right iudge- 
 
 ment but fomewhat a crooked ftile. 
 Cortesius. Other haue written alfo, as Cortefius to 
 
 p. Bembus. Politian, and that verie well : B embus ad 
 loansturmius. Picum a great deale better, but loan. 
 Stur miits de Nobilitate liter ata, et de Amiffa dicendi 
 ratione, farre befl of all, in myne opinion, that euer 
 tooke this matter in hand. For all the reft, declare 
 chiefly this point, whether one, or many, or all, are to 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. 125 
 
 be followed : but Sturmius onelie hath moil learnedlie 
 declared, who is to be followed, what is to be fol- 
 lowed, and the beft point of all, by what way and 
 order, trew Imitation is rightlie to be exercifed. And 
 although Sturmius herein doth farre paffe all other, yet 
 hath he not fo fullie and perfitelie done it, as I do 
 wifhe he had, and as I know he could. For though 
 he hath done it perfitelie for precept, yet hath he not 
 done it perfitelie enough for example : which he did, 
 neither for lacke of (kill, nor by negligence, but of 
 purpofe, contented with one or two examples, bicaufe 
 he was mynded in thofe two bookes, to write of it 
 both ihortlie, and alfo had to touch other matters. 
 
 Barthol. Ricdus Ferrarienfis alfo hath written learned- 
 lie, diligentlie and verie largelie of this matter euen as 
 hee did before verie well deApparatu lingua Lat. He 
 writeth the better in myne opinion, bicaufe his whole 
 doctrine, iudgement, and order, femeth to be bor- 
 owed out of lo. Stur. bookes. He addeth alfo ex- 
 amples, the befl kinde of teaching : wherein he doth 
 well, but not well enough : in deede, he committeth 
 no faulte, but yet, deferueth fmall praife. He is 
 content with the meane, and followeth not the bed: 
 as a man, that would feede vpon Acornes, whan he 
 may eate, as good cheape, the fineil wheat bread. He 
 teacheth for example, where and how, two or three 
 late Italian Poetes do follow Virgil: and how Virgil 
 him felfe in the ftorie of Dido, doth wholie Imitate 
 Catullus in the like matter of Ariadna: Wherein I 
 like better his diligence and order of teaching, than 
 his iudgement in choice of examples for Imitation. 
 But, if he had done thus : if he had declared where 
 and how, how oft and how many wayes Virgil doth 
 folow Homer, as for example the comming of Vlyffes 
 to A Icy nous and Calypfo, with the comming of <sneas 
 to Cart\h\age and Dido : Likewife the games running, 
 wreflling, and fhoting, that Achilles maketh in Homer, 
 with the felfe fame games, that ^Eneas maketh in 
 Virgil: The Ljneffe of Achilles, with the -harneffe of 
 
1 2 6 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 SEneas, and the maner of making of them both by 
 Vulcane-. The notable combate betwixt Achilles and 
 Hector, with as notable a combate betwixt ^Eneas and 
 Turmis. The going downe to hell of Vlyffes in 
 Homer, with the going downe to hell of ^Eneas in 
 Virgil: and other places infinite mo, as fimilitudes, 
 narrations, meffages, difcriptions of perfons, places, 
 battels, tempeftes, fhipwrackes, and common places 
 for diuerfe purpofes, which be as precifely taken out 
 of Homer, as euer did Painter in London follow the 
 picture of any faire perfonage. And when thies 
 places had bene gathered together by this way of 
 diligence than to haue conferred them together by 
 this order of teaching, as, diligently to marke what is 
 kept and vfed in either author, in wordes, in fentences, 
 in matter: what is added: what is left out: what or- 
 dered otherwife, either prceponendo, interponendo, or 
 postponendo: And what is altered for any refpect, in 
 word, phrafe, fentence, figure, reafon, argument, or by 
 any way of circumflance : If Riccius had done this, he 
 had not onely bene well liked, for his diligence in 
 teaching, but alfo iufllie commended for his right 
 iudgement in right choice of examples for the bell 
 Imitation. 
 
 Riccius alfo for Imitation of profe declareth where 
 and how Longolius doth folow Tullie, but as for Longo- 
 lius, I would not haue him the patern of our Imitation. 
 In deede: in Longolius fhoppe, be proper and faire 
 mewing colers, but as for fhape, figure, and naturall 
 cumlines, by the iudgement of befl iudging artificers, 
 he is rather allowed as one to be borne withall, than 
 efpecially commended, as one chieflie to be folowed. 
 
 If Riccius had taken for his examples, where Tullie 
 him felfe foloweth either Plato or Demojlhenes, he had 
 mot than at the right marke. But to excufe Riccius, 
 fomwhat, though I can not fullie defend him, it may 
 be fayd, his purpofe was, to teach onelie the Latin 
 tong, when thys way that I do wifh, to ioyne Virgii 
 with Homer, to read TulHe with Demojlhenes and Plato, 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. I27 
 
 requireth a cunning and perfite Mailer in both the 
 tonges. It is my wifh in deede, and that by good 
 reafon : For who fo euer will write well of any matter, 
 muft labor to expreffe that, that is perfite, and not to 
 flay and content himfelfe with the meane : yea, I fay 
 farder, though it not be vnpofible, yet it is verie rare, 
 and maruelous hard, to proue excellent in the Latin 
 tong, for him that is not alfo well feene in the Greeke 
 tong. Tullie him felfe, mofl excellent of nature, mofl 
 diligent in labor, brought vp from his cradle, in that 
 place, and in that tyme, where and whan the Latin 
 tong mofl florifhed natural! ie in euery mans mouth, yet 
 was not his owne tong able it felfe to make him fo 
 cunning in his owne tong, as he was in deede : but the 
 knowledge and Imitation of the Greeke tong withall. 
 
 This he confeffeth himfelfe : this he vttereth in many 
 places, as thofe can tell bell, that vfe to read him mofl. 
 
 Therefore thou, that fhotefl at perfection in the Latin 
 tong, think not thy felfe wifer than Tullie was, in choice 
 of the way, that leadeth rightlie tc the fame : thinke 
 not thy witte better than Tullies was, as though that 
 may ferue thee that was not fufficient for him. For 
 euen as a hauke flieth not hie with one wing: euen fo 
 a man reacheth not to excellency with one tong. 
 
 I haue bene a looker on in the Cokpit of learning 
 thies many yeares : And one Cock onelie haue I knowne, 
 which with one wing, euen at this day, doth paffe all 
 other, in myne opinion, that euer I faw in any pitte 
 in England, though they had two winges. Yet neuer- 
 theleffe, to flie well with one wing, to runne fafl with 
 one leg, be rather, rare Maiflreis moch to be merueled 
 at, than fure examples fafelie to be folowed. A Bufhop 
 that now liueth, a good man, whofe iudgement in 
 Religion I better like, than his opinion in perfitnes in 
 other learning, faid once vnto me : we haue no nede 
 now of the Greeke tong, when all thinges be tranflated 
 into Latin. But the good man vnderflood not, that 
 euen the befl tranflation, is, for mere neceffitie, but an 
 euill imped wing to flie withall, or a heuie flompe leg 
 
1 2 8 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 of wood to go withall: foch, the hier they flie, the 
 fooner they falter and faill: the fafler they runne, the 
 ofter they flumble, and forer they fall. Soch as will 
 nedes fo flie, may flie at a Pye, and catch a Dawe : 
 And foch runners, as commonlie, they fhoue and fhol- 
 der to ftand formofl, yet in the end they cum behind 
 others and deferue but the hopihakles, if the Mailers 
 of the game be right iudgers. 
 
 Therefore in perufmg thus, fo many diuerfe bookes 
 Optima ratio f r In^Uatwn, it came into my head that a 
 imitations. vQiiQ profitable booke might be made de 
 Imitatione, after an other fort, than euer yet was at- 
 tempted of that matter, conteyning a certaine fewe 
 fitte preceptes, vnto the which fhoulde be gathered 
 and applied plentie of examples, out of the choifeft 
 authors of both the tonges. This worke would ftand 
 rather in good diligence, for the gathering, and right 
 iudgement for the apte applying of thofe examples: 
 than any great learning or vtterance at all. 
 
 The doing thereof, would be more pleafant, than 
 painmll, and would bring alfo moch proffet to all that 
 mould read it, and great praife to him would take it in 
 hand, with iuft defert of thankes. 
 Erasmus order Erafmus, giuyng him felfe to read ouer 
 inhisstudie. a ii Authors Greke and Latin, feemeth to 
 haue prefcribed to him felfe this order of readyng: 
 that is, to note out by the way, three fpeciall pointes : 
 All Adagies, all fimilitudes, and all wittie fayinges 
 of moft notable perfonages: And fo, by one labour, 
 he left to pofleritie, three notable bookes, and namelie 
 two his Chiliades, Apophthegmata, and Similia. Like- 
 wife, if a good fludent would bend him felfe to read di- 
 ligently ouer Tullie, and with him alfo at the fame tyme, 
 Plato. as diligently Plato, and Xenophon, with 
 ophon. fa s bookes of Philofophie, Ifocrates, 
 
 socrates. i r^ m '-i i , 
 
 Demosth. an d -Demofthenes with his orations, and 
 stoties. Ariftotle with his Rhetorickes: which 
 fiue of all other, be thofe, whom 72///2>beft loued, and 
 fpecially followed : and would marke diligently in Tullie, 
 where he doth exprimere or effingere (which be the verie 
 
 Cicero 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. I29 
 
 proper wordes of Imitation) either, Copiam Platonis or 
 venuftatem Xenophontis, fuauitatem Ifocratis, or vim 
 Demosthenes, propriam et puram fubtilitatem Ariftotelis, 
 and not onelie write out the places diligentlie, and lay 
 them together orderlie, but alfo to conferre them with 
 fkilfull iudgement by thofe few rules, which I haue 
 expreffed now twife before : if that diligence were taken, 
 if that order were vfed, what perfite knowledge of both 
 the tonges, what readie and pithie vtterance in all 
 matters, what right and deepe iudgement in all kinde 
 of learnyng would follow, is fcarfe credible to be 
 beleued. 
 
 Thefe bookes, be not many, nor long, nor rude in 
 fpeach, nor meane in matter, but next the Maieflie of 
 Gods holie word, moll worthie for a man, the louer of 
 learning and honeflie, to fpend his life in. Yea, I 
 haue heard worthie M. Cheke many tymes fay : I would 
 haue a good fludent paffe and iorney through all 
 Authors both Greke and Latin : but he that will dwell 
 in thefe few bookes onelie : firfl, in Gods holie Bible, 
 and than ioyne with it, Tullie in Latin, flato, Ariftotle : 
 Xenophon\ If cerates \ and Demofthenes in Greke: mufl 
 nedes proue an excellent man. 
 
 Some men alreadie in our dayes, haue put to their 
 helping handes, to this worke of Imitation, perionus. 
 As Perionius, Henr. Stephanus in dictionario H. steph. 
 Ciceroniano, and P. Viftorius mofl praife- P. Victorius. 
 worthelie of all, in that his learned worke conteyning 
 xxv. bookes de varia leftione: in which bookes be ioyned 
 diligentlie together the befl Authors of both the tonges 
 where one doth feeme to imitate an other. 
 
 But all thefe, with Macrobius, Heffus, and other, be 
 no more but common porters, caryers, and bringers of 
 matter and ftuffe togither. They order nothing : They 
 laye before you, what is done : they do not teach you, 
 how it is done : They bufie not them felues with forme 
 of buildyng : They do not declare, this fluffe is thus 
 framed by Demofthenes , and thus and thus by Tullie, 
 
 and fo likewife in Xenophon, Plato and Ifocrates and 
 i 
 
1 3 o Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 Ariftotle. For ioyning Virgil with Homer I haue fuffi- 
 cientlie declared before. 
 
 Pindarus. The like diligence I would wifh to be 
 
 Horatius. taken in Pindar and Horace an equall 
 match for all refpectes. 
 
 In Tragedies, (the goodlieft Argument of all, and for 
 the vfe, either of a learned preacher, or a Ciuill lentle- 
 man, more profitable than Homer, Pindar, Virgill, and 
 Horace : yea comparable in myne opinion, with the doc- 
 Sophodes. trine of Ariftotle, Plato, and Xenophon^) the 
 Euripides. Grecians, Sophocles and Euripides far ouer 
 Seneca. match our Seneca in Latin, namely in 
 
 oiKovofua, et Decoro, although Senacaes elocution and 
 verfe be verie commendable for his tyme. And for the 
 matters of Hercule s, Thebes, Hippolytus, and Troie, his 
 Imitation is to be gathered into the fame booke, and to 
 be tryed by the fame touchftone, as is fpoken before. 
 
 In hiflories, and namelie in Liuie, the like diligence 
 of Imitation, could bring excellent learning, and breede 
 ftayde iudgement, in taking any like matter in hand. 
 Tit. Liuius. Onely Liuie were a fufficient tafke for 
 one mans ftudie, to compare him, firfl with his fellow 
 Dion, Hail- f r a ll refpectes, Dion. HalicarnaffcEus : who 
 cam. both, Hued in one tyme : toke both one 
 
 hiftorie in hande to write : deferued both like prayfe 
 Poiibius. of learnynge and eloquence. Than with 
 Polybius that wife writer, whom Liuie profeffeth to 
 follow : and if he would denie it, yet it is plaine, that 
 the beft part of the thyrd Decade in Liuie, is in a 
 maner tranflated out of the thyrd and reft of Poiibius : 
 Thuddides. Lalllie with Thucydides, to whofe Imita- 
 tation Liuie is curiouflie bent, as may well appeare by 
 i.Decad. tnat one Oration of thofe of Campania, 
 Lib. 7. afking aide of the Romanes agaynfl the 
 
 Samnites, which is wholie taken, Sentence, Reafon, 
 Argument, and order, out of the Oration of Corcyra, 
 Thutid. 10. afking like aide of the Athenienfes againfl 
 them of Corinth. If fome diligent fludent would take 
 paynes to compare them togither, he mould eafelie 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. I3I 
 
 perceiue, that I do fay trew. A booke, thus wholie 
 filled with examples of Imitation, firft out of Tullie, 
 compared with Plato, Xenophon, If cerates, Demofthenes 
 and Ariftotle : than out of Virgil and Horace, with 
 Homer and Pindar : next out of Seneca with Sophocles 
 and Euripides : Laftlie out of Liuie, with Thucydides, 
 Polibius and Halicarnaffceus, gathered with good dili 
 gence, and compared with right order, as I haue 
 expreffed before, were an other maner of worke for all 
 kinde of learning, and namely for eloquence, than be 
 thofe cold gatheringes of Macrobius, Heffus, Perionius, 
 Stephanus, and Viftorius, which may be vfed, as I fayd 
 before, in this cafe, as porters and caiyers, deferuing 
 like prayfe, as foch men do wages ; but onely Sturmius 
 is he, out of whom, the trew furuey and whole worke- 
 manfhip is fpeciallie to be learned. 
 
 I truft, this my writyng (hall giue fome good fludent 
 occafion, to take fome peece in hand of this worke of 
 Imitation. And as I had rather haue any Q us de 
 do it, than my felfe, yet furelie my felfe recta imitandi 
 rather than none at all. And by Gods ratione ' 
 grace, if God do lend me life, with health, free layfure 
 and libertie, with good likyng and a mene heart, I will 
 turne the befl part of my fludie and tyme, to toyle in 
 one or other peece of this worke of Imitation. 
 
 This diligence to gather examples, to giue light and 
 vnderflandyng to good preceptes, is no new inuention, 
 but fpeciallie vfed of the befl Authors and oldeft 
 writers. For Ariftotle him felfe, (as Diog. Aristoteies. 
 Laertius declareth) when he had written that goodlie 
 booke of the Topickes, did gather out of flories and 
 Orators, fo many examples as rilled xv. bookes, onelie 
 to expreffe the rules of his Topickes. Thefe were the 
 Commentaries, that Arijlotle thought fit for Commentary 
 hys Topickes : And therfore to fpeake as ^^^^ 
 I thinke, I neuer faw yet any Commen- Aristoteiis. 
 tarie vpon Ariftotles Logicke, either in Greke or 
 Latin, that euer I lyked, bicaufe they be rather 
 fpent in declaryng fcholepoynt rules, than in gather- 
 
1 3 2 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 ing fit examples for vfe and vtterance, either by 
 pen or talke. For preceptes in all Authors, and 
 namelie in Ariftotle, without applying vnto them, 
 the Imitation of examples, be hard, drie, and cold, 
 and therfore barrayn, vnfruitfull and vnpleafant. But 
 Ariftotle, namelie in his Topickes and Elenches, mould 
 be, not onelie fruitfull, but alfo pleafant to, if examples 
 out of Plato, and other good Authors, were diligentlie 
 gathered, and aptlie applied vnto his moil perfit pre- 
 Preceptain ceptes there. And it is notable, that my 
 Anstot frende Sturmius writeth herein, that there 
 
 iLxempla in . . . . ' , _ 
 
 piatone. is no precept in Ariftotles Topickes, wherof 
 
 plentie of examples be not manifeft in Platos workes. 
 And I heare fay, that an excellent learned man, Tomi- 
 tanus in Italie, hath expreffed euerie fallacion in 
 Ariftotle, with diuerfe examples out of Plato. Would 
 to God, I might once fee, fome worthie ftudent of 
 Ariftotle and Plato in Cambrige, that would ioyne in 
 one booke the preceptes of the one, with the examples 
 of the other. For fuch a labor, were one fpeciall peece 
 of that worke of Imitation, which I do wifhe were 
 gathered together in one Volume. 
 
 Cambrige, at my firft comming thither, but not at 
 my going away, committed this fault in reading the 
 preceptes of Ariftotle without the examples of other 
 Authors : But herein, in my time thies men of worthie 
 memorie, M. Redman, M. Cheke, M. Smith, M. Had- 
 don, M. Watfon, put fo to their helping handes, as 
 that vniuerfitie, and all ftudents there, as long as 
 learning mall laft, mall be bounde vnto them, if that 
 trade in fludie be trewlie folowed, which thofe men 
 left behinde them there. 
 
 By this fmall mention of Cambridge, I am caryed 
 into three imaginations: firfl, into a fweete remem- 
 brance of my tyme fpent there : than, into fom carefull 
 thoughts, for the greuous alteration that folowed fone 
 after : lafllie, into much ioy to heare tell, of the good 
 recouerie and earnefl forwardnes in all good learning 
 there agayne. 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. i 33 
 
 To vtter theis my thoughts fomwhat more largelie, 
 were fomwhat befide my matter, yet not very farre out 
 of the way, bycaufe it mall wholy tend to the good 
 encoragement and right confideration of learning, 
 which is my full purpofe in writing this litle booke : 
 whereby alfo mail well appeare this fentence to be 
 moil trewe, that onelie good men, by their gouernment 
 and example, make happie times, in euery degree 
 and ilato 
 
 Doctor Nico. Medcalfe, that honorable D , mc , 
 father, was Matter of S. lohnes Colledge, Medcaij: 
 when I came thether: A man meanelie learned him- 
 felfe, but not meanely affectioned to fet forward learn- 
 ing in others. He found that Colledge fpending fcarfe 
 two hundred markes by [the] yeare : he left it fpend- 
 ing a thoufand markes and more. Which he procured, 
 not with his mony, but by his wifdome; not charge- 
 ablie bought by him, but liberallie geuen by others by 
 his meane, for the zeale and honor they bare to 
 learning. And that which is worthy of memorie, all 
 thies giuers were almoft Northenmen: who being 
 liberallie rewarded in the feruice of their Prince, 
 bellowed it as liberallie for the good of their Contrie. 
 Som men thought therefore, that JD. Medcalfe was 
 parciall to Northrenmen, but fure I am of this, that 
 Northrenmen were parciall, in doing more good, and 
 geuing more landes to ye forderance of The pardaiitie 
 learning, than any other contrie men, jJJfgJSLw 
 in thofe dayes, did: which deede fhould coiiedge! 
 haue beene, rather an example of goodnes, for other 
 to folowe, than matter of malice, for any to enuie, 
 as fome there were that did. Trewly, D. Med- 
 calfe was parciall to none: but indifferent to all: a 
 mailer for the whole, a father to euery one, in that 
 Colledge. There was none fo poore, if he had, either 
 wil in goodnes, or wit to learning, that could lacke 
 being there, or mould depart from thence, for any 
 need. I am witnes my felfe, that mony many times 
 was brought into yong mens iludies by ilrangers whom 
 
1 3 4 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 they knew not. In which doing, this worthy Nicolaus 
 folowed the fteppes of good olde S. Nicolaus, that 
 learned Bifhop. He was a Papift in deede, but would 
 to God, amonges all vs Proteflants I might once fee but 
 one, that would winne like praife, in doing like good, 
 for the aduauncement of learning and vertue. And 
 yet, though he were a Papifl, if any yong man, geuen 
 to new learning (as they termed it) went beyond his 
 fellowes, in witte, labor, and towardnes, euen the fame, 
 neyther lacked, open praife to encorage him, nor 
 priuate exhibition to mainteyne hym, as worthy Syr 
 /. Cheke, if he were aliue would beare good witnes 
 and fo can many mo. I my felfe one of the meanefl 
 of a great number, in that Colledge, becaufe there 
 appeared in me fom fmall mew of towardnes and dili- 
 gence, lacked not his fauor to forder me in learning. 
 
 And being a boy, newe Bacheler of arte, I chanced 
 amonges my companions to fpeake againfl the Pope : 
 which matter was than in euery mans mouth, bycaufe 
 D. Haines and D. Skippe were cum from the Court, to 
 debate the fame matter, by preaching and difputation 
 in the vniuerfitie. This hapned the fame tyme, when 
 I floode to be felow there : my taulke came to D. 
 Medcalfes eare: I was called before him and the 
 Seniores : and after greuous rebuke, and fome punifh- 
 ment, open warning was geuen to all the felowes, none 
 to be fo hardie to geue me his voice at that election. 
 And yet for all thpfe open threates, the good father 
 himfelfe priuilie procured, that I mould euen than be 
 chofen felow. But, the election being done, he made 
 countinance of great difcontentation thereat. This 
 good mans goodnes, and fatherlie difcretion, vfed 
 towardes me that one day, mall neuer out of my re- 
 membrance all the dayes of my life. And for the 
 fame caufe, haue I put it here, in this fmall record of 
 learning. For next Gods prouidence, furely that day, 
 was by that good fathers meanes, Dies natalis, to me, 
 for the whole foundation of the poore learning I haue, 
 and of all the furderance, that hetherto elfe where I 
 haue obteyncd. 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. i 35 
 
 This his goodnes flood not ftill in one or two, but 
 flowed aboundantlie ouer all that Colledge, and brake 
 out alfo to norilhe good wittes in euery part of that 
 vniuerfitie : whereby, at this departing thence, he left 
 foch a companie of fellowes and fcholers in S. lohnes 
 Colledge, as can fcarfe be found now in fome whole 
 vniuerfitie : which, either for diuinitie, on the one fide 
 or other, or for Ciuill feruice to their Prince and con- 
 trie, haue bene, and are yet to this day, notable orna- 
 ments to this whole Realme : Yea S. lohnes did then 
 fo florifh, as Trinitie college, that Princelie houfe now, 
 at the firfl erection, was but Colonia dedufta out of S. 
 lohnes, not onelie for their Matter, fellowes, and fcholers, 
 but alfo, which is more, for their whole, both order of 
 learning, and difcipline of maners : and yet to this day, 
 it neuer tooke Matter but fuch as was bred vp before 
 in S. lohnes \ doing the dewtie of a good Colonia to 
 her Metropolis, as the auncient Cities of Grece and 
 fome yet in Italic, at this day, are accuttomed to do. 
 
 S. lohnes ttoode in this ttate, vntill thofe heuie 
 tymes, and that greuous change that chanced. An. 
 1553. whan mo perfite fcholers were difperfed from 
 thence in one moneth, than many yeares can reare vp 
 againe. For, whan Aper de Sylua had Psai. 80. 
 paffed the feas, and fattned his foote againe in England, 
 not onely the two faire groues of learning in England 
 were eyther cut vp, by the roote, or troden downe to 
 the ground and wholie went to wracke, but the yong 
 fpring there, and euerie where elfe, was pitifullie nipt 
 and ouertroden by very beattes, and alfo the fairett 
 ttanders of all, were rooted vp, and catt into the fire, 
 to the great weakening euen at this day of Chrittes 
 Chirch in England, both for Religion and learning. 
 
 And what good could chance than to the vni- 
 uerfities, whan fom of the greatett, though not of 
 the wifett nor bett learned, nor bett men neither of 
 that fide, did labor to perfwade, that ignorance was 
 better than knowledge, which they ment, nor for the 
 laitie onelie, but alfo for the greatett rable of their 
 
1 3 6 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 fpiritualitie, what other pretenfe openlie fo euer they 
 made: and therefore did fom of them at Cambrige 
 (whom I will not name openlie,) caufe hedge prieftes 
 fette oute of the contrie, to be made fellowes in the 
 vniuerfitie : faying, in their talke priuilie, and declar- 
 ing by their deedes openlie, that he was, felow good 
 enough for their tyme, if he could were a gowne and 
 a tipet cumlie, and haue hys crown e fhorne faire and 
 roundlie,'and could turne his Portreffe and pie readilie : 
 whiche I fpeake not to reproue any order either of 
 apparell, or other dewtie, that may be well and indif- 
 ferentlie vfed, but to note the miferie of that time, 
 whan the benefites prouided for learning were fo fowlie 
 mifufed. And what was the frute of this feade? Verely, 
 iudgement in doctrine was wholy altered: order in 
 difcipline very fore changed : the loue of good learning, 
 began fodenly to wax cold: the knowledge of the 
 tonges (in fpite of fome that therein had floriihed) 
 was manifeflly contemned : and fo, ye way of right 
 fludie purpofely peruerted : the choice of good authors 
 of mallice confownded. Olde fophiftrie (I fay not 
 well) not olde, but that new rotten fophiftrie began to 
 beard and fholder logicke in her owne tong: yea, I 
 know, that heades were caft together, and counfell 
 deuifed, that Duns, with all the rable of barbarous 
 queflionifles, mould haue difpoffeffed of their place 
 and rowmes, Ariftotle, Plato, Tullie, and Demofthenes, 
 when good M. Redman, and thofe two worthy ftarres 
 of that vniuerfitie, M. Cheke, and M. Smith, with their 
 fcholers, had brought to florifhe as notable in Cam- 
 Aristoteies. brige, as euer they did in Grece and in 
 p c l ^ e r ' Italic : and for the doctrine of thofe fowre, 
 
 Demost. the fowre pillers of learning, Cambrige 
 
 than geuing place to no vniuerfitie, neither in 
 France, Spaine, Germanic, nor Italic. Alfo in out- 
 ward behauiour, than began fimplicitie in apparell, to 
 be layd afide. Courtlie galantnes to be taken vp: 
 frugalitie in diet was priuately mifliked : Towne going 
 Shoting. to good cheare openly vfed : honeft paf- 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. i 37 
 
 times, ioyned with labor, left of in the fieldes : vnthrifty 
 and idle games haunted corners, and occupied the 
 nightes: contention in youth, nowhere for learning: 
 factions in the elders euery where for trifles : All which 
 miferies at length, by Gods prouidence, had their end 
 1 6. Nouemb. 1558. Since which tyme, the yong fpring 
 hath mot vp fo faire, as now there be in Cambrige 
 againe, many goodly plantes (as did well appeare at 
 the Queenes Maieflies late being there) which are 
 like to grow to mightie great timber, to the honor of 
 learning, and great good of their contrie, if they may 
 fland their tyme, as the beft plantes there were wont 
 to do : and if fom old dotterell trees, with (landing ouer 
 nie them, and dropping vpon them, do not eithei 
 hinder, or crooke their growing, wherein my feare is 
 ye leffe, feing fo worthie a luflice of an Oyre hath the 
 prefent ouerfight of that whole chace, who was him- 
 felfe fomtym, in the faireft fpring that euer was there 
 of learning, one of the forwarder! yong plantes, in all 
 that worthy College of S. Iohnes\ who now by grace 
 is growne to foch greatneffe, as, in the temperate and 
 quiet (hade of his wifdome, next the prouidence of 
 God, and goodnes of one, in theis our daies, Religio 
 for finceritie, literce for order and aduauncement, 
 Respub. for happie and quiet gouernment, haue to 
 great rejoyfing of all good men, fpeciallie repofed 
 them felues. 
 
 Now to returne to that Queflion, whether one, a 
 few, many or all, are to be followed, my aunfwere 
 fhalbe fliort : All, for him that is defirous to know all : 
 yea, the word of all, as Queflionifles, and all the bar- 
 barous nation of icholemen, helpe for one or other 
 confideration : But in euerie feparate kinde of learn- 
 ing and fludie, by it felfe, ye muft follow, chofelie a 
 few, and chieflie fome one, and that namelie in our 
 fchole of eloquence, either for penne or talke. And 
 as in portracture and paintyng wife men chofe not that 
 workman, that can onelie make a faire hand, or a well 
 facioned legge, but foch [a] one, as can furnim vp fullie, 
 
i 3 s The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 all the fetures of the whole body, of a man, woman 
 and child : and with all is able to, by good (kill, to 
 giue to euerie one of thefe three, in their proper kinde, 
 the right forme, the trew figure, the naturall color, that 
 is fit and dew, to the dignitie of a man, to the bewtie 
 of a woman, to the fweetnes of a yong babe: euen 
 likewife, do we feeke foch one in our fchole to folow, 
 who is able alwayes, in all matters, to teach plainlie, 
 to delite pleafantlie, and to cary away by force of wife 
 talke, all that mail heare or reade him: and is fo 
 excellent in deed, as witte is able, or wifhe can hope, 
 to attaine vnto : And this not onelie to ferue in the 
 Latin or Greke tong, but alfo in our own Englifh 
 language. But yet, bicaufe the prouidence of God 
 hath left vnto vs in no other tong, faue onelie in the 
 Greke and Latin tong, the trew preceptes, and perfite 
 examples of eloquence, therefore mull we feeke in the 
 Authors onelie of thofe two tonges, the trewe Paterne 
 of Eloquence, if in any other mother tongue we looke 
 to attaine, either to perfit vtterance of it our felues, or 
 Ikilfull Judgement of it in others. 
 
 And now to know, what Author doth medle onelie 
 with fome one peece and member of eloquence, an<7 
 who doth perfitelie make vp the whole bodie, I wiL 
 declare, as I can call to remembrance the goodlie 
 talke, that I haue had oftentymes, of the trew differ- 
 ence of Authors, with that lentleman of worthie 
 memorie, my deareft frend, and teacher of all the 
 litle poore learning I haue, Syr lohn Cheke. 
 
 The trew difference of Authors is beft knowne, per 
 diuerfa genera dicendi^ that euerie one vfed. And there- 
 fore here I will deuide genus dicendi, not into thefe 
 three, Tenue, mediocre, et grande, but as the matter of 
 euerie Author requireth, as 
 
 Poeticum. 
 
 Hiftoricum. 
 in Genus < ,..,.,. 
 
 Philofophicum. 
 
 Oratorium. 
 
the ready way to the Latin fong. T3g 
 
 Thefe differre one from an other, in choice of wordes, 
 in framyng of Sentences, in handling of Argumentes, 
 and vfe of right forme, figure, and number, proper and 
 fitte for euerie matter, and euerie one of thefe is diuerfe 
 alfo in it felfe, as the firfl. 
 
 >. Comicum. 
 
 \ Tragicum. 
 Poeticum, in < _ . 
 
 ) Epicum. 
 
 > Melicum. 
 
 And here, who foeuer hath bene diligent to read 
 aduifedlie ouer, Terence, Seneca, Virgil, Horace, or els 
 Ariftophanus, Sophocles, Homer, and Pindar, and mall 
 diligently marke the difference they vfe, in proprietie 
 of wordes, in forme of fentence, in handlyng of their 
 matter, he mail eafelie perceiue, what is fitte and 
 decorum in euerie one, to the trew vfe of perfite 
 Imitation. Whan M. Watfon in S. lohns College at 
 Cambrige wrote his excellent Tragedie of Abfalon, M. 
 Cheke, he and I, for that part of trew Imitation, had 
 many pleafant talkes togither, in comparing the pre- 
 ceptes of Ariflotle and Horace de Arte Poetica, with 
 the examples of Euripides, Sophocles, and Seneca. Few 
 men, in writyng of Tragedies in our dayes, haue fhot at 
 this marke. Some in England, moe in France, Ger- 
 manie, and Italic, alfo haue written Tragedies in our 
 tyme : of the which, not one I am fure is able to abyde 
 the trew touch of Ariftotles preceptes, and Euripides 
 examples, faue onely two, that euer I faw, M. Watfons 
 Abfalon, and Georgius Buckananus lephthe. One man 
 in Cambrige, well liked of many, but befl liked of him 
 felfe, was many tymes bold and bufie, to bryng matters 
 vpon flages, which he called Tragedies. In one, 
 wherby he looked to wynne his fpurres, and whereat 
 many ignorant felowes fall clapped their handes, he 
 began the Protafis with Trochczijs Oflonarijs\ which 
 kinde of verfe, as it is but feldome and rare in Trage- 
 dies, fo is it neuer vfed, faue onelie in Epitafi\ whan 
 the Tragedie is hieft and hoteft, and full of greatefl 
 
r 4 o Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 troubles. I remember ful well what M. Watfon merelie 
 fayd vnto me of his blindneffe and boldnes in that 
 behalfe although otherwife, there paffed much frendfhip 
 betwene them. M. Watfon had an other maner [of] care 
 of perfection, with a feare and reuerenceof theiudgement 
 of the beft learned : Who to this day would neuer fuffer, 
 yet his Abfalon to go abroad, and that onelie, bicaufe, 
 in locis paribus, Anapeftus is twife or thrife vfed in ftede 
 of Iambus. A fmal faulte, and fuch [a] one, as perchance 
 would neuer be marked, no neither in Italic nor France. 
 This I write, not fo much, to note the firft, or praife 
 the laft, as to leaue in memorie of writing, for good 
 example to pofteritie, what perfection, in any tyme, was, 
 moll diligentlie fought for in like maner, in all kinde 
 of learnyng, in that mofl worthie College of S. lohns 
 in Cambrige. 
 
 Diaria. 
 
 Annales. 
 Histortcum in < _ 
 
 Commentaries. 
 
 luftam Hiftoriam. 
 
 For what proprietie in wordes, fimplicitie in fentences, 
 plainneffe and light, is cumelie for thefe kindes, Cafar 
 and Liuie, for the two laft, are perfite examples of 
 Imitation : And for the two firft, the old paternes be loft, 
 and as for fome that be prefent and of late tyme, they 
 be fitter to be read once for fome pleafure, than oft to 
 be perfued, for any good Imitation of them. 
 
 ( in Sermonem, as qfficia 
 Philofophicum in \ Cic. et Eth. Arifl. 
 ( Contentionem. 
 
 As, the Dialoges of Plato, Xenophon, and Cicero \ of 
 which kinde of learnyng, and right Imitation therof, 
 Carolus Sigonius hath written of late, both learnedlie 
 and eloquentlie: but beft of all my frende loan. Stur- 
 mius in hys Commentaries vpon Gorgias Platonis, 
 which booke I haue in writyng, and is not yet fet out 
 in Print. 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. I41 
 
 {Humile. 
 Mediocre. 
 Sublime. 
 
 Examples of thefe three, in the Greke tong, be plenti- 
 full and perfite, as Lyrias, Ifocrates, and Demofthenes: 
 and all three, in onelieDem0/?/ienes, in diuerfe orations as 
 contra Olimpiodorum, in Leptinem, etpro Ctefiphonte. And 
 trew it is, that Hermogenes writeth of Demofthenes, that 
 all fonnes of Eloquence be perfite in him. In Ciceroes 
 Orations, Medium et fublime be mofl excellentlie hand- 
 led, but Humile in his Orations is feldome fene. Yet 
 neuerthelefle in other bookes, as in fome part of his 
 offices, and fpecially in Partitionibus, he is comparable 
 in hoc humili et difciplinabili genere, euen with the befl 
 that euer wrote in Greke. But of Cicero more fullie in 
 fitter place. And thus, the trew difference of ftiles, 
 in euerie Author, and euerie kinde of learnyng may 
 eafelie be knowne by this diuifion. 
 
 , Poeticum. 
 
 \ Hiftoricum. 
 in Genus / DL - 7rj , L - 
 
 } Philofophicum. 
 
 * Oratorium. 
 
 Which I thought in this place to touch onelie, not 
 to profecute at large, bicaufe, God willyng, in the Latin 
 tong, I will fullie handle it, in my booke de Imitatione. 
 
 Now, to touch more particularlie, which of thofe 
 Authors, that be now mofl commonlie in mens handes, 
 will fone affourd you fome peece of Eloquence, and 
 what maner a peece of eloquence, and what is to be 
 liked and folowed, and what to be mifliked and 
 efchewed in them : and how fome agayne will furnifh 
 you fully withall, rightly, and wifely confidered, fom- 
 what I will write as I haue heard Syr lohn Cheke many 
 tymes fay. 
 
 The Latin tong, concerning any part of pureneffe of 
 it, from the fpring, to the decay of the fame, did not 
 endure moch longer, than is the life of a well aged man, 
 
142 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 fcarfe one hundred yeares from the tyme of the lafl 
 Scipio Africanus and Lcelius, to the Empire ofAuguftus. 
 And it is notable, that Vellius Paterculus writeth of 
 Tullie, how that the perfection of eloquence did fo 
 remayne onelie in him and in his time, as before him, 
 were few, which might moch delight a man, or after 
 him any, worthy admiration, but foch as Tullie might 
 haue feene, and fuch as might haue feene Tullie. And 
 good caufe why : for no perfection is durable. En- 
 creafe hath a time, and decay likewife, but all perfit 
 ripeneffe remaineth but a moment : as is plainly feen 
 in fruits, plummes and cherries : but more fenfibly in 
 flowers, as Rofes and fuch like, and yet as trewlie in 
 all greater matters. For what naturallie, can go no 
 hier, muft naturallie yeld and floupe againe. 
 
 Of this fhort tyme of any pureneffe of the Latin tong, 
 for the firft fortie yeare of it, and all the tyme before, 
 we haue no peece of learning left, faue Plautus and 
 Terence, with a litle rude vnperfit pamflet of the elder 
 Cato. And as for Plautus, except the fcholemafler 
 be able to make wife and ware choice, firft in proprietie 
 of wordes, than in framing of Phrafes and fentences, 
 and chieflie in choice of honeflie of matter, your fcholer 
 were better to play, then learne all that is in him. But 
 furelie, if iudgement for the tong, and direction for the 
 maners, be wifely ioyned with the diligent reading of 
 Plautus, than trewlie Plautus, for that pureneffe of the 
 Latin tong in Rome, whan Rome did mofl florifh in 
 wel doing, and fo thereby, in well fpeaking alfo, is foch a 
 plentifull floreho[u]fe, for common eloquence, in meane 
 matters, and all priuate mens affaires, as the Latin tong, 
 for that refpect, hath not the like agayne. Whan I 
 remember the worthy tyme of Rome, wherein Plautus 
 did Hue, I muft nedes honor the talke of that tyme, 
 which we fee Plautus doth vfe. 
 
 Terence is alfo a ftorehoufe of the fame tong, for an 
 other tyme, following foone after, and although he be 
 not fo full and plentiful as Plautus is, for multitude of 
 matters, and diuerfitie of wordes, yet his wordes, be 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. i 43 
 
 chofen fo purelie, placed fo orderly, and all his ftufte 
 fo neetlie packed vp, and wittely compaffed in euerie 
 place, as, by all wife mens Judgement, he is counted 
 the cunninger workeman, and to haue his fhop, for the 
 rowme that is in it, more finely appointed, and trimlier 
 ordered, than Plautus is. 
 
 Three thinges chiefly, both in Plautus and Terence, 
 are to be fpecially confidered The matter, the vtter- 
 ance, the words, the meter. The matter in both, is 
 altogether within the compaffe of the meanefl mens 
 maners, and doth not flretch to any thing of any great 
 weight at all, but ftandeth chiefly in vtteryng the 
 thoughtes and conditions of hard fathers, foolilh 
 mothers, vnthrifty yong men, craftie feruantes, fotle 
 bawdes, and wilie harlots, and fo, is moch fpent, in 
 finding out fine fetches, and packing vp pelting matters, 
 foch as in London commonlie cum to the hearing of 
 the Matters of Bridewell. Here is bale ftuffe for that 
 fcholer, that mould be cum hereafter, either a good 
 miniiler in Religion, or a Ciuill lentleman in feruice 
 of his Prince and contrie : except the preacher do 
 know foch matters to confute them, whan ignorance 
 furelie in all foch thinges were better for a Ciuill 
 lentleman, than knowledge. And thus, for matter, 
 both Plautus and Terence, be like meane painters, that 
 worke by halfes, and be cunning onelie, in making the 
 word part of the picture, as if one were fkilfull in 
 painting the bodie of a naked perfon, from the nauell 
 downward, but nothing elfe. 
 
 For word and fpeach, Plautus is more plentifull, and 
 lerence more pure and proper : And for one refpect, 
 Terence is to be embraced aboue all that euer wrote in 
 hys kinde of argument : Bicaufe it is well known, by 
 good recorde of learning, and that by Ciceroes owne 
 witnes that fome Comedies bearyng Terence name, 
 were written by worthy Scipio, and wife Lalius, and 
 namely Heauton : and Adelphi. And therefore as oft 
 as I reade thofe Comedies, fo oft doth found in myne 
 eare, the pure fine talke of Rome, which was vfed by 
 
r 4 4 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 the floure of the worthiefl nobilitie that euer "Rome 
 bred. Let the wifefl man, and befl learned that liueth, 
 read aduifedlie ouer, the firfl fcene of Heauton, and the 
 firfl fcene of Adelphi, and let him confideratlie iudge, 
 whether it is the talke of a feruile ftranger borne, or 
 rather euen that milde eloquent wife fpeach, which 
 Cicero in Brutus doth fo liuely expreffe in Lalius. And 
 yet neuertheleffe, in all this good proprietie of wordes, 
 and pureneffe of phrafes which be in Terence, ye muft 
 not follow him alwayes in placing of them, bicaufe for 
 the meter fake, fome wordes in him, fomtyme, be 
 driuen awrie, which require a ftraighter placing in 
 plaine profe, if ye will forme, as I would ye ihould do, 
 your fpeach and writing, to that excellent perfitneffe, 
 which was onely in Tullie, or onelie in Tullies tyme. 
 
 The meter and verfe of Plautus and Terence be verie 
 meane, and not to be followed : which is not their 
 reproch, but the fault of the tyme, wherein they wrote, 
 whan no kinde of Poetrie,in the Latin tong, was brought 
 to perfection, as doth well appeare in the fragmentes of 
 Ennius, Cerilius, and others, and euiden[t]lie in Plautus 
 and Terence, if thies in Latin be compared with right 
 ikil, with Homer, Euripides, Ariftophanes, and other in 
 Greeke of like fort. Cicero him felfe doth complaine 
 of this vnperfitnes, but more plainly Quintilian, faying, 
 in Com&dia maxime claudicamus, et vix leuem confe- 
 qvimur vmbram : and moil earneflly of all Horace in 
 Arte Poetica, which he doth namely propter carmen 
 lambicum, and referreth all good ftudentes herein to 
 the Imitation of the Greeke tong, faying. 
 
 Exemplaria Grceca 
 nofturna verfate manu, verfate diurna. 
 
 This matter maketh me gladly remember, my fweete 
 tyme fpent at Cambrige, and the pleafant talke which 
 I had oft with M. Cheke, and M. Watfon, of this fault, 
 not onely in the olde Latin Poets, but alfo in our new 
 Englifh Rymers at this day. They wifhed as Virgil 
 and Horace were not wedded to follow the faultes of 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. i 45 
 
 former fathers (a fhrewd mariage in greater matters) 
 but by right Imitation of the perfit Grecians, had 
 brought Poetrie to perfitneffe alfo in the Latin tong, 
 that we Englifhmen likewife would acknowledge and 
 vnderftand rightfully our rude beggerly ryming, brought 
 firft into Italic by Gothes and Hunnes, whan all good 
 verfes and all good learning to, were deflroyd by 
 them : and after caryed into France and Germanic : 
 and at lafl receyued into England by men of excellent 
 wit in deede, but of fmall learning, and leffe iudge- 
 ment in that behalfe. 
 
 But now, when men know the difference, and haue 
 the examples, both of the befl, and of the worft, furelie, 
 to follow rather the Gothes in Ryming, than the Greekes 
 in trew verfifiyng, were euen to eate ackornes with 
 fwyne, when we may freely eate wheate bread emonges 
 men. In deede, Chaufer, Th. Norton, of Briftow, my 
 L. of Surrey, M. Wiat, Th. Phaer, and other lentle- 
 man, in tranflating Ouide, Palingenius and Seneca, haue 
 gonne as farre to their great praife, as the copie they 
 followed could cary them, but, if foch good wittes, and 
 forward diligence, had bene directed to follow the beft 
 examples, and not haue bene caryed by tyme and 
 cuflome, to content themfelues with that barbarous 
 and rude Ryming, emonges their other worthy praifes, 
 which they haue iuflly deferued, this had not bene the 
 leafl, to be counted emonges men of learning and fkill, 
 more like vnto the Grecians, than vnto the Gothians, 
 in handling of their verfe. 
 
 In deed, our Englifh tong, hauing in vfe chiefly, 
 wordes of one fyllable which commonly be long, doth 
 not well receiue the nature of Carmen Heroicum, 
 bicaufe daElylus, the apteft foote for that verfe, con- 
 teining one long and two fhort, is feldom therefore 
 found in Englifh : and doth alfo rather flumble than 
 fland vpon Monafyllabis. Quintilian in hys learned 
 Chapiter de Compofitione, geueth this leffon J3l 
 de Monafyllabis, before me: and in the fame place 
 doth iuftlie inuey againft all Ryming, if there be any, 
 
1 4 6 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 who be angrie with me, for mifliking of Ryming, may 
 be angry for company to, with Quintilian alfo, for the 
 fame thing : And yet Quintilian had not fo iuft caufe 
 to millike of it than, as men haue at this day. 
 
 And although Carmen Exametrum doth rather trotte 
 and hoble, than runne fmothly in our Englifh tong, 
 yet I am fure, our Englifh tong will receiue carmen 
 lambicum as naturallie, as either Greke or Latin. But 
 for ignorance, men can not like, and for idlenes, men 
 will not labor, to cum to any perfitnes at all. For, as 
 the worthie Poetes in Athens and Rome, were more 
 carefull to fatiffie the iudgement of one learned, than 
 rafhe in pleafing the humor of a rude multitude, euen 
 fo if men in England now, had the like reuerend 
 regard to learning (kill and iudgement, and duril not 
 prefume to write, except they came with the like 
 learnyng, and alfo did vfe like diligence, in fearchyng 
 out, not onelie iufl meafure in euerie meter, as euerie 
 ignorant perfon may eafely do, but alfo trew quantitie 
 in euery foote and tillable, as onelie the learned fhalbe 
 able to do, and as the Grekes and Romanes were wont 
 to do, furelie than ram ignorant heads, which now can 
 eafely recken vp fourten fillabes, and eafelie flumble 
 on euery Ryme, either durft not, for lacke of fuch 
 learnyng : or els would not, in auoyding fuch labor, be fo 
 
 g5g bufie, as euerie where they be : and fhoppes 
 in London mould not be fo full of lewd and rude 
 rymes, as commonlie they are. But now, the ripeft of 
 tonge, be readiefl to write : And many dayly in fetting 
 out bookes and bal[l]ettes make great mew of bloffomes 
 and buddes, in whom is neither, roote of learning, nor 
 frute of wifedome at all. Some that make Chaucer in 
 Englifh and Petrarch in Italian, their Gods in verfes, 
 and yet be not able to make trew difference, what is a 
 fault, and what is a iuft prayfe, in thofe two worthie 
 wittes, will moch miflike this my writyng. But fuch 
 men be euen like followers of Chaucer and Petrarke, 
 as one here in England did folow Syr Tho. More: 
 who, being mofl vnlike vnto him, in wit and learnyng, 
 neuertheles in wearing his gowne awrye vpon the one 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. i 47 
 
 moulder, as Syr Tho. More was wont to do, would 
 nedes be counted lyke vnto him. 
 
 This miflikyng of Ryming, beginneth not now of any 
 newfangle fmgularitie, but hath bene long mifliked of 
 many, and that of men, of greateft learnyng, and deep- 
 eft iudgement. And foch, that defend it, do fo, either 
 for lacke of knowledge what is befl, or els of verie 
 enuie, that any mould performe that in learnyng, 
 whereunto they, as I fayd before, either for ignorance, 
 can not, or for idlenes will not, labor to attaine vnto. 
 
 And you that prayfe this Ryming, bicaufe ye neither 
 haue reafon, why to like it, nor can mew learning to 
 defend it, yet I will helpe you, with the authoritie of 
 the oldeft and learnedft tyme. In Grece, whan 
 Poetrie was euen as the hieft pitch of perfitnes, one 
 Simmies Rhodius of a certaine fmgularitie wrote a booke 
 in ryming Greke verfes, naming it woi/, conteyning the 
 fable, how Inpiter in likenes of a fwan, gat that egge 
 vpon Leda, whereof came Caftor, Pollux and faire 
 \H~\elena. This booke was fo liked, that it had few to 
 read it, but none to folow it : But was prefentlie con- 
 temned : and fone after, both Author and booke, fo 
 forgotten by men, and confumed by tyme, as fcarce 
 the name of either is kept in memorie of learnyng: 
 And the like folie was neuer folowed of any, many 
 hondred yeares after vntill ye Hunnes and Gothians, 
 and other barbarous nations, of ignorance and rude 
 fmgularitie, did reuiue the fame folie agayne. 
 
 The noble Lord Th. Earle of Surrey, J^ re Earleof 
 firft of all Englifh men, in tranflating the c"ul'iuo 
 fourth booke of Virgill: and Gonfaluo Periz. 
 Periz that excellent learned man, and Secretarie to 
 kyng Philip of Spaine, in tranflating the Vliffes of 
 Homer out of Greke into Spanifh^ haue both, by good 
 iudgement, auoyded the fault of Ryming, yet neither 
 of them hath fullie hit[t]e perfite and trew verifying. In 
 deed, they obferue iuft number, and euen feete: but 
 here is the fault, that their feete: be feete without 
 ioyntes, that is to fay, not diftinct by trew quantitie of 
 
1 4 8 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 fillabes : And fo, foch feete, be but numme [benummed] 
 feete : and be, euen as vnfitte for a verfe to turne and 
 runne roundly withall, as feete of braffe or wood be vn- 
 weeldie to go well withall. And as a foote of wood, 
 is a plaine fhew of a manifeft maime, euen fo feete, in 
 our Englifh verfifing, without quantitie and ioyntes, be 
 fure fignes, that the verfe is either, borne deformed, 
 vnnaturall and lame, and fo verie vnfeemlie to looke 
 vpon, except to men that be gogle eyed them felues. 
 
 The fpying of this fault now is not the curiofitie of 
 Englifh eyes, but euen the good iudgement alfo of the 
 befl that write in thefe dayes in Italie\ and namelie 
 Senese Felice f tna ^ worthie Senefe Felice Figlincci, who, 
 Figiincd. writyng vpon Ariftotles Ethickes fo excel- 
 lentlie in Italian, as neuer did yet any one in myne 
 opinion either in Greticot Latin, amongeft other thynges 
 doth moft earneftlie inuey agaynfl the rude ryming of 
 verfes in that tong: And whan foeuer he expreffed 
 Ariftotles preceptes, with any example, out of Homer 
 or Euripides, he tranilateth them, not after the Rymes 
 of Petrarke, but into foch kinde of perfite verfe, with 
 like feete and quantitie of fillabes, as he found them 
 before in the Greke tonge: exhortyng earneftlie all 
 the Italian nation, to leaue of their rude barbariouf- 
 neffe in ryming, and folow diligently the excellent Greke 
 and Latin examples, in trew verfifiyng. 
 
 And you, that be able to vnderftand no more, then 
 ye finde in the Italian tong: and neuer went farder 
 than the fchole of Petrarke and Arioftus abroad, or 
 els of Chaucer at home, though you haue pleafure to 
 wander blindlie ftill in your foule wrong way, enuie not 
 others, that feeke, as wife men haue done before them, 
 the faireft and righteft way: or els, befide the mil 
 reproch of malice, wifemen mall trewlie iudge, that you 
 do fo, as I haue fayd and fay yet agayne vnto you, 
 bicaufe, either, for idlenes ye will not, or for ignorance 
 ye can not, cum by no better your felfe. 
 
 And therfore euen as Virgill and Horace deferue 
 moft worthie prayfe, that they fpying the vnperfitnes in 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. I49 
 
 Ennius and Plautus, by trew Imitation of Homer and 
 Euripides, brought Poetrie to the fame perfitnes in 
 Latin, as it was in Greke, euen fo thofe, that by the 
 fame way would benefite their tong and contrey, deferue 
 rather thankes than difprayfe in that behalfe. 
 
 And I reioyce, that euen poore England preuented 
 Italie, firfl in fpying out, than in feekyng to amend this 
 fault in learnyng. 
 
 And here, for my pleafure I purpofe a litle, by the 
 way, to play and fporte with my Mailer Tully : from 
 whom commonlie I am neuer wont to diffent. He 
 him felfe, for this point of learnyng, in his verfes doth 
 halt a litle by his leaue. He could not denie it, if he 
 were aliue, nor thofe defend hym now that loue him 
 beft. This fault I lay to his charge : bicaufe once it 
 pleafed him, though fomwhat merelie, yet Tullies sa . 
 oueruncurteflie, to rayle vpon poore Eng- again?tEng" g 
 land, obiecting both, extreme beggerie, and land * 
 mere barbarioufnes vnto it, writyng thus vnto his frend 
 Atticus\ There is not one fcruple of filuer Ad AtL Llb . 
 in that whole Ifle, or any one that knoweth iv - E P- * 6 - 
 either learnyng or letter. 
 
 But now matter Cicero, bleffed be God, and his 
 fonne lefus Chrifl, whom you neuer knew, except it 
 were as it pleafed him to lighten you by fome fhadow, 
 as couertlie in one place ye confeffe faying: Veritatis 
 tantum vmbram confectamur, as your Matter Offic. 
 Plato did before you : bleffed be God, I fay, that fixten 
 hundred yeare after you were dead and gone, it may 
 trewly be fayd, that for filuer, there is more cumlie plate, 
 in one Citie of England, than is in foure of the proudett 
 Cities in all Ilalie, and take Rome for one of them. 
 And for learnyng, befide the knowledge of all learned 
 tongs and liberall fciences, euen your owne bookes 
 Cicero, be as well read, and your excellent eloquence 
 is as well liked and loued, and as trewlie folowed in 
 England at this day, as it is now, or euer was, fence 
 your owne tyme, in any place oi Italie either s&Arpinum, 
 where ye were borne, or els at Rome where ye were 
 
/S o Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 brought vp. And a litle to brag with you Cicero, where 
 you your felfe, by your leaue, halted in fome point of 
 learnyng in your owne tong, many in England at this day 
 go ftreightvp,both in trewe (kill, and right doing therein. 
 
 This I write, not to reprehend Tullie, whom, aboue 
 all other, I like and loue beft, but to excufe Terence, 
 becaufe in his tyme, and a good while after, Poetrie 
 was neuer perfited in Latin, vntill by trew Imitation of 
 the Grecians, it was at length brought to perfection: 
 And alfo thereby to exhorte the goodlie wittes of Eng- 
 land, which apte by nature, and willing by defire, geue 
 them felues to Poetrie, that they, rightly vnderftanding 
 the barbarous bringing in of Rymes, would labor, as 
 Virgil and Horace did in Latin, to make perfit alfo 
 this point of learning, in our Englifh tong. 
 
 And thus much for Plautus and Terence, for matter, 
 tong, and meter, what is to be followed, and what to 
 be exchewed in them. 
 
 After Plautus and Terence, no writing remayneth 
 vntill Tullies tyme, except a fewe fhort fragmentes of 
 L. Craffus excellent wit, here and there recited of 
 Cicero for example fake, whereby the louers of learnyng 
 may the more lament the loffe of foch a worthie witte. 
 
 And although the Latin tong did faire blome and 
 bloffome in L. Craffus, and M. Antonius, yet in Tullies 
 tyme onely, and in Tullie himfelfe chieflie, was the 
 Latin tong fullie ripe, and growne to the hiefl pitch of 
 all perfection. 
 
 And yet in the fame tyme, it began to fade and (loupe, 
 Tullie him felfe, in Brutus de Claris Oratoribus, with 
 weeping wordes doth witneffe. 
 
 And bicaufe, emong[e]fl them of that tyme, there was 
 fome difference, good reafon is, that of them of that 
 tyme, mould be made right choice alfo. And yet let 
 the beft Ciceronian in Italic read Tullies familiar epiil- 
 les aduifedly ouer, and I beleue he (hall finde fmall 
 difference, for the Latin tong, either in propriety of 
 wordes or framing of the (lile, betwixt Tullie, and thofe 
 that write vnto him. As Ser. Sulpitius, A. Cecinna, 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. rsi 
 
 M. Calls, M. et D. Bruti, A. Pollia, L. Plancus, and 
 diuerfe other : read the epiflles viL.Plancus E P I. pi an ci x . 
 in x. Lib. and for an affay, that Epiftle lib. Epist. s. 
 namely to the Co\n\ff. and whole Senate, the eight Epiftle 
 in number, and what could be, eyther more eloquentlie, 
 or more wifelie written, yea by Tullie himfelfe, a man 
 may iuftly doubt. Thies men and Tullie, liued all in 
 one tyme, were like in authoritie, not vnlike in learning 
 and ftudie, which might be iuft caufes of this their 
 equalitie in writing : And yet furely, they neyther were 
 in deed, nor yet were counted in mens opinions, equall 
 with Tullie in that facultie. And how is the difference 
 hid in his Epiftles ? verelie, as the cunning of an expert 
 Seaman, in a faire calme frefh Ryuer, doth litle differ 
 from the doing of a meaner workman therein, euen fo, 
 in the ihort cut of a priuate letter, where, matter is 
 common, wordes eafie, and order not moch diuerfe, 
 fmall mew of difference can appeare. But where Tullie 
 doth fet vp his faile of eloquence, in fome broad deep 
 Argument, caried with full tyde and winde, of his witte 
 and learnyng, all other may rather ftand and looke after 
 him, than hope to ouertake him, what courfe fo euer 
 he hold, either in faire or foule. Foure men onely 
 whan the Latin tong was full ripe, be left vnto vs, who 
 in that tyme did florilh, and did leaue to pofteritie, the 
 fruite of their witte and learning: Varro, Saluft, Cafar, 
 and Cicero. Whan I fay, thefe foure onely, I am not 
 ignorant, that euen in the fame tyme, moft excellent 
 Poetes, deferuing well of the Latin tong, as Lucretius, 
 Catullus, Virgill, and Horace, did write: But, bicaufe, 
 in this litle booke, I purpofe to teach a yong fcholer, 
 to go, not to daunce: to fpeake, not to fmg, (whan 
 Poetes in deed, namelie Epici and Lyrici, as thefe be, 
 are fine dauncers, and trime fingers,) but Oratores and 
 Historici, be thofe cumlie goers, and faire and wife 
 fpeakers, of whom I wiihe my fcholer to wayte vpon 
 firft, and after in good order, and dew tyme, to be 
 brought forth, to the finging and dauncing fchole: 
 And for this confideration, do I name thefe foure, to 
 be the onelie writers of that tyme. 
 
1 5 2 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 IT Varro. 
 
 Varro. Varro, in his bookes de lingita Latina, et 
 
 Analogia as thefe be left mangled and patched vnto vs, 
 doth not enter there in to any great depth of eloquence, 
 but as one caried in a fmall low veffell him felfe verie 
 nie the common more, not much vnlike the fifher men 
 of Rye, and Hering men of Yarmouth. Who deferue 
 by common mens opinion, fmall commendacion, for 
 any cunning fa[y]ling at all, yet neuertheles in thofe 
 bookes of Varro good and neceffarie ftuffe, for that 
 meane kinde of Argument, be verie well and learn edlie 
 gathered togither. 
 
 De Rep. His bookes of Hufbandrie, are moch to 
 
 Rustica. be regarded, and diligentlie to be read, not 
 
 onelie for the proprietie, but alfo for the plentie of good 
 wordes, in all contrey and hufbandmens affaires : which 
 can not be had, by fo good authoritie, out of any other 
 Author, either of fo good a tyme, or of fo great learnyng, 
 as out of Varro. And yet bicaufe, he was fourfcore 
 yeare old, whan he wrote thofe bookes, the forme of 
 his ftyle there compared with Tullies writyng, is but 
 euen the talke of a fpent old man : whofe wordes com- 
 monlie fall out of his mouth, though verie wifelie, yet 
 hardly and coldie, and more heauelie alfo, than fome 
 eares can well beare, except onelie for age, and autho- 
 rities fake. And perchance, in a rude contrey argu- 
 ment, of purpofe and iudgement, he rather vfed, the 
 fpeach of the contrey, than talke of the Citie. 
 
 And fo, for matter fake, his wordes fometyme, be 
 fomewhat rude : and by the imitation of the elder Cato, 
 old and out of vfe : And beyng depe flept in age, by 
 negligence fome wordes do fo [ejfcape and fall from him 
 in thofe bookes, as be not worth the taking vp, by him, 
 that is carefull to fpeak or . write trew Latin, as that 
 Lib. 3 . Cap. i. fentence in him, Romany in pace a rusticis 
 alebantur, et in bello ab his tuebantur. A_good_ftudent 
 mufl be therfore carefull and diligent, toreacf'with 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. TS3 
 
 Judgement ^uer_eueii-thofe Authors^ which did write in 
 the moil perfite tyme : and let him not be affrayd to 
 trie them, both in proprietie of wordes, and forme of 
 flyle, by the touch done of Cafar and Cicero, whofe 
 puritie was neuer foiled, no not by the fentence of thofe,' 
 that loued them word. 
 
 All louers of learnyng may fore lament ,, . , c 
 
 i i rr r i /- i_ i r rr i i i The loUj ^ of 
 
 the loffe of thofe bookes of Varro, which he Wam*es 
 wrote in his yong and ludie y eares, with good boo * es - 
 leyfure, and great learnyng of all partes of Philofophie : 
 of the goodlied argumentes, perteyning both to the 
 common wealth, and priuate life of man, as, de Ratione 
 studij, et educandis liberis, which booke, is oft recited, 
 and moch prayfed, in the fragmentes of Nonius, euen for 
 authoritie fake. He wrote mod diligentlie and largelie, 
 alfo the whole hidorie of the date of Rome: the myf- 
 teries of their whole Religion : their lawes, cudomes, 
 and gouernement in peace : their maners, and whole 
 difcipline in warre : And this is not my gelling, as one 
 in deed that neuer faw thofe bookes, but euen, the 
 verie iudgement, and playne tedimonie of Tullie him 
 felfe, who knew and read thofe bookes, in thefe wordes : 
 Tu tztatem Patrice: Tu defcriptiones temporum: Tu 
 facrorum, tu facer dotum lura: Tu domesticam, tic belli- 
 cam difciplinam : Tu fedem Regionum, locorum, tu 
 omnium diuinarum humanarumque rerum i n Acad. 
 nomina, genera, officia, caufas aperuifti. etc. Quest. 
 
 But this great loffe of Varro, is a litle recompenfed 
 by the happy comming of Dionyfius Halicarnafsceus to 
 Rome in Auguftus dayes : who getting the poffeffion of 
 Varros librarie, out of that treafure houfe of learning, 
 did leaue vnto vs fome frute of Varros witte and dili- 
 gence, I meane, his goodlie bookes de Antiquitatibus 
 Romanorum. Varro was fo edemed for his excellent 
 learnyng, as Tullie him felfe had a reuerence to his 
 iudgement in all dou[b]tes of learnyng. And Antonius 
 Triumuir, his enemie, and of a contrarie Cic. ad Att. 
 faction, who had power to kill and bannith whom he 
 lided, whan Varros name amonged others was brought 
 
1 54 Thefecond booke teachyng 
 
 Li a fchedule vnto him, to be noted to death, he tooke 
 his penne and wrote his warrant of fauegard with thefe 
 moft goodlie wordes, Viuat Varro vir doftifsimus. In 
 later tyme, no man knew better: nor liked and loued 
 more Varros learnyng, than did -S. Auguftine, as they 
 do well vnderftand, that haue diligentlie read ouer his 
 learned bookes de Ciuitate Dei: Where he hath this 
 moft notable fentence: Whan I fee, how much Varro 
 wrote, I meruell much, that euer he had any leafure to 
 read : and whan I perceiue how many thinges he read, 
 I meruell more, that euer he had any leafure to write. 
 etc. 
 
 And furelie, if Varros bookes had remained to pofteri- 
 tie, as by Gods prouidence, the moft part of Tullies 
 did, than trewlie the Latin tong might haue made good 
 comparifon with the Greke. 
 
 Saluste. 
 
 Saiust. Saluft, is a wife and worthy writer : but 
 
 he requireth a learned Reader, and a right confiderer 
 of him. My deareft frend, and beft mailer that euer ] 
 Syr lohn had or heard in learning, Syr /. Ckeke, foch 
 chekes iudge- a man, as if I mould Hue to fee England 
 
 ment and coun- .. , ' .. ... . T ., T J p> , , 
 
 sell for readyng breed the like agame, I feare, I mould 
 ot Saiuste. jj ue ouer \ OTi g 9 &[& once giue me a 
 
 leffon for Saluft, which, as I fhall neuer forget my 
 felfe, fo is it worthy to be remembred of all thofe, 
 that would cum to perfite iudgement of the Latin tong. 
 He faid, that Saluft was not verie fitte for yong men, 
 to learne out of him, the puritie of the Latin tong : 
 becaufe, he was not the pureft in proprietie of wordes, 
 nor choifeft in aptnes of phrafes, nor the beft in fram- 
 ing of fentences : and therefore is his writing, fayd he 
 neyther plaine for the matter, nor fenfible for mens 
 vnderftanding. And what is the caufe thereof, Syr, 
 quoth I. Verilie faid he, bicaufe in Saluft writing, is 
 more Arte than nature, and more labor than Arte : 
 iind in his labor alfo, to moch toyle, as it were, with 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. i 5S 
 
 an vncontented care to write better than he could, a 
 fault common to very many men. And therefore he 
 doth not expreffe the matter liuely and naturally with 
 common fpeach as ye fee Xenophon doth in Greeke, 
 but it is caried and driuen forth artificiallie, after to 
 learned a forte, as Thucydides, doth in his orations. 
 And how cummeth it to paffe, fayd I, that C<zfar and 
 Ciceroes talke, is fo naturall and plaine, and Salujl 
 writing fo artificiall and darke, whan all they three 
 liued in one tyme ? I will freelie tell you my fanfie 
 herein, faid he : furely, Cczfar and Cicero, befide a 
 fingular prerogatiue of naturall eloquence geuen vnto 
 them by God, both two, by vfe of life, were daylie 
 orators emonges the common people, and greatefl 
 councellers in the Senate houfe : and therefore gaue 
 themfelues to vfe foch fpeach as the meanefl mould 
 well vnderftand, and the wifeft bed allow : folowing 
 carefullie that good councell of Ariftotle, loquendum vt 
 multi, fapiendum vt paucL Salujl was no foch man, 
 neyther for will to goodnes, nor fkill by learning : but 
 ill geuen by nature, and made worfe by bringing vp, 
 fpent the moft part of his youth very miforderly in 
 ryot and lechery. In the company of foch, who, neuer 
 geuing theyr mynde to honefl doyng, could neuer 
 inure their tong to wife fpeaking. But at [ye] laft cum- 
 myng to better yeares, and b[u]ying witte at the deareil 
 hand, that is, by long experience of the hurt and fhame 
 that commeth of mifcheif, moued, by the councell of 
 them that were wife, and caried by the example of foch 
 as were good, firfl fell to honeftie of life, and after to 
 the loue to fludie and learning : and fo became fo new 
 a man, that Cafar being dictator, made him Pretor in 
 Numidia where he abfent from his con trie, and not 
 inured with the common talke of Rome, but fhut vp 
 in his fludie, and bent wholy to reading, did write the 
 florie of the Romanes. And for the better accom- 
 plhlring of the fame, he re[a]d Cato and Pifo in Latin 
 for gathering of matter and troth : and Thucydides in 
 Greeke for the order of his florie, and furniming of his 
 
15 6 The fecond booke teachyng 
 
 ftyle. Cato (as his tyme required) had more troth for 
 the matter, than eloquence for the flyle. And fo 
 Saluft, by gathering troth out of Cato, fmelleth moch 
 of the roughnes of his ftyle : euen as a man that eateth 
 garlike for helth, mail cary away with him the fauor of 
 it alfo, whether he will or not. And yet the vfe of old 
 wordes is not the greateft caufe diSaluJles [his] roughnes 
 and darkneffe : There be in Saluft fome old wordes in 
 Lib. s. Cap. 3. deed as patrare bellum, duftare exercitum, 
 DC brnata. we ll noted by Quintilmn, and verie much 
 mifliked of him : &&& fupplicium 1m fupplicatio, a word 
 fmellyng of an older ftore, than the other two fo mif- 
 liked by Quint : And yet is that word alfo in Varro, 
 fpeaking of Oxen thus, boues ad viflimas faciunt, atque 
 ad Deorum fupplida : and a few old wordes mo. Read 
 Salujle and Tullie aduifedly together : and in word'.s 
 ye mail finde fmall difference : yea Saluft is more geuen 
 to new wordes, than to olde, though fom olde writers 
 fay the contrarie : as Claritudo for Gloria : exafte for 
 perfecte : Facundia for eloquentia. Thies two laft wordes 
 cxacti and facundia now in euery mans mouth, be 
 neuer (as I do remember) vfed of Tullie^ and therefore 
 I thinke they be not good : For furely Tullie fpeaking 
 euery where fo moch of the matter of eloquence, 
 would not fo precifely haue abfteyned from the word 
 Facundia.) if it had bene good : that is proper for the 
 tong, and common for mens vfe. I could be long, in 
 reciting many foch like, both olde and new wordes in 
 Saluft : but in very dede neyther oldnes nor newneffe 
 of wordes maketh the greateft difference 
 
 The cause why , . ~ 7 ,, , / - 7 - r yy . , r n n 
 
 Saiust is not betwixt Saluft and TullU) but nrft mange 
 like Tuiiy. phrafes made of good Latin wordes, but 
 framed after the Greeke tonge, which be neyther 
 choifly borowed of them, nor properly vfed by him : 
 than, a hard compofition and crooked framing of his 
 wordes and fentences, as a man would fay, Englifh 
 talke placed and framed outlandifh like. As for 
 example nrft in phrafes, nimius et animus be two vfed 
 wordes, yet homo nimius animi, is an vnufed phrafe. 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. i S7 
 
 Vulgus, et amat, et fieri, be as common and well known 
 wordes as may be in the Latin tong, yet id quod vulgt 
 amat fieri, for folet fieri, is but a ftrange and grekyfh 
 kind of writing. Ingens et vires be proper wordes, yet 
 vir ingens virium is an vnproper kinde of fpeaking and 
 fo be likewife, 
 
 / ozger confilij. 
 
 < promptifsimus belli. 
 
 ( territus animi. 
 
 and many foch like phrafes in Salufl, borowed as I 
 fayd not choiily out of Greeke, and vfed therefore vn- 
 properlie in Latin. Againe, in whole fentences, where 
 the matter is good, the wordes proper and plaine, yet 
 the fenfe is hard and darke, and namely in his prefaces 
 and oration[s], wherein he vfed mofl labor, which fault 
 is likewife in Thucydides in Greeke, of whom Saluft 
 hath taken the greateft part of his darkeneffe. For 
 Thucydides likewife wrote his florie, not at home in 
 Gre[e]ce, but abrode in Italic, and therefore fmelleth of 
 a certaine outlandifh kinde of talke, ftrange to them 
 of Athens, and diuerfe from their writing, that liued in 
 Athens and Gre[e]ce, and wrote the fame tyme that 
 Thucydides did, as Lyfias, Xenophon, Plato, and 
 Ifocrates, the pureft and playnefl writers, that euer 
 wrote in any tong, and beft examples for any man to 
 follow whether he write, Latin, Italian, French, or 
 Englifh. Thucydides alfo femeth in his writing, not fo 
 much benefited by nature, as holpen by Arte, and 
 caried forth by defire, ftudie, labor, toyle and ouer 
 great curiofitie: who fpent xxvii. yeares in writing his 
 eight bookes of his hiflory. Saluft likewife wrote out 
 of his contrie, and followed the faultes of ^. . 
 
 mj i j i i c i r Dionys. Haly- 
 
 Thuc. to moch : and boroweth of him fom car. ad Q. Tub. 
 kinde of writing, which the Latin tong can de Hist - Thuc - 
 not well beare, as Cafus nominatiuus in diuerfe places 
 abfoluti pofitus, as in that place of lugurth, fpeaking dt 
 Leptitanis, itaque ab imperatore facile qucepetebant adepti, 
 mtfscefunt eb cohortes Ligurum quahior. This thing in 
 
1 5 8 7 ^hefecond booke teachyng 
 
 participles, vfed fo oft in Thucyd\ides\ and other Greeke 
 authors to, may better be borne with all, but Sahift 
 vfeth the fame more flrangelie and boldlie, as in thies 
 wordes, Multis fibi quifque imperium petentibus. I 
 beleue, the beft Grammarien in England can fcarfe 
 giue a good reule, why quifque the nominatiue cafe, 
 without any verbe, is fo thruft vp amongefl fo many 
 oblique cafes. Some man perchance will fmile, and 
 laugh to fcorne this my writyng, and call it idle curi- 
 ofitie, thus to bufie my felfe in pickling about thefe 
 fmall pointes of Grammer, not fitte for my age, place 
 and calling, to trifle in : I trufl that man, be he neuer fo 
 great in authoritie, neuer fo wife and learned, either^ 
 by other mens Judgement, or his owne opinion, will 
 yet thinke, that he is not greater in England, than 
 Tullie was at Rome, not yet wifer, nor better learned 
 than Tullie was him felfe, who, at the pitch of three 
 fcore yeares, in the middes[t] of the broyle betwixt 
 C<zfar and Pompeie, whan he knew not, whether to 
 fend wife and children, which way to go, where to hide 
 him felfe, yet, in an earneft letter, amongeft his 
 Ad. Att. Lib. 7 . earnefl councelles for thofe heuie tymes 
 Epistoia. 3. concerning both the common ftate of his 
 contrey, and his owne priuate great affaires he was 
 neither vnmyndfull nor afhamed to reafon at large, 
 and learne gladlie of Atticus, a leffe point of Grammer 
 than thefe be, noted of me in Saluft, as, whether he 
 would write, ad Pirceea, in Piraea, or in Pirceeum, or 
 Pirceeum fine prapofitione: And in thofe heuie tymes, 
 he was fo carefull to know this fmall point of Grammer, 
 that he addeth thefe wordes Si hoc mihi tiJTqjut per- 
 folueris, magna me molejlia liberaris. If Tullie, at that 
 age, in that authoritie, in that care for his contrey, in 
 that ieopardie for him felfe, and extreme neceffitie of 
 hys deareft frendes, beyng alfo the Prince of Eloquence 
 hym felfe, was not afhamed to defcend to thefe low 
 pointes of Grammer, in his owne naturall tong, what 
 fhould fcholers do, yea what mould any man do, if he 
 do thinke well doyng, better than ill doyng : And 
 
the ready way to the Latin tong. I59 
 
 had rather be, perfite than meane, fure than doubte- 
 full, to be what he fhould be, in deed, not feeme what 
 he is not, in opinion. He that maketh perfitnes in 
 the Latin tong his marke, muft cume to it by choice 
 and certaine knowledge, not flumble vpon it by 
 chance and doubtfull ignorance. And the right fleppes 
 to reach vnto it, be thefe, linked thus orderlie together, 
 aptnes of nature, loue of learnyng, diligence in right 
 order, conflancie with pleafant moderation, and al- 
 wayes to learne of them that be bed, and fo mail you 
 iudge as they that be wifefl. And thefe be thofe 
 reules, which worthie Matter Cheke dyd impart vnto 
 me concernyng Salujl, and the right iudgement of the 
 Latin tong. 
 
 IT Ccefar. 
 
 Cafar for that litle of him, that is left vnto vs, is 
 like the halfe face of a Venus, the other part of the 
 head beyng hidden, the bodie and the reft of the 
 members vnbegon, yet fo excellentlie done by Apelles, 
 as all men may ftand ftill to mafe and mufe vpon it, 
 and no man ftep forth with any hope to performe 
 the like. 
 
 His feuen bookes de bello Gallico, and three de bello 
 Ciuili be written, fo wifelie for the matter, fo eloquent- 
 lie for the tong, that neither his greateft enemies could 
 euer finde the leaft note of parcialitie in him (a mer- 
 uelous wifdome of a man, namely writyng of his owne 
 doynges) nor yet the befl iudgers of the Latin tong, 
 nor the moft enuious lookers vpon other mens writ- 
 ynges, can fay any other, but all things be moft 
 perfitelie done by him. 
 
 Brutus, Caluus, and Calidius, who found fault with 
 Tallies fulnes in woordes and matter, and that rightlie, 
 for Tullie did both, confeffe it, and mend it, yet in 
 C&far, they neither did, nor could finde the like, or 
 any other fault. 
 
 And therfore thus iuftlie I may conclude of Ccefar, 
 
160 The ready way to the Latin tong. 
 
 that where, in all other, the beft that euer wrote, in 
 any tyme, or in any tong, in Greke and Latin, I 
 except neither Plato, Demqfthenes, nor Tullie, fome 
 fault is iufllie noted, in Cafar onelie, could neuer yet 
 fault be found. 
 
 Yet neuertheles, for all this perfite excellencie in 
 
 him, yet it is but in one member of eloquence, 
 
 and that but of one fide neither, whan we muft 
 
 looke for that example to fol[l]ow, which 
 
 hath a perfite head, a whole bodie, 
 
 forward and backward, armes 
 
 and legges and all 
 
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