Ortho-epia Gallica Eliots fruits for the French: enterlaced vvith a double nevv inuention, vvhich teacheth to speake truely, speedily and volubly the French-tongue. Pend for the practise, pleasure, and profit of all English gentlemen, who will endeuour by their owne paine, studie, and dilligence, to attaine the naturall accent, the true pronounciation, the swift and glib grace of this noble, famous, and courtly language.

The Scholler. Dialogue 1.

THE MANER HOW to learne and teach strange languages.

GOd saue you, sir.

Be you very wel∣come, sir.

Are you very busie

Not very busie, what is your pleasure?

I come to you requesting your di∣rection and aide.

If there be any thing in my small power wherein I may pleasure and helpe you, I am yours, commaund me freely.

I thanke you most hum∣bly.

Well, what say you to me, now?

Make you not profession of the tongues?

Yea forsooth, I teach the Greeke, Latine, Italian, and French: the Hebrew, Chaldean, Persian,

Turkish, Arabian, Egypti∣an, Spanish, Dutch, Scot∣tish, Irish, English, I teach not.

Will you teach me Geo∣metrie, Arithmeticke, and Cosmographie?

I will teach you Lo∣gicke, Rhetoricke, Mu∣sicke, and the Grammer.

Can you play on the Lute, Cit∣terne and Bandore?

Sir to tell you in few words I teach on∣ly the Greeke and La∣tine tongues: and if peraduenture any Gentleman would delight him∣selfe to enterlace the studie of the Italian and French together with the Latine letters, I would indeuor my best to profit him so soone as pos∣sibly might be.

If it please you to take a little paine with me, I shall not be vn∣gratefull.

I doubt not of it: for my part I am content to take any paine if you haue a desire to learne.

I desire nothing more.

You say well.

But as for mee I would faine read Tullies Orations for the eloquence. I should desire also to be cunning in French: likewise to vnderstand perfectly Titus Li∣uius Historie, for he hath written things of very great consequence.

Heare me a word sir: you must haue a firme purpose and a resolu∣tion to prosecute your studies; and not to doe as many of our English doe commonly, who will begin one language to day, and another to morrow: then after they haue learned a Comm' portez vous? in French: a Come state? in Italian, and a Beso las manos: in Spanish, they thinke themselues braue men by and by, and such fel∣lowes as are worthie to be sent in ambassage to the great Turke.

You haue for all that in Eng∣land others, gentlemen, who are greatly affected to the tongues, and some who speake them volubly and very fluently.

I haue yet seene very few of those.

You haue not haunted the Court, nor liued at London, where you may both see and heare them: and you shall find beside at London & in other places, many others who would be very glad to learne, if ther were any learned teachers to in∣struct them.

What say you man? London is full of Italians and Frenchmē, who teach their languages for wages in the Citie of London.

They Italians and French who teach heare, as some say who haue haunted with them, are a little too

high minded, and doe not fit them∣selues long to the nature of vs English.

Why say you so?

Because they are capricious and proud.

You do them wrong in saying so, in mine opinion: there is of them as of Englishmen, both good and bad. Condemne not all for one bad one, for there are very learned men and of great knowledge refugiate and retired to London for their consciēces, who teach the lan∣guages, and such as deserue to be vvell paid for their paines.

There are amongst them to tell troth, some honest men; so also are there some wicked heads, I say beasts or serpents, vvho haue empoysoned by the venime of their skill, our English nation, vvith the bookes of Nicholas Machiauell, and Peter Aretine, replenished with all filthinesse and vilanie; who deserue for their pains a few swings of the strapado, or some bastinadoes, and to be banished out of the king∣dome of England. Such payment ought such pestiferous mates to re∣ceiue for their paines. Men should banish such plagues out of a Chri∣stian common-wealth.

You say true indeede, I haue bene scholer to one or two of them, but I like not their maner of teaching, for they will take mony before hand,

and vven they are paide, they care little for their scholers profit, to in∣struct them the rudiments of their tongue a little, vvhich is no great peece of vvorke.

What is their order in tea∣ching?

Tis only to read some halfe side, and to construe it, vvhich is no great matter, and will not stay aboue halfe an hower to make a lecture, so that they do all things by the halfes.

But tell me I pray you sir, vvhich thinke you to be the best meane to learne the tongues.

Tis that vvhich is taught vs by Nature and Art.

How by Nature and by Art? vvordes are not ingendered vvith vs by nature, but we must learn them by companying and vsing with others.

I vvill not denie that, and I graunt that vse is king of all the languages in the world: yet is there some addresse and happy inuention in the spirit of man, to attain sooner the perfection of them vvith facili∣tie, and I say that is done by Na∣ture and by Art.

VVhat Author will you alledge me?

Many learned men haue obserued this order in teaching the tongues: amongst the rest, Alunno an Italian in

his Fabrica del Mondo.

I find his booke to be very confu∣sed and hard.

And I find it to be very fine, scho∣lerlike, and excellent truly.

VVhat vnderstand you by his or∣der of Nature then?

Nothing els but the order of na∣turall things.

I cannot tell vvhat you meane.

I meane the simple names of all thinges created by Nature ranged together: for we shall neuer be a∣ble to speake a toong perfectly, before we can name and call euery thing simply by it proper and common name.

This should be a very hard mat∣ter, seeing that the nature of things is so diuers.

Nothing lesse, for she hath but a very little and simple principalitie in all things.

VVhat say you of Art then, which teacheth vs otherwise then nature?

I say that hee who vvill teach vvell, must marry Art with Na∣ture.

By Art what will you vnder∣stand?

The preceptes and rules of Grammar, and the authoritie of learned men, vvhich is best al∣lowed, and liked of in the world.

Truly sir you are too profound and obscure for mine vnderstan∣ding.

Neuerthelesse, I speake not in Pa∣rables.

Neither am I an Oedipus to in∣terprete these Problemes: for it seemeth to me that you speake de primis intentionibus Logicis.

Iesus you are hard of capacitie.

How teach you sir?

I teach by Nature and by Art.

Do not others teach after the same manner.

No, they teach I know not how nor what.

By my faith I am as wise as I was before. You teach the tongues, you say, by Nature and Art: I pray you giue me to vnderstand particularly these tearms more manifestly.

Heare then: I vvill say, that I teach by two means, the one concerneth a methode of Nature, the other a method of Art. The first teacheth the simple and pure names of naturall things: the second concerneth the roote and ground of the tongues; and considereth principally the nownes and verbs, and the naturall pronounciation, according to the e∣quitie of Grammar. For in these three consisteth the profoundest

mysterie of all tongues; because they aid much the iudgement, the inuen∣tion and memory, to read, to vnder∣stand, to vvrite.

Will you propound and begin vvith this way of teaching at the first day of the yong scholers beginning?

No, no, we must first lay a foundation concerning the roote of nownes and verbes, and that he haue gone a little forward in the tongue that he studieth, before this method be presented to him; then af∣ter may we teach the scholer to translate Dialogues, Commedies & Prose, and set abroch this method of Nature & Art, vvhich shall ingen∣der the practise and habit of swift speaking, and perfect vnderstanding of any thing both in speaking, rea∣ding and vvriting.

Shew me, I pray you, one familiar example, to the end to satisfie me more amplie herein.

Here are two: I will begin with one of God, who is the Prince and King of Nature, and I will end with another of the Diuell, the enimie of God and Nature.

The Method of Nature.

GOd the Father.

Iesus Christ the sonne.

The Holy Ghost.

The Deitie.

The Trinitie.

Almightie.

To Create.

The Heauen.

The Firmament.

The VVorld.

A Starre.

A Sphere.

The Throne of glorie.

A Legion of Angels.

An Angell.

A faigned God.

Lucifer.

A Goddesse.

An Idol.

An Idolater.

The earth.

Our Sauiour.

Our Redeemer.

An onely Sonne

Blessed.

The people of God, beloued.

To Crucifie.

To murther.

A Iew.

An Infidel.

The Praxis of Art.

GOd the Father almightie vvith his Sonne Iesus Christ, and the Holy-Ghost, to wit, the Deitie, or the holy Trinitie, hath created the Heauen, the Firmamēt, the Starres, and other celestiall Globes, called Spheres, for his habitation: and being enuironed in his Throne of glorie vvith legions of Angels, hath confounded all the faigned Gods and Goddesses, of the Earth, vvill haue no Idols nor Idolaters, hath chased the Angels vvhich sinned▪ Lucifer and his companions out of Heauen, and hath sent Iesus Christ, his only Sonne our blessed Sauiour and Redeemer, to be for the sinnes of the vvorld crucified and murthered of the Iewes, once the welbeloued people of God, now an Infidel nation, cruell and vagrant in al the corners of the world.

This is the first example, the se∣cond followeth in the next page.

The Method of Nature.

AN Angell.

A Diuell.

A maligne Spirit.

The enemie of God.

The iustice diuine.

Hell.

A deepe pit.

Lucifer.

Beelzebub.

Astaroth.

The Prince of Diuels.

A spirit.

One possest with a Diuell.

A little Diuell.

A she Diuell.

Punishment.

Sinne.

To fall.

To racke.

To lay in chaines.

To torment.

To burne.

Fire eternall.

Vnquencheable fire.

To smoke.

To blaze.

Brimstone.

Pitch.

A damned soule.

The paines of Hell.

Darke.

Stinking.

Darke as Hell.

To beat one another.

To strike one another

To weepe.

To gnash the teeth.

To tempt.

To curse.

To cast firebrands.

The Praxis of Art.

THe Angels sinning became Deuils and wicked spirits, enemies to God and men, and by the diuine iustice being cast downe from their glory on high, fell to the deepest pit of Hell. Where God had prepared a place of punishment according to their sinne, and hath set Lucifer, Beelzebub and Asta∣roth, wicked spirits, princes raigning ouer the other little Diuels, tortu∣red, tormented and chained all to∣gither in eternall and vnquench∣able fire. Whether also go downe all the Soules tempted to euill vvithout repentance, and are damned in the same paines of Hell, being a place full of Brim∣stone and Pitch, very darke, stinking, obscure, smoking, and alwaies burning: where they shall be for euer beating and striking one another, weeping and gnashing their teeth, and flinging flaming firebrands one at an other, without any hope of euer departing from that place, for in Hell there is no redemption, according to the holy Scriptures.

There is the second Example, VVhat thinke you thereof?

Me thinks that these examples are rather transnaturall then naturall.

By your leaue no: for although that God and the Diuell be Metaphi∣sicall in their proper essences: the other things subiect and incident as it were to them, are verely naturall.

I vnderstand you very well now.

Very hardly, I thinke.

Indeed I doe: you say that there is a methode to further and profit more speedily those that studie the tongues, contriued by Nature and Art: Nature, you say, toucheth principally the naturall order, the place, and the sympathie of Nownes and Verbes, or of other parts of speech ioyned together, as they are proper and fit for one and the same matter:

Art concerneth the iudgement of the Grammar rules, for the vse of scholers, when they shall need, either in composing or in speaking.

You say well now.

Is this a pedagogicall or schola∣sticall exercise.

It is both.

Is this the most assured means to attaine the tongues?

I haue obscrued it of men of great spirit, that it is far the most expedientest:

moreouer the learned know how hard a thing the two methods well contriued, that they call Eruditio∣nis modus, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is to be conceiued, and that Aristotle himselfe, who hath so excellently taught it, and so learnedly shewed it in this his woonderfull worke, called the Organō, is vnderstood of very few.

As farre as I see then, when we haue all done it shall be but some imperfect vvorke, of the order and way that we haue, to vn∣derstand more languages then our own mother tongue.

You say true: and to confesse the truth vnto you, we must now spend a mans whole lifetime to learne but the bare words of Tongues, be it of the Hebrew, Greeke, or Latine: and content our selues to steale a little out of them: to wit, to learne to bable: and in steed of being excellent well seene in Philosophie diuine and humaine, we must hunt after sillables, words, periods, and some other such little exerci∣ses, which make our chinnes and heads looke gray, and euen make an end of our daies before we haue in∣deed knowne or tasted what Law, Phisicke, and Diuinitie are, which are the principall sciences.

Sir pardon me I pray

you, for I trouble you here from your studies.

You do not truly, you are very welcome to me.

I will take my leaue of you now sir, and come see you againe after dinner.

You shall be very welcome, when it shall please you to returne.

God be with you sir.

A good and long life sir.