Chapter VII: The Teaching of French and Its Popularity After the Restoration

In the meantime French grammars were being published in England in considerable numbers.[1043] So plentiful were they that there was "scarce anything to be seen anywhere but French grammars." The manuals of Mauger and Festeau were still in vogue, and that of Mauger was frequently reedited. Among new grammarians figures the tutor to the children of the Duke of York (James II.), Pierre de Lainé, who may possibly have been identical with the Pierre Lainé who published a grammar in 1655.[1044] His French grammar, written in the first place for the Lady Mary (afterwards Mary II.), was published in 1667,[1045] when the princess was about five years old. It was subsequently placed at the service of the Lady Anne, afterwards queen, and a second edition appeared in 1677, with the title: _The Princely Way to the French Tongue as it was first compiled for the use of her Highness the Lady Mary and since taught her royal sister the Lady Anne etc. by P. D. L. Tutor for the French to both their Highnesses_.[1046]

"Before you begin anything of Letters or rules," says Lainé, "you may Learn how to call in French these few things following.

Ma Tête, say maw tate my Head
Mes Cheveuz, say maysheveu my Hair,"

and so on for the parts of the body, the numbers, days, and months, with similar guides to pronunciation. He then proceeds to treat of the sounds of letters and syllables, based on comparison with English. These rules occupy less than a fifth of the book; the remainder contains practical exercises. First come familiar phrases and dialogues, strongly religious in tone, including prayers, the catechism, commandments, etc., and conversation specially suited to royal princesses. A chronological abridgement of the sacred scriptures by way of dialogue is followed by rules of grammar, likewise in dialogue form. Lastly come the _Fables_ of Aesop put into "burlesque French" for the use of her Highness the Lady Mary when a child, and models of letters suitable for children, and accompanied by answers.

In later years Lainé spent some time at Paris as secretary[1047] to Sir Henry Savile, the English envoy at the French Court, who did so much to prepare a favourable reception in England for the refugees at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.[1048] Lainé was the first teacher to receive a grant of letters of denization under the Order in Council of the 28th July 1681.[1049] Shortly afterwards the same privilege was bestowed on Francis Cheneau, whose _French Grammar, enrich'd with a compendious and easie way to learne the French tongue in a short time_, was licensed for printing in 1684.[1050] For many years Cheneau continued to teach French, and in time added Latin, English, and Italian to his repertory. He describes himself as a native of Paris, "formerly slave and Governor of the Isles of Nacsia and Paros in the Archipelago." At the time of the appearance of his second work on the French language, in 1716, he was "living in his House in Old Fish St. next door to the Faulcon in London," where could be seen his short grammars for Latin, Italian, and English.

The most versatile compiler of French manuals at this period was Guy Miège, a native of Lausanne, who came to England at the time of the Restoration. For two years he was employed in the household of Lord Elgin, and was then appointed under-secretary to the Earl of Carlisle, ambassador extraordinary to Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. After spending three years abroad with the embassy, he travelled in France on his own account from 1665 till 1668, preparing a _Relation of the Three Embassies_ in which he had taken part. [Header: THE DICTIONARIES OF GUY MIÈGE] His book was published in 1669, on his return to London. He then settled in England as a teacher of French and geography, and wrote many works for teaching the language. The first was _A New Dictionary French and English and English and French_ (1677), dedicated to Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond. As usual, this French-English Dictionary is based on a French-Latin one--in this case that of Pomey. Miège was also closely acquainted with Howell's edition of Cotgrave's dictionary, last published in 1670; but he held it very defective in retaining so many obsolete words, and in not being adapted to the "present use and modern orthography--which indeed is highly pretended to in the last edition thereof, but so performed that the title runs away with all the credit of it." He looked upon Cotgrave "as a good help indeed for reading of old French books (a thing which few people mind)." For his own part, his design was to teach the latest Court French, and he made a point of omitting all the provincial and obsolete words Cotgrave had searched out so carefully, words "that offend the eyes and grate the ears, but the Rubbish of the French Tongue." To "season the naturall dulness of the work" he included many proverbs, descriptions, and observations in both the English and French parts.

Considering that "the way to understand the bottom of a language is to learn how the derivatives are formed from their primitives and the compounds from their simples,"[1051] he arranged all the derivatives after their respective primitives; that nothing might be wanting, however, he placed them in their alphabetic order also, with a reference to the necessary primitive.

Miège's innovation in excluding all obsolete terms from his dictionary raised such a storm at its first appearance[1052] that he felt himself bound to yield to public opinion by making a separate collection of such words, which he called _A Dictionary of barbarous French or A Collection, by way of Alphabet, of Obsolete, Provincial, misspelt, and Made Words in French, taken out of Cotgrave's dictionary with some additions_. It was, he said, "performed for the satisfaction of such as read old French." By the time of its publication in 1679, however, the storm raised by his first work had died away.

Miège continued his lexicographical labours. In 1684 appeared _A Short French Dictionary English and French, with another in French and English_, a work of no ambitious aims, containing a list of words pure and simple, with no descriptions or observations, intended for beginners, travellers, and those who could not afford the price of the larger one, and, above all, for foreigners reading English. The English were too eager and advanced in the study of French to find much help in so slight a work, but foreigners evidently adopted the dictionary; editions appeared at the Hague in 1691, 1701 (the fifth), and 1703;[1053] another was issued at Rotterdam as late as 1728.

For the use of English students and those desiring to study either language more thoroughly, Miège prepared, during many years of hard work, an enlarged edition of his first French dictionary of 1677, which, he tells us, was compiled under great disadvantages; "the Publick was in haste for a French Dictionary, and they had it accordingly, hurried from the design to the composition, and from under my pen to the press." The new work, on a much larger scale, was known as _The Great French Dictionary, in two parts_, and published in 1688, eleven years after the appearance of its nucleus, the _New French Dictionary_ (1677). It gives words according to both their old and modern orthography, "by which means the reader is fitted for any sort of French book," and, writes Miège, "although I am not fond of obsolete and barbarous words, yet I thought fit to intersperse the most remarkable of them, lest they should be missed by such as read old Books." Each word is accompanied by explanations, proverbs, phrases, "and as the first part does, here and there, give a prospect into the constitution of the kingdom of France, so the second does afford to foreiners what they have hitherto very much wanted, to wit, an Insight into the Constitution of England...." In the _Great Dictionary_ Miège abandoned his plan of arranging the derivatives under their primitives, because it had made his former work "swarm with uneasy references"; he followed the alphabetical order strictly, "but in such a manner that, where a derivative is remote from its primitive, I show its extraction within a Parenthesis." [Header: MIÈGE'S FRENCH GRAMMARS] Each of the two sections of the _Great Dictionary_ is preceded by a grammar of the language concerned. First comes the _Grounds of the French Tongue_, before the French-English Dictionary, and then a _Méthode abrégée pour apprendre l'Anglois_. This French grammar was a reprint of one of those which Miège had compiled while working at his dictionaries.

In 1684 Miège tells us that he had "put forth two French grammars, both of them well approved by all unprejudiced persons. The one is short and concise, fitted for all sorts of learners, but especially new beginners; the other is a large and complete piece, giving a curious and full account of the French Tongue. To this is annexed a copious vocabulary and a long Train of useful Dialogues." The more advanced of these grammars was the first to appear, being published in 1678 under the title of _A New French Grammar, or a New Method for learning the French Tongue_. After dealing with pronunciation, he passes to the accidence and syntax, with special attention to his favourite theory of the importance of a knowledge of primitives and derivatives. He is much indebted to the grammars of Vaugelas and Chiflet, especially in his observations on letter-writing, on repetition of words, and on style. The second half of the book contains a vocabulary, arranged under the usual headings, and familiar dialogues, without which he dare not offer the work to a public "so well convinced of their Usefulness, as to the speaking part of a Language"; therefore, "though it were something against the grain," he included such exercises, "exceeding even Mr. Mauger's in number." The one hundred and fifteen familiar dialogues are followed by four more advanced ones in French alone, "for proficient learners to turn into English." The first deals with the education of children, and the others with geography, a subject Miège taught in either French or English "as might be most convenient."

The elementary grammar had been issued about 1682[1054] as _A short and easie French Grammar fitted for all sorts of learners; according to the present use and modern orthography of the French with some Reflections on the ancient use thereof_. In 1682 the vocabulary and dialogues of the earlier grammar were, each of them, issued separately, probably to facilitate their use with this second grammar.

In 1687 appeared the _Grounds of the French Tongue or a new French Grammar_,[1055] which Miège incorporated in his _Great French Dictionary_ in the following year. In general outline its contents resemble those of the grammar which had appeared ten years before. It is, however, an entirely new work. Most of the rules differ,[1056] and the vocabulary and dialogues are new. He breaks away from the old tradition of introducing the Latin declension of nouns into French grammars.[1057] The _Grounds of the French Tongue_ is about a hundred pages shorter than the grammar of 1678, and on the whole it is less interesting from the point of view of the student of French. The second part, called the _Nouvelle Nomenclature Françoise et Angloise_, which might be obtained apart from the grammar, had originally appeared in 1685 as part of Miège's _Nouvelle méthode pour apprendre l'Anglois_.[1058] Consequently the dialogues are more suited to the student of English than to the student of French, as they deal chiefly with life in England and the impressions of a Frenchman in London, including an account of the coffee-houses, the penny post, the churches, English food and drink, and so forth.

Lastly, in about 1698,[1059] appeared _Miège's last and best French Grammar, or a new Method to learn French, containing the Quintessence of all other Grammars, with such plain and easie rules as will make one speedily perfect in that famous language_. A second edition was issued in 1705. The work was based on his first grammar (1678), which thus benefited by his long experience as a writer on the French language and teacher of that tongue.

Miège held that French was best learnt by a combination of the methods of rote and grammar, either being insufficient without the other; as for attempting to learn foreign languages at home by rote, "'tis properly building in the air. [Header: BEST METHOD OF STUDY] For whatever progress one makes that way, unless he sticks constantly to it, the Language steals away from him, and, like a Building without a foundation, it falls insensibly." Englishmen who learn French by ear in France soon find the fluency of which they are so proud slipping away from them after their return to England;[1060] and even Frenchmen who have never studied their language grammatically begin to lose the purity of phrase after they have been some time in England.

Accordingly "a great care ought to be taken to pitch upon the best sort of Grammar and to make choice of a skilful Master. Now a skilful master must be first such a one as can speak the true modern French: A Thing few people can boast of, besides courtiers and scholars, so nice a language it is." Therefore the student should not waste his time, as many do, with the common sort of teachers, who speak, for the most part, but a corrupt and provincial French, and yet are patronized by many. In the second place, the teacher should be a man of some learning; and in the third, he should have "some skill in the English tongue, not that he should use much English with his scholars,[1061] but because, without it, 'tis impossible he can teach by the grammar, or explain the true meaning of words." Lastly, he should himself be thoroughly acquainted with the grammar, and be able to find out what should be learnt "by rote, what by heart, and what passages need not at all be learnt." But, when all is done, "there is an art in teaching not to be found amongst all men of knowledge."

Thus the right use of a grammar depends much on the skill and judgement of the teacher. Miège declares against overburdening the memory with abstruse and difficult rules. In most cases it is enough if the learner understands the rule; there is no need to confine him to the author's words or to make him learn long lists of exceptions. "The best thing to exercise his memory in, besides the general and most necessary rules, is to learn a good store of words with their signification. And then, whether he comes to read French, or to hear it spoke, one word doth so help another, that by degrees, he will find out the meaning." As for the dialogues, only a few, and those of a familiar type, should be learnt "without book." "An analysis is the best use they can be put to, but some teachers will find it too hard a task."

The best way, therefore, is "to lay a good foundation with grammar rules, and to raise the Superstructure by Practice"; the more adventurous the learner is in speaking French the better. If, however, "one be so very averse from Grammar rules as to look upon them as so many Bug bears, my opinion is that he may begin by Rote, provided he make good at last his Proficiency that Way, with the help of a choice Grammar. And then the Rules will appear to him very plain, easy and delectable."

In 1678 Miège was receiving pupils for French and geography at his lodging in Penton Street, Leicester Square, and we are told that in 1693 he was taking in _pensionnaires_ in Dean's Yard, near Westminster Abbey. Towards the end of his teaching career in England he appears to have been on very friendly terms with another teacher of French, Francesco Casparo Colsoni, an Italian minister, who also taught Italian and English. Colsoni wrote a book for teaching the three languages,[1062] called _The New Trismagister_ (1688), in which he drew freely from the works of Mauger, Festeau, and his friend Miège. In the meantime other manuals appeared, including a translation of a grammar which was first published at Paris in 1672[1063]--_A French Grammar, teaching the knowledge of that language.... Published by the Academy for the reformation of the French Tongue_ (1674), printed in parallel columns of English and the original French. _A Very easie Introduction to the French Tongue_ was published in about 1673, which claimed to be "proper for all persons who have bad memories." A certain John Smith, M.A., J. G. D'Abadie, formerly of the Royal Musketeers and for a time teacher of French at Oxford, Jacob Villiers, who had a French school at Nottingham, and Jean de Kerhuel, a French minister,[1064] all published grammars at about the same time.[1065]

[Header: PIERRE BERAULT]

Among the more interesting French teachers of the period is Pierre Berault, a French monk who was converted to Protestantism when he was on the point of setting out for England to work among the refugees as a Jesuit emissary.[1066] On the 2nd of April 1671 he "abjured all the errors of the Church of Rome" in the French Church of the Savoy, London, and subsequently devoted himself to teaching French. Until nearly the end of the century he lived in various parts of London, "waiting upon any Gentlemen or Gentlewomen who have a mind to learn French," and using, according to his own account, a very sound method. At the same time he was busy with his pen. He began with a compilation setting forth his religious principles,[1067] and with books on moral and religious subjects, in French and English for the benefit of learners.[1068] Later he wrote _A New, plain, short and compleat French and English grammar_ (1688), which had an "extraordinary sale and reception," and passed through numerous editions. Berault's motto as regards the teaching of French was _omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci_,--a fit combination of grammar rules and practical exercises. The grammar, which occupies less than half the book, begins with an explanation of grammatical terms for the benefit of those ignorant of Latin; it then deals shortly with the pronunciation and the declinable parts of speech;[1069] lastly come a few rules of syntax and short vocabularies of the indeclinables. The reading exercises open with the catechism, creeds, commandments, and prayers. The dialogues, accompanied, contrary to custom, by an interlinear translation, are at first very simple, and arranged in syllables for the benefit of beginners, but they become more difficult. The following is a dialogue between a French tutor and his scholar:

Good morrow, Sir, how do you do?
Bonjour, Monsieur, comment vous portez vous?

Very well to serve you.
Fort bien pour vous servir.

Do you teach the French tongue?
Enseignez-vous la langue Françoise?

Yes sir, and the Latin also.
Ouy, monsieur, et aussi la Latine.

Will you teach me these two tongues?
Voulez vous m'enseigner ces deux langues?

I will do it willingly.
Je le feray volontiers.

* * * * *

What method do you hold?
Quel méthode voulez-vous tenir?

Because you understand Latin
Parce que vous entendez la langue Latine

I will begin by the pronunciation
Je commenceray par la prononciation

Which you can learn in two lessons.
Que vous pouvez apprendre en deux leçons.

Then I will teach you the nouns,
Puis je vous enseigneray les noms,

Pronouns, verbs and other parts of speech.
Pronoms, verbes et autres parties d'oraison.

And afterwards the rules of syntax.
Et ensuite les règles de Composition.

How long will I be in learning all that?
Combien seray-je à apprendre tout cela?

But little time if you will follow me.
Peu de temps si vous voulez me suivre.

Berault added a selection of Cordier's Colloquies in French and English to his work, as well as the usual proverbs, idioms and polite letters, and a vocabulary. The letters have no English translation, Berault believing that "whoso will peruse this grammar, he will not only be able to explain them but any other French book whatsoever." Accordingly he supplied a list of what he considered suitable modern French books, all of which could be obtained from one or other of the French booksellers in London.

In the second half of the seventeenth century the position of the French language in England was further strengthened by its growing popularity all over Europe. "I have visited," wrote the dramatist Chappuzeau in 1674,[1070] "every part of Christendom with care. [Header: FRENCH AND LATIN] It has been easy for me to observe that to-day a prince with only the French language which has spread everywhere, has the same advantages that Mithridates had with twenty-two." The French language was regarded as "one of the chiefest qualifications of accomplished persons," and "the common language of all well-bred people, and the most generally used in the commerce of civil life." Bayle states that in many parts of Europe there were people who spoke and wrote French as purely as the French themselves, and that in many foreign towns all the men and women of quality and many of the common people spoke French with ease. Writers of the time are unanimous in describing French as the universal language; and most French teachers write in the style of Guy Miège to the effect that "the French tongue is in a manner grown universal in Europe ... and of all the parts of Europe next to France none is more fond of it than England."

Thus, in the second half of the seventeenth century, French was in a position to dispute its ground with Latin. France herself set the example. French was the language used at Court, while Latin was used only by scholars. Significant it is that in 1676 Louis XIV., in consequence of Charpentier's _Défense de la langue françoise pour l'inscription de l'arc de Triomphe_, replaced the Latin inscriptions on his triumphal arches by others in French. Replying to Charpentier's essay, a Jesuit, P. Lucus, wrote a treatise in defence of Latin.[1071] Charpentier retorted by two laboured volumes, _De l'excellence de la langue françoise_ (1683), and finally won the day. In this he refers to the universality of French, and draws attention to the advantages which would result to science if it were studied in that language. The long Quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns, which first reached England from France, also shows the spirit of the times. And Bayle asserts as evidence of the supremacy of French that: "Veut-on qu'un libelle courre bien le monde, aussitôt on le traduit en françois, lors même que l'original est en Latin: tant il est vrai que le latin n'est pas si commun en Europe aujourd'hui que la Langue françoise."[1072]

In England French had long been a rival to Latin as the most commonly used foreign tongue, and after the Restoration it was generally recognized, among courtiers, men of fashion, ministers of state, and diplomats, as the more convenient means of intercourse. Only scholars and the universities continued to uphold the traditional supremacy of the Latin tongue, and even at the universities Latin had passed out of colloquial use before the Restoration, though still used in disputations and other prescribed exercises.[1073] The victory of French in the world of fashion was an easy one. It had "long since chased Latin from the gallant's head," declares Sedley,[1074] and Ravenscroft in his prologue to the _English Lawyer_,[1075] in which a jargon made up of Latin and English predominates, thus addresses the gallants:

Gallants, pray what do you doe here to-day?
Which of you understands a Latine play?...
This age defies th' accomplishments of Schools,
The Town breeds Wits, the Colleges make Fools.

Samuel Vincent,[1076] instructing the gallant how to behave at an ordinary, warns him to "beware how (he) speaks any Latin there: your ordinaries most commonly have no more to do with Latin, than a desparate town or Garrison hath."[1077]

Latin also lost what ground it held as the official language. Milton had been Latin secretary during the Commonwealth, but after the Restoration French was the language used. "Since Latin hath ceased to be a Language, if ever it was any, which I am not sure of, at least in this present age," wrote Lord Chancellor Clarendon,[1078] "the French is almost naturalised through Europe, and understood and spoken in all the Northern Courts and hath nearly driven the Dutch out of its own country, and almost sides the Italian in the Eastern Parts, where it was scarce known in the last Age." French, therefore, had little to fear from Latin as the language of intercourse with ambassadors and other foreigners in England; and still less from English, which was not to receive any recognition at the hands of foreigners for years to come. [Header: FRENCH IN THE SCHOLASTIC WORLD] Considering the almost universal popularity of French, and the general neglect of English, most Englishmen were obliged to agree with Clarendon that it was "too late sullenly to affect an ignorance" of that language because the French "will not take the Pains to understand ours," and we may gain much by being conversant in theirs. He adds "it would be a great Dishonour to the court if, when Ambassadors come thither from Neighbour Princes, no body were able to treat with them, or converse with those who accompany them in no other language but English, of which not one of them understand one word; not to mention how the king shall be supplied with Ministers, or Secretaries of State, or with Persons fit to be sent Ambassadors abroad," if those who aspire to such rank are not acquainted with the necessary foreign language.

Before the Restoration, French, in spite of the important place it held in the world of polite education, had received very little recognition at the hands of educational writers. Cleland alone, in his _Institution of a Nobleman_ (1607), had treated it seriously. After 1660, however, its widespread use and popularity rendered this omission no longer possible, and at this time occurs a break in the tradition of classical scholarship.[1079] The case for French was put most forcibly and with greatest effect by Locke in his _Thoughts on Education_. Referring to the young scholar, he writes: "As soon as he can speak English, 'tis time for him to learn some other Language. This no body doubts of, when French is proposed ... because French is a living language, and to be used more in speaking, that should be first learned, that the yet pliant Organs of Speech might be accustomed to a due formation of those sounds and he get the habit of pronouncing French well, which is the harder to be done the longer it is delay'd. When he can speak French well, (which on conversational methods is usually in a year or two), he should proceed to Latin."[1080] For the same reasons Clarendon would have French learnt first, by "rote," "without the Formality or Method of grammar."[1081]

Even in the world of scholarship the traditional deference shown to ancient learning received some check, and the educational value of the ancient languages was called in question. Some believed that "a gentleman might become learned by the only assistance of modern languages." Evelyn wrote a discourse on the subject at the request of Sir Samuel Tuke for the Duke of Norfolk; unfortunately it was lost, "to his griefe"[1082] and ours. It contained, he told Pepys, "a list of Authors and a method of reading them to advantage ... nor was [he] without some purpose of one day publishing it, because 'twas written with a vertuous designe of provoking our court fopps and for encouragement of illustrious persons who have leisure and inclinations to cultivate their minds beyond a farce, a horse, a whore and a dog, which, with very little more are the confines of the knowledge and discourse of most of our fine gentlemen and beaux." Learning, he felt, would assume a more attractive form in the eyes of the majority, if it were attained through modern languages. Defoe likewise thought Latin and Greek were not indispensable to scholarship, and considered it a pity to lock up all learning in the dead languages.[1083] Hobbes even went so far as to suggest in his _Behemoth_ (_c._ 1668) that it would be well to substitute French, Dutch, and Italian for Latin, Greek, and Hebrew at the universities. Others recommended that the classics should be read in French translations, and it is probable that men of fashion at the time read them in this form, if at all. Sedley implies that to read Terence in Latin was a mark of ill-breeding.[1084] The fashionable Etherege, who knew neither Latin nor Greek, had a large number of French translations of classical plays amongst his books.[1085] And at a somewhat later date the Abbé Le Blanc remarks[1086] that the English have become so fond of French that they prefer to read even Cicero in that language. He writes to tell Olivet how eagerly his translations are received in England. "Celle des Tusculanes que vous venez de publier de concert avec M. Le Père Bouhour a été goûtée en Angleterre de tous ceux qui sont en état de juger des Beautés de l'Original et de la fidélité avec laquelle chacun de vous les a rendues."

The readiness with which the English read French books also attracted the Abbé's attention.[1087] [Header: PROPOSALS FOR REFORMED SCHOOLS] It was no new thing for French literature to be widely appreciated in England. But before the Restoration it had received but little recognition as a profitable subject of study, except for students of statecraft and military tactics. In 1673, however, one writer[1088] takes a new step in stating that "all learning is now in French," and goes on to say that if it were in English "those dead languages would be of little use, only in reference to the scriptures." Similarly Mary Astell, the author of _A Serious Proposal to the Ladies_ (1694), urges the ladies, who most of them know French, to study French Philosophy, Descartes and Malebranche, rather than restrict themselves to idle novels and romances. And when Locke was in Paris in 1677 he bought the best class-books and manuals in French and Latin for the use of Lord Shaftesbury's grandson. The many English gentlemen who had French tutors were frequently taught not only the French language, but other subjects from French text-books.

There were, moreover, several proposals for reformed schools,[1089] in which French was given a place by the side of Latin. In the ideal school as pictured by Clarendon, the master is well acquainted with the French language; and "those that teach the exercises" are Frenchmen, both that the scholars "may be accustomed to that language, and retain what they are supposed to have learnt before, and because they do teach all Exercises best."[1090] Thomas Tryon, the "Pythagorean," proposed a school in which there was to be a tutor for French and Latin, or one for each language, and a music master.[1091] The scholars should begin at an early age, and nothing but French and Latin be spoken in their hearing. The school should stand apart, so that the pupils have no intercourse with "wild" children. In about a year they learn French and Latin by conversation, and then other subjects with the help of these languages. Newcomers soon pick up a colloquial knowledge of the language by mixing with their schoolfellows. When they speak the languages perfectly, then is the time, says Tryon, to study the grammar; "for to speak is one thing, and the Art or Reason of speaking is another. The first must be done by Imitation and Practice, the other is the Work of time, and must be improved by degrees. They that learn the Art of speaking before they can speak invert the true Method ... for the Reason and Philosophy of speaking is a great Art and the work of Time, and not at all to be taught to children." Before studying rules the learners should not only speak, but read perfectly. After learning the letters they should read daily for two or three hours, "in any book that treats of Temperance and Vertue."

Notwithstanding the increased importance attached to French in all spheres, the modern language received no status in the grammar schools, where the sole aim pursued was "to make good Latin and Greek scholars and minute philosophers."[1092] On the other hand, the private institutions in which the language was taught naturally increased very greatly in number. Many Huguenot refugees opened schools in and about London, and one French observer was struck by their number.[1093] Some arose in provincial towns. At Nottingham, for instance, an Englishman, Jacob Villiers, had a school of some importance. Villiers himself was a well-known citizen. His name appears in the Charter of 1682 as one of the chief councillors of the town; and he was one of "the council of eighteen" who were displaced by an order of the Privy Council of 10th February 1688.[1094] He was described on his gravestone in St. Mary's Churchyard as a descendant of a collateral branch of the family of the great favourite of James I. and Charles I. The family "continued still in Nottingham" in the middle of the eighteenth century.[1095]

Villiers's French school was flourishing some years before the first mention of him as a public character. [Header: FRENCH SCHOOL AT NOTTINGHAM] He had acquired his knowledge of French abroad, having travelled for many years in France[1096] and Germany, where he gave English lessons and received favours from the Prince Elector Palatine, elder brother of Prince Rupert. It was no doubt after his return that he opened his school for gentlemen and ladies. He also completed a book on the French and English languages, which was published in London in 1680, "to gratify the ladies and gentlemen his scholars, and all such who have a mind so to be." His chief aim was to encourage the French and English to learn each other's language by pointing out the close affinity between them. The _Vocabularium Analogicum, or the Englishman speaking French, and the Frenchman speaking English, Plainly shewing the nearness or affinity betwixt the English, French and Latin_,[1097] contains a vocabulary of similar words in the three languages--"a verbal eccho repeating words thrice and that without any considerable variation"--which occupies the main part of the work.[1098] It is preceded by rules for pronouncing French, taken, without acknowledgement, chiefly from Wodroeph, and followed by selections from Pierre de Lainé's _Royal French Grammar_ of 1667. Learners of French are advised to master the pronunciation first, and to engage a French master. A collection of familiar phrases and commendatory and other French verses, some of them also taken from Wodroeph, close the volume.

Several schools or academies in which young ladies studied French, as well as philosophy and other serious subjects, were started at this time, such as that kept by Mrs. Bathsua Makin, a learned Englishwoman of the day, who for some time was governess to the daughters of Charles I. Subsequently she opened a school for gentlewomen, first at Putney (1649) and afterwards at Tottenham High Cross, "where, by the blessing of God, Gentlewomen may be instructed in the Principles of Religion, and in all manner of sober and vertuous education. More particularly in all things ordinarily taught in other schools as works of all sorts, dancing, musick, singing etc." Half their time was employed in acquiring these arts and the other half in learning the Latin and French tongues. "Gentlewomen of eight or nine years old, that can read well, may be instructed in a year or two, according to their parts, in the Latin and French tongues, by such plain and short rules, accommodated to the grammar of the English Tongue, that they may easily keep what they have learned, and recover what they shall lose." Those wishing to pursue their studies further could learn other languages, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, or Spanish, or could study astronomy, geography, and other subjects. The usual fee was £20 a year, but more was charged if the pupil made good progress. Parents were advised to apply for details at Mr. Mason's Coffee House in Cornhill, near the Royal Exchange, on Tuesday, or on Thursdays at the Bolt and Tun in Fleet Street, from three to six in the afternoon.[1099]

Mary Astell, another learned Englishwoman, to whom we have already alluded, came forward with a proposal advocating a scheme of study for women, in the retirement of an establishment "more academic than monastic." She urges her sex to study rhetoric, logic, and philosophy, and, as most of them know French, to read Descartes and Malebranche, and not idle novels and romances. The project ultimately fell to the ground, however, chiefly on account of the opposition of Bishop Burnet, who condemned it as a popish design. Shortly afterwards Defoe, who "would deny women no sort of learning," proposed an academy for women,[1100] in which they should be taught "all sorts of breeding suitable to both their genius and their quality, and in particular music and dancing, which it would be cruelty to bar the sex of, because they are their darlings: but besides this they should be taught languages, as particularly French and Italian; and I would venture the injury of giving a woman more tongues than one." As to reading, history is the best subject.

There are traces of other academies in which modern languages and the "exercises" were the chief studies.[1101] At the end of _Musick or a Parley of Instruments_, a musical entertainment performed by the students of one of these academies, is an advertisement of the curriculum; instruction in French and Italian was given by foreigners, and mathematics, music, and the "exercises" received attention. [Header: FRENCH IN PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS] Mark Lewis, the friend of Mrs. Makin,[1102] taught like her in a school or "gymnasium" at Tottenham High Cross, where "any person, whether young or old, as their Quality is, may be perfected in the Tongues by constant conversation." The school flourished about 1670, and there was then "an apartment for French," while Italian and Spanish were "to receive attention hereafter."[1103] Lewis's method of teaching so pleased the Earl of Anglesey, then Lord Privy Seal, that he sent his grandsons to the school, and enabled Lewis to secure letters patent for his method. A similar academy was kept by a certain Mr. Banister in Chancery Lane near the Pump. There was a wide choice of studies, including Latin, Greek, and French, for the languages, and the usual "exercises." Any person that desired could be accommodated in Mr. Banister's house "with diet and lodging at reasonable Rates, ... or they may come thither at set times and be Instructed in the things before mentioned." The academy kept by Thomas Watts in Little Tower Street differed from the majority in aiming at qualifying young gentlemen for business. Writing, arithmetic, and merchants' accounts were taught, as well as mathematics and experimental philosophy: a master resident in the house gave lessons in French, a language absolutely necessary to business men, and "so far universal that the place is not known where 'tis not spoken." Accordingly it received special attention; and "as a just notion of grammar, so the opportunity of frequent conversation, is absolutely necessary, if one would ever arrive at any Perfection in this Language," Watts, therefore, not only "fix'd on a Master capable of doing the first, but entertained him constantly in his house, where all those young gentlemen that learn French are obliged always to speak it, and have their master daily to converse with."[1104] Some academies confined themselves chiefly to the exercises. But even then the atmosphere was French. Such was the academy opened in London in 1682 by M. Foubert, a Frenchman lately come from Paris. He was helped by a royal grant, and seems to have been fairly successful. On his arrival his goods were delivered at the house of M. Lainé,[1105] probably the French teacher of that name.

As time went on such schools became more and more numerous and the demand for instruction in French increased. The language was no longer limited chiefly to certain classes: the gentry, merchants, soldiers, and others requiring it for practical purposes. It came to be regarded as a necessary part of a liberal education. The ever-growing call for teachers of French was met by the great invasion of Protestant refugees caused by the renewal of the fierce persecutions which culminated in the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The reception of the fugitives was doubtful under James II., who looked upon them with disfavour, but could not, for political reasons, refuse them hospitality. With the advent of William of Orange in 1689, however, their position was assured, and they became ardent supporters of the new monarch. They arrived in such multitudes, says a contemporary, that it was impossible to calculate their number; there was hardly an English family of standing in which one or more refugees did not find a home--often a permanent one.

From this time dates a new period in the teaching of French in England, dominated by the influence of these refugees, from whose ranks the chief tutors and schoolmasters were recruited, and whose French grammars and manuals continued, in some cases, to be used till the end of the eighteenth century, and even later.

FOOTNOTES:

[1043] A play called _The French Schoolmaster_ appeared in 1662 (Fleay, _Chronicle of English Drama_, 1891, ii. p. 338).

[1044] There are, however, no points of resemblance between that work and the grammar which appeared about twelve years later.

[1045] Catalogue of the Library of Dean Smallwood, 1684.

[1046] Cp. Arber, _Term Catalogues_, i. 269. Anne was three years younger than Mary.

[1047] Schickler, _Les Églises du Refuge_, ii. p. 311.

[1048] _Savile Correspondence_, Camden Society, 1856, _passim_.

[1049] Huguenot Society Publications, xviii. p. 138.

[1050] _Stationers' Register_, iii. p. 277.

[1051] Such was also the opinion of J. Minsheu, author of the _Ductor in Linguas_ (1617): "I have always found that the true knowledge and sure holding of them in our memories, consisted in the knowing of them by their causes, originalls and etymologies, that is by their reasons and derivations."

[1052] His work suffered in having to strive against Cotgrave's long settled reputation.

[1053] The third edition appeared, like the first, at London, 1690.

[1054] Arber, _Term Catalogues_, i. 477.

[1055] 8vo: pp. 168, 142. Printed for Th. Bassett....

[1056] For instance, that for the gender of nouns, in 1678, states that those ending in "e" or "x" are masculine, and the rest feminine; in 1687, those ending in "e" and "ion" are feminine and the rest masculine; in both cases long lists of exceptions are given.

[1057] "To follow the old road I should now decline a noun or two with these articles, and six cases to be sure, to wit, the nominative, accusative, dative, vocative, and ablative, whether our language can afford them or not. But why should I perplex the learned with so improper and needless a thing? For the distinction of cases is come from the variable termination of one and the same noun. A thing incident (I confess) to the Latine tongue, but not to our vulgar speech."

[1058] A second edition of Miège's English Grammar appeared in 1691.

[1059] Arber, _Term Catalogues_, iii. 67, 487.

[1060] But if they have been grounded in the principles before travelling, they make quicker progress, and do not lose their knowledge.

[1061] "Car il n'y a rien de tel pour apprendre une langue que de l'entendre parler."

[1062] Later he added rules for Spanish to his work. Colsoni also wrote _Le Guide de Londres pour les Estrangers_ (1st edition, 1693), and several works chiefly on topical subjects, of little interest. In 1694 his _Guide_ was followed by Richard Baldwin's _Booke for Strangers_.

[1063] And again in 1679.

[1064] Who translated one of Tillotson's sermons into French (1673).

[1065] See Bibliography.

[1066] Schickler, _op. cit._ ii. p. 282.

[1067] _The Church of Rome evidently proved Heretick_ (1680); _The Church of England evidently proved the holy catholick Church_ (1682). Towards the end of his career he wrote a _Discourse of the Trinitie ... etc._ (1700). Berault calls himself a French minister, and he served as chaplain on several of His Majesty's ships during the war with France at the end of the century.

[1068] _Le Véritable et assuré Chemin du Ciel en François et en Anglois_ (1681), and the _Bouquet ou un Amas de plusieurs veritez Théologiques_ (1685), dedicated to Anne Stuart, afterwards queen.

[1069] Berault is behind the times in retaining most of the Latin cases and tenses. His grammar, on the whole, is fuller and more detailed than most of its kind.

[1070] _Le Théâtre françois_ (1674). ed. Monval, 1876, p. 62. Jean Blaeu, in translating from English into French Ed. Chamberlain's _Present State of England_ (1669), states: "Je ne l'ay pas sitost veu en Anglois que j'ay jugé qu'il méritoit de paroistre dans la langue françoise, comme estant plus universelle dans la chrestienté qu'aucune autre" (1671). Jusserand, _Shakespeare in France_, p. 20, note.

[1071] _De monumentis publicis latine inscribendis._ Goujet, _Bibliothèque françoise_ (1740-56), i. p. 13.

[1072] Bayle, _Oeuvres_, iv. p. 190, quoted by Charlanne, _L'Influence française en Angleterre_, pt. ii. p. 202.

[1073] F. Watson, _Grammar Schools_, p. 312.

[1074] Epilogue to _Bellamira_.

[1075] London, 1678.

[1076] _Young Gallants' Academy_, 1674, p. 44.

[1077] A little later Swift wrote that "the current opinion prevails that the study of Latin and Greek is loss of time...." (_Works_, 1841, ii. p. 291).

[1078] _A Dialogue ... concerning Education_, Miscellaneous Works, London, 1751, p. 338.

[1079] Even the universities had to give some recognition to the modern language. A Professorship of Modern History and Modern Languages was founded at both universities in 1724. Cp. Cooper, _Annals of Cambridge_, iv. 128.

[1080] "Some Thoughts," _Educational Writings of Locke_, 1912, p. 125.

[1081] The same opinions are voiced by later writers, such as Costeker, _Education of a Young Nobleman_, 1723, p. 18; and the author of a pamphlet _On Education_, 1734.

[1082] Evelyn, _Diary_, Dec. 6, 1681.

[1083] _The Compleat Gentleman_ (1728), ed. K. D. Bülbring, 1890.

[1084] Epilogue to _Bellamira_.

[1085] _Works_, ed. A. Wilson, Verity, London, 1888, Preface.

[1086] Le Blanc, _Lettres d'un Français_, à la Haye, 1745, ii. p. 1.

[1087] He tells Maupertuis of the great success of his _De la Figure de la Terre_ (1738) in England, where it was awaited with impatience and received with acclamation (_Lettres_, ii. 244).

[1088] _An Essay to revive the antient Education of Gentlewomen_ (Mrs. Makin or Mark Lewis).

[1089] French no doubt often reached grammar school boys indirectly. Thus Charles Hoole in 1660 (_A New Discoverie of the old Art of Teaching School_) recommends the Dialogues of Du Grès for their private reading; perhaps, however, he was thinking more of the Latin than of the French part.

[1090] _Miscellaneous Works_, 1751, pp. 320-1.

[1091] _A New Method of Educating Children ..._, 1695.

[1092] Th. Sheridan, _Plan of Education_, 1769, p. 42.

[1093] M. Misson, _Mémoires et Observations d'un voyageur en Angleterre_, à la Haye, 1698, p. 99.

[1094] Information supplied by J. Potter Briscoe, Esq., of Nottingham.

[1095] C. Deering, _An Historical Account of the ancient and present State of the Town of Nottingham_, Nottingham, 1751, p. 32.

[1096] He remarks on the desire to learn English expressed by several French persons he met, chiefly Huguenots.

[1097] Printed by J. D. for Jonathan Robinson at the Golden Lion, and George Wells, at the Sun in Paul's Churchyard. 8vo, pp. 224.

[1098] Pp. 17-132.

[1099] _An Essay to revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen ..._, London, 1673.

[1100] _Essay on Projects_ (1697), London, 1887, pp. 164 _sqq._

[1101] Cp. Loveday, _Letters_, 1639, p. 178.

[1102] Lewis also interviewed parents any Thursday in the afternoon between three and six o'clock, at the Bolt and Tun in Fleet Street.

[1103] _Model for a school for the better education of Youth_, and Advertisement at the end of his _Plan and Short Rules for pointing periods ..._ (_c._ 1670).

[1104] Advertisement in _An Essay on the Proper Method for forming the Man of Business_, 4th ed., 1722, pp. 44-45.

[1105] _Calendar of State Papers, Treasury Books, 1679-80_, pp. 132, 140.

APPENDICES