voluit alios habere parata, unde fumerent qui vellent fcribere hiftoriam; ineptis gratum fortaffe fecit, qui volent illa calamiftris inurere: fanos quidem homines a fcribendo deterruit. Nihil enim eft in hiftoria, pura & illuftri

brevitate dulcius.

M. d'Ablancourt has thus tranflated this paffage, in his preface to Cæfar's commentaries: Il a laissé, dit Brutus, des commentaires qui ne fe peuvent affez eftimer. Ils font écrits fans fard & fans artifice, & depouillés de tout ornement, comme d'un voile. Mais quoiqu'il les ait faits plutôt pour fervir de mémoires, que pour tenir lieu d'hiftoire; cela ne peut furprendre que les petits efprits, qui les voudront peigner & ajuster; car par là il a fait tomber la plume de mains à tous les honnêtes gens, qui voudroient l'entreprendre.

There are feveral defects in this tranflation, and fome mistakes in the sense of the original, which fuch scholars as are fomewhat advanced in learning, and already versed in Latin, will eafily perceive.

Nudi funt, recti, & venufti, in my opinion are not justly rendered by the words, Ils font écrits fans fard &fans artifice, which do not fhew that the fimplicity, expreffed by the two first words, nudi, recti, had in it a great deal of grace and elegance, venufti.

But the tranflator has not at all understood the words, Omni ornatu orationis, tanquam vefte, detracto, which are notwithstanding one of the chief beauties in this paffage; Depouillés de tout ornement comme d'un voile. Was ornament ever compared to a veil? The defign of a veil is to hide, cover, and conceal; and ornament, which is in a manner the clothing of a difcourfe, ferves on the other hand to fet it off, and difplay its beauty. The fenfe of this paffage therefore is, that Cæfar's commentaries are wrote in a plain natural style, and at the fame time are full of grace and elegance, though void of all ornament and dress.

Cela ne peut furprendre que les petits efprits, &c, Here again we have not the meaning of the Latin, Ineptis gratum fortaffe fecit. The defign of Cæfar,

in writing his commentaries, was only to fupply memoirs of materials to such as should undertake to draw up the history of them in form. In this, fays Brutus, he may perhaps have pleafed men of a low genius, who would not fcruple to disfigure the natural graces of his work, by the flourishes and garb they fhould add to it.

I fear the expreffion, à tous les honnêtes gens, is not proper here, fanos quidem homines a fcribendo deterruit. In fpeaking of compofition and pieces of wit, we have nothing to do with mens honesty, but their fenfe and understanding.

Criticism of this fort, propofed with modefty, and fo as to begin by making the pupils speak their thoughts firft, would be, in my opinion, not only useful in teaching them the language, but likewife in forming their judgments..

ARTICLE the FOURTH. Of Composition.

W

HEN the pupils are capable of producing fomething of themfelves, they fhould be put upon compofing in French, and made to begin with what is moft eafy and beft fuited to their capacities, as fables and stories. They muft likewife be early accuftomed to the epiftolary ftyle, as it is of univerfal ufe to all ages and conditions, and yet few we fee fucceed in it, though its principal ornament is a plain and natural air, which one fhould think was extremely eafy.

And here me must not omit the different addrefs, which is required to be paid to the different rank and quality of the perfons to whom we write; which is what they may eafily be taught, even by a perfon who has had no great experience in that way himfelf.

Το

To these first compofitions should fucceed common places, defcriptions, little differtations, fhort fpeeches, and other matters of a like nature. And these should

always be taken from fome good author, which should then be read to them, and laid before them as a pattern. I fhall give several inftances.

But one of the most useful exercifes for youth, which likewife takes in both the kinds of writing I have been speaking of, namely tranflation and compofition, is to lay before them certain felect paffages out of Greek or Latin authors, not to be barely tranflated, where the tranflator is confined to the thoughts of his author, but to be turned in their own way, by allowing them the liberty of adding or retrenching whatever they fhall think fit. For inftance; the life of Agricola, by Tacitus his fon-in-law, is one of the moft excellent remains we have of antiquity for the liveliness of the expreffion, the beauty of the thoughts, and the nobleness of the sentiments; and I queftion whether any other piece whatsoever is more capable of forming a wife magiftrate, a governor of a province, or a great statesman. And to this I would gladly join Tully's admirable letter to his brother Quintus. I have ufually put good scholars, when they have paffed through their rhetorick, upon writing the life of Agricola in French, at their leisure hours, and preffed them to introduce into it all the beauties of the original, but to make them their own, by giving them a proper turn, and endeavour if they could to improve upon Tacitus. And I have seen some of them fucceed in fo furprizing a manner, that I am perfuaded the greatest mafters of our language would have been well pleafed with their performances.

VOL. I.

G

CHAP.

I

CHA P. II,

Of studying the Greek Tongue.

SHALL reduce what I have to fay upon the study of the Greek tongue to two articles. The firft fhall fhew the usefulness and neceffity of it: And the fecond fhall treat of the method to be observed in teaching or learning it. I did design to have added a third upon the reading of Homer: But as that article will be of fome extent, I judged it would be more convenient to transfer it to the end of this first volume.

ARTICLE the FIRST.

The Ufefulness and Neceffity of studying the Greek

T

Tongue.

HE univerfity of Paris has had fo great a fhare in the restoration of learning in the West, and particularly that of the Greek tongue, that it cannot fuffer the ftudy of it to decay or be laid afide, without giving up what hitherto has been one of the most solid foundations of its reputation.

The univerfity, we know, was an asylum to several of those learned men, who upon the ruin of the Empire of the Eaft came over into Italy and France, and The knew how to make an advantageous ufe of them. Under fuch able masters were formed thofe great men, whose names will ever be respected in the republick of letters, and whofe works ftill do fo much honour to France; I mean Erafmus, Gefner, Budæus, the Stephens's, and fo many others. With what immenfe treasures have these last enriched Europe? Budæus in particular communicated the tafte of Greek learning to the French nation, which he had received

from

from his mafter Lafcaris, who had been employed by Laurentius de Medicis in erecting the famous library of Florence. It was at the folicitation of the mafter and scholar that Francis the First laid the defign of framing a library in his palace of Fontainebleau, and of founding the royal college at Paris. And thefe two foundations have principally contributed to the flou rifhing of the Greek tongue amongst us, as well as the other learned languages, and all the fciences in general. 'Tis aftonishing to confider with what eafe and celerity the taste of learning fpread itself over all France. As the university of Paris was then almoft the only fchool of the kingdom, and the magiftrates had all their education there, they foon contracted a love and value for the Greek tongue; and every one ftrove who fhould moft fucceed and excel in it. The ftudy of it was judged to be honourable, and became univerfal; and the progrefs fwift, and almoft incredible. 'Twas furprifing to fee young gentlemen of quality, in their early years, which are ufually spent in the purfuit of pleafures, entirely given up to the reading of the most difficult Greek authors, and often without allowing themselves even any hours for recreation.

I cannot avoid repeating here what I have read in the manufcript memoirs, which the late premier prefident de Mefmes was fo kind as to communicate to me. Henry de Mefines, one of the moft illuftrious of his ancestors, gives an account of his ftudies in a work which he drew up with a view to give his pofterity an idea of his education. I hope I fhall be excused for this digrethion, as it is by no means foreign to my fubject.

"My father, fays he, gave me for a preceptor John Maludan of Limoges, a fcholar of the learned' "Daurat, who was chofen for the innocence of his "life, and suitable age, to prefide over the conduct "of my youth, till fuch time as I fhould be of age to govern myself, as he did. For he made fuch advances in his ftudies by his incredible labour and

G 2

"pains,