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<DATE>2012-09-11</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B120714.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<STC T="W">B4506aA</STC>
<STC T="C">R173269</STC>
<BIBNO T="oclc">45578184</BIBNO>
<VID>172139</VID>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD>A brief account of the GRAMMAR-LECT&V;RE, in Kings-Head Court near the Theater Royal, Drury-Lane; Where Children are with great ea&s;e and &s;peed perfectly taught the Latine Tongue, without being &s;lavi&s;hly put to needle&s;s torture, or endle&s;s trouble; and nothing is demanded for their Teaching, or for Books, till the bu&s;i|ne&s;s is Performed.</HEAD>
<P>WHereas divers Gentlemen, Citi|zens, and others, call frequent|ly upon us, and either finde us not within, or at lea&s;t &s;o bu|&s;ie, as that we have not time to &s;atisfie them about our Method &amp;c. Concern|ing which they enquire: We have cau&s;ed this rude and unpoli&s;ht Sheet to be Printed, to which we refer them, and all others, at pre&s;ent, for &s;a|tisfaction; which &s;hall be given them as briefly, as plainly, and as fully, as the good old Axiome, <HI>Artis e&s;t celare Artem,</HI> will permit; for a &s;ecret which hath co&s;t us almo&s;t 30. Years Study, and the peru&s;al of all Authors what&s;oever that have
<PB N="2" REF="2">writ on this &s;ubject, is not to be too far di&s;co|vered to every body.</P>
<P>They may be plea&s;ed therefore to under&s;tand, that we are not over eagerly de&s;irous of too many Scholars at once, <HI>Paucis contenti audito|ribus,</HI> taking but few at a time, and with our good will receiving none who are deeply inga|ged in other Schooles; our de&s;ign being to do good to Man-kind in general, and at the &s;ame time to do no harm to any particular Individu|al, by taking away his Scholars, or reflecting up|on his way of Teaching, or the like.</P>
<P>Next, as for the Childrens coming but once or twice a Week, which &s;ome (who are great admirers of, and &s;ervants to blind cu&s;tome) will not bear with; they may plea&s;e to take notice, that if need be, they may come oftner; thrice, four times, five times, &s;ix times a Week; but their coming will be only a needle&s;s trouble to them&s;elves and us; for we can with the &s;ame labour give them enough to ruminate upon for half a Week, as for half a Day: In &s;hort, if Pa|rents &s;end their Children any whether to learn, let them &s;end them thither where they &s;hall be well taught, whether they &s;tay a long time, or not (that's all one;) but if they &s;end them only to be kept out of harms way &s;o long, there are enough old Women, or ordinary mean Pedants, who will do their bu&s;ine&s;s for two pence a Week.</P>
<P>As for the Price, that is rea&s;onable, only alter|ing
<PB N="3" REF="2">as the capacity of the Learner is quicker or &s;lower; there being more or le&s;s pains to be ta|ken with him accordingly.</P>
<P>Then as for the Method, they may plea&s;e to know, that this bu&s;ine&s;s (&s;o much wondred at, and thought impo&s;&s;ible to be done, yet) is re|ally performed by the&s;e means,</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, By bringing the Grammer-Rules and Authors to the capacity of the Learners, and not &s;crewing and forcing their capacity to them.</P>
<P>Secondly, By teaching every particular Youth &s;ingly by him&s;elf (for certainty's &s;ake) all the Rules and Intrigues of the Language.</P>
<P>Thirdly, By giving them full liberty, as to the time and place of &s;tudying; they hear the Lecture in few words, and then ruminate upon it <HI>when</HI> they will, and <HI>where</HI> they will, in the morning or afternoon, at home, or in the fields; but &s;tay not to hinder one another by noi&s;e, childi&s;h fooleries, or the like.</P>
<P>Fourthly, By u&s;ing them with all po&s;&s;ible gentlene&s;s and lenity; there are no Rodds marching up and down the room, to fright them, and keep them in fear and bondage, all the while they are pre&s;ent; Such fear and dread nece&s;&s;arily hindering their effe|ctual tending of their bu&s;ine&s;s, the removal thereof, on the other &s;ide, mu&s;t much further their proficiency.</P>
<PB N="4" REF="3">
<P><MILESTONE N="1"> As to the Fir&s;t, 'Twere ea&s;ie to prove mo&s;t of the Rules, which are commonly taught Children, to be as hard to under&s;tand, as any Logick, or Metaphy&s;ick Lecture at <HI>Oxford,</HI> and the Authors put into their hands at fir&s;t da&s;h, to be as difficult as any they ever meet with afterwards; now how &s;en&s;ele&s;s and irra|tional this is, let any man judge: Tho&s;e who have gone about to make new Grammers, they have only affronted the Canon, and ren|dred things hard and difficult before, more hard and more difficult: And why Irregular words mu&s;t needs be pickt out to be the Ex|amples of the Declen&s;ions and Conjugations; and why the Grammer Rules, and Memorial Ver&s;es, &s;hould be in Latine, which Language the Youth or Child is &s;uppo&s;ed not yet to un|der&s;tand, Wi&s;e per&s;ons cannot yet di&s;cover the rea&s;on: Give Children ea&s;ie Rules, and ea&s;ie Books, and then &s;omething will be done; but if we mu&s;t for ever <GAP DESC="foreign">, and becau&s;e Youth have all along been taught in a dull blundering way, therefore they mu&s;t be taught &s;o &s;till; Knowing men will doubt, which is mo&s;t to be pittied, the folly of the Teacher, or the misfortune of the Learner.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="2"> As for the Second, Children when entred into any School, are commonly put into &s;ome Cla&s;s with others, and there take the &s;ame Part that others do, and the &s;ame Le&s;&s;on that
<PB N="5" REF="3">others do; and if they under&s;tand it, &s;o; if not, there is no provi&s;ion made for their help; Some things they learn over half a &s;core times, other things they learn not at all, or not &s;o perfectly as to un|der&s;tand them; whereas (alas!) every Learner &s;hould be taught the Fundamentalls by him&s;elf, and not take them by chance; for at that rate it may &s;o happen, as that he may not attain them all his life; Give him the whole Scheme in his head, and then he will be able to goe on vigorou&s;ly, comfort|ably and effectually, to make him&s;elf by degrees Ma&s;ter of the Language.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="3"> As to the Third, Children are children, and will be playing childi&s;h tricks, and hinder one another while together, not only by noi&s;e, but al&s;o by wag|gi&s;h ge&s;tures and actions; to avoid which, they are to be together as little while as is po&s;&s;ible, while they learn any thing; Indeed when they exerci&s;e them|&s;elves in talking and di&s;cour&s;ing <HI>Latine,</HI> that is ano|her ca&s;e, and we have our times to let them come, and al&s;o &s;tay together long enough for that purpo&s;e.</P>
<P><MILESTONE N="4"> For the Fourth, Something we &s;hall add as to that Head likewi&s;e, though mode&s;ty will not permit us to &s;peak what we could; Ingenuous Youths &s;hould not be puni&s;ht in &s;uch a di&s;-ingenuous manner as the cu|&s;tome is in mo&s;t Schools, e&s;pecially for no cau&s;e in the world, as commonly they are; <HI>Delerant reges, ple|ctuntur Achivi,</HI> the fault is &s;ometimes in the Teacher, &s;ometimes in the way of teaching; but the poor chil|dren they are beaten for not under&s;tanding that, which 'twas impo&s;&s;ible they &s;hould undre&s;tand, ha|ving
<PB N="6" REF="4">not been told it at all (it may be) or at lea&s;t not in that manner as for them to comprehend it: 'Tis true, we know there are divers mo&s;t excellent, ingenuous, di&s;creet and learned per&s;ons, who do u&s;e their Schollars in a noble and ingenuous way; only for fear of a thing call'd <GAP DESC="foreign">, they have not yet entred upon the Right Ea&s;ie and Speedy way of teaching, which we much wonder at; (the&s;e mens per&s;ons we love and re&s;pect, nay we highly e&s;teem and honour them; and &s;hould any line here written reflect upon, or endamage them in the lea&s;t, we would recant all we have &s;aid, and give over this whole bu|&s;ine&s;s:) Others there are al&s;o of a lower &s;phere, good, indu&s;trious, hone&s;t men, who bring up their Schollars in a kind and gentle way, and make no more u&s;e of their power of correction than ju&s;t needs mu&s;t; (the&s;e are to be commended and encouraged, and withall, &s;hewn the right way of in&s;tructing Youth:) But in too many places we are &s;ure 'tis otherwi&s;e; Children be|ing taken and beaten mo&s;t barbarou&s;ly, they know not why, or wherefore, nor never &s;hall; We have often &s;een innocent, ingenuous, indu&s;trious Youths, when they have taken pains, as it had been for their lives, and &s;tudied all day and all night, till 2, or 3, a Clock in the morning, yet next day they have been &s;courged 10, 16, 20, la&s;hes, when no rea&s;on could po&s;&s;ibly be a&s;&s;igned, why they &s;hould be &s;o inhumanely u&s;ed; and therefore the rea&s;on indeed, was only and meerly be|cau&s;e the roguy leacherous Paedagogue had a mind to whip them: Now of all Cruelties, Leacherous cruelty is the wor&s;t, and woe to them who fall under it; But
<PB N="7" REF="4">of this, as al&s;o of the Rogueries of &s;ome flu&s;tering Pedants, the World &s;hall hear more at large ere long both in Pro&s;e and Ver&s;e; for, as &s;ome extravagant Per&s;ons have one way of &s;atisfying their lu&s;ts, others other ways: So
<Q><L>Some School-Ma&s;ters on the Boyes breeches</L>
<L>Curry their own heat and itches.</L>
<BIBL>Hudibr.</BIBL></Q></P>
<P>We are verily per&s;waded, and have good and firme grounds to believe, that many take up that Calling, and continue in it to their old age, for that power's &s;ake which is mo&s;t unju&s;tly allowed them of corre|cting their Scholars, <HI>when</HI> and <HI>how</HI> they plea&s;e; Now what a &s;ad thing it is for the &s;ame Per&s;on that de|lights in the execution, to be both Judge and Exe|cutioner, we need not &s;ay; To tell you what we think however, and what wi&s;er Men than we think like|wi&s;e, 'twere far better that Learning peri&s;ht out of the Earth, than &s;uch horrid cruelties &s;hould be per|mitted, as are daily exerci&s;ed in divers places; it would make your hair &s;tand an end, and your very heart bleed (how hardy &s;oever you are) to be a Spe|ctator of what is done in that way, we know where. The common Objection to all that hath been di&s;|cour&s;ed upon this head, is, That Children will not learn without being beaten, and that &s;oundly too &s;ometimes; To which we return this An&s;wer, That if it be meant Univer&s;ally, it is a down-right fal&s;hood; there being many Children who really love ingenuity, love their Book, and will do what&s;oever is &s;et them to do with a words &s;peaking; but if indeed it be
<PB N="8" REF="5">meant of &s;ome particulars, it mu&s;t be granted to be true; but then &s;uch of whom 'tis true, were better be &s;et to &s;ome other employment, and not be put al|mo&s;t a third part of their lives to continual &s;lavery; for, to be kept always poring upon Books, which they hate, and to groan every day under the Birch, is in our opinion little better; and he at the Oare or Mines, is far the happier of the two: Some Parents indeed <HI>will</HI> have their Children to School; they <HI>will</HI> &s;ubject them to the humour of the Teacher, to be la&s;ht, <HI>Ad libitum plago&s;i Orbilij,</HI> ju&s;t as tho&s;e poor de|luded Heathen of old, they <HI>would</HI> &s;acrifice their ten|der Infants to <HI>Moloch,</HI> and other Devils; we know not whether the Children have cau&s;e to thank them; nay, we know hundreds who do not thank them, but afterwards in their riper years make them wi&s;h with akeing hearts, they had followed the Poets advice,
<Q LANG="lat">Praeconem facias vel Architectum.</Q></P>
<P>This brief Account we de&s;ire all parties con|cern'd, to accept of at pre&s;ent for their own ea&s;e and ours: And if any ignorant pragmatical Per&s;on finde fault with any thing here writ, truly we value it not; If any &s;erious under&s;tanding Gentlemen be offended at any pa&s;&s;age, we pre&s;ume upon their pardon, at long run, there being no ju&s;t cau&s;e of offence given in the lea&s;t; We having wronged no body at all, but only in a noble and generous way (with &s;ome pains and more co&s;t) done our endeavour to have our <HI>Engli&s;h</HI> Youth no more abu&s;ed, and the World no longer cheated.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
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<P><HI>London,</HI> Printed by <HI>T. M.</HI> for the Author, 1667.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="postscript">
<PB REF="5">
<P>TOgether with this you will receive a <HI>Specimen</HI> of a mo&s;t laborious and u&s;efull &V;ndertaking re|commended by the Te&s;timony of many Eminent per&s;ons, as de&s;erving encouragement from all &s;uch as are lovers of Religion and Learning. Had the Compiler's E&s;tate been equal to his Indu&s;try, he had needed no help to have brought it forth into the World: But &s;ince the computed Charge &s;o much exceeds his abilities, it is nece&s;&s;ary to de&s;ire the moderate aids of others, that his Labours may be &s;erviceable to the publick. Knowing therefore your ability to judge and your inclinations to incourage matters of this nature, it hath been thought fit in a &s;pe|cial manner to recommend the promotion of this Work to your care, and to intreat you to be active in the furthe|rance of it by procuring the Sub&s;criptions of your neigh|bours and acquaintance, e&s;pecially tho&s;e of the Gentry and Mini&s;try, upon the Conditions here propo&s;ed: For which, be&s;ides the &s;atisfaction you will receive in doing &s;o good a work, and the expre&s;sion of your affections to Religion and Learning, you &s;hall have the gratefull ac|knowledgment of the Compiler, and of <GAP DESC="blank" EXTENT="1 span"></P>
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