For what proprietie in wordes, simplicitie in sentences, plainnesse and light, is cumelie for these kindes,CæsarandLiuie, for the two last, are perfite examples of Imitation: And for the two first, the old paternes be lost, and as for some that be present and of late tyme, they be fitter to be read once for some pleasure, than oft to be perused, for any good Imitation of them.
Philosophicum in{Sermonem, asofficia Cic. et Eth. Arist.{Contentionem.
As, the Dialoges ofPlato, Xenophon, andCicero: of which kinde of learnyng, and right Imitation therof,Carolus Sigoniushath written of late, both learnedlie and eloquentlie: but best of all my frendeIoan. Sturmiusin hys Commentaries vponGorgias Platonis, which booke I haue in writyng, and is not yet set out in Print.
{Humile.Oratorium in{Mediocre.{Sublime.
Examples of these three, in theGreketong, be plentifull & perfite, asLycias, Isocrates, andDemosthenes: and //Lisias.all three, in onelieDemosthenes, in diuerse orations //Isocrates.ascontra Olimpiodorum, in leptinem, & pro Ctesi-//Demost.phonte. And trew it is, thatHermogineswriteth ofDemosthenes, that all formes of Eloquence be perfite in him. InCiceroesOrations,Medium & sublimebe most //Cicero.excellentlie handled, butHumilein his Orations, is seldome sene: yet neuerthelesse in other bookes, as in some part of his offices, & speciallyin Partitionibus, he is comparablein hoc humili & disciplinabili genere, euen with the best that euer
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wrote inGreke. But ofCiceromore fullie in fitter place. And thus, the trew difference of stiles, in euerie Author, and euerie kinde of learnyng may easelie be knowne by this diuision.
{Poeticum.{Historicum.in Genus{Philosophicum.{Oratorium.
Which I thought in this place to touch onelie, not toprosecute at large, bicause, God willyng, in theLatintong,I will fullie handle it, in my bookede Imitatione.Now, to touch more particularlie, which of those Authors,that be now most commonlie in mens handes, will sone affourdyou some peece of Eloquence, and what maner a peece ofeloquence, and what is to be liked and folowed, and what tobe misliked and eschewed in them: and how some agayne willfurnish you fully withall, rightly, and wisely considered, som-what I will write as I haue heard SyrIhon Chekemany tymessay.The Latin tong, concerning any part of purenesse of it,from the spring, to the decay of the same, did not endure mochlonger, than is the life of a well aged man, scarse one hundredyeares from the tyme of the lastScipio AfricanusandLælius, tothe Empire ofAugustus. And it is notable, thatVelleius Pater-culuswriteth ofTullie, how that the perfection of eloquence didso remayne onelie in him and in his time, as before him, werefew, which might moch delight a man, or after him any, worthyadmiration, but soch asTulliemight haue seene, and such asmight haue seeneTullie. And good cause why: for no perfec-tion is durable. Encrease hath a time, & decay likewise, butall perfit ripenesse remaineth but a moment: as is plainly seenin fruits, plummes and cherries: but more sensibly in flowers,as Roses & such like, and yet as trewlie in all greater matters.For what naturallie, can go no hier, must naturallie yeld &stoup againe.Of this short tyme of any purenesse of the Latin tong, forthe first fortie yeare of it, and all the tyme before, we haue nopeece of learning left, sauePlautusandTerence, with a litlerude vnperfit pamflet of the elderCato. And as forPlautus,except the scholemaster be able to make wise and ware choice,
the ready way to the Latin tong.287
first in proprietie of wordes, than in framing of Phrases and sentences, and chieflie in choice of honestie of matter, your scholer were better to play, then learne all that is in him. But surelie, if iudgement for the tong, and direction for the maners, be wisely ioyned with the diligent reading ofPlautus, than trewliePlautus, for that purenesse of the Latin tong in Rome, whan Rome did most florish in wel doing, and so thereby, in well speaking also, is soch a plentifull storehouse, for common eloquence, in meane matters, and all priuate mens affaires, as the Latin tong, for that respect, hath not the like agayne. Whan I remember the worthy tyme of Rome, whereinPlautusdid liue, I must nedes honor the talke of that tyme, which we seePlautusdoth vse.Terenceis also a storehouse of the same tong, for an other tyme, following soone after, & although he be not so full & plentiful asPlautusis, for multitude of matters, & diuersitie of wordes, yet his wordes, be chosen so purelie, placed so orderly, and all his stuffe so neetlie packed vp, and wittely compassed in euerie place, as, by all wise mens iudgement, he is counted the cunninger workeman, and to haue his shop, for the rowme that is in it, more finely appointed, and trimlier ordered, thanPlautusis. Three thinges chiefly, both inPlautusandTerence, are to be specially considered. The matter, the vtterance, the words, the meter. The matter in both, is altogether within the compasse of the meanest mens maners, and doth not stretch to any thing of any great weight at all, but standeth chiefly in vtteryng the thoughtes and conditions of hard fathers, foolish mothers, vnthrifty yong men, craftie seruantes, sotle bawdes, and wilie harlots, and so, is moch spent, in finding out fine fetches, and packing vp pelting matters, soch as in London commonlie cum to the hearing of the Masters of Bridewell. Here is base stuffe for that scholer, that should becum hereafter, either a good minister in Religion, or a Ciuill Ientleman in seruice of his Prince and contrie: except the preacher do know soch matters to confute them, whan ignorance surelie in all soch thinges were better for a Ciuill Ientleman, than knowledge. And thus, for matter, bothPlautusandTerence, be like meane painters, that worke by halfes, and be cunning onelie, in making the worst part of the picture, as if one were skilfull in painting
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the bodie of a naked person, from the nauell downward, but nothing else. For word and speach,Plautusis more plentifull, andTerencemore pure and proper: And for one respect,Terenceis to be embraced aboue all that euer wrote in hys kinde of argument: Bicause it is well known, by good recorde of learning, and that byCiceroesowne witnes that some Comedies bearyngTerencename, were written by worthyScipio, and wiseLælius, and namelyHeauton: andAdelphi. And therefore as oft as I reade those Comedies, so oft doth sound in myne eare, the pure fine talke of Rome, which was vsed by the floure of the worthiest nobilitie that euer Rome bred. Let the wisest man, and best learned that liueth, read aduisedlie ouer, the first scene ofHeauton, and the first scene ofAdelphi, and let him consideratlie iudge, whether it is the talke of a seruile stranger borne, or rather euen that milde eloquent wise speach, whichCiceroinBrutusdoth so liuely expresse inLælius. And yet neuerthelesse, in all this good proprietie of wordes, and purenesse of phrases which be inTerence, ye must not follow him alwayes in placing of them, bicause for the meter sake, some wordes in him, somtyme, be driuen awrie, which require a straighter placing in plaine prose, if ye will forme, as I would ye should do, your speach and writing, to that excellent perfitnesse, which was onely inTullie, or onelie inTulliestyme. The meter and verse ofPlautusandTerencebe verie meane,Meter in// and not to be followed: which is not their reproch,Plautus &// but the fault of the tyme, wherein they wrote, whanTerence.// no kinde of Poetrie, in the Latin tong, was brought to perfection, as doth well appeare in the fragmentes ofEnnius, Cæcilius, and others, and euidentlie inPlautus&Terence, if thies in Latin be compared with right skil, withHomer,Euripides, Aristophanes, and other in Greeke of like sort.Cicerohim selfe doth complaine of this vnperfitnes, but more plainlyQuintilian, saying,in Comœdia maximè claudicamus, et vix leuem consequimur vmbram: and most earnestly of allHorace in Arte Poetica, which he doth namelypropter carmen Iambicum, and referreth all good studentes herein to the Imitation of the Greeke tong, saying.Exemplaria Græca nocturna versate manu, versate diurna.
the ready way to the Latin tong.289
This matter maketh me gladly remember, my sweete tymespent at Cambrige, and the pleasant talke which I had oft withM. Cheke, andM. Watson, of this fault, not onely in the oldeLatin Poets, but also in our new English Rymers at this day.They wished asVirgilandHoracewere not wedded to followthe faultes of former fathers (a shrewd mariage in greatermatters) but by rightImitationof the perfit Grecians, hadbrought Poetrie to perfitnesse also in the Latin tong, that weEnglishmen likewise would acknowledge and vnderstand right-fully our rude beggerly ryming, brought first into Italie byGothesandHunnes, whan all good verses and all good learningto, were destroyd by them: and after caryed into France andGermanie: and at last, receyued into England by men ofexcellent wit in deede, but of small learning, and lesse iudge-ment in that behalfe.But now, when men know the difference, and haue theexamples, both of the best, and of the worst, surelie, to followrather theGothesin Ryming, than the Greekes in trew versifiyng,were euen to eate ackornes with swyne, when we may freelyeate wheate bread emonges men. In deede,Chauser, Th.Norton, of Bristow, my L. of Surrey,M. Wiat, Th. Phaer,and other Ientlemen, in translatingOuide, Palingenius, andSeneca, haue gonne as farre to their great praise, as the copiethey followed could cary them, but, if soch good wittes, andforward diligence, had bene directed to follow the best examples,and not haue bene caryed by tyme and custome, to contentthemselues with that barbarous and rude Ryming, emongestheir other worthy praises, which they haue iustly deserued,this had not bene the least, to be counted emonges men oflearning and skill, more like vnto the Grecians, than vnto theGothians, in handling of their verse.In deed, our English tong, hauing in vse chiefly, wordes ofone syllable which commonly be long, doth not well receiue thenature ofCarmen Heroicum, bicausedactylus, the aptest footefor that verse, conteining one long & two short, is seldom there-fore found in English: and doth also rather stumble than standvponMonosyllabis. Quintilianin hys learned Chapiter // hand.gifde Compositione, geueth this lessonde Monosyllabis,before me: and in the same place doth iustlie inuey against allRyming, that if there be any, who be angrie with me, for
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misliking of Ryming, may be angry for company to, withQuintilianalso, for the same thing: And yetQuintilianhad not so iust cause to mislike of it than, as men haue at this day. And althoughCarmen Exametrumdoth rather trotte and hoble, than runne smothly in our English tong, yet I am sure, our English tong will receiuecarmen Iambicumas naturallie, as eitherGrekeorLatin. But for ignorance, men can not like, & for idlenes, men will not labor, to cum to any perfitenes at all. For, as the worthie Poetes inAthensandRome, were more carefull to satisfie the iudgement of one learned, than rashe in pleasing the humor of a rude multitude, euen so if men in England now, had the like reuerend regard to learning skill and iudgement, and durst not presume to write, except they came with the like learnyng, and also did vse like diligence, in searchyng out, not onelie iust measure in euerie meter, as euerie ignorant person may easely do, but also trew quantitie in euery foote and sillable, as onelie the learned shalbe able to do, and as theGrekesandRomaneswere wont to do, surelie than rash ignorant heads, which now can easely recken vp fourten sillables, and easelie stumble on euery Ryme, either durst not, for lacke of such learnyng: or els would not, in auoyding such labor, be hand.gif // so busie, as euerie where they be: and shoppes in London should not be so full of lewd and rude rymes, as commonlie they are. But now, the ripest of tong, be readiest to write: And many dayly in setting out bookes and balettes make great shew of blossomes and buddes, in whom is neither, roote of learning, nor frute of wisedome at all. Some that makeChaucerin English andPetrarchinItalian, their Gods in verses, and yet be not able to make trew difference, what is a fault, and what is a iust prayse, in those two worthie wittes, will moch mislike this my writyng. But such men be euen like followers ofChaucerandPetrarke, as one here in England did folow SyrTho. More: who, being most vnlike vnto him, in wit and learnyng, neuertheles in wearing his gowne awrye vpon the one shoulder, as SyrTho. Morewas wont to do, would nedes be counted lyke vnto him. This mislikyng of Ryming, beginneth not now of any newfangle singularitie, but hath bene long misliked of many, and that of men, of greatest learnyng, and deepest iudgement. And soch, that defend it, do so, either for lacke of knowledge
the ready way to the Latin tong.291
what is best, or els of verie enuie, that any should performe that in learnyng, whereunto they, as I sayd before, either for ignorance, can not, or for idlenes will not, labor to attaine vnto. And you that prayse this Ryming, bicause ye neither haue reason, why to like it, nor can shew learning to defend it, yet I will helpe you, with the authoritie of the oldest and learnedst tyme. InGrece, whan Poetrie was euen at the hiest pitch of per- fitnes, oneSimmias Rhodiusof a certaine singularitie wrote a booke in rymingGrekeverses, naming it oon, conteyning the fable, howIupiterin likenes of a swan, gat that egge vponLeda, whereof cameCastor, Polluxand faireElena. This booke was so liked, that it had few to read it, but none to folow it: But was presentlie contemned: and sone after, both Author and booke, so forgotten by men, and consumed by tyme, as scarse the name of either is kept in memorie of learnyng: And the like folie was neuer folowed of any, many hondred yeares after vntill y^eHunnesandGothians, and other barbarous nations, of ignorance and rude singularitie, did reuiue the same folie agayne. The noble LordTh.Earle of Surrey, first of all English men, in translating the fourth booke ofVirgill: // The Earle of andGonsaluo Perizthat excellent learned man, // Surrey. and Secretarie to kyngPhilipofSpaine, in //Gonsaluotranslating theVlisses of Homerout ofGrekeinto //Periz.Spanish, haue both, by good iudgement, auoyded the fault of Ryming, yet neither of them hath fullie hite perfite and trew versifiyng. In deede, they obserue iust number, and euen feete: but here is the fault, that their feete: be feete without ioyntes, that is to say, not distinct by trew quantitie of sillables: And so, soch feete, be but numme feete: and be, euen as vnfitte for a verse to turne and runne roundly withall, as feete of brasse or wood be vnweeldie to go well withall. And as a foote of wood, is a plaine shew of a manifest maime, euen so feete, in our English versifiing, without quantitie and ioyntes, be sure signes, that the verse is either, borne deformed, vnnaturall and lame, and so verie vnseemlie to looke vpon, except to men that be gogle eyed them selues. The spying of this fault now is not the curiositie of English eyes, but euen the good iudgement also of the best //Senesethat write in these dayes inItalie: and namelie of //Felicethat worthieSenese Felice Figliucci, who, writyng //Figliucci.
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vponAristotles Ethickesso excellentlie inItalian, as neuer did yet any one in myne opinion either inGrekeorLatin, amongest other thynges doth most earnestlie inuey agaynst the rude ryming of verses in that tong: And whan soeuer he expressethAristotlespreceptes, with any example, out ofHomerorEuripides, he translateth them, not after the Rymes ofPetrarke, but into soch kinde of perfite verse, with like feete and quantitie of sillables, as he found them before in theGreketonge: ex- hortyng earnestlie all theItaliannation, to leaue of their rude barbariousnesse in ryming, and folow diligently the excellentGrekeandLatinexamples, in trew versifiyng. And you, that be able to vnderstand no more, then ye finde in theItaliantong: and neuer went farder than the schole ofPetrarkeandAriostusabroad, or els ofChaucerat home though you haue pleasure to wander blindlie still in your foule wrong way, enuie not others, that seeke, as wise men haue done before them, the fairest and rightest way: or els, beside the iust reproch of malice, wisemen shall trewlie iudge, that you do so, as I haue sayd and say yet agayne vnto you, bicause, either, for idlenes ye will not, or for ignorance ye can not, cum by no better your selfe. And therfore euen asVirgillandHoracedeserue most worthie prayse, that they spying the vnperfitnes inEnniusandPlautus, by trew Imitation ofHomerandEuripides, brought Poetrie to the same perfitnes inLatin, as it was inGreke, euen so those, that by the same way would benefite their tong and contrey, deserue rather thankes than disprayse in that behalfe. And I rejoyce, that euen poore England preuentedItalie, first in spying out, than in seekyng to amend this fault in learnyng. And here, for my pleasure I purpose a litle, by the way, to play and sporte with my MasterTully: from whom commonlie I am neuer wont to dissent. He him selfe, for this point of learnyng, in his verses doth halt a litle by his leaue. He could not denie it, if he were aliue, nor those defend hym now that Tullies // loue him best. This fault I lay to his charge: saying a- // bicause once it pleased him, though somwhat gainst Eng- // merelie, yet oueruncurteslie, to rayle vpon poore land. // England, obiecting both, extreme beggerie, and
the ready way to the Latin tong.293
mere barbariousnes vnto it, writyng thus vnto his frendAtticus:There is not one scruple of siluer in that whole // Ad Att.Isle, or any one that knoweth either learnyng or // Lib. iv. Ep.letter. // 16.But now masterCicero, blessed be God, and his sonne IesuChrist, whom you neuer knew, except it were as it pleased himto lighten you by some shadow, as couertlie in one place yeconfesse saying:Veritatis tantum vmbram consectamur, // Offic.as your MasterPlatodid before you: blessed beGod, I say, that sixten hundred yeare after you were dead andgone, it may trewly be sayd, that for siluer, there is morecumlie plate, in one Citie of England, than is in foure of theproudest Cities in allItalie, and takeRomefor one of them.And for learnyng, beside the knowledge of all learned tongs andliberall sciences, euen your owne bookesCicero, be as well read,and your excellent eloquence is as well liked and loued, and astrewlie folowed in England at this day, as it is now, or euerwas, sence your owne tyme, in any place ofItalie, either atArpinum, where ye were borne, or els atRomewhere ye werebrought vp. And a litle to brag with youCicero, where youyour selfe, by your leaue, halted in some point of learnyng inyour owne tong, many in England at this day go streight vp,both in trewe skill, and right doing therein.This I write, not to reprehendTullie, whom, aboue allother, I like and loue best, but to excuseTerence, because in histyme, and a good while after, Poetrie was neuer perfited inLatinvntill by trewImitationof the Grecians, it was at lengthbrought to perfection: And also thereby to exhorte the goodliewittes of England, which apte by nature, & willing by desire,geue them selues to Poetrie, that they, rightly vnderstanding thebarbarous bringing in of Rymes, would labor, asVirgilandHoracedid in Latin, to make perfit also this point of learning,in our English tong.And thus much forPlautusandTerence, for matter, tong, andmeter, what is to be followed, and what to be exchewed in them.AfterPlautusandTerence, no writing remayneth vntillTulliestyme, except a fewe short fragmentes ofL. Crassusexcellent wit, here and there recited ofCicerofor example sake,whereby the louers of learnyng may the more lament the losseof soch a worthie witte.
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And although the Latin tong did faire blome and blossome inL. Crassus, andM. Antonius, yet inTulliestyme onely, and in Tullie himselfe chieflie, was the Latin tong fullie ripe, and growne to the hiest pitch of all perfection. And yet in the same tyme, it began to fade and stoupe, asTulliehim selfe, inBrutus de Claris Oratoribus, with weeping wordes doth witnesse. And bicause, emongs them of that tyme, there was some difference, good reason is, that of them of that tyme, should be made right choice also. And yet let the bestCiceronianin Italie readTulliesfamiliar epistles aduisedly ouer, and I beleue he shall finde small difference, for the Latin tong, either in propriety of wordes or framing of the stile, betwixtTullie, and those that write vnto him. Asser. Sulpitius, A. Cecinna, M. Cælius, M. et D. Bruti, A. Pollio, L. Plancus, and diuerse Epi. Planci // other: read the epistles ofL. Plancusinx. Lib.x. lib. Epist. // and for an assay, that Epistle namely to theCoss.8. // and wholeSenate, the eight Epistle in number, and what could be, eyther more eloquentlie, or more wiselie written, yea byTulliehimselfe, a man may iustly doubt. Thies men andTullie, liued all in one tyme, were like in authoritie, not vnlike in learning and studie, which might be iust causes of this their equalitie in writing: And yet surely, they neyther were in deed, nor yet were counted in mens opinions, equall withTulliein that facultie. And how is the difference hid in his Epistles? verelie, as the cunning of an expert Sea man, in a faire calme fresh Ryuer, doth litle differ from the doing of a meaner workman therein, euen so, in the short cut of a priuate letter, where, matter is common, wordes easie, and order not moch diuerse, small shew of difference can appeare. But whereTulliedoth set vp his saile of eloquence, in some broad deep Argument, caried with full tyde and winde, of his witte and learnyng, all other may rather stand and looke after him, than hope to ouertake him, what course so 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 florish, and did leaue to posteritie, the fruite of their witte and learning:Varro, Salust, Cæsar, andCicero. Whan I say, these foure onely, I am not ignorant, that euen in the same tyme, most excellent Poetes, deseruing well of the Latin tong, asLucretius,
the ready way to the Latin tong.295
Cattullus, VirgillandHorace, did write: But, bicause, in this litle booke, I purpose to teach a yong scholer, to go, not to daunce: to speake, not to sing, whan Poetes in deed, namelieEpiciandLyrici, as these be, are fine dauncers, and trime singers, butOratoresandHistoricibe those cumlie goers, and faire and wise speakers, of whom I wishe my scholer to wayte vpon first, and after in good order, & dew tyme, to be brought forth, to the singing and dauncing schole: And for this consi- deration, do I name these foure, to be the onelie writers of that tyme.
¶Varro.
Varro, in his bookesde lingua Latina, et Analogiaas these beleft mangled and patched vnto vs, doth not enter //Varro.there in to any great depth of eloquence, but asone caried in a small low vessell him selfe verie nie the commonshore, not much vnlike the fisher men of Rye, and Hering menof Yarmouth. Who deserue by common mens opinion, smallcommendacion, for any cunning saling at all, yet neuerthelesin those bookes ofVarrogood and necessarie stuffe, for thatmeane kinde of Argument, be verie well and learnedlie gatheredtogither.His bookes of Husbandrie, are moch to be regarded, anddiligentlie to be read, not onelie for the proprietie, // De Rep.but also for the plentie of good wordes, in all // Rustica.contrey and husbandmens affaires: which can notbe had, by so good authoritie, out of any other Author, eitherof so good a tyme, or of so great learnyng, as out ofVarro.And yet bicause, he was fourescore yeare old, whan he wrotethose bookes, the forme of his style there compared withTullieswrityng, is but euen the talke of a spent old man: whosewordes commonlie fall out of his mouth, though verie wiselie,yet hardly and coldie, and more heauelie also, than some earescan well beare, except onelie for age, and authorities sake. Andperchance, in a rude contrey argument, of purpose and iudge-ment, he rather vsed, the speach of the contrey, than talke ofthe Citie.And so, for matter sake, his wordes sometyme, be somewhatrude: and by the imitation of the elderCato, old and out of vse:
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And beyng depe stept in age, by negligence some wordes do so scape & fall from him in those bookes, as be not worth the Lib. 3. // taking vp, by him, that is carefull to speake or Cap. 1. // write trew Latin, as that sentence in him,Romani, in pace à rusticis alebantur, et in bello ab his tuebantur. A good student must be therfore carefull and diligent, to read with iudgement ouer euen those Authors, which did write in the most perfite tyme: and let him not be affrayd to trie them, both in proprietie of wordes, and forme of style, by the touch stone ofCæsarandCicero, whose puritie was neuer soiled, no not by the sentence of those, that loued them worst. All louers of learnyng may sore lament the losse of those The loue // bookes ofVarro, which he wrote in his yong and of Var- // lustie yeares, with good leysure, and great learnyng roes // of all partes of Philosophie: of the goodliest argu- bookes. // mentes, 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 praysed, in the fragmentes ofNonius, euen for authoritie sake. He wrote most diligentlie and largelie, also the whole historie of the state ofRome: the mysteries of their whole Religion: their lawes, customes, and gouernement in peace: their maners, and whole discipline in warre: And this is not my gessing, as one in deed that neuer saw those bookes, but euen, the verie iudgement, & playne testimonie ofTulliehim selfe, who knew & read those bookes, in these wordes:Tu ætatem Patriæ: Tu descriptiones temporum:In Acad. // _Tu sacrorum, tu sacerdotum Iura: Tu domesticam, Quest. //tu bellicam disciplinam: Tu sedem Regionum, locorum,tu omnium diuinarum humanarumque rerum nomina, genera, officia, causas aperuisti. &c.But this great losse ofVarro, is a litle recompensed by the happy comming ofDionysius HalicarnassæustoRomeinAugustusdayes: who getting the possession ofVarroslibrarie, out of that treasure house of learning, did leaue vnto vs some frute ofVarroswitte and diligence, I meane, his goodlie bookesde Antiquitatibus Romanorum. Varrowas so estemed for his excellent learnyng, asTulliehim selfe had a reuerence to his Cic. ad // iudgement in all doutes of learnyng. And Att. //Antonius Triumuir, his enemie, and of a contrarie faction, who had power to kill and bannish whom
the ready way to the Latin tong.297
he listed, whanVarrosname amongest others was brought in a schedule vnto him, to be noted to death, he tooke his penne and wrote his warrant of sauegard with these most goodlie wordes,Viuat Varro vir doctissimus. In later tyme, no man knew better, nor liked and loued moreVarroslearnyng, than didS. Augustine, as they do well vnderstand, that haue diligentlie read ouer his learned bookesde Ciuitate Dei: Where he hath this most notable sentence: Whan I see, how muchVarrowrote, I meruell much, that euer he had any leasure to read: and whan I perceiue how many thinges he read, I meruell more, that euer he had any leasure to write. &c. And surelie, ifVarrosbookes had remained to posteritie, as by Gods prouidence, the most part ofTulliesdid, than trewlie theLatintong might haue made good comparison with theGreke.
Saluste.
Salust, is a wise and worthy writer: but he requireth a learned Reader, and a right considerer of him. //Salust.My dearest frend, and best master that euer I had // Syr Iohn or heard in learning, SyrI. Cheke, soch a man, as // Chekes if I should liue to see England breed the like // iudgement againe, I feare, I should liue ouer long, did once // and coun- giue me a lesson forSalust, which, as I shall neuer // sell for rea- forget my selfe, so is it worthy to be remembred // dyng of of all those, that would cum to perfite iudgement //Saluste.of the Latin tong. He said, thatSalustwas not verie fitte for yong men, to learne out of him, the puritie of the Latin tong: because, he was not the purest in proprietie of wordes, nor choisest in aptnes of phrases, nor the best in framing of sentences: and therefore is his writing, sayd he neyther plaine for the matter, nor sensible for mens vnderstanding. And what is the cause thereof, Syr, quoth I. Verilie said he, bicause inSalustwriting, is more Arte than nature, and more labor than Arte: and in his labor also, to moch toyle, as it were, with an vncontented care to write better than he could, a fault common to very many men. And therefore he doth not expresse the matter liuely and naturally with common speach as ye seeXenophondoth in Greeke, but it is caried and driuen forth
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artificiallie, after to learned a sorte, asThucydidesdoth in his orations. And how cummeth it to passe, sayd I, thatCæsarandCiceroestalke, is so naturall & plaine, andSalustwriting so artificiall and darke, whan all they three liued in one tyme? I will freelie tell you my fansie herein, said he: surely,CæsarandCicero, beside a singular prerogatiue of naturall eloquence geuen vnto them by God, both two, by vse of life, were daylie orators emonges the common people, and greatest councellers in the Senate house: and therefore gaue themselues to vse soch speach as the meanest should well vnderstand, and the wisest best allow: folowing carefullie that good councell ofAristotle,loquendum vt multi, sapiendum vt pauci.Salustwas no soch man, neyther for will to goodnes, nor skill by learning: but ill geuen by nature, and made worse by bringing vp, spent the most part of his yougth very misorderly in ryot and lechery. In the company of soch, who, neuer geuing theyr mynde to honest doyng, could neuer inure their tong to wise speaking. But at last cummyng to better yeares, and bying witte at the dearest hand, that is, by long experience of the hurt and shame that commeth of mischeif, moued, by the councell of them that were wise, and caried by the example of soch as were good, first fell to honestie of life, and after to the loue of studie and learning: and so became so new a man, thatCæsarbeing dictator, made him Pretor inNumidiawhere he absent from his contrie, and not inured with the common talke of Rome, but shut vp in his studie, and bent wholy to reading, did write the storie of the Romanes. And for the better accomplishing of the same, he redCatoandPisoin Latin for gathering of matter and troth: andThucydidesin Greeke for the order of his storie, and furnishing of his style.Cato(as his tyme required) had more troth for the matter, than eloquence for the style. And soSalust, by gathering troth out ofCato, smelleth moch of the roughnes of his style: euen as a man that eateth garlike for helth, shall cary away with him the sauor of it also, whether he will or not. And yet the vse of old wordes is not the greatest cause ofSalustesroughnes and darknesse: There be inSalustLib. 8. // some old wordes in deed aspatrare bellum, ductareCap. 3. //exercitum, well noted byQuintilian, and verie De Orna- // much misliked of him: andsuppliciumforsuppli-tu. //catio, a word smellyng of an older store than the
the ready way to the Latin tong.299
other two so misliked byQuint: And yet is that word also inVarro, speaking of Oxen thus,boues ad victimas faciunt, atque adDeorum supplicia: and a few old wordes mo. ReadSalusteandTullieaduisedly together: and in wordes ye shall finde smalldifference: yeaSalustis more geuen to new wordes, than toolde, though som olde writers say the contrarie: asClaritudoforGloria:exactèforperfectè:Facundiaforeloquentia. Thiestwo last wordesexactèandfacundianow in euery mans mouth,be neuer (as I do remember) vsed ofTullie, and thereforeI thinke they be not good: For surelyTulliespeaking euerywhere so moch of the matter of eloquence, would not soprecisely haue absteyned from the wordFacundia, if it hadbene good: that is proper for the tong, & common for mensvse. I could be long, in reciting many soch like, both olde &new wordes inSalust: but in very dede neyther oldnes nornewnesse of wordes maketh the greatest difference // The cause whybetwixtSalustandTullie, but first strange phrases // Salust is notmade of good Latin wordes, but framed after the // like Tully.Greeke tonge, which be neyther choisly borowed of them, norproperly vsed by him: than, a hard composition and crookedframing of his wordes and sentences, as a man would say,English talke placed and framed outlandish like. As forexample first in phrases,nimius et animusbe two vsed wordes,yethomo nimius animi, is an vnused phrase.Vulgus, et amat, etfieri, be as common and well known wordes, as may be in theLatin tong, yetid quod vulgò amat fieri, forsolet fieri, is buta strange and grekish kind of writing.Ingens et viresbeproper wordes, yetvir ingens viriumis an vnproper kinde ofspeaking and so be likewise,
{æger consilij.{promptissimus belli.{territus animi.
and many soch like phrases inSalust, borowed as I sayd not choisly out of Greeke, and vsed therefore vnproperlie in Latin. Againe, in whole sentences, where the matter is good, the wordes proper and plaine, yet the sense is hard and darke, and namely in his prefaces and orations, wherein he vsed most labor, which fault is likewise inThucydidesin Greeke, of whomSalusthath taken the greatest part of his darkenesse. For
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Thucydideslikewise wrote his storie, not at home in Grece, butabrode in Italie, and therefore smelleth of a certaine outlandishkinde of talke, strange to them ofAthens, and diuerse from theirwriting, that liued in Athens and Grece, and wrote the sametyme thatThucydidesdid, asLysias, Xenophon, Plato, andIsocrates, the purest and playnest writers, that euer wrote in anytong, and best examples for any man to follow whether hewrite, Latin, Italian, French, or English.Thucydidesalsosemeth in his writing, not so much benefited by nature, asholpen by Arte, and caried forth by desire, studie, labor, toyle,and ouer great curiositie: who spent xxvii. yeares in writing hiseight bookes of his history.Salustlikewise wrote out of hisDionys. // contrie, and followed the faultes ofThuc.toHalycar. // moch: and boroweth of him som kinde of writing,ad Q. / which the Latin tong can not well beare, asCasusTub. de //nominatiuusin diuerse placesabsolutè positus, as inHist. Thuc. // that place ofIugurth, speakingde leptitanis, itaque abimperatore facilè quæ petebant adepti, missæ sunt eò cohortesligurumquatuor. This thing in participles, vsed so oft inThucyd.and otherGreeke authors to, may better be borne with all, butSalustvseththe same more strangelie and boldlie, as in thies wordes,Multissibi quisque imperium petentibus. I beleue, the best Grammarien inEngland can scarse giue a good reule, whyquisquethe nominatiuecase, without any verbe, is so thrust vp amongest so manyoblique cases. Some man perchance will smile, and laugh toscorne this my writyng, and call it idle curiositie, thus to busiemy selfe in pickling about these small pointes of Grammer, notfitte for my age, place and calling, to trifle in: I trust that man,be he neuer so great in authoritie, neuer so wise and learned,either, by other mens iudgement, or his owne opinion, will yetthinke, that he is not greater in England, thanTulliewas atRome, not yet wiser, nor better learned thanTulliewas himselfe, who, at the pitch of three score yeares, in the middes ofthe broyle betwixtCæsarandPompeie, whan he knew not,whether to send wife & children, which way to go, where tohide him selfe, yet, in an earnest letter, amongest his earnestAd Att. // councelles for those heuie tymes concerning bothLib. 7. Epi- // the common state of his contrey, and his ownestola. 3. // priuate great affaires he was neither vnmyndfullnor ashamed to reason at large, and learne gladlie ofAtticus,
the ready way to the Latin tong.301
a lesse point of Grammer than these be, noted of me inSalust, as, whether he should write,ad Piræea, in Piræea, orin Piræeum, orPiræeum sine præpositione:And in those heuie tymes, he was so carefull to know this small point of Grammer, that he addeth these wordesSi hoc mihi zetema persolueris, magna me molestia liberaris. IfTullie, at that age, in that authoritie, in that care for his contrey, in that ieoperdie for him selfe, and extreme necessitie of hys dearest frendes, beyng also the Prince of Eloquence hym selfe, was not ashamed to descend to these low pointes of Grammer, in his owne naturall tong, what should scholers do, yea what should any man do, if he do thinke well doyng, better than ill doyng: And had rather be, perfite than meane, sure than doutefull, to be what he should be, in deed, not seeme what he is not, in opinion. He that maketh perfitnes in theLatintong his marke, must cume to it by choice & certaine knowledge, not stumble vpon it by chance and doubtfull ignorance: And the right steppes to reach vnto it, be these, linked thus orderlie together, aptnes of nature, loue of learnyng, diligence in right order, constancie with pleasant moderation, and alwayes to learne of them that be best, and so shall you iudge as they that be wisest. And these be those reules, which worthie MasterChekedyd impart vnto me con- cernyngSalust, and the right iudgement of theLatintong.
¶Cæsar.
Cæsarfor that litle of him, that is left vnto vs, is like thehalfe face of aVenus, the other part of the head beyng hidden,the bodie and the rest of the members vnbegon, yet soexcellentlie done byApelles, as all men may stand still to maseand muse vpon it, and no man step forth with any hope toperforme the like.His seuen bookesde bello Gallico, and threede bello Ciuili, bewritten, so wiselie for the matter, so eloquentlie for the tong,that neither his greatest enemies could euer finde the least noteof parcialitie in him (a meruelous wisdome of a man, namelywrityng of his owne doynges) nor yet the best iudegers of theLatintong, nor the most enuious lookers vpon other menswritynges, can say any other, but all things be most perfiteliedone by him.
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Brutus, Caluus, andCalidius, who found fault withTulliesfulnes in woordes and matter, and that rightlie, forTulliedidboth, confesse it, and mend it, yet inCæsar, they neither did,nor could finde the like, or any other fault.And therfore thus iustlie I may conclude ofCæsar, thatwhere, in all other, the best that euer wrote, in any tyme, or inany tong, inGrekeorLatin, I except neitherPlato, Demosthenes,norTullie, some fault is iustlie noted, inCæsaronelie, couldneuer yet fault be found.Yet neuertheles, for all this perfite excellencie inhim, yet it is but in one member of eloquence, andthat but of one side neither, whan we mustlooke for that example to folow, which hatha perfite head, a whole bodie, forwardand backward, armes andlegges and all.