The Teaching and Cultivation of the French Language in England Part 15

[276] Brit. Mus. Royal MSS. 16, E 1. The whole consists of only eighteen small leaves, of which five are occupied by the dedication. No date is attached. The dedication continues:

"... S'ainsy estoit (Tresn.o.ble et Tresill.u.s.tre Dame) que i'attendisse le temps auquel ie peusse trouver et inventer chose digne de presenter a vostre excellence, certes, madame, i'estime que ce ne seroit de long temps: car quelle chose est ce qu'on pourroit monstrer de nouveau a celle a qui rien n'est cache, soit en langue grecque ou latine ou en la plus part des autres langues vulgaires de l'Europe: soit en la congnoissance des histoires ecrites en icelles ou en philosophie et autres liberales sciences. Puis donc qu'ainsy est que peu de livres antiques se peuent trouver que n'ayez leuz ou au moins desquels n'ayez ouy aucunement parler, ioint aussy qu'estes maintenant comme en lieu solitaire, ie vous vueil seulement ramentevoir une epistre de Basile le grand que i'estime qu'avez autres fois leue: en laquelle il recommande fort la vie solitaire ou au moins exempte des cures et solicitudes de ce monde: et ce a intention de pouoir induire celuy a qui il l'envoioit a la contemplation de Dieu et de la vie future: qui sont les choses ausquelles devons le plus penser durant que sommes en ce monde comme estans les causes qui plus nous donnent occasion de bien vivre... ."

[277] Sylvius (1530) had proposed a new system of orthography based on etymology and p.r.o.nunciation. Meigret, however, was the chief exponent of the reformers, who sought to make orthography tally with p.r.o.nunciation (in his _Traite touchant le comun usage de l'escriture francoise_, 1542 and 1545, and other works). Meigret was supported by Peletier du Mans (_Dialogue de l'ortografe et p.r.o.nonciation francoese_, 1549) and others, and bitterly attacked by the opposing party. The question, once opened, continued to be discussed until the decision of the Academy (founded 1649) settled the matter. Brunot, _op. cit._ ii. pp. 93 _sqq._

[278] "Ie vous ay escrit ce pet.i.t avertiss.e.m.e.nt de paour que paraventure, en lisant tant de diversitez d'impressions comme pourriez faire en ceste langue, ne sceussiez laquelle devriez suivre en ecrivant; mais il sera bon de suivre la plus part des modernes qui s'accordent quant a cela."

[279] Stevenson, _Cal. of State Papers_, foreign series, 1558-9, p. xxv, takes it for granted that Bellemain was Elizabeth's tutor in French.

[280] Strickland, _Lives of the Queens of England_, 1884: Life of Elizabeth, iii. pp. 9, 13.

[281] First printed at Alencon, 1531.

[282] This is at present in the Bodleian Library. It has an embroidered cover, probably by the princess herself. See Cyril Davenport, _English Embroidered Bookbindings_, London, 1899, p. 32. It was reprinted in 1897.

[283] There are two copies of this rare little volume in the Brit. Mus.

Another edition, varying considerably from the first, occurs in Bentley's _Monuments of the Nations_, iv., London, 1582 (Stevenson, _ut supra_, p. xxvi). It was republished in 1897.

[284] See Davenport, _ut supra_, p. 33. The original is in the Brit.

Mus.

[285] This little work appears to have been lost.

[286] Such as Hentzer the German, in 1598; Justus Zinzerling, 1610; Peter Eisenburg the Dane, 1614. See Rye, _England as Seen by Foreigners_, pp. 133, 171, 268, 282.

[287] D. C. A. Agnew, _Protestant Exiles from France ..._, 3rd ed., 1886, vol. i. p. 45.

[288] Haag, _La France Protestante_, and Cooper, _Athen. Cant._ i. 306.

Agnew, _op. cit._, does not mention that Chevallier was tutor to Elizabeth.

CHAPTER III

THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOUS REFUGEES ON THE TEACHING OF FRENCH IN ENGLAND--OPENINGS FOR THEM AS TEACHERS--DEMAND FOR TEXT-BOOKS--FRENCH SCHOOLS IN ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND

Religion, the question of all questions in the sixteenth century, was destined, incidentally, to exercise a great influence on the teaching of French in England. The conflicts resulting from the fierce hatreds aroused by the Reformation compelled many Protestants to seek asylum from the triumphant Catholic reaction abroad, and England was the land to which many of them fled.[289] Among these refugees were many who took upon themselves the task of teaching their native tongue to the English.

The second half of the sixteenth century was the time when this influence was most strongly felt, although it is not altogether negligible in the years immediately preceding. In France the Reformation had at first been favourably received at Court, but in the third decade of the century persecution began to drive some Protestants from their native land. They made their way to England with some trepidation at this early date,[290] for Henry VIII., in spite of his breach with Rome, had but little sympathy with the Protestants, although he refused on several occasions to surrender fugitive heretics to the French king.[291] [Header: FOREIGNERS IN ENGLAND] On the accession of Edward VI. in 1547, however, England became a more hospitable abode for the Protestants, driven from France in increasing numbers by the persecutions sanctioned by Henry II., whose reign coincided with that of Edward. When Mary came to the throne all protection extended to these fugitives was withdrawn, and we find many of their protectors fleeing in their turn "to the Church and Christian congregation, then dispersed in foreine realmes, as to the safest bay."[292]

The return of the English Government to Protestantism in the reign of Elizabeth coincided with the period of increased persecution on the Continent. Refugees arrived in great numbers, not only Huguenots from France, but also subjects of Philip II., Dutch, Flemings, and Walloons, fleeing from the cruelties of Alva.[293] These inhabitants of the Low Countries came to England in greater numbers than the Huguenots.[294]

Many of them, such as the Walloons and Burgundians, spoke French; and, while the chief teachers of the time were drawn from the Huguenots, a large group of these French-speaking Netherlanders also joined the profession. To these two cla.s.ses of French teachers must be added a third, the Roman Catholics, who formed the largest proportion of the foreigners in England.[295]

The number of foreigners, augmented by the arrival of the refugee Dutch and French, created a situation which required serious consideration.

These foreigners now formed a large fraction of the general population--probably about one in twenty of the inhabitants of London.[296] It became indispensable to keep some record of them, especially as there was a danger that spies and Roman Catholic emissaries might enter the country under the guise of refugees, and the overcrowding resulting from the arrival of so many aliens was becoming a serious matter. In earlier reigns the names of strangers in London had been registered; but in the time of Elizabeth a census, both numerical and religious, was taken more systematically, and at more and more frequent intervals. In these returns of aliens dwelling in London,[297]

the names of many French teachers are preserved. Frequently their profession is stated, and we are told what church they attended and whether or not they were denizens, as well as the part of London in which they dwelt, and, in the lay subsidies, the amount they had to pay towards the heavy taxes levied on strangers.

Other names are preserved in the lists of the grants of letters of denization.[298] This grant made the precarious position of foreigners in England more secure. Denization became almost indispensable to any one wishing to exercise a craft or trade. These letters gave the recipient much the same privileges as a native, except that he was still subject to special taxation.[299] Only those intending to settle in England would trouble to take out letters of denization; and that many of these foreigners' stay in England was only temporary is shown by the fact that, when the number of strangers was greatest, as after the St.

Bartholomew ma.s.sacre, there is no marked increase in the number of denizations granted.

Means for registering the Protestant section of the community of foreigners were provided through the Dutch and French churches in London.[300] In 1550, Edward VI. had granted the dissolved monastery of the Austin Friars to the foreigners as a place of worship; some months later, owing to their increase in numbers, they were allowed the use of another building--St. Antony's Hospital in Threadneedle Street. The congregation was divided, the Dutch part remaining in the original church, while the French and the Walloons and other French-speaking refugees moved to Threadneedle Street. Both churches, each with two pastors,[301] were under the control of a Superintendent. But when, in the time of Elizabeth, the churches rose to new life, after their suppression in the reign of Mary, the Superintendent was replaced by the Archbishop of Canterbury. [Header: RECEPTION OF REFUGEES IN ENGLAND]

This change, however, did not prevent the refugee congregations from enjoying many of their former liberties, for in the time of Elizabeth the Archbishops, who had themselves experienced the hardships of exile in the reign of Mary, took a particular interest in the cause of the refugees. The English, indeed, complained, not entirely without reason, that the foreigners were allowed greater religious freedom than they themselves.

As French and Dutch refugees settled in different parts of the country, similar churches arose in these settlements. By the end of the reign of Elizabeth there were French-Walloon churches in existence at Canterbury, Glas...o...b..ry, Sandwich, Southampton, Rye, and Norwich. In 1552 all strangers were ordered to repair either to their own church or to the English parish church. These injunctions were renewed in the time of Elizabeth and became a useful means of checking the number of refugees in London. From time to time, during this reign, the Archbishop requested the ministers of the foreign churches to send him a list of their communicants. Foreigners who did not attend any church were not allowed to apply for the privilege of letters of denization.

Thus the aliens who arrived in England in such large numbers in the second part of the sixteenth century had many restrictions placed upon them, especially if they were engaged in any craft or trade which might arouse the commercial jealousy of the English. In the teaching profession such rivalry would not be felt to the same extent, though it did actually exist. In any circ.u.mstance, however, all the exiles had to endure the hatred and insults of the common people, from which, nearly two centuries later, Voltaire only escaped without injury thanks to his ready wit. Riots such as those of Evil May Day (1517) were directed mainly against foreign traders, but all foreigners, especially Frenchmen, were a continual b.u.t.t for the insults of the mob. Nicander Nucius remarks that the common people in England do not entertain one kindly sentiment towards the French. "Ennemis du francois" is one of the epithets applied to the English by De la Porte in his collection of epithets (Paris, 1571) on the different nations. The French priest, etienne Perlin, who was in England during the last two years of the reign of Edward VI., and thoroughly hated the country, calling it "la peste d'un pays et ruine," speaks bitterly of the contrast between the courteous reception the English receive in France, and the greeting of the French in England with the cry, "French dogue": "it pleaseth me not that these churls being in their own country spit in our faces, and they being in France are treated with honour, as if they were little G.o.ds."[302] All foreign visitors to England are at one in their complaints of the lack of courtesy among the people. The great scholar Casaubon says he was more insulted in London than he ever was in Paris; stones were thrown at his window day and night, and once he was wounded in the street on his way to pay his respects at Court.[303]

All these visitors, nevertheless, recognize that the English n.o.bility and gentry and those in authority are "replete with benevolence and good order," and as courteous and affable as the people are uncivil.[304] And thus we find foreigners, especially refugees, welcomed to chairs at the English universities, and foreign students having their fees refunded on showing they had suffered "for religion," and receiving ecclesiastical preferment.[305] Most of the chief families in the realm, we are told, received refugees into their midst. Laurence Humphrey[306] exhorts these n.o.ble families to fulfil the sacred duty of hospitality towards strangers, especially religious exiles, whose sufferings many of them had themselves experienced in the reign of Mary, and to provide them with necessary livings, admit them to fellowships, and allow them yearly stipends. "Which well I wot, the n.o.blest Prince Edward of happy memory most liberally did both in London and either university, whom some Dukes, n.o.bles, and Bishops imitated, chiefly the reverend Father and late Primate of England ... Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury....

Amongst the n.o.bles not the least praise earned Henry Gray, Marquis of Dorset, and Duke of Suffolk now a n.o.ble citizen of Heaven, who liberally relieved many learned exiles. The like may be said of many others."

Cranmer had entertained at Lambeth Pierre Alexandre and "diverse other pious Frenchmen," including Antony Rudolph Chevallier, who was tutor to Elizabeth for a short time. [Header: TUTORS IN PRIVATE FAMILIES] Matthew Parker, his successor to the see in the time of Elizabeth, followed his example and declared it to be a Christian duty to befriend "these gentle and profitable strangers." Cecil, Walsingham, and other dignitaries of the time also became their protectors, and, recognizing the advantages, both intellectual and commercial, which accrued to the country, sought by all means to ward off the hostile measures demanded from time to time by the English _bourgeoisie_.

One French teacher of the time, G. de la Mothe, says that so great was the affection of the English n.o.bility and gentry for the French that few of them were without a Frenchman in their houses. Thus Pierre Baro, a native of etampes and student of civil law who came to England at the time of the St. Bartholomew ma.s.sacre, was "kindly entertained in the family of Lord Burghley, who admitted him to eat at his own table."

Subsequently he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, and became Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at that university on the recommendation of his patron, besides being admitted to the degrees of Bachelor and Licentiate of Civil Law, and Doctor of Divinity (1576).[307] Lord Buckhurst had for a time in his house Claude de Sainliens or Holyband, the most popular French teacher of the time, and several other strangers; while Sir Nicholas Throckmorton gave shelter to two Burgundians, one Dutchman, and four Frenchmen, "whose names cannot be learned."[308]

In many instances we know that these refugees taught French when thus received into n.o.ble families, and it is extremely probable that such was almost always the case, for French was one of the chief studies of the higher cla.s.ses of society and held an important place in the courtly education of the time. This partiality for the language was called one of the rare vocations which distinguished the English n.o.bility. An idea of the intellectual accomplishments necessary to a young gentleman of the time may be gathered from the programme drawn up for Gregory, the son of Mr. Secretary Cromwell;[309] this comprises "French, Latin, writing, playing at weapons, casting of accounts, pastimes of instruments." Wilson, the author of the earliest treatise on rhetoric in English,[310] varies this scheme slightly; he commends the gentleman "for his skill in French, or Italian, or cosmography, Laws, Histories of all countries, gifts of inditing, playing on instruments, painting, and drawing." Lord Ossory, Duke of Ormond, for example, rode very well, was a good tennis-player, fencer, and dancer, understood music and played well on the guitar and on the lute; French he spoke elegantly, while he read Italian with ease--a careful and significant distinction between the two languages--and, in addition, he was a good historian and well versed in romances.[311]

Thus a place had to be a.s.signed to French in the education of gentlemen.

Thomas Cranmer,[312] for instance, wrote to Cromwell in 1539, making suggestions for the establishment of a College in the Cathedral Church at Canterbury, to provide for the instruction of forty students "in the tongues, in sciences, and in French"--a proposal which came to nothing, but is none the less important, as being the first attempt to reinstate French in an educational inst.i.tution.

In the sixteenth century the long-standing custom among gentlemen of sending their sons to the houses of n.o.blemen for education was still practised to some extent, and French was taught in these little communities.[313] The usual subjects of study were reading, probably writing, and languages, chiefly Latin and French. Sir Thomas More and Roger Ascham were both educated in this way. More, at the age of three, was sent to the house of John Morton, the chancellor, where he learnt French, Latin, Greek, and music. Ascham spent his early years in the house of Sir Humphrey Wingfield, who "ever loved and used to have many children in his house."[314] Sir Henry Wotton was "pleased constantly to breed up one or more hopeful youths which he picked out of Eton School, and took into his own domestic care."[315] It was also customary for young peers to become royal wards. In 1561 Sir Nicholas Bacon devised a plan for their "bringing up in virtue and learning" which he submitted to Cecil. [Header: FRENCH IN EDUCATION OF GENTRY] According to these articles,[316] the wards were to attend divine service at six in the morning, then to study Latin till eleven; nothing is said of breakfast, but an hour is allowed for dinner; from noon till two o'clock they were to be with the music master, from two to three with the French master, and from three to five with the Latin and Greek masters. The rest of the evening was devoted to prayers, honest pastimes, and music under the direction of a master. No doubt Cecil put this advice into practice.

Some years later, Sir Humphrey Gilbert drew up an admirable scheme for the "erection of an Academy in London for the education of her majesty's wards, and others, the youth of n.o.bility and Gentlemen," which was laid before the queen, probably in 1570. Although this scheme was never carried out, it is of great interest as showing what were the subjects most likely to be taught. Gilbert's plan is very extensive. French, of course, is included in the curriculum--"also there shall be one Teacher of the French tongue which shall be yearly allowed for the same 26.

Also he shall be allowed one usher, of the yearly wage of 10." Gilbert urges also the teaching of other modern languages--Italian, to which he a.s.signs about as large a place as to French, and Spanish and High Dutch, to which less importance is attached.[317]

French, then, was a recognized part of the education of the n.o.bility and gentry. Italian, it will be noticed, was also considered desirable, but chiefly for reading purposes.[318] In the Elizabethan era Italian literature had perhaps more influence on English writers than that of France, although it not infrequently reached England through a French medium. But when the first enthusiasm of the early days of the Renaissance had burnt itself out, Italian was not cultivated generally, except by those specially interested in literature or by those who had special reasons for learning it. Nor was Spanish much studied, except for practical purposes and the government services; Richard Perceval, for instance, put his excellent knowledge of the language at the disposal of Lord Burghley for the purpose of deciphering the packets containing the first intelligence of the Armada.[319] Neither language could be a dangerous rival to French, which alone was studied generally, and by ever-increasing numbers.

It was in private tuition that those Frenchmen desirous of teaching their language, or driven to do so by stress of circ.u.mstances, would find the readiest opening and the largest demand for their services.

Turning to the various registers of aliens, the earliest notices we find of French tutors are in the grant of letters of denization for the year 1544.[320] In that year one, John Verone, a French and Latin tutor to the children of William Morris, a gentleman usher to the king, received the grant, as did also a certain Honorie Ballier, a Frenchman who had been ten years in England, and was engaged in teaching his language to the children of the Lord Admiral, Lord Lisle, Duke of Northumberland.

Yet another teacher received the same privilege in this year--John Veron, one of the "eminentest preachers" of the time, and the author of various religious controversial works. He gained considerable preferment in the Anglican Church, and once preached before the queen at the Cross in St. Paul's Churchyard,--"a bold as well as an eloquent man," and a perfect master of the English tongue.[321] In the earlier part of his life in England, where he arrived about 1536, Veron had been engaged in teaching gentlemen's children; a task in which, say his letters of denization (1544), he "doth yet continue with intent ever so to persevere." Veron manifested his interest in the teaching of Latin and French by publishing a Latin, French, and English dictionary in 1552, the first dictionary, published in England, in which a place is given to French. It is based on the Latin-French Dictionary of Robert estienne,[322] with the addition of a column in English, and ent.i.tled _Dictionariolum puerorum tribus linguis Latina, Anglica, et Gallica conscriptum cui anglicam interpretionem adjecit Joannes Veron_.[323]

The impetus imparted to the teaching of French by the arrival of these large numbers of refugees naturally led to an increased production of books for teaching the language. [Header: TEXT-BOOKS FOR TEACHING FRENCH] Nearly all the grammars written in the second half of the sixteenth century are the work of Frenchmen,[324] the English, after their first initiative, soon giving place to the French writers on the language, although not without some protest. Some of these teachers no doubt made use of one or other of the grammars which had appeared in French; many of them taught without any such help, and a few were able to use one or other of the grammars which had already been published in England, while yet others set to work to compile text-books of their own. As many of them were, or had been, employed in n.o.blemen's houses, and had composed their grammars from material used in teaching in these n.o.ble families, it was easy for most of them to find patrons for their works,[325] and thus secure a greater measure of success by offering them to the public under the protection of some well-known and powerful name, which would "shadow these tender plants" from the "over violent rays of reproachful censurings." To dedicate a grammar to some famous pupil, with praise of his rare knowledge of French acquired by means of its contents and the excellent method employed by his tutor, the author, was a very good form of self-advertis.e.m.e.nt, freely used by the French teachers of the time. Among patrons of French grammars were Edward VI.

and particularly Elizabeth, who is, says one of these writers, "le vray port de retraite et asyle a.s.seure de ceux qui, faisans profession de l'Evangile, souffrent ores persecution soubs la Tyrannie de l'Antichrist"; another adds that she has "des estrangers les coeurs a volonte." Lord Burghley, Sir Henry Wallop, Sir Philip Wharton, and other influential men of the time also figure among the patrons of French teachers.

These French grammars which appeared in the second half of the sixteenth century are of a decidedly more popular kind than those of Palsgrave and Duwes, and appeal to a larger public. The earlier grammars were written for the special use of royalty and the highest ranks of the n.o.bility.

Barclay, however, differs from his rivals in having a wider aim; his grammar is intended for the "pleasure of all englysshe men as well gentylmen marchauntes, as other common people that are not expert in the sayd langage." Palsgrave also, by way of epilogue, expresses the hope that the "n.o.bility of the realm and all other persons, of whatever state and condition whatsoever, may in their tender age, by means of it the sooner acquire a knowledge of French by their great pains and study"; but it is clear that the size and price of his book, not to mention the restrictions he placed on its sale, would prevent it from fulfilling any such aim.

In this new series of French text-books there appeared nothing which could compare in importance with the great work of Palsgrave; they were all the hasty product of teachers, and intended to meet a pressing practical demand. The authors had not the time, even if they had had the ability, to produce any comprehensive study of the language, and, consequently, their works are of more value as showing how French was taught in England, and its popularity here, than as a store of philological material for the historical grammarian. Rules of grammar are usually reduced to as small a compa.s.s as possible; and the largest part of the volumes is occupied by dialogues in French and English, which give lively and often dramatic pictures of contemporary family life, and of the busy London streets of the time. A place is also given to familiar phrases, collections of proverbs, and golden sayings.

The public to which such text-books appealed was wider, including merchants and commoners, as well as the gentry. Nor was the demand for tutors in the language confined to the higher cla.s.ses. At this time the great middle cla.s.ses were rising to wealth and prominence, and demanding a share in the intellectual distinctions of their social betters. "As for gentlemen, they be made good cheap in England," writes Sir Thomas Smith,[326] in reference to the democratic movement. In this new cla.s.s of Englishman, the teachers of French recruited a large number of their pupils. And so the French teacher who visited a clientele of pupils became a familiar figure in the London of the later sixteenth century.

The numerous French-speaking inhabitants of London, occupied in various trades and crafts in the city, were, so to speak, his unconscious collaborators, for the proportion of such foreigners in London was large enough to have some influence on the spread of the knowledge of French.

[Header: SHAKESPEARE'S KNOWLEDGE OF FRENCH] We have an instance of this indirect influence in the case of Shakespeare. From 1598 he lodged for about six years, and possibly longer, in the house of a Huguenot, one Christopher Montjoy, who lived in Silver Street, Cripplegate[327]--a well-to-do neighbourhood, and the resort of many foreigners. Montjoy was one of the French head-dressers who were in such demand at that time.

His wife, daughter, and also his apprentice, Stephen Bellot, formed the rest of the household, with whom Shakespeare seems to have lived on fairly intimate terms; he acted as a mediator in arranging a marriage between Montjoy's daughter and Bellot, and, some years later, was drawn into a family quarrel concerning a dowry which Bellot claimed and Montjoy refused to pay; in 1612 Bellot took the matter into the Court of Requests, and Shakespeare was one of the witnesses summoned. Finally the matter was referred to the consistory of the French Church, which decided in Bellot's favour.[328] It was no doubt during his sojourn in the house of this Huguenot family that he improved his knowledge of French, of which he gives evidence in his works.[329] The two plays in which he uses the language most freely--_Henry V._ and _The Merry Wives of Windsor_--were produced during the early time of his residence with Montjoy, whose name is given to a French Herald in _Henry V._ In _The Merry Wives_ the French physician, Doctor Caius, speaks a mixture of broken English and French,[330] and in _Henry V._ French is introduced freely into a number of the scenes,[331] while one, in which Katharine of France receives a lesson in English from her French maid, is entirely in French, and is here quoted for convenience' sake:[332]

(Enter _Katharine_ and _Alice_.)

_Kath._ Alice, tu as este en Angleterre, et tu parles bien le langage.