The Teaching and Cultivation of the French Language in England Part 53

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 a.s.sistance 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 ill.u.s.trious persons who have leisure and inclinations to cultivate their minds beyond a farce, a horse, a wh.o.r.e 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 a.s.sume 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 subst.i.tute French, Dutch, and Italian for Latin, Greek, and Hebrew at the universities. Others recommended that the cla.s.sics 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 cla.s.sical plays amongst his books.[1085] And at a somewhat later date the Abbe 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 Pere Bouhour a ete gotee en Angleterre de tous ceux qui sont en etat de juger des Beautes de l'Original et de la fidelite avec laquelle chacun de vous les a rendues."

The readiness with which the English read French books also attracted the Abbe'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 cla.s.s-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 inst.i.tutions 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 a.n.a.logic.u.m, 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 p.r.o.nouncing French, taken, without acknowledgement, chiefly from Wodroeph, and followed by selections from Pierre de Laine's _Royal French Grammar_ of 1667. Learners of French are advised to master the p.r.o.nunciation 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 G.o.d, 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 s.e.x 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 s.e.x 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 advertis.e.m.e.nt of the curriculum; instruction in French and Italian was given by foreigners, and mathematics, music, and the "exercises" received attention. [Header: FRENCH IN PRIVATE INSt.i.tUTIONS] 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. Laine,[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 cla.s.ses: 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 a.s.sured, and they became ardent supporters of the new monarch. They arrived in such mult.i.tudes, 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 eglises du Refuge_, ii. p. 311.

[1048] _Savile Correspondence_, Camden Society, 1856, _pa.s.sim_.

[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. Ba.s.sett....

[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 Miege'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 Veritable et a.s.sure Chemin du Ciel en Francois et en Anglois_ (1681), and the _Bouquet ou un Amas de plusieurs veritez Theologiques_ (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 Theatre francois_ (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 juge qu'il meritoit de paroistre dans la langue francoise, comme estant plus universelle dans la chrestiente qu'aucune autre" (1671). Jusserand, _Shakespeare in France_, p. 20, note.

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

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

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

[1074] Epilogue to _Bellamira_.

[1075] London, 1678.