[Page] A CENSURE UPON Lilly's Grammar: Wherein, besides a DISCOURSE Of the Reason of EDUCATION; ARE SHEWN, The Contradictions, Falsities and false words, Omissions, Repetitions, superfluous Rules, and misplaced words in our Grammar.
By R. G. formerly of the Free-School in New-Castle.
Obest plerumque iis qui discere volunt, autoritas eorum qui se docere profitentur. Cic.
Sapientiam sibi adimunt, qui sine ullo judicio inventa majorum probant. Lactant.
London, Printed by B. W. for George▪ Downs, at the three Flower de Luces over against S. Dunstan's Church, in Fleet-Street. 1684.
To the Right Worshipful and Worshipful Aldermen • Nicholas Fenwick, Esq May. , • Sir Rob. Shaftoe, Kt. Record. , • Sir Ralph Carr, Kt. , • Sir Ralph Jennison, Kt. , • Sir Nathanae Johnson, Kt. , • Henry Brabant, Esq , • Timothy Davison, Esq , • Matthew Jeffreyson, Esq , • George Morton, Esq , • Timothy Robson, Esq , • William Blacket, Esq , • William Aubonee, Esq , and • Nicholas Ridley, Esq Sheriff. And to the rest of the Common Council of the Town and County of New-Castle upon Tine.
THE deep obligation you hav laid me under, in the time of my sickness, does not a little move me, to take the first occasion wherein [Page] to acknowledge my self indebted unto you.
What I present to your Worships, is a strict survey of Lilly's Grammar, which has bin view'd by several judicious persons and Masters of Free-Schools; and not without their good liking: And I doubt not, but it will giv satisfaction also to you my Worthy and learned Patrons, who are able to judge in the matter, and of competency to put a decision to the point: for, did Athens flourish more with men of learning, than does New-Castle? what City in the Land givs like incouragement thereto, and carries on her affairs with such unanimity and prudence.
[Page] I beseech you then allow it the shadow of your wing, and accept this acknowledgement of my gratitude, as a testimony how great my desires are, to manifest that I am unfeignedly,
A Copy of a Letter written to a Master of a Free-School, and of thirty six years standing.
HAving finished my Censure and Epitome of Lilly, which I told you of som time since: I now send them you, desiring that what oversights you meet with therein, may be impartially corrected.
None can say, I have bin severe upon him; having used [Page] less aloes than hony; and don but as others before me: Strabo Nulla salis mica est, nec guttula fellis in illa. found fault with Eratosthenes; Galen with Thessalus; and what School of Philosophy, is not at daggers-drawing with those who went before? yea, Horace sais, Grammatici certant—and why not I with Lilly? so with Heraclitus we may say, Omnia secundum litem fieri; and as Seneca observes; Tota hujus mundi concordia, ex discordibus constat. This then Nat. quaest. l. 7. was my task, by the help of those Authors prefix'd, to expunge what has not bin of use among the Ancients, [Page] or rather contrary thereunto: and to shew what latitude the Romans took in writing: for Apud nos nulla magis haberi verba & usit ata debent, & recepta; quam quae de veteribus illis magnorum Authorum thesauris proferantur.
Macrobius tels us plainly, Veteres indulsisse copiae per varietatem: as when they said, Exanimos & exanimes; Saturnalium & Saturnaliorum: and that Homo magnâ eloquentiâ is neither full nor perfect, but so taken: Quae custodiam attinent. Val. Max. Quod ad sordes attinuerat, id. Inter coenam. id. Inter coenandum. M. Sen. Hortor amare. Cic. for ut ament. Consilium coepisse hominum fortunas evertere. id. for evertendi. It visere. Ter. for visitatum. [Page] Charidemum dicere audistis. Cic: for dicentem. Viginti millium, & centum millia. Corn. Nepos.
After perusal, I pray return them stamped with your learned pen, which will, not a little, add credit and authority to them, and oblige me to be,
The Answer.
I Hav perus'd your Censure and Grammar, and cannot but approv of that undertaking, which tends both to a quicker acquiring all necessary Grammar-rules, and givs us an account of that liberty the Romans did, and therfore we may use.
As for the first, experience shews that too many years are spent in learning Lilly; even though the Master be industrious and skilful; and the Scholar apt and teachable: which puts me in mind of the complaints of many bemoaning, that by [Page] neglect, after leaving the School, they had almost lost all their Latin: whom I advis'd to begin with their Grammar and get it by heart; but they reply'd it was a task insuperable: and doubtless the repeted necessary rules, with others, wholly useless, greatly burdens the Scholars memory, which your Epitome has cur'd.
Now as for the second, even modern Writers, do not confine themselves to Lilly's rules; but take a greater latitude, as the old hav don; of which you hav giv'n account at large, and that, out of the Authors themselvs: so that the case is clear: for, came not rules at first from reading?
One thing I cannot approv, namely, that Laus & Vituperium—should be expung'd; for the Genitiv [Page] case, the latter of two Substantivs, is, as it were, possessor of the former: thus, Facundia Ciceronis, shews that Cicero possesses his Eloquence; but Puer boni ingenii, notes that the child possesses the wit. So that in this I cannot accord with you.
As for your Grammar, the undertaking is ingenious, and stored with many right good observations; as the Learned at Cambridge hav Characteriz'd it to you: and sure it is the most useful way in writing, to comprehend multum in parvo, and most helpful to the learner. Thus you hav the opinion of,
A CENSURE UPON LILLY'S Grammar.
1. LET it not seem strange to any that I pass a Censure upon Lilly, while I teach him; his method, indeed, is more distinct than others: but the world knows, his rules are faulty: and I cannot conceiv it injustice, either to examin or refute, the doctrin, of our predecessors: for pecudum more non ducimur, sais Lactantius. And thus in our own profession, did Hippocrates, above [Page 2] 2000 years ago; and Galen no less the like, who yet were as little infallible as they. Which seeing it falls in my way, take this following § for a digression.
2. Celsus De Med. l. 3. c. 4. telling that Hippocrates accounts, if a Fever abate on an other day than Critical, a relapse was wont to return: sais, Asclepiades did justly repudiate it as vain, &c. and a little below, adds that he keeps not to his purpose: thus gravely reproving him for his fancied critical days. After the same manner Helmont Tract. de Temp. speaks plainly, that he alwais observ'd with diligence, that there is never any crisis at all, where the Physician being Master of his Art knows how to take away the diseas before the usual time: and elsewhere De Feb. c. 11. sais; It is the part of a good [Page 3] and faithful Physician not to giv any regard to crises: but rather to prevent them: For nature never intends a crisis, but when she is left to shift for her self. Shall I tell you how his 24 Aph. is contradicted in the second Book Aph. 29. The 23d in the second Book by the 19th. And see how little truth is in Aph. 31. l. 5. Thus with Sanctorius Method. vitand. error. I do not account them of such verity as men cry them up to be: but many of them rather, as Cicero expresses it, Vix d [...]gna lucubratione anicularum: than to be of the monument of Physick: How are they then aeternae veritatis? Yea Galen himself, sticks not to contradict Hippocrates about Eunuchs having the Gout, and growing bald: Whereat Sen. Ep. 95. breaks forth, saying; What a wonder is it, that the greatest of Physicians should be taken in a lie? Nor is Galen less without his failings; whose 2000 [Page 4] pulses (as Dr. Primrose computes them) are more intelligibly known by their strength, greatness, frequence; with the contraries, and means of those extreems Sylvii prax. med. l. 1, c. 26.. And were it not too tedious, I could shew ten of his for one of Lillies contradictions. Then they who deify either, must needs be but children in the art: And if, as for certain they hav erred, and speak contrary to our senses, why should we not reject them? and so we may do with Lilly; for the way to redeem our art is (as my L. Bacon Novum Organ. Aph. 31. has it) to attempt an instauration ab imis fundamentis, from the very foundation: and first to take of that superstitious reverence, which has bin so long paid to the antiquated Masters of the profession. In which undertaking, if I happen to mistake, consider, that even the Roman [Page 5] Orator confesses himself incident Difficile est, in longa oratione non aliquando it a dicere, ut sibi ipse non conveniat. Brutus. thereunto: and as Lactantius Institut. l. 1. c. 5. observes, Aristotle though styled the Prince of Philosophers, yet saves others the pains to refute him, and contradicts himself: l. 2. c. 9. Nec enim ab ullo poterit Cicero, quam à Cicerone vehementius refutari. But to return.
3. The complaint of our Countreys slow instructing Youth, in the Latin tongue, is not without cause: which though it be a great ornament in a Gent. and such an accomplishment, as alone will man him abroad; yet is, I confess, purchased at an over high rate. But the fault may be as well in the Scholar, as in the Master: the duty of the latter, is easily discharg'd, seing advice and instruction, may sooner be given and [Page 6] enjoind, than followd and obeyd: the work and task of the former (I mean of the Scholar) may be retarded, and like Aristotl's pons asinorum, made unattainable; I mean where the Boy has a genial indisposition, and weak capacity; and withall affects not his Book: It is as hard a matter for a Master to penetrate that thick skull, as for a Boat to row against tide: If he com to som smatterings, they shall be as impertinent Laudamus verba benè rebus accommodata. Quintil. as Plin. Ep. 14. l. 2. Pliny's Attilius; or as hald as an Augean stable is impure. We need not revive Origen's or Philo's allegory, of singeing his tonguesend, with an hot Iron, Moses like, to make him a stammerer: Ex quovis ligna non fit Mercurius; he is not fit [...]. timber for polishing: such should be remanded to the place from whence they came, [Page 7] with a true account of their dulness, ere they be besotted by severe correction Caedi discentes minime velim, quia deforme at (que) servile est: quod si cui tam est mens illiberalis, ut objurgatione non corrigatur, is etiam ad plag as, ut. pessima quaeque mancipia durabitur. Quintil. Institut. l. 1. c. 3.. For there are, not only, particular Boys; but whole Nations indisposed for learning, whereunto is required, not only education, but a pregnant Minerva, and teeming constitution. For the wisdom of God, hath divided the genius of men, according to the different affairs of the world: and varied their inclinations, according to the variety of actions, to be performed therein; which they who consider not; rudely rushing, upon professions and ways of life, unequal to their natures; dishonour not only themselves, and their sunctions; but pervert the harmony of the whole world. Brown's Enquiry into vulgar errors. For if the world [Page 8] went on, as God hath ordained it; and were every one employed, in points concordant to their natures; Professions, arts and Kingdoms would rise up of themselvs; nor needed we a lanthorn to find a man in Athens.
4. Others ther are, I confess, whose wits, like wax, will take a full impression, and be cultivated by their Masters daily instruction; upon such has nature bestow'd a good memory, the chief fign of wit in a Boy (as Quintilian observes) adorned with those excellent properties, to apprehend the Masters dictates, with facility, and keep them with fidelity. Now these although by a long ambages and many weary paces, yet at last shew the true and genuin stamp of the Muses: and even such, you will say, make a tedious work of it; and scarce compass that part of their education, in less time than a seven years apprentice-ship: If they [Page 9] were to learn the China language, which consists of 50000▪ words; or Mithridates his 22, Valer. Max. l. 8. c. 7. sure they would need Methusalems years to acquire them in, although it were their only work, being freed of State affairs, wherwith he was incumbred. We likewise find, that a year or two, is time enough, to acquire the French or any forrein language: all which I must confess is true, and seems not strange to me, while we are such strangers to the thing we pretend unto, and never practice what we teach, I mean, speaking of Latin. As if with Aristotle in his Physics, we affirm [...], we taught and did not teach: whereas we know all things are perfected by practice Quarum omne opus est in faciendo, at (que) agendo. Cic. Ac. quaest. l. 4. Rerum omnium magister est usus. Caes. de bello civ. l. 2.. Thus if I see a Surgion open a [Page 10] vein, it will instruct me better how to do the same, than the reading in Books, where the arm should be strait bound, how the lance is held and guided in the breathing So, Quantitatem syllabarum Poetarum tectio multo faciliùs quàm regularum multitudo suppeditabit. Saisour Greek Grammar., and thus it is in every thing, Practice is the only Mistress, and want of use will caus our Mother tongue to rust. Thus Montaign affirms of himself Essais l. 1. c. 25., that hé learnt Latin from his infancy, without any rules of Grammar, and only by discours with his Master; the servants and others being all forbid to talk, unless som Latin words, unto him; and when he was six years old, he had got as pure a Latin tongue, as his Master could express; being then able to reduce bad Latin into good. So much does the life of every Study, Art, &c. depend [Page 11] upon use, that by practice, it becoms habitual; which ceasing, it is subject to decay, although it were attain'd before, unto perfection: What being is it likely then to hav, where it has never bin put into practice? Skill in Physic, cannot be attain'd unto, without an Hospital of sick people, wherby to give the Students insight into practice: for those [...]. Arist. Eth. l. 2. c. 1. things, which they who learn ought to practice, while they practice they will best learn. Even thus, if our Scholars were to board with us Plus viva vox & convictus, quàm oratio, proderit Quia longum iter est per praecepta, breve & effir ax per exempla. Sen. Ep. 6., or we with them, and instead of gabling English, all their discours were turned into Latin, in a year or two they would be expert, if follow'd closely, and corrected wherin their speech is incongruous; [Page 12] which would no less tend to the advantage of Masters, and breed a race, that could readily entertain any Forreiner with discours in Latin; and shake off that opprobrium of the British Ile.
5. Another impediment, no less than the former; and therfor not to be passed over slightly, is the long journey from In Speech to Prosodia; a greater Task than learning Latin (as a Reverend Dr. of the Church did lately tell me) and too much toil for a generous mind to be enslaved with; which makes so many of our Youth to nauseat School learning; being as glad to be taken from School; as a Prisoner to be set at liberty from a Gaol; rather choosing to be branded with the name of a dunce, than to be so enslav'd with daily repetitions of parts, and making of Themes and Verses, all which must be drawn out of another Fountain; and this must surely dull and confuse [Page 13] their young and tender wits; the rather seing as Montaign Essais l. 1. c. 25. remarks, half our age is consum'd that way. Many years being spent in learning bare words; I mean more, than an illiterat Nurs will be in teaching a child the English tongue, and as many years after, ere they can succinctly know, how to mingle and join them handsomly into one coherent orb: Much of which must be trifled in their learning without book every thing, while within Book they understand very little, as Ascham observes.
6. Now in detecting those repetitions, omissions, contradictions, and fals Latin, I meet with in Lilly, I shall offer such things, as upon reading Latin Authors Grammaticas rectè si vis cognoscere leges.Discere si cupias cultius ore loqui;Addiscas veterum clarissima scripta virorum:Et quos Authores turba latina docet—Quos qui non didicit, nil praeter somnia vidit,Certat & in tenebris vivere Cimmeriis.Lill. de moribus. [Page 14] and perusing other Grammars Sed tu nec stolidos imitabere Grammaticastros,Ingens Romani dedecus eloquii.id. ioidem. I hav collected, which I judgemay somewhat satisfie the curious: For Magna pars studiorum amoenitates quaerimus, sais Pliny, leaving cavillers to abound in their own sens; who, quia ipsi errant, irascuntur iis, qui veram viam sequuntur, Lact. Inst. l. 5. c. 1. To my King, and Parliament, it does belong to new model, to rescind or alter for publick use, what by their authority, has been, for so many years establisht. And this perhaps with my Grammar, may make way thereunto.
7. First, Then I hav observ'd several repetitions; som only of which I shall here name, and add the rest to the following Sections.
Those Figures Appositio, Syllepsis, Zeugma, Synthesis and Synecdoche are [Page 15] made rules in the Syntax, and yet set down at large after it; both of which the Boys are enjoin'd to learn.
The rule, Praepositiones cum casum amittunt—is thrice in the Accidence, and once in the Syntax; although ther be one that might serv for all in the Adverb: Moreover he givs it a plain contradiction by pòst in Longo post tempore venit, under adverbia diversitatis—where post which governs only an Accusativ, must there being an Adverb, govern an Ablativ: although the same words be under Praepositiones cum casum—to shew that pòst governs not tempore. Quorum participia frequentius dativo gaudent, is included in Verbalia in bilis—and Quamvis in his usitatior est dativus.
8. Again, there are sevral omissions, contradictions, &c. of which as they lie
In the Accidence.
IMuch question filia and nata ending in is: and as much agnus, lucus, populus,—being Vocativs. I read often Dei and Deis in Sen. Tragoed. Ovid, Livy, Martials epig. Ausonius, Tacitus, Lucan, &c. Yea Ter. Varro sais hi Dei. & l. 7. Ʋt hic Deus, sic hi Dei. Thus Dugard renders [...]. in Lucian, [...] 4. hominesve deive. Genius though no proper name has its Voc. in i sais Tibullus, and so Mercurius, if you dare credit Hor. and Cic.
Meridies an example for the 5th. decl. is said, not to hav the Plural.
Ʋnus is join'd to words of the singular; as Satis una superque vidimus excidia. Vir. Tabulae testamenti, unae [Page 17] erant allatae, alterae relictae. Caes. which tabulae for a will, Cic. has in the sing. as Tabulam ceratam dari, cerâ legitimâ: and a little after, he sais Tabulae unae. So duplices loci; uni è rebus ipsis. Cic. Or. Ʋnae literae, but som will say it is in the sing. only poëticè as with Ovid often. Ʋnae decumae. Cic. and ad unas unius agri decumas; and plus decumâ. id. Ʋnis moribus vivunt. id. Ʋnis vestimentis lautus es. id. Ʋnis vinculis duos alligat. Sen. controv. 19. l. 3. So that it seems to be a piece of elegancy, and as Priscian terms it, a peculiar property in unus, to be in the plural, with words taken as if in the singular: Thus in English we say, They are good ones: Lillies rule must then be inconsistent with Latin.
Som question nostrate in the Nom. seing Cic. sais, Iter Arpinas: and Livy, bellum Privernas: for after words in atis were contracted into as, as kept all genders: and it [Page 18] was hic & haec nostratis & hoc nostrate of old; as Lilly in Prosodia clears.
We may either use the Future Se Gell. noct. Att. l. 1. c. 7. Infinitiv; or Participle in rus; as, Hanc sibi rem praesidio sperant futurum. Cic. or futur am.
Cum with amarem he calls a conjunction, and in the Syntax he would hav it an Adverb, but without any reason.
We may as well say, there are Jurativ, dubitativ, permissiv—Moods as Optativ and Potential, which two in Latin with the Subjunctiv hav but one termination; different from the Greeks, which therfor must not be a precedent.
The present, preterperfect and future subjunctiv, may at any time supply the Imperativ: why then are they not set therin? or an hortativ and permissiv Mood annext? seing Lilly sais it is called so then: and why [Page 19] want we the first person sing. (for peream commands as much as amemus) seing we hav the first plural? or rather why hav we any of the Subjunctiv Mood therin? and ero an Indicativ, put to amatus in the Fut. Subj.
The same is in fiamus, fer at—all which want authority and reason for their place: Thus Gellius sais, Exul esto; not sit. Fortunis careto; not careat: and Cic. about the end of his works has Verbs in nto near 100 times; as Pietatem adhibento: opes amòvento—
The signs of the Pot. Mood, and Fut. tens Indic. must be us'd with discretion: for Cic. yea all Authors frequently make use of possum, volo—beyond what is allow'd in Schools, where they are generally taken for signs: although volo should be us'd when one is purpos'd to do a thing: A Fut. tens notes what is like to com to pass. Possum shews power in the [Page 20] person: the sign may, the lawfulness of the thing, or if the party hav got leav, that then he may do it. But can is exprest by possum; as you may see below: and ought by debeo; so would by volo; as, Pompeius munitiones Caesaris prohibere non poterat, nisi praelio decertare vellet—and a little after, Caes. sais, Si acrius insequi voluisset, bellum eo die potuisse finiri. So Juv. Omnia ferre si potes & debes. Illud debes cogitare. Cic. Haec nota esse debebunt. id. Vult emere agellum. Plin. in ep. Nihil volo de amico arrogantius dicere. id. Habere amicum volo. Sen. ep. 35. Ego volo discere. ep. 121. You shall find Cicero in his Off. full of such expressions thus, Quid habes dicere? and Sen. Non habeo tempus. Thus also the Greeks, S. Luke 13. 31. [...], so S. John 8. 44. [...].
[Page 21] I could never learn the difference between multum the Adjectiv and Adverb, in that repeted sentence Multum lucri in the English Rules:
Nor can I distinguish between est; in Orantis est, a personal in the English Rules; and est in Prudentis est, call'd an Impersonal under Haec tria Impersonalia—
In Orthographia, and those By-Rules.
9. Safter x must needs be ill omitted, becaus it obscures the simple word: as, in expes, exanguis: who knows whether they com of pes or spes; anguis or sanguis? wherfor it were better us'd, as it is in forrein prints.
Ctesiphon a Greek name, is a far fetch to prov the spelling of do-ctus; do having the sound of broad Scotch, a shame for English men to teach: so it were better spelt doc-tus and more naturally, being the true division of the word by its sound.
[Page 23] So A-bdomen is not a simple word as Lilly would have it, but coms of abdo, and should be spelt ab-dòmen.
Sisenna bids write patres familiarum: yet Caes. Cic. Livy, A. Hirt. Sen. in his Ep. Macrob. Festus, alwais write patribus familiâs, patrum or matrum familiae or familiâs.
We read Quinquatruum, Tac. Quinquatribus, Juv. and Cic. Quinquatriis, Cic. and ad Att. 17. l. 9. Pridie quinquatrûs: and per Quinquatrus serere. Plin. Nat. Hist. which Cal. tels us is of the second and third dec. and I think of the fourth also: though Lilly confine it to the second. Cic. and others say iens, and why may not we?
Animans, which he declines with haec or hoc, is also masc. by Hor. Quenquam animantem. Ser. 2. so by Cic. A quo animante reliquos contineri vellet animantes. de Ʋniv.
[Page 24] He sets abundans lactis for an example of Participls made Nouns when they govern another case than their Verb; and in Syntax he makes the Verb govern a Gen. in the same words. The rest you may expect in my Grammar.
In Propria quae maribus.
10. ALbula, Garumna, Lethe, Matrona, Sequana, Vistula rivers are Fem. so latae Garumnae. Auson. Jader is Neuter. Subur is a river and a town. Plin. Daphnus a city is masc. so Croto, Narbo: Pessinus is only masc. in Cic. Pliny sais, Hippo regius; utraque Hippo: and Hippo, quod Vibanus appellamus. Pontus the country is masc. Argos a country is neuter.
I find no need of Sunt etiam volucrum—for though mus, elephas, passer, anser—are Epicens, as are all beasts, birds and fishes specified by one word in both Sexes, as is told in the Genders; yet are declined with hic, by other rules: so hirundo, tigris, [Page 26] vulpes, cetus, ostrea (or ostreum) hav other rules for their articls.
Natalis is call'd an Adjectiv by Cal. having dies alwais either exprest or understood.
Virus is an Aptôte.
Penis and menses words seldom us'd, might with modesty be left out; as the Lacedemonians exported Archilocus his Books, being accounted immodest: not willing their children should be corrupted by them, lest their manners might be more depraved, than their wits improved.
Pelagus is also masc. by Val. Flacc. I read not halcionis Tanquam scopulum sic fugias inauditum, at (que) insolens verbum. Gel. noct. Att. l. 1. c. 10. but haec alcion; so that he has chang'd both the word and special rule to save his vers.
Ficus a fig. Lilly sais is of the fourth dec. and in Quae genus—the fig and its tree are of the second and fourth: [Page 27] and so Cic. has it; Qui arborem fici nunquam vidisset, fiscinam ficorum objecisti, and suspendisse se de ficu.
Ficus an ulcer is of the second dec.
Lar is masc. by Cic. and should be among the monosyllables.
Mulier is confest by Lilly to belong to the third special rule, though set under the second.
In o, signantia corpus—is obscure, for corpus there is physicum, to differ them from words of passion, or action, as lectio, corruptio.
Ausonius makes sal Neuter, Quibus additur aequoreum sal: so Donatus would have it n. as it is us'd by Physicians at this day, to distinguish it from hic sal a jeast: so sal nemo exigat. Vopiscus in Aur. Idsal. Varro in Fab. yet Celsus uses hic sal salt.
I find Python to be hic vel haec, though som deny it.
Cupido is often masc. by Hor. so Sen. Tragoed. Nullus hic auri caecus cupido: yet it is commonly Fem.
[Page 28] Plin. l. 2. c. 5. sais tres siseres.
Lilly givs hic & haec, only, to dives—and yet ingenium dives. Ov. Opus superstes. Lucan. oppidum locuples. Cic. why then not hoc also? degener ends in e or i, in the Abl. as Adjectivs of the third dec. Degeneri sub hoste. Lucan. Comes I find alwais us'd as a Substantiv, and Lilly has it under Communis generis—Statius sais also de paupere regno. and Sen. uberi solo.
In Quae Genus.
11. PErgama coms of Pergamum us'd by Sen. and Pliny.
Supellectilia is of old supellectile us'd by Ter. Varro.
Gargarus and Taenara sais Alvarus, were never red: but Gargarum Macrob. Sibila coms of sibilum in Seren.
I would gladly know the difference between instar the aptôte and Adverb. We read hic astus, ûs: & hi astus, astibus, Cic. Astu is a city.
Nil is by Syncope for nihil, which by Apocope is for nihilum, which Lilly affirms.
I am at a stand, whether to teach hoc verber in Propria quae maribus; or the diptôte.
[Page 30] Angelus Pol. sais meae preci: so Ter.
Frugi and opus are of both numbers.
Ausonius has frux, and Ter. Varro sais frugi rectus est natura frux.
Mille an Adjectiv wants the sing. but when a Substantiv, it has both numbers; we read also millia an Adjectiv pl. aptôte.
Centum is an aptôte, but its compounds are declin'd, ducenti, tae, ta; quingenti, &c.
Ditio is in Dictionaries.
Lac being moist, and gluten sold by weight, should not be in Nec licet his neutris—
Hesperos is a proper name with Cic.
Pliny sais Conjectare crassitudinem gelûs, so gelu is no aptôte; and if the Romans had needed its other cases, no doubt we had had them.
Tacitus has gratibus.
Cicero sais effatum.
[Page 31] I am to seek for his flexile cornum; yet read cornus and cornu; so cornûs Cervini. Plin. nat. hist.
I find no plebis, but only plebs & plebes; plebes jejuna. Lucan, so Cic. often, and Tac.
Pulver is old. Verborum delectus origo est eloquentiae. Cic. in Bruto.
Sen. nat. quaest. l. 2. has manubium.
Ausonius mapale.
We read tapetium, and tapetus as well as tapes.
So hoc sinapi, is: haec sinapis, and sinapi, the aptôte.
Lacus, ci; is denied.
Fores said to want the sing. is us'd by Hor. Exclusus fore, shut out of doors. Forem cubiculi. Val. Max.
It is an abuse to say nemo wants the Gen. Lilly notes it not, and Plaut. sais neminis misereri; thus also the Translators of the Minor Poets, Neminis ô Conjux.
In As in praesenti.
12. PLevi is obsolete.
Delevi is by Praet. dat. idem—which rule would make elicui to be elexi.
Levi seems to be of old leo, rather than of lino.
Cumbo, is, is not red; nor pegi, its compounds belong to Haec si componas—
Psalli I read not, nor nexo, is: nor crepo, is. So Cello is only in the compounds; and if so, what need Grammatica recte loqui docet; nec insuetas loquendi regulas commiaiscitur; sed quae plurimum in loquendo videt observari, eorum loquendi rudes, ne contra morem loquantur, admonet—si sana est. Morus. we them?
[Page 33] Sapui is by syncope, so sapisti oft us'd in Mart. Epig. Capessi is by Apocope, as lacessi, so incessi or sivi.
Tacitus has Accucurrit. and Sen. de ben. l. 4. So A. Hirt. annext to Caesar has adcucurrisse and accurrit; Concucurrissent, and concurrissent. A. Hirt. Liv. L. Florus, Vell. Paterc. Val. Max. Decucurri. Liv. Suet. A. Hirt. Sen. ad Marc. Plin. Tacit. decurrerit. Sex. Aur. Vict. & Val. Max. Curt. Excucurrerunt Liv. A. Hirt. excurrissem. Plin. l. 3. Ep. 4. Liv. l. 2. Praecucurri. A. Hirt. Plaut. Liv. Sen. and Caespraecurri. Plaut. Cic. Val. Max. Procucurri & procurri. Caes. Plaut. Florus. Transcucurrit. Sen. controv. 2. l. 1. transcurrerat. id. controv. 6.
Except retracto, pertracto, ablacto, becaus they change no vowel into e.
Also supersedeo and circumago from that of ago, emo—
[Page 34] Compounds of sto make stitum and statum; praestiti and praestavi. Am. Marc. praestitum, & statum, stiturum, Sen. de ben. and staturum. id. and also Quintilian. So constitum, constatum & constaturus, Sen. l. 1. de Clem. Martial and Plin. extatura. id. obstatum, obstatura.
Linquo he sais, makes lictum; and had he said only in the compound, he had not said amiss; for it wants the Sup. as in Haec raro aut nunquam—Thus we learn dreams; and must teach them by authority.
Pinso has pinsum, pistum and pinsitum.
Exculpo seems to be of sculpo, for scalpo forms excalpo in the compound.
Merui coms of mereo; Quid mereas? Cic. meritus sum of mereor, as may be seen in Mereor cum adverbiis—
Quod dat ui—omits intonatum.
Passus coms not of pateo a neuter, but of pandor a passiv; so Passis velis [Page 35] provehi. Cic. which Vir. renders Velorum pan dimus alas.
We want authority for titubatus, which is but a participle.
So for suetus, venditus, vidi of cerno, which yet he sais has crevi, and is us'd in the compound.
So for percussi of ferio; for minxi of meio; though Martial say Meiêre pedes, l. 11 and meibat. id.
And were it not better to say, quatio wants the praet.? for percussi coms of percutio: and that Ferio wants both praet. and sup. than to go beyond the Moon for percussi, which none can prov who use it?
Sido has sedi and sidi among Authors.
Sisto makes stiti not steti, sais Cal. and wants sup. for statum sais he is of sto; and he reasons the case at large.
[Page 36] Taedet forms taesum est, and pertaesum est must com from pertaedet; thus Gell. has pertaedebat.
Furo, vescor, liquor, medeor—want the praet. for insanivi, pastus sum—are too far fetcht.
Potus, tutus & tutum, fessus defessus, are nouns: and fatiscor is old. Cal.
Antecello, pateo, and viso want sup.
Resputum, Cal. Suctum, whence suctus, ûs, Plin. Nat. Hist.
Renutum, luitum, in. Dictionaries. So satactum. Cal.
I never knew the difference between Cedo, cedite the Verb and Adverb, nay hav grounds to think it cannot be an Adverb, seing it has both numbers, a thing to which Adverbs are strangers; it must then be only a defectiv Verb; the like I judge of age, agite: [...].
Som think inquio no Latin word and those places in Cic. and Catull corrupted.
[Page 37] Fer, he sais, is by Apocope for fere; and why then does he teach fer ferto? There he tels us furo is not red, and yet he has it in As in praesenti, but pass it, he sais insanivi after it.
In Syntaxis.
13. THe second and third rule were fully exprest by Rectus saepe subauditur.
In Aliquando Oratio supplet locum substantivi, audito seems to be absolute, and set for re audita; and who can shew me any difference between it, and Audito Christum venisse, under Ablativus absolute sumptus? I confess it answers to What; but what is that to the purpos, seing it is without concord, and as little needed.
Rerum in Quod omnium rerum est primum; breaks that claus in Nomina part. genito à quo & genus mutuantur, gaudent; which sais the Gen. rerum will make primum to be of the [Page 39] same gender: Now this claus fails also in heteroclits, collectivs, and when an Adjectiv regards a preceding Substantiv.
Aliquando relativum is difficult, and needless; its latter example belongs to Haec possessiva—.
Res is somtimes us'd; Tres sunt res. Cic.
Laus & vituperium—when in a Gen. is by Quum duo substantiva—when in an Abl. then praeditus, ornatus, perfectus or such a like word, is either understood by Ellipsis; or exprest by Dignus, indignus—or Forma vel modus.—So we have it in our chois to express or omit them, and that with elegancy; yet Cic. in Verr. and indeed all over more frequently expresses them; Adolescentibus bonâ indole praeditis, sapientes senes delectantur: which Lilly in the English Rules has without praeditis. And whether makes the better authority? without doubt the Roman. [Page 40] Orator Ille se profecisse sciat, cui Cicero valde placebit—Qui non bominis, sed eloquentiae nomen habet. Quintil.: for the Broad Seal was never intended to countenance Errors. We may also use the Nom. Rufus homo doctus, (and Dativ) & philosophiae deditus.
We say Similis tui, like thee in manners: similis tibi, like thee in person.
Caesar sais Proxime Rhenum incolunt; and Proximi Rheno. and Curt. Proximi Aethiopum: and Ovid, Proximus ad dominam—sedeto. the first as it coms of the Preposition prope: the second by Adjectiva quibus commodum—the third, by Quaedam ex his—the fourth, by Natus, commodus—and Sen. sais, Proxima ab his sunt. l. 1. de benef. & Prope ab ultimo est. id. Ep. 15.
We may use or want quam with a Comparativ; Tu eruditior quam Piso, prudentior quam Cotta, abundantior consilio quam Crassus.
[Page 41] Cic. so unam moestiorem, quam caeteras. Curt. or caeteris without quam. Yea Virgil for quam, has ante with its case; Scelere ante alios immanior omnes, for aliis omnibus: which I find also in the Superlativ; Ei unus ante alios fuerit charissimus. Corn. Nepos.
Nomina ex Con—as Commilito Pompeio. Cic is fully comprehended in Est ubi in dat. vertitur, being general.
Quaedam ex his—hav also their contraries; Sectani dissimilis es. Hor.
Interrogativum & ejus [...]redd. so Mei, tui, sui—Meus, tuus—Sui & suus—Ipse & idem—are guides in making, not in parsing Latin: for there are other rules which teach them in parsing: thus Mei, tui—is by Quam duo subst. Meus, tuus—by Ad eundem modum—Again ille is often us'd for se the reciprocal: Possessivs for primitivs; Mea causa fecit. Cic. Nostra causa faceremus. Ter. Odium [Page 42] tuum. id. Invidia mei. Cic. sc. de qua mihi invidetur. Linacrus will shew you that one Case, Number, Mood, Tens and part of Speech is often put for another: and by Ellipsis that any of the parts of Speech are understood in Authors.
Haec possessiva—makes sui have a Gen. after it; and yet he writes Suo sibi jugulo gladio; so Cic. suo sibi victitant succo: now in both, ipsius were Grammatical and also Roman: so we se that rule Haec possessiva—does not alwais hold; and those Genitivs ipsius, solius—are seldom us'd, and then only ad pompam.
The rules would then bin more teaching, if they had shewn the liberty of a Roman in this and others: for as Alv. the Jesuit in his Grammar remarks; We must observ the right use of Authors, which supplies, yea exceeds all Grammar rules.
Iste I find us'd in prais; and ille in contempt. Istum pene solum lego [Page 43] Cic. Adulter ille. Sen. in Trigoed. Fingite aliquem, qui isti par ad nefarias libidines esse possit. Is erat Apollonius ille. Cic. Ridiculum est illud Neronianum vetus in furace servo. id. Ridentur imagines quae in deformitatem ducuntur, ut meum illud in Helmium, id. so you may se ille is only us'd to point at one remote, and iste at one near him I speak to: as is most plain in those Orations of Cic. in Catil. who being in the Senat, Cic. sais, si iste unus tolletur. And in the next, being banished Rome, he alwais stiles him ille; though no less notorious, than when pointed at iste; Vicimus cum illum ex occultis insidiis conjecimus: and a little after, Nec ego sum ferreus ille.
Instead of hic and ille, we may use alter & alter; Praeter Aeduos & Rhemos, quos honore habuit, alteros pro vetere fide; alteros pro belli officiis, nulla fere fuerit civitas non suspecta nobis. Caes. or ille and ille; Credc cum vidisset [Page 44] qui homines in hisce subselliis sederent, quaesisse, num ille, aut ille defensurus esset. Cic. Or, unus and alter; Elis duas familias habet, Jamidarum unam, alteram Clutidarum. id.
Infinitum utrinque—is fals: for although it will admit of a Nom. after it, yet never before it; but when it is put for an Indicativ by Enallage modi: and the Nominativs in its examples com before the principal Verb, and not before the Infinitiv; which often has an Acc. before and after it.
The three last examples are contrary to the Rule; and patched by the next.
Sum with a Gen. has officium, proprium, or such a word understood; which Cicero more frequently expresses than omits; Proprium est stultitiae. Oratoris est officium, so Pecus est Meliboei, sc. pecus. which is as plain an Ellipsis as any examples he has in [Page 45] Ponitur genitivus tantum—the former Substantiv being understood.
The next Rule, Meum, tuum,—is only adjectivum in neutro genere—neither did any ever read est, with meâ, tuâ—or with a Genitiv, otherwise than is here set down: so that Haec tria impersonalia—must be but duo, or else it is fals.
Ʋterque, nullus—wants good authority; for Grammarians (as Laurentius who is said to hav made this Rule) are invalid without the concurrence of Roman Authors.
Misereor with a Dativ, I judge, not to be imitated; seing the best Copies hav hujus, not huic misereor, his only example, which is in Sen. de vitâ beatâ, c. 24.
In Ex his quaedam efferuntur—he has juvat, as if it were commonly red with a Dativ; wheras juvat whether personal, or impersonal has only an Acc. according to him: indeed [Page 46] Plautus givs it a Dativ, but that is obsolete.
Do tibi literas, is said to a Messenger: Do ad te, is said to him they are sent to: yet Ovid sais, Hanc—tibi mittit Ʋlysses, which to salv, you must call poëticé. So Martial, Miraris docto quod carmina mitto Severo: the title being ad Severum.
Under Verba obsequendi—are three examples, which belong to Dat. postulant—
The like in the next Rule, which besides, has one belonging to In Dat. feruntur—viz. Saevis inter se convenit ursis; also its first, Adamorem nihil potuit accedere, owns Verba composita cum à, ab, ad—
Thus few Rules between Omnia verba—and Verba transitiva—hav all their examples suitable; and were more intelligible if drawn into two Rules.
[Page 47] Verbs compounded with benè satis and malè, are plainly Verbs of profit, or disprofit.
Praeiret exercitui. Ter. Varro. and Ʋt mihi praeeatis, sais Cic. though Lilly confine praeeo to an Acc.
We may use habeo as well as est for habeo, which is frequent with Cic. Quintil.—Habeo opus magnum in manibus. Cic. Haec fere dicere habui de natura deorum. id. De nostris somniis quid habemus dicere? id.
Two negativs in Latin do affirm; nemo non eadem volet. sc. omnes volant.
Sum in Comp. either has a Dativ by Dat. postulant—or which is as common, has its Preposition repeted by Verba composita—Inerant in urbe. Cic.
A Verb transitiv is such, as passeth into an Acc. of the person suffering.
Vestiendi verba—with a Dativ, is acquisitiv; with an Ablativ, is by Quodvis verbum—
[Page 48] Per with his Case, is us'd for the Ablativ of the instrument, and of the caus, &c. Id facinus auctum per stuprum. Cic. Per vim expulso socio. id. So the agent with a passiv, Ab imprudente, aut per imprudentem interfectus. Quintil. Judicium per eum corruptum putabatur.
Delector I find only once with a Prep. ab altero delectêre. Cic.
If there be no Preposition with Verbs specified under Quaedam accipiendi, as Abstinuit Venere. Hor. say Praepositio subauditur: which Lilly might hav noted, seing abstinuit with a Prep. is set under the former Rule.
Som question his examples in Vertitur hic abl.—and call them old Ablativs: but for aliquando he might hav said saepe; thus Claud. Abest urbi.
Eripiamus huic aegritudinem. Cic. Abstulit urbi. Juv. And indeed Quaedam accipiendi—is of little use, only as it founds Vertitur hic abl.—for the Verbs there noted, commonly [Page 49] belong to Verba composita cum à, ab—or (as before) the Preposition is left out, by Praepositio subaudita—Aquâ prohibet. Caes. Abstinet concubitu Juv.
The Ablativ absolute commonly has a word in ing with it.
Cic. uses Adjectiv verbals in bilis, as Verbs Passivs; Separabilem à corpore esse.
His first Supines absolute, are Impersonals.
Part or Continuance of Time, is indifferently us'd in the Acc. or Abl. Case by Authors.
Time answering to quamdiu seldom has an Abl. but an Acc. Septem regnavit annos. Liv. Yet Sexaginta annis regnasse. Plin. Vixit annis 29. Suet.
Time answering to quando, has an Abl. Datum est anno superiore. Cic. This by many is thought the best and surest Rule.
Omne verbum admittit gen. is often broke: Habitaturum putas fuisse in Ʋ ticâ. [Page 50] Sen. Ep. 51. In Cajetâ est parata. Cic. Ad Corfinium gestae. Caes.
Humi, domi—fail as much; Resedit humo, Ov. Corpora devolvunt in humum. id. Maneant in domo. id. Neque ducem in bello, nec principem domi res magnas gerere potuisse. Cic. Thus Sen. In bello meas, in domo etiam filii manus perdidi. l. 1. controv. 4. and relating the same story again he has domi perdidi; which if Roman, why not regular? Livy also writes domi, bello (que). Nequam esse in domo. Plin. Nat. Hist. In domo clari hominis adhibenda est cura laxitatis. id. Domo moestus. Cic. Salust who was Cicero's contemporary, uses humi, for in the ground; Duodecim pedes humi depressus. and Quae humi gignuntur. sc. arbores. id.
Domi non alios—is as little kept as either; Vix credens potuisse illum in domo suâ nasci. Sen. de benef. l. 3. Ʋt in suâ domo duae partes essent. id. l. 5. Si modo nostrâ in domo unquam fuisti. Sen. in his Tragedies. In suis domibus servat. [Page 51] Val. Max. In domo suâ haerentem. Suet. In domo meâ convaluit. Cic. and Pliny l. 7. Ep. 16. has the same words. Erat in domo nostrâ locus. Quintil. Non licuit in domo suâ spiritum effundere. id. In domo meâ ageretur. id. This Quintilian was Master to Pliny the younger, and taught School 20 years; yet se how little he observs this Rule: sure his Grammar had it not. Nay where he once observs one of these three last Rules, he breaks them thrice; and very seldom sais domi, but in domo. The like does Seneca, Nero's Tutor: and so do all I hav seen greatly neglect them, as also those following Rules of To, and From a place.
The meaning of Domi non alios—is, that with other Adjectivs than meae, tuae—it is never a Gen. but commonly an Abl. Sola domo moeret vacuâ. Vir.
Priscian, Alvarus, and others, will have the Dativs in Verum si proprium— [Page 52] to be old Ablativs, and account it safest to speak in the Abl.
Verbis significantibus motum ad locum—have the proper name often us'd with a Preposition, and so domus: Profectus sum ad Capuam. Cic. In domum multiplicatam non repulsam solum retulit. id. Inque patris duxêre domum, whether the place be exprest without a Preposition, or with in, apud, ad, Authors oft-times mean the same; Haec non in tuam domum, sed Romam in publicum deportasses. Cic. Apud Isson superfuerunt. Caes. Ad domum praecucurrisse, & dominam suam ante se egisse. Sen. de ben. l. 3. Reliquit me ad paternam domum. id. Proficisci ad doctas Athenas. Propert. which cannot stand for ante or prope, as Vossius confesses. And although Historians use ad for ante, yet Caesar has Ante Ʋticam miserat; and without ad, makes Ʋticam to mean before the place; Ʋticam exercitum ducit, & prope opidum castra ponit: so A. [Page 53] Hirt. de bello Alex. sais, Alexandriam ad Caesarem contendit. When Caesar besieged it, and Pompey was in it: Brundisium veni; ad murum castra posui. Cic. l. 9. Ep. ad Att. 16. Ʋticam pervenit, atque extra opidum ea nocte mansit. A. Hirt. de bello Afr. Oricum proficiscitur—portis clausis. Caes. de Bello Civ. l. 3.
Thus you may se these rules are not to be taken exclusivly, and what liberty the Romans took, often putting the Noun into what case best suited the matter, or Verb; Vectus esset Alexandriae. C. Vell. Paterc. Productus Romae. Macrob. Ʋticae appropinquare. Cic. & Caes. Ʋticae subduxerat. A. Hirt.
From a City or place, has a Prep. as frequently; Ab Româ venerunt. Liv. Ab Româ profectus. id. Ab Ʋticâ venire. Sall. A Brundusio. and Ab Athenis ire. Cic. Ab Alexandriâ profectus. Curt. Ab domo venerunt.
Liv. Profectum ab domo. id. Abesset [Page 54] à domo. Cic. Abesse ab domo maluit. id. A rure profectus. id. Ex domo prodire. id.
Now seing custom Consuetudo certissima loquendi magistra. Quintil. is the best guide, why may we not say as Quintilian did? Whom should I imitate but Cicero? Whom should we follow but these famous Authors, before Grammarians?
What need we Nonnulla impersonalia—seing it contradicts in terminis his rule, in the leaf after As in praesenti—where pudet is exprest in both: and first said to be alwais an Impersonal; and in the latter, somtimes a Personal.
Coepit, incipit—is as needless; it being a standing Rule in Latin, that a Nom. Case makes a Verb to be a personal, and without one it becoms an Impersonal: besides his Infinitivs in the examples are no Impersonals, as the Rule would hav, which to me seems impertinent.
[Page 55] Natus, prognatus—are as often us'd with a Prep. as without; A te prognatum. Hor. E centurionibus orti. id.
En & ecce exprobrantis—are red with a Nom. En causa, cur regem fugitivus, dominum servus, accuset! Cic. En memoria mortui sodalis! id. Som think they govern no Case, but by Ellipsis hav a Verb understood: and Cicero often has them with a Dat. Ecce tibi. So Pliny in his Ep. Ecce tibi Regulus! where advenit, or such a Verb is understood.
Instar is no Adverb, but governs a Gen. by Adjectivum in neutrogen. and is an Acc. when it has ad.
Tempori, luci, vesperi are old Ablativs; Abii mane cum luci, Plaut. Luci claro. Varro Epheb.
Cedo I shew'd to be no Adverb in As in praesenti.
How Plus can be an Adverb I admire; and as much how it should govern those Cases given it in Plus [Page 56] Nom. genitivo—seing the Verbs there do it: or if plus, then you must borrow quam, and so make them Ablativs, by Comparativa per quam—thus Hor. uses it as an Adjectiv, Plus aequo liber; and when it has a Gen. as Auxilii latura plus. id. it is by Comparativa & superlativa accepta partitivè—The first hominum in his examples depends on millia; the latter on quinquaginta, by Nomina partitiva—Passus in the next example follows the Verb abierat: In that and the first example it governs no word: In the last, Plus eo, is plainly by Comp. per quam—which quam is exprest in the third; and by Conjunctiones copulativae cum quam—is of the same Case with quinquaginta.
Som reject the four first Rules of Conjunctions, as really making no Cases, or Moods alike; but where they are, there is Syllepsis or Zeugma; as, Docuit Xenophontem, and docuit Platonem. Vixi Romae by Omne verbum— [Page 57] and vixi Venetiis, by Verum si proprium—
The like may be said of the question, and its answer; for if I ask Quis est? and answer Petrus, est is understood to make Petrus a Nom. and no otherwise depends it on quis the Interrogativ.
Besides those Prepositions noted by Lilly to be set after their Case I hav red these, Micenum apud. Tac. Quos advorsum ier at. Sall. Ripam ad. Tac. Hanc circa. Sen. in his Trag. Ovilia circum. Vir. Quem contra veneris. Cic. Eo coram. Tac. Quo de ambigitur Cic. Vertice in. Sen. in his Trag. Quos inter controversia est. Caes. Metum juxta. Tac. Hamum infra. id. Transtra per. Vir. Te propter. Cic. Te sine. Vir. Thalamo sub fluminis alti. id. Hunc subter. Plin. Ep. Quos super. Tac. Dubium ultra. id.
Lilly writes Interseritur inter rel. & verbum: and yet omits inter in Verba comp. cum à, ab—though [Page 58] inter, per, sub and trans be so in use among the Romans: Inter horum aetates interjectus. Cic. Vide quid inter te & hunc interest. id. Inter eos atque Ariovistum intercederent. Caes. Per ea permeat. Cic. Per haec perventum est. Plin. Ep. Per nos percipere. Cic. Pernassia laurus Parva sub ingenti matris se subjicit umbra. Vir. Sub acumen styli subeant. Cic. Cum bonis omnibus sub praecone subjiceretur. id. Trans Taurum arma transmissa sunt. Fest. Rufus. Trans Euphraten trajectos vastavit. id.
Sub for ante, we find has an Abl. Sub oculis domini suam probare operain studebant. Caes. de Bello Civ. l. 1. Sub oculis accepto detrimento. ibid. Sub ipsa die invia petunt. Plin. Nat. Hist. And for post an Acc. Ille sub haec. Vir. Aen. 5. Sub haec, non ut ante. Hor. Sub hoc tempus. id. which Bond renders paulo post.
So super for ultra an Abl. Et paulum sylvae super his forent. Hor. sc. [Page 59] ultra: Bond. Nocte super mediâ. Vir. sc. ultra.
In I find variously us'd; and servs to both Cases somtimes: without to; Esse in amicitiam P. Rom. Cic. In te.
For inter; Reponere in Deos. Cic. In adversariis relinquebas. id.
For contra; In eam invehi solent. Cic. Ostendi disparem fortunam negotiorum in Muraena, at (que) in Sulpitio fuisse. id. In matre peccas. Sen. Tragoed.
For ante, or ad; Vereor coram in os te laudare. Ter. In oculis summersa. Curt. In anchoris constiterunt. Caes. Viam in Suevos monstrat. id.
For erga and contra; Accipit in Teucros animum. Vir. Lapsa est libido in muliere ignota. Cic. sc. erga. In hoc reo finem accusandi facere. id. sc. contra.
To an Acc. only, if it note passing into a place; Via ducit in urbem. Vir.
For pro; Multis parcit in poenam Plin.
For apud; Non probantur in vulgus. Cic.
[Page 60] For vice; In praesidem esse jussit. Curt.
For formam; Curvatus in antrum. Vir. se. in formam antri.
For usque; In decem annos pariunt. Varro.
For super; Oner a in jumenta extollere. id.
For interpretation; Servius in Virgilium; which I think is not among the Ancients.
To an Abl. only; for cum; Quid inter est in matrona, ancilla peccesve togata. Hor. In puellis urere. id.
For action in a place; Lucus in urbe fuit. Vir. Spectatur in ignibus aurum. Ov. And In tempore veni.
In with to, serves to an Acc. In without to, to an Abl. is the only short Rule for a Boy.
Horace has heu with a Voc. Heu posteri negabitis! and Ovid, with a Dativ, Heu mihi! Amor. l. 2. Eleg. 19. and de Ponto l. 4. Eleg. 6.
[Page 61] Seneca controv. l. 3. has prô with a Voc. Prô bone Jupiter! yea, Lilly has the like in his examples of Proh, while he forgets it in the Rule.
In Figura.
14. I Take Apposition to be no figure, and so place it in Quum duo subst—
Evocation is either a Substantiv put in the same Case, with the first, or second person exprest, or understood; or an Adjectiv agreeing with it; or else is implied in Synthesis, and so is expunged.
By Syllepsis we are taught to make the Verb a Plural, where & is between two Nominativs: yet Cic. sais, Vos & Senatus restitit. Odium & molestia est perferenda. id. which are by Zeugma, and though Lilly say it not; [Page 62] yet we may turn a sentence spoken by Zeugma into Syllepsis, and on the contrary: For Zeugma regards the word; but Syllepsis the sens. Thus, we may say, Rex & regina beati; sc. sunt; by Syll. Rex & regina beata; or Rex beatus & regina; sc. est: by Zeugma.
And thus you may se the liberty of the Latin tongue.
In Prosodia.
15. LEt me now tell you, what an excellent salvo Caesura is, making a short syllable long after a due foot, if the Poet need it; otherwise he may giv it a go by.
Ovid can break Vocalis ante duas consonantes—if it were then invented.
Hor. can make a dactyl of an anapaest,
Also Virgil can omit synaloepha twice in a Vers.
Which three last make good the tradition in Schools; that when Synaloepha is omitted, the former vowel is common, as here.
Thus Lilly uses a Proceleusmatic foot (that is four short syllables) in one vers.
Pro salto salio salui, ēt āmīcīō āmīcūi dat. & with spōspondi breaks Vocalis ante duas consonantes: for Primam [Page 64] praet. geminantia, cannot alter Position.
Ta in occulta spolia—is long by Caesura.
Systole makes a long syllable short; Tu cavè defendas quamvis mordebere dictis. Ov.
The last syllable of a vers, ending with a vowel, or m and his vowel, if the next begin with a vowel, it may be cut off, which is call'd an Hypermeter, having a syllable too many:
Nilus & antiquo sua flumina reddidit alveo Aethereoque—Vir.
Poets oft make the 5th foot a sponde; Cecropiumque thymum & gravè olentia centaurea. id.
The last syllable of any vers is common. If a vers end with a vowel, and the next begin with one, you may use or leav the former, but scars use Synaloepha four times in one line;
At (que) Ephyre, at (que) Opis, at (que) Asia Deïopea Et tandem—Vir.
[Page 65] Thus also the Greeks take a like liberty with the Latins, whether necessitated or not; which is quodammodo infinita Se the Greek Grammar. [...] Hesiod. [...], Solon.
Apostrophe they value not, and cut off Vowels and Diphthongs, before Consonants at pleasure—for all which, Figures and Poets licens were devised: And what greater liberty, could a Boy desire? but alas! he must only know it and be Tantalized.
Thus Hor. further takes his liberty; saying, tondentes for contendentes. Moenia Catili, for his Brother Tiberis. Ʋnde domo; from what hous. So Martial, Leporem rumpes equo, for delassabis.
The third foot of an Heroic, should not end with a word.
16. Had Books bin exactly Printed, I had saved my self much toil in comparing Editions; for errors of the [Page 66] Press are grown so common, that it puzzles the best of wits somtimes to make sens of Print; thus In oleastro quadam, for quodam Cic. has deceiv'd many; and from these words in Cic. Verr. 4. Quid ego injurias colligo? quae in furtis istius, versata esse videantur? a fam'd Critick, whom I name not for shame, made this Rule; that Somtimes one single antecedent is follow'd by a Neuter relativ: wheras versata is versatae in good Copies. Hor. in pag. 232 published by Macock 1660, has damnos ebibimus: for damnosè. So S. Mat. 11. 7. Arundinem qui agitetur: sais our little Latin Test. Now qui say som must be an Adverb, and yet spoils the sens: and forrein Editions have quae. So S. Luke 6. 38. has metietur a Passiv, which opposes Lilly's Rule; for metimini in the same Vers is Dep. and Deponents admit only an activ or neuter signification. Not much unlike to these, is the denying those Books of Rhet. ad Heren. to be Cicero's, though Quintilian [Page 67] call him the Author. Inst. Or. l. 2. c. 17. It were tedious to insert more testimonies, only that School Books do groan for good Correctors of the Press. It were then to be wished, that they whose right it is, would settle exact Correctors, men of known parts, for every Press; seing publick good, not privat gain, is the design thereof. This would prevent the reception of runagates, and other ignoramuses, who are better at a full Table, than with the Correctors pen; and do wors becom the Pulpit. But these are chiepest, and will play at small game. What need is there then of a wary admission!
17. I know, many, at first, will say, this savours too much of novelty; and as the Roman Emperour Quae volumus, & credimuslibenter, &, quae sentimus ipsi, reliquos sentire speramus. Caes. de bello Civ. l. 2. said; Men fancy others think, what they would hav be so: yet hav I rather affected to speak the [Page 68] truth, though with a Pythagorean; than be in an error with Plato Cic. Tuse. quaest. 1.; looking upon it a foul crime, that Grammar should authorize falsities Si Grammaticum se professus quispiam barbarè loquatur, hoc turpior sit, quod in eo ipso peccet, cujus profit etur Scientiam. Cic. and coin new words: to prevent which I hope this Essay will contribute not a little.
18. And thus I hav giv'n a survey of Lilly, which will be more satisfactory, when he shall be view'd as Epitomiz'd in my Grammar; which to be complete, the Reader will perhaps find shorter, than he could hav expected: for I hav abridg'd from In Speech, to the end of Prosodia, into less than this, with all those By Rules at Orthographia, which lock nothing that can be call'd Instructing, and hav large Notes added.
19. Yet is Antiquity, the mortalest enemy unto truth and knowledge; having don its greatest execution, by establishing our belief on its dictates: [Page 69] as though the authority of the one, should exceed the reason of the other; even when it has deviated from the track of truth. So prevalent is perswasion, that Lilly allow'd must be like the Pope, sine crimine; and we may not detect him, as though it were beyond amendment, or all its errors authoriz'd. Sure his Champions cannot make it a point of Faith. Ought not the Boys then rather save themselvs, cum bonâ veniâ Praeceptoris, than defend old Priscians head? For as you hav seen, our Rules com short of what they pretend unto: and although there be as many Grammars as Grammarians, yea, more; for Aldus set forth abov five, Moria Erasmus in Moriae encomio. calling him Son for his pains; and although likewise ours hav bin composed since, and had the help of all before, yet is it thus faulty Quot enim Gramaticorum nugae aspernabiles?: and hence puerorum lacrymae.
[Page 70] 20. Now if this charge be true, as, true it is, how does Youth spend, or rather mispend their time? and what need is there of altering our Rules, both for their length, and also oversights? Lilly then thus purg'd Addiscend a est (sc. lingua lat.) & facile potest, si Praeceptor adsit judicio probus, qui non circumducat pervaria & supervacua praecepta. Pauca haec, & lectio, in brevi eam dabunt. Lips. no [...]ae ad l. 1. Pol. and abreviated, as that an ordinary capacity may learn it in about four Months; and understand it so much the better Brevitas est amica memoriae. Petrarc. Si causa permittat, nihil aeque ut brevitas placet. Plin. Ep., as it is the shorter: whereas the common Grammar is near three years a learning. I say it must needs greatly conduce to the breeding of Youth, and credit of our learned Masters. For then might they proceed to the Volumes of Classick Authors, a while after they hav begun the Accidence: whereas now, they are one day after another toiled with repetitions, [Page 71] of this and that part of their Grammar, and whipt for not understanding and believing superfluities and falsities: and indeed to confine it within so narrow a compas, as the Rules of Grammar, were both to bereav it of its excellency, and as Erasmus In Moriae Encomio. sais, is enough to make a man spend his lifetime, in tortures, and be a cross to his ingenuity; not but that the Rules are good, and must be had and taught, yet rather by practice, without such toilsom drudgery, of learning them from end to end: For as Cicero perswades Or. l. 1. us, the common sens of custom and usual form of speech, heeding the sound of words in sentences, is to be our guide, which would facilitate the study, and make it delightsom; the reasonableness of which I shall now subjoin.
21. If a sentence of bad Latin be uttered, it is first observed to be faulty [Page 72] by its ill sounding Voluptate aurium judicatur Oratio. Cic. Or. Mihi placet Latinā rationem sequi quous (que) patitur decor. Quint. l. 5. c. 5., which grates harshly in the ear; and if you require a reason for it, the answer must be, that it is against the usual way or idiom of speaking; against which excursions we are now fenced with Rules; not that they were ab origine, for as Erasmus In Moriae Encomio. sais wittily, what need was there of Grammar, when all spake the same language, and nothing was more desired, than to be understood? And where Rules are not particular, and cannot reach the matter, there is no other test, than custom and use: for Rules were borrowed from them, and invented out of a proportionable correspondency to Art; not it guided by Rules, which som as Lud. Vives De corr. Art. l. 2. sais, by doing would draw the unbounded stream, of Use and Practice, [Page 73] through; and so pollute the Latin tongue, with foul enormities, by following Art, which cannot comprehend use, as is sufficiently shown in those oversights of the Grammar; wherby we se that he who follows Authority runs oft against rule, and he who observs rule, disturbs Authority Si bene discutias doctorum scripta virorum,Multa seus cernes, quam lex vult Grammaticorum., without whose Hand and Seal, the best of Rules is but irregular, hence Aliud Grammaticè, aliud Latinè loqui.
22. Yet this, as Suetonius de claris Gram. observs, drew many after it, through the novelty therof, having an appearing likelihood of reason: wherto it is very remarkable, what Cominius asserts In Ep. Rest., that whoso observs the dialect of ancient Writers, shall find that the most learned of them, did never concern themselvs with Grammar, [Page 74] so as to approv it, by following its Rules: for neither did Quintilian l. 1. Inst. undertake to compose an art therof: Art being found out, at first, as is abovsaid, after men spake, and as well, as could be, reduced into Rules, which as they com short of their purpos, did only shew that S. Peter's Successor was not Prime in the consult; else would a Bull bin publish'd against Priscian, for condemning his Predecessors (for Tacitus sais, he kept a fearful stir) another would bin sent against Valla, and those after him; Stoa, Phineas—as also against Alvarus, who is said to hav inveigh'd against Lilly: and seing all are so full of mistakes, who but the blind would follow such guides?
23. For, it is evident, that the Roman tongue was well pen'd, before the invention of Grammar; yea, that the excellency of its speakers gave it a midwifry, such are Plautus, Naevius, [Page 75] Livius, Lucretius—Writers of elder date than Grammar, which owning its birth to forreiners, becoms a suspected off-spring; and so as to the rigour of it, might be laid aside: the tongue being still attainable by custom, authority, and exercise Ʋsus optimus dicendi magister. Plin. Ep. & magistorum praecepta superat. Cic. Assiduus ingenium & artem saepe vincit. id.; all which are govern'd by the ear, which is in this kind pleas'd or displeas'd by an inbred, secret and impenetrable harmony in nature. I confess it may be nourish'd by Art, but in its infancy.
24. In vain it is then, to say, that we must speak and write by Grammar, not by those Classick Authors, for so they confute themselvs, seing it was invented out of a correspondency to their writings; and so, if not them, we must follow none at all; for their waters came from the others fountain. Let them trifle in Rules, we hav somwhat else of greater import, to speak [Page 76] latinè as a Roman, not as a Grammarian, sais Montagin Essais l. 1. c. 25., and find there are som who know neither Case, Tens, nor part of Speech, and yet can entertain you in elegant Latin; and defend Priscians head from a blow, as well as those, who hav for many years bin train'd up in that Fencing-school. After which said, he puts an opprobrium, upon such Bragadocians of their Grammar, who yet, can neither write nor speak the Latin tongue: making it his observation; that he found those the choisest men, who least used it: and these were most accurate in Speech, and the most eloquent Orators, who no doubt would hav recommended it to posterity, had they looked upon it with another eye, than as milk for a Babe, or as spelling for a Reader.
25. Thus Ascham sais plainly of Q. Eliz. who though she borrowed nothing of Grammar, but Declension and Conjugation, yet had a most ready [Page 77] way of expressing her self; and that both smooth and elegant; so that, he must be more than ordinary, who could do the like. Scaliger also, is said, without Grammar to hav attain'd the Greek: and so, for many thousand years, were all languages learnt, and still may be, with greater expedition and less toil, where Grammar is less, and Authors more us'd.
26. Thus Schorus sais also, that Children may by imitation, example and custom, (not only come to speak, but) be made better linguists, than by Precepts: and if so, what need this toil upon Grammar? this Cicero De Or. l. 1. sets his hand unto; and Quintilian Or. l. 1. c. 10. tels us, it has no ground or foundation other than custom: to which Gellius Noct. Att. givs his suffrage, saying, that among the best of Writers, the sweet sound of words (Euphonia) [Page 78] was more observ'd, than Grammar Rules. And lastly, Corderius l. 3. Coll. 34. affirms, that Latin consists, rather in Use and Authority, than in Reason or Rule. Say not then, that Latin differs from all Languages, becaus of Conjugations and Declensions; as if others wanted them; or they could not be better kept by use, when once, they are got without Book. It is also frivolous to say, that use may do much in others, but Latin being mainly founded in the works of ancient Authors, no expedient can be deviz'd like to Grammar; as though it did not rather follow, that those Authors are the fitter for us to learn by; for it is best drinking at the Fountain Head, as the Poet has it, Dulcius ex ipso fonte—but this is like the Papists locking up the Bible: Wheras practice makes the impression, when Rules are not so effectual: and sure it were more tolerable, as Fabius sais, to [Page 79] speak after the example of Cic. or Caes. or Virgil—though we com short in imitating them. For any by a secret feeling, may discern without art, what is right or wrong by art, and so in Latin.
27. Thus I hav set down the reason of our Youths slow proficiency; and ignorance even in the idiom of Latin. Let me now chalk out that way which is as ready, as easy and delightful: in which one years recreation will recompens the toil of many; without preposterous tasking the Boys Inopes rerum nugae (que) canorae. to compose Themes, Orations, or Verses: acts of ripest judgment, and the product of an head well stored, with great reading Ex rerum cognitione efflorescat oportet, & redundet Oratio; quae nisi subest, res ab Oratore percepta & cognita inanem quandam habet elocutionem, & p [...]nè puerilem. Cle. de Or. l. 1. Quinque faciunt quasi membra eloquentiae; invenire quod dicas; inventa disponere; deinde ornare verbis; post, memoriae mandare; tum ad extremum agere ac pronunciare. Id., and diligent observance of elegant Maxims digested into [Page 80] common places Verbaque provisam rem non invitasequentur.: Which alone, can make a copious invention; and without which they cannot be squeez'd out of raw Youth: For Nemo potest de eâ re, quam non novit, non turpissime dicere. Cic. de Or. 2. and neither are Boys so confident as to think with the Poets, Ad rem non pertinere, verum dicere; who being either straitned of necessity, or by grace in speaking corrupted, id quaeque vocari jubent, quod belle facit ad versum. Sen. de ben. and hence it was called Ineptia poëtandi, by Ausonius: so Angelus Pol. sais, scribat Joan. Scotus, & quidem carmine ut sit ineptior: so Ter. Varro, Poëtae transilire lineas impune possunt.
28. Were a Child to take it in, as his Mother tongue, from his infancy; the only way to make him prompt, were to follow Montaign's, whose Father took in a Master into his Hous, of which se §. 4. and experience tels us, a Nativ tongue is soon attain'd, and if [Page 81] we follow the same Method, we shal no question accomplish our purpose.
29. But where a Boy can read English well, he may learn to decline Nouns, and conjugate Verbs; with the Syntax: which are not taught for lov of themselvs In. Gram. sufficit, eas observationes didicisse, quibus possis & ipse latinè loqui, & quae ab iis latine scripta sunt, intelligere non dutem anxiè innumeras loquendi regulas aucupari, literas (que) inter & syllabas insenescere. Morus., but to be our guides in Construing, and so will better be taken in, by use, than by so frequent repetitions: the Master may then use him to talk in the same language, having a well composed Pueriles Sententiae, the way I learned French.
30. It were not amiss, if at the same time he carried about him, a Vocabulary, with the Latin of the most usual words, we frame our discours in: for with Erasmus Ep. de utilitate Coll., I know not whether any thing be better learnt, than what [Page 82] is learnt by play: not that I would hav it got off Book, as now at Schools; for that is like to making a rope of sand; words being wing'd, if unchain'd by a sentence Erasmus de Arte Notoriâ.: but to look a word upon occasion, as discours brings it in. By this means, having learnt his Grammar, which is but a few months task, I would enter him upon som good Latin Author, the matter of which should be suited to the Scholars capacity; still the longer, he should procede to the more sublime, and so, Latin would be as ready as English; for, Ʋsus promptos facit.
31. Let no man laugh at this, and call it a difficult work, or impossible; while I am ready to demonstrate the truth; as I think I hav in a pretty good measure som years before I taught in a Free School; upon a Youth, who had bin three years from School, in all which time he had laid aside his Latin: whom, notwithstanding, in four [Page 83] months time, with only one hours instruction daily, I led to the reading of a Physick Book, needing the Dictionary (and that but in som words) more than my help; and in the Greek to an handsom improvment, so as he could Construe me six or eight verses in the New Testament in a morning: should any question the truth hereof, the young Gentleman is not far remote. While I write this, I am credibly inform'd, that in the late times, Dr. Tully taught School in Glocestershire after this method; and did far outstrip other Masters. Neither know I any difficulty, in practising this method, even in a Free School, were there authority for it: I am sure, they would have like benefit, if not with advantage to what a private Master can make; for good Masters Magni interest quos quis (que) audiat quo tidie domi, quibuscun loquatur à puero. Cic. like a rich soil, will make the plant of a taller growth.
[Page 84] 32. And as we hav so many famous Schools in our Land, I wonder, how it is, that runagate rabble, suoque simillima coelo At Emollit gentes elementia coeli., com so thick in among us? having more need, themselvs, to be taught English, and our Royal Grammar, than to be Masters: these are the pest of our Country: by these have our Boys their learning so mangled, that in Free-Schools we are forc'd to make a seat of every one, sent from those petty places.
33. By the former method, a Child might be taught, almost without a Book, in one year, playing: which noble things, if we made our aim, and brought to pass; we should leav no room for those pedling merchants, to possess or insinuate into the heart of an English man; but rather if they will, like Hornets, swarm in among us; we should imploy them as Gibeonites.
34. When Latin were thus understood, [Page 85] they might procede in their Studies; and in a little time, it would appear what peculiar gifts of nature they were endued with: and if there were any secret excellency A puero adamaram, [...]. Cic. ad Fr. Q. l. 3. Ep. 5. among them, it would be fetched out; and a fair opportunity be given, to advance it self by; which must greatly redound to the good of this Nation; and bring, even into fashion, the old admired vertues, with much improvment Sic honor & nomen divinis vatibus a queCarminibus venit: post hos insignis Homerus,Tyrtaeusqut mares animos in Martià bella,Versibus exacuit—Hor., now in this purity of Christian knowledge.
35. Neither should we need the Mounsieurs of Paris, to take those flowrs of our Country, into their sleight and prodigal keeping; and send them back again, transform'd only into Mimics [Page 86] [...]nd Apes: but other Nations then, would be glad to visit us, for their breeding; or at least would imitate us, in their own Countreys.
36. I do not say, they will in this time, com to an excellent well composed style, in speaking or writing; for with Plutarch [...]. [...] As natural disposition, without institution, is blind; so instruction, without a genius and disposition, is defectiv; and exercise without both, is lame and imperfect. Without which three things, a man cannot be accurat, in any art or discipline: And sure I am, the readiest way to attain it, is by being well verst in those Authors; to which, if the Mother hav luckily contributed store of her wit, they may in time imitate Tertullian, for his sententiousness; Cyprian for his gravity; Jerom for his resoluteness; Chrysostom's mellifluous flowing; Divine Ambrose; devout Bernard; Heavenly Augustin, [Page 87] who alone is all the former; Courtly Esay; learned Paul; elegant Luke; facetious Erasmus; pitthy and concise Bishop Hall, like a second Seneca.
37. Or to com to our School Authors; it is a commendable part in Scholars, to be grave as Cato Senior was in his praises, sharp in his reproofs, witty in discours, subtil in teaching, illustrious both in words and matter; eloquent as Laelius and P. Africanus; majestical as Scipio; of a flagrant wit as C. Gracchus, and learned from a Child; and with M. Anthony, relate things to best advantage; with M. Crassus, to be accurat in the Latin tongue, and copious in discours; with Hortensius to hav a vast memory; studious as Piso, Tully's Son in Law; and with Julius Caesar, to take the advantage of a good light, for well drawn Pictures; by these they may in time be admired with Salust, a Prince among the Latins, for his nervous brevity; and could they com to [Page 88] thē height of eloquence with Cicero, they might be compared to the Roman Empire, and run style it self, unto the uttermost very perfection of Eloquence: Their prudence and judgment, with Corn. Tacitus's, would be in esteem; their great eloquence like Livy's in discours, would not be conceal'd, whom though Lipsius call [...], and frigid in som places, yet is he copious for the grandure and majesty of his Work before others. Curtius for his admired plainness in speech, and grace in discours, subtil and clear, without care most accurat; Thucydides almost divine in his speech, grave and brief in elocution; and Polybius not much unlike him, were sit examples for them. I were injurious should I pass over Homers excellency, giv'n him by the best of Writers; Solon's great liberty in speaking; Pisistratus his golden Fishing Net; the palms of Themistocles his eloquence, and laurels of Victory: Herodotus in History, [Page 89] compared to a Garden full of trees; whose walks are decked with flowers, casting forth perpetual odors; or Theopompus his perspicuity; Plato's eloquence abov what is human; whom Jove would imitate, were he to speak unto us; Aristotle so neat a flower of eloquence, in Isocrates his style; whose glory none could equal; Lycurgus his prudence; Demosthenes as bright as the Sun; polite Phalereus; heroic Virgil; smooth Ovid; great Theophrastus; sweet Xenophon, whose praises none can sing, without his Muse.
38. And whoso can equal any of these, were he born a Prince; then Brutus like, would grace the Crown; for as all hav an inbred propensity, to this or that strain; so might our Youth be improv'd, beyond what is ordinary, would but the Masters shorten the way, and release the prisoners, from such drudgery, as Erasmus terms it.
39. And thus, I hav presented the Reader with what I had to say, concerning [Page 90] this Subject. Overlook the mistakes with candour, and account me not imperfect Neque est omnino ars ulla, in qua omnia illa, quae ar te effici possunt, à doctore traduntur. Cic. de Or. 2. For [...]. Arist. 2. Pol. c. 6. or deficient, becaus I hav left him work who shall com after: And seing I know there are many who will be displeas'd hereat; I hav therfor chosen, to bring in the learned speaking, and tell mine opinion in their words: And if, as I confess Est enim plenum ingenui pudoris, fateri per quos profecer is, non ut pleri (que) ex iis, quos attig [...], secerunt. Plin. ad vesp:, I hav transscrib'd most of what is written; I do but as the Latins did with the Greeks; and the Greeks with the Latins; Thus Justin borrow'd all from Trogus Pompeius: and Julius Solinus, much of Pliny. Eratosthenes wholly translated Timotheus de Insulis, not reserving the very Preface. The wittiest piece of Ovid is beholden to Parthenius Chius: yea èven the [Page 91] magnified Virgil hath borrow'd in all his works, his Eclogs, from Theocritus; his Georgics, from Hesiod, and Aratus; his Aeneids, from Homer; the exploit of Sinon and the Trojan Hors, as Macrobius (x) notes, he hath verbatim (n) Saturnal. l. 5. c. 2. Se him compar'd in c. 3, 4, 5, 6— deriv'd into his second Book, from Pisander. Our own Profession is not excusable herein; Thus Oribasius and others, hav greatly transcribed Galen. Marcellus Empyr. hath word for word, transcrib'd all Scribonius Largus, de comp. med. with his very peroration. Thus Lucian and Apuleius, served Lucius Pratensis, in those Books entitled Lucius, by the one; and Aureus Asinus by the other. Clemens Alexandrinus hath observ'd many examples hereof, among the Greeks; and Pliny In praef. ad Vesp. sais, that conferring his Authors, he generally found those that went before, verbatim Transcriptos ad verbum. transcrib'd, [Page 92] by those who came after, and their originals never so much as mention'd; which I hav not thought shame to do; Getting stone and timber of others, yet hav I contriv'd and shap'd the edifice my self: I hav been the Builder, while I sought matter in every place; neither is it the wors, because like the Bee, we hav gather'd ex alienis hortulis.
Contenti simus inventis: aliquid veritati & posteri conferant. Sen. nat. quaest.
APPENDIX.
MƲla and equa, hav the Dat. and Abl. pl. in is, as well as abus: Ex his equis pulli. Varro de re rust. Deme his mulis parturam. id.
Propert. sais, Deis. Val. Flacc. Dei & Deis. so manibus ab unis, and Lucret. Moribus unit.
Cato de re rust. and Lucret. hav sal in the Neuter.
Garumna is also Masc. Magnus Garumna. Tibull.
Varro de re rust. writes, verris, not verres in the Nom. which also would sound better in Lilly, being set with natalis and aqualis. Verris octo mensium incipit salire.
Calepine sais Pelagus, is as much Masc. as Neuter, and quotes Flaccus lin. 169—pelagum quantos aperimus in usus: yet the Dutch Ed. writes pelagus however,
Divitis ad mensam pelagi sylvae (que) feruntur.
[Page 94] The Ancients from Buceriae (que) greges in Lucr. say hic & haec grex.
Although Dictionaries afford us not Cures, etis: yet Propertius sais Jovis Curetis.
Tibullus and Varro de re rust. hav gelum, li: Cato also sais nè gelus noceat, and I do not remember that I hav red gelu in the Nom.
Suet. sais, discucurri; Livy discurri. Suet. and A. Hirt. say percucurri: and Pliny in Ep. percurri.
Suet. sais lacessi against Lilly.
Many think Gerunds in di, hav a Gen. sing. as well as pl. so Lipsius in ep. Ʋt otium sit Italiae ipsius & amicorum videndi.
Lucret. makes luci an Abl.—in luci quae poterit res Accedere: and Varro, vesperi: Farciunt meridie, vesperi: so Columella, Se vesperi celant; and se vespere celat: vesperi and vespere exoritur: vesperi and vespere occidit: they are then far from being Dativ adverbials.
Suet. givs an Abl. to sub for ante; Sub exitu vitae voverat: and an Acc. to super for at; Non amplius ter bibere eum solitum super coenam, which Curtius uses often.
These Prepositions also are red after their Case.
[Page 95] Quibus è Lucr. Te praeter. Tibull. Te supra. Lucr. Aequora longè Trans abeunt. Flacc.
Circum I read in Comp. and Apposition.
Circumponito circum radices. Cato.
The Ancients us'd to cut off s, ending a word, if a consonant follow'd; Fontibu' magnis, Lucr. And s, with its vowel before a vowel; Success' indignos noli tu ferre molesté. Cato.
Lu in Luceo is long, yet Vivaeque producent lūcernae. Hor.
Among the Comics, we read venūstas and volūptas: and smarāgdos in Mart. Sardonichas, smarāgdos, adamantas, iaspidas, uno Portat in articulo.
Lucret. (like the Greeks, with [...]—quibus nihil est negatum) makes syllables long and short at pleasure;
Crassa (que) pugnabant liquidis & liquida crassis. and Hor. takes the same liberty: but with Mart.
Taliambics are often us'd, as by Liv. Andronic.
so Virg.
which refugit cannot be of the Preter tens, as Servius would hav it. Thus he also givs us a dactyl in the sixth foot;
Et spumas miscent argenti, viva (que) sulphura. In all which cases the Greeks go beyond the Latins.