In 1617 was published the Janua Linguarum Quadralinguis of Jean Barbier, a Parisian. The work, originally written in Spanish and Latin (1611) for the use of Spaniards, was in time adapted to teaching Latin and incidentally Spanish to the English, by the addition of an English translation in 1615. The fact that French was added two years later by Barbier is not without significance. Foremost among books for teaching French and Latin together, however, was the famous Janua Linguarum of Comenius, from which Evelyn's son learnt his Latin, and presumably his French also. It was printed in England in English, French, and Latin, in the very BOOKS FOR TEACHING LATIN AND FRENCHyear in which it had first come out at Leszna in Latin and German (1631). In this form it was given the title of Porta Linguarum trilinguis reserata et aperta, or the Gate of Tongues unlocked and opened. The Janua contains a thousand sentences, dealing with subjects encyclopaedic in plan, beginning with the origin of the world, and ending with death, providence, and the angels. The intervening chapters treat of the earth and its elements, animals, man, his life, education, occupations, afflictions, social institutions, and moral qualities. J. A. Anchoran, Licentiate in Divinity, a friend of Robert Codrington and apparently a Frenchman, was responsible for the edition of the Porta Linguarum in English, French, and Latin. He declares he prepared it "in behalf of" the young Prince Charles (II.), then about a year old, and of "British, French and Irish youth." His efforts proved successful; there were two issues of the work in 1631, and other editions appeared in 1633, 1637, and 1639.
With the second and following editions was bound an index to the French and Latin words contained in the Porta Linguarum, entitled: Clavis ad Portam or a Key fitted to open the gates of tongues wherein you may readily find the Latine and French for any English word, necessary for all young scholars. It was dedicated to the schoolmasters and ushers of England, and printed at Oxford, being the work of Wye Saltonstall, teacher of Latin and French in that University.
Yet another brief treatise was commonly bound with the 1633 edition of the Porta Linguarum—The Pathway to the Gate of Tongues, being the first Instruction for little children, intended as an introduction to Comenius, but chiefly to give instruction in French. It was due to one of the French teachers in London, Jean de Grave, no doubt the son of the "Jean de Grave natif d'Amsterdam" who came to England in the early years of the seventeenth century and died some time before 1612. De Grave was a member of the French Church, and in 1615 was twice threatened with expulsion owing to his sympathy with the Brownists; but he saved the situation by recanting.[802] De Grave's Pathway to Comenius opens with a table of the numbers, the catechism, graces, and prayers, all given in Latin, English, and French. The main section gives the conjugation of the four regular verbs (j'aime, je bastis, je voy, je li) and of aller, avoir, estre, il faut and on aime, in French accompanied by English and Latin equivalents in parallel columns. De Grave makes a point of omitting all the compound tenses usually introduced into French verbs on the model of the Latin ones, as such forms can only be expressed by means of paraphrases or of the verbs avoir and estre; thus French rather than Latin was in the author's mind: "Or m'a semblé qu'il ne fallait pas charger au commencement la memoire des petits enfants de choses desquelles le maistre diligent et industrieux, pourveu qu'il soit homme lettré et bien entendu en la grammaire françoise, pourra instiller peu à peu en leur esprit, plus par diligente pratique que par cette facheuse et prolixe circonlocution qui n'apporte aucun profit." He agreed with most of the French teachers of the time that few rules and much practice under the guidance of a good master, was the best way of learning French.
In the first half of the seventeenth century also, the private institutions in which French had a place increased considerably in number, especially during the latter years of the reign of Charles I. and the Commonwealth. There were several projects, of which a few were actually realized for a time, for founding academies in England on the model of those in France. Their aim was to provide instruction in modern languages and polite accomplishments, in order to counterbalance the one-sidedness of the Universities, and save parents the expense of sending their children abroad, and protect the latter from the dangers to which they might be exposed in foreign countries.
In 1635 the accomplished courtier Sir Francis Kynaston founded the Museum Minervae at his house in Bedford Square, Covent Garden. Latin, French, and Italian were the chief languages of the curriculum. No foreigner was allowed to act as either regent or professor. A regulation stipulated that "noe Gentleman shall speak in the forenoon to the Regent about any businesse, but either in Italian, French, or Latin; but if any gentleman be deficient in all these languages, then shall he deale with some professour or other to speak unto the regent for him in the morning, but in the afternoon free accesse shall be granted to all that have any occasion to conferre with him."[803] A certain Michael Mason was the professor of languages. The Academy FRENCH IN PRIVATE ACADEMIESwas short-lived, and probably did not survive its founder, who died at the beginning of the Civil War.
On the 19th of July 1649, another Academy of similar nature but wider scope was opened by the adventurous Sir Balthazar Gerbier in his house at Bethnal Green. In 1648 he published a prospectus, which appeared in several different forms, announcing to "all fathers of noble families and lovers of vertue" that "Sir Balthazar Gerbier, knight, erects an Academy wherein forraigne Languages, Sciences and all noble exercises shall be taught ... whereunto shall serve several treatises set forth by the said Sir B. G. in the Forraigne languages aforesaid, the English tongue being joyned thereunto ... whiche Treatises shall be continually at Mistresse Allen's Shop at the signe of the crown in Pope's head Alley neere the olde Exchange, London." Gerbier's intention was to teach the sciences and languages simultaneously, and by means of each other. French seems to have been the only foreign language which received special treatment at his hands. He was the author of An Introduction to the French Tongue, a work of very slight value, treating of the pronunciation and parts of speech and followed by a lengthy and wearisome dialogue between three travellers. Carrying out his expressed aim, he wrote several pamphlets on the subjects of polite education in French accompanied by a literal English translation.[804] Every Saturday afternoon a public lesson was read in the Academy, "as well concerning the grounds and rules of the aforesaid languages, as touching the sciences and exercises, which will give much satisfaction to all Fathers of noble families and lovers of vertue." There was also an "open lecture" by which the deserving poor were to be instructed gratis, on due recommendation. Gerbier is also said[805] to have started an Academy for languages at Whitehall. None of his efforts, however, met with much response. The private Academy as such was an institution which never really took root in England. Moreover, Gerbier was not a gifted man. The works he wrote for use in his Academy have very little value, and his lectures were severely criticised. Walpole calls one of them, typical of the rest, "a most trifling superficial rhapsody."
Several other schemes[806] for courtly academies were never realised at all. Such were those of Prince Henry, son of James I., and of Lord Admiral Buckingham. A play of the Commonwealth period, Brome's New Academy (1658), gives an amusing picture of one of these institutions and introduces us to a group of pushing French men and women who profess inter alia to "teach the French Tongue with great alacrity."
Private schools, on the contrary, were better patronised. There were undoubtedly numerous French schools in the style of those of the sixteenth century; Wodroeph refers to one, without giving any details, and the language school kept by Sherwood was well known. In many instances also French found a place in other private schools alongside the more usual studies. Sir John Reresby, for example, was sent at the age of fifteen to a school at Enfield Chase, where he was instructed in Latin, French, writing, and dancing. There he stayed two years and "came to a very passable proficiency in Latin, Greek, French, and rhetoric."[807] The elder brother of Thomas Ellwood, Milton's amanuensis, also learnt French and Latin at a private school at Hadley, near Barnet in Hertfordshire, before going with Thomas to learn Latin and some Greek at the free school of Thame.[808] Such schools seem to have been relatively numerous at the time of the Commonwealth. One was kept by Edward Wolley, D.D. of Oxford, who had been domestic chaplain to Charles I., and taken refuge in France on his sovereign's death. After spending seven years abroad as chaplain to Charles II. in exile, he returned to England and opened a school at Hammersmith. In 1654 the Protector issued stringent orders against "scholemasters who are or shall be Ignorant, Scandalous, Insufficient or Negligent." Many royalists were affected, and it was no doubt as a result of this measure that in 1655 Wolley had to petition Cromwell to allow him to continue his "painful employment" of instructing youth in Latin, Greek, French, and other commendable exercises. He pleads that since his return from France he has demeaned himself irreproachably, and that he causes "the Holy Scriptures to be read and religious duties to be daily used" in his school, FRENCH IN PRIVATE SCHOOLSand takes the children to church on Sunday; moreover "they have always spoken with honour and reverence of his Highness."[809] Among the few royalist and episcopal schoolmasters who were not affected by the measure of 1654 was Samuel Turberville, a "very good schoolmaster," who kept school in Kensington. Sir Ralph Verney's second son Jack, afterwards apprenticed to a merchant, spent three years there (1656-59), and Turberville commends his "amendement in writing, the mastery of his grammar and an indifferent Latin author, his preservation of the ffrench, and the command of his Violl."[810] Sir Ralph Verney's son had previously acquired French in France, and wrote it fluently though not always correctly.[811] His fellow-pupils, we are told, called him the "young mounseer."
There were also numerous schools for young ladies and gentlewomen in and about London and elsewhere. One French teacher, Paul Festeau, advertises the French boarding-school of Monsieur de la Mare at Marylebone, where girls were taught "to write, to read, to speak French, to sing, to dance, to play on the guitar and the spinette."[812] M. de la Mare was a Protestant, and a reader at the French Church. His wife was a good mother to the girls, we are told, and his daughter spoke French with much elegance. Another French teacher, Pierre Berault, mentions the pension for young ladies kept by his friend M. Papillon in Charles Street, near St. James's Square. French, writing, singing, dancing, and designing were the subjects of study. In other cases schools for girls and young ladies were attended by a visiting French master. The most popular French teacher of the time, Claude Mauger of Blois, was employed for some time after his arrival in England as French teacher to the young ladies of Mrs. Kilvert's once famous Academy. This practice became more and more widespread as the seventeenth century advanced, and was very common in the eighteenth century, as it still is nowadays.