Rules of Construction in English Grammar, Title page – Dedication
A PLAINE AND EASIE LAYING open of the meaning and vnderſtanding of the Rules of Construction in the Engliſh ACCIDENCE, appointed by authoritie to be taught in all Schooles of hir Maieſties dominions, for the great vſe and benefite of yoong beginners: by IOHN STOCKWOOD ſometime Schoolmaſter of Tunbridge.
Imprinted at London, by the Aſſignes of Francis Flower. 1590
THE BOOKE TO THE yoong Punies and Petits of the Grammar Schoole.
WHen painfull Maſter hath no time,
In plaineſt ſort your rules to teach,
Or clubbiſh fellowes ſhall refuſe,
Their friendly helpe heerin to reach:
Bicauſe you come with emptie hand,
And profer not thriſe welcome fee,
(which thing ſome ſchollers much deſire)
Then boldly make reſort to me.
I will you helpe, make proofe who liſt,
And ſet you downe the eaſie way,
Your Engliſh rules to vnderſtand,
Their meaning open for to lay.
For each example to his rule,
I teach you aptly how to fit:
Thus may you laugh, where others cry,
when vp they go for miſſing it.
Now, as for ſee I none do craue,
I aske no other recompence,
The paine is mine, the profit thine,
Vſing this booke with diligence.
TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL (vntounto whom in the Lord for ſundrie conſiderations I ſtand moſt ſingularly beholding) Maſter WILLIAM LEWIN, Doctor of both Lawes, Iustice of peace, one of hir Maieſties high Commiſſion for cauſes eccleſiaſticall, Iudge of the court of Prerogatiues, &c. IOHN STOCKWOOD Minister and preacher of the word of God, wiſheth a plentifull increaſe of all heauenly graces, for the good of God his Church, and benefit of the Common-wealth.
SVCH (RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL) hauehave been the manie and manifold bounties and fauors, euer ſince my firſt being acquainted with you vntill this day, extended from your W. in moſt courteous manner not onelyonly vntounto my ſelfe, but alſo vouchſaued ſundry other of my good friends at my requeſt, that howſoeuer vntounto others I hauehave peraduenture giuen ſuch woorthie teſtimonie of the ſame, as wherewithall they hauehave been contented, and ſuppoſed me to be a thankfull recounter of benefits receiued, yet could I neuer heerwithall ſatiſfie and content my ſelfe, bicauſe the greatnes of your deſerts towards me and my friends hath ſeemed woorthily to be further publiſhed vntounto the knowledge of all poſteritie, vntounto whom (as dutie bindeth me) I do moſt willingly acknowledge, that the gratefull remembrance of the ſame, ſo long as life doth laſt, and breth not faile, ſhall neuer be extinguiſhed, nor buried in the lothſome lake of odious obliuion, but alwaies be reſerued faſt locked vp in the ſafe cuſtodie of a moſt dutifull and thankfull mind. And to this end hauing no other means of better value, to teſtifie my thankfull dutie, I hauehave preſumed vnderunder your worſhipfull and learned patronage to ſend abroad this plaine and eaſie laying open of the Engliſh rules of Conſtruction for the yoong Punies of the Grammar ſchoole, in ſo familiar and euident a maner, as the meaneſt wits, and ſlendereſt capacities may to their no ſmall benefit and profit (as I am perſwaded) vnderſtand and beare away the ſame. And heerin though I hauehave chiefly framed my ſelfe vntounto the ſimplicitie of the little ones and yoonglings that are occupied in theſe kind of ſtudies, yet ſome thing here and there I hauehave inſerted, not vnwoorthy altogither of the obſeruation and marking of thoſe which are of further reading.
If it ſhall of any be laid vntounto me for a fault, that I ſpend time in theſe ſmall trifles, and Grammar matters, the which might better be imployed about things more ſerious and of greater moment and importance, my defence is, that to hauehave laid well the ground worke, and as it were the foundation, whereupon the whole frame and building in a manner of the Latin toong muſt be ſetled, is not in deed and in truth, to be deemed a light and toyiſh matter, but that ſhall bring great eaſe vntounto the maſter, and alſo good furtherance vntounto the yoong beginners, if with diligence and heedfulnes they looke into the ſame. Beſides that I know not how it commeth to paſſe, that as, Nauita de ſtellis, de bobus narrat arator, and eueryevery one as he hath been brought vp, deliteth to be talking of thoſe things for the moſt part wherein he hath been moſt exerciſed: ſo I hauing ſpent many yeers about the inſtructing of youth in the principles and rudiments of the latin toong, can not chooſe but euer now and then be harping on thoſe matters, with the which in former times I hauehave been ſo long and well acquainted. If any benefit may grow thereby vntounto thoſe little ones, for whoſe ſake, as well to ſaue them from the rod, as alſo to encourage them by this plaine laying open of the meaning of their rules, with more willingnes, and cheerfulnes to goe forward in their ſtudies: I ſhall hauehave obteined my deſire, ſubmitting in all humilitie this my ſimple trauell, ſuch as it is, vntounto your wiſe and learned cenſure, whom I moſt hartily pray and beſeech after your accuſtomed and wonted clemencie in ſuch ſort to accept of the ſame, as by me towards your W. it hath been ment, namely an vnfained token of moſt dutifull and hartie good will, the which for many curteſies I owe vntounto your Worſhip, whom I pray the Almightie long to preſerue in peace and proſperitie to your good contentment, and benefit of your Country. Tunbridge this 16. Nouember, 1590.
Your W. most bounden, and humble in the Lord to be commanded, IOHN STOCKWOOD.