A Light to Grammar and All Other Arts and Sciences, Preface 1 – Imprimatur
TO THE JUDICIOUS READER, His much honored Friend Mr. SAM: HARTLIB, by way of Preface.
I Muſt (Sir) give you ſome account of my Work here; for though it be a publike buſineſſe (therein we thank you, you are very active) yet it fel out to be Mine by your more ſpeciall motion and appointment. My reſolution was ſetled, never in this kind to put Pen to Paper againe, ſuch my diſcouragement, ſuch alſo my indiſpoſition thereunto. But ſee, our itching humour! no ſure it is not that; I am ſcribling againe. You may thanke your ſelfe, for your intreaty it was, which brake the cords of a very ſtrong reſolution to the contrary, and one motive more there was, you ſhall heare them hoth in order.
Firſt, your intreaty; I ſay yours, and why ſhould it not much prevaile with mee? for you have broke through many diſcouragements, and yet you hold out ſtill. what cauſe then, that I ſhould not put my hand to that worke, whereto you have put both your ſhoulders?
I have beene tugging in my Mill theſe twenty yeares; and becauſe not like a Milhorſe in the old beaten track ſtill, I have found ſome counter-checks almoſt every weeke, and this hath beene caſt in my teeth by ſuch, who ſhould underſtand better; Why not the old old-way, that is alwayes the beſt way? No, not alwaies, nay never in thoſe petty Schoole points. We may be wiſer then our Elders, and ſee beyond them too, elſe we are blind: we have an advantage above them, ſtanding (though they no Giants, nor we Pigmies) on their ſhoulders. I could ever well digeſt theſe diſcouragements, though it is but hard meat, for I knew I was right, and ſhould ſatisfie one day, for I had ſpent many dayes and nights too, in finding out a Method: I am ſure I have met with it, follow it as well as I can, that is as I am able. All this while, I have not granted this to be a New Method; It is as ancient, (ſo it will appeare in due place) as is the writing of the Old Teſtament.
Yet we muſt heare ſometimes (it is good for us) This is not the way that I was led, and that way was better, for I could con my Grammar from top to toe, every word and letter. So Friarlike he could rime too as it happened: and ſo much almoſt could the Parat doe long before him; for that Animal could ſpeake Greeke, which I am ſure he underſtood not, no not a word, not a letter. We might all well agree at this point, for our ſcope is the Childs good, but we invert the order: wee differ onelyonly in the handling of the bow, (that is a great difference, it turnes the upſide downe) or as the Painter framed the Picture of a running Horſe very well, but he tooke it by the wrong end, ſo the feet were upward, a great defacing to the Picture, but quickly mended. Certaine it is we doe juſt ſo, wee begin with the Child at the wrong end, and wee proceed (if we may call it a proceeding) like a Wiardrawer, backward. Invert the order againe, as he the Picture, and we are right. But this ſome ſee not, therefore their tongue walkes more at randome, For what wee cannot eaſily Leviter judicahun, praec pitāter conden. na…unt. Brad: de Cauſa Dei. l. 3. cap. 53. foreignunderſtand, we can quickly cenſure a. But (I thanke you againe) ſince you came into theſe parts, thoſe diſcouragements about our Schoole points began to weare out; ſuch hath beene your activeneſſe therein: And which is the greateſt meanes to make our way clearer, you have beene a meanes to make Comenius knowne amongst us, the greateſt light to this Kinde of Learning, that ever was ſet up in the World. What though the moſt will not thinke ſo: no wonder that: for the moſt judge all out of the way, who drudge not on, juſt in the old road and beaten way. They will have all Novell, which ſeeme ſtrange to them, and which they have neither skill to examine; or if skill, then no will: they wiſh well to it, but will not bee at the coſt. Better things they would have done, (ſo they doe in the higheſt matters) but they muſt drop into the mouth, when they will ſcarce take the paines to hold the mouth open. How you beare up at this point (for you drudge on ſtill heartily, leaving a more faire, I may ſay, and more honourable employment to further this) how, I ſay you ſucceed, and what proviſion you make for yours (for it is a maine point) I examine not, though I ſhould care: I ſuppoſe conſidering the Tempeſt, you have but an hard pul of it, againſt wind and tide, and your encouragements, not as they ſhould bee; ſo inwardly I know you: But preſſe on & remember: As the Lord croſſeth ſuch who run counter winding their owne way ſtill, the way of the Serpent: Certainly it is abominable in Gods fight: ſo remember alſo, The Lord ſhall be with 2 Chron. 19. 11.the good; and that is enough I hope, nay more, enough and enough: I double it for mighty reaſon, and I put an accent upon the laſt, that you might take double care at this point; for if the Lord bee with you, you have enough; not Eſaus enough only, though that was much, or a great deale; foreignbut Jacobs enough, and that is All, enough and enough, my God and All: you have foreign See the ſecond Part page 7.my firſt motive, and your chiefe encouragement, preſſed downe running over.
2. You may remember you came upon me the ſecond time, and then but to render a tranſlation touching precognitions put into your hand by M. Brookes 4. yeares ſince. Certainly his Name was a great motive, being my old acquaintance, familiar, and Boſome friend: Aſſuredly I would breake a boxe of oyntment, ſo perfuming his name, if I could, and make his memory ſweet about all our houſe, that ſome of the oyntment might be ſold, and given towards the very poore, his moſt helpleſſe Children: I knew no man ſo active that way in his time, beſides his ſecond M. Horne, very active now. But Sir, I muſt tell you, and you will finde it true; I could make his Latine which was but the contents of two ſheets, of no manner of uſe to the publike, yet of uſe enough, for it was his, ſpeaking in its owne Dialect. You know very well, it was Technologicall all along, (he was curious that way) but that would not bee for publike uſe, for being tranſlated into Engliſh, it would be Latine ſtill; ſo words of Art are, being as proper names, much the ſame in all Languages. Wee cannot ſpell Logicke nor conſtrue Law; but yet, if wee follow Nature cloſe as wee ſhould doe Truth, not fearing a check, or the loſſe of a tooth or ſo, wee may finde good reaſon in both.
I have taken this very courſe, I have followed my owne way, uſing my owne words, taking the Clue of Nature in my hand all along; what ſpeed I have made, and how neare the White I have got, let another judge.
Hee may thinke I have ſpoken boldly enough, and ſo doth a foole: but he may remember, That I have ſtayed my full time before I ſpake. Pythagoras his five yeares ſilence hath but this meaning; We muſt heare ſufficiently, and underſtand fully, before we ſpeake boldly, and then we may ſpeake; I have ſtaid that time foure times told, and now I have ſpoke, That you may the better judge, what it is, you are pleaſed to heare it firſt.
My taske by your appointment is, To teach the Grammar by way of Precognition; a way not tract before, and a very low way, but moſt ſure, infallible, and certaine, it gives the cleareſt light, though ſeemingly to the common eye, as in a dark lanthorne.
1. It was needfull firſt, To remember Man, what he is, ſith he is ſo forgetfull, What is hee? For it is a maine point; Wee will heare what others ſay; A wild fellow he is, A Colt, an Aſſe Colt, a wild Aſſe Colt, yet vaine man, he would be wiſe, and ſomebody, ſo Job told aJob 11. 12.us; He is naturally as brutiſh as a Swine, ſo ſaith another. bforeign. Cl. Alex. protr. p. 44 Baſ I Hex. Hom. 7.In ſpirituall things as unteacheable as a Fiſh, ſo another. Are all ſo? No, but yet he with his de meliore Luto, cJuvenal.was quite out; we are not all ſuch, not altogether ſo rough, nor ſo untractable ſome; & ſome more reſtrayned; but wee were all in the ſame lump, and have all the ſame mould, the ſame mould of heart too, till the good Spirit come to frame, mould, and faſhion there. Job cuts the knot, wee are all borne ſo; Ʋnder this Conſideration I deale with Man, that he may underſtand in the firſt place, for it is the ground of all our proceedings, That all our helps are too weake to ſhore him up, ever ſince hee tooke his fall, which was before he lay in his cradle, and will never outgrow it; ſo alſo, that all our lights are few enough to cleare up his underſtanding, ſo darke he is; ſo ſlow to conceive, ſo hard to underſtand: And all this, … An et qu…d diſci. non opus ſit, ſid delecta i…: non necesſitas ſed voluntas. Hier. ad Gaudent.but too little all, to make him vile in his own ſight, To hide pride from his eyes.
2. It muſt be known what we meane by precognition, and what accommodation we have from our ſenſes at that point, that the childe may ſee his work before him, and delight in it, then it goes on b.
3. Sith all Sciences have them not; not the higheſt and moſt excellent, that touching God and Chriſt; nor the loweſt, that of Grammar: neceſſary it was I ſhould goe a middle way, betwixt Nature, and Art, and when we could not finde a precognition (as we ſay of an occaſion) then to make it.
4. Yet all this while I am not come to Grammar, for that comes in almoſt at the fag-end of all. But for all that here is no juſt cauſe of exception, if it be well weighed and conſidered; that I follow Nature all along, keeping pace with her, which is conſtant, not Graſhopper-like, hopping, and leaping, now up, then downe againe preſently: ſo muſt he not leape, but goe, who followes her gradually with good heed, and leaſure, making good riddance all along, elſe he doth not goe but dance, one ſtep forward, & two backward: for one miſtake or error at the firſt entrance through a prepoſterous haſte, will multiply upon us in our proceeding, and puts back more then will be imagined. It is a ſure rule, and holds here, as in higher matters, The antidating a worke, mars our reckoning in the end. You have the ſum of the firſt Part.
2. Yee doe not expect, I ſhould give a Precognition of every thing I ſpeake of; it had beene a tedious labour, and the drieſt worke in the world. My worke in this way, is to make the ſenſe a leading hand, ſo making it a delight ſome and ſpeedy way, but to tell you on all particulars how I doe it, had beene needleſſe, and a vaine way; Conſilium reſque locuſque dabit. OnelyOnly this, hee that can ſtoope loweſt, and ſooneſt fit his Precognition to the Child, he is the beſt teacher, what ever his wants are otherwiſe. It is not what I underſtand, but how I can fit my ſelf to the Childs capacity, taking him out of his rode, and ſo working upon his underſtanding.
I need ſay it but once, The Precognition is arbitrary, one uſeth this, and another that, as his mind leads him, and his ingeny can ſuggeſt.
3. I have made reference to my owne Scrible, nay I will call it a Booke, by allowance of a great Scholar, having two Patrons, which ſhould be the onelyonly Licenſers of bookes, Truth, and Reaſon. I am ſure it hath both, elſe I durſt not have counted it a Sons Patrimony, or a Daughters Portion. I have, I ſay, made reference to my own Booke, more then once, or twice; there was a neceſsity, becauſe at theſe places, there is a want deſideratum aliquid, which muſt be ſupplied there if wee will have it; for memory failes me, and my little skill both, if here or elſewhere I have mentioned any one materiall thing twice. You ſee my account, and how cleare I am in it, you will judge of it as you are well able, and account me ſtill
Your ſervant in the Common ſervice of love and otherwiſe Hezekiah Woodward. Alderm: London. Novemb: 20. 1640.
Decemb. 3. 1640.
Imprimatur
T. WYKES.