OCRed data provided
for searching only. TERENCE, MCINTUAN, PALINGENIUS 68I school, the universal Cato, Aesop, Terence, and the somewhat less
universal Mantuan, and Palingenius. Here again, as in his grammar, he may safely be passed through the lower school.
But before we leave constructions, it may be well to give Brinsley's summary of proper methods to be employed.
Cause your Schollers to reade first their Lecture distinctly, and construe truly: to parse as they construe, euer marking the last principal) word: to shew where they haue learned euery hard word: what example euery hard word is like; so to giue rules and examples of them, both for Etymnologie and Syntax, as after for the Rhetoricke, as need is. To parse of themselues, as reading a Lecture, and that onely in Latine when they come to say, except, in the very lowest fourmes: to make some marke at euery hard word, which you note vnto them, to take the most paines in those: amongst the younger specially, to examine each Lecture for the vse; whereby they may get mat-ter, words, and phrases, all vnder one. In the highest, for speedinesse to examine onely the difficulties, as you see requisite, to let them name the rule in a word or two; to obserue phrases and Epithets. In all repetitions amongst themselues, and construing ouer their Authors, to examine ouer all the noted words, as time permits?
Such a system of lecturing, memorizing, construing, parsing, repeating, etc. was calculated to stamp these authors indelibly upon the minds of learned grammarians. And it is clear that Shakspere's mind had been so stamped with the conventional construes of the lower grammar school.
112 Brinsley, Ludus Literalism (1627), PP. 146-147.
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