Authors/John of Salisbury/Metalogicon/Liber 1/Caput 24

Chapter 24

Latin	English
CAP. XXIV. De usu legendi et praelegendi: et consuetudine Bernardi Carnotensis, et sequacium eius.	Chapter 24. Practical observations on reading and lecturing, together with [an account of] the method employed by Bernard of Chartres and his followers.
Qui ergo ad philosophiam aspirat, apprehendat lectionem, doctrinam et meditationem, cum exercitio [0853D] boni operis, nequando irascatur Dominus, et quod videbatur habere, auferatur ab eo. Sed quia legendi verbum aequivocum est, tam ad docentis et discentis exercitium, quam ad occupationem per se scrutantis scripturas; alterum, id est quod inter doctorem et discipulum communicatur, ut verbo utamur Quintiliani, dicatur praelectio, alterum quod ad scrutinium meditantis accedit, lectio simpliciter appelletur.	One who aspires to become a philosopher should therefore apply himself to reading, learning, and meditation, as well as the performance of good works, lest the Lord become angry and take away what he seems to possess. The word “reading” is equivocal. It may refer either to the activity of teaching and being taught, or to the occupation of studying written things by oneself. Consequently, the former, the intercommunication between teacher and learner, may be termed (to use Quintilian’s word) the “lecture”; the latter, or the scrutiny by the student, the “reading,” simply so called.
Ergo ab auctoritate eiusdem Quintiliani, in praelegendo, grammaticus et illa quidem minora praestare debebit, ut partes orationis reddi sibi soluto versu desideret, et pedum proprietates, quae debent in carminibus notae esse. Deprehendat quae barbara, quae impropria, aut alias contra legem loquendi composita.	On the authority of the same Quintilian, “the teacher of grammar should, in lecturing, take care of such details as to have his students analyze verses into their parts of speech, and point out the nature of the metrical feet which are to be noted in poems. He should, furthermore, indicate and condemn whatever is barbarous, incongruous, or otherwise against the rules of composition.”
Non tamen ut poetas improbet, [0854A] quibus ob metri necessitatem adeo ignoscitur, ut vitia ipsa in carmine, virtutum nomine censeantur; laudem enim virtutis plerumque occupat necessitatis improbitas, cui sine dispendio negari non potest assensus. Metaplasmum, schematismumque, et oratorios tropos, multiplicitatem dictionum cum adfuerint, et diversas sic vel sic dicendi rationes, ostendat et crebris commonitionibus agat in memoriam auditorum. Auctores excutiat, et sine intuentium risu eos plumis spoliet, quas (ad modum corniculae) ex variis disciplinis, ut color aptior sit, suis operibus indiderunt. Quantum pluribus disciplinis et abundantius quisque imbutus fuerit, tanto elegantiam auctorum plenius intuebitur, planiusque docebit.	He should not, however, be overcritical of the poets, in whose case, because of the requirements of rhythm, so much is overlooked that their very faults are termed virtues. A departure from the rule that is excused by necessity, is often praised as a virtue, when observance of the rule would be detrimental. The grammarian should also point out metaplasms, schematisms, and oratorical tropes, as well as various other forms of expression that may be present. He should further suggest the various possible ways of saying things, and impress them on the memory of his listeners by repeated reminders. Let him “shake out” the authors, and, without exciting ridicule, despoil them of their feathers, which (crow fashion) they have borrowed from the several branches of learning in order to bedeck their works and make them more colorful. One will more fully perceive and more lucidly explain the charming elegance of the authors in proportion to the breadth and thoroughness of his knowledge of various disciplines.
Illi enim per diacrisim, quam nos illustrationem [0854B] sive picturationem possumus appellare, cum rudem materiam historiae, aut argumenti, aut fabulae, aliamve quamlibet suscepissent, eam tanta disciplinarum copia et tanta compositionis et condimenti gratia excolebant, ut opus consummatum, omnium artium quodammodo videretur imago. Siquidem grammatica poeticaque se totas infundunt, et eius, quod exponitur, totam superficiem occupant. Huic, ut dici solet, campologica, probandi colores afferens, suas immittit rationes in fulgore auri: et rhetorica in locis persuasionum et nitore eloquii, candorem argenteum aemulatur. Mathematica quadrivii sui rotis vehitur, aliarumque vestigiis insistens, colores et venustates suas multiplici varietate contexit. Physica, exploratis naturae consiliis, [0854C] de promptuario suo affert multiplicem colorum venustatem.	The authors by diacrisis, which we may translate as “vivid representation” or “graphic imagery,” when they would take the crude materials of history, arguments, narratives, and other topics, would so copiously embellish them by the various branches of knowledge, in such charming style, with such pleasing ornament, that their finished masterpiece would seem to image all the arts. Grammar and Poetry are poured without stint over the length and breadth of their works. Across this field, as it is commonly called, Logic, which contributes plausibility by its proofs, weaves the golden lightening of its reasons; while Rhetoric, where persuasion is in order, supplies the silvery luster of its resplendent eloquence. Following in the path of the foregoing, Mathematics rides [proudly] along on the four-wheel chariot of its Quadrivium, intermingling its fascinating demonstration in manifold variety. Physical philosophy, which explores the secret depths of nature, also brings forth from her [copious] stores numerous lovely ornaments of diverse hue.
Illa autem quae caeteris philosophiae partibus praeeminet, ethicam dico, sine qua nec philosophi subsistit nomen, collati decoris gratia omnes alias antecedit. Excute Virgilium aut Lucanum, et ibi, cuiuscunque philosophiae professor sis, eiusdem invenies condituram.	Of all branches of learning, that which confers the greatest beauty is Ethics, the most excellent part of philosophy, without which the latter would not even deserve its name. Carefully examine the works of Vergil or Lucan, and no matter what your philosophy, you will find therein its seed or seasoning.
Ergo pro capacitate discentis, aut docentis industria et diligentia, constat fructus praelectionis auctorum. Sequebatur hunc morem Bernardus Carnotensis, exundantissimus modernis temporibus fons litterarum in Gallia, et in auctorum lectione quid simplex esset, et ad imaginem regulae positum, ostendebat; figuras grammaticae, colores rhetoricos, cavillationes sophismatum, [0854D] et qua parte sui propositae lectionis articulus respiciebat ad alias disciplinas, proponebat in medio: ita tamen, ut non in singulis universa doceret, sed pro capacitate audientium, dispensaret eis in tempore doctrinae mensuram.	The fruit of the lecture on the authors is proportionate both to the capacity of the students and to the industrious diligence of the teacher. Bernard of Chartres, the greatest font of literary learning in Gaul in recent times, used to teach grammar in the following way. He would point out, in reading the authors, what was simple and according to rule. On the other hand, he would explain grammatical figures, rhetorical embellishment, and sophistical quibbling, as well as the relation of given passages to other studies. He would do so, however, without trying to teach everything at one time. On the contrary, he would dispense his instruction to his hearers gradually, in a manner commensurate with their powers of assimilation.
Et quia splendor orationis aut a proprietate est, id est cum adiectivum aut verbum, substantivo eleganter adiungitur, aut a translatione, id est ubi sermo ex causa probabili, ad alienam traducitur significationem, haec, sumpta occasione, inculcabat mentibus auditorum. Et quoniam memoria exercitio firmatur, ingeniumque acuitur, ad imitandum ea quae audiebant, alios admonitionibus, alios flagellis et poenis urgebat. Cogebantur exsolvere singuli die sequenti aliquid eorum, quae praecedenti audierant; [0855A] alii plus, alii minus: erat enim apud eos praecedentis discipulus sequens dies. Vespertinum exercitium, quod declinatio dicebatur, tanta copiositate grammaticae refertum erat, ut si quis in eo per annum integrum versaretur, rationem loquendi et scribendi, si non esset hebetior, haberet ad manum, et significationem sermonum, qui in communi usu versantur, ignorare non posset.	And since diction is lustrous either because the words are well chosen, and the adjectives and verbs admirably suited to the nouns with which they are used, or because of the employment of metaphors, whereby speech is transferred to some beyond-the-ordinary meaning for sufficient reason, Bernard used to inculcate this in the minds of his hearers whenever he had the opportunity. In view of the fact that exercise both strengthens and sharpens our mind, Bernard would bend every effort to bring his students to imitate what they were hearing. In some cases he would rely on exhortation, in others he would resort to punishments, such as flogging. Each student was daily required to recite part of what he had heard on the previous day. Some would recite more, others less. Each succeeding day thus became the disciple of its predecessor. The evening exercise, known as the “declination,” was so replete with grammatical instruction that if anyone were to take part in it for an entire year, provided he were not a dullard, he would become thoroughly familiar with the [correct] method of speaking and writing, and would not be at a loss to comprehend expressions in general use.
Sed quia nec scholam, nec diem aliquem decet esse religionis expertem, ea proponebatur materia, quae fidem aedificaret, et mores, et unde qui convenerant, quasi collatione quadam, animarentur ad bonum. Novissimus autem huius declinationis, imo philosophicae collationis, articulus, pietatis vestigia praeferebat; et animas defunctorum commendabat, devota oblatione [0855B] psalmi, qui in Poenitentialibus sextus est, et in oratione Dominica, Redemptori suo.	Since, however, it is not right to allow any school or day to be without religion, subject matter was presented to foster faith, to build up morals, and to inspire those present at this quasicollation to perform good works. This [evening] “declination,” or philosophical collation, closed with the pious commendation of the souls of the departed to their Redeemer, by the devout recitation of the Sixth Penetential [sic] Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer.
Quibus autem indicebantur praeexercitamina puerorum, in prosis aut poematibus imitandis, poetas aut oratores proponebat, et eorum iubebat vestigia imitari, ostendens iuncturas dictionum et elegantes sermonum clausulas. Si quis autem ad splendorem sui operis, alienum pannum assuerat, deprehensum redarguebat furtum; sed poenam saepissime non infligebat. Sic vero redargutum, si hoc tamen meruerat inepta positio, ad exprimendam auctorum imaginem, modesta indulgentia conscendere iubebat faciebatque, ut qui maiores imitabatur, fieret posteris imitandus. Id quoque inter prima rudimenta docebat, et infigebat animis, quae in oeconomia [0855C] virtus: quae in decore rerum, quae in verbis laudanda sunt: ubi tenuitas et quasi macies sermonis, ubi copia probabilis, ubi excedens, ubi omnium modus. Historias, poemata, percurrenda monebat diligenter quidem, et qui velut nullis calcaribus urgebantur ad fugam: et ex singulis, aliquid reconditum in memoria, diurnum debitum, diligenti instantia exigebat.	He [Bernard] would also explain the poets and orators who were to serve as models for the boys in their introductory exercises in imitating prose and poetry. Pointing out how the diction of the authors was so skillfully connected, and what they had to say was so elegantly concluded, he would admonish his students to follow their example. And if, to embellish his work, someone had sewed on a patch of cloth filched from an external source, Bernard, on discovering this, would rebuke him for his plagiary, but would generally refrain from punishing him. After he had reproved the student, if an unsuitable theme had invited this, he would, with modest indulgence, bid the boy to rise to real imitation of the [classical authors], and would bring about that he who had imitated his predecessors would come to be deserving of imitation by his successors. He would also inculcate as fundamental, and impress on the minds of his listeners, what virtue exists in economy; what things are to be commended by facts and what ones by choice of words, where concise and, so to speak, frugal speech is in order, and where fuller, more copious expression is appropriate; as well as where speech is excessive, and wherein consists just measure in all cases. Bernard used also to admonish his students that stories and poems should be read thoroughly, and not as though the reader were being precipitated to flight by spurs.Wherefor he diligently and insistently demanded from each, as a daily debt, something committed to memory.
Superflua tamen fugienda dicebat; et ea sufficere, quae a claris auctoribus scripta sunt: siquidem “persequi quid quis unquam contemptissimorum hominum dixerit, aut nimiae miseriae, aut inanis iactantiae est, et detinet, atque obruit ingenia, melius aliis vacatura; quod autem melius tollit, eo usque non prodest,” quod nec boni censetur [0855D] nomine; omnes enim schedas excutere et volvere scripturas, etiam lectione indignas, non magis ad rem pertinet, quam anilibus fabulis operam dare.	At the same time, he said that we should shun what is superfluous. According to him, the works of distinguished authors suffice. As a matter of fact, to study everything that everyone, no matter how insignificant, has ever said, is either to be excessively humble and cautious, or overly vain and ostentatious. It also deters and stifles minds that would better be freed to go on to other things. That which preëmpts the place of something that is better is, for this reason, disadvantageous, and does not deserve to be called “good.” To examine and pore over everything that has been written, regardless of whether it is worth reading, is as pointless as to fritter away one’s time with old wives’ tales.
Ut enim ait Augustinus in lib. De ordine: “Quis ferat imperitum videri hominem, qui volasse Daedalum non audierit: mendacem illum, qui dixerit; stultum, qui crediderit; impudentem, qui interrogaverit, non videri? Aut in quo nostros familiares graviter miserari soleo, qui si non responderint quid vocata sit mater Euryali, accusantur inscitiae: cum ipsi eos, a quibus interrogantur, vanos, ineptos et curiosos, non audeant appellare.” Haec quidem ille, eleganter et vere.	As Augustine says in his book On Order: “Who is there who will bear that a man who has never heard that Daedalus flew should [therefor] be considered unlearned? And, on the contrary, who will not agree that one who says that Daedalus did fly should be branded a liar; one who believes it, a fool; and one who questions [anyone] about it, impudent? I am wont to have profound pity for those of my associates who are accused of ignorance because they do not know the name of the mother of Euryalus, yet who dare not call those who ask such questions ‘conceited and pedantic busy-bodies.’” Augustine summarizes the matter aptly and with truth.
Unde inter virtutes grammatici merito reputatum est ab antiquis, aliqua ignorare. Et quia in toto praeexercitamine [0856A] erudiendorum, nihil utilius est quam ei, quod fieri ex arte oportet, assuescere, prosas et poemata quotidie scriptitabant, et se mutuis exercebant collationibus, quo quidem exercitio, nihil utilius ad eloquentiam, nihil expeditius ad scientiam, et plurimum confert ad vitam, si tamen hanc sedulitatem regit charitas, si in profectu litterario servetur humilitas. Non “est enim eiusdem hominis, litteris et carnalibus vitiis inservire.” Ad huius magistri formam praeceptores mei in grammatica, Gulielmus de Conchis et Ricardus, cognomento Episcopus, officio nunc archidiaconus Constantiensis, vita et conversatione vir bonus, suos discipulos aliquandiu informaverunt. Sed postmodum, ex quo opinio veritati praeiudicium fecit, et homines videri, quam esse [0856B] philosophi maluerunt, professoresque artium, se totam philosophiam brevius, quam triennio aut biennio, transfusuros auditoribus pollicebantur, impetu multitudinis imperitae victi, cesserunt. Exinde autem, minus temporis et diligentiae, in grammaticae studio impensum est. Ex quo contigit, ut qui omnes artes, tam liberales quam mechanicas, profitentur, nec primam noverint: sine qua, frustra quis progredietur ad reliquas.	The ancients correctly reckoned that to ignore certain things constituted one of the marks of a good grammarian. A further feature of Bernard’s method was to have his disciples compose prose and poetry every day, and exercise their faculties in mutual conferences, for nothing is more useful in introductory training than actually to accustom one’s students to practice the art they are studying. Nothing serves better to foster the acquisition of eloquence and the attainment of knowledge than such conferences, which also have a salutary influence on practical conduct, provided that charity moderates enthusiasm, and that humility is not lost during progress in learning. A man cannot be the servant of both learning and carnal vice. My own instructors in grammar, William of Conches, and Richard, who is known as “the Bishop,” a good man both in life and conversation, who now holds the office of archdeacon of Coutances, formerly used Bernard’s method in training their disciples. But later, when popular opinion veered away from the truth, when men preferred to seem, rather than to be philosophers, and when professors of the arts were promising to impart the whole of philosophy in less than three or even two years, William and Richard were overwhelmed by the onslaught of the ignorant mob, and retired. Since then, less time and attention have been given to the study of grammar. As a result, we find men who profess all the arts, liberal and mechanical, but who are ignorant of this very first one [i.e., grammar], without which it is futile to attempt to go on to the others.
Licet autem et aliae disciplinae ad litteraturam proficiant, haec tamen privilegio singulari facere dicitur litteratum. Siquidem Romulus eam litteraturam, Varro vero litterationem appellat, et professor eius, sive assertor, dicitur litteratus. Antiquitus tamen vocabatur litterator iuxta illud Catulli:	But while other studies may also contribute to “letters,” grammar alone has the unique privilege of making one “lettered.” Romulus, in fact, refers to grammar as “letters,” Varro calls it “making lettered,” and one who teaches or professes grammar is spoken of as “lettered.” In times past, the teacher of grammar was styled a “teacher of letters.” Thus Catullus says:
[0856C] Munus dat tibi Sylla litterator. (CATULL. XIV, 9.) Unde probabile est quod contemptor grammaticae, non modo litterator non est, sed nec litteratus dici debet.	“Silla, the ‘teacher of letters,’ gives thee a present.” Hence it is probable that anyone who spurns grammar, is not only not a “teacher of letters,” but does not even deserve to be called “lettered.”