by Bossuet for the dauphin,
and also used by Fenelon for the instruction of the duc de Bourgogne. In
the second half of the 17th century the rules of grammar and rhetoric
were simplified, and the time withdrawn from the practice of composition
(especially verse composition) transferred to the explanation and the
study of authors.

Richelieu, Bossuet, Fenelon, Fleury.

Richelieu, in 1640, formed a scheme for a college in which Latin was to
have a subordinate place, while room was to be found for the study of
history and science, Greek, and French and modern languages. Bossuet, in
educating the dauphin, added to the ordinary classical routine
represented by the extensive series of the "Delphin Classics" the study
of history and of science. A greater originality in the method of
teaching the ancient languages was exemplified by Fenelon, whose views
were partially reflected by the Abbe Fleury, who also desired the
simplification of grammar, the diminution of composition, and even the
suppression of Latin verse. Of the ordinary teaching of Greek in his
day, Fleury wittily observed that most boys "learned just enough of that
language to have a pretext for saying for the rest of their lives that
Greek was a subject easily forgotten."

Rollin.

In the 18th century Rollin, in his _Traite des etudes_ (1726), agreed
with the Port-Royalists in demanding that Latin grammars should be
written in French, that the rules should be simplified and explained by
a sufficient number of examples, and that a more important place should
be assigned to translation than to composition. The supremacy of Latin
was the subject of a long series of attacks in the same century. Even at
the close of the previous century the brilliant achievements of French
literature had prompted La Bruyere to declare in _Des ouvrages de
l'esprit_ (about 1680), "We have at last thrown off the yoke of
_Latinism_"; and, in the same year, Jacques Spon claimed in his
correspondence the right to use the French language in discussing points
of archaeology.

The Jesuits.

Meanwhile, in 1563, notwithstanding the opposition of the university of
Paris, the Jesuits had succeeded in founding the _Collegium
Claromontanum_. After the accession of Henry IV. they were expelled from
Paris and other important towns in 1594, and not allowed to return until
1609, when they found themselves confronted once more by their rival,
the university of Paris. They opened the doo