the same from hand to hand from the first parent _Adam, Abraham_ and
others, which I will giue them leaue alone both to say and beleeue for me,
thinking rather that they haue bene the idle occupations, or perchaunce
the malitious and craftie constructions of the _Talmudists_ and others of
the Hebrue clerks to bring the world into admiration of their lawes and
Religion. Now peraduenture with vs Englishmen it be somewhat too late to
admit a new inuention of feet and times that our forefathers neuer vused
nor neuer observed till this day, either in their measures or in their
pronuntiation, and perchaunce will seeme in vs a presumptuous part to
attempt, considering also it would be hard to find many men to like of one
mans choise in the limitation of times and quantities of words, with which
not one, but euery eare is to be pleased and made a particular iudge,
being most truly sayd, that a multitude or comminaltie is hard to please
and easie to offend, and therefore I intend not to proceed any further in
this curiositie then to shew some small subtillitie that any other hath
not yet done, and not by imitation but by obseruation, nor to th'intent to
haue it put in execution in our vulgar Poesie, but to be pleasantly
scanned vpon, as are all nouelties so friuolous and ridiculous as it.

_CHAP. XIII._

_A more particular declaration of the metricall feete of the ancient Poets
Greeke and Latine and chiefly of the feete of two times_.

Their Grammarians made a great multitude of feete, I wot not to what huge
number, and of so many sizes as their wordes were of length, namely sixe
sizes, whereas indeede, the metricall feete are but twelve in number,
wherof foure only be of two times, and eight of three times, the rest
compounds of the premised two sorts, even as the Arithmeticall numbers
aboue three are made of two and three. And if ye will know how many of
these feete will be commodiously received with vs, I say all the whole
twelve, for first for the foote, _spondeus_ of two long times ye haue
these English words _mo-rni-ng, mi-dni-ght, mi-scha-unce_, and a number
moe whose ortographie may direct your iudgement in this point: for your
_Trocheus_ of a long and short ye haue these words _ma-ne`r, bro-ke`n,
ta-ke`n, bo-die`, me-mbe`r_, and a great many moe if there last sillables
abut not vpon the consonant in the beginning of another word, and in these
whether they do abut or no _wi-tti`e, di-tti`e, so-rro`w, mo-rro`w