and spoken language, and being the fruit of spontaneous and natural growth, they are part and parcel of the people's language; and so thoroughly are they blended and assimilated with it, that in most instances none but the special student is conscious of their foreign origin. Vastly different they are in this respect from the foreign words that were introduced subsequently through the writings of the learned, who took them from the books of other learned authors. All these words, absolutely necessary to represent the more delicate shades of thought, and to express the complex relation of the higher mental conceptions, form, no doubt, a most important part of the present vocabulary; but, although with the general diffusion of knowledge many have passed into the common_tongue, their use is still mainly confined to the educated, and to the language of learned speakers and writers.

There is thus a vast difference between the two categories of words of foreign origin now found in the language-the one inherited, the other imported; the former, mixed with what remained of the native dialects, forming the people's vocabulary, serving the purpose of business and familiar speech, and furnishing the terms of endearment, affection, and emotion; the latter composing the language of reasoning, of science, and philosophy, and the higher intellectual processes in general. To call all these words indiscriminately Latin would not assist the student in establishing etymological or rhetorical distinctions. It is true that French and Latin may be looked upon as two successive conditions of the same language, but still between the two there is a marked difference; and not to notice it would be as great a blunder as, in another order of ideas, not to distinguish between mother and daughter. The Normans spoke French, not Latin; and it was the French as spoken by them which, blending with the native dialects, has formed that wonderful language which, by the power thus acquired of enriching its vocabulary from all available sources, has found its way into almost every country, and which, having allied itself with every art and science, and been used for every purpose of hu man action and thought, has now become inferior to none, and superior to almost all, in those excellencies and utilities for which languages have been commended and preferred.

While thus inquiring into the sources of the English language by means of historical, archæological, and eth

nological research, the student can not have failed to discover that, although language is still the first test among those by which races are distinguished, its application as such is restricted by conditions very different from the dogma, once so hastily pronounced, that it is the one great decisive test. No country more signally than our own presents examples of the fact, of which proofs abound throughout the world, that the language spoken by a people is, by itself, no test of race at all; nor is the fallacy of the principle of "nationalities of race" more clearly demonstrated than by the history of the people from whom our own vernacular is borrowed, and whose patriotic and political nationality is founded on fusion rather than on purity of race; indeed, the latter would perhaps be sought in vain throughout the world.

Undoubtedly the history of the formation of a language is essentially the history of the people who speak and of those who have spoken it; and if this language is our own, a knowledge of both these branches, studied conjointly, will prove all the more valuable as, in case of doubt, it allows an intelligent and methodical inquiry into the nature of every word that may suggest itself for use-from what parent stock it came; what circumstances led to its introduction; through what changes of form it has passed; what was its original meaning, and its subsequent deviation from that first signification. Such a task, made habitual, will be found not only most instructive, but also exceedingly interesting. For this purpose let the student carefully examine the materials at hand, and in his compositions select such words and forms as will exactly express his ideas. Let him suit his language to his subject, and employ none but the most usual terms to produce the effect desired. Above all, let him remember that, though English has borrowed a great deal of French, though it has lost a large stock of native English words, though it has adopted many a French idiom, and has been influenced by French in endless indirect ways, it still remains English. On the other hand, let him not imagine that English is still Saxon, and that in order to write English well we must banish from our phrases every word taken from the French and Latin. Such an attempt would show a gross ignorance of the sources of the language, and throw out the whole vocabulary of art, science, philosophy, and modern civilization. Nay, what is more, it would be impossible even to allude to many of the most primitive ob

jects and occurrences in life; for although the original English vocabulary has furnished its ample share of words for the expression of the most familiar ideas, yet such words as pray, pay, money, rent, debt, prison, judge, rich, poor, people, parents, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, cousin, city, village, country, river, lake, rock, valley, mountain, air, fruit, flowers, plants, herbs, carrots, onions, dinner, supper, boil, fry, roast, pork, lard, beef, mutton, plate, place, chair, table, round, square, touch, try, turn, taste, suffer, marry, grief, pain, labor, wages, bottle, boot, coat, vest, jacket, pocket, face, voice, etc., etc., have won their way into the hovel as well as into the manor; nor can they be adequately expressed by any other terms. While, therefore, the student should not aim at adorning his style by an excessive use of foreign terms, he should be careful also not to fall into the opposite extreme, and impoverish his language by a too exclusive preference for words derived from the Saxon, He should, indeed, never discard such words without good reason, and if among these he can not find any that will suit his purpose, he should prefer a French or Latin word naturalized before the eighteenth century to any later comer. On this subject we may profitably notice the remarks of Dr. Freeman, who, though far from underrating the Norman influence in the formation of the English language, or ignoring the importance of words derived from that source, nevertheless protests, as so many have done before, him, against the immoderate use of French and Latin terms, to the neglect of those of Saxon origin. On reprinting his "Essays," written many years before, he says:

"In almost every page I have found it easy to put some plain English word, about whose meaning there can be no doubt, instead of those needless French and Latin words which are thought to add dignity to style, but which in truth only add vagueness. I am in no way ashamed to find that I can write purer and clearer English now than I did fourteen and fifteen years back; and I think it well to mention the fact for the encouragement of younger writers. The common temptation of beginners is to write in what they think a more elevated fashion. It needs some years of practice before a man fully takes in the truth that, for real strength, and, above all, for real clearness, there is nothing like the old English speech of our fathers."

CHAPTER XI.

SCRAPS FROM ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS ILLUSTRATING EARLY ENGLISH LITERATURE AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

IN order to understand correctly the specimens of early English presented in this chapter, it must be borne in mind that, with the exception of the Anglo-Saxon "Chronicle "which kept up the ancient idiom of Alfred long after that language had ceased to be vernacular-all English works that since made their appearance were written for the use of people who no longer understood the elder forms of speech, but whose local dialects varied to such an extent as to be unintelligible, in many instances, to persons inhabiting different parts of the country. However, leaving aside all minor differences, and noticing only the leading features of the literary records of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, we will find that the New English of that time was represented by three principal dialects, which may be grouped as follows:

1. The Northern dialects, spoken throughout the Lowlands of Scotland, Northumberland, Durham, and nearly the whole of Yorkshire. Roughly speaking, the Humber and Ouse formed the southern boundary of this area, while the Penine Chain determined its limits to the west.

2. The Midland dialect, spoken in the counties to the west of the Penine Chain, in the East-Anglian counties, and in the whole of the Midland district. The Thames formed the southern boundary of this region.

3. The Southern dialect, spoken in all the counties south of the Thames; in Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, and portions of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

There is no doubt that the Midland dialect exercised an influence upon the Southern dialect wherever it happened to be geographically connected with it, just as the Northumbrian acted upon the adjacent Midland dialects; and this enables us to understand that admixture of gram

matical forms which is to be found in some of the early English manuscripts.

No previous knowledge of oldest English, that is, Anglo-Saxon, is required for the perusal of the extracts contained in this chapter. The translation of a few pieces will render the student familiar with the earlier forms of English, after which the addition of copious notes will assist him in solving the principal difficulties of construc tion, and explain or illustrate most of the rarer words and forms.

A great deal of the supposed difficulty of Early English, and much of the curious awe with which many per sons regard it, as if it were a study much beyond them, and in which they can have little interest, has been the indirect result of the injudicious way in which editors have been accustomed to tamper with their texts. Readers are so used to having their extracts from older authors modified or modernized, that they find themselves thrown out when actually meeting with a genuine old book, and are discouraged at the outset from attempting to peruse it. In the present volume many pieces have been printed without alteration, and with the exact spelling which occurs in the original manuscript, or old black. letter books from which they are taken. The student who masters their contents will therefore make a real advance, and be pleased to find himself able to read with consider. able ease almost every Old English printed book in exist ence. He will also find that he has acquired much that will assist him in reading early manuscripts.

There are only a few difficulties that are likely to trouble him at first. These arise from three principal sources, viz., from the alphabet employed, from the spelling, and from the diction or vocabulary of words used. The alphabet and the spelling should receive previous attention; but a knowledge of the vocabulary will come with time, being acquired imperceptibly, yet. with ever increasing rapidity. A few hints on these subjects will probably be of service.

The Alphabet.-The letters are the same as those we use now, with two additions, and with some variations in significance. The additional letters are p and 3. Both of

1 But for the unfortunate readiness with which editors and publishers have yielded to the popular demand for conformity to the spelling and the vocabu lary of the day, the knowledge of genuine English would now be both more general and further advanced than it is.-Marsh, Lectures on English.