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GIFT   OF 

Bancroft 
LIBRARY 


ORIGIN 


PROGRESS  AND  DESTINY 


OF  THE 


ENGLISH  LANGUAGE 


AND 


LITERATURE. 


BY 


JOHN    A.   WEISSE,  M.D. 


"The  other  nations  of  Europe  may  esteem  themselves  fortunate,  that  the  English  have 
not  made  the  discovery  of  the  suitableness  of  their  language  for  universal  adoption." 

—DR.  K.  M.  RAPP'S  "  Physioloiie  der  SJrac/ie."    Vol.  III.  p.  157. 


NEW  YORK: 
J.    W.    BOUTON,  706   BROADWAY. 

1879. 


COPYRIGHT  BY 
J.    W.    BOUTON, 

1878. 


GIFT  OF 

Bancroft 

LIBRARY 


TROW'S 

PRINTING  AND  BOOKBINDING  Co., 
205-213  Kast  \~zth  St., 

NEW    YORK. 


ENGLISH-SPEAKING    POPULATIONS 

IN 

EUROPE,       AMERICA,       ASIA,       AFRICA,      AND       OCEANICA, 


of  Appreciation  0f  %ir  |frmgirag*, 


THIS  WORK  IS  DEDICATED 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


"  Language  is  an  art,  and  a  glorious  one,  whose  influence  extends  over  all  others,  and 
in  which  all  science  whatever  must  center ;  but  an  art  springing  from  necessity,  and 
originally  invented  by  artless  men." 

— HORNE  TOOKE'S  "Diversions  of  Pur  ley."    Vol.  I.,  p.  317,  L.  E. 


PREFACE. 


"The  science  of  language  is  a  modern  one,  as  much  so  as  geology  and  chemistry  ;  it  be- 
longs, like  them,  to  the  nineteenth  century."— Prof.  W.  D.  WHITNEY. 

OUR  new  method  of  analyzing  the  English  language  was 
suggested  by  the  term  Anglo-Saxon,  used  by  enthusiasts 
as  a  national  and  linguistic  pedigree.  The  people  of 
England  Seemed  to  us  as  much  mixed  as  any  nation  in 
Europe  ;  the  people  of  the  United  States  more  than  any 
European  nation,  and  the  English  idiom  more  Greco-Latin 
than  Anglo-Saxon.  A  strict  analysis  of  Anglo-Saxon 
and  English  literature,  from  King  Ethelbert,  A.D.  597,  to 
Queen  Victoria,  realized  our  opinion,  not  only  historically 
and  philologically,  but  numerically. 

Our  book  is  no  eulogy  on  the  virtues  of  the  ninety  Eng- 
lish-speaking millions,  nor  is  it  a  satire  on  their  vices  ; 
but  an  essay  on  what  they  have  achieved  in  language, 
which  contains  the  thought  and  wisdom  of  the  nation. 
We  analyzed  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  Anglo-Saxon, 
English  and  American  writings  and  authors,  from  A.D. 
597  to  our  day  ;  their  ultimate  percentages  will  show  the 
origin  of  the  English  language. 

Prof.  Draper  tells  us,  in  the  preface  of  his  excellent  work, 
entitled  "Intellectual  Development  of  Europe:"  "We 
gain  a  more  just  and  thorough  appreciation  of  the  thoughts 


6  Preface. 

and  motives  of  men  in  successive  ages  of  the  world."  In 
conformity  with  this  idea,  we  divide  our  essay  into  Cen- 
turies, not  only  to  appreciate  men's  thoughts,  but  to  show 
the  gradual  progress  of  a  superior  language,  in  which, 
according  to  Home  Tooke,  "  all  science  whatever  must 
center." 

We  started  this  investigation  with  intent  to  show  the 
inferiority  of  the  English  language  as  compared  with 
Greek,  Latin,  French,  and  German  ;  but,  finding  that  it 
contains  the  cream  and  essence  of  its  predecessors  and 
cotemporaries,  that  its  grammar  is  simpler  than  any  we 
have  studied,  and  that  its  records  and  literature  are  more 
successive  and  complete  than  those  of  any  other  tongue — 
we  must  acknowledge  the  fact,  in  order  to  be  true  to  our 
convictions.  You  have  but  to  follow  our  account  from 
century  to  century,  and  you  cannot  help  being  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  every  statement.  As  we  think  "  the  agita- 
tion of  thought  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom,"  we  hope  our 
analysis  will  be  thoroughly  and  fairly  scrutinized  and  com- 
mented on. 

Behold  our  linguistic  classification,  slightly  modified 
from  that  used  by  previous  philologists  : 

f  Thraco-Pelasgic  or  Greco-Latin  Family. 
Ario-Japhetic   !  Scytho-Gotho-Germanic  " 

Type  :  j   Gomero-Celtic 

I  Sarmato-Sclavonic  " 

Ario-Semitic    , 

Semitic  Family. 


Type: 
Ario-Hamitic  Type  : 

This  classification   is  based  on  the  writings  of  eminent 
ancient,  Medieval  and  modern  authors.     The  above  terms 


Preface.  7 

are  long  and  cumbersome,  but  they  may  be  tolerated  and 
excused,  when  it  is  considered  that  they  cover  and  include 
not  only  Balbi's  31  families,  but  Humboldt's  and  Bromme's 
900  languages,  of  which  53  belong  to  Europe,  157  to 
Asia,  125  to  Africa,  445  to  America,  and  120  to  Oceanica. 
Even  the  5,000  dialects  admitted  by  the  German  savant 
may  find  room  in  our  three  comprehensive  linguistic, 
Genealogic,  Historic  and  Geographic  Types,  founded  on 
the  Pentateuch,  Zendavesta,  Vedas  and  Popol  Vuh — on 
Homer,  Herodotus,  Strabo,  Pliny,  Josephus,  Tacitus, 
Ximenes,  Lavoisne,  Renan,  Schleicher,  Max  Miiller,  Raw- 
linson,  etc. 

We  prefer  the  above  division,  because  its  terms  are  his- 
toric and  ethnologic,  and  not  geographic,  as  Indo-Euro- 
pean, Indo- Germanic,  and  the  like  ;  and  because  its  roots  : 
ar,  la;  sem,  sam  ;  Am,  Ham,  Cham,  have  an  immense 
linguistic  and  patronymic  range,  not  limited  by  any  river, 
mountain,  country,  or  part  of  the  world,  but  used  as  names 
of  mankind's  gods,  heroes,  pioneers,  or  watchwords. 

We  divide  the  English  language,  from  its  formation  to 
our  day,  into  three  periods  : 

Anglo-Saxon  period  from  A.D.  449  to  1200. 
Franco-English  "  "  "  I2OO  to  1600. 
English  "  "  "  1600  to  1878. 

The  object  of  this  work,  to  which  the  author  has  de- 
voted his  leisure  hours  for  thirty  years,  is  : 

I.  To  lay  before  the  English-speaking  populations,  in 

both  hemispheres,  the  real  origin  and  progress  of 
their  language  ; 

II.  To  make  the  coming  generation  realize  the  superi- 


8  Preface. 

ority  of  their  idiom  over  others,  as  to  the  refine- 
ment and  vigor  of  its  vocabulary,  clearness  of  dic- 
tion, simplicity  in  grammar,  and  directness  in  con- 
struction ; 

III.  To  show  the   inconsistency  of  so-called   English 
orthography ; 

IV.  To  suggest  a  method  to  write  and  print  English  as 

it  is  pronounced,  and  remove  the  few  remaining 
irregularities  from  its  grammar  ; 

V.  Last,  to  stimulate  the  English-speaking  millions  all 

over  the  globe,  so  to  simplify  the  uttering,  writing 
and  printing  of  their  language  as  to  make  it  a 
desideratum  for  universal  adoption. 

JOHN  A.  WEISSE,  M.,D. 
30  W.  I5TH  ST.,  NEW  YORK,  1878. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  Sharon  Turner's  "  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  "  we  read  : 
"  To  explore  the  history  of  any  language  is  a  task  peculiarly 
difficult  at  this  period  of  the  world,  in  which  we  are  so  remote 
from  the  era  of  its  construction.  We  have  as  yet  witnessed  no 
people  in  the  act  of  forming  their  language,  and  cannot  therefore 
from  experience  demonstrate  the  simple  elements  from  which  a 
language  begins,  nor  the  additional  organization  which  it  grad- 
ually receives." 

We  assent  to  this  statement,  when  applied  to  any  of  the  ancient 
idioms,  as  Sanscrit,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  Phenician,  Etruscan,  Celtic, 
Gothic.  Sclavonic,  etc.;  but  Anglo-Saxon,  mother  of  English,  being 
a  dialect  whose  vocabulary  and  literature  are  historic,  we  shall 
endeavor  to  show  its  '•'•simple  elements"  and  trace  "the  addi- 
tional organization  which  it  gradually  receives"  To  perform 
this  "  task  peculiarly  difficult  at  this  period  of  the  world"  we  ask 
and  answer  the  following  questions  : 

I .  What  was  the  language  of  the  three  Gotho-Germanic  tribes, 
Jutes,  Saxons,  and  Angles,  who  settled  in  Britain  from  A.D.  449 
to  586,  and  formed  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  ? 

II.  Where  did  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect,  mother  of  English, 
originate  ? 

III.  What  was  the  language  in  England  from  A.D.  597,  when 
the  Anglo-Saxon  code  of  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  was  written — 
to  A.  D.  1154,  when  the  "Saxon  Chronicle "  was  stopped  and 
Anglo-Saxon  ceased  to  be  a  written  language  ? 

IV.  What  was  the  language  in  England  from  A.D.  1154  to 
Shakespeare,  1600  ? 

V.  What  was  its  progress  from  A.D.  1600  to  1878  ? 

To   answer   the   first  and  second  question,  there   being  no 


io  Introduction. 


writings  of  that  period,  we  compare  the  earliest 
&nd  Ario-Semitic  roots  and  words  to  arrive  at  the 
^origin  G£  the1"  Anglo-Saxon  dialect,  formed  by  the  three  Gotho- 
Germanic  tribes.  To  answer  the  three  other  questions,  when  there 
are  Gotho-Germanic  writings,  we  select,  from  century  to  century, 
Anglo-Saxon,  English  and  American  writers  of  different  styles 
and  on  different  subjects,  take  extracts,  arrange  the  words  under 
appropriate  headings,  and  arrive  at  numeric  results.  Again,  from 
these  tables  of  100  words  each  we  drop  repetitions,  choose  the 
different  nouns,  verbs,  adjectives,  adverbs  of  quality,  and  parti- 
cles, place  them  in  separate  columns,  and  thus  reach  ultimate 
totals,  which  must  irrevocably  settle  the  origin  and  progress  of 
the  English  language.  Poetry  and  prose,  the  pulpit,  the  forum, 
the  university,  the  press,  school  and  lecture  room,  furnish  their 
quota  to  this  analysis. 

We  are  convinced  there  are  thousands,  who  desire  satisfactory 
answers  to  the  above  questions,  language  being  a  nation's  intel- 
lectual and  moral  mirror.  To  those  who  sincerely  seek  knowl- 
edge, we  present  tables  and  columns  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  English 
words  ;  to  those  who,  from  prejudice,  ignorance  or  want  of  proper 
research,  parade  the  terms  Anglo-Saxon,  Teutonic,  ATorman  or 
Norman-French,  and  think  they  have  exhausted  the  subject,  we 
offer  linguistic  transitions  with  percentages.  We  thought  long 
and  earnestly,  till  we  reached  this  new  method  of  analyzing  the 
English  language  and  literature.  If  it  affords  as  much  pleasure 
to  readers  as  it  did  to  the  author,  who,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  knew 
not  a  word  of  English,  his  labor  of  thirty  years  will  be  amply 
rewarded.  He  offers  it  to  the  English-speaking  populations  as  a 
linguistic  monument  to  supply  an  educational  want,  hoping  it 
will  find  its  way  into  schools,  colleges,  and  universities. 

A  progression  of  fourteen  centuries  is  a  curious  linguistic  phe- 
nomenon, if  we  consider  the  Dark  Ages  through  which  Anglo- 
Saxon  had  to  pass. 

As  every  social  change,  new  science,  art,  invention  and  mech- 
anism requires  and  fosters  peculiar  devices  and  trades,  and  thus 
contributes  technic  terms  and  words,  we  cursorily  allude  to  each, 
so  as  to  show,  as  much  as  possible,  the  time  and  place,  when 
and  where,  the  additions  came  into  the  language. 

Those  who  will  carefully  read  our  Extracts,  Tables,  Synopses, 


Introduction.  1 1 

and  Ultimate  Numeric  Results,  together  with  our  remarks  and 
notes,  as  they  occur  from  century  to  century  and  from  period  to 
period,  will  not  only  learn  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  English 
language  and  literature,  but  the  style  of  the  different  authors,  the 
changes  in  orthography  and  grammar,  also  the  gradual  disuse  of 
certain  words  and  phrases,  as  the  language  gained  directness  and 
clearness,  and  became  less  involved  in  its  construction,  which 
has  been  and  is  now  the  besetting  defect  of  the  Gotho-Germanic 
idioms.  About  A.D.  1066  an  influx  of  words  from  a  different 
and  more  advanced  family  of  languages,  unconformable  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  grammar,  compelled  a  relinquishment  of  odd  in- 
flexions and  arbitrary  declensions.  Conjugation  and  construc- 
tion were  simplified,  shortened,  and  generalized  to  suit  the  new 
comers.  Here  was  the  knell  of  Anglo-Saxon  stagnation  and  the 
dawn  of  English  progress.  The  great  linguist,  Jacob  Grimm, 
consoles  Anglo-Saxon  enthusiasts  by  assuring  them  that  modern 
English  gained  in  spiritual  maturity  what  it  may  have  lost  in 
Anglo-Saxon  inflexions.  After  all,  language  is  the  truest  gauge 
of  a  nation's  advancement. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Shakespeare  and  Milton  settled  the 
character  of  the  English  idiom  from  about  1600  to  1670.  From 
our  analysis  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  through  its  transition 
into  the  present  composite  English  language,  we  infer,  that 
Ethelbert  of  A.D.  600  could  hardly  have  conversed  with  Ethelred 
II.,  A.D.  1000 ;  that  Egbert  of  A.D.  828  could  not  have  easily 
read  Chaucer's  "  Canterbury  Tales"  of  1380  ;  and  should  Alfred 
the  Great  suddenly  appear  at  Queen  Victoria's  court  and  address 
Her  Majesty  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  of  his  day,  some  linguist  would 
have  to  be  called  in  to  interpret  the  distinguished  stranger's 
idiom.  Hence  Sir  Charles  Lyell's  saying  :  "  None  of  the  tongues 
now  spoken  were  in  existence  ten  centuries  ago,"  is  literally 
true. 

The  changes  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  from  Ethelbert,  A.D. 
597,  to  Chaucer,  1380,  were  striking;  from  Chaucer,  1380.  to 
Shakespeare,  1600,  they  were  less  so  ;  and  from  1600  to  our  day, 
they  were  comparatively  slight,  as  may  be  realized  by  our  Tables. 
Shakespeare,  with  his  varied  conceptions,  did  not  burst  the 
mould  of  England's  dialect;  for  some  admirer  counted  the  words 
in  his  writings  and  states  them  to  be  15,000;  probably  Mrs. 


12  In  troduction . 

Cowden  Clark,  who  made  a  concordance  of  Shakespeare's  works. 
Milton  did  not  exhaust  his  native  tongue,  for  he  only  employs 
8,000  words.  We  are  told  that  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures, 
under  James  I.,  1611,  required  773,746  words,  about  nine-tenths 
of  which  are  proper  names,  repetitions,  and  particles ;  that  the 
insignificant  word  and  occurs  46,219  times;  and  that  few  good 
authors  use  10,000  words,  while  ordinary  people  employ  but 
3,000,  which  is  but  a  fraction  of  the  80,000  popular,  scientific 
and  technical  words  mentioned  in  Noah  Webster's  preface  to 
his  Dictionary  of  1840,  in  which  he  says  :  "  It  has  been  my  aim 
in  this  work  to  furnish  a  standard  of  our  vernacular  tongue, 
which  we  shall  not  be  ashamed  to  bequeath  to  five  hundred 
millions  of  people,  who  are  destined  to  occupy  and  hope  to 
adorn  the  vast  territory  within  our  jurisdiction."  Since  then 
Texas,  California  and  Alaska  were  added. 

Stenographers  found  that  1,500  words  sufficed  for  a  long 
evening's  debate  in  the  English  Parliament.  Trench,  in  his 
"  Study  of  Words"  corroborates  the  superiority  of  language  over 
authors  in  this  felicitous  strain :  "  Far  more,  and  mightier  in 
every  way,  is  a  language  than  any  one  of  the  works  which  may 
have  been  composed  in  it ;  for  that  work,  great  as  it  may  be,  is 
but  the  embodying  of  the  mind  of  a  single  man — this,  of  a  nation. 
The  Iliad  is  great,  yet  not  so  great  in  strength,  or  power,  or 
beauty,  as  the  Greek  language.  Paradise  Lost  is  a  noble  pos- 
session for  a  people  to  have  inherited,  but  the  English  tongue  is 
a  nobler  heritage  yet." 

English,  now  the  easiest  language  as  to  grammar,  combining 
the  elegance  of  the  Greco-Latin  with  the  vigor  of  the  Gotho- 
Germanic  tongues,  would  be  ready  for  universal  adoption,  if  the 
English-speaking  peoples  would  adopt  the  plain  phonographic 
German  rule  :  "  Write  as  you  pronounce,  and  pronounce  as  you 
write"  In  other  words,  write  the  same  letter  or  letters  for  one 
and  the  same  sound,  wherever  that  sound  is  required,  and  utter 
the  same  sound  for  the  same  letter  or  letters  wherever  you  find 
them.  This  same  rule  has  been  applied  over  two  thousand 
years  to  Greek  and  Latin,  not  only  by  the  nations  of  continental 
Europe,  but  of  Asia,  Africa,  and  South  America.  A  Greek  or 
Latin  scholar  from  any  part  of  the  world,  except  England  and 
the  United  States,  can  converse  in  those  languages ;  because, 


Introduction.  13 

among  all,  Greek  and  Latin  are  written  as  they  are  pronounced, 
and  pronounced  as  they  are  written.  Strange,  the  Isle  of  Britain 
and  North  America  should  stand  in  their  own  light,  and  attempt 
to  carry  their  inconsistent  pronunciation  into  those  classic  idioms, 
which  ought  to  be  a  sacred  universal  linguistic  medium  for  the 
educated  of  all  climes,  whether  from  Oxford,  Paris,  Berlin,  Mecca, 
Fez,  Harvard,  or  Rio  Janeiro.  This  so-called  English  pronun- 
ciation of  Greek  and  Latin  has  not  as  yet  obtained  in  Ireland, 
where  a  classic  student  from  any  part  of  the  world  except  Oxford 
or  Yale,  can  attend  divine  service  and  understand  every  word 
uttered  by  the  officiating  priest ;  so  can  they  in  the  Convent  of 
Mount  St.  Bernard,  or  of  Mount  Carmel.  Is  it  not  high  time 
the  English  and  Americans  should  awake,  not  only  from  their 
nightmare  pronunciation  of  Greek  and  Latin,  but  from  the  dis- 
harmony between  letter  and  sound  in  their  own  superior  language, 
whose  universal  adoption  is  thereby  retarded  ?  We  are  told,  the 
German  phonographic  rule  would  be  impossible  in  English.  If 
it  has  been  possible  for  centuries  in  German,  Greek  and  Latin, 
why  should  it  be  impossible  in  English  or  any  other  language  ? 

As  to  the  destiny  of  the  English  language,  the  ninety  millions 
who  speak  it  in  Europe,  America,  Asia,  Africa,  and  Oceanica,  are 
fully  aware  of  its  capacity  to  become  the  universal  linguistic 
medium,  which  may  be  realized  by  looking  at  the  map  of  North 
America,  where  the  English  idiom  has,  within  twenty-five  years, 
spread  from  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Pacific  and 
Behring's  Straits,  and  displaced  the  Spanish,  French,  Indian  and 
Russian  dialects.  Cuba,  St.  Domingo,  Mexico,  Central  America, 
the  Sandwich  and  Navigator's  Islands,  are  feeling  its  influence 
and  desire  its  sway  ;  even  exclusive  China  and  Japan  seem  to 
lean  more  and  more  towards  America  and  the  English  language 
across  the  Pacific.  Thus  the  tide  of  empire  is  not  only  westward, 
but  eastward ;  it  meets  and  mingles  in  America. 

G.  P.  Marsh,  in  his  "Lectures  on  the  English  Language,"  p. 
121,  says:  "In  order  to  arrive  at  satisfactory  conclusions  on 
this  point  (origin  of  the  English  language)  >  more  thorough  and 
extensive  research  is  necessary."  In  our  extracts  and  tables  the 
"  more  thorough  and  extensive  research  "  urged  by  Mr.  Marsh 
will  be  found.  There  we  even  supply  the  want  felt  by  the  eru- 
dite lecturer,  when  he  says,  p.  122  :  "I  have  made  no  attempt 


14  Introduction. 

to  assign  words,  not  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin,  to  their  respective 
sources."  We  made  the  attempt,  and  found  that  the  "respective 
sources "  of  the  English  vocabulary  are  :  Anglo-Saxon,  Gothic, 
Danish,  Swedish,  German,  Divtch,  Flemish,  and  Icelandic  ; 
Welch,  Cornish,  Scotch,  Irish,  and  Armoric;  Greek,  Latin,  French, 
Italian,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese ;  Russian ;  Arabic,  Hebrew  and 
Aramaic.  Hence  a  careful  perusal  of  this  analysis  will  enable 
any  reader  to  learn,  that  the  English  of  to-day  is  a  compound  of 
twenty-three  idioms,  ancient  and  modern,  dead  and  living.  No 
wonder  Wilberforce  says:  "English  is  a  composite  language." 
To  realize  that  the  English  dialect  has  added  from  six  to  sixty- 
eight  per  cent,  of  'Greco-Latin  since  Alfred  the  Great  must 
prove  interesting  to  the  English-speaking  millions  all  over  the 
globe. 

Of  all  sciences,  the  sublimest — language — is  the  most  compli- 
cated and  inconsistent,  not  for  want  of  votaries,  but  for  want  of 
strictly  scientific  analysis  and  synthesis.  In  our  tables,  let  the 
reader  compare  the  words  of  the  Greco-Latin  and  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  columns,  and  he  will  find,  that  nearly  all  the  Greco-Latin 
are  words  of  progress,  civilization,  and  refinement ;  whereas  al- 
most one-half  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  are  insignificant  particles  and 
words  of  primary  necessity.  According  to  Tyr  whit's  "Essay  on 
the  Language  and  Versification  of  Chaucer,"  p.  7,  the  French 
element  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  began  with  the  accession 
of  Edward  the  Confessor,  A.D.  1042,  and^not,  as  usually  asserted, 
with  the  so-called  Norman  Conquest,  which  but  hastened  the 
fusion  of  the  two  idioms. 

In  our  analysis  we  fully  realize  what  Mr.  Marsh  says,  p.  122  : 
"  Words  of  original  Latin  etymology  have  been,  in  the  great 
majority  of  instances,  borrowed  from  the  French,  and  are  still 
used  in  forms  more  in  accordance  with  the  French  than  with  the 
Latin  orthography."  No  wonder  the  English,  under  Edward  the 
Confessor,  ceased  to  cultivate  Anglo-Saxon  and  introduced 
French.  Swinton's  adage,  "When  a  tongue  becomes  petrified, 
the  national  mind  walks  out  of  it,"  was  fully  realized  under  Har- 
dicanute.  The  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  was  too  poor  and  contracted 
for  an  Anglo-French  population,  who  mixed  the  two  idioms  in 
such  proportions  as  suited  their  progress  in  morals,  literature, 
science,  art,  commerce,  and  civilization.  As  they  progressed 


Introduction,  15 

from  Egbert  to  Victoria,  their  language  advanced  towards  its 
present  standard  of  excellence. 

The  English  character  is  a  happy  mixture  of  Celtic  wit,  Franco- 
Norman  daring,  and  Germanic  gravity,  tinged  with  a  peculiar 
love  of  enterprise  and  distant  adventure.  Perhaps  the  varied  tri- 
bal and  national  elements,  that  engendered  the  English,  together 
with  their  hazy  island  home,  tended  to  produce  a  race  distin- 
guished for  sagacious  eclecticism,  not  only  in  science,  art,  me- 
chanics, and  manufactures,  but  in  language. 

The  English  idiom  is  the  cream  and  essence  of  the  Ario- Japhe- 
tic dialects :  it  contains  the  choicest  Greco-Latin,  Gotho-Ger- 
manic  and  Celtic  elements — a  happy  medium  between  French 
and  German  ;  more  grave  than  the  former,  less  guttural,  harsh, 
inverted  and  cumbersome  than  the  latter  ;  grammatically  simpler 
than  either  ;  but  very  capricious  in  its  orthoepy  and  phonography, 
which  might  be  easily  modified.  Vowels  and  consonants  are  so 
felicitously  combined  in  English,  that  the  dwellers  of  the  frigid 
and  torrid  zones  can  articulate  and  speak  it  with  comparative 
ease. 

Before  we  close  this  introductory  survey  of  the  English-speak- 
ing millions,  let  us  cite  a  passage  from  that  most  erudite  living 
philologist,  Max  Miiller:  "  Why  certain  words  die  and  others 
live  on,  why  certain  meanings  of  words  become  prominent,  so  as 
to  cause  the  absorption  of  all  the  other  meanings,  we  have  no 
chance  to  explain.  We  must  take  the  work  of  language  as  we 
find  it,  and  in  disentangling  the  curious  skein  we  must  not  expect 
to  find  one  continuous  thread,  but  rest  satisfied,  if  we  can  sepa- 
rate the  broken  ends,  and  place  them  side  by  side  in  something 
like  an  intelligent  order."  We  shall  endeavor  to  disentangle 
"  the  curious  skein  "  of  the  English  language,  and  unroll  it  in 
"one  continuous  thread,"  without  separating  or  replacing  "any 
broken  ends." 

Some  ideas  and  events  connected  with  the  British  Isles  prior 
to  the  advent  of  the  Gotho-Germanic  tribes,  Jutes,  Saxons,  and 
Angles,  who  formed  England,  would  not  be  out  of  place  here, 
before  we  undertake  to  give  the  Origin,  Progress  and  Destiny 
of  the  English  Language  and  Literature. 

Britain  had  attracted  the  attention  of  Europe,  Africa  and  Asia, 
as  may  be  realized  by  observing  a  series  of  singular  events  and 


1 6  Introduction. 

circumstances ;  for  not  only  the  refined  nations  of  genial  climes, 
but  the  rude  hyperborean  tribes  looked  to  Albion  as  a  source  of 
heroism  and  intellectual  light.  Strabo  informs  us  that  the  com- 
merce of  Britain  had  become  so  profitable  to  the  Phenicians  that 
Rome  tried  to  compete ;  consequently  a  Roman  galley  watched 
the  course  of  a  Phenician  shipmaster,  who,  perceiving  it,  would 
rather  wreck  his  vessel  than  go  to  Britain.  For  this  patriotic 
deed  the  Phenician  was  rewarded  by  his  country.  The  rich  tin 
mines  of  Cornwall  had  for  ages  attracted  the  Phenicians  and  Car- 
thaginians to  the  British  Isles,  which,  on  that  account,  were  called 
"  Cassiterides  "  from  Kasstrcpos,  tin. 

Cesar,  the  greatest  Roman  general,  had  used  30,000  veterans 
and  800  vessels  to  invade  Albion  and  defeat  Casivellaunus,  one 
of  the  British  Kings  B.C.  55;  yet  Tacitus  says:  "Cesar  only 
gave  the  Romans  a  view,  not  a  possession  of  Britain."  Insults, 
offered  to  Boadicea  and  her  daughters  by  the  licentious  Catus, 
roused  the  Iceni,  who  killed  70,000  Romans  ;  but  ultimately  the 
heroic  British  Queen  succumbed  at  the  head  of  her  people,  and 
took  poison  to  avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  victors.  Such 
events  were  surely  calculated  to  turn,  not  only  Rome's,  but  the 
world's  attention  towards  Britain.  Of  all  that  happened  in  the 
British  Isles,  the  capture  of  the  brave  Caractacus  (Caradoc),  who 
fought  the  Roman  legions  nine  years,  deserves  particular  men- 
tion :  carried  prisoner  to  Rome,  the  unfortunate  British  monarch 
astonished  by  his  dignified  bearing  the  Emperor  Claudius,  who 
ordered  his  fetters  to  be  removed  and  treated  him  and  his  family 
with  magnanimity.  That  scene,  so  vividly  and  grandly  related 
by  Tacitus  (annal.  lib.  xii.  33-39),  merits  perusal. 

It  seems  the  British  Royal  family  had  embraced  Christi- 
anity and  fostered  it  through  ST.  PAUL,  who,  in  his  second  Epis- 
tle to  Timothy  iv.  21,  mentions  Linus  (Lleyn),  son  of  Claudia 
(Gladys),  daughter  of  Caractacus;  also  Pudens,  husband  of 
Claudia,  all  of  whom  had  become  converts  and  friends  of  St.  Paul 
in  Rome. 

When  voices  whisper  to  us,  not  only  from  distant  Asia,  but 
from  Gaul,  that  St.  Paul  preached  in  Britain,  we  cannot  help  as- 
certaining, as  much  as  possible,  a  historic  fact  so  interesting  to 
England's  and  America's  ninety  English-speaking  millions  of  the 
present  day.  Theodoret,  Bishop  of  Cyrus  in  Syria  (A.D.  420- 


Introduction.  if 

451),  says  in  his  (Com.  on  II.  Timothy)  :  "When  Festus  sent 
Paul  to  Rome,  the  Apostle,  after  his  acquittal,  traveled  to  Spain 
and  other  countries  and  to  Islands  beyond  the  sea."  Elsewhere 
the  same  author  writes  :  "  After  Paul  was  released  at  Rome,  he 
preached  to  the  Britons  and  other  nations  in  the  west."  We  also 
read  in  (Demonstr.  Evang.  lib.  3)  of  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Cesarea 
(A.D.  324)  :  "  The  Apostle  went  beyond  the  Ocean  to  the  British 
Isles."  These  strong  and  unimpeachable  oriental  voices  go  far 
to  prove  that  St.  Paul  went  to  Britain ;  especially  when  we  con- 
sider that  Fortunatus,  Bishop  of  Poitiers  (A.D.  560-609),  says: 
St.  Paul  "crossed  the  Ocean  and  landed  in  an  Island  which 
Britannus  held." 

As  to  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  other  co- 
temporaries  of  Christ  and  His  apostles,  having  gone  to  Britain, 
we  leave  others  to  prove.  Linus,  Claudia,  Pudens,  being  named 
in  II.  Timothy  shows,  that  Paul  knew  the  British  Royal  family 
at  Rome,  which,  coupled  with  the  testimony  of  the  eastern  and 
western  Bishops,  form  a  pretty  strong  proof  that  he  was  in  Britain. 
Thence  we  realize,  that  the  misfortunes  of  Caractacus  formed  a 
glittering  link  in  the  chain  of  western  civilization  and  progress. 
Had  Caractacus  remained  in  Britain  and  ruled  quietly  over  the 
Silures,  he  would  not  have  astonished  Rome's  Emperor  and 
senate  by  his  lofty  conduct,  and  could  not  have  had  that  bril- 
liant page  in  the  history  of  Tacitus.  His  daughter,  Claudia, 
would  not  have  become  the  illustrious  Roman  matron,  whose 
palace  was  the  asylum  .of  persecuted  Christians  ;  neither  would 
his  son,  Linus,  have  been  successor  to  Peter  as  Bishop  of  Rome. 
That  the  Linus  mentioned  here  was  brother  to  Claudia,  is  proved 
by  this  statement  in  B.  iii.  C.  I.  of  St.  Ireneus,  Bishop  of  Lyons, 
about  A.D.  190  :  "  After  the  Apostles  had  established  the  church 
at  Rome,  they  intrusted  its  supervision  to  Linus,  who  is  the 
Linus  named  by  Paul  in  his  Epistles  to  Timothy."  This  passage 
in  the  earliest  of  the  western  Fathers,  not  only  corroborates,  but 
establishes  the  friendship  and  connection  between  St.  Paul,  Linus, 
Claudia,  and  Pudens.  This  chain  of  allusions  to  St.  Paul,  his 
travels  and  friends  in  western  Europe,  should  and  must  prove 
somewhat  of  a  damper  to  those,  who  consider  it  a  mark  of 
scholarship  to  sneer  at  and  question  the  authenticity  of  the  New 
Testament.  We  read  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle  :  "Pope  Eleuthe- 
2 


1 8  Introduction. 

rius  sent  missionaries  to  Britain  at  the  request  of  Lucius,  king 
of  the  Britons,  A.D.  190." 

Britain  saw  among  her  Prelates  the  first  western  Protestant 
against  papal  dictation.  That  Protestant  was  Pelagius  whose 
family  name  was  Morgan.  It  is  said  he  was  born  at  Bangor, 
where  (about  A.D.  400)  he  became  Prior  of  the  renowned  Abbey, 
over  whose  gates  was  engraved  :  "  If  a  man  will  not  work, 
neither  let  him  eat,"  which  in  other  words  was  but  a  repetition 
of  Gen.  iii.,  19:  "In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat 
bread."  The  venerable  Bede  and  other  writers  tell  us,  that  in 
the  Abbey  of  Bangor  were  two  thousand  monks,  each  of  whom 
had  to  earn  a  living  by  some  kind  of  handwork.  Had  the 
Medieval  and  modern  priesthood  held  to  this  golden  rule,  they 
would  never  have  become  so  idle  and  corrupt ;  and  there  would 
have  been  neither  mendicant  friars,  nor  inquisitorial  Dominicans. 
Pelagius  was  one  of  the  most  erudite  scholars  of  his  epoch  ;  he 
was  not  only  versed  in  ancient,  but  in  Celtic  lore.  He  admired 
Origen  and  was  opposed,  to  Augustine  of  Hippo.  In  his  fourth 
book  on  "Free  Will"  written  against  St.  Jerome,  his  principal 
tenets  may  be  epitomized  thus  : 

1.  Adam  was  created  mortal  and  would  have  died,  whether  he 
would  have  sinned  or  not. 

2.  Adam's  transgression  only  attached  to  himself,  and  not  to 
his  posterity. 

3.  The  law  as  well  as  the  Gospel  led  men  to  Heaven. 

4.  Before  Christ's  advent  men  were  without  sin. 

5.  Infants  are  in  the  same  state  where  Adam  was  before  his  fall. 

6.  Mankind  neither  dies  on  account  of  Adam's  death  and  pre- 
varication, nor  resuscitates  through  Christ's  resurrection. 

7.  Man  is  born  without  sin  and  can  easily  obey  God's  com- 
mands, if  he  wishes. 

When  the  Bishops  of  Gaul  and  Italy,  at  whose  head  figured 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  urged  him  to  recant,  Pelagius  replied : 
"Sola  in  Britannia  Ecclesia  Britannica  Judex"  (In  Britain  the 
church  alone  is  the  British  Judge).  Although  the  life  of  this  bold 
reformer  had  been  without  blemish,  he  was  thenceforth  styled 
heretic  and  deposed  by  a  synod  of  Winchester.  He  resigned  the 
Abbey  of  Bangor  and  visited  Rome,  whence  he  passed  to  Africa 
with  Celestius,  the  most  learned  and  zealous  of  his  adherents. 


Introduction.  19 

He  tarried  but  a  short  time  in  Africa,  left  Celestius,  who  fixed 
his  residence  at  Carthage  and  taught  the  new  doctrines,  while 
Pelagius  went  to  the  Orient,  where  he  dogmatized.  His  opinions 
were  denounced  in  the  Council  of  Diospolis.  The  Fathers  of 
that  assembly  anathematized  them  and  forced  the  author  to 
retract ;  but  this  retraction  did  not  change  his  mind.  He  was 
condemned  again  A.D.  415,  by  the  council  of  Carthage.  The 
Bishops  of  those  councils  sent  their  judgment  to  Pope  Innocent 
I.,  who  joined  them  in  excommunicating  him.  Shortly  after  the 
Pope  died,  Pelagius  wrote  to  his  successor,  Zosimus,  and  sent 
Celestius  to  induce  him  to  repeal  the  anathema  against  himself 
and  his  friend.  Zosimus  received  the  apology,  but  assembled 
his  Bishops  and  priests,  who  condemned  the  Pelagian  doctrines, 
while  they  approved  his  resolution  to  recant.  Zosimus  accepted  a 
confession  of  faith  from  Pelagius,  and  wrote  to  the  African 
Bishops  in  his  favor.  These  prelates  formed  a  new  council  at 
Carthage  A.D.  417;  it  consisted  of  217  Bishops,  who  ordained 
that  the  sentence,  pronounced  against  Pelagius  and  Celestius  by 
Pope  Innocent  I.,  should  stand,  till  they  had  anathematized  the 
Pelagian  errors.  Zosimus  consented,  confirmed  the  Council's 
judgment  and  condemned  the  two  friends  in  the  sense  of  his 
predecessor. 

The  Emperor  Honorius,  informed  of  these  proceedings,  decreed 
that  the  Pelagians  should  be  treated  as  heretics,  and  that  Pelagius 
and  Celestius  should  be  banished  from  Rome  as  heresiarchs  and 
disturbers.  This  rescript  is  dated  April  30,  A.D.  418.  On  the 
first  of  May  following  a  general  Council  assembled  at  Carthage, 
in  which  shone  Augustine  of  Hippo.  They  formed  nine  articles 
of  an  anathema  against  the  Pelagian  sect.  The  Bishops,  who 
refused  to  subscribe,  were  deposed  by  ecclesiastic  judges  and 
driven  from  their  bishoprics  by  Imperial  authority.  Pelagius, 
obliged  to  quit  Rome,  retired  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  found  no 
asylum  ;  and  it  is  not  known  at  what  time  and  place  he  died. 
Perhaps  he  was  spirited  away?  We  read  that  his  persecutors 
were  wont  to  say  :  "  Speak  not  to  Pelagius  or  he  will  convert 
you."  Surely  no  greater  eulogy  could  attach  to  any  mortal.  Of 
his  numerous  works,  written  in  elegant  Latin,  only  fragments 
remain.  Great  Britain's  clergy  and  laity  must  ever  feel  proud 
of  this  early  champion  and  martyr  of  the  liberty  of  conscience. 


2O  Introduction. 

Orosius,  pupil  and  friend  of  St.  Augustine,  figured  in  that  con- 
troversy ;  for,  while  studying  with  St.  Jerome  in  Palestine,  where 
Pelagius  preached  his  doctrines,  he  was  called  to  oppose  them  in 
the  Synod  of  Jerusalem,  July  30  A.D.  415.  To  this  learned 
Spanish  prelate  we  owe  "  Ab  Initio  Mundi  usque  in  presentem 
Diem,'1  A.D.  416.  (From  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the 
present  day),  which  Alfred  the  Great  translated  into  Anglo  Saxon 
with  valuable  additions  to  his  own  epoch.  This  work  by  Orosius 
is  also  called  "  Historiarum  Libri  VII.  adversus  Paganos" 

Julian,  Bishop  of  Eclanum,  Italy,  and  seventeen  other  Bishops 
protested  against  the  Council's  decree.  The  Pope  condemned 
them  all ;  they  appealed  to  a  general  Council ;  but  Augustine, 
the  most  vehement  adversary  of  Pelagius,  clajmed  that  their 
appeal  was  a  sham.  Julian  died  A.D.  450,  after  having  been 
expelled  from  his  diocese,  excommunicated  by  the  Pope  and 
proscribed  by  the  Emperor.  Of  course  the  Roman  hierarchy 
congratulated  themselves  on  their  triumph,  which  even  the  Eng- 
lish church  endorsed  in  her  9th  article,  condemning  the  Pelagian 
tenets  concerning  original  sin  ;  but  how  stands  this  dogma  with 
Universalists  Unitarians,  and  liberal  Christians  of  all  denomina- 
tions ? 

This  early  mental  activity,  starting  in  Britain  and  extending  to 
Africa  and  Asia,  though  not  directly  connected  with  the  English 
nation  or  language,  prepared  the  way  for  their  future  develop- 
ment and  expansion.  The  principle  of  self-reliance,  so  persist- 
ently advocated  by  Pelagius,  has  ever  animated  the  English- 
speaking  Populations :  this  fundamental  principle  is  thus  ex- 
pressed by  the  early  British  writer  Gildas  in  his  "  Excidio  Britan- 
nia"' "  He  that  will  be  a  prophet  of  God,  must  never  rest,  till 
he  has  traced  everything  -to  its  cause  and  mode  of  operation." 
Roger  Bacon,  Wickliffe,  Tindale,  Ridley,  Newton,  Franklin,  Tom 
Paine,  Channing,  and  in  our  day  Darwin,  Tyndall,  Huxley, 
Emerson,  etc.,  are  eminent  representatives  of  man's  free  agency. 
The  idea,  that  man's  salvation  or  ruin  depends  on  his  own  choice, 
commission  or  omission  did  not  originate  with  the  Jews,  who 
passively  looked  to  Jehovah  for  every  thing  ; — not  with  the  Brah- 
mins, who  practiced  abnegation  and  inertia  ; — not  with  the  Magi, 
who  believed  in  mere  contemplation  ; — not  with  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  who  had  Gods  and  Goddesses  for  every  thing ; — not 


Introduction.  21 

with  the  Gotho-Germanic  tribes,  who  delighted  in  fighting,  rov- 
ing, plundering,  and  wild  adventure,  both  here  and  hereafter. 
Whence  then  came  to  the  Medieval  and  modern  nations,  especi- 
ally to  the  English-speaking  Populations,  the  fundamental  idea 
of  man's  selfhood'}  Cesar  alone  answers  this  question  satisfac- 
torily, when  he  tells  us  in  his  Com.  lib.  3  :  "The  Druids  discuss 
many  things  concerning  the  stars  and  their  revolutions,  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  globe  and  its  various  divisions,  the  nature  of  the 
universe,  the  energy  and  power  of  the  immortal  Gods."  Hence 
we  are  indebted  to  the  Celts  for  the  idea  of  individual  observa- 
tion, investigation  and  research  in  mechanics,  art  and  science, 
without  regard  to  morals  or  religion,  pope  or  king. 

In  this  age  Palladius,  sent  to  Ireland  by  Pope  Celestine,  con- 
verted the  Scots  or  Irish  to  Christianity  A.D.  430,  and  became 
their  first  Bishop.  Even  to  this  day  the  Scotch  and  Irish  honor 
Palladius  as  a  Saint.  St.  Patrick  took  the  place  of  Palladius 
434.  St.  Patrick  has  ever  been  a  central  figure  in  the  Irish 
mind  ;  and  the  1 7th  of  March  has  been  celebrated  by  Irishmen 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  This  gratitude  to  their  earliest  bene- 
factor, who  carried  to  them  "peace,  good  will  toward  men,"  is  a 
pleasant  tribute  and  does  credit  to  the  Irish  character.  Thence- 
forth civilization  began  to  take  root  in  the  British  Isles,  whence 
it  soon  spread  to  the  continent  through  Anglo-Saxon  and  Irish 
missionaries. 

The  clans  of  Scotland  united  and  established  a  government 
under  their  first  King  Fergus  I.,  who  warred  against  the  Romans 
and  Britons  about  A.D.  411.  When  the  Roman  legions  left 
Britain  A.D.  420,  those  clans  styled  Picts  and  Scots  so  harassed 
the  Britons  that  they  invited  Gotho-Germanic  auxiliaries  to  resist 
the  northern  foes. 


ANGLO-SAXON   PERIOD,  A.D.  449-1200. 


FIFTH    CENTURY. 


"  The  only  means,  by  which  nations  can  indulge  their  curiosity  in  researches  concerning 
their  remote  origin,  is  to  consider  the  language,  manners  and  customs  of  their  ancestors,  and 
compare  them  with  those  of  neighboring  nations." — HUME. 

THE  fifth  century  saw  three  Gotho-Germanic  tribes,  known  to 
Roman  and  Medieval  historians  as:  Juti,  Saxones  and  Angli 
(Jutes,  Saxons  and  Angles),  dwelling  in  Chersonesus  Cimbrica 
(Jutland).  Bede,  in  his  Ecclesiastic  History,  A.D.  730,  speaks 
of  the  Jutes  and  Goths  as  synonymous.  The  Anglo-Saxons 
called  them  lutas,  Iotas  or  Geotas.  We  read  in  the  early  British 
and  Anglo-Saxon  records,  that  a  body  of  Jutes*  sailed  in  three 
small  vessels,  under  the  brothers  Hengist  and  Horsa,  and  landed 
at  Ebsrleet  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  about  A.D.  449; — that  Vorti- 
gern,  King  of  the  Britons,  harassed  by  the  Picts  and  Scots, 

*  The  name  Jutes  sprang  from  the  following  phonetic,  alphabetic  and 
linguistic  changes  :  Herodotus'  ^KvOcu  or  2/coAorot  1500  B.C.,  and  Teroj  440 
B.C.;  Aristotle's  KeArot  (Celts)  336  B.C.  ;  Ptolemy's  TOVTCU  A.D.  160  ; — 
Latin  Scytfuz,  Scoti,  Getce,  Celta,  Gothones,  Gothi,  Gothinii,  Guta,  lutcz, 
or  luti  ; — Anglo-Saxon  Geotas,  Iotas  or  lutas  ; — French  Scythes,  Ecossais, 
Celtes,  Goths,  lutes  or  Jutes  /—German  Scythen,  Schotten,  Kelten,  Gothen. 
liiten  ; — English  Scythians,  Scots,  Celts,  Goths,  lutes  or  Jutes.  In  Ethel- 
werd's  Latin  Chronicle  in  the  nth  century  the  Jutes  are  called  "  Gioti."  Thus 
Herodotus,  the  Father  of  history,  called  those  primitive  hyperborean  tribes 
3«u0cu  or  SfcoAoTot  and  Terat  440  B.C.  ;  the  Romans  named  them  and  their 
descendants  Scytha,  Celtce,  Scoti,  Getce  about  A.D.  100.  Hence  the  most 
erudite  archeologists  have  good  reason  to  think  that  the  Celts  and  Scythians 
sprang  from  one  and  the  same  Asiatic  stock  ;  especially,  when  Herodotus  tells 
them  (B.  iv.,  6  and  7),  that  1500  B.C.  the  Scythians  were  named  Skolotoit 
from  a  surname  of  their  king,  but  the  Greeks  called  them  Scythians. 


24  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

welcomed  the  Jutes  as  auxiliaries,  and  gave  them  as  a  reward  for 
their  services  the  Isle  of  Thanet ;  and  that  soon  Hengist's 
daughter  married  the  British  monarch. 

The  earliest  English  bard,  Robert  of  Gloucester,  thus  alludes 
to  this  royal  couple  A.D.  1280  : 

"  Kuste  hire  &  sitte  hire  acloune,  &  glad  dronke  hire  heil ; 
And  that  in  this  land  the  verst  '  was — hail '  ! 
As  in  language  of  Saxoyne,  that  we  might  evere  iwite  ; 
And  so  well  he  paieth  the  folc  about,  that  he  is  not  yut  vorgute." 

Thus  beautifully  paraphrased  by  Robert  Burns'  friend,  Captain 
Grose : 

"  Health,  my  Lord  King,  the  sweet  Rowena  said ; 
Health,  cry'd  the  chieftain  to  the  Saxon  maid  ; 
Then  gayly  rose  and,  'mid  the  concourse  wide, 
Kissed  her  hale  lips  and  plac'd  her  by  his  side ; 
At  the  soft  scene  such  gentle  thoughts  abound, 
That  health  and  kisses  'mongst  the  guests  went  round ; 
From  this  the  social  custom  takes  its  rise, 
We  still  retain  and  still  must  keep  the  prize." 

Soon  the  Gothic  allies  became  onerous  to  Vortigern's  subjects, 
who  refused  supplies  and  ordered  them  to  leave  the  country.  A 
war  ensued  with  varied  chances ;  but  as  reinforcements  con- 
stantly arrived  from  Jutland,  the  Britons  were  overwhelmed  by 
numbers  and  driven  from  their  country,  which  the  Jutes  formed 
into  the  Kingdom  of  Kent  under  Hengist,  A.D.  455.  Later 
they  added  to  it  a  part  of  Hampshire  and  the  Isle  of  Wight.  The 
Jutes  invited  their  former  neighbors  the  Saxons  and  Angles  to 
join  them  in  a  country  more  pleasant  and  fertile  than  the  one 
they  inhabited ;  consequently  these  tribes  prepared  for  emigration  : 

Ella,  with  a  band  of  Saxons,*  started  from  Germany,  landed 

*  The  name  Saxons  arose  from  the  following  phonetic,  alphabetic  and  lin- 
guistic transitions  :  Sanscrit  Sakas  ; — Persian  Tchaka  ; — Mongolian  Tscha- 
kars ; — Tartar  Sakars ; — Greek  2a/cat,  2aso»/es  in  Asia,  and  2a£&>j/es  in 
Europe; — Latin  Sacce,  Sacani  and  Saxon es ; — Anglo-Saxon  Seacsa  and 
Seaxa  ; — German  Sassen  and  Sachsen  ; — French  Saciens  and  Saxons  ; — 
English  Sacians  and  Saxons.  Thus  Herodotus  called  this  primitive  Asiatic 
people  So/cat  (Sacians)  440  B.C.;  whereas  Ptolemy  styled  their  descendants 
2o/cot,  and  2asoves  in  Asia,  and  Salomes  in  Europe,  about  A.D.  160.  From 
the  analogy  of  these  names  commentators  had  good  reason  to  consider  the 


Fifth  Century.  2$ 

on  the  southern  coast  of  Britain  about  A.D.  477,  and  after  a 
long  contest  with  the  natives,  succeeded  in  establishing  the 
KINGDOM  OF  SUSSEX  about  491. 

In  this  century  the  Suevi  (Suabians)  Alani,  Vandals,  Burgun- 
dians,  Franks  and  Goths,  pressed  by  the  Huns  on  the  East, 
abandoned  their  respective  countries  in  Germany  and  went  west- 
ward. From  A.D.  406  to  428  the  Suevi  (Suabians),  Alani  and 
Vandals  passed  through  Gaul  to  Spain,  which  they  conquered 
and  became  Christians.  The  Suevi,  under  Hermeneric,  founded 
a  Kingdom  in  Galicia.  The  Alani,  under  Atax,  established  their 
Kingdom  in  Lusitania,  now  Portugal,  and  the  Vandals,  under 
Godegisit,  settled  in  Betica,  which  they  named  Vandalitia,  now 
Andalusia.  The  Burgundians  went  to  Gaul,  founded  the  King- 
dom of  Burgundy,  became  Christians,  A.D.  417,  and  soon  showed 
a  disposition  for  progress  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  About 
A.D.  420,  the  Franks  settled  in  Gaul,  where  they  founded  the 
Kingdoms  of  Austrasia  and  Soissons,  which  Clovis  united  A.D. 
486  and  named  the  country  France.  In  493  he  married  the 
accomplished  Burgundian  Princess,  Clotilda,  who  was  a  Christian 
and  converted  him  and  the  Franks  to  Christianity,  A.D.  496. 
The  Goths  of  Moesia,  Thrace  and  Dacia  (now  Servia,  Bulgaria 
and  Valachia  on  the  lower  Danube),  received  the  Gospel  from 
their  apostle  Ulfilas,  A.D.  376.  As  Ulfilas  cherished  the  doc- 
trines of  Arius,  opposed  to  the  "  Trinity"  the  Goths  were  "  Uni- 
tarians." They,  soon  after  becoming  Christians,  abandoned 
their  roving  life  and  cultivated  mother  Earth,  which  ever  softens 
fierceness  and  inclines  men  to  domestic  and  civilized  habits. 
With  the  moral  example  of  their  pious  bishop  before  them,  and 
the  gospel  he  preached,  it  took  but  forty  years  to  so  improve  and 
enlighten  them,  that  they  dropt  their  former  savage  state,  and 
discovered  the  abject  condition  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  pea- 
santry and  the  tyranny  and  injustice  of  those,  who  oppressed 
them.  Alaric  was  a  favorite  with  the  Emperor  Theodosius  ;  but 
he  revolted  against  the  intolerance  of  his  weak  and  vacillating 
son,  Arcadius,  who  tried  to  persecute  the  followers  of  Arius. 

Sacians  and  Saxons  synonymous  and  of  Scythian  origin  ;  especially,  when 
Herodotus  (B.  vii.,  64)  says:  "This  people,  though  really  the  Amyrgii  of 
Scythia,  were  called  Sacians,  the  name  given  by  the  Persians  to  all  Scy- 
thians." 


26  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Thus  Alaric  became  the  defender  and  champion  of  the  faith  of 
his  countrymen.  He  overran  the  Eastern  Empire,  took  Corinth, 
and  after  varied  fortunes  invaded  Italy  and  reached  effeminate 
Rome,  whose  palaces  he  pillaged,  but  scrupulously  spared  the 
public  buildings  and  churches,  A.D.  410.  Afterwards  they  spread 
over  Italy  and  France,  where,  under  Theodoric  I.,  son  of  Alaric 
and  King  of  Aquitania,  they  joined  the  Romans  against  Attila, 
whom  they  defeated  on  the  plains  of  Chalons,  and  checked  the 
devastation  of  the  Huns,  A.D.  451.  Theodoric  was  killed  in 
this  memorable  battle,  and  his  son  Theodoric  II.,  succeeded  him 
in  the  Kingdom  of  Aquitania, — capital  Toulouse,  whence  he  ex- 
tended his  sway  to  Spain,  A.D.  456.  Behold  what  Salvian,  a 
priest  of  Marseilles,  who  witnessed  the  invasion  of  Gaul  by  the 
Goths,  wrote  regarding  the  condition  of  the  Roman  Empire  at 
that  period.  His  work  is  entitled  "DE  GUBERNATIONE  DEI"* 
(On  the  Government  of  God}.  "  In  all  the  cities  and  villages 
there  are  as  many  tyrants  as  there  are  officers  of  the  government ; 
they  devour  the  bowels  of  the  citizens  and  their  widows  and 
orphans  ;  public  burdens  are  made  the  means  of  private  plunder ; 
the  collection  of  the  national  revenue  is  made  the  instrument  of 
individual  peculation  ;  none  are  safe  from  the  devastations  of 
these  depopulating  robbers.  The  public  taxation  is  partially 
imposed  and  arbitrarily  levied;  hence  many  desert  their  farms 
and  dwellings  to  escape  the  violence  of  the  exactors. — There  is 
but  one  wish  among  all  the  Romans  :  that  they  might  dwell  under 
the  barbarian  government.  Thus  our  brothers,  not  only  refuse 
to  leave  these  nations,  but  they  flee  from  us  to  them.  Can  we 
then  wonder,  that  the  Goths  are  not  conquered  by  us,  when  the 
people  would  rather  become  Goths  with  them  than  remain 
Romans  with  us  ?  The  Roman  cities  are  full  of  the  most  dis- 
solute luxury,  and  the  foulest  vices  and  debauchery.  It  was  even 
the  fashion  for  the  men  to  dress  themselves  as  women  and  to  pass 
for  such.  In  this  state  of  evil,  the  Goths  and  Vandals,  like  a 
torrent,  overran  the  Roman  Empire  and  settled  themselves  in 
their  cities  and  towns ;  their  speedy  corruption  was  anticipated 
in  a  population  so  abandoned ;  but,  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
whole  Empire,  instead  of  degenerating  into  the  universal  deprav- 

*  Patrologiae,  vol.  v. 


Fifth  Century.  27 

ity,  they  became  its  moral  reformers.  The  luxuries  and  vices 
around  them  excited  their  disgust  and  abhorrence.  Their  own 
native  customs  were  so  modest,  that,  instead  of  imitating,  they 
despised  and  punished,  with  all  their  fierce  severity,  the  impuri- 
ties they  witnessed.  They  made  adultery  a  capital  crime,  and 
so  sternly  punished  personal  debauchery,  that  a  great  moral 
change  took  place  in  all  the  provinces  they  conquered." 

It  is  remarkable,  that  the  erudite  Gibbon,  in  his  "Decline and 
fall  of  the  Roman  Empire"  has  overlooked  this  graphic  state- 
ment of  a  cotemporary  and  an  eye-witness,  who,  living  at  Mar- 
seilles, saw  the  status  of  the  Roman  Empire  better  than  those 
who  were  at  the  capital ;  because  he  came  in  contact  with  all 
classes  :  farmers,  soldiers  and  officials.  Salvian,  being  a  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  could  not  have  been  prejudiced  in  favor  of  the 
Goths,  who  were  Arians  in  their  Christianity. 

Greek  and  Roman  historians  styled  our  Gotho-Germanic  an- 
cestors barbarians.  Medieval  and  modern  writers  imbibed  this 
idea,  and  it  is  expressed  more  or  less  in  our  school-books.  Even 
Rollin  inclines  to  make  the  Goths  appear  barbarous.  This  may 
all  be  attributed  to  papal  influence  on  Medieval  literature  and 
history ;  because  the  Goths  were  not  of  the  orthodox  faith.  Is  it 
not  time  to  discard  this  error  and  place  our  ancestors  in  their 
true  light,  sustained  by  their  simple  virtues,  and  intrinsic  merits, 
as  compared  with  the  Romans  of  that  day?  It  is  curious  to 
remark,  how  hard  the  Arian  or  Unitarian  opinions  struggled  for 
place  during  the  first  centuries  of  Christianity ;  till  put  down 
by  the  power  of  Rome.  When  its  light  was  finally  extinguished 
the  "Dark  Ages"  followed.  The  religion  that  the  Goths  re- 
ceived from  Ulfilas  was  Arian  Christianity.  The  Burgundians 
in  France,  the  Suevi,  Alani  and  Vandals  in  Spain,  and  the  Goths 
in  Italy,  France  and  Spain  were  all  Arian  Christians,  and  were 
persecuted  by  Rome,  because  of  their  rejection  of  the  peculiar 
faith  of  the  Romans.  As  far  as  we  know,  they  and  their  ancestors 
always  worshiped  one  God ;  and  it  was  easy  to  engraft  on  that 
belief  the  simple  and  pure  ethics  of  Christ. 

As  the  virtuous  Bohemian  princess  Libussa  and  her  consort 
are  usually  not  mentioned  in  our  histories  and  biographies,  we 
allude  to  them  here :  Libussa  reigned  wisely  and  prosperously 
over  Bohemia  about  A.D.  418,  when  she  found  one  of  her  sub- 


28  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

jects  named  Premislas,  a  farmer,  worthy  of  her  hand.  This 
happy  couple  made  beneficent  laws  for  the  Bohemians.  Thus 
did  a  sagacious  woman  advance  civilization  among  the  Gotho- 
Germanic  and  Sclavonic  races  in  central  Europe  at  this  early 
period. 

This  century  also  saw  Nemesius,  bishop  of  Emesa,  who  wrote 
a  remarkable  book,  entitled  Ilepi  <£vs€wg  avrpoirov  ("  On  the  Nature 
of  Man"),  in  which  occur  advanced  ideas  on  most  of  the  natural 
sciences,  especially  Anatomy,  Physiology,  and  Psychology.  That 
eminent  Father  of  the  church  shows  the  whole  of  Creation  as  a 
gradual  series  of  phenomena,  from  the  rock  to  man,  which 
accords  with  Christ's  declaration  :  "  From  these  stones  God  can 
raise  children  unto  Abraham."  In  this  Genesis  Nemesius  con- 
siders the  magnet,  that  attracts  iron  for  its  nourishment,  as  the 
transition  from  the  mineral  to  the  vegetable  kingdom.  It  was  he 
who  first  called  man  "  the  Microcosm  of  the  Universe."  Neme- 
sius was  the  most  scientific  of  the  Christian  Fathers.  His  method 
of  thinking  and  writing  is  more  suggestive  than  any  before  him. 
He  was  to  primitive  science  what  Roger  Bacon,  Copernicus, 
Descartes,  Newton,  Galileo,  and  Leibnitz  were  to  modern  science. 
In  his  work  we  find  the  errors  of  stoicism  and  Manichaeism  ex- 
posed, and  the  opinion  of  pre-existing  souls  maintained;  but  his 
most  astonishing  conception  is  that  of  the  circulation  of  the 
blood,  thus  commented  on  (c.  24) :  "  The  motion  of  the  pulse 
takes  its  rise  from  the  heart,  and  chiefly  from  the  left  ventricle  of 
it ;  the  artery  is  dilated  with  great  force  and  contracted  by  a  sort 
of  constant  harmony  and  order,  &c.  .  .  ."  A  similar  allusion 
is  made  to  the  motion  of  the  bile  (c.  28),  which  may  have  led 
Harvey  to  the  circulation  of  the  blood  A.D.  1628,  and  Silvius  to 
that  of  the  bile  A.D.  1663.  Thus  that  ancient  treatise,  written 
in  elegant  Greek,  contains  the  elements  of  modern  physical  and 
metaphysical  science,  treated  in  a  masterly  manner.  When  we 
consider  the  time  and  circumstances  of  its  production,  it  seems 
almost  an  inspiration  ;  for  the  anonymous  "  Vestiges  of  Creation," 
Darwin's  "  Origin  of  Species,"  and  most  of  our  late  evolution 
theories,  whether  physical  or  metaphysical,  are  but  Nemesian 
ideas,  emblazoned  with  the  light  of  modern  science  ;  we  mention 
them  here,  because  they  are  so  closely  connected  with  the  great 
physiologic  discovery  of  the  English  Esculapius,  Harvey,  1628. 


SIXTH    CENTURY. 


"To  the  honor  of  the  Christian  faith  be  it  told  that,  although  deformed  by  the  most  ridicu- 
lous and  odious  superstitions,  its  general  character  of  benevolence  to  mankind  so  far  improved 
the  minds  and  dispositions  of  those  nations  which  embraced  it,  that  from  inhuman,  lawless 
savages  they  gradually  became  decent  members  of  society,  addicted  themselves  to  agriculture, 
submitted  to  legal  regularity,  and  generally  laying  aside  their  accustomed  practices  of  murder, 
rapine  and  violence,  resumed  them  only  occasionally  at  the  command  of  their  ambitious 
princes." — PETTIT  ANDREWS. 

WE  read  in  Ethelwerd's  Chronicle,  that  Cerdic  sailed  from 
Germany  with  a  colony  of  Saxons  in  five  vessels,  landed  at  a  place 
they  called  Cerdic's  Ore,  about  494,  and,  after  fighting  with  the 
Britons  for  twenty-four  years,  founded  the  KINGDOM  OF  WESSEX, 
A.D.  518. 

Erchewin,  a  Saxon  chief,  sailed  with  a  third  colony  to  Britain, 
where  he  founded  the  Kingdom  of  Essex,  A.D.  527. 

Tacitus,  writing  of  the  Angli,  A.D.  97,  says:  "  The  Angles, 
Varinians,  &c.  succeed  in  regular  order  to  the  Lombards,  all 
defended  by  rivers  or  embossed  in  forests.  In  these  several 
tribes  there  is  nothing,  that  merits  attention,  except  they  all  agree 
to  worship  the  goddess  Earth,  or  as  they  call  her  fferth,  whom 
they  consider  as  the  common  mother  of  all.  This  divinity,  accord- 
ing to  their  idea,  interposes  in  human  affairs,  and  at  times  visits 
the  several  nations  on  the  globe.  A  sacred  Island*  in  the  North- 
ern ocean  is  dedicated  to  her. 

About  A.D.  547  the  Anglesf  left  their  country,  called  by  Bede 

*  Some  mention  Rugen  in  the  Baltic,  others  Heligoland  (Holy  Island)  in 
the  North  sea,  which  latter  is  the  most  probable. 

f  The  name  Angles  was  the  result  of  the  following  phonetic,  -alphabetic  and 
linguistic  changes  :  Greek  A^Ao*,  AuyaAot  and  AyyiAoi ;  Latin  Angli  A.D.  97  ; 
Anglo-Saxon  Engla  A.D.  600 ;  Tartar  Anglan  A.D.  1400  ;  German  Anglen 
and  Engldndcr  ;  French  Angles  and  Anglais  ;  Angles  and  English.  Thus 
Herodotus  called  the  Asiatic  ancestors  of  this  tribe  Aiy\oi  (Angles)  in  Central 
Asia  440  B.C. ;  whereas  Tacitus  named  their  descendants  Angli  (Angles)  in 


3O  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Angulus  (now  Anglen  in  Schleswig),  landed  in  the  East  of  Britain, 
and,  after  long  wars  with  the  natives,  founded  the  Kingdoms  of : 

Bernicia      under  Ida  A.D.  547 
De'ira  "       Ella     "     559 

EastAnglia  "       UfTa     "     571 
Mercia  "       Crida  "     586 

Southern  Britain  was  called  Engla-land  after  the  Angles. 

The  venerable  Bede,  in  his  Ecclesiastic  History,  B.  II.  C.  i., 
transmits  to  us  the  following  conversation,  that  occurred  in 
Rome  concerning  the  Angles  about  A.D.  580:  "In  the  market 
place  of  Rome  Gregory  saw  put  up  for  sale,  among  other  things, 
some  boys  of  a  white  body  and  fair  countenance,  and  with  hair 
of  remarkable  beauty ;  whom  when  he  beheld,  he  asked  from 
what  land  they  were  brought.  He  was  told  they  were  brought 
from  the  Island  of  Britain,  whose  inhabitants  were  of  such  an 
aspect.  Again  he  asked  whether  these  same  Islanders  were 
Christians,  or  still  entangled  in  the  errors  of  Paganism.  It  was 
said  they  were  Pagans.  Then  drawing  deep  sighs  from  the  bot- 
tom of  his  heart  he  exclaimed  :  Alas  !  for  grief!  that  the  author 
of  darkness  possesses  men  of  so  bright  countenance  ;  and  that  so 
much  grace  of  aspect  bears  a  mind  void  of  inward  grace."  He 
further  inquired  what  was  the  name  of  that  nation  ;  the  reply  was  : 
they  were  called  Angles.  "It  is  well,"  he  said  ;  for  they  have 
an  Angelic  face ;  and  such  it  befits  to  be  co-heirs  of  Angels  in 
Heaven." 

This  conversation  occurred  some  years  before  Gregory  became 
Pope.  As  Tacitus  transmits  the  moral,  and  Bede  the  physical 
qualities  of  the  Angles,  the  world  cannot  help  knowing  what  they 
were  at  that  early  period.  In  Bede's  History  I.  15,  the  ancient 
home  of  the  Angles  is  called  Angulus. 

As  late  as  A.D.  1400  the  Mongolian  Emperor,  Tamerlane, 
mentions  in  his  autobiography  a  powerful  tribe  of  Anglans.  They 

Europe  about  A.D.  97  ;  and  Ptolemy  called  them  AuyaXot  in  Asia  and  Ayyi\oi 
in  Europe  A.D.  160.  From  the  analogy  of  the  above'names,  we  think  that 
the  Angli,  mentioned  in  Tacitus'  (Germ.  40)  A.D.  97,  and  Ptolemy's  AyytAot 
A.D.  1 60,  issued  from  the  Asiatic  Aiy\oi  and  Avya\oi,  alluded  to  in  Herodotus 
(B.  III.  92)  and  Ptolemy  ;  and  that  their  ancestors  came  from  Asia  to  Europe 
with  the  Suevi  (Suabians)  and  Sasones  (Saxons). 


Sixth  Century. 


were  probably  descendants  of  Herodotus'  AiyAot  (Angles),  who 
dwelled  at  the  foot  of  the  Imaus  (Himalaya)  Mountains  440  B.C. 
Their  emigration  to  Europe  seems  not  to  have  exhausted  the 
race.  The  name  of  this  tribe  is  affixed  to  Anglen,  a  province  in 
Sleswig  Holstein,  to  Anglesey  (Angles'  Island)  in  the  Irish  sea, 
and  to  Britain,  her  people  and  language  in  the  terms  England, 
English.  The  Puritans  styled  their  home  in  America  New  Eng- 
land. Thus  the  British  Isles  and  the  United  States  of  America 
have  imperishable  patronymics  from  Herodotus'  AiyAoi,  Ptolemy's 
AuyaA.o6  in  Asia  and  AyyiAot  in  Europe,  Tacitus'  Angli  and  Tam- 
erlane's Anglans,  which  are  landmarks  for  the  Philologist,  Histo- 
rian and  Ethnologist. 

A  people  dwelling  in  the  dismal  forests  of  Germany  eighteen 
centuries  ago,  and  believing  in  a  divinity  that  "  visited  the  Na- 
tions on  Earth  and  interposed  in  htiman  affairs"  deserved  to  be 
handed  down  to  posterity.  In  spite  of  theologic  dogmas,  creeds, 
superstitions  and  vagaries,  their  descendants  held  to  the  primitive 
ancestral  belief,  which  now  makes  the  English-speaking  popula- 
tions the  arbiter  of  the  world. 

We  have  thus  alluded  to  the  settlements  of  the  Jutes,  Saxons 
and  Angles  in  Britain  from  A.D.  449  to  A.D.  586,  during  which 
period  they  warred  against  the  natives,  whom  they  either  killed 
or  drove  to  the  mountains  of  Wales,  and  formed  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Confederation,  consisting  of  these  eight  small  kingdoms  : 


Kingdoms  :        Founded  by  : 


Kings: 


1.  Kent. 

2.  Sussex. 


Jutes.         A.D.  455.         Hengist.        Canterbury. 


Saxons. 


491. 


Ella. 


Chichester. 


3.  Wessex.  " 

4.  Essex.  " 

5.  Bernicia.        Angles. 

6.  Deira.  " 

7.  East-Anglia.     " 

8.  Mercia.  " 


"  518.  Cerdic.  Winchester. 

"  527.  Erchewin.  London. 

"  547.  Ida.  Bamburgh. 

"  559.  Ella.  York. 

"  571.  Uffa.  Dunwich. 

"  586.  Crida.  Leicester. 


Soon  Bernicia  and  Deira  were  united  into  one  kingdom, 
called  Northumbria,  of  which  York  remained  the  capital.  Thence- 
forth the  country  was  styled  Heptarchy  (seven  kingdoms),  and 
its  inhabitants  Anglo-Saxons. 

The  three  Scytho-Gotho-Germanic  tribes,  from  which  sprang 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  expanded  into  the  ninety  English-speaking 


32  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

millions,  that  now  rule  over  one  quarter  of  earth's  land  and  one 
fifth  of  earth's  population.  As  the  Jutes  were  of  Scytho-  Gothic, 
the  Saxons  and  Angles  of  Scytho- Germanic  stock,  their  language 
became  an  amalgam  of  Gothic  and  German,  whose  roots  origin- 
ated in  Scythia,  Aria  and  Ariavarta  (now  parts  of  Independent 
Tartary,  north-western  China,  Persia  and  northern  India),  whence 
they  were  brought  by  Ario-Scythian  tribes  to  Europe,  became 
Scythian  in  Sarmatia  600  B.C.  (now  Russia),  Gothic  in  Moesia 
A.D.  376  (now  Servia  and  Bulgaria),  High  and  Low  German  in 
Germany  (A.D.  400-500),  and  Anglo-Saxon  in  Britain  (A.D. 
449-1200),  as  shown  by  the  following  Table  of  linguistic  roots 
and  words  of  primary  necessity,  found  in  the  Ario-Japhetic  and 
Ario-Semitic  languages. 

This  table  clearly  shows,  that  the  closest  family-ties  :  father, 
mother,  son,  daughter,  brother,  sister,  &c.,  originated  at  an  early 
period  in  central  Asia ;  whereas  the  more  distant  ties  uncle,  aunt, 
cousin,  originated  at  a  later  period  in  Europe ;  hence  the  former 
belong  to  a  primitive,  the  latter  to  an  advanced  social  state. 
When  we  find  that  Hebrew,  Chinese,  and  Astec  have  one  and  the 
same  word,  ama,  for  mother ;  abba  and  apa  for  father,  and  that 
ma  is  mother  in  the  Samoan  dialect,  spoken  by  the  natives  in 
Navigator's  Islands,  we  must  acknowledge,  that  connection,  inter- 
course or  contact  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  linguistic  phenomenon. 
Even  the  bereft  widow  has  a  place  in  the  Arian  vocabulary, 
which  proves,  that  our  Arian  grandsires  were,  in  remote  ages, 
advocates  of  the  sacredness  of  women  and  of  the  family  ties. 

The  roots  of  eleven  of  the  eighteen  nouns  of  primary  neces- 
sity seem  to  have  been  first  uttered  by  the  primitive  Arians  or 
fanners,  dwelling  in  the  sixteen  Regions  of  Beatitude,  mentioned 
in  the  Zend  Avesta,  and  in  Ariavarta,  watered  by  the  Indus  and 
Ganges.  These  proto-historic  linguistic  roots  expanded  from  that 
Arian  center  to  Assyria,  Greece,  Rome,  Sarmatia,  Scandinavia, 
Germany,  Britain,  and  even  to  China  and  to  the  New  world. 

"  To  think"  is  in  Sanscrit  ma  or  man,  from  which  was  derived 
the  Gotho- Germanic  name  for  the  noblest  creature  in  the  animal 
kingdom.  To  think  was  surely  the  most  appropriate  appellation 
for  man,  who  is  on  this  planet  the  thinker  par  excellence.  No 
wonder  the  term  man  (thinker)  was  ever  retained  by  the  Asiatic 
and  European  Arian  races.  Manu  was  the  son  of  Brahma,  and 


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34  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

the  lawgiver  of  the  Hindus  ;  while  Mannus,  was  the  son  of 
Tuiston,  and  progenitor  of  the  Gotho-Germanic  nations.  This 
significant  root  has  ever  continued  in  the  cherished  national  name 
Herrmann  (Lord  thinker) ;  even  the  Tartar  tribes  in  Asia  have 
retained  to  this  day  the  Arian  appellation  man  in  the  name  of 
their  sages  and  priests,  called  Shamans  ;  so  have  the  Chinese  in 
Mandarin.  The  monosyllable  ma  characterizes  Brahma,  God  of 
the  Hindus,  and  of  Gautaw<z,  God  of  the  Buddhists.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  Sanscrit /#  is  to  protect ;  hence  the  original  sense  of 
pa,  abba,  papa^  pater,  father,  vater,  &c.,  all  having  the  inter- 
changeable labial  letters  b,  p,  f  and  v,  was  protector.  This  lin- 
guistic aspect  gives  to  our  endearing  terms  ma  and/<z  a  deeper 
and  more  exalted  meaning  than  they  ever  had  before,  making  ma 
the  thinker  and /to  the  protector  of  the  family.  When  we  consider, 
that  a  child,  uttering  these  Arian  monosyllables,  expresses  the  high- 
est human  attributes — thinker  &t\&  protector,  we  realize,  that  primi- 
tive language  was  not  a  mere  chance,  accident  or  exclamation,  but 
a  profound  science.  It  had  no  superfluous  syllables  and  letters, 
like  our  modern  tongues,  but  was  simple,  direct  and  telegraphic. 

We  might  add  Tables  of  numerals,  adjectives,  verbs,  arid  parti- 
cles ;  but  as  the  above  Table  proves,  that  Arian  linguistic  roots 
of  primary  necessity  were  brought  from  central  Asia  to  Europe 
by  the  ancestors  of  our  Gotho-Germanic  grandsires,  we  forbear. 

From  these  primitive  linguistic  roots,  from  protohistoric  hints, 
from  historic  statements  and  geographic  indications  in  Herodo- 
tus, Strabo,  Tacitus,  Ammianus,  Jornandes,  and  from  Josephus' 
description  of  the  post-diluvian  emigration  (Ant.  of  the  Jews, 
chap.  VI.)  we  infer,  that  the  earliest  stream  of  population  from 
Asia  to  Europe  carried  Ario-Japhetic  roots,  from  which  were 
formed  Pelasgic,  Thracian,  Greek,  Etruscan,  Latin,  Cimmerian  or 
Cimbric  and  Basque.  At  a  remote  period  this  stream  extended 
even  to  Tartessus,  in  Spain,  mentioned  by  Herodotus,  (The 
Tarshish  of  the  Scriptures,)  and  to  Massilia  (Marseilles)  in  Gaul. 
Later  the  Skoloti  or  Scythians,*-  Sacians,  Arians,\  and  Germans, 

*  Herodotus  (B.  iv. ,  6  and  7)  says  Scythians  were  called  ~^,KO\OTOL  (Skolotoi) 
in  their  own  language  1500  B.C.,  and  2/cu0a  (Scythians)  by  the  Greeks,  440 
B.C. 

f  Tacitus,  A.D.  97,  mentions  a  powerful  tribe  of  Arii  (Arians),  dwelling  on 
the  western  bank  of  the  Vistula  in  Germany. 


Sixth  Century.  35 

ancestors  of  our  Scytho-Gotbo-Germanic  sires,  carried  to  Europe 
more  Arian  and  Mongolian  roots,  which  we  find  felicitously 
blended  with  preceding  vocabularies.  Oriental  authors,  like 
Valmiki,  Firdousi,  Tamerlane,  &c.,  call  Scy thia  Ariana  and  Aria, 
sometimes  Tchermama  and  its  dwellers  Tchermanee  ;  they  are  so 
called  down  to  the  fourteenth  century  of  our  era.  They  also 
mention  some  of  the  names  of  the  ancient  and  modern  Scytho- 
Gotho-Germanic  tribes.  As  most  of  these  facts  are  historic  and 
admitted  by  archeologists ;  and  as  civilization  is  reaching  those 
regions  and  the  very  spots,  where  our  Asiatic  ancestors  dwelled 
ages  ago,  we  may  look  for  more  and  more  light  concerning  the 
origin  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  other  European  races  and  lan- 
guages, especially  when  an  erudite  scholar,  like  Baron  Von 
Hammer,  tells  us  he  found  over  4,000  Scytho-Gotho-Germanic 
and  Persian  words  with  striking  affinities. 

There  was  a  Sarmato-Sclavonic  stream  that  followed  the  above 
named.  By  such  intermingling  of  races  and  dialects,  linguistic 
gems  passed  into  Anglo-Saxon  and  English  from  Arian,  Semitic, 
Greco-Latin,  Celtic  and  Gotho-Germanic  sources,  especially 
from  the  time  the  Anglo-Saxons  became  Christians  A.D.  597. 
Hypercritics,  like  Macaulay,  may  sneer  and  call  early  Anglo- 
Saxon  history  "mythical ;  "  it  is  nevertheless  the  most  probable 
and  rational  that  has  reached  us  ;  and  no  proto-historic  data  are 
better  sustained  by  reliable  records.  As  Macaulay  has  given 
us  nothing  in  its  place,  we  better  hold  on  to  it ;  perhaps  Chinese 
Mongolian  and  Tartar  records,  together  with  Cuneiform  and 
Runic  decipherings  may  bring  to  light  more  direct  proof.  Sir 
Wm.  Jones,  Bopp,  Champollion,  Oppert,  Rawlinson,  Burnouf, 
Schleicher,  Max  Miiller  and  Whitney  have  done  much ;  Schlie- 
mann,  Cesnola,  Prime,  Hubert  Bancroft,  Stanley  and  others  may 
do  more  to  illumine  proto-history ;  therefore  let  us  continue  to 
search  patiently  and  abstain  from  calling  things  "mythical" 
simply  because  they  took  place  ages  ago  and  thwart  our  preju- 
dices. 

To  give  a  clearer  and  more  direct  idea  of  the  origin  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  language,  we  cite,  as  a  point  of  comparison,  the 
earliest  Lord's  Prayers  in  the  four  oldest  Gotho-Germanic  dia- 
lects :  Gothic  A.D.  376; — Anglo-Saxon  A.D.  700; — Low  Ger- 
man A.D.  700;  High  German  A.D.  720.  In  the  vocabulary, 


36  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

grammar  and  construction-  of  this  prayer,  readers  may  trace  the 
immediate  origin  of  Anglo-Saxon  from  Gothic  and  German. 


Gothic  Lord's  Prayer  from  Ill/Has1  *  version  of  the  Bible  about  A.D.  376 : 

"  Atta  unsar  thu  i'n  himinam. 
Veihnai  namo  thein  ; 
Gimai  thiudinassus  theins ; 

Vairthai  vilja  theins  soe  in  himina  iah  ana  airthai ; 
Hlaif  unsarana  thana  sinteinan  gif  uns  himma  daga ; 
iah  aflet  uns  thatei  skulans  siaima  svasve  iah  veis  afletam  thaim  skulam 

unsaraim ; 

iah  ni  briggais  uns  i'n  fraistubn  iai ; 
Ak  lausei  uns  af  thamma  ubilin  ; 
Unte  theina  ist  thiudangardi  iah  mahts  iah 
vulthus  in  aivins.     Amen."  — Matthew  c.  6,  10. 


High  German  Lord^s  Prayer,  A.D.  720: 

"  Fatter  unseer,  thu  pist  in  Himele, 
Wihi  Namum  dinan ; 
Chmeme  Rihi  din ; 

Werde  Willo  din,  so  in  Himele,  sosa  in  Erdu ; 
Proath  unseer  emezhic  kijo  uns  hiutu; 
Oblaz  uns  Sculdi  unseero,  so  wir  oblasen  uns  skuldikem ; 
Enti  ni  unish  firletti  in  Khorunka ; 
Uzz  erlosi  unish  fona  Ubile." 


*  We  mentioned  this  zealous  apostle  of  the  Goths  in  the  fifth  century.  He 
formed  the  Gothic  Alphabet  of  26  letters  from  the  Greek,  and  translated  the 
New  Testament  from  Greek  into  Gothic,  A.D.  376.  This  was  the  first 
Gotho-Germanic  writing,  and  the  earliest  translation  of  the  Teachings  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles.  In  the  sixteenth  century  a  copy  of  this  precious  version, 
containing  long  fragments  of  the  Gospels,  was  found  in  the  monastery  of 
Werden  near  Cologne.  It  was  called  "  Codex  Argenteus  ;  "  because  it  is 
written  in  letters  of  silver  and  gold  on  vellum.  It  was  bought  by  the  Swedish 
government  and  deposited  in  the  library  of  Upsala.  It  is  said  this  curious 
MS.  was  made  in  Italy  during  the  sway  of  the  Gothic  kings  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury. Many  copies  have  been  taken  from  this  ancient  relic.  It  was  long 
supposed  that  only  fragments  of  the  Gospels  remained;  but  in  1726  the 
*'  Epistles  to  the  Romans"  were  discovered  in  the  library  of  Wolfenbuttel. 
Again  another  fragment  was  found  at  Milan  by  Angelo  May,  A.  D.  1820. 
Hence  the  Gotho-Germanic  races  were  the  first,  who  appreciated  and  trans- 
lated Christ's  Ethics. 


Sixth  Century.  37 

Low  German  Lord* s  Prayer,  about  A.D.  700,  now  a  living  language: 
"Thu  ure  Fader,  the  eart  on  heofenum, 

Si  thin  noman  gehalgod. 

Cume  thin  rike. 

Si  thin  Willa  on  eorthan  twa  on  heofenum  j 

Syle  us  todag  orne  daegwanlican  hlaf. 

And  forgif  us  ure  gylter,  swa  we  forgifath  tham  the  with  us  agylthat. 

And  ne  laed  thu  na  us  on  kostnunge  ; 

Ac  alys  us  fronn  yfele. 

Si  bit  swa." 

Oldest  Anglo-Saxon  Lord^s  Prayer,  from  an  ancient  MS.,  being  a  gloss  on 
the  Evangelists,  by  Eadfride,  8tA  bishop  of  Lindffarne,  about  A.D.  700  : 
Camdeii's  Remains,  p.  23. 

"  Fader  uren  thu  in  Heofnas, 
Sie  gehalgud  Nama  thin, 
To  Cymeth  ric  thin  j 

Sie  fillo  thin  suae  is  in  Heofne  and  in  Eortha. 
Hlaf  uferne  oferwistlic  sel  us  to  daeg  ; 
And  forgef  us  scyltha  urna  suae  we 
forgefon  scylgum  urum. 
And  ne  inlead  usith  in  Costnunge. 
Ah  gefrigusich  from  evil." 

Anglo-Saxon  Lord^s  Prayer,  from  the  Gospels  of  Mareschall  and  Junius. 
Its  purity  assigns  it  to  the  reign  of  Alfred  the  Great,  about  A.D.  890. 

'*  Faeder  ure  thu  the  eart  on  heofenum, 
Si  thin  nama  gehalgod ; 
To  becume  thin  rice.  * 

Gewurthe  thin  willa  on  eorthan  swa  swa  on  heofenum. 
Urne  daeghwamlican  hlaf  syle  us  to  daeg  ; 

And  forgyf  us  ure  gyltas,  swa  swa  we  forgifoth  urum  gyltendum  ; 
And  ne  gelaedde  thu  us  on  costnunge. 
Ac  alys  us  of  yfele. 
Sothlice."  —Matthew  vi.  9-13. 

Anglo-Saxon  Lord's  Prayer,  A.D.  1120. 
"Ure  Fader  in  Heven  rich, 
Thy  name  be  halyed  ever  lich. 
Thou  bring  us  thy  michel  bliese 
Als  bit  in  heven  y  doe,  N 

Evear  in  yearth  been  it  alsoe. 


38  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

That  holy  brede  that  lasteth  ay, 
Thou  send  us  this  like  day. 
Forgive  us  all  that  we  have  done, 
As  we  forgive  ech  other  one. 
Ne  let  us  fall  into  no  founding, 
Ne  sheld  us  frym  the  foule  thing." 


Among  the  striking  verbal  and  grammatic  analogies  of  these 
versions  let  us  compare  one  sentence  : 

In  Ulfilas'  Gothic  version  of  A.D.  376  occurs  :  "  hlaif  sinteinan  gif  us  to  daga ; " 

"the  Anglo-Saxon    "  "  700  u  "  hlaf  sel  us  to  daeg  ;  " 

"   "    Low-German   "  "  700  "  "  syle  us  todag  hlaf;" 

""    Anglo-Saxon    "  "  890  "  "  hlaf  syle  us  to  daeg ; " 

"  "    High-German"  "  720  "  "  proath  emezhic  kijo  uns;" 

"   "    Anglo-Saxon    "  u  1120  "  "  brede  send  us  this  day  ;" 

"  "    English             "  "  1611  "  "give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread." 

Without  any  historic,  ethnologic  or  archeologic  light,  such  ver- 
bal and  grammatic  resemblance  would  illumine  Medieval  dark- 
ness, not  only  to  the  philologist,  but  to  the  historian  and  philoso- 
pher ;  for  Gothic  hlaif  of  Moesia  in  South-eastern  Europe  A.D. 
376; — Anglo-Saxon  hlaf  in  England  A.D.  700;  and  Low-Ger- 
man hlafin.  northern  Germany  A.D.  700  ; — High-German proath 
in  southern  Germany  A.D.  720  ; — Anglo-Saxon  brede  in  England 
A.D.  1120  ;  English  bread  A.D.  1611 — all  meaning  one  and  the 
same  thing,  bread — indicate  contact  or  intercourse  sometime  and 
somewhere.  So  do  Anglo-Saxon  sel,  syle,  and  Low  German  syle, 
whence  our  sell,  which  must  have  had  a  different  meaning  ;  for 
it  is  hardly  supposable,  that  our  Gotho-Germanic  ancestors,  who 
were  ever  reverend,  would  have  used  that  term  in  the  sense  we 
do  now.  Next  notice  in  these  six  versions  the  strong  analogy  in 
grammar  and  construction,  which  some  linguists  consider  of  more 
value  than  verbal  resemblance.  Prejudiced  and  superficial 
readers  might  pass  lightly  over  such  linguistic  indications  ;  but, 
when  history  tells  us,  that  the  Goths  and  Germans  amalgamated 
at  an  early  date  in  Central  Europe  ;  that  their  ancestors,  who 
were  Herodotus'  2kv0ai  (Scythians],  Tep/x-avtot  (Germans),  2a/cat 
(Saxons),  and  AtyXot  (Angles)  roamed  ages  ago  over  Aria  and 
Ariavarta  in  Central  Asia,  whence  they  emigrated  to  Europe, — 
then  these  linguistic  indications  acquire  positive  value  as  aids  to 


Sixth  Century. 


39 


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trS    '•    • 


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:  a  =  E  E  E  E  =  :  :  :  s  s  :ee 

a  a  a  a  a  a  a  a  a      By* 


W     .    .  «  ^  3  :3 


:  :  :  :.-3 


, 

•  H -o -^ -a 


•2?,   ,   -1 


JUfffffffff 


1!li 


•2  :  :-S 


S  ' 


N 

« 


liilllilil 


•s  i 


§    .g§§T3l^--s--5-n«c 

I 


.S  g.S.S  g.S.S.S  O-S-  :  =.S  S.S  S 


'  3  33 


4O  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

protohistory  and  archeology.  We  fully  understand  these  anal- 
ogies, when  we  realize  from  Medieval  Records,  that  Anglo- 
Saxon  missionaries  went  from  England  to  Germany  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  their  Gotho-Germanic  kindred  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury. To  give  to  the  philologic  gems  in  the  Lord's  Prayer  their 
full  luster,  we  add  a  Table  of  similia  to  father,  our,  in,  heaven, 
thy,  name,  reign,  will,  n.,  Earth,  sell,  loaf  or  bread,  day,  evil, 
and  ajnen,  in  32  European  and  Asiatic  dialects. 

The  English  Lord's  Prayer  (Matt.  6,  9)  numbers  66  words,  40 
of  which  are  different  words,  and  the  rest  repetitions.  Fourteen 
of  the  40  different  words  occur  in  some  or  in  most  of  the  32  dia- 
lects and  languages  in  the  preceding  Table. 

The  root  of  father  or  pa  occurs  in  31  of  the  32  languages. 
"         name  "       29        "  " 

"  Will  "22  "  " 

"          Earth                       "  22  "                " 

"         amen                        "  21  "                " 

"         thy                           "  19  "                " 

"         reign  (kingdom)     "  18  "               " 

"         in                             "  18  "                " 

"          day                            '«  18  "                " 

"          heaven                      "  16  "                " 

"          bread                        "  13  "                " 

"          our                            "  12  "                " 

The  interchangeable  consonants  in  father  were  the  labials :  b,  p,f,  v,  and  den- 

[tals:  d,  thm&t; 

"             name  "  mutes:  Tzandw; 

"                 "                       "             reign  "  gutturals  \  c,  g  and  k; 

"                "                      "             will  "  labials:  £,/,  v  and  w; 

"                 "                       "             Earth  "  dentals :  d,  th  and  t; 

"                 ««                       "             bread  "  labials :  b  and  p ; 

"                 "                       "             day  "  dentals: 

"                 "                      "             evil  "  labials:  ^ 

"                 "                       "             heaven  "  aspirate  h  and  sibilant  j. 

Zend,  Persian  and  Greek  fiequently  have  aspirate  h,  which 
became  sibilant  s  in  Sanscrit,  in  the  Semitic  and  Gotho-Germanic 
tongues,  and  in  Latin.  The  Hebrew  word  amen  (so  be  it)  en- 
tered 21  of  the  32  languages  with  but  very  slight  alteration. 
Vowel-changes  are  not  considered  of  importance  in  philology ; 
whereas  consonant  changes  have  certain  fixed  rules  by  which 
linguists  are  guided.  Hence  Semitic  nations  only  wrote  conso- 


Sixth  Century. 


4i 


nants,  and  left  vowels  to  be  supplied  by  readers  and  speakers.  As 
shown  in  the  Table  on  p.  39,  ten  of  the  14  words:  father,  in, 
heaven,  thy,  name,  reign,  Earth,  day,  bread  and  amen  point  to 
Asia  for  their  roots ;  whereas  but  four  :  our,  will,  sell  and  evil 
were  developed  in  Europe.  In  our  first  Table  with  18  words  of 
kindred,  1 1  point  to  Asia  for  their  roots,  and  7  were  developed  in 
Europe.  When  philologists  objected  to  verbal  analogy  as  a  sign  of 
relationship,  the  learned  Dr.  Young,  whose  data  on  this  point 
are  important,  arrived  through  close  research  at  the  following 
numeric  rules : 

One  analogous  word  in  2  languages  may  be  a  mere  coincidence. 
Two         "  indicate  3  chances  of  relationship. 

Three  to  seven  analogous  words  in  2  languages  increase  the  chances  of  rela- 

[tionship  in  a  rapid  ratio. 

Eight  indicate  100,000  chances  of 

[relationship. 

Hence  analogous  terms,  occurring  from  12  to  31  times  in  32 
languages,  as  is  the  case  in  the  Table  on  p.  39,  must  be  conclu- 
sive evidence  of  relationship.  To  corroborate  our  verbal  anal- 
ogies, we  add  a  few  correspondences  of  grammatic  inflections; 
as  the  Greek  verbs  in  mi  have  analogues  in  Sanscrit,  we  quote 
some  here. 


GOTHOGERMANIC  : 

GKECO-LATIN  : 

SCLAVONIC  : 

English  : 

Anglo-Saxon  : 

Greek  : 

Latin  : 

Lithuanian  : 

Sanscrit  : 

am 

am 

eifti 

sum 

asmi 

art 

arth 

eis 

es 



assi 

is 

is 

eyri 

est 



asti 

esMff 

sumus 

...... 

asmassi 

stand 

stande 

l?T17/Llt 

sto 

stowmi 

tisthami 

standest 

standest 

isnjs 

stas 

stowi 

tisthasi 

stands 

stent 

ISTTJSl 

stat 

stow 

tisthati 

fcSlMM 

do 

dudmi 

dadhami 

&&H 

das 

dusi 

dadasi 



ii&Ht 

dat 

dusti 

dadati 

Archeologists  tell  us,  that  the  Greco-Latin  stream  of  popula- 
tion and  language  from  Asia  to  Europe  was  the  earliest ;  and  the 
Sclavonic  stream  the  latest ;  the  above  conjugative  inflections 
mi  clearly  prove,  that  there  was  at  some  period  or  other  connection 
between  Greek  and  Sanscrit ;  Lithuanian,  Latin  and  other  Eu- 


42  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

ropean  tongues  may  have  copied  from  Greek,  for  Greece  had 
intercourse  and  commerce  with  the  Scythians  in  Sarmatia,  with 
the  Latins  in  Italy  and  with  the  Celts  in  Gaul,  Spain  and  Britain. 
Moreover,  the  Lithuanians  may  be  descended  from  the  European 
Scythians,  whose  ancestors  came  from  Central  Asia  to  Europe  680 
B.C.  and  drove  the  Cimmerians  from  Cimmeria,  now  Southern 
Russia. 

These  reflections  were  suggested  by  the  14  linguistic  ana- 
logues in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  numbering  but  40  different  words. 
As  the  Old  Testament  contains  the  thought,  language,  traditions, 
musings,  literature  and  wisdom  of  the  Shepherd  Kings  and  Magi, 
collected  by  Moses,  Solomon  and  other  Hebrew  Sages  ;  and  as 
ideas  concerning  primitive  cosmogony,  astronomy,  geology,  bot- 
any, zoology,  philology  and  sociology  are  recorded  therein,  it  might 
prove  as  rich  a  linguistic  mine  as  the  Lord's  Prayer.  Josephus  tells 
us  (Ant.  B.  XII,  4-7),  that  Ptolemy,  the  wisest  of  Egypt's  kings, 
discovered  its  excellence  as  a  record  of  the  post-diluvian  gener- 
ations, and  had  it  translated  into  Greek  by  seventy  Hebrew  and 
Greek  scholars,  276  B.C.,  for  his  famous  Alexandrian  library.  We 
know  it  as  the  "  Septuagint"=.'LXX.  (seventy).  About  seven 
centuries  thereafter  St.  Jerome,  the  most  erudite  Greek  and  Latin 
scholar,  after  being  liberally  educated  at  Rome,  and  having 
traveled  over  the  greater  part  of  the  Roman  Empire,  became 
private  secretary  to  Pope  Damasus  I.,  A.D.  382.  Soon  he  be- 
came disgusted  with  the  corruptions  of  Rome  and  retired  to 
Bethlehem,  where  he  learned  Hebrew  and  translated  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  from  the  best  MSS.  then  extant  into  Latin. 
This  version,  cherished  by  Rome  ever  since,  is  known  as  the 
"Vulgate"  This  eminent  Father  of  the  Church  died  A.D.  420. 
The  Bible  and  parts  thereof  were  first  written  in  Hebrew  and 
Greek,  then  translated  into  Gothic  and  Latin.  The  Table  on  p.  39 
shows  that  it  has  since  been  translated  into  the  Medieval  and 
modern  tongues.  At  the  Centennial  Exhibition,  1876,  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society  had  printed  specimens  from  Bible  versions  in 
164  different  dialects  and  languages.  The  ninety  English-speak- 
ing millions  have  been  translating  and  circulating  it  all  over  the 
globe  ;  so  that  Christ's  Ethics  have  reached  the  benighted  Es- 
kimo, Hottentot  and  fierce  cannibal  Fiji  Islander.  Let  the  text, 
phraseology,  vocabulary  and  words  of  these  164  dialects  and 


Sixth  Century.  43 

languages  be  carefully  searched  and  compared.  Unexpected 
linguistic  analogies,  that  would  throw  light  on  history  and  ethnol- 
ogy, might  be  discovered  by  such  a  course.  In  this  department 
missionaries,  versed  in  philology,  could  reap  a  rich  harvest  for 
science  ;  therefore  philology  should  be  one  of  the  chief  studies  in 
the  curriculum  of  divinity. 

The  vocabulary  of  the  previous  Gotho-Germanic  Lord's 
Prayers,  and  the  fourteen  words  therefrom  in  the  Table  on  p.  39 
convey  the  idea,  that  the  three  Gotho-Germanic  tribes :  Jutes, 
Saxons  and  Angles,  carried  to  Britain  the  Gothic,  High  and 
Low  German  dialects,  from  which  they  developed  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  language ;  that  the  Greco-Latin,  Celtic,  Gotho-Germanic 
and  Sclavonic  dialects  and  languages  became  interwoven  through 
translations  of  the  Bible ;  and  that  Christianity  and  civilization 
went  hand  in  hand  among  the  European  Medieval  tribes,  peoples 
and  nations.  Thus  we  endeavored  to  trace  the  origin  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  dialect  from  primitive  Asiatic  and  European  lin- 
guistic roots,  and  from  the  vocabulary  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  the 
earliest  Gotho-Germanic  languages ;  because  there  are  no  Anglo- 
Saxon  written  documents  from  A.D.  449  to  586,  a  period  during 
which  the  Jutes,  Saxons  and  Angles  landed  and  settled  in  Britain. 
The  dialects  now  spoken  in  Sleswig-Holstein  and  Friesland  are 
but  modified  Gothic,  Low  German  and  Anglo-Saxon. 

As  this  century  witnessed  the  first  step  in  Anglo-Saxon  civiliza- 
tion, it  behooves  us  to  pause  and  consider  its  importance.  If 
you  wish  to  benefit  a  race  morally,  teach  them  Christ's  sublime 
ethics.  If  you  desire  to  advance  a  people  intellectually,  carry 
them  the  means  of  recording  and  perpetuating  thought;  in  other 
words,  give  them  an  ALPHABET.  Both  these  blessings,  together 
with  the  Roman  numbers,  calendar,  church  music  and  chant 
reached  the  Anglo-Saxons  through  a  gentle  Frankish  Princess 
named  Bertha,*  daughter  of  Caribert,  King  of  France,  A.D.  561- 
567.  The  cotemporary  historian,  Gregory  of  Tours,  559-593,  in 


*  Bertha  was  (  Clovis,  King  of  France,  A.D.  481-511,  and  St.  Clotilda, 
great  grand-  •<  a  Burgundian  Princess,  through  whose  influence  Clovis  be- 
daughter  of  '  came  a  Christian. 

Grand  daugh-  ( 
ter  Q£  ^  Clotaire  I.,  King  of  Neustria,  511-561. 


44  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

his  "History  of  the  Franks"  alludes  thus  to  this  event,  Lib.  4 : 
"  King  Caribert  wedded  Ingoberga,  by  whom  he  had  one  daugh- 
ter, who  married  and  was  taken  to  Kent ;  " — Lib.  9  :  "  He  died, 
I  think,  in  the  yoth  year  of  his  life,  leaving  one  daughter,  whom 
the  son  of  a  certain  King  of  Kent  married." 

Ingoberga,  Bertha's  mother,  is  mentioned  as  a  benevolent  and 
excellent  queen,  who,  while  instilling  into  her  daughter  female 
virtues  and  graces,  little  dreamt  that  she  was  destined  to  be  the 
corner-stone  of  Anglo-Saxon  conversion.  It  seems  Caribert  died 
when  Bertha  was  quite  young,  and  her  uncle  Chilperic,  King  of 
Neustria,  became  her  guardian. 

Ethelbert  I.,*  King  of  Kent  and  Bretwalda  or  chief  of  all  the 
Kingdoms  of  the  Heptarchy,  except  Northumbria,  claimed  lineal 
descent  from  Odin  or  Woden,  through  his  illustrious  ancestors 
Hengist,  Horsa  and  the  famous  Rowena. 

He  was  the  fourth  king  of  Kent  from  Hengist,  and  asked 
Bertha's  hand.  Here,  surely,  was  a  young  couple,  connected 
with  all  that  was  great  and  noble  in  Medieval  times.  The  fierce 
elements  of  the  Goths  and  Franks,  already  amalgamated  on 
the  continent,  were  now  to  be  wedded  with  the  Anglo-Saxons 
in  Britain.  Chilperic,  whose  grandfather,  Clovis,  had  been  a 
Prankish  heathen,  opposed  the  union  of  his  niece  with  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  heathen  I  but  Bertha,  remembering  the  conversion  of  her 


f  Sigebert  I.,    King  of  Austrasia,  561-575  and  Brunehaut, 
daughter  of  Athanagild,  King  of  the  Visigoths  in  Spain. 
Niece  of         <  Ingunda,  daughter  of  Sigebert  and  Brunehaut,  married  Her- 
|  menegild,    King   of  the   Visigoths  in   Spain,    about    578. 
I  Hermenegild'  s  capital  was  Seville  in  Andalusia. 
I  Chilperic  I.,   King    of   Neustria  561-584,   and    Galsuinta, 
(  daughter  of  Athanagild,  King  of  the  Visigoths  in  Spain. 

Niece  of         \  Gontran,  King  of  Burgundy,  561-593. 

*  Ethelbert  was  son  of  Hermenric,  King  of  Kent,  A.D.  534,  who  was  son 
of  Octa  or  Else,  King  of  Kent,  488,  who  was  son  of  Hengist,  King  of  Kent, 
455,  son  of  Wightgils,  son  of  Wecta,  son  of  Odin  or  Woden.  Ethelbert  also 
claims  Horsa  and  the  beautiful  Rowena,  Hengist's  daughter,  who  married 
King  Vortigern,  as  his  ancestors.  Ethelbert  was  the  seventh  generation  from 
Odin  or  Woden.  This  genealogy  is  culled  from  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  Bede, 
Ethelwerd  and  Malmesbury. 


Sixth  Century.  45 

illustrious  ancestor  through  the  prayers  and  entreaties  of  her 
great-grandmother  Clotilda,  accepted  the  gallant  Anglo-Saxon, 
on  condition  that  she  and  her  followers  should  ever  be  unmo- 
lested in  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  which  being  cheerfully 
granted  by  Ethelbert,  the  nuptial  rites  were  duly  solemnized  and 
the  royal  cortege  started  for  Kent,  A.D.  570. 

In  Bertha's  retinue  shone  the  venerable  Luidhard,  Bishop  of 
Senlis,  her  chaplain  and  spiritual  guide.  On  their  arrival  in  Can- 
terbury, Ethelbert's  capital,  the  church  of  St.  Martin,  built  by  Ro- 
man Christians,  was  assigned  to  Bertha  and  her  followers  as  their 
place  of  worship.  Here  the  pious  queen  and  her  friends  prac- 
tised quietly  their  religion  under  Luidhard' s  guidance.  Twenty- 
six  years  glided  thus  away.  Think  you  that  Bertha  and  Luidhard 
were  idle  spectators  in  that  distant  land,  where  the  fierce  rites  of 
Odin  must  have  singularly  contrasted  with  those  of  the  gentle 
Nazarene  ?  As  positive  history  and  biography  are  silent  about 
what  did  or  did  not  happen  in  Kent  during  the  years  that  elapsed 
from  Bertha's  marriage,  A.D.  570,  to  Ethelbert's  conversion, 
A.D.  597;  and  as  but  one  cotemporary  historian,  Gregory  of 
Tours,  alludes  to  a  daughter  of  Caribert  and  Ingoberga,  who 
married  and  was  taken  to  Kent,  we  leave  our  readers  to  judge 
from  circumstances  and  events,  what  must  have  occurred.  If 
we  consider  who  Bertha  was,  and  with  whom  connected,  we  shall 
admit  that  her  influence  must  have  been  very  great,  independent 
of  her  fine  character.  Moreover,  the  accomplished  Luidhard, 
who  presided  over  the  small  Christian  flock  in  Canterbury,  was 
in  duty  bound  to  communicate  with  his  superiors  in  Rome,  and 
did  so,  as  will  hereafter  appear. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  Pope  Gregory  I.,  surnamed  the 
Great,  contemplated  the  conversion  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  before 
he  obtained  the  tiara.  As  he  was  chosen  Pope,  A.D.  590,  and 
died  605,  Ethelbert's  conversion  must  have  been  effected  within 
the  fifteen  years  of  his  papal  sway.  Gregory's  letters  in  "  Patro- 
logice"  *  vol.  77,  will  convince  the  most  critical  reader  that  what 

*  "Patrologia,"  217  quarto  volumes,  issued  from  1844  to  1858,  contain- 
ing the  writings  of  the  Christian  Fathers  in  Greek  and  Latin,  besides  all  that 
lias  been  written  about  theologic  science  and  literature  from  the  fth  to  the 
iQth  century.  The  publisher,  J.  P.  Migne,  Paris,  corresponded  with  the 
libraries  in  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  procured  all  he  could  in  the  shape  of 


46  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

occurred  in  Canterbury,  A.D.  597,  was  the  result  of  a  well  con- 
ceived, well  prepared  and  well  executed  plan. 

As  some  of  Pope  Gregory's  letters  may  interest  readers,  I  shall 
cull  from  and  translate  those  that  have  reference  to  the  conversion 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons. 

"Patrologia"  Vol.  77,  Lib.  VI.,  Epistola  VII.* 

"  GREGORY  TO  CANDIDUS,  PRESBYTER,  GOING  TO  THE  ECCLESIASTIC  PA- 
TRIMONY IN  FRANCE,  A.D.  595  OR  596? 

"  As  you  are,  with  the  help  of  our  Lord  God,  Jesus  Christ,  going  to  un- 
dertake the  management  of  the  ecclesiastic  patrimony  in  France,  we  desire 
you  should  buy  with  the  money  you  may  receive,  clothing  for  the  poor,  or 
Anglo-Saxon  boys  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  old,  and  have  them  educated 
for  God's  service  in  monasteries.  Inasmuch  as  French  money  is  uncurrent 
in  our  country,  and  may  be  spent  to  more  advantage  where  it  is  current,  if 
you  can  obtain  any  bonus  on  moneys  now  due,  as  we  already  stated,  we  wish 
you  to  purchase  vestments  for  the  poor  boys  to  be  educated  in  the  service  of 
Almighty  God.  But  as  those  who  can  be  found  are  pagans,  we  desire  a 
priest  should  accompany  them,  so  as  to  baptize  any  that  may  be  taken  sick 
on  the  way,  as  soon  as  he  sees  them  in  danger  of  dying.  Let  your  arrange- 
ments be  so  made  as  to  enable  you  to  hasten  to  carry  out  these  designs." 

The  contents  of  this  letter  seem  to  imply,  as  corroborated  by 
cotemporary  and  subsequent  writers,  that  youths  were  carried 
from  Britain  to  the  continent  to  be  sold  as  slaves,  and  that  Pope 
Gregory  made  arrangements  to  have  some  of  them  bought,  edu- 
cated in  monasteries  and  sent  as  interpreters  and  missionaries 

books  and  manuscripts,  and  printed  them  in  this  erudite  work.  Pope  Greg- 
ory's writings  fill  volumes  73,  74,  75,  76  and  77.  This  rare  and  voluminous 
work  is  in  the  Astor  Library,  New  York. 

*  "  Gregorius  Candido,  presbytero,  eunti  ad  patrimonium  Gallise.  Pergens, 
auxiliante  Domino  Deo  nostro,  Jesu  Christo,  ad  patrimonium  quod  est  in 
Galliis  gubernandum,  volumus  ut  dilectio  tua  ex  solidis  quos  acceperit  vesti- 
menta  pauperum,  vel  pueros  Anglos,  qui  sunt  ab  annis  decem  et  septem,  vel 
decem  et  octo,  ut  in  monasteriis  dati  Deo  proficiant,  comparet,  quatenus 
solidi  Galliarum,  qui  in  terra  nostra  expendi  non  possunt,  apud  locum  pro- 
prium  utiliter  expendantur.  Si  quidvero  de  pecuniis  redituum,  quas  dicuntur 
abatse  recipere  potueris,  ex  his  quoque  vestimenta  pauperum  comparare  te 
volumus,  vel,  sicut  praefati  sumus,  pueros  qui  in  omnipotentis  Dei  servitio 
proficiant.  Sed  quia  pagani  sunt  qui  illic  inveniri  possunt ;  volo  ut  cum  eis 
presbyter  transmittatur,  ne  quid  segritudinis  contingat  in  via,  ut  quos  moritu- 
ros  conspexerit  debut  baptizare.  Ita  igitur  tua  dilectio  faciat,  ut  haec  dili- 
genter  implere  festinet." 


Sixth  Century.  47 

among  their  countrymen.  This  epistle  shows  Gregory  not  only 
a  philanthropist,  but  a  practical  business  man  and  financier,  who 
could  calculate  even  the  premium  on  money  and  exchanges.  It 
is  glorious  to  find  among  the  Popes  one  who  used  the  Peter- 
Pence  to  rescue  bright  youths  from  slavery  and  educate  them  in 
papal  institutions. 

It  has  been  said  by  many  writers,  especially  Alfric,  A.D.  1000, 
that  "  Augustine  took  interpreters  from  among  the  Franks,"  which 
would  be  correct,  if  it  was  stated  that  these  interpreters  were 
Anglo-Saxons,  carried  to  the  continent,  sold  there  as  slaves,  saved 
from  bondage  by  Pope  Gregory,  educated  by  his  orders,  and  re- 
turned to  their  country  as  missionaries. 

Cotemporary  and  subsequent  records  point  to  the  spring  of 
A.D.  596  as  the  time  when  Augustine  and  his  fellow-monks 
started  from  Rome  for  Britain.  Pope  Gregory  had  chosen  Au- 
gustine for  that  mission.  There  is  nothing  positive  how  he  and 
his  companions  reached  France.  Letters  and  documents  indi- 
cate that  their  first  interview  was  with  Serenus,  Bishop  of  Mar- 
seilles, whence  they  went  to  the  ancient  and  famous  Benedictine 
Abbey  of  Lerins  in  the  Isle  of  St.  Honorat. 

While  thus  traveling  in  France,  they  were  evidently  told  that 
their  journey  to  Britain  was  through  gloomy  and  barbarous 
regions,  and  across  a  most  dangerous  sea ;  even  if  they  were 
fortunate  enough  to  reach  Britain,  they  would  encounter  mere 
savages,  whose  dialect  they  ignored,  and  consequently  could  not 
preach  the  gospel  to  them.  Hence  Augustine's  associates  begged 
and  urged  him  to  return  to  Rome,  communicate  these  circum- 
stances to  his  Holiness,  and  entreat  him  to  recall  them  from  this 
hazardous  and  seemingly  useless  mission.  Whether  Augustine 
shared  their  opinions  or  not  is  of  little  importance.  He  returned 
to  Rome,  leaving  his  companions  somewhere  in  South-eastern 
France.  Augustine  reached  Rome  in  August,  and  consulted 
with  Gregory.  Behold  the  result : 

"  Patrologia,"  Vol.  77,  Lib.  VI.,  Epistola  LI. 
LETTER  OF  POPE  GREGORY  TO  THE  COMPANIONS  OF  AUGUSTINE,  AUGUST, 

A.D.  596. 

Gregory,  the  servant  of  the  servants  of  God,  to  the  servants  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

u  As  it  would  have  been  better  not  to  undertake  good  works,  than  to  think 


48  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

of  abandoning  them,  when  undertaken,  it  behooves  you,  my  dearest  sons,  to 
perform  with  the  utmost  zeal  the  beneficent  task  you  began  with  God's  as- 
sistance. Hence  let  neither  the  perils  of  the  journey  nor  the  tongues  of  gos- 
sipping  calumniators  deter  you  ;  but  persevere  with  all  the  diligence  and  fervor, 
which  incited  you  to  start  through  God's  inspiration,  convinced  that  the  glory 
of  an  eternal  reward  follows  a  great  enterprise. 

"Augustine,  your  prior,  whom  we  constitute  your  Abbot,  humbly  obey  in 
all  things ;  fully  aware,  that  whatever  may  be  accomplished  by  his  advice, 
will  redound  to  the  benefit  of  your  souls. 

"May  Almighty  God  protect  you  with  his  grace  and  grant  me  to  behold 
the  fruit  of  your  labors  in  the  everlasting  mansions  !  Inasmuch  as  I  cannot 
labor  with  you,  may  I  be  found  worthy  to  share  with  you  in  the  enjoyment 
of  your  reward  ;  because  I  surely  wish  to  be  and  labor  with  you. 

"May  God  keep  you  from  all  harm,  my  dearest  sons  ! 

"  Given  on  the  loth  day  of  the  calends  of  August,  under  our  most  pious 
Emperor  Mauricius  Tiberius  Augustus,  in  the  I4th  year  of  his  reign,  the  I3th 
after  his  consulate,  Indication  14." 

To  this  turning  back  of  Augustine  was  probably  due  the  final 
success  of  his  mission  to  the  Anglo-Saxons ;  for  all  possible 
efforts  were  made,  influences  used  and  means  procured  to  insure 
success.  Augustine  was  made  bearer  of  letters  from  his  Holiness 
to  the  kings  and  bishops,  through  whose  territories  and  bishop- 
rics he  and  his  companions  were  likely  to  pass ;  but  perhaps 
the  most  important  means  for  his  ultimate  triumph  was  the  pro- 
curing of  the  native  Anglo-Saxons  educated  in  France  as  inter- 
preters, as  first  mentioned  in  the  letter  from  Gregory  to  Candidus, 
steward  of  the  ecclesiastic  patrimony  in  France. 

"  Patrologiee,"  Vol.  77,  Lib.  VI.,  Epistola  LIX. 

LETTER  FROM  POPE  GREGORY  TO  BRUNEHAUT,*  QUEEN  OF  THE  FRANKS 
OF  AUSTRASIA,  CAPITAL  METZ,  LORRAINE,  A.D.  596. 

"  Your  Excellency's  Christian  zeal  is  so  well  known,  that  we  can  in  no  way 
doubt  its  goodness. 

"We  are  informed  that  the  nation  of  the  Angles,  with  God's  mercy,  long 
to  become  Christian ;  but  that  the  priests  of  the  adjacent  country  have  no 
pastoral  solicitude  to  encourage  their  wishes  by  exhortation.  Lest  their  souls 
might  go  to  everlasting  perdition,  we  felt  anxious  to  send  thither  Augustine, 
bearer  of  this  letter,  with  other  servants  of  God,  in  order  to  learn  through 
them  the  desires  of  the  Angles,  and,  with  your  assistance,  to  provide  for  their 

*  See  Brunehaut's  genealogy  in  foot-note,  p.  44. 


Sixth  Century.  49 

conversion  as  far  as  possible.  We  also  ordered  them  to  take  priests  from  the 
neighboring  countries  with  them.  Therefore,  your  Excellency,  as  much  on 
account  of  our  petition  as  from  fear  of  God,  will  graciously  consider  Augus- 
tine as  highly  recommended  and  deserving,  extend  over  him  your  protection, 
aid  him  in  his  arduous  mission,  and  enable  him  to  obtain  ample  means,  that 
he  may  securely  reach  the  above  named  nation  of  the  Angles."  * 

This  period  of  English  history  always  seemed  to  me  not  only 
hazy,  but  contradictory,  till  I  saw  in  Pope  Gregory's  cotempo- 
rary  letters  this  sentence  :  "We  are  informed  that  the  nation  of 
the  Angles  longs  to  be  Christian  ;  but  that  the  priests  of  the 
adjacent  country  have  no  pastoral  solicitude  to  encourage  their 
wishes  by  exhortation"  This  statement  implies  :  first,  that  Rome 
had  been  informed  by  somebody  concerning  the  desire  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  to  become  Christians.  As  I  previously  stated,  the 
zealous  Luidhard  was  not  idle  in  Canterbury;  nor  was  Queen 
Bertha,  who  quietly  attracted  Ethelbert  to  Christ's  gentle  max- 
ims. No  doubt  Gregory  had  heard,  directly  or  indirectly  through 
Luidhard,  that  Kent's  king  might  be  favorably  approached. 
This  we  cannot  help  inferring  from  Gregory's  letters  and  from 
the  circumstances.  —  Next,  that  the  priests  of  Wales,  where 
Christianity  flourished,  had  been  urged  by  Rome  to  preach  Christ 
to  their  Anglo-Saxon  neighbors,  and  had  refused.  This  passage 
from  Geoffrey  ofMonmouth's  " Historia  Britonum"  (A.D.  1147), 

*  Besides  the  above  letter  to  Queen  Brunehaut,  Bertha's  aunt,  Augustine 
was  made  bearer  of  the  following  letters,  A.  D.  596  : 
"  Patrologia,"  Vol.  77,  Lib.  VI. 

Letter  52,  Gregory  to  Pelagius  and  Serenus,  Bishops  of  Tours  and  Marseilles. 
"      53,          "  Virgilius,  Bishop  of  Aries. 

"      54,         "  Syagrius,         "          Autun. 

"      55,         "  Protasius,       "          Aix,  France. 

"      56,         **  Stephanus,  Abbot  of  Lerins,  where,   it  is  supposed, 

Augustine  left  his  companions,  when  he  went  back  to 
Rome. 

"      58,         "  Theodoric  (Thierry  II.)  and  Theodebert  II.,  Kings  of 

Burgundy  and  Austrasia,  grandsons  of  Brunehaut, 
regent  (A.D.  596)  during  their  minority  (Bertha's 
second  cousins). 

In  these  letters  Augustine  and  his  companions  are  strongly  recommended, 
and  assistance  is  solicited  for  their  mission  to  Britain.  Their  contents  are 
similar  to  those  in  the  letter  to  Queen  Brunehaut. 


50  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Lib.  XL,  C.  12  and  13,  fully  explains  why  the  Britons  refused, 
and  why  a  mission  was  sent  from  Rome.* 

Among  Pope  Gregory's  letters  eleven  are  addressed  to  Queen 
Brunehaut,  Bertha's  aunt.  When  Augustine  passed  through 
France  on  his  way  to  Britain,  she  treated  him  and  his  compan- 
ions most  hospitably,  and  furnished  them  all  she  could  to  make 
their  mission  a  success,  for  which  Pope  Gregory  blessed  and 
thanked  her  most  graciously  in  a  subsequent  letter,  Letter  n, 
Lib.  IX.,  "  Patrologice"  Vol.  77.  She  was  at  that  time  regent  of 
the  kingdoms  of  Burgundy  and  Austrasia  for  her  grandsons 
Thierry  II.  and  Theodebert  Il.f 

We  need  hardly  say  that  Augustine's  mission,  so  well  con- 
ceived and  planned,  could  be  but  a  success  ;  especially  when 
undertaken  and  carried  on  by  devoted  men,  whose  journey 
through  France  was  an  ovation,  kings,  queens,  bishops  and 
abbots  showering  favors  on  the  Papal  missionaries,  who  arrived 
in  Britain,  numbering  forty.  They  landed  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet 


*  "  Augustine  was  sent  by  Pope  St.  Gregory  into  Britain  to  preach  the 
word  of  God  to  the  Angles,  who,  being  blinded  with  pagan  superstition,  had 
entirely  extinguished  Christianity  in  that  part  of  the  island  which  they  pos- 
sessed. But  among  the  Britons  the  Christian  faith  still  flourished  and  never 
failed  among  them  from  the  time  of  Pope  Eleutherius  (A.D.  189),  when  it 
was  first  planted  here.  When  Augustine  came  he  found  in  their  province 
seven  bishoprics  and  an  archbishopric,  all  filled  with  most  devout  prelates, 
and  a  great  number  of  abbeys,  by  which  the  flock  of  Christ  was  still  kept  in 
good  order.  Among  the  rest  there  was  in  the  city  of  Bangor  a  most  noble 
church,  in  which  it  is  reported  there  was  so  great  a  number  of  monks  that, 
when  the  monastery  was  divided  into  seven  parts,  having  each  their  priors 
over  them,  not  one  of  them  had  less  than  three  hundred  monks,  who  all  lived 
by  the  labor  of  their  own  hands.  The  name  of  their  abbot  was  Dinooth,  a 
man  admirably  skilled  in  the  liberal  arts,  who,  when  Augustine  required  the 
subjection  of  the  British  bishops,  and  would  have  persuaded  them  to  under- 
take the  work  of  the  gospel  with  him  among  the  Angles,  answered  him  with 
several  arguments,  that  they  owed  no  subjection  to  him,  neither  would  they 
preach  to  their  enemies,  since  they  had  their  own  Archbishop,  and  because 
the  Saxon  nation  persisted  in  depriving  them  of  their  country.  For  this  reason 
they  esteemed  them  their  mortal  enemies,  reckoned  their  faith  and  religion  as 
nothing,  and  would  no  more  communicate  with  the  Angles  than  with  dogs." 

f  This  Theodebert  was  second  cousin  to  Queen  Bertha.  Eadbald,  son  of 
Ethelbert  and  Bertha,  married  Emma,  daughter  of  Theodebert  II.,  and  became 
King  of  Kent,  A.D.  616. 


Sixth  Century.  51 

in  the  spring  of  597,  and,  through  interpreters,  informed  Ethel- 
bert  of  their  arrival.  Soon  the  king  and  his  pious  queen  met 
Augustine  and  his  companions  under  heaven's  open  canopy, 
where  no  charm  or  enchantment  could  be  practiced  on  his  royal 
highness,  such  being  an  Anglo-Saxon,  superstition.  Ethelbert 
listened  attentively  to  what  the  strangers  had  to  communicate 
about  their  kindly  mission,  then  replied:  " The  doctrine  you 
announce  seems  promising  and  fair,  but  as  it  is  new  and  uncer- 
tain, we  cannot  assent  to  it  and  renounce  the  one  we  and  our 
subjects  have  cherished  so  long.  As  you  came  from  afar  to 
preach  to  us  a  religion  you  believe  true  and  best,  we  receive 
you  kindly  and  supply  you  with  all  the  comforts." 

Next  the  strangers  were  invited  to  Canterbury,  where  Ethel- 
bert gave  them  his  palace,  with  permission  to  preach  without 
hindrance.  The  Venerable  Bede,  in  his  Ecclesiastic  History 
(A.D.  730),  Lib.  I.,  C.  25  and  26,  gives  a  graphic  description 
of  this  memorable  event,  which  furnished  the  key-note  to  sub- 
sequent historians.  Some  say  Ethelbert  received  baptism  on 
Whitsunday,  others  at  Pentecost,  A.D.  597. 

The  interview  in  the  green  field  has  been  idealized  by  the 
English  artist  Tresham,  in  a  picture  representing  Augustine, 
Host  in  hand,  at  the  head  of  his  companions,  approaching  Ethel- 
bert and  Bertha. 

Miss  Molesworth  muses  thus  on  the  Cadmean  alphabet : 

"  The  noble  art  from  Cadmus  took  its  rise, 
Of  painting  words  and  speaking  to  the  eyes: 
He  first  in  wondrous  magic  fetters  bound 
The  airy  voice,  and  stopt  the  flying  sound \\ 
The  various  figures,  by  his  pencil  wrought, 
Gave  coloring  and  body  to  the  thought." 

As  these  felicitous  lines  befit  the  advent  of  writing  among  the 
Anglo-Saxons  in  Britain,  A.D.  597,  let  us  not  pass  this  acqui- 
sition lightly ;  for  the  perpetuation  of  thought,  by  means  of  al- 
phabetic characters,  is  the  first  important  step  in  civilization. 
Without  writing,  man  is  only  one  degree  above  other  animals ; 
because  speech  is  but  audible  and  transitory  thought,  whereas 
writing  is  visible  and  permanent. 

Animal  utterance,  sound,  tone,  may  be    summed   up   thus : 


52  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Man  articulates,  speaks,  modulates,  sings,  chants,  trills,  whis- 
pers, murmurs,  shouts,  yells,  bawls,  groans,  sighs,  sobs,  whines, 
weeps,  whistles,  and  can  imitate  almost  all  the  sounds  of  other 
animals.  Infants  cry,  whimper,  mewl,  scream.  Lower  mam- 
malia chatter,  neigh,  bellow,  bark,  growl,  yelp,  howl,  mew,  roar, 
bray,  grunt,  squeal  —  the  lamb  bleats.  Birds  sing,  modulate, 
whistle,  warble,  chirp,  crow,  cackle,  whoop,  screech — the  dove 
coos.  Reptiles  hiss,  croak,  rattle.  Insects  chirp,  buzz  ;  bees 
hum.  Thus  about  forty-five  verbs  form  the  vocabulary  of  utter- 
ance throughout  the  animal  kingdom,  numbering  245,000  species, 
among  which  man  alone  can  articulate,  express,  and  perpetuate 
his  feelings,  thoughts  and  ideas  in  writing.  He  alone  on  this 
planet  can  write,  print,  telegraph  and  transmit  his  conceptions 
to  posterity.  Without  this  sublime  faculty  of  transmitting  thought, 
where  would  be  the  Pentateuch,  1452  B.C.,  Zend  Avesta,  Vedas, 
Homer's  Iliad,  Pythagoras',  Socrates'  and  Plato's  sublime  ideas, 
Aristotle's,  Pliny's,  Copernicus',  Newton's  discoveries  —  aye, 
where  would  be  Humboldt's  "Kosmos"  ? 

Who  will  then  say  that  the  advent  of  the  Roman  alphabet 
in  Canterbury,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Gospel,  numbers,  calen- 
dar, and  written  hymns,  was  not  the  beginning  of  Anglo-Saxon 
progress?  Verily,  Christianity  and  the  Roman  alphabet  were 
"glad-tidings"  to  the  Anglo-Saxons,  whose  descendants  have 
since  carried  them  to  the  uttermost  isles  and  continents  on  the 
globe. 

Talk  of  the  telegraph — extol  it  to  the  skies  !  you  cannot  ex- 
haust the  theme,  for  it  is  an  intellectual  triumph,  a  wonder ;  but 
consider  the  first  alphabet,  according  to  the  best  authorities — 
Phenician — that  conveyed  to  you,  to  me,  to  generations  to  come, 
what  transpired  ages  ago  in  Chaldee,  Canaan,  Egypt,  Assyria, 
Phenicia,  Greece,  Rome  —  a  contrivance  that  preserved  and 
gave  us  the  gems  of  literature  and  science  of  all  nations  and 
climes.  Then  tell  me  which  of  the  two  is  the  more  important — 
the  telegraph,  shortening  and  almost  annihilating  space  and 
time,  or  the  alphabet,  expanding  and  perpetuating  thought. 
Forty  centuries  contemplate  the  latter,  yesterday  beheld  the 
former. 

Plato  and  Cicero  considered  primitive  alphabetic  characters 
as  divine  gifts ;  many  Medieval  and  modern  scholars  espoused 


Sixth  Century. 


53 


their  ideas.  The  ancient  Egyptians  had  such  veneration  for 
thought-expressing  signs  that  they  called  them  hieroglyphics 
(sacred  carvings) ;  hence  their  worship  of  the  animals  whose 
figures  they  used  as  hieroglyphics. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  alphabet  was 
formed  from  the  Roman,  A.D.  597,  as  shown  by  the  following 
table.  Since  several  letters  resemble  Greek  characters,  we  add 
the  Greek  alphabet : 


Attic  Greek,  left  to  right, 
about  500  B.C. 

Latin  or  Roman. 

Anglo-Saxon,  from  Roman, 
A.D.  597- 

A 

A 

Aa 

B 

B 

Bb 

r 

TEC 

EC 

A 

D 

DAb 

E 

E6e 

E6e 

F 

F 

FF 

G 

£    C*r 

Z 

Z 

z  w 

H 

H 

bh 

0 

TH 

B?^* 

I 

I 

li 

K 

K 

Kk 

A 

L 

DL1 

M 

Mm 

CDm 

N 

Nn 

Nn 

H 

X 

X 

0 

O 

0 

n 

P 

Pp 

<1 

Q 

p 

RR 

Rji 

3 

S 

sr 

T 

T 

Tc 

U 

Uu 

vv 

r? 

Yv 

Y7 

We  regret  to  find  no  cotemporary  allusion  to  the  framer  of  this 
new  alphabet  in  Britain.  The  "  Saxon  Chronicle"  mentions  all 
the  petty  kings  of  the  Heptarchy  and  their  fights ;  the  advent 


54  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

and  exit  of  every  abbot ;  also  the  accessions  and  deaths  of  the 
popes  and  bishops ;  but  not  a  word  is  said  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
alphabet  and  its  inventor.  Thus  history  has  been  a  mere  relation 
of  wars  and  politico-diplomatic  juggleries,  in  which  the  quiet, 
good,  virtuous,  and  industrious  intellectual  workers  hear  no 
Christ-like  "  Well  done>  good  and  faithful  servant ;  "  but  in  which 
only  intriguers  and  boisterous  destroyers  find  their  actions  and 
names  paraded.  The  ancients  were  not  quite  so  negligent  and 
devoid  of  justice  ;  for  Cadmus,  Palamedes  and  Simonides  are 
honorably  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Greek  alphabet ; 
also  Carvilius,  for  adding  the  letter  G  to  the  Roman  alphabet,  is 
mentioned  by  Plutarch.  True,  modern  biography  commends 
Pierre  de  la  Ramee  for  supplying /and  Fto  our  alphabet,  A.D. 
1562  ;  and  the  Elzevirs  for  using  this  improvement  in  their  fine 
editions  of  the  Classics.  What  a  pity  Augustine,  instead  of 
writing  so  many  casuistic  trivialities,  did  not  tell  posterity  who 
formed  the  Anglo-Saxon  alphabet,  and  the  circumstances  con- 
nected therewith  !  Even  the  Venerable  Bede,  who  wrote  a  cen- 
tury after  Augustine,  might  have  omitted  one  of  his  saints  or 
seers  to  make  room  for  the  Anglo-Saxon  alphabet's  inventor, 
whose  name  would  have  been  as  acceptable  to  posterity  as  that 
of  Cadmus  in  Herodotus. 

The  Moeso-Gothic  alphabet,  more  or  less  modified,  was  called 
Modern  Gothic  or  black  letter,  which  was  used  almost  all  over 
Europe  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  Franks  first 
dropped  the  Gothic  and  adopted  the  Roman  characters.  Next 
the  Goths  in  Spain  renounced  the  Gothic  and  assumed  the  Roman 
letters  by  a  decree  of  a  synod  at  Lyons,  A.D.  1091.  In  England 
the  Gothic  characters  were  last  used  for  King  James'  version  of 
the  Bible,  A.D.  1611.  The  first  edition  of  Shakespeare's  writings, 
issued  1623,  was  in  Roman  characters.  Germany  alone  holds 
on  to  her  Gotho-Germanic  hieroglyphics,  which  are  more  fantastic 
and  grotesque  than  the  Moeso-Gothic  alphabet,  invented  by 
Ulfilas,  A.D.  376.  We  do  not  represent  the  German  alphabet 
in  our  table,  because  it  is  said  Germany  is  inclined  to  change  it 
for  the  Roman  now  used  by  all  Christian  nations,  who  govern 
466,000,000  (over  one-third)  of  Earth's  inhabitants.  The  Greek 
and  Hebrew  are  known  in  colleges  and  seminaries  all  over 
Christendom.  The  Greek  and  Roman  letters  have  been  used 


Sixth  Century.  55 

over  two  centuries  to  name  the  stars,  and  are  thus  inscribed  in 
the  heavens,  where  they  will  probably  remain  as  long  as  man- 
kind will  continue  to  study  the  sublime  science  of  the  stars. 
The  Mceso-Gothic  alphabet  has  twenty-five  and  the  Anglo-Saxon 
twenty-four  characters.  The  Scandinavian  races,  Danes,  Swedes, 
Norwegians,  Orkneyans,  Shetlanders,  and  Icelanders,  had  an  al- 
phabet that  numbered  but  sixteen  different  letters,  which  were 
called  Scanic  by  some  and  Runic  or  Icelandic  by  others. 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  let  us  allude  to  a  noteworthy  and 
ingenious  peculiarity  in  some  Gotho-Germanic  alphabets :  our 
readers  noticed  a  dot  in  Anglo-Saxon  y,  and  a  mark  across  D  5, 
which  changed  D  d  from  a  dental  to  a  dento-aspirate  letter,  cor- 
responding to  Greek  6  and  English  th.  The  Scanic  or  Runic 
alphabet  has  eight  of  its  sixteen  letters  with  similar  marks, 
whose  object  is  not  only  to  indicate  a  change  of  sound,  but  to 
increase  the  alphabet  from  sixteen  to  twenty-four  letters  with- 
out adding  new  characters.  This  mode  of  marking  one  and 
the  same  letter  to  indicate  a  change  of  sound  is  analogous  to 
the  Hebrew  vowel  points,  Greek  and  French  accents,  and  Ger- 
man umlaut.  The  ninety  English-speaking  millions  of  1878 
might  advantageously  imitate  this  method  to  harmonize  letter 
with  sound,  without  adding  new  characters  to  their  present  al- 
phabet, thus  avoiding  destruction  of  type,  printed  books  and 
libraries,  and  causing  disturbance  in  education,  reading,  writing, 
and  printing. 

The  Anglo-Saxons  had  abbreviating  signs  for  often  recurring 
particles  like  and,  that,  or ;  they  frequently  omitted  the  letter  m 
and  indicated  its  omission  by  a  horizontal  line  over  the  letter 
that  immediately  preceded  the  m ;  they  also  united  the  dip- 
thongs  a  and  ce  into  one  character  for  each. 

Thus  did  the  ancestors  of  the  English  give  to  their  progeny  an 
example  of  being  short  and  telegraphic.  No  wonder  the  English 
and  Americans  are  more  inclined  than  any  other  nation  to  shorten 
words,  names,  and  titles. 

The  year  A.D.  597  proved  a  real  blessing  to  the  Anglo-Saxons ; 
for  it  not  only  brought  to  them  the  Gospel,  an  alphabet,  and  sacred 
music,  but  the  Roman  figures  and  method  of  measuring  time,  as 
shown  by  the  following  Table  : 


56  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Roman  Calendar  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  A.D.  597  : 


Mar.                 Mai. 
Jul.                Octob. 

Jan.                  Aug. 
Decemb. 

Apr.                 Jun. 
Sept.                Nov. 

Februar. 

I 

Kalendse. 

Kalendae. 

Kalendse. 

Kalendse. 

2 

VI.  Nonas. 

IV.  Nonas. 

IV.  Nonas. 

IV.  Nonas. 

3 

V.  Nonas. 

III.  Nonas. 

III.  Nonas. 

III.  Nonas. 

4 

IV.  Nonas. 

Pridie  Nonas. 

Pridie  Nonas. 

Pridie  Nonae. 

5 

III.  Nonas. 

Nonse. 

Nonse. 

Nonse. 

6 

Pridie  Nonas. 

VIII.  Idus. 

VIII.  Idus. 

VIII.  Idus. 

7 

Nonae. 

VII.  Idus. 

VII.  Idus. 

VII.  Idus. 

8 

VIII.  Idus. 

VI.  Idus. 

VI.  Idus. 

VI.  Idus. 

9 

VII.  Idus. 

V.  Idus. 

V.  Idus. 

V.  Idus. 

10 

VI.  Idus. 

IV.  Idus. 

IV.  Idus. 

IV.  Idus. 

ii 

V.  Idus. 

III.  Idus. 

III.  Idus. 

III.  Idus. 

12 

IV.  Idus. 

Pridie  Idus. 

Pridie  Idus. 

Pridie  Idus. 

*3 

III.  Idus. 

Idus. 

Idus. 

Idus. 

J4 

Pridie  Idus. 

XIX.  Kal. 

XVIII.   Kal. 

XVI.  Kal. 

15 

Idus. 

XVIII.  Kal. 

XVII.  Kal. 

XV.  Kal. 

16 

XVII.  Kal. 

XVII.  Kal. 

XVI.  Kal. 

XIV.  Kal. 

17 

XVI.  Kal. 

XVI.  Kal. 

XV.  Kal. 

XIII.  Kal. 

18 

XV.  Kal. 

XV.  Kal. 

XIV.  Kal. 

XII.  Kal. 

J9 

XIV.  Kal. 

XIV.  Kal. 

XIII.  Kal. 

XI.  Kal. 

20 

XIII.  Kal. 

XIII.  Kal. 

XII.  Kal. 

X.  Kal. 

21 

XII.  Kal. 

XII.  Kal. 

XI.  Kal. 

IX.  Kal. 

22 

XI.  Kal. 

XI.  Kal. 

X.  Kal. 

VIII.  Kal. 

23 

X.  Kal. 

X.  Kal. 

IX.  Kal. 

VII.  Kal. 

24 

IX.  Kal. 

IX.  Kal. 

VIII.  Kal. 

VI.  Kal. 

25 

VIII.  Kal. 

VIII.  Kal. 

VII.  Kal. 

V.  Kal. 

26 

VII.  Kal. 

VII.  Kal. 

VI.  Kal. 

IV.  Kal. 

27 

VI.  Kal. 

VI.  Kal. 

V.  Kal. 

III.  Kal. 

28 

V.  Kal. 

V.  Kal. 

IV.  Kal. 

Pridie  Kalendas; 

29 

IV.  Kal. 

IV.  Kal. 

III.  Kal. 

or  II.  Kalendas. 

3° 

III.  Kal. 

III.  Kal. 

Pridie  Kalendas. 

Pridie  Kalendas. 

Pridie  Kalendas. 

Note,  that  in  every  Bissextile  or  Leap-  Vear,  February  reckons  29  days,  and  the  24th 
and  2$th  of  that  month  are  both  written  VI.  Kal.  Mart. 

With  this  calendar  the  Anglo-Saxons  obtained  the  Roman 
numbers,  and  the  faculty  of  dividing  and  counting  time,  which 
was  an  important  acquisition ;  for  without  numbers  and  division 
of  time  a  community  must  be  very  primitive,  not  to  say  barba- 
rous. We  first  find  the  Roman  figures  in  Ethelbert's  Anglo- 
Saxon  Code  of  Laws,  A.D.  597,  and  in  the  "  Saxon  Chronicle." 
When  we  consider  that  Alfred  the  Great,  about  A.D.  889,  devised 
wax  candles  to  mark  the  hours  of  the  day,  then,  to  prevent  their 
being  blown  out  by  the  wind,  he  contrived  horn  lanterns,  we 
may  fully  realize  how  important  the  Roman  calendar  was  to 


Sixth  Century.  57 

mark  the  dates  of  important  writings  and  events.  We  read  in 
Eginhard,  secretary  of  Charlemagne,  of  a  horologe  of  brass  sent 
to  Charlemagne  by  Abdalla,  King  of  Persia,  A.  D.  800 ;  also  of 
clocks  at  Venice,  A.D.  872  ;  but  the  first  really  authentic  account 
of  a  clock,  marking  and  striking  the  hours  for  the  public,  was  one 
made  and  placed  in  a  tower  of  the  palace  of  Charles  V.,  King 
of  France,  by  Henry  de  Vick  about  1364.  Next  came  the  re- 
markable clock  in  the  Cathedral  of  Strasburg,  1370.  Under 
Richard  II.,  Wallingford,  Abbot  of  St.  Albans,  made  an  astro- 
nomic clock,  regulated  by  a  fly-wheel.  Thus  Horology,  like  all 
improvements,  advanced  slowly.  But  where  are  Roman  calen- 
dars, almanacs  and  clocks  now  ?  Almost  every  man  and  woman 
carry  time  in  their  pockets.  Do  we  fully  realize  human  progress  ? 
Are  we  thankful  for  the  comforts  and  luxuries,  of  which  our  an- 
cestors could  not  even  dream  ?  The  sixth  century  witnessed  a 
great  improvement  in  chronology,  which  had  been  singularly 
confused  for  a  long  time  by  the  Roman  Calendar ',  Julian  Era, 
Cycles,  Indictions,  &c.,  till  Dionysius  Exiguus  harmonized  these 
diversities  by  the  introduction  of  the  Christian  Era,  about  A.D. 
532,  which  was  adopted  by  Rome  and  gradually  by  the  Christian 
nations. 

Sacred  Music,  ever  Christianity's  handmaid,  reached  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  A.D.  597.  Pope  Gregory  composed  and  compiled  a 
church-service  of  130  pages,  called  "  Gregorian  Antiphonary"  a 
manuscript  copy  of  which  is  now  in  the  famous  monastery  of  St. 
Gall,  Switzerland.  The  Gregorian  Chant  was  arranged  according 
to  the  eight  celebrated  church  modes.  This  style  of  music  and 
chant  Augustine  carried  among  the  Kentians.  In  olden  times 
Sovereigns  were  musical  devotees  :  at  high  festivals  Charlemagne, 
attired  in  cope,  was  seen  and  heard  among  the  Choir-singers ; 
and  Alfred  the  Great  charmed  even  his  foes  with  his  harp.  I 
might  allude  to  Orpheus'  power  over  the  Argonauts,  and  to  Pan's 
over  the  Arcadian  shepherds ;  but,  as  the  Sacred  Record  men- 
tions Jubal,  Miriam,  Deborah,  and  extols  the  soothing  influence 
of  David's  harp  on  the  melancholy  Saul,  I  need  comment  no 
further  on  the  civilizing  art  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who,  ac- 
cording to  ihe  Venerable  Bede  (Lib.  IV.  C.  2),  paid  thenceforth 
particular  attention  to  vocal  music  and  "  Gregorian  Chant." 

Bede  (Lib.  I.  C.  29)  tells  us  that  Pope  Gregory  sent  to  Augus- 


5 8  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

tine  "  many  books."  As  there  has  been  much  comment  about 
the  books,  taken  to  Britain  by  Mellitus,  60 1,  I  tried  to  ascertain, 
as  far  as  possible,  what  they  were :  all  I  could  find  was,  that  in  1414 
Thomas  of  Ehnham  wrote  a  history  of  St.  Augustine's  Monastery, 
at  Canterbury,  in  which  the  following  manuscript  books  are  men- 
tioned as  lying  on  the  altars  : 

1.  Gregory's  Bible,  in  two  volumes. 

2.  Psalter  of  Augustine. 

3.  Text  of  the  Gospels. 

4.  Another  Psalter. 

5.  Another  Text  of  the  Gospels. 

6.  The  Passionary  of  the  Saints. 

7.  Exposition  of  the  Epistles  and  Gospels. 

Whether  these  were  Bede's  "many  books"  no  one  ventures  to 
affirm  or  deny.  All  have  disappeared  except  the  two  manuscript 
Gospels,  which  are  yet  shown  at  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cam- 
bridge, and  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford.  Venerable  relics, 
that  have  traversed  thirteen  hundred  and  seventy-eight  years  !  Pre- 
cious seed,  that  has  produced  a  million-fold  since  Guttenberg's 
grand  invention !  At  the  dissolution  of  religious  foundations, 
under  Henry  VIII.,  1536,  one  of  these  gospels  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Lord  Hatton,  who  placed  it  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Ox- 
ford. It  is  believed  this  is  a  manuscript  sent  to  Britain  by 
Gregory,  60 1. 

Behold  an  epitome  of  what  the  three  Gotho-Germanic  tribes 
did  in  Britain  during  this  century :  The  Jutes,  Saxons  and  Angles 
completed  their  settlements,  and  their  descendants  founded  the 
Heptarchy,  of  which  King  Ethelbert  became  "  Bret-walda " 
(chief  ruler),  wedded  (A.D.  570)  the  accomplished  French  prin- 
cess Bertha,  connected  with  all  the  Gotho-Germanic  royal  fami- 
lies on  the  continent,  and  carried  her  to  Canterbury,  where  from 
A.D.  570  to  597  her  piety  and  Christian  virtues  attracted  atten- 
tion and  smoothed  the  way  for  Christianity  among  the  simple- 
hearted  Anglo-Saxons.  This  furnished  to  Pope  Gregory  I.  oc- 
casion to  send  missionaries  with  the  Gospel,  church  music, 
alphabet,  calendar  and  books,  to  Canterbury.  No  doubt  much 
was  said,  done,  and  perhaps  written  then  and  there  ;  but  the 
only  visible  and  tangible  thing  now  extant  is  Ethelbert' s  Anglo- 
Saxon  Code  of  A.D.  597,  from  which  we  take  an  Extract  and 


Sixth  Century.  59 

Table  to  show  its  style  and  the  numeric  origin  of  its  vocabulary. 
It  is  a  linguistic  relic,  of  which  the  ninety  English-speaking  mil- 
lions of  1878  may  justly  feel  proud;  because  it  was  the  first 
written  thought  in  any  of  the  Medieval  and  modern  languages, 
except  Ulfilas'  Gothic  version  of  the  Bible,  A.D.  376.,  and  perhaps 
" Leabhar  nah-Uidhei"  in  Irish.  Ethelbert's  Code  numbers 
eighty-nine  articles,  which  have  for  their  basis  the  Gospel  motto  : 
"Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  It  was  amended  by  his  succes- 
sors, Lothair  and  Edric,  from  A.D.  675  to  685,  and  by  Wihtred 
(A.D.  691-725).  In  his  "Ecclesiastic  History,"  A.D.  730,  Bede 
alludes  to  it  thus :  "  Among  other  benefits,  Ethelbert,  with  the 
advice  of  wise  men,  made  laws  which,  being  written  in  Anglo- 
Saxon,  are  still  observed  by  his  people." 

Alfred  the  Great,  speaking  of  Ethelbert's  laws  in  his  Anglo- 
Saxon  Code,  A.D.  878,  says:  "I  gathered  from  them  such  as 
appeared  to  me  most  just,  and  left  the  rest.  Ethelbert  was  the 
first  who  received  baptism  among  the  Anglo-Saxons." 

Queer  as  Ethelbert's  Code  may  seem  at  first  sight,  it  is  an  im- 
provement upon  the  Code  of  our  Asiatic  ancestors,  the  Arians, 
contained  in  the  Zend  Avesta.  In  the  Arian  Code  certain  offen- 
ces affected  not  only  the  guilty  party,  but  also  the  nearest  of  kin. 
Three  sets  of  punishments  are  mentioned  therein :  first,  from  five 
to  one  thousand  blows ;  second,  the  giving  of  a  female  to  the 
offended  party  ;  and  third,  a  fine  of  gold.  Whereas  the  punish- 
ments in  Ethelbert's  Code  are  fines  of  money,  by  which  we 
realize  that  the  Anglo-Saxons  had  much  progressed  as  compared 
with  their  Arian  sires  of  Asia ;  yet  murder,  being  only  punished 
by  a  fine  in  money  without  confinement,  as  was  the  case  with 
Ethelbert's  laws,  might  seem  too  mild  even  to  our  most  advanced 
philanthropists. 


6o 


Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


Sixth  Century. 


61 


62 


Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


§1 


*»    Is 

I 


AJ 


e 


§  I 


£w 

tdP-i 


RO 

MI 


i  J 

1-2=4 

*    n\n  M 

o4-§ 


ds 
wo 


ing 
g. 


Sixth  Century.  63 

In  perusing  Ethelbert's  Code  our  readers  may  realize  the  true 
character  and  status  of  early  Medieval  society.  Most  conspicu- 
ous is  the  absence  of  respect  for  life  and  limb,  to  say  nothing  of 
property.  "Love  your  neighbor  as  yourself.  Do  unto  others 
as  you  would  have  them  do  unto  you,"  were  much  needed,  not 
only  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  A.D.  597,  but  among  their 
cotemporaries,  whether  Franks,  Lombards,  Germans,  Goths, 
Danes,  or  Normans.  Frequent  impulsive  violence  and  crime 
must  have  been  committed  to  call  forth  legal  clauses  to  prevent 
gouging  out  eyes,  cutting  off  noses,  ears,  hands,  fingers,  feet, 
toes,  and  tearing  off  nails,  which,  it  seems,  were  practised,  not 
only  during  momentary  passion  and  anger,  but  were  inflicted 
deliberately  as  punishments.  After  alluding  thus  to  the  dark 
side  of  this  primitive  document,  let  us  add  that  it  exhibits  among 
the  Anglo-Saxons  elements  of  civilization  and  customs  we  cherish 
and  hold  sacred  now ;  prior  to  this  code  they  had  a  medium  of 
exchange,  and  consequently  an  idea  of  numbers  and  values,  first 
traced  by  the  Roman  characters  1,  V,  L,  X.  They  also  knew  the 
precious  metals  and  the  working  thereof,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
mention  of  gold,  lord-ring,  scillinga,  gylde,  whence  our  gold, 
shillings,  German  and  Dutch  geld  and  German  gulden.  This 
code  even  points  to  a  national  poetic  sentiment  for  ancient  cus- 
toms, as  evidenced  by  *'  gold  finger"  which  reminds  us  of  ring 
finger,  wedding  ring,  and  all  the  train  of  thought  connected  with 
our  marriage  ceremony.  To  see  such  a  hallowed  custom  through 
a  hoary  hyperborean  antiquity  must  be  pleasant  to  posterity. 

Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from  the  preceding  Table  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury : 

Greek:   i  I  Greco -Latin  :  6 

Latm :  5  )  V  Total  of  the  different  words :  100. 

Anglo-Saxon  :  94  t  Gotho-Germanic:  94 

Hence  the  style  of  Anglo-Saxon  writing  in  the  sixth  century  shows  a  vo- 
cabulary of  different  words,  containing  ninety-four  per  cent.  Gotho-Ger- 
manic or  Anglo-Saxon,  and  six  per  cent.  Greco-Latin. 

Twenty-six  of  the  ninety-four  different  Anglo-Saxon  words,  or  twenty-seven 
per  cent.,  are  now  obsolete.* 

*  This  numeric  result  casts  a  decided  shadow  on  Sharon  Turner's  five  per 
cent,  obsolete  Anglo-Saxon  words,  as  stated  in  his  "  History  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons." 


64  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Fourteen  of  the  ninety-four  different  Anglo-Saxon  words,  or  fifteen  per 
cent.,  are  now  spelt  as  they  were  in  the  sixth  century. 

Archeologists  write  glowing  accounts  of  pyramids  and  cyclo- 
pean  structures.  Can  there  be  more  astounding  monuments 
than  the  words  finger  and  gold  in  the  above  Extract  and  Table 
from  King  Ethelbert's  Code  of  A.D.  597?  They  were  penned 
twelve  hundred  and  eighty-one  years  ago  as  they  are  now  in 
English  and  German.  Thus  is  language,  or  petrified  thought, 
more  lasting  and  immutable  than  granite  or  marble. 

NOTE  :  Readers  "will please  remember,  that  we  mention  all  the  authors  and 
writings,  penned  in  Anglo-Saxon  from  A.D.  50,7  to  1200,  and  give  similar 
Extracts  and  Tables  therefrom  ;  so  we  do  the  authors  of  the  Franco-English 
period  from  A.D.  1200  to  1600.  Thus  we  shall  endeavor  to  give  a  clear 
idea  of  the  gradual  evolution  of  the  English  language  from  century  to  cen- 
tury. 

In  connection  with  Ethelbert's  Code,  A.D.  597,  we  must  not 
omit  to  mention  the  oldest  Irish  MS.  " Leabhar  nah-Uidhei" 
now  in  the  Royal  Irish  Academy  of  Dublin.  Antiquarians  claim 
that  St.  Ciaran,  Abbot  of  Cluain-mic-Nois,  wrote  the  original  in 
the  sixth  century,  but  that  the  copy  now  shown  at  Dublin  was 
made  from  the  original  of  St.  Ciaran  by  Moelmuiri  Mac  Ceilea- 
chair  about  A.D.  noo.  Its  contents  are  mostly  heroic  tales. 
Irish  historians  also  mention  the  "  Saltair  of  Tara"  written  by 
Cormac  Mac  Airt,  King  of  Ireland  from  A.D.  227  to  266.  It 
treats  of  Hibernia's  laws  and  usages,  but  there  seems  to  be  no 
MS.  thereof. 

As  late  as  A.D.  1762,  James  Macpherson  issued  a  book  styled 
"  Ossian"  purporting  to  be  a  translation  of  two  Gaelic  poems 
called  Fingal  and  Temora,  by  the  ancient  Scotch  hero,  Ossian, 
who  lived  and  wrote  in  the  third  century.  This  work  took 
England's  literati  by  surprise.  Hugh  Blair,  Prof,  of  Rhetoric  at 
Edinburgh  University,  Dr.  Henry,  Lord  Kaimes  and  all  the 
Highlanders  admired,  sustained  and  defended  Macpherson' s  at- 
tempt ;  but  Dr.  Johnson  pronounced  the  whole  movement  a 
forgery.  Hume  and  Gibbon  challenged  any  one  to  produce  a 
MS.  of  any  poem,  ante-dating  the  sixteenth  century.  About 
A.D.  1800,  the  learned  Scotch  historian,  Malcolm  Laing,  proved 
from  historic  and  intrinsic  evidence  that  the  so-called  Ossianic 


Sixth   Century.  65 

poems  were  spurious.  Next  the  committee  of  the  Highland 
Society  of  Edinburgh,  appointed  .to  investigate  the  matter,  re- 
ported, 1805,  "that  they  had  not  been  able  to  obtain  any  one  poem 
the  same  in  title  and  tenor  with  the  poems  of  Ossian"  This  re- 
port consigned  the  pretended  Ossianic  poems  to  oblivion  and 
put  archeology  on  the  qui  vive  against  modern  discoveries  of 
ancient  relics. 

Before  leaving  this  age  so  propitious  to  Anglo-Saxon  progress, 
let  us  allude  to  the  earliest  book  that  reached  posterity  from  the 
Isle  of  Britain.  Its  author  was  Gildas,  styled  "  The  Wise"  born 
in  Wales  about  A.D.  511.  He  studied  several  years  in  France, 
returned,  founded  a  church  and  school  in  Pembrokeshire,  and 
wrote  " De  iLxcidio  Britannia"  (Destruction  of  Britain).  True, 
like  most  books  of  that  period,  it  was  written  in  Latin  ;  but  it 
was  conceived  in  Gildas'  native  tongue,  Cymric  or  Welsh,  one 
of  the  primitive  dialects  of  Britain.  It  soon  found  its  way  to  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  whose  mode  of  thinking  it  shaped ;  for,  as  early 
as  A.D.  680,  Caedmon  paraphrased  the  Bible  in  a  similar  style, 
and  A.D.  735,  Bede  speaks  of  Gildas,  Lib.  I.,  C.  XXII.  It  is 
generally  conceded  that  Gildas  wrote  about  A.D.  546. 

The  first  written  thought  in  any  country  makes  an  epoch, 
because  thence  date  the  rudiments  of  civilization.  Thought, 
like  all  else  in  the  universe,  is  magnetic,  and  attracts  thought. 

The  ancient  British  record,  known  as  "  Gildas'  Chronicle,"  is 
divided  into  Preface,  History  and  Epistle.  In  the  first  he  speaks 
of  his  plan  and  style ;  in  the  second  he  vividly  depicts  the  ad- 
vent of  Christianity  into  the  British  Isles,  the  rule  of  the  Romans, 
their  departure  from  Britain,  the  consequent  ravages  of  the  Picts 
and  Scots,  and  the  supineness  of  his  countrymen  in  calling  the 
Saxons. — The  third  is  a  sermon-like,  vehement  exhortation,  anal- 
ogous to  the  Jewish  prophecies  and  St.  Paul's  Epistles. 

All  who  trace  their  origin  to  Britain,  may  feel  proud  of  this 
early  originator  of  native  written  thought ;  for  his  ideas  and  style 
are  not  only  forcible,  but  original  and  impressive.  Goeffrey  of 
Monmouth,  in  his  " Historia  Britonum"  Lib.  I.,  C.  17  (A.D. 
1147),  speaks  of  Gildas  in  the  highest  terms,  calling  him  "The 
Great  Writer." 

After  witnessing  the  advent  of  Christianity,  alphabet,  chro- 
nology, sacred  music,  written  law  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and 


66  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

the  style  of  Gildas,  Britain's  first  native  author,  some  allusions  to 
budding  intellect  and  morals  elsewhere  may  not  come  amiss. 
We  must  not  pass  unnoticed  some  of  the  tendencies  rising  in  the 
British  Isles  at  that  period.  Columba,  styled  the  Apostle  of  the 
Highlanders,  went  to  Scotland,  where  he  preached  about  A.D. 
565,  and  founded  in  lona  an  abbey  and  college  that  became 
renowned  as  a  seat  of  learning.  For  several  centuries  the  North- 
ern nations  sent  their  youth  to  be  educated  there.  Imagine  a 
famed  college  at  the  northwestern  confines  of  Europe  in  lona, 
one  of  the  Hebrides,  whither  the  disappointed  princes  and  no- 
bles went,  ended  their  days  in  retirement,  and  were  buried. 
Tourists  might  enjoy  visiting  the  remains  of  that  primitive 
abbey,  college  and  resting-place,  where  curious  epitaphs  of 
many  departed  worthies  are  to  be  scanned.  There  Columba 
was  the  first  abbot,  and  there  he  ended  his  career,  A.D.  597. 
The  Scotch  have  ever  cherished  the  memory  of  lona  and  their 
apostle. 

Next  Columban  and  Gall  started  from  the  Emerald  Isle  for 
Europe  about  585,  to  preach  Christ  to  the  Franks,  Germans, 
Helvetians  and  Lombards.  Columban  founded  the  Monastery  of 
Luxeuil  in  France,  and  that  of  Bobbio  in  Italy.  Gall  reared  the 
Abbey  of  St.  Gall  in  Switzerland,  which  has  ever  since  been  cel- 
ebrated for  its  rare  manuscripts.  Later  Gall  was  made  Bishop 
of  Constance,  where  he  is  known  as  the  Apostle  of  Switzerland. 
He  wrote  an  epitome  of  the  Scriptures,  which  is  to  be  found  in 
Basnage's  "  Thesaurus  Monumentorum."  Thus  the  British  Isles 
shed  their  light  abroad  at  an  early  date,  and  continue  to  do  so 
now. 

About  A.D.  590  the  Bavarian  princess  Theodelinda  married 
Agilulf,  leader  of  the  Lombards  in  Italy,  and  persuaded  him 
to  become  a  Christian.  Thus  the  world  has  to  thank  two 
gentle  women,  Bertha  and  Theodelinda,  for  winning  to  Christ 
and  civilization  two  distant  Gotho-Germanic  nations  :  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  in  Britain  and  the  Lombards  in  Italy  during  the  sixth 
century.  Among  Pope  Gregory's  letters  in  the  Patrologiae  are 
some  to  Theodelinda,  written  in  the  same  style  and  spirit  as 
those  he  wrote  to  Bertha  and  Ethelbert. 

In  the  sixth  century  all  writing  in  Europe,  with  the  exception 
of  Ethelbert' s  Anglo-Saxon  Code  and  perhaps  Leabhar  nah-Uidhei 


Sixth  Century.  67 

in  Irish,  was  done  in  Latin  and  Greek.  As  Latin  pens  were 
flying  among  most  European  nations,  we  can  but  mention  the 
most  prominent :  Cassiodorus'  books  on  history,  mathematics, 
grammar,  logic  and  music  were  valuable  productions.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  his  "History  of  the  Goths"  was  lost;  fortunately 
Jornandes  had  occasion  to  make  an  epitome  of  it  that  reached 
us.  We  already  referred  to  Gregory  of  Tours'  "  History  of  the 
Franks,"  which  contains  matters  not  to  be  found  elsewhere,  con- 
cerning the  conversion  of  the  Franks,  Burgundians  and  Anglo- 
Saxons.  He  alludes  to  the  marriage  of  Bertha  with  Ethelbert. 
Boethius,  whose  "  De  Consolatione  Philosophic"  written  in  prison, 
was  early  translated  into  most  European  dialects,  especially  into 
Anglo-Saxon  by  the  king,  scholar,  warrior,  and  statesman,  Alfred 
the  Great,  about  A.D.  890;  next  by  some  Frank  into  Francic, 
A.D.  950;  then  by  Chaucer  into  Franco-English,  1380;  and 
finally  into  English  by  Queen  Elizabeth  about  1550.  Surely,  no 
other  ancient  author  could  have  had  more  eminent  admirers  and 
translators.  Through  this  highly  philosophic  and  moral  treatise 
the  Medieval  nations  became  acquainted  with  the  ideas  of  Aris- 
totle. Boethius  also  left  a  valuable  treatise  on  mathematics. 
The  suspicious  Theodoric,  after  intrusting  Boethius  with  the 
affairs  of  state,  imprisoned  him,  and  after  a  long  confinement  at 
Pavia,  ordered  him  to  be  beheaded. 

The  Greek  Empire  perpetuated  its  thought  through  most  of 
literary  and  scientific  departments.  Procopius'  "  History  of  his 
own  Times,"  in  eight  books,  is  a  treasure  of  information.  As  he 
was  a  favorite  of  Justinian  I.,  and  secretary  to  Belisarius,  he 
had  ample  opportunity  to  write  an  account  of  his  day.  His 
elegant  style  and  veracity  place  him  among  the  foremost  of 
Greek  historians.  "  Malala's  Chronicle,"  from  the  creation  to 
the  close  of  Justinian's  reign,  A.D.  565,  deserves  attention. 
Eutocius'  Commentaries  on  Apollonius  and  Archimedes  laid 
the  foundation  for  modern  mathematics.  We  must  not  omit  the 
eminent  jurist  Tribonian,  who  together  with  Theophilus,  Doro- 
theus  and  six  other  jurists,  revised  the  Greek  and  Roman  con- 
stitutions, ordinances  and  decisions,  and  embodied  the  result 
into  the  famous  Pandects,  Digest  or  Institutes,  during  the  brilliant 
and  prosperous  reign  of  Justinian  I.,  A.D.  527-565,  since  known 
as  "  the  Justinian  Code"  consisting  of  fifty  books  containing  534 


68  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

celebrated  decisions,  collected  from  2,000  manuscript  volumes, 
A  manuscript  of  this  famous  Code  was  found  at  Amain,  Italy, 
1130.  It  is  now  in  the  library  of  Florence.  As  this  great  work 
has  become  the  basis  of  most  Medieval  and  modern  codes,  we 
mention  it  as  a  linguistic  treasure.  Olympiodorus'  Commentary 
on  Aristotle's  "  Meteorologica,"  formed  the  basis  of  modern 
meteorology.  Greek  medicine  had  a  noble  representative  in 
Alexander  of  Tralles,  who,  after  distinguishing  himself  in  his 
native  country,  Lydia.  went  to  Rome,  where  he  won  great  celeb- 
rity. His  work,  entitled  "  Twelve  Books  on  Medicine"  has  been 
oftener  read  and  published  than  any  other  Greek  or  Latin  medi- 
cal treatise.  He  may  be  styled  the  second  Hippocrates.  He 
first  administered  iron  and  practised  venesection  at  the  jugular 
vein,  which,  in  this  nineteenth  century,  has  been  placed  among 
the  things  that  were.  Navigation,  geography  and  travel  had  a 
worthy  champion  in  Cosmas,  surnamed  "  Indicopleustes  "  (Indian 
navigator),  who,  as  a  merchant  of  Alexandria,  frequently  sailed 
from  Egypt  to  India  and  other  countries.  Towards  the  meridian 
of  life  he  retired  to  a  monastery  and  wrote  "  Christian  Topogra- 
phy" in  which  he  relates  ingenuously  what  he  saw,  heard  and 
experienced  during  his  travels,  but  states,  among  other  queer 
ideas  concerning  the  Earth's  form,  that  it  is  not  a  sphere. 

Montfaucon,  in  his  Collection  of  Greek  Authors,  1706,  issued 
Cosmas'  Topography  with  a  Latin  translation.  The  Alexandrian 
merchant  and  monk  also  wrote  a  "  Cosmography  of  the  Southern 
Countries  of  Africa,"  "Astronomic  Tables,"  and  a  commentary 
on  the  "Song  of  Solomon."  From  these  intellectual  treasures 
we  may  argue,  that  merchants  of  those  days  had  no  contracted 
notions  about  mere  money  and  trade.  True,  Cosmas  had  an 
illustrious  example  in  Pytheas,  merchant  of  Marseilles,  who  sailed 
to  Ultima  Thule  and  the  amber  regions  about  B.C.  325,  and 
wrote  a  brilliant  account  of  his  journey. 

One  phase  of  Grecian  thought  of  that  period  I  cannot  pass 
without  due  notice  ;  because  it  expressed  itself  so  indelibly  as  to 
challenge  the  admiration  of  every  beholder.  The  author  was  a 
Libyan,  called  Anthemius,  according  to  whose  ideas,  calculations, 
and  plans  St.  Sophia  of  Constantinople  was  reared.  He  was 
architect,  mathematician,  sculptor,  and  mechanician.  His  written 
works  were  lost,  except  a  fragment  containing  problems  of  me- 


Sixth  Century.  69 

chanics  and  dioptrics,  translated  by  Dupuis  and  published  in 
"  Memoir es  de  V Academic  des  Inscriptions]*  1777.  Here  part  of 
one  and  the  same  man's  thought  was  lost,  while  the  other,  petri- 
fied thirteen  centuries  ago,  stands  a  lasting  monument. 

Arabian  brains  and  pens  were  active  in  this  century ;  for  in 
Silvestre  de  Sacy's  "Chrestomathie  Arabe,"  1820,  are  gems  from 
Nabega's  and  Chanfary's  celebrated  poems.  Also  Hareth-ben- 
Hiliza's  poems  of  the  sixth  century  were  published  in  Arabic 
and  English  at  London,  1782.  To  find  permanent  expression, 
thought  must  be  earnest,  vigorous,  impelling,  and  impressive. 
At  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  French,  Italian,  Spanish,  Ger- 
man, Scandinavian,  and  Sclavonic  thought  was  too  evanescent 
to  embody  itself;  of  all  the  starting  Medieval  dialects,  the  one 
solitary  exception,  Anglo-Saxon,  had  become  vigorous  enough  to 
embody  itself  in  King  Ethelbert's  Code,  which  maybe  considered 
not  only  as  the  dawn  of  written  English  thought,  but  as  the  ear- 
liest writing  in  any  of  the  modern  languages.  The  Irish  "  Saltair 
of  Tara"  and  "Leabhar  nah-Uidhei"  are  questionable  as  to  the 
dates  claimed  for  them. 

This  train  of  ideas  reminds  me  of  some  desultory  musings  :  that 
mere  vocally  uttered  thought  revolves  and  vibrates  forever  in 
and  with  the  electro-magnetic  and  atmospheric  waves,  and  con- 
stantly knocks  at  intellect's  door  to  enter  for  redigestion  and 
permanent  expression ;  in  short,  thought,  ideas,  musings,  though 
invisible,  intangible  and  more  ethereal  than  any  fluid  or  gas,  are 
less  destructible  than  matter.  As  "  the  pen  is  mightier  than  the 
sword,"  so  thought  is  mightier  than  matter.  As  thought,  language 
and  literature  act  and  react  on  each  other,  we  shall  throughout 
this  work  allude  to  the  languages  and  literatures  that  influenced 
Anglo-Saxon  and  her  daughter,  English. 

Our  close  numeric  analysis  of  language  reveals  this  curious 
fact :  wherever  and  whenever  Christ's  '•'Ethics"  reached  a  tribe, 
people,  or  race,  they  imparted  a  higher  social  and  moral  tone  to 
their  dialect  or  language ;  for  immediately,  or  very  soon  after,  ar. 
alphabet  was  adopted,  formed  or  adjusted,  in  order  to  translate 
the  new  doctrines  into  the  vernacular  idiom.  As  we  have  pre- 
viously said,  such  was  the  case  with  the  Mceso-Goths,  for  whom 
Ulfilas  contrived  the  Gothic  alphabet  of  twenty-five  letters,  and 
translated  the  Scriptures,  A.D.  376.  The  Anglo-Saxons,  who,  on 


7O  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

the  advent  of  the  Gospel,  formed  an  alphabet,  framed  their  first 
code  of  laws  and  adopted  the  Roman  numerals,  calendar  and 
church  music,  all  of  which  exercised  an  immediate  influence  on 
the  intellectual,  social  and  moral  status  of  the  people.  Such 
was  undoubtedly  the  result  among  our  Gotho-Germanic  ancestors 
in  Europe.  To  corroborate  our  idea,  let  us  add  a  striking  Asiatic 
experience  :  The  Armenians,  for  whom  Mesrob  and  Moses  Cho- 
ronensis  translated  the  Bible  from  Greek,  Hebrew,  Syriac  and 
Chaldaic,  A.D.  411-511,  had  to  add  seven  vowel-signs  to  the 
old  Armenian  alphabet,  consisting  of  twenty-seven  consonants. 
Here  the  people  had  an  alphabet  and  writing ;  yet  the  Christian 
code  of  morals  compelled  more  harmony  in  vocalization  and 
writing,  to  say  nothing  of  the  clearness  of  thought,  ideas,  grammar 
and  construction  that  became  necessary.  When  we  consider 
that  Christ's  teachings  contained  the  essence,  not  only  of  Semitic 
and  Arian,  but  of  Greek  and  Latin  civilization  and  morals,  we 
shall  cease  to  wonder  that  the  engrafting  them  on  any  rude  or 
primitive  people,  tribe  or  race  required  that  their  whole  intel- 
lectual and  social  fabric  should  be  prepared  and  adapted  to 
receive  them. 


SEVENTH    CENTURY. 


'*  England,  in  this  period  of  darkness,  produced  some  rays  of  intellectual  light." — PETTIT 
ANDREWS. 

As  Bede  wrote  his  Ecclesiastic  History,  A.D.  731,  only  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  years  after  Ethelbert's  death,  the  important 
events  that  occurred  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  century  must  have 
been  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  He  tells  us 
(Lib.  I.,  C.  27),  that  Augustine  sent  Laurentius  and  Peter  the 
Monk  to  inform  Pope  Gregory  of  the  success  of  their  mission. 
This  news  so  rejoiced  his  Holiness,  that  he  wrote  to  the  Emperor 
Mauricius  at  Constantinople,  and  to  Eulogius,  Archbishop  of 
Alexandria  in  Egypt,  inviting  them  to  share  his  delight  at  the 
conversion  of  pagans  in  the  isles  at  the  western  confines  of  the 
Earth.  Next  Bede  (Lib.  I.,  C.  29)  informs  posterity  that  Greg- 
ory sent  Mellitus,  Justus,  Paulinus,  and  Rufinianus  to  Britain 
with  letters  to  Ethelbert,  Bertha,  and  Augustine  ;  also  presents, 
"  besides  many  books"  Behold  the  letters  to  the  king  and  his 
zealous  queen. 

"Patrologias"  Vol.  77,  Lib.  XL,  Epistola  LXVI. 

"GREGROY  TO  ETHELBERT,  KING  OF  THE  ANGLES,  July  10,  A.D.  601.* 
"GLORIOUS  SON, 

"  Keep  with  the  utmost  solicitude  the  grace  you  have  divinely  received; — 
hasten  to  expand  Christianity  among  your  subjects ; — increase  your  zeal  in 
their  conversion ; — harass  the  worship  of  idols ;  destroy  their  temples,  and 
improve  the  morals  of  your  people  in  purity  of  life  by  exhorting,  coaxing, 
threatening,  punishing,  and  by  showing  examples  of  good  actions,  so  that  you 
may  find  in  heaven  the  Rewarder,  whose  name  and  knowledge  you  have  ex- 
tended on  Earth  ;  for  he,  whose  honor  you  seek  and  preserve  among  the  na- 
tions, will  render  your  name  glorious  to  posterity.  Thus  Constantine,  for- 
merly the  most  pious  Emperor,  recalling  the  Roman  empire  from  the  perverse 

*  Mellitus,  first  bishop  of  London,  was  bearer  of  this  letter. 


72  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

worship  of  idols,  turned  with  all  his  mind  towards  the  almighty  Lord  our  God 
Jesus  Christ.  Thence  it  happened  that  this  great  man  surpassed  in  glory  the 
name  of  prior  Princes  and  excelled  his  predecessors  as  much  in  public  opinion 
as  in  good  works. 

"  I  send  you  small  presents,  which  will  not  seem  small  when  you  consider 
that  they  carry  with  them  the  benediction  of  the  blessed  Apostle  Peter." 

" Patrologice,"  Vol.  77,  Lib.  XL,  Epistola  XXIX. 
"GREGORY  TO  BERTHA,  QUEEN  OF  THE  ANGLES,  July  10,  A.D.  601.* 

"  Laurentius,  the  presbyter,  and  Peter,  the  monk,  on  their  return  informed 
us  of  your  Majesty's  kindness  to  our  most  reverend  brother  Augustine.  We 
thanked  Almighty  God  for  having  propitiously  deigned  to  reserve  as  your  re- 
ward the  conversion  of  the  nation  of  the  Angles.  As  through  the  illustrious 
Helena,  mother  of  the  pious  Emperor  Constantine,  God  kindled  the  hearts 
of  the  Romans  towards  the  Christian  faith,  so,  through  the  zeal  of  your 
Majesty,  his  mercy  will  bring  about  the  conversion  of  the  nation  of  the  Angles. 
Indeed  from  prudential  motives,  like  a  reverend  Christian,  you  considered  it 
your  duty  to  turn  the  mind  of  our  glorious  son,  your  consort,  so  that  for  the 
salvation  of  his  kingdom  and  of  his  own  soul,  he  might  share  the  religion  you 
follow  ;  inasmuch  as  from  him  and  through  him,  and  from  the  conversion  of 
the  entire  nation,  a  worthy  reward  in  heavenly  joys  might  come  to  you.  For, 
as  we  said,  after  your  Majesty  was  fortified  in  the  true  faith,  and  instructed 
in  its  literal  meaning,  it  must  have  appeared  to  you  neither  tardy  nor  difficult. 
Since  the  time  is  now  propitious,  act,  with  God's  helping  your  grace,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  regain  with  an  increase  what  may  have  been  neglected." 

KING  ETHELBERT'S  DEED  OF  THE  LAND,  MONASTERY  AND  CHURCH  OF 
ST.  PETER  AND  PAUL,  COMMONLY  CALLED  ST.  AUGUSTINE'S. 

"  Patrologitz,"  Vol.  80,  pp.  341  and  342. 

"In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  A.D.  605. 

"Be  it  known  to  all  present  and  to  posterity,  that  I,  Ethelbert,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  King  of  the  Angles,  when  from  an  idolater  I  was  to  become  a 
worshiper  of  Christ  under  the  guidance  of  my  evangelic  parent  Augustine,  by 
whose  advice  I  transferred  to  God  part  of  the  land  under  my  jurisdiction  near 
the  eastern  wall  of  the  city  of  Dorobern  \  (Canterbury),  where  with  his  assist- 
ance, I  founded  a  Monastery  to  Christ  in  honor  of  the  Apostolic  Princes 
Peter  and  Paul,  and  made  a  perpetual  grant  of  that  same  land,  with  all  that 


*  Mellitus,  first  bishop  of  London,  was  bearer  of  this  letter. 

f  Canterbury,  or  part  thereof,  was  then  called  Dorobernensis  and  Dorober- 
na>.  In  Bede's  "Ecclesiastic  History,"  Lib.  I.,  C.  25  (A.D.  735),  we  find 
Doruvernis  for  Canterbury. 


Seventh  Century.  73 

belongs  to  the  Monastery,  so  that  neither  I  nor  any  of  my  royal  successors, 
nor  any  ecclesiastic  or  secular  power  shall  hereafter  have  a  right  to  interfere 
in  any  way ;  but  all  is  to  be  under  the  rule  of  the  abbot  himself. 

"  If  any  one  attempt  to  diminish  or  annul  anything  of  this  our  deed,  he 
shall  by  authority  of  the  blessed  Pope  Gregory,  by  that  of  our  Apostle  Au- 
gustine, and  with  our  curse,  be  excluded  from  the  communion  of  the  holy 
church  and  from  the  entire  company  of  the  elect  on  the  last  day  of  judgment. 
"  The  land,  whereon  the  Monastery  of  the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul  is  situ- 
ated, and  also  the  adjoining  land,  is  bounded  :  East  by  St.  Martin's  *  church, 
thence  easterly  by  Siwenidoune  and  so  northerly  by  Wykyngmearch,  again 
south-easterly  by  Bureyaremearch,  and  so  south-westerly  by  Kyngesmearch, 
again  north  easterly  by  Kyngesmearch,  and  so  westerly  to  Ritherchepe,  and 
thus  northerly  to  Dryttingstrete. 

"  It  was  executed  in  the  city  of  Dorobern  (Canterbury)  in  the  year  from 
Christ's  incarnation  605,  indiction  VI. 

"  I,  Ethelbert,  King  of  the  Angles,  confirmed  this  my  donation  by  the 
sign  of  the  holy  cross  f  with  my  own  hand. 

Augustine,  through  God's  grace,  archbishop,  willingly  subscribed. 
Eadbald,  the  king's  son,  do. 
Hanugus'  son,  general,  lauded. 
Hocca,  page,  consented. 
,  Andemund,  referee,  approved. 
"  I,  Graphic,  page,  blessed. 

"I,  Tangus'  son  of  the  king's  nobility,  confirmed. 
"I,  Pinca,  consented. 
"  I,  Geddi,  corroborated."  \ 


*  Bede,  Lib.  I.,  C.  26  :  "A  church  anciently  built  in  honor  of  St.  Martin, 
while  the  Romans  still  inhabited  Britain,  in  which  the  Queen  (Bertha)  who, 
as  I  before  said,  was  a  Christian,  was  accustomed  to  pray." 

\  As  among  the  ten  signers  of  this  document  the  king  alone  used  the  cross, 
it  would  seem  that  it  was  a  royal  prerogative.  No  wonder  grandees  and 
nobles  imitated  it  during  the  Dark  Ages. 

\  In  nomine  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi  (A.D.  605).  Notum  sit  omnibus 
tarn  prsesentibus  quam  posteris,  quod  ego  Athelbertus,  Dei  gratia  rex  Anglo- 
rum,  per  Evangelicum  genitorem  meum  Augustinum  de  idolatra  facturus 
christicola  tradidi  Deo  per  ipsum  antistitem  aliquam  partem  terras  juris  mei, 
sub  orientali  muro  civitatis  Dorobernensis,  ubi  scilicet  per  eumdem  in  Christo 
institutorem  monasterium  in  honore  principum  apostolorum  Petri  et  Pauli 
coiididi,  et  cum  ipsa  terra  et  cum  omnibus  quse  ad  ipsum  monasterium 
pertinent  perpetua  libertate  clonavi  adeo  (ut  nee)  mihi,  nee  aliorum  successo- 
rum  meorum  regum,  nee  ulli  unquam  potestati  sive  ecclesiasticse  sive  saeculari, 
quidquam  inde  liceat  usurpare ;  sed  in  ipsius  abbatis  sint  omnia  libera  ditione : 
si  quis  vero  de  hac  donatione  nostra  aliquid  minuere  aut  irritum  facere  tenta- 
verit,  auctoritate  beati  papoe  Gregorii  nostri  que  apostoli  Augustini  simul  et 


74  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

As  this  document  traversed  twelve  hundred  and  seventy  years, 
it  must  not  only  interest  antiquarians,  but  scholars  generally. 

While  the  jurist  might  notice  its  unlaw-like  style,  its  quaint- 
ness  and  the  queer  mode  of  signing  and  witnessing  (doubtless 
Roman) ;  the  philologist  cannot  help  remarking  the  unlatinized 
Anglo-Saxon  names  of  localities. 

The  deed  conveyed  sixteen  acres  near  the  Eastern  wall  of  the 
city  of  Canterbury.  Tradition  says  Ethelbert  and  Augustine 
began  the  abbey  A.D.  598,  and  completed  it  A.D.  605,  when 
the  deed  of  the  land,  monastery  and  appurtenances  was  executed. 
Thenceforth  that  primitive  Anglo-Saxon  institution  flourished  till 
A.D.  1536,  when  Parliament  decreed  the  Dissolution  of  Monas- 
tic foundations,  and  confirmed  their  seizure,  A.D.  1539,  which 
gave  to  Henry  VIII.  645  monasteries,  90  colleges,  2,374  chan- 
tries and  chapels,  and  1 10  hospitals,  whose  yearly  revenue  was 
^161,100.  The  furniture,  utensils,  bells,  &c.,  of  these  establish- 
ments must  have  realized  vast  sums.  In  one  of  the  monasteries 
were  found  5,000  marks  of  bullion ;  what  may  have  been  the 
amounts  found  in  the  other  644,  is  left  to  conjecture.  These 
figures  may  seem  trifling,  when  compared  with  those  of  our  pub- 
lic revenues  and  debts,  announced  in  thousands  of  millions ;  but 
in  the  days  when  a  bushel  of  wheat  sold  for  fourteen  pence  and 
forty  eggs  for  a  penny,  ^161,100  was  an  immense  sum. 

These  financial  details  are  culled  from  Camden. 

Peter,  the  monk,  who  came  to  Britain  with  Augustine,  was  the 

nostra  imprecatione  sit  hie  segregatus  ab  omni  sanctae  Ecclesiae  communione, 
et  in  die  judicii  ab  'omni  electorum  societate.  Circumcingitur  hoec  terra,  ubi 
situni  est  monasterium  apostolorum  Petri  et  Pauli  cum  terra  adjacente  his 
limitibus :  in  oriente  ecclesia  sancti  Martini  et  inde  ad  Orientem  be  siweni- 
doune,  et  sic  ad  Aquilonem  be  wykyngmearck,  iterum  ad  Orientem  et  ad 
Austrian  be  bureyaremearch,  et  sic  ad  Austram  et  Occidentem  be  Kynges- 
mearch,  iterum  ad  Aquilonem  et  Orientem  be  Kyngesmearch,  sicque  ad  Occi- 
dentem to  Ritherchepe,  et  ita  ad  Aquilonem  to  dryttingstrete.  Actum  est  in 
civitate  Doroberniae  anno  ab  incarnatione  Christi  DC V. ,  indictione  VI.  Ego, 
Athelbertus,  rex  Anglorum,  hauc  donationem  meam  signo  sanctae  crucis  pro- 
pria  manu,  confirmavi.  Ego,  Augustinus  gratia  Dei  archiepiscopus,  libenter 
subscripsi.  Ego,  Aswaldus,  regis  filius,  facio.  Ego,  Hanugi  filius,  dux, 
•laudavi.  Ego,  Hocca,  comes,  consensi.  Ego,  Andemundus,  referendarius, 
approbavi.  Ego,  Graphio,  comes,  benedixi.  Ego,  Tangi  filius,  regis  opti- 
mas,  confirmavi.  Ego,  Pinca,  consensi.  Ego,  Geddi,  corroberavi." 


Seventh  Century.  75 

first  abbot  of  St.  Augustine's  monastery,  A.D.  605  ;  the  last  abbot 
(A.D.  1639)  was  John  Essex,  who  it  is  said  would  not  surrender 
the  monastery,  till  two  cannons  were  pointed  at  it.  This  peremp- 
tory royal  notice,  after  934  years'  possession,  caused  Abbot  John 
Essex  and  his  thirty  monks  to  quit  quarters,  perpetually  granted 
to  Archbishop  Augustine  by  King  Ethelbert.  When  will  sover- 
eigns, senates  and  legislatures  realize,  that  perpetual  is  a  term 
posterity  will  not  respect  ?  As  men  and  even  nations  are  not 
perpetual,  how  can  their  grants  be  perpetual,  especially  grants 
made  to  the  few  that  may  become  onerous  to  the  many  ?  Such 
was  the  case  with  ancient  grants  to  the  church.  Hence,  England 
need  not  look  beyond  the  Reformation  and  mourn  over  the  non- 
fulfilment  of  the  term  perpetual,  since  the  many  were  benefited 
physically,  intellectually  and  morally,  and  since  her  commerce 
and  language  encircle  the  globe. 

Henry  VIII.  reserved  part  of  St.  Augustine's  monastery  as  a 
loyal  palace.  Under  Charles  I.  these  memorable  premises  were 
given  to  the  Lords  Wotton,  whose  descendants  own  them  now. 

King  Ethelbert,  Queen  Bertha,  Bishop  Luidhard,  Eadbald,  his 
Queen  Emma  (Austrasian  Princess),  Ethelburga,  and  other 
Kentish  kings,  queens,  princes,  and  princesses,  were  buried  in 
this  monastery ;  so  were  Archbishop  Augustine  and  his  succes- 
sors for  two  centuries  after  the  introduction  of  Christianity. 

The  ruin,  now  standing  on  the  spot  covered  by  the  above 
deed,  will  attract  the  archaeologist's  attention.  Every  intelligent 
beholder  will  be  reminded  of  the  stirring  events  that  long  hal- 
lowed and  then  saddened  the  remembrance  of  Ethelbert' s  and 
Bertha's  resting-place  in  St.  A'ugustine's  monastery.  Who  can 
help  blessing  the  memory  of  that  most  exemplary  king  and 
queen  ?  No  wonder  both  England  and  Germany  glory  in  the 
name  of  ALBERT,  which  is  but  abbreviated  Ethelbert !  But,  alas  ! 
the  comparative  oblivion  of  the  good,  pious,  spotless  Bertha, 
seems  to  me,  not  only  ungallant  and  unjust,  but  painful.  Since 
most  English  historians  hardly  mention  her  name,  I  cannot  help 
citing  this  short,  but  beautiful  tribute  from  Ethelbert's  biographer  : 

"  Tradition  records  the  gentle  and  lovable  virtues  of  Queen  Bertha,  but 
little  is  known  of  her  life ;  she  has  left  but  a  brief  and  uncertain  illumination 
on  those  distant  and  dark  horizons,  over  which  she  sits  a  star,  the  herald  of 

the  sun." 


76  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Pope  Gregory  I.  and  Archbishop  Augustine  both  died  about 
A.D.  605.  As  the  English  have  abbreviated  their  Apostle's  name 
to  St.  Austin,  and  hold  him  in  high  esteem,  I  shall  attempt  no 
eulogy.  Gregory  was  the  master-mind  of  his  epoch :  son  of  a 
Roman  senator,  named  Gordianus,  he  was  the  scholar,  author, 
pope,  and  statesman,  respected  abroad  and  cherished  at  home. 
While  Legate  at  Constantinople,  he  stood  god-father  to  the  Em- 
peror's grandson.  He  deservedly  gained  the  surname  "Great." 

He  fully  appreciated  the  influence  of  women,  and  used  it  dex- 
terously for  the  diffusion  of  Christianity  and  civilization,  as  may 
be  realized  by  his  letters  to  Brunehaut,  Bertha,  and  Theodelinda, 
Queen  of  the  benighted  Lombards  in  Italy.  His  five  quarto  vol- 
umes of  commentaries  on  the  Bible,  pastorals,  dialogues  and 
letters,  all  written  in  classic  Greek  or  Latin,  proved  him  the 
scholar.  His  zeal  and  efforts  to  convert  the  barbarous  hordes  of 
Europe  and  gain  them  to  civilization,  show  him  the  philanthro- 
pist and  statesman.  He  had  one  weakness :  he  overrated  mon- 
asteries and  convents,  not  considering  that  they  are  diametrically 
opposed  to  the  great  primitive  injunction  :  "In  the  sweat  of  thy 
face  shalt  thou  eat  bread."  He  little  dreamed  that  they  would 
become  a  canker  on  the  body  politic,  as  they  have  since  proved 
all  over  Europe.  Activity  and  not  contemplation  is  man's  vo- 
cation on  Earth. 

However,  it  was  against  his  own  will  that  the  modest  Bene- 
dictine monk,  the  son  of  Senator  Gordianus,  was  elected  Pope. 
He  tried  to  make  use  of  Justinian's  decree,  that  the  Pope's 
election  is  not  valid  unless  sanctioned  by  the  Emperor :  he 
wrote  to  the  Emperor  Maurice,  imploring  him  to  refuse  consent 
to  his  election ;  but  the  letter  was  intercepted  by  the  Prefect  of 
Rome,  and  Maurice  sent  a  ratification  of  his  election.  His  letter 
to  a  friend,  who  had  congratulated  him  on  his  elevation,  is  a  model 
of  self-denial,  showing  his  real  character  and  tastes.  Of  him 
the  Venerable  Bede  (Ecclesiast.  Hist.,  B.  II.)  says  :  "Other  pon- 
tiffs labored  in  building  churches  and  ornamenting  them  with  gold 
and  silver,  but  he  was  entirely  employed  in  gaining  souls.  What- 
ever money  he  had,  he  diligently  took  care  to  distribute  to  the 
poor." 

The  pious  Bertha  and  the  good  Luidhard  soon  followed  Greg- 
ory and  Augustine  to  man's  home  of  endless  progress.  Ethel 


Seventh  Century.  77 

bert  married  again,  but  his  second  choice  was  not  as  worthy  as 
his  first.  He  died  616.  Rome  sainted  Gregory,  Ethelbert, 
Augustine,  and  Luidhard ;  but  omitted  the  excellent  Bertha, 
without  whose  influence  the  names  of  the  three  last  would  scarcely 
have  reached  us.  Not  only  civil,  but  religious  governments  glori- 
fied conspicuous  men,  and  overlooked  modest,  but  efficient 
women.  Alfred  the  Great,  in  his  Code  of  Laws,  A.D.  890,  pays 
this  delicate  compliment  to  the  first  Christian  sovereign  of  Kent : 
"  In  my  collection  are  found  laws  of  Ethelbert,  who  took  baptism 
first  among  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.""  Ethelbert  and  Bertha  left  a 
son,  who  married  Emma,  granddaughter  of  Queen  Brunehaut,  and 
his  own  cousin.  He  succeeded  his  father  and  reigned  till  640. 
Of  Queen  Emma,  Bradshaw  wrote  (1500)  : 

"  Lady  Emma  of  France  the  chosen  flower." 

We  have  witnessed  the  initial  blessings  of  Christianity  and  civil- 
ization in  Kent  among  the  descendants  of  the  Jutes  (Guthi,  Getae, 
Goths)  ;  let  us  now  attend  its  advent  among  the  Angles,  who 
also  received  it  through  an  innocent  princess,  only  daughter  of 
Ethelbert  and  Bertha,  named  Ethelburga,  married  to  Edwin, 
King  of  Northumbria,  who  was  baptized  with  his  people  at  Easter, 
A.D.  627.  As  this  conversion  was  so  edifying,  we  will  for  a 
moment  listen  to  some  of  the  reflections  offered  on  that  occasion 
by  the  Wita  (wise  men)  of  that  obscure  Anglo-Saxon  people 
twelve  centuries  ago  :  Paulinus,  sent  from  Rome  to  Canterbury 
by  Pope  Gregory,  601,  accompanied  Ethelburga  to  Edwin's  court, 
where,  like  the  wise  Luidhard,  he  officiated  for  Queen  Ethelburga. 
The  gentleness  and  polish  of  these  strangers  soon  attracted  the 
simple-hearted  Angles.  Edwin  was,  no  doubt,  the  first  who  re- 
volved in  his  mind  the  introduction  of  a  religion  and  manners  far 
transcending  those  he  and  his  benighted  subjects  had  hitherto 
cherished  and  practised.  Ethelburga,  styled  Tata  (The  Silent), 
on  account  of  her  modest  reticence,  bespoke  her  consort  and 
people  by  looks,  manners,  and  deeds  more  expressive  and  win- 
ning than  words. 

When  Edwin  ha.d  seen  for  a  while  the  superior  virtues  of  his 
queen  and  guests,  he  became  thoughtful  and  sat  alone  for  hours. 
At  length  he  broke  his  silence  and  conferred  first  with  his  imme- 
diate friends  and  counsellors,  next  with  his  Witenagemotte  (Assein- 


78  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

bly  of  the  Wise),  about  the  new  religion  brought  to  their  country. 
Coin,  chief  of  the  Anglish  priests,  sympathized  with  Edwin  and 
declared  his  willingness  to  substitute  Christ's  altars  for  those  of 
Odin;  but  the  following  wild  analogy  characteristic  of  primitive 
thought,  uttered  by  one  of  the  nobles,  deserves  our  utmost  atten- 
tion on  account  of  its  graphic  analysis  and  synthesis  : 

"  The  present  life  of  man  on  Earth  seems  to  me,  O  King,  in  comparison 
of  that  unknown  to  us,  such  as  if — when  you  are  sitting  at  supper  with  your 
leaders  and  ministers  in  winter  time,  after  a  fire  has  been  kindled  and  made 
to  glow  in  the  supper-room,  while  storms  are  raging  without — a  sparrow 
should  come  and  fly  very  quickly  through  the  house,  entering  by  one  door  and 
going  out  by  another.  While  within  he  is  untouched  by  the  wintry  storm ; 
yet,  after  a  short  time  of  serenity,  he  glides  from  your  eyes  and  returns  to  the 
wintry  cold  he  had  just  left.  So  this  life  appears  for  a  short  time ;  but  of 
what  follows  or  preceded  we  are  totally  ignorant.  Wherefore,  if  this  new 
doctrine  has  brought  anything  more  certain,  it  deserves  to  be  followed." 

The  other  Anglish  elders  endorsed  King  Edwin,  Coin,  and  the 
sage  who  uttered  this  primitive  simile  ;  and,  as  previously  stated, 
the  king  and  his  people  welcomed  the  "glad  tidings."  The 
substance  of  these  details  is  taken  from  the  works  of  Bede,  who 
wrote,  A.D.  730,  and  obtained  them  from  cotemporaries.  Soon 
the  Saxons,  following  the  Jutes  and  Angles,  listened  to  the  Gospel, 
exchanged  Odin  for  Christ,  and  entered  upon  a  life  of  progress 
with  their  more  advanced  countrymen. 

As  Hume  says  :  "The  fair  sex  have  had  the  merit  of  introduc- 
ing the  Christian  doctrine  into  all  the  most  considerable  kingdoms 
of  the  Saxon  Heptarchy." 

Eanfleda,  King  Edwin's  daughter,  adorned  with  all  the  virtues 
of  her  mother  Ethelburga  and  grandmother  Bertha,  married 
Oswy,  whose  daughter,  Alchfleda,  married  the  Mercian  King, 
Peada,  whom  she  gained  to  Christianity  with  all  his  people,  655. 
We  must  not  omit  Ethelbert's  sister,  Ricola,  and  her  son  Seabert, 
king  of  the  East  Saxons,  whom  he  and  his  pious  mother  won  to  the 
Christian  faith  as  early  as  604.  Ethelbert  and  Seabert  founded 
St.  Paul's  cathedral  in  London,  where  Mellitus  was  the  first  bishop. 

Thus  the  favored  royal  couple,  Ethelbert. and  Bertha,  were 
instrumental  in  uniting  the  Anglo-Saxons,  Franks,  Goths,  and 
Rome,  not  only  in  a  Christian,  but  international  brotherhood 
that  has  been,  is,  and  will  be  expanding  all  over  the  Earth. 


Seventh  Century.  79 

The  gospel  came  to  the  East  Angles  through  their  King  Sige- 
bert,  629.  As  this  event  is  so  simply  related  by  Bede,  Lib.  III., 
C.  18,  let  us  quote  :  "  Sigebert  ruled  the  kingdom  of  the  East 
Angles,  a  good  and  religious  man,  who  previously  in  France, 
while  he  was  living  there  to  avoid  the  enmity  of  Redwald,  received 
the  washing  of  baptism,  and,  having  returned  to  his  country,  when 
he  obtained  the  kingdom,  being  desirous  to  imitate  those  things 
he  had  seen  well  ordered  in  France,  founded  a  school  in  which 
boys  might  be  instructed  in  letters."  Some  say  Sigebert' s  school 
was  the  origin  of  the  University  of  Cambridge. 

Christianity  spread  to  Deira,  A.D.  634;  to  the  West  Angles, 
635  ;  to  the  Middle  Angles,  653,  and  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  661. 
Thus,  from  A.D.  597  to  661,  or  within  sixty-four  years,  the  "  glad 
tidings"  spread  over  the  entire  Heptarchy.  Thenceforth  "Engla- 
land"  (Saxon  Chron.,  A.D.  616)  started  on  her  grand  career,  and 
has  gone  on  conquering  and  to  conquer  over  the  whole  globe. 

To  Bertha,  prime  mover  and  soul  of  Anglo-Saxon  civilization, 
was  inscribed  this  simple  yet  beautiful  distich  : 

"  Moribus  ornata  jacet  hie  Regina  beata 
Bertha,  Deo  grata  fuit  ac  homini  peramata." 

"  Here  lies  blessed  Queen  Bertha,  eminent  in  morals; 
She  was  dear  to  God  and*  much  cherished  by  men." 

Among  about  sixty  curious  Anglo-Saxon  coins,  now  extant, 
are  four  that  refer  to  Ethelbert ;  on  two  of  the  four  the  name  is 
Anglo-Saxon  ;  on  another  Latin.  Two  are  with  and  two  without 
the  cross.  Two  have  Ethelbert' s  bust,  one  pretty  well  executed, 
the  other  crude.  On  two  of  these  four  coins  is  a  singular  mytho- 
historic  simile :  some  quadruped  nursing  infant  twins.  One  of 
the  quadrupeds  looks  like  a  mare,  the  other,  with  the  Latin  wri- 
ting, looks  like  a  wolf.  We  can  only  suppose  that  the  simile  of 
Romulus  and  Remus,  sucking  a  she-wolf,  was  applied  to  the 
Jutish  brothers  Hengist  and  Horsa,  Ethelbert's  ancestors,  who 
came  to  Britain  with  the  Jutes,  A.D.  449.  As  Iforsa,  brother  of 
Hengist,  assumed  his  name  from  the  Gotho-Germanic  word  horse, 
this  singular  coin  seems  to  indicate,  that  there  has  been  some 
tradition  of  the  two  Gotho-Germanic  brothers  having  been  nursed 
by  a  mare ;  the  Roman  fable  being  merely  transferred  from  the 
wolf  to  the  horse. 


8o  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

The  two  coins  with  the  cross  were  undoubtedly  struck  after 
Ethelbert's  conversion.  As  these  coins  are  in  Ingram' s  "  Saxon 
Chronicle"  L.  E.,  1823,  we  refer  readers  thereto. 

The  seventh  century  had  the  honor  of  producing  Caedmon, 
styled  "The  Father  of  Anglo-Saxon  Poetry,"  who  must  have 
been  in  his  prime  about  A.D.  650  ;  for  we  are  told  he  died  680. 
As  the  Venerable  Bede  was  born  about  673,  we  cannot  do  better 
than  learn  from  him  what  was  known,  in  his  day,  of  this  remark- 
able genius : 

"In  the  monastery  of  the  Abbess  (Hilda)  was  a  certain  brother,  especially 
marked  by  Divine  grace,  since  he  was  wont  to  make  songs  suited  to  religion 
and  piety,  so  that  whatever  he  had  learnt  from  Divine  writing  through  inter- 
preters, this  he,  in  a  little  while,  produced  in  poetical  expressions,  composed 
with  the  greatest  harmony  and  accuracy  in  his  own  tongue,  that  is,  in  that  of 
the  Angles." 

According  to  Bede,  Caedmon  had  been  the  cattle-herd  of  the 
monastery  of  Whitby,  into  which  he  was  taken  by  order  of  Abbess 
Hilda,  ordained  monk,  and  instructed  in  the  whole  course  of  sa- 
cred history,  which,  from  hearing  and  thinking  over,  he  turned  into 
sweet  song,  and  made  his  teachers  his  hearers.  He  sang  of  the 
creation,  the  origin  of  man,  and  the  whole  history  of  Genesis  ; 
concerning  the  going  out  of  Israel  from  Egypt,  etc.  ;  of  the 
Lord's  passion,  resurrection,  and  ascension  ;  of  the  coming  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  of  the  teachings  of  the  Apostles.  Behold  some 
of  posterity's  dicta  on  England's  earliest  bard: 

Hickes  questions  the  genuineness  of  Caedmon's  Paraphrase; 
but  the  learned  Thorpe,  who  translated  it  with  critical  notes,  tells 
us  that  objections  like  those  of  Hickes  can  in  no  way  affect  its 
authenticity. 

In  his  "  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe  "  Longfellow  thus  intro- 
duces the  singer  of  Whitby  : 

"The  next  work,  to  which  I  would  call  the  attention  of  my 
readers,  is  very  remarkable,  both  in  a  philological  and  in  a  poeti- 
cal point  of  view,  &c.  It  is  Caedmon's  Paraphrase  of  Portions 
of  Holy  Writ." 

We  are  told  Caedmon's  first  hymn  in  praise  of  the  Creator, 
was  sung  in  the  stable  among  the  cattle.  As  our  readers  might 
miss  this  early  poetic  effusion,  we  quote  : 


Seventh  Century. 


81 


The  two  MSS.  of  Caedmon1  s  Hymn,  now  extant : 


Caedmon    MS.,    ascribed    to 
A.D.    737,    found    at    Nor 
wich  ;  now  in  the  University 
Library,  Cambridge. 

Caedmon  MS.  by  King  Al- 
fred, A.D.  885,  now  at  Ox- 
ford. 

Literal  English. 

"  Nu  scylim  hergan 
hefaen  ricaes  uard 

"  Nu  we  sceolan  herian, 
heofon-rices  weard. 

Now  shall  we  praise 
heaven-kingdom's  warden, 

Metudaes  maecti 

metodes  mihte. 

the  Creator's  might, 

end  his  mod  gidanc 

and  his  mod-gethonc. 

and  his  mind's  thought, 

uerc  uuldur  fadur 

wera  wuldor-faeder. 

glorious  Father  of  men 

sue  de  uundra  gihnaes 

swa  he  wundra  gehwacs. 

as  of  every  wonder, 

eci  drictin 

ece  dryhten. 

eternal  Lord, 

or  astelidae. 
He  aerist  scop 

oord  onstealde. 
he  aerest  gesc^op. 

the  beginning  he  formed. 
He  first  created 

elda  barnum 

eorthan  bearnum. 

for  Earth's  children 

heben  til  hrofe 

heofon  to  hrofe. 

heaven  as  a  roof; 

haleg  scepen 
tha  middun  geard 

halig  scyppend. 
tha  middan  geard. 

holy  Creator  ! 
then  mid-Earth, 

mon  cynnaes  uard 

mon  cynnes  weard. 

mankind's  guardian, 

eci  dryctin 

ece  dryhten. 

eternal  Lord, 

aefter  tiadae 

aefter  teode. 

afterwards  produced 

firum  foldu 

firum  foldan. 

for  men  the  ground, 

frea  allmectig." 

frea  aelmihtig." 

Lord  Almighty  ! 

This  is  considered  the  oldest 

King    Alfred  was  sure  he 

Anglo-Saxon      MS.      extant. 

was     inserting      Caedmon's 

Caedmon      died    A.D.     680. 

song  in   his   works  ;    for  he 

Bede,  about  fifty  years  after, 

says  :      "  thara     endebyrd- 

translated  this  pious  effusion 

nes  "  (of  which  the  order  is 

into  Latin,  Lib.  IV.,  C.  24. 

this). 

By  comparing  these  two  MSS.,  it  may  be  realized  how  the 
Anglo-Saxon  dialect  changed  in  two  hundred  years. 

The  most  remarkable  discovery  of  late  is  the  "  Ruthwell 
Cross,"  on  which  is  this  inscription  :  "  CADMON  MOE  FAUAEJDO." 
On  this  monument  are  also  engraved  about  thirty  lines  of  Runes, 
that  have  been  traced  to  680,  the  year  of  the  Northumbrian 
poet's  death. 

As  the  poem  here  found  is  doubtless  the  oldest  Anglo-Saxon 
writing,  unaltered  by  copyists  and  transcribers,  I  give  it  here  with 
a  literal  translation : 


geredae  hinae 
God  almeyottig 
ba  he  walde 
on  galgu  gi-stiga 
modig  fore 
(ale)  men 

(ahof)  ic  riicnse  cuningc 
heafunaes  hlafard 
haelda  ic(n)i  darstae 
bismaeraedu  ungcet  men  ba 

aetgad(r)e 

ic(waes)  mib  blodaebistemid 
6 


Girded  him 
God  Almighty 
when  he  would 
on  gallows  mount 
proud  for 
all  men 

I  heaved  the  rich  King 
heaven's  lord 
heel  (over)  I  not  durst 
mocked  us  men  both 

together 
I  was  with  blood  besmeared 


82  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Krist  waes  on  rodi  Christ  was  on  rood 

hweprae  per  fusae  whither  there  confusedly 

fearran  kwomu  afar  they  came 

aeppilae  ti  lanum  the  Prince  to  aid 

icf>aet  al  bi(A)eal(rf)  I  that  all  beheld 

s(eoc)  ic  waes  sick  I  was 

mi(b)  sorgu(w)  gi(cf)  rac(/>)d  with  sorrow  grieved 

mip  strelum  giwundaed  with  arrows  wounded 

alegdun  hiae  hinae  limwae  laid  down  they  him  limb 

rignae  weary 

gistoddun  him  (act)  h(is  l)i  they  stood  (near)  him  (at)  his 

caes(/£)  eaf  (du)m  corpse's  head. 

Thus  the  erudite  Kemble  rendered  the  Runes  on  the  Ruthwell 
Stone,  1840.  Shortly  after  he  was  so  confirmed  by  an  old  parch- 
ment book,  found  at  Vercelli,  Italy,  that  he  had  to  alter  but  three 
letters  of  his  version.  The  Vercelli  parchment  book  is  in  Anglo- 
Saxon,  which  clears  up  Kemble's  rendering  of  the  "Ruthwell 
Cross  "  inscription.  By  these  Runes  we  also  learn  that  the  bard's 
name  was  "C&dmon"  and  not  Caedmon. 

The  style  of  this  primitive  Anglo-Saxon  poet  was  suited  to  old 
Norse  ideas;  for  he  calls  the  Creator  '•'•mankind's  Warden" 
Heaven  kingdom's  Warden,  Governor,  Eternal  Elder.  Life  Lord, 
illustrious  Lord,  Holy  Shaper,  Glorious  Father,  Heaven's  high 
King,  the  hosfs  glorious  King,  etc. 

Christ  he  names  '•'•Prince,  Young  Hero"  etc. ;  Angels  he  calls  : 
'•'•illustrious  ministers"  etc.;  Heaven:  "bright  bliss,"  etc.; 
Hell :  "  the  punishment  house  for  exiles,  perpetual  night  foul,"  etc. 

To  give  a  clearer  idea  of  Anglo-Saxon  progress  at  this  period, 
and  of  the  inspirations  uttered  by  England's  Homer  and  Hesiod, 
we  give  some  specimens  from  his  scriptural  Paraphrase,  so  feli- 
citously translated  by  the  American  bard,  Longfellow : 

Gleanings  from  Caedmori's  Paraphrase  of  Genesis. 

"  There  had  not  here  as  yet,  The  King  of  firm  mind, 

Save  cavern-shade,  And  beheld  those  places 

Aught  been ;  Void  of  joys ; 

But  this  wide  abyss  Saw  the  dark  cloud 

Stood  deep  and  dim,  Lower  in  eternal  night, 

Strange  to  its  Lord,  Swart  under  heaven, 

Idle  and  useless ;  Dark  and  waste, 

On  which  looked  with  his  eyes  Until  this  worldly  creation 


Seventh  Century. 


Through  the  word  existed 
Of  the  glory-King. 

Here  first  shaped 
The  Lord  eternal, 
Chief  of  all  creatures, 
Heaven  and  Earth ; 
The  firmament  upreared, 
And  this  spacious  land 
Established, 
By  his  strong  powers, 
The  Lord  almighty. 
The  Earth  as  yet  was 
Not  green  with  grass ; 
Ocean  covered, 
Swart  in  eternal  night, 
Far  and  wide, 
The  dusky  ways. 

Then  was  the  glory-bright 
Spirit  of  heaven's  Guardian 
Borne  over  the  deep 
With  utmost  speed: 
The  Creator  of  angels  bade 
The  Lord  of  life, 
Light  to  come  forth 
Over  the  spacious  deep. 
Quickly  was  fulfilled 
The  high  King's  behest,"  &c. 

"  Adam  spake, 

Where  on  earth  he  stood, 

A  self- created  man  : 
'  When  I  the  Lord  of  triumph, 

The  mighty  God 

Heard  speak 

With  strong  voice ; 

And  he  me  here  standing  bade 

Hold  his  commandments, 

And  one  gave  this  bride, 

This  wife  of  beauteous  mien  ; 

And  me  bade  beware, 

That  in  the  tree  of  death 

I  were  not  deceived, 

Too  much  seduced ; 


He  said,  that  the  swart  hell 
Should  inhabit 
He,  who,  in  his  heart  aught, 
Should  admit  of  sin.        [with  lies, 
I  know  not  (for  thou  mayst  come 
Through  dark  design) 
That  thou  art  the  Lord's 
Messenger  from  heaven. 
Nay,  I  cannot  of  thy  orders, 
Of  thy  words,  nor  courses, 
Aught  understand,      [ings,'  "  &c. 
Of  thy  journey,   nor  of  thy  say- 

"  Then  to  her  spouse  she  spake: 
*  Adam,  my  Lord, 

This  fruit  is  so  sweet, 

Mild  in  the  breast, 

And  this  bright  messenger 

God's  angel  good ; 

I  by  his  habit  see 

That  he  is  the  envoy 

Of  our  Lord, 

Heaven's  King. 

His  favor  is  for  us 

Better  to  gain 

Than  his  aversion. 

If  thou  to  him  this  day 

Spake  aught  of  harm, 

Yet  will  he  it  forgive 

If  we  to  him  obedience 

Will  show.  [strife 

What  shall  profit  thee  such  hateful 

With  thy  Lord's  messenger  ? 

To  us  is  his  favor  needful ; 

He  may  bear  our  errands 

To  the  all-powerful 

Heavenly  King. 

I  can  see  from  hence 

Where  He  Himself  sitteth, 

That  is  south-east, 

With  bliss  encircled, 

Him,  who  formed  this  world,' "  &c. 


Such  effusions  on  Genesis  at  Whitby,  thirteen  centuries  ago, 
not   only  show  original  ideas,   but  original  ways  of  expressing 


84  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

them.  Verily  England  did  think  and  write  powerfully  even  in 
those  primitive  days  and  places. 

Now  a  word  of  Hilda,  the  foundress  of  Whitby,  where  the 
primitive  Anglo-Saxon  bard,  Caedmon,  was  encouraged  to  de- 
velop his  musing  talents  :  Hilda  was  niece  of  King  Edwin,  whose 
gallantry  and  piety  we  portrayed  in  the  opening  of  this  century. 
She  was  converted  to  Christianity  in  her  childhood ;  founded  the 
convent  of  Hearthen  (afterwards  Whitby)  about  A.D.  655.  Under 
her  tuition  Caedmon  took  care  of  the  cattle,  mused  and  chanted 
his  poetic  strains.  We  read  that  the  pious  and  accomplished 
princess  died  in  the  same  year  as  Caedmon,  A.D.  680.  Here  is 
another  Medieval  woman,  to  whom  the  English-speaking  peoples 
owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  fostering  native  genius,  and  with  it 
civilization  and  progress.  Without  Hilda's  timely  encouragement, 
the  ninety  English-speaking  millions  could  probably  not  point 
with  pride  to  an  Anglo-Saxon  Homer  of  the  seventh  century. 

Latin  intellectual  light  had  shone  upon  the  Anglo-Saxons 
seventy-two  years,  and  nearly  seven  centuries  had  elapsed  since 
Paul  had  preached  the  "  unknown  God"  to  the  Athenians,  when 
Greek  intellectual  rays  reached  Britain  through  Theodore,  669. 
Paul,  the  apostle,  and  Theodore  were  both  natives  and  scholars 
of  Tarsus,  the  rival  of  Athens  in  learning  and  refinement.  In 
Britain,  Theodore  proved  himself  worthy  of  his  birthplace.  On 
his  arrival  in  Canterbury  he  turned  St.  Augustine's  Abbey  into  a 
school  of  learning,  and  appointed  the  erudite  Benedict  Biscop 
abbot.  After  two  years  Biscop  resigned,  and  Hadrian  took  his 
place.  As  the  cotemporary  Bede  is  so  reliable,  we  cite  what  he 
says  of  Theodore : 

"  Theodore,  born  at  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  was  versed  in  both  secular  and  divine 
literature,  instructed  in  both  Greek  and  Latin,  approved  in  morals,  and  vener- 
able through  age.  Abbot  Hadrian  proposed  him  to  Pope  Vitalian  to  be  or- 
dained Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Only  to  these  conditions  the  Pontiff 
added  that  Hadrian  should  accompany  him  to  Britain  (Lib.  IV.,  C.  2). 
Hadrian  aided  and  co-operated  with  Theodore  on  all  occasions.  Theodore 
traveled  through  the  whole  island,  wheresoever  the  nations  of  the  Angles 
dwelt,  for  he  was  most  gladly  received  and  heard  by  all.  He  was  the  first 
Archbishop  to  whom  all  the  church  of  the  Angles  consented  to  submit.  As 
both  Theodore  and  Hadrian  were  amply  instructed  in  both  sacred  and  secular 
literature,  a  crowd  of  disciples  being  congregated,  rivers  of  salutary  science 
daily  flowed  for  the  irrigation  of  their  hearts ;  there  was  also  delivered  to  the 


Seventh  Century.  85 

« 

hearers  rules  of  ecclesiastic  metrical  art,  astronomy,  arithmetic,  and  volumes 
of  sacred  literature.  Even  to  this  day  some  of  their  scholars  are  living,  who 
understand  the  Greek  and  Latin  as  well  as  they  do  their  native  tongue. 

"Never,  from  the  days  when  the  Angles  directed  their  course  to  Britain, 
were  happier  times ;  whilst,  having  most  brave  and  Christian  kings,  they  were 
a  terror  to  all  barbarous  nations." 

Thus  Theodore  and  Hadrian  electrified  the  Anglo-Saxons  by 
initiating  them  in  Greek  and  Latin  literature ;  so  much  so  that 
even  convents  were  turned  into  seminaries,  where  the  nuns 
studied  the  classics  and  became  proficient  in  ancient  lore.  From 
what  Bede  says  it  is  evident  that  the  Anglo-Saxons,  unsophisti- 
cated as  they  were,  realized  the  Greek  character  in  Theodore, 
who  opened  to  them  the  fountains  of  Greek  thought  and  learning. 
Hence  Greek  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  dates  to  the  seventh  cen- 
tury. 

Warton  says  :  "  Theodore  was  a  scholar  in  metrical  art,  as- 
tronomy, arithmetic,  church  music,  and  in  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages.  He  brought  many  Greek  and  Latin  books,  among 
which  were  Homer,  Homilies  of  St.  Chrysostom,  the  Psalter, 
and  Josephus'  Hypomnesticon,  all  in  Greek."  "  Hist,  of  Eng. 
Poetry,"  Vol.  I.,  Dissert.  II.,  p.  132.  Bede  informs  us  that 
while  Theodore  lectured  on  medicine  at  Canterbury,  he  objected 
to  bleeding  on  the  fourth  day  of  the  moon,  because  at  that 
period  the  light  of  the  planet  and  the  tides  of  the  ocean  were  on 
the  increase.  Here  we  perceive  that  astronomy  and  astrology 
had  imbued  the  Greek  mind. 

We  read  in  Dugdale's  " Mbnasticon"  I.,  89:  "In  the  year 
652  it  was  the  common  practice  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  to  send 
their  youth  to  the  monasteries  of  France  for  education." 

BENEDICT  BISCOP,  so  variously  and  briefly  alluded  to  by  most 
modern  biographers,  was  one  of  the  foremost  scholars  and  teach- 
ers of  the  seventh  century.  From  Bede,  who  was  his  ward,  in- 
mate and  pupil,  we  cull  the  following :  "  A  man  of  venerable 
life,  a  soul  addicted  to  no  false  pleasures,  he  was  descended  from 
a  noble  lineage  of  Northumbria,  was  one  of  King  Oswy's  gen- 
erals, and  by  the  king's  gift  enjoyed  an  estate  suitable  to  his 
rank ;  but  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  renounced  military  glory, 
left  his  home  and  country  and  visited  Rome,  where  he  devoted 
his  time  to  study.  On  his  return,  Alfrid,  son  of  King  Oswy, 


86  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

asked  Biscop  to  accompany  him  to  Rome.  The  king  diverted 
Alfrid  from  the  journey,  and  Biscop  went  to  Rome  alone  to  con- 
tinue his  studies.  After  some  months  he  repaired  to  the  famous 
monastery  of  Lerins,  France,  where  for  two  years  he  passed 
through  all  the  novitiate  studies  and  exercises,  joined  the  Bene- 
dictine order,  and  returned  to  Rome,  where  Pope  Vitalian  was 
about  to  consecrate  Theodore  as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
The  Pontiff,  seeing  in  Biscop  a  man  of  wisdom,  industry,  and  a 
nobleman,  wished  to  intrust  to  him  Theodore  and  his  compan- 
ions ;  he  advised  him  to  renounce  traveling,  and  with  a  higher 
good  in  view,  return  to  his  country,  take  with  him  the  teacher- 
of  truth  they  so  earnestly  desired,  and  be  to  him  an  interpreter 
and  guide  on  the  journey,  and  afterwards  when  he  begins  to 
preach.  Biscop  did  as  the  Pope  commanded.  They  reached 
Canterbury  and  were  kindly  received.  Theodore  assumed  his 
episcopal  labors,  and  Biscop  directed  St.  Augustine's  monastery 
for  two  years,  when  he  resigned  it  to  Hadrian,  went  to  Rome  a 
third  time,  and  brought  back  many  books,  which  he  had  bought 
at  a  price,  or  received  as  gifts  from  friends.  On  his  way  back 
he  stopped  at  Vienne  (France)  to  take  more  books  that  had  been 
collected  for  him  there. 

"  He  came  to  the  court  of  Egfrid,  King  of  Northumbria,  and 
gave  a  full  account  of  all  he  had  done  since,  in  youth,  he  had 
left  his  country.  He  professed  openly  his  zeal  for  religion,  dis- 
played the  learning  he  had  acquired  at  Rome  and  elsewhere, 
showed  the  books  and  rarities  he  had  brought  with  him,  and  found 
great  favor  with  the  king,  who  gave  him  seventy  hides*  of  land 
and  ordered  a  monastery  to  be  erected  thereon.  This  was  done 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Were,  674.  The  next  year  Biscop 
went  to  France  and  engaged  masons  to  construct  a  church  in  the 
Roman  style,  which  he  had  always  admired.  He  built  with  such 
alacrity,  that  within  one  year  from  laying  the  corner-stone,  mass 
was  celebrated  therein.  He  sent  to  France  for  artificers  in  glass, 
then  unknown  in  England,  that  they  might  glaze  the  windows  of 
his  church,  cloisters,  and  dining-rooms.  They  came,  and  not 
only  performed  the  work  required,  but  taught  the  Anglo-Saxons 
their  handicraft. 

*  One  hide  is  120  acres;  seventy  hides  =  8,400  acres. 


Seventh  Century.  87 

"Biscop  made  a  fourth  journey  to  Rome,  whence  he  returned 
with  a  large  quantity  of  books  of  all  kinds,  and  sacred  pictures 
to  adorn  his  church,  so  that  all  who  entered,  though  they  could 
not  read,  might  have  before  their  eyes  the  benevolent  counte- 
nance of  Christ  and  of  his  saints.  King  Egfrid  was  so  delighted 
with  Biscop's  achievement  that  he  made  a  further  grant  of  forty 
hides  of  land,  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Were,  on  which,  with 
the  king's  assistance,  Biscop  erected  another  abbey  named  Jarrow. 
Afterwards  Biscop  made  a  fifth  journey  to  Rome  and  returned,  as 
before,  with  books  and  pictures  ;  also  two  cloaks,  all  of  silk  and 
of  superior  workmanship,  for  which  King  Alfrid  (successor  to 
Egfrid)  gave  him  three  hides  of  land.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
King  Alfrid  gave  an  estate  of  900  acres  for  a  book  on  Geography. 
Among  the  manuscripts  Biscop  brought  from  Rome,  was  a  copy 
of  Justinian's  "Pandects"  from  which  the  monks  of  Weremouth 
made  three  copies,  one  of  which  Biscop  carried  to  his  Roman 
friends,  who  had  so  nobly  supplied  him  with  rare  MSS.  Cer- 
tainly those  monks  could  not  have  been  better  employed  than  in 
copying  such  ancient  intellectual  treasures.  In  his  "  Vita  Abba- 
turn"  (Life  of  the  Abbots),  Bede  tells  us  that  Benedict  Biscop 
died  January  14,  690. 

There  is  in  the  "  Vita  Abbatum "  of  Bede  an  episode  that 
deserves  mention  here  :  "  Ceolfrid,  a  man  of  noble  birth,  cousin 
of  the  Abbot  Benedict,  was  an  attendant  on  King  Egfrid  ;  having 
renounced  his  temporal  vocation  and  arms,  and  entered  the 
monastery,  he  took  pleasure  in  undergoing  the  usual  course  of 
monastic  discipline,  which,  besides  religious  exercises,  consisted 
in  threshing,  winnowing,  milking,  work  in  the  bakehouse,  garden, 
and  all  other  labors  of  the  monastery.  When  he  attained  to  the 
name  and  dignity  of  Abbot,  he  retained  the  same  spirit.  Often, 
when  he  went  forth  on  the  affairs  of  the  monastery,  if  he  found 
the  brothers  working,  he  would  join  them  and  work  with  them  by 
taking  the  plough-handle,  or  wielding  the  smith's  hammer,  or  any 
other  thing  of  like  nature.  He  was  a  youth  of  great  strength  and 
a  pleasant  tone  of  voice,  of  a  kind  and  bountiful  disposition,  and 
fair  to  look  on.  He  ate  the  same  food  as  the  other  brothers,  and 
in  the  same  apartment ;  and  slept  in  the  same  common  room  as 
he  did  before  he  was  Abbot.  Even  after  he  was  taken  ill  and 
saw  clear  signs  of  his  approaching  death,  he  still  remained  for 


88  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

two  days  in  the  common  dormitory.  He  passed  five  days  imme- 
diately before  his  death  in  a  private  apartment,  from  which  he 
came  out  one  day,  and  sitting  in  the  open  air,  sent  for  all  the 
brothers,  and,  as  his  kind  feelings  prompted  him,  gave  to  each 
the  kiss  of  peace,  whilst  they  all  shed  tears  of  sorrow  for  the  loss 
of  this  their  father  and  their  guide." 

I  hope  my  readers  will  pardon  these  episodes  ;  they  may  seem 
a  digression  from  "  English  Language  and  Literature,  their  Origin, 
Progress  and  Destiny,"  yet  Biscop  and  Ceolfrid,  in  collecting 
and  multiplying  books  for  obscure  Northumbria,  having  them 
translated  and  copied,  and  making  presents  of  them  at  Rome  and 
elsewhere,  did  cause  Greek  and  Latin  thought  and  expression  to 
find  their  way  into  superior  Medieval  minds,  and  thence  into 
Medieval  dialects  as  Gothic,  Italian,  French,  Spanish,  Anglo- 
Saxon,  and  German.  Thus  Weremouth  and  Jarrow  became  early 
intellectual  centers,  not  only  for  language,  law,  morals,  art,  and 
literature,  but  for  clearing  forests,  draining  marshes,  and  turning 
them  into  fertile  fields,  fruitful  orchards,  and  flowering  gardens. 
No  wonder  Northumbrian  kings  showered  hides  of  land  upon 
these  primitive  Benedictine  pioneers,  whose  rule  and  vow  were, 
besides  religious  duties,  manual  labor,  instruction  of  youth  >  and 
transcription  of  valuable  manuscripts.  Could  there  have  been  a 
higher  aim  in  life  and  better  adapted  to  their  epoch  ?  In  this 
and  many  other  respects  these  digressions  belong  to  my  subject ; 
for  language  and  literature  only  progress  with  the  increase  of 
material  wealth  through  agriculture,  mechanics,  manufactures,  and 
commerce.  Biscop  and  his  cousin  Ceolfrid,  who  have  been  so 
little  noticed  by  modern  biographers,  have  great  claims  on  Eng- 
land for  having  brought  into  Britain,  not  only  books,  works  of 
art,  architecture  and  artificers,  but  agriculture.  Let  us  translate 
from  Ersch  and  Gruber's  Universal  Encyclopedia :  "From  the 
Mayne  to  the  Danube  and  over  the  Hartz  Mountains  the  Bene- 
dictines of  the  seventh  century  cleared  forests,  cultivated  fields 
and  gardens,  planted  southern  fruits,  introduced  mechanics  and 
arts,  founded  schools,  nurtured  science,  exhibited  examples  of 
self-sacrifice,  gentleness  and  purity  of  manners  to  the  inhabitants, 
which  were  much  more  useful  than  their  religious  instruction." 

From   Pierer's    Universal  Lexicon:    "They   spread  all  over 
Western  Europe,  founded  the  celebrated  schools  of  Pavia,  Turin, 


Seventh  Century.  89 

Cremona,  Florence,  Verona,  Paris,  Tours,  Rheims,  Metz,  Co- 
logne, Mentz,  Fulda,  Magdeburg,  St.  Gall,  &c.,  and  were  of  great 
service  in  the  promotion  of  agriculture  and  gentle  manners.  The 
aged  and  infirm  copied  manuscripts.  The  first  rule  of  this 
order  was  that  every  monk  should  earn  his  living  by  some  manual 
labor." 

According  to  Fessler's  statistics  the  Benedictine  monks,  during 
an  existence  of  thirteen  centuries,  count  15,700  authors,  4,000 
bishops,  i, 600  archbishops,  200  cardinals,  24  popes,  and  1,560 
canonized  saints.  Let  us  remember  that  Gregory  I.  and  Augus- 
tine, England's  apostle,  were  Benedictines.  Alas !  opulence 
effeminated  and  ruined  them,  as  it  did  the  Assyrians,  Persians, 
Greeks,  and  Romans.  Thus,  we  mentioned  the  founder  and 
inmates  of  Jarrow,  where  farmers  could  see  superior  agriculture 
and  gardening,  where  painters  could  find  models  for  their  art  and 
architects  patterns  for  sacred  and  profane  structures.  When  we 
consider  that  all  this  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  the  one  man,  Bis- 
cop,  who  turned  the  wilderness  into  rich  fields,  flowering  gardens, 
monuments,  and  homes  of  comfort,  intellectuality  and  wealth, 
we  must  regret  that  the  features  of  this  benefactor  to  his  country 
and  mankind  were  not  transmitted  to  posterity. 

At  the  close  of  this  century  lived  the  learned  and  accomplished 
Aldhelm,  Bishop  of  Sherborn,  who,  according  to  Camden,  was 
the  first  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  that  wrote  in  Latin.  He  was  an 
eloquent  orator,  Latin  poet,  an  expert  chanter  and  harper,  a 
Doctor  Egregius,  and  thoroughly  versed  in  the  Scriptures  and  lib- 
eral sciences.  Besides  theologic  writings,  he  left  a  book  on 
Enigmas  and  treatises  on  Arithmetic,  Astrology,  Rhetoric,  and 
Metre.  Thus  King  David's  favorite  instrument  found  its  way 
to  the  western  confines  of  the  world  as  early  as  the  seventh  cen- 
tury ;  a  man  with  Bishop  Aldhelm' s  accomplishments  and  learn- 
ing would  shine  anywhere  in  this  nineteenth  century  ! 

While  giving  Extracts  and  Tables  on  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect, 
and  expatiating  on  intellectual  pursuits  and  Benedictine  monas- 
teries, we  overlook  the  wants  of  the  body,  the  fields,  the  country 
and  husbandman ;  hence  let  us  glance  at  their  status  and  prog- 
ress :  The  monastery  of  Ely  had  an  orchard  that  became  the  ad- 
miration of  England,  A.D.  674.  Brithnoth,  its  first  abbot,  plan- 
ned and  cultivated  it.  Wilfred,  Bishop  of  York,  when  driven 


9O  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

from  his  see  by  Everth,  King  of  Northumbria,  went  among  the 
Pagans  of  Sussex,  who  were  starving  for  want  of  food  amid 
waters  teeming  with  fish.  The  practical  prelate,  who  had  visited 
Rome  in  his  young  days,  taught  them  the  use  of  nets  and  aston- 
ished them  by  the  capture  of  three  hundred  at  one  haul.  By 
thus  teaching  these  innocent  people  how  to  provide  food,  he  soon 
won  them  to  Christ  and  civilization.  Wilfrid  but  imitated  the 
Master,  who  astonished  his  disciples  in  a  similar  way  seven  cen- 
turies before.  He  also  gained  fame  for  his  architectural  taste  in 
founding  and  adorning  the  cathedral  of  York.  In  those  days 
the  Anglo-Saxons  built  their  houses  of  clay,  held  together  by 
wooden  framework,  bricks  being  scarce  and  only  used  as  orna- 
ments. The  healing  art  was  at  a  low  standard  and  only  prac- 
tised by  women,  who  employed  charms  and  spells  with  their 
herbs  and  decoctions.  As  Christianity  advanced  the  priests  pre- 
tended to  study  medicine,  but  trusted  mainly  to  holy  water  and 
other  superstitions.  Such  was  the  status  of  some  of  the  domestic 
comforts,  arts  and  sciences  in  the  seventh  century. 

Extracts  and  Tables  from  three  Anglo-Saxon  writings  of  the 
seventh  century,  showing  their  style  and  the  numeric  origin  of 
their  vocabulary.  They  are  from  Caedmon's  poems,  A.D.  680; 
Lothair  and  Edric's  Anglo-Saxon  Code  of  Laws,  A.D.  685 ; 
Saxon  Chronicle,  A.D.  694 : 


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ioo  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


Synopsis*  of  the  different  words  from  the  three  preceding  Tables 
of  the  Seventh  Century. 


Greek :  2  )  ] 

Latin  :  14  f  Grec°-Latm  :  l6  I  Total  of  the  different 

words  :  233 
Anglo-Saxon:  217  j-  Gotho -Germanic  :  217 

Hence,  the  style  of  Anglo-Saxon  literature  in  the 
seventh  century  shows  a  vocabulary  of  different 
words,  containing  about 

94  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon,  and 
6        "  Greco- Latin. 

116  of  the  233  different  Anglo-Saxon  words,  or 
fifty  per  cent.,  are  now  (1878)  obsolete.  What  then 
becomes  of  Sharon  Turner's  statement,  in  his  "  His- 
tory of  the  Anglo-Saxons,"  that  only  five  per  cent, 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  are  obsolete? 

Only  22  of  the  233  different  Anglo-Saxon  words, 
or  nine  per  cent.,  are  now  (1878)  spelt  as  they 
were  in  the  seventh  century. 

By  the  three  foregoing  Extracts  from  Caedmon,  Lothair  and 
Edric's  Code,  Saxon  Chronicle,  and  by  P^thelbert's  Code,  A.D. 
597,  we  realize  that  the  Anglo-Saxons  had  writing  and  the 
germs  of  a  national  literature  towards  the  close  of  the  seventh 
century;  when  France,  Italy,  Germany,  and  Spain  had  not  a 
written  line  in  their  native  tongues.  .Furthermore,  our  Extract 
from  the  Saxon  Chronicle  furnishes  a  fervent  speech  from  King 
Wihtred  at  the  Council  of  Bapchild,  A.D.  694.  Perhaps  some 
Anglo-Saxon  stenographer  reported  that  royal  discourse,  which 
laid  the  foundation  for  '•'•Peter-Pence"  and  "Lammas  Day" 
about  the  same  time  this  royal  zealot  issued  an  Anglo-Saxon 


*  As  the  Synopses  and  Ultimate  Results  constitute  the  essence  of  this  work, 
showing  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  English  language,  we  endeavor  to 
make  them  conspicuous  by  having  them  printed  in  large  type. 


Seventh  Century.  101 

Code  of  laws,  in  which  the  church  was  not  forgotten.     Such  royal 
religious  fervor  must  have  delighted  the  Roman  Metaxchv.*,   ' 

There  was,  at  that  period,  in  the  Anglo-Sax6a'  ihafactef  a 
feature,  which  I  cannot  pass  unnoticed,  although,  it  cfoes^lkjiT 
belong  to  my  subject.  As  it  seems  to  have  beehj6verk>6ked  by 
chroniclers  and  historians,  I  shall  try  to  add  it  as  a  pendant  to 
Pope  Gregory's  mission.  Hardly  had  the  Anglo-Saxons  enjoyed 
the  initial  blessings  of  Christianity,  when  they  realized  that  their 
kinsmen,  across  the  sea,  were  yet  in  darkness  as  to  man's  intel- 
lectual and  moral  capacities.  They  felt  the  sublimity  of  Greg- 
ory's zeal  to  convert  their  fathers,  and  strove  to  imitate  it,  with 
this  difference  :  Augustine  and  his  companions  were  unwilling 
tools  in  the  hands  of  Pope  Gregory,  whereas  twelve  unpretend- 
ing Anglo-Saxons  spontaneously  conceived  and  executed  a  mis- 
sion among  their  benighted  brothers  in  Germany.  This  Anglo- 
Saxon  elan  is  only  surpassed  by  that  of  the  twelve  destitute 
disciples,  who,  seven  centuries  before,  started  from  Jerusalem  to 
win  the  world  to  their  Crucified  Master.  You,  no  doubt,  desire 
to  hear  the  names  of  those  intellectual  and  moral  Anglo-Saxon 
heroes.  Alas  !  I  have  as  yet  only  been  able  to  trace  three  of 
them.  The  Venerable  Bede  (Lib.  V.,  C.  10)  preserved  two,  Wil- 
brord  and  Suidbert ;  the  former  was  born  in  Northumbria  and 
educated  at  Ripon,  whence  he  repaired  to  Ireland  and  preached 
for  twelve  years.  A  third,  Adalbert  (Ethelbert)  is  mentioned  in 
Pertz'  "Monumentorum  Germanise  Historia,"  Vol.  2.,  p.  220. 
Thus  has  history  failed  to  record  the  names  of  nine  of  those  no- 
ble pioneers,  while  it  has  paraded  that  of  many  less  worthy  men. 

The  twelve  started  from  Britain  about  690  and  went  to  Metz, 
where  they  were  graciously  received  by  Pepin,  Duke  of  Austrasia, 
and  by  his  hospitable  spouse  Plectrude.  Pepin  was  father  to 
Charles  Martel,  who  saved  Europe  from  the  Turkish  yoke,  A.D. 
732.  Charles  Martel  was  the  grandfather  of  Charlemagne,  who 
united  Western  Europe  and  restored  her  to  civilization. 

Pepin,  at  the  head  of  the  impetuous  Franks,  had  just  con- 
quered Citerior  Friesland,  whence  he  had  driven  King  Rathbed. 
The  arrival  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  missionaries  was  a  "Godsend" 
to  him.  He  at  once  invited  them  to  preach,  under  his  protec- 
tion, to  his  new  subjects.  The  zeal  and  example  of  these  pious 
strangers  soon  attracted  the  Frisians  to  Christianity.  Hear  what 


102  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Bede  tells  posterity  about  his  countrymen  :  "The  brothers  who 
were  a£tendj.n;g  £o  the  ministry  of  the  word  in  Friesland  chose  of 
their -huhi'ber\$aidbert,  a  man  moderate  in  his  habits  and  meek 
t,  to  be  ^consecrated  their  Prelate,  who,  being  sent  to 
a^tfr'dairied  Bishop  by  Wilfrid.  Having  returned  from 
Britain,  Suidbert  went  among  the  Bructeri  and  converted  many 
of  them  by  his  preaching ;  but  soon  the  Bructeri  were  conquered 
by  the  old  Saxons,  and  Suidbert  had  to  flee.  He  went  with  his 
companions  to  Pepin,  who,  at  Plectrude's  intercession,  gave  them 
a  home  on  an  island  in  the  Rhine,  called  Werde  (now  Kaiser- 
werth),  where  Suidbert  founded  a  monastery,  died,  and  was  buried. 
Of  Wilbrord,  his  cotemporary,  Bede  speaks  thus  : 

' '  Among  the  twelve,  Wilbrord  shone  pre-eminent  for  his  rank  as  Presbyter 
and  for  his  merit,  &c.,  Lib.  V.,  C.  1 1.  After  they  had  taught  in  Friesland 
for  some  years,  Pepin  sent,  with  the  approbation  of  all,  that  most  reverend 
man  Wilbrord  to  Rome,  where  Sergius  held  the  Pontificate,  with  the  demand 
that  he  should  be  consecrated  Archbishop  of  Friesland.  This  was  done  as  he 
had  requested,  696.  He  was  ordained  as  Clement.  Pepin  gave  him  a  place 
for  his  episcopal  see,  in  his  famous  fortified  town,  Utrecht.  When  the  church 
of  St.  Saviour  had  been  built  there,  the  prelate  preached  the  word  of  faith 
far  and  wide,  and  appointed  other  bishops  in  those  regions  out  of  the  number 
of  those  brethren,  who,  either  with  him  or  after  him,  had  come  thither  to 
preach ;  of  whom  some  are  now  fallen  asleep  in  the  Lord.  Wilbrord,  how- 
ever, surnamed  Clement,  is  still  living,  being  now  venerable  by  reason  of  his 
extreme  old  age,  to  wit,  being  in  the  thirty-sixth  year  of  his  episcopate,  and 
after  manifold  conflicts  of  Heavenly  warfare,  sighing  with  his  whole  mind  for 
the  rewards  of  a  heavenly  recompense." 

Bede  mentions  two  other  Anglo-Saxon  missionaries,  named 
Hewald,  probably  brothers.  They  started  from  Britain  about 
this  time,  and  went  to  preach  to  the  old  Saxons,  who  murdered 
them  and  threw  their  bodies  into  the  Rhine,  whence  they  were 
taken  and  honorably  buried  by  order  of  Pepin.  Another  Anglo- 
Saxon,  called  Willehad,  after  winning  many  to  Christ,  became 
Bishop  of  Bremen,  where  he  died  789. 

Thus  did  the  Anglo-Saxons,  within  about  two  hundred  years, 
nobly  repay  their  debt  to  Rome.  Gregory  had  sent  them 
Christianity  ;  they  in  turn  sent  the  great  blessing  to  their  be- 
nighted German  kinsmen,  sealing  the  gift  with  their  blood.  Was 
not  this  a  worthy  pendant  to  Pope  Gregory's  tableau  of  597  ? 
Wilbrord,  Suidbert,  Hewald,  Willehad,  &c.,  were  by  no  means 


Seventh  Century.  103 

inferior  to  their  illustrious  predecessors,  Gregory,  Augustine, 
Paulinus,  &c.  As  to  Pepin  and  his  worthy  Plectrude,  they 
fully  equalled  Ethelbert  and  Bertha  in  hospitality  and  grace. 
M?tz  became  to  Germany  what  Canterbury  had  been  to  Engla- 
land. 

As  Mohammed's  religion  astonished  the  world,  A.D.  622,  and 
as  even  now  emperors,  kings  and  diplomats  are  embarrassed  to 
dispose  of  it,  A.D.  1878,  we  must  allude  to  it  here.  The  Ara- 
bian Reformer  claimed  that  his  teachings  were  divine  inspirations, 
which  Abdalla-Ibn-Sad,  an  early  admirer  of  Mohammed,  wrote 
down  as  he  uttered  them.  He  mixed  them  with  Sabianism, 
cherished  among  the  shepherd  kings,  Magi  and  Arabians,  and 
tinged  the  whole  with  Judaism  and  primitive  Christianity ;  then, 
to  attract  adventurers  and  warlike  races,  he  engrafted  on  them 
the  law  of  the  sword  ;  and  to  justify  his  passion  for  women,  he 
added  polygamy.  Such  a  combination  was  calculated  to  rouse 
enthusiasm  and  inflame  the  eastern  imagination;  for  Kaab,  a 
co temporary  poet,  after  penning  bitter  satires  against  Mohammed, 
became  a  convert,  and  wrote  one  of  the  seven  eulogies,  styled 
" Moallakah"  or  poems  suspended  in  the  temple  of  Mecca;  so 
did  the  cotemporary  Arabian  bards,  Amry,  Lebyd,  and  Joheir. 
Amry's  Moallakah  was  translated  into  English  by  Sir  William 
Jones, -and  Lebyd' s  into  French  by  Sylvestre  de  Sacy.  This 
clearly  shows  that  the  Arabian  intellect  was  with  the  reformer 
and  accounts  for  the  rapid  expansion.  As  Carlyle  and  Washing- 
ton Irving  have  written  glowing  accounts  of  Mohammed  and  his 
doctrines,  we  refer  readers  to  them. 

We  must  not  omit  here  a  scholar  who  did  more  for  linguistic 
lore  than  all  his  ancient  and  Medieval  predecessors  :  that  scholar 
was  Isidore  of  Seville,  author  of  "  Originum  sive  Etymologiarum 
Libri  XX  (Twenty  Books  of  Origins  or  Etymologies),  which  is 
an  epitome  of  all  the  sciences  in  his  day.  The  learned  Dr. 
Hoefer  calls  this  work  "  one  of  the  most  precious  monuments 
for  the  history  of  human  knowledge."  He  also  wrote  "  Imago 
Mundi"  which  is  a  chronicle  from  the  creation  to  A.D.  626 ; 
and  two  abridged  histories  of  the  Gotho-Germanic  tribes  that 
settled  in  Spain  during  the  fifth  century,  entitled  "  Chronicon 
Gothorum"  (Chronicle  of  the  Goths),  and  "Chronicon  breve 
Regum  Visigothorum"  (Short  Chronicle  of  the  Visigoth  Kings). 


IO4  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

This  eminent  Medieval  linguist,  historian  and  scientist  was  born 
at  Carthagena,  of  a  noble  family,  about  A.D.  570,  and  died  Arch- 
bishop of  Seville,  A.D.  636,  where  he  had  been  the  father  of  the 
poor,  the  comforter  of  the  unfortunate,  and  the  oracle  of  Spain 
for  forty  years.  He  was  thoroughly  versed  in  Hebrew,  Greek, 
and  Latin,  as  well  as  in  all  the  learning  of  his  epoch.  His  numer- 
ous Essays  on  Ecclesiastic  affairs  have  been  highly  valued  by 
divines.  In  one  of  them  he  says  :  "  According  to  the  precept  of 
St.  Paul  and  the  Patriarchs,  a  monk  should  labor  always."  Then 
he  adds  :  "  Those  who  incline  to  read  without  working,  show 
that  their  reading  is  of  little  profit  to  them."  The  Roman  hierar- 
chy styled  Isidore  "the  most  learned  man  of  his  age."  Soon 
Isidore's  works  found  their  way  to  PYance,  where,  about  A.D. 
799  or  800,  some  Frank  translated  part  of  it  into  Francic,  a  MS.  of 
which  is  now  extant  in  Paris.  Spain  may  ever  point  with  pride 
to  this  early  intellectual  giant. 


EIGHTH    CENTURY. 


"It  is  a  shame  for  any  Englishman  to  look  coldly  upon  his  mother  tongue." — OLIPHANT'S 
1  Standard  English"  p.  369. 


IN  the  year  672  appeared  one  of  those  intellects  that  are  not 
numerous  on  Earth — The  Venerable  Bede,  whose  moral  and 
intellectual  sun  began  to  shine  fully  about  730.  Astronomy, 
mathematics,  grammar,  and  music  were  embraced  in  its  rays. 
But  his  great  work  was  his  "  ECCLESIASTIC  HISTORY."  It*  had 
a  royal  translator  in  Alfred  the  Great,  who,  desiring  that  his  sub- 
jects should  have  the  benefit  thereof,  translated  it  into  Anglo- 
Saxon. 

Hear  what  the  learned  Andrews  says  of  this  early  Medieval 
genius  :  "This  pious  and  humble  sage,  who  never  sought  to  rise 
above  the  station  of  a  private  monk  at  Jarrow  on  the  Tyne,  has 
bequeathed  to  us  eight  folio  volumes,  comprising  the  richest 
stores  of  multifarious  learning.  Bede  was  born,  672,  in  Northum- 
berland. He  died  in  735,  and  was  long  remembered  as  "The 
Wise  Saxon" 

Now  hear  what  Bede  says  of  himself  and  his  writings  : 

"  I,  Bede,  born  in  this  country,  was  at  the  age  of  seven  years  entrusted  to 
the  care  of  the  Abbot  Benedict,  and  afterwards  to  Ceolfrid.  I  ever  considered 
investigating,  teaching  and  writing  the  sweetest  occupation.  From  the 
nineteenth  to  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  my  life  I  took  pleasure  in  commenting  on 
the  Holy  Scriptures  and  on  the  works  of  the  venerable  Fathers,  for  my  own 
instruction  and  for-  that  of  others,  and  also  in  expanding  their 'meaning  and 
interpretation." 

I  cannot  help  quoting  the  opening  of  Bede' s  letter  to  the  King 
of  Northumbria : 


106  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

"To  The  most  Glorious  King  Ceolwulph,  Bede,  the  servant  of  Christ,  and 

Presbyter. 

"  I  sent  with  much  pleasure  before  this,  O  King,  at  your  desire,  the  Ec- 
clesiastic History  of  the  Nation  of  the  Angles,  which  I  had  lately  published, 
for  you  to  read  and  judge  of;  and  now  I  send  it  again  to  be  transcribed  and 
more  fully  studied,  as  you  shall  find  time ;  and  I  delight  greatly  in  the  zeal 
of  your  sincerity,  through  which  you  take  diligent  pains  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  actions  and  words  of  illustrious  men  of  former  times,  and  especially 
of  our  nation,"  &c. 

There  is  great  dignity  and  freedom  of  expression  in  this  letter, 
from  which  we  may  realize  that  the  modest  monk  of  Jarrow  knew 
his  own  worth  as  compared  with  that  of  a  king. 

More  than  eleven  centuries  have  elapsed  since  the  departure 
of  this  industrious  scholar.  As  his  last  hours  on  Earth  are  so 
edifying,  it  would  be  a  pity  to  lose  their  instruction.  They  are 
thus  described  by  his  disciple  Cuthbert,  in  a  letter,  from  which 
we  cull : 

"  He  translated  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  into  our  tongue  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Church.  The  third  day  of  the  week  he  began  to  be  greatly  distressed  in 
his  breathing.  During  the  whole  of  that  day  he  taught  and  cheerfully  dic- 
tated, saying  :  Learn  with  speed ;  I  know  not  how  long  I  may  last.  At  the 
fourth  hour  he  diligently  charged  us  to  write  what  we  had  begun.  Most  be- 
loved master,  there  is  yet  one  chapter  wanting ;  it  seems  to  be  troubling  you 
to  ask  you  more.  Then  said  he  :  It  is  no  trouble.  Take  your  pen,  mend  it 
and  write  quickly,  &c.  One  sentence  is  still  unwritten.  Then  he  said  : 
Write  it  quickly.  The  sentence  is  now  written.  He  said  :  It  is  well ;  you 
have  spoken  the  truth,  consummatum  est  (it  is  consummated).  He  breathed 
his  last,  and  so  departed  to  the  Heavenly  Kingdom. 

"  Know,  however,  dearest  brother,  that  I  could  relate  many  things  con- 
cerning him,  but  that  my  unskil fulness  in  language  makes  my  discourse  short." 

Thus,  in  moral  and  intellectual  vigor,  died  this  ever-searching 
scholar,  as  he  had  lived.  Any  man  whose  native  tongue  is  Eng- 
lish can  have  no  idea  of  budding  thought  in  the  British  Isles, 
unless  he  reads  the  effusions  of  Gildas,  King  Ethelbert,  Caed- 
mon,  and  Bede.  We  must  own  that  they  seem  primitive,  super- 
stitious, aye,  even  childish  ;  but  could  Rollin,  Justinian,  Pope, 
Macaulay  have  done  better,  had  they  been  born  and  lived  in  the 
British  Isles,  any  time  from  500  to  800,  and  under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances ?  Nations,  empires,  and  literatures  have  their  child- 
hood, manhood,  and  old  age  ;  the  man  who  sneers  at  either  is 
no  scholar. 


Eighth  Century.  107 

MANUSCRIPT  BOOKS  IN  THE  LIBRARY  OF  ARCHBISHOP  EGBERT, 

AT  YORK,  ENGLAND,  FROM  A.D.  732  TO  766. 
We  read  in  the  "Saxon  Chronicle"  A.D.  734,  that  Archbishop 
Egbert  was  brother  to  Eadbert,  King  of  Nortrfumbria.  He  was 
a  liberal  patron  of  learning.  Enriched  by  the  royal  family,  he 
collected  a  valuable  library  of  manuscript  books,  of  which  we 
shall  give  a  list,  drawn  from  a  catalogue  *  in  elegant  Latin  verse, 
written  by  the  learned  Alcuin,  who  was  a  pupil  and  favorite  of 
Archbishop  Egbert : 

CHRISTIAN    FATHERS  : 


Clement,  Greek, 

A.D.   220 

Augustine,  Lat., 

A.D.  430 

Lactantius,  Lat., 

325 

Orosius,  Lat., 

430 

Hilary,  Lat., 

367 

Joannes,  Lat., 

433 

Victorinus,  Lat., 

370 

Leo  (Pope),  Lat., 

461 

Athanasius,  Greek, 

373 

Prosper,  Lat., 

463 

Basil,  Greek, 

397 

Fulgentius,  Lat., 

533 

Ambrose,  Lat., 

397 

Gregory  the  Great, 

Latin  and 

Chrysostom,  Greek, 

407 

Greek, 

605 

Jerome,  Lat., 

420 

*  "  Illic  invenies  veterum  vestigia  Patrum, 

Quidquid  habet  pro  se  Latio  Romanus  in  orbe, 
Graecia  quidquid  transmisit  clara  Latinis ; 
Hebraicus  vel  quod  populus  bibit  imbre  superno, 
Africa  lucifluo  vel  quidquid  lumine  sparsit. 
Quod  pater  Hieronymus,  quod  sensit  Hilarius,  atque 
Ambrosius  praesul,  simul  Augustinus,  et  ipse 
Sanctus  Athanasius,  quod  Orosius  edit  avitus, 
Quidquid  Gregorius  summus  docet,  et  Leo  Papa ; 
Basilius  quidquid,  Fulgentius  atque  coruscant, 
Cassiodorus  item,  Chrysostomus  atque  Joannes. 
Quidquid  et  Althelmus  docuit,  quid  Beda  Magister, 
Quae  Victorinus  scripsere,  Boetius,  atque 
Historici  veteres,  Pompeius,  Plinius,  ipse 
Acer  Aristoteles,  rhetor  quoque  Tullius  ingens : 
Quid  quoque  Sedulius,  vel  quid  canit  ipse  Juvencus, 
Alcuinus  et  Clemens,  Prosper,  Paulinus,  Arator, 
Quidquid  Fortunatus  vel  quid  Lactantius,  edunt. 
Quae  Maro  Virgilius,  Statius,  Lucanus,  et  auctor 
Artis  grammaticae,  vel  quid  scripsere  magistri : 
Quid  Probus  atque  Phocas,  Donatus,  Priscianusve, 
Servius,  Euticius,  Pompeius,  Comminianus. 
Invenies  alios  perplures." 


io8  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

HISTORIANS  : 

Pompeius  (Trogus),  Lat.,    A.D.     5         Cassiodorus,  Lat.,  A.D.  590 

POETS : 

Virgil,  Lat.,                          B.C.     19         Paulinus,  Lat.,  A.D.  431 

Lucan,  Lat.,                         A.D.    65         Sedulius,  Lat.,  460 

Statins,  Lat.,                                    100         Arator,  Lat.,  560 

Juvencus,  Lat.,                               400         Fortunatus,  Lat.,  609 

PHILOSOPHERS  : 

Boetius,  Lat.,  A.D.  525 

GRAMMARIANS  : 

Probus,  Lat.,  A.D.  100  Priscianus,  Lat.,                   A.D.  525 

Pompeius  (Festus),  Lat.,  380  Euticius  (Eutychius),  Lat.,           550 

Donatus,  Lat.,  400  Phocas  (since  lost). 

Servius,  Lat.,  400  Comminianus  (since  lost). 

ANGLO-SAXONS  : 

Aldhelm,  Lat.,  A.D.  709        Alcuin,  La,..,  A.D.  804 

Bede,  Lat.,  735 

Alcuin  closes  his  Catalogue  by  saying :  "You  will  find  a  great 
many  others." 

Here  were  the  writings  of  sixteen  of  the  Fathers,  two  scientists, 
eight  poets,  two  historians,  one  orator,  one  philosopher,  eight 
grammarians,  and  three  Anglo-Saxon  writers  in  Latin,  besides 
many  others.  Religion,  science,  poetry,  history,  philosophy  and 
grammar  were  worthily  represented  in  that  early  Anglo-Saxon 
effort.  If  we  consider  the  time  and  circumstances,  we  must  own 
that  Egbert's  library  was  a  wonder :  only  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
nine  years  had  elapsed  from  the  formation  of  the  Anglo- Saxon 
alphabet,  A.D.  597,  to  Egbert's  library,  A.D.  766. 

Ingulphus  tells  us  writing  materials  were  so  scarce  that  large  es- 
tates were  often  conveyed  from  one  family  to  another  by  handing 
a  turf  and  a  stone  before  witnesses,  without  any  written  agree- 
ment. Bede  says  :  Alfrid,  King  of  Northumbria,  gave  a  large 
landed  estate  to  Abbot  Benedict  Biscop,  for  a  book  on  geography, 
which  the  Abbot  had  brought  from  Rome.  Henault  relates  that 
a  Countess  of  Anjou  gave  two  hundred  sheep  and  many  valuable 
'furs  for  a  book  of  homilies.*  Under  such  circumstances  we 

*  Gibbon  adds:  "Before  the  invention  of  printing  and  paper,  the  labor 
and  materials  of  writing  could  be  purchased  only  by  the  rich ;  and  it  may 


Eighth  Century.  109 

must  admire  Archbishop  Egbert's  zeal  to  collect  such  intellectual 
and  moral  treasures. 

This  wonderful  progress  must  be  attributed  to  the  efforts  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons  to  render  writing  easier  and  more  current :  to 
save  space  they  substituted  small  for  capital  letters ;  to  expedite 
copying  they  changed  angles  •  and  zigzags  to  curved  lines,  and 
copied  industriously,  increasing  the  monastic  libraries. 

We  may  say  Alcuin's  Catalogue  contains  no  mathematics. 
True,  Euclid's  science  had  not  yet  visited  Britain ;  it  only 
deigned  to  favor  the  Northwestern  Islanders,  under  King  Athel- 
stan,  about  935  ;  nor  had  the  Arab's  concise  expression  of  num- 
bers made  its  appearance ;  but  see  what  Anglo-Saxon  ingenuity 
contrived  to  supply  this  want :  The  numbers  from  i  to  100  were 
expressed  by  the  fingers  of  the  left  hand ;  from  100  to  10,000  by 
those  of  the  right ;  from  10,000  to  100,000  by  varying  the  po- 
sition of  the  left;  and  from  100,000  to  1,000,000  by  varying  the 
position  of  the  right  hand. — Bede,  "De  Indigitatione"  This  not 
only  foreshadowed  mental  arithmetic  and  mnemonics,  but  De 
1'Epee's  "Deaf  and  Dumb"  speech.  The  sages  of  the  eighth 
century  divided  human  knowledge  into  "  The  Seven  Liberal 
Sciences : "  Grammar,  Logic,  Rhetoric,  Music,  Arithmetic^ 
Geometry,  and  Astronomy.  The  three  former  were  called 
Trivium ;  the  four  latter  Quadrivium.  Hence  this  uncouth, 
but  simple,  distich  contemplates  ten  centuries  . 

"  Gramm.  loquitur  ;  Dia.  vera  docet ;  Rhet.  verba  colorat; 
Mus.  canit ;  Ar.  numerat ;  Geo.  ponderat ;  Ast.  colit  astra." 

Thus  imitated  : 

"  Gramm.  rules  the  speech  ;  Log.  truth  doth  teach; 

Rhet.  words  with  wit  supplies  ; 
Mus.  chants  her  lays  ;  Ar.  counts;  Geo.  weighs; 
Ast.  ponders  on  the  skies." 

To  this  period  belongs  a  movement  of  the  priesthood  to  obtain 
tithes,  as  allowed  by  the  Mosaic  law  to  the  Levites.  This  eccle- 
siastic claim  was  first  urged  at  the  Council  of  Calcuith  (Cliftonian 
Kent),  about  A.D.  785.  No  longer  satisfied  with  land-grants,  as 

reasonably  be  computed  that  the  price  of  books  was  a  hundred-fold  their 
present  value." 


no  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

were  the  noble  Benedict  Biscop  and  his  industrious  associates, 
who,  at  Wearmouth,  turned  dismal  forests  and  swamps  into  fruit- 
ful gardens  and  fertile  fields,  the  hierarchy  asked  one-tenth  of  all 
the  people's  labor  and  earnings.  Here  was  the  germ  of  priestly 
intrigue  and  papal  arrogance  in  England.  As  the  discussions, 
comments  and  writings,  that  grew  out  of  this  movement,  greatly 
favored  and  diffused  the  English  language  and  literature,  let  us 
watch  the  development  of  this  germ  as  we  proceed  in  our  investi- 
gation of  the  English  idiom. 

In  a  historic  point  of  view,  Charlemagne  and  Alcuin  have  ever 
been  closely  connected  in  men's  minds  ;  for  in  them  French 
statesmanship  and  Anglo-Saxon  scholarship  went  hand  in  hand 
to  diffuse  Medieval  civilization.  In  the  seventh  century  France 
was  in  a  deplorable  plight  as  to  education.  The  fame  of 
classic  learning,  introduced  by  Archbishops  Egbert  and  Theo- 
dore, Abbot  Biscop  and  Alcuin,  had  reached  the  great  Western 
Monarch.  We  read  that  Alcuin  was  sent  as  ambassador  to 
Charlemagne  by  King  Offa,  to  negotiate  an  alliance  between 
France  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  king  of  Mercia,  and  that  letters  are 
extant  from  Alcuin  to  Charlemagne,  begging  him  to  send  French 
and  German. youths  to  be  educated  in  Britain;  but,  instead  of 
sending  young  men  to  Britain,  the  Emperor  invited  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  sage  to  come  to  his  court,  and  establish  schools  in  his 
vast  dominions.  The  renowned  Yorkshire  scholar  accepted  the 
invitation  about  780,  and  founded  schools,  not  only  at  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  Paris,  and  Tours,  but  in  the  imperial  palace,  where 
Charlemagne  and  his  courtiers  assembled  to  hear  him.  Probably 
among  his  hearers  was  Egbert,  first  king  of  England,  who  about 
that  time  was  at  the  court  of  Charlemagne.  Alcuin  was  the 
emperor's  favorite.  He  was  a  prominent  prelate  at  the  Coun- 
cil of  Frankfort,  794 ;  in  796  he  was  appointed  Abbot  of  St. 
Martin's  monastery  at  Tours,  where  he  died,  A.D.  804.  Alcuin 
was  theologian,  philosopher,  historian,  poet,  mathematician,  ora- 
tor, and  linguist.  His  works  were  published,  A.D.  1777,  in  two 
folio  volumes.  They  consist  of  letters,  poems,  and  theologic 
writings,  that  are  considered  the  purest  Latin  of  the  Middle 
Ages.  He  it  was,  who,  in  his  youth,  wrote  a  catalogue  of  Arch- 
bishop Egbert's  library  in  poetry,  which  we  cite  elsewhere. 
Professor  F.  Lorentz,  of  Halle,  wrote  Alcuin's  biography,  which 


Eighth  Century,  in 

Tras  translated  into  English,  1837.  Alcuin  immortalized  Anglo- 
Saxon  scholarship  abroad. 

About  A.D.  787,  Danes  or  Normans  landed  at  Portland, 
plundered  the  country,  and  went  away  unmolested.  The  Anglo- 
Saxons  little  dreamt  how  these  roving  sea-kings  would  soon 
harass  England.  In  Bertholin's  History  of  Northern  Antiquities 
is  this  Danish  code  of  honor :  "A  brave  man  should  attack  two, 
stand  firm  against  three,  give  ground  a  little  to  four,  and  only 
retreat  from  five."  The  same  ideas  prevailed  among  all  the  Gotho- 
Germanic  races  :  Saxons,  Franks,  Normans,  &c.  No  wonder, 
men,  acting  with  such  motives,  were  irresistible ;  yet  a  deeper 
incitement,  the  idea  of  immortality  in  Valhalla,  inherited  from 
their  ancestors,  the  Getae,  underlay  their  actions ;  thus  even  a 
noble  thought  may  prompt  to  cruel  deeds. 

From  the  formation  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  alphabet,  597  to  788, 
there  were  but  few  Anglo-Saxon  writings  :  Ethelbert's  Code, 
Caedrnon's  primitive  poems,  Ina's  Code,  and  the  Saxon  Chronicle  ; 
most  other  writings  were  in  Latin.  We  are  told  that  annals 
were  written  in  Anglo-Saxon  at  Canterbury,  Winchester,  Peter- 
borough, Worcester,  Abington,  &c.  — that  these  annals  were 
drafted  into  short  chronicles,  collected,  and,  under  the  supervi- 
sion of  Plegmund,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  united  into  what  has 
been  called  the  "  SAXON  CHRONICLE."  Abbots,  bishops,  arch- 
bishops, and,  it  is  thought,  even  King  Alfred,  wrote  parts  of  it. 
The  erudite  Ingram,  Anglo-Saxon  Professor  at  Oxford,  edited 
and  translated  those  relics  and  issued  them  under  the  name 
"  Saxon  Chronicle,"  1823.  This  record  does  credit  to  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  ;  for  such  a  continuous,  simple,  practical  vernacular 
chronicle  could  probably  not  be  found  in  any  other  nation.  It 
is  a  "  Multum  in  parvo"  of  history,  chronology,  geography,  sci- 
ence, and  art,  and  an  ancient  descriptive  national  album.  If 
you  need  some  Anglo-Saxon  personage,  event,  place  or  occur- 
rence  from  449  to  1154,  consult  its  index  and  you  will  find  some 
mention  thereof  with  correct  date.  Were  it  not  for  this  ancient 
work  and  Ina's  Code  of  Laws,  I  could  not  find  Axglo-Saxon  Ex- 
tracts for  Tables  in  this  century  ;  yet  Aldhelm,  Bede,  and  Alcuin 
wrote  volumes  in  Latin.  The  Saxon  Chronicle  begins  with  a 
short  account  of  the  Isle  of  Britain,  its  extent  and  inhabitants, 
and  of  Caesar's  invasion,  60  B.C. ;  whereas  our  chronology  has  55 


112  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

B.C,  Then  it  commences  A.D.  i,  and  continues  till  A.D.  1154. 
In  this  venerable  Record,  births,  deaths,  murders,  battles,  coun- 
cils, advents  of  kings,  bishops,  abbots,  eclipses  of  the  sun  and 
moon,  comets,  are  all  mentioned  pele-mele,  as  may  be  seen  by 
our  Extracts  therefrom  ;  yet  even  this  simplest  of  records  rises  at 
times  to  a  pathos  like  this  :  "  Sharp  death,  that  passes  neither  by 
rich  men  nor  poor,  seized  him  also.  Alas,  how  false  and  how 
uncertain  is  this  world's  weal !  He,  that  was  before  a  rich  king 
and  lord  of  many  lands,  had  not  then  of  all  his  land  more  than  a 
space  of  seven  feet ;  and  he,  that  was  whilom  enshrouded  in  gold 
and  gems,  lay  there  covered  with  mould." — This  of  William  the 
Conqueror's  death,  A.D.  1087.  This  collection  of  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicles  was  originally  called  "Liber  de  Wintonia"  (The  Win- 
chester Book)  from  its  first  place  of  custody.  Ingram,  the  learned 
compiler  of  this  precious  Medieval  record,  says:  "The  Saxon 
Chronicle  contains  the  original  and  authentic  testimony  of  cotem- 
porary  writers  to  the  most  important  transactions  of  our  fore- 
fathers, both  by  sea  and  land,  from  their  first  arrival  in  this 
country  to  the  year  1154,"  which  he  could  not  mean,  because  the 
Anglo-Saxons  "  from  their  first  arrival  in"  Britain,  A.D.  449  to 
597,  had  neither  alphabet,  writing,  nor  writers.  Yet  he  is  correct 
when  he  adds  :  "  If  we  except  the  sacred  annals  of  the  Jews, 
contained  in  the  several  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  there  is  no 
other  work  extant,  ancient  or  modern,  which  exhibits  at  one 
view  a  regular  and  chronologic  panorama  of  a  people,  described 
in  rapid  succession  by  different  writers,  through  so  many  ages, 
in  their  own  vernacular  language" 

The  British  Museum  boasts  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  manuscript  in 
forty-three  cantos,  numbering  about  6,000  lines,  which  has  elicited 
much  speculation  as  to  by  whom,  when,  and  where  it  was  origi- 
nally written.  Some  ascribed  it  to  priests  of  the  seventh  and 
eighth,  others  to  monks  of  the  ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh  cen- 
turies. But  as  no  cotemporary  historian  alludes  to  it,  not  even 
Bede,  who  (A.D.  730)  mentions  Ethelbert's  Code,  Gildas  and 
Caedmon,  this  position  would  almost  seem  untenable,  -unless  the 
poem  has  intrinsic  evidence  of  the  vocabulary  and  style  of  any 
of  those  periods.  There  are  two  copies  of  this  curious  poem  : 
one  without  any,  the  other  with  some,  Christian  allusions. 
This  seems  to  perplex  critics,  who  claim  that  the  one  without 


Eighth   Century.  113 

Christian  allusions  antedates,  whereas  the  other  with  Christian 
allusions  afterdates — Ethelbert's  conversion,  A.D.  597.  Some 
say  this  ancient  relic  was  originally  written  in  Scandinavia  and 
carried  by  the  Norsemen  to  Britain,  where  it  was  translated  into 
Anglo-Saxon.  Its  hero  is  Beowulf,  one  of  the  many  Gotho- 
Germanic  Hercules  or  Don  Quixotes,  claiming  descent  from 
Odin  or  Woden.  The  fens  and  marshes  of  Jutland  are  the 
theatre  of  Beowulf's  extraordinary  feats  :  he  exterminates  the 
terrible  giant  Grendel,  a  scion  of  Cain,  and  the  monstrous  Fire- 
drake,  that  had  so  long  infested  the  land  of  the  Jutes  (Guttones, 
Gothi,  Getae,  Guthi). 

According  to  Sharon  Turner,  "  Beowulf  is  certainly  the  oldest 
poem,  of  an  epic  form,  which  exists  in  Europe."  Yet  he  thinks 
Ethelbert's  Code  antedates  it.  Conybeare,  Professor  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  at  Oxford  University,  1812,  refers  a  part  of  Beowulf  in  its 
original  composition  to  A.D.  450,  thus  making  it  cotemporary 
with  Hengist  and  Horsa.  He  made  a  literal  Latin  and  a  free 
English  translation  of 'it.  Warton,  in  his  "History  of  English 
Poetry"  considers  Beowulf  "a  Dario-Saxon  poem  celebrating  the 
wars,  which  Beowulf,  a  noble  Dane,  descended  from  the  royal 
stem  of  Scyldinge,  waged  against  the  kings  of  Swedeland. 

The  learned  linguist  Ettrnliller,  in  his  translation  of  this  Gotho- 
Germanic  essay,  thinks  it  belongs  to  the  first  half  of  the  eighth 
century.  Thorpe,  the  English  translator,  assigns  it  to  the  middle 
of  the  eleventh  century,  but  regards  the  original  as  written  in 
Sweden  and  brought  to  England  by  the  Danes.  Longfellow  calls 
it  "the  oldest  epic  in  any  modern  language.  Its  style  is  simple, 
perhaps  one  should  say  austere ;  at  times  it  is  tedious,  at  times 
obscure,  and  he  who  undertakes  to  read  the  original  will  find  it 
no  easy  task."  The  erudite  Anglo-Saxon  scholar,  Kemble,  who 
translated  Beowulf  into  English,  thinks  its  perusal  will  repay  any 
one  that  will  read  it  in  a  proper  spirit,  and  make  allowances  for 
the  time  and  circumstances  in  which  it  was  composed.  Oliphant, 
in  his  "Standard  English,"  1873,  observes:  u  Beowulf  is  to  us 
English,  what  the  Iliad  was  to  the  Greeks.  There  is  an  unmis- 
takable Pagan  ring  about  the  poem."  According  to  my  humble 
opinion,  Beowulf's  style,  vocabulary,  and  scarcity  of  particles 
point  more  to  Caedmon's  time  than  any  other,  whatever  may 
have  been  its  original  composition  in  Scandinavia  or  elsewhere, 


114  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

either  A.D.  450,  650,  or  1050.  Its  expressions  "Lif-frea" 
(Lord  of  Life),  "Wuldres  Waldend"  (Prince  of  Glory),  &c.,  and 
its  few  particles,  sound  and  look  like  the  style  and  dialect  of 
Caedmon's  day  (A.D.  650-680).  However,  as  there  is  so  much 
uncertainty  about  the  date  of  this  Medieval  epic,  we  give  no 
Table  therefrom.  It  seems  to  be  pure  Anglo-Saxon  ;  for  we  ex- 
amined forty-two  lines  of  its  Anglo-Saxon  text,  consisting  of  one 
hundred  different  words,  among  which  we  found  not  a  single 
Greco-Latin  term.  To  give  our  readers  some  idea  of  this  ven- 
erable poem,  we  cite  short  specimens  from  Longfellow's  excellent 
version  : 

BEOWULF  THE   SHYLD. 

"  Then  dwelt  in  the  cities  The  delight  of  the  Shylds, 

Beowulf  the  Shyld,  To  him  four  children 

A  king,  dear  to  the  people :  Grew  up  in  the  world, 

Long  did  he  live  Leaders  of  hosts ; 

His  country's  father.  Weorgar  and  Rothgar, 

To  him  was  born  And  Halga  the  good. 

Healfden  the  high ;  And  I  have  heard 

He,  while  he  lived,  That  Helen,  his  queen, 

Reigned  and  grew  old,  Was  born  by  the  Shefmgs,"  &c. 

THE   SAILING    OF  BEOWULF. 

"  Famous  was  Beowulf;  Cling  round  their  leader, 

Wide  sprang  the  blood,  Soon  as  the  war  comes. 

Which  the  heir  of  the  Shylds  Lastly  thy  people 

Shed  on  the  lands.  The  deeds  shall  bepraise, 

So  shall  the  bracelets  Which  their  men  have  performed. 

Purchase  endeavor,  When  the  Shyld  had  awaited 

Freely  presented,  The  time  he  should  stay, 

As  by  thy  fathers ;  Came  many  to  fare 

And  all  the  young  men,  On  the  billows  so  free,"  &c. 
As. is  their  custom, 

BEOWULF'S  EXPEDITION  TO  HEORT. 

"  Then  went  over  the  sea- waves,  So  that  the  sailors 

Hurried  by  the  wind,  The  land  saw, 

The  ship  with  foamy  neck,  The  shore-cliffs  shining, 

Most  like  a  sea- fowl;  Mountains  steep, 

Till  about  one  hour  And  broad  sea-noses. 

Of  the  second  day  Then  was  the  sea  sailing 

The  curved  prow  Of  the  Earl  at  an  end,"  &c. 
Had  passed  onward, 


Eighth  Century.  115 

AN  OLD  MAN'S  SORROW. 

u  Careful,  sorrowing,  Joy  in  the  dwellings, 

He  seeth  in  his  son's  bower  As  there  was  before; 

The  wine-hall  deserted,  Then  departeth  he  into  songs, 
The  resort  of  the  wind  noiseless ;         Singeth  a  lay  of  sorrow, 

The  Knight  sleepeth  One  after  one ; 

The  warrior,  in  darkness  All  seemed  to  him  too  wide 

There  is  not  there  The  plains  and  the  dwelling-place." 
Noise  of  the  harp, 

GOOD   NIGHT. 

"  The  night-helm  grew  dusky,  Provided  all  that 

Dark  over  the  vassals ;  The  thane  needed. 

The  court  all  rose,  Whatsoever  that  day 

The  mingled-haired  The  sailers  over  the  deep 

Old  Scylding  Should  have. 

Would  visit  his  bed  ;  The  magnanimous  warrior  rested ; 

The  Geat  wished  the  The  house  rose  aloft 

Renowned  Warrior  to  rest  Curved  and  variegated  with  gold ; 

Immeasurably  well.  The  stranger  slept  therein, 

Soon  him  the  foreigner,  Until  the  pale  raven, 

Weary  of  his  journey,  Blithe  of  heart, 

The  hall-thane  guided  forth,  Announced  the  joy  of  heaven, 

Who,  after  a  fitting  manner,  The  bright  sun,  to  be  come." 

All  who  review  these  lines  will  think,  with  Kemble,  that  they 
richly  repay  perusal.  First  and  foremost  the  graphic  picture  of 
Beowulf's  family,  with  Helen  as  wife,  mother  and  hostess,  re- 
minds of  Greece,  Troy,  Paris,  and  the  Iliad  ;  "  bracelets  freely 
presented  "  show  gallantry  to  the  fair  sex  among  our  hyperborean 
ancestors  ;  next,  the  ship  with  foamy  neck  hurrying  over  the 
waves  like  a  sea-fowl ;  the  shore-cliffs  shining  like  steep  moun- 
tains, and  the  broad  sea-noses  are  surely  bold  metaphors  ;  finally, 
the  bereft  father,  seeing  his  son's  bower  and  wine  hall  deserted, 
the  harp*  silent,  finds  the  plains  and  the  dwelling-place  too 
wide,  all  of  which  portrays  the  very  acme  of  sorrow  in  a  novel 
manner.  A  poem  of  such  force,  pathos,  and  primitive  simplicity, 
even  counting  6,000  lines,  could  not  be  tedious,  if  read  in  short 

*  The  mention  of  this  instrument  seems  to  indicate  that  this  poem  was 
composed  after  Alfred  the  Great  had  immortalized  the  harp.  Hence  the  ob- 
scurity and  mystery  about  the  date  of  Beowulf. 


Ii6  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

lectures  and  with  a  desire  to  know  the  primitive  history  and  char- 
acter of  a  race.  As  the  author's  name  of  this  hyperborean  lay 
has  not  reached  us,  let  us  style  him  The  Northern  Homer  or 
Hesiod. 

EXTRACTS  AND  TABLES  FROM  ANGLO-SAXON  WRITINGS  OF  THE 
EIGHTH  CENTURY,  SHOWING  THE  STYLE  AND  NUMERIC  ORI- 
GIN OF  THEIR  VOCABULARY  : 

The  Anglo-Saxon  Code  of  Ina,  King  of  Wessex,  opens  this 
age.  It  consists  of  seventy-nine  articles  written  from  689  to  728, 
and  forms  the  basis  for,  the  laws  of  Alfred  the  Great.  In  the 
annals  of  the  Heptarchy  Ina's  reign  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
prosperous.  He  could  moderate  the  Anglo-Saxon  desire  for  war, 
as  shown  by  his  peaceful  settlement  with  Kent.  He,  first  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  kings,  showed  clemency  to  the  conquered  Britons 
in  Cornwall.  Before  his  day  all  the  prisoners  were  killed.  The 
vocabulary  and  style  of  his  code  evince  linguistic  and  literary 
progress.  After  convincing  the  world  of  his  valor  and  states- 
manship, Ina  intrusted  his  kingdom  to  his  brother-in-law,  Ade- 
lard,  and  went  with  his  pious  queen,  Ethelburga,  to  Rome,  where 
he  died.  The  accurate  historian,  Matthew  of  Westminster,  tells 
us  that  this  good  king  and  patron  of  learning  founded  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  College  at  Rome,  and  assigned  for  its  support  one  penny 
per  year  on  every  house  in  his  kingdom.  This  tax,  called  Rome- 
scot,  was  extended  subsequently  by  Offa,  King  of  Mercia,  on  all 
the  houses  of  Mercia  and  East  Anglia  ;  and  as  the  money,  thus 
collected,  was  paid  at  Rome  on  the  day  of  St.  Peter,  it  was  styled 
Peter-Pence.  It  is  said  the  popes  afterwards  pretended  that  it 
was  a  tribute  which  the  English  were  to  pay  to  St.  Peter  and  his 
successors.  It  is  evident  that  Ina  was  a  zealous  advocate  of 
classic  education  ;  for  he  died  at  Rome  while  founding  his  col- 
lege. The  Extract  from  Ina's  Code  is  followed  by  one  from 
the  "Saxon  Chronicle"  from  A.D.  788  to  795.  As  there  was  no 
regular  Anglo  Saxon  author  in  this  century,  we  took  Extracts 
and  Tables  from  these  writings. 


Eighth   Century. 


117 


Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


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Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


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Eighth  Century.  123 

Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from  the  two  preceding  Tables  of 
the  Eighth  Century. 


Greek  :  i 

Latin:  21 

French  :  *  2  > 

words:  176. 

Anglo-Saxon:  152 


Greco-Latin  :  24     Total  of  the  different 


Gotho-Germanic  :  152 


Hence  the  style  of  Anglo-Saxon  writing  in  the 
eighth  century  shows  a  vocabulary  of  different 
words  containing  about 

86  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon,  and 
14    "      "      Greco-Latin. 

66  of  the  152  different  Anglo-Saxon  words,  or 
forty-four  per  cent.,  are  now  obsolete. 

9  of  the  152  different  Anglo-Saxon  words,  or 
only  six  per  cent.,  are  now  spelt  as  they  were  in  the 
eighth  century. 

The  conversion  of  the  Germans,  started  by  Wilbrord  and  Suid- 
bert,  found  a  zealous  champion  in  Win/rid,  born  in  Devonshire, 
A.D.  680.  To  omit  him  would  leave  the  Anglo-Saxon  Christian 
legion  in  Germany  without  its  eminent  chief.  His  arduous  labors 
in  that  country  continued  over  thirty  years.  Thuringia,  Hesse, 
Friesland,  Saxony,  and  Bavaria  witnessed  his  eloquence,  zeal  and 
fervor.  To  him  many  cathedrals,  schools,  and  monasteries  owed 
their  origin.  Pope  Leo.  III.  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  Arch- 
bishop and  Primate  of  Germany,  under  the  highly  appropriate 
name  of  Boniface,  A.D.  732.  By  him  Pepin  le  Bref,  father  of 
Charlemagne,  was  consecrated  King  of  the  Franks,  A.D.  752. 
Pepin  le  Bref  returned  the  compliment  by  creating  Boniface 
Archbishop  of  Mentz.  Yet,  after  all,  Germany's  great  apostle 
was  murdered  near  Dokkum,  with  his  companions,  by  a  band  of 

*  First  French  words  found  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  :  seint  and  nefa, 
now  saint  and  nephew. 


124  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

armed  Pagan  Frisians,  while  on  an  excursion  to  further  diffuse 
Christianity  and  civilization,  A.D.  754.  England  and  Germany 
must  ever  look  with  pride  and  gratitude  to  Winfrid  (peace-win- 
ner) or  Boniface  (benefactor).  Thus  his  Anglo-Saxon  and  Latin 
names  express  his  life  and  character. 

PROGRESS   OF   OTHER   MEDIEVAL    DIALECTS   IN   THE    EIGHTH 

CENTURY. 

Up  to  the  eighth  century  the  Anglo-Saxons  were  the  only 
Medieval  people  that  had  writing  in  their  native  dialect,  except 
the  Goths,  who  had  Ulfilas'  translation  of  the  Bible  from  Greek 
into  Gothic,  A.D.  376,  and  perhaps  the  Irish  "  Leabhar  nah- 
Uidhei."  Francic,  or  High  German,  was  the  next  Medieval  dia- 
lect that  found  written  expression.  As  Francic  has  so  much  in 
common  with  Anglo-Saxon,  we  give  a  specimen  with  literal 
English,  in  order  to  enable  readers  to  judge,  not  only  of  the 
analogy  between  the  two  idioms,  but  to  account  for  the  amity 
that  existed  between  the  Franks  and  Anglo-Saxons  prior  to  the 
hatred  and  wars  fostered  by  the  Normano-Plantagenet  and  Cape- 
dan  dynasties.  The  earliest  Francic  MS.,  supposed  to  date  to 
A.D.  720,  is  an  exhortation  to  Christians,  found  at  the  bishopric 
of  Freisingen  (Bavaria)  and  Fulde  (Hesse),  but  now  at  Munich 
and  Cassel. 

Francic : 

"  Hloset  ir,  chindo  liupostun,  rihtida  thera  galaupa  the  ir  in  herzin  kahuc- 
clicho  hapen  sculut,  ir  den  christanun  namun  intfangan  eigut,  thaz  ist  chun- 
dida  iuuerera  christanheiti,  fona  demo  truhtine  in  man  gaplasan,  fona  sin 
selpes  jungiron  kasezzit." 

i 

English   Translation  : 

Listen  ye,  children  dear,  to  the  instruction  of  the  faith,  which  you  in  heart 
shall  carefully  have,  (after)  you  once  received  the  Christian  name,  that  is,  the 
knowledge  of  your  Christianity,  inspired  by  the  Lord,  (and)  established  by  his 
own  disciples. 

In  this  Francic  Extract  are  twenty-eight  different  words,  twenty- 
•six  of  which  are  somewhat  analogous  in  meaning  and  spelling  to 
twenty-six  Anglo-Saxon,  twenty-three  English,  and  twenty-four 
German  words,  as  may  be  observed  by  the  following  Table: 


Eig  h  th  Cen  tu  ry . 


12 


FRANCIC  : 

ANGLO-SAXON  : 

ENGLISH  : 

GERMAN  : 

Hloset 
chin  do 
liupostun 
nhtida 
thera 

Hlosniaih 
cylda 
luflicostu 
riht 
thaere 

listen 
children 
loveliest 
right 

lauschet 
kinder 
liebsten 
rich  tig 
der 

1galaupa 
the 
in 
herzin 
^kahucclicho 

*geleafa 
the 
on 
heorte 
*gehuged 

belief 
the 
in 
heart 

glauben 
die 
in 
herzen 

hapen 
sculut 
christanum 
namun 
intfangan 
thaz 
ist 
chundida 
iuuerera 
fona 
truhtine2 

habban 
sceolon 
cristene 
naman 
ymbfangen 
thaet 
is 
cunnan 
eowera 
fram 
dryhten2 

have 
shall 
Christian 
name 

that 
is 
knowledge 
your 
from 

haben 
sollet 
christlich 
namen 
enphangen 
das 
ist 
kunde 
eurer 
von 

man 
*gaplasan 
selpses 
jungiron 
1kasezzit 

man 

*geblawen 

.  self. 
iongir 
1gesette 

man 
blown 
self 
younger 
set 

mann 
1geblasen 
selbst 
jiinger 
^esetzt 

1  Note  the  prefix  ga  and  ka  in  Francic  and  ge  in  Anglo-Saxon  and  German. 

2  Note  the  Francic  and  Anglo-Saxon  name  for  Lord,  obsolete  in  English  and  German. 

Such  was  the  dialect  of  Pepin  and  Charlemagne.  No  wonder 
Wilbrord  and  Winfrid,  Alcuin  and  Egbert  liked  to  visit  their  kind 
neighbors,  the  Franks.  The  Anglo-Saxon  and  Francic  dialects, 
manners  and  customs  being  so  much  alike,  they  could  easily  un- 
derstand, and  sympathize  with  each  other.  We  might  quote  from 
the  song  of  "Hildibraht  and  Hadubrant"  A.D.  730;  from  the 
hymn  in  honor  of  St.  Peter,  and  from  the  "  Wessobrunn  Prayer" 
all  Francic  MSS.  of  the  eighth  century.  As  yet  no  vestige  of 
writing  in  French,  Italian,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  or  any  other 
European  Medieval  dialect.  True,  it  is  claimed  by  Scandinavian 
archeologists,  that  part  of  a  poem  in  "Danska  Tunga "  (old 
Danish,  Icelandic,  Cimbric,  Old  Norse,  Scandic,  or  Norwegian), 
by  Starkad,  antedates  A.D.  645  ;  but  this  claim  needs  confirma- 
tion. It  is  curious  to  observe  that  most  of  the  numerous  Anglo- 
Saxon  words,  now  obsolete  in  English,  are  to  be  found  in  modern 
German,  Danish,  Swedish  and  Dutch. 

Grimm  and  other  German  and  Scandinavian  archeologists, 
claim  that  parts  of  the  '^Poetic  &dda"  are  of  very  high -antiquity ; 
yet  we  are  assured  that  Saemund,  born  in  Iceland,  10,56,  was 
the  first  compiler  of  the  Poetic  Edda,  that  he  appears  to  have 


126  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

written  some  of  these  poetic  effusions  from  the  recital  of  cotem- 
porary  skalds  (bards),  and  that  he  collected  others  from  MSS. 
However,  we  are  shown  none  of  those  MSS ;  nor  are  we  told 
where  they  are  to  be  found,  either  in  Iceland,  Denmark,  or  Swe- 
den. We  are  sure  that  Iceland  was  settled  a  thousand  years  ago, 
for  its  millennium  was  celebrated  1874.  We  also  read  that  after 
many  attempts  to  decipher  the  Runic  characters  on  the  rock  at 
Hoby  in  the  province  of  Bleking,  Sweden,  Finn  Magnusen  suc- 
ceeded in  explaining  those  Runes  as  soon  as  he  tried  to  read 
them  from  right  to  left.  He  says  they  are  in  Old  Danish  and 
mean  :  "  Him  have  I  among  men  of  the  human  race,  among 
warriors,  found  the  strongest  of  body."  Hence,  it  is  asserted 
that  these  Runes  remount  to  A.D.  770 — upon  what  grounds 
we  fail  to  see.  After  perusing  most  that  has  been  written  on 
Scandinavian  archeology,  we  cannot  help  lauding  the  untiring 
research  of  those  Northern  savants;  but  we  must  confess  that 
their  claims  to  a  higher  antiquity  than  the  eleventh  century, 
for  any  Northern  writings  or  Runes,  rest  on  a  very  slender 
basis,  and  can  disturb  neither  the  precedence  of  Gildas'  History 
(A.D.  546),  Ethelbert's  Code,  A.D.  597,  Caedmon's  Poems,  680, 
Bede's  History,  A.D.  730,  Beowulf,  Ina's  Code,  820,  MSS.  of 
which  are  extant.  No  Medieval  writing  in  any  modern  dialect, 
except  Ulfilas'  Gothic  Version  of  the  Scriptures,  A.D.  376,  has 
yet  been  found  that  antedates  them.  Thus,  in  spite  of  German 
and  Scandinavian  efforts,  it  remains  evident  that  Anglo-Saxon 
records  antedate  all  writings  in  other  Medieval  dialects,  except 
Gothic,  and  perhaps  Irish,  if  the  "  Saltair  of  Tara  "  and  "Leab- 
har  nah-Uidhei"  are  authentic  and  genuine. 

The  eighth  century  abounded  in  startling  events  and  useful 
improvements  :  Mohammed's  religion  had  so  much  elastic  ad- 
venture as  to  expand  within  ninety  years  from  Arabia  to  Spain, 
which  the  Saracens  invaded  A.D.  712,  and  conquered  from  the 
last  Gothic  ruler  in  Spain,  whom  Southey  portrays  in  his  famous 
poem  styled  "  Eoderick  the  Goth."  The  Mohammedan  victors 
left  to  the  vanquished  Christians  their  property,  laws,  worship, 
and  contented  themselves  with  a  slight  tribute  and  the  honor  of 
commanding  ;  consequently  the  Spaniards  often  intermarried  with 
the  Saracens  and  called  themselves  "Mosarabs"  (meaning  half 
Spanish,  half  Arabian).  About  A.D.  732,  Abder- Rahman,  leader 


Eighth  Century.  12 J 

of  the  Saracens,  penetrated  France  as  far  as  Tours,  where  the 
Franks,  under  Charles  Martel,  met  the  invaders,  defeated  them 
with  immense  slaughter,  and  checked  Moslem  conquests  in  West- 
ern Europe. 

The  dating  of  the  years  from  Christ's  incarnation  commenced 
A.D.  743  ;  and  the  collection  of  books  for  the  famous  library  of 
the  Vatican,  A.D.  750.  Charlemagne,  invited  to  protect  the 
Pope  against  the  Lombards,  crossed  the  Alps  and  put  an  end  to 
the  kingdom  of  Lombardy,  A.D.  774.  Next  he  conquered  the 
Saxons,  and  extended  his  empire  from  the  Ebro  to  the  Baltic  and 
Hungary.  His  fame  reached  the  Empress  Irene,  who  it  is  said, 
wished  to  wed  the  western  hero.  No  doubt  the  Roman  hier- 
archy encouraged  a  union  that  offered  a  chance  to  wipe  out  the 
difference  between  Rome  and  Constantinople,  and  to  reconcile 
the  Eastern  and  Western  Christians.  Charlemagne's  renown  also 
echoed  to  Bagdad,  whence  the  Caliph,  Haroun-al-Raschid,  sent 
ambassadors  with  rich  presents  to  the  great  Ruler  of  Western 
Europe.  The  Saracens  from  Bagdad  to  Granada  so  cultivated 
literature,  art,  and  science,  that  Arabian  thought,  ideas  and  wri- 
tings influenced  and  enriched  the  Medieval  languages  and  litera- 
tures of  Europe.  Geber,  the  father  of  chemistry,  was  a  Saracen 
of  Mesopotamia.  While  trying  to  ascertain  the  degree  of  fusi- 
bility of  the  metals,  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  them  into  gold, 
he  discovered  nitric  acid,  corrosive  sublimate,  nitrate  of  silver, 
&c.,  which  found  their  way  to  Europe,  where  they  have  been 
advantageously  used  over  a  thousand  years.  Dr.  Hoefer  says, 
in  his  History  of  Chemistry,  that  Geber  was  to  chemistry  what 
Hippocrates  was  to  medicine.  The  keen  critic,  Cardan,  ranks 
Geber  among  the  twelve  greatest  intellects  of  the  world.  Hence 
Mesopotamia,  that  gave  hospitality  to  Abraham,  and  wives  to 
Isaac  and  Jacob  ages  before  our  era,  may  feel  proud  for  giving 
birth  to  Geber  about  A.D.  750. 

This  century  witnessed  the  first  foreign  expanse  of  England's 
language.  Historians  and  critics  saw  in  King  Ina's  College  at 
Rome,  A.D.  728,  only  the  origin  of  the  Peter-Pence  and  Eng- 
land's subserviency  to  the  Pope.  While  we  concede  this  point, 
we  behold  in  the  founding  of  that  institution  something  more 
than  mere  pennies  and  priestly  trickery  :  Rome  was  the  World's 
Metropolis,  whose  streets  and  palaces  resounded  with  Latin  and 


128  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Greek,  the  two  most  polished  languages  of  that  day.  A  sagacious 
king  of  the  British  Isles  resigned  the  care  of  his  small  realm, 
visited  proud  Rome  with  his  devoted  queen,  Ethelburga,  and 
conceived  the  idea  of  founding  a  college,  where  youths  of  his 
country  could  be  educated,  acquire  not  only  Latin,  but  the 
manners  and  refinement  of  Rome,  and  carry  them  back  to  their 
benighted  countrymen.  This  surely  was  a  laudable  ambition 
even  for  a  king  to  possess  ;  for,  while  those  Anglo-Saxon  youths 
dwelt  in  Rome,  they  listened  to  Latin  accents  and  mixed  with 
them  the  sounds  of  their  native  tongue,  which  caused  Romans  to 
realize,  that  there  was  an  aspiring  nation  and  language  in  the 
British  Isles  even  at  that  early  Medieval  period.  Viewed  in  this 
light,  Ina's  College  at  Rome,  A.D.  728,  was  the  first  step 
towards  the  future  expanse  of  England's  language.  From  that 
date  Anglo-Saxon  scholars  began  to  appreciate  Latin  linguistic 
gems.  A  king  from  humble  Wessex  started  this  glorious  educa- 
tional movement,  whether  conscious  or  unconscious  of  ultimate 
effects  it  matters  not ;  the  result  was  the  same ;  for  Anglo- 
Saxon  was  heard  in  Rome,  where  by  concession  it  obtained  a 
home  and  abiding-place  amid  all  that  was  intellectual  and  refined 
in  Greco-Latin  civilization.  Hence  the  English-speaking  popu- 
lations may  consider  Ina  as  one  of  the  earliest  champions  of 
classic  education,  and  the  first  diffuser  of  England's  language. 


NINTH    CENTURY. 


"  I  desired  to  live  worthily,  while  I  lived,  and,  after  my  life,  to  leave  to  the  men  who  should 
follow  me,  a  remembrance  in  good  works." — ALFRED  THE  GREAT. 


THE  small  realm  of  Wessex  gave  birth  to  a  princely  cion, 
cherished  by  all  except  a  jealous  royal  kinsman.  Thinking  his 
life  in  danger  at  home,  he  went  to  a  foreign  court,  where  he 
acquired  not  only  learning,  but  the  science  of  war  and  govern- 
ment. 

An  intriguing  queen  instigated  a  poisoned  cup  to  be  prepared 
for  one  of  her  courtiers,  but  accident  brought  it  to  the  lips  of  her 
royal  consort,  who  drank  it  and  died.  The  nation,  incensed  at 
this  foul  deed,  called  for  vengeance.  The  guilty  queen  fled,  and 
after  many  vicissitudes  died  miserably  at  Pavia,  in  Italy. 

The  people  that  had  lost  their  king  remembered  the  prince, 
his  cousin,  who  was  abroad,  and  sent  after  him  a  deputation  of 
nobles,  who  found  him  a  scholar,  warrior,  and  statesman.  He 
returned  with  them  to  his  beloved  country,  A.D.  800,  and  ex- 
tended his  dominion  over  the  entire  Heptarchy.  The  prince  to 
whom  I  allude  was  Egbert,  his  jealous  kinsman  was  Brithric, 
King  of  the  West  Saxons.  The  intriguing  queen  was  Eadburga, 
daughter  of  Offa,  King  of  Mercia.  The  monarch,  at  whose  court 
Egbert  found  all  those  advantages  was,  Charlemagne,  who,  at 
parting,  girded  Egbert  with  his  favorite  weapon,  saying  : 

"Your  swoiii,  Prince,  has  honorably  served  me,  take  mine  ;  may  it  render 
equal  service  to  you." 

This  touching  anecdote  is  related  by  Eginhard,  C.  16.  It  is 
said  Egbert  caused  the  Heptarchy  to  be  called  "  Angla-land" 
its  dialect  "  Anglish"  and  assumed  the  title  King  of  Angla-land, 
which  was  confirmed  by  a  decree  of  the  Witenagemote,  A.D.  828. 


130  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Thenceforth  England  was  a  unit  in  nationality  and  language. 
Behold  posterity's  eulogy  on  Angla-land's  first  king  : 

"  Serving  in  the  armies  of  Charlemagne,  the  most  able  and  most  generous 
prince  that  had  appeared  in  Europe  during  several  ages,  Egbert  had  acquired 
those  accomplishments,  which  afterwards  enabled  him  to  make  such  a  shining 
figure  on  the  throne  ;  and,  familiarizing  himself  to  the  manners  of  the  French, 
who,  as  Malmesbury  observes,  were  eminent  both  for  valor  and  civility  above 
all  the  western  nations,  he  learned  to  polish  the  rudeness  and  barbarity  of  the 
Saxon  character." — Hume. 

u  The  historian  hastens  to  commemorate  in  the  accession  of  the  Great 
Egbert  the  true  commencement  of  England's  History." — Peitit  Andrews. 

Egbert's  reign  would  have  been  prosperous,  had  not  the  piratic 
Danes  harassed  various  parts  of  the  realm,  especially  Northum- 
bria,  whose  dialect  their  long  residence  so  altered  that  it  was 
called  Dano-Saxon. 

King  Egbert,  though  a  Saxon  by  birth,  seems  to  have  had  a 
predilection  for  the  Angles  ;  for,  when  he  captured  the  ancient 
Mona,  he  called  it  Anglesey,  a  name  it  bore  ever  since.  After 
he  had  succeeded  in  uniting  the  jarring  elements  of  his  country, 
he  issued  an  edict,  dated  Winchester,  A.D.  827,  abolishing  the 
distinction  of  Saxons,  Jutes,  and  English,  ordering  all  his  subjects 
thenceforth  to  be  called  the  latter  name  only.  There  is  to  this 
day,  in  the  duchy  of  Schleswig,  a  district  called  "  Anglcn" 
Thus  the  name  of  that  comparatively  small  and  obscure  Gotho- 
Germanic  tribe  has  been  for  fifteen  centuries  cherished,  not  only 
in  the  Eatherland  and  in  Britain,  but  in  the  Attica  of  America, 
NEW  ENGLAND.  No  doubt  the  magnanimous  Egbert,  justly  sur- 
named  "The  Great/'  remembered  that  the  brightest  intellects  of 
his  nation,  such  as  Edwin,  Biscop,  Caedmon,  Bede,  Alcuin,  &c., 
sprang  from  the  Angles;  he  added  to  his  realm  Cornwall  and 
Chester  about  A.D.  810. 

Egbert  reigned  from  800  to  837,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Ethelwulph,  who  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome  with  his  youngest 
son,  Alfred,  upon  whom  Pope  Leo  IV.  conferred  the  royal  unc- 
tion. On  his  return  Ethelwulph  visited  Charles  the  Bald,  King 
of  France,  whose  daughter,  Judith,  he  married  and  took  to  Eng- 
land. The  ravages  of  the  Norsemen  continued  during  the  reigns 
of  Alfred's  elder  brothers. 

In  872  Alfred,  the  scholar  and  statesman,  mounted  the  throne, 


Ninth  Century.  131 

while  the  savage  northern  rovers  swarmed  all  over  his  desolated 
kingdom.  The  loss  of  the  stronghold  Chippenham  caused  Al- 
fred's dispirited  army  to  abandon  their  king,  who,  in  a  rustic  garb, 
concealed  himself  in  a -barren  island,  since  called  Ethelingay* 
(Isle  of  Nobles).  There  the  forsaken  monarch  passed  nearly 
a  year  with  a  herdsman,  named  Denewulsus,  where  he  thought 
over  and  contrived  the  means  of  defeating  his  foes.  We  might 
here  relate  the  anecdotes  told  by  Asser,  Bishop  Goodwin,  and 
Malmesbury,  of  Alfred's  forbearance,  when  the  herdsman's  wife 
scolded  him  for  letting  the  cakes  burn  that  she  had  told  him  to 
watch.  She  said,  "  You  can  eat  them  readily  enough,  I'll  war- 
rant, although  you  will  not  take  the  trouble  to  keep  them  from 

*  Here  was  found  the  beautiful  gem  worn  by  King  Alfred,  and  now  pre- 
served in  the  Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford.  The  setting  is  of  pure  gold, 
containing  colored  stones,  cased  in  very  thick  crystal ;  though  a  thousand 
years  old  it  is  in  perfect  preservation  ;  it  only  looks  a  little  dingy  for  the  great 
length  of  time  that  passed  over  it.  It  is  about  two  inches  long  and  half  an 
inch  thick  ;  round  the  edge  is  engraved  :  f  AELFRED  MEG  HEHGEGE 
WYRCAN  (Alfred  me  had  worked)  in  pierced  gold  letters.  Alfred's  name 
is  preceded  by  a  cross.  The  narrow  end  of  the  gem,  at  which  the  first  and 
last  words  of  this  inscription  meet,  is  formed  into  the  head  of  a  griffin,  the 
national  emblem  of  the  Saxons,  having  in  its  mouth  a  strong  gold  rivet,  to 
which  a  chain  was  probably  attached.  Its  flat  form  indicates  that  it  was 
worn  on  the  breast,  hanging  from  the  chain  that  passed  around  the  neck,  in 
a  way  similar  to  ornaments  which  are  yet  worn  by  royalty  on  state  occa- 
sions. The  background  is  composed  of  a  blue  stone,  on  which  appears  a 
human  figure,  clothed  in  a  tunic  and  girt  with  a  belt,  from  which  a  strap  for 
a  sword  hangs  towards  the  left  side.  The  figure  is  seated  on  a  throne,  with 
a  cyne-helm  or  crown  on  its  head,  holding  in  each  hand  a  scepter,  branched 
out  into  fleurs-de-lis.  Some  antiquaries  think  the  figure  represents  King  Al- 
fred ;  others  say  it  is  meant  for  Jesus  Christ ;  others  again  consider  it  as  St. 
Cuthbert,  who  was  a  patron  of  King  Alfred.  It  is  claimed  that  one  of  the 
scepters  represents  the  spiritual  and  the  other  the  temporal  power,  united 
in  Alfred's  hands.  The  production  of  such  jewels  has  been  ascribed  to  monks, 
•who,  according  to  Malmesbury,  were  the  most  skilled  artists  of  that  period  in 
England,  so  much  so,  that  curious  reliquaries,  finely  worked  and  set  with 
precious  stones,  were  called  throughout  Europe  "  Opera  Anglica"  (English 
works).  The  figure  in  this  Alfredan  jewel  has  a  very  oriental  look.  India, 
China  and  Japan  have  been  producing  the  like  for  ages,  and  are  producing 
such  now.  As  Sighelm  brought  many  curious  jewels  to  Alfred  from  India, 
A.D.  883,  is  it  not  possible  that  this  very  gem  in  the  jewel  now  in  Oxford 
was  brought  from  India  by  Sighelm,  and  Alfred  had  it  set  in  England? 


132  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

being  scorched."  Instead  of  resenting  the  woman's  harshness. 
Alfred  subsequently  founded  a  monastery  on  the  site  of  the 
herdsman's  hut,  and  finding  Denewulsus  capable  of  receiving 
an  education,  had  him  instructed  and  made  him  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester. 

After  about  a  year  of  concealment  the  deserted  king  commu- 
nicated with  his  friends,  raised  their  spirits,  entered  the  enemy's 
camp  as  a  harper,  and  charmed  the  Danes  so  much,  that  they 
introduced  him  to  their  Prince  Guthrum,  who  kept  Alfred  several 
days  in  his  tent,  where  he  had  ample  opportunity  to  see  the  utter 
abandon  and  security  of  his  foes.  On  his  release  from  the  Danish 
camp,  Alfred  collected  an  army,  fell  on  the  Danes,  killed  most 
of  them,  and  confined  the  small  remainder  to  Northumbria,  where 
they  had  pillaged  and  burned  everything.  Guthrum  and  the 
remnant  of  his  people  became  Christian,  and  swore  allegiance  to 
Alfred. 

When  these  wars  had  passed,  Alfred  found  time  to  turn  a  new 
leaf  in  his  country's  history:  he  realized  the  proneness  of  his 
subjects  to  superstition,  which  destroyed  their  former  courage  and 
rendered  them  an  easy  prey  to  their  enemies.  He  saw  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  language  drifting  into  a  meaningless  jargon,  that  was 
neither  Anglo-Saxon,  Danish,  Celtic,  Gothic,  German,  Greek, 
nor  Latin.  In  looking  over  his  country's  literature,  he  found 
about  one  page  of  Anglo-Saxon  to  nine  pages  of  poor  Latin. 
He  also  witnessed  the  low  standard  of  popular  education.  To 
remedy  these  defects  the  statesman  and  king  turned  his  attention 
to  the  establishment  of  a  vigilant  executive  and  judiciary,  sus- 
tained by  a  militia  and  navy.  The  kingdom  he  divided  into 
counties  and  districts,  with  proper  officers,  judges  and  justices, 
and  instituted  a  kind  of  "trial  by  jury. ,"  Next  he  founded  uni- 
versities and  schools,  and  enjoined  parents  to  send  their  children 
to  be  instructed.  He  invited  foreigners  to  his  dominions,  where 
he  fostered  both  native  and  foreign  industry  and  manufactures. 
Asser,  Alfred's  biographer,  tells  us  that  this  knowledge-craving 
sovereign  sent  for  teachers  to  France,  whence  Fulco  (Foulques), 
Archbishop  of  Rheims,  sent  Grimbald  and  John,  learned  in  the 
Scriptures  and  skilled  in  literary  science  and  in  many  arts ;  that  by 
the  teaching  of  these  men  the  king's  mind  was  much  enlarged  ;  and 
that  he  carried  in  his  bosom  a  book,  as  large  as  a  psalter,  full  of 


Ninth  Century.  133 

various  matters,  which  he  called  his  "Enchiridion*  or  Manual." 
Thus  the  Anglo-Saxons  and  Franks  interchanged  teachers  to 
promote  education  and  progress.  Foulques'  letter  to  Alfred  is 
now  cited  in  Alfred's  biographies,  and  throws  much  light  on  the 
circumstances  of  that  period. 

To  foster  his  native  tongue -and  encourage  its  development,  he 
invited  scholars  to  read  their  Anglo-Saxon  books  to  him.  He 
discouraged  Latin,  saying  :  "  He  knew  not  one  priest,  either  north 
or  south  of  the  Thames,  who  could  interpret  the  Latin  service 
of  the  Church."  He  engaged  Werefrith,  Bishop  of  Worcester, 
to  translate  Pope  Gregory's  "Dialogues"  from -Latin  into  Anglo- 
Saxon.  He  read  Anglo-Saxon  books,  learned  Anglo-Saxon  poems 
by  heart,  recited  them  and  encouraged  others  to  do  the  same. 
He  translated  Esop's  Fables  from  Greek  into  his  native  dialect, 
wrote  parables  and  stories,  Anglo-Saxonized  Bede's  "  Ecclesias- 
tica  Historia  Gentis  Anglorum"  and  added  to  it  the  poem  Cad- 
mon  sang  while  guarding  the  cattle.  To  Alfred,  England  is  in- 
debted for  the  earliest  translation  of  Orosius'  "  Historiarum 
Libri  F7f."  He  not  only  paraphrased  Boethius'  "  De  Consola- 
tione  Philosophies"  but  amplified,  improved  and  seasoned  it  with 
his  royal  experience.  He  also  translated  Pope  Gregory's  "  Pas- 
toralisT  Alfred's  "  Last  Will  and  Testament "  is  a  masterpiece 
of  clear,  strong,  Laconic  writing,  as  may  be  realized  by  our  quo- 
tations from  his  works. 

The  Benet  Manuscript,  which  is  the  first  and  earliest  of  the 
nine  Manuscripts  that  constitute  the  " Saxon  Chronicle"  is  now 
thought  to  have  been  originally  written  by  Alfred  the  Great. 
Some  copyist  mistook  Alfric  for  Alfred,  and  the  mistake  was 
copied  by  Hickes,  Cave,  and  Wharton. 

Brady  on  Boroughs  ascribes  to  Alfred  the  Great  a  census  and 
survey  of  England,  which,  it  is  thought,  gave  William  the  Con- 
queror the  idea  of  the  "Domesday  Books"  Hence,  Alfred  may 
be  styled  the  earliest  statistician. 

In  Wilkins'  "Leges  Anglo- Saxonica"  L.  E.,  p.  28,  is  Alfred's 
Code,  written  in  Anglo-Saxon,  from  which  we  give  an  Extract 

*  This  expressive  Greek  term,  used  by  the  sage  and  king  a  thousand  years 
ago,  heads  Hufeland's  forty  years'  medical  practice.  Thus  the  stream  of 
language  flows  on  from  generation  to  generation. 


134  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

and  Table.  It  begins  with  the  Decalogue,  which  this  wise  king 
thought  would  give  more  authority  and  challenge  readier  obedi- 
ence. In  the  body  of  this  Code,  Article  49,  the  great  Anglo- 
Saxon  ruler  adds  :  "  I  then,  Alfred,  King,  gathered  and  caused 
to  be  copied  such  of  the  laws  of  my  ancestors  as  pleased  me,  and 
with  the  approbation  of  my  \Yitans-\  rejected  such  as  displeased 
me.  I  did  not  venture  to  add  many  of  my  own,  because  I  knew 
not  whether  they  would  please  my  successors.  In  my  collection 
are  found  laws  of  Ina,  my  kinsman,  of  Off  a,  King  of  Mercia,  or 
of  Ethelbert,  who  took  baptism  first  among  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 
I  then,  Alfred,  King  of  the  West  Saxons,  showed  these  to  all  my 
Witans,  who  said  that  all  appeared  good  and  worth  keeping." 
Here  again  the  conciliatory  spirit  and  modesty  of  the  great  Anglo- 
Saxon  ruler  is  the  prominent  feature. 

Such  was  the  intellectual  and  moral  legacy  Alfred  left  to  his 
country.  He  truly  deserved  the  surname  Great,  especially  when 
we  consider  the  time  and  circumstances  in  which  he  lived.  Asser 
says : 

"Towards  the  close  of  his  life,  Alfred  desired  to  divide  his  time  into  three 
parts  :  one  to  devote  to  business,  another  to  study  and  devotion,  and  the  third 
to  rest  and  sleep.  To  measure  time  he  had  recourse  to  wax  candles,  that 
would  burn  just  twenty-four  hours;  but,  as  the  air  disturbed  their  burning 
uniformly,  he  constructed  a  lantern  of  transparent  horn,  in  which  they  could 
burn  undisturbed." 

Thus  the  ingenious  monarch  supplied  the  want  of  clocks  and 
watches,  as  previously  stated. 

I  might  speak  of  his  musical  talent  and  harp,  that  rendered 
such  signal  service  in  the  enemy's  camp  ;  of  his  privations  at 
Ethelingay  ;  I  might  extol  his  courage,  heroism,  and  persever- 
ance through  fifty-two  battles  on  land  and  at  sea ;  but  I  leave  all 
that  to  others  and  pass  to  a  tamer  theme,  as  told  by  one  who  was 
at  his  court,  and  an  eye-witness  of  all  he  related  : 

"Alfred  was  a  most  acute  investigator  in  passing  sentence,  as  he  was  in  all 
other  things.  He  inquired  into  almost  all  the  judgments,  which  were  given  in 
his  own  absence,  throughout  all  his  dominions,  whether  they  were  just  or 
unjust.  If  he  perceived  that  there  was  iniquity  in  those  judgments,  he  sum- 
moned the  judges,  either  through  his  own  agency  or  through  others  of  his 
faithful  servants,  and  asked  them  mildly  why  they  had  judged  so  unjustly ; 
whether  through  ignorance  or  malevolence:  namely,  whether  for  the  love  or 


Ninth  Century.  135 

fear  of  any  one,  or  hatred  of  others  ;  or  for  the  desire  of  money.  Finally,  if 
the  judges  acknowledged  that  they  had  given,  such  judgment,  because  they 
knew  no  better,  he  discreetly  and  moderately  reproved  their  inexperience  and 
folly  in  such  terms  as  these  :  *  I  wonder  truly  at  your  insolence,  that,  whereas 
by  God's  favor  and  mine,  you  have  occupied  the  place  and  office  of  the  wise, 
you  have  neglected  the  studies  and  labors  of  the  wise.  Therefore,  either  give 
up  at  once  discharging  the  duties  of  the  office  you  hold,  or  else  study  more 
zealously  the  lessons  of  wisdom.  Such  are  my  commands.'  At  words  like 
these,  earls  and  prefects  would  tremble,  and  endeavor  to  turn  all  their  thoughts 
to  the  study  of  justice." 
• 

From  Dickens'  account  in  ^  Bleak  House"  England  needs 
an  Alfred  at  this  present  day  ;  while  the  United  States,  especially 
New  York  City,  need  as  many  Alfreds  as  there  are  courts  ;  for, 
with  the  referee  system  as  now  carried  on,  both  plaintiff  and 
defendant  are  ruined  and  sick  before  they  get  into  court.  As  to 
the  impeachment  of  judges  before  a  senate,  it  is  a  costly  farce. 
This  corrupt  judiciary  alone  is  enough  to  ruin  the  Republic. 

To  fully  appreciate  the  character  of  Alfred,  we  must  go  back 
to  his  childhood  and  youth,  of  which  his  cotemporary  Asser  says  : 

"  He  was-  not  only  loved  by  his  parents,  but  by  all  the  people.  As  he  ad- 
vanced through  the  years  of  infancy  and  youth,  his  form  became  more  comely 
than  that  of  his  brothers.  In  appearance,  speech,  and  manners  he  was  more 
graceful  than  they.  His  noble  nature  implanted  in  him  from  his  cradle  a  love 
of  wisdom  above  all  things  ;  but,  with  shame  be  it  spoken,  by  the  unworthy 
neglect  of  his  parents  and  attendants,  he  remained  illiterate  till  he  was  more 
than  twelve  years  old.  However,  he  listened  with  serious  attention  to  the 
Saxon  poems  he  often  heard  recited,  and  easily  retained  them  in  his  docile 
memory. 

"  On  a  certain  occa3ion  his  mother  was  showing  him  and  his  brothers  a 
Saxon  book  of  poetry,  which  she  held  in  her  hand  and  said  :  '  Whichever  of 
you  shall  the  soonest  learn  this  volume  shall  have  it  for  his  own.'  Stimulated 
by  these  words,  and  allured  by  the  beautifully  illuminated  letter  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  volume,  he  spoke  before  all  his  brothers,  who,  though  his  seniors 
in  age,  were  not  so  in  grace,  and  asked  :  '  Will  you  really  give  that  book  to 
one  of  us,  that  is  to  say,  to  him  who  can  first  understand  and  repeat  it  to 
you  ?  '  At  this  his  mother  smiled  with  satisfaction  and  confirmed  what  she 
had  said.  Upon  which  the  boy  took  the  book  out  of  her  hand  and  went  to 
his  teacher  to  read  it,  and  in  due  time  brought  it  to  his  mother  and  recited  it." 

Of  Alfred's  mother,  Asser  says  : 

"  The  mother  of  Alfred  was  named  Osburga,  a  religious  woman,  noble  both 


136  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

by  birth  and  by  nature ;  she  was  daughter  of  Oslac,  the  famous  butler  of  King 
Ethelwulf,  which  Oslac  was  a  Goth  by  nation,  descended  from  the  Goths  and 
Jutes." 

This  clearly  shows  that  the  Gotho-Germanic  sovereigns  of  those 
days  had  no  exclusive  ideas  that  royalty  must  marry  royalty,  a 
rule,  which  even  Napoleon  I.,  with  all  his  liberal  professions, 
tried  to  enforce  in  the  case  of  his  brother  Jerome,  who  married 
Miss  Patterson. 

King  Ethelwulf  married  his  own  butler's  daughter,  Osburga, 
who  bore  England  Alfred  the  Great.  Also  Alfred  married 
Ethelswitha,  the  daughter  of  a  Mercian  nobleman.  Thus  did 
the  rulers  of  old  consult  the  bent  of  their  better  feelings,  without 
regard  to  diplomacy. 

Alfred  always  expressed  regret,  that,  while  he  was  young  and 
had  capacity  for  learning,  he  could  not  be  instructed  in  the 
liberal  arts,  because  he  could  not  find  teachers ;  hence  he  was  a 
self-educated  man.  Before  I  searched  the  initials  of  Angia-land's 
history  I  considered  Alfred  as  an  intellectual  and  moral  phenom- 
enon, a  sage  dropped  from  the  skies  ;  but  since  I  have  become 
familiar  with  the  galaxy  of  men  and  women  that  preceded  or 
were  cotemporary  with  him,  I  have  come  to  consider  him  the 
natural  outgrowth  of  his  epoch.  Ethelbert,  Bertha,  their  daugh- 
ter Ethelburga,  Sigebert,  Caedmon,  Benedict  Biscop,  Ceolfrid, 
Theodorus,  Hadrian,  Wilbrord,  Winfrid  (Boniface),  Bede,  Al- 
cuin,  fna,  and  his  own  grandfather,  Egbert,  he  had  before  him ; 
their  ideas  and  motives  he  had  contemplated,  studied,  memorized, 
and  their  characters  and  actions  he  had  to  emulate  him.  He 
was  of  a  noble  nature  and  noble  by  birth.  Then  his  queen, 
Ethelswitha,  must  have  been  an  eminent  woman  ;  for  she  raised 
to  him  a  brilliant  family  of  sons  and  daughters,  of  whom  we  shall 
speak  in  the  next  century. 

Alas !  this  great  monarch,  exemplary  son,  husband  and  father, 
scholar,  author,  moralist  and  statesman,  was  taken  from  his  sor- 
rowing people  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  A.D.  901,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-two  years.  As  he  made  an  epoch  in  his  country's  lan- 
guage and  literature,  .his  reign  may  be  styled  the  Alf redan  Era. 

All  other  Anglo-Saxon  writings  are  tame,  when  compared 
with  King  Alfred's  ideas  and  his  manner  of  expressing  them  ;  we 
therefore  cite  a  few  of  his  many  Essays,  Parables,  Proverbs  and 


Ninth  Century.  137 

Translations,  which  are  of  such  a  style  as  to  improve  by  closer 
acquaintance.  They  are  of  sterling  value  :  the  oftener  you  read 
and  the  more  you  consider  them,  the  more  they  impress  you. 
Their  very  simplicity  gives  them  force  and  pathos.  Our  quota- 
tions here  are  without  the  Anglo-Saxon  text,  because  we  give  ex- 
tracts in  Anglo-Saxon  during  six  consecutive  centuries  for  our 
Tables  from  A.D.  597  to  1200  : 

KING  ALFRED'S  SOLICITUDE  ABOUT  NATIONAL  EDUCATION  : 

"Alfred  the  King,  to  Wtifsig,  his  beloved  bishop  and  friend,  Greeting: 

"  I  wish  you  to  know  that  it  often  occurs  to  my  mind  to  consider  what 
manner  of  wise  men  there  were  formerly  in  the  English  nation,  both  spiritual 
and  temporal,  and  how  happy  the  times  then  were  among  the  English,  and 
how  well  the  kings  behaved  in  their  domestic  government,  and  how  they 
prospered  in  knowledge  and  wisdom.  I  considered  also  how  earnest  God's 
ministers  then  were,  as  well  about  preaching  as  about  learning,  and  men 
came  from  foreign  countries  to  seek  wisdom  and  doctrine  in  this  land,  and 
how  we,  who  live  in  these  times,  are  obliged  to  go  abroad  to  get  them.  To 
so  low  a  depth  has  learning  fallen  among  the  English  nation,  that  there  have 
been  very  few  on  this  side  of  the  Humber,  who  were  able  to  understand  the 
English  of  their  service,  or  to  turn  an  epistle  out  of  Latin  into  English  ;  and 
I  know  there  were  not  many  beyond  the  Humber  who  could  do  it.  There 
were  so  few,  that  I  cannot  think  of  one  on  the  south  side  of  the  Thames  when 
I  first  began  to  reign.  God  Almighty  be  thanked  that  we  have  always  a 
teacher  in  the  pulpit  now.  Therefore  I  pray  you  to  do  what  I  believe  you 
will  be  ready  to  do,  that  you  will  bestow  all  the  wisdom  which  God  has  given 
you  on  all  around  you  as  far  as  you  are  able.  Think  what  punishment  shall 
for  this  world  befall  us,  if  we  turn  out  to  have  neither  loved  wisdom  ourselves, 
nor  to  have  taught  it  to  others ;  if  we  have  loved  only  the  name  of  Christi- 
anity, and  very  few  of  us  have  discharged  its  duties.  When  I  thought  of  all 
this,  I  fancied  also  that  I  saw  (before  everything  was  ravaged  and  burned)  hov 
all  the  churches  throughout  the  English  nation  stood  full  of  books,  though  at 
that  time  they  gathered  very  little  fruit  from  their  books,  not  being  able  to 
understand  them,  because  they  were  not  written  in  their  own  language.  For 
which  reason  I  think  it  best,  if  you  too  think  so,  that  we  should  turn  into  the 
language,  which  we  all  of  us  know,  some  such  books  as  are  deemed  most  use- 
ful for  all  men  to  understand,  and  that  we  do  our  best  to  effect,  as  we  easily 
may,  with  God's  help,  if  we  have  quietness,  that  all  the  youth  of  free-born 
Englishmen,  such  as  have  wealth  enough  to  maintain  them,  be  brought  up  to 
learn,  that,  at  an  age  when  they  can  do  nothing  else,  they  may  learn  to  read 
the  English  language  then,  and  that  afterwards  the  Latin  tongue  shall  be 
taught  to  those  whom  they  have  it  in  their  power  to  teach  and  promote  to  a 
higher  degree.  When  I  reflected  how  this  learning  of  the  Latin  tongue  had 
fallen  throughout  the  English  nation,  though  many  knew  how  to  read  English 


138  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

writing,  I  then  began,  in  the  midst  of  divers  and  manifold  affairs  of  this  king- 
dom, to  turn  into  Anglo-Saxon  this  book,  which  in  Latin  is  named  "  Pasto- 
ralis"  *  and  in  Anglo-Saxon  the  Herdsmarfs  Book  ;  "  and  I  will  send  one  of 
them  to  every  bishop's  see  in  my  kingdom." 

Thus,  in  the  midst  of  arduous  labors,  did  the  sage  of  Ethelingay 
find  time  to  attend  to  national  education.  According  to  his  biog- 
grapher  and  friend,  Asser,  he  had  ever  felt  the  want  of  a  liberal 
education,  and  was  determined  to  procure  it  for  his  subjects.  As 
this  letter  speaks  so  loudly  for  itself,  comment  would  be  useless. 
It  is  said  Dante  created  the  Italian  language  and  literature  ;  if 
so,  Dante  had  an  illustrious  example  in  Alfred  the  Great,  who 
raised  and  enriched  the  Anglo-Saxon  language  and  literature. 

NATURAL  EQUALITY  OF  MANKIND 

' '  What !  all  men  had  a  like  beginning,  because  they  all  came  from  one 
father  and  one  mother.  They  all  are  yet  born  alike.  This  is  no  wonder  ; 
because  God  alone  is  the  Father  of  all  creatures.  He  made  them  all  and 
governs  all.  He  gave  us  the  Sun's  light,  and  the  Moon,  and  placed  all  the 
stars.  He  created  men  on  the  Earth.  He  has  connected  together  the  soul 
and  the  body  by  his  power,  and  made  all  men  equally  noble  in  their  first  nature. 

"  Why  then  do  ye  arrogate  over  other  men  for  your  birth  without  works? 
Now  you  can  find  none  unnoble ;  all  are  equally  noble,  if  you  will  think  of 
your  first  creation  and  the  Creator,  and  afterwards  of  your  own  nativity. 
The  right  nobility  is  in  the  mind ;  it  is  not  in  the  flesh,  as  we  said  before ; 
but  every  man,  that  is  at  all  subjected  to  his  vices,  forsakes  his  Creator,  his 
first  creation  and  his  nobility ;  and  thence  becomes  more  ignoble  than  if  he 
were  not  nobly  born." 

This  liberal  effusion  contains  the  very  essence  of  the  ideas, 
uttered  so  solemnly  in  the  "Declaration  of  Independence"  at 
Philadelphia,  1776.  Hence  these  thoughts  floated  in  the  mind 
of  a  great  Anglo-Saxon  king  from  A.D.  880  to  901.  Whoever 
conceived  that  third  fundamental  principle  of  governing-  men, 
namely,  "  consent  of  the  governed"  whether  Jefferson,  Tom  Paine, 
or  any  other  American  statesman — had  either  read  King  Alfred's 
works,  or  was  inspired  by  England's  great  monarch  of  old.  How 
magnetic  vast  conceptions  are  !  No  wonder  the  philosopher  and 

*  "  Pastoralis,"  written  in  Latin  about  A.D.  600,  by  Pope  Gregory  I.,  and 
translated  into  Anglo-Saxon  by  Alfred  the  Great,  was  a  kind  of  Pastoral 
Letter  or  Good  Shepherd's  Book  for  the  priesthood. 


Ninth  Century.  139 

poet  penned  these  mysterious  lines,  whose  author  we  know  not. 
They  seem  Shakespearian : 

"  All  natural  objects  have 
An  echo  in  the  heart.     This  flesh  doth  thrill, 
And  has  connection,  by  some  unseen  chain, 
With  its  original  source  and  kindred  substance  : 
The  mighty  forest,  the  grand  tide  of  ocean, 
Sky-cleaving  hills,  and  in  the  vast  air, 
The  starry  Constellations ;  and  the  Sun, 
Parent  of  life  exhaustless— these  maintain 
With  the  mysterious  mind  and  breathing  mould, 
A  coexistence  and  community." 

The  philosophic  and  statesmanlike  thoughts,  so  tersely  stated 
in  King  Alfred's  "Natural  Equality  of  Mankind,"  probably  came 
to  him  while  living  concealed  at  Ethelingay  with  the  herdsman, 
where  he  had  ample  time  and  opportunity  to  realize  (as  he  says), 
that  "  the  right  nobility  is  in  the  mind,  and  not  in  the  flesh"  To 
this  conclusion  he  must  have  come,  when  he  subsequently  had 
the  herdsman  educated  and  made  a  bishop. 

KING  ALFRED'S  CONCEPTION  OF  POWER. 

"  Power  is  never  a  good,  unless  he  be  good  that  has  it ;  and  that  is  the 
good  of  the  man,  not  of  the  power.  If  power  be  goodness,  why  then  is  it 
that  no  man  bv  his  dominion  can  come  to  virtues  and  to  merit  ?  But  by  his 
virtues  and  merit  he  comes  to  dominion  and  power.  Thus  no  man  is  better 
for  his  power ;  but  if  he  be  good,  it  is  from  his  virtues  that  he  is  good.  From 
his  virtues  he  becomes  worthy  of  power,  if  he  be  worthy  of  it. 

"  Learn  therefore  wisdom  ;  and  when  you  have  learned  it,  do  not  neglect  it. 
I  tell  you  then,  without  any  doubN  that  by  it  you  may  come  to  power,  though 
you  should  not  desire  the  power.  You  need  not  be  solicitous  about  power, 
nor  strive  after  it.  If  you  be  wise  and  good,  it  will  follow  you,  though  you 
should  not  wish  it." 

No  wonder  those  who  most  thoroughly  investigated  these  prac- 
tical sayings,  styled  them  "The  Proverbs  and  Parables  of  King 
Alfredr 

KING  ALFRED'S  "PHILOSOPHIC  ADDRESS  TO  THE  DEITY. 

"  O  Lord,  how  great  and  how  wonderful  art  Thou  !  Thou,  Who,  all  Thy 
creatures  visible  and  also  invisible  hast  wonderfully  made,  and  wisely  doest 
govern  !  Thou,  Who  the  courses  of  time,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to 


140  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

the  end,  hast  established  in  such  order  that  from  Thee  they  all  proceed,  and 
to  Thee  return  !  Thou,  Who  all  moving  creatures  stirrest  to  Thy  will,  whilst 
Thou  Thyself  remainest  ever  tranquil  and  unchangeable! 

"  Hence,  none  exist  mightier  than  Thou  art ;  none  like  Thee.  No  neces- 
sity has  taught  Thee  to  make  what  thou  hast  made,  but  Thine  own  will ;  and 
by  Thine  own  power  Thou  hast  created  all  things.  Yet  Thou  hast  no  need, 
of  any.  Most  wonderful  is  the  nature  of  Thy  goodness ;  for  it  is  all  one, 
Thou  and  Thy  goodness.  Good  comes  not  from  without  to  Thee ;  but  it  is 
Thine  own,  and  all  that  we  have  of  good  in  this  world,  and  that  is  coming  to 
us  from  without,  proceeds  from  Thee.  Thou  hast  no  envy  towards  any- 
thing. 

"None  therefore  is  more  skillful  than  Thou  art.  No  one  is  like  Thee; 
because  Thou  hast  conceived  and  made  all  good  from  Thine  own  thought. 
No  man  has  given  Thee  a  pattern ;  for  none  of  these  things  existed  before 
Thee,  to  create  anything  or  not ;  but  thou  hast  created  all  things  very  good 
and  very  fair;  and  Thou  Thyself  art  the  highest  and  the  fairest  good.  As 
Thou  Thyself  didst  conceive,  so  hast  thou  made  this  world ;  and  Thou  rulest 
it  as  Thou  doest  well ;  and  Thou  distributest  Thyself  all  good  as  Thou  pleas- 
est.  Thou  hast  made  all  creatures  alike,  or  in  some  things  unlike  ;  but  Thou  hast 
named  them  with  one  name.  Thou  hast  named  them  collectively,  and  called 
them  the  world.  Yet  this  single  name  Thou  hast  divided  into  four  elements. 
One  of  these  is  earth ;  another,  water ;  the  third,  air ;  the  fourth,  fire.  To 
each  of  these  Thou  hast  established  his  own  separate  position ;  yet  each  is 
classed  with  the  other,  and  so  harmoniously  bound  by  thy  commandment  that 
none  of  them  intrudes  on  the  limits  of  the  other.  The  cold  striveth  with  the 
heat,  and  the  wet  with  the. dry.  The  nature  of  the  earth  and  water  is  to  be 
cold.  The  earth  is  dry  and  cold ;  the  water  wet  and  cold.  The  earth  then 
is  called  either  cold  or  wet,  or  warm  ;  nor  is  this  a  wonder,  because  it  is  made 
in  the  middle,  between  the  dry  and  the  cold  earth,  and  the  hot  fire.  The  fire 
is  the  uppermost  of  all  this  world's  creations. 

"  Wonder-like  is  Thy  plan,  which  Thou  hast  executed,  both  that  created 
things  should  have  limits  between  them,  and  also  be  intermingled ;  the  dry 
and  cold  earth  under  the  cold  and  wet  water,  so  that  the  soft  and  flowing 
water  should  have  a  floor  on  the  firm  earth,  because  it  cannot  of  itself  stand ; 
but  the  earth  preserves  it,  and  absorbs  a  portion,  and  by  thus  imbibing  it,  the 
ground  is  watered  till  it  grows  and  blossoms  and  brings  forth  fruits.  Yet,  if 
the  water  did  not  thus  moisten  it,  the  earth  would  be  dried  up  and  driven 
away  by  the  wind  like  dust  and  ashes. 

"  Nor  could  any  living  creature  enjoy  the  earth,  or  the  water,  or  any  earthly 
thing,  for  the  cold,  if  Thou  didst  not  a  little  intermix  it  with  fire.  Wonderful 
the  skill  with  which  Thou  hast  ordered  that  the  fire  should  not  burn  the 
water  and  the  earth.  It  is  now  mingled  with  both.  Nor,  again,  can  the 
water  and  the  earth.  It  is  now  mingled  with  both.  Nor,  again,  can  the 
water  and  the  earth  entirely  extinguish  the  fire.  The  water's  own  country 
is  on  the  earth,  and  also  in  the  air,  and  again  above  the  sky ;  but  the  fire's 
own  place  is  over  all  the  visible  creatures  of  the  world ;  and  though  it  is 


Ninth  Century,  141 

mingled  with  all  the  elements,  yet  it  cannot  entirely  overcome  any  of  them ; 
because  it  has  not  the  leave  of  the  Almighty. 

"  The  earth,  then,  is  heavier  and  thicker  than  the  other  elements,  because* 
it  is  lower  than  any  other,  except  the  sky.  Hence  the  sky  is  every  day  on  its 
exterior  ;  yet  it  nowhere  more  approaches  it ;  but  in  every  place  it  is  equally 
nigh,  both  above  and  below.  « 

"  Each  of  the  elements  that  we  formerly  spoke  of,  has  its  own  station 
apart ;  and  though  each  is  mingled  with  the  other,  so  that  none  of  them  can 
exist  without  the  other,  yet  they  are  not  perceptible  within  the  rest.  Thus 
water  and  earth  are  very  difficult  to  be  seen,  or  to  be  comprehended  by  unwise 
men,  in  fire,  and  yet  they  are  therewith  commingled.  So  is  also  the  fire  in 
stones  and  water  very  difficult  to  be  perceived ;  but  it  is  there. 

"  Thou  bindest  fire  with  very  indissoluble  chains,  that  it  may  not  go  to  its 
own  station,  which  is  the  mightiest  fire  that  exists  above  us ;  lest  it  should 
abandon  the  earth,  and  all  other  creatures  should  be  destroyed  from  extreme 
cold,  in  case  it  should  wholly  depart.  Thou  hast  most  wonderfully  and  firmly 
established  the  Earth,  so  that  it  halts  on  no  side,  and  stands  on  no  earthly 
thing ;  but  all  earth-like  things  it  holds,  that  they  cannot  leave  it.  Nor  is  it 
easier  for  them  to  fall  off  downwards  than  upwards. 

"  Thou  also  stirrest  the  threefold  soul  in  accordant  limbs,  so  that  there  is 
no  less  of  that  soul  in  the  least  finger  than  in  all  the  body.  By  this  I  know 
that  the  soul  is  threefold,  because  philosophers  say  that  it  hath  three  natures ; 
one  of  these  natures  is,  that  it  desires ;  another,  that  it  becomes  angry ;  the 
third,  that  it  is  rational.  Two  of  these  natures  animals  possess  the  same  as 
men :  one  is  desire,  the  other  is  anger ;  but  man  alone  has  reason,  no  other 
creature  has  it.  Hence,  he  has  excelled  all  earthly  creatures  in  thought  and 
understanding  ;  because  reason  shall  govern  both  desire  and  anger.  It  is  the 
distinguishing  virtue  of  the  soul. 

"  Thou  hast  so  made  the  soul  that  she  should  always  revolve  upon  herself, 
as  all  the  sky  turneth,  or  as  a  wheel  rolls  round,  inquiring  about  her  Creator 
or  herself,  or  about  the  creatures  of  the  Earth.  When  she  inquires  about 
her  Creator,  she  rises  above  herself;  when  she  searches  into  herself;  then 
she  is  within  herself ;  and  she  becomes  below  herself  when  she  loves  earthly 
things  and  wonders  at  them." 

This  is  a  great  production,  if  we  consider  that  it  was  penned  a 
thousand  years  ago,  when  other  Medieval  peoples  had  hardly  a 
written  dialect,  to  say  nothing  of  a  literature.  How  the  royal 
sage  must  have  studied  and  collated  what  was  known  of  nature's 
arcana,  to  combine  and  express  this  chain  of  ideas  with  such 
clearness  and  precision  in  his  native  tongue  !  So  simple,  yet  so 
comprehensive ;  so  full  of  tender  emotions,  yet  contemplative 
and  solemn.  All  the  science  of  Alfred's  day  is  skilfully  epito- 
mized in  this  prayerful  essay.  Alfred  lived  six  centuries  before 


142  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Copernicus  and  seven  before  Newton  ;  yet  he  clearly  hints  at 
the  Copernican  idea  of  Earth's  situation  in  space,  and  at  the 
Newtonian  law  of  gravitation,  when  he  says  :  "Thou  hast  most 
wonderfully  and  firmly  established  the  Earth  so  that  it  halts  on 
no*side,  and  stands  on  no  earthly  thing  ;  but  all  earth-like  things 
it  holds,  that  they  cannot  leave  it.  Nor  is  it  easier  for  them  to 
fall  off  downwards  than  upwards."  I  often  wondered  how  the 
English-speaking  populations  came  to  this  peculiar  gift  of  earnest 
devotional  utterance,  which  during  my  long  peregrinations  I 
found  in  no  other  nation  either  Gotho-Germanic,  Greco-Latin, 
or  Sclavonic.  Here  I  find  its  source  in  King  Alfred's  works  of 
the  ninth  century.  A  noble  inheritance  !  and  how  nobly  the 
English-speaking  populations  have  valued  it.  The  Pilgrims 
carried  it  to  America,  where  it  has  lost  none  of  its  fervor  by  ex- 
pansion. It  is  being  diffused  all  over  the  globe,  with  a  language 
happily  adapted  to  extemporaneous  speaking,  prayer,  and  exhor- 
tation. An  Englishman  or  American  has  the  faculty  of  speaking, 
praying  or  exhorting  at  a  moment's  notice  ;  and  now  even  women 
begin  to  cultivate  that  national  gift.  The  Franco-Normans  of 
A.D.  1066,  and  the  Huguenot  emigrants  gained  that  eloquent 
fervor,  wherever  they  came  in  contact  with  the  English. 

Thus  have  the  methods  and  styles  of  transmitting  thought  and 
wisdom  been  various  ;  the  ideas  of  Confucius  come  to  us  in  conver- 
sations ;  Zoroaster's  in  dialogues  with  Ormuzd ;  King  David's  in 
psalms;  Valmiki's  in  poetic  imagery,  called  Ramayana ;  Socra- 
tes' in  morals;  Aristotle's  in  dialectics  and  logic;  Cicero's  in 
harangues;  Tacitus' in  "Annals;"  Chaucer's  in  tales;  Dante's 
in  "  Divina  Commedia;  "  Shakespeare's,  Racine's,  Schiller's,  &c., 
in  dramas  and  tragedies ;  Cervantes'  in  burlesques  ;  Newton's  in 
"  Principia;"  Kepler's  in  "  Cosmographic  Mystery;  "  Cuvier's  in 
"Regne  Animal ;"  Franklin's  in  electricity  ;  Kant's  in  "Critique 
of  Pure  Reason  ;  "  Laplace's  in  "  Mecanique  Celeste  ;  "  Mrs. 
Hemans',  Tennyson's,  Bryant's,  and  Longfellow's  in  poetic  effu- 
sions;  Darwin's  in  "Origin  of  Species;" — whereas  the  thought 
and  wisdom  of  the  royal  sage  of  Winchester,  A.D.  900,  reach  us 
in  the  form  of  an  "Address  to  the  Deity  ;  "  because  he  would 
allow  neither  pope  nor  priest  to  stand  between  him  and  his  (rod. 
Thus  did  Alfred  the  Great  embody  his  conception  of  God  and 
the  universe  in  a  fervent  prayer.  Such  variety  of  styles  renders 


Ninth  Century.  143 

the  writings  of  departed  and  living  sages  more  acceptable  and 
impressive ;  for  monotony  chills  the  imagination,  fetters  reason, 
and  arrests  progress. 

Now  let  us  bestow  a  few  moments  on  the  Last  Will  and  Tes- 
tament of  that  wisest  of  kings.  As  it  is  written  in  Anglo-Saxon 
of  his  style,  it  was,  no  doubt,  penned  or  dictated  by  himself. 

GLEANINGS  FROM  KING  ALFRED'S  LAST  WILL  AND  TESTAMENT: 
i.  "I,  Alfred,  King  by  God's  grace,  with  the  advice  of  Archbishop  Ethel- 
red,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  the  West-Saxon  Senate,  have  thought  of  my 
soul's  health,  of  the  inheritance  God  gave  to  me  and  my  ancestors,  and  of  the 
legacy  King  Ethel wulf,  my  father,  bequeathed  to  us  three  brothers  :  Ethel- 
bald,  Ethelred,  and  to  me  ;  and,  which  of  us  soever  might  live  longest,  should 
take  all,  &c. 

6.  "I,  Alfred,  by  God's  grace,  King  of  Wessex,  and  with  that  concurrence, 
declare  how  I  will  my  inheritance  after  my  day,  &c. 

26.  "  I  will,  if  there  be  any  fee  unpaid  to  any  men,  that  my  relations  should 
pay  it. 

27.  "  My  grandfather  left  his  land  to  the  spear-half  (males),  and  not  to  the 
spindle-half  (females).     Wherefore,  if  I  give  to  any  female  what  he  had  ac- 
quired, let  my  relations  redeem  it,  if  they  wish  to  have  it  while  she  is  living ; 
if  it  be  otherwise,  let  it  go  after  their  day,  as  we  before  determined.     For 
this  reason  I  ordain  that  they  pay  for  it,  because   they  will  succeed  to  what 
I  give  either  to  the  female  or  male  side  as  I  will. 

28.  "  I  beseech,  in  God's  name,  that  none  of  my  relations  or  heirs  obstruct 
any  of  the  freedom  of  those  I  have  redeemed.     The  West-Saxon  nobles  em- 
powered me  to  leave  these  either  free  or  bond  as  I  desire.      But  for  God's 
love  and  my  soul's  welfare,  I  will  they  should  be  masters  of  their  freedom  and 
of  their  will ;  and  in  the  living  God's  name,  I  intreat   that  no   man  disturb 
them  either  by  money-exactions,  or  in  any  manner,  that  they  should  not  choose 
any  man  they  may  like. 

29.  "And  I  will  that  they  restore  to  the  families  at  Duminer  their  land- 
deeds  and  their  free  liberty  to  elect  any  person  who  may  seem  to  them  most 
agreeable ;  for  my  sake  and  Elfreda's,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  friends  both  she 
and  I  interceded  for."  * 

Note  how  thoroughly  and  minutely  this  Last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment was  considered  with  the  spiritual  and  temporal  authorities 

*  The  following  sentence:  "The  English  have  an  undoubted  right  to 
remain  as  free  as  their  own  thoughts"  has  been  quoted  as  from  Alfred's 
Will.  I  can  find  no  such  idea  or  expression  therein ;  consequently  some 
writer,  who  pretended  to  know  Anglo-Saxon,  must  have  twisted  part  of  Article 
28  or  29  into  this  fanciful  meaning. 


144  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

of  the  nation,  about  A.D.  885  ;  how  tenderly  the  great  monarch 
mentions  the  fair  sex,  overlooked  by  his  grandfather;  how  he 
alludes  to  men,  whose  fees  might  be  unpaid.  But  the  most  strik- 
ing feature  in  this  ancient  writing  is  the  solicitude  that  the  freedom 
he  had  granted  to  any  subject,  or  any  class  of  his  subjects,  should 
be  respected  by  his  relations,  heirs,  and  successors.  However, 
not  only  liberty  of  person,  but  also  land  wrongfully  and  hastily 
taken  is  remembered.  Even  the  liberality  and  mercy  of  his  be- 
loved daughter,  Elfleda,  find  a  place  among  the  last  wishes  of 
the  great  Anglo-Saxon  king. 

We  have  thus  cursorily  reviewed  some  of  the  choicest  speci- 
mens of  Anglo-Saxon  literature  from  Alfred's  varied  writings, 
covering  the  philosophic,  epistolary,  scientific,  moral,  and  devo- 
tional styles.  As  our  Tables  for  six  centuries  (A.D. 597-1200) 
necessitate  Anglo-Saxon  extracts,  we  omitted  the  Anglo-Saxon 
text  here  and  gave  free  translations  to  show  the  mode  of  think- 
ing. There  is  no  exaggeration  in  saying  Anglo-Saxon  literature 
culminated  and  died  with  Alfred  the  Great. 

It  is  said  about  A.D.  890  Alfred  desired  the  traditions  and 
records  concerning  the  Anglo-Saxons  should  be  collected  and 
compiled  into  a  succinct  history  under  the  supervision  of  Pleg- 
mund,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  It  is  supposed  his  Majesty  aided 
in  writing  this  national  work,  entitled  the  "Saxon  Chronicle." 
Some  critics  claim  that  Alfred  compiled  the  whole.  Notice  how 
unostentatiously  this  record  mentions  the  Saxons,  Angles,  and 
Jutes  : 

ANGLO-SAXON  : 

"An.  CCCCXLIX.  Her  Martia- 
nus  and  Valentinianus  onfengon  rice 
and  ricsodon  VII  winter.  *.  On  heora 
dagum  Hengest  and  Horsa  from 
Wyrtgeorne  gelathode  Bretta  cyninge 
to  fultume.  gesohton  Brytene  on  tham 
staethetheisgenemned  Yproinesfleot/. 
&c.  tha  com  tha  menn  of  thrim 
maegthum  Germanie,  of  Seaxum,  of 
Anglum  of  lotum. '. 


LITERAL  ENGLISH: 
A.D.  449.  Here  Martian  and  Va- 
lentinian  took  the  empire,  and  reigned 
seven  winters.  In  their  days  Hengist 
and  Horsa,  invited  by  Vortigern, 
King  of  the  Britons,  to  his  aid,  came 
to  Britain  in  the  place  which  is  called 
Ebsfleet,  &c.  ;  then  came  the  men 
from  three  provinces  of  Germany, 
from  the  Old  Saxons,  from  the  Angles, 
from  the  Jutes.* 


The  simplicity  and  genuineness  of  this  Medieval  Record  from 
*  The  above  is  quoted  from  Ingram's  London  Edition  of  1823. 


Ninth  Century.  145 

A.D.  i  to  1154,  does  credit  to  those  who  transmitted  it  to  pos- 
terity. Think  of  a  book,  containing  the  transactions  and  events 
concerning  England  and  other  countries  from  A.D.  449  to  1154, 
or  seven  hundred  and  five  years,  in  as  unpretending  a  style  as 
the  above,  and  you  will  have  an  idea  of  the  "  Saxon  Chronicle," 
which  must  ever  be  regarded  as  an  inexhaustible  mine  for  the 
historian,  poet,  philosopher,  and  statesman. 

The  materials  for  this  national  record  had  been  in  the  capitals, 
abbeys  and  convents  of  the  Heptarchy,  where  priests,  abbots, 
bishops,  and  kings  had  written  and  kept  them  from  the  time  the 
Anglo-Saxons  received  Christianity,  and  with  it  an  alphabet  and 
writing.  Now  they  were  collected,  compared,  and  chronologi- 
cally arranged  into  a  record,  in  which  we  find  royal  births,  mar- 
riages, erecting  of  churches  and  cathedrals,  synods  and  councils 
in  the  same  year  and  paragraph  with  deaths,  murders,  and  bat- 
tles. Yet  this  very  confusion  adds  to  its  veracity;  for  there 
seems  to  be  no  attempt  to  conceal  or  falsify.  It  is  a  literary 
monument,  of  which  not  only  England,  but  the  ninety  English- 
speaking  millions  may  justly  feel  proud.  As  far  as  my  historic 
reading  and  research  have  gone,  I  found  no  other  ancient  or 
Medieval  nation  that  can  boast  of  a  parallel. 

King  Alfred  had  heard,  through  Abel,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem, 
that  there  were  poor  and  destitute  Christians  at  St.  Thomas  and 
St.  Bartholomew  in  India.  To  relieve  them,  the  compassionate 
monarch  sent  an  enterprising  priest,  named  Sighelm,  who  reached 
India,  fulfilled  his  mission,  and  returned  with  many  curious  jew- 
els, which  were  to  be  seen  in  the  time  of  the  historian  William  of 
Malmesbury,  A.D.  1143,  at  the  Cathedral  of  Sherborn,  of  which 
Sighelm  was  made  bishop  by  Alfred.  It  is  thought  some  of  those 
jewels  are  now  in  an  old  crown,  kept  in  the  Tower  of  London. 
The  Saxon  Chronicle,  A.D.  883,  mentions  Sighelm' s  mission  to 
St.  Thomas  and  St.  Bartholomew  in  India.  Asser  says  he  saw 
and  read  the  letters  that  Abel  wrote  to  Alfred,  A.D.  888.  Flor- 
ence of  Worcester  alludes  to  Sighelm's  mission  in  his  chronicle, 
A.D.  niS.  Thus  England  sent  aid  to  India  a  thousand  years 
ago.  How  things  changed  from  Alfred  (A.D.  900)  to  Victoria, 
A.D.  1878.  After  a  lapse  of  seven  centuries  England  sent  Sir 
Thomas  Roe  as  ambassador  to  the  great  Mogul  Jehangire  (A.D. 
1615).  Now  Queen  Victoria  is  Empress  of  India.  No  wonder 
10 


146  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

the  descendants  of  the  Medieval  Goths  and  Germans  yearned  to 
repossess  themselves  of  the  patrimony  of  their  Asiatic  Arian  an- 
cestors. As  previously  stated,  there  is  a  mysterious  magnetism 
and  attraction  in  this  beautiful  universe. 

We  read  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  A.D.  885,  that,  with  the 
sanction  of  Pope  Martin,  King  Alfred  restored  at  Rome  the  An- 
glo-Saxon school,  which  had  been  destroyed  by  fire.  A.D.  816. 
It  is  said  King  Alfred,  about  893,  sent  an  expedition  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean  under  an  exiled  Norwegian  prince,  called  Ohthere, 
who  sailed  as  far  as  the  White  Sea  and  the  mouth  of  the  Dvvina, 
whence  he  safely  returned  and  handed  his  observations  to  Eng- 
land's monarch.  Nothing  more  was  heard  from  that  hyperborean 
region  till  1553,  when  Richard  Chancellor  made  an  exploring  ex- 
pedition to  the  White  Sea.  We  also  read  of  an  expedition  by 
Pytheas,  a  merchant  of  Massilia  (Marseilles),  who  reached  Ultima 
Thule  (Iceland)  about  250  B.C.  Hence  hyperborean  expeditions 
are  no  novelty.  Thus  King  Egbert,  grandfather,  gloriously  began, 
and  King  Alfred,  his  grandson,  gloriously  ended  the  ninth  century. 

KING  ALFRED'S  PARTING  ADVICE  TO  HIS  SON  AND  SUCCESSOR. 
"  My  dear  son,  set  thee  now  beside  me,  and  I  will  deliver  thee  true  instruc- 
tions. My  son,  I  feel  that  my  hour  is  coming.  My  countenance  is  wan. 
My  days  are  almost  done.  We  must  now  part.  I  shall  go  to  another  world, 
and  thou  shalt  be  left  alone  in  all  my  wealth.  I  pray  thee  (for  thou  art  my  dear 
child),  strive  to  be  a  father  and  a  lord  to  thy  people ;  be  thou  the  children's 
father  and  the  widow's  friend;  comfort  thou  the  poor  and  shelter  the  weak; 
and  with  all  thy  might,  right  that  which  is  wrong.  And,  son,  govern  thyself 
by  law ;  then  shall  the  Lord  love  thee,  and  God  above  all  things  shall  be  tliy 
reward.  Call  thou  upon  Him  to  advise  thee  in  all  thy  need,  and  so  he  shall 
help  thee  the  better  to  compass  that  which  thou  wishest." 

October  26,  A.D.  901,  witnessed  the  death  of  this  great  meteor- 
Jike  king,  after  a  most  useful  career  of  fifty-two  years.  He  was 
England's  David  and  Solomon,  with  this  difference,  that  his  life 
and  character  knew  no  earthly  blemish.  Behold  what  a  grateful 
posterity  said  of  his  version  of  Boethius'  <;  De  Consolations  Philo- 
sophies ".- 

"  The  Hand-book  of  the  Middle  Ages  for  all  who  united  piety  with  philos- 
ophy."— Dr.  Hook. 

"A  golden  book,  not  unworthy  of  Plato  or  Tully." — Gibbon. 

"  But  the  greatest  and  most  endearing  epithet  is  'England's  Darling?" — 
The  English  People. 


Ninth  Century. 


H7 


Three  centuries  had  elapsed  since  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  had 
first  appeared  in  writing,  under  King  Ethelbert,  A.D.  597,  and 
adopted  a  few  Greco-Latin  words.  The  slight  changes  it  had 
experienced  during  that  period,  may  be  seen  in  some  of  the  fol- 
lowing words,  culled  from  King  Ethelbert's  Code  of  the  sixth, 
Caedmon's  poems  of  the  seventh,  and  King  Alfred's  writings  of 
the  ninth  century  : 


Ethelbert, 
6th  century  : 

Caedmon, 
7th  century  : 

Alfred, 
9th  century  : 

English, 
1878  : 

German, 
1878: 

Gothic, 
Danish  and 
Swedish  : 

fol 

ful 

full 

voll 

fulds   Go 

wolde 

wulde 

would 

wolte 

" 

flod 

flood 

fluth 

flod   Sw 

flor 

floor 

(  figgrs,  Go. 

finger 

finger 

finger 

•<  finger,  Dan. 

(  finger,  Sw. 

tol 

tool 

freond 

frind 

friend 

freund 

frende,  Dan. 



hund 

hound 

hund 

hund,  Sw. 

hu 

how 

thu 

thou 

du 

du,  Sw. 

wulf 

wolf 

wolf 

ulf.  Sw. 



miht 

miht 

might 

macht 

magt,  Sw.' 



riht 

niht 
riht 
Mona 

night 
right 
Moon 

nacht 
recht 
Mond 

nahts,  Go. 
rig  tig,  Dan. 
mena,  Go. 

thurh 

thurh 

thurh 

through 

durch 





genog 

enough 

genug 

ganag,  Go. 

and 

and 

and 

and 

und 

unte,  Go. 



wundra,  pi. 

wundor 

wonder 

wunder 

In  comparing  these  twenty-one  words  of  Alfred's  epoch  with 
present  English  and  Gotho-Gerrnanic,  you  will  find  that  Anglo- 
Saxon  of  Alfred's  day  has  assumed  a  complicated  form  and  utter- 
ance. Particles  usually  remain  unchanged  ;  yet  such  was  not 
the  case  in  English  ;  for  simple  and  terse  hu,  nu,  thu,  thurh,  and 
genog,  became  how,  now,  thou,  through,  enough,  each  having  one 
or  two  more  letters,  and  a  sound  utterly  at  variance  with  the 
letters.  Among  the  six  particles  in  the  above  list,  and  alone 
escaped  linguistic  disharmony. 

When  King  Alfred  changed  Caedmon's  fol  and  wolde  \K\.Q  ful 
and  wulde,  he  had  a  motive,  and  that  motive  must  have  been  to 
adapt  letter  to  sound  and  sound  to  letter;  for  Alfred  was  a  prac- 
tical sage.  O  in  god,  flod,  flor,  and  tol,  had  evidently  in  Alfred's 
time  a  uniform  sound,  which  he  did  not  change  into  u,  as  he  did 
o  in/0/,  wolde ;  nor  did  he  double  the  o  in  god,  flod,  flor •,  and  tol. 


148  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Yet,  since  Alfred's  period,  these  very  words,  and  others  like 
them,  have  been  metamorphosed  into  good,  flood^  floor ^  and  tool, 
with  three  different  sounds,  that  complicate  the  English  language 
and  retard  its  progress.  Alfred  simplified  Ethelbert's />'#?//*/  by 
writing  it  f rind,  which  has  since  been  incumbered  with  two  vow- 
els where  one  would  suffice.  He  did  not  replace  hund,  hu,  nu, 
and  thu,  by  hound,  how,  now,  thou,  which  Walker  calls  "  the  most 
irregular  assemblage  of  vowels  in  our  language  ;  "  neither  did  he 
substitute  o  to  it  in  wulf,  and  then  pronounce  that  o  like  u  in  blue. 
He  would  not  encumber  such  words  as  miht,  niht,  and  riht, 
with  a  superfluous  mute  g,  as  has  been  done  since  his  day ;  nor 
would  he  double  o  in  mono,  and  pronounce  oo  like  u  in  blue. 
Such  confusing  and  retrograde  changes  the  royal  scholar,  who 
understood  music  and  harmony,  would  have  considered  an  insult 
to  common  sense. 

What  would  the  sage  of  Ethelingay  think,  say,  or  do  at  seeing 
enough  in  juxtaposition,  not  only  with  the  simple  Anglo-Saxon 
genog,  and  the  original  sonorous  Gothic  ganag,  but  with  through, 
dough,  bough,  bought,  drought,  draught,  taugJit,  to  say  nothing  of 
laugh,  gauge,  gauze  ;  finite,  infinite,  entice,  notice ;  home,  come; 
comb,  combat,  tomb  ;  dove,  grove,  groove  ;  hall,  haul,  shall ;  four, 
hour  ;  bow,  n.,  bow,  v.  y  know,  now  ;  fiour,  fiower,  lower  ;  door, 
poor  ;  far,  war  ?  What  would  he  think,  say,  or  do  ?  Why,  Al- 
fred and  such  confusion  could  not  exist  together  ;  he  would  seize 
his  harp,  enter  the  enemy's  camp,  ascertain  the  weak  point,  rally 
practical  linguists  around  him,  order  all  court  and  government 
documents  and  books  to  be  written  and  printed  without  useless 
mute  letters,  according  to  the  plain,  common-sense  German  rule  : 
Write  and  print  as  you  pronounce,  and  pronounce  as  you  write 
and  print ;  then  he  would  introduce  these  books  into  the  court, 
military,  naval,  and  government  schools  —  thus  rendering  the 
people's  native  tongue  phonetically  worthy  of  its  simple  gram- 
mar, superior  vocabulary  and  ultimate  destiny  to  become  the 
universal  language  on  Earth. 

Extracts  and  Tables  from  Anglo-Saxon  writings  of  the  ninth 
century,  showing  the  style  and  numeric  origin  of  their  vocabulary. 
They  are  from  the  "Saxon  Chronicle"  and  King  Alfred's  Code 
of  Laws,  about  A.D.  878  : 


Ninth  Century. 


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Ninth  Century.  155 

Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from  the  two  preceding  Tables 
of  the  Ninth  Century  : 

Greek :  2  \  ~\ 

Latin  :  ^  \  Greco-Latin  :  1 1     Total  of  the  different 

French :  2  )  V  , 

<  words  :  1 73 

Anglo-Saxon  :  162  !•  Gotho-Germanic  :  162 

Hence,  the  style  of  Anglo-Saxon  writing1  in  the 
ninth  century  shows  a  vocabulary  of  different 
words,  containing  about 

94  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  and 
6       "  Greco- Latin. 

Sixty-nine  of  the  162  different  Anglo-Saxon 
words,  or  forty-three  per  cent.,  are  now  obsolete. 

Fifteen  of  the  162  different  Anglo-Saxon  words, 
or  only  nine  per  cent.,  are  now  spelt  as  they  were 
in  the  ninth  century. 

PROGRESS  OF  OTHER  MEDIEVAL  EUROPEAN   DIALECTS  IN  THE 
NINTH  CENTURY. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  age  appeared  the  first  writing  in  Flem- 
ish or  Dutch.  It  was  a  translation  of  the  Psalms  under  Charle- 
magne, about  A.D.  800.  Heliand,  a  Harmony  of  the  Gospels 
in  Old  Saxon  or  Low  German,  also  appeared  about  that  period. 
There  is  a  MS.  thereof  at  Munich,  and  one  in  the  British  Museum, 
London.  The  earliest  writing  in  French,  now  extant,  is'a  treaty 
between  Charles  the  Bald,  and  his  brother,  Louis  the  Germanic, 
dated  Strasburg,  Alsace,  on  the  i6th  Kalends  of  March,  A.D. 
842.  It  was  written  in  French  and  in  Francic  or  Old  High  Ger- 
man. The  armies  of  the  two  sovereigns  endorsed  this  treaty  by 
their  oaths.  Copies  of  this  alliance  and  oaths  are  in  the  History 
of  Nithard  (A.D.  790-853),  grandson  of  Charlemagne.  The 
Franks  spoke  a  Germanic  dialect,  called  Francic  or  High  Ger- 
man ;  but  under  Clovis,  when  they  became  Christians,  they 
mixed  it  with  the  idiom  of  the  Gauls,  consisting  of  Latin  and 
Celtic,  and  formed  French.  About  A.D.  868,  Germany  saw 


156  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Otfrid's  "Krist"  a  poetic  Paraphrase  of  the  Gospels  in  Francic 
or  High  German,  of  which  three  copies  are  extant  :  one  at  Mu- 
nich, another  at  Heidelberg,  and  a  third  at  Vienna.  Caedmon's 
Anglo-Saxon  Paraphrase  of  the  Scriptures  preceded  Otfrid's  by 
nearly  two  hundred  years.  Otfrid's  MS.  is  considered  the  most 
precious  monument  in  the  Fatherland's  idiom. 

FIRST   WRITTEN  SPECIMEN   OF  THE  DUTCH  OR  FLEMISH  LANGUAGE 
UNDER  CHARLEMAGNE,  ABOUT  800. 

Psalm  Ivii.  1-4. 

1.  "  Ginathi  mi  got  ginathi  mi.  uuanda  an  thi  gitruot  sila  min.     In  an  scado 
fitheraco  thinro  sal  ic  gitruon  untis  farliet  unreht. 

2.  Ruopen  sal  ik  te  gode  hoista.  got  thia  uuala  dida  mi. 

3.  Sanda  fan  himele  in  ginereda  mi.  gaf  an  bismere  te  tradon  mi. 

4.  Santa  got  ginatha  sina  in  uuarheit  sina.  in  generida  sela  mina  fan  mitton 
uuelpo  leono.  slip  ik  gidruouit.     Kiut    manno    tende   iro   geuuepene   in 
sceifte.  in  tunga  iro  suert  scarp." 

ENGLISH. — Psalm  Ivii.  1-4. 

1.  Be  merciful  unto  me,  O  God,  be  merciful  unto  me  ;  for  my  soul  trusteth 
in  thee ;  yea,  in  the  shadow  of  thy  wings  will  I  make  my  refuge,  until  these 
calamities  be  overpast. 

2.  I  will  cry  unto  God  most  high  ;  unto  God  that  performeth  all  things  for 
me. 

3.  He  shall  send  from  heaven,  and  save  me  from  the  reproach  of  him  that 
would  swallow  me  up.     Selah. 

4.  God  shall  send  forth  his  mercy  and  his  truth.     My  soul  is  among  Lions  : 
and  I  lie  even  among  them  that  are  set  on  fire,  even  the  sons  of  men, 
whose  teeth  are  spears  and  arrows,  and  their  tongue  a  sharp  sword." 

There  is  some  analogy  between  old  Dutch  or  Flemish,  and 
English ;  but  not  as  much  as  there  is  between  English  and  the 
following  specimen  from  the  Saxon  or  Low  German : 

HELIAND,  WRITTEN  IN  OLD  SAXON  DURING  THE  EARLY  PART  OF  THE 
NINTH  CENTURY. 

PARABLE  OF  THE  SOWER. 

"  Huat  ik  iu  seggean  mag  quad  he'  gesidos  mine,  huo  imu  en  erl  bigan-  an 
erdu  sehan'  hren  corni  mid  is  handun.  Sum  it  an  hardan  sten'  obanuuardan 
fel'  erdon  ni  habda.  that  it  thar  mahti  uuahsan'  eftha  uurteo  gifahan.  kinan 
eftha  bicliben.  ac  uuard  that  corn  farloren.  that  thar  an  theru  leian  gilag."— « 
Heliand,  1.  6-10. 


Ninth  Century.  1 57 

LITERAL  ENGLISH. 

u  What  I  you  say  may,  quoth  he,  companions  mine,  how  a  farmer  began 
on  earth  to  sow  pure  corn  with  his  hands,  some  of  it  on  hard  stone  fell,  earth 
not  had,  that  it  there  might  wax,  or  roots  take,  germinate  or  stick,  also  was1 
that  com  forlorn  (lost),  that  there  on  the  road  lay." 

By  these  few  lines  may  be  seen  how  much  Old  Saxon  or  Low 
German  is  and  looks  like  English ;  yet  it  is  and  looks  more  like 
Anglo-Saxon.  This  primitive  old  Saxon  writing  may  be  attributed 
to  the  self-sacrificing  Anglo-Saxon  missionary,  Winfrid,  who  be- 
came the  Apostle  of  Germany,  and  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  under 
the  name  of  Boniface,  A.D.  732,  and  was  murdered  by  the  Pa- 
gans, while  preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  Old  Saxons,  A.D.  755. 

THE  EARLIEST  WRITING  IN  FRENCH,  A.D.  842.     KING  Louis'  OATH: 

"Pro  deo  amur  et  pro  Christian  poblo  et  nostro  commun  salvament,  dist 
di  in  avant,  in  quant  deus  savir  et  podir  me  dunat,  si  salvarai  eo  cist  meon 
fradre  Karlo  et  in  adjudha  et  in  cadhuna  cosa,  si  cum  om  per  dreit  son  fradra 
salvar  dist,  in  o  quid  il  mi  altresi  fazet,  et  ab  Ludher  nul  plaid  nunquam  prin- 
drai,  qui  meon  vol  cist  meon  fradre  Karle  in  damno  sit." 

LITERAL   ENGLISH  : 

"For  God's  love  and  for  the  Christian  people  and  our  common  preserva- 
tion from  this  day  and  henceforth,  in  so  far  as  God  gives  me  wisdom  and 
power,  so  shall  I  assist  this  my  brother  Charles,  and  in  assistance  and  in  any 
cause,  so  as  one  by  right  ought  his  brother  to  assist  in  such  a  manner,  as  he 
may  do  to  me  ;  and  with  Lothar  I  will  not  enter  into  any  treaty  which  to  me, 
or  to  this  my  brother  Charles,  can  do  an  injury." 

KING  CHARLES'  OATH  IN  FRANCIC  OR  HIGH  GERMAN,  A.D.  842. 

"  In  godes  minna  ind  in  thes  christianes  folches  ind  unser  bedhero  gehaltnissi, 
fon  thesemo  dage  frammordes,  so  fram  so  mir  got  genuizci  indi  mahd  furgi- 
bit,  so  halclih  tesan  minan  bruodher  soso  man  mit  rehtu  sinan  bruodher  seal, 
in  thiu  thaz  er  mig  so  soma  duo,  indi  mit  Ludherem  in  nohheiniu  thing  ne 
gegangu,  the  minan  uuillon  imo  ce  scadhen  werdhen." 

LITERAL  ENGLISH: 

"In  God's  love  and  for  the  Christian  folk  and  our  better  preservation,  from 
this  day  forward,  so  far  as  me  God  knowledge  and  might  gives,  so  hold  I  this 
my  brother,  so  as  one  with  right  his  brother  should,  in  as  much  as  he  me  the 
same  do,  and  with  Lothair  in  no  thing  will  I  go,  which  to  my  will  or  to  him 
shall  harm  become." 

Charles'  oath  in  Francic  or  High  German  resembles  English, 


158  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

but  not  so  much  as  the  Old  Saxon  or  Low  German  of  the  Heli- 
and ;  whereas  Louis'  oath  in  the  early  French  or  Romance 
language  is  almost  Latin. 

Let  us  close  our  quotations  from  these  Medieval  relics  with  a 
specimen  from 

OTFRID'S  PARAPHRASE  OF  THE  GOSPELS  IN  FRANCIC  OR  HIGH  GERMAN, 

A.D.  868. 

"  Sehet  these  fogala.  thie  hiar  fh'agent  obana. 

zi  akare  sie  ni  gangent.  ioh  ouh  uuiht  ni  spinnent 
Thoh  ni  bristit  in  thes.  zi  uuaru  thoh  ginuages. 

ni  sie  sih  ginerien.  ioh  scono  giuuerien. 
Biginnet  ana  scouuon.  thie  fronisgon  bluomon. 

thar  liuti  after  uuege  gent,  thie  in  themo  akare  stent. 
Salomon  ther  richo.  ni  uuatta  sih  gilicho. 

thaz  sagen  ih  iu  in  ala  uuar.  so  ein  thero  bluomon  o  thar." 

LITERAL   ENGLISH  I 

"  See  these  fowls,  they  here  fly  above. 
To  the  acre  (field)  they  not  go,  yea,  also  not  spin, 
Yet  not  want  in  anything,  they  truly  have  enough; 
Neither  they  themselves  nourish,  and  fine  make  (beautify). 
Begin  to  look  at  the  splendid  flowers, 
After  which  people  go  ;  they  in  the  acre  (field)  stand  ; 
Solomon,  the  rich,  not  dressed  himself  like — 
That  say  I  you  in  all  truth — one  of  the  flowers  there." 

Thus  we  had  occasion  to  show  clearly  and  distinctly  : 

1.  That    the    first    Greco-Latin    words,    introduced    into    the 
Anglo-Saxon  dialect,  were  directly  or  indirectly  connected  with 
Christianity  or  its  ethics. 

2.  That  from  the  formation  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  alphabet  and 
Ethelbert's  Code,  A.D.  597,  to  Alfred  the  Great,  A.D.  872,  Eng- 
land's dialect   steadily  progressed  to  a  national  literature,  with 
legislators,  chroniclers,  poets,  historians,  essayists,  moralists,  and 
authors  in  most  branches  of  intellectual  development,  as  may  be 
noticed  by  our  quotations. 

3.  That  in  the   ninth  century  England  had  comparatively  a 
florishing  literature,  when  other  Medieval  European  countries — 
Germany,  the  Netherlands,  and  even  France,  had  but  mere  rudi- 
mentary attempts  at  writing  in  their  national  dialects ;  and  when 
Italy,  Spain,  and  Portugal  had  no  sign  of  a  written  native  idiom. 


Ninth   Century.  159 

Plenty  of  poor  Latin,  but  miserable  specimens  of  writing  in  the 
people's  own  language.  Ireland  claims  to  have  writing  prior  to 
the  ninth  century,  and  shows  " Leabhar  nah-Uidhre"  now  pre-t 
served  in  Dublin.  No  doubt  Hibernia  was  an  early  center  of 
learning ;  for  she  saw  apostles,  divines,  missionaries,  orators, 
scholars,  and  authors  in  Palladius,  St.  Patrick,  Columba,  Colom- 
ban,  Gall,  &c.,  from  A.D.  430  to  700.  Even  Wilbrord  and  Win- 
frid  visited  Ireland,  before  they  undertook  their  missions  to  Ger- 
many. Hence  she  may  claim  early  writings  and  documents. 

John  Scotus,  surnamed  Erigena  (Erin-born),  was  another  in- 
tellectual luminary  from  the  British  Isles.  His  fame  reached 
Charles  the  Bald,  who,  it  is  said,  invited  him  to  France  and 
intrusted  him  with  the  direction  of  the  University  of  Paris.  Eri- 
gena's  principal  work  was  " De  Divisione  Natures"  He  also 
wrote  a  treatise  on  "  Predestination"  which  was  considered  hete- 
rodox at  Rome.  The  world  is  indebted  to  Erigena  for  a  Latin 
translation  of  the  works  of  Dionysius  Areopagita.  We  are  told 
Alfred  the  Great  called  this  Irish  sage  to  Oxford.  As  Erigena's 
birth  and  death  are  variously  reported,  it  may  be  safely  said  that 
he  florished  from  A.D.  850  to  886.  Quite  a  humorous  anecdote 
is  related  concerning  Charles  the  Bald  and  John  Scotus :  One 
day,  while  convivially  seated  opposite  each  other  at  a  festive  table, 
the  Emperor  asked  Scotus  :  "  What  is  the  difference  between  a 
,&•<?/ and  a  Sott"  "  Precisely  the  width  of  the  table,"  retorted 
the  Irish  wit.  This  caustic  answer  delighted  the  French  mon- 
arch, and  the  evening  passed  pleasantly,  which  does  credit  to 
Charles'  hospitality  and  good  nature.  Thus  the  British  Islanders 
and  Franks  ever  went  hand  in  hand  to  diffuse  Christianity  and 
civilization,  till  England's  throne  was  reached  by  the  Plantagenets, 
whose  only  object  was  to  win  France,  make  Paris  their  capital, 
and  use  England  as  a  mere  province.  Erigena  imitated  Pelagius 
and  prepared  the  way  for  Wickliffe ;  hence  his  writings  were  not 
relished  by  the  Roman  hierarchy. 

The  French  missionary,  Anscarius,  preached  the  gospel  to  the 
Danes  and  Swedes,  among  whom  he  made  converts  and  became 
Bishop  of  Hamburg,  A.D.  831.  He  is  known  as  the  '•'•Apostle 
of  the  North." 

In  this  age  the  Greek  Empire  had  an  author,  who  deserves  our 
attention  :  Photius,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for 


160  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

(Myriobiblon,  thousand  books),  a  commentary  on,  and  repertory 
of,  ancient  Greek  writers.  Had  this  thoughtful  critic  not  made 
such  numerous  extracts  from  the  books  he  studied,  the  world 
would  miss  much  Greek  thought  and  pathos  ;  for  about  80  of  the 
279  authors,  from  whom  he  quoted,  are  lost.  Moreover,  Myrio- 
biblon became  a  model  for  Medieval  critics  and  bibliographers 
in  every  language  and  literature.  Photius  also  wrote  a  Lexicon, 
of  which  only  fragments  reached  us  ;  but  even  these  fragments 
were  precious  to  modern  classic  lore.  Among  the  different  MSS. 
of  Myriobiblon,  that  of  Thomas  Gale,  now  in  the  library  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  (styled  Galean  MS.),  is  the  best  preserved 
and  most  valuable.  This  eminent  scholar  was  born  in  the  capital, 
of  a  noble  family.  After  having  been  ambassador  to  Assyria  and 
occupied  other  high  stations  in  the  Empire,  Bardas  appointed 
him  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  in  the  place  of  Ignatius,  to  which 
Pope  Nicholas  I.  took  exception,  and  (A.D.  862)  excommuni- 
cated Photius,  who  assembled  a  council  and  excommunicated 
the  Pope.  This  papal  and  patriarchal  cross-firing  was  the  origin 
of  the  great  schism  between  the  Western  and  Eastern  churches, 
which  has  continued,  with  more  or  less  violence,  over  a  thousand 
years. 

We  cannot  close  this  century  without  alluding  to  Haroun-al- 
Rachid  in  connection  with  Charlemagne,  founder  of  the  Western 
Empire,  Egbert,  uniter  of  the  Heptarchy,  and  Alfred,  restorer  of 
England.  All  four  adorned  this  age  and  ended  their  brilliant 
careers  therein  ;  all  four  favored  and  encouraged  civilization  and 
learning.  Charlemagne  and  Al-Rachid  felt  such  a  mutual  affinity 
for  each  other,  that  they  interchanged  civilities  and  tokens  of  es- 
teem in  Medieval  times  and  across  seas  and  deserts.  While 
Charlemagne  and  his  court,  including  Egbert,  attended  the  wise 
teachings  of  Alcuin  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  Haroun-al-Rachid  emu- 
lated their  example  at  Bagdad,  which  made  him  the  hero  of  the 
'•'•Arabian  Nights"  that  were  since  translated  into  most  lan- 
guages, have  been,  are,  and  ever  will  be  the  delight  of  readers  all 
over  the  globe.  The  Saracens  collected  the  Greek  thought  and 
writings,  which  passed  to  Spain,  whence  they  reached  Western 
Europe  with  Arabic  literary  gems. 

In  this  century  England's  language  expanded  beyond  the  Hep- 
tarchy, settled  by  the  Jutes,  Saxons,  and  Angles,  from  A.D.  449 


Ninth  Century,  161 

to  586 ;  for  King  Egbert  conquered  Chester  in  North  Wales, 
A.D.  828,  and  Cornwall  in  South  Wales,  A.D.  835,  where  the 
Cornish  language  died  with  Dorothea  Pentreath,  A.D.  1778,  who 
was  the  last  person  that  could  speak  it.  He  also  added  to  Eng- 
land the  Isle  of  Mona,  which  he  called  Anglesey.  King  Ina's 
College  at  Rome  was  consumed  by  fire,  A.D.  816.  Alfred  the 
Great,  who  felt  proud  of  that  educational  institution,  restored  it 
A.D.  885,  so  that  England  and  her  language  should  not  be  un- 
represented in  the  Metropolis  of  the  Christian  world.  The  An- 
glo-Saxon people  and  language  became  known  at  Jerusalem, 
whose  Patriarch,  Abel,  corresponded  with  Alfred  the  Great, 
A.D.  888.  Ohthere,  Alfred's  naval  commander,  carried,  A.D. 
893,  England's  flag  and  language  to  the  Arctic  Ocean,  White  Sea, 
and  Dwina,  where  they  were  seen  and  heard  by  the  Norsemen, 
Finns  and  Samoyedes.  Even  the  primitive  home  of  the  Arian 
race  saw  the  earnest  and  daring  priest,  Sighelm,  who,  sent  by 
Alfred  the  Great  to  relieve  the  destitute  Christians  of  St.  Thomas 
and  St.  Bartholomew,  carried  his  nation's  name  and  language  to 
distant  India,  A.D.  883.  No  wonder  England  cherished  the 
idea  of  extending  her  empire  and  language  to  India ! 


TENTH    CENTURY. 


"The  Anglo-Saxon  literature,  with  the  exception  of  the  ' Beowulf J  is  Christian,  &c.  The 
Icelandic  contains  the  key  to  many  a  riddle  in  the  English  language,  and  to  many  a  mystery 
in  the  English  character." — MAX  MULLER. 

As  we  closed  the  ninth  century  with  a  mere  mention  of  Alfred's 
queen  and  family,  we  must  speak  of  them  in  the  tenth.  Ethel- 
switha,  Alfred's  worthy  queen,  deserves  posterity's  gratitude  for 
having  raised  so  talented  a  family  to  the  king  and  sage.  Asser 
alluded  to  her  without  giving  her  name,  but  speaks  thus  of  her 
parent : 

"  The  mother  of  this  lady  was  named  Edburga,  of  the  royal  line  of  Mercia, 
whom  we  have  often  seen  with  our  own  eyes ;  she  was  a  venerable  lady,  and 
after  the  decease  of  her  husband  she  remained  many  years  a  widow,  even  till 
her  death." 

Athelred,  a  Mercian  earl,  was  her  father.  Alfred  married  Ethel- 
switha,  A.D.  868,  four  years  before  he  became  king.  Such  is  the 
scanty  account  concerning  this  worthy  queen,  mother,  and 
woman.  How  partially  history  and  biography  have  been  written  ! 
Asser  wrote  so  much  trash  about  monks,  nuns,  and  churches, 
that  he  found  no  room  for  the  domestic  virtues  of  Alfred's  modest 
queen. 

Behold  an  important  event  in  England's  early  history  :  hitherto 
Anglo-Saxon  sovereigns  had  married  Frankish  princesses  ;  but 
no  Frankish  prince  had  yet  married  an  Anglo-Saxon  princess. 
Alfred's  deeds  had  reached  across  the  channel ;  hence,  his 
daughter  Ethelswitha,  named  for  her  Another,  was  sought  by  and 
married  to  Baldwin,  Count  of  Flanders,  about  A.D.  900.  Thence- 
forth existed  a  closer  connection  between  England  and  the  con- 
tinent. Ethelswitha's  virtues  so  shone,  that  her  five  nieces, 
daughters  of  her  brother  Edward,  were  sought  and  wedded  to 


Tenth  Century.  163 

sovereigns  and  princes  of  Europe.  Ethelswitha  bore  to  Baldwin 
two  sons,  Ethelwulf  and  Arnulf ;  and  two  daughters,  Elswid  and 
Armen  truth. 

Edward,  the  elder,  who  succeeded  Alfred,  was  an  able  monarch 
worthy  of  his  father.  During  his  reign  England  was  harassed 
by  roving  Danes,  who  often  had  occasion  to  realize  Edward's 
vigilance  and  military  prowess ;  but,  even  amid  these  troubles, 
he  found  leisure  to  patronize  literature  and  art.  The  Castle  of 
Colchester  is  a  monument  of  his  taste  for  architecture.  He  is 
considered  as  the  founder  of  the  University  of  Cambridge.  As 
previously  stated,  his  sister  Ethelswitha  had  paved  the  way  to 
P^uropean  thrones  for  Anglo-Saxon  princesses.  Edward  had  nine 
daughters,  five  of  whom  married  European  sovereigns  :  Edgiva 
wedded  Charles  the  "Simple,  King  of  France ;  Edgitha  espoused 
Otho  I.,  Emperor  of  Germany;  Ethilda  married  Hugo  the 
Great,  Count  of  Paris;  a  fourth  married  Gormon,  King  of 
Denmark  ;  and  a  fifth,  Louis  the  Blind,  King  of  Provence,  home 
of  the  Troubadours.  Thus  was  Europe  supplied  with  Anglo- 
Saxon  princesses.  As  was  usual  in  those  days,  some  child  of  the 
family  was  to  be  dedicated  to  the  Church  :  such  was  the  lot  of 
Ethelgiva,  for  whom  Alfred  built  a  nunnery  at  Shaftesbury,  where 
she  passed  her  life  as  abbess  amid  many  other  noble  ladies. 

There  remains  but  Alfred's  youngest  son,  Ethelwerd,  who,  like 
his  father,  took  to  intellectual  pursuits  and  books.  Of  him  Asser 
observes : 

"  Ethelwerd,  the  youngest,  by  the  Divine  counsels  and  the  admirable  pru- 
dence of  the  king,  was  consigned  to  the  schools  of  learning,  where,  with  the 
children  of  almost  all  the  nobility  of  the  country,  and  many  also  who  were 
not  noble,  he  prospered  under  the  diligent  care  of  his  teachers.  Books  in  both 
languages,  namely,  Latin  and  Saxon,  were  read  in  the  school.  They  also 
learned  to  write ;  so  that  before  they  were  of  an  age  to  practice  manly  arts, 
as  hunting  and  such  pursuits  befitting  noblemen,  they  became  studious  and 
clever  in  the  liberal  arts." 

This  clearly  shows  us,  not  only  the  system  of  education  of  that 
day,  but  Alfred's  liberality  in  having  his  son  educated  in  a  mixed 
school  of  nobles  and  commoners. 

When  Ethelwerd  reached  manhood,  he  wielded  both  the  sword 
and  the  pen  ;  hence  Malmesbiiry,  A.D.  1143,  styled  him  "noble 
and  magnificent"  This  royal  scholar  wrote  what  is  now  known  as 


164  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

"JBthelwertfs  Chronicle"  beginning  with  the  Creation  and  ending 
A.D.  975.  However,  instead  of  following  his  practical  father's 
example  and  writing  in  his  native  tongue,  he  followed  the  fashion 
of  his  day  and  wrote  in  poor  Latin.  Yet  his  Chronicle  has  merits 
not  to  be  found  in  others  :  first  and  foremost,  brevity  was  his  aim ; 
because  it  was  written  for  and  to  be  sent  to  his  illustrious  cousin, 
Matilda,  daughter  of  Otho,  Emperor  of  Germany.  As  he  was 
neither  monk  nor  priest,  his  Chronicle  does  not  abound  in  over- 
pious  effusions  and  overstrained  visions.  The  highest  merit  of 
Ethelwerd's  Chronicle  is  its  veracity,  emanating  as  it  did  from  a 
noble  and  high-toned  stock  that  could  not  prevaricate  if  it  tried. 
This  royal  literary  production  of  forty  octavo  pages  begins  with 
a  letter  full  of  gentleness,  sentiment,  and  chivalry  to  the  imperial 
Matilda.  Were  it  in  Anglo-Saxon,  like  Alfred's  writings,  I  should 
choose  it  as  an  Extract  and  Table  to  show  the  status  and  progress 
of  the  language  in  the  tenth  century.  Poor  Latin  as  it  is,  I  can- 
not help  quoting  some  of  its  translation,  so  as  to  enable  readers 
to  look  in  upon  those  times  and  realize,  not  only  what  the  epis- 
tolary style  was,  but  what  family  and  domestic  relations  were  in 
Old  England  a  thousand  years  ago  : 

"To  Matilda,  the  most  eloquent  and  true  handmaid  of  Christ,  Ethelwerd 
the  patrician,  health  in  the  Lord  : 

"I  have  received,  dearest  sister,  your  letter,  which  I  longed  for;  and  I  not 
only  read  it  with  kisses,  but  laid  it  up  in  the  treasury  of  my  heart.  Often 
and  often  do  I  pray  the  grace  of  the  Most  High  to  preserve  you  in  safety 
during  this  life,  and  after  death  to  lead  you  to  his  everlasting  mansions. 

"As  I  once  before  briefly  hinted  to  you  by  letter,  I  now,  with  God's  help, 
intend  to  begin  in  the  way  of  annals  from  the  origin  of  the  world,  and  ex- 
plain to  you  more  fully  our  common  lineage  and  descent,  so  that  the  reader's 
task  may  be  lightened  and  the  pleasure  of  the  hearer  may  be  increased  while 
he  listens  to  it." 

Here  he  describes  the  genealogy  of  the  royal  house,  with  al- 
lusions to  the  Anglo-Saxon  princesses,  wedded  to  European 
princes,  and  speaks  of  his  niece,  who  married 

"A  certain  king  near  the  Jupiterean  Mountains,  of  whose  family  no  memo- 
rial has  reached  us,  partly  from  the  distance  and  partly  from  the  confusion  of 
the  times.  It  is  your  province  to  inform  us  of  these  particulars,  not  only 
from  your  relationship,  but  also  because  no  lack  of  ability  or  interval  of  space 
prevents  you." 


Tenth  Century.  165 

Next  follows  his  Chronicle  of  four  books,  which  closes,  A.D. 
975,  in  this  simple,  unostentatious  manner  :  "  Here  happily  ends 
the  fourth  book  of 

Fabius  Ethelwerd, 

Questor  and  Patrician." 

The  king  near  the  Jupiterean  Mountains  was  Louis  the  Blind, 
King  of  Provence.  The  Jupiterean  Mountains  are  the  Alps. 
By  this  letter  we  realize  that  intercourse  was  difficult  and  slow; 
because  even  royal  and  imperial  families  could  not  easily  cor- 
respond. No  telegraphs,  no  tunnel  through  the  Jupiterean  Moun- 
tains, no  mails  by  steam  ;  aye,  not  even  stage-horse  mails  ! 

We  may  talk  of  dark  ages  and  barbarians  :  the  above  letter  en- 
nobles any  age,  country,  tribe,  or  nation.  Such  a  correspondence 
for  mutual  instruction  does  honor,  not  only  to  the  Gotho-Germanic 
royal  stock,  but  to  humanity.  A  universal  history,  written  by  a 
prince  for  and  to  an  imperial  princess  !  and  that  history  couched 
in  Latin,  presupposes  a  knowledge  of  Latin  in  Matilda.  The 
masses  may  have  been  ignorant,  even  barbarous ;  but  they  had 
enlightened  leaders,  as  is  clearly  proved  by  Matilda  and  Ethel- 
werd. 

Such  was  Alfred's  family,  whose  ramifications  may  seem  lost  in 
the  dim  past,  even  as  was  the  princess  who  wedded  the  Jupi- 
terean Mountain  king ;  yet  these  ramifications  were  a  leaven, 
that  has  been,  is  and  will  be  permeating  humanity's  mass  forever. 

Asser  wrote  King  Alfred's  biography  in  Latin  ;  being  a  Briton, 
he  could  not  have  written  in  Anglo-Saxon.  A  short  history, 
styled  li  Annals  of  Asser"  or  Chronicle  of  St.  Neot,  has  also  been 
attributed  to  him.  He  was  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  Wales,  before 
he  became  the  intimate  of  Alfred,  who  made  him  Bishop  of  Sher- 
born.  His  biography  of  Alfred  has  one  defect :  it  merely  alludes 
to  Alfred's  queen,  who,  as  I  previously  said,  must  have  been  an 
excellent  woman,  otherwise  the  royal  offspring  would  not  have 
been  so  brilliant.  The  idea  of  attempting  a  biography  and 
omitting  the  better  half,  seems  queer,  to  say  the  least  of  it. 
Whatever  may  have  prompted  this  omission,  it  is  unpardonable. 
To  enable  the  reader  to  understand  the  relation  between  Alfred 
and  Asser,  I  will  quote  from  his  account  of  their  first  interview 
at  the  "Royal  Vill  of  Dene,"  A.I).  884: 


1 66  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

"  He  received  me  with  kindness,  and  among  other  familiar  conversation, 
asked  me  eagerly  to  devote  myself  to  his  service  and  become  his  friend  ;  to 
leave  all  I  had  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Severn,  and  he  would  give  me  more 
than  an  equivalent.  I  replied  :  I  could  not  rashly  promise  such  things :  for 
it  seemed  to  me  unjust  to  leave  these  sacred  places,  where  I  was  bred,  edu- 
cated and  ordained,  for  the  sake  of  earthly  honor  and  power,  &c.  If  you 
cannot  accede  to  this,  at  least  let  me  have  your  services  in  part :  spend  six 
months  of  the  year  here,  and  the  other  six  in  Britain.  I  could  not  even 
promise  that  hastily,  without  the  advice  of  my  friends,  &c." 

No  doubt  Asser's  name  and  fame  had  reached  the  great  mon- 
arch before  this  interview.  In  the  course  of  the  biography  we 
realize  that  subsequently  Asser  spent  sometimes  eight  months  of 
the  year  with  his  royal  friend  ;  directing  his  studies,  reading  to  him, 
and  advising  with  him  about  both  eternal  and  temporal  affairs. 

I  know  there  are  those  who  question  the  authenticity  of  Asser's 
writings,  on  the  plea  that  they  are  compilations  of  a  later  date. 
To  me  Asser's  biography  bears  inherent  and  intrinsic  evidence 
of  authenticity  and  genuineness  as  to  time,  circumstances,  and 
persons,  to  say  nothing  of  style  and  language. 

King  Alfred  had  so  ennobled  the  harp  that  every  gentleman 
owned  one,  and  attempted  to  play  on  it.  No  creditor  could  seize 
the  harp  of  his  debtor,  and  no  slave  was  allowed  to  play  it.  The 
harp  has  ever  since  been  held  in  high  honor  in  England. 

King  Athelstan,  about  938,  advanced  his  native  tongue  by  order- 
ing a  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  which,  according  to  Wharton, 
he  saw  done  under  his  own  patronage.  He  gave  to  the  Church 
of  Durham  a  copy  of  the  four  Gospels,  which  are  now  in  the 
Cottonian  Library  in  the  British  MuseiMn.  This  was  the  third 
version  into  the  Gotho-Germanic  dialects  :  that  by  Ulfilas  into 
Gothic,  A.D.  376,  was  the  first,  and  that  by  Otfrid  into  old 
German,  A.D.  868,  the  second.  To  Athelstan  England  is  also 
indebted  for  an  Anglo-Saxon  Code  of  Laws,  a  copy  of  which  is 
in  Wilkins'  "Leges  Anglo-Saxonica"  It  contains  twenty-six 
clauses  and  was  issued  A.D.  924.^ 

As  yet  the  Anglo-Saxon  idiom  had  been  little  heard  at  sea, 
because  commerce  had  languished,  partly  on  account  of  the 
piratic  Norsemen,  partly  from  lack  of  ships  and  sailors.  Alfred 
the  Great  had  started  a  navy ;  Athelstan  encouraged  merchants 
by  a  decree  that  entitled  any  merchant,  who  had  made  three  long 
sea  voyages  at  his  own  expense,  to  be  a  thane  or  a  gentleman. 


Tenth  Century.  167 

This  law  was  the  origin,  not  only  of  English  enterprise  and 
commerce,  but  of  England's  idiom  becoming  the  language  of  the 
Deep,  as  it  is  now  and  is  likely  to  remain,  starting  with  Ohthere 
under  Alfred  the  Great. 

Another  linguistic  improvement  may  be  traced  to  this  century  : 
the  universal  adoption  of  small  rounded  letters,  and  abandonment 
of  angular  capitals,  except  for  titles,  initials,  and  marks  of  ortho- 
graphic distinctions. 

Alfric,  surnamed  the  Grammarian,  wrote  "  Grammatica  Latino- 
Saxonica"  The  text  is  Latin,  with  Latin  extracts  from  Prisci- 
anus  and  Donatus,  which  Alfric  translated  into  Anglo-Saxon  for 
the  use  of  pupils,  who  were  studying  Latin.  It  seems  there  was 
no  grammar  written  for  students  to  learn  Anglo-Saxon,  because 
the  dialect  had  hardly  emerged  from  its  origin,  as  may  be  observed 
by  our  Tables,  when  it  became  mixed  with  Latin  and  Danish, 
which  were  superseded  by  Franco-English,  A.D.  1066.  The 
stoppage  of  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  A.D.  1154,  was  the  grave  of 
Anglo-Saxon  and  the  cradle  of  Franco-English. 

Grammar  is  but  the  ultimatum  of  a  progressed  language  ;  it  is 
to  language  what  fruit  is  to  the  tree,  which  has  to  grow,  bud,  and 
flower,  before  you  can  expect  fruit.  We  are  told  Hebrew,  which 
is  considered  the  most  ancient  language,  had  neither  grammarian 
nor  grammar  till  A.D.  1040,  when  Rabbi  Judah  Hioug  of  Fez 
analyzed  that  original  idiom  and  gave  to  the  world  a  grammar 
thereof.  Greek  had  florished  many  centuries  when  Plato,  400 
B.C.,  considered  its  development.  Next  Aristotle,  336  B.C.,  re- 
duced Plato's  thoughts  to  a  grammar,  which  Epicurus  taught 
among  the  Greeks  250  B.C.  The  Latin  tongue  had  existed  from 
752  till  170  B.C.,  when  Crates  Mallotes,  a  Greek  by  birth,  taught 
the  Romans  the  grammatic  art.  After  all,  the  old  Jews  were 
sensible  and  practical  not  to  indulge  in  grammatic  technicalities, 
which  are  but  a  waste  of  thought  without  adequate  compensation. 
Children  are  made  to  lose  much  precious  time  in  grammatic 
puerilities.  That  immense  volume  styled  "  Gram maire  des  gram- 
maires"  is  filled  with  what  Moliere  would  call  niaiseries.  The 
sooner  grammar  is  dropped,  language  harmonized  as  to  letter  and 
sound,  and  simplified  as  to  declensions  and  conjugations,  the 
sooner  mankind  will  enter  upon  a  progressive  career,  and  chil- 
dren will  have  time  for  more  important  studies. 


168  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

To  Alfric,  the  Grammarian,  are  attributed  an  Anglo-Saxon  and 
Latin  Dictionary ;  an  Anglo-Saxon  History  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  and  Anglo-Saxon  Homilies,  which  were  translated 
into  English  by  the  accomplished  lady  scholar,  Mrs.  Elstob,  1 709. 
As  previously  stated,  it  is  now  thought  that  the  Saxon  Chronicle 
from  55  B.C.  to  A.D.  975,  attributed  to  Alfric,  was  written  by 
Alfred  the  Great.  Alfric  became  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
A.D.  995,  and  died  1006.  He  was  a  great  admirer  of  Pope 
Gregory  I.,  about  whom  he  wrote  a  homily,  from  which  we  take 
an  Extract  and  Table. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  century  the  Danes  harassed  Ireland 
as  they  had  done  England  under  Alfred  the  Great  and  his  suc- 
cessors; but  Brian  Born,  King  of  Munster,  A.D.  978,  was  quite 
a  match  for  those  ruthless  sea-kings.  After  defeating  them  in 
numerous  encounters,  this  brave  king  of  the  Emerald  Isle  fell,  at 
the  battle  of  Clontarf,  in  the  midst  of  a  signal  triumph  over  the 
King  of  Leinster,  aided  by  the  Danes,  A.D.  1014.  Then  and 
there  Ireland  began  to  attract  the  attention  of  England  and 
Europe.  Ancient  records  of  Ireland  also  claim  that  Brian  Boru, 
when  but  sixteen  years  old,  was  with  his  brother  Mahon,  King 
of  Munster,  at  the  famous  battle  of  Sollyhead,  A.D.  941,  where 
most  of  the  Danish  chiefs  and  their  followers  were  killed.  We 
read  that  about  A.D.  TOOO.  Brian  Boru  introduced  the  use  of 
family  names  in  Ireland,  so  as  to  avoid  confusion  in  genealogy. 
Thenceforth  the  son  of  Carthach  was  styled  MacCarthaigh  (now 
MacCarthy)  ;  the  son  of  Moroch,  MacMorcch;  also  MacMahon, 
MacNamara,  &c.,  Mac  being  the  Irish  for  son.  The  grandson 
of  Brian  called  himself  O  'Brian  ;  the  grandson  of  Donnell. 
O'Donnell ;  so  with  O'Neill,  O' Conor,  &c.,  O'  being  the  Irish 
for  grandson.  This  was  not  only  a  legal,  but  a  linguistic  im- 
provement in  genealogic  documents  and  records. 

Extracts  and  Tables  from  Anglo-Saxon  authors  of  the  tenth 
century,  showing  their  style  of  writing  and  the  numeric  origin  of 
their  vocabulary.  They  are  from  the  poem  on  the  Battle  of 
Brunanburgh,  A.D.  938,  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  and  from  Alfric' s 
Homily  on  the  Birth-day  of  St.  Gregory,  about  A.D.  905. 


Tenth  Century. 


170 


Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


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Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


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Tenth  Century.  175 

Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from  the  two  preceding  Tables  of 
the  Tenth  Century  : 


ureco-JL,arin :  5 

Total    of    different 


-     Greco-Latin:  8 


Anglo-Saxon:  175 


Gotho-Germanic :  175 


words  :  184. 
Hebrew  :  i  !•  Semitic  : 

Hence,  the  style  of  Anglo-Saxon  writing  in  the 
tenth  century  shows  a  vocabulary  of  different 
words,  containing  about 

95  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic. 

4       "  Greco-Latin,  and  traces  of  Semitic. 

Eighty- four  of  the  175  different  Anglo-Saxon 
words,  or  forty-eight  per  cent.,  are  now  (1878)  ob- 
solete. 

Only  26  of  the  175  Anglo-Saxon  words,  or  fifteen 
per  cent,  are  spelt  now  (1878)  as  they  were  in  the 
tenth  century. 

"There  co^^ld  be  nothing  more  deplorable  than  the  state  of  letters  in  Italy 
and  in  England  during  the  tenth  century.'1'1 — HALLAM. 

Ethelwerd's  Chronicle,  Asser's  Biography,  Athelstan's  Trans- 
lation of  the  Scriptures,  and  Alfric's  numerous  Anglo-Saxon 
writings,  do  not  show  England's  state  of  letters  so  very  deplor- 
able, when  we  consider  the  times  and  circumstances. 

As  to  Italy,  Pope  Sylvestei;!!.  (Gerbert),  scientist,  philosopher, 
and  mechanician,  redeems  her  and  all  Europe ;  for  the  Arabian 
figures,  introduced  by  him,  gave  a  new  impetus,  not  only  to 
arithmetic,  mathematics,  and  astronomy,  but  to  science,  com- 
merce, mechanics,  and  even  to  domestic  concerns.  They  were 
to  the  exact  sciences  what  alphabetic  letters  were  to  language. 
Ten  small  figures  :  i,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  o,  superseded  the  seven 
cumbersome  Roman  letters,  I,  V,  X,  L,  C,  D,  M.  These  ten 
small  figures  soon  started  enterprise  and  navigation,  constructed 
telescopes,  calculated  the  motions  of  the  earth,  moon,  sun,  plan- 
ets, and  comets,  counted  the  stars,  and  gauged  the  depths  of  the 


176  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

universe.  What  would  science,  what  would  the  world  do  without 
them  ?  The  sagacious  monk  first  saw  these  figures — and  learned 
mathematics  from  the  Saracens — while  in  Spain,  about  980. 

Gerbert,  the  poor  boy  from  Auvergne,  the  imperial  and  royal 
tutor,  archbishop  and  pope,  worked  this  wonderful  mathematical 
change  from  about  994  to  1003.  While  at  Emperor  Otho's  court, 
Gerbert  constructed  a  clock  and  regulated  it  upon  the  polar  star. 
Numerous  mathematical  essays,  one  hundred  and  forty-nine 
epistles,  and  a  discourse  against  Simony,  illustrate  the  career  of 
this  remarkable  genius.  A  century  with  one  such  luminary,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  skilled  Elfleda  and  the  erudite  Ethelwerd  and 
Matilda,  cannot  be  called  "deplorable"  We  do  not  inquire  here 
whether  our  arithmetical  figures  originated  in  Arabia  or  India ;  we 
leave  that  to  hypercritics,  and  simply  claim  that  Pope  Sylvester 
II.  perceived  their  utility,  and  used  his  influence  to  introduce 
them  among  the  Medieval  Christian  nations  in  the  tenth  century.. 

Cardinal  Baronius  calls  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  "  a  period, 
which  for  barbarity  and  profligacy  may  be  compared  to  iron,  and 
for  blindness  and  ignorance  may  be  styled  the  age  of  darkness." 

Facts  versus  theory':  The  ninth  century  witnessed  the  Hercu- 
lean labors  of  Anscarius,  who,  as  previously  stated,  was  styled 
the  "Apostle  of  the  North  "  among  the  Danes  and  Swedes.  He 
was  a  monk  of  Picardy,  and  the  first  archbishop  of  Hamburg. 
After  King  Harald  Klak's  baptism  at  the  court  of  Louis  the 
Pious,  Emperor  of  Germany,  Anscarius  accompanied  him  to 
Denmark,  where  he  preached  Christianity  amid  great  vicissitudes  ; 
then  went  to  Sweden,  where  he  did  the  same  thing,  and  ultimately 
saw  the  Gospel  take  root  and  florish  among  tribes  who  had  for 
years  considered  pillage  and  war  as  the  most  honorable  occupa 
tion.  Anscarius  died  864 ;  but  his  zealous  disciples,  Autbert 
and  Eembert,  continued  the  work  he  had  begun.  As  the  Alfredan 
era  and  its  Anglo-Saxon  progress  closed  with  the  ninth  century 
and  is  fresh  in  the  memory  of  readers,  we  need  but  allude  to  it. 

The  tenth  century  saw  the  efforts  of  Haquin  the  Good,  King 
of  Norway,  to  diffuse  Christ's  teachings  among  his  subjects,  about 
935.  It  is  said  Haquin  was  educated  and  baptized  at  the  court 
of  Athelstan  in  England  ;  hence  he  is  called  by  some  historians 
Haquin  Adelstan.  Some  changes  intervened  before  Norway 
enjoyed  the  blessings  of  peace  and  civilization. 


Tenth   Century.  177 

Mieczyslaw,  King  of  Poland,  influenced  by  his  Queen  Dom- 
browska,  embraced  Christianity  with  all  his  subjects,  A.D.  965. 
A  splendid  monument,  by  Ranch,  has  been  lately  raised  to  this 
early  Christian  king,  in  Posen,  his  native  city. 

Otho  II.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  stood  sponsor  to  Harald, 
King  of  Denmark,  while  Bishop  Popo  baptized  him  and  his  son 
Sweyn,  974.  True,  Sweyn  soon  relapsed  into  Odinism,  but 
Christianity  outlived  him,  as  it  did  all  his  pagan  cotemporaries  in 
Denmark.  Another  gentler  and  more  widespread  Christianizing 
belongs  to  this  era :  Anna,  sister  of  the  Emperors  Constantine 
and  Basil,  married  Wladimir,  Duke  of  Russia,  and  won  him  and 
his  nation  to  Christ,  988.  To  this  heroic  princess,  who  exchanged 
brilliant  Constantinople  for  hyperborean  Novogorod,  65,000,000 
souls  now  look  as  the  morning  star  of  their  civilization.  Princess 
Olga  had  been  baptized,  955,  but  her  example  had  no  effect  on 
the  Tartar  mind. 

Adalbert,  Bishop  of  Prague,  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Bohe- 
mians, Poles,  Hungarians,  Prussians,  Lithuanians,  and  suffered 
martyrdom  in  Rugen,  A.D.  997.  He  is  styled  the  Apostle  of 
Bohemia,  Hungary,  and  Prussia.  The  Poles  regard  him  as  the 
author  of  their  national  war-song,  "Roga  Rodzica" 

Next  the  eminent,  learned,  and  practical  Pope  Sylvester  II. 
closed  "the  age  of  darkness"  by  sending  to  Stephen,  chief  of  the 
savage  Hungarians,  the  title  of  king,  with  a  diadem  of  Greek 
workmanship.  Thenceforth  Stephen's  subjects,  who  had  ravaged 
Europe  for  years,  became  Christian,  and  turned  their  swords  into 
ploughshares,  A.D.  1000.  Thus,  at  the  close  of  the  tenth  century, 
was  Medieval  Europe  christianized  and  on  the  way  of  progress. 

Had  Hallam  and  the  erudite  Cardinal,  librarian  of  the  Vatican, 
remembered  all  these  important  events,  they  would  have  written 
more  cheeringly  of  those  times.  I  can  see  in  that  age. an  unselfish 
struggle  to  diffuse  civilization.  True,  the  masses  were  blind  and 
ignorant,  but  what  opportunities  had  they  ever  had  to  be  other- 
wise ?  Some  of  their  leaders,  both  male  and  female,  made  almost 
superhuman  efforts  to  extricate  their  benighted  brothers  and 
sisters  from  barbarism. 

To  this  century  belongs  the  oriental  epic  poem  that  has  at- 
tracted so  much  attention,  not  only  because  it  is  the  gem  of 
Persian  poetic  lore,  but  because  it  throws  light  upon  and  har- 

12 


178  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

monizes  ancient  and  Medieval  history,  geography,  ethnology,  and 
philology.  This  poem  is  the  "Shah-Namah"  (Book  of  Kings), 
by  the  Khorassan  bard,  Firdousi.  It  is  said  to  contain  56,000 
distichs.  As  soon  as  Sultan  Mahmood  heard  of  Firdousi's  genius 
he  called  him  to  his  court,  and  being  delighted  with  his  glowing 
strains,  ordered  that  he  should  be  paid  a  thousand  pieces  of  gold 
for  every  thousand  couplets  he  might  produce.  Behold  Sir 
William  Jones'  eulogy  on  Shah-Namah  :  "A  glorious  monument 
of  Eastern  genius  and  learning,  which,  if  it  ever  be  generally 
understood  in  the  original  language,  will  contest  the  merit  of 
invention  with  Homer  himself.  As  there  is  of  this  epic  an  ex- 
cellent translation  by  Julius  von  Mohl,  an  abridgment  by  J.  At- 
kinson, and  an  able  criticism  in  Sir  W.  Gore  Ouseley's  "  Bio- 
graphical Notices  of  the  Persian  Poets,"  we  refer  readers  to  them. 
This  oriental  bard  florished  about  995.  Also  Alkalem  II.,  Sul- 
tan and  Caliph  of  Cordova,  encouraged  Moslem  literature,  science 
and  art  in  collecting  a  large  library,  and  founding  colleges,  hos- 
pitals and  mosques,  scintillations  of  which  reached  other  European 
languages,  literatures,  and  schools  of  art.  The  Saracens  greatly 
advanced  geography  :  Haukal,  of  Bagdad,  visited  most  countries 
under  Moslem  rule  from  the  Indus  to  the  Quadalquivir,  and  wrote 
an  accurate  geographic  treatise,  which  the  eminent  English  orien- 
talist Ouseley  translated  into  four  quarto  volumes.  Aboo  Ryhan 
left  an  excellent  work  on  geography  and  astronomy.  While  the 
Arabian  savants  explored  the  Levant,  Adam  of  Bremen  explored 
the  Scandinavian  regions  and  left  to  posterity  "  De  Situ  Dania3," 
which  abounds  in  curious  geographic  accounts  of  the  homes  of 
our  Gotho-Germanic  ancestors. 

Some  Frank  translated  into  Francic,  Boethius'  "  De  Consola- 
tione  Philosophise,"  which  Alfred  the  Great  had  translated  for 
his  people  a  century  before. 

We  must  not  omit  here  the  earliest  information  from  the  far 
East :  Chinese  records,  corresponding  with  this  century,  state 
that  during  the  administration  of  Foung  Tao,  Prime  Minister  of 
the  Emperor  Ming  Troung  (A.D.  930),  the  first  attempt  at 
printing  was  made  in  China,  whence  the  idea  may  directly  or 
indirectly  have  reached  Europe,  where  it  had  time  to  ripen  among 
the  Medieval  nations,  till  Guttenberg  succeeded  in  rendering  it 
practical  A.D.  1440. 


ELEVENTH    CENTURY. 


"  Even  before  the  conquest,  Anglo-Saxon  began  to  fall  into  contempt."— WARTON. 

IN  the  eighth  century  we  alluded  to  the  first  landing  of  the 
Danes  at  Portland,  A.D.  789,  and  to  the  subsequent  influence 
their  piratic  inroads  would  exercise  on  the  Anglo-Saxon  character 
and  dialect.  Now  we  will  point  out  some  of  the  linguistic  changes 
that  began  about  870  in  Northumbria,  conquered  and  reconquered 
by  these  rovers,  who  amalgamated  with  the  Angles.  We  are 
told  the  Danes  are  descended  from  the  Cimbri,  who  had  a  pecu- 
liar idiom,  still  preserved  in  the  Icelandic.  It  seems  those  taci- 
turn sea-kings  despised  linguistic  inflections,  affixes,  and  suffixes, 
in  which  Anglo-Saxon  abounded  ;  hence  they  dropped  them  and 
unconsciously  produced  what  has  since  been  styled  Dano-Saxon. 
They  usually  dropped  n  in  Anglo-Saxon  words,  especially  final  n 
of  the  termination  an  of  the  infinitive  ;  they  also  added,  omitted, 
or  changed  vowels  and  even  syllables,  as  may  be  observed  by 
these  few  illustrations : 

ANGLO-SAXON  :  DANO-SAXON  :  ENGLISH  : 

Drincan  drinca  to  drink 

greipan  greipa  to  gripe 

habban  habba  to  have 

deman  doeme  to  deem 

naman  or  noman  nama  or  noma  name,  n.  and  v. 

ondraedan  ondrede  to  dread 

seistan  seista  sixth 

begen  bege  both 

twegen  twege  two 

Cyning  Cynig  King 

eftsona  eftso  forthwith 

The  Danes  also  used  the  preposition  to,  and  dispensed  with 
the  termination  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dative  case.  Thus  began 


i8o  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

i 

the  removal  of  inflections  and  the  simplification  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  grammar.  This  lasted  as  long  as  Danish  influence,  which 
began  with  Gu thrum,  A.D.  870,  and  ended  with  Hardicanute, 
A.D.  1041. 

I  might  eulogize  Ethelred's  marriage  with  Emma,  "  The  Pearl 
of 'Normandy ;"  I  might  contrast  Edmund  Ironside's  heroism 
with  Ethelred's  supineness  ;  I  might  cite  Emma's  diplomatic  union 
with  the  rude  Dane,  Canute ;  I  might  enlarge  on  the  crimes  of 
Earl  Godwin  ;  but  as  such  details  have  no  connection  with 
language  or  literature,  let  us  hasten  towards  times  more  propi- 
tious to  human  progress.  After  two  centuries  of  pillage  and  war- 
fare, the  Danes  succeeded  in  placing  Canute  on  the  throne  of 
England,  A.D.  1017.  Two  short  Danish  reigns  disgusted  the 
people  to  such  a  degree  that  they  restored  the  Saxon  line  in 
Edward  the  Confessor,  who  returned  from  France  and  assumed 
the  crown  of  his  ancestors  with  the  approbation  of  all  parties, 
A.D.  1042. 

As  there  is  a  most  reliable  cotemporary  historian,  Ingulphus, 
it  may  be  advisable  to  let  him  relate  the  linguistic,  literary,  and 
social  status  of  his  day  and  generation  : 

"King  Edward,  though  born  in  England,  was  brought  up  in  Normandy, 
and  from  his  long  stay  there  had  almost  become  changed  to  a  Gaul  ;  he  con- 
sequently brought  over  with  him,  or  attracted  great  numbers  from  Normandy, 
whom  he  promoted  to  many  dignities  and  greatly  exalted.  The  consequence 
was  that  under  the  government  of  the  king  and  of  other  Normans,  who  had 
been  introduced,  the  whole  land  began  to  speak  the  Gallic  tongue,  as  though  it 
was  the  great  national  language ;  they  executed  their  charters  and  deeds  after 
the  manner  of  the  Franks,  and  in  these  and  many  other  ways  showed  them- 
selves ashamed  of  their  own  customs." 

Of  Editha,  Edward's  queen,  Ingulphus  tells  us  :  as  a  boy  he 
attended  the  school  of  Westminster,  and  when  on  his  way  home 
he  passed  the  royal  palace,  the  queen  often  called  him  in,  ex- 
amined him  as  to  his  progress  in  logic,  and  then  ordered  one  of 
her  maids  to  give  him  a  sumptuous  meal  and  some  pocket-money. 
This  erudite  historian  extols  her  beauty,  wit,  and  learning.  The 
lovely  character  of  Editha  called  forth  this  popular  line  : 

"  Sicut  spina  rosam,  genuit  Godwinus  Editham." 


Eleventh  Century.  181 

It  is  thus  felicitously  imitated  : 

"  As  amid  thorns  a  rose's  blush  we  trace, 
So  fair  Editha  blooms,  midst  Godwin's  race." 

To  speak  least  uncharitably  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  let  us 
condole  with  him  for  being  Ethelred  the  Unready's  son,  the  ex- 
ile, and  recalled  from  necessity.  He  was  flattered  by  Norman 
pimps,  and  cajoled  by  designing  monks  into  the  silly  belief  that 
he  was  God's  anointed  and  had  the  gift  of  miracles.  However, 
he  lived  and  died  with  good  intentions,  except  towards  his.  best 
and  truest  friend,  Editha,  to  whom  he  never  could  forgive  being 
Godwin's  daughter.  On  his  death-bed,  A.D.  1066,  he  might 
have  said  with  Louis  XIV.  :  "Apres  moi  le  Deluge" 

We  have  seen  the  origin  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect,  its  prog- 
ress, Alfredan  Era,  and  its  Danification ;  now  Ingulphus,  an 
eye-witness,  tells  us  that  its  most  intelligent  speakers  are  ashamed 
of  it  and  fly  to  a  foreign  idiom. 

King  Harold*  falls  at  Hastings ;  William,  aided  by  Rome,  tri- 
umphs, A.D.  1066 ;  gloom  spreads  over  the  land ;  the  nation  is 
sullen.  The  conqueror  is  afraid  of  his  own  shadow,  since  his 
own  daughter,  Agatha,  died  of  attachment  to  Harold,  whose 
bride  she  was  to  be.  We  have  all  heard  of  the  Curfew  f  bell  and 


*  Andrews,  in  his  erudite  History  of  Great  Britain,  Vol.  I.,  p.  77,  con- 
soles England  thus  concerning  the  result  of  the  battle  of  Hastings  :  "  While 
we  lament  the  fate  of  this  gallant  usurper  and  of  his  brave  but  undisciplined 
soldiers,  we  must  not  forget  that  by  this  rough  medicine  England  was  purged 
of  a  detestable  aristocracy,  composed  of  noblemen  too  powerful  for  the  king 
to  restrain  within  the  limits  of  decent  obedience,  and  always  ready  to  employ 
that  power  against  their  country,  when  interest,  ambition,  or  cowardice 
prompted  them.  This  consideration,  joined  to  that  of  the  vast  additional 
weight  which  England  gained  in  the  European  scale  by  the  Norman  disci- 
pline, being  joined  to  the  native  valor  of  the  islanders,  affords  ample  consola- 
tion for  the  disgrace  of  Hastings;  especially,  when  we  recollect  that  the 
Saxon  race  remounted  the  English  throne  at  the  end  of  only  four  reigns." 

\  CURFEW  :  as  the  spelling  and  sense  of  this  word  has  been  distorted,  it 
deserves  correcting  and  explaining.  The  spelling  was  originally  " couvre-feu" 
(cover-fire),  and  the  meaning  was  a  signal  for  families  to  cover  their  fire  with 
ashes  and  retire.  To  give  this  signal  a  bell  was  rung  at  eight  o'clock.  In 
those  halcyon  days,  when  Argand  and  camphene  lamps  and  gas  were  un- 
known, and  when  the  family  fire  was  the  principal  means  of  lighting  the  hut. 


1 82  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

other  ordinances,  enacted  by  that  suspicious  king  to  protect  his 
newly  acquired  kingdom ;  but,  as  many  may  not  have  heard  of 
the  following  measure,  contrived  to  diffuse  his  influence  and 
language,  we  will  quote  from  the  cotemporary  Ordericus  Vitalis, 
whose  history,  according  to  Guizot,  contains  more  valuable  in- 
formation on  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  than  any  other 
single  work  : 

"  The  many  castles  which  William  built  in  the  different  parts  of  the  island 
must  have  contributed  very  much  to  the  propagation  of  the  French  language 
among  the  nation ;  as  it  is  probable  that  the  foreigners,  of  whom  the  garri- 
sons were  entirely  composed,  would  insist  upon  carrying  on  all  their  trans- 
actions with  the  neighboring  country  in  their  own  language."  —  Ordericus 
Vitalis,  Lib.  IV. 

We  also  read  that  the  fortresses  built  from  William's  advent, 
A.D.  1066,  to  King  Stephen's  death,  A.D.  1154,  amounted  to 
1,115,  scattered  all  over  England;  and  that  they  were  manned 
by  60,000  Franco-Normans,  ever  ready  to  defend  themselves 
against  the  Anglo-Saxon  population,  numbering  2,000,000.  Such 
were  the  means  introduced  by  William  I.,  to  gain  influence  and 
diffuse  his  language.  As  he  issued  a  code  in  French,  we  cite  a 
part  of  it  to  show  its  tenor  and  style  : 

Extract  from  William  the  Conqueror's  French  Code,  A.D.  1070. 


Ces  sont  les  Leis  et  les  custumes  que 
li  Reis  William  grantut  a  tut  le  Peu- 
ple  de  Engleterre,  apres  le  Conquest 
de  la  Terre.  Ice  les  meismes  que  le 
Reis  Edward  sun  Cosin  tint  devant 
lui. 


Hae  sunt  Leges  et  Consuetudines 
quas  Willielmus  Rex  concessit  universo 
Populo  Anglise  post  subactam  Ter- 
rain. Eaedem  sunt  quas  Edwardus 
Rex,  cognatus  ejus,  observavit  ante 
eum. 


the  inmates  were  left  in  the  dark,  ready  for  sleep  and  repose  by  the  covering 
of  their  fire.  This  regulation  did  not  originate  with  William  the  Conqueror ; 
he  only  introduced  it  into  England  from  the  Continent,  where  it  had  been  in 
vogue  for  several  centuries  :  first,  to  give  people  the  hour  of  the  night,  family 
clocks  and  watches  being  unknown;  next,  to  render  them  orderly  and  give 
them  sufficient  rest  for  next  day's  duties.  The  ringing  of  a  bell  at  nine  o'clock 
was  a  custom  in  New  England  long  after  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims.  The 
nine  o'clock  gun  at  military  stations  has  the  same  meaning. 


Eleventh   Century. 


183 


I.   De  Asylorum  jure  et  immunitate  Ecclesiastica. 


Cest  a  saveir ;  Pais  a  Saint  Eglise ; 
de  quel  forfait  que  home  out  fait  en 
eel  tens ;  e  il  pout  venir  a  Sainte  Eg- 
lise ;  out  pais  de  vie  et  de  membre,  &c. 


Scilicet ;  Pax  Sanctae  Ecclesiae  en- 
juscunque  Forisfacturae  quis  reus  sit 
hoc  tempore ;  et  venire  potest  ad 
sanctam  Ecclesiam ;  Pacem  habeat 
vitae  et  membri,  &c. 


Robert  Holcoth,  Lib.  Sapient.,  C.  2,  wrote  : 

"When  William,  Duke  of  Normandy,  had  conquered  the  kingdom  of 
England,  he  deliberated  how  he  could  destroy  the  Saxon  language  and  har- 
monize England  and  Normandy  in  idiom ;  and  therefore  ordered  that  no  one 
should  plead  in  the  King's  Court,  except  in  French ;  and  again,  that  any  child 
about  to  be  sent  to  school  should  learn  French,  and  through  French  Latin, 
which  two  ordinances  are  observed  to  this  day." 

My  historic  reading  convinces  me  that  there  has  been  misap- 
prehension or  want  of  proper  investigation  on  the  part  of  histo- 
rians, who  describe  the  invasion  and  conquest  of  England  A.D. 
1066.  They  speak  of  the  invaders  as  Normans,  and  of  their  lan- 
guage as  Norman  or  Norman- French,  which  to  me  seem  misno- 
mers. The  5,000  Britons  sent  to  William  by  Hoel,  Count  of 
Brittany,  were  not  Normans  ;  neither  were  the  many  Barons  from 
all  parts  of  France  and  Flanders  with  their  followers ;  but  they 
all  flocked  to  William's  standard,  encouraged  by  Baldwin,  Earl 
of  Flanders,  regent  of  France,  and  father-in-law  of  William,  whom 
he  accompanied  to  England.  Henry  IV.,  Emperor  of  Germany, 
not  only  allowed  his  vassals  to  join  the  expedition,  but  engaged 
himself  to  protect  William's  dominions  during  his  absence.  The 
most  powerful  ally  was  Pope  Alexander  II. ,  who  backed  the  in- 
vasion with  all  the  power  of  the  Church,  called  Harold  a  perjured 
usurper,  excommunicated  him,  and  sent  William  relics  portending 
victory.  These  auxiliaries,  allies,  influences  and  means  were  not 
Norman.  Yet,  while  all  this  European  enthusiasm  was  going  on, 
William's  own  legislature  at  Lislebonne  hesitated  to  furnish  him 
with  supplies.  Hence  the  Norman  of  that  event  was  all  in  Wil- 
liam ;  for  if  his  own  subjects  were  averse  to  it,  it  certainly  cannot 
be  styled  Norman.  To  me  and  any  candid  observer  that  invasion 
must  ever  look  like  a  European  crusade  against  England,  which 
was  more  due  to  papal  than  to  Norman,  French,  or  German  in- 
fluence. Calling  those  invaders  Normans  and  their  language 
Norman  seem  to  me  terms  wofully  misapplied ;  for  history 


1 84 


Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


informs  us  that  about  A.D.  911,  a  band  of  northern  pirates  invad- 
ed Neustria  during  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Bald  and  succeeded 
in  seizing  that  province  ;  that  Rollo,  their  leader,  married  Charles' 
daughter,  Gisela,  embraced  her  religion  and  adopted  her  lan- 
guage, manners  and  customs  as  far  as  a  barbarian  could  ;  and  his 
followers  married  French  women  and  did  likewise.  We  read 
that  the  name  of  William's  father  was  Robert  le  Diable,  and  that 
his  mother  was  a  French  tanner's  daughter  named  Harlette.  I 
can  see  no  propriety  in  calling  the  host,  that  left  France  and  the 
rest  of  Europe  to  assist  William  in  the  invasion  of  England,  NOR- 
MANS. His  followers  from  the  Dukedom  of  Normandy  were  not 
one-tenth  of  the  whole  force.  Hence,  our  terms  Franco-Norman 
and  Franco- English  are  more  appropriate  than  Norman. 

As  there  is  not  only  philology,  but  history  to  be  learned  from 
names,  let  us  quote  the  famous  "Roll  of  J3attel  Abbeie"  or  list 
of  the  leaders  who  fought  under  William,  and  whose  names  were 
recorded  in  Battel  Abbey,  erected  by  William  the  Conqueror  on 
the  battle-field.  It  is  said  remains  of  the  Abbey  are  yet  visible 
six  miles  from  Hastings.  Our  readers  may  judge  how  much 
Norse,  Scandinavian  or  Norman  is  in  those  names ;  only  a  few 
seem  to  have  a  Gotho-Germanic  orthography.  This  Roll  is  to 
be  found  in  Pettit  Andrews  : 

THE   ROLL   OF   BATTEL  ABBEIE. 


A 

Albevile 

Basset 

Burgh 

Andevile 

Bigot 

Bushby 

Aumarle 

Amourduile 

Bohun 

Banet 

Aincourt 

Arcy 

Bailif 

Blondell 

Audeley 

Akeny 

Bondevile 

Breton 

Adgillam 

Albeny 

Barbason 

Blual 

Argent  oune 

Aybevare 

Baskervile 

Baious 

Arundell 

A  may 

Bures 

Browne 

Avenant 

Aspermound 

Bounilaine 

Beke 

Abell 

Asmerenges 

Bois 

Bickard 

Auverne 

Botelere 

Banastre 

Aunwers 

B 

Bourchere 

Baloun 

Angers 

Bertram 

Brabaion 

Beauchamp* 

Angenoun 

Buttecourt 

Berners 

Bray 

Archere 

Brebus 

Baibuf 

Bandy 

Anvay 

Byseg 

Brande 

Bracy 

Aspervile 

Bardolfe 

Bronce 

Boundes 

*  The  descendants  of  this  Beauchamp  assumed  the  title  of  Warwick  and 
built  the  famous  castle  of  that  name.  One  of  the  Warwicks  was  styled  the 
"King-Maker?  A.  0*1470. 


Eleventh  Century. 


Bascoun 

C 

Dercy 

Fitz-Marmaduke 

Broilem 

Dive 

Flevez 

Brolevy 
Burnel 
Bellet 
Baudewin 

Camois 
Camvile 
Chawent 
Chauncy 

Dispencere 
Daubeny 
Daniell 
Denise 

Filberd 
Fitz-  Roger 
Favecourt 
Ferrers 

Beaumont 

Conderai 

Devans 

Fitz-  Phillip 

Burdon 
Bertevilay 
Barre 

Chamberlaine 
Chamburnoun 

Davers 
Dodingsels 
Darell 

Filiot 
Furnivaus 
Fitz-Otes 

Bussevile 
Blunt 

Comm 
Columber 

("Vibe  ft 

Delaber 
Delapole 

Fitz-William 
Fitz-Roand 

Beaupere 
Bevill 

^xl  1L)CL  C 

Creuquere 

Delalinde 
Delahill 

Fitz-Pain 
Fitz-Auger 

Barbvedor 

C^or  uine 
Corbett 

Delaware 

Fitz-Aleyn 

Brette 

Delavache 

Fitz-Rauff 

Barrett 
Bonrel 
Bainard 

Cnandos 
Chaworth 
Claremaus 

Dakeny 
Dauntre 
Desny 

Fitz-Browne 
Fouke 
Frevil 

Bornivale 

darell 

Dabernoune 

Front  de  Boef 

Bonett 
Barry 
Brigan 
Bodin 
Betervile 

Chopis 
Chaunduit 
Chantelow 
Chamber  ay 
Cressy 

Damry 
Daveros 
Davonge 
Duilby 
Delasere 

Facunberge 
Fort 
Frisell 
Fitz-Simon 
Fitz-Fouk 

Berlin 
Berenevile 
Bellewe 
Bevery 
Bushell 
Boranvile 
Browe 

Curtenay 
Conestable 
Cholmeley 
Champney 
Chawnos 
Comivile 
Champaine 

Delahoid 
D  orange 

Delee 
Del  aim  d 
Delaward 
Delaplanch 
Damnot 

Filiol 
Fitz-Thomas 
Fitz-Morice 
Fitz-Hugh 
Fitz-Henrie 
Fitz-Waren 
Fitz-Rainold 

Belevers 
Buffard 

Carbonelle 

Danway 
Dehense 

Flamvile 
For  may 

Botteler 
Bonveier 

Charles 
Chereberge 

/~*\- 

Devile 

Disard 

Fitz-Eustach 
Fitz-  Laurence 

Bottevile 
Bellire 

Chawnes 
Chaumont 

Doiville 
Durant 

Formibaud 
Frisound 

Bastard 

Caperoun 

Drury 

Friere 

Bainard 

Cneine 

Dabilot 

Fitz-Robert 

Brasard 

Curson 

Dunsterville 

Furnivale 

Beelhelme 
Braine 

Couille 
Chaiters 

Dunchampe 
Dambelton 

Fitz-  Geffrey 
Fitz  Herbert 

Brent 

Cheines 

Fitz-  Peres 

Braunch 
Belcsuz 
Blunclell 
Burdet 

Cateray 
Cherrecourt 
Cammille 
Clerenay 

f*        1 

E 

Estrange 
Estutevile 

Fichet 
Fitz-Rewes 
Fitz-Fitz 
Fitz-John 

Bagot 

Curly 
Clinels 

Engaine 

Fleschampe 

Beauvise 

Estriels 

Belemis 

Cuily 
Chaundos 

Esturney 

Beinn 

Court  eney 

G 

Jjcrnoii 

Clifford 

Boels 

\-xllllL'iCl 

G  urn  ay 

Belefroun 

Ferreres 

Gressjy 

Brutz 

Folville 

Graunson 

Barchampe 

Denaville 

Fitz-Water 

Gracy 

1 86 


Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


Georges 

K 

Muse 

Mainard 

Gower 

T*T  0  1  1  Y-»  f 

Marteine 

Menere 

Gaujy 
Goband 

Lray 

jVctunt 
Karre 
Karrowe 
K.oine 

Mountbrother 
Mountsoler 
Malevile 

JMartinast 
*Mare 
Main  waring 

Gaunson 
Golofre 

Kaimarrone 

TCiri^ll 

Malet 
Mounteney 

Matelay 
Malemis 

Gobion 

jvirieii 

Monfichet 

Maleheire 

Grensy 
Graunt 

Kancey 
Kenelre 

Maleherbe 
Mare 

Moren 
Melun 

Greile 

Musegros 

Marceans 

Grevet 

L 

Musard 

Meiell 

Gurry 
Gurley 

Loveney 
Lacey 

Moine 
Mont  ravers 

Morton 

Grammory 

Linnely 

Marke 

N 

Gernoun 

Latomer 

Murres 

Grendon 

Loved  ay 

Mortivale 

Noere 

Gurdon 

Lovell 

Monchenesy 

Nevile 

Gines 

Lemare 

Mallory 

Newmarch 

Grivil 

Levetot 

Marny 

Norbet 

Grenevile 

Lucy 

Mountagu 

Norice 

Glatevile 

±>WfJ 

Luny 

Mount  ford 

Newborough 

Gurney 
Giffard 
Gouerges 
Gamages 

Logevile 
Longespes 
Loverace 
Longechampe 
Lascales 

Maule 
Monhermon 
Musett 
Menevile 
Mantevenant 

Neisemet 
Neile 
Normavile 
Noesmarch 
Nermitz 

Lacv 

Manse 

Nembrutz 

*-"*v 

Lovan 

Menpincoy 

Hauntenay 
Haunsard 
Hastings 
Hanley 
Haurel 
Husee 
Hercy 
Herioun 
Herne 
Harecourt 
Henoure 
Houell 
Hamelin 

Leded 
Luse 
Loterell 
Loruge 
Longevale 
Loy 
Lorancourt 
Loions 
Limers 
Longepay 
Laumale 
Lane 
Lovetot 

Maine 
Mainard 
Morell 
Mainell 
Maleluse 
Memouros 
Morreis 
Morleian  Maine 
Malevere 
Mandut 
Mountmasten 
Mantelet 
Miners 
Mauclerke 

O 

Otevell 
Olibef 
Olifant 
Osenel 
Oisell 
Olifard 
Orinall 
Orioll 

P 

Pigot 

Hare  well 
Hardell 

M 

Maunchenell 
Mouet 

Pery 
Perepount 

Hakett 

Mohant 

Meintenore 

Pershale 

Hamound 

Mowne 

Meletak 

Power 

Harcord 

Mandevile 

Man  vile 

Painell 

Marmilon 

Mangisere 

Perche 

J 

Moribray 

Maumasin 

Pavey 

Morvile 

Mountlovel 

Pevrell 

Jarden 

Miriell 

Maureward 

Perot 

Jay 

Manlay 

Monhart 

Picard 

Jeniels 

Malebraunch 

Meller 

Pinkenie 

Jerconvise 

Malemaine 

M  oun  tgomerie 

Pomeray 

Janvile 

Mortimere 

Manlay 

Pounce 

Jaspervile 

Mortimaine 

Maulard 

Pavely 

Eleventh  Century. 


Paifrere 

Rougere 

Sent-More 

Verdoune 

Piukenet 

Rait 

Sent-Scudemore 

Valence 

Phuars 

Ripere 

Verdeire 

Punchardoun 

Rigny 

Vavasour 

Pinchard 

Richemound 

Vendore 

Placy 

Rocheford 

Toget 

Verlay 

Pugoy 

Raimond 

Tercy 

Valenger 

Patefine 

Tuchet 

V  enables 

Place 

Tracy 

Venour 

Pampilioun 

Trousbut 

Viland 

Perceley 

Souch 

Trainell 

Verland 

Perere 

Shevile 

Takel 

Valers 

Pekeny 

Seucheus 

Trussel 

Veirny 

Porterell 

Senclere 

Trison 

Vauurvile 

Peukeny 

Sent  Quentin 

Talbot 

Veniels 

Peccely 

Sent  Mere 

Touny 

Verrere 

Pinell 

Sent  Amond 

Traies 

Uschere 

Putrill 

Sent  Legere 

Tollemach 

Veffay 

Petivoll 

Somervile 

Tolous 

Van  ay 

Preaus 

Si  ward 

Tanny 

Vian 

Pantolf 

Saunsovere 

Touke 

Vernoys 

Pecto 

Sanford 

Tiblote 

Urnal 

Penecord 

Santes 

Turbevile 

Unguet 

Preudirlogast 

Savay 

Turvile 

Urnafull 

Percivale 

Saulay 

To  my 

Vasderoll 

Sules 

Tavern  er 

Vaberon 

Sorell 

Trenchevile 

Valingford 

Somerey 

Trenchelion 

Venicorde 

Quinci 

Sent-John 

Tankervile 

Valive 

Quintiny 

Sent-George 

Tirol 

Viville 

Sent-Les 

Trivet 

Vancorde 

Sesse 

Tolet 

Valanges 

Salvin 

Travers 

Ros 

Say 

Tardevile 

Ridell 

Solers 

Turburvile 

W 

Rivers 

Saulay 

Tinevile 

Rivell 

Sent-Albin 

Torell 

Wardebois 

Rous 

Sent  Martin 

Tortechappell 

Ward 

Rushell 

Sourdemale 

Trusbote 

Wafre 

Raband 

Seguin 

Trevei-ell 

Wake 

Ronde 

Sent  Barbe 

Tenwis 

Wareine 

Ric 

Sent  Vite 

Totelles 

Wate 

Rokell 

Souremont 

Watelin 

Risers 

Soreglise 

Watevil 

Randuile 

Sandvile 

Wely 

Roselin 

Sauncey 

Vere 

Werdenell 

Rastoke 

Sirewast 

Vernoun 

Wespaile 

Rinvill 

Sent-Cheveroll 

Vesey 

Wivell 

Englishmen  now  scattered  all  over  the  globe  may  trace  their 
pedigree  to  some  one  of  these  655  names.  The  linguistic  ap- 
pearance of  nine-tenths  of  them  is  French,  having  representatives 
now  living  in  France,  England  and  America;  only  a  very  few 
seem  to  have  a  Gotho-Germanic  orthography. 

According  to  these  historic  and  linguistic  data,  I  shall  call  the 


1 88  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

fusion  of  Anglo-Saxon  and   French  from  A.D.   1066  to   1600, 
Franco-English,  and  the  prior  fusion  in  France,  Franco-Norman. 
The  "Saxon  Chronicle"  of  that  date  has  the  following: 

ltThaer  wearth  ofslaegen  Harold  Cyng.  and  Leaf  wine  eorl.  his  brother, 
and  Gyrth  eorl.  his  brothor.  and  fela  godra  manna,  and  tha  Frencyscan 
ahton  wael-stode  geweald." 

"There  were  slain  Harold  the  King,  and  Leaf  win  the  Earle  his  brother, 
and  Earle  Gyrth,  his  brother,  and  many  good  men  ;  and  the  FRENCH  held 
the  rule  of  the  slaughter  place" 

Here  the  cotemporary  Anglo-Saxon  chronicler  positively  says 
the  FRENCH  held  the  battle-field,  without  the  slightest  allusion  to 
Normans.  Hence,  it  would  be  more  according  to  the  real  facts 
to  drop  such  terms  as  Norman  invasion,  Norman  conquest,  Nor- 
man-Frencln,  &c.,  and  set  history  right  on  this  subject. 

We  read  in  Warton's  History  of  English  Poetry  : 

"The  French  imported  by  the  Conqueror  and  his  people  was  a  confused 
jargon  of  Teutonic,  Gaulish,  and  vitiated  Latin.  In  this  fluctuating  state  of 
our  national  speech  French  predominated." 

Any  one  who  will  carefully  peruse  what  we  quote  from  Wil- 
liam's Code,  may  readily  discover  that  the  French  there  used  is 
no  more  of  a  "  confused  jargon  "  than  any  Medieval  dialect.  As 
far  as  I  can  understand  the  dialects  of  that  period,  French  seems 
to  me  purer,  more  advanced,  and  clearer  than  any  of  its  cotem- 
poraries,  though  it  had  little  or  no  literature. 

It  is  said  for  about  a  year  William  tried  hard  to  learn  the  dialect 
of  his  new  subjects,  but  did  not  succeed,  which,  together  with 
the  sullenness  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  gave  him  an  aversion  to  both 
language  and  people  that  ridiculed  those  who  favored  the  inva- 
ders by  sayings  like  this  :  "  Jacke  wond  be  a  gentilman  if  he  coud 
bot  speke  Frenshe. "  This  spirit  galled  the  Franco-Normans  and 
their  leader,  who  issued  more  and  more  tyrannic  laws.  Children 
at  school  were  forbidden  to  read  their  native  tongue,  and  were 
only  instructed  in  French.  Anglo-Saxon  handwriting  was  so  little 
used  that  about  A.D.  1091,  its  characters  were  only  known  to 
the  few.  Laws,  public  acts,  and  pleadings  in  court  had  to  be 
done  in  French.  Bishops  an4  abbots  were  replaced  by  foreign- 
ers. We  read  of  a  worthy  Anglo-Saxon  bishop,  who  was  removed 
from  his  see,  because  he  could  not  speak  French. 

While  Anglo-Saxon  was  thus  slighted  by  the  invaders  of  England, 


Eleventh  Century.  189 

another  Gotho-Germanic  tongue,  Icelandic,  became  prominent, 
as  may  be  realized  by  the  ancient  epic,  styled  "Edda"  which  the 
American  bard,  Longfellow,  rendered  thus  : 


Give  silence,  all 
Ye  sacred  race, 
Both  great  and  small^ 
Of  Heimdal  sprung : 
Vol-father's  deeds 
I  will  relate, 
The  ancient  tales, 
Which  first  I  learned. 


In  early  times, 
When  Ymer  lived, 
Was  sand,  nor  sea, 
Nor  cooling  wave ; 
No  earth  was  found, 
Nor  heaven  above, 
One  chaos  all, 
And  nowhere  grass,"  &c. 


So  sang  our  hyperborean  Gotho-Germanic  ancestors,  who  were 
soon  joined  by  their  kindred,  the  "  Old  High  Germans"  in  the 
famous  "  Nibelungen,"  numbering  thirty-nine  "adventures"  or 
poems.  When  the  victor  of  Hastings  attempted  to  substitute 
French  for  Anglo-Saxon,  he  little  dreamt  that  he  was  but  the  first 
link  in  a  chain  that  would  cause  Anglo-Saxon  to  amalgamate  with 
the  Greco-Latin  idioms  and  produce  present  English,  which  now 
encircles  the  globe.  Could  William  now  return  and  be  king,  he 
would  find  England's  language  of  1878,  with  fifty-four  per  cent. 
French,  easier  to  learn  than  Anglo-Saxon  of  1066  with  no  French. 

LIBER  JUDICIARIUS  VEL  CENSUALIS  ANGLIAE. 
^Domesday- Book" — Such  is  the  title  of  two  splendid  manu- 
script volumes  :  one  a  large  folio,  the  other  a  large  quarto.  The 
folio  contains  382  double  pages  of  vellum,  written  in  a  small  but 
plain  character  ;  the  quarto,  450  double  pages  of  vellum,  written 
in  a  large,  fair  hand.  This  colossal  work,  including  a  census  and 
survey  of  nearly  all  the  counties  of  England,  A.D.  1086,  is  the 
literary  monument  of  William  the  Conqueror,  who  ordered  its 
execution  A.D.  1081,  by  appointing  commissioners  to  examine 
persons  under  oath  as  to  the  state  of  every  county,  the  number 
and  condition  of  its  inhabitants,  the  extent  and  nature  of  its 
lands,  woods,  mills,  and  the  taxes  paid  thereon.  After  intense 
labor  all  over  the  realm,  the  two  volumes  were  laid  before  his 
Majesty,  A.D.  1086,  who  must  have  felt  more  elated  than  at  the 
victory  of  Hastings,  whose  stone  monument  has  long  since 
crumbled  into  dust,  while  the  frail  intellectual  fabric  has  survived 
all  revolutions,  and  is  now  in  excellent  preservation  in  the  Chap- 
ter House  at  Westminster,  where  millions  have  admired  and  are 


190  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

yet  likely  to  admire  it.  Here  again  ' '  the  pen  has  proved  mightier 
than  the  sword." 

Education  and  literature  must  have  been  at  alow  ebb  in  England. 
A.D.  1086 ;  for  the  Doomsday-Book  gives  but  243  inhabitant? 
for  Oxford.  Cambridge  and  Oxford  were  burned  and  plundered, 
first  by  the  Danes,  and  afterwards  by  the  Franco-Normans. 

The  Doomsday-Book  shows  England  divided  into  700  chief- 
holdings,  60,215  knights'  fees,  of  which  28,115  were  in  possession 
of  the  clergy,  who,  under  the  Norman  rule,  were  bound  to  the 
same  military  service  as  the  laity.  Most  of  these  offices  and 
benefices  were  given  to  favorites.  The  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  was 
entirely  confined  to  the  common  people,  and  nothing  was  written 
in  it  except  the  "Saxon  Chronicle"  which  was  carried  on  for  a 
short  time  by  a  few  patriotic  monks,  styled  Chroniclers.  Any  one 
who  considers  this  state  of  things,  need  not  wonder  that  French 
progressed,  but  that  Anglo-Saxon  survived.  As  already  stated,  to 
obtain  an  Extract  for  our  Table,  we  had  to  resort  to  the  "Saxon 
Chronicle ',' '  which  was  the  only  Anglo-Saxon  writing  of  this  century. 

The  population  of  England,  A.D.  1086,  was  about  2,000,000; 
in  1871,  21,487,688.  Query  :  Is  this  immense  increase  of  popu- 
lation due  to  purely  physical  or  to  intellectual  and  moral  causes  ? 
The  cities  of  William's  census,  A.D.  1086,  would  hardly  be  con- 
sidered villages  in  1871.  A  few  illustrations  might  prove  interest- 
ing and  instructive : 

j-, .. .  Number  of  houses^  Numbf.r  of  hotises, 

A.D.  1086.  A.D.  1871. 


Norwich,  738  i9?446 

Ipswich,  538  9,822 

Exeter,  315  6,209 

Southampton,  84  9?958 

Bath,  64  8,918 

Northampton,  60  7>8o4 

We  are  told  that  William  received  the  idea  of  this  census  and 
survey  from  a  similar  work  by  Alfred  the  Great.  It  is  also  said, 
that  this  census  was  taken  to  ascertain  how  much  taxation  the 
people  could  be  made  to  pay  to  the  grasping  king  and  his  favorites. 
However  that  may  be,  it  was  a  great  national  work  for  the  age 
and  circumstances  ;  and  the  English  may  feel  proud  of  it ;  for  no 
other  nation  can  show  anything  analogous  of  that  period.  Al- 


Eleventh  Century,  191 

though  written  in  poor  Latin,  it  furnished  to  modern  times  the 
idea  of  census  and  surveys.  Such  a  document  is  the  only  basis 
of  equitable  taxation. 

The  people  called  it  Doomsday  Book  ox  Domesday-Book,  trans- 
lating judiciarius  into  doom^  which  is  the  Anglo-Saxon  for  judg- 
ment. 

Amid  this  gloom  appeared  some  brighter  points :  Robert 
Curthose,  son  of  William  the  Conqueror,  founded  the  beautiful 
city  of  New  Castle-on-Tyne,  A.D.  1078.  Richard  de  Rulos,  King 
William's  chamberlain,  drained  marshes  and  built  the  town  of 
Deeping  in  Lincolnshire.  The  banks  of  the  Welland,  from  quag- 
mires, were  changed  into  gardens  and  orchards.  The  French 
monks  practised  horticulture  and  cultivated  grapes  with  such 
success  that,  according  to  Malmesbury,  they  made  wine  nearly 
as  good  as  that  of  France. 

Let  us  mention  the  Anglo-Saxons  of  that  era  who  wrote  poor 
Latin:  Ingulphus,  from  1030—1109,  left  us  "Historia  Croylan- 
densis"  full  of  valuable  information ;  but  some  one  tried  to 
prove  that  Ingulphus'  book  is  a  forgery  !  Osbern  wrote  the 
lives  of  the  ambitious  Dunstan  and  of  St.  Alphege.  To  Os- 
bern literature  is  indebted  for  the  preservation  of  many  valuable 
records,  which  he  saved  from  the  conflagration,  that  destroyed 
the  Cathedral  of  Canterbury,  of  which  he  was  precentor,  A.D. 
1070.  The  following  witticism,  which  I  found  in  "Anglia  Sacra" 
I  cannot  help  repeating ;  it  is  about  as  good  as  anything  else 
they  wrote  in  poor  Latin  during  the  eleventh  century.  Wulstan, 
Bishop  of  Worcester,  A.D.  1080,  was  ridiculed  by  the  Bishop  of 
Constance  for  having  his  mantle  lined  with  lamb-skin,  and  was 
urged  to  have  it  replaced  by  the  delicate  fur  of  a  species  .of  cat, 
then  much  used  for  the  purpose.  "  No,  my  brother,"  replied  the 
Bishop,  "  I  have  often  heard  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  but  I  have 
never  heard  of  his  Cat." 

EXTRACTS  AND  TABLES  FROM  ANGLO-SAXON  WRITINGS  OF  THE 
ELEVENTH  AGE,  SHOWING  THEIR  STYLE  AND  THE  NUMERIC 
ORIGIN  OF  THEIR  VOCABULARY  : 

At  this  stage  of  Anglo-Saxon  literature  we  beg  the  reader 
to  scrutinize  with  us  the  popular  gloom,  causing  stagnation,  not 
only  in  the  mind,  but  in  the  dialect  of  the  nation  ;  Caedmon  had 


192  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449^-1200. 

uttered  hymns  and  paraphrases  ;  King  Alfred  had  developed,  not 
only  the  people's  intellect,  but  its  tongue  and  ear :  thoughts, 
ideas,  conceptions,  vocabulary,  and  music,  had  gone  hand  in  hand 
with  a  king,  author,  and  composer  ;  Alfric  had  ennobled  his 
native  dialect  by  edifying  homilies  ;  Ethelbert,  and  several  other 
kings,  had  conceived  and  issued  codes  in  England's  primitive 
idiom ;  even  the  rude  foreigner,  Canute,  showed  his  predilection 
for  Anglo-Saxon,  when  he  proclaimed  in  it  a  code  of  eighty  arti- 
cles. Soon  a  native  prince,  educated  in  a  strange  land,  mounted 
the  throne  of  his  ancestors,  surrounded  himself  with  foreigners, 
ordered  Ethelbert's,  Alfred's,  and  Canute's  codes  to  be  trans- 
lated into  a  dead  language,  in  which  he  himself  issued  a  code  for 
a  hopeful  people.  This  renegade  monarch,  by  thus  slighting  the 
national  speech,  cast  a  shadow  on  its  fitness  and  diverted  the 
minds  of  scholars  to  Latin,  in  which  they  produced  poetry  and 
prose  worthy  of  Virgil  and  Pliny  ;  but  all  to  no  purpose,  for  they 
neither  arose  in,  nor  went  to  the  popular  mind.  Unfortunately, 
intriguing  monks  succeeded  in  making  the  masses  believe,  that 
Edward  had  the  wonderful  gift  of  healing  by  touch.  Thence- 
forth he  was  considered  a  heavenly  messenger,  sent  to  heal  private 
and  public  woes.  Soon  he  died  and  was  buried  like  other  kings. 
All  he  had  done,  and  all  the  priests  frad  said  of  him,  had  lost 
much  of  its  charm  ;  but  their  time-honored  Anglo-Saxon  codes, 
language  and  literature  had  been  reviled  by  an  unpatriotic  king, 
as  may  be  realized  by  the  faint  elegy  written  on  Edward's  death 
in  Anglo-Saxon  by  some  anonymous  monk.  Peruse  this  feeble 
essay  in  our  Extract  and  Table  ;  next  read  and  ponder  on  our 
Extract  from  the  "Saxon  Chronicle"  of  A.D.  1066,  and  you 
readily  perceive  that  Caedmon's  inspiration,  Alfred's  pathos,  and 
Alfric' s  style  had  fled,  and  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  of  1066  must 
die,  unless  resuscitated  by  crossing  and  recrossing,  which  made 
the  English  language  what  it  is  in  1878.  The  English  nation  was 
without  spirit  in  1066  ;  the  language  showed  it  even  in  its  "La- 
mentation" as  may  be  observed  in  the  following  Extracts  and 
Tables : 


Eleventh  Century. 


193 


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Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


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Eleventh  Century. 


195 


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2OO  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from  the  two  preceditig  Tables 
of  the  Eleventh  Century. 


Greek : 

Latin  .  ..     Greco-Latin  :  8  ,  Total  of  thfi 


Anglo-Saxon:  170 


Gotho-Germanic :  1 70 


ent  words :  178. 


Hence,  the  style  of  Anglo-Saxon  writing  in  the 
eleventh  century  shows  a  vocabulary  of  different 
words  containing  about 

95  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  and 
5        "         Greco-Latin. 

Seventy-nine  of  the  170  different  Anglo-Saxon 
words,  or  forty-six  per  cent.,  are  now  (1878)  obso- 
lete. 

Fifteen  of  the  170  different  Anglo-Saxon  words, 
or  only  nine  per  cent.,  are  now  (1878)  spelt  as  they 
were  in  the  eleventh  century. 

In  this  century  the  Troubadours  of  France,  Minnesdnger  of 
Germany,  and  Skalds  of  Scandinavia,  became  prominent.  They 
did  much  towards  polishing  and  refining  the  languages,  litera- 
tures, manners,  and  customs  of  Medieval  Europe,  by  displaying 
their  poetry  and  music  in  courts,  among  the  nobles,  and  in  popu- 
lar assemblies.  They  accompanied  the  crusaders  and  florished 
under  the  name  of  minstrels  from  about  A.D.  1000  to  1300. 

France  (about  A.D.  1050)  and  Spain,  1091,  dropped  the  Gothic 
alphabet  and  adopted  the  Roman,  which  was  an  improvement  in 
the  right  direction ;  for  a  distinct,  clear  and  easy  alphabet  is  the 
most  important  linguistic  desideratum.  In  this  century  appeared 
another  improvement  that  affected  the  music  of  the  world  and 
added  new  terms  to  language  :  A.D.  1024,  Guido  of Arezzo  con- 
trived a  method  of  rendering  the  intonation  of  sounds  by  means 
of  six  notes  distributed  upon  lines  or  spaces.  To  these  notes  he 
gave  the  names :  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la,  which  he  took  from  the 


Eleventh  Century.  201 

first  syllables  of  words  in  this  stanza  of  the  hymn  sung  on  the  day 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist : 

u  Ut  queant  laxis  n?sonare  fibris, 
JJ/i'ra  gestorum  yizmuli  tuorum 
Solve  polluti  /abii  reatum." 

Beside  these  notes  he  placed  seven  letters :  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F, 
G,  and  because  the  letter  G  (gamma)  accompanied  the  note  «/, 
that  he  placed  above  the  ancient  method  ;  the  whole  arrangement 
was  called  Gamut,  which  is  but  an  abbreviation  of  Gamma  ut 
(Gamut),  the  name  it  still  bears.  To  complete  the  ingenious 
monk's  invention,  Le  Maire  added  a  semitone  and  named  it  si. 
When  we  consider,  that  this  simple  contrivance  belongs  to  the 
exact  sciences  and  arts,  that  it  has  lasted  over  seven  hundred 
years,  and  that  by  its  means  musicians  of  different  countries  and 
languages  can  meet  and  play  extemporaneously,  we  need  not 
despair  of  adapting  a  few  English  vowel-sounds  to  letters  and 
reaching  the  German  rule  :  "  Write  as  you  pronounce,  and  pro- 
nounce  as  you  write"  We  may  even  hope  to  do  it  without  in- 
creasing the  present  alphabet. 


TWELFTH    CENTURY. 


"  Language,  like  the  foliage  of  the  grove,  is  constantly  in  a  state  of  change," — Preface 
to  Walker's  Dictionary,  1842. 


IN  the  last  century  we  alluded  to  the  decline  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  dialect,  and  to  the  tyrannic  measures  of  William  the  Con- 
queror to  compel  the  people  to  adopt  the  French  language. 
French  was  spoken  everywhere  :  at  court,  among  the  nobles,  in 
parliament,  in  the  army  and  navy,  at  the  bar  in  pleadings,  in 
schools,  colleges  and  universities,  so  much  so  that  the  sovereign 
knew  not  the  dialect  of  the  people  he  governed ;  for  Henry  II., 
on  a  journey,  being  addressed  by  the  yeomanry:  '•'•Good  olde 
Kynge,"  asked  to  have  these  words  interpreted.  Under  these 
unfavorable  circumstances  the  "  Saxon  Chronicle,"  the  last  Anglo- 
Saxon  written  organ,  was  stopped  A.D.  1154.  To  honor  that 
venerable  record  we  make  its  closing  paragraph  the  Extract  for 
one  of  our  Tables  in  this  century. 

Anglo-Saxon  ceased  to  be  a  written  language,  A.D.  1154,  when 
all  the  intellect  of  England,  as  we  have  shown,  expressed  itself 
in  elegant  Latin ;  but  this  was  an  eccentric  and  unnatural  ten- 
dency, that  could  only  be  temporary,  because  the  nation  spoke 
Anglo-Saxon  and  would  use  no  other  language.  Of  course  in 
time  the  2,000,000  Anglo-Saxons  might  adapt  their  idiom  to 
some  other  suitable  linguistic  element  to  form  a  language  that 
would  suit  the  governing  and  the  governed.  Whither  could  Eng- 
land look  for  the  elements  of  the  language  she  required  ?  To  the 
Gothic  races  in  Scandinavia,  to  the  nations  of  Germany  ?  Neither 
of  these  had  a  language  and  literature  ;  they  had  but  just  emerged 
from  wild  and  barbarous  ideas  of  Woden,  Balder,  and  Valhalla. 
England  could  not  look  to  her  immediate  Celtic  neighbors  for  a 
linguistic  element  to  combine  with  Anglo-Saxon  ;  for  most  of 


2O4  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

them  were  obliged  to  use  Latin  as  their  written  language  ;  hence 
the  choice  lay  between  Latin  and  French.  As  I  before  stated, 
Latin  had  been  in  contact  with  Anglo-Saxon  from  A.D.  597  to 
1200,  in  school,  church,  and  literature,  and  there  seemed  little 
prospect  of  immediate  amalgamation. 

Before  the  grasping  Norman  element  appeared,  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  and  Franks  had  lived  on  the  most  amicable  terms  for  six 
centuries,  and,  according  to  Bede,  they  originally  understood  each 
other's  dialect.  From  the  Franks,  Ethelbert  received  Bertha  and 
Luidhard  with  the  blessings  of  Christian  civilization,  A.D.  597. 
From  France,  Benedict  Biscop  brought  the  elements  of  literature 
and  art,  A.D.  675.  In  France,  Egbert  learned  the  science  of  war 
and  government,  A.D.  800.  To  France,  Alfred  the  Great  sent  for 
teachers,  A.D.  880,  when  the  savage  Danes  had  ruined  his  country 
physically,  intellectually,  and  morally.  Anglo-Saxon  and  French 
princes  and  princesses  had  intermarried.  The  Anglo-Saxons  and 
Franks  concurred  in  carrying  Christianity  and  civilization  to  their 
Gotho-Germanic  kindred.  Above  all,  French  was  the  linguistic 
element  that  would  most  easily  and  readily  combine  with  Anglo- 
Saxon,  containing,  as  it  did,  Greek,  Latin,  Gotho-Germanic,  and 
Celtic. 

As  there  is  in  the  Extracts  and  Tables  of  this  century  a  curious 
linguistic  phenomenon,  it  behooves  us  to  analyze  and  notice  it : 
for  the  first  time  during  the  progress  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  language 
an  Extract  of  362  common  -words  is  required  to  furnish  a  Table 
of  100  different  words,  showing  262  repetitions  and  including  187 
particles;  similar  figures  were  not  reached  prior  to  A.D.  1154. 
When,  how,  and  why  did  this  happen  ?  It  happened  when  the 
Anglo-Saxon  dialect  had  reached  a  stage  where  it  could  find  no 
written  expression.  How?  The  people  were  stunned  by  the 
blow  their  nationality  and  language  received  at  Hastings.  Why  ? 
The  intellectual  and  moral  sense  of  the  two  million  Anglo-Saxons 
was  so  shocked  that  it  took  time  to  recover.  Trench's  saying, 
"Language  is  a  moral  barometer,  which  indicates  and  perma- 
nently marks  the  rise  or  fall  of  a  nation's  life,"  is  partly  realized; 
for  Anglo-Saxon  proved  a  linguistic  barometer,  that  indicated  the 
nation's  shock  without  permanently  marking  its  fall.  True,  the 
people  witnessed  the  decline  of  their  dialect,  and  apparently 
made  efforts  to  mould  it  into  a  simpler,  more  convenient,  more 


Twelfth  Century.  205 

practical,  and  more  cosmopolitan  form.  Thus  Swinton's  adage  : 
"  When  a  tongue  becomes  petrified  the  national  mind  walks  out  of 
it,"  applied  to  Anglo-Saxon. 

Now  let  us  see  how  the  Anglo-Saxons  awoke  from  their  stupor, 
and  what  they  did.  The  national  intellect  expressed  itself  in 
Latin  superior  to  any  previously  written  in  England  ;  the  Court 
and  officials  conversed  and  corresponded  in  French  ;  schools, 
colleges  and  universities  resounded  with  Latin  and  French ;  and 
the  people,  ever  ready  to  adapt  themselves  to  circumstances  and 
bide  their  time,  gradually  dropped  inflections  and  other  gram- 
matic  puerilities,  and  so  seasoned  their  idiom  with  French  and 
Latin  as  to  attract  not  only  students,  authors,  and  officials,  but 
even  the  Court. 

About  A.D.  1115,  a  rivulet  of  new  words  began  to  flow  into 
the  English  vocabulary  from  the  lectures  on  civil  law,  introduced 
and  encouraged  by  Theobald,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

At  this  period  the  Jews,  who  had  ever  kept  the  lamp  of  litera- 
ture and  science  well  trimmed,  had  excellent  schools  in  London, 
York,  Lincoln,  and  in  many  other  cities,  in  which  their  learned 
rabbis  taught  Greek,  Latin,  Hebrew,  mathematics,  medicine,  &c. 
These  institutions  were  open  to  both  Jewish  and  Christian  chil- 
dren. During  the  Middle  Ages,  Abraham's  descendants  were  the 
most  erudite  linguists,  travelers,  physicians,  and  the  most  eco- 
nomic financiers.  They  were  ever  peaceful,  sober,  law  abiding 
and  industrious  citizens.  Yet  these  commendable  qualities,  to- 
gether with  their  spirit  of  tolerance,  could  not  protect  them 
against  the  cruel  persecutions  of  A.D.  1190,  even  after  they  had 
made  rich  donations  to  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  towards  his  long 
contemplated  crusade.  Those  generous  gifts  were  but  a  bait  for 
their  rapacious  persecutors. 

As  Anglo-Saxon  had  two  million  tongues,  but  no  pens  to  per- 
petuate thought ;  and  as  Latin  had  no  tongues,  but  powerful  pens, 
let  us  cite  some  of  the  authors  who  wrote  Latin  worthy  of  the 
Augustan  era :  William  of  Malmesbury  left  us  "Rigalium"  Lib. 
V.  (History  of  the  English  Kings  from  A.D.  499  to  1147) ;  "His- 
toria  Novella"  Lib.  II.  (New  History),  in  which  he  relates  what 
happened  in  his  day,  and  what  he  saw ;  also  "  De  Gestis  Pontifi- 
cum  Anglornm"  (Acts  of  the  English  Pielates).  He  was  Eng- 
land's Livy.  Hear  what  he  says  of  himself : 


206  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

"  I  presume  not  to  expect  the  applause  of  my  cotemporaries ;  but  I  hope, 
when  favor  and  malevolence  are  no  more,  I  shall  receive  from  impartial  pos- 
terity the  character  of  an  industrious,  though  not  an  eloquent  historian." 

Giraldus  Cambrensis,  after  studying  at  the  University  of  Paris 
and  earning  laurels  in  civil  and  canon  law,  became  chaplain  to 
Henry  II.  and  preceptor  to  Prince  John.  His  "Topographia 
Hibernice  "  (Topography  of  Ireland)  and  "  Itinerarium  Cambrics  " 
(Itinerary  of  Wales)  prove  Giraldus  a  geographer  of  deep  research. 
He  also  left  "Historia  Vaticinalis"  "De  Expurgatione  Hiber- 
nicz"  which  shows  an  over-credulous  writer.  His  family  name 
was  de  Barry.  He  flourished  about  1 182.  These  lines  on  Henry's 
death  and  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion's  accession  are  a  delicate 
compliment  to  both  father  and  son  : 

"  Mira  cano,  sol  occubuit,  nox  nulla  secuta." 

"  Vainly  the  sinking  sun  alarmed  our  fears  ; 
We've  lost  his  orb,  and  yet  no  night  appears." 

I  should  speak  of  Hoveden  ;  but  as  Leland  and  Selden  laud 
his  accuracy  as  a  historian,  I  pass  on  to  Henry  of  Huntingdon, 
whose  Latin  Chronicle  is  less  admired  than  his  poetry.  Geoffrey 
of  Monmouth,  Bishop  of  Asaph,  translated,  as  he  says,  "  a  very 
ancient  book  in  the  British  tongue  into  Latin"  entitled  it  "His- 
toria  Britonum"  and  dedicated  it  to  Robert,  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
about  1140.  Next  he  translated  the  Prophecies  of  Merlin,  who, 
it  is  said,  lived  about  A.D.  450,  from  British  into  Latin.  Also 
" Vita  Merlini"  in  hexameter  verse,  has  been  attributed  to  this 
industrious  prelate,  whose  combined  works,  in  twelve  books,  are 
published  as  "Geoffrey  of  Monmouth1  s  British  History"  in 
Gales'  "Six  Old  English  Chronicles"  Those  who  desire  to 
know  anything  of  ancient  Britain  cannot  do  better  than  peruse 
this  relic  of  Celtic  thought,  customs,  manners,  and  style  of  writing. 
From  A.D.  1154  to  1600  it  was  a  favorite  work  and  a  resort  for 
dramatic,  romantic,  and  allegoric  subjects  and  personages ; 
thence  Wace  derived  his  "Brut  d'Angleterre" ;  Butler  his 
"Hudibras" ;  Spenser  his  "Merlin";  Shakespeare  his  "Cymbe- 
line"  &c.  Therefore,  to  appreciate  and  understand  the  sources 
of  English  drama,  romance,  allegory,  and  fiction,  it  will  repay 
perusal.  We  had  occasion  to  quote  from  it  as  early  as  the  sixth 
century,  in  order  to  show  the  hatred  of  the  British  clergy  against 
the  Anglo-Saxons  of  A.D.  597. 


Twelfth  Century.  207 

Ordericus  Vitalis,  from  whom  we  have  quoted,  wrote  "  Eccle- 
siastic History  of  England  and  Normandy,"  which  con  tains,  valu- 
able information.  He  died  1141. 

To  give  variety  to  our  quotations  let  us  turn  to  Gilbert  Foliot, 
Bishop  of  London,  who,  according  to  M.  Paris,  had  an  exchange 
of  civilities  in  Latin  rhyme  with  his  Satanic  majesty  about  1125. 
One  night,  while  cogitating,  Satan  addressed  his  Reverence  thus  : 

"O  !  Gilberte  Foliot  I 
Dum  revolvis  tot  et  tot, 
Deus  tuus  est  Astarot." 

"  While  thus  you're  revolving  on  good  and  on  evil, 
This  world  is  your  Heaven,  your  God  is  the  Devil." 

To  which  the  Prelate  rejoined  : 

"  Mentiris  daemon  !  qui  est  Deus 
Sabbaoth  ;  est  ille  meus." 

"  Satan,  thou  liest  !  The  God,  who  evermore 
Both  was  and  is,  'tis  he  whom  I  adore." 

Language  and  literature  made  a  great  acquisition,  when  at  the 
opening  of  this  century  paper  began  to  be  made  of  linen  rags. 
Hitherto  writing  materials  had  been  so  expensive,  that  poor 
thinkers  could  not  write.  This  was  probably  one  of  the  chief 
causes  that  writing  was  almost  exclusively  confined  to  priests  and 
monks,  who  could  procure  writing  materials. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  age  appeared  an  odd  writer,  usually 
called  Orrmin ;  but  in  his  Metrical  Paraphrase  of  the  Gospels 
and  Acts,  he  observes:  "Thiss  boc  iss  nemmnedd  'Orrmulum* 
forthi  thaet  Orrm  itt  wrohte."  (This  book  is  named  Orrmulum, 
because  Orrm  wrote  it.)  This  capricious  monk  must  have  had  a 
singular  fancy  for  doubling  and  multiplying  consonants  and 
avoiding  vowels,  as  may  be  perceived  by  these  few  words.  Per- 
haps he  foresaw  and  tried  to  prevent  the  opposite  extreme, 
namely,  the  doubling  and  multiplying  of  vowels,  as  ae,  ai,  ao,  an, 
ay  ;  ea,  ee,  et,  eo,  eu,  ey,  eye  ;  ia,  ie ;  oa,  oe^  oi,  oo,  ou,  oy  ;  ua.  ue, 
«*,  uoy  ;  ye,  yea,yi,you,  of  which  usually  but  one  is  pronounced 
while  the  others  are  silent,  and  therefore  as  useless  as  Orrmin's 
many  consonants.  Caedmon's  and  Alfred's  dialect  became  a  real 
burlesque  in  the  hands  of  such  a  mongrel  Danish  and  Anglo- 


208  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Saxon  writer.  There  is  hardly  one  word  in  ten  that  does  not 
end  in  some  double  consonant.  Even  the  particles  for,  in,  on, 
that,  with,  him,  his,  &c.,  we  find  thus  :  forr,  inn,  onn,  thatt, 
withth,  himm,  hiss,  &c.  He  also  doubled  middle  consonants  as  : 
bigunnenn,  hannd^  hunndredd,  rihht,  &c..  for  begun,  hand,  hun- 
dred, riht,  &c.  Yet  this  Orrmin  fancy,  odd  as  it  seems,  is  less 
puzzling  to  children  and  foreigners  than  the  many  unpronounced 
vowels  that  now  haunt  the  English  vocabulary,  because  a  double 
consonant,  whether  middle  or  final,  can  have  but  one  and  the 
same  sound,  whereas  two  or  three  vowels  in  immediate  succes- 
sion may  and  do  have  different  sounds  in  one  and  the  same  con- 
nections, and  sometimes  in  one  and  the  same  word.  When  will 
the  English-speaking  populations  harmonize  letter  with  sound 
and  sound  with  letter? 

One  of  the  most  brilliant  of  the  English  Latinists  of  this  age 
was  Joseph  of  Exeter  (Josephus  Iscanus),  whom  Warton  calls 
"  The  miracle  of  his  age  in  classic  composition."  He  left  an 
epic  poem  on  the  Trojan  war,  and  "Antiocheis"  on  the  deeds  of 
Coeur  de  Lion  during  the  crusades. 

Thomas  White,  A.D.  1150,  the  most  learned  of  the  cardinals 
of  his  day,  wrote  a  treatise  on  Scholastic  Divinity,  which  was 
highly  appreciated.  Let  us  not  omit  John  of  Salisbury,  A.D. 
1 1 80,  who  wrote  "Polycraticus  de  Nugis  Curialium  et  Vestigiis 
Philosophorum,"  a  satire  on  the  follies  of  courtiers.  Gervasius 
of  Tilbury  wrote  "Otia  Imperialia"  Lib.  III.  (History  of  the 
Kings  of  England  and  France).  He  says  the  English  nobles 
sent  their  children  to  France  to  be  educated,  in  order  to  avoid 
their  mixing  English  with  their  idiom. 

We  have  thus  shown  England's  Latin  lore  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, when  there  was  a  gap  between  Anglo-Saxon  and  Franco- 
English.  Henceforth  England's  intellect  will  have  ample  scope 
to  express  its  thought  in  Franco-English. 

Latin  and  Anglo-Saxon  could  not  amalgamate,  though  it  had 
been  in  close  contact  from  A.D.  600  to  1200.  A  less  inflected 
element  than  Latin  was  indispensable ;  an  element  with  enough 
Latin  to  satisfy  students,  and  some  Gotho-Germanic  to  attract 
the  masses ;  that  element  could  only  be  found  in  French,  which, 
besides  Gotho-Germanic,  had  some  Celtic  to  combine  with  Welsh 
and  Irish  under  Henry  II.,  A.D.  1188.  Bede  says  the  Anglo- 


Twelfth  Century.  209 

Saxons  and  Franks  understood  each  other's  dialect.  Hence 
French  and  Anglo-Saxon  could  and  did  amalgamate,  A.D.  1200. 
As  early  as  the  twelfth  century  England  had  two  authors  who 
wrote  in  French  :  Walter  Mapes,  after  writing  Latin  poems  that 
caused  him  to  be  called  Anacreon  of  England,  produced  several 
romances  in  French.  Robert  Wace  was  a  distinguished  poet ; 
he  was  born  in  the  Isle  of  Jersey,  studied  at  Caen,  became  reader 
to  Henry  I.  and  Henry  II.  In  1160  he  wrote  "Roman  du  Rou" 
(Romance  of  Rollo),  and  dedicated  it  to  Henry  II.  Next 
ilChronique  des  Dues  de  Normandie "  (Chronicle  of  the  Dukes 
of  Normandy)  ;  and  finally  "Le  Brut  d1  Angleterre"  (Brutus  of 
England),  consisting  of  15,000  lines.  His  Romance  of  Rollo 
and  of  the  Dukes  of  Normandy  is  in  verse,  and  is  considered  a 
valuable  historic  record  of  the  personages,  events,  and  manners 
of  that  period.  Wace  lived  at  Henry's  court,  and  died  1184.  A 
stanza  of  this  early  bard  may  be  of  interest. 

"  Taille  fer,  qui  moult  bien  chantoit, 
Sur  un  cheval  qui  tot  alloit, 
Devant  eux  alloit  chantant 
De  Karlemagne  et  de  Roland 
Et  D'  Oliver  et  des  Vassals 
Qui  moururent  a  Roncesvalles." 

Robert  Wace  obtained  the  idea  of  his  popular  epic  poem,  "Le 
Brut  d'Angleterre"  from  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  and  Nennius. 
Layamon  translated  this  favorite  work  into  Anglo-Saxon,  A.D. 
1205. 

As  I  have  shown  the  self-sacrificing  character  of  women  in 
Clotilda,  Bertha,  Ethelburga,  Anna,  &c.,  I  must  now  mention  the 
Welsh  heroine,  Gwen  Llyan,  who  (as  related  by  Giraldus  Cam- 
brinsis),  while  leading  her  countrymen  against  invaders,  was  taken 
prisoner  and  beheaded  by  one  Maurice  of  London,  A.D.  1136. 

This  murder  by  Maurice  was  committed  the  same  year  that 
Stephen  usurped  the  throne  of  England,  which  of  right  belonged 
to  Matilda.  Stephen's  act,  though  less  cruel,  was  as  unjust  and 
ungallant  as  Maurice's. 

Were  we  writing  history,  we  should  relate  England's  deeds 
during  the  crusades,  especially  those  of  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion. 
Those  otherwise  fruitless  expeditions  affected  the  English  lan- 
guage, not  only  by  adding  military,  heraldic,  and  other  gallant 


2io  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

terms,  but  by  modifying  and  softening  its  vocabulary  and  code  of 
honor.  Other  European  tongues,  especially  German,  were  simi- 
larly benefited.  Different  nations  marching,  camping,  and  fighting 
together,  began  to  lose  some  of  their  national  prejudices  ;  the 
middle  and  lower  classes,  and  even  nobles,  princes,  kings,  and 
emperors  became  more  or  less  mixed  and  acquainted.  An  inter- 
national feeling  of  mutual  respect  sprang  up,  which  tended  toward 
concord.  Thus  the  English  as  well  as  other  idioms  gained  in 
vocabulary  and  in  general  polish ;  new  devices  and  mechanisms 
were  seen  and  brought  home  from  the  East.  The  queens,  prin- 
cesses, and  other  ladies,  who  accompanied  the  crusaders,  gave  a 
tone  of  refinement  that  has  ever  since  pervaded  European  idioms 
and  manners.  The  knights  were  bound  by  a  solemn  oath  to  pro- 
tect the  fair  sex,  and  to  rescue  widows  and  orphans  from  oppres- 
sion. 

Behold  a  voyage  in  an  opposite  direction  :  The  Welsh  annals 
mention  a  Prince  Madoc,  who  sailed  from  North  Wales  about 
A.D.  1170,  discovered  a  western  continent,  returned  to  Wales, 
raised  a  colony,  resailed  to  the  West,  and  was  heard  of  no  more. 
But  about  1550;  F.  Lopez  de  Gomara  went  to  America  to  obtain 
documents  and  information  for  his  "  Cronica  de  la  Nueva 
Espana"  It  is  said  that,  while  exploring  the  New  World,  Go- 
mara found  remains  of  Madoc' s  colony.  I  am  aware  that  claims 
prior  to  Columban  discovery  are  considered  fabulous.  I  only 
allude  to  this,  because  connected  with  the  name  of  a  historian  as 
reliable  as  Gomara.  The  adventures  of  that  Welsh  prince 
furnished  to  Southey,  1805,  the  subject  of  his  poem  entitled 
"  Madoc  r 

Alexander  Neckham,  as  one  of  the  Medieval  pioneers  in  natural 
science,  deserves  posterity's  gratitude,  especially  for  "De  Naturis 
Rerum"  (On  the  Nature  of  Things).  In  this  poem  the  rudi- 
ments of  most  of  the  modern  sciences  are  set  forth  in  a  pleasing 
style.  Behold  what  Roger  Bacon  says  of  its  author :  "  This 
Alexander  in  many  things  wrote  what  was  true  and  useful ;  but 
he  neither  can,  nor  ought,  by  just  title,  to  be  reckoned  among 
authorities."  Neckham  also  produced  uDe  Landibus  Divincz 
Sapientia"  His  works  have  a  great  value,  showing  us,  as  they 
do,  the  manner  of  thinking  in  the  twelfth  century.  He  began  his 
studies  at  the  then  celebrated  academy  of  St.  Alban's,  and  com- 


Twelfth  Centttry.  21 1 

pleted  them  at  the  University  of  Paris.  As  the  following  lines 
give  us  an  idea,  not  only  of  the  author's  tender  recollections  of 
his  school  years,  but  of*  what  was  taught  in  the  academies  of 
England  at  that  period,  we  give  Andrews'  version  of  them. 

u  'Twas  here  my  youth's  gay  hours  stole  away, 
And  rest,  the  nights,  and  science  crown'd  the  day. 
Here  taught,  I  travel'd  learning's  arduous  road, 
And  to  these  walls  the  fame  I've  gain'd  is  ow'd. 
Each  art  I  teach  was  taught  me  here  before, 
And  Scripture-study  joined  the  useful  lore, 
The  canons  too — Galen — Hippocrates; 
Nor  did  the  civil  law  my  taste  displease." 

We  must  for  a  moment  look  beyond  the  language  and  litera- 
ture of  the  British  Isles,  and  consider  the  intellectual  and  moral 
status  of  Europe.  Spain,  whither  the  Goths,  Vandals  and  Moors 
had  penetrated,  began  to  develop  noble  fruits  :  The  Moors  could 
boast  of  AVENZOAR,  A.D.  1140.  and  AVERRHOES,  1190,  two  bril- 
liant intellects,  whose  scintillations  illumined  the  European  ho- 
rizon. Castille  could  point  to  " Poema  del  Cid"  the  earliest 
poem  in  the  Spanish  language,  1150.  It  is  very  remarkable  that 
the  name  of  the  author  never  reached  posterity.  The  work 
itself  has  furnished  materials  for  many  noble  productions,  espe- 
cially Voltaire's  chef-d'oeuvre,  "  Le  Cid." 

Navarre  had  her  Jewish  Rabbi,  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  the  first 
and  earliest  Medieval  European  geographer  and  traveler,  who, 
from  A.D.  1160  to  1173,  visited  the  synagogues  in  the  Eastern 
Empire,  Egypt,  Persia,  and  as  far  as  China,  in  order  to  observe  their 
manners  and  ceremonies.  His  Itinerary  in  Hebrew  was  pub- 
lished in  Constantinople,  translated  into  Latin  by  Arius  Montanus, 
and  into  most  European  idioms.  Being  the  first  description  of 
those  distant  countries,  it  gave  rise  to  marvelous  tales. 

About  the  same  period  the  Spanish  Jew,  Kharizi,  traveled  in 
Palestine,  Persia,  Russia,  Germany,  France,  and  left  his  geo- 
graphic and  ethnologic  information  in  a  treatise  called  "  Tachke- 
moni"  Thus  did  the  Medieval  Jews  imitate  the  example  of  their 
illustrious  ancestors,  Abraham  and  Sarah,  who  started  from 
Chaldee  2000  B.C.,  visited  Mesopotamia,  Egypt,  and  settled  in 
Canaan.  With  them  the  Empire  went  westward  four  thousand 
years  ago. 


212  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

With  regard  to  education  in  England  during  the  twelfth  century, 
the  Franco-Norman  gentry  usually  sent  their  sons  abroad ;  and 
the  University  of  Paris  was  the  favorite  seminary ;  for  there  were 
collected  the  youth  of  all  nations,  which  caused  Paris  to  be  styled 
by  the  writers  of  that  era  "The  city  of  learning" 

Here  is  a  graphic  stanza  by  some  German  student  named  Nigel 
Wercker,  about  the  English  studying  with  him  at  Paris : 

"  Et,  quia  subtiles  considerat  Anglos, 

Pluribus  ex  causis  se  sociavit  iis. 
Moribus  egregii,  vultu  verboque  venusti, 

Ingenio  pollent,  consilioque  vigent. 
Dona  pluunt  populis  et  detestantur  avaros ; 
Fercula  multipficant ;  et  sine  lege  bibunt." 

"  The  students  from  Britain  his  fancy  must  strike  ; 
Ay  ! — these  (quoth  the  stranger)  are  lads  that  I  like. 
Be  these  then  my  mess-mates,  stout,  jolly  and  clever; 
With  comrades  like -these  I  could  study  forever. 
When  they've  cash,  'tis  soon  gone — for  they  hoard  up  no  treasure, 
And  they  eat  without  stint,  and  they  drink  without  measure." 

Binding,  in  his  history  of  Scandinavia,  p.  in,  says  : 

"  On  the  whole,  neither  science  nor  the  arts  had  reached  a  very  high  point, 
and  young  people  being  desirous  of  a  deeper  knowledge  than  they  could  ac- 
quire at  home,  had  to  go  to  the  celebrated  University  of  Paris,  and  at  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century  a  special  college  for  Danish  students  was  founded 
in  Paris.  Here,  for  instance,  Absalon,  a  man  of  letters  himself,  favored  lit- 
erature and  encouraged  the  renowned  Saxo-  Grammaticus  to  compose  a  history 
of  Scandinavia,  which  he  did  in  elegant  Latin,  wherefore  he  was  surnamed 
Grammaticus. " 

As  to  education  in  Germany,  hear  what  Max  Miiller  says  on 
this  head  : 

"  Frenchmen  became  the  tutors  of  the  sons  of  the  German  nobility. 
French  manners,  dresses,  dishes,  dances  were  the  fashion  everywhere.  Ger- 
man poets  learnt  from  French  poets  the  subjects  of  their  own  romantic  com- 
positions. The  poetry,  which  florished  at  the  castles,  was  soon  adopted  by 
the  lower  ranks." 

Thus  were  Paris,  France,  and  the  Franks  the  educators  of 
Europe;  but  the  Fatherland  had  her  Otho  von  Freisingen,  son 
of  Leopold  IV.,  Duke  of  Austria,  and  Agnes,  daughter  of  the 


Twelfth  Centttry.  213 

Emperor  Henry  IV.  This  prince,  bishop,  and  scholar  studied 
and  graduated  at  the  University  of  Paris.  He  was  a  most  erudite 
writer  ;  he  left  a  chronicle  in  seven  volumes  from  the  Creation  to 
his  own  time.  He  also  wrote  a  life  of  the  Emperor  Frederick 
Barbarossa.  This  Early  German  historian  died  A.D.  1158.  His 
works  were  written  in  Latin,  as  nine-tenths  of  all  books  were  at 
that  period. 

A  unique  literary  monument  of  filial  affection  greets  us  in  this 
age  :  Anna  Comnena,  A.D.  (1083-1148),  wrote  "  Alexiad"  a 
biography  of  her  father,  Alexis  Comnenus,  Emperor  of  Constan- 
tinople. Hear  how  the  world  of  letters  received  this  production  : 
The  Fatherland  placed  it  in  the  "Byzantine  Collection"  which 
contains  the  gems  of  Greek  literature.  The  French  "Biographic 
Universelle  "  says  : 

"  This  princess  applied  herself  early  to  study,  without  neglecting  other 
duties.  While  courtiers  amused  themselves,  she  conversed  with  the  savants 
of  the  capital  and  became  their  rival  in  writing  the  life  of  her  father.  This 
work,  divided  into  fifteen  books,  is  written  with  warmth,  and  its  style  has 
eclat.  She  minutely  describes  the  countenance,  features,  and  size  of  every  one 
of  her  personages.  Cousin  made  an  elegant  French  version  of  it,  which  is  to 
be  found  in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  'Byzantine  Collection.'1  " 

In  1651  an  edition  of  it  in  folio  was  issued  for  the  Louvre,  with 
learned  notes  by  David  Hoeschelius.  The  English  biographer 
Wright  says  :  "  Anna  was  esteemed  the  most  learned  female  of 
her  age  ;  she  employed  the  last  ten  years  of  her  life  composing  a 
history  of  her  father's  reign."  The  American  biographer  Thomas 
calls  Anna  "a  princess  of  distinguished  beauty,  talents  and  learn- 
ing, and  her  Alexiad  (in  Greek)  a  remarkable  work  and  one  of 
great  historic  value,  though  it  is  sometimes  disfigured  by  prejudice 
as  well  as  by  a  pedantic  style."  She  expressed  an  aversion  for 
the  princes  of  the  crusades,  and  called  the  crusaders  a  barbarous 
people,  unacquainted  with  the  arts,  manners,  and  refinements  of 
the  East,  which  was,  no  doubt,  the  truth  ;  she  had  occasion  to 
see  and  know  them  at  her  father's  court.  At  all  events,  her  deline- 
ations of  persons  and  things,  being  a  woman's,  are  more  minute 
and  graphic  than  any  man's  would  have  been,  and  therefore  much 
more  valuable  to  posterity.  In  extenuation  of  the  crusaders'  un- 
couthness,  which  she  so  vividly  describes,  a  less  impulsive  his- 


214  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

torian  would  have  added,  that  it  was  due  to  want  of  opportunities 
to  acquire  polish. 

Eustathius,  Archbishop  of  Thessalonica,  A.D.  1135-1200,  pen- 
ned his  celebrated  Commentaries  on  Homer,  Pindar,  and  Diony- 
sius  Perigetes.  Thus  a  princess  and  an  archbishop  addressed 
posterity  in  the  language  of  Plato.  Italy  had  her  Gerard,  sur- 
named  Cremonensis  (A.D.  1114-1187),  who  was  an  astronomer 
and  orientalist ;  he  translated  seventy- six  works  from  Arabic  into 
Latin.  As  the  Arabic  idiom  was  not  only  rich  in  poetry,  history, 
and  geography,  but  in  most  sciences,  Gerard  had  a  vast  field  for 
his  nimble  pen.  He,  no  doubt,  transferred  into  his  Latin  ver- 
sions many  Arabic  terms,  that  have  since  found  their  way  into 
our  modern  tongues ;  such  as  :  almanack,  algebra,  alchemy,  alco- 
hol, alcove,  alkali,  azimuth,  azure,  balcony,  chemistry,  gazel,  gi- 
raffe, nadir,  scarlet,  zest,  zenith,  &c.  Let  us  remember  that  the 
twelfth  century  was  a  period  of  translations  and  compilations 
with  scarcely  any  original  writings.  Even  the  strains  of  the 
troubadours,  minnesdngers,  and  skalds,  were  compilations  that 
tended  to  diffuse  classic  language  and  literature  ;  straying  as  those 
bards  did  from  castle  to  castle,  from  city  to  city,  and  from  court 
to  court,  linguistic  action  and  reaction  was  going  on  all  over 
Europe  and  Western  Asia. 

The  scarcity  and  costliness  of  books  and  writing  materials  still 
continued,  although  a  kind  of  paper,  called  "Charta  bombycina" 
(sheet  silken),  was  invented  in  the  beginning  of  this  century ;  yet 
manufactories  and  mechanics  were  far  behind  the  intellectual 
progress.  In  this  era  I  must  mention  Abelard,  theologian, 
philosopher,  mathematician,  and  poet,  who  electrified  the  students 
of  Paris  by  his  eloquence  and  learning.  Hallam  tells  us:  "Abe- 
lard  was  almost  the  first  who  awakened  mankind,  in  the  age  of 
darkness,  to  a  sympathy  with  intellectual  excellence." 

In  this  century  the  Petrobrusians,  Albigenses,  and  Waldenses. 
under  Peter  de  Bruys,  Count  Raymond  of  Toulouse,  and  Petei 
Waldo,  merchant  of  Lyons,  began  to  protest  against  clerical 
abuses  and  pretensions,  accusing  the  priesthood  of  straying  from 
the  teachings  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles.  St.  Bernard  preached 
and  wrote  against  them,  charging  them  with  belief  in  the  Man- 
ichean  heresy  of  two  co-eternal  and  co-equal  principles,  perpetu- 
ally counteracting  each  other,  which  was  considered  as  the  worst 


Twelfth  Century.  215 

heresy  ever  conceived.  Consequently,  Peter  de  Bruys  was  burned 
at  the  stake  in  Languedoc,  A.D.  1 147.  This  only  increased  the  zeal 
of  all  concerned  in  this  movement,  which  involved  all  Southern 
France.  Pope  Alexander  III.  convoked  in  vain  a  council  at 
Tours,  1163.  Innocent  III.  asked  Philip  Augustus  to  extirpate 
those  heretics,  which  this  short-sighted  monarch  attempted  in 
vain,  for  protesting  had  begun  and  was  repeated  by  Wickliffe, 
Huss,  Jerome  of  Prague,  Luther,  Calvin,  the  Puritans,  Quakers, 
&c.,  and  ultimately  triumphed.  During  these  religious  contro- 
versies, numerous  translations  of  the  Bible  were  made  into  the 
modern  languages,  commentaries  multiplied,  new  words  were 
coined  from  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  dialects  and  languages 
interchanged  and  mixed.  That  sagacious  scholar,  J.  VV.  Draper, 
in  his  "  Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,"  p.  369,  points  to 
the  real  origin  of  protestantism,  when  he  says  :  "In  the  south  of 
France  the  intellectual  insurrection  fast  took  form."  Thus  the 
leading  languages  of  Western  Europe  had  achieved  written  ver- 
nacular thought  by  A.D.  1200;  England,  A.D.  600;  Germany, 
A.D.  800;  France,  A.D.  900;  Scandinavia,  A.D.  1000;  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Italy,  A.D.  1200.  Modern  thought  had  gradually 
visited  those  nations,  and  assumed  in  their  native  dialects  a 
visible  form  in  law,  religion,  or  poetry. 

We  are  agreeably  surprised  to  find  that  Russia,  just  christian- 
ized through  the  influence  of  the  Greek  princess  Anna,  had  a 
painter  named  Alimpius,  who  so  distinguished  himself  in  sacred 
art  at  Kief,  that  the  Russian  clergy  placed  him  among  their 
saints.  Hence,  the  Moscovites  showed  artistic  progress  at  an 
early  date  and  may  claim  a  share  in  Medieval  art. 

At  this  period  the  Moors  of  Spain  had  Thofail,  who  wrote 
"Hai-el  Yokdan"  (The  Man  of  Nature),  which  was  translated 
into  Latin.  Thofail  seems  to  have  been  the  Arabian  Darwin  of 
the  twelfth  century.  Ibn-el-Awam  penned  a  treatise  on  agricul- 
ture, which  Banquery  translated  into  Spanish.  He  was  the  Ara- 
bian Tusser.  We  must  not  omit  the  English  monk,  Adelard  of 
Bath,  who,  after  traveling  extensively,  wrote  "  De  Natura  Rerum" 
(On  the  Nature  of  Things),  and  translated  the  "Elements  of 
Euclid  "  from  Arabian  into  Latin,  when  the  Greek  text  was  un- 
known to  scholars  of  Western  Europe.  He  lived  in  the  beginning 
of  the  twelfth  century  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  Medieval 


216  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

orientalists.  Thus  did  the  Benedictine  monks  render  themselves 
useful  in  England  from  the  day  Biscop  started  their  order  at 
Jarrow  in  the  seventh  century.  We  all  know  what  a  useful 
classic  Euclid  has  been  and  is  now  in  our  schools.  As  we  alluded 
to  "Beowulf"  and  "Edda"  which,  by  way  of  analogy,  have  been 
styled  Anglo-Saxon  Iliaxl  and  Icelandic  Iliad,  we  must  not  omit 
tJhe  "  Nibelungen?  an  Old  High-German  poem,  composed  of 
thirty-nine  "Adventures"  of  which  Prof.  Lachmann,  Schlegel, 
Grimm,  Heine,  &c.,  speak  with  ecstasy.  The  heroes  of  this 
German  Iliad  are  Attila,  King  of  the  Huns  (A.D.  450),  Giinther, 
King  of  the  Burgundians,  whose  capital  was  Worms  on  the  Rhine, 
and  Siegfried,  Prince  of  the  Netherlands  ;  its  heroine,  Kriemhild, 
Giinther's  daughter,  who  first  wedded  the  noble  Siegfried,  and 
next  Attila,  in  order  to  have  an  occasion  to  avenge  herself  upon 
the  Burgundians,  who  murdered  Siegfried.  This  epic  of  6,000 
lines  is  dated  to  the  twelfth  century  by  German  critics.  We  infer 
from  the  names  of  its  heroes,  especially  Attila  (Etzel),  and  from 
its  style,  that  parts  of  it  were  sung  and  recited  in  the  Fatherland  as 
early  as  the  eighth  century,  and  were  only  collected  and  written 
in  the  twelfth.  As  one  opening  and  one  closing  stanza  may  give 
the  Nibelungen's  key-note,  we  quote  from  Lettsom's  erudite  trans- 
lation, which  deserves  every  Gotho-Germanic  student's  perusal  : 

"  A  dream  was  dreamt  by  Kriemhild  the  virtuous  and  the  gay, 
How  a  wild  young  falcon  she  train'd  for  many  a  day, 
Till  two  fierce  eagles  tore  it ;  to  her  there  could  not  be 
In  all  the  world  such  sorrow  as  this  perforce  to  see,"  &c. 

"  The  mighty  and  the  noble  there  lay  together  dead; 
For  this  had  all  the  people  dole  and  drearihead. 
The  feast  of  royal  Etzel  was  thus  shut  up  in  woe : 
Pain  in  the  steps  of  pleasure  treads  ever  here  below." 

The  three  Medieval  landmarks,  Beowulf,  Edda,  and  Nibelun- 
gen,  should  be  made  classic  among  all  nations  of  Gotho-Germanic 
descent.  Their  divinities,  heroes,  and  heroines  might  be  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  ancients  and  thus  be  made  doubly  inter- 
esting to  learners. 

Extracts  and  Tables  from  Anglo-Saxon  writings  of  the  twelfth 
century,  showing  their  style  and  the  numeric  origin  of  their  vo- 
cabulary. They  are  from  the  "Saxon  Chronicle,"  A.D.  1154, 
and  the  "Creed"  of  A.D.  1160. 


Twelfth  Century. 


218 


Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


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220 


Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


EXTRACT : 

The  Creed  of  A.D.  1 1 60. 

"  Ic  ileue  in  God  the  fader  almihti  scuppende  and  weldende  of  heouene  and 
of  orthe  and  of  alle  iscefte.  and  ich  ileue  on  the  helende  crist.  his  enlepi  sune. 
ure.  lauerd.  he  is  ihaten  helende  for  he  moncun  helede  of  than  dethliche  atter. 
thet  the  olde  deouel  blou  on  adam  and  on  cue  and  on  al  heore  ofsprinke.  swa 
swa  thet  heore  fif-falde  mihte  horn  wes  al  binumen.  thet  is  hore  lust,  hore 
loking.  hore  blawing.  hore  smelling,  heore  feling  wes  aliattret." 


Extract  from  the  Peterborough  Chronicle  for  the  year  1137. 

"  Tha  the  suikes  undergseton  that  he  milde  man  was  and  softe  and  god  and 
na  iustise  ne  dide,  tha  diden  hi  alle  wunder.  Hi  hadden  him  manred  maked 
and  athes  suoren.  ac  he  nan  treuthene  heolden.  alle  hi  waeron  forsworen.  and 
here  treothes  forloren.  for  oeuric  rice  man  his  castles  makede  and  agseneshim 
heolden  and  fylden  the  land  ful  of  castles.  Hi  suencten  suythe  tha  uurecce 
men  of  the  land  mid  castelweorces.  Tha  the  castles  uuaren  maked.  tha  fylden 
hi  mid  deoules  and  yvele  men.  Tha  namen  hi  tha  men  the  hi  wenden  that 
ani  god  hefden.  bathe  be  nihtes  and  be  doeies.  caiimen  and  wimmen.  and 
diden-heom  in  prisun  efter  gold  and  sylver.  and  pined  heom  untellendice 
pining,  for  ne  uuceren  nseure  nan  martyrs  swa  pined  alse  hi  waeron.  Me 
henged  up  bi  the  fet  and  smoked  heom  mid  ful  smoke,  me  henged  bi  the 
thumbes.  other  bi  the  hefed.  and  hengen  bryniges  on  her  fet.  Me  dide 
cnotted." 


244  common  words,  among  which 


The 
a 
of 
to 

from 
in 

with 
by 

Pronoun,  ist  per. 
2d     " 
"         3d     " 
be,        aux. 


occurs 


12  times. 

have,  aux. 

o      " 

shall,      u 

6      " 

will,       " 

o      " 

may,      '« 

o      " 

do,         u 

2        " 

that 

3      " 

and 

4 

3      " 

otl 

0        " 

33      " 

6      " 

i  times. 
o      " 
o      " 
o      " 


I 

5 
19 


ct 


95 
other  particles,  25 


1 20  particles. 


Hence,  the  style  of  the  twelfth  century  required  about  244  common  words 
to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averaged  about  49  per  cent,  particles  and 
fifty-nine  percent,  repetitions. 


Twelfth  Century. 


221 


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222  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from  the  two  preceding  Tables 
of  the  Twelfth  Century. 


\\ 


Greek  : 

Latin  :  9  I  Greco-Latin  :  21)  Total  of  the  different 

French :  i i  )  V 

<  words  :  181. 

Anglo-Saxon:  160  [•  Gotho-Germanic  :  160 

Hence,  the  Anglo-Saxon  style  of  writing  in  the 
twelfth    century  shows    a   vocabulary    of  different 
words  containing  about 
88  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  and 
12          "         Greco- Latin     (including    5    per    cent. 
French). 

Thirty-four  of  the  160  different  Anglo-Saxon 
words  (twenty-one  per  cent.)  are  now  (1878)  ob- 
solete. 

Only  twenty-four  of  the  160  different  Anglo- 
Saxon  words  (fifteen  per  cent.)  are  now  spelt  as 
they  were  prior  to  A.D.  1200. 

ULTIMATE  RESULT  OF  THE  ANGLO-SAXON  PERIOD,  A.D.  449- 

1200. 

We  gave  synopses  for  the  seven  centuries  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Period ;  but  each  of  these  synopses 
only  shows  the  origin  of  the  vocabulary  for  one 
century  ;  now,  to  get  at  the  figures,  that  will  furnish 
the  origin  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect,  we  must  drop 
from  the  fourteen  Tables  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Period 
all  repeated  words  like  the,  of,  to,  and,  it,  &c.,  which 
occur  in  every  one  of  the  fourteen  Tables,  together 
with  other  repetitions,  so  as  to  reach  only  the  ulti- 
mate different  words,  from  which  we  can  determine 
the  origin  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect : 


Twelfth  Century. 

223 

Anglo-Saxon  words  : 

668 

Gotho-Germanic  : 

668 

Greek                  " 
Latin                   " 
French                 " 

4! 

J4 

•  Greco-Latin  : 

Total   of   the 
,     1     ultimate   dif- 
ferent words: 

73*« 

Hebrew               " 

i 

Semitic  : 

i 

Hence,  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  numbers 
91  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  all  Anglo-Saxon; 
8  Greco-Latin,  including  two   per  cent. 

French,  and  traces  of  Semitic,  which 
came  into  Anglo-Saxon  through  the 
Bible. 

For  later  comparison  we  desire  readers  to  re- 
member : 

1.  That  only  64  (nine  per  cent.)  of  the  above  731 
ultimate  different  words  are  now  (1878)   spelt  as 
they  were  before  A.D.  1200. 

2.  That  6  (nine  per  cent.)  of  the  above  62  ulti- 
mate different  Greco-Latin  words  are  now  obsolete, 
while  360  of  the  above  668  ultimate  different  Anglo- 
Saxon  words  (fifty-four  per  cent.)  are  now  (1878) 
obsolete.     Yet  Sharon  Turner  tells  us  in  his  "  His- 
tory of  the  Anglo-Saxons  "  : 

"Perhaps  we  shall  be  near  the  truth,  if  we  say,  as  a  general 
principle,  that  one-fifth  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  language  has  ceased 
to  be  used  in  modern  English."  As  shown  above,  fifty-four  per 
cent.,  or  more  than  one-half  of  the  A.  S.  words,  are  obsolete  ;  yet 
this  erroneous  assertion  has  been  repeated  for  fifty  years  by  many 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Teutonic  investigators.  We  need  not  show 
how  Sharon  Turner  arrived  at  his  so-called  "  general  principle" 
when  Geo.  P.  Marsh  declares,  that  "  the  conclusions  given  by 
Sharon  Turner  are  entitled  to  no  confidence  whatever."  Oli- 
phant,  in  his  "Sources  of  Standard  English,"  1873,  P-  2I^,  speak- 
ing of  Marsh's  method  of  investigating  the  English  vocabulary, 


224 


Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 


says  :  "  Substantives,  adjectives,  adverbs,  and  verbs,  I  call  weighty 
words ;  they  may  alter,  while  the  other  parts  of  speech  hardly 
change  at  all.  I  cannot  see  the  use  of  counting,  as  Marsh  does, 
every  of,  the  and  him,  in  order  to  find  out  the  proportion  of 
home-born  English  in  different  authors."  Yet  this  candid  author, 
while  censuring  Marsh's  method,  which  had  been  Sharon  Tur- 
ner's, tells  us,  p.  240  :  "  It  was  once  my  lot  to  treat  of  a  Code  of 
Law  ;  I  find,  on  looking  over  my  book,  that  at  least  one-half  of 
my  substantives,  adjectives,  adverbs,  and  verbs  dealing  with  this 
subject,  are  of  Latin  birth  ;  so  impossible  is  it  for  the  most  earnest 
Teuton  to  shake  off  the  trammels  laid  on  England  in  the  thir- 
teenth century."  Were  it  not  for  these  trammels  the  English 
idiom  would  not  now  be  the  essence  of  what  language  has  noblest 
and  most  sublime  ;  for  the  erudite  Bosworth,  in  the  preface  to  his 
"Anglo-Saxon  and  English  Dictionary,"  1855,  says:  ''23,000 
words  are  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin."  Our  strict  analysis  shows,  that 
fifty-four  per  cent,  of  these,  or  12,420,  are  now  obsolete,  so  that 
the  English  tongue  now  contains  but  about  10.580  Anglo-Saxon 
words  ;  and  if  it  numbers  90,000  words, — as  stated  in  Noah  Web- 
ster's Dictionary  of  1861, — 79,420  are  "foreign  born"  (Greco- 
Latin),  without  which,  what  would  the  English  language  be?  It 
is  difficult  to  understand  how  Sharon  Turner's  "  one-fifth  "  could 
find  favor  with  linguists,  who,  while  reading,  must  daily  see  over 
one-half  Greco-Latin  on  every  page  they  peruse. 

Gradual  Accessions  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  Dialect  from  the  close  of  the  Sixth 
Century  to  the  close  of  the  Twelfth : 


GRECO- 
LATIN 

CKLTIC  : 

SEMITIC  C 

ANGLO- 
SAXON  : 

King  Ethelbert's  Anglo-Saxon  Code  (A.D.  597) 
From  A-D.  600  to    700  

6  per  cent. 
6 

94  per  cent. 

94 
86         " 

6 

Traces 

95 

To  behold  and  study  the  dawn  of  the  English  language  and 
literature  must  ever  prove  highly  interesting  to  every  individual 
of  the  ninety  English-speaking  millions,  whether  he  breathes  the 
air  of  Britain,  America,  Asia,  Africa,  Australia,  or  New  Zealand. 
The  eighty-nine  articles  of  King  Ethelbert's  Code  (A.D.  597)  in 
the  vernacular,  with  its  Latin  translation  (A.D.  1050),  are  a  rich 


Twelfth  Century.  22$ 

treat,  not  only  for  the  philologist  and  historian,  but  for  the  eth- 
nologist and  philosopher ;  because  in  that  code  is  to  be  found 
the  germ  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  language  and  literature :  in  it  are 
mentioned  manners,  customs  and  traits  of  character,  that  clearly 
show  the  social  status  of  that  early  period  ;  vices  and  crimes  are 
named  and  fines  imposed,  that  indicate  the  moral  condition  of 
the  people ;  even  the  chopping  off  fingers  is  enumerated  among 
the  national  crimes.  A  fine  of  six  shillings  for  cutting  off  the 
gold-finger  proves,  that  the  Anglo-Saxons  wore  gold  rings  prior 
to  A.D.  597.  The  fines  are  expressed  in  Roman  numbers,  which 
shows  that  they  adopted  the  Roman  figures  A.D.  597. 

Thus  may  the  student  trace  ethnologic  data  from  primitive 
writings.  No  doubt,  the  forming  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  alphabet, 
the  thinking  over,  contriving  and  writing  that  code  was  a  solemn 
and  imposing  occasion  among  the  descendants  of  the  Jutes  in 
Kent.  Strange,  no  English  historian,  ethnologist,  or  philologist  has 
taken  that  curious  document  as  his  initial  theme.  Rapin  alludes 
to  it  more  than  any  historian  we  read.  The  florid  Macaulay 
calls  the  early  part  of  Anglo-Saxon  history  "mythical?  The 
erudite  P.  Andrews,  in  his  "  History  of  Great  Britain,"  tells  us  : 

u  The  seven  insignificant  monarchies  scarcely  produced  a  man  of  letters,  a 
statesman,  a  soldier,  or  a  rational  divine,  and  deserves  little  notice  from  the 
historian,  who  hastens  to  commemorate,  in  the  accession  of  the  great  Egbert, 
the  true  commencement  of  English  history." 

Yet  Caedmon,  who  was  the  Anglo-Saxon  Homer,  sang  his 
Paraphrase  on  the  Bible  to  the  inmates  of  Whitby  a  century 
before  Egbert,  and  his  hearers  transmitted  it  to  posterity  ;  and  as 
previously  stated,  he  was  the  tersest  and  most  impressive  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  authors.  Bede,  who  wrote  his  Ecclesiastic  History 
seventy  years  before  Egbert,  has  ever  been  considered  one  of  the 
eminent  Medieval  divines ;  true,  he  wrote  in  Latin.  Any  one, 
who  will  peruse  the  numerous  writings,  moral  essays  and  trans- 
lations of  Alfred  the  Great  (A.D.  890),  will  find  in  them  a  mine 
of  wisdom  and  statesmanship.  Alfric's  "  Homilies"  (A.D.  1000) 
contain  rich  moral  and  historic  instruction.  To  read  the  simple 
and  unvarnished  events,  as  related  year  after  year  in  the  "  Saxon 
Chronicle"  from  A.D.  449  to  1154,  will  ever  be  interesting,  not 
only  to  the  scholar,  but  to  all  lovers  of  real  history.  Such  poems 
as  the  "Battle  of  Brunanburgh"  and  "Threnody  "  on  the  Death 
15 


226  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

of  Edward  the  Confessor,  A.D.  1066,  are  characteristic  of  their 
day,  and  deserve  the  attention  of  those  who  wish  to  know  the 
real  progress  of  the  English  intellect.  No  Oxford,  Cambridge, 
Columbia,  or  Yale  diploma  should  be  given  to  a  student  ignorant 
of  Anglo-Saxon  literature,  which  antedates  all  Medieval  litera- 
tures ;  for  neither  France,  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  nor  Germany 
can  show  anything  in  their  vernacular  dialects  at  that  early  period. 
Even  students  of  high  schools  should  be  taught  an  epitome  there- 
of. Every  English  speaker  may  justly  feel  proud  of  the  most 
ancient  Medieval  literary  progress. 

It  seems  strange  no  Celtic  found  its  way  into  Anglo-Saxon  to 
A.D.  1200  ;  for  the  Celts  had  been  conquered  by  the  Jutes, 
Saxons,  and  Angles,  and  were  their  northern  and  western  neigh- 
bors from  A.D.  449  to  1200.  The  mutual  hatred  between  the 
two  races  hardly  accounts  for  this  linguistic  anomaly  ;  there  must 
be  some  hidden  unaffinity  between  the  Gotho-Germanic  and 
Celtic  dialects.  The  Franco-Norman  and  Anglo  Saxon  admix- 
ture became  the  means  of  cementing  the  Celto-British  and  Anglo- 
Saxon  races  and  tongues  during  the  Franco-English  period  from 
A.D.  1200  to  1600.  No  doubt,  the  Celtic  element  that  went 
from  France  with  William  the  Conqueror,  especially  the  5,000 
auxiliaries  from  Brittany,  became  a  link  between  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  and  Celts  of  the  British  Isles.  Traces  of  Hebrew  or 
Semitic  found  their  way  into  the  native  dialect  during  this  period, 
which  came  through  the  Bible.  As  the  first  Hebrew  word  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  tongue  was  "  alleluiah"  a  term  of  praise  and  joy,  it 
must  be  considered  a  good  omen. 

Ultimate  numeric  Result  of  the  Fourteen  Extracts  from  Attthors  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Period,  showing  the  style  of  -writing  from  A.D.  597  to  1200  : 

NUMBER   OF  WORDS 

AUTHORS  :  WORDS    IN   EACH  OF  INHERENT  PARTICLES  I 

EXTRACT :  MEANING  : 

Ethelbert's  Code,  6th  Century 292                including          208  84  (30  per  cent. ) 

Caedmon,  7th 135  99  36(27 

Lothair  and  Edric's  Code,  7th....  242  134  108(44 

Saxon  Chronicle.  7th 237  131  106(44 

Ina's  Code,  8th 265  152  113(43 

Saxon  Chronicle,  8th 261  158  103  (40 

Saxon  Chronicle,  gth 298  152  146  (49 

Alfred's  Code,  9lh 284  138  146(51 


Saxon  Chronicle,  roth 122 

Alfric,  xoth 254 

Threnody,  nth 167 


Saxon  Chronicle,  nth r, 

Saxon  Chronicle,  12th 362 

Prayers,  i2th 244 


94  28  (23 

130  124  (50 

128  39  (23 

142  86  (39 

175  187  (52 

124  120  (49 


339»  1965          1426 


Twelfth  Century.  227 

For  later  comparison  we  desire  readers  to  remember : 

1.  That  the  14  Extracts  from  the  prominent  authors  and  writings 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  period  aggregate  3,391  words,  averaging  242 
words  for  each  of  the  14  Extracts. 

2.  That  the  14  Extracts,  numbering  3,391  words,  contain  but 
731  (22  per  cent.)  ultimate  different  words,  leaving  2,660  (78  per 
cent.)  ultimate  repetitions. 

This  age  witnessed  the  first  real  expanse  of  England's  language, 
which  was  brought  about  by  these  circumstances  :  Henry  II., 
rather  discouraged  by  his  fruitless  wars  in  PYance,  conceived  the 
invasion  of  Ireland.  He  communicated  his  design  to  his  country- 
man and  friend,  Adrian  IV.  (Nicholas  Breakspeare),  the  only 
native  of  England  ever  raised  to  the  papal  chair.  Adrian,  de- 
sirous to  aid  his  country,  and  seeing  in  that  movement  a  chance 
to  increase  papal  influence  and  swell  the  ecclesiastic  revenue  by 
a  Peter  Pence  from  Hibernia,  encouraged  the  grasping  Plantage- 
net.  Soon  fortuitous  events  furnished  the  English  monarch  a 
specious  pretext  for  invasion.  According  to  Lord  Lyttelton's 
"  Irish  Annals,"  Dermot  Macmorrogh,  King  of  Leinster,  had 
carried  off  by  force  the  fair  Devoirgoil,  wife  of  O'Rourke,  ruler 
of  Breffney,  which  produced  a  war  between  the  Irish  princes,  as 
did  Helen's  elopement  between  Greece  and  Troy.  To  redress 
this  wrong  English  nobles  aided  Dermot.  Henry  intervened, 
became  mediator,  and  ultimately  succeeded  (A.D.  1169)  in  ap- 
propriating the  Emerald  Isle,  where  the  census  of  1871  showed, 
in  a  population  of  5,412,377,  only  103,562  (two  per  cent.)  per- 
sons who  could  not  speak  English.  The  census  of  1861  men- 
tions 163,275  individuals  unable  to  speak  English;  whereas  the 
statistics  of  1851  show,  in  a  population  of  6,552,386,  about 
319,602  (five  per  cent.)  persons  that  could  not  speak  English. 
Thus,  from  1851  to  1871,  or  within  twenty  years-,  the  non-Eng- 
lish-speaking population  in  Ireland  diminished  from  five  to  two 
per  cent.  This  small  percentage  will  soon  vanish  before  steam, 
telegraph,  cable,  and  other  improvements  that  speed  travel  and 
intercourse.  The  Cornish  dialect  died,  A.D.  1778,  with  Doro- 
thea Pentreath,  the  last  person  that  could  speak  it ;  who  will  be 
the  last  speaker  of  Irish  is  to  be  seen ;  already  the  Irish  in 
Europe  and  America  form  societies  to  preserve  their  ancient 
native  tongue.  Though  Ireland  had  no  opportunity  to  show  to 


228  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

the  world  a  progressed  language  and  literature,  she  may  ever 
point  with  pride  to  Goldsmith,  Swift,  Usher,  Burke,  Sheridan, 
Moore,  Knowles,  &c.,  among  England's  intellectual  grandees. 

Archeologists  claim  that  the  earliest  writing  in  Irish,  called 
"Saltair  of  Tar  a"  was  composed  by  Cormac  Mac  Airt,  King  of 
Ireland  from  A.D.  227  to  266;  that  it  was  a  commentary  on 
the  laws  and  usages  of  Ireland,  and  that  only  the  title  and  small 
fragments  thereof  now  remain.  At  the  Royal  Irish  Academy  of 
Dublin  is  a  well  preserved  MS.  containing  a  collection  of  heroic 
tales,  sermons,  &c.,  called  "Leabhar  nah-Uidhci"  which  is  said 
to  have  been  copied  by  Moelmuiri  mac  Ceileachair  about  A.D. 
1 100,  from  an  older  MS.  It  is  thought  the  original  was  written 
in  the  sixth  century  by  St.  Ciaran,  Abbot  of  Cluain-mac-Nois. 
As  previously  stated,  this  document,  if  authentic,  would  rank  in 
date  with  King  Ethelbert's  Anglo-Saxon  Code,  A.D.  597.  As 
Eugene  O'Curry  has  published  an  exhaustive  work  "On  the 
Manuscript  Materials  of  Ancient  Irish  History,"  we  refer  readers 
to  it.  It  seems  the  first  printing  done  in  Ireland  dates  to  about 
A.D.  1560.  We  are  told  the  Irish  alphabet  numbers  eighteen 
letters,  which  resemble  the  Roman  uncials  ;  but  it  is  claimed 
Ireland  had  writing  before  our  era  (?),  all  of  which  proves  that  the 
British  Isles  were  an  early  intellectual  center,  as  may  be  inferred 
from  what  we  previously  said  of  the  early  missionaries,  Columba, 
Gall,  Columban,  Wilbrord,  Winfrid,  &c.,  who  went  from  Eng- 
land and  Ireland  to  other  countries  to  preach  Christianity  and 
civilization. 

After  searching  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  purely  intellectual 
pursuits — language,  literature  and  science — some  allusion  to  the 
dress,  arts,  mechanics,  and  amusements  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
may  be  of  interest ;  because  they  influence  language,  literature 
and  science.  Paulus  Diaconus,  who,  towards  the  close  of  the 
eighth  century,  wrote  a  history  of  the  Lombards,  describes  a  pic- 
ture of  the  sixth  century,  which  he  saw  in  the  palace  of  Theode- 
linda,  Queen  of  the  Lombards.  He  was  told  that  it  was  painted 
by  Theodelinda's  orders,  and  represented  the  Lombards  on  some 
excursion.  Diaconus  says  their  costume  was  the  same  as  that  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons.  The  description  of  Diaconus  agrees  with  one 
Eginhart  gives  of  Charlemagne's  costume,  so  that  the  above 
Saxon  attire  was  common  to  the  Lombards,  Franks  and  Anglo- 


Twelfth   Century. 


229 


Saxons.  We  previously  found  that  the  dialects  of  the  Franks 
and  Anglo-Saxons  were  similar;  now  we  find  that  their  costume 
and  that  of  the  Lombards  were  the  same ;  hence  we  infer  that 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  Franks  and  Lombards  differed  in  name,  but 
pointed  to  a  common  ancestry  and  mother  tongue.  These  gar- 
ments were  made  of  linen  or  woollen,  according  to  the  season, 
cotton  being  then  unknown  in  Europe.  Behold  some  of  the 
names  of  garments  compared  with  other  dialects  : 


sock 

Anglo-Saxon... 

maentel 
mantel 

roc 

braec 

socc 

sceo 

hose 

se 

Greek 

Latin  

tunica 

French 

manteau 

•L*  '  " 

a.  -s 

Italian 

c 

.... 

oco 

Welsh    

hos 

This  shows  that  there  were  modes  which  traveled  from  Italy  to 
France  and  England,  and  that  Queen  Theodelinda  aud  Charle- 
magne set  the  fashions  in  those  primitive  Medieval  times.  The 
Council  of  Cealchyth,  A.D.  787,  fulminated  this  rebuke  against 
the  fashion  of  that  day  :  "  You  dress  like  the  pagans,  whom  your 
ancestors  exterminated.  It  is  surprising  you  imitate  those  you 
ever  hated."  Going  barefooted  was  a  punishable  offence  among 
the  Anglo-Saxons.  This  was,  no  doubt,  more  a  hygeian  than  a 
moral  measure.  Such  laws  and  customs  are  wise,  because  calcu- 
lated to  insure  the  health  of  the  people,  and  especially  that  of  the 
growing  generation. 

It  is  surprising  to  see  the  perfection  to  which  the  monks  and 
copyists  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  period  brought  the  art  of  penman- 
ship, as  may  he  noticed  by  the  specimens  of  King  Athelstan's 
Bible  version  about  A.D.  938,  and  of  "  Doomsday-Book,"  A.D. 
1086;  also  the  numerous  MSS.  now  preserved  in  Ireland.  That 
kind  of  industry  and  skill  were  the  only  means  by  which  the  in- 
tellectual treasures  could  be  transmitted  to  coming  generations ; 
hence  our  gratitude  to  those  diligent  pens  should  ever  be  tender 
and  warm.  Where  would  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  Gothic,  Anglo- 
Saxon  lore  have  been  without  those  pliable  and  almost  intelligent 
fingers  ? 

Agriculture  and  gardening  were  ever  in  high  repute  among  the 
Anglo-Saxons  and  English ;  so  were  fishing,  hunting,  and  all  the 


230  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

arts  that  supply  the  necessaries  and  primary  comforts  of  life ; 
even  nobles,  abbots,  and  priests  attended  to  gardening  as  a  pas- 
time. Church  music  and  the  harp  ranked  as  the  highest  accom- 
plishments among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  so  much  so  that  kings  and 
bishops  prided  themselves  on  being  superior  vocalists  and  harpists. 
The  Anglo-Saxon  houses  consisted  of  wooden  frames  covered 
and  cemented  with  clay ;  bricks  were  only  used  as  ornaments. 
The  first  stone  structures  were  erected  towards  the  close  of  the 
eleventh  century  ;  and  for  them  the  stone  was  brought  from  Nor- 
mandy. Glass  windows  were  considered  as  a  luxury  in  private 
houses,  and  were  almost  entirely  confined  to  churches  and  cath- 
edrals ;  all  of  which  indicates,  that  architecture  was  not  in  high 
favor  with  the  Anglo-Saxons.  Yet  specimens  of  Anglo-Saxon 
ships  exhibit  considerable  advance  in  naval  architecture.  It 
seems  painting  and  sculpture  did  not  florish  among  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,  who  were  content  with  some  image  or  statue  of  their 
patron  saint  in  their  churches.  The  ornamentations  in  the 
Church  of  St.  John  at  Beverly  and  the  paintings  in  the  Cathedral 
of  Canterbury  are  mentioned  as  the  finest  specimens  of  sculpture 
and  painting  during  the  Anglo-Saxon  period.  Although  the 
Anglo-Saxons  did  not  shine  in  architecture,  painting  and  sculp- 
ture, they  so  excelled  in  setting  precious  stones  in  gold  and  silver 
that  their  jewelry  was  styled  "  opera  Anglica  "  throughout  Europe. 
King  Alfred's  jewel,  found  at  Ethelingay,  and  St.  Cuthbert's 
golden  cross,  are  precious  relics  of  that  early  delicate  Anglo- 
Saxon  workmanship.  William  of  Malmesbury  tells  us,  that  the 
monks  were  most  skilled  artists  in  this  department  of  industry. 

In  the  sixth  century  we  alluded  to  music  as  tending  to  soften 
the  manners  and  tune  the  character  of  a  people  ;  in  the  ninth  we 
mentioned  Alfred  the  Great  charming  the  hostile  Danes  as 
David  of  old  did  King  Saul,  and  how  fashionable  the  harp  became 
in  England.  About  A.D.  1160,  a  Scotch  abbot,  named  Ailred, 
wrote  the  following  burlesque  : 

"  Since  all  types  and  figures  are  now  ceased,  why  so  many  organs  and  cym- 
bals in  our  churches  ?  Why,  I  say,  that  terrible  blowing  of  bellows  which 
rather  imitates  noise  of  thunder  than  the  sweet  harmony  of  the  voice  ?" 

Next  he  thus  expatiates  on  vocal  music  : 

"  One  restrains  his  breath,  another  breaks  his  breath,  and  a  third  unac- 


Twelfth  Century.  231 

countably  dilates  his  voice.  Sometimes  (I  blush  to  say  it)  they  fall  and  quiver 
like  the  neighing  of  horses ;  at  other  times  they  look  like  persons  in  the  agonies 
of  death  ;  their  eyes  roll ;  their  shoulders  are  moved  upwards  and  downwards ; 
and  their  fingers  dance  to  every  note." 

Even  this  intended  satire  proves,  that  Orpheus'  art  was  popular 
in  England  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  that  the  changing  Anglo- 
Saxon  dialect  had  the  elements  of  a  musical  vocabulary,  ready 
for  the  Franco-English  idiom.  Gui  d'Arezzo's  gamut  (A.D. 
1022)  did  much  for  the  melodious  art;  but  Mozarts  and  Bellinis 
were  needed  to  perfect  it. 

Popular  education  was  little  attended  to  during  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  period  (A.D.  449-1200),  owing  to  constant  warfare,  first 
with  the  Britons,  A.D.  455  ;  next  with  the  Danes,  A.D.  789  ;  and 
then  with  the  Franco-Normans,  A.D.  1066,  who  gradually  con- 
quered the  British  Isles  and  amalgamated  with  the  Anglo-Saxons 
and  Celts.  The  backwardness  in  the  exact  and  natural  sciences, 
mathematics,  astronomy,  geography,  botany,  medicine,  &c.,  was 
due  to  the  same  cause.  At  first  the  healing  art  was  practised  by 
nurses  and  old  women,  whose  principal  remedies  were  magic, 
charms,  and  herb  decoctions.  Soon  the  priesthood  monopolized 
medicine,  and  resorted  to  domestic  appliances,  holy  water,  and 
other  superstitions.  Thus  war,  and  want  of  proper  medical,  sur- 
gical, and  hygienic  means,  kept  the  population  at  the  low  figure 
of  about  two  millions  under  William  the  Conqueror,  A.D.  1086; 
whereas,  now,  about  twenty-two  millions  live  and  thrive  where 
there  were  then  but  two  millions.  However,  as  far  as  education, 
literature,  and  science  were  concerned,  the  Anglo-Saxons  were 
in  advance  of  the  other  Gotho-Germanic  races  in  France,  Italy, 
Spain,  Germany,  and  Scandinavia;  for  they  had  a  vernacular 
literature  before  any  of  their  Gotho-Germanic  cotemporaries  on 
the  continent.  Popular  education,  art,  and  science,  are  sensitive 
growths ;  peace,  quiet,  and  mental  serenity  are  to  them  what 
the  genial  rays  of  the  sun  are  to  vernal  germination,  budding  and 
flowering.  Oxford  and  Cambridge  have  ever  been  centers  of 
education.  Imagine  how  many  Anglo-Saxons  and  Englishmen 
look  to  Oxford  or  Cambridge  as  Alma  Mater.  Will  as  many 
Americans  look  to  Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton,  as  Almae  Matres  a 
thousand  years  hence  ?  If  so,  all  the  occupants  of  this  planet 
will  speak  English. 


232  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  449-1200. 

Throughout  this  period  of  seven  centuries  we  endeavored,  as 
far  as  we  could,  to  trace  the  utterance  and  writing  of  Anglo-Saxon 
thought  in  the  domestic  circle,  social  intercourse,  and  national 
development,  of  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  alphabet,  Pope  Gregory's 
letters  to  Ethelbert  and  Bertha,  Biscop's  intellectual  treasures 
carried  from  Italy 'and  France  to  Britain,  Hilda's  fostering  care 
of  Caedmon's  genius,  Bede's  life  and  works,  Wilbrord,  Ina's  col- 
lege at  Rome,  Egbert's  statesmanship  obtained  at  Charlemagne's 
court,  the  "  Saxon  Chronicle,"  Alfred's  "  Philosophic  Address  to 
the  Deity,"  and  Ethelwerd's  edifying  letter  to  Matilda,  are  but 
different  phases  of  linguistic  and  literary  progress.  We  shunned 
intrigues,  feuds,  wars,  and  battles,  usually  resorted  to  and  de- 
scribed by  historians  and  critics ;  because  we  ever  considered 
them  as  mere  surfacial  ripples  and  froth  of  temporary  efferves- 
cence, while  the  national  blood  circulates  in  the  arteries  and 
veins  of  mothers,  sisters,  children,  and  non-combatants,  who  edu- 
cate, and  take  care  of,  what  is  left  after  the  slaughter  and  de- 
vastation by  the  few  disposed  and  destined  to  fight.  Our  tame 
account  of  the  inner  life,  thought,  language,  and  literature  of  the 
ancestors  of  the  English-speaking  populations  may  seem  novel 
and  strange ;  yet  we  feel  sure  it  will  interest  the  thinking,  for 
they  will  realize  that  English  education  is  incomplete  without 
some  knowledge  of  their  ancestors'  first  steps  in  civilization,  lit- 
erature, art,  and  science.  These  steps  can  best  be  traced  in 
the  Anglo-Saxon  language,  which  (A.D.  1200)  numbered  about 
23.000  words,  of  which  ninety-one  per  cent,  were  Gotho-Ger- 
manic,  eight  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  and  traces  of  Semitic. 


FRANCO-ENGLISH  PERIOD,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


THIRTEENTH    CENTURY. 


"To  study  a  people's  language  will  be  to  study  them,  and  to  study  them  at  best  advantage, 
where  they  present  themselves  under  the  fewest  disguises,  most  nearly  as  they  are." — TRENCH. 

THIS  century  witnessed  four  dawnings  of  modern  progress  : 
first,  the  dawn  of  the  English  language,  composed  of  Gotho-Ger- 
manic,  Greco-Latin,  and  Celtic  elements  under  Franco-Norman 
rule,  striving  to  unite  the  different  populations,  as  foreshadowed 
by  the  conquest  of  Ireland  under  Henry  II.  The  burlesque  on 
the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect,  by  such  men  as  Orrmin,  had  darkened 
England's  linguistic  horizon,  and  there  was  danger  that  over-zeal- 
ous monks  might  so  disfigure  the  people's  idiom  as  to  render  it 
unfit  for  amalgamation,  and  thus  deprive  the  coming  national 
language  of  the  primitive  monosyllabic  Anglo-Saxon  words,  now 
so  prominent  in  English. 

Our  Extracts  and  Tables  of  this  century  show  how  this  danger 
was  averted,  and  when  the  fusion  that  produced  the  English 
tongue  began,  and  how  it  progressed.  It  had  somewhat  advanced 
when  Henry  III.  mounted  the  throne,  1216,  but  not  sufficiently 
to  find  its  way  to  the  court,  bar,  or  university,  where  French 
and  Latin  still  prevailed  ;  however,  the  Church,  popular  authors, 
and  the  masses  were  forming  a  language,  that  was  calculated  to 
force  its  way  even  to  the  throne. 

The  second  dawning  of  modern  progress  was  experimental  sci- 
ence, ushered  in  by  a  Franciscan  monk.  England  may  ever  feel 
proud  of  having  given  birth  to  Roger  Bacon,  versed  in  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew ;  an  astronomer,  naturalist,  mechanist,  and 
theologian,  as  may  be  seen  by  his  works  :  "  Opus  Majus"  com- 
posed of  eighty  Essays  ;  "Thesaurus  Chymicus,"  and  " Epistola 
de  Secretis  Operibus  Naturae  et  Artis^  et  de  Nullitate  Magiae" 


234        Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

This  inquisitive  monk  studied  in  Oxford  and  Paris,  where  he 
plunged  with  ardor  into  all  the  sciences  known  in  his  day.  He 
proposed  to  Pope  Innocent  IV.  the  reform  of  the  calendar,  1267, 
which  immortalized  Pope  Gregory  XIII. ,  1577.  To  Roger 
Bacon  the  Medieval  world  is  indebted  for  the  first  idea  of  magni- 
fying glasses,*  camera  obscura,  air-pump,  and  gunpowder.  What 
a  boon  glasses  have  proved  to  astronomy  and  optics,  to  say 
nothing  of  aged  workers,  students,  and  authors  !  Imagine  our 
reading  and  writing  world  after  the  age  of  fifty  deprived  of  glasses, 
and  conceive  what  literature,  science,  and  art  would  lose  ;  for  the 
most  valuable  works  are  produced  after  that  age.  This  discovery 
alone  was  enough  to  immortalize  Roger  Bacon.  But,  because  his 
teachings  transcended  the  knowledge  of  his  time,  they  excited 
wonder  and  envy  ;  his  admirers  styled  him  "  The  Wonderful  Doc- 
tor," and  his  enviers  called  him  "a  magician."  Therefore  his 
lectures  were  interdicted,  and  he  was  confined  in  a  Franciscan 
dungeon  in  Paris  for  ten  years,  till  he  could  convince  the  Pope 
and  his  brother  monks  that  he  had  no  converse  with  Satan.  Dr. 
Freind,  in  his  able  '•'•History  of  Physic,"  speaks  thus  of  this  martyr 
to  science  : 

"  His  are  wounderful  discoveries  for  a  man  to  make  in  so  ignorant  an  age, 
who  had  no  master  to  teach,  but  struck  it  all  out  of  his  own  brain  ;  but  it  is 
yet  more  wonderful  that  such  discoveries  should  be  so  long  concealed,  till  in 
the  succeeding  centuries  other  people  should  start  up  and  lay  claim  to  these 
very  inventions  to  which  Bacon  alone  had  a  right." 

Hallam  says : 

"  The  resemblance  between  Roger  Bacon  and  his  namesake  is  very  remark- 
able. Whether  Lord  Bacon  ever  read  the  'Opus  Majus^  I  know  not ;  but 
it  is  singular  that  his  favorite  quaint  expression  prarogativae  \  Scientiarum 
should  be  found  in  that  work.  And  whoever  reads  the  sixth  part  of  the 
'  Opus  MajusJ  upon  experimental  science,  must  be  struck  by  it  as  the  proto- 
type in  spirit  of  the  ''Novum  Organum?  " 

*  We  are  told  lenses  and  glasses  have  been  found  in  the  ruins  of  Babylon 
and  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  Greek  and  Roman  authors  mention  glasses 
as  aids  to  sight  and  for  optical  purposes.  Even  conceding  that,  it  does  not 
follow  that  Roger  Bacon  could  not  have  rediscovered  the  lost  art  and  suggested 
its  use  to  his  benighted  cotemporaries. 

•j-  Hence  the  English  and  French  word  prerogative  dates  to  1265. 


Thirteenth  Century.  235 

In  connection  with  this  distinguished  monk  I  cannot  help 
mentioning  his  patron  and  friend,  Grosse-teste  (Great  Head), 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  author  of  "  Compendium  Spherae  Mundi"  and 
other  scientific  essays.  The  most  useful  work  of  this  learned 
bishop  was  his  translation  of  Suidas'  Lexicon  into  Lattn,  which 
gave  to  students  of  Western  Europe  the  key  to  Greek  literature, 
science,  and  art.  As  our  readers  may  be  amused  at  the  inter- 
change of  civilities  between  the  Pope  and  Grosse-teste,  we  give 
it  as  related  by  Matthew  Paris  : 

"  Innocent  IV.  appointed  an  infant  nephew  of  his  to  a  living  in  the  diocese 
of  Lincoln,  to  which  Grosse-teste  objected  in  a  letter  couched  in  such  explicit 
language,  that  his  Holiness  called  him  '  an  old,  doting,  deaf  idiot,  who  dared 
to  disobey  the  commands  of  that  person,  to  whom  his  master,  the  King  of 
England,  was  no  better  than  a  slave.'" 

However,  the  Hierarch  grew  meeker  and  more  Christ-like, 
when  his  Cardinals  suggested  that  "  by  his  vehemence  he  might 
hasten  the  separation  which  must  some  time  take  place."  Soon 
the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  died,  which  caused  joy  at  the  Vatican. 
The  131  letters  of  this  eminent  prelate  from  1210  to  1253  are  full 
of  interest,  referring,  as  they  do,  not  only  to  the  ecclesiastic,  but 
also  the  political  condition  of  England. 

The  third  dawning  of  modern  progress  in  this  century  was 
"MAGNA  CHARTA,"  which,  as  Blackstone  says,  "was  obtained 
sword  in  hand  from  King  John."  Behold  a  free  translation  of 
the  famous  Twenty-ninth  *  Article. 

"  No  freeman  shall  be  taken,  or  imprisoned,  or  dispossessed  of  his  freehold, 
or  liberties,  or  free  customs,  or  banished,  or  in  any  way  injured.  Nor  will  we 
pass  upon  him,  nor  send  upon  him,  except  by  lawful  judgment  of  his  peers,  or 
by  the  law  of  the  land.  To  no  one  will  we  sell,  to  no  one  will  we  deny  or 
delay  right  or  justice." 

Blackstone  says  :  "  This  clause  alone  would  have  merited  the 
title  of  THE  GREAT  CHARTER."  Sir  Edward  Coke  calls  Magna 

*  "Nullus  liber  homo  capiatur  vel  imprisonetur,  aut  disseisiatur  de  libero 
tenemento  suo  vel  libertatibus  vel  liberis  consuetudinibus  suis  ;  aut  exulet,  aut 
aliquo  modo  destruatur.  Nee  super  eum  ibimus  nee  super  eum  mittemus ;  nisi 
per  legale  judicium  parium  suorum,  vel  per  legem  terrae.  Nulli  vendemus^ 
nulli  negabimus  aut  dififeremus  rectum  vel  justitiam." 


236         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Charta  "  the  fundamental  laws  of  England."  For  this  liberal 
code  England  is  indebted  to  Stephen  Langton,  scholar  and  states- 
man ;  he  was  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Educated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  he  there  taught  theology  and  won  so  much 
respect,  that  he  was  elected  Chancellor,  of  the  University.  Pope 
Innocent  III.  made  him  Cardinal  and  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
against  the  wishes  of  King  John.  Langton  induced  his  country- 
men to  DEMAND  Magna  Charta  of  the  King.  After  much  discus- 
sion and  even  threatened  civil  war,  John  signed  it  at  Runnymede, 
June  5th,  1215.  Next  the  Pope  issued  against  the  Barons  an 
excommunication,  which  Langton  refused  to  publish.  Thus  this 
most  liberal  of  prelates  stood  out  against  Pope  and  King,  when 
they  interfered  with  the  rights  or  liberties  of  his  country.  He 
induced  Henry  III.,  son  of  John,  to  confirm  Magna  Charta, 
A.D.  1223.  To  Langton  is  ascribed  the  division  of  the  Bible 
into  chapters. 

I  regretted  that  Magna  Charta  was  not  written  in  English  ;  but 
when  I  considered  the  wording,  clearness,  precision,  force,  and 
intent,  in  which  it  was  conceived  and  expressed,  I  felt  convinced 
it  could  not  have  been  written  in  a  wavering,  doubtful  dialect, 
having  neither  fixed  vocabulary,  orthography,  grammar,  nor 
construction.  After  all,  thought,  ideas,  language,  and  writing 
must  germinate,  grow,  bud,  bloom,  fruit  and  seed  like  other  de- 
velopments. As  English  had  not  even  germinated  in  1215,  it  was 
totally  unfit  to  express  thoughts  and  ideas  so  much  in  advance 
of  England's  population.  Latin  alone,  which  was  the  language 
of  the  thinking,  the  educated,  and  the  learned,  was  the  proper 
medium  to  express,  convey  and  set  forth  that  bulwark  of  rights 
and  liberties  for  generations  yet  to  be  born.  No  nation,  people, 
or  tribe  has  yet  outgrown  the  spirit  of  Article  29.  It  soon  became 
a  classic  monument  and  study  for  scholars  of  all  climes  and  ages, 
which  it  would  not  have  become  had  it  been  written  in  English 
of  1215. 

Roger  Bacon  could  not  have  found  proper  terms  in  transition 
English  of  A.D.  1270,  to  express  the  experimental  ideas  in  his 
writings.  Hardly  any  language  but  that  of  his  illustrious  prede- 
cessor Pliny  could  serve  his  purpose.  Such  is  our  idea  of  lan- 
guage, its  origin  and  progress  :  common  domestic,  didactic  and 
every  day  thoughts,  narration  of  events  and  moralizing  may  be 


Thirteenth  Century.  237 

done  in  the  native  dialect  in  whatever  stage  of  its  pi  ogress; 
whereas  abstract  and  unusual  thoughts  and  ideas  on  science,  art 
and  mechanics  require  a  progressed,  ripened  and  settled  idiom 
to  find  proper  expression. 

English  of  A.D.  1200  differs  more  from  English  of  1400  than 
English  of  1400  differs  from  English  of  1600.  The  language 
from  1600  to  1878  is  adequate  to  express  any  conception  of  which 
the  human  mind  is  capable. 

The  fourth  dawning  of  modern  progress  in  this  century  was  a 
treatise  on  agriculture,  A.D.  1272,  whose  benign  author  is  yet 
unknown  to  an  ever  grateful  posterity.  Even  its  title,  "Fleta" 
has  been  a  mystery  to  this  day ;  for  it  is  neither  Greek,  Gothic, 
Celtic,  Anglo-Saxon,  Danish,  nor  French.  I  can  only  trace  it 
to  the  supine  of  fleo,  flevi,  flere,  fletum,  meaning  to  WEEP,  seem- 
ingly a  fancy  name  given  to  it  by  some  monk  versed  in  Latin, 
who,  wishing  to  express  the  husbandman's  condition  at  that 
period,  did  it  in  this  ingenious  way.  This  book  had  but  two  fore- 
runners :  the  first  a  mere  epitome  by  Cato  the  Censor,  B.C.  200 ; 
the  second  by  Columella,  entitled  "De  Re  Rustica"  in  twelve 
books,  about  A.D.  50.  This  earliest  modern  treatise  on  husbandry 
was  probably  evoked  by  the  famine  of  A.D.  1257,  described  by 
Matthew  Paris.  About  that  time  excellent  regulations  were 
made  by  Henry  III.  to  protect  the  tillers  of  the  soil  against  ba- 
ronial extortions,  and  to  encourage  agriculture,  which  is  a  nation's 
mainstay,  and  should  ever  engage  the  attention,  not  only  of  sci- 
entists and  philanthropists,  but  of  statesmen. 

In  his  "  Complete  English  Farmer"  (i  792),  Dr.  Henry  observes 
that  Fleta  contains  excellent  directions  for  ploughing,  sowing, 
&c.  ;  also  explanations  of  the  duties  requisite  for  stewards, 
bailiffs  of  manors,  and  for  all  others  employed  in  the  cultivation 
of  a  farm.  Thus  was  England  the  pioneer  in  modern  farming. 
Italy  saw  Crescenzi's  *"Opus  Ruralium  Commodorum"  A.D. 
1320;  Spain,  Herrera's  "Libra  de  Agricultural  1520;  Ger- 
many, Heresbach's  "Rei  Rusticae  Libra  Quatuor"  1570,  all 
in  Latin.  Only  in  1600  appeared  "Olivier  de  Serre?  Theatre 
d"1  Agriculture"  in  the  vernacular  ;  but  England  had  seen,  in  plain 
English,  Tusser's  "Five  Hundred  Points  of  Good  Husbandry, 
United  to  as  many  of  Good  Housewifery"  in  verse,  as  early  as 
1573.  Hence,  England  had  two  works  on  agriculture,  whereas 


238         Franco -English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

the  modern  European  countries  had  but  one  prior  to  1573.  No 
wonder  agriculture,  husbandry,  and  farming  have  ever  been  fore- 
most in  England. 

To  overlook  Layamon,  who  translated  Wace's  "Le  Brut 
d' Angleterre"  into  the  language  of  his  day,  which  was  a  mere 
transition  idiom,  would  be  depriving  us  of  a  work  which  Hallam 
says  "  exhibits,  as  it  were,  the  chrysalis  of  the  English  language/' 
This  was,  no  doubt,  the  reason  that  the  British  government  had 
it  published  at  great  expense  from  the  MS.,  1847.  If  we  imagine 
an  obscure  priest  at  Ernly  upon  Severn,  translating  a  French 
lyric  poem  of  15,300  lines  as  early  as  A.D.  1205,  it  seems  like  a 
vision ;  yet  it  was  a  reality;  for  Sir  F.  Madden,  who  translated  it 
into  English,  in  1847,  from  the  Cottonian  MS.  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum, says  : 

"The  poem,  when  complete,  consisted  of  about  26,960  lines,  of  which 
about  2,370  are  wholly  lost,  and  about  1,000  more  are  in  an  injured  state." 

Layamon  tells  us  he  incorporated  into  his  poem  "Le  Brut 
d'1  Angleterre"  Bede's  and  St.  Austin's  works,  and  that  of  some 
others  ;  "  and  to  obtain  these  books  he  traveled  all  over  the  land." 
He  says  in  his  preface  that  Wace  presented  his  poem  to  "  the 
noble  Elanor,  who  was  Henry's  queen,  the  mighty  King."  We 
find  in  Layamon's  poem  the  story  of  King  Lear  and  his  three 
daughters,  from  which  Shakespeare  took  his  play  of  "  King  Lear." 

Our  Extract  and  Table  from  Layamon's  "Brut"  A.D.  1205, 
contains  but  two  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  in  a  translation  of  15,000 
French  lines,  which  evinces  a  remarkable  tenacity  to  the  native 
idiom  at  a  period,  when  all  tended  towards  French  and  Greco- 
Latin. 

In  this  century  the  science  of  the  Shepherd  Kings  and  Magi 
found  votaries  in  Spain  ;  for  the  "Alphonsin  Tables"  were  pub- 
lished under  the  patronage  of  Alphonso  X.,  King  of  Castile  and 
Leon,  A.D.  1252.  About  the  same  time  geographic  knowledge 
was  advanced  by  Marco  Polo,  who  explored  China,  whence  he 
returned,  A.D.  1295,  wrote  his  travels  and  imparted  to  Europe 
valuable  information  about  the  country,  which  he  called  Cathay. 
His  account  was  considered  fabulous ;  but  later  explorations 
have  confirmed  most  of  his  statements.  About  A.D.  1209.  the 
works  of  Aristotle  were  sent  to  Western  Europe  from  the  libra 


Thirteenth  Century.  239 

ries  of  Constantinople.  The  University  of  Paris  condemned  and 
refused  to  admit  them  among  the  classics ;  but  they  soon  became 
the  standard  in  philosophy  and  science  ;  for  (in  this  very  century, 
about  A.D.  1270)  Jacob  Van  Maerland,  styled  the  father  of 
Dutch  poetry,  translated  the  gems  of  Aristotle  into  his  native 
tongue  and  issued  them  to  the  world,  entitled  "  Sentences  from 
Aristotle,"  which  was  a  rebuke  to  the  sages  of  the  Parisian  Uni- 
versity. Notwithstanding  the  vague  claims  of  anteriority  con- 
cerning "De  Trojaensche  Oorlog"  (The  Siege  of  Troy),  "Reis 
van  Sinte  Brandaen"  (Journey  of  St.  Brandaen),  and  "Reinaert 
de  Fbs"  (Renard  the  Fox),  we  consider  Maerland  the.  pioneer 
thinker  and  writer  of  the  Netherlands.  He  was  to  the  Dutch, 
A.D.  1270,  what  Caedmon  was  to  the  Anglo-Saxons,  A.D.  670: 
like  Caedmon,  he  paraphrased  and  rhymed  the  Bible  ("Rijm- 
bijbel").  He  also  translated  the  "Speculum  Historiale"  of  Vin- 
cent de  Beauvais  into  his  native  tongue  ("Spiegel  HistorieV^ 
and  wrote  "Wapen  Martyn"  and  "Diere  Gaerden"  a  treatise  on 
horticulture.  He  was  not  only  versed  in  poetry,  but  in  natural 
history  and  jurisprudence.  He  gave  to  his  country  vernacular 
writing  and  literature  before  Dante  bestowed  the  same  boon  on 
Italy.  Let  us  see  how  delicately  this  early  Dutch  bard  addressed 
his  readers ;  any  Englishman  can  easily  understand  this  kindred 
tongue  : 

"  For  I  am  Flemysh,  I  yow  beseche, 
Of  youre  curtesye,  al  and  eche, 
That  shal  thys  Boche  chaunce  peruse, 
Unto  me  nat  youre  grace  refuse ; 
And  yf  ye  fynden  any  worde 
In  youre  countrey  that  ye  unherde, 
Thynketh  that  clerkys  for  her  ryme 
Taken  a  faultie  worde  somtyme." 

Maerland  was  born  1235  and  died  1300.     His  epitaph  reads 
thus: 

"  Trans  hominem  gnarus  astu  rhetorque  disertus ; 
Quern  laus  dictandi  jurisque  proverbia  fandi 
Transalpinavit,  famaque  perenne  beavit." 

About  this  period  Kazwyny,  styled  the  oriental  Pliny,  wrote 
"Wonders  of  Nature  and  Singularity  of  Created   Things,"  of 


240        Franco-  English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

which  parts  have  been  translated  by  Idler  and  Chezy.  It  is  said 
the  plan  of  the  work  was  so  well  executed  as  to  surpass  all  pre- 
ceding natural  histories.  The  learned  Rabbi  Judah  Aben  of 
Granada,  better  known  as  Tibbon,  translated  so  many  Arabian 
books  into  Hebrew,  that  he  was  called  "  The  Prince  of  Transla- 
tors" His  versions  brought  oriental  gems  within  reach  of  Euro- 
pean scholars.  Thus  did  Semitic  thought,  language,  literature 
and  science  florish,  while  the  Gotho-Germanic  dialects  were 
striving  to  rise.  Now  things  are  reversed  ;  for  Gotho-Germanic 
thought,  language,  literature  and  science  pervade  and  surpass  all. 

The  pious  king,  St.  Louis,  who  died  in  the  last  crusade,  so- 
licitous about  western  civilization,  sent  Rubruquis  and  two  other 
monks  to  Asia  to  convert  the  Tartars  and  induce  them  to  cease 
their  westward  encroachments.  The  zealous  missionary  passed 
two  years  among  the  Tartars,  who  treated  him  hospitably,  then 
returned  A.D.  1255,  and  wrote  an  account,  in  which  he  furnishes 
the  accurate  locality,  shape  and  dimensions  of  the  Caspian  Sea, 
so  misrepresented  by  Herodotus,  Strabo,  and  even  Ptolemy.  Also 
Pope  Innocent  IV.  sent  Father  Carpini  to  Mongolia,  whose  Khan 
received  him  kindly,  allowed  him  to  visit  his  dominions,  and  gave 
him  a  letter  to  his  Holiness.  A  translation  of  his  travels  is  con- 
tained in  Hakluyt's  "  Collection  of  Voyages."  Through  those 
Medieval  missions  the  European  dialects  and  literatures  obtained 
more  reliable  information  concerning  the  tribes  and  countries  of 
Middle  Asia. 

Let  us  not  omit  to  state  here  that  the  Mongolians  or  Tartars 
conquered  China  and  its  capital,  Pekin,  under  Jengis  Khan,  about 
A.D.  1215,  and  established  a  Mongolian  dynasty  which  has  since 
ruled  over  China.  Hence,  the  great  Chinese  wall  proved  as 
futile  against  the  Mongolians  as  the  Roman  wall  in  Britain  proved 
against  the  Picts  and  Scots.  History  intimates  that  the  Mongo- 
lians issued  from  the  Scythians  or  Scoloti,*  and  that  the  Celtic 
and  Gotho-Germanic  races  sprang  from  the  same  Asiatic  stock. 

This  century  saw  fewer  Latin  writers  than  the  twelfth,  because 
the  vernacular  began  to  attract  students  and  authors.  The 
Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  so  reduced  from  1066  to 


*  Herodotus,   B.  IV.,  6  and  7.     SKU^OJ,  2/coAorot,  KeArot;  Scytha,  Celtce, 
Scoti,  Getae,  Got  hi  ;  Scythians,  Celts,  Scots,  Jutes,  Goths. 


Thirteenth   Century.  241 

1200.  began  to  florish,  since  they  were  favored  by  royal  privi- 
leges and  richly  endowed  by  private  individuals.  An  institution 
calculated  to  encourage  literature  and  develop  England's  lan- 
guage, may  be  traced  to  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  whose  treasurer's 
record  of  1251  shows  a  yearly  salary  of  one  hundred  shillings  to 
Master  Henry.  The  individual  thus  mentioned  was  the  king's 
poet,  Henry  d'Avranches,  a  native  of  France,  who  seems  to  have 
been  the  pioneer  "Poet  Laureate"  I  need  but  name  his  succes- 
sors :  Chaucer,  1380;  Skelton,  1529;  Spenser,  1596;  Dryden, 
1668;  Warton,  1790;  Southey,  1813;  Wordsworth,  1850,  and 
Tennyson,  1878,  to  show  what  the  humble  office,  created  by 
Henry  III.  about  1240,  has  done  for  England's  language  and 
literature.  They  form  a  galaxy  of  poets  and  scholars,  of  whom 
not  only  England,  but  humanity  may  feel  proud. 

The  last  writing  in  Anglo-Saxon  was  a  writ  of  Henry  III. 
(1258)  to  his  subjects  in  all  parts  of  his  kingdom,  in  support  of 
"The  Oxford  Provisions."  In  the  same  year  he  ordered  all  the 
enactments  of  Parliament  to  be  issued,  not  only  in  Latin  and 
French,  but  also  in  the  vernacular,  which  tended  greatly  to  ad- 
vance the  English  language. 

During  the  long  reign  of  Henry  III.  (A.D.  1216-1273)  some 
important  socio-legal  measures  were  introduced  :  the  disuse  of 
trial  by  ordeal  began  ;  a  salutary  law  was  enacted,  "  that  no  cattle 
necessary  for  the  cultivation  of  land  shall  be  distrained  for  king's 
dues,  or  any  other  kind  of  debt ;  and  a  statute  was  passed  to  fine 
lawyers  for  indulging  in  long  pleadings  and  speeches.  Such  a 
law,  and  the  strict  enforcement  thereof,  would  not  be  out  of  place 
in  the  United  States. 

Scotland,  among  her  many  distinguished  men,  had  one  whose 
fame  and  writings  spread  at  an  early  date  all  over  Europe  ;  it 
was  Sir  Michael  Scott,  of  Balwirie.  His  being  knighted  by  the 
king,  his  extensive  travels,  and  the  honors  showered  upon  him 
by  sovereignty,  especially  by  Frederick  II.,  Emperor  of  Germany, 
who  was  himself  an  accomplished  scholar,  all  would  long  since 
have  been  forgotten,  had  not  the  titles  of  his  books  been  con- 
nected with  his  name  :  they  were  "Mensa  Philosophic*  "  (Philoso- 
pher's Banquet);  "Questio  Curiosa  de  Natura  Soils  et  Luna" 
(Curious  Question  about  the  Nature  of  the  Sun  and  Moon)  ; 
"Physiognomia"  and  "History  of  Animals"  all  attributed  to  him 
16 


242         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

by  both  English  and  French  biographers.  Such  works  were 
calculated  to  attract  attention,  especially  as  they  were  written  in 
Latin,  then  the  language  of  scholars  of  all  climes.  No  wonder 
Sir  Michael,  like  his  other  learned  cotemporaries,  was  considered 
a  magician  in  league  with  Satan,  to  whom  all  progress  in  science, 
art,  and  mechanics  was  ascribed  in  that  age  of  superstition.  He 
died  1290.  His  books  and  fame  must  have  reached  Dante  as 
early  as  1300,  for  he  alludes  to  the  legends  concerning  him  in 
his  "Inferno"  written  about  that  epoch.  Had  Sir  Michael's 
works  been  penned  in  his  native  dialect,  they  never  would  have 
reached  Dante.  Sir  Walter  Scott  alludes  to  the  superstitions 
regarding  him  in  his  "Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel ;"  and  Lavater 
found  a  precedent  for  his  "Physiognomy"  in  one  of  Sir  Michael's 
works. 

In  this  century  Duns  Scotus  and  Thomas  Aquinas  commenced 
their  empty  discussions  about  scholastic  trifles,  which  their  dis- 
ciples, styled  Scottists  and  Thomists,  continued  for  several  centu- 
ries. As  such  wrangling  tends  to  benefit  language,  it  may  be 
tolerated.  Duns  Scotus,  called  the  Subtle  Doctor,  enchanted 
the  Oxford  students  by  his  subtleties. 

Matthew  Paris  wrote  a  chronicle  sty^d  "Historia  Major  An- 
gliae"  and  "Historia  Minor  Angliae"  He  is  considered  a  his- 
torian of  great  veracity.  The  clergy  became  hostile  to  him, 
probably  because  he  told  the  unvarnished  truth ;  but,  as  he  was  a 
favorite  of  Henry  III.,  their  hostility  was  powerless.  His  Latin 
is  not  so  brilliant  as  Malmesbury's,  but  it  is  clear,  distinct,  and 
fluent.  He  died  1259.  This  candid  historian  mentions  schools 
and  academies,  founded  by  the  Jews  in  various  cities  of  England, 
where  the  most  erudite  rabbis  taught  the  oriental  languages, 
mathematics,  and  medicine.  These  institutions  were  open  to 
Christian  as  well  as  Jewish  children.  It  is  conceded  that  through- 
out the  Dark  Ages  the  progeny  of  Abraham  devoted  themselves 
to  science  and  literature.  Yet,  in  spite  of  their  learning,  indus- 
try, and  good  citizenship,  they  were  persecuted  in  most  Christian 
countries. 

Alfred,  surnamed  "Anglicus  and  Philosopher,"  wrote  many 
scientific  essays,  among  which  one  entitled  "De  Motu  Cordis  " 
(On  the  Motion  of  the  Heart)  attracted  attention.  He  also  wrote 
valuable  commentaries  on  Aristotle.  Such  works  as  Alfred's, 


Thirteenth  Century.  243 

Roger  Bacon's,  and  Grosse-teste's,  were  calculated  to  become  in- 
ternational. He  died  1270. 

Botany  had  a  worthy  votary  at  this  early  period  in  Nicholas 
Ferneham,  physician  to  Henry  III.,  who  made  him  Bishop  of 
Durham,  which  he  accepted  with  reluctance,  and  soon  resigned 
to  devote  himself  to  botany,  which  he  studied  with  great  zeal. 
Thus  the  science  of  Theophrastus,  Dioscorides,  and  Pliny,  found 
a  champion  in  Northwestern  Europe,  and  botanic  terms  began 
to  find  their  way  into  the  English  vocabulary.  This  pioneer 
Medieval  scientist  died  1241,  after  having  written  several  es- 
says on  medicine.  Matthew  Paris  eulogizes  him  as  an  eminent 
physician. 

Towards  the  close  of  this  age  Adam  Davie  wrote  extensively 
in  the  vernacular ;  but  only  one  manuscript,  that  treats  of  the 
Crusades,  remains.  The  vocabulary  and  style  of  this  writing 
indicate  Anglo-Saxon  and  Franco-Norman  fusion.  Then  ap- 
peared Langtoft's  "  Chronicle  of  England  "  in  French  verse,  as  a 
continuation  of  that  of  Robert  Wace.  Robert  Manning  trans- 
lated this  poem  into  the  vernacular.  Thomas  Hearne  edited 
this  translation  from  MSS.  and  issued  it  about  A.D.  1724.  This 
poem  also  shows  a  decided  fusion  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  Franco- 
Norman,  that  had  now  fairly  set  in,  near  the  close  of  the  thirteenth 
century. 

About  the  beginning  of  this  century  commenced  that  dark  and 
diabolic  tribunal,  the  Inquisition,  which  secretly  made  away  with, 
tortured  and  murdered  so  many  liberal  men,  progressive,  not  only 
in  religion,  but  in  language,  literature,  art,  and  science.  The 
Inquisition  originated  with  Pope  Innocent  III.,  1207.  He  gave 
orders  to  Father  Dominic  to  incite  the  Catholic  princes  to  ex- 
terminate heretics.  Dominic  and  his  tools,  the  Dominicans, 
executed  the  Pope's  bidding :  the  archives  of  Spain  show  that 
within  three  centuries  there  were  291,450  persons  imprisoned, 
scourged,  and  tortured  ;  24,380  burned  alive  ;  a  total  of  343,522 
in  Spain  alone.  We  are  left  to  conjecture  what  must  have  been 
the  number  all  over  Europe,  where  no  country  was  exempt  from 
that  visitation. 

The  Albigenses,  an  inoffensive  religious  sect,  furnished  the 
pretext  for  this  horrible  institution ;  they  were  exterminated  in 
the  most  cruel  manner,  though  thousands  in  number.  The 


244         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

erudite  Dutch  writer,  van  Limborch,  in  his  "  History  of  the  In- 
quisition," relates  this  anecdote  of  Father  Dominic  :  During  the 
slaughter  of  the  Albigenses  by  King  Philip's  mercenaries,  entering 
the  town  of  Bitterre,  the  soldiers  exclaimed  :  "  Alas  !  here  are  many 
Catholics ;  how  shall  we  distinguish  them  from  the  heretics  ? " 
"  Slay  them  all  (said  the  zealous  Dominic) ;  spare  none ;  God 
can  distinguish  his  own."  The  Inquisition  interdicted,  persecuted, 
imprisoned,  tortured,  or  burned  such  men  as  Roger  Bacon,  Huss, 
Copernicus,  Galileo,  Torregiano,  and  the  like.  In  1234  Pope 
Gregory  IX.  had  the  effrontery  to  insult  humanity  by  sainting 
Father  Dominic  ! ! !  It  took  Napoleon  the  Great  to  abolish  the 
Inquisition.  I  know  there  have  been  advocates,  defenders^  dis- 
guisers  and  extenuators  of  this  horror,  and  among  them  I  am 
sorry  to  find  a  man  as  eminent  and  able  as  Count  J.  M.  de 
Maistre ;  his  "Soirees  de  St.  Petersbourg"  charmed  many  read- 
ers ;  but  any  one,  who  wishes  to  understand  the  nature  of  that 
dismal  institution,  has  but  to  read  "Critical  History  of  the  Span- 
ish Inquisition"  by  Llorente,  a  Spanish  priest,  who,  after  having 
been  its  secretary  from  1789  to  1808,  became  so  disgusted  with 
its  atrocities,  that  he  powerfully  aided  Napoleon  in  its  suppression, 
1808.  On  the  expulsion  of  the  French  from  Spain,  1814,  this 
liberal  priest  retired  to  Paris,  where  he  quietly  wrote  and  pub- 
lished his  excellent  history,  1817.  , 

Our  first  Extract  and  Table  of  this  century  consists  of  the 
Lord's  Prayer  and  Creed,  1250,  and  contains  ninety-four  per 
cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  five  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  and  one  per 
cent.  Semitic.  Our  second  Extract  and  Table  is  from  Robert  of 
Gloucester's  "History  of  England,"  which  gives  seventy-one  per 
cent  Gotho-Germanic,  twenty-seven  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  and 
two  per  cent.  Celtic  ;  a  most  felicitous  fusion,  calculated  to  rally 
Anglo-Saxons,  Franco-Normans  and  Celts,  all  being  represented 
in  the  improved  idiom.  All  we  know  of  Robert  of  Gloucester  is 
his  Christian  name,  and  that  he  was  a  monk  at  Gloucester  Abbey. 
He  wrote  a  chronicle  in  verse  of  10,000  lines,  which  was  exten- 
sively read  and  highly  valued.  He  certainly  evinced  linguistic 
talent  and  true  patriotism  in  combining  a  language  to  suit  the 
Anglo-Saxons,  Franco-Normans,  and  Celts. 

Hear  what  he  says  of  the  linguistic  tendency  and  fashion  of 
his  day : 


Thirteenth  Century.  245 

"  Vor  bote  a  man  couthe  French,  me  tolth  of  hym  wel  lute ;  Ac  lowe  men 

holdeth  to  Englyss." 

"For  but  a  man  could  (speak)  French,  we  spoke  of  him  highly;  only  low 
men  hold  to  English." 

Thomas  Hearne  edited  Gloucester's  History  from  MS.  and 
issued  it  1724.  Of  this  English  pioneer  historian  and  poet  he 
observes :  "  Robert  of  Gloucester  is  certainly  a  great  curiosity, 
and  I  do  not  doubt  but  he  will  be  esteemed  as  such ;"  which  was 
a  prophecy ;  for  our  numeric  investigation  shows  Robert  of 
Gloucester  as  a  great  benefactor  to  his  country,  and  his  books 
the  real  dawn  of  the  English  language. 

A  small  streamlet  of  medical  terms  began  to  find  their  way 
into  the  English  language  about  1280,  through  Gilbert,  surnamed 
"AnglicusJ*  who  was  the  first  in  English  to  write  a  medical  work, 
entitled  "Laurea  Auglicana  sive  Compendium  Medicines."  He 
had  traveled  extensively  and  acquired  much  chemic  and  pharma- 
ceutic  knowledge,  as  shown  in  his  Compendium,  which  found  its 
way  to  the  Continent  and  was  printed  in  Venice  as  early  as  1510. 
Thus  Esculapius  and  his  lovely  daughter,  Hygeia,  were  placed 
among  the  English  household  gods  by  Gilbert,  who  may  be  styled 
the  English  Hippocrates. 

Extracts  and  Tables  from  Franco-English  authors  and  writings 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  showing  their  style  and  the  numeric 
origin  of  their  vocabulary.  They  are  from  : 

Layamon's  "Brut,"  A.D.  1205; 

Prayers,  about  A. D.  1250;  and 

Robert  of  Gloucester's  Chronicle,  A.D.  1280. 


246        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Extract  from  Layamorfs  "Brut"  III.  Vol.,  edited  by  Sir  F.  Madden,  front  the  Cot- 
tonian  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  1847,  L.  JS.,  Vol.  /.,  p.  84.  Layamon,  a  priest 
of  Ernly  upon  Severn,  translated  Robert  Wace's  "Le  Brut  d'Angteterre"  from 
French  into  Franco- English. 


ANGLO-SAXON  I 

'  Brutaine  hefde  Brutus  : 
and  Cornwaile  Corineus. 
Brutus  nom  alle  his  freond  : 
the  comen  in  his  ferde. 
neh  him  he  heom  laende  : 
for  heo  him  leofe  weoren. 
Corineus  him  cleopede  to  : 
alle  his  icorene 
alle  he  heom  laende  : 
ther  heom  wes  alre  leofest 
Weox  thet  folk  and  wel  ithaih 
for  aelc  hefde  his  iwillen. 
inne  hit  geren  firste  : 
wes  the  folc  swa  muchel. 
that  ther  nas  nan  ende  : 
of  folke  swithe  hende. 
Brut  hine  bi-thohte  : 
and  this  folc  bi-heold. 
bi-heold  he  tha  muntes  : 
feire  and  muchele. 
bi-heold  he  tha  medewan  ; 
the  weoren  swithe  maere. 
bi-heold  he  tha  wateres  : 
and  tha  walde  deor. 
bi-heold  he  tha  fisches  : 
bi-heold  he  tha  fugeles. 
bi-heold  he  tha  leswa  : 
and  thene  leofliche  wode. 
bi-heold  he  thene  wode  hu  he  bleou ! 
bi-heold  he  the  corn  hu  it  greu  : 
al  he  iseih  on  loode  : 
that  him  leof  was  on  heorten. 
Tha  bi-thohte  he  on  Troygen  : 
ther  his  cun  teone  tholeden. 
and  he  lidthe  geond  this  lond  : 
and  scaewede  thea  leoden. 
He  funde  wunsu  ane  stude  : 
vppen  ane  watere. 
thaer  he  gon  araeren  : 
rich  ane  burhe 
mid  bouren  and  mid  hallen  : 
mid  haege  stan  walle 
Tha  the  burh  wes  i-maked  : 
tha  wes  he  swithe  mare. 
Tha  burh  wes  swithe  wel  idon  : 
and  he  hire  sette  name  on. 
he  gef  hire  to  hire  t  fulne  name  : 
Troye  the  Newe. 
to  munien  his  ikunde  : 
Whone  he  icomen  weore. 
soththen  tha  leodene  : 
longe  ther  after 
ieide  adun  thene  noma  : 
and  Trinouant  heo  nemneden. 
B  inn  en  feola  witre  : 


ENGLISH,   A.D.  I2OS  : 

Brutus  had  Britain, 

and  Corineus  had  Cornwall. 

Brutus  took  all  his  friends, 

who  came  in  his  army  ; 

nigh  him  he  stationed  them, 

for  they  were  dear  to  him. 

Corineus  called  to  him 

all  his  chosen  ; 

he  placed  them  all 

where  to  them  it  was  most  desirable. 

The  people  increased  and  throve  well, 

for  each  had  his  will. 

in  few  years  only 

the  folk  was  so  increased, 

that  there  was  no  end 

of  people  most  good. 

Brutus  bethought  him, 

and  folk  beheld  ; 

he  beheld  the  mountains  ; 

fair  and  lofty. 

he  beheld  the  meadows, 

that  were  most  spacious  ; 

he  beheld  the  waters, 

and  the  wild  deer  ; 

he  beheld  the  fishes  ; 

he  beheld  the  fowls  ; 

he  beheld  leasowes, 

and  the  lovely  wood. 

he  beheld  the  wood,  how  it  blowed  ; 

he  beheld  the  corn,  how  it  grew  ; 

all  he  viewed  in  the  country, 

that  was  dear  to  him  in  heart 

Then  bethought  he  on  Troy, 

where  his  kindred  suffered  evil, 

and  he  journeyed  over  this  land. 

and  viewed  the  country. 

He  found  a  winsome  spot, 

upon  a  water ; 

there  he  began  to  rear 

a  rich  burgh, 

with  bowers  and  with  halls, 

with  high  stone  walls. 

When  the  burgh  was  made, 

then  was  it  most  spacious. 

The  burgh  was  very  well  made, 

and  he  set  a  name  to  it. 

he  gave  it  for  its  glorious  name, 

Troy  the  New. 

to  commemorate  his  lineage, 

whence  he  was  come. 

subsequently  the  people, 

long  thereafter, 

laid  down  the  name, 

and  Trinovant  *  they  named. 

Within  many  winters. 


hit  iwerth.' 

233  common  words,  among  which 
The  occi 

:\ 

of  " 

to  " 

from 
in 

with  ' 

by 

Hence,  Layamon's  style  requires  233  common  words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and 
averages  about  fifty-seven  per  cent,  repetitions  and  forty-eight  per  cent,  particles. 

*  Subsequently  called  Lundene,  after  a  descendant  of  Brutus  ;  now  London. 


21  tin 
3 

i 
3 
o 

2 

3 
o 

ics. 

i 

Pron.  istpers.  oca 
"    2d     " 
«    3d     « 
be,  aux. 

irs  o  tin 

0 

37 
3 

es. 

do,  aux.    occurs     o  times, 
that               "          3      " 
and                "        ii      « 

87 
other  particles,   26 

113  particl 

shall,     " 
will,       " 
may,      " 

0 

o 

'      0 

Thirteenth  Century. 


i! 


"£M|8     j 


§  §.. 

i  •_•<?! 


oo 


nic 

. 
ing 
ing. 


s, 
m 


• 


248          Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract:  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Creed,  and  part  of  the  Eighth 
Psalm,  about  A.D.  1250. 

"  Fadir  ur  that  es  in  hevene, 
Halud  be  thi  nam  .to  nevene  : 
Thou  do  us  thi  rich  rike  : 
Thi  will  on  erd  be  wrought  elk, 
Als  it  es  wrought  in  heven  ay  : 
Ur  ilk  day  brede  give  us  to  day : 
Forgive  thou  all  us  dettes  urs 
Als  we  forgive  till  ur  detturs : 
And  ledde  us  na  in  na  fanding 
.But  sculd  us  fra  ivel  thing." 

"Hi  true  in  God,  fader  hal-michttende,  that  makede  heven  and  herdethe, 
and  in  Jhesu  Krist,  is  anelepi  sone,  hure  laverd,  that  was  bigotin  of  the  hali 
gast,  and  born  of  the  mainden  Marie,  pinid  under  Punce  Pilate,  festened  to 
the  rode,  ded  and  dulvun,  licht  in  til  helle,  the  thride  dai  up  ras  fra  dede  to 
live,  stegh  in  til  hevenne,  sitis  on  is  fadir  richt  hand,  fadir  alwaldand,  he  then 
sal  cume  to  cleme  the  quike  and  the  dede.  Hy  troue  hy  theli  gast,  and  heli 
kirke,  the  samninge  of  halghes,  forgifnes  of  sinnes,  uprisigen  of  fleyes,  and 
life  with-hutin  hend.  Amen." 

"  Laverd,  oure  Laverd,  hou  selkouth  is 
Name  thine  in  alle  land  this. 
For  upe-hoven  es  thi  mykelhede 
Over  hevens  that  ere  brade ; 
Of  mouth  of  childer  and  soukand 
Made  thou  lof,"  &c. 

198  common  words,  among  which 


The  occurs    7  times. 

a  «  o  " 

of  "  6  " 

to  "  4  " 

from  "  2  " 

in  "  7  " 

with  "  i  " 

by  "  o  " 

pro.    of  ist  person     "  16  " 

**  2d       "          "  8  " 

"  3d       "          "  2  " 

be,  aux.  "  4  " 


have,  aux.      occurs          o  times, 

shall,    "             "               i  " 

will,     "             "               o  " 

may,     "             "               o  u 

do,        "             "               o  " 

that                     "              4  " 

and                     "               9  " 

71 
other  particles,  21 

92  particles. 


Hence,  the  devotional  style  of  the  thirteenth  century  required  about  198 
common  words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averaged  about  forty-six 
per  cent,  particles  and  forty-nine  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Thirteenth  Century. 


249 


I 

hi 

.a 

ARIO-SEM] 
TIC  TYPE  ; 

SEMITIC  FAMIL 

Hebrew  : 

8*                                          «H«MM    H    I     g              -|| 

<                       M    ^.d 
s       ^           ill 

S  ..    "J5  H  L"           oow 

f  S 

*                    «  •gd'ail  JJ           4,  „ 

illlli 

1 

H  k 

&-  • 

^    M 

1                <O   Q   M 

"•vt 

li 

1 

s  > 

'-0 

H  •*• 

• 

V  •-> 

fi 

i 

elllLjj   a        'i      ^  . 

1 

"•SS-g|~::1                    ^              • 

| 

O) 

1> 

•8 

w 

.. 

V^ 

o 

> 

HpSfi/S^CscSbtf         3*^         ts"^          >    ^    u, 

<tj 

j 

O   rt   C   E  •  —   1>  '  Q  "^n-^    S'7^,C   ^   ^   o   C    o_?"ij    > 

.    •§ 

D 

0 
2 

§ 

H 

O-GERMANIC  FAM 

1 

i 

J_J5'jlll2_jL 

tr  manic  Words 

i  93 
5,  leaving  69  ivor> 

meaning. 

VM                                                       "rt 

Z 

e 

I 

V 

^3          4) 

B 

0 

s 

«>     ^^   l-i"  -frs'fl^ 

<5        "3 
^         1 

0 

X 

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^          % 

H 

s 

-   ,a          -     |_J^ 

* 

0 

.is      «          e*0-  6      "     x  c"     •o'Sj^      >»•§ 

of  whicl 

FAMILY  : 

(-LATIN 

1 

'<,'      S 

I 

§ 

1|1  " 

H 

PI'LASGIC 

1 

s) 

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M 

i 

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MM 

250          Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  Robert  of  Gloucester's  "Chronicle"  (Vol.  IL,  p. 
550),  a  History  of  England,  in  Franco-English  verse,  begin- 
ning with  fabulous  times  and  ending  at  the  death  of  Henry 
HL,A.D.  1272: 

"  The  erl  of  Gloucetre  it  bispek,  so  that  there  was 
A  parlement  at  Londone,  to  amendi  suich  trespas. 
So  that  this  tueie  erles  acorded  were  there, 
That  iremewed  al  clene  the  Frensse  men  were. 
At  Seint  Hillari-tid  this  parlement  was. 
Ther  was  the  erl  of  Ferers  ibrouzt  in  hard  cas. 
Vor  he  hadde  after  the  pais  robberie  iwrozt. 
The  king  wolde  in  ech  manere  that  he  were  to  dethe  ibrozt. 
Sir  Simon  de  Mountford  wisliche  dude  inou. 
Vor  he  wolde  in  either  half  rizt  do,  and  no  wou. 
In  the  tour  of  Londone  in  prisoun  he  let  him  bringe, 
For  to  saui  is  lif,  and  to  paye  the  kinge. 
Tho  was  the  erl  of  Gloucetre  anuicl  uor  mani  dede, 
That  he  huld  so  prisons,  al  withoute  is  rede. 
Vor  suich  man  as  he  was,  me  tolde  of  him  to  lute, 
And  him  thouzte,  that  ther  was  mid  Sir  Simon  to  gret  prute. 
And  me  sede  he  was  adrad,  that  me  him  nome  also 
With  treson,  vor  he  was  hext,  and  in  prison  him  lete  do. 
Sir  Jon  Giffard  tho  verst  aze  Sir  Simond  turnde.  ' 
Vor  he  askede  prisouns,  that  me  mid  rizte  wurnde. 
Vor  he  was  him  sulf  at  Lewes  sone  inome  bi  cas. 
Ac  Sir  Willam  Matrauers,  a  knizt  that  mid  him  was, 
In  the  bataile  suththe  inome  Sir  Ranaud  le  fiz  Peris, 
And  Sir  Alein  de  la  Souche,  that  Barons  were  iwis. 
Ac  he  let  horn  suththe  go,  and  Sir  Reinaud  was  ther 
In  the  bataile  suththe  inome,  iarmed  as  he  was  er. 
Sir  Alein  was  ek  inome  in  rnonkene  wede 
In  the  priorie  suththe,  arst  he  was  in  drede. 
And  vor  Sir  Willam  Mantrauers  horn  let  so  quit  gon, 
Sir  Simond  nolde  nouzt  deliueri  horn  Sir  Jon. 
To  the  forest,"  &c. 


267  common  words,  among  which 


The 

a 

of 

to 

from 

in 

with  or  mid 

by 

pronoun  of  ist  person 

2d 


be,  aux. 


3d 


occurs   10  times. 

have,  aux. 

2 

shall,     u 

4 

will, 

7 

may,     " 

o 

do,        " 

IO 

that 

4 

and 

i 

son 

*        4 

i 

'          0 

otl 

«      »      23      « 

«      I0      «< 

occurs 


I  times, 
o 

i 
o 
o 
9 
7 


other  particles, 


141  particles. 


Hence,  Robert  of  Gloucester's  style  requires  267  common  words  to  furnish 
loo  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-three  per  cent,  particles  and 
sixty-three  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Thirteenth  Century. 


251 


m-4-IOIOHMH 


•S  *-  a 

•C    N      « 


252         Franco- English  Period^  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from  the  three  Tables  of  the  Thir- 
teenth Century : 


Greek  : 

2) 

" 

Latin  : 
French  : 

6  v  Greco-Latin  : 

35 

Anglo-Saxon  : 
German  : 
Irish  : 

95  (.  Gotho-Germanic  : 
°  ) 
i 

103 

Welsh  : 
Scotch  : 

i 
i 

K  Celtic  :  * 

3 

Hebrew  : 

i 

Semitic  : 

i 

Total    of    different 
words  :  142. 


Hence,  the  style  of  the  Franco-English  in  the 
thirteenth  century  shows  a  vocabulary  of  different 
words,  containing  about 

74  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon  ; 
24       "          Greco-Latin,    including    19   per   cent. 

French ; 
I        "  Celtic,  and  traces  of  Semitic. 

Forty-five  of  the  95  different  Anglo-Saxon  words, 
or  forty-eight  per  cent.,  are  now  obsolete. 

Three  of  the  27  different  French  words,  or  eleven 
per  cent.,  are  now  obsolete. 

Fifty-seven  of  the  95  different  Anglo-Saxon 
words,  or  sixty- one  per  cent,  are  now  spelt  as  they 
were  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

Seven  of  the  different  French  words,  or  twenty- 
six  per  cent,  are  now  spelt  as  they  were  in  the  thir- 
teenth century. 


*  First  Celtic  words  we  found  in  the  Franco-English  dialect. 


Thirteenth '  Century.  253 

In  a  provincial  Creed  of  this  century  we  find  the 
harmonious  Anglo-Saxon  words  iir,  riht,  thurh 
(through),  dun,  tit,  changed  into  these  disharmo- 
nious provincialisms :  cure,  right,  thurght,  doun 
(down),  out.  Hence  then  and  there  arose  the  dis- 
harmony between  letter  and  sound,  which  now 
haunts  the  English  language.  Why  a  practical 
race,  like  the  English  and  Americans,  allow  their 
superior  idiom  to  remain  disfigured  by  provincial- 
isms of  the  Dark  Ages,  seems  unaccountable,  espe- 
cially when  we  consider  that  unpronounced  letters 
could  be  dropped  without  being  missed,  and  that 
remaining  letters  could  be  harmonized  or  replaced 
with  very  slight  change  in  the  present  spelling,  o 
was  added  to  Anglo-Saxon  words  like  hus  (house), 
grund  (ground),  mus  (mouse),  wund  (wound),  &c., 
in  which  u  was  pronounced  by  the  Anglo-Saxons 
like  u  in  blue,  as  u  is  now  in  German.  The  o  was 
evidently  added  by  the  Franco -Normans,  whose 
dialect  required  ou  to  represent  the  long  Gotho- 
Germanic  sound  of  #  as  in  blue.  As  there  are  now 
among  the  ninety  English-speaking  millions  neither 
Anglo-Saxons  nor  Franco-Normans,  why  not  rec- 
tify Medieval  anomalies  and  make  the  English  lan- 
guage harmonious,  concise,  and  telegraphic? 

In  this  century,  England's  language  extended  to  Wales  under 
Edward  I.  and  Llewellyn,  A.D.  1283  ;  yet  to  this  day  some  of 
the  Welsh  or  Cytnri  speak  the  Cymric  dialect  of  their  Celtic 
ancestors. 

In  spite  of  the  efforts  made  by  Cymric  or  Welsh  patriots  to 
preserve  this  Celtic  tongue,  the  statistics  of  1871  show,  in  a  pop- 
ulation of  1,217,135,  only  77,000  (or  six  per  cent.)  persons  who 
could  not  speak  English.  Thus  has  England's  language  gradu- 


254        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

ally  replaced  Cymric  or  Welsh  within  about  six  hundred  years. 
The  77,000  (six  per  cent.)  non- English-speaking  population  will 
soon  disappear  before  the  inventions  and  improvements,  that 
speed  travel  and  necessitate  rapid  intercourse.  As  we  read  in 
the  "  Saxon  Chronicle "  that  King  Egbert  conquered  North 
Wales,  A.D.  828,  it  might  be  said  England's  language  extended 
to  Wales  in  the  ninth  century ;  but  so  many  vicissitudes  inter- 
vened between  A.D.  828  and  1283,  that  it  can  only  be  claimed 
that  English  became  permanent  among  the  Welsh,  A.D.  1283. 
Thus  have  the  Franco-English  assailed  the  mountain  homes  of 
the  descendants  of  Homer's  Kt/x/>te/)iot  (Cimmerii,  Cimbri),  and 
replaced  the  Cymric  dialect  by  English  in  about  six  hundred 
years. 


FOURTEENTH    CENTURY. 


"Children  in  scole,  agenst  the  usage  and  manir  of  all  other  nacyons,  beeth  compelled  for  to 
leve  hire  owne  langage,  and  for  to  construe  hir  lessons  and  hir  thynges  in  Frenche,  and  so 
they  haveth  sethe  Normans  came  first  into  Engelond.  Also  Gentilmen  children  beeth  taught 
to  speke  Frensche  from  the  tyme  that  they  bith  rokked  in  here  cradell,  and  kunneth  speke  and 
play  with  a  childes  broche  :  and  uplondische  men  will  likne  himself  to  gentylmen,  and  fondeth 
with  greet  besynesse  for  to  speke  Frensche  to  be  told  of." — HIGDEN'S  "Polychromcon." 

Translated  into  English  by  John  de  Trevisa. 

SUCH  was  England's  linguistic  status  in  Ralph  Higden's  day. 

Although  this  century  saw  learned  men  waste  their  intellect  in 
scholastic  trifles,  it  also  witnessed  considerable  progress  in  lan- 
guage, literature,  science,  art,  mechanics,  and  manufactures.  If 
there  be  truth  in  the  adage:  "The  agitation  of  thought  is 'the 
beginning  of  wisdom,"  it  applies  to  the  fourteenth  century,  during 
which  Wickliffe  theologized  so  wisely  as  to  baffle  papal  authority, 
Chaucer  and  Gower  wrote  poetry,  while  Robert  Manning  and 
John  de  Trevisa  translated  and  nationalized  foreign  thought. 

Oliphant,  in  his  erudite  work,  entitled  "  Sources  of  Standard 
English?  calls  Robert  Manning  "  the  patriarch  of  the  new  English, 
much  as  .Caedmon  was  of  old  English  six  hundred  years  earlier." 
Let  us  see  whether  our  numeric  method  of  investigating  language 
confirms  this  statement.  Our  Extract  and  Table  from  Robert 
Manning's  writings,  A.D.  1303,  show  thirty-three  per  cent.  Greco- 
Latin,  and  sixty-seven  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Sax- 
on ;  whereas  our  Extract  and  Table  from  Robert  of  Gloucester's 
Chronicle  of  the  thirteenth  century  give  twenty-seven  per  cent. 
Greco-Latin,  seventy-one  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  and  two 
per  cent.  Celtic.  If,  therefore,  any  merit  attaches  either  to  pri- 
ority of  change  towards  new  English,  or  priority  of  change  as  to 
numbers  in  the  vocabulary,  that  merit  belongs  more  to  Robert 
of  Gloucester  in  the  thirteenth,  than  to  Robert  Manning  in  the 
fourteenth  century. 

Robert  Manning,  or  Robert  of  Brunne,  was  a  canon  in  the 


256         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

monastery  of  Brunne  or  Bourn,  Lincolnshire ;  he  florished  about 
1303,  when  he  translated  "Manuel  des  Peches"  by  William  Wad- 
dington,  into  English,  and  called  it  "Handlyng  Synne"  He  also 
translated  into  English  '•'•Peter  Langhtoffs  Chronicle  of  England'"1 
(written  in  French  verse),  dating  from  Cadwallader,  last  king  of 
the  Britons,  A.D.  703  to  1307.  This  chronicle  was  a  continua- 
tion of  Robert  Wace's.  Thomas  Hearne  edited  and  issued  Man- 
ning's version  from  MS.,  1724.  In  those  primitive  days  a  trans- 
lation was  as  much,  and  even  more  valued,  than  an  original  work  ; 
probably  because  people  of  one  country  were  curious  to  know 
what  people  of  other  countries  were  thinking  and  doing,  at  a 
period  when  travel  was  difficult  and  a  journey  across  the  channel 
rarer  than  now  a  journey  to  New  Zealand  or  Alaska.  In  his  books 
Robert  Manning  speaks  thus  of  himself  and  of  those  whose  works 
he  translated : 

"  Robert  of  Brunne  greteth  gow,  &c. 
Dane  Felyp  was  mayster  that  tyme 
That  y  began  this  Englyssh  ryme. 
The  yeres  of  grace  fyl  *  than  to  be 
A  thousand  and  thre  hundred  and  thre. 
Pers  of  Langtoft,  a  chanon, 
Schaven  in  the  house  of  Bridlington, 
On  Frankys  style,  this  stone  y  wrote, 
Of  Inglys  Kynges,  &c.      .     .     . 
If  ye  will  listen  and  lere.f 
In  that  tyme  turnede  y  thys 
On  Englysshe  tunge  out  of  Frankys, 
Of  a  boke  as  y  fonde  ynne ; 
Men  clepyn^:  the  boke  "Handlyng  Synne" 
All  the  story  of  Inglonde ; 
As  Robert  Manning  wrytten  it  fande  ; 
Not  for  the  lered,  but  for  the  lewed.g" 

Had  authors  and  writers  of  Medieval  times,  when  there  was 
no  copyright,  identified  themselves  in  a  like  manner,  there  would 
now  be  less  doubt  in  biography  and  history.  Adam  Davie,  mar- 
shal of  Stratford  Le  Bow,  lived  about  the  forepart  of  this  century. 
He  must  have  been  a  poet  of  note,  for  we  read  these  lines  in  a 
poem  of  1307  : 

*Fell.  fLearn-  t  Called.  §  Ignorant. 


Fourteenth   Century.  257 

"  Whoso  wil  speke  myd  me  Adam  the  marchal, 
In  Stretforde  Bowe  he  is  yknown  and  over  al." 

Of  his  numerous  work's  only  one  MS.  remains,  containing 
"  Battle  of  Jerusalem,"  "  Legend  of  St.  Alexius,"  &c. 

About  this  period  happened  an  event  full  of  instruction  for 
the  historian,  philanthropist,  and  statesman  :  the  renowned  hand- 
ful of  mountaineers,  William  Tell,  Fiirst,  Melchthal,  Stauffacher, 
&c.,  rose  against  mighty  Austria,  A.D.  1308.  Then  and  there,  in 
those  lofty  Alpine  regions,  the  language  of  freedom  spoke  in 
thundering  tones,  and  man's  sacred  rights  have  been  cherished 
and  maintained  ever  since,  and  are  likely  to  be  so  for  all  time  to 
come.  That  heroic  feat  has  not  only  been  felicitously  portrayed 
by  historians  and  artists,  but  sung  by  poets,  among  whom  shines 
the  humane  and  high-toned  Schiller  for  his  "  Wilhelm  Tell"  which, 
operatized  by  Rossini,  1829,  has  been  the  delight  of  the  musical 
world.  Thus  have  certain  events  started  thought,  influenced  and 
exercised  pen,  pencil,  and  chisel,  and  expanded  the  vocabulary  : 
who  has  not  seen,  heard,  read  "Wilhelm  Tell,"  in  his  own  or 
some  other  language  ?  Harmonists  and  poets  have  ever  turned 
a  keen  eye  towards  the  beautiful  in  thought  and  sentiment : 
probably  Rossini's  grand  opera  of  Tell  is  a  myth  ;  perhaps 
Smollett's  sublime  "Ode  to  Independence,"  in  which  he  thus  al- 
ludes to  Tell  and  his  companions,  is  a  fable : 

"  Who  with  the  generous  rustics  sate 
On  Uri's  rock,  in  close  divan, 
And  wing'd  that  arrow,  sure  as  fate, 
Which  ascertain'd  the  sacred  rights  of  man." 

Who  ever  heard  the  melodious  strains  of  the  composer,  saw  the 
pathetic  lines  of  the  poet,  read  the  history  of  Switzerland,  and 
considered  the  character  of  her  people,  can  think  of  Tell  as  a 
myth  ?  Since  the  two  zealous  Irish  monks,  Columban  and  Gall, 
went  to  the  continent,  A.D.  585,  as  previously  stated ;  since 
Gall  founded  the  famous  monastery  of  St.  Gall,  and  became  the 
apostle  of  Switzerland,  the  descendants  of  the  Helvetii,  who  so 
bravely  opposed  Cresar,  60  B.C.,  have  ever  powerfully  contributed 
to  European  civilization  and  progress  :  learning  and  science  have 
ever  found  a  home,  not  only  at  St.  Gall,  but  at  Basle,  Zurich  and 
Geneva.  The  early  Swiss  and  German  chroniclers,  Stettler  and 


258         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Huldrich  (Mutius),  laud  Tell's  independence  and  patriotism, 
which  fired  the  Swiss  and  European  heart.  Thus  a  seemingly 
unimportant  event,  in  the  snow-capped  Alps,  A.D.  1308,  became 
the  key-note  of  European  thought,  literature,  art,  and  language  ; 
for  it  inspired  not  only  statesmen,  historians,  orators,  and  poets, 
but  painters,  sculptors,  and  composers.  Yet,  according  to  some 
late  hypercritics,  William  Tell  is  a  myth,  because  a  feat  of  arch- 
ery, similar  to  that  of  Tell,  is  mentioned  of  the  Scandinavian 
hero,  Egill,  during  the  seventh  or  eighth  century.  As  well  say 
Switzerland  and  her  heroic  and  industrious  people  have  been  a 
fable  since  Uri's  handful  of  patriots  rid  her  of  Gessler's  despotism, 
encouraged  by  Albert  of  Austria,  who  may  be  styled  the  Nero 
of  Germany. 

About  A.D.  1316,  the  celebrated  Italian  scientist,  Mundinus, 
made  the  first  human  dissections  among  the  moderns,  and  gave 
to  medicine  and  surgery  his  work,  entitled  "  Anatomia  omnium 
hurnani  Corporis  inte riorum  Membranorum"  whence  a  streamlet 
of  scientific  terms  flowed  into  the  modern  languages ;  for  soon 
youths  "from  all  parts  of  Europe  flocked  to  Italy  to  study  medi- 
cine and  surgery.  We  are  told  the  Egyptians  practised  human 
anatomy  ages  ago,  and  that  Democritus  dissected  animals  to  learn 
the  structure  of  the  animal  frame,  460  B.C.  We  are  told  a  Ger- 
man monk  and  chemist,  named  Schwartz,  discovered  the  amalgam 
called  gunpowder*  A.D.  1330.  The  same  discovery  has  been 
claimed  for  China  and  for  Roger  Bacon.  What  an  array  of 
technic  terms,  from  cannon  to  needle-gun,  from  man-of-war  to 
iron-clad  has  flowed  into  military  and  naval  science  and  language, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  sporting,  hunting,  and  blasting  vocabularies  ! 
No  wonder  the  Fatherland  erected  a  monument  to  Schwartz  in 
his  native  city,  Freiburg,  A.D.  1853. 

In  this  age  the  character  styled  Old  English,  or  Black  Letter, 
began  to  be  generally  used.  Then  England's  Augustan  Era  foi 
language  and  literature  was  dawning,  when  a  dismal  cloud,  cal- 
culated to  postpone  Europe's  progress  indefinitely,  covered  the 
horizon.  That  cloud  and  its  woful  inundations  and  ravages 
originated  in  the  insatiate  ambition  of  the  Normano-Plantagenets. 
Soon  after  his  accession,  1327,  Edward  III.  added  the  French 
"fleurs  de  Its"  to  his  coat-of-arms,  and  to  justify  this  change 
issued  the  following  lines  : 


Fourteenth  Century.  259 

"  Rex  sum  regnorum,  bina  ratione,  duorum : 
Anglorum  in  regno  sum  rex  ego  jure  paterno  ; 
Matris  jure  quidem  Francorum  nuncupor  idem, 
Hinc  est  armorum  variatio  facta  meorum." 

To  which  Philippe  de  Valois,  King  of  France,  replied : 

"  Praedo  regnorum  qui  diceris  esse  duorum : 
Francorum  regno  privaberis  atque  paterno. 
Succedunt  mares  huic  regno,  non  mulieres : 
Hinc  est  armorum  variatio  stulta  tuorum." 

ENGLISH  TRANSLATION: 
I  am  king  of  two  realms  by  double  reason  : 
In  the  kingdom  of  England  I  am  king  by  paternal  right ; 
By  maternal  right,  indeed,  I  am  declared  the  same  of  France. 
Therefore  the  change  of  my  arms  was  made. 

REPLY  OF  PHILIPPE : 

You  who  claim  to  be  the  plunderer  of  two  realms, 
May  be  deprived  of  the  kingdom  of  France  and  the  paternal. 
Men  succeed  to  this  kingdom,  not  women  : 
Therefore  the  change  of  your  arms  was  silly. 

Thus  far  it  was  a  pen-war,  and  should  have  remained  so ;  but, 
those  who  can  order  innocent  people  to  back  their  pride,  ambi- 
tion, or  temper,  are  very  apt  to  do  so.  About  1336  Edward 
declared  war,  which,  with  various  interruptions,  continued  over 
one  hundred  years. 

From  the  happy  marriage  of  Ethelbert  and  Bertha,  597  to  1336, 
the  Anglo-Saxons  and  Franks  had  gone  hand  in  hand,  aiding  and 
encouraging  progress  at  home  and  abroad,  till,  as  we  stated,  the 
Normano-Plantagenets  longed  to  establish  their  throne  in  Paris 
and  use  England  as  a  mere  province  ;  but  the  representatives  of 
the  English  people,  composed  of  Anglo-Saxons,  Celts  and  Franco- 
Normans,  whom  time  and  intercourse  had  welded  into  one,  per- 
ceived the  drift  of  events  and  neutralized  it,  even  after  the  tri- 
umph at  Crecy  and  Calais,  1347 ;  for,  though  voting  all  the  ex- 
penses of  the  war,  "  they  solemnly  declared  that  it  was  Edward 
as  King  of  England,  and  not  as  King  of  France,  whom  they 
obeyed;  and  prudently  decreed  that  the  two  kingdoms  must 
ever  remain  separate."  Again,  1348,  Parliament  refused  to  im- 
pose further  burdens  on  the  English  people  to  prosecute  a  war 


260         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

whose  triumphs  had  cost  England  so  much.  Thus  did  the  ever 
watchful  representatives  of  England  coolly  and  quietly  circumvent 
the  ambitious  plans  of  the  Normano-Plantagenets.  It  is  claimed 
the  signal  success  of  Edward  III.  at  the  battle  of Crecy  (A.D. 
1346)  was  due  to  the  use  of  gunpowder  and  cannon.  The  co- 
temporary  Froissart  says  the  Scots  used  gunpowder  and  cannon 
at  the  siege  of  Sterling,  A.D.  1338  ;  hence  Schwartz's  thunder 
soon  found  advocates  and  users. 

As  we  all  know  that,  during  this  bloody  war,  Edward  besieged 
Calais,  which  Eustache  de  St.  Pierre  bravely  defended,  that  after 
a  long  siege  the  place  had  to  surrender,  and  that  Edward  ordered 
Eustache  and  his  companions  to  be  executed,  behold  what  the 
humane  Pettit  Andrews  says  in  his  "  History  of  Great  Britain  "  : 

"  It  gives  the  historian  pain  to  say  that  it  was  more  by  the  entreaties  of 
Philippa  than  by  his  own  generosity,  that  Edward  was  prevented  from  punish- 
ing Eustache  de  St.  Pierre  and  five  more  brave  and  steady  citizens,  for  that 
fidelity  which  ought  to  have  secured  his  warmest  esteem." 

Thus  the  gentle  Philippa  of  Hainaut,  Queen  of  Edward  III., 
interceded  for  the  heroic  defenders  of  Calais.  1347,  and  dissuaded 
her  rash  consort  from  staining  himself  with  their  blood.  Woman 
often  does  intuitively  perceive  and  instinctively  advocate  the  right. 

Sir  John  Mandeville,  born  at  St.  Albans,  England,  about  1300, 
studied  and  practised  medicine,  which  little  suited  his  love  of 
adventure.  About  1322  he  went  to  Palestine  and  joined  the 
army  of  the  .Sultan  of  Egypt,  which  gave  him  an  opportunity  to 
see  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs,  Libya,  Persia,  Tartary,  and  India. 
He  went  to  Southern  China,  where  the  Khan  of  Cathay  received 
him  kindly.  Thence  he  journeyed  to  Cambalu  (Pekin),  where  he 
spent  three  years.  On  his  return  he  traversed  Hungaria  and 
Germany,  and  settled  at  Liege.  It  is  said  he  was  absent  thirty- 
three  years.  He  first  wrote  his  travels  in  Latin,  about  1456  : 
next  in  Erench,  then  in  English,  which  proves  Sir  John  a  pretty 
good  linguist,  to  say  nothing  of  the  dialects  and  languages  he 
heard,  and  learned  in  the  countries  he  visited.  He  died  in 
Liege,  1372,  and  was  buried  there.  In  connection  with  his  name 
some  hypercritics  try  to  sneer,  and  mention  "Sinbad  the  Sailor  " 
and  "Gulliver;"  others  cite  F.  M,  Pinto;  while  those  more 
charitably  inclined  compare  him  to  Marco  Polo.  It  should  be 


Fourteenth  Century.  261 

borne  in  mind,  that  all  these  travels  awakened  interest  in  voyages 
of  discovery,  soon  to  produce  great  results  in  geographic,  ethno- 
logic, linguistic,  and  historic  research. 

Sir  John  does  not  positively  say  he  saw  all  he  relates  in  his 
book ;  for  we  often  find  these  expressions  :  "T/ieiseyn"  or  "Men 
seyn?  "  but  I  have  not  seen  it  myself."  He  affirms  on  infor- 
mation and  belief,  as  some  broad  and  liberal  codes  allow  wit- 
nesses to  do  in  our  modern  courts.  However,  we  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  veracity  or  non-veracity  of  literary  productions ;  our 
object  is  language  and  words,  which  we  find  in  Milton's,  Hume's, 
Defoe's,  and  Mandeville's  books,  and  even  in  Sinbad  and  Gulliver. 

To  realize  the  popularity  of  Mandeville's  work,  we  have  but 
to  state  where  it  was  issued  as  soon  as  printing  was  known  :  Ly- 
ons, 1480;  Paris  about  the  same  time;  Venice,  in  Italian,  1491  ; 
Zwol,  Netherlands,  1493  ;  Louvain,  1499,  &c*  Thus  were  lan- 
guages and  words  interchanged,  diffused,  and  appropriated 
through  Mandeville's  travels.  It  is  said  he  dedicated  his  work 
to  Edward  III.  Of  his  book  several  MSS.  of  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries  are  extant  now.  The  old  French  edition  ends 
thus:  "Cy  finist  ce  tres  playsant  liure  nomine  Mandeville." 
Behold  some  of  posterity's  dicta  : 

"  Sir  John  Mandeville,  about  1350,  may  pass  for  the  father  of  English  prose, 
no  original  work  being  so  ancient  as  his  travels." — Hallam,  1859. 

"  We  may  look  upon  his  English  as  the  speech  spoken  at  court  in  the  latter 
days  of  King  Edward  III." — Oliphant,  1873. 

The  Bishop  of  Armagh  (1357)  informed  Pope  Innocent  VI. 
that  the  number  of  students  at  Oxford  had  greatly  diminished, 
which  was  due  to  their  having  been  enticed  away  by  mendicant 
friars,  so  that  parents  were  afraid  to  send  their  sons  thither. 
John  Barbour  wrote  "The.  Bruce"  a  biographic  and  historic  poem 
of  Robert  Bruce,  written  in  an  easy,  fluent  style.  His  English 
can  be  more  readily  understood  than  Chaucer's,  as  may  be  seen 
by  these  few  lines  : 

"  This  was  in  midst  of  month  of  may, 
When  birdis  sing  on  ilka  spray, 
Melland  their  notes,  with  seemly  soun, 
For  softness  of  the  sweet  seasoun. 


262  Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

And  leavis  of  the  branchis  spreeds, 
And  bloomis  bright  beside  them  breeds, 
And  fieldis  strawed  are  with  flow'rs 
Well  favoring  of  their  colours." 

John  Brompton,  Abbot  of  Jorvaulx,  Yorkshire,  wrote  a  "  Chron- 
icon"  from  588  to  1198.  This  work  would  be  of  little  value 
without  its  collection  of  Anglo-Saxon  codes  and  laws,  which  are 
interesting  and  curious  documents. 

About  1362  appeared  "Vision  and  Creed  of  Pierce  Plowman" 
a  caustic  satire  against  the  clergy.  This  poem,  consisting  of 
twenty  isolated  visions,  is  ascribed  to  Robert  Langland.  One 
of  these  visions  is  considered  as  a  prophecy  of  the  Reformation 
by  Henry  VIII.  It  is  said  Langland  was  one  of  Wickliffe's  first 
disciples.  Warton,  in  his  "History  of  English  Poetry"  says  he 
should  have  considered  this  poem  spurious,  had  he  not  seen  it  in 
MSS.  as  old  as  1400.  Hallam  calls  him  the  first  English  writer 
who  could  be  read  with  approbation.  All  that  is  known  of  this 
early  writer  is,  that  he  was  a  priest  and  fellow  of  Oriel  College, 
Oxford.  The  following  are  some  of  his  prophetic  lines : 

"  And  then  shall  come  a  King,  and  confess  your  religions, 
And  bete  you,  as  the  Bible  telleth,  for  breaking  of  your  rule. 
And  amende  moniales,  monkes  and  chanoines, 
And  then  fiers  in  her  freytour  shall  find  a  key 
Of  Constantynes  coffers,  in  which  is  the  catal, 
That  Gregories  god  children  had  it  dispensed." 

We  think  Robert  Langland,  being  a  secular  priest  and  adherent 
of  Wickliffe,  needed  no  prophetic  inspiration  to  write  these  lines 
at  that  period  :  close  observation  of  preceding  and  passing  events 
and  circumstances  sufficed  ;  he  had,  no  doubt,  studied  cause  and 
effect ;  he  knew,  that  English  kings  had  openly  resented  papal 
anathemas  ;  that  French  kings  had  removed  popes  to  Avignon  ; 
that  in  his  own  day  and  generation  Emperor  Louis  of  Germany 
had  dared  to  shelter  at  his  court  the  Franciscan  prior,  Ockham, 
against  papal  persecution  ;  that  the  royal  family,  the  Londoners, 
and  such  minds  as  Chaucer  favored  Wickliffe  ;  that,  according  to 
the  cotemporary  chronicler,  Knighton,  "  more  than  one-half  the 
people  of  England  embraced  Wickliffe's  doctrine." 

Edward  III.  had  imprisoned  bishops  and  abrogated   "Peter 


Fourteenth  Century.  263 

pence"  granted  by  King  Ethel wulf,  A.D.  855,  and  confirmed  by 
Edward  the  Confessor  about  A.D.  1060.  Langland  knew,  that 
the  character  of  the  clergy  had  changed ;  that  the  British  Isles, 
in  his  day,  had  no  such  men  as  Columban  and  Gall,  A.D.  585, 
Benedict  Biscop  and  Ceolfrid,  A.D.  675,  Wilbrord  and  Hewald, 
A.D.  696,  and  Winfrid,  A.D.  732,  who  went  forth  to  preach 
Christianity,  rear  monasteries,  clear  dismal  forests,  which  they 
turned  into  fertile  fields,  thus  showing  to  the  benighted  masses  a 
living  example  of  industry  and  usefulness,  coupled  with  Christ's 
sublime  teachings.  The  golden  Benedictine  rule  :  "  Every  monk 
should  earn  his  living  by  manual  labor  of  some  kind,"  had  become 
a  dead  letter ;  begging  friars  had  become  as  numerous  as  spar- 
rows; students  of  colleges  and  universities  had  joined  them; 
because  they  could  live  on  the  fat  of  the  land  without  working. 
Study,  copying  MSS.,  making  fine  books  and  collecting  libraries, 
as  did  the  Benedictines,  became  a  drudgery  to  vigorous  idle  men, 
who  wanted  amusement ;  hence  they  left  their  monasteries  and 
roamed  as  adepts  of  the  healing  art,  demoralizing  themselves  and 
society  to  such  a  degree,  that  it  became  necessary  for  councils  to 
restrain  monkish  vagabondage  by  special  canons.  Soon  these 
abuses  and  corruptions  became  so  glaring,  that  even  the  toiling 
masses  noticed  them.  As  Robert  Langland  had  witnessed  alt 
these  abuses,  was  there  need  of  prophetic  inspiration  to  predict 
the  result  ?  Of  course  the  reform  could  not  begin  with  the  people, 
unless  the  king  favored  it ;  therefore  Langland  makes  the  king 
the  prime  mover,  sure  that  the  English  people  would  join  any 
king,  who  would  abolish  priestly  exactions  ;  and  further,  he  knew 
of  the  vast  accumulation  of  wealth  in  the  religious  institutions, 
since  the  Council  of  Calcuith,  A.D.  785,  where  the  priesthood 
asked  for  tithes,  as  allowed  to  the  Levites  by  the  Mosaic  law. 
Langland  had  simply  studied  history  to  such  advantage  as  to  be 
called  a  prophet  by  posterity. 

We  cannot  help  recording  here  what  Richard  Bury,  Bishop  of 
Durham,  says  of  his  books  : 

"  They  are  teachers  who  instruct  us  without  rod  or  cowhide,  without  scold- 
ing and  anger,  without  asking  for  food  or  wages.  If  you  approach  them  they 
sleep  not ;  if  you  look  for  them  they  do  not  hide  themselves ;  they  murmur 
not  if  you  mistake  their  meaning;  they  ridicule  not  if  you  are  ignorant." 

It  is  said  this  ardent  bibliophile  owned  more  books  than  all  the 


264         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

other  English  Bishops ;  he  was  one  of  the  most  erudite  men  of 
his  age;  he  died  1345. 

Nicholas  de  Linna,  a  monk  of  Oxford,  is  mentioned  in  Hakluyt's 
celebrated  work,  entitled  "  Principal  Navigations,  Voyages,  Dis- 
coveries^ 6°r.,  by  the  English  Nation,''1  as  a  great  astronomer  and 
traveler,  who  visited  the  Northern  Isles  (Shetland,  Faroe,  Iceland  ?), 
and  presented  a  chart  of  their  situation  to  Edward  III.,  1360. 

Ralph  Higden,  one  of  the  few  Latin  authors  of  this  age,  wrote 
"Poly  chronic  on"  (Universal  History),  from  the  Creation  to  the 
year  1357.  This  valuable  work,  long  the  standard  of  history  and 
geography,  was  translated  into  English  by  the  learned  John  de 
Trevisa  about  1385.  As  we  opened  this  century  with  Extracts 
from  Trevisa' s  version,  we  pass  on. 

Froissart,  though  a  native  of  Valenciennes,  born  1337,  and  a 
French  writer,  was  so  closely  connected  with  England's  court 
and  history,  that  we  mention  him  among  English  authors.  His 
"  Chronicle  "  of  France,  England,  Scotland,  Spain,  and  Brittany, 
from  1326  to  1400,  is,  in  a  historical  point  of  view,  one  of  the 
most  precious  monuments  of  the  Middle  Ages.  One  of  its  de- 
fects is  :  the  author  saw  and  described  only  nobles,  their  deeds 
and  fetes,  without  ever  referring  to  commoners,  their  virtues, 
merits,  and  useful  labors. 

As  Ockham,  styled  the  "  Invincible  Doctor,"  florished  about 
this  time,  we  must  allude  to  his  championship  of  "Nominalism  " 
as  opposed  to  "Realism"  Though  head  of  the  Franciscan  Or- 
der, he  joined  the  Emperor  Louis  of  Germany  and  Philippe  le  Bel 
of  France,  against  Pope  John  XXII.,  who  excommunicated  them. 
To  escape  papal  persecution  he  took  refuge  with  Louis,  to  whom 
he  said,  "You  protect  me  with  your  sword  and  I  will  protect  you 
with  my  pen."  This  fearless  monk,  pupil  of  Duns  Scotus,  taught 
at  Oxford  and  Paris,  and  wrote  books  that  attracted  much  atten- 
tion, especially  one  on  papal  power.  He  lived  in  Germany 
seventeen  years,  and  his  books,  written  in  clear,  strong  Latin, 
must  have  greatly  influenced  German  opinion.  He  prepared  the 
way  for  Wickliffe.  who  took  up  the  war  where  his  bold  predeces- 
sor had  left  it.  No  doubt  his  example  encouraged  Reformers  in 
England,  France,  and  Germany.  He  was  born  in  Surrey,  and 
died  at  Munich,  A.D.  1347.  He  had  many  warm  adherents,  who 
were  called  "Ockhamites" 


Fourteenth  Century.  265 

In  this  age  appeared  a  man,  who,  after  having  discovered  the 
abuses  and  vices  of  his  colleagues  and  the  superstition  of  the 
masses,  used  his  tongue  and  pen  very  dexterously  to  undermine 
them.  That  man  was  JOHN  WICKLIFFE,  born  at  Wickliffe,  York- 
shire, about  1324.  Favored  by  Edward  III.,  whose  rights  he 
had  defended  against  the  pretensions  of  Pope  Gregory  XI.,  by 
the  University,  which  he  had  sustained  against  the  monks,  by 
John  of  Gaunt  and  the  queen  mother,  who  were  his  patrons,  and 
by  the  Londoners,  who  dispersed  the  Synod  of  Bishops  assembled 
at  Lambeth  to  condemn  him  as  a  heretic,  Wickliffe  proclaimed, 
wrote  and  issued  his  doctrines.  His  opinions,  being  shared  by 
such  men  as  Chaucer  and  Langland,  were  destined  to  spread 
among  a  religiously  inclined  and  inquisitive  people  like  the  Eng- 
lish. To  translate  the  Bible  into  a  living  language  was  consid- 
ered an  act  of  heresy ;  yet  the  rebellious  friar  dared  to  turn  the 
Vulgate,  Apocrypha  and  all,  into  plain  English,  which,  at  that 
particular  period  being  "forbidden  fruit,"  awakened  the  most 
lively  curiosity  and  was  more  extensively  read  than  any  other 
book.  About  A.D.  1360  he  completed  his  version  of  the  gos- 
pels, in  which  he  says  : 

"So  that  pore  Christen  men  may  some  dele  know  the  text  of  the  Gospel, 
with  the  comyn  sentence  of  olde  holie  doctores."  So  that  poor  Christian  men 
may  to  a  certain  degree  know  the  text  of  the  Gospel  in  the  common  language 
of  old  holy  doctors. 

For  making  this  translation  Wickliffe  has  deservedly  been  called 
"  the  Father  of  English  prose  ; "  in  doing  it  he  displayed  the  vast 
resources  of  the  English  idiom ;  for  it  required  the  use  of  about 
700,000  words  (as  subsequently  shown  by  James'  version).  He 
may  justly  be  styled  the  diffuser,  propagator,  and  popularizer  of 
the  English  language  ;  for,  as  early  as  1402,  John  Huss  translated 
Wickliffe's  Bible  into  Bohemian.  A  singular  circumstance,  per- 
haps unique,  connected  with  this  great  reformer  was,  that  he  died 
quietly  and  composedly  in  his  own  bed  at  Lutherworth,  Decem- 
ber, 1384,  and  not  a  single  one  of  his  numerous  adherents,  called 
"  LOLLARDS,"  died  for  their  opinions,  which  were  the  germs  of 
modern  reforms.  Priestly  malice,  backed  by  ignorance  and  su- 
perstition, showered  upon  him  appellations  like  these  :  "Mirror 
of  hypocrisy,  misleader  of  the  mob,  sower  of  hatred,  inventor  of 


266         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

lies,  limb  of  the  Devil"  &c.  But  his  friends  surnamed  Wick- 
liffe  "THE  MORN-STAR  OF  REFORMATION,"  which  more  than 
compensated  for  papal  invective.  Had  the  learned  friar  been 
born  and  lived  on  the  continent,  he  would  have  felt  the  flames 
of  the  fagot  before  John  Huss ;  for  that  shadowy  Dominican 
tribunal,  instigated  by  Innocent  III.,  would  surely  have  found 
means  to  spirit  him  and  some  of  his  disciples  away  to  swell  the 
number  of  the  Inquisition's  martyrs.  Queen  Anne  favored 
Wickliffe.  The  learned  Hallam  says  of  the  writers  of  this  era  : 

"The  translation  of  the  Bible  and  other  writings  of  Wickliffe  taught  us  the 
copiousness  and  energy  of  which  our  native  dialect  was  capable,  and  it  was 
employed  in  the  fifteenth  century  by  two  writers  of  distinguished  merit,  Bishop 
Peacock  and  Sir  John  Fortescue." 

As  a  specimen  of  Wickliffe' s  style  may  be  a  novelty  to  most 
readers,  we  give  it : 

"  Here  ye,  lo  a  man  sowinge  goith  out  to  sowe,  and  the  while  he  sowith 
sum  seed  fel  aboute  the  weye,  and  briddis  of  hevene  camen  and  eeten  it.  other 
felde  doun  on  stony  places,  where  it  haclde  not  myche  erthe,  and  anoon  it 
sprong  up ;  for  it  hadde  not  depnesse  of  erthe.  and  whanne  the  sunne  roos 
up  it  welewide  for  hete,  and  it  driede  up,  for  it  had  no  roote.  And  other 
fell  doun  into  thornes;  and  thornes  sprungen  up  and  strangliden  it,  and  it  gaf 
not  fruyt  ;  and  othere  felde  doun  into  good  lond  :  and  it  gaf  fruyt  spryngyng 
up  and  wexinge,  and  oon  broughte  thritty  fold,  and  oon  sixty  fold,  and  oon 
an  hundrid  fold." 

This  passage  contains  sixty  different  words,  of  which  fifty-eight 
are  Gotho-Germanic  and  two  Greco-Latin. 

Matthew  of  Westminster  wrote  "Floris  Historiarum"  a  Uni- 
versal History  from  the  Creation  to  1307,  when  he  died.  The 
history  was  continued  by  some  other  hand  to  1377.  The  erudite 
biographer  Rose  says  of  him  : 

41  He  wrote  with  so  scrupulous  a  veracity  that  he  is  never  found  to  wander 
from  the  truth ;  and  with  such  diligence  that  he  omitted  nothing  worthy  of 
remark.  He  is  also  commended  for  his  acuteness  in  tracing  facts,  the  regu- 
larity of  his  plan,  and  his  skill  in  chronologic  computation.  He  is  on  the 
whole  very  highly  esteemed  as  one  of  the  most  venerable  fathers  of  English 
history." 

In  this  century  three  medical  writers  add  many  new  words  to 


Fourteenth  Century.  267 

the  English  vocabulary :  John  de  Gaddesden,  physician  to  King 
Edward  II.,  about  1320,  wrote  "  Rosa  Anglica,"  Lib.  IV.  It  was 
published  at  Pavia,  1492,  Venice,  1506  and  1516,  Naples,  1508, 
which  shows  its  popularity.  John  Ardern  practised  medicine 
and  surgery  at  Newark  and  London,  and  wrote  a  valuable  treatise 
on  Fistula.  William  Guisaunt  graduated  at  Oxford  and  practised 
medicine  with  great  success.  Being  accused  of  magic,  he  went 
to  France  and  settled  at  Marseilles,  where  he  exercised  his  pro- 
fession with  honor  and  distinction.  He  wrote  essays  on  Mathe- 
matics, Astronomy,  and  Medicine,  entitled  "De  Urina  non  visd 
Circuit;"  "De  Motu  Capitis ;"  "De  Judicio  Patientis ;  "  "De 
Quadratura  Circuit;"  "£>e  Qualitatibus  Astrorttm ;"  "De  Sig- 
nificationibus  Astrorum  ;  "  "De  Magnitudine  Soils  ;"  "Speculum 
Astrologies" 

Some  facts  not  directly  connected  with  language  had  such  an 
effect  on  its  development  and  diffusion  as  to  deserve  particular 
notice  in  their  time  and  place  :  among  these  facts  are  such  as 
tended  directly  to  encourage  English  manufactures  and  trade, 
and  indirectly  to  diffuse  the  English  language.  Adam  Anderson, 
in  his  "Historic  and  Chronologic  Deduction  of  the  Origin  of  Com- 
merce" mentions  how  Edward  III.  invited  Flemish  cloth-weavers 
to  settle  in  his  dominions  and  teach  their  art  to  his  subjects. 
Seventy  discontented  families  emigrated  to  England  about  1331, 
and  founded  an  industry  that  became  a  great  source  of  England's 
prosperity.  True,  sheep  had  been  raised  previously,  and  woollen 
goods  manufactured  all  over  the  British  Isles,  especially  in  Ire- 
land, whose  serges  were  sung  by  the  Italian  bard  Fazio  Uberti 
before  1367  ;  but  these  manufactures  never  attracted  the  attention 
they  ultimately  received,  till  after  1331. 

Anderson  assigns  the  first  coinage  of  gold  in  England  to  1344. 
Now,  England  had  a  superior  home  industry,  a  standard  medium 
of  exchange,  uniform  measures  and  weights,  and  a  united  and 
enterprising  population.  No  wonder  the  Exchequer  of  1354 
showed  ,£765,644  as  a  balance  of  trade  in  her  favor ;  for  she  had 
the  means  of  controlling  the  world's  commerce  and  attracting  the 
precious  metals  to  her  mint.  By  these  means  she  subsequently 
diffused  her  language,  literature,  and  influence,  as  may  be  real- 
ized by  looking  at  the  United  States,  Canada,  India,  Australia, 
South  Africa,  and  New  Zealand. 


268         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

As  English  authors  derived  ideas  and  inspiration  from  Italy, 
let  us  glance  at  her  early  writers.  Italy  was  more  or  less  Gotho- 
Latin  and  without  a  distinct  national  dialect  from  the  fifth  to  the 
thirteenth  century,  when  her  language  sprang  into  existence  from 
about  1290  to  1375,  or  within  eighty-five  years.  Her  early  intel- 
lectual triumvirate  was  Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio  ;  Dante, 
from  1290  to  1321,  wrote  '•'•Vita  Nuova"  "Divina  Comedia"  "De 
Vulgari  Eloquio"  (a  treatise  on  the  Italian  language  in  prose), 
and  "II  Convito."  It  seems  as  though  the  Italian  language  had 
no  existence  prior  to  Dante,  from  whose  brain  it  issued  perfect 
in  "Divina  Comedia"  Petrarch,  from  1327  to  1374,  wrote  three 
hundred  sonnets  and  fifty  canzoni  on  "Laura"  among  which 
"Trionfo  della  Morte"  (Triumph  of  Death)  is  considered  the 
masterpiece.  Boccaccio,  from  1338  to  1375,  produced  "//  Fill- 
copo"  "La  Teseide"  and  "Decamerone"  (Hundred  Tales),  which 
became  the  basis  for  many  English  works.  From  these  founts 
Chaucer,  Gower,  Shakespeare,  Dryden,  &c.,  drew  ideas,  inspira- 
tions, and  whole  poems. 

Richard  Cirencester,  historian,  geographer,  and  antiquarian, 
will  be  a  variety  in  this  age  of  reformers  and  poets.  He  florished 
from  1350  to  1401,  when  he  died  in  the  Abbey  of  Westminster, 
after  persecution  and  confinement  for  his  liberal  spirit  of  investi- 
gation. He  wrote  "Historia  ab  Hengisto  ad  Ann.  1358,"  "Epi- 
tome Chron.  Ric.  Cor.  West.  Lib.  /.,"  now  in  the  University 
Library  of  Cambridge ;  "Britonum  Anglorum  et  Saxonum  His- 
toria"  now  in  the  library  of  the  Royal  Society ;  also  theologic 
writings,  now  in  the  Peterborough  Library.  But  his  highest 
valued  work  is  "De  Situ  Britannia"  found  by  Prof.  C.  J.  Ber- 
tram in  the  Royal  Marine  Academy  at  Copenhagen,  1757.  Prof. 
Bertram,  who  published  it,  says : 

"  It  contains  many  fragments  of  a  better  time,  which  would  now  in  vain 
be  sought  for  elsewhere." 

Behold  a  specimen  from  the  learned  monk's  "  De  Situ  Britan- 
nia," C.  VII.: 

"The  different  parts  of  Britain  having  been  cursorily  examined  according 
to  my  original  design,  it  seems  necessary,  before  I  proceed  to  a  description  of 
the  islands,  to  attend  to  a  doubt  suggested  by  a  certain  person.  *  Where/ 


Fourteenth   Century.  269 

asks  he,  '  are  the  vestiges  of  those  cities  and  names  which  you  commemorate  ? 
There  are  none.'  This  question  may  be  answered  by  another.  Where  are 
now  the  Assyrians,  Parthians,  Sarmatians,  Celtiberians  ?  None  will  be  bold 
enough  lo  deny  the  existence  of  those  nations.  Are  there  not  also  at  this 
time  many  countries  and  cities  bearing  the  same  names  as  they  did  two  or 
three  thousand  years  ago?  Judea,  Italy,  Gaul,  Britain,  are  as  clearly  known 
now  as  in  former  times ;  Londinium  is  still  styled  in  common  language,  with 
a  slight  change  of  sound,  London,  &c.  The  good  abbot,  indeed,  had  nearly 
inspired  me  with  other  sentiments,  by  thus  seeming  to  address  me :  *  Are  you 
ignorant  how  short  a  time  is  allotted  us  in  this  world,  &c.  Of  what  service 
are  these  things,  but  to  delude  the  world  with  unmeaning  trifles? '  To  these 
remarks  I  answer  with  propriety  :  Is  then  every  honest  gratification  forbidden  ? 
Do  not  such  narratives  exhibit  proofs  of  Divine  Providence  ?  "  &c.  .  . 

This  discussion  clearly  shows,  that  Richard's  thirst  for  knowl- 
edge was  censured  by  superiors,  who  would  rather  find  him  pray- 
ing than  studying ;  because  the  worshiper  is  ever  more  subser- 
vient than  the  student.  Although  some  few  hypercritics  doubted 
the  authenticity  of  this  book,  it  is  worth  reading,  not  only  on  ac- 
count of  its  terse  remarks,  but  of  its  historic  and  geographic  acu- 
men and  Laconism.  Uninvestigating  authors  consider  universal 
doubt,  and  writing  the  terms  spurious,  mythic^  interpolation,  &c., 
as  marks  of  scholarship  and  thoroughness. 

Geoffrey  Chaucer  was  born  in  London,  1328.  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  both  claim  him  as  among  their  alumni.  It  is  said  he 
studied  law  at  the  Temple,  but  soon  left  it  for  the  court,  where 
he  became  page  and  armor-bearer  to  Edward  III.,  whom  he  ac- 
companied to  the  war.  Lately  an  entry  was  found  in  the  British 
archives,  that  King  Edward  paid,  March  i,  1360,  £16  towards 
the  ransom  of  the  poet  Chaucer,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner. 
Chaucer  early  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  languages,  was 
employed  as  ambassador,  and  visited  France  and  Italy.  He  ac- 
companied the  Duke  of  Clarence  to  Genoa,  and  was  present  at 
his  marriage  with  Violante,  daughter  of  Galeazzo,  Duke  of  Milan. 
He  probably  met  Petrarch,  as  he  mentions  him  in  his  works. 
King  Edward  made  Chaucer  his  "poet-laureate"  He  married 
Philippa  Rouet,  maid  of  honor  to  the  queen  and  sister  to  the 
Duchess  of  Lancaster.  Chaucer's  prosperous  career  changed 
under  Richard  II. ;  he  favored  Wickliffe's  doctrines,  yet  was  un- 
molested during  Edward's  reign.  About  1382  he  was  accused  of 
heresy  and  fled  to  the  Netherlands,  whence  he  secretly  returned 


270        Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

to  raise  money,  was  seized  and  thrown  into  prison,  from  which  he 
was  not  released  till  he  recanted.  For  a  time  he  was  in  actual 
want;  but  when  his  noble  relative  and  patron,  John  of  Gaunt, 
Duke  of  Lancaster,  rose  to  power  under  Henry  IV.,  the  poet 
was  restored  to  favor  and  retired  to  Donnington  Castle,  county 
of  Berks,  where  he  revised  his  previous  writings,  composed  his 
chef-d'oeuvre,  "Canterbury  Tales"  about  1390,  devoted  himself  to 
his  favorite  science,  astronomy,  wrote  his  "Treatise  on  the  Astro- 
labe'' and  died  in  his  native  city,  London,  while  on  a  visit,  Oct. 
25,  1400. 

Chaucer's  career  was  unique ;  the  occasion  and  the  man  were 
both  remarkable.  Before  his  day  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  French 
idioms  had  been  warring  for  two  centuries ;  he  saw  that  the  two 
languages  must  be  harmonized ;  his  natural  abilities  fitted  him, 
and  his  education  trained  him  for  the  work ;  he  had  lived  abroad 
and  was  familiar  with  the  best  modes  of  expression  in  the  polished 
courts  of  Europe,  and  he  had  the  poet's  instinct  to  guide  him  in 
the  graceful  use  of  words.  His  social  position  made  him  an 
authority  with  the  court  and  all  scholars  ;  the  masses  he  charmed  ; 
he  was  very  popular,  hence  his  success ;  for  in  one  lifetime  he 
polished  the  rude  frame-work  of  his  native  idiom,  enriched  and 
embellished  it  with  the  best  French  expressions.  As  long  as  the 
language  lives  it  will  retain  the  words  Chaucer  engrafted  upon  it. 
He  was  not  only  the  "Father  of  English  Poetry,"  but  he  should 
be  styled  the  father  of  the  English  language  :  from  his  day  forth 
its  great  future  became  apparent. 

In  early  life  Chaucer  wrote  "  Court  of  Love"  "House  of  Fame" 
"Legend of  Good  Women"  "Testament  of  Love"  "Troylus  ana 
Cresseide"  His  "Raumaunt  of  the  Rose "  is  a  translation  of 
"Roman  de  la  Rose."  About  1360  he  translated  into  Franco- 
English  "De  Consolatione  Philosophies"  which  Alfred  the  Great 
had  translated  into  Anglo-Saxon  about  890.  It  is  said  he  derived 
his  "  Canterbury  Tales"  from  Boccaccio's  "Hundred  Tales" 
called  "Decameron"  and  that  his  "Knighfs  Tale"  is  but  a  ver- 
sion of  the  same  author's  uLa  Teseide" 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  many  eulogies  from  an  appre- 
ciative posterity  : 

"  In  all  his  works  he  excelleth,  in  my  opinion,  all  other  writers  in  our  Eng- 
lish ;  for  he  writetli  not  in  void-words,  but  all  his  matter  is  full  of  high  and 


Fourteenth  Century.  271 

quick  sentence,  to  whom  ought  to  be  given  laud  and  praise  for  his  noble 
making  and  writing." — Caxton,  1474. 

"  It  will  conduct  you  to  a  hillside;  laborious  indeed  at  the  first  ascent,  but 
else  so  smooth,  so  green,  so  full  of  goodly  prospects  and  melodious  sounds  on 
every  side,  that  the  harp  of  Orpheus  was  not  more  charming." — Milton,  1650. 

"  He  is  a  perpetual  fountain  of  good  sense,  learning,  and  all  sciences  ;  and 
therefore  speaks  properly  on  all  subjects.  As  he  is  the  Father  of  English 
Poetry,  so  I  hold  him  in  the  same  degree  of  honor  as  the  Grecians  held  Ho- 
mer, or  the  Romans  Virgil." — Dry  den,  1690. 

"  I  take  unceasing  delight  in  Chaucer." — Coleridge,  1830. 

"  The  principal  ornament  of  our  English  literature  was  Geoffrey  Chaucer, 
who,  along  with  Dante  and  Petrarch,  fills  up  the  triumvirate  of  great  poets  in 
the  Middle  Ages." — Hallam,  1859. 

"  For  many  a  happy  hour  and  bright  remembrance,  we  thank  thee,  dear 
Chaucer,  and  just  thanks  shalt  thou  receive  a  thousand  years  hence." — W. 
Howitt,  1 86 1. 

"Never  has  English  life  been  painted  in  more  glowing  hues  than  by  Chau- 
cer."— Oliphant,  1873. 

After  the  lapse  of  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  years  the  last  ex- 
pression of  appreciation  and  gratitude  is  warmer  and  more  hearty 
than  the  first.  The  poet  must  have  had  great  comfort  in  his  family  : 
his  son,  Thomas  Chaucer,  became  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, and  his  daughter  Alice  married  the  Duke  of  Suffolk. 

To  enable  our  readers  to  survey  the  vast  progress  the  English 
idiom  made  during  this  century,  we  give  a  Table  of  100  words 
culled  from  hundreds  of  French  vocables  in  Chaucer's  "  Canter- 
bury Tales"  As  they  belong  to  various  departments  of  speech, 
literature,  art,  and  science,  and  were  ingeniously  blended  with 
the  Anglo  Saxon  dialect,  which  had  the  words  for  articles  of  pri- 
mary necessities,  the  amalgam  constituted  so  rich  and  varied  a 
vocabulary  that  Anglo-Saxons,  Franco-Normans,  and  Celts  be- 
came more  and  more  reconciled  to  their  regenerated  language. 
Readers  would  do  well  to  direct  their  attention  to  these  Greco- 
Latin  roots,  thoroughly  Frenchified  by  their  terminations.  What 
is  most  remarkable  is,  that  many  of  these  words  are  to-day 
(1878)  exactly  the  same,  in  both  English  and  French,  as  the 
writer  penned  them  in  his  works  four  hundred  and  seventy-five 
years  ago.  On  this  account  alone  Chaucer's  works  challenge 
the  attention  of  all,  who  have  the  curiosity  to  trace  the  birth 
and  childhood  of  the  English  tongue;  for  he  was,  not  only  the 
poet  and  literatus,  but  the  consummate  linguist  of  his  epoch. 


272         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


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Fourteenth   Century.  273 

Some  practical  observations  on  the  above  Table  may  prove 
not  only  useful,  but  interesting,  showing  as  they  will  the  gradual 
development  of  the  English  language  from  1350.  First  let  readers 
observe  that,  in  adopting  many  of  these  100  words,  the  idiom  ac- 
quired in  one  and  the  same  word  a  noun  and  a  verb,  as :  cause, 
n.  and  v.  ;  change,  n.  and  v. ;  charge,  n.  and  v. ;  force,  n.  and  v. ; 
gain,  n.  and  v. ;  sacrifice,  n.  and  v. ;  surprise,  n.  and  v.  Also  an 
adjective  and  verb,  as  :  double,  adj.  and  v.  ;  humble,  adj.  and  v.  ; 
second,  adj.  and  v. ;  and  even  a  noun,  adjective,  and  verb,  in  one 
and  the  same  word:  present,  n.,  adj.  and  v.,  besides  presently^ 
adv.,  to  say  nothing  of  presence.  These  words,  mostly  mono- 
syllables and  dissyllables,  have  certainly  proved  a  rich  linguistic 
legacy,  of  whose  value  Robert  of  Gloucester,  1280,  Robert  Man- 
ning, 1305,  Sir  John  Mandeville,  1380,  Sir  John  Gower,  1390, 
and  Chaucer,  1395,  did  not  dream,  when  they  first  penned  them 
for  their  dialect,  thereby  rendering  it  terse  and  telegraphic. 

The  following  order  of  words,  classified  by  terminations,  will 
yet  more  fully  illustrate  the  above  Table  and  show  the  Greco- 
Latin  fountain,  from  which  the  framers  of  English  drew : 

ist.  There  are  about  1173  French  nouns  ending  in  ion.  Most  of 
these  were  formed  from  the  Latin  by  dropping  is  of  the  geni- 
tive, as  :  actio,  gen.  actionis,  Fr.  action  ;  divisio,  gen.  divisi- 
onis,  Fr.  division  ;  regio,  gen.  regionis,  Fr.  region. 

*d.  The  suffix  ent  terminates  about  719  French  nouns,  most  of 
which  are  derived  from  two  Latin  sources  by  dropping  urn, 
as:  instrument*?*,  talentum,  Fr.  instrument,  talent;  also  by 
dropping  is  from  the  genitive  of  the  present  participle,  as : 
praesens,  gen.  pr&sentis,  Fr.  present. 

3d.  There  are  374  French  nouns  ending  in  age ;  as  this  suffix 
has  been  added  to  Latin,  Germanic,  and  Celtic  roots,  I  shall 
attempt  no  derivation  ;  most  English  words  ending  in  age  are 
French. 

4th.  The  305  French  nouns  ending  in  ure,  were  formed  from  the 
Latin  by  changing  a  into  e,  as:  creatura, figura,  natura, 
Fr.  creature,  figure ',  nature. 

5th.  About   164   French   nouns    terminate   in  ance.     They  are 
mostly  derived  from  the  Latin  by  altering  tia  into  ce,  as : 
ignorantia,  observantia,  Fr.  ignorance,  observance. 
18 


274        Franco -English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

6th.  The  suffix  ine  terminates  about  157  French  nouns,  most  of 
which  were  formed  from  the  Latin  by  changing  a  into  e,  as  : 
disciplina,  doctrina,  Fr.  discipline,  doctrine. 

7th.  The  142  French  nouns  ending  in  ice  were  derived  from  the 
Latin  by  altering  fia,  cium,  tium,  into  ce,  as  :  justitia,  sacri- 
ficium,  vitium,  ¥?.  justice,  sacrifice,  vice. 

8th.  About  134  French  nouns  in  ence  were  formed  from  the 
Latin  by  changing  tia  and  tium  into  ce,  as  :  pr&sentia,  si- 
lentium^  Fr.  presence,  silence. 

pth.  As  the  49  nouns  in  ise,  as  :  surprise,  enterprise,  &c.,  are 
purely  French,  we  pass  to 

loth.  47  French  nouns  in  ude,  mostly  derived  from  the  Latin  by 
altering  o  into  e,  as  :  latitude,  multitude,  Fr.  latitude,  multi- 
tude. 

nth.  38  nouns  in  ide,  as  guide,  &c.,  seem  to  be  purely  French. 

1 2th.  There  .are  27  French  nouns  in  ogue,  some  of  which  were 
formed  from  Latin  by  changing  s  into  e,  as  :  prologus^  cato- 
logus,  &c.,  Fr.  prologue,  catalogue. 

1 3th.  24  French  nouns  in  art  were  derived  from  the  Latin  by 
dropping  is  of  the  genitive,  as  :  ars,  gen.  artis,  Fr.  art,  &c. 

I4th.  12  French  nouns  in  ege  were  formed  from  the  Latin  by 
changing  ium  into  e,  as  :  collegium,  &c.,  Fr.  college,  &c.  So 
were  prestige  formed  from  prczstigia  and  vestige  from  ves- 
tigium. 

i5th.  Seven  French  nouns  in  obe  were  formed  from  Latin  by 
altering  us  into  e,  as :  globus,  lobus^  &c.,  Fr.  globe,  lobe,  &c. 
Robe  seems  of  Celtic  origin  :  Irish  roba  ;  English  in  Chau- 
cer's time,  robe ;  Fr.  robe ;  It.  roba  and  robe ;  Sp.  ropa  and 
Port,  roupa.  It  seems  this  word  found  its  way  from  Ireland 
to  England,  and  thence  to  the  continent. 

i6th.  Seven  French  nouns  in  orce  were  formed  from  Latin  by 
turning  tis  and  tium  into  ce,  as :  fortis,  divortium,  &c.,  Fr. 
force,  divorce,  &c. 

1 7th.  We  pass  to  a  class  of  French  nouns  ending  in  our,  which 
were  originally  taken  into  the  language  from  Latin  and  u 
added  to  suit  the  Franco-Gallic  tongue  or  ear.  They  are 
in  the  Table  as  we  found  them  in  Chaucer.  The  French 
have  since  changed  the  our  into  eur,  which  is  now  the 
suffix  of  1,234  French  nouns.  English  and  American  lexico- 


Fourteenth   Century.  275 

graphers  have  been  discussing  the  propriety  of  relatinizing 
these  vocables  by  dropping  u.  About  1840  the  practical  N. 
Webster  omitted  u  from  all  of  them,  and  ninety-nine  per 
cent,  of  his  countrymen  said  Amen !  Oliphant,  in  his 
"Sources  of  Standard  English''1  (1873),  speaks  quite  senti- 
mentally of  American  irreverence  in  dropping  u  from  honour, 
saying  : 

"  Our  English  honour,  the  French  honure  or  honneur,  takes  us  back  eight 
hundred  years  to  the  bloody  day,  big  with  our  island's  doom,  when  French 
knights  were  charging  up  the  slope  of  Senlac  again  and  again,  striving  to  break 
the  stubborn  shield-wall.  The  word  honure,  which  had  already  thriven  in 
Gaul  eleven  hundred  years,  must  have  been  often  in  the  CONQUERORS'  mouths, 
all  through  those  long  weary  hours.  It  was  one  of  the  first  French  words  we 
afterwards  admitted  to  English  citizenship,  &c.  If  we  change  it  into  honor, 
we  pare  down  its  histoiy  and  we  lower  it  to  the  level  of  the  many  Latin  words 
that  came  in  at  the  Reformation,  &c.  Let  our  kinsmen,  like  ourselves,  turn 
from  changes  utterly  useless,  that  spoil  a  word's  pedigree." 

This  effusion  seems  not  only  inconsistent,  but  contradictory  in 
language  and  sentiment.  To  be  consistent  the  learned  gentle- 
man should  have  written  conquer  ours  and  not  "conquerors  ;"  for 
those  same  French  knights,  who  shouted  honour  at  Senlac,  were 
conquer  ours.  The  erudite  author  probably  knows  what  his  illus- 
trious predecessour,  Walker,  says  in  his  "  Critical  Pronouncing 
Dictionary  and  Expositor  of  the  English  Language"  under  the 
word  honour ;  but  as  some  of  our  readers  may  not  know,  we 
quote  : 

*'  This  word  and  its  companion,  favour,  have  so  generally  dropped  the  u, 
that  to  spell  these  words  with  that  letter  is  looked  upon  9&gauc)u  and  rustick 
in  the  extreme.  In  vain  did  Dr.  Johnson  enter  his  protest  against  the  inno- 
vation ;  in  vain  did  he  tell  us,  that  the  sound  of  the  word  required  the  u,  as  well 
as  its  derivation  from  the  Latin  through  the  French ;  the  sentence  seems  to  have 
been  passed,  and  we  now  hardly  ever  find  these  words  with  this  vowel  but  in  our 
Dictionaries.  But,  though  I  am  a  declared  enemy  to  all  needless  innovation,  I 
see  no  inconvenience  in  spelling  these  words  in  the  fashionable  manner ;  there  is 
no  reason  for  preserving  the  u  in  honour  and  favour ',  that  does  not  hold  good 
for  the  preservation  of  the  same  letter  in  errour,  tuUMottr^uA  a  hundred  others." 

Oliphant's  expressions,  "  pare  down  "  a  word  "  and  lower  it  to 
the  level  of  Latin,"  seem  strange  coining  from  a  scholar;  for  as 
soon  as  a  linguist  finds  a  Latin  origin  to  any  word,  he  rests. 
Hallam,  after  contemplating  the  linguistic  chaos  of  the  middle 


276         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

ages,  exclaimed  :  "The  sole  hope  for  literature  depended  on  the 
Latin  language."  If  the  erudite  author  of  "Standard  English" 
would  look  at  Latin  as  his  distinguished  countryman  Hallam  did, 
he  might  see  fit  to  change  "  pare  down  and  lower  to  the  level  of 
Latin,"  so  as  to  read  :  build  up  and  raise  to  the  level  of  Latin. 

i8th.  A  numerous  class  of  French  adjectives  in  eux  were  formed 
from  Latin  adjectives  ending  in  osus  and  tiosus,  by  changing 
osus  into  eux  and  tiosus  into  deux,  as  Lat.  curiosus,  Fr. 
curieux  ;  Lat.  pretiosus,  Fr.  precieux.  From  these  French 
adjectives  Chaucer  derived  English  adjectives  by  altering  eux 
into  ous,  as  Fr.  curieux,  precieux ;  Eng.  curious,  precious, 
&c.,  in  which  o  is  as  useless  as  in  honour,  favour,  &c. 

ipth.  There  are  512  French  nouns  ending  now  in  te,  which  orig- 
inally ended  in  te  or  tee  without  the  accent.  Chaucer  intro- 
duced many  of  them  into  his  works,  from  among  which  we 
quote  twenty  in  the  Table ;  the  importance  and  extent  of 
meaning  of  these  twenty  words,  in  a  religious,  moral,  and 
social  point  of  view,  prove  Chaucer  a  man  of  deep  thought 
and  great  ideality.  The  term  affinity  alone,  involving  zoo- 
logic,  chemic  and  cosmic  relations,  to  say  nothing  oi  felicity, 
possibility,  liberty,  vanity,  &c.,  &c.,  would  stamp  any  book 
of  that  early  epoch  with  peculiar  interest  for  the  scholar, 
philosopher,  and  scientist.  Each  of  these  twenty  vocables 
has  an  expansive  mental  range. 

These  512  words  were  mostly  formed  from  Latin  by  chang- 
ing as  into  e,  thus  :  charitas,  fraternitas,  snperfluitas,  &c. 
Fr.  charite,  f rat  emit  e,  superfluite,  &c.  Within  the  last  300 
years  the  French  placed  an  acute  accent  over  the  final  e.  to 
determine  its  sound  and  distinguish  it  from  final  e  mute,  as  : 
adversite,  beaute,  prosperite,  &c.  The  English  changed  the 
e  or  ee  into  y  to  determine  its  sound  and  distinguish  it  from 
e  mute,  as  :  dignity,  morality,  quantity,  &c. 

2oth.  Another  class  of  important  French  nouns,  terminating  in 
ie,  mostly  names  of  sciences,  were  derived  from  the  Greek 
or  Latin  by  changing  a  into  e,  as  :  as-rpovo/xta,  Lat.  astrono- 
mia,  Fr.  astronomie  ;  yeco^terpta,  Lat.  geometria,  Fr.  geome- 
tric ;  </>iAoso(£ux,  Lat.  philosophia,  Fr.  philosophic,  &c.  These 
words  are  now  in  French  as  they  were  when  first  introduced. 


Fourteenth   Century.  277 

The  English  changed  ie  into  y  ;  but  we  see  by  Chaucer  and 
his  cotemporaries,  that  they  were  adopted  into  English  as 
they  are  now  found  in  French.  In  German  these  words 
have  the  Frencli  termination,  and  are  usually  identical  with 
the  French,  which  facilitates  English,  French,  and  German 
scientific  works  for  readers,  and  renders  the  ancient  and 
modern  European  languages  more  accessible  to  Arabian, 
Hindoo,  Chinese,  Japanese,  'Polynesian,  and  African  stu- 
dents. 

We  might  continue  dry  explanations  of  this  important  Table, 
showing  the  early  linguistic  and  mental  connection  between 
France  and  England,  while  the  historian  of  events  could  trace  a 
sad  picture  of  war  and  destruction  of  life  and  property.  What 
strange  action  and  reaction  in  human  affairs !  while  bloodshed 
and  devastation  are  raging,  linguistic  and  intellectual  progress 
seem  to  thrive.  How  fortunate  human  passions  do  not  and 
cannot  reach  the  innermost  recesses  of  man's  mental  and  spiritual 
life,  experience  and  progress  ! 

While  reading  Chaucer's  "Canterbury  Tales"  contained  in  a 
duodecimo  volume  of  583  pages,  we  copied  about  2,340  differ- 
ent words  introduced  from  the  French,  all  nouns,  verbs,  or  ad- 
jectives, words  of  inherent  meaning,  from  which  we  took  the  100 
words  in  the  above  Table.  Two  thousand  vocables  of  such  lofty 
meaning  and  expansive  scope  are  a  treasure  to  any  dialect. 
They  are  the  essence  of  Greek  and  Latin  thought  and  musing,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  new  meanings  and  applications  extended  to 
many  of  them  by  modern  science.  Most  of  them  figure  in,  and 
grace  every  leading  European  language. 

The  above  French  words,  classed  by  terminations,  number 
about  6,000,  most  of  which  have  been  introduced  into  English. 

Stephen  Skinner  accuses  Chaucer  of  having  introduced  a 
"cart-load  of  foreign  words  into  English  ;"  perhaps  he  did,  and 
if  so,  it  may  be  considered  a  valuable  and  excellent  cart-load. 

We  have  somewhat  at  length  explained  part  of  the  vocabulary, 
taken  into  English  by  Chaucer  from  Latin,  through  the  French ; 
now  let  us  look  at  the  less  abstract  Anglo-Saxon  words,  modified 
by  him  to  suit  the  coming  idiom.  Chaucer  had  evidently  sur- 
veyed the  chaotic  spelling  of  the  various  shires,  where  impractical 


278         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

monks  wrote  according  to  their  whim,  not  only  without  national 
standard,  but  without  the  slightest  consistency,  penning  one  and 
the  same  word  two  and  three  times  differently  on  the  same  page, 
so  that  the  French-speaking  population  could  not  and  would  not 
follow  their  capricious  jargon.  Chaucer,  after  rendering  himself 
master  of  the  situation  as  to  Anglo-Saxon,  French,  and  Latin, 
resolved  to  bring  some  order  out  of  this  confusion  :  first  he 
dropped  the  thirty-four  senseless  inflections  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
definite  article,  and  replaced  all  by  the  one  invariable  mono- 
syllabic word  the.  To  complete  this  part  of  speech  in  his  native 
tongue,  he  introduced  a  as  an  indefinite  article.  Also  the  seven 
inflections  to  denote  the  gender,  number,  and  case  of  adjectives 
disappeared.  The  ninety-seven  absurd  changes  of  the  personal 
and  possessive  pronouns  he  reduced  to  about  twenty-one.  Of 
the  twenty-three  inflections  that  marked  the  gender,  number,  and 
case,  in  the  demonstrative  pronoun,  he  retained  but  two  :  this 
and  thise  (now  these].  As  the  above  parts  of  speech  :  article, 
noun,  adjective,  and  pronoun,  constituted  all  declinable  Anglo- 
Saxon  words,  let  us  add  that  Chaucer  dropped  the  inflections  and 
substituted  the  invariable  particles  of,fro?n,  to,  in,  by,  and  with, 
to  denote  the  genitive,  dative,  and  accusative,  which  obviates 
declension  in  English.  To  form  the  plural  of  nouns,  he  adopted 
the  French  rule,  "add  s  to  the  singular."  Who  can,  who  will 
regret  the  dropping  of  complications  that  were  remains  of  primi- 
tive times,  caprice,  and  ignorance  ?  A  similar  clearage  would  be 
of  immense  advantage  to  the  German  language,  with  its  compli- 
cated declensions  of  articles,  nouns,  adjectives,  and  pronouns,  to 
say  nothing  of  its  perplexing  formation  of  the  plurals  in  both 
nouns  and  adjectives.  Again,  adjectives  are  differently  declined 
when  preceded  by  the  definite  or  indefinite  article,  whereas,  with- 
out the  article  they  assume  the  inflections  of  the  definite  article. 
Could  there  be  anything  more  arbitrary,  not  to  say  trifling  ? 
Scholars  know  how  Greek  and  Latin  teem  with  inflections  as  to 
declension,  gender,  number,  conjugation,  mood,  tense,  person. 
Yet  German  is  not  less  perplexing  :  Though  it  has  three  genders, 
girl  (Mddchen)  is  neuter;  boy  (Knabe\  masculine;  door  (Thur), 
feminine  ;  house  (Jfaus),  neuter  ;  dog  (Hunrf),  masculine  ;  horse 
(Pferd),  neuter ;  sun  (Sonne)  and  Earth  (Erde),  are  feminine  ; 
moon  (Mond)  and  star  (Stern)  are  masculine  ;  head  (Haupt), 


Fourteenth  Century.  279 

brain  (Hirn\  ear  (Ohr),  leg  (Beiii)  and  knee  (Knie)  are  neuter ; 
neck  (Hals],  arm  (Ami),  finger  (Finger),  and  foot  (Fuss)  are 
masculine ;  hand  (Hand),  nose  (Afase),  liver  (Leber),  and  toe 
(Z<?/^)  are  feminine.  French  has  but  two  genders  :  hence  nouns, 
that  are  neither  male  nor  female,  must  be  either  masculine  or 
feminine  :  sun  (soleil)  and  planet  (planete)  are  masculine — while 
moon  (lune)  and  Earth  (terre)  are  feminine  ;  head  (tete),  spleen 
(rate)  and  hand  (main)  are  feminine — while  brain  (cerveau),  liver 
(foie),  and  foot  (pied},  are  masculine  ;  paper  (papier)  and  book 
(livre)  are  masculine — while  pen  (plume)  and  ink  (encre)  are 
feminine.  We  might  continue  this  series  of  inconsistency  and 
contradiction  ad  infinitum,  but  let  this  suffice  to  show  what  Chau- 
cer did  for  his  native  tongue,  in  removing  like  grammatic  absurd- 
ities five  centuries  ago. 

The  verb,  usually  the  most  complicated  part  of  speech,  the 
Father  of  English  simplified  and  improved  thus  :  the  termination 
an  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  infinitive,  as  shown  in  a  preceding  Table, 
is  not  to  be  found  in  Chaucer's  works ;  but  unaccountably  he 
tried  in  some  verbs  to  replace  this  venerable  Gothic  inflection, 
dating  back  to  Ulfilas'  version  of  the  Bible  A.D.  376,  by  the 
obscure  Germanic  en ;  even  French  verbs,  as  multiplien,  travail- 
len,  &c.,  appear  in  this  Germanic  dress,  which,  to  say  the  least 
of  it,  looks  extremely  grotesque  in  "  Canterbury  Tales."  How- 
ever, this  fancy  being  no  practical  improvement  to  the  English 
idiom,  posterity  dropped,  while  they  retained  most  of  his  other 
changes. 

It  would  seem  as  though  Schiller,  Goethe,  Herder,  or  Bopp — 
Racine,  Corneille,  Thierry,  or  Burnouf  might,  like  Chaucer,  have 
simplified  their  native  tongues  by  removing  some,  if  not  all  of 
the  above  complications  and  incongruities. 

Anglo-Saxon  and  Dano-Saxon  writers  used  different  inflections 
for  one  and  the  same  tense,  as :  A.  S.  ic-luf-ige — D.  S.,ic  luf-iga, 
for  which  Chaucer  substituted  the  simple  I  love.  Now  imagine 
a  dialect  with  but  one  form  for  the  present  and  future — such  was 
Anglo-Saxon,  in  which  ic  luf-ige  meant  both  /  love  and  /  shall 
love.  Chaucer  supplied  this  want  by  using  shal  with  the  infini- 
tive, as :  /  shal  love,  &c.  He  also  replaced  the  cumbersome 
Anglo-Saxon  inflections  :  ode,  odest  and  odon  of  the  imperfect  and 
perfect  participle  by  the  simple  and  concise  English  ed,  as :  ic 


280         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

luf-ode,  thu  luf-odest,  he  luf-ode,  we,  ge,  hi  luf-odon,  geluf-odon  ; 
English  /,  you,  he,  we,  you,  they  loved.  For  the  lengthy  termi- 
nations of  the  present  participle  ande,  aende,  ende,  inde,  onde, 
unde  or  ynde,  as  found  in  the  different  provincialisms,  Chaucer 
substituted  the  nasal  ing,  which  must  have  gladdened  the  Franco- 
Norman  without  saddening  the  Anglo-Saxon  speaking  population. 
We  are  sorry  he  did  not  make  the  Anglo-Saxon  irregular  verbs 
regular ;  he  might  have  done  it  at  that  time,  with  the  same  ease 
and  grace  with  which  he  effected  all  the  above  linguistic  improve- 
ments. He  deserves  the  thanks  of  the  English-speaking  popu- 
lations all  over  the  globe,  that  he  did  not  saddle  English  with 
four  complicated  conjugations,  as  the  framers  of  French  incum- 
bered  their  language,  because  the  Latin  had  four. 

Since,  Chaucer's  useless  u  was  dropped  from  such  words  as  doc- 
tour,  prof  essour,  perdicioun,  &c.,  and  the  words  were  simplified 
and  relatinized  ;  final  e  and  ie  in  such  words  as  J "elicit 'e,  philologie, 
&c.,  were  replaced  by  y,  so  that  now  there  are  no  unpronounced 
letters.  Such  alterations  are  practical  and  sensible  ;  for  unpro- 
nounced letters  are  to  language  what  parasites  are  to  animals  and 
plants.  At  least  one-half  of  the  words  of  the  English  language 
have  such  parasites.  It  would  seem  that  some  plan  might  be 
adopted  to  lessen  the  number  of  these  useless  letters,  or  at  least 
indicate  them  in  such  a  way  that  the  books  now  in  our  libraries 
might  be  still  used  and  read  as  well  as  those  of  the  improved 
method.  Chaucer  dropped  on  from  beon  and  used  be  as  we  have 
it  now. 

It  was  a  real  surprise  to  me  to  find  that  Chaucer  introduced, 
not  only  the  odd  compounds  ight  and  ought  in  such  words  as 
might,  night,  drought,  thought,  &c.,  but  even  aught  in  caught, 
draught,  &c.  That  these  three  strange  combinations  have  trav- 
ersed nearly  five  centuries  and  are  still  used,  is  positive  proof  of 
Chaucer's  great  influence  and  popularity.  Neither  did  I  expect 
to  see  the  word  philologie  in  Chaucer's  works  :  but  there  it  is. 
Thus  did  the  pioneer  bard  enrich  the  Greco-Latin  and  dishar- 
monize the  Anglo-Saxon  part  of  England's  tongue.  Now  for 
another  Chaucer  to  harmonize  letter  and  sound  in,  and  remove 
the  few  remaining  irregularities  from,  the  English  language  ! 

Sir  John  Gower,  whom  both  Wales  and  Yorkshire  claim  as 
offspring,  was  born  about  1320.  Caxton,  almost  cotemporary 


Fourteenth   Century.  281 

(1412),  assigns  him  to  the  former,  Leland  (1500)  to  the  latter. 
He  was  of  good  family  and  bred  to  the  law  at  the  Middle  Temple. 
He  was  the  author  of  three  books,  the  titles  of  which  are  en- 
graved on  his  tomb  at  St.  Mary  Overy's  Church  :  "Speculum 
Meditantis"  (Mirror  of  One  Meditating);  "Vox  Clamantis" 
(Voice  of  One  Crying),  and  "  Confessio  Amantis  "  (Confession  of 
One  Loving),  the  latter  of  which  was  issued  among  the  first  books 
printed  in  England  by  Caxton,  1483.  The  two  former  have  not 
been  printed.  Gower  wrote  in  English,  French,  and  Latin. 
Warton,  in  his  "  History  of  English  Poetry,"  pronounces  his 
French  sonnets  the  best  of  his  writings  :  they  are  entitled  4<  Cin- 
quante  Ba lades"  We  do  not  consider  Gower' s  French  as  clear 
and  distinct  as  that  written  in  the  days  of  William  the  Conqueror. 
He  was  a  favorite  of  King  Richard  II.,  at  whose  suggestion  he 
wrote  "  Confessio  Amantis"  It  is  said,  while  sailing  together  in 
the  royal  barge  on  the  Thames,  Richard  asked  Gower  "  to  book 
some  new  thing,"  which  desire  thus  expressed,  was  the  occasion 
of  the  "Lover's  Confession"  The  idea  and  plan  of  this  poem 
was  taken  from  one  of  Boccaccio's  Tales,  modernized  by  Dryden 
about  1690.  Towards  the  sunset  of  life  the  poet  became  blind. 
Gower' s  style  is  thus  commended: 

"The  first  of  our  authors,  who  can  properly  be  said  to  have  written  Eng- 
lish, was  Sir  John  Gower." — Johnson. 

"The  tranquil  elegance  of  Gower." — J.  D^  Israeli. 

"He  is  always  polished,  sensible  and  perspicuous." — Hallam. 

As  it  is  ever  edifying  to  witness  harmony  among  cotemporary 
grandees,  we  will  mention  the  lifelong  friendship  between  Gower 
and  Chaucer.  From  what  they  mutually  express  to  and  write  of 
each  other,  it  appears  that  Gower  considered  Chaucer  as  his  pu- 
pil, and  Chaucer  treats  Gower  as  his  senior  and  teacher.  In  his 
"  Confessio  Amantis"  Gower  desires  Venus  to  communicate  to 
Chaucer  these  fatherly  lines  : 

"  And  grete  wel  Chaucer,  when  ye  mete, 
As  my  disciple  and  my  poete  : 
For  in  the  flowers  of  his  youth, 
In  sundry  wise,  as  he  well  couthe, 
Of  ditees  and  of  songes  glade 
The  which  he  for  my  sake  made." 


282        Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Thus  tenderly  and  courteously  Chaucer  returned  this  fatherly 
compliment,  by  dedicating  to  the  veteran  poet  his  "Troilus  and 
Cresseide:" 

O  !  moral  Gower  !  This  boke  I  direct 
To  thee,  &c. 

It  is  pleasant  to  contemplate  across  hundreds  of  years  a 
friendship  so  delicately  expressed.  Where  could  we  find  a  pen- 
dant to  this  touching  picture  in  more  modern  times,  when  men 
go,  come,  eat,  drink,  and  live  fast  ?  I  am  aware  that  some  mod- 
ern critics,  fond  of  gossip,  tried  to  discover  a  quarrel  between 
these  ancient  bards,  whose  writings,  as  above  quoted,  are  a 
standing  contradiction  to  such  scandal-makers.  We  close  our 
humble  account  of  the  two  great  Medieval  English  bards  with 
this  highly  appropriate  compliment  from  Pettit  Andrews  : 

"  To  penetrate  the  mists  which  balefully  lowered  over  the  English  tongue, 
the  brightness  of  a  Chaucer,  the  accuracy  of  a  Gower  were  needed,  and  those 
constellations  were  not  yet  visible." 

During  this  century  Asia  was  in  a  state  of  transition  :  the  re- 
gions where  the  Arians,  Bactrians,  Scythians,  Sacians,  Germans, 
Hindus,  Assyrians,  Medes,  Persians,  Hebrews,  Arabians,  Greeks, 
and  Romans,  had  dwelled,  fought,  and  intermixed  for  ages,  were 
invaded  by  the  Mongolians  or  Tartars  under  Tamerlane,  who 
started  from  his  capital,  Samarcand,  A.D.  1369,  conquered  Per- 
sia, India,  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Armenia,  and  penetrated  into  Rus- 
sia as  far  as  Moscow.  Soon  the  Turks  of  Asia  Minor,  and  Arabs 
of  Damascus,  Bagdad,  and  Delhi,  acknowledged  Tamerlane's 
sway  •  but  his  progeny  amalgamated  with  and  became  Mahomet- 
ans, who  put  an  end  to  the  Greek  Empire  and  ruled  since  over 
southern  and  western  Asia,  southeastern  Europe  and  northern 
Africa.  Now  only  the  Turks  are  likely  to  be  expelled  from 
Europe  by  the  descendants  of  those  Russians,  whose  country 
Tamerlane  invaded  four  centuries  ago.  Tamerlane  claimed 
descent  from  Jengis  Khan,  who  conquered  China,  A.D.  1213. 
Thus  did  the  progeny  of  the  Scythians  or  Scoloti*  spread  over 

*  Herodotus,  B.  IV.,  6  and  7. 


Fourteenth  Century.  283 

China,  Southern  and  Western  Asia  and  Europe,  whence  a  mixed 
Scytho-Gotho-Germanic,  Celtic,  and  Greco-Latin  race  expanded 
over  America,  India,  Oceanica,  and  the  greater  part  of  Africa. 
When  we  consider  this  long  intermingling  of  tribes,  nations, 
and  races,  we  can  hardly  wonder  that  Sanscrit,  Semitic,  Greco- 
Latin,  Celtic,  Scytho-Gotho-Germanic,  and  Sclavonic  roots  are 
found  in  Earth's  leading  languages.  The  English-speaking  pop- 
ulations have  done  much  to  extend  their  idiom.  They  took  from 
the  Mahometan  Tartars  Zoroaster's  fifteenth  "  Region  of  Beati- 
tude," called  "  Hapta  Hendu ''  (seven  rivers),  now  Punjab, 
whence,  ages  ago,  our  Arian  ancestors  spread  over  Ariavarta, 
India  and  Ceylon,  formed  the  Sanscrit  language  and  wrote  the 
Vedas.  They  conquered  and  acquired  the  jarring  elements  of 
Brahma,  Buddha  and  Moslem,  and  erected  the  whole  into  a  grand 
empire  under  the  tolerant  and  benign  rule  of  Christ's  Ethics, 
where  each  can  thrive  and  progress  in  its  own  way,  protected  by 
"  Magna  Charta"  So  in  America,  English  expanded  over  Cali- 
fornia, Texas,  Alaska,  Canada,  Jamaica,  &c.,  where  progress  is 
encouraged  under  Magna  Charta  and  "government  by  consent." 
History  mentions  Tamerlane  as  a  quasi  monster.  Since  we 
read  his  autobiography  (which  is  worth  perusal)  we  changed  our 
opinion  concerning  him ;  especially  when  Gibbon  tells  us  : 

"Tamerlane  might  boast  that,  at  his  accession  to  the  throne,  Asia  was  the 
prey  of  anarchy  and  rapine,  whilst  under  his  prosperous  monarchy,  a  child, 
fearless  and  unhurt,  might  carry  a  purse  of  gold  from  east  to  west." 

In  his  "Middle  Ages,"  Hallam  thus  portrays  England's  status 
in  the  fourteenth  century  : 

"  The  Barons,  without  perhaps  one  exception,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
the  gentry,  were  of  French  descent,  and  preserved  among  themselves  the 
speech  of  their  fathers.  This  continued  longer  than  one  should  naturally 
have  expected." 

Extracts  and  Tables  from  the  seven  Franco -English  authors, 
Robert  Manning,  Adam  Davie,  Langland,  Mandeville,  Gower, 
Chaucer,  and  Prayers  of  the  fourteenth  century,  showing  their 
style  and  the  numeric  origin  of  their  vocabulary : 


284         Franco -English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  Robert  Mannings*  translation  of  Peter  Langtoffs 
French  Chronicle  into  Franco-English.  This  version  is 
sometimes  called  Manning's  "Rhyming  Chronicle  "  A. D.  1303. 

"  After  the  Paske's  wele  that  thise  men  were  thus  schent,1 
The  Kyng  at  Carlele  held  his  Parlement. 
Fro  Rome  a  Cardinalle  the  Pape  thider  sent, 
To  wite2  the  sothe3  alle  the  manage  long  of  ment.4 
If  the  Prince  mot6  haue  the  King's  douhter  of  France, 
The  acorde  and  pes6  mot  sauve  thorgh  that  aliance, 
And  at  ihe  Parlement  was  a  grete  spekyng, 
For  the  clergie  it  ment  of  holy  kirke's  thing. 
Erles  and  Barons,  ilkone7  it  forsuore, 
For  what  manere  resons  git  wot8  I  no  more, 
Bot  of  the  last  ende  of  ther  grete  counsaile, 
To  London  suld9  the  sende  men  that  myght  auaile,10 
To  speke  and  purueie11  whilk12  suld  ouer  the  se, 
The  sothe  to  Philip  seie,13  and  sette  a  certeynte 
Of  that  manage,  how  and  whan  suld  be, 
And  bate14  alle  other  outrage,  for  Gascoyn  do  feaute.15 
Of  alle  the  poyntes  spoken  the  parties  bifore  had  said, 
Neuer  suld  be  broken  on  payne  there  on  was  laid. 
And  whan  the  parties  wold  mak  a  finalle  pes, 
God  grante  it  tham  to  hold  the  conant16  that  thei  ches.17 
Git  gos  Kyng  Robyn  forthls  in  his  rioterie, 
Ne  corn  not  git  his  fyn  to  ende  of  his  folie. 
Bot  Sir  Jon  de  Waleis  taken  was  in  a  pleyn,"  &c. 
195  common  words,  among  which 


occurs 


1 8  times. 

4     " 

8 

6 


have,  aux. 
shall,     " 

will,  " 

may,  » 

do,  « 
that 
and 


occurs 


times. 


The 

a 

of 

to 

from 

in 

with 

by 

Pron.  of  ist  pers. 

"     2d    " 

«     3d    " 
be,  aux. 

Hence,  Manning's  style  requires  195  common  words  to  furnish  100  different 
words,  and  averages  about  fifty-two  per  cent,  particles  and  forty-nine  per 
cent,  repetitions. 


70 
other  particles,  31 


101  particles. 


1  troubled. 

4  meant. 

7  each  one. 

10  avail. 

13  say. 

16  covenant. 

2  know. 

5  might. 

8  know. 

11  provide. 

14  abate. 

17  chose. 

8  truth. 

6  peace. 

9  should. 

12  who. 

15  fealty. 

18  fine. 

*  Also  known  as  Robert  of  Brunne. 


Fourteenth  Century. 


285 


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Greek: 

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M 

"S"*" 

286        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  Adam  Dame's  "Gest  or  Romance  of  Alexander? 
written  about  1312.  We  copy  from  Thomas  War  ton' s  "His- 
tory of  English  Poetry"  Vol.  I.,  p.  ccviii.  L.  E.,  1824. 

"  Barounes  weore  whilom  wys  and  Gode, 
That  this  ars  wel  understode  : 
Ac  on  ther  was  Neptanamous 
Wis  in  this  ars  and  malicious  : 
Whan  kyng  other  eorl  cam  on  him  to  weorre 
Quyk  he  loked  in  the  steorre  ; 
Of  wax  made  him  popetts, 
And  made  heom  fyzhte  with  battes : 
And  so  he  learned,  je  vous  dy, 
Ay  to  aquelle  hys  enemye, 
With  charms  and  with  conjurisons  : 
Thus  he  asaied  the  regiouns, 
That  him  cam  for  to  asaile, 
In  puyr  manyr  of  bataile  ; 
By  cler  candel  in  the  nyzt, 
He  mad  uchon  with  othir  to  fyzt, 
Of  alle  manere  nacyouns, 
That  comen  by  scln'p  or  dromouns. 
At  the  laste,  of  mony  londe 
Kynges  therof  haden  gret  onde, 
Well  thritty  y  gadred  beoth, 
And  by  spekirh  al  his  deth. 
Kyng  Philip  of  grete  thede 
Maister  was  of  that  fede  : 
He  was  a  mon  of  myzty  hond, 
With  hem  brouzte,  of  divers  lond, 
Nyne  and  twenty  ryche  kynges, 
To  make  on  hym  batalynges : 
Neptanamous  hyt  understod  ; 
Ychaunged  was  al  his  mod  ; 
He  was  aferde  sore  of  harme  : 
Anon  he  dede  caste  his  charme  ; 
His  ymage  he  madde  anon, 
And  of  his  barounes  everychon, 
And  afterward  of  his  fone, 
He  dude  hem  to  geclere  to  gon 
In  a  basyn  al  by  charme ; 
He  sazh  on  him  fel  theo  harme ; 
He  seyz  flye  of  his  barounes 
Of  al  his  lond  distinctiouns." 

223  common  words,  among  which 


The  occurs  2  times. 


of 
to 
from 


2 


5 


. 

with  5 

by  4 

Pronoun  of  ist  person  i 

2d       •*.';•*  i 

3d       "         "  29 


tie,  aux. 


have,  aux.               occurs  o  times. 

shall,     "                        *  o 

will 

may,  aux. 

do,       "  2 

that  3 

and                                  '  7 

&> 

other  particles,  20 


100  particles. 


Hence,  Adam  Davie's  style  requires  about  223  common  words  to  obtain  100  different  words, 
and  averages  about  forty-four  per  cent,  particles,  and  fifty-five  per  cent  repetitions. 


Fourteenth  Century. 


..*$'& 

•=  ="«  E'l 

Z&Z&& 


iis 


287 
i 


1    s 

H  II 

IRS- 

I   *i 

1! 
5 


11 


li 


288         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extracts  from  Robert  Langland^s  "Vision  and  Crede  of  Pierce 
Plowman"  1350. 


[We  select  from  it  the  prophecy,  relating  to  Reformation,  and  Langland's  description  of 
hunger  and  of  Kynde,  or  Nature,  which  is  very  forcible.] 

"  And  there  shall  come  a  King,  and  confesse  your  religions 
And  bete  you,  as  the  Bible  telleth,  for  breaking  of  your  rule, 
And  amende  moniales,  monkes  and  Chanoines, 
And  then,  fiers  in  her  freytour,  shall  fynd  a  key 
Of  Constantynes  coffers,  in  which  is  the  catal, 
That  Gregories  god  children  had  it  dispended  ; 
And  then  shall  the  Abot  of  Abingdon  and  all  his  issue  forever, 
Have  a  knocke  of  a  King  ;  and  incurable  the  wound. 
Men  of  holy  Kirke  shall  turn  as  Templars  did  ;  time  approacheth  near." 

"  Hunger,  in  heste,  though,  hent  Wastour  by  the  mawe, 
And  wronge  him  so  by  the  wembe  that  bothe  his  eien  watered. 
He  buffeted  the  Breton  about  the  chekes, 
That  he  loked  lyke  a  lanterne  al  his  life  after." 

"  Kinde,  conscience  tho'  heard,  and  come  out  of  the  planets, 
And  sent  forth  his  sorrioues,  fevers,  and  fluxes, 
Coughes,  and  cardiacles,  crampes,  and  toth-acb.es, 
Reumes,  and  ragondes,  raynous  scalles, 
Byles,  and  botches,  and  burning  agues, 
Freneses,  and  foul  euyl,  forages  of  Kinde  !  &c. 
There  was  Harow  !  and  Help  !  here  commeth  Kinde." 


173  common  words,  among  which 


The                    occurs 

10  times. 

have, 

aux. 

a                             " 

5       " 

shall, 

" 

of 

6       " 

may, 

" 

to                            " 

o       " 

will, 

" 

from                       " 

0         " 

do, 

u 

in                             " 

3      " 

that 

with                        " 

o      " 

and 

by 

2         " 

Pron.  of  ist  per.   " 

O         " 

u      2d     u     « 

3      " 

ol 

««     3d     u     ,. 

9       " 

be,  aux.                  " 

0         " 

occurs 


i  times. 

4  « 
0     « 

0  «« 

j  «< 

~  « 

20  " 


67 

other  particles,  17 


84  particles. 


Hence  Langland's  style  requires  173  common  words  to  furnish  100  different 
words,  and  averages  about  forty-nine  per  cent,  particles  and  forty-two  per 
cent,  repetitions. 


Fourteenth  Century. 


289 


AR 
TI 


1? 

5 

K    Z 

<  o 

is>  > 


,»am- 


o  o  j 

C'S'3 

tl  0-3 

GOO 


.5      c 


anic 
3 


.rs? 

-11 

If  I 


lillllilllllll 


irfitliiMi! 


moniales 
monkes 
ispende 
abot 


-.         - 


5 

u        c  *Q   rt   rOjO   >,-5 


SSS& 


S  .pftil 


290 


Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Extract  from  Sir  John  Mandeville' s  Travels,  A.D.  1356. 

"  For  als  moche  as  it  is  longe  tyme  passed,  that  there  was  no  generalle 
passage  ne  vyage  over  the  see ;  and  many  men  desiren  for  to  here  speke  of 
the  holy  lond,  and  han  thereof  gret  solace  and  comfort ;  I,  John  Maundeville, 
Knyght,  alle  be  it  I  be  not  worthi,  that  was  born  in  Englond,  in  the  town  of 
Seynt  Albones,  passede  the  see,  in  the  yeer  of  our  Lord  Jhesu  Crist 
MCCCXXII,  in  the  day  of  Seynt  Michelle ;  and  hidre  to  have  ben  longe 
tyme  over  the  see,  and  have  seyn  and  gon  thorghe  manye  dyverse  londes,  and 
many  provynces  and  kingdomes  and  iles ;  and  have  passed  thorghout  Turkye, 
Tartarye,  Percye,  Surrye,  Arabye,  Egypt  the  highe  and  the  lowe,  Ermonye 
the  litylle  and  the  grete ;  thorgh  Lybie,  Caldee  and  a  gret  partie  of  Ethiope ; 
thorgh  Amazoyne,  Inde  the  lasse  and  the  more,  a  gret  partie ;  where  dwellen 
many  dyverse  folkes,  and  of  dyverse  maneres  and  lawes  and  of  dyverse  schappes 
of  men.  Of  whiche  londes  and  iles  I  schalle  speke  more  pleynly  hereaftre. 
And  I  schal  devise  gou  sum  partie  of  thinges  that  there  ben,  whan  time  shalle 
ben,  aftre  it  may  best  come  to  my  mynde ;  and  specyally  for  hem,  that  wylle 
and  are  in  purpos  for  to  visite  the  holy  citee  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  holy  places 
that  are  thereaboute.  And  I  schalle  telle  the  weye,  that  thei  schalle  holden 
thidre.  For  I  have  often-tymes  passed  and  ryden  the  way,  with  gode  com- 
panye  of  many  lordes  :  God  be  thonked. 

"  And  gee  schulle  undirstonde,  that  I  have  put  this  boke  out  of  Latyn  into 
Frensch,  and  translated  it  agen  out  of  Frensche  into  Englyssch,  that  every 
man  of  my  nacioun  may  undirstonde  it." 


268  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

17  times. 

have,  aux. 

a 

M 

I       " 

shall,     " 

of 

(4 

16       " 

will,      " 

to 

(I 

3      " 

may,     «' 

from 

" 

0         " 

do,        " 

in 

M 

4       " 

that, 

with 

M 

i       " 

and 

by 

ii 

0         " 

Pron.  of  ist 

per.    « 

7      " 

"     2d 

a     tt 

2         " 

ot 

"     3d 

a     tt 

6      " 

be,  aux. 

" 

3      " 

occurs 


5  times. 

6  " 
i  " 
i  " 
o  " 
6  " 

24  " 


103 

other  particles,  38 


141  particles. 


Hence,  Sir  John  Mandeville's  style  requires  268  common  words  to  furnish 
loo  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-two  per  cent,  particles  and  sixty- 
three  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Fourteenth   Century. 


291 


% 


1 


.« 
.SB 
£ 


vv 


l  l 


%     G 


8  a 
;| 

S, 

e 


c  « 

^ 


sr 


292         Franco -English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Extract  from  Sir  John  Cower*  s  "Confessio  Amantisl 

Book  V.,  p.  138,  written  about  1365. 

"  Whan  Rome  stood  in  noble  plite, 
Virgile,  whiche  was  tho  parfite, 
A  mirrour  made  of  his  clergie, 
And  set  it  in  the  townes  eie 
Of  marbre  on  a  piller  without, 
That  thei  by  thirtie  mile  about, 
By  daie  and  eke  also  by  night, 
In  that  mirrour  beholde  might 
Her  ennemies,  if  any  were, 
With  all  her  ordinance  there, 
Whiche  thei  ayene  the  citie  cast ; 
So  that,  while  thilke  mirrour  last, 
There  was  no  londe,  whiche  might  acheue 
With  werre  Rome  for  to  greue. 
Wherof  was  great  enuie  tho 
And  it  fell  that  ilke  tyme  so, 
That  Rome  had  werres  stronge 
Ageyne  Carthage,  and  stoode  longe 
The  two  cities  upon  debate 
Carthage  sigh  the  stronge  astate 
Of  Rome  in  thilke  mirrour  stonde, 
And  thought  all  prively  to  fonde 
To  overthrows  it  by  some  wile, 
And  Hanniball  was  thilke  while 
The  Prince  and  leader  of  Carthage, 
Which  had  set  all  his  courage 
Upon  Knighthode  in  such  a  wise, 
That  he  by  worthie  and  by  wise, 
A tiJ  oy  none  other  was  counsailed  : 
Wherof  the  worlde  is  yet  mervailed 
Of  the  maistries  that  he  wrought 
Upon  the  marches,  which  he  soughte ; 
And  fell  thilke  tyme  also, 
The  Kynge  of  Puile,  which  was  tho, 
Thought  ayene  Rome  to  rebelle, 
And  thus  was  take  the  quarelle, 
Howe  to  distroie  the  mirrour. 
Of  Rome  tho  was  Emperour,"  &c. 

2IO  common  words,  among  which 


The 

of 

to 

in 

with 

from 

Pronoun 


be,  aux. 


of  ist  person 
2d       " 
3d       " 


10  times. 

have, 

aux. 

3 

shall, 

'• 

6 

will, 

" 

5 

may. 

11 

5 

do, 

t4 

2 

that 

o 

and 

6 

0 

o 

12 

3 

73 
other  particles,  40 


113  particles. 


Hence,  Gower's  style  requires  about  210  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-four  per  cent,  particles  and  fifty-two 
per  cent,  repetitions. 


Fourteenth   Century. 


293 


i  A.. 

HO, 


lll 


-a  X.g-j-2    - 


i**.» 


Ml 


i  .s 
II 


J?  t 

q  | 

J  i 

1  I 


S  1 

t-»  .2 

«}  -J3 

r  2 


If 

s  _^ 


H     ta 
I     ^ 


?     II 

l".£.s 
Till 

gill 

T! 


294         Franco  -English  Period  ',  A.D.  1200-1600. 
Extract  from  Cliaucer's  "  Canterbury  Tales"  A.D.,  1390. 

Appleton's  Edidon,  1857,  P«  578- 


"  Now  have  I  told  you  of  veray  confession,  that  is  the  seconde  part  o 
itence.  The  thridde  part  is  satisfaction,  and  that  stont  most  generally  in 
almesse  dede  and  in  bodily  peine.  Now  ben  ther  three  matter  of  almesse  : 
contrition  of  herte,  wher  a  man  offreth  himself  to  God  :  another  is,  to  have 
pitee  of  the  defaute  of  his  neighbour  :  and  the  thridde  is,  in  yeving  of  good 
conseil,  gostly  and  bodily,  wher  as  men  have  nede,  and  namely  in  siistenancc 
of  mannes  food.  And  take  kepe  that  a  man  hath  nede  of  thise  thinges  gener- 
ally, he  hath  nede  of  food,  of  clothing,  and  of  herberow,  he  hath  nede  of 
charitable  conseilling  and  visiting  in  prison  and  in  maladie,  and  sepulture  of 
his  ded  body.  And  if  thou  maiest  not  visile  the  nedeful  \\\  prison  in  \\\y  per- 
son, visile  hem  with  thy  message,  and  thy  yeftes.  Thise  ben  generally  the 
almesses  and  werkes  of  charitee,  of  hem  that  have  temporel  richesses,  or  dis- 
cretion in  conseilling.  Of  thise  werkes  shalt  thou  heren  at  the  day  of  dome." 

"  This  almesse  shuldest  thou  do  of  thy  propre  thinges,  and  hastily,  and 
prively  if  thou  maiest  :  bnt  natheles,  if  thou  mayest  not  do  it  prively,  thou 
shalt  not  forbere  to  do  almesse,  though  men  see  it,  so  that  it  be  not  don  for 
thanke  of  the  world,  but  only  to  have  thanke  of  Jesu  Crist.  For  as  witness- 
eth  Seint  Mathewe,  Cap.,  &c." 

229  common  words,  among  which 


The                         occurs              7  times. 

a                                                     2 

of                                "                20 

to                                "                  4 

from                            "                  o 

in 

9 

with 

i 

by 

o 

Pron.  of  ist  per. 

i 

»      2d    " 

ii 

"       3d     " 

IO 

be,     aux. 

»            5 

have,    " 

g 

shall,    " 

3 

will,      " 

0 

may,     « 

2 

do,        " 

O 

that 

5 

and                            "                15 

103 

other  particles,  33 

136  particles. 

Hence,  Chaucer's  style  requires  229  words  to  furnish  100  different  words, 
and  averages  sixty  per  cent,  particles  and  56  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Fourteenth  Century. 


295 


§•• 

ll 


M"IS      .|l 

3$ 


s 


i  |.s 
i*s  i 
I  jfi 

*       -3 

Sf 


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5  4jS         C 


S  € 


296         Franco-English  Period ',  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  the  Lord' s  Prayer,  the  Creed,  and  part  of  another 
Prayer,  towards  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

"  Our  Fadir  that  art  in  hevenys; 
Halewid  be  thi  name. 
Thi  kyngdom  come  to, 
Be  thi  wil  done  in  erthe  as  in  hevene. 
Give  to  us  this  day  oure  breed  ouir  othir  substaunce. 
And  forgive  to  us  our  dettis  as  we  forgiven  to  our  dettouris  : 
And  lede  us  not  into  temptacioun  : 
But  delyvere  us  from  yvel.     Amen." 

"I  bileve  in  god,  fadir  almygti,  makere  of  hevene  and  of  erthe  ;  and  in 
iesu  crist  the  sone  of  him,  oure  lord,  oon  alone :  which  is  conceyved  of  the 
hooli  gost ;  born  of  marie  maiden  :  suffriede  passioun  undir  pounce  pilat :  cru- 
cified, deed,  and  biried  :  he  went  doun  to  helle  :  the  thridde  day  he  roos  agen 
fro  deede  :  he  steig  to  hevenes :  he  sittith  on  the  right  syde  of  god  the  fadir 
almygti:  thenns  he  is  to  come  for  to  deme  the  quyke  and  deede.  I  beleve 
in  the  hooli  goost :  feith  of  hooli  chirche  :  communynge  of  seyntis  :  forgyve- 
ness  of  synnes ;  agenrisyng  of  fleish,  and  everlasting  lyf.  So  be  it." 

God,  of  whom  ben  hooli  desiris,  rigt  councels  and  iust  werkis ;  gyve  to  thy 
servantis  pees,  that  the  world  may  not  geve,  that  in  our  hertis  govun  to  thi 
commandementis,  and  the  drede  of  enemys  putt  awei,"  &c. 

202  common  words,  among  which 

The  occ 

a  ' 
of 

to  « 

from 

in  « 

with  ' 

by 

Pronoun,  ist  per.      ' 

"  2d     "        * 

"  3d     "        ' 

be,  aux.                 * 

Hence,  the  devotional  style  of  the  fourteenth  century  required  about  202 
common  words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averaged  about  forty-five 
per  cent,  particles  and  fifty-one  percent,  repetitions. 

NOTE. — Even  the  devotional  style,  usually  the  most  conservative,  shows  a 
rapid  transition  from  Anglo-Saxon  to  Franco-English,  not  only  in  the  increase 
of  French  terms,  but  in  the  absence  of  Anglo-Saxon  inflections,  and  in  the 
increase  of  the  particles  of,  to,  from,  in,  &c. ,  which  dispense  with  the  inflec- 
tions of  the  Anglo-Saxon  genitive  and  dative,  ending  in  um. 


9  times. 

have, 

aux.      occurs          o  times. 

0        " 

shall, 

U                     «                          Q           ft 

II       " 

will, 

u            «               Q      « 

10      " 

may, 

"            "               I       " 

2        " 

do, 

0        " 

7      " 

that 

3      " 

0        " 

and 

5      " 

0        " 

— 

J~      « 

76 

O 

5     " 

other  particles,  14 

7      " 

90  particles. 

3      " 

Fourteenth   Century. 


297 


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SM 

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• 

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Hebrew 

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I         ill 

only  one 

<« 

g 

H             2  ....               J!  o  8 

>J    ..       "rE  a  >                    UOtfl 

1 

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THO-GER 

o-Saxon 

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$ 

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1  i 

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G       . 

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298         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from  the  seven   Tables   of  the 
Fourteenth  Century. 


175 


Greek  : 

2" 

Latin  : 
French  : 

10 

162 

Greco-Latin  : 

Italian  : 

i 

Anglo-Saxon  : 

257' 

Gothic  : 
German  : 

i 
6 

•  Gotho-Germanic 

Danish  : 

i 

Welsh  : 

i 

Irish  : 

i 

•  Celtic  : 

Scotch  : 

i 

Hebrew  : 

i 

•  Semitic  : 

265 


Total  of  the  differ- 
ent words :  444. 


Hence,  the  style  of  Franco-English  in  the  four- 
teenth century  shows  a  vocabulary  of  different 
words,  containing  about 

39  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,    including   37    per   cent. 

French. 

60        "         Anglo-Saxon. 
Traces  of  Celtic  and  Semitic. 

Sixty -two  of  the  162  French  words,  or  about 
thirty-eight  per  cent.,  are  now  spelt  as  they  were  in 
the  fourteenth  century. 

One  hundred  and  eight  of  the  257  Anglo-Saxon 
words,  or  about  forty  per  cent.,  are  now  spelt  as 
they  were  in  the  fourteenth  century. 

Eight  of  the  162  French  words,  or  about  five  per 
cent,  are  now  obsolete. 

Twenty-one  of  the  257  Anglo-Saxon  words,  or 
about  eight  per  cent.,  are  now  obsolete. 


As  the  English  intellect,  language,  and  literature  made  gigan- 
tic strides  in  this  age,  it  behooves  the  analyzer  and  reader  to 


Fourteenth  Century.  299 

pause  so  as  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  that  signal  progress.  During 
the  seven  previous  centuries,  from  the  earliest  Anglo-Saxon 
writing,  Ethelbert's  Code,  A.D.  597,  to  Robert  of  Gloucester's 
Chronicle  in  Franco-English  verse,  A.D.  1272,  we  could  hardly 
find  in  any  one  century  two  vernacular  authors  or  writings  from 
which  we  could  take  two  Extracts  and  Tables  to  trace  the  origin 
and  progress  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect ;  so  scarce  were  ver- 
nacular writings,  that  we  had  in  several  centuries  to  resort  to  the 
"Saxon  Chronicle"  for  a  second  Extract.  In  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries  the  written  thought  in  England  was  almost  ex- 
clusively Latin.  Even  as  late  as  the  thirteenth  century  we  had 
the  PYanco-English  pioneer,  Robert  of  Gloucester,  and  Layo- 
mon's  translation  of  "Le  Brut  d'Angleterre ; "  to  obtain  a  third 
Extract  we  collected  popular  prayers,  because  Latin  was  still 
the  vehicle  x>f  written  thought  in  England.  Only  the  fourteenth 
century  witnessed  an  increase  of  written  vernacular  ideas,  which 
we  mainly  attribute  to  Robert  of  Gloucester's  Chronicle,  that  had 
enabled  the  English  people  to  read  the  history  of  the  world  and 
their  country,  penned  in  a  pleasant  style  in  their  native  tongue. 
Hence  Robert  of  Gloucester  may  truly  be  called  the  pioneer 
thinker  and  writer  in  primitive  English.  Robert  Manning's 
"Rhyming  Chronicle"  opened  the  fourteenth  century;  he  was 
soon  joined  by  Adam  Davie.  Langland,  Sir  John  Mandeville, 
Wickliffe,  Gower,  and  Chaucer,  who  so  illumined  his  age,  that  it 
may  be  styled  the  Chaucerian  Era.  Now  intellectual  treasures, 
written  in  the  vernacular  dialect,  awakened  the  popular  mind  and 
induced  men  to  read  and  think  for  themselves,  and  not  to  take 
all  their  mental  food  from  priests,  monks,  and  nuns. 

Chaucer's  writings,  especially  his  "  Canterbury  Tales,"  being 
rather  a  criticism  and  burlesque  on  the  manners  and  customs  of 
that  day,  must  have  powerfully  contributed  to  open  the  eyes  of 
the  people.  Noblemen,  priests,  monks,  nuns,  and  commoners, 
are  exhibited  and  contrasted  in  those  piquant  tales,  which  were 
singularly  calculated  to  show  the  social  foibles  ;  but  underlying 
these  intellectual  teachings  was  the  moral  and  religious  element, 
urged  by  the  enlightened,  good,  and  earnest  Wickliffe,  who  trans- 
lated the  Bible  into  plain  Franco-English,  so  that  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  could  read  and  explain  its  precepts  for  them- 
selves, out  of  which  grew  the  axiom  "Liberty  of  Conscience." 


3OO        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Thus  seven  eminent  thinkers,  authors,  and  writers  in  the  native 
idiom  :  Robert  Manning,  Adam  Davie,  Langland,  Sir  John  Man- 
deville,  Wickliffe,  Gower,  and  Chaucer,  where  there  had  hardly 
been  two  in  any  one  of  the  seven  previous  centuries — account 
for  that  English  intellectual  and  moral  dawn  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  In  his  "Intellectual  Development  of  Europe,"  Draper 
says  :  "  The  development  of  European  languages  was  the  instru- 
ment of  papal  overthrow,"  which  is  corroborated  by  our  numeric 
analysis  of  language. 

Before  closing  this  age,  so  beneficent  to  the  English  language 
and  literature,  we  must  mention  England's  navigator,  Macham, 
who  discovered  the  Isle  of  Madeira,  A.D.  1344,  and  died  there 
soon  after.  Alcafarado  wrote  an  account  of  Macham' s  adven- 
tures in  Portuguese,  which  was  translated  into  French,  A.D.  1672. 
It  seems  England  might  have  claimed  Madeira  under  the  plea  of 
discovery.  England  had  a  protestant  in  Wickliffe,  and  Ireland 
in  Fitz  Ralph,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  better  known  as  Richard 
of  Armagh,  who,  for  denouncing  the  licentiousness  of  the  mendi- 
cant friars,  was  cited  before  Pope  Innocent  VI.  and  condemned. 
This  liberal  prelate  died  at  Avignon,  1360.  Scotland  had  a 
chronicler  and  two  Latinists  in  the  fourteenth  century  :  Wynton, 
prior  of  the  monastery  of  Saint  Serf's  Island,  wrote  "  Orygynale 
Cronikil  of  Scotland"  in  verse,  which  contains  precious  informa- 
tion about  that  period.  It  was  translated  into  French,  1795,  en- 
titled "Chronique  Originate  d'Ecosse."  John  Blair,  chaplain 
to  Sir  William  Wallace,  whose  life  he  penned  in  Latin  verse, 
which  was  translated  by  Hume  in  his  "  History  of  the  Doug- 
lasses." John  Fordun  wrote  "  Chronicon  Genuinum,"  History 
of  Scotland,  about  A.D.  1350.  It  is  said  MacCulloch  continued 
it.  Thus  had  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland  their  reformers  and 
literati  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  the  British  Isles  contributed 
their  fair  quota  to  the  world's  progress. 


FIFTEENTH    CENTURY. 


"Printing,  an  art  which  was  to  preserve  all  arts,  and  which  was  to  elevate  the  human  race 
and  spread  intelligence,  education,  the  Bible,  the  almanac,  and  the  newspaper  through  the 
world." — HUDSON'S  JOURNALISM. 

THIS  age  witnessed  many  events  highly  important  to  popular 
education,  and  therefore  to  the  development  and  expanse  of  the 
English  language  and  literature :  An  Act  of  Parliament,  about 
1406,  to  allow  villains,  namely :  farmers,  mechanics,  &c.,  to  send 
their  children  to  school ;  public  schools  were  established,  colleges 
endowed,  and  the  Universities  of  St.  Andrews  and  Glasgow 
founded.  The  magnificent  structures  erected  at  Oxford  and 
Cambridge  show  in  what  estimate  England  held  classic  educa- 
tion. The  last  vestige  of  foreign  linguistic  influence  was  effaced 
from  the  national  records,  1483,  by  an  Act  of  Parliament  abolish- 
ing the  custom  of  writing  every  statute  of  that  body  in  French. 
Even  royalty  did  homage  to  the  vernacular  in  this  century;  for 
Henry  IV.  had  his  will  made  in  English,'  1413,  which  shows  great 
progress,  when -we  consider  that  Henry  II.  needed  an  interpreter 
to  explain  '•'•good  olde  Kynge  "  addressed  to  him  by  the  yeomanry 
of  Pembrokshire,  1154.  Henry  V.  imitated  his  father's  patriotic 
example  ;  before,  the  royal  wills  were  written  in  French  ;  so  were 
those  of  the  nobility,  who  soon  followed  the  sovereign's  lead. 

Wickliffe's  ideas  found  adherents  in  Bohemia,  where  John 
Huss,  rector  of  the  University  of  Prague,  translated  the  English 
Bible  into  Bohemian,  1408,  and  was  burned  as  a  heretic  by  the 
Council  of  Constance,  1415.  Then  and  there  England's  language 
found  its  way  to  the  continent,  where  it  gained  an  influence  that 
has  ever  been  increasing,  especially  through  Shakespeare,  New- 
ton, and  a  galaxy  of  great  intellects. 

The  year  1409  witnessed  a  very  decided  reform  movement : 
When  Henry  IV.  tried  to  raise  money  by  taxation,  the  House  of 
Commons  advised  him  to  seize  the  revenues  of  monasteries  and 


3O2         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

convents,  and  leave  the  care  of  each  parish  to  the  secular  clergy. 
Henry  IV.  refused  to  raise  funds  by  such  a  method  ;  but  fifty  years 
after,  Henry  VIII.  carried  out  this  suggestion  to  its  fullest  extent 

Here  belongs  Margaret,  styled  the  Semiramis  of  the  North, 
Queen  of  the  Scandinavian  Races,  whose  influence  began  to  be 
felt  all  over  Europe  during  the  long  reign  of  this  great  woman. 
Her  fame  reached  the  Eastern  Emperor,  Emanuel  Paleologus, 
who  called  her  "Regina  sine  exemplo  maximal  She  died  1412. 
Under  her  sway  the  Scandinavian  or  Gothic  dialects,  and  the 
primitive  Northern  tribes,  that  spoke  them,  had  much  in  common 
with  England  and  her  language. 

The  most  progressive  stride,  made  by  language,  was  printing, 
which  became  practically  useful  about  this  time.  Hypercritics 
may  wrangle  about  ancient  Medieval  and  Chinese  methods  of 
printing  and  about  inscriptions  in  cameo  and  intaglio ;  we  start 
from  where  printing  became  a  practical  art.  Three  individuals 
claim  its  invention  :  Lawrence  Coster,  of  Harlem,  1430  ;  Guten- 
berg, of  Mentz,  1440,  and  Faust,  of  Mentz,  1440.  It  has  been 
conceded  that  Gutenberg  had  the  best  claim.  In  1450  Gutenberg 
and  Faust  became  partners  and  printed  with  letters,  cut  on 
wooden  blocks,  a  dictionary,  which  they  named  "Catholicon? 
Next  they  substituted  copper  types  in  place  of  the  wooden  ones, 
and  printed  a  Latin  Bible.  Soon  they  separated  and  Faust  asso- 
ciated his  son-in-law,  Schoffer,  with  himself.  Hence  we  fre- 
quently see  the  three  heads  of  Gutenberg,  Faust,  and  Schoffer, 
united  on  title-pages.  This  art  in  the  first  place  compelled  uni- 
formity in  spelling,  which  was  the  great  desideratum.  Seeing  the 
same  word  differently  spelled  on  the  same  page  (which  before  was 
very  common)  became  an  impossibility,  because  printer  and 
press  corrector  held  to  a  fixed  standard,  whatever  might  be  the 
caprice  of  the  authors  or  copyists,  who  had  hitherto  produced  so 
much  chaos  in  orthography.  No  wonder  Andrews  calls  printing  : 

"  This  almost  divine  method  of  expanding  literature." 

The  art  extended  rapidly  to  all  parts  of  Europe,  so  that,  A.D. 
about  1500,  printed  books  issued  from  two  hundred  European 
cities.  Germany  showed  her  gratitude  to  Gutenberg  for  his  great 
invention,  in  erecting  to  him  a  magnificent  bronze  statue  by 
Thorwaldsen,  at  Mentz,  1837. 


Fifteenth  Century.  303 

The  royal  bard,  James  I.  of  Scotland,  deserves  a  place  here, 
not  only  for  his  literary  tastes,  but  for  his  love  of  horticulture, 
planting  and  engrafting  fruit  trees,  and  teaching  those  about  him 
to  do  likewise.  While  confined  at  Windsor  Castle,  he  devoted 
some  of  his  solitary  hours  to  poetic  effusions  that  have  been  much 
esteemed.  He  also  wrote  Latin  with  ease  and  fluency.  It  is 
said,  during  his  long  confinement,  Henry  V.  gave  him  an  excel- 
lent education.  In  1424  he  was  restored  to  his  kingdom.  After 
his  release  he  wedded  the  lovely  Joanna  Beaufort,  whose  mere 
sight  at  a  distance  had  charmed  his  loneliness  at  Windsor  Castle, 
and  about  whom  he  had  written  such  pathetic  strains. 

Behold  a  specimen  of  this  amiable  prince's  georgics  : 

"  Now  was  there  maide,  fast  by  the  touris  wall 
A  gardene  faire  ;  and  in  the  corneres  set 
An  herbere  grene,  with  wandis  long  and  small 
Bailit  about ;  and  so  with  tree — is  set 
Was  all  the  place,  and  hawthorn  heggis  knet, 
That  lyf  was  none,  walking  there  forbye, 
That  might  within  scarce  any  wyght  aspye. 

So  thick  the  beughis  and  the  levis  grene 

Beschadet  all  the  allies  that  there  were, 

And  middis  every  harbere  might  be  sene 

The  sharpe,  grene,  suete  junipere, 

Growing  so  fast  with  branchis  here  and  there, 

That,  as  it  seemed  to  a  lyf  withoute, 

The  beughis  spred  the  harbere  all  aboute." 

The  following  stanza  from  his  "King^s  Quhair  "  shows  how  he 
studied  and  revered  his  great  predecessors  : 

"  Unto  impnis  of  my  maisteres  dere, 

Gower  and  Chaucer,  on  the  steps  that  sate 

Of  rhetorike,  whyle  thai  were  lyoand  here, 

Superlative  as  poetes  laureate, 

In  moralite  and  eloquence  ornate  ; 

I  recommend  my  buk  in  lynis  seven. 

And  eke  their  saulis  unto  blisse  of  Heven." 

This  worthy  prince,  assassinated  1437  by  a  fierce  and  unbridled 
feudal  aristocracy,  exhibits  to  the  world  a  striking  example  of 
how  circumstances  change  a  man's  disposition,  tastes,  and  char- 
acter :  confined  as  a  child  and  youth,  he  had  ample  time  to  look 


304        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

at  human  life  as  it  is,  and  not  as  it  is  artificially  made.  Had  he 
grown  up  amid  the  whirl  of  royalty,  he  would  probably  not  have 
become  the  tender-hearted  being  he  lived  and  died.  Here  is  a 
pathetic  strain  to  his  solitary  life  : 

'*  Through  the  dayis  and  the  nightis  eke, 
I  wold  bewaille  my  fortune  in  this  wise, 
For  which  distresse,  agayne,  comfort  to  take, 
My  custome  was,  on  mornys  for  to  rise 
Airly  as  day.      Oh,  happy  exercise  ! 
But  slepe  for  craft  on  earthe,  colde  I  no  more ; 
For  which,  as  that  I  colde  no  better  wyte 
I  toke  a  boke  to  rede  upon  a  while, 
Myn  eyne  gan  to  smerte  for  studying, 
My  book  I  schett,"  &c.     .     .     . 

The  erudite  and  liberal  Scotch  historian,  W.  Robertson,  has 
these  most  pertinent  remarks  on  this  excellent,  but  unfortunate 
youth,  man,  and  king : 

"  It  was  the  misfortune  of  James,  that  his  maxims  and  manners  were  too 
refined  for  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Happy,  had  he  reigned  in  a  kingdom 
more  civilized.  His  love  of  peace,  of  justice  and  of  elegance  would  have 
rendered  his  schemes  successful ;  and  instead  of  perishing,  because  he  at- 
tempted too  much,  a  grateful  people  would  have  applauded  and  seconded  his 
efforts  to  reform  and  improve  them." 

About  the  middle  of  this  age  flourished  John  Lydgate,  also 
known  as  the  "Monk  of  Bury."  It  has  been  found  by  a  MS.  in 
the  Harleian  Collection  that  he  died  A.D.  1460,  and  not,  as  usu- 
ally stated  in  biographies,  1440.  Of  him,  Warton,  in  his  "  History 
of  English  Poetry,"  says  : 

"  No  poet  seems  to  have  possessed  a  greater  versatility  of  talents :  he  moves 
with  equal  ease  in  every  mode  of  composition.  His  hymns  and  his  ballads 
have  the  same  degree  of  merit,  and  whether  his  subject  be  the  life  of  a  hermit 
or  a  hero,  of  St.  Austin,  or  Guy  of  Warwick,  ludicrous  or  legendary,  a 
history  or  an  allegory,  he  writes  with  ease  and  perspicuity." 

Lydgate  wrote  the  "  History  of  Thebes,"  "  The  Fall  of  Prin- 
ces," odes,  and  other  poems.  We  took  an  Extract  and  Table 
from  his  famous  ballad,  "  London  Lyckpenny,"  which  is  truly 
curious,  showing,  as  it  does,  the  status  of  the  courts  in  England 
under  Henry  VI. 


Fifteenth  Century.  305 

We  cannot  help  alluding  to  Reginald  Peacock,  Bishopi  of  Chi- 
chester,  who  was  deposed  for  questioning  papal  infallibility,  A.D. 
1457.  Our  Extract  and  Table  from  his  works  are  important, 
because  they  indicate  the  style  and  vocabulary,  used  by  the  higher 
and  middle  classes  of  his  day.  They  also  evince  the  prelate's 
disposition  to  conciliate  the  papists  and  Wickliffites  or  Lollards. 
Bishop  Peacock  was  no  extremist ;  for  to  him  Romanists  and 
Lollards  seemed  equally  dear  in  a  Christian  point  of  view.  The 
arguments  he  used  were  well  calculated  to  soften  the  bitterness 
of  the  reformers  against  his  clerical  colleagues. 

Robert  Fabian,  born  in  London  about  1450,  was  considered 
the  most  facetious  and  learned  of  the  mercers  and  aldermen  of 
the  metropolis,  being  conversant  with  Latin.  About  1493  he 
was  sheriff  of  London,  and  composed  his  "  Concordaunce  of  His- 
toryes"  in  seven  books,  six  of  which  relate  to  England's  History 
prior  to  the  conquest,  and  the  last  narrates  English  and  French 
history  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  Bale  says  Wolsey  destroyed 
as  many  copies  of  this  chronicle  as  he  could  procure,  because  it 
contained  too  much  information  concerning  the  church's  patri- 
mony. 

Here  is  a  specimen  from  Fabian's  introduction  to  a  poem  in 
praise  of  London : 

"  Whoso  him  lyketh  these  verses  to  rede, 
With  favor  I  pray,  he'll  them  spell, 
Let  not  the  rudeness  of  them  him  lede, 
To  disprove  this  rhyme— doggerell  ; 
Some  part  of  the  honour  it  doth  you  tell 
Of  this  old  Cytye  Troy  novant, 
But  not  thereof  the  halfe,  delle 
Connynge  in  the  maker  is  so  adaunt. 
But  though  he  had  the  eloquence 
Of  Tully,  and  the  moralitie 
Of  Sence,  and  the  influence 
Of  the  swete  sugred  harmonies, 
Of  that  faire  ladie  Calliope, 
Yet  had  he  not  connynge  perfyte 
Thys  citie  to  praise  in  eche  degre, 
As  that  should  duly  aske  by  ryte." 

"  Fabian,  though  a  mercer  and  sheriff,  is  ranged  among  the  poets  and  his- 
torians of  his  day." — Pettit  Andrews. 
20 


306        Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

A  singular  instance  of  thrift  in  sacred  literature  was  shown  by 
a  D.D.  called  William  Litchfield,  who  wrote  with  his  own  hand 
3,083  sermons,  and  a  metrical  "  Dialogue  between  God  and  the 
Penitent  Soul,"  which  are  preserved  in  Caius  College,  Cambridge. 
This  most  industrious  divine  died  1447.  .  Imagine  a  pastor 
writing  for  his  flock  a  sermon  every  week  for  sixty  years,  and 
you  have  the  Rev.  William  Litchfield.  In  1450,  one  Scolan 
burned  the  numerous  Welsh  MS.  in  the  White  Tower.  It  is 

* 

thought  these  writings  contained  valuable  information  concerning 
the  adventures  and  settlements  of  the  Cimbric  and  Celtic  tribes. 
Such  a  Vandal  deserves  a  monument  corresponding  to  his  crime. 

Medicine  recorded  a  great  surgical  discovery  made  in  Paris, 
1474 :  A  criminal  condemned  to  death,  suffering  much  from  the 
stone,  offered  to  submit  to  lithotomy,  on  condition  that  his  life 
should  be  spared  if  the  operation  was  successful.  As' it  entirely 
succeeded,  many,  suffering  from  the  same  cause,  desired  to  have 
the  stone  removed  by  the  same  process.  Then  and  there  the 
term  lithotomy  was  added  to  the  vocabulary,  the  word  stone  ac- 
quired a  new  application,  and  many  technic  terms  have  been 
added  to  language. 

This  century  points  to  an  institution  that  started  the  diffusion 
of  general  knowledge,  and  subsequently  contributed  much  to  dis- 
sipate provincialisms  and  establish  a  uniform  standard  of  writing, 
printing,  spelling,  and  grammar  in  the  modern  languages  ;  Louis 
XL,  King  of  France,  who,  among  many  acts  deserving  mankind's 
execration,  has  the  merit  of  having  introduced  a  postal  service, 
1479.  First  designed  to  convey  government  despatches  and 
officials,  it  was  soon  extended  to  facilitate  business  intercourse 
between  distant  countries.  Under  Charles  I.  a  similar  service 
was  commenced  in  England,  1635,  but  did  not  prosper  till  about 
1657.  Could  the  starter  of  this  most  useful  contrivance  have 
supposed  that  the  world's  postal  service  would  convey  867,056,750 
letters  in  one  year  in  1870? 

Now  arose  one  of  those  rare  men,  upon  whose  life.  Heaven 
smiles  from  birth  through  eternity;  a  man  who  was  a  blessing  to 
himself,  a  credit  to  his  father,  mother,  kith  and  kin,  an  honor  to 
his  country  and  his  race  ;  not  because  he  won  laurels  on  the 
battle-field,  at  the  risk  and  expense  of  innocent  fellow-creatures, 
but  because  his  career  was  a  shining  example  of  "  Peace  and 


Fifteenth   Century.  307 

good-will  to  men."  Washington  Irving  styles  such  men  "Na- 
ture's Nobility" ;  De  Gerando  and  Pestalozzi,  "Self  educated" 
Be  not  astonished  to  hear,  that  this  exemplary  man  can  point  to 
no  eminent  ancestry,  no  collegiate  honors,  no  university  diplo- 
mas ;  for  he  was  William  Caxton,  who  started  life  as  a  mercer 
and  ended  it  as  a  printer ;  but  simple  as  this  life  may  appear,  it  is 
a  mirror,  which  the  more  it  is  looked  at,  the  more  usefulness  and 
brightness  it  will  reflect;  because  we  see  a  self-taught  scholar,  ne- 
gotiator, and  statesman,  in  whom,  not  only  the  London  Mercers' 
Company,  but  kings,  princes,  and  princesses  did  and  could  con- 
fide. As  Caxton's  life  was  so  varied,  we  give  it  in  detail,  so  that 
the  millions  of  youths,  who  start  in  life  as  he  did,  may  realize 
what  may  be  achieved,  at  home  and  abroad,  with  a  steady  purpose 
and  unswerving  integrity.  Born  in  the  Weald  of  Kent  about 
1410,  when  quite  young  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  London  Mercer 
named  Large,  who  became  afterwards  Lord  Mayor  of  London. 
He  remained  in  this  situation  until  Mr.  Large's  death,  1439. 

The  Mercer's  Company,  1442,  sent  Caxton,  as  their  agent,  to 
the  Netherlands,  where  he  transacted  business  with  such  fidelity, 
that  he  was  appointed  to  a  commission,  granted  by  Edward  IV., 
for  the  purpose  of  confirming  or  forming  a  commercial  treaty 
between  England  and  Burgundy,  1464.  Lady  Margaret  of  York, 
who  married  Charles,  Duke  of  Burgundy,  1468,  employed  Caxton 
in  her  household  at  Bruges.  While  thus  occupied  abroad,  he 
learned  French  and  contrived  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  new 
art  of  printing.  In  1468  he  began,  at  the  solicitation  of  the 
Duchess,  to  translate  into  English  "Le  Recuyil  des  Histoires  de 
Troye  "  de  Jean  Lefevre  (Recueyll  of  the  Histories  of  Troye  *), 
which  he  accomplished  in  three  years.  He  went  to  Cologne  and 
printed  it  1471.  This  was  the  first  typographic  production  in  the 
English  language.  It  is  so  rare  that,  at  a  book  sale  at  Roxburgh, 
a  copy  sold  for  ^£1060.  From  the  translator's  own  words  :  "/ 
practysed  and  learned  at  my  grete  charge  and  dispense  to  or  dyne 
this  say  de  book  in  prynte"  we  may  realize  his  pers-evering  industry. 
About  1474  Caxton  returned  home  with  presses,  types,  printing 
materials,  and  established  a  printing  room  at  the  entrance  of 

*  There  is  a  facsimile  of  a  portion  of  this  book  in  the  Astor  Library,  New 
York. 


308         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Westminster  Abbey ;  thenceforth  a  printing-room  was  called  a 
chapel.  Here  he  issued  his  version  of  "  Le  Jeu  d'Echecs  Mora- 
lise" (The  Game  of  Chess  Moralized  *),  which  was  the  first  book 
printed  in  England,  1474-f 

Caxton  relates  an  amusing  anecdote  of  Master  ShefFelde,  a 
London  mercer,  who,  on  his  way  to  Holland,  was  obliged  to  land 
near  Kingsgate,  where  he  asked  a  woman  for  refreshments,  par- 
ticularly for  eggs.  She  told  him  she  spoke  no  French.  Sheffelde, 
ignorant  of  any  language  but  English,  became  angry ;  but  he 
might  have  starved  had  not  a  bystander  exclaimed  "  cyren" 
which  was  the  Kentish  for  "  eggs."  Such  was  the  confusion  of 
the  English  tongue,  even  as  late  as  the  fifteenth  century,  at  which 
we  can  hardly  wonder,  when  we  consider,  as  previously  stated, 
that  farmers  and  laborers  were  not  allowed  to  send  their  children 
to  school  till  1406.  Caxton  died  about  1492,  and  was  buried  in 
St.  Margarite's  Church,  Westminster.  Our  Extract  and  Table 
from  his  works  will  show  his  style.  In  my  humble  opinion  Eng- 
land had  no  better  and  terser  writer  than  Caxton  prior  to  1500. 
Even  his  few  poetic  strains  evince  as  much  ease  and  fluency  as 
those  of  his  predecessors  and  cotemporaries,  as  may  be  observed 
by  these  lines  on  Chaucer's  writings  : 

"  Redith  his  werkis  ful  of  plesaunce, 
Clere  in  sentence,  in  langage  excellent, 
Briefly  to  wryte  suche  was  his  suffysaunce ; 
What  ever  to  saye  he  tooke  in  his  entente, 
His  langage  was  so  fayr  and  pertynente  : 
It  semeth  unto  mannys  heerynge, 
Not  only  the  worcle,  but  verely  the  thynge." — Caxton. 

Any  one  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  investigate  the  English 
literature  of  the  eleventh,  twelfth,  and  thirteenth  centuries,  may 
discover  that  there  was  no  standard  in  writing  from  the  time  of 
the  Franco-Norman  conquest  to  that  of  Chaucer,  who  first  at- 
tempted to  harmonize  the  heterogeneous  linguistic  elements  and 
provincialisms  in  his  native  tongue.  Even  Chaucer,  the  Father 
of  the  English  language,  literature,  and  poetry,  shows  a  singular 


*  There  is  a  facsimile  of  this  book  in  the  Astor  Library,  New  York. 
f  November  28,  1814,  London  saw  the  first  printing  clone  by  steam.     "The 
London  Times  "  claims  the  honor  of  this  improvement  upon  Caxton's  method 


Fifteenth   Century.  309 

want  of  orthography  ;  for  we  find  throughout  his  works  spelling 
like  this  :  in  one  place  " s/iut/i,"  in  another  "  shulde  ;"  then  "ven- 
geance" and  soon  after  "  vengeaunce  ;  "  sometimes  "  hony"  then 
"honey;"  "  travaile"  and  then  "  trai-aille?  &c.  When  such 
diversity  of  one  and  tlie  same  word  occurs  in  poetry,  it  may  be 
styled  "poetic  license  ;"  but  when  it  occurs  in  prose,  even  friends 
would  be  obliged  to  call  it  "bad spelling"  Caxton,  by  his  un- 
tiring efforts  to  introduce  printing  into  England,  did  more  towards 
forming  a  standard  of  English  orthography  than  any  one  or  all  of 
his  predecessors,  because  a  printed  book  is  the  best  spelling- 
teacher. 

Behold  some  of  posterity's  dicta  on  Caxton,  the  self-taught 
pioneer  of  varied  artistic  and  intellectual  accomplishments  : 

"  Caxton,  a  man  worthy  to  be  held  in  immortal  memory,  as  the  first  who 
gave  to  England  the  means  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge." — R.  A.  Daven- 
port. 

"  Caxton,  an  English  scholar  and  printer,  celebrated  as  the  first  who  intro- 
duced printing  into  England." — Thomas. 

*'  In  the  space  of  twenty  years,  he  produced  between  fifty  and  sixty  differ- 
ent books,  many  of  them  translations  from  the  French,  and  judiciously  selected 
to  promote  a  taste  for  literature  and  good  morals." — Th.  Wright. 

The  "  Dictionnaire  Universel  Biographique  "  styles  Caxton  : 

"  Ambassadeur-imprimeur,  qui  s'adonna  au  commerce  sans  negliger  la  poli- 
tique  et  la  litterature" — Ambassador-printer,  who  applied  himself  to  com- 
merce, without  neglecting  statesmanship  and  literature. 

Thus  the  life  of  a  good  and  useful  man  becomes  a  center  of 
attraction  and  reflection  :  an  American  looks  at  Caxton  and 
calls  him  celebrated  ;  an  Englishman  surveys  the  services  ren- 
dered, and  the  intellectual  treasures  derived  from  France,  and 
generously  acknowledges  the  debt ;  while  a  Frenchman  collates 
and  welcomes  both,  as  pointing  towards  more  kindly  international 
relations  through  statesmanship  and  literature. 

A  Portuguese  mariner,  named  Diaz,  sailed  to  the  southern 
point  of  Africa,  1487,  and  called  it  Cape  Storm,  which  echoed 
first  Portuguese,  next  Dutch  accents.  England  rebaptized  it 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  extended  her  language  in  that  direction 
over  an  area  of  239,112  square  miles,  twice  as  large  as  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland. 


310        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

In  1492  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  took  Granada,  drove  the 
Moors  out  of  Spain  and  freed  Western  Europe  from  Mahometan 
rule — a  small  compensation  for  the  loss  of  the  Greek  Empire  and 
its  venerable  language. 

While  the  Mahometans  conquered  the  Greek  Empire  in  the 
east,  the  Christians  looked  westward  and  were  not  disappointed  ; 
for  during  five  centuries  prior  to  1492,  discoveries  had  been  made 
in  the  west.  As  early  as  A.D.  970,  an  Icelander,  named  Gun- 
biorn,  discovered  Greenland,  where  Erich  Rauda  and  other 
Icelanders,  982,  settled  and  built  many  towns  that  florished  till 
1418.  In  990  they  founded  two  important  cities,  Hvattalid  and 
Garda.  An  Icelander,  named  Biorn,  while  on  his  way  to  Green- 
land, 1001,  was  driven  southwest  and  discovered  a  level  country 
covered  with  forests.  In  the  same  year  Leif  Erichson  traveled 
over  the  newly  discovered  land,  and  finding  it  covered  with  vines, 
loaded  with  grapes,  named  it  Winland  (Vineland).  Subsequently 
this  Vineland,  now  Canada,  was  visited  from  Greenland  during 
126  years  to  carry  on  the  fur  trade.  In  1121  Bishop  Erich  sailed 
from  Greenland  to  Vineland  to  convert  his  heathen  countrymen 
who  had  settled  there.  From  that  period  all  information  from 
Vineland  ceased. 

Next  we  hear  of  the  discovery  and  colony  of  Prince  Madoc, 
from  Wales,  1170,  and  that  the  remains  thereof  were  found  by 
F.  L.  Gomara,  1550,  as  we  have  before  related. 

Two  Venetian  explorers,  Antonio  and  Nicolo  Zeno,  discovered 
Newfoundland,  1390,  which  they  called  "Estotilctnd. 

The  Azores,  a  group  of  nine  islands  in  the  Atlantic,  about 
1000  miles  west  of  Lisbon,  and  about  1800  from  New  York, 
were  first  discovered  by  a  Flemish  merchant  of  Bruges,  named 
John  Vanderberg,  who  was  driven  thither  by  a  storm,  1439.  ^n 
his  arrival  at  Lisbon,  which  was  then  the  great  commercial  center 
of  Europe,  he  spoke  of  his  discovery.  The  Portuguese  imme- 
diately sailed,  took  possession  of  them,  and  kept  them  ever  since. 
Portuguese  authors  relate  that  Vanderberg  found  on  a  high  hill 
in  the  Isle  of  Terceira  an  equestrian  statue,  whose  rider  stretched 
his  hand  westward ;  and  that  strange  characters  (supposed  to  be 
Punic  or  Carthaginian)  were  engraved  on  the  pedestal.  The 
learned  Anderson  mentions  this  interesting  tradition  in  his  '•'•His- 
torical and  Chronological  Deduction  of  the  Origin  of  Commerce" 


Fifteenth  Century.  3 1 1 

There  are  other  stories  of  western  discoveries  prior  to  1492, 
especially  that  about  Martin  Behaim  of  Nuremberg,  who  is  said 
to  have  landed  on  the  coast  of  Brazil,  1486,  and  to  have  made  a 
map  of  it,  which  was  of  service  to  Magellan  in  the  discovery  of 
the  straits  that  bear  his  name.  By  this  rapid  sketch  it  may  be 
realized,  that  this  was  the  age  of  naval  adventure  and  discovery, 
and  that  even  the  Church  joined  the  enthusiasm ;  for  the  Pope 
granted  right  of  possession  to  any  king  or  prince  whose  subjects 
discovered  new  land  and  planted  the  cross  and  royal  insignia 
thereon.  Governments  emulated  each  other  in  exploring  ex- 
peditions ;  mariners  were  looking  out  for  unknown  isles  and 
countries ;  sailors  related  wonderful  adventures  in  the  mysterious 
western  ocean,  that  had  been  current  since  the  Phenicians,  Car- 
thaginians, Romans,  and  Northern  Sea-Kings. 

Christopher  Columbus,  born  of  poor  parents  at  Genoa,  growing 
up  amid  this  elan  for  naval  fame,  engaged,  at  the  age  of  fourteen, 
in  a  seafaring  life,  where  he  had  opportunities  to  hear  and  read, 
not  only  the  wonderful  sailors'  stories,  but  the  actual  discoveries  of 
Iceland,  Greenland,  Newfoundland,  Madeira,  and  Azores  (nearly 
in  mid-ocean)  by  the  Scandinavians,  Welsh,  Venetians,  English, 
Flemings,  and  Portuguese.  About  1470  he  went  to  Lisbon,  then 
the  chief  seat  of  nautical  science,  where  he  married,  resided,  and 
made  geographic  maps  and  charts.  Thence  he  sailed  to  Iceland 
and  accomplished  what  he  states  in  one  of  his  letters  :  "  In  1477 
I  navigated  one  hundred  leagues  beyond  Thule."  During  this 
voyage  to  Iceland,  Columbus,  no  doubt,  heard  of  Greenland  and 
Vineland,  previously  found  by  the  Norsemen.  After  his  negotia- 
tions with  John  II.  of  Portugal  had  failed,  Columbus  applied  to 
Spain,  then  engaged  in  war  with  the  Moors.  Meanwhile  he  sent 
his  brother,  Bartholomew,  to  England  to  lay  his  maps,  charts,  and 
plans  before  Henry  VII.,  1488.  Thus  Columbus  had  in  vain 
asked  the  kings  of  England,  France  and  Portugal  for  subsidies  to 
discover  a  New  World ;  they  were  obtuse  and  slow  of  conception. 
It  required  the  sagacity  and  quick  perception  of  woman  to  hear 
the  problem  and  realize  its  bearings.  That  woman  he  found  in 
Queen  Isabella,  who  at  once  saw  the  possibility  of  the  theme  and 
its  immense  advantages.  Hence  we  are  indebted  to  Isabella's 
intuition  for  the  discovery  of  America,  where  the  loss  of  the 
Greek  Empire  was  replaced  by  a  continent  with  an  area  of  15,- 


312         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

896,000  square  miles,  now,  1878,  occupied  by  a  Christian  popu- 
lation of  84,524,000,  and  where  445  languages  and  2,000  dialects 
have  been  replaced  by  three  European  :  P^nglish,  Spanish,  and 
Portuguese.  Of  the  84,000,000  that  now  inhabit  America,  47,- 
000,000  speak  English  and  37,000^00  Spanish  and  Portuguese. 
Although  Columbus  first  crossed  the  untried  ocean  and  stepped 
on  the  Western  Hemisphere's  soil  August  3,  1492,  Americus 
Vespucius.  who  accompanied  four  expeditions  as  astronomer, 
not  as  commander,  had  his  name  affixed  to  the  New  World  on 
the  plea  of  a  letter,  dated  July  18,  1500,  in  which  he  wrote  : 

"  We  discovered  a  very  large  country  of  Asia." 

It  is  claimed  the  country  thus  mentioned  was  Brazil. 

It  may  be  truly  said  that  one  religion,  the  Christian,  and  two 
languages,  English  and  Russian,  are  expanding;  and  with  them 
civilization,  as  lately  shown  in  Russia  by  the  emancipation  of 
20,000,000  serfs.  English  is  expanding  west,  east,  and  south ; 
while  Russian  tends  eastward,  like  Greek  under  Alexander  the 
Great.  Let  every  one  hail  these  benign  elements  of  universal 
progress. 

Philology  mentions  about  900  languages,  of  which  157  belong 
to  Asia,  with  a  population  of  794,000,000 — giving  an  average  of 
5,050,000  souls  per  language — 53  to  Europe  with  a  population 
of  301, 600,000 ^average  5,600,000  souls  per  language — 125  to 
Africa  with  a  population  of  19 2, 5 2 0,000  =  average  1.540,000  souls 
per  language — 120  to  Oceanica  with  a  population  of  4,365,000= 
average  36,000  souls  per  language — and  445  to  America,  being 
mostly  dead,  as  are  also  the  nations  and  tribes  that  spoke  them  ; 
and  therefore  cannot  be  averaged  on  the  present  population  of 
America,  like  the  languages  of  the  other  parts  of  the  world. 

Philology  also  mentions  5,000  dialects,  about  one-half  of 
which  belong  to  America.  Humboldt  expressed  regret,  that 
there  were  no  fixed  limits  between  dialects  and  languages.  The 
fact  that  unprogressed  parts  of  the  world  have  so  many  different 
languages,  shows  that  the  more  nationalities  are  backward  in 
civilization,  the  more  numerous  are  their  dialects.  Their  words 
consist  almost  entirely  of  vowel-sounds,  and  designate  mostly 
physical  objects  and  articles  of  immediate  necessity.  Certain 
dialects  resemble  the  chattering  of  animals  and  the  cackling  of 


Fifteenth  Century.  313 

geese ;  whereas  others  grow  rich  and  become  refined,  as  the 
nations  who  speak  them  progress  in  literature,  art,  and  science. 
Such  has  been  particularly  the  case  with  the  Ario- Japhetic  dia- 
lects, whose  words  became  gradually  more  and  more  felicitously 
blended  with  vowels  and  consonants,  and  whose  vocabulary  ex- 
panded beyond  physical  objects  and  articles  of  mere  necessity  into 
the  realm  of  metaphysic  ideas  and  vocables.  What  was  true  of 
the  European  languages  three  centuries  ago  would  be  a  libel 
now.  Charles  V.  (1576),  master  of  an  empire  vaster  than  that 
of  Charlemagne,  spoke  and  wrote  seven  languages  ;  when  asked 
his  opinion  as  to  these  languages,  the  monarch  is  said  to  have 
replied  :  I  would  speak  Spanish  with  God,  Italian  with  my  lady- 
love, French  with  friends,  German  with  servants,  Hungarian  with 
horses,  English  with  geese,  and  Bohemian  with  the  devil.  Could 
and  would  such  language  escape  from  the  lips  of  a  scholar  and 
great  monarch,  since  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Pope,  Byron,  Scott, 
Mrs.  Hemans,  Moore,  &c.,  have  spoken,  written,  and  sung  in 
English  ?  Since  Gellert,  Lessing,  Schiller,  Goethe,  Herder,  Hum- 
bolt,  &c.,  have  spoken,  written,  and  sung  in  German  ? 

As  to  the  445  Americo-Indian  languages  and  2,000  dialects, 
had  any  of  them  been  Mother  Tongues,  like  Sanscrit,  Greek, 
Latin,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  or  Gothic,  they  might  have  died,  but  they 
would  not  become  extinct,  as  they  are  doomed  very  soon  to  be. 
However,  a  progressive  world  will  not  lose  much  by  their  extinc- 
tion. Lately  philology  found  analogy  between  some  of  the  Carib 
dialects  of  Eastern  America  and  Western  Africa,  and  between  the 
languages  of  Eastern  Asia  and  Western  America.  We  hope 
research  will  disclose  more  and  more  prehistoric  links  of  the 
early  dwellers  of  the  two  hemispheres. 

Hubert  H.  Bancroft's  "Native  Races  of  the  Pacific  States  of 
North  America"  (1877)  is  a  noble  contribution  towards  clearing 
up  the  proto  history  and  original  dialects  of  the  New  World. 
The  six  hundred  languages  and  dialects  of  the  Pacific  countries 
from  Alaska  to  the  River  Darien,  so  elaborately  collated  and 
commented  on,  are  a  thesaurus  to  philology.  If  Mr.  Bancroft 
bestowed  like  research  on  the  Eastern  and  South  American  races 
and  tongues,  he  would  complete  the  possible  proto-history  of  the 
Western  Hemisphere,  a  Herculean  and  glorious  task  for  any 
aspiring  mortal. 


3H         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

At  last  Henry  VII.  of  England  joined  in  the  enthusiasm  for 
discovery,  and  furnished  Sebastian  Cabot  the  means  to  start  for 
an  island  that  he  and  his  father  had  previously  discovered.  Some 
think  it  was  Labrador,  others  Newfoundland.  After  a  successful 
voyage  he  returned  from  the  New  World  with  many  curious  spe- 
cimens, among  which  were  three  natives,  whom  he  presented  to 
King  Henry.  Robert  Fabian,  a  cotemporary  chronicler,  thus 
describes  them  in  his  "  Concordance  of  Histories  "  .* 

"  There  were  brought  King  Henry  three  men,  taken  in  the  new  found 
island  :  they  were  clothed  in  beast's  skins,  land  did  eat  raw  flesh,  and  spake 
such  speech  as  that  no  man  could  understand  them  ;  and  in  their  demeanor 
were  like  brute  beasts ;  whom  the  King  kept  a  time  after.  Of  the  which 
about  two  years  after,  I  saw  two,  apparelled  after  the  manner  of  Englishmen, 
in  Westminster  palace,  which  at  that  time  I  could  not  discern  from  English- 
men,  till  I  was  learned  what  they  were.  But  as  for  speech  I  heard  none  of 
them  utter  one  word." 

July  8,  1497,  the  Portuguese  navigator,  Vasco  de  Gama,  started 
from  Lisbon  with  160  men  in  three  vessels,  doubled  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  sailed  along  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa,  landed  at 
Mozambique  and  Melinda,  and  crossed  over  to  Calicut  on  the 
western  coast  of  India,  whence  he  returned  home,  1499.  This 
expedition  was  important,  not  only  to  commerce,  but  to  language, 
as  the  starting-point  of  Europe's  acquaintance  with  Arian,  San- 
scrit, Zend,  &c.,  mother  tongues  of  the  Ario- Japhetic  dialects. 
To  European  literature  Gama's  voyage  furnished  the  subject  of 
Camoens'  "Lusiad"  which  Madame  de  Stae'l  calls  "  the  national 
glory  of  Portuguese."  To  England  and  her  language  it  opened 
the  way  to  an  Asiatic  empire  with  an  area  of  936,477  square 
miles,  and  a  population  of  193,108,988.  Who  can,  who  will  un- 
dervalue the  consequences  that  have  been,  are  and  will  be  accru- 
ing to  mankind  from  that  discovery  ?  Thus  has  the  fifteenth 
century  been  pregnant  with  events  having  the  grandest  results : 
printing,  discovery  of  America,  and  passage  to  India,  where,  as 
shown  in  a  previous  Table,  the  "  simple  elements  "  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  dialect  started  ages  ago,  near  the  source  of  the  Indus  in 
Central  Asia,  and  whither  the  descendants  of  those  Anglo-Saxons 
have  returned  with  their  language  enriched  by  the  linguistic 
treasures  of  the  world.  What  mysterious  influences  are  ever 
acting  and  reacting  on  our  planet !  No  doubt,  the  poet  had  ob- 


Fifteenth  Century.  315 

served  and  experienced  these  strange  attractions,  when  he  penned 

this  strain  : 

"  All  natural  objects  have 
An  echo  in  the  heart.     This  flesh  doth  thrill 
And  has  connection,  by  some  unseen  chain, 
With  its  original  source  and  kindred  substance : 
The  mighty  forest,  the  grand  tides  of  Ocean, 
Sky-cleaving  hills,  and  in  the  vaster  air, 
The  starry  constellations,  and  the  sun, 
Parent  of  life  exhaustless — these  maintain 
With  the  mysterious  mind  and  breathing  mould, 
A  co-existence  and  community." 

Towards  the  close  of  this  age  a  branch  of  mathematics,  subse- 
quently called  Algebra,  which  influenced  and  advanced,  not  only 
all  the  exact  sciences,  but  the  arts,  mechanics,  and  commerce, 
was  developed  and  set  forth  by  an  Italian  monk,  named  Luca  di 
Borgo  Paccioli,  in  two  works,  entitled  "Summa  de  Arithmetic  a, 
Geometria,  Proportioned  &c.,  in  which  the  method  of  keeping 
accounts  by  double  entry  was  first  used  and  explained  ;  and  "Z><? 
Divina  Proportioned  for  which  his  friend,  the  celebrated  Leo- 
nardo da  Vinci,  engraved  the  plates.  This  learned  monk  taught 
his  new  science  in  Rome,  Naples,  Pisa,  and  Venice,  where  his 
first  work  was  printed,  1494.  Here  also  new  terms  were  added 
to  the  vocabulary,  and  many  existing  words  received  new  appli- 
cations. 

Thus  new  devices,  discoveries,  and  inventions  occasion  and 
call  forth,  not  only  new  words  and  new  meanings  of  existing 
words,  but  develop  new  phraseology  and  construction,  open  fresh 
channels  of  thought  that  ramify  into  all  the  departments  of  human 
experience.  Prior  to  lithotomy,  crystallization  was  known  to  exist 
in^the  mineral  world,  as  a  natural  process  ;  but  lithotomy  revealed 
a  similar  parasitic  process  in  the  animal  world,  which  produced 
new  thoughts,  ideas,  appliances,  and  instruments,  that  required 
names,  all  of  which  enriched  language.  Arithmetic  and  geometry 
existed  before  Paccioli,  but  his  new  method  of  viewing  them  sug- 
gested terms  that  ultimated  in  algebra,  logarithms,  integral  and 
differential  calculus,  trigonometry,  statics,  dynamics,  &c.  ;  the 
single  words  had  long  existed  in  dictionaries,  but  had  never  been 
used  to  convey  that  meaning  till  Paccioli  hinted  at,  and  explained, 
it  in  his  wonderful  work.  So  with  the  art  of  printing,  which  ex- 


316         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

cited  fresh  thought,  requiring  new  terms  and  new  applications  of 
existing  words  from  the  casting  of  type  to  the  folding,  stitching, 
and  covering  of  a  pamphlet  or  brochure,  to  say  nothing  of  a 
splendid  morocco-bound  embossed  folio  Family  Bible,  with  golden 
clasps,  words,  ideas,  and  phrases,  all  due  to  printing.  Hence, 
any  and  everything  that  affects  the  human  mind,  either  through 
sight,  hearing,  tasting,  or  touching,  forms  a  streamlet,  flowing 
into  language,  as  soon  as  it  finds  linguistic  expression ;  therefore, 
if  asked  :  What  is  language  ?  we  may  pertinently  answer  :  Please 
tell  us  what  it  is  not. 

The  year  1453  saw  tne  sanguinary  Mahomet  II.  enter  Con- 
stantinople, on  whose  ramparts  Constantine  XIII.  died,  defend- 
ing the  city  founded  by  his  great  namesake.  Soon  tyranny  and 
its  attendant,  sterility,  spread,  not  only  over  the  once  happy  Ar- 
cadia, but  over  the  plains  of  Crete,  Egypt,  and  Asia ;  and  dense 
forests  overgrew  the  fruitful  slopes  and  valleys  of  Thrace,  Mace- 
donia, Illyria,  and  Albania,  where  the  renowned  Scanderbeg  so 
long  successfully  baffled  the  armies  sent  against  him  by  the 
haughty  Turk.  Whining  moralists  attribute  this  calamity  to  the 
follies,  effeminacy,  and  sins  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  as 
though  this  flimsy  accounting  could  diminish  a  loss  of  such  mag- 
nitude. As  many  centuries  have  elapsed  since  this  infamous  rule 
by  sword  has  been  tolerated,  not  only  in  the  city  of  Melchisedek 
and  Solomon,  but  in  the  city  of  Byzas  and  Constantine,  we  re- 
joice to  hear  that  the  Christian  nations  are  combined  to  remove 
the  Mahometans  from  the  vast  peninsula,  originally  occupied  by 
the  Thraco-Pelasgi  and  their  progeny,  the  Greeks. 

Thus  fell  the  vast  empire  founded  by  Alexander  the  Great ; 
but  what  became  of  its  rich,  varied,  and  elegant  language,  in 
which  Solon  legislated,  Socrates  moralized,  Hippocrates  ex- 
pounded the  healing  art,  Aristotle  discussed  the  natural  sciences, 
Demosthenes  harangued,  St.  Paul  preached  "the  Unknown 
God,"  &c.  ?  I  am  told  she  is  dead,  DEAD  !  Modern  Greek 
is  but  the  daughter  of  ancient  Greek,  and  differs  little  from  it. 
It  is  now  heard  in  Athens,  and  is  likely  to  resound  again  over 
Epirus,  Albania,  Thessaly,  Thrace,  and  Macedonia. 

The  Greek  language  dead /  we  may  truly  say  with  the  great 
Apostle,  "Being  dead,  yet  she  speaketh  ; "  for  in  uttering  the 
words  telegraph,  charity,  thermometer,  theology,  astronomy -,  gram- 


Fifteenth   Century.  317 

mar,  philosophy,  and  a  thousand  similar  vocables,  we  speak 
Greek  but  slightly  modified.  True,  the  ruthless  Mahometan 
destroyed  120,000  MS.  books  in  the  imperial  library  at  the  sack- 
ing of  Constantinople,  the  greatest  intellectual  loss  since  the 
destruction  of  the  library  of  Alexandria. 

Chrysoloras,  a  native  of  Constantinople,  styled  the  restorer  of 
Greek  in  Italy,  had  carried  Greek  lore  and  taught  his  native 
tongue  to  the  magnates  and  youth  of  Rome,  Florence,  Milan, 
Venice,  &c.,  from  1400  to  1415;  and  his  Greek  grammar  was 
the  standard  for  many  years.  Though  Greek  was  little  kno\vn 
in  Northern  and  Western  Europe,  not  a  single  Greek  book,  being 
found  in  the  library  of  the  King  of  France,  A.D.  1425,  it  became 
a  favorite  study  in  Italy,  whither  scores  of  Greek  scholars  fled 
and  taught  after  the  fall  of  their  beloved  country;  and  to  Italy 
the  students  of  Western  Europe  repaired  to  learn  the  language  of 
Pythagoras. 

The  Greek  language  dead !  our  Greek  dictionary  in  the  hands 
of  students  contains  about  50,000  words,  which  may  be  consid- 
ered as  the  richest  vocabulary  of  antiquity,  not  even  excepting 
Latin.  Let  a  scientist  perceive  some  new  device,  discovery,  or 
invention,  and  he  will  resort  to  Greek  for  elements  of  expression. 

Thus  Prof.  Draper,  observing  the  action  of  the  sun's  rays  in 
producing  chemical  changes,  gave  us  '•  actinism  "  from  a/crtv  (ray). 
So  with  photograph,  composed  of  </>COTOS  (light)  and  y<ra<£av 
(write),  &c 

You  may  ask,  Why  not  use  the  corresponding  plain  English 
light- writing  or  writing  by  light?  Simply  because  Greek  roots 
have  a  peculiar  magnetism  and  seem  to  combine  more  readily 
and  euphoniously  than  any  others. 

Our  leading  languages  have  been  thus  enriched  over  four 
hundred  years. 

If  a  modern  Greek  empire  be  restored  ;  if  the  8,000,000 
Christians  be  encouraged  to  drive  the  2,000,000  indolent  Turks 
from  Europe  into  Asia,  and  begin  a  new  era  of  progress ;  if  a 
government,  like  Mahomet's,  professedly  founded  on  the  sword, 
be  swept  out  of  existence,  and  be  replaced  by  anything  less  dis- 
graceful to  humanity;  then,  and  then  only,  the  cannons  of  com- 
bined Enrope  will  not  have  boomed  in  vain  at  Navarino,  1827  ; 
Henry  Clay's  fervent  speeches  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 


318          Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

States  in  behalf  of  down-trodden  Greece,  will  not  have  been  "  as 
sounding  brass  and  a  tinkling  cymbal ;  "  neither  will  Byron  and 
the  many  martyrs  who  fell  for  the  Grecian  cause,  have  died  in 
vain. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  consider  the  immense  advantages,  that 
would  have  accrued  to  mankind,  if  the  Greek  language  and  em- 
pire had  continued  with  its  intellectual,  industrious  and  commer- 
cial population  in  the  vast,  fertile  peninsula  of  Southeastern 
Europe,  in  Crete,  Cyprus,  Northern  Africa,  and  Western  Asia  ; 
with  Constantinople  as  its  capital,  Carthage,  Cyrene,  Alexandria, 
Sidon,  Smyrna  and  Sinope  as  its  seaports ;  the  Euphrates,  Jordan 
and  Nile  as  arteries  for  inland  trade. 

What  production,  what  industry,  what  commerce  that  empire 
would  have  exhibited  !  Why,  that  vast  region  could  have  sup- 
ported two  hundred  millions  of  souls  in  affluence,  and  would 
have  had  a  surplus  to  exchange  with  the  Hyperboreans  for  amber, 
furs  and  ice,  and  with  the  Ethiopians  for  ivory,  gold  and  precious 
stones,  to  say  nothing  of  the  intellectual  treasures  in  the  melodi- 
ous Greek  tongue  and  its  rich  literature,  as  an  expanded  instead 
of  a  contracted  language. 

In  lieu  of  this  most  desirable  state  of  things,  we  have  had  the 
indolent,  cruel,  intolerant  and  unprogressive  Turk,  in  whose  very 
atmosphere  water  stagnates  and  grass  will  not  grow. 

Travelers,  who  visited  parts  of  European  Turkey  and  her 
isles,  speak  of  Greek  towns  and  villages,  the  dialect,  manners 
and  customs  of  whose  inhabitants  seem  as  simple  and  hospitable 
as  they  were  in  the  palmy  days  of  Greece  twenty-six  centuries 
ago.  Should  not  the  ruthless  Turk  be  expelled,  so  as  to  give 
Greek  genius  and  industry  a  full  chance  to  rise  again  ?  When 
Russia  had  checked  Turkish  arrogance  (in  January,  1878)  and 
consented  to  confer  with  the  other  European  powers  concerning 
the  future  status  of  the  Christian  populations  in  Turkey,  there 
was  a  noble  chance  for  the  Berlin  Congress  of  June,  1878,  to 
perform  a  statesmanlike  duty  towards  the  Greek  and  Sclavonic 
races  under  the  Turks.  We  hoped  they  would  take  as  a  basis 
Lord  John  Russell's  idea  and  restore  Greece,  comprising  Thes- 
saly,  Albania,  Macedonia,  Crete,  the  Egean  and  Ionian  Isles,  and 
all  the  provinces  where  the  Greek  language  prevails,  leaving  the 
Sclavonic  populations  in  Turkey  the  choice  to  join  the  Greeks, 


Fifteenth  Century.  319 

or  unite  among  themselves,  and  not  force  them,  like  cattle,  to  be 
under  this  or  that  rule,  when  humanity  and  its  restless  masses 
yearn  for  Magna  Charta  and  government  by  consent,  as  may  be 
realized  by  the  annexation  of  Cyprus  to  England.  Oh,  could 
rulers  and  statesmen  but  understand  that  yearning,  wisely  humor 
its  gradual  expanse,and  thus  avert  national  and  social  convulsions ! 

The  author  spent  two  years  among  the  simple-hearted  Sclavonic 
peoples,  extending  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Black  Sea,  desolated 
by  the  late  Turko-Russian  war.  They  are  an  industrious  race,  that 
has  been  oppressed  for  centuries.  They  have  as  fertile  a  country 
as  any  in  Europe,  and  if  left  to  themselves  would  clear  and  cul- 
tivate it  with  diligence  and  thrift.  The  Sclavonic  race  and  its 
language,  the  latest  of  the  Ario-Japhetic  streams  from  Asia  to 
Europe,  are  bound  to  have  their  development  and  expansion. 
The  sooner  the  Greco-Latin  and  Gotho-Germanic  nations  realize 
that  inevitable  tendency  the  better  for  the  world's  progress. 

We  cannot  close  this  account  of  Moslem  tyranny  and  destruc- 
tion without  giving  one  specimen  of  their  many  contrivances  to 
conquer,  pillage,  torment,  and  harass  their  Christian  subjects  and 
neighbors.  For  three  consecutive  centuries  they  yearly  selected 
one  thousand  of  the  brightest  and  finest-looking  Christian  lads 
in  their  dominions,  tore  them  from  their  parents,  trained  them  to 
renounce  their  religion  and  adopt  Mahometism  ;  then  they  were 
exclusively  educated  for  a  military  career.  The  discipline  they 
had  to  undergo  was  rigid ;  trained  to  unconditional  obedience 
and  to  endure  fatigue,  hunger,  and  pain,  not  only  without  mur- 
muring, but  with  fortitude,  sure  that  immediate  reward,  honor, 
and  promotion,  would  follow  such  endurance ;  removed  from 
home  and  kindred,  gorgeously  dressed  and  equipped,  and  well 
paid,  they  were  encouraged  to  gratify  every  sensual  desire  and 
every  violent  passion.  Thus  this  martial  fraternity  grew  up  to 
become  the  pliable  tool  of  Mahometan  tyranny ;  they  were  the 
atrociously  renowned  Janissaries.  After  this  fiendish  institu- 
tion had  florished  three  hundred  years,  its  patrons  boasted  of 
having  made  300,000  proselytes.  By  such  means  have  those 
Mahometan  Cains  murdered  the  innocent  Abels  and  destroyed 
the  most  prosperous  of  ancient  empires.  Is  it  not  time  they 
should,  like  Cain  of  old,  be  sent  to  some  land  of  Nod,  if  any 
such  could  be  found  ? 


32O          Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

If  asked,  where  is  the  Greek  language,  you  may  safely  answer  : 
it  encircles  the  globe  ;  wherever  there  is  a  real  scholar,  there  is 
the  Greek  language,  for  no  one  can  be  a  scholar  without  it. 

In  this  connection  we  must  not  omit  the  correspondence  be- 
tween C.  J.  Fox  and  G.  Wakefield,  in  which  the  former  says  : 

"  I  think  a  lexicon  in  Greek  and  English  is  a  work  much  wanted ;  and,  if 
you  can  have  patience  to  execute  such  a  work,  I  shall  consider  it  a  great  ben- 
efit to  the  cause  of  literature.  ...  I  see  innumerable  advantages  in  an 
English  interpretation,  to  which  the  only  objection  is,  that  it  will  confine  the 
sale  to  this  country ;  and  how  far  it  may  be  possible  to  get  two  thousand 
subscriptions  for  a  work  useful  only  to  English  readers  of  Greek,  I  am  afraid 
is  doubtful." 

In  America,  Plato's  language  found  a  powerful  champion  in 
the  classic  scholar,  John  Pickering,  who,  in  the  Preface  to  his 
Greek  Dictionary  of  1826,  says  :  "  It  may  excite  wonder  that  we 
should  have  been  destitute  of  the  most  important  of  all  books  : 
A  Greek  and  English  Lexicon  for  the  use  of  schools"  Hence, 
John  Pickering  wrote  the  first  Greek  dictionary  with  English 
interpretations,  in  the  United  States.  It  was  ready  for  the  press 
in  1814;  but  as  no  publisher  could  be  found  till  1826,  Jones' 
Greek  and  English  Lexicon  was  issued  three  years  sooner  in 
England. 

Hitherto  Greek  grammars  and  dictionaries  had  been  written  in 
Latin,  which  greatly  retarded  the  progress  of  pupils ;  because 
they  had  to  master  Latin  before  they  could  understand  a  word 
of  Greek.  We  need  hardly  say  that  since  the  Greek  classics 
have  been  printed  in  the  vernacular  dialects,  the  study  of  Greek 
has  become  more  and  more  popular  throughout  the  civilized 
world.  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  American  graduates  have  a 
more  general  idea  of  Greek  literature,  while  the  Europeans  have 
a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  Greek  roots.  This  may  be  due 
to  the  difference  of  time  they  comparatively  employ  in  their 
studies.  Hence  we  realize  that  a  Greek  and  English  dictionary 
was  a  desideratum  in  1800,  which  only  appeared  in  England, 
1823,  and  in  America,  1826. 

Thomas  Occleve  florished  in  this  age ;  like  his  eminent  patron 
and  friend,  Chaucer,  he  was  bred  for  the  law.  Seventeen  of  his 
poems  are  extant,  among  which  the  principal  are  :  "Table  of  a 
certam  Empress"  "Pantasthicon  to  the  King"  "Consolation, 


Fifteenth  Century.  321 

offered  by  an  Olde  Man,"  "Mercy,  as  defined  by  St.  Austin" 
"The  Letter  of  Cupid"  "The  Story  of  Jonathas"  and  his  poetic 
translation  of  "De  Regimine  Principis"  by  Romanus  ^Egidius, 
which  has  been  considered  Occleve's  masterpiece.  Some  of 
these  titles  so  prejudiced  hypercritics,  that  neither  the  author  nor 
his  works  had  any  chance  for  a  fair  criticism.  William  Browne, 
1613,  embodied  in  his  " Shepherd's  Pipe"  Occleve's  "Story  of 
Jonathas,"  on  which  he  has  these  expressive  lines : 

**  Well  I  wot,  the  man,  that  first 
Sung  this  lay,  did  quench  his  thirst 
Deeply,  as  did  ever  one, 
In  the  Muses'  Helicon." 

True,  Bale,  1563,  and  Pits,  1616,  made  little  case  of  Occleve's 
productions,  of  which  Warton,  1790,  observes:  "The  titles  of 
his  pieces  indicate  a  coldness  of  genius.  He  has  given  no  sort 
of  embellishment  to  his  original."  George  Mason,  who  edited 
Occleve's  poems  from  MSS.,  1796,  says  : 

"  Occleve,  indeed,  adheres  closely  to  the  substance  of  the  story,  yet  em- 
bellishes in  various  places  by  judicious  insertions  of  his  own.  The  tale  would 
absolutely  appear  in  certain  parts  as  if  it  had  been  mutilated,  were  it  not  for 
these  additional  touches.  In  some  of  them  there  is  a  strain  of  pleasantry 
similar  to  that  of  Prior." 

Hallarn  seemed  rather  bitter  on  Occleve,  when  he  wrote  : 
"  His  poetry  abounds  with  pedantry  and  is  destitute  of  all  grace 
and  spirit." 

As  opinion  is  so  divided  on  this  early  bard,  we  give  first  an 
emotional,  next  a  religious  specimen  from  his  Muse,  so  as  to  en- 
able readers  to  judge  for  themselves  : 

1. 

"  But  well  awaye  !  so  is  myne  herte  wo, 
That  the  honour  of  English  tonge  is  dede, 
Of  which  I  wont  was  han  counsel  and  rede. 
O,  mayster  dere  !  and  fadir  reverent  ! 
My  mayster  Chaucer,  flower  of  eloquence  ! 

**  What  eylid  deth  ?  alas  !  why  wode  he  sle  the? 
O  deth  !  thou  didst  no  harm  singuliere 
In  slaughter  of  him,  bote  all  the  land  it  smerteth. 
But  nathelesse,  yit,  hast  owe  no  power 

His  name  to  sle,"  &c 

21 


322         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

This  affectionate,  well-expressed  elegy  alone  suffices  to  modify 
Hallam' s  sweeping  dictum ;  for  it  not  only  "abounds  with  grace 
and  spirit"  but  with  the  tenderest  feelings  of  appreciation  and 
gratitude.  To  Occleve's  reverence  for  his  great  predecessor  we 
owe  the  only  existing  likeness  of  Chaucer  : 

II. 

"  As  that  I  walkid  in  the  monthe  of  May 
Besyde  a  grove,  in  an  hevy  musynge, 
Flowers  diverse  I  sy  right  fresh  and  gay, 
And  briddes  herde  I  eek  lustyly  synge, 
That  to  myn  herte  yaf  a  confortynge. 
But  evere  o  thoght  me  stang  unto  the  herte, 
That  dye  I  sholde  and  hadde  no  knowynge, 
Whanne,  ne  whidir  I  sholde  hennes  sterte." 

This  stanza  evinces  deep  religious  thought,  felicitously  expressed 
in  connection  with  musing  amid  flowers  and  songs  of  birds. 

Thus  critics,  who  forget  comparative  advance  in  thought,  lan- 
guage, and  literature,  will  differ  as  to  authors  :  King  Ethel- 
bert's  Code,  A.D.  597,  Caedmon's  productions,  680,  Beowulf 
and  the  Saxon  Chronicle,  must  be  judged  as  belonging  to  the  in- 
fancy of  England's  language;  King  Alfred's.  900,  and  Alfric's, 
1000,  as  pertaining  to  its  childhood;  Chaucer's,  1400,  and  Spen- 
ser's, 1600,  as  belonging  to  its  youth;  whereas,  Shakespeare's, 
1616,  Milton's,  1674,  Newton's,  1727,  Scott's,  1832,  and  Long- 
fellow's, 1875,  must  be  viewed  as  belonging  to  the  manhood  of 
England's  idiom.  Those  who,  in  writing  or  reading  a  treatise  on 
the  English  language  or  literature,  expect  to  find  a  Chaucer  or 
Spenser  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  period,  A.D.  597-1200,  a  Shake- 
speare, Scott,  or  Longfellow  in  the  Franco-English  Period,  A.D. 
1200-1600,  commit  an  egregious  anachronism  and  hazard  being 
one-sided  and  partial.  Had  the  erudite  Hallam  considered  for 
one  moment  that  Occleve  wrote  nearly  four  centuries  ago,  and 
during  the  sophomore  years  of  the  English  language,  his  criticism 
would  have  been  less  sweeping. 

Of  Gower,  Hallam  says  :  "  He  is  always  polished,  sensible, 
perspicuous,  and  not  prosaic  in  the  reproachful  sense  of  the 
word."  We  took  an  Extract  from  Gower' s  masterpiece,  "  Confes- 
sio  Amantis"  which  required  200  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  contained  fifty-four  per  cent,  particles; 


Fifteenth  Century.  323 

whereas  an  Extract  from  Occleve's  poems  required  but  191  com- 
mon words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  contained  only 
fifty  per  cent,  particles.  Hence,  Occleve  is  less  prosaic  than 
Gower,  and  should  therefore  be  less  harshly  treated  by  Hallam, 
who  is  so  opposefl  to  prosaicism.  We  consider  Occleve's 
writings  more  perspicuous  than  Gower's.  Sensible  is  rather  a 
vague  term  when  applied  to  an  author's  style.  If  readers  will 
please  compare  our  Extract  from  Occleve's  invocation  to  Health 
with  our  Extract  from  Gower's  "  Confessio  Amantis"  they  may  yet 
more  fully  realize  Hallam's  hypercriticism  on  this  early  poet,  who 
was  about  thirty  years  of  age  when  Chaucer  and  Gower  died. 
Coleridge,  speaking  of  Chaucer's  friend,  says :  "The  almost 
worthless  Gower''  Alexander  Smith  observes  :  "  The  *  moral 
Gower'  was  Chaucer's  friend,  and  inherited  his  tediousness  and 
pedantry  without  a  sparkle  of  his  fancy,  passion,  humor,  wisdom, 
and  good  spirits."  Thus  three  cotemparary  modern  critics  speak 
of  one  and  the  same  author  of  the  fourteenth  century,  simply  be- 
cause they  overlooked  the  time  and  circumstances  in  which 
Gower  wrote,  and  allowed  scope  to  their  first  impulse. 

We  read  in  Oliphant's  "Sources  of  Standard  English,"  1873  : 

"  The  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  was  the  time  when  English,  as  it 
were,  made  a  fresh  start,  and  was  prized  by  high  and  low  alike." 

Extracts  and  Tables  from  Bishop  Peacock,  Lydgate,  Occleve, 
Caxton,  Wynkin  de  Worde,  and  Fabian,  showing  the  style  and 
numeric  origin  of  their  vocabulary. 


324        Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  Bishop  Peacocti  s  "Represser  of  over  much  Blaming 
of  the  Clergy"  A.D.  1450. 

"  Certis  in  this  wise  and  in  this  now  seid  maner  and  bi  this  now  seid  cause 
bifille  the  rewful  and  wepeable  destruccioun  of  the  warthi  citee  and  universite 
of  Prage,  and  the  hoole  rewme  of  Beeme,  as  y  have  had  ther  of  enformacioun 
ynoug.  And  now,  aftir  the  destruccioun  of  the  rewme,  the  peple  ben  glad  for 
to  resorte  and  turne  agen  into  the  catholik  and  general  faith  and  loore  of  the 
chirche,  and  in  her  pouerte  bildith  up  agen  what  was  brent  and  throvvun  doun, 
and  noon  of  her  holdingis  can  thrive.  But  for  that  Crist  in  his  prophecying 
muste  needis  be  trewe,  that  ech  kingdom  devidid  in  hem  silf  schal  be  destruyed, 
therefore  to  hem  bifille  the  now  seid  wrecchid  myschaunce.  God  for  his  merci 
and  pitee  kepe  Ynglond,  that  he  come  not  into  lijk  daunce.  But  forto  turne 
here  fro  agen  unto  our  Bible  men,  y  preie  ge  seie  ge  to  me,  whanne  among 
you  is  rise  a  strijf  in  holdingis  and  opiniouns  (bi  cause  that  ech  of  you  trustith 
to  his  owne  studie  in  the  Bible  aloon,  and  wole  have  alle  trulhis  of  mennys 
moral  conversacioun  there  groundid,)  what  iuge  mai  therto  be,"  &c. 


193  common  words,  among  which 

The                            occurs 

10 

times. 

a                                    " 

i 

u 

of 

10 

II 

to                                   " 

4 

II 

from 

i 

u 

in                                   " 

7 

» 

with                               " 

o 

14 

by 

i 

U 

Pronoun  ist  person     u 

4 

u 

u            2            "              " 

4 

U 

((            .,            ((              t( 

8 

II 

be,   aux.                       " 

4 

" 

have,  "                          " 

2 

it 

shall,  "                          "      , 

I 

tt 

will,    "                          " 

I 

li 

may,  "                           " 

I 

a 

do,     "                          " 

0 

u 

that                               «» 

4 

" 

and                                " 

13 

" 

76 

other  particles, 

27 

103  particles. 

Hence,  Bishop  Peacock's  style  requires  about  193  common  words  to  furnish 
100  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-three  per  cent,  particles,  and 
forty-eight  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Fifteenth  Century. 


325 


Sw 


'2S 


TO-SCLA 
FAMILY  : 


• 


11 


0 


.g        ^ 


«0 


8 
aving 
ing, 


9  I 

*  s 


2-J    « 


i  1 

S    s 


326         Franco -English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  John  Lyd gate's  famous  Ballad :  "London  Lyck- 
penny"  1450. 

"  To  London  once  my  steps  I  bent, 

Where  trouth  in  no  wyse  should  be  faynt ; 

To  Westmynster  I  forthwith  went, 

To  a  man  of  law  to  make  complaynt ; 

I  said  for  Marie's  love,  that  holy  Saynt, 

Pity  the  poore  that  wolde  precede  ! 

But  for  the  lacke  of  mony^  I  could  not  spedc. 

And,  as  I  thrust  the  presse  amonge, 

By  froward  chance,  my  hood  was  gone  ; 

Yet  for  all  that  I  stay'd  not  longe, 

Till  att  the  Kynge  Benche  I  was  one, 

Before  the  judge  I  kneel'd  anone, 

And  prayed  hymm  for  Goddes  sake  to  take  hedt  i 

But  for  lacke  of  mony,  I  might  not  spede. 

Benythe  them  satte  clerkes,  a  grett  rout, 

Whych  faste  dyd  wryte  by  one  assente, 

There  stode  up  one  and  cryde  about, 

"  Rycharde  !  Roberte  !  and  John  of  Kent," 

I  wyst  not  well  what  thys  man  ment, 

He  cryed  out  thryse  there  indede. 

But  he  that  lacked  many  myght  not  spede, 

Unto  the  common  plase  I  yode  thro, 

Wheare  sate  one  with  a  sylken  hode  ; 

I  dyde  him  reverence  (I  ought  to  do  so), 

I  told  my  case  there  as  well  as  I  colde  ; 

How  my  goodes  were  defrauded  me  by  falshood ; 

I  gat  not  a  move  of  his  mouth  for  my  mede, 

And  for  the  lacke  of  mony  I  colde  not  spede" 


202  common  words,  among  which 


The 

a 

of 

to 

from 

in 

with 

by 

Pro.  of  ist  person 
"      2d      " 
"      3d      " 

be,  aux. 


occurs 


3  times. 

have, 

aux. 

3 

shall, 

« 

I 

will, 
may, 

u 
« 

o 

do, 

« 

i 

that 

i 

and 

3 

21 

O 

ot 

6 

2 

o  times. 
i 

i 

2 
2 
2 

3 


61 
other  particles,     43 

104  particles. 


Hence,  Lydgate's  sfyle  requires  202  common  words  to  furnish  100  different 
words,  and  averages  about  fifty-one  per  cent,  particles,  and  fifty  per  cent, 
repetitions. 


Fifteenth  Century. 


327 


( 

jl 

.y 

|s 

a 

^"Rf0<  "  !  §      || 

fa 

L) 

E 

||^ 

<H 

1 

ii      i            533 

i.jiji«    t= 

•ji 

5  >• 

U  i-3 

§1 

Illil?.     JR. 

| 

SARMA 
VONIC  1 

§ 

\. 

1 

I  - 

o 

R. 

^'            v  c 

5 

| 

3^2     ->      i        -S|     « 

i 

.. 

5 

Q                ^'^ 

3 

C/3 

\J 

» 

r* 

O 

> 

« 

to 

.ANGUA' 

1 

y 

s 

tififiiiilMM'il'blfil'i  o 

Jal£il|Ml*i|l^f3j&||   " 

13 

i-.l 

i  |t 

HH 

• 

'**         C   v^ 

O 

g 

1 

4.nglo-  Saxon  : 

Wji||i»{i"iii!Uiii{ 

^     8                                                          g 

'jotho-  Gertnar 

particles,  leav 
meani 

o 

H 

g 

J~* 

U 

.1 

rt 

g 

c       0  -              «  *'-"tS                  w 

10 

w 

H  g  &aJJ|-9  §  C**"-!!  rt  i"®^'!^  jJJ-S 

M 

.y 

•—  1 

y  ,"»*     ^i^^^,        n  J  •* 

J 
> 

O 

« 

*0 

2 

"^ 

g 

\ 

t 

i*. 

^ 

+£ 

\ 

•5 

§ 

$ 

\ 

s   ^-<le5&d'3|ilJai-slaI  1 

i    i 

8 

J'js'|'l?l||  j|g^J»|jf  1  J'iJigJ    « 

i   ••* 

9 

o 

(j                    l       O."5—i                 rt        U        "       -0 

•5  •*  v 

§ 

«  N1 

o     -5 

^ 

y 

• 

t;1®  °                                                                                 !   4     ^> 

5 

'•C 

H-5  >     *°                                                         ,  j;    m 

9 

J 

*^  **3  6 

^ 

£ 

§ 

6 

|M 

=3 

i 

J| 

H 

u 

328         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 
Extract  from  Thomas  OccleTe's  Poems,  1454. 

INVOCATION  TO  HEALTH,  ENTITLED  : 

"La  Male  Regie  de  T.  Ocdeve" —(The  Alls-Rule  of  T.  Occleve.) 

"  O  precious  tresor  incomparable, 
O  ground  and  roote  of  prosperitee, 
O  excellent  richesse  commendable 
Aboven  alle  that  in  eerthe  be, 
Who  may  susteene  thyn  adversitee  ? 
What  wight  may  him  avante  of  worldly  welthe, 
But  if  he  fully  stand  in  grace  of  thee, 
Eerthely  god,  piler  of  lyf,  thou  helthe? 

"  Whil  thy  power  and  excellent  vigour 
(As  was  pleasant  un  to  thy  worthynesse) 
Regned  in  me,  and  was  my  governour, 
Than  was  I  wel ;  tho  felte  I  no  duresse, 
Tho  farsid  was  I  with  hertes  gladnesse; 
And  now  my  body  empty  is,  and  bare 
Of  joie,  and  ful  of seekly  hevynesse, 
Al  poore  of  ese,  and  ryche  of  evel  fare. 

"  If  that  thy  favour  twynne  from  a  wight, 
Smal  is  his  ese,  and  greet  is  his  grevance. 
Thy  love  is  lyf,  thyn  hate  sleeth  downright. 
Who  may  compleyne  thy  disseverance 
Bettre  than  I,  that  of  myn  ignorance 
Un  to  seeknesse  am  knyt,  thy  mortal  fo? 
Now  can  I  knowe  feeste  fro  penance, 
And  whil  I  was  with  thee  cowde  I  not  so. 

'*  My  grief  and  bisy  smert  cotidian 
So  me  labouren  and  tormenten  sore, 
That  what  thow  art  now  wel  remembr  I  can, 
And  what  fruyt  is  in  keepynge  of  thy  lore."  * 


191  common  words,  among  which 


The                              occurs     o  times. 

have,  aux. 

a                                       "        i 

shall,     4t 

of                                     ««        9 

will,      " 

to 

2 

may,     " 

from 

2 

do,        " 

in 

4 

that 

with 

2 

and 

by 

O 

Pronoun  of  ist  person 

13 

2d       " 

13 

o 

"           3d       " 

4 

t 

be,  aux. 

2 

t 

o  times. 

o 

o 

3 
o 

3 
ii 


other  particles,  28 

97  particles. 

Hence,  Occleve's  style  requires  about  191  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty  per  cent,  particles  and  forty-nine 
per  cent,  repetitions. 


*  This  Extract  is  from  a  MS.  of  Geo.  Mason,  L.E.,  1796,  p.  27. 


Fifteenth  Century. 


329 


?   s 


1-3 
j 


1   l! 


!' 


t 

•• 

.a 

ibi 

rf 

a 

WCL, 

1 

«/>£««       g          .J  § 

gu 

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g    "a!  c  ••               OO 

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^*    > 

K     c  "5o  u"S                       C  3 

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£  c  w  o                   J{ 

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fe  <1OO 

I" 

<  u 

89 

in  •* 

L- 

GOMERO-C 
FAMIL' 

1 

:a  .     1     |  - 

1 

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> 

><                 « 

^ 

o 

J 

§ 
< 

<|lli|l  * 

i'  | 

o 

U 

O                             J2 

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fe 

o 

lO-GERMANI 

«s 

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^                                           bO                  T3         « 

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FJS 

c^       SS 

M 

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ill^llliiiliilll! 

OS                               H 

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^         B            8    1      '-    ^J| 

.a 

PH 

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oc3°o"rt-S'~w;;  ^-s"">  '  J'-S"©  "S-a"- 

S 

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fee          «                      g                  > 

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s 

«  u 

<J 

•3 

^  S»3§'3(*83i«<^«' 

J§  g     « 

i 

o  w^ 

i 

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41 

O  "P^  '  "                                       ** 

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i 

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li 

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330        Franco -English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Extract  from  a  Fac-Simile  of  Caxton's  "Game  of  Chesse"  * 

The  first  book  printed  by  him  in  England,  London,  1474 — Black  letter,  without  any  numbering 

of  pages. 

The  jjj  tractate  of  the  offices  of  the  comyn  peple.  the  first  chappitre  is  of  the 
office  of  the  lahoureurs  and  werkmen.  ca.  j. 

"Or  so  moche  as  noble  persones  can  not  revle  ne  go  of  uerne  without  the 
seruyse  and  werke  of  the  people.  Than  hit  behoueth  to  deuyse  the  oultrages 
and  the  offices  of  the  werkmen-f.  than  I  shal  beginne  first  at  the  first  pawn  that 
is  in  the  playe  of  the  Chesse  and  signifieth  a  man  of  the  comyn  peple  on  fote 
for  they  be  al  named  pietons,  that  is  as  moche  to  say  footmen  |  and  thenne 
we  wyl  beginne  at  the  pawn,  whyche  standeth  to  fore  the  rooke  on  the  right 
syde  of  the  Kyng-(-  For  as  moche  as  thys  pawne  appartaineth  to  serve  the 
vycayre  or  lyeuetenaunt  of  the  Kyng  and  other  officers  |  vnder  hym  of  necessa- 
ries of  vytaille  |  and  this  maner  of  peple  is  fured  and  ought  be  maad  in  the 
forme  and  shappe  of  a  man  holclyng  in  his  right  hancle  a  spade  or  shouel-f-  and 
a  rodde  in  the  lyft  hand  the  spade  or  shouel  is  for  to  delue  and  labour  there- 
wyth  the  erthe-f-  and  the  rodde  is  for  to  dryue  and  conduyte  with  al  the  leftys 
unto  her  pasture  |  also  he  ought  to  haue  on  his  gyrdel  a  sarpe  or  crokecl  hachet 
for  to  cutte  of  the  superfluytees  of  the  vignes  and  trees  |  and  we  rede  in  the 
bible  that  the  first  labourer  that  euer  was.  was  caym  the  first  sone  of  ada  that 
was  so  euyl  that  he  slewe  his  broder  abel,"  &c. 


241  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs  31  times. 

have, 

aux. 

occurs 

o  times. 

a 

it 

5      " 

shall, 

« 

u 

i      " 

of 

ii 

17      " 

will, 

« 

<« 

i      " 

to 

« 

7      " 

may, 

14 

u 

0        " 

in 

« 

5      " 

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with 

« 

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it 

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from 

«< 

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and 

«« 

,  .      « 

by 

it 

0         " 

— 

Pro.   of  ist 

2d 

person     " 

«          it 

3      " 
o      " 

other  particles, 

98 
37 

"        3d 

u            u 

6       " 

135  particles. 

be,  aux. 

II 

3      " 

Hence,  Caxton's  style  requires  about  241  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-seven  per  cent,  particles  and  fifty- 
nine  per  cent,  repetitions. 

*  There  is  a  copy  of  this  book  in  the  Astor  Library,  New  York. 


Fifteenth   Century. 


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332         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  Wynkin  de  Worctts  Preface  to  Trevisa's  transla- 
tion of  Higderis  "Polychronicon"  *  ( Universal  History],  re- 
published  by  Wynkin  de  Worde,  London,  1495. 

"  Crete  thankynges,  laude  and  honour  we  merytoryously  ben  bounde  to 
yelde  and  offre  unto  wryters  of  hystoryes,  whiche  gretely  haue  prouffyted  our 
mortall  lyfe,  that  shewe  unto  the  reders  and  heerers  by  what  thynge  is  to  be 
desyred  and  what  is  to  be  eschewed.  For  those  thynges  whiche  our  progeny- 
tours  by  the  taste  of  bitternesse  and  experyment  of  grete  leopardyes  have  en- 
seygned,  admonested,  and  enformed  us  excluded  fro  suche  perylles,  to  knowe 
what  is  prouffytable  to  oure  lyfe  and  acceptable,  and  what  is  unprouffytable 
and  to  be  refused.  He  is  and  euer  hath  ben  reputed  the  wysest,  whiche  by 
the  experience  of  the  aduerse  fortune  hath  beholden  and  seen  the  noble  cytees, 
maners  and  varyaunt  condycions  of  the  people  of  many  dyuerse  Regions.  For 
in  hym  is  presupposed  the  loore  of  wysedome  and  polycye,  by  the  experyment 
of  leopardyes  and  perylles  whiche  haue  grown  of  folye  in  dyuerse  partyes  and 
contrees.  Yet  he  is  more  fortunate  and  maye  be  reputed  as  wyse,  yf  he  gyue 
attendaunce  withoute  tastynge  of  the  stormes  of  aduersyte  that  may  by  the 
redyng  of  hystoryes  conteynynge  aduerse  customes,  condycions,  lawes,  and 
actes  of  sondry  nacyons  come  unto  the  knowleche  and  understandyng  of  the 
same  wysedome  and  polycye.  In  whiche  hystoryes  so  wryten  in  large  and 
adourned  volumes  he  syttynge  in  his  chamber  or  studye  maye  rede,  knowe, 
and  understande  the  polytyke  and  noble  actes  of  alle  the  worlde  as  of  one 
cytee.  And  the  conflyctes,  errours,  troubles  and  vexacyons,"  &c. 

244  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

1  6  times. 

have, 

aux.         occurs        5  times. 

a 

ii 

o     " 

shall 

u                 «           o      « 

of 

M 

15     " 

will, 

tt                «           0      «< 

to 

" 

6     " 

may, 

u                    ««              »        <t 

from 

" 

i     " 

do, 

"                    "              0        " 

in 

M. 

5    " 

that 

2        « 

with 

" 

o    " 

and 

23        « 

by 

II 

5     " 



Pro.  of  ist 
"     2d 

person  *' 
(i      tt 

5     " 

0      *« 

99 
other  particles,  24 

"     3d 

u       « 

6     " 

123  particles. 

be,  aux. 

N 

7     " 

Hence,  Wynkin  de  Worde's  style  required  about  244  common  words  to 
furnish  100  different  words,  and  averaged  about  fifty  per  cent,  particles  and 
sixty  per  cent,  repetitions. 

*  There  is  a  copy  of  this  book  in  the  Astor  Library,  New  York. 


Fifteenth  Century. 


333 


« 


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articles, 
nherent 


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«  H 

si  -iS 

8  o 

J>  Ul 

£  1 


334        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  Robert  Fabiaris  "  Concordannce  of  History  es"  about 
A.D.  1498. 

"In  this  batayl  (Agincourt}  were  slayne  of  the  nobles  of  France,  the  dukes 
of  Barre,  of  Alansori  and  of  Braban,  yiii.  erlis,  and  barons  aboue  Ixxx.  with 
other  gentylmen  in  cote  armours,  to  the  nombre  of  iii. M.  and  aboue;  by 
reason  of  whiche  pyllage  the  Englisshmen  were  greatly  auaunced,  for  the 
Frenshmen  were  soo  assuryd  of  victory  by  reason  of  their  great  nombre,  that 
they  brought  the  more  plentye  of  rychesse  with  theym,  to  the  ende  to  bye 
prysoners  eyther  of  other.  And  also  after  the  victory  by  them  opteyned,  to 
shewe  vnto  Englisshmen  their  pryde  and  pompous  araye ;  but  God,  whiche 
knewe  the  presumpcion  and  pompe,  tournyd  all  thynge  contrary  to  their 
myndes  and  ententes.  Whan  y  kynge  by  grace  and  power  of  God,  more  than 
by  force  of  man,  had  thus  goten  this  triumphaunt  victorye,  and  retournyd  his 
people  from  the  chase  of  theyr  enemyes,  tydynges  were  brought  vnto  him 
that  a  new  hoost  of  Frenshmen  were  commynge  toward  hym.  Wherfore  he 
anon  commaunded  his  people  to  be  enbatayled,  and  that  done  made  proclama- 
tions thorugh  the  host,  that  every  man  shuld  slee  his  prysoner ;  by  reason  of 
which  proclamacion,  y  duke  of  Orleaunce  and  the  other  lordes  of  Fraunce  were 
in  such  fere,  that  they  anon  by  the  lycence  of  the  kynge,  sent  such  worde  vnto 
y  sayd  host  y  they  withdrewe  them  and  the  kynge  with  his  prysoners  vpon 
the  morowe  folowynge  toke  his  way  towarde  his  towne  of  Calays,  where  he 
restyd  hym  durynge  this  mayres  tyme. " 

220  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs  1  6  times. 

have,  aux. 

occurs      i  times. 

a 

I       " 

shall,    " 

"          I     «« 

of 

"       16       " 

will,      " 

<«          0     « 

to 

«        9       « 

may,     u 

"             0      " 

from 

«        *       « 

do,        « 

««         o     " 

in 

"        3      " 

that 

5     " 

with 

"        4       " 

and 

"        ii     " 

by 

6      " 

— 

Pro.  of  ist  person 
"     ad       " 

o       " 
o       " 

other 

94 
particles,  26 

"     3d       " 

««      15       " 

120  particles. 

be,  aux. 

"        5       " 

Hence,  Fabian's  style  required  about  220  common  words  to  fnrnish  100 
different  words,  and  averaged  fifty-five  per  cent,  particles  and  fifty-five  per 
cent,  repetitions. 


Fifteenth  Century. 


335 


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336        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from  the  six  Tables  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Century  : 


Greek  : 

2] 

Latin  : 
French  : 

M  >  Greco-Latin  :          193 

Italian  : 

i  I 

Anglo-Saxon  : 

214] 

Gothic  : 

i 

Danish  : 

3  >  Gotho-Germanic  :  224 

Dutch  : 

i 

German  : 

5 

Welsh  : 

3) 

Scotch  : 

i  V  Celtic  :                        5 

Irish  : 

0                    J 

Total  of  the  different 
words :  422. 


Hence,  the  style  of  Franco-English  in  the  fifteenth 
century  shows  a  vocabulary  of  different  words,  con- 
taining about 

53  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  including  51  per  cent. 

Anglo-Saxon ; 
46       "          Greco-Latin,    including   42    per   cent. 

French ; 
i        *'          Celtic. 

• 

Two  of  the  214  different  Anglo-Saxon  words,  or 
about  one  per  cent.,  are  now  obsolete. 

Five  of  the  176  different  French  words,  or  about 
two  per  cent.,  are  now  obsolete. 

Eighty-eight  of  the  214  different  Anglo-Saxon 
words,  or  about  forty-two  per  cent,  are  now  spelt 
as  they  were  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

Fifty- four  of  the  176  different  French  words,  or 
about  thirty-one  per  cent.,  are  now  spelt  as  they 
were  in  the  fifteenth  century. 


Fifteenth  Century.  337 

Foreigners  think  in  England  education  is  confined  to,  and 
stations  of  honor  and  trust  monopolized,  by  the  nobility  ;  but, 
after  witnessing  such  shining  examples  of  intellectuality  as  Cax- 
fon,  Wynkin  de  Worde  and  Fabian  among  the  mercantile  and 
mechanic  ranks,  we  must  confess,  that  education  could  not  have 
been  at  a  low  ebb,  and  personal  merit  undervalued,  where  men 
rose  from  the  people  to  literary  fame  and  political  preferment. 

To  omit  the  pioneer  linguistic  work  here  would  be  an  unpar- 
donable anachronism.  That  book  is  Cardinal  Ximenes'  "  Polyglot 
Bible  "  of  Alcala,  styled  in  Prescott's  u  History  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  "  : 

"  A  monument  of  piety,  learning  and  munificence,  which  entitles  its  author 
to  the  gratitude  of  the  whole  Christian  world." 

The  completion  of  that  wonderful  book,  also  known  as  the 
"  Complutesian  Polyglot,"  took  nfteeri  years  (A.D.  1502-1517), 
and  cost  Ximenes,  besides  his  own  labor  thereon,  50,000  ducats. 
It  was  printed  in  four  languages  and  six  folio  volumes.  Soon 
Plantin's  "  Polyglot  "  appeared  at  Antwerp,  1572  ;  De  Sacy's,  at 
Paris,  1645;  and  Walton's,  at  London,  1657,  which  "among 
them  contain  the  Hebrew,  Chaldee,  Syriac,  and  Samaritan  texts, 
with  Latin  versions  of  each  ;  the  Septuagint,  the  Greek  of  the 
New  Testament,  the  Italic  and  the  Vulgate,  with  some  of  the 
Hebrew  and  Chaldee  Paraphrases,  and  copious  indexes  and 
grammatic  illustrations."  Hutter's  "  Polyglot,"  issued  at  Nurem- 
berg, 1599,  is  in  twelve  languages :  Hebrew,  Syriac,  Greek, 
Latin,  German,  Bohemian,  Italian,  Spanish,  French,  English, 
Danish,  and  Polish.  No  doubt  Origen's  "Hexapla"  a  collection 
of  the  Scriptures  in  six  languages,  written  by  that  learned  Greek 
Father,  about  A.D.  235,  suggested  the  idea  of  our  Polyglot  Bibles. 
Polyglot  is  formed  from  TroXvs,  many,  and  yXcorra,  tongue  or  lan- 
guage, and  means  many  languages.  Here  again  may  be  noticed 
the  advantage  of  this  Greek  derivative  of  eight  "letters,  whereas 
the  corresponding  English  contains  thirteen.  Thus  did  the  study 
of  the  Scriptures  become  the  dawn  of  our  modern  science,  "  Com- 
parative Philology"  in  which  Bopp,  Burnouf,  Adelung,  Sir  William 
Jones,  Whitney,  Max  Miiller,  Madame  Blavatzki.  &c.,  shine  with 
such  luster, 

John  Alcock,  Ambassador  to  Spain,  Bishop  of  Ely  and  Chan- 


338         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

cellor,  under  Edward  IV.  and  Henry  VIII.,  deserves  mention 
here  for  patronizing  learning  and  founding  "  Jesus  College"  at 
Cambridge  about  1490;  so  does  Wynflete,  Bishop  of  Winchester 
and  Chancellor  of  England  from  1456  to  1460,  for  his  progressive 
ideas  in  founding  ''Magdalen  College,"  at  Oxford.  Thus  were 
the  English  prelates  of  this  period  champions  of  education.  As 
Thomas  Littleton's  treatise  on  "  Tenures,"  written  by  the  author 
in  clear  and  pure  French  of  his  day,  has  been  a  standard  work 
in  Jurisprudence,  we  allude  to  it.  It  is  now  considered  as  the 
basis  of  the  laws  of  property  in  England  and  indispensable  to 
students  of  English  law.  No  wonder,  English  lawyers  say,  that 
no  man  can  be  an  eminent  jurist  without  knowing  French,  on 
account  of  the  many  French  words  in  the  English  legal  vocab- 
ulary. 

England's  language,  thus  progressed,  echoed  in  North  America, 
whither  the  English  sailed  under  Giovanni  and  Sebastian  Cabot, 
about  A.D.  1496  and  1497.  It  is  thought  they  discovered  Lab- 
rador or  Newfoundland.  A  few  years  later  the  same  gallant  tars 
repeated  their  cruise  and  sailed  southward  as  far  as  Florida. 
Now,  1878,  English  resounds  nearly  over  all  North  America,  and 
will  soon  echo  over  the  New  World,  if  Washington's  straightforward 
and  honest  policy,  as  breathed  in  his  Farewell  Address,  is  followed. 
England,  the  mother  country,  will  aid  her  daughter  in  this  noble 
effort,  and  the  world  will  applaud  it,  as  shown  in  the  cession  of 
Alaska  by  Russia.  The  patent  for  the  discovery  of  unknown 
regions,  granted  to  Giovanni  Cabot  and  his  sons,  by  Henry 
VII.,  A.D.  1497,  clearly  indicates  England's  policy  concerning 
America  at  that  early  period.  It  has  been  carried  out  in  a  meas- 
ure, for  the  descendants  of  Cabot  have  been,  and  are  now,  among 
the  honored  families  of  New  England.  One  of  them  shone  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  and  became  the  friend  of  Wash- 
ington, 1789. 

We  must  not  omit  to  close  this  century  by  stating,  that  Eng- 
land's language  found  its  way  to  Prague  in  Central  P2urope,  where 
John  Huss  translated  Wickliffe's  Bible  into  Bohemian. 


SIX  TEEN  TH    CEN  TUR  Y. 


"Language  is  the  amber  in  which  a  thousand  precious  and  subtle  thoughts  have  been 
safely  imbedded  and  preserved.  It  has  arrested  ten  thousand  lightning  flashes  of  genius, 
which,  unless  fixed  and  arrested,  must  have  been  as  bright,  but  would  have  also  been  as 
quickly  passing  and  perishing  as  the  lightning." — TRENCk's  "  Study  of  Words." 

THIS  age  witnessed  the  Reformation,  Newspapers,  Modern 
Drama,  Tragedy,  and  Comedy.  Whether  considered  in  a  moral, 
religious,  or  social  point  of  view,  the  prominent  event  of  this 
century  was  "  THE  REFORMATION."  As  councils  and  counter- 
councils  were  convoked  to  discuss  it ;  as  advocates  of  reform 
were  martyred,  and  as  volumes  have  been  written  on  the  subject, 
we  shall  only  say  that  Reformation  has  been  a  great  contributor 
to  language,  as  may  be  noticed  by  her  varied  vocabulary  :  Pro- 
testant, Protestantism,  Lutheran,  Episcopalian,  Calvinist,  So- 
cinian,  Baptist,  Unitarian,  Methodist,  Universalist,  <&c.,  6°^., 
to  say  nothing  of  the  different  sects  that  arose  throughout 
Christendom,  and  the  copious  literature  it  has  produced  since 
Luther,  1517,  Henry  VIII.,  1528,  Calvin,  1536,  and  opened 
their  lips  to  protest  against  papal  abuses.  True,  these  three 
champions  had  noble  predecessors  in  Peter  de  Bruys,  burned 
1147;  Waldo,  1179;  Ockham,  1330;  Wickliffe,  1377;  and  Huss, 
burned  1414,  who,  one  and  all,  protested  against  the  same  papal 
tyranny  in  their  day  and  generation,  whatever  else  may  have  been 
imputed  to  them  by  treacherous  priestcraft  to  excite  the  igno- 
rant and  superstitious  masses  against  these  pioneers  of  Reform. 
Wherever  Reformation  existed,  it  gave  a  new  elan  to  language. 
This  was  especially  the  case  in  Germany,  where  Luther's  version 
of  the  Bible,  1534,  was  the  starting  and  rallying  point  of  the 
German  idiom.  This  colossal  work  was  a  compromise  between 
High  and  Low  German.  Prior  to  it  Germany  had  but  coarse 
provincialisms,  and  her  scholars  and  literati  had  written  in  Latin. 
A.S  Italy  dates  her  language  to  Dante,  so  can  Germany  date  hers 


340         Franco- English  Period ',  A.D.  1200-1600. 

to  Luther,  who  may  be  styled  not  only  the  Father  of  her  re- 
ligion, but  of  her  language.  England,  Holland,  Sweden,  Den- 
mark, and  Norway  may  trace  much  of  their  idioms  to  Reforma- 
tion, which  ever  starts  and  agitates  thought  and  exercises  language. 

Of  the  disputes,  hatreds,  and  bloodshed,  evoked  by  opposers 
and  advocates  of  Reformation,  it  may  be  truly  said  :  had  the 
clergy,  from  pope  to  village  priest,  from,  prior  to  domicellus, 
been  and  remained  as  pure,  virtuous,  earnest,  and  industrious  as 
their  predecessors  Bede,  Wilbrord,  Ceolfrid,  Winfrid,  and  Bene- 
dict Biscop ;  had  the  Benedictine  rule  that  every  monk  must 
earn  his  living  by  some  manual  labor  been  adhered  to  ;  had  they 
heeded  the  dictum,  "It  is  not  good  that  the  man  should  be  alone  ; 
I  will  make  a  helpmeet  for  him "  ;  in  other  words,  had  they 
continued  to  marry,  raise  families,  and  live  natural  instead  of 
selfish  lives,  there  would  have  been  no  need  of  Reformation. 

We  should  dwell  on  the  changes  brought  about  in  England  by 
Henry  VIII. ;  but  a,s  J.  A.  Froude  has  recently  portrayed  that 
important  period  in  history  with  such  consummate  erudition,  we 
refer  readers  to  his  work. 

This  age  saw  quite  a  galaxy  of  women  with  rare,  but  varied 
gifts.  We  will  cursorily  refer  to  their  intellectual  productions, 
generous  deeds,  and  heroic  sentiments  :  Mary,  Countess  of 
Arundel,  translated  from  English  into  Latin  "  Sentences  and 
Memorable  Actions  of  the  Emperor  Alexander  Severus  "/  after- 
wards, "  The  Origin  and  Family  of  Alexander  Sever ns,  and  the 
Signs  that  portended  him  the  Empire."  She  also  translated  from 
Greek  into  Latin  "  Select  Sentences  from  tJie  Seven  Greek  Sages" 
"Comparisons  gathered  from  the  Books  of  Plato,  Aristotle, 
Seneca,  and  other  Philosophers,"  which  she  dedicated  to  her 
father.  These  were  remarkable  works  for  a  lady  and  countess, 
who  was  a  bright  exemplar  for  Anna  Maria  von  Schurmann, 
author  of  "  Opuscula  Hebr&a,  Grceca"  &c.,  and  for  Madame 
Dacier,  who  translated  many  Greek  and  Latin  works.  Marga- 
ret, Countess  of  Richmond  and  Derby,  1509,  was  renowned 
for  her  munificence.  She  founded  Christ's  College,  1505  ; 
St.  John's  College,  1508;  the  Lady  Margaret  Professorship 
of  Divinity  at  Cambridge,  and  a  like  professorship  at  Ox- 
ford. She  was,  and  deserved  to  be,  the  mother  of  a  king.  She 
translated  several  books  of  devotion  into  English,  and  wrote 


Sixteenth   Century.  341 

"  Rules  of  Costumes  and  Etiquettes"  It  was  this  zealous  prin- 
cess who  said  :  "If  the  Christian  princes  would  unite  and  march 
against  their  common  enemy,  the  Turk,  she  would  be  willing  to 
follow  the  army  as  a  laundress."  She  died  1509,  three  months 
after  her  son,  Henry  VJI.  The  example  of  these  pioneer 
authoresses  stimulated  the  fair  sex  of  England ;  for  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, the  Duchess  of  Norfolk,  Lady  Jane  Grey,  and  many  other 
English  ladies  of  rank  were  conversant  with  Plato,  Xenophon, 
Cicero,  &c. 

William  Tindale  had  to  quit  his  country,  because  he  favored  the 
doctrines  of  Luther.  He  went  to  Antwerp,  where  he  translated 
the  New  Testament  into  English.  About  this  version  Bishop 
Burnet  relates  this  amusing  anecdote  : 

"  William  Tindale,  a  worthy  native  of  Wales,  bred  at  Oxford,  had  with 
great  cost  and  labor  printed  at  Antwerp  (1528)  an  incorrect  and  faulty  im- 
pression of  the  New  Testament  in  English.  While  mourning  over  the  low 
state  of  his  finances,  which  would  not  enable  him  to  amend  his  work,  it 
chanced  that  Bishop  Tonstall,  passing  through  Antwerp,  thought  he  could 
do  no  greater  service  to  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  than  by  buying  up  Tin- 
dale's  Testaments  and  committing  them  to  the  flames.  Tindale  received  the 
good  prelate's  money  with  rapture,  and  employed  it  in  printing  a  correct 
edition,  which  he  instantly  transmitted  to  England,  where  it  made  many 
proselytes.  Sir  Thomas  More,  in  1529,  expressing  surprise  at  the  frequency 
of  those  prohibited  books,  was  answered  in  council,  that  it  was  owing  to  the 
liberal  encouragement  of  Bishop  Tonstall." 

Tindale' s  version  of  the  Pentateuch,  in  which  Miles  Coverdale 
aided  him,  appeared  1530.  Soon  the  zealous  translator  was  ar- 
rested, it  is  said,  at  the  instigation  of  Henry  VIII.,  tried  for 
heresy,  and,  after  long  imprisonment,  burnt  at  the  stake  at  Vilvor- 
den,  near  Antwerp.  Behold  the  martyr's  last  words  :  "Lord,  open 
the  eyes  of  the  King  of  England."  The  Lord's  prayer  from  Tin- 
dale's  Version  will  show  his  style  and  vocabulary  : 

"Our  Father,  which  arte  in  heven,  halowed  be  thy  name.  Let  thy  king- 
dom come.  Thy  wyll  be  fulfilled,  as  well  in  erth  as  hit  ys  in  heven.  Geve 
vs  this  daye  oure  dayly  breade,  and  forgeve  vs  cure  treaspasses,  even  as  we 
forgeve  them,  which  treaspas  vs.  Leede  vs  not  into  temptacion,  but  delyvre 
vs  from  yvell.  Amen." 

In  Taine's  "Histoire  de  la  Litter ature  Anglaise"  we  read  : 


342         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

"Try  to  picture  these  yeomen,  these  shopkeepers,  who,  in  the  evening, 
placed  this  Bible  on  their  table,  and  bare-headed,  with  veneration  heard  or 
read  one  of  its  chapters.  Hence  have  sprung  much  of  the  English  language 
and  half  of  the  English  manners." 

Vesalius'  great  work,  entitled  "Z>e  Carports  Humani  Fabrica^ 
Libri  Septem"  1543  (Seven  Books  on  the  Structure  of  the  Hu- 
man Body),  caused  a  revolution  in  anatomy.  Senac,  physician 
of  Louis  XV.,  styled  it  the  discovery  of  a  new  world.  Like  most 
grand  and  new  ideas,  it  evoked  violent  opposition,  because  it 
proved  some  of  Galen's  doctrines  erroneous.  Vesalius  was  born 
at  Brussels,  studied  medicine  at  Montpellier  and  Paris,  and  was 
professor  of  anatomy  at  Padua.  Charles  V.  showed  sagacity  in 
choosing  Vesalius  for  his  physician.  Such  a  scientist  could  but 
grace  the  great  emperor's  court.  It  is  said  the  Inquisition  be- 
came jealous  of  Vesalius'  influence,  and  was  the  cause  of  his  pil- 
grimage to  the  Holy  Land,  whence  on  his  return  he  was  wrecked 
and  perished  near  the  Isle  of  Zante,  A.D.  1563.  From  his  works 
language  derived  new  words  and  phraseologies. 

Paracelsus,  professor  of  the  University  of  Bale,  1526,  burned 
Galen's  works,  which  had  been  the  medical  authority  for  four- 
teen centuries.  He  was  the  founder  of  pharmaceutic  chemistry 
and  corrected  the  defective  materia  medica  of  his  day.  His  col- 
leagues became  jealous  of  his  fame,  and  styled  him  quack  and 
charlatan.  Yet  medical  history  has  usually  a  section  styled 
"  Period  of  Paracelsus."  His  works,  written  in  Latin,  were  much 
read  and  admired.  He  it  was  who  introduced  antimony,  sulphur, 
mercury,  iron,  gold,  tinctures,  essences,  and  extracts,  into  the 
healing  art;  he  first  used  the  magnet  and  cured  nervous  and 
mental  diseases.  It  is  a  suggestive  item  in  the  history  of  medi- 
cine, that  Paracelsus,  a  regularly  bred  M.D.,  a  professor  of  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  faculties  of  Europe,  the  son  of  a  distinguished 
physician,  was  handed  down  to  posterity  as  a  charlatan  and 
quack  !  !  !  Vesalius  was  persecuted  and  vilified  by  priests,  Para- 
celsus by  physicians. 

Towards  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Greek 
language  began  to  attract  the  attention  of  English  scholars. 

William  Lily  went  to  study  it  in  Greece.  On  his  return  to 
England  he  opened  a  school  in  London,  where  he  first  taught 
Greek  in  1509.  Linacre  went  to  Italy  and  studied  Greek  with 


Sixteenth  Century.  343 

Chalcondylas  at  Florence,  and  medicine  at  Rome.  On  his  re- 
turn he  taught  Greek  at  Oxford,  and  was  greatly  favored  by 
Henry  VIII.,  who  employed  him  as  physician  and  preceptor  of 
Prince  Arthur. 

About  this  period  Erasmus  issued  the  first  Greek  edition  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  stimulated  the  study  of  Socrates' 
language  more  than  ever.  He  had  visited  England  in  1498. 
About  1510  Erasmus  became  Professor  of  Greek  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Cambridge.  Soon  the  monks  considered  Erasmus'  version 
of  the  Scriptures  as  an  innovation,  and  proscribed  it  as  "  an  im- 
pious, fanatical  boke"  Henry  Standish,  a  D.D.,  ridiculed  Eras- 
mus for  his  attachment  to  Greek,  and  called  him  "Graeculus  iste" 
which  became  a  synonymous  term  for  heretic.  A  preacher  at  St. 
Mary's,  Oxford,  denounced  the  study  of  Greek  with  bitterness. 
When  this  was  mentioned  before  Henry  VIII.,  he  decreed  that  the 
study  of  Greek  should  be  encouraged  throughout  his  dominions. 

Now  the  court  chaplain  began  to  preach  against  the  scriptural 
elucidations,  that  were  fostered  by  the  study  of  Greek.  The  king 
conferred  on  the  subject  with  Sir  Thomas  More,  who  assured  the 
monarch  that  he  was  more  reconciled  to  Greek,  since  he  found 
that  it  was  derived  from  Hebrew  /  Henry,  observing  this  utter 
ignorance,  ordered  his  chaplain  to  say  no  more  on  that  subject 
before  him. 

The  discussion  became  so  animated  in  the  English  universities 
that  two  parties  were  formed,  one  styled  "  Greeks?  the  other 
"Trojans"  The  Trojans,  supported  by  the  monks,  being  the 
strongest,  assailed  the  Greeks  in  the  streets  with  hisses  and  other 
insults ;  but  as  truth,  progress,  and  wisdom  had  the  elite  of  Eng- 
land on  their  side,  the  Greek  language  became  a  classic  and 
favorite  study  throughout  the  British  Empire. 

In  1536  Henry  VIII.  instituted  a  professorship  of  Greek  at 
Cambridge,  and  invited  Erasmus  to  England,  in  order  to  work 
with  John  Cheke  to  create  a  taste  for  that  branch  of  knowledge. 
Cheke  became  Greek  professor  at  Cambridge,  1540.  About  the 
same  time  the  king  founded  a  professorship  of  Hebrew  in  the 
same  university.  Thenceforth  the  English  language  could  de- 
rive ancient  linguistic  lore  from  original  sources.  No  doubt, 
many  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  roots,  now  in  the  English  idiom, 
owe  their  introduction  to  that  period. 


344        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

According  to  Harrington,  anatomy  was  favored  by  a  law,  1540, 
allowing  the  united  Companies  of  Barbers  and  Surgeons  yearly 
the  bodies  of  four  criminals  to  dissect.  This  science  formed  a 
streamlet  that  carried  its  tribute  of  scientific  terms  into  the  Eng- 
lish idiom.  Branching  into  osteology,  myology,  physiology,  pJiren- 
ology,  comparative  anatomy,  cW.,  it  has  ever  since  widened  its 
domain  and  increased  the  English  vocabulary.  Thus  has  lan- 
guage been  enriched  from  century  to  century,  from  year  to 
year,  by  tributaries  of  new  sciences,  devices,  inventions,  and 
discoveries. 

We  must  not  omit  here  a  work  that  made  an  epoch  in  science  : 
Copernicus'  " De  Orbium  Celestium  Revolutionibus"  (Revolu- 
tions of  the  Celestial  Bodies),  written  about  1530,  and  printed 
1543.  In  this  sublime  work  the  Polish  sage  confirms  the  idea  of 
Pythagoras,  who,  500  B.C.,  taught  that  the  sun  is  the  center  of 
the  solar  system,  and  the  theory  of  Philolaus,  who,  350  B.C., 
claims  that  the  earth,  besides  its  revolution  around  the  sun,  has 
a  rotation  on  its  own  axis.  Copernicus  also  suggested,  in  his 
treatise  on  the  solar  system,  that  gravitation  is  not  a  central 
tendency,  but  an  attraction  common  to  matter,  and  probably  ex- 
tending to  the  heavenly  bodies,  which  was  a  hint  at  Sir  Isaac 
Newton's  subsequent  discovery.  His  book  not  only  modified 
geography,  astronomy,  and  navigation,  but  agitated  the  whole 
scientific  world.  Under  the  flimsy  pretext  that  it  gainsaid  the 
"  Sta  sol"  of  Joshua,  the  pope  interdicted  it.  During  this  con- 
troversy between  pure  science,  founded  on  positive  observation, 
and  scholastic  puerilities,  based  on  mere  speculations,  language 
gained  in  vocabulary,  and  literature  expanded. 

Copernicus  died  on  the  very  day  he  received  the  first  copy  of 
his  great  work,  May  24,  1543,  having  just  strength  enough  to 
touch  it  with  his  hand.  Could  the  great  astronomer  have  dreamt 
that  about  A.D.  1876  a  cion  of  the  Fatherland,  Dr.  Schopher, 
would  attempt  to  prove  in  Berlin  !  !  !  that  the  Earth  is  motion- 
less ?  What  will,  what  shall,  what  can  the  world  henceforth  think 
of  science  ? 

Hitherto  burnings  at  the  stake  for  heresy  had  been  the  ex- 
clusive privilege  of  the  Inquisition,  under  papal  patronage  ;  now 
one  was  performed  by  Protestants  :  Michael  Servetus  was  born 
in  Spain,  1509;  studied  medicine  at  Paris,  1533;  practised  at 


Sixteenth   Century.  345 

Lyons;  wrote  "  De  Trinitatis  Erroribus  (On  the  Errors  of  the 
Trinity),  and  "  Christianismi  Restitutio"  (Christianity  Restored), 
about  which  a  controversy  arose  between  him  and  Calvin,  who 
informed  against  Servetus.  The  opposer  of  the  dogma  of  the 
Trinity  was  arrested  for  heresy  by  the  Inquisition,  but  escaped 
and  sought  shelter  at  Geneva,  where  the  Protestants,  under  the 
guidance  of  Calvin,  tried  and  burned  him  at  the  stake,  1553. 
Protestants  and  liberal  Catholics  have  been,  are,  and  ever  will 
be  branding  that  atrocity  as  worthy  only  of  Father  Dominic. 
Thus  the  blood  of  Pierre  de  Bruys,  1147,  Huss,  1414,  and  Tin- 
dale,  1536,  cries  against  the  Catholics,  while  that  of  Servetus, 
1553,  rises  against  the  Protestants. 

This  century  witnessed  the  progress  of  an  institution  that  ever 
did  and  ever  will  do  much  for  the  development  of  language,  liter- 
ature, and  art :  that  institution  is  the  Drama,  Tragedy,  Comedy — 
in  short,  the  theatre  or  stage.  True,  theatric  performances  origi- 
nated in  the  feasts  of  Bacchus ;  they  soon  became  a  resort  for 
popular  amusement,  instruction  and  refinement,  where  vice  was 
exposed,  folly  ridiculed,  virtue  and  heroism  encouraged  and  ex- 
tolled. Much  has  been  said  and  written  against  this  popular 
school,  which  has  been,  and  may  be  made  as  powerful  an  engine 
for  good  and  against  evil  as  the  Pulpit,  Forum,  and  Press — only 
do  not  ostracize  actors,  but  treat  them  socially  so  that  they  do 
not  ostracize  themselves.  In  remote  antiquity  Egypt  had  theat- 
ricals in  her  mysteries,  from  which  sprang  the  "  Eleusinian 
Mysteries  "  of  Greece.  Also  the  Hindus  and  Chinese  had,  and 
have  now,  theatric  amusements,  which  in  India  were  for  the 
higher  castes,  whereas  in  China  they  are  for  all  classes. 

Cireek  and  Roman  civilization  owes  much  to  theatric  per- 
formances, which  began  in  the  days  of  Themistocles,  about  480 
B.C.  Soon  Eschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides,  &c.,  enriched  the 
Greek  language  and  literature  with  their  immortal  scenic  compo- 
sitions, which  have  ever  been  models  for  succeeding  peoples, 
languages,  and  literatures.  The  Romans  copied  from  the  Greeks 
through  Accius,  Plautus,  and  Terence  ;  but  under  the  empire 
the  instructive  drama  and  innocent  popular  amusement  degener- 
ated into  vulgar  buffoonery  and  revolting  gladiatorial  shows,  which 
were  deservedly  rebuked  by  Christ's  ethics,  and  stopped  by  the 
inroads  of  our  Gotho-Germanic  ancestors,  who,  though  styled  bar- 


346  Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

barians,  were  horrified  to  witness  such  orgies  and  cruelties  under 
the  garb  of  popular  amusement. 

About  A.D.  380,  Gregory  Nyanzen  wrote  sacred  dramas  on 
the  Greek  model,  in  which  he  substituted  Christian  hymns  for  the 
Greek  chorus.  His  compositions  were  probably  the  occasion  of 
the  Medieval  "  Myracle  Plays,"  in  which  princes,  nobles,  and 
monks  became  dramatis  personae ;  in  those  plays  Biblic  passages 
and  martyrdoms  of  saints  were  performed.  These  representa- 
tions continued,  until  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
Ariosto  wrote  classic  comedies,  that  were  performed  at  Ferrara, 
about  A.D.  1526.  Soon  Tasso  introduced  and  popularized  modern 
drama. 

The  Reformation  did  away  with  "Myracle  Plays"  in  England. 
Lord  Dorset  wrote  the  first  English  tragedy,  styled  "  Ferrer  and 
Porrex"  (1565),  of  which  his  distinguished  cotemporary,  Sir 
Philip  Sidney,  says  :  "  It  is  full  of  stately  speeches  and  well-sound- 
ing phrases,  climbing  to  the  height  of  Seneca's  style,  and  as  full 
of*  notable  morality."  Next  Sir  Philip  Sidney  produced  "The 
Lady  of  the  May,"  a  masque  performed  with  eclat,  1578.  About 
1580,  John  Lilly  penned  several  dramas,  among  which  figured 
"Euphues"  or  ''Anatomy  of  Wit."  This  production  was  wel- 
comed with  great  favor  at  Elizabeth's  court.  Hallam  says  :  "  It 
deserves  notice  on  account  of  the  influence  it  had  over  the  pub- 
lic taste."  Hence  the  terms:  Euphuistic,  Euphuism,  Euphuist, 
ridiculed  by  Scott  in  his  "Monastery." 

Such  was,  is,  and  will  be  the  stage.  An  institution,  that  de- 
veloped intellects  like  Sophocles,  Terence,  Tasso,  Ariosto,  Sher- 
idan, Shakespeare,  Rev.  James  Townley,  Lope  de  Vega,  Calde- 
ron,  Corneille,  Moliere,  Schiller,  Goethe,  &c.,  does  credit  to 
humanity,  whatever  pope,  priest,  or  so-called  moralists  may  say. 

If  the  theatre  is  an  evil,  it  is  certainly  preferable  to  drinking 
and  gambling  establishments,  dance-halls,  billiard-saloons,  and 
even  club-houses,  where  men  spend  their  evenings  away  from 
their  families.  As  crowded  centers  must  and  will  have  amuse- 
ment of  some  kind,  the  drama,  tragedy,  comedy,  and  opera  have 
been,  are,  and  may  be  made  intellectual  and  refining  resorts, 
where  the  whole  family  can  go  together,  be  amused  and  edified. 
While  at  Vienna  I  visited  the  imperial  "  Burg  Theatre,"  where 
moral  pieces  are  chosen  and  performed  by  the  highest  and  best 


Sixteenth  Century.  347 

German  talent.  Here  vice  is  made  odious  and  virtue  extolled, 
folly  ridiculed  and  wisdom  exalted,  and  the  people  go  away  con- 
tented and  morally  elevated.  Have  such  in  every  large  city  ;  let 
the  masses  have  refining  amusement  cheap,  even  at  public  ex- 
pense, and  the  moral  tone  will  rise  higher  and  higher ;  thus 
may  the  theatre  be  made  a  school  of  refinement  and  morals. 

As  it  may  be  of  interest  to  Americans  to  know  when  and 
where  the  first  regular  dramatic  performance  was  enacted  in  this 
country,  we  allude  to  it  here:  "The  Merchant  of  Venice"  was 
performed  to  a  delighted  audience  by  a  regular  company  of  actors, 
under  the  management  of  Lewis  Hallam,  on  the  5th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1752,  at  Williamsbur g ,  then  the  capital  of  Virginia.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Rigby  seem  to  have  been  the  stars  of  the  performers. 
New  York  was  the  second  city  that  witnessed  a  theatrical  per- 
formance by  regular  actors.  "The  Conscious  Lovers'"  was 
played  at  the  new  theatre  in  Nassau  street,  September  17,  1753, 
and  was  pronounced  a  success.  The  Bostonians  allowed  no  such 
doings  in  their  midst :  even  as  late  as  1792,  the  authorities  arrested 
the  actors  during  the  performance  of  "  Douglas "  and  "  The 
Poor  Soldier,"  announced  as  <f  Moral  Lectures,"  which  caused  a 
quasi  riot  in  the  American  Mecca.  Yet  "  Douglas"  is  a  tragedy 
written  by  Rev.  J.  Home,  which  was  performed  at  Edinburgh, 
1756,  amid  great  applause,  as  a  high-toned  moral  essay.  We 
cannot  help  closing  this  article  by  what  Richard  H.  Dana  wrote 
on  seeing  Kean's  acting  : 

"  We  cease  to  consider  it  as  mere  amusement — it  is  a  great  intellectual 
feast ;  and  he  who  goes  to  it  with  a  disposition  and  capacity  to  relish  it,  will 
receive  from  it  more  nourishment  for  his  mind  than  he  would  be  likely  to  in 
many  other  ways  in  four-fold  the  time.  Our  faculties  are  opened  and  en- 
livened by  it ;  our  reflections  and  recollections  are  of  an  elevated  kind,  and 
the  very  voice,  which  is  sounding  in  our  ears  long  after  we  have  left  him, 
creates  an  inward  harmony,  which  is  for  bur  good." 

Orientalists  delight  in  telling  us  that  Hindu  drama  antedates 
and  surpasses  anything  we  have.  Strange,  these  enthusiasts  see 
no  merit  in  European  discoveries,  inventions  and  improvements, 
if  they  were  previously  known  in  Egypt,  Assyria,  India,  or  China  ! 
They  seem  to  give  no  credit  to  re-discoverers,  re-inventors,  re- 
improvers  at  home. 

Among  the  reformations  of  this  era,  none  were  so  humane  and 


348         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Christ-like  as  the  "Foundling  Asylum"  established  at  Paris,  1638, 
by  Vincent  de  Paul.  No  pope  ever  affixed  Saint  more  de- 
servedly to  any  name  than  to  that  of  this  great  philanthropist. 
Hence,  Pope  Clement  XII.  merits  humanity's  thanks  for  telling 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul  :  '*  Well  don-e,  good  and  faithful  servant." 
True,  foundling  asylums  have  no  direct  reference  to  language 
and  literature,  but  as  the  idea  has  been  welcomed  by  civilized 
nations  and  communities  all  over  the  Earth,  it  deserves  mention 
in  a  history  of  language  and  literature. 

In  1558  England  hailed  the  advent  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  who, 
under  the  tuition  of  the  learned  Ascham,  became  so  proficient  in 
classic  lore,  as  to  translate  Boethius'  "De  Consolatione  Philoso- 
phic "  into  her  native  tongue,  after  it  had  been  turned  into  Anglo- 
Saxon  by  Alfred  the  Great,  890,  and  into  Franco-English  by 
Chaucer,  1360.  Hear  how  Elizabeth  appreciated  the  merits  and 
services  of  her  tutor  :  when  she  heard  of  his  death,  she  exclaimed, 
"  I  had  rather  have  thrown  ten  thousand  pounds  into  the  sea, 
than  have  lost  my  Ascham." 

Besides  reading  Greek  and  Latin  with  ease,  she  was  fluent  in 
French  and  Italian.  She  refused  the  hand  of  the  Duke  d'Angou- 
leme,  son  of  Francis  I.,  King  of  France.  She  also  refused  Eric, 
King  of  Sweden,  Philip,  King  of  Spain,  the  Archduke  Charles 
of  Austria,  and  the  Duke  d'Anjou.  She  said  to  her  Parliament, 
that  the  most  flattering  epitaph  to  her  would  be  :  "  Here  lies 
Elizabeth,  who  lived  a  virgin  and  queen."  Th-e  French  biog- 
rapher, in  '••Dictionnaire  Universel  Biographique"  observes: 

"  The  reign  of  Elizabeth  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spectacles  that 
England  has  ever  witnessed :  her  commerce  extended  to  the  four  quarters  of 
the  globe  ;  great  manufactories  were  established ;  the  laws  became  settled, 
and  the  police  perfected.  Elizabeth  was  opposed  to  luxury,  proscribed  car- 
riages, long  cloaks,  swords,  and  all  that  was  superfluous  in  dress  and  armor." 

Pope  Sextus  V.  said  : 

"There  were  in  the  world  but  three  personages  who  knew  how  to  govern: 
the  King  of  France,  Henry  IV.,  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  himself." 

It  was  her  policy  to  surround  herself  with  the  most  able  men  in 
every  department  of  the  government.  The  "Invincible  Armada  " 
of  150  ships,  manned  by  30,000  Spanish  warriors,  was  dispersed. 
Abroad  she  encouraged  liberal  religion,  at  home  education,  liter- 


Sixteenth  Century.  349 

ature,  science,  art,  and  commerce.  No  wonder  a  reign  which  sa\sr 
Gascoigne  and  Spenser,  Ben  Jonson  and  Shakespeare,  should  be 
called  the  "ELIZABETHAN  ERA."  Hume  says  of  this  Western 
Semiramis  :  "  Without  any  violence  or  tumult,  the  whole  system 
of  religion  was  altered  by  the  wilt  of  a  young  woman." 

Gascoigne,  after  a  short  military  career  under  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  devoted  himself  to  literature,  and  headed  the  English 
classic  poets  by  writing  "Jocasta"  a  tragedy  with  Greek  dramatis 
persona.  It  met  with  favor :  hence,  it  was  not,  as  usually 
claimed,  Jonson,  but  Gascoigne,  who  introduced  the  classic 
drama  in  England.  Afterwards  appeared  "  Steel  of  Glass  "  (a 
satire),  "  Comedy  of  Supposes"  "Arraignment  of  a  Lover"  and 
other  poems  of  merit,  all  of  which  attracted  attention  to  Gas- 
coigne, who  shone  in  Elizabeth's  retinue.  After  thus  heading 
the  array  of  modern  English  literati,  he  died,  1577,  at  the  early 
age  of  forty- two  years.  Of  him  posterity  says  : 

"  He  has  much  exceeded  all  the  poets  of  his  age  in  smoothness  and  harmony 
of  versification." — Warton. 

"  His  minor  poems  have1  much  spirit  and  gayety." —  Hallam. 

Our  Extract  and  Table  from  Spenser's  '•'•Faerie  Queene?  show- 
ing his  vocabulary,  gives  but  a  faint  idea  of  his  style.  The  bard's 
Essays  consist  of  "  Shephearde's  Calendar, "  1577,  dedicated  to 
Sir  Philip  Sidney  ;  "  Colin  Clouf  s  come  flome  Again"  1591,  dedi- 
cated to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh ;  "Astrophel"  an  elegy  on  Sir  Philip 
Sidney,  1595  ;  and  an  epithalamy  on  his  own  union  with  Miss 
Nagle,  which  Hallam  calls  "a  splendid  little  poem — an  intoxica- 
tion of  ecstasy,  ardent,  noble,  and  pure."  Spenser  was  " poet- 
laureate"  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  His  "Faerie  Queene"  1596,  was 
an  allegory  on  her  reign.  He  was  born  1553  and  died  1598 ;  he 
ever  wished  to  be  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  by  the  side  of 
Chaucer,  whom  he  always  admired ;  his  wish  being  carried  out, 
he  has  since  rested  near  his  great  predecessor.  No  doubt  their 
spirits  hover  in  spheres  where  their  union  is  forever  indissoluble. 
As  England's  ablest  pens  traced  this  early  bard's  praises,  let  us 
listen  to  them  as  they  float  down  the  stream  of  time  : 

"  Whose  deep  conceit  is  such 

As  passing  all  conceit  needs  no  defence." 

— Shakespeare,  1600. 


35O        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

"  Spenser  had  studied  Virgil  to  as  much  advantage  as  Milton  had  done 
Homer. " — Dryden,  1 700. 

"  He  casts  a  delicacy  and  grace  over  all  his  compositions." — Warton,  1781. 

"  If  Ariosto  transports  us  into  the  region  of  romance,  Spenser's  poetry  is 
all  fairy-land.  "—Hazlitt,  1830. 

"  No  poet  has  ever  had  a  more  exquisite  sense  of  the  beautiful  than  Spen- 
ser."— Wilson,  1854. 

Spenser  had  worthy  cotemporaries  in  Italy,  France,  and  Por- 
tugal. Ariosto's  "  Orlando  Furioso"  was  so  popular  that  sixty 
editions  were  sold  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  it  has  been  trans- 
lated into  most  of  the  European  languages.  Among  English 
translations  that  of  Rose  is  considered  the  best.  Tasso's  "  Geru- 
salemme  Liberata"  took  the  literary  world  by  surprise  about 
A.D.  1580.  Edward  Fairfax  translated  it  into  English,  A.D.  1600. 
Rabelais  was  a  favorite  with  the  chivalrous  Francis  I.,  A.D. 
1545,  when  he  wrote  the  famous  romance  entitled  "  Les  Faits 
et  Diets  du  Geant  Gargantua  et  de  son  Fils  Pantagruel  (Deeds 
and  Sayings  of  the  Giant  Gargantua  and  his  Son  Pantagruel), 
of  which  Hallam  says  : 

"The  most  celebrated,  and  certainly  the  most  brilliant  performance  in  the 
path  of  fiction  that  belongs  to  this  age,  is  that  of  Rabelais.  Few  books  are 
less  likely  to  obtain  the  praise  of  'a  rigorous  critic  ;  but  few  have  more  the 
stamp  of  originality,  or  show  a  more  redundant  fertility  always  of  language 
and  sometimes  of  imagination." 

Coleridge  observes : 

•» 

"  Beyond  doubt,  he  was  among  the  deepest  as  well  as  boldest  thinkers  of 
his  age,  &c.  .  .  .  I  class  Rabelais  with  the  great  creative  minds — Shake- 
speare, Dante,  Cervantes,"  &c.  .  .  . 

Ronsard  gave  France  odes,  elegies,  pastorals,  and  his  poem 
styled  " Franciade"  -Francis  I.  favored  him.  While  page  of 
James  V.,  King  of  Scotland,  he  learned  English. 

Next  he  traveled  extensively,  and  studied  Italian  and  German. 
He  was  versed  in  Greek  and  Latin,  which  he  mixed  so  profusely 
in  his  writings,  that  they  were  almost  unintelligible  to  readers. 
Portugal  ever  cherished  Camoens'  "  Os  Lusiadas"  of  which 
Madame  de  Stael  says  : 


Sixteenth  Century.  351 

"  The  national  glory  of  the  Portuguese  is  there  illustrated  under  all  the 
forms  that  imagination  can  devise.  The  versification  is  so  charming  and 
stately,  that  even  the  common  people  know  many  stanzas  by  heart,  and  sing 
them  with  delight." 

The  biography  of  this  bard,  patriot,  and  hero  will  afford  a  treat 
to  any  reader.  Thus,  England  had  her  Caedmon  six  centuries 
before  Italy  had  her  Dante ;  she  had  her  Chaucer,  Gower,  Oc- 
cleve,  Lydgate,  and  Spenser  before  France  had  Rabelais  and 
Ronsard,  before  Portugal  had  Camoens,  before  Spain  had  Cer- 
vantes, and  before  Germany  had  any  bard  of  note. 

This  age  witnessed  progress,  not  only  in  language  and  litera- 
ture, but  in  printing.  The  first  Greek  book  printed  in  England' 
is  dated  1543,  and  the  first  Hebrew  book,  1592.  In  1582  the 
Catholic  princes  adopted  the  Gregorian  Calendar.  By  this 
change  the  confused  counting  of  dates  from  the  reigns  of  em- 
perors and  kings  disappeared,  and  chronology  became  more  uni- 
form ;  yet  the  Protestant  rulers  refused  to  adopt  it,  because  sug- 
gested by  the  Pope.  Here  the  Protestants  must  have  seemed 
small,  even  to  themselves  ;  for  prejudice  should  not  stand  in  the 
way  of  improvements,  whether  suggested  by  pope,  czar,  or  sul- 
tan, especially  an  improvement  that  involved  the  advent  of 
Christ's  sublime  mission  and  ethics. 

A  fresh  source  of  linguistic  treasure  was  opened  for  the  Eng- 
lish tongue  by  Thomas  Tusser.  His  poem,  entitled  *'  Five  Hun- 
dreth  Points  of  Good  Husbandrie"  was  to  England  what  Theo- 
critus' "Idyls"  were  to  Greece,  270  B.C.,  Varro's  " De  Re  Rus- 
tica  Libri  tres  "  to  Rome,  43  B.C.,  and  Olivier  de  Serres'  "  Theatre 
d' Agriculture"  to  France,  A.D.  1600.  Tusser  was  not  only 
England's  theoretic,  but  practical  agronomic  bard ;  for,  after 
having  been  at  court,  he  retired  to  his  farm  in  Essex,  where  he 
devoted  himself  to  rural  pursuits  and  improvements.  He  en- 
nobled tillage,  domestic  economy,  and  husbandry,  not  only  in 
precept,  but  by  example.  The  farmer,  the  economic  husband  and 
wife,  and  even  the  saving  servant,  all  had  a  share  in  his  Bucolics, 
in  which  the  farmer  could  find  rustic  life  extolled,  its  beauties 
enhanced,  and  its  morals  made  attractive  to  high  and  low,  rich 
and  poor.  Tusser's  work  must  ever  be  considered  as  having  fur- 
nished the  richest  agricultural  vocabulary,  which  did  more  towards 
diffusing  pure  English  among  the  yeomanry  than  any  score  of 


352         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

other  books.  No  wonder,  in  the  edition  of  1812,  it  is  styled 
"The  Ladder  of  Thrift"  This  simple-hearted  poet  died  1580. 
Our  Extract  and  Table  from  this  rustic  poet  shows  the  language 
and  style  of  one  of  the  most  useful  of  English  authors. 

Here  a  one  word  addition  to  language  will  not  seem  out  of 
place,  because  the  substance  of  that  one  word,  from  a  new 
linguistic  source,  proved  of  incalculable  benefit  to  mankind,  pre- 
venting, as  it  did,  starvation  in  countries  that  would  periodically 
have  suffered  famine  without  the  potato,  from  the  Indian  term 
"batatas"  a  native  of  America,  introduced  into  Europe  during 
the  sixteenth  century.  Its  first  carrying  to  Europe  has  been 
claimed  for  Sir  John.  Hawkins,  1545  ;  Sir  Francis  Drake,  1573  ; 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  1586.  Whoever  first  carried  it  was  a  bene- 
factor. We  leave  the  real  introducer's  claim  in  abeyance,  and 
hasten  to  authentic  mentions  of  the  esculent  tuber:  The  early 
botanist,  Gerarde,  in  his  Herbal,  issued  1597,  says  that  he  planted 
it  in  his  garden  at  London,  about  1590.  In  the  cook's  market- 
ing account  potatoes  are  mentioned  at  two  shillings  per  pound, 
in  the  time  of  Anne,  Queen  of  James  I.  Next  the  Royal  So- 
ciety, 1663,  urged  the  cultivation  of  this  productive  root  as  a 
means  to  prevent  starvation.  Since  that  date  this  excelling 
vegetable,  eaten  and  liked  by  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  has 
extended  over  the  globe,  so  that  now  Europe,  America,  and  Asia 
realize  its  benefits  as  an  article  of  food.  Lately  its  conversion 
into  flour  for  the  baker  and  confectioner,  into  starch  for  the 
laundress,  and  into  poor  brandy,  has  enhanced  its  value.  Botany 
styles  it  solatium  tuberosum ;  England,  potato ;  France,  pomme 
de  terre  (apple  of  the  earth) ;  Germany,  Erd-apfel  (earth-apple). 
Now  potatoes  are  not  two  shillings  a  pound,  as  in  the  days  of 
James  I.,  nor  one-tenth  of  that  sum  ;  for,  being  easily  cultivated, 
harvested,  stored,  cooked,  and  eaten  without  condiment,  they 
are  a  boon  and  blessing  to  humanity  ;  while  tobacco,  another 
American  plant,  has  been  a  curse  ;  for,  wherever  it  extended,  it 
produced  national  drowsiness,  mental  stagnation,  and  domestic 
poverty,  whether  smoked,  chewed,  or  snuffed ;  yet  tobacco's 
vocabulary  is  more  numerous  than  that  of  potato.  Thus  did 
every  newly  discovered  animal,  plant,  mineral,  metal,  gas,  or  im- 
ponderable add  its  quota  to  language  ;  for  we  might  give  analo- 
gous accounts  of  the  tomato  as  a  vegetable,  of  cinchona  as  a 


Sixteenth  Century.  353 

medicine,  of  wool,  indigo,  India  rubber  as  articles  of  clothing, 
manufacture,  and  mechanics,  &c.  .  .  .  but  we  let  the  poor  and 
rich  man's  vegetable,  potato,  stand  as  the  prominent  linguistic 
article  of  food  next  to  bread. 

The  Franco-Normans  carried  to  England  feudalism,  with  its 
attendant  architecture,  social  institutions,  and  modes  of  life  :  the 
residences  of  feudal  lords  were  solitary  castles,  constructed  so  as 
to  be  turned  into  fortifications  at  any  moment :  ventilation, 
health,  and  comfort  were  secondary  considerations  in  those  days 
of  adventure  and  aggression,  massive  walls  producing  and  har- 
boring dampness,  small  doors  and  windows  preventing  the  genial 
rays  of  the  sun  from  penetrating  and  shining  upon  the  inmates. 
Even  now  the  tourist,  traversing  England,  France,  and  Germany, 
may  behold  the  ruins  of  these  feudal  abodes,  pitched  on  high 
hills,  in  dark  forests,  or  amid  dismal  swamps.  Such  was  the  mode 
of  life  of  feudal  lords  from  noo  to  1550,  when  adventure  began 
to  be  considered  as  idleness,  and  aggression  as  a  crime.  As  soon 
as  laws  were  so  altered  that  person  and  property  became  more 
sacred,  the  feudal  lords  abandoned  their  fortified  castles,  settled 
in  villages,  towns,  and  cities,  and  mingled  more  with  the  people, 
which  produced  improvement  in  language,  manners,  and  social 
intercourse. 

At  the  close  of  this  pregnant  age  an  accession  of  new  words, 
hitherto  little  appreciated,  was  brought  about  by  William  Gilbert, 
physician  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  a  work  entitled  "De  Magnete, 
Magneticisque  Corporibus"  &c.  (On  the  Magnet  and  Magnetic 
Bodies,  &c.).  Galileo  and  Erasmus  eulogized  Gilbert's  production. 

Dr.  Whewell,  in  his  "  History  of  the  Inductive  Sciences,"  ob- 
serves:  "It  contains  all  the  fundamental  facts  of  the  science,  so 
fully  examined,  that  even  at  this  day  we  have  little  to  add  to 
them."  Gilbert  may  have  conceived  the  idea  of  his  book  from 
the  writings  of  Nemesius  of  the  fifth  century.  This  new  science 
has,  through  Franklin,  Morse,  Faraday,  and  others,  become 
Magneto-Electricity,  and  brought  with  it  a  linguistic  stream, 
forming  a  dictionary  of  its  own,  which  is  daily  increasing  in  vol- 
ume and  branching  into  other  sciences.  Thus,  with  fresh  dis- 
coveries and  inventions,  the  human  intellect  is  expanding  into 
new  realms  of  thought,  expression,  and  language. 

To  overlook  the  pioneer  phonetist,  John  Hart,  A.D.  1569, 
23 


354         Franco- English  Period,  A,D.  1200-1600. 

would  be  unpardonable.  When  he  saw  disharmony,  inconsistency, 
and  superfluous  letters  in  his  native  tongue,  he  called  for  reform 
in  the  following  strain  : 

"  Orthographic,  conteyning  the  due  order  and  reason  howe  to  "write  or 
painte  thimage  of  manners  voice,  moste  like  to  the  life  or  nature" 

This  title  alone  shows  what  English  was  three  hundred  years 
ago,  and  that  there  was  room  for  improvement.  As  six  of  these 
twenty-three  words  :  orthographic,  conteyning,  howe,  pai?tte,  man- 
ne,  and  moste,  have  since  become  orthography,  containing,  how, 
paint,  man,  and  most,  by  slight  changes  and  dropping  of  useless 
French  final  e  mute,  Hart's  early  clamoring  against  disharmony, 
and  for  writing  and  painting  the  image  of  man's  voice  has  been 
a  decided  benefit  to  the  English  language  ;  for  ie  in  the  names 
of  science  :  anaiomie,  theologie,  philosophic^  &c. ;  doctour,  pro- 
fessour,  neighbour,  conquer  our  ^  predecessour,  honour,  labour, 
vigour,  &c. ;  are  now  anatomy,  theology,  philosophy,  &c. ;  doctor, 
professor,  neighbor,  conqueror,  predecessor,  honor,  labor,  vigor, 
&c.  All  must  agree  that  dropping  French  final  e  mute  from  howe, 
painte,  manne,  moste,  was  an  advantage;  hence  why  not  drop 
final  e  mute  from  thousands  of  other  English  words  ?  Such  pru- 
ning, clipping,  and  weeding  would  make  English  more  Laconic, 
and  render  it  more  and  more  worthy  of  being  the  world's  tele- 
graphic medium. 

It  seems  Sir  Philip  Sidney  delighted  in  harmony  and  simplicity 
of  language,  when  he  penned  these  lines,  about  A.D.  1575  : 

"  English  is  void  of  those  cumbersome  differences  of  cases,  genders,  moods, 
and  tenses,  which  I  think  was  a  piece  of  the  Tower  of  Babylon's  curse,  that 
a  man  should  be  put  to  schoole  to  learn  his  mother  tongue ;  but  for  the  utter- 
ing sweetly  and  properly  the  conceit  of  the  minde,  which  is  the  ende  of  speech, 
that  it  hath  equally  with  any  other  tongue  in  the  world." 

Here  also  schoole^  minde,  and  ende  appear  "a  la  Francaise" 
with  final  e  mute  ! 

The  Newspaper  has  been  the  most  powerful  promoter  of 
thought,  ideas,  correct  spelling,  grammatic  language,  and  intel- 
lectual progress  ;  yet  its  origin  seems  obscured  by  hypercritic 
cobwebs,  unless  we  trace  it  to  " acta  diurna"  (diurnal  acts),  fur- 
nished to  the  Romans  under  their  emperors.  Venice  claims  the 


Sixteenth   Century. 


355 


idea  of  the  first  modern  newspaper,  styled  "Gazetta"  from  the 
coin  that  was  its  price,  A.D.  1536.  It  was  started  to  give  the 
people  an  account  of  the  war  against  the  Turks. 

Behold  the  heading  of  an  early  Latin  news-letter,  dated  at 
Douay,  France,  A.D.  1563  : 


LATIN. 

"  Memorabilis  * 

Et  perinde  stupenda  de  crudeli  Mos- 
eovitarum  Expeditione  narratio,  e 
Germanico  in  Latinum  conuersa. 

*    * 
* 

1563- 
DVACL 

Ex  Typographia  Tacobi  Boscardi, 

Typography  inrati  Regies  • 

Maiestatis." 


ENGLISH. 

Memorable 

And  likewise  stupendous  narrative 
concerning  the  cruel  Expedition  of 
the  Moscovites,  from  German  into 
Latin  translated. 


1563. 

DOUAY. 

From  the  Typography  of  Jacob  Bos- 
card^  sworn  Typographer  of 
his  Royal  Majesty. 

Next  follows  a  graphic  account  of  the  Moscovite  or  Russian 
invasion  of  Poland  and  Lithuania,  of  the  barbarities  committed 
there,  and  closes  with  an  appeal  to  the  European  princes  to  com- 
bine and  stop  those  ravages.  As  the  account  of  the  Russian  in- 
vasion of  Poland  and  Lithuania  was  translated  from  German 
into  Latin,  A.D.  1563,  news-sheets  must  have  been  written, 
printed,  and  circulated  in  Germany  prior  to  1563,  which  would 
almost  make  them  coeval  with  the  Venice  Gazetta,  1536. 

Behold,  the  following  lines,  printed  at  Rouen,  and  alluded  to 
in  Paris  : 


FRENCH. 

"La  Gazette  en  ces  vers 
Contente  les  cervelles ; 
Car  de  tout  1'univers 
Elle  re9oit  nouvelles. 

Paris,  jouxte   la   copie    imprimee   a 
Rotten,  par  yean  Petit,  1609. 


ENGLISH. 

The  Gazette  in  these  verses 
Contents  the  brains ; 
For  from  all  the  universe 
It  receives  news. 

Paris,  just  ike  copy  printed  at  Rotten^ 
by  John  Petit,  1609. 


This  jocose  stanza  clearly  shows  that  news-sheets  must  have 
been  widely  disseminated  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

*  From  a  curious  pamphlet,  entitled  "An  Early  Neivs-sheet,"  issued  by 
Chatto  &  Windus,  London,  1874,  and  J.  \V.  Bouton,  706  Broadway,  New 
York;  an  exact  fac-simile,  containing  valuable  notes  on  early  news-sheets. 


356         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

It  seems,  in  1588,  when  the  armada  approached  England, 
regular  sheets  were  issued  to  inform  the  people  of  its  progress; 
specimens  shown  in  the  British  Museum  have  been  pronounced 
forgeries.  The  idea  vi  journalism  seems  to  have  reached  France, 
1631,  and  assumed  a  tangible  form  under  the  name  of  "Gazette 
de  France"  which  continued  ever  since,  with  but  slight  interrup- 
tions during  the  Revolution  of  1792.  A.  regular  series  of  sheets, 
in  163  volumes,  is  shown  from  1631  to  1792.  That  remarkable 
journal  has  ever  adhered  to  the  idea  of  Divine  Right,  which  it 
advocates  now.  We  read  that  the  English  court  moved  to  Ox- 
ford, 1665,  on  account  of  the  plague,  and  that  a  daily  sheet  was 
issued  to  transmit  the  status  of  the  epidemic.  This  paper  was 
called  "  Gazette,"  which,  we  are  told,  has  appeared  twice  a  week 
ever  since  as  the  court  and  government  organ.  It  is  also 
claimed  that  papers  styled  "Mercuries,  Intelligencers"  &c.,  were 
regularly  issued  during  the  civil  wars  in  England.  Such  have 
been  the  claims  as  to  the  origin  of  newspapers,  which  Hudson  in 
his  erudite  work,  entitled  "Journalism,"  considers  as  mere  "  news- 
letters and  news  circulars,  written  in  Rome,  Venice,  Paris,  Lon- 
don," &c.,  stating  that  "there  are  thirty  volumes  of  these  news- 
letters preserved  in  the  Magliabecchi  Library  of  Florence,"  and 
that  "in  the  Vienna  Library  is  a  collection  from  1568  to  1604." 
After  thorough  research  he  found  that  a  paper  called  "Gazette" 
was  printed  in  Nuremberg  as  early  as  1457;  that  Ulric  Zell 
issued  the  "Chronicle"  at  Cologne  1499;  and  that  "Die  Frank- 
furter Oberpostamts  Zeitung,"  published  1615,  was  the  first  daily 
paper  in  the  world.  It  is  still  published,  and  a  monument  is  to 
be  raised  to  its  editor,  Egenolf  Eurmel,  as  the  father  of  newspa- 
pers. The  London  "  Weekely  Newes  "  appeared  in  1622.  The 
learned  author  of  "Journalism"  makes  allusion  to  the  Gazette 
de  France,  published  by  Renaudot,  May  30,  1831.  He  calls  the 
first  modern  attempts  at  spreading  intelligence  "  news-letters, 
news  circulars,"  as  though  the  name  could  make  any  essential 
difference.  We  consider  them  as  an  expansion  of  "  Acta  diurna," 
which  were  but  written  Greek  c/n/xu  and  Latin  Fama,  whence  our 
Fame,  all  of  which  originated  in,  and  were  corollaries  of,  what  we 
read,  Genesis  xlv.  16  :  "  The  fame  thereof  was  heard  at  Pha- 
raoh's house,  saying,  Joseph's  brethren  are  come."  Thus  did 
ancient  Fama  metamorphose  herself  to  enrich  language  and  lit- 


SixteentJi  Century. 


357 


erature,  in  the  shape  of  oral  tradition,  "  Acta  diurna,"  Gazetta, 
and  Newspapers  with  their  varied  vocabulary. 

Towards  the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  almost  every 
European  capital  and  commercial  center  had  a  newspaper.  Rus- 
sia had  her  "St.  Petersburg  Gazette"  in  whose  success  Peter 
the  Great  took  a  special  interest,  1703.  "Gaceta  de  Madrid" 
appeared  in  Spain,  1704.  Even  distant  India  saw  the  "Calcutta 
Gazette"  in  1781.  America's  first  newspaper  was  "Publick  Oc- 
currences" issued  in  Boston  by  Richard  Pierce,  for  Benjamin 
Harris,  Sept.  25,  1690.  It  was  immediately  suppressed  by  the 
government.  In  1704  appeared  the  "Boston  News-Letter"  which 
was  regularly  published.  Boston  added  another  newspaper,  called 
"Gazette"  1719.  Philadelphia  imitated  Boston  by  issuing  the 
"American  Mercury"  1719.  The  "JVewYork  Gazette"  appeared 
1725.  Maryland  had  "Annapolis  Gazette"  1727;  South  Caro- 
lina, "Charleston  Gazette"  1737:  Virginia,  "Williamsburg  Ga- 
zette" 1736.  Thus  did  the  communities  and  cities  of  the  New 
World  vie  in  heralds  of  intelligence,  which  they  have  ever  since 
continued,  as  may  be  seen  by  these  curious  statistics  of  newspaper 
expansion,  1870  : 

Table,  showing  different  Countries,  their  Populations,  Newspapers,  and 
Souls  per  Newspaper,  thus  giving  a  general  idea  of  the  world^s  reading 
capacity. 


Countries. 

Population. 

Newspapers. 

Number  of  souls 
per  newspaper. 

United  States  

38,555.983 
2,660,147 
1,784,741 
3,618,016 
36,102,821 

5,387,K>5 

41,058,139 
51,444,017 
26.716,309 
16,641.980 
35.904,435 
5,000,000 
81,925,428 
8,000,000 
26,973,000 

5,871 
394 

i96 
1,668 
184 
194 
i,  276 
1,456 
723 

650 
26 
337 
7 
8 

3<> 
150 

6,550 
6,775 
18,580 
20,793 
21,045 
26,887 
27,748 

35,332 
36,953 
54,386 
55,238 
192,307 
243,102 
1,142,727 
3,371,626 

Holland         

Great  Britain's  English-speaking 
Italy..           

Spain      

Africa            

Asia                                          

Other  countries  

Thus  in  1870  the  world  had  13,564  newspapers,  of  which  7,527 
belonged  to  the   ninety  English-speaking  millions,  who  printed 


358         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

that  year  1,850,000,000  copies,  which  were  as  many  teachers 
and  diffusers  of  English  spelling,  grammar,  and  language.  As 
newspapers  indicate  a  popular  desire  and  demand  for  reading, 
which  is  the  first  step  towards  knowledge,  we  rank  nations  in  the 
above  Table  according  to  their  number  of  souls  per  newspaper. 
That  the  two  most  liberal  countries — United  States  and  Switzer- 
land— surpass  all  other  countries  in  the  demand  for  daily  reading 
and  information,  augurs  well  for  republics ;  that  there  is  much 
more  demand  for  reading  in  Christian  than  Mahometan  coun- 
tries, augurs  ill  for  Moslem.  As  the  Cossack  shows  sixteen 
times  more  desire  for  reading  than  the  Turk,  he  will  prove  him- 
self sixteen  times  superior  to  the  Turk.  Such  seem  to  be  the 
facts  shown  by  the  above  statistics.  No  doubt,  the  increase  of 
newspapers  is  a  criterion  of  a  people's  thirst  for  daily  informa- 
tion, of  which  reading  must  be  the  forerunner. 

As  the  Press  has  been  of  the  people  and  from  the  people  ; 
has  usually  been  the  champion  of  freedom,  and  protected  the 
weak  against  the  strong,  and  the  innocent  against  the  guilty, 
despotic  governments  and  ambitious  individuals  have  ever 
looked  upon  it  with  disfavor.  Much  has  been  said  and  writ- 
ten against  newspapers,  their  blackmailing,  their  distortion  of 
daily  occurrences,  their  perverting  truth  and  making  falsehood 
appear  plausible.  Yet  where  there  is  one  newspaper  that 
favors  such  practices,  there  are  at  least  nine  that  look  upon 
them  with  disdain.  How  could  it  be  otherwise,  when  we  con- 
sider that  all  those  connected  with  the  press,  from  type-setters 
to  reporters,  editors,  and  proprietors,  are  highly  intelligent 
and  hard-working  people  ?  Moreover,  an  institution  that  gives 
us  at  our  breakfast-table  what  occurred  yesterday  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, London,  Rome,  St.  Petersburg  ;  an  institution  that  an- 
nounces the  tempest  raging  a  thousand  miles  off  and  approach- 
ing our  shores,  thus  giving  sailors  timely  notice  to  avoid  it ;  an 
institution  that  is  Argus-eyed  to  detect  the  vicious  and  warn  the 
good  against  their  dark  designs  ;  an  institution  that  encourages 
the  industrious  and  scores  idlers ;  an  institution  whose  columns 
earn  money  by  procuring  work  for  chambermaids,  seamstresses, 
and  laborers,  and  spend  it  to  assist  Livingstones  and  Stanleys  in 
distant  scientific  explorations,  as  has  been  done  by  the  New 
York  Herald  and  Daily  Telegraph ;  in  short,  a  modern  institution 


Sixteenth  Century.  359 

that  has  made  itself  as  indispensable  to  the  mind  as  food  to  the 
body.  What  would,  how  could  the  world  do  without  it  ?  As  the 
ultimate  result  of  our  analysis  shows  the  vocabulary  and  style 
of  the  press,  we  say  no  more  on  that  subject. 

Physical  science  had  a  pioneer  in  Battista  Porta,  who  popu- 
larized experiments  in  optics,  made  improved  lenses,  constructed 
a  camera  obscura,  and  wrote  "Perspectiva,"  1555  ;  "Magia 
Naturalis"  (Natural  Magic),  1558;  "Phytognomonica"  (Knowl- 
edge of  Plants),  1583;  a  Treatise  on  Physiognomy.  1586  ;  "Vil- 
lae  Libri  XX."  (Treatise  on  Agriculture),  1592,  and  "  De  Re- 
fractione  Optices  Parte"  (On  Refraction,  a  Part  of  Optics), 
1593.  Here  was  a  rich  stream  of  scientific  terms  flowing  into 
the  European  languages ;  for  the  books  of  this  zealous  scientist 
had  many  editions.  No  doubt,  our  perspective,  phytonomy,  re- 
fraction, and  numerous  other  scientific  words,  originated  with 
Porta  in  the  sense  in  which  they  have  since  been  used.  Sir 
David  Brevvster,  speaking  of  the  telescope,  observes  :  "  We  have 
no  doubt  that  this  invaluable  instrument  was  invented  by  Roger 
Bacon  or  Baptista  Porta,  in  the  form  of  an  experiment ;  though 
it  had  not  perhaps,  in  their  hands,  assumed  the  maturity  of  an 
instrument  made  for  sale,  and  applied  to  useful  purposes,  both 
terrestrial  and  celestial."  Some  ascribe  the  first  telescope  to 
Zacharias  Jansen. 

We  would  hardly  expect  to  find  an  alphabetic  improvement  as 
late  as  the  sixteenth  century,  yet  there  was  one,  for  about  1560, 
Pierre  de  la  Ramee  (Ranius)  realized  the  confusion  caused  by 
using  i  as  vowel  and  consonant  in  words  like  ialousie,  iustice,  £c. 
Also  the  confusion  caused  by  using  u  as  vowel  and  consonant 
in  words  like  ualour,  uengeance,  uertue*  &c.  Consequently  he 
substituted  j  for  i,  wherever  i  was  to  be  pronounced  like  an  as 
pirate,  as  in  jalousie,  justice,  &c.  He  also  replaced  u  by  vt 
wherever  u  was  to  be  uttered  like  a  labial,  as  in  valeur,  vengeance, 
vertn,  &c.  J  and  v  were  called  "  Ramist  consonants?  Although 
this  distinction  between  /  and/,  u  and  v  was  a  decided  improve 
ment,  Pierre  de  la  Ramee  did  not  live  to  see  it  adopted ;  for  the 

*  Even  in  the  first  edition  of  Shakespeare's  works,  1623,  we  find  ialousie, 
iustice,  iniurie,  ioynt,  &c.  ;  ualour,  uengeance,  uertue,  heauen,  euery,  &c.  ; 
now  jealousy,  justice,  injury,  joint,  £c.  ;  valor,  vengeance,  virtue,  heaven^ 
every,  &c. 


360         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

liberal  savant  was  butchered  during  the  Massacre  of  St.  Barthol- 
omew, 1572.  A  publisher,  named  Gilles  Beys,  first  used/ and  i> 
in  "  Commentaire  de  Mignault  sur  les  Epitres  d'  Horace"  Paris, 
1584.  Next  Louis  Elzevir,  a  progressive  Dutch  publisher,  used 
the  Ramist  consonants  in  his  publications  about  1650.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  in  this  nineteenth  century  will  arise  a  savant  and  pub- 
lishers, who  can  appreciate  the  long-felt  need  of  writing  and 
printing  English  as  it  is  pronounced. 

We  read  that  the  Greeks  gradually  added  letters  to  the  ancient 
Cadmean  sixteen  letter  alphabet,  and  accents  to  the  letters,  as 
they  felt  the  want  thereof;  and  that  about  240  B.C.  the  gram- 
marian Carvilius  added  g  to  the  Roman  alphabet,  probably  to 
supply  the  want  of  a  mild  guttural  ?  So  the  Jews  introduced 
vowel  points,  the  French  accents,  dieresis,  cedilla,  and  the  Ger- 
mans umlaut.  Hence  alphabetic,  diagraphic,  and  phonetic 
changes  and  additions  to  harmonize  letter  and  sound  are  no 
novelty,  and  the  English-speaking  populations  risk  nothing,  and 
will  not  be  called  radical  in  imitating  their  illustrious  Hebrew, 
Greek,  Roman,  French,  and  German  predecessors. 

Dryden  died  in  May,  1700,  after  his  varied  muse  had  worthily 
enlivened  the  sixteenth  century.  Lord  Brougham  calls  his  prose 
"matchless,  rich,  various,  natural,  animated,  pointed."  Macaulay 
styles  him  "an  incomparable  reasoner  in  verse."  His  "Ode  on 
Saint  Cecilia's  Day"  has  been  pronounced  a  masterpiece.  He 
also  enriched  English  with  the  classic  lore  of  the  ancients ;  for 
Pope  says:  "  His  translation  of  Virgil  is  the  most  noble  and 
spirited  translation  I  know  in  any  language."  Such  versatility  in 
prose,  poetry,  and  criticism,  made  Dryden  the  master-mind  of 
his  day,  and  entitled  him  to  the  honorable  post  of  poet-laureate, 
which  he  deservedly  obtained. 

In  this  age  of  reviving  progress,  the  science  of  the  Shepherd 
Kings  and  Magi  came  in  vogue,  and  towers  somewhat  similar  to 
those  of  Babel  and  Osymandias  were  raised  to  contemplate  the 
heavens  ;  but  instead  of  being  called  after  kings,  they  were  simply 
styled  observatory  from  Latin  observatum  (to  observe).  Ger- 
many, imitating  the  ancients,  erected  the  first  astronomic  ob- 
servatory at  Cassel,  1561.  In  1577  Denmark  rivaled  Germany: 
her  liberal  king,  Frederick  II.,  reared  in  the  Isle  of  Huen  a 
magnificent  observatory,  which  he  named  Uraniburg  (Castle  of 


Sixteenth  Century.  361 

the  Heavens),  and  gave  it  as  a  grant  for  life  to  Tycho  Brahe,  who 
at  the  age  of  seventeen  discovered  an  astronomic  error  in  the 
"Alphonsin  Tables."  Soon  the  Danish  star-gazer  won  the  title, 
"Restorer  of  Astronomy"  for  he  catalogued  777  stars  and  ascer- 
tained the  true  theory  of  comets.  Sir  David  Brewster  epitomizes 
Tycho  Brahe's  discoveries  thus  : 

"  As  a  practical  astronomer,  Tycho  has  not  been  surpassed  by  any  observer 
of  ancient  or  modern  times.  The  splendor  and  number  of  his  instruments, 
the  ingenuity  which  he  exhibited  in  inventing  new  ones,  and  his  skill  and 
assiduity  as  an  observer,  have  given  a  character  to  his  labors  and  a  value  to 
his  observations,  which  will  be  appreciated  to  the  latest  posterity.  His  im- 
provements in  the  lunar  theory  were  still  more  valuable.  He  discovered  the 
important  inequality  called  the  variation,  and  also  the  annual  inequality, 
which  depends  on  the  position  of  the  Earth  in  its  orbit." 

This  pioneer  scientist  died  1601,  leaving  a  worthy  pupil  in 
Kepler. 

Extracts  and  Tables  from  six  authors  and  writings  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  showing  their  style  and  the  origin  of  their  vocab- 
ulary. 

[By  these  Extracts  readers  may  realize  that  the  language  of  this  age  differs  little  in  spelling 
and  grammar  from  English  of  1878.] 


362         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  the  English  Prayer-Book  (1548),  from  Cranmer, 
Peter  Martyr ;  Bernard  Ochin,  and  Melancthon  : 

"Almighty  and  most  merciful  Father  !  We  have  erred  and  strayed  from 
thy  ways  like  lost  sheep.  We  have  followed  too  much  the  devices  and  desires 
of  our  own  hearts.  We  have  offended  against  Thy  holy  laws.  We  have  left 
undone  those  things,  which  we  ought  to  have  done ;  and  we  have  done  those 
things,  which  we  ought  not  to  have  done ;  and  there  is  no  health  in  us.  But 
Thou,  O  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us  miserable  offenders.  Spare  Thou  them, 
O  God,  which  confess  their  faults.  Restore  Thou  them,  that  are  penitent ; 
according  to  Thy  promises,  declared  unto  mankind  in  Christ  Jesu,  our  Lord. 
And  grant,  O  most  merciful  Father  for  His  sake ;  That  we  may  hereafter 
live  a  Godly,  righteous,  and  sober  life,"  &c. 

"Wilt  thou  have  this  woman  to  be  thy  wedded  wife,  to  live  together  after 
God's  ordinance,  in  the  holy  state  of  matrimony  ?  Wilt  thou  love  her,  com- 
fort her,  honour,  and  keep  her  in  sickness  and  in  health ;  and,  forsaking  all 
others,  keep  thee  only  unto  her,  so  long  as  ye  both  shall  live  ?  " 

"  Dearly  beloved,  know  this,  that  Almighty  God  is  the  Lord  of  life  and 
death,  and  of  all  things  to  them  pertaining,  as  youth,  strength,  age,  weakness, 
and  sickness.  Wherefore,  whatsoever  your  sickness  is,  know  you  certainly 
that  it  is  God's  visitation.  And  for  what  cause  soever  this  sickness  is  sent 
unto  you;  whether  it  be  to  try  your  patience  for  the  example  of  others,"  £c. 

240  common  words,  among  which 


The                         occurs 

3  times. 

have, 

aux.             occurs    7  times. 

a                                   " 

i       " 

shall, 

"                   "         i      " 

of 

2        " 

will, 

2       " 

to                                " 

7      " 

may, 

«                         «            »       « 

from                            " 

i      " 

do, 

<«                         <«           0      « 

in                                 «' 

5      " 

that 

««            A       " 

with                             " 

o      " 

and 

"         12      " 

by                                  " 

0        " 

— 

Pro.  of  ist  person      " 
"   2d       "          " 

12        " 
I5         " 

85 

other  particles,  36 

u    ^d       »«           " 

II         " 

121  particles. 

be,  aux.                       " 

I         " 

Hence,  the  style  of  this  early  prayer-book  required  about  240  common 
words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averaged  about  fifty-one  per  cent, 
particles  and  fifty-eight  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Sixteenth  Century. 


363 


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364         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  Tusser's  "Five  Hundreth  Good  Pointes  of  Husband- 

rie"  1580. 

"THE  LADDER  TO  THRIFT."       L.E.,  l8l2,  p.   1 8. 

"  To  take  thy  calling  thankfully, 
And  shun  the  path  to  beggary. 

To  grudge  in  youth  no  drudgery, 
To  come  by  knowledge  perfectly. 

To  count  no  travell  slavery, 
That  brings  in  penny  saverly. 

To  follow  profit,  earnestly, 
But  meddle  not  with  pilfery. 

To  get  by  honest  practisy. 
And  keep  thy  gettings  covertly. 

To  lash  not  out,  too  lashingly, 
For  fear  of  pinching  penury. 

To  get  good  plot,  to  occupy. 
And  store  and  use  it,  husbandly. 

To  shew  to  landlord  courtesy, 
And  keep  the  covenants  orderly. 

To  hold  that  thine  is  lawfully, 
For  stoutness,  or  for  flattery. 

To  wed  good  wife  for  company, 
And  live  in  wedlock  honestly. 

To  furnish  house  with  housholdry, 
And  make  provision  skilfully. 

To  join  to  wife  good  family, 
And  none  to  keep  for  bravery. 

To  suffer  none  live  idely, 
For  fear  of  idle  knavery. 

To  courage  wife  in  huswifery, 
And  use  well  doers  gentily. 

To  keep  no  more  but  needfully, 
And  count  excess  unsavoury. 

To  raise  betimes  the  lubberly, 
Both  snorting  Hob  and  Margery. 

To  walk  thy  pastures  usually, 
To  spy  ill  neighbour's  subtilty." 

177  common  words,  among  which 


72  particles. 


Hence,  Tusser's  style  required  about  177  common  words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and 
averaged  about  forty-one  per  cent,  particles  and  forty  per  cent,  repetitions. 


The             occurs 

times. 

Pron.  26  pers.  occurs  5  times. 

that           occurs 

of 

"     3d     "           "     i 

and 

to 

2 

be,  aux.                  "    o 

from 

have,  aux.               "    o 

in 

shall,     "                 "    o 

other  particles, 

with 

will,        "                 "    o 

Pro.  ist  pers.  " 

may,       "                 *'     o 
do,         "                "    o 

Sixteenth  Century. 


365 


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366        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Extracts  from  John  Norderfs  "Historical  and  Choro graphical" 
Descriptions  of  Cornwall  and  Essex  about  1594. 

CORNWALL  (1584). 

"  Of  late  the  Cornish  men  have  mnche  conformed  themselves  to  the  use  of 
the  Englishe  tounge,  and  their  Englishe  is  equall  to  the  beste,  especially  in 
the  easterne  partes ;  even  from  Truro  easwarde  it  is  in  manner  wholly  Eng- 
lishe. In  the  weste  parte  of  the  countrye,  as  in  the  hundreds  of  Penwith  and 
Kerrier,  the  Cornishe  tounge  is  moste  in  use  amongste  the  inhabitantes,  and 
yet  (whiche  is  to  be  marveyled),  though  the  husband  and  wife,  parentes  and 
children,  master  and  servantes,  doe  mutually  communicate  in  their  native  lan- 
guage, yet  ther  is  none  of  them  in  manner  but  is  able  to  convers  with  a 
straunger  in  the  Englishe  tounge,  unless  it  be  some  obscure  people,  that  sel- 
dome  conferr  with  the  better  sorte :  But  it  seemeth  that  in  few  yeares  the 
Cornishe  language  will  be  by  litle  and  litle  abandoned."  * 

ESSEX  (1594). 

"  There  are  in  this  shire  some  especial!  groundes  noted  generallie,  in  re- 
garde  of  their  fertilletie,  by  this  comon  Rime  or  Prouerbe,  &c. : 

"  About  the  town  of  Walden  groweth  great  store  of  saffron,  whose  nature, 
in  yelding  her  fruite,  is  verie  straunge,  and  bindeth  the  laborer  to  greate 
trauaile  and  dilligence ;  and  yet  at  length  yealdeth  no  small  aduantage  to 
recomforte  him  agayne." 


191  common  words,  among  which 


The                    occurs 

1  6  times. 

have,  aux. 

a                             " 

I       " 

shall,     " 

of 

7      " 

will,      " 

to                           " 

4      " 

may,     " 

from                        " 

i       «' 

do,        u 

in                             " 

12         " 

that, 

with                       " 

2         " 

and 

by 

2         " 

Pron.  of  ist  per.    " 

0         " 

'MJt 

"      2d      "       " 

0         " 

ot 

u      3d      u      « 

10         " 

be,  aux.                  " 

3       " 

occurs         i  times. 
«  0      « 


70 

other  particles,  29 

99  particles. 

Hence,  Norden's  style  required  about  191  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averaged  about  fifty-two  per  cent,  particles  and  forty-eight 
per  cent,  repetitions. 

*  This  soon  happened,  for  Dorothea  Pentreath,  who  died  1778,  was  the 
last  person  who  could  speak  Cornish. 


Sixteenth  Century. 


367 


iLl-alojihg^    s«l'§> 

IN||l||IIi1-li|p 


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mani 

59 
;s,  lea 


I  &?P"cis  •*!!! 


Conformed 
use.  n. 


u 


368         Franco -English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  Richard  Mule  aster's  "Elementarie"  p.  167,  A.D. 

1582. 

A  standard  educational  book  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth. 

"  I  take  this  present  period  of  our  English  tung  to  be  the  verie  height  thereof, 
bycause  I  find  it  so  excellently  well  fined  both  for  the  bodie  of  the  tung  itself, 
and  for  the  customarie  writing  thereof,  as  either  foren  workmanship  can  give 
it  glosse,  or  as  home-wrought  hanling  can  give  it  grace.  When  the  age  of 
our  people,  which  now  vse  the  tung,  will  alter  and  change ;  which  change  in 
the  full  harvest  thereof  maie  prove  comparable  to  this;  but,  sure  for  this, 
which  we  now  vse,  it  seemeth  euen  now  to  be  at  the  best  for  substance,  and 
the  brauest  for  circumstance,  and  whatsoever  shall  become  of  the  English  state, 
the  English  tung  cannot  prove  fairer  than  it  is  at  this  daie,  if  it  maie  please 
our  learned  sort  so  to  esteme  of  it,  and  to  bestow  their  trauell  upon  such  a 
subject."  First  Part,  p.  159. 

"For  easie  obtaining  isenemie  to  iudgement,  not  onlie  in  words  and  natural 
speche,  but  in  greater  matters  and  verie  important.  Aduised  and  considerat 
cumming  by,  as  it  proves  by  those  tungs,  which  we  learn  by  art,  where  time 
and  trauell  be  the  compassing  means  emplanteth  in  wits  both  certaintie  to  rest 
on,  and  assurance  to  rise  by  our  natural  tung  cummeth  on  vs  by  hudle,  and 
therefor  hedelesse,  foren  language  is  labored,  and  therefore  learned,  the  one 
still  in  vse  and  neuer  well  known,  the  other  well  known  and  verie  seldom 
vsed.  And  yet  continewal  vse  should  enfer  knowledge  in  a  thing  of  such  vse, 
as  the  naturall  deliurie  of  our  mind  and  meaning  is.  And  to  saie  the  truth 
what  reason  it  is,  to  be  acquainted  abrode  and  a  stranger  at  home  ?  to  know 
foren  tungs  by  rule,  and  our  own  by  rote.  If  all  other  men  had  been  so 
affected  to  make  much  of  the  foren,  and  set  light  by  their  own,  as  we  seem  to 
do,  we  had  neuer  had  these  things,  which  we  like  of  so  much,  we  should  neuer 
by  comparing  have  diserned  the  better." 

190  common  words,  among  which 
The  occur 

a  " 

of 

to  " 

from  " 

in  " 

with 
by 
Pron.  of  ist  per.    " 

"      2d     u      " 

"     3d     "     " 
be,  aux.  " 

Hence,  Mulcaster's  style  requires  about  190  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-three  per  cent,  particles  and  forty 
seven  per  cent,  repetitions. 


II  times. 

have, 

aux.         occurs 

o  times. 

5       " 

shall, 

44                           (« 

i     " 

I       " 

will, 

44                           « 

i     " 

6       " 

may, 

44                           (1 

2       '* 

o       " 

do, 

44                           (( 

0      " 

3      " 

that 

" 

0      " 

0         " 

and 

M 

8     " 

2         " 

— 

7      " 

56 

0         " 

other  particles 

,  45 

9      " 

101  particles. 

o    •  " 

Sixteenth  Century. 


369 


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370         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Extract  from  '•''The  Replication  of  the  most  Rev.  Father  in  God, 
John  Archbishop  of  Yeorke,  Complainant,  to  the  Demurrer  and 
answer  of  Thomas  Robinson,  Defendant','1  dated  A.D.  1591. 

Thomsls  Hearne's  Works,  i3ro,  vol.  iv.,  p.  416. 

u  The  said  Complainant  averreth  his  said  Bill  of  Complainte,  and  every  mat- 
ter and  thinge  therm  contayned,  to  be  juste  and  true,  in  such  manner  and 
forme  as  in  the  said  Bill  of  Complaynt  is  playnly  set  forth  and  declared.  And 
further  saith,  that  the  said  Demurrer  and  Answer  of  the  Defendant  is  very 
uncertayne,  un-true  and  insufficient  in  the  Law  to  be  replyed  unto,  for  divers, 
very  manifest,  and  apparent  matters  and  causes  therein  contayned;  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  insufficiencye  whereof  unto  this  Repliant  at  all  tymes  hereafter 
sacred,  for  further  Replication  thereunto,  this  Complainant  saith,  in  all  and 
every  Matter,  Article  and  Thinge,  as  lie  before,  in  his  said  Bill  of  Complaint, 
hath  playnly  and  truly  set  forth  and  declared.  And  further  saith,  that,  for  as 
much  as  the  said  Defendant,  by  his  said  Answer,  without  any  color  of  cause, 
pretendeth,  that  this  Complaynant,  beynge  priviledged  in  thexchequer,  as  the 
Collector  of  the  annuall  Tenths  and  Subsydies,  havinge,  in  this  Court  a  place 
of  accompte,  as  well  for  that  Collection  of  the  Subsydic  and  Benevolence  hath 
not  Priviledge  to  maintayne  Suit  in  this  Court ;  and  for  that  also,  that  the 
said  Defendant,  by  untrue  Surmises  of  a  Concealment,  hath  obtayned  in  Fee 
— Farme  a  Hospitall,  not  dissolved  nor  dissolvable,  nor  yet  concealed,  for  a 
yearly  Rent,  aunswerable  in  thisCourte;  therefore  this  Complanant  is  only 
to  seeke  his  Remedy  in  this  honorable  Court,  and  not  elsewhere.  And  for 
that  if  this  Repliant  by  Judiciall  Decree  hath  had  Redresse  in  the  same  Court, 
against  such  pretended  Purchasses  of  supposed  Concealments  of  this  Complain- 
ant's See  and  Archbishopricke  ;  and  for  as  much  as  the  sayd  Defendant,  by 
his  said  Answer,  confesseth  the  same  to  have  beene  a  Hospitall,  which,"  &c.  * 
289  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs       14  times. 

have,  aux. 

occurs        4  times. 

a 

5 

shall,     " 

o 

of 

10 

will,      " 

o 

to 

5 

may,      " 

0 

from 

o 

do,        » 

o 

in 

12 

that 

7 

with 

0 

and 

21 

by 

3 

— 

Pron.  of  ist  pers. 

o 

00 

(C 

2d    " 

0 

other  particles,  58 

" 

3d    « 

5 



be,  aux 

4 

148  particles. 

Hence, 

the  legal   style  in   the  sixteenth  century 

required  about  289  com- 

mon  words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averaged  about  fifty-one  per 
cent,  particles  and  sixty-five  per  cent,  repetitions. 

*  As  we  quoted  the  first  regular  deed,  written  in  England  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventh  century,  lawyers  may  compare  and  realize  how  the  legal 
style  progressed  within  nine  hundred  years. 


Sixteenth   Century. 


371 


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C^             ^         ^.^1,-W                    ^«.W 
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Greco-Latin 
s  of  inherent  me 

ity-six  of  the  loc 
1  color  and  o>//< 
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8 

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372         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Extract  from  Spenser's  "Faerie  Queene"  ii.,  c.  3,  A.D.  1596. 

?'  Her  face  so  faire,  as  flesh  it  seemed  not, 
But  hevenly  pourtraict  of  bright  angels  how, 
Cleare  as  the  skye,  withouten  blame  or  blot, 
Through  goodly  mixture  of  complexions  dew  ; 
And  in  her  cheekes  the  vermeill  red  did  shew, 
Like  roses  in  a  bed  of  lillies  shed. 
The  which  ambrosiall  odours  from  them  threw, 
And  gazers  sence  with  double  pleasure  fed, 
Hable  to  heale  the  sicke  and  to  revive  the  ded. 

In  her  faire  eyes  two  living  lamps  did  flame, 
Kindled  above  at  th'  Hevenly  Makers  light, 
And  darted  fyrie  beames  out  of  the  same, 
So  passing  persant,  and  so  wondrous  bright, 
That  quite  bereav'd  the  rash  beholders  sight : 
In  them  the  blinded  god  his  lustfull  fyre 
To  kindle  oft  assayd,  but  had  no  might  ; 
For,  with  dredd  maiestie  and  awtull  yre, 
She  broke  his  wanton  darts,  and  quenched  bace  desyre, 

Her  yvorie.  forhead,  full  of  bountie  brave,"  &c. 
147  common  words,  among  which 


The 

a 

of 

to 

from 

in 

with 

by 

Pron.  of  ist  per. 

"        2d      " 
"        3d      " 

be,     aux. 

have,  " 

shall,  " 

will,  " 

may,  « 

do,  " 
that 
and 


8  times. 

i 
5 
3 

i 

4 
3 
o 
o 
o 

9 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 

2 
I 

7 


44 
other  particles,  19 

63  particles. 

Hence,  Spenser's  style  requires  147  common  words  to  furnish  100  different 
words,  and  averages  about  forty-three  per  cent,  particles  and  thirty-three  per 
cent,  repetitions. 


Sixteenth  Century. 


373 


V  -s 

S    § 
v    •* 


! 


^  s 
8  .5 


, 

'' 

.y 

•• 

^, 

w   ** 

•4 

% 

? 

X 

ARID-SEA 
TIC  TYPE 

SEMITIC  FAMI 

1 

N         M                                                            m     ^   ** 

n                             ..                            »JO       o 

M    i    J-    ••    lisl 

Semitic  ivo, 

we  find  but  si 
particle  once. 

ii 

IlllJIII    j-» 

.  |2 

H  2 

a 

•2  ^  § 

£!8HM 

1  -^ 

si 

?§1 

y 

i>: 

c 

\ 

00  s    £ 
f-f-2 

«  s 

^ 

2 

i     M 

\       H 

§  S| 

S 

i 

| 

S  jft§ 

§h 

o; 

§  .£>- 

rman  : 

8si  ^T~iT 

1 

ijl 

& 

^  ^ 

1 

a  •-•! 

(Q 

W 

o 

««s!nii  *„ 

-,  1 

"  -2c 

S  ^ 

^        U     (« 

<J 
S) 

O 

1  1"°M  ^ 

1    i 

^        ro 

„  |S 

I1j 

0 

[  O-GERMANI 

1 

ermanic  n 
66 
>,  leaving  4 
meaning. 

hi 

•I  sa 

H 

« 

v  ^ 

ft    S  o 

a 

§ 

^ 

1/1         X                                                                     C 

en     u  8 

0 

p 

SCYTHO-( 

P3^u       --0-Sg^^-j       ^^T-J^ 
^I^rt|l|ll1^2|^& 

«     -^                                               -3 

n    s 

CJ       P« 

rt 

111 

1 

1 

ti]]iiHi<l»]fn« 

N 

M 

2 
> 

J>    g§ 

III 

•S*0 

6 

1/1           •*                    -g      -S  M 

•s 

Hl-H 

3 

>• 
J 

, 

lj« 

•SiJ 

i 

!; 

& 

pf 

^ 

•j 

GRECO-LATH 

' 

l«                     'o' 
p4-^O                     2^            ^ft 

|j 

•S     ^ 

"**    N  <* 

•ee  ofthe  100 
nd  eighty-on 
on,  and  thirt 

M 

(/) 

«    M^ 

_c    5  X 

O 

o     '5 

*S  \2  ^ 

u 

•. 

M)    W 

1     > 

>.   jj°? 

§ 

'•1 

bJoS.^S  JJ      w) 

S  Si* 

5 

^ 

<j-g'—  -c 

1 

w  ^~l<: 

u 

i 

1      0  " 

1 

*^» 

1 

"rt 

«  |§ 

s 

1 

jjj         M 

fc  **  S. 

h 

"  S 

1 

374        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Synopsis  of  the  different  words  from   the  six    Tables  of  the 
Sixteenth  Century. 


Greek  : 

4)                                            1 

Latin  : 

20  i-  Greco-Latin  :           208 

French  : 

184 

Anglo-Saxon  : 

2lO 

Gothic: 

3 

Danish  : 

2    1 

German  : 

5  \  Gotho-Germanic  :  224 

Swedish  : 

i 

Dutch  : 

i 

Icelandic  : 

i 

Welsh  : 

< 

4 

Scotch  : 
Irish  : 

2 

I 

>  Celtic  :                         8 

Armoric  : 

I 

Hebrew  : 

I 

Semitic  :                        i 

Total  of  the  differ- 
ent words :  431. 


Hence,  the  Franco-English  style  in  the  sixteenth 
century  shows  a  vocabulary  of  different  words,  con- 
taining about 

50  per  cent.   Gotho-Germanic,  including    47    per 

cent.  Anglo-Saxon  ; 
48         "  Greco-Latin,  including  43   per  cent. 

French. 
2          "  Celtic,  and  traces  of  Semitic. 

Not  one  of  the  211  different  Anglo-Saxon  words 
is  now  obsolete. 

Not  one  of  the  184  different  French  words  is  now 

obsolete. 

v 

One  hundred  and  thirty  of  the  211  different 
Anglo-Saxon  words,  or  about  fifty-eight  per  cent, 
are  now  spelt  as  they  were  in  the%sixteenth  century. 

One  hundred  and  thirty-two  of  the  184  Greco- 
Latin  words,  or  about  seventy-one  per  cent.,  are 
now  spelt  as  they  were  in  the  sixteenth  century. 


Sixteenth  Century. 


375 


ULTIMATE  NUMERICAL   RESULT  OF  THE   ORIGIN  OF  THE  VO- 
CABULARY OF  THE  FRANCO-ENGLISH  PERIOD,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

Each  of  the  four  synopses  of  this  Period  shows 
the  origin  of  the  Franco-English  vocabulary  for  one 
century ;  to  reach  the  origin  of  the  whole  Franco- 
English  vocabulary,  we  must  drop  all  repetitions 
from  the  twenty-two  Tables  of  the  Franco-English 
Period,  so  as  to  arrive  at  the  number  of  ultimate  dif- 
ferent words. 


ORIGIN    OF   THE    FRANCO-ENGLISH    VOCABULARY: 


Anglo-Saxon:  533") 

Gothic  : 

2 

Danish  : 

4  1 

German  : 

14  \  Gotho-Germanic  words  :  557 

Dutch  : 

2 

Swedish  : 

i 

Icelandic  : 

i 

Greek  : 

< 

5 

Latin  : 
French  : 

47 
464 

}•  Greco-Latin  words  :         518 

Italian  : 

2 

Welsh  : 

6' 

Irish  : 
Scotch  : 

2    ' 

V  Celtic  words  :                       ri 

2    f 

Armoric  : 

ij 

Hebrew  : 

2 

Semitic  words  :                      2 

Total  of  the 
ultimate  dif- 
ferent words: 
1,088. 


Hence,  the  Franco-English  vocabulary  counts 
51   per  cent.    Gotho-Germanic,    including   49    per 

cent.  Anglo-Saxon ; 
47         "  Greco- Latin,  including  43  per  cent. 

French ;  * 

i          "  Celtic,  and 

Traces  of  Semitic,  which  came  through  the  Bible. 

*  As  French  rose  to  forty-three  per  cent,  in  England's  language  from  A.D. 
1200  to  1600,  it  must  be  conceded  that  Franco-English  (not  "Early  Eng- 
lish ")  is  the  most  appropriate  qualificative  for  this  period. 


376        Franco -English  Period,  A. D.  1200-1600. 

For  later  comparison,  we  desire  readers  to  remember  : 

1.  That  487  (forty-five  per  cent.)  of  the  above  1,088  ultimate 
different  words  are  now  (1878)  spelt  as  they  were  prior  to  A.D. 
1600;  whereas  the  Anglo-Saxon  vocabulary  of  A.D.  1200  shows 
but  nine  per  cent,  of  its  words  spelt  as  they  were  before  A.D.  1200. 

2.  That  only  67  (twelve  per  cent.)  of  the  above  533  ultimate  dif- 
ferent Anglo-Saxon  words  of  the  Franco-English  Period  are  now 
obsolete;   whereas   the  Anglo-Saxon  vocabulary  of  A.D.    1200 
shows  fifty-four  per  cent,  obsolete  words.     Yet  Sharon  Turner 
and  his  followers  (without  ever  having  made  a  close  analysis)  in- 
sinuate that  only  about  five  per  cent,  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect 
is  obsolete,  and  that  they  have  been  replaced  by  Latin  and 
French.     Thus  are  the  ninety  English-speaking  millions  kept  in 
darkness  as  to.  the  origin  of  their  language. 

Synopsis  of  the  Numeric  Result  of  the  twenty -two  Extracts  from  Authors  of 
the  Franco-English  Period,  showing  the  style  of  writing  from  A.  D. 
1200  to  1600. 


AUTHORS  AND  WRITINGS. 

Layamon's,  i3th  Century  , 
Lord's  Prayer,  Creed,  &c.,  isth.. 
Robert  Gloucester,  isth  
Robert  Manning,  i4th         , 

NUMBER  OF  WOF 
IN  EACH  EXTRA 

233 
I98 
267 

195 

CT.           HEKENT  MEANING.       PARTICLES- 

including         123            no  (47  per  cent.) 
"                106              92  (46         •'       ) 
126            141  (53                 ) 
94             101  (50                  ) 
133               90(40         "        ) 
89               84(49         "       ) 
127             141  (52         "       ) 
97             H3C54         "        ) 
93             136  (.:o         "       ) 

112                    90(45            "          ) 

90             103  (53         "       ) 
98             104  (51         "       ) 
94              97  (50        "       ) 
106            135  (57        "       ) 
121            123  (50        "       ) 

102                   H8(54             "           ) 
119                   121   (51             "          ) 
'    105                     72  (41             "           ) 

92              99  (52         "       ) 
89             ioi  (53         "       ) 
141             148  (51         "       ) 
"                   84               6?  (4.1         "       ) 

Adam  Davie,  i4th  , 

«23 

268 

Gower,  i4th..        .               ... 

2IO 

Wynkin  de  Worde,  isth  , 

,  .  .                      244 

Fabian,  isth      

22O 

Tusser   i6th 

Mulcaster   i6th        .   .           .... 

Law  Paper,  i6th  , 

289 

Spenser,  i6th.  .  . 

147 

For  comparison  in  the  English  Period,  readers  will  please  re- 
member : 

i.  That  the  twenty-two  Extracts  from  the  prominent  Franco- 


Sixteenth  Century.  377 

English  authors  and  writings  aggregate  4,723  words,  averaging 
215  words  for  each  of  the  twenty-two  Extracts;  whereas  the  Ex- 
tracts of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Period  average  242  words  per  Extract. 

2.  That  the  twenty-two  Extracts,  numbering  4,723  words,  con- 
tain but  i, 088  (twenty-three  per  cent.)  ultimate  different  words, 
leaving  3,635  (seventy-seven  per  cent.)  ultimate  repetitions ; 
whereas  the  Extracts  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Period  contain  twenty- 
two  per  cent,  ultimate  repetitions. 

Such  we  find  the  origin  of  the  vocabulary  and  the  style  of  the 
best  authors  and  writings  of  the  Franco-English  Period.  Anglo- 
Saxon  words  were  altered,  dropped,  and  replaced  by  Greco- 
Latin  to  the  amount  of  forty-seven  per  cent.  As  the  best 
authors  and  writings  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  from  A.D.  597 
to  1200,  show  but  eight  percent.  Greco-Latin,  it  becomes  evi- 
dent that  England's  national  language  gained  forty  per  cent. 
Greco-Latin  from  A.D.  1200  to  1600,  and  that  nine-tenths  of 
this  gain  came  through  the  French. 

We  realize  by  this  strict  numeric  analysis,  that  the  Franco- 
English  Period  averages  215  words  for  each  Extract;  whereas 
the  Anglo-Saxon  Period  averages  242.  Again,  the  Franco-Eng- 
lish Period  numbers  25  repeated  words  less  per  Extract  than  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  and  shows  an  increase  of  one  per  cent,  ultimate 
different  words.  True,  the  Anglo-Saxon  Period  averages  7  par- 
ticles less  per  Extract  than  the  Franco-English,  which  is  due  to 
the  more  frequent  use  of  the  particles  of,  to,  from,  &c.,  that  re- 
placed the  Anglo-Saxon  inflections  in  the  declension  of  nouns  and 
adjectives.  On  this  score  the  learned  Grimm  tells  us  that  mod- 
ern English  gained  in  spiritual  maturity  what  it  may  have  lost  in 
Anglo-Saxon  inflections.  Hence,  England's  language  improved 
in  conciseness  by  dropping  27  words  for  every  Extract;  in  force 
by  decreasing  repetitions  of  words  and  adding  one  per  cent,  ulti- 
mate different  words  ;  in  clearness  and  precision  by  substituting 
invariable  monosyllabic  particles  for  complicated  inflections. 

We  cannot  help  mentioning  here  the  first  public  library  of 
printed  books  in  England.  Hitherto  knowledge  had  been  con- 
fined to  obscure  and  musty  manuscripts,  kept  in  monasteries  and 
royal  palaces,  which  were  inaccessible  to  ordinary  readers  and  the 
laboring  classes.  Anyhow  manuscripts,  unless  written  in  a  very 
clear,  lucid  style,  and  well  preserved,  are  poor  conveyers  of  in- 


378         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

formation  even  to  scholars,  to  say  nothing  of  novices.  A  printed 
book  is  an  easier  and  safer  teacher  than  the  finest  manuscript. 
We  read  that  during  Medieval  times  even  bishops  died  without 
having  seen  a  fully  written  or  printed  Bible  ;  because  manuscripts 
and  printed  books  were  so  rare  and  costly.  Towards  the  close 
of  this  century  England  had  a  statesman,  who,  while  ambassador 
to  France,  had  occasion  to  discover  the  machinations  of  the 
Jesuits ;  that  statesman  was  Francis  Walsingham,  who  narrowly 
escaped  being  murdered  during  the  "  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholo- 
mew." He  had  watched  the  persecutions  of  the  Huguenots 
and  had  realized  that,  to  dissipate  superstition  and  ignorance, 
general  information  must  be  made  free  and  accessible,  not  only 
to  students  and  scholars,  but  to  the  masses.  Hence,  as  soon  as 
he  was  made  Prime  Minister  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  he  used  his 
influence  and  means  to  found  the  Royal  Library  at  Cambridge,  a 
center,  whence  knowledge  soon  radiated  over  the  British  Isles. 
Caxton  had  printed  many  popular  books  before  his  death  ;  and 
Wynkin  de  Worde  had  issued  Trevisa's  translation  of  Higden's 
"  Polychronicon "  (Universal  History)  and  other  works,  which, 
being  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  were  well  calculated  for  a  printed 
pioneer  library.  England  and  the  world  must  ever  feel  grateful 
to  Francis  Walsingham  for  an  educational  institution,  open  to  all 
who  desired  and  sought  information.  Yet  we  find  this  event,  so 
beneficent  to  popular  education,  unnoticed  by  English  publicists, 
and  only  casually  thus  mentioned  in  "Biographic  Portative  Uni- 
verselle,"  P.  Ed.  1852  : 

"On  doit  a  Walsingham  la  fondation  de  la  bibliotheque  du  roi  a  Cam- 
bridge." 

We  owe  to  Walsingham  the  foundation  of  the  King's  library  at  Cambridge. 

It  is  said  this  champion  of  general  education  died  so  poor, 
1590,  that  his  private  library  had  to  be  sold  to  pay  his  funeral 
expenses.  To  him,  surely,  honest  politicians  may  point  with  pride. 

After  showing  numeric  improvements  as  to  the  origin  of  words 
and  style  of  writing,  it  might  be  interesting  to  show  how  the 
Anglo-Saxons  and  Franco-Normans  prepared  their  dialects  by 
dropping  affixes  and  suffixes  to  form  English.  As  Tables  exhibit 
such  changes  more  clearly  than  any  other  way,  we  beg  readers  to 
glance  at  the  following  Tables  of  Anglo-Saxon  and  French  verbs  : 


Sixteenth  Century. 


379 


0 

X 


& 

k} ' 


" 


* 


t s 

Ih 


•5  *sj 

S  £ 


w 
w 

8!l 

0  k    t, 

^    *  t 

1  S  § 

»    ^    ^ 


ian 
a 


8  | 

c-21? 

18     §    -S 


e  termina 
words  thu 
se  altered 


s      •§  ti      %    *       i 


a  l~ 


>>>> 


>•    ..  >^    >>  >  i 


lll 


-II 


11 


ililliliyiiiiliiiiiiliii 

8!-ir' 


If  4 


(in,  and  Germ 
t  an  in  Anglo 


glo- 
,  th 


II 

C«s 


initive 
As  the 


02 


380         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Cfl 

W 
H 

s 

E 

M 

w 

u 

w 

fr 

o 

w 


1  i 


I! 

II 

8   !> 


•   3  3 
- 


sf  «  v- 
•.  Jt  i 


••is 


hese  F 
Verb 


se  French 
Verbs: 


11 
^•4, 

11 
K 


L 


se 
V 


II 

^•^ 

tt 


ll 

- 


l  Ils 


u  uS  8  s  s-gs  s  s 

i       III' 


*    -  ^ 

I'  |.l  11 

u 


Sgfefe-s&feSbsfeJ^Ls-S-gi 

|llll|llilllfllll 


|||||||fl|l]|l|ll 


Sixteenth  Century. 


38 


JI'SM 


siiiifitiii/ 


<u  fc- 

"g     1>    <LJ    ^  ZS 


O    o  T3 

ft  rt    S    C    g  jg 


aS  o 
s  b 


Isl&g 

<B  .22  o  a  'r  ^3 ' 

§ll|il|§§ 

(A     <*     S 


!fis 


i^i^j«ii::h%^ 

S  c 

ft^ 


s  d  d  =II^«|1  a§  =;=  liquid 

-^i !  =  ""    •=  =  s  "  i"^^^^  5"  -"  *•-=-- 


«llll 

-r s  w  ^"n^^^ 
&        w  S  §  § 

"55  o  o 

tn    co 


O    £ 


fc   v. 


v  "°  _r  >>       o 

d  e  1 S  B  fe 


.a 


382         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


Table  of  150  Anglo-Saxon  verbs,  that  became  obsolete  and  were  replaced  bv 
Latin,  French,  and  Welshverbs,  usually  one,  two,  and  even  three  syllables 
shorter : 


Obsolete  A  nglo- 
Saxon  verbs: 

Replaced  by  : 

Obsolete  Anglo- 
Saxon  -verbs  : 

Replaced  by  : 

accutan 

prove,  French. 

hlaensian 

chastise,  F. 

aeldian 

delay,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

hleotan 

appoint,  F. 

andastan 

confess,  F. 

hlosian 

perish,  F. 

athylgian 

envy,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

hlythrian 

purify,  F. 

athywian 

appear,  Latin. 

hogian 

study,  n.  &  v.,  L. 

aydlian 

fail,  F. 

hraeswan 

meditate,  L. 

bereotan 

deplore,  F. 

hrepian 

touch,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

bonnan 

proclaim,  F. 

hreran 

move,  n.  &  v.,  L. 

brae  tan 

change,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

hrywsian 

lament,  F. 

bredan 

roast,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

hudenian 

examine,  F. 

breman 

celebrate,  L. 

hwotheran 

murmur,  n.  &  v..  F. 

buwian 

cultivate,  L. 

ingebugian 

inhabit,  I,. 

byrgan 

taste,  n.  &  v.  ,  F. 

ingewadan 

enter,  F. 

csennan 

justify,  F. 

inwyrcan 

influence,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

cleopian 

cry,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

lathian 

invite,  F. 

cwencan 

vanish,  L. 

leoran 

depart,  F. 

dwaesian 

extinguish,  L. 

lithian 

moderate,  L. 

dreagan 

suffer,  F. 

lyffetan 

flatter,  F. 

drefan 

trouble,    n.  &  v.  F. 

micnsuniian 

marry,  F. 

eadmodan 

esteem,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

mathelican 

harangue,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

eafnian 

execute,  F. 

medmian 

mediate,  L. 

ealgian 

protect,  L. 

mutian 

measure,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

eaphalsian 

blaspheme,  F. 

mestucian 

punish.  F. 

ehtian 

chase,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

mithan 

avoid,  F. 

essian 

consume,  F. 

molsnian 

corrupt.  L. 

fadian 

dispose.  F. 

mynegian 

note,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

faegan 

plant,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

myngian 

mark,  n.  &  v..  F. 

faegnian 

rejoice,  F. 

myrran  . 

obstruct,  L. 

fiolan 

happen,  Welsh. 

mythgian 

quiet,  L. 

fraepsfian 

accuse,  F. 

nasgan 

address,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

freomian 

profit,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

neotan 

enjoy,  F. 

fullestan 

aid,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

nesan 

visit,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

fysan 

desire,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

nethan 

press,  n.  &  v.  ,  F. 

galan 

enchant,  F. 

nydan 

compel,  L. 

ge-acnian 

conceive,  F. 

onbeodan 

promise,  n.  &  v.  ,  L. 

ge-refenlaecan 

imitate,  L. 

onbestelan 

surprise,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

ge-algian 

defend,  F. 

onclypian 

invoke,  F. 

ge-arian 

pardon,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

onwrecan 

revenue,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

ge-anberan 

resist,  F. 

naefnian 

persevere,  F. 

ge-arwian 

procure,  F. 

retan 

comfort,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

ge-anbidian 

expect,  L. 

romigan 

cede,  F. 

ge-bildan 

imagine,  F. 

ricsian 

abound,  F. 

geddian 

chant,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

sacan 

quarrel,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

ge-hiwian 

form,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

saeccan 

preach,  F. 

geldan 

pay,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

samnian 

assemble.  F. 

ge-hwirfnian 

turn,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

scadan 

divide,  L. 

ge-logian 

place,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

scaenan 

destroy,  F. 

ge-lydan 

arrive.  F. 

sceawian 

consider,  F. 

ge-lomlaecan 

use,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

scyfan 

suggest,  L. 

ge-munan 

remember,  F. 

scyftan 

order,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

ge-metherian 

humble,  adj.  &  v.,  F. 

scyndan 

excite,  F. 

ge-raddian 

arrange.  F. 

serwian                         conspire,  F. 

ge-scippan 

create,  L. 

sethan                            affirm,  F. 

ge-swutelian 

declare,  F. 

sprangettan                        pant,  F. 

ge-teorian 

languish,  F. 

spurian 

trace,  F. 

ge-unrotsian 

offend,  L. 

stellan 

dance,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

ge-unthvvaenan 

|     differ,  F. 

symblian 

feast,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

ge-widmaersian 

publish,  F. 

tealan 

blame,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

ge-vvlitegian 

adorn,  L. 

teallan 

number,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

gihaman 

cover,  n.  &  v  ,  F. 

tearflian 

roll,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

hafetan 

applaud,  F. 

tehhan 

determine,  F. 

hawian 

regard,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

teian 

produce,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

hergian 

ravage,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

telgian 

florish,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

Sixteenth   Century. 


Obsolete  Anglo- 
Saxon  verbs  : 

Replaced  by  : 

Obsolete  Anglo- 
Saxon  verbs  : 

Replaced  by  : 

teofrian 

portray,  F. 

waepnian 

arm,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

thcowian 

serve,   F. 

wa;rdian 

guard,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

teohhian 

resolve,  n.  &  v.,  L. 

weal  dan 

govern,  F. 

treman 

fix,  F. 

weallian 

travel,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

twaeman 

separate,  L. 

wedan 

rage,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

tyddrian 

propagate,  L. 

werdian 

injure,  F. 

tyslian 

procure,  F. 

wilan 

couple,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

tythian 

grant,  n.  &  v.,  F. 

wrixlian 

converse,  F. 

unstillian 

agitate,  L. 

wuldrian 

glorify,  F. 

underlutan 

submit,  L. 

wunian 

continue,  F. 

upstigan 

ascend,  F. 

ymbfraetwian 

embroider,  F. 

waegman 

delude,  F. 

ymtheatwian 

consult,  F. 

The  first  Table  shows  how  the  Franco-Normans  dropped  an, 
ian,  and  on,  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  infinitive,  and  made  other 
slight  changes  in  the  root  of  Anglo-Saxon  verbs  ;  the  second,  how 
the  Anglo-Saxons  returned  the  compliment  by  altering  French 
verbs  in  a  similar  way.  To  enable  readers  who  may  not  have 
learned  French  to  understand  this  Table  fully,  we  will  state  that 
French,  like  Latin,  has/^w  conjugations,  each  distinguished  by 
its  infinitive  ending  in  er,  ir,  oir,  or  re,  which  were  omitted  by 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  as  may  be  seen  by  looking  at  these  few  verbs, 
taken  from  among  the  8,000  verbs  in  the  English  language.  By 
dropping  these  terminations  and  by  some  other  slight  altera- 
tions, French  verbs  became  amenable  to  the  four  conjuga- 
tive  English  inflections,  est,  s,  ed,  and  ing.  Sometimes,  not 
only  the  characteristic  endings  er,  ir,  oir,  and  re,  are  omitted, 
but  also  the  letter  immediately  preceding,  which  rendered  each 
of  these  adopted  verbs  one  syllable  shorter.  By  such  selecting 
and  clipping  England  went  back  to  linguistic  roots,  and  obtained 
a  simple,  strong,  precise,  telegraphic,  and  nearly  uninflected 
language. 

When  the  changes  in  the  verbs  of  the  French  Table  are  realized, 
a  few  practical  remarks  will  make  us  reap  the  full  benefit,  intended 
by  the  framers  of  the  English  language.  These  185  verbs  aver- 
age from  two  to  four  syllables  and  nearly  all  end  in  r,  which  was 
dropped,  except  in  one  single  instance  :  flatter  (to  flatter).  We 
add  the  four  conjugative  English  inflections :  est,  s,  ed,  and  ing, 
to  one  French  verb  of  each  conjugation,  in  order  to  show  how 
they  would  look,  to  say  nothing  of  how  they  would  sound  with  a 
letter  as  harsh  as  r  in  the  last  syllable  : 


384         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

1ST   CONJUGATION:  ' 

Indicative  present :  I  abandonner,  thou  abandonner-^y/,  he  abandonner-j,  &c. 
Imperfect :  I  abanclonner-^/,  thou  abandonnerWj1/,  &c. 

Participle  present :  Abandonner-zVz^-.     English,  abandon. 

2D    CONJUGATION  : 

Indicative  present :  I  assaillir,  thou  assaillir-^,  he  assaillir-j,  &c. 
Imperfect :  I  assaillir-^/,  thou  assaillir-A/rf,  &c. 

Participle  present :  Assaillir-zV^.     English,  assail. 

3D    CONJUGATION  : 

Indicative  present :  I  recevoir,  thou  recevoir-^j/,  he  recevoir-j,  &c. 
Imperfect :  I  recevoir-^,  thou  recevoir-*?^,  &c. 

Participle  present :  Recevoir-zw^.     English,  receive. 

4TH    CONJUGATION  : 

Indicative  present :  I  joindre,  thou  joindre-j/,  he  joindre-j,  &c. 
Imperfect:  I  joindre-*/,  thou  joindre-dfr/,  &c. 

Participle  present :  Joindre-z/^.     English,  join. 

As  all  readers  can  supply  the  respective  English  verbs,  let  us 
proceed.  There  was  not  only  great  linguistic  wisdom,  but  eu- 
phonic tact  displayed  in  dropping  one,  two,  or  three  final  letters, 
and  in  adapting  the  words  for  the  new  language,  so  as  to  avoid 
harshness  of  sound  and  prolixity  of  useless  letters  and  syllables. 
Our  readers  may  have  observed  how  final  ier  was  changed  into 
y,  and  quer  into  ck  and  k.  Another  noteworthy  fact  may  be  ob- 
served in  this  Table  :  85  of  the  185  verbs  are,  with  some  slight 
alterations,  excellent  English  nouns  :  appeal,  attack,  cause,  charge, 
chant,  combat,  delay,  dispute,  escort,  fatigue,  force,  gain,  harangue, 
intrigue,  judge,  league,  measure,  place,  quarrel,  regret,  ruin, 
sign,  sound,  touch,  trouble,  use,  veil,  vote,  &c.  This  is  a  linguistic 
tolerance  not  to  be  found  in  other  languages.  Had  these  eu- 
phonic changes  not  been  made  in  the  adoption  of  French  verbs 
during  the  transition  from  Anglo-Saxon  to  English,  the  two 
English  inflections  for  declension  and  number,  namely  s  for  the 
possessive  case  and  for  the  plural,  would  have  looked  and 
sounded  as  badly  in  nouns  as  in  verbs. 

As  the  Table  of  150  obsolete  Anglo  Saxon  verbs,  replaced  by 
123  French,  26  Latin,  and  i  Welsh,  speaks  for  itself,  we  add  no 
comment,  except  that  the  loss  of  the  many  Anglo-Saxon  verbs, 
and  other  words  with  the  cumbersome  affix  ge  was  an  advantage 
to  English.  Before  we  pass  to  the  English  Period,  we  must  not 


Sixteenth  Century.  3^5 

* 

otnit  to  mention  that,  while  these  highly  improving  surgical  oper- 
ations as  to  grammatic  inflections,  verbal  omissions,  substitutions, 
and  other  changes  were  going  on,  phonetic  inconsistencies,  odd 
provincialisms,  and  disharmony  between  letter  and  sound  crept 
into  the  otherwise  progressing  national  language,  as  may  be  noted 
by  the  following  Tables  and  phonetic  suggestions  : 

A  few  of  the  many  Phonetic  Anomalies  in  the  English  Language, 
in  which  the  very  same  letter,  or  combination  of  letters,  is 
pronounced  differently  in  every  other  word. 

Simple  Vowels : 

A   in  :  shall  and  hall ;  far  and  war ;  was  and  waste  ;  past  and 

paste ;  vat  and  water ;  palisade  and  palsy,  &c. 
E   in  :  me  and  met ;  m<?at,  meet  and  m^te ;  ^ye,  key  and  th<?y ; 

d^ar  and  b<?ar,  &c. 
I    in  :  finite  and  infinite  ;  slice  and  poh'ce  ;  ent/ce  and  notice  ; 

compromise  and  promise  ;  underm/ne  and  determine  ; 

child  and   children ;  gu/de  and  langu/d  ;  indzct  and 

edict ;  kind  and  kmdle  ;  mind  and  mint,  &c. 
O   in  :  d0me  and  come  ;  m0ve,  We,  grove  and  gnwve ;  c^mb, 

combat  and  tomb  ;  bl^d  and  g^d  ;  d^r  and  p^r,  &c. 
U   in  :  z/se  and  us  ;  cut  and  acwte  ;  flz/te  and  disp?/fte,  &c. 
Y   in:  my  and  arniy;  by  and  shabby;  appl_y  and  amply  ;  try 

and  country ;  sky  and  risky ;  shy  and  fishy,  &c. 

Double  Vowels : 

AU  in :  caught,  draz/ght  and  laz/gh ;  gauze  and  gauge ;  beaw 

and  beaz/ty,  &c. 

ou  and  ow,  which  Walker,  in  his  u Pronouncing  Dic- 
tionary" calls  "  The  most  irregular  assemblage  of 
vowels  in  our  language."    » 
OU  in :  b<?//gh,  c0«gh,  en^z/gh,  dough  and  through ;  bought  and 

drought ;  four,  hour  and  your,  &c. 

OW  in  :  show  and   shower ;    now  and  know ;   allow  and  \ow ; 
nower  and  lower ;  frown  and  grown,  &c. 

We  are  aware  that  grammarians  and  orthoepists  try  to  account 
for  these   anomalies  on  the   ground  of  tonic  accent,  stress,  em- 
phasis, &c.     We  think  no  tonic  accent,  stress,  or  emphasis  should 
cover  or  account  for  inconsistencies,  that  complicate  the  most 
25 


386         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

precious  of  sciences,  language,  cause  loss  of  time  and  waste  of 
thought  and  memory. 

Although  the  great  English  lexicographer  and  orthoepist, 
Walker,  calls  ou  and  ow  "the  most  irregular  assemblage  of  vowels 
in  our  language"  he  suggests  no  remedy  towards  their  being 
regularized. 

Thus  every  other  word  in  the  English  language,  or  45,000  of  the 
90,000  English  words,  are  exceptions,  and  must  be  committed  to 
memory  by  foreigners  and  English  children  ;  yet  a  slight  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  British  and  American  Governments  might, 
with  little  trouble  and  expense,  contrive  a  method  to  phonetize 
English  and  bring  it  to  some  plain  phonetic  rule  like  the  Ger- 
man :  Write  as  YOU  pronounce p,  and  pronounce  as  you  write  ;  then 
introduce  that  method  into  their  government  printing  and  schools, 
which  would  be  a  decided  step  towards  what  the  lamented  Charles 
Sumner  called  "Harmony  between  the  written  and  spoken  word" 
Competent  teachers  say  it  takes  on  an  average  five  years  to  teach 
children  English  spelling ;  whereas  it  would  take  but  two  years, 
if  there  was  harmony  between  letter  and  sound.  What  a  saving 
of  precious  time  to  foreigners  and  children,  to  say  nothing  of 
adults,  who  are  constantly  obliged  to  have  a  dictionary  at  their 
elbow,  and  refer  to  it  to  retain  the  so-called  English  orthog- 
raphy ///  The  three  years  lost  in  spelling  conundrums,  like 
the  above,  might  be  applied  to  chemistry,  botany,  drawing,  vocal 
music  and  other  mechanic  and  manufacturing  arts,  including  ele- 
ments of  cooking  for  girls,  and  agriculture  for  boys.  The  Eng- 
lish-speaking populations  number  now  about  ninety  millions ; 
hence,  any  system  that  could  save  three  years  per  child,  would 
save  three  times  ninety  millions,  or  two  hundred  and  seventy 
million  years  to  the  next  generation,  and  every  generation  after 
it.  Such  an  amount  of  time,  devoted  to  useful  arts  and  sciences, 
would  improve  the  race  in  a  short  time. 

As  the  London  Board  of  Education,  endorsed  by  one  hundred 
provincial  Boards  and  ten  thousand  elementary  teachers,  have 
already  applied  for  the  appointment  of  a  royal  commission  to 
inquire  into  the  expediency  of  phonetizing  English,  it  is  time  the 
great  Republic  of  forty  millions  should  join  a  movement  that  will 
prove  such  a  boon  to  popular  education.  Let  us  nut  omit  to 
state,  that  the  American  Philologic  Societies,  including  eminent 


Sixteenth  Century.  387 

professors  and  teachers,  have  been  working  towards  the  same 
noble  end. 

Behold  what  Ex-Chancellor  Lowe,  M.P.,  wrote  to  the  Philo- 
logic  Conference  of  professors,  divines,  and  scholars,  assembled 
at  London,  May  29th,  1877:  "There  are,  I  am  informed,  39 
sounds  in  the  English  language ;  there  are  24  letters  ;  I  think 
that  each  letter  should  represent  one  sound  ;  that  15  new  letters 
should  be  added,  so  that  there  be  a  letter  for  every  sound,  and  that 
every  one  should  write  as  he  speaks"  We  think  English  can  be 
phonetized  with  less  radicalism,  less  sacrifice  of  intimacy,  of 
pleasantness  to  the  eye,  and  of  home  feeling.  With  fifteen  new 
letters  it  would  seem  a  foreign  language. 

Consider  how  phonetic  Anglo-Saxon  words  were  distorted 
during  the  Franco-English  transition  from  A.D.  1154,  when 
Anglo-Saxon  ceased  to  be  a  written  dialect,  to  A.D.  1600,  when 
the  language  became  English.  Letters  were  changed  to  suit 
provincial  patois,  and  letters  were  added  to  ease  the  utterance 
of  certain  Anglo-Saxon  words  for  the  Franco-Normans. 


388         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 


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Sixteenth   Century, 


389 


ENGLISH  FROM  A.D.  1400  TO  1878  IN  ITS  GRECO-LATIN 
VOCABULARY. 

Behold  how  little  Greco-Latin  words,  introduced  by  Robert 
iManning,  A.D.  1303,  Sir  John  Mandeville,  1356,  Langland,  1362, 
;Chaucer,  1380,  and  Gower,  1400,  have  changed  as  compared 
with  Anglo-Saxon : 


ENGLISH,    A.D.    1400. 

ENGLISH,    1878. 

ENGLISH,    A.D.    1400. 

ENGLISH,    1878. 

folie             R.  M. 

folly 

table             Ch. 

table 

outrage            " 

outrage 

college           " 

college 

passage         J.  M. 

passage 

fruit                 « 

fruit 

translate          " 

translate 

silence 

silence 

visite                " 

visit 

force 

force 

turn 

turn 

possibilitee 

possibility 

fever                L. 

fever 

ignorance 

ignorance 

planet               " 

planet 

prologue 

prologue 

part                 Ch. 

part 

danger 

danger 

religion             " 

religion 

curious 

curious 

maladie            " 

malady 

charge 

charge 

affinitie            •' 

affinity 

guide 

guide 

prison 

prison 

face 

face 

latitude            " 

latitude 

change 

change 

refuge               " 

refuge 

pardon 

pardon 

double 

double 

philosophic 

philosophy 

regard              " 

regard 

flatter 

flatter 

nature              " 

nature 

labour 

labor 

vice                   " 

vice 

fortune 

fortune 

famine              " 

famine 

gain 

gain 

pholologie       " 

philology 

emperour      G. 

emperor 

cause                '  ' 

cause 

noble 

noble 

talent 

talent 

mirrour 

mirror 

volume             " 

volume 

prince 

prince 

surprise             " 

surprise 

courage 

courage 

This  Table  numbers  fifty  Greco-Latin  words,  all  of  which,  except  ten,  are 
now  in  French  and  English,  as  they  were  five  centuries  ago  ;  hence  the  Greco- 
Latin  part  of  the  English  vocabulary  may  be  easily  phonetized. 

As  languages  from  Hebrew  to  Icelandic  have  been  simplified  and  phone- 
tized by  slight  marks  or  diagrams,  English  need  hardly  remain  an  exception. 
When  Hebrew  was  threatened  with  confusion,  Jewish  scholars  devised  the 
Masora  with  vowel  points,  accents,  &c.  When  Greek  expanded  from  the 
Hellespont  to  India  and  Egypt,  letter  and  sound  were  harmonized  by  accents 
and  other  slight  marks.  When  French  became  the  diplomatic  medium,  accents, 
dieresis,  and  cedilla  were  introduced.  When  the  Germans  perceived  phonetic 
defects  they  resorted  to  the  umlaut  a,  6  and  ii.  It  is  said  when  Spain  saw 
that  her  written  word  contained  unpronounced  letters,  her  academy  ordered 


3QO         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

them  to  be  weeded  out.  To  avoid  increasing  their  alphabet,  numbering 
twenty-six  letters,  the  Scanic  peoples :  Icelanders,  Norwegians,  Danes,  and 
Swedes,  added  accents,  umlaut,  and  diagrams  to  eight  of  their  alphabetic 
characters.  Now,  to  avoid  adding  " fifteen  new  letters "  to  the  English 
alphabet,  as  proposed  by  the  Hon.  ex-Chancellor  Lowe,  why  should  not  the 
highly  practical  English  and  Americans  imitate  their  Semitic,  Greco-Latin, 
and  Gotho-Germanic  predecessors?  By  adding  fifteen  letters  they  would 
complicate  education  and  render  useless  all  the  English  archives  and  books 
now  in  libraries  and  record  offices. 

PHONETIC    CRITICISMS,  BY  THE    MOST   PRACTICAL   ENGLISH    PHILOLOGISTS. 

"Our  orthography  has  done  its  utmost  to  perplex  pronunciation." — 
Walker's  Dictionary. 

"  The  evil  of  our  irregular  orthography  is  extensive  beyond  what  is  gener- 
ally known  or  conceived.  A  due  regard  to  the  purity  of  the  language,  to  the 
convenience  of  learners,  whether  citizens  or  foreigners,  and  to  the  usefulness 
of  a  language  which  is  to  be  the  most  extensive  on  the  globe,  and  the  chief 
instrument  of  civilizing  and  christianizing  nations,  seems  to  demand,  and  surely 
justifies  the  labor  of  correcting  the  more  enormous  anomalies  which  deform 
it.  One  would  suppose,  that  these  considerations,  concurring  with  the  honor 
of  our  nation,  would  induce  the  lovers  of  literature  to  make  some  concessions 
of  private  opinions  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  desirable  objects." — Noah 
Webster*  s  Dictionary. 

"  To  mention  all  the  contradictory  singularities,  which  are  found  in  reading 
and  speaking  English,  would  be  too  serious  a  task." — Wright?  s  Dictionary. 

"  The  orthography  of  our  language  is  attended  with  much  uncertainty  and 
perplexity." — Goold  Browii's  Grammar  of  Grammars. 

"  The  agitation  of  spelling-reform,  which  appears  in  cultivated  nations  from 
time  to  time,  aims  at  restoring  the  harmony  between  letter  and  sound.  Of 
the  three  languages  we  may  say  that  the  German  is  (comparatively  speaking) 
phonetic,  and  the  French  consistent  ;  while  the  English  is  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other." — Earle's  Philology  of  the  English  Tongue  (1873). 

"  There  must  be  harmony  between  the  written  and  spoken  word." — Hon. 
Charles  Sumner  (1873). 

Let  us  for  a  moment  attend  the  teaching  of  the  alphabet  and 
the  "Indispensable  Spelling  Book  :"  Mama  tries  hard  to  teach 
her  darling  A,  B,  C,  &c.  .  .  .  Blocks,  figures,  diagrams  and 
all  sorts  of  contrivances  are  applied.  At  last  connection  between 
letter  and  sound  is  mastered,  so  that  sight  of  letter  produces  its 
sound.  After  some  lessons  of  two-letter  syllables  come  three- 


Sixteenth   Century.  391 

letter  words  :  fat,  bad,  can,  &c.  .  .  .  Ma,  you  told  me  this 
is  ai  ;  now  you  tell  me  another  sound  for  it. 

Mother  perceives  the  contradiction,  but  passes  to  fate,  ape, 
late,  &c.  ...  in  which  a  accords  with  the  sound  taught  in 
the  alphabet.  Next  day  fall,  all,  ball,  meet  the  child's  eyes  a'nd 
ears.  Ma,  this  sound  is  very  different  from  ai  on  the  block. 
How  shall  I  ever  learn  ?  Mama  cares&es  the  little  one  and  tells 
it,  all  would  come  out  right.  Another  lesson  brings  far,  car, 
father,  &c.  .  .  .  But,  Ma,  when  teaching  me  the  block,  you 
said  this  letter  is  ai,  now  you  say  it  is  ah.  It  cannot  be  so,  you 
must  be  mistaken,  Ma,  I  never  can  learn  all  this.  So  e  has  two 
sounds ;  i  two ;  o  three ,  u  three ;  y  two,  and  each  of  the  six 
vowels  is  often  mute.  Rather  worried,  Mama  dismisses  her  pet 
with  a  kiss.  How  fortunate  children  soon  forget.  For  the  first 
time  Ma  realized  discord  between  letter  and  sound,  saw  diffi- 
culties ahead  for  her  darling  in  hundreds  of  words,  especially 
such  as  cow,  low  ;  bough,  cough ;  our,  four;  caught,  draught ; 
right,  write,  writ,  rite,  wright,  &c.,  .  .  .  in  which  the  same 
letters  are  pronounced  differently.  There  should  be  a  human i- 
tary  movement  like  that  of  the  philotheric  Bergh,  to  prevent  this 
cruel  conundric  instruction  to  children ;  fathers,  mothers,  rulers, 
and  philanthropists  of  all  grades,  should  unite  and  contrive  some 
method  to  harmonize  letter  and  sound,  so  as  to  save  useless  men- 
tal worfiment  to  the  innocent  and  unconscious  martyrs  of  this 
most  irrational  spelling  system,  a  hideous  legacy  of  the  Dark 
Ages,  through  which  the  language  passed. 

In  reading  Mr.  Oliphant's  "Standard  English,"  we  are  pleased 
to  find  that  English  scholars  begin  to  perceive  disharmony  be- 
tween letter  and  sound  in  their  native  tongue.  He  says  p.  128  : 
"  A  foreigner  may  well  despair  of  pronouncing  English  vowels, 
when  he  finds  that  the  words  rune,  wound,  and  mood,  are  all 
sounded  in  the  same  way."  Hence  a  foreigner  must  despair, 
when  he  finds  that  the  same  ough  in  bough,  bought,  enough,  dough, 
trough,  through,  is  sounded  six  times  differently,  without  the 
slightest  mark,  sign,  or  indication  of  any  change  of  sound.  When 
I  attentively  listen  to  English  utterance,  I  perceive  hardly  any 
difference  between  the  suffixes  ar,  er,  or,  in  scholar,  matter,  doctor, 
&c.  .  .  .  The  example  is  so  contagious  that  I  have  become 
as  careless  in  English  utterance  as  my  neighbors ;  yet  when  I 


392         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

speak  or  read  French  or  German,  I  pronounce  distinctly;  so 
when  I  read  Greek  or  Latin.  The  educated  are  to  blame  for 
this  :  to  keep  their  language  harmonious  they  should  practise  a 
standard  utterance  and  writing,  and  exact  it  from  others. 

In  our  Table  of  English  vowels  are  14  vowel- sounds,  repre- 
sented by  6  vowels.  Here  are  43  English  vowel-combinations 
called  diphthongs  and  triphthongs  : 

aa,  ae,  ai,  ao,  au,  aw,  ay,  aye  *  = 8 

ea,  eau,  ee,  ei.  eo,  eou,  eu,  e\v,  ewe,f  ey,  eye  J  = n 

ia,  iaou,§  ie,  ieu,  iew,  io,  iou,  iu  = 8 

oa,  oe,  oei,||  oeu,^[  oi,  oo,  ou,  ow,  oy  — 9 

ua,  ue,  ui,  uo,  uoy,**  uy  = 6 

7e  = i 

43 

Vowel-combinations  are  probably  more  numerous  in  English 
than  in  any  other  European  language,  owing  to  the  multifarious 
origin  of  its  vocabulary ;  but  incongruous  as  these  may  seem, 
they  are  nearly  all  covered  by  the  fourteen  single  vowel  sounds, 
and  may  therefore  be  more  easily  harmonized  than  would  appear 
at  first  sight. 

The  Danish  monk,  Orrmin,  in  his  Ormulum  about  A.D.  1200, 
tried  hard  to  double  every  consonant,  while  others  multiplied 
vowel-combinations  as  shown  above ;  the  simple  monosyllables 
for,  hand,  him,  it,  that,  with,  &c.,  he  wrote  forr,  hannd,  himm, 
itt,  thatt,  withth,  &c. ;  but  this  glaring  insult  to  common  sense 
was  spurned  ;  yet  plough,  which  arose  about  the  same  period, 
took  the  place  of  simple  Anglo-Saxon  plog,  and  has  been  kept  to 
this  day.  We  think  many  of  these  heterogeneous  combinations 
are  owing  to  foreign  monks  and  copyists,  who  fancied  they  could 
improve  the  new  idiom. 

*  This  vowel  combination  only  occurs  in  the  sense  of  yes  and  of  ever. 

f         "  "  "  "  "         female  sheep. 

t         "  "  "  "       word  eye. 

8         "  "  "  "          "     giaour. 

I  "  "  "  "  "  oeillads,  used  by  Shakes- 

peare in  '•'•King  Lear." 

If  "  "  "  Franco-English  word  manoeuvre. 

**  "  "  "  "  Gothe-Gerrnanic  word  buoy. 


Sixteenth   Century. 


393 


As  it  might  interest  readers  to  know  how  some  simple  Anglo- 
Saxon  words  changed,  till  they  reached  their  present  compli- 
cated English  form,  we  give  the  changes  as  far  as  we  have  ascer- 
tained : 


ANGLO- 
SAXON  : 

CHANGES  : 

DATE    OF   THEIR 
PRESENT  FORM  : 

Mouth 

muth 

A.  D.  600  to  noo 

mouth  1250 

Down,  adv. 

dun 

"      doun  1250 

down  1330 

Thou 

thu 

thou  1270 

Drought 

drugothe 

"      drouth  and  drowth 

(?) 

about  1260 

South 

suth 

south  1280 

House 

hus 

hous  1300 

house  1340 

Fowl* 

fugel 

foule  1611 

(?) 

Town 

tun 

toun  1300 

(?) 

How 

hu 

how  1303 

Now 

nu 

now  1303 

Out 

ut 

oute  1303 

(?) 

Our 

ur 

oure  1307 

our  1320 

Wound 

wund 

wownde  1320 

(?) 

Hound 

hund 

hound  1320 

Ground 

grund 

grond  1340 

ground  1380 

FRENCH  : 

Tower 

tour 

tour    1300,   toure 

1310 

(?) 

Power 

pouvoir 

powere  1303 

(?) 

Flower 

fleur 

flur  1310 

(?) 

The  above  words  clearly  show  that  ou  and  ow  only  appeared 
after  the  Fr-anco-Norman  Conquest,  and  that  with  it  also  came 
this  capricious  pronunciation  and  orthography;  for  the  spelling 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  words  is  simple.  Hence  the  plea  of  ety- 
mology cannot  be  urged  against  freeing  English  from  Medieval 
distortions  by  adapting  letter  to  sound.  It  is  noteworthy  that, 
where  there  is  one  Franco-English  word  that  underwent  con- 
siderable change,  there  are  ten  Anglo-Saxon,  that  were  so  capri- 
ciously altered,  that  they  are  hardly  recognizable.  Most  words, 
introduced  into  English  by  Robert  Manning,  Adam  Davie, 
Chaucer,  and  Gower,  especially  in  age,  ege,  tge,  ence,  ense,  ance, 

*  As  late  as  1611  we  find  this  word  foule  in  King  James'  Bible,  Gen.  i. 
20.  Who  first  substituted  TV  for  u  and  dropped  the  final  useless  mute  e,  we 
know  not. 


394        Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

as  courage,  privilege,  vestige,  prudence,  defense,  arrogance,  are 
now  as  they  were  five  centuries  ago.  This  seems  unaccountable 
in  the  midst  of  such  linguistic  changes. 

Present  English  owes  its  disharmony  between  letter  and  sound 
to  provincialisms,  that  accidentally  crept  into  it  during  the 
Franco-English  transition  from  Edward  the  Confessor,  1043,  to 
Henry  VII.,  1509,  when  the  English  idiom  approached  its  pres- 
ent form.  During  that  period  almost  every  shire  and  every  city- 
had  a  peculiar  brogue  or  patois  both  as  to  utterance  and  writing. 
A  few  characteristic  words  may  suffice  to  illustrate  the  Medieval 
"Babel"  in  England.  Hence  let  us  watch  the  origin,  progress, 
and  ultimate  form  of  the  sonorous  Gothic  ganah  ;  Anglo-Saxon 
genog,  till  about  1135,  when  it  became  onoJi ;  next  inoh  and 
inou,  about  1160;  anog,  1230;  ynow,  1303;  ynoug,  1450,  and 
ynough,  in  Chaucer  about  1380.  Thus  this  one  and  the  same 
vocable,  starting  from  Gothic  ganah,  underwent  eight  changes, 
from  neither  of  which  any  one  could  imagine  its  present  English 
form,  sound,  or  meaning.  I  myself,  patient  reader,  have  yet  to 
find  out  the  genius  in  whose  brain  the  inconsistent  combination 
of  letters  and  sound  for  enough  originated.  Why  not  make  short 
work  of  this  most  heterogeneous  compound  as  to  letters  and 
sound,  write  it  enuf,  as  pronounced,  and  wipe  out  accidental 
forms  that  resulted  from  ignorance  and  carelessness,  or  reassume 
the  venerable  Gothic  ganah  ? 

The  German  has  been  and  is  now  genug,  written  as  pro- 
nounced and  pronounced  as  written,  and  differing  but  slightly 
from  the  Anglo-Saxon  genog. 

Witness  the  petrifactions  of  an  Anglo-Saxon  word  not  quite 
as  erratic  as  enough.  Pardon  our  expression,  since  a  geologic 
linguist  styled  written  language  "petrified  thought!'  Anglo- 
Saxon  micle  in  King  Ethelbert's  Anglo-Saxon  Code,  A.D.  597. 
From  597  to  1120  we  see  micel,  my  eel,  mycele,  mucele,  and  moche 
in  writings  of  the  different  shires.  We  find  it  muche  and  muchel, 
1160;  muchele,  1230;  moche  in  Robert  Manning's  "  Handlyng 
Synne"  1303;  mochel  in  Chaucer's  "Canterbury  Tales,"  about 
1380  ;  moche  in  the  fifteenth  century.  Since  it  reassumed  its 
form  of  1160  minus  e,  or  much,  whose  exact  date  we  cannot 
state.  Mucchio  in  sunny  Italy,  mycken  in  hyperborean  Scan- 
dinavia, and  mucho  in  Spain,  for  one  and  the  same  idea,  might 


Sixteenth   Century.  395 

seem  linguistic  accidents,  did  not  history  relate  that  the  Goths, 
fifteen  centuries  ago,  overran  and  conquered  those  countries. 
Mekyl  is  yet  heard  in  the  Scotch  Highlands.  A  French  meta- 
morphosis might  be  interesting  after  the  two  Anglo-Saxon  : 
croune,  1250;  corune,  1280;  coroune^  1340;  now  crown  in  Eng- 
lish and  couronne  in  French.  If  there  is  etymology  in  such 
capricious  changes,  erv/xos,  true,  and  Aoyos,  wordj  must  have  lost 
their  original  meaning. 

When  the  English  language  has  been  phonetized — so  that  the 
vowel-  and  diphthong-sounds  have  corresponding  letters,  marks 
or  signs,  we  suggest  their  being  literally  harmonized,  as  much  as 
art  and  science  can  do  it,  thus  forming  a  standard  for  both  sound 
and  letter,  in  order  not  to  lose  that  corresponding  sound,  letter 
and  sign,  as  happened  in  Greek  and  Latin,  whose  real  sounds, 
letters  and  accents  have  been  a  subject  of  discussion  for  cen- 
turies. 

Since  the  human  voice  has  already  been  artificially  imitated 
with  partial  success,  we  see  no  reason  why  governments  that 
spend  millions  in  polar  expeditions,  transits  of  Venus,  and  other 
scientific  experiments,  should  not  direct  the  attention  of  institutes, 
academies  and  learned  societies  to  think  of,  and  find  means  to 
perpetuate  a  score  of  linguistic  corresponding  sounds  and  letters, 
as  a  standard  for  their  native  tongue,  whether  that  standard  be  in 
the  shape  of  a  linguistic  automaton,  a  tuning-fork,  diapason,  har- 
moniphon,  accordion,  telephone,  phonograph,  or  any  other  melodi- 
ous name.  If  such  a  standard  is  impossible,  let  an  English 
Masora  *  be  devised.  But  as  harmonists  have  already  determined 
the  pitch  of  primitive  vowel-sounds,  the  carrying  out  of  our  sug- 
gestion seems  feasible.  Prof.  Edison  might  find  this  desideratum. 

Before  the  Victoria  Version  of  the  Bible  is  issued,  England  and 
America  ought  to  have  a  convention  of  practical  men,  including 
linguists,  elocutionists,  phonographers,  physiologists,  and  printers 
to  accord  letter  and  sound,  as  much  as  practicable,  and  to  remove 
the  few  grammatic  irregularities,  so  that  this  version  might  go  forth 

*  A  book  explaining  the  pronunciation  and  reading  of  Hebrew  according  to 
vowel-points  and  accents,  written  by  learned  Rabbis  about  A.D.  800.  Masora 
means  pronunciation,  delivery,  elocution,  &c.  ...  If,  a  thousand  years  ago, 
the  Jews  thought  it  worth  while  to  harmonize  letter  with  sound  and  sound 
with  letter,  why  should  not  the  English-speaking  populations  do  likewise  ? 


396         Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

in  English,  rendered  as  simple,  easy  and  direct  as  possible,  not 
only  for  natives  and  foreigners  of  enlightened  countries,  but 
especially  for  the  benighted  races  it  is  to  christianize  and  civilize. 
The  fames'  Version  of  1611  was  printed  in  black  letter,  which 
was  superseded  by  the  Roman  character,  in  which  it  had  soon  to 
be  published.  There  were  then  probably  twenty  millions  of 
English-speaking  people,  since  increased  to  ninety  millions.  If 
the  Victoria  Version  lasts  267  years,  like  that  of  James  I.,  the 
English-speaking  populations  will  reach  five  hundred  millions — 
yea,  English  will  •  probably  be  the  universal  language  !  Hence, 
let  England  and  America  make  an  Herculean  effort  here  and  now 
to  perfect  their  native  tongue  for  its  grand  mission. 

It  is  said  the  Japanese  government  expressed  a  desire  to  see 
the  English  language  phonetized,  so  that  they  could  teach  it  more 
readily  in  their  schools. 

No  doubt  the  harmonizing  of  letter  and  sound  is  the  important 
literary  and  scientific  question  for  the  English-speaking  popu- 
lations. 

About  twenty  methods  of  harmonizing  letter  and  sound  by 
means  of  phonetic  alphabets,  numbering  from  thirty  to  forty 
letters,  have  been  proposed  ;  but  as  such  a  change  might  cause 
confusion  in  education,  writing,  reading,  literature,  and  science, 
and  destroy  millions  of  property  in  the  shape  of  type,  printing 
apparatus  and  books,  the  world  pronounces  it  impracticable. 

The  most  prominent  of  the  twenty  methods  to  harmonize  letter 
and  sound  are  John  Hart's  "Orthographic  conteyning  the  due 
order  and  reason  howe  to  write  or  painte  thimage  of  manners 
voice,  moste  like  to  the  life  or  nature"  (1569),  and  Pitman's  alpha- 
bet of  thirty-eight  characters,  1843. 

As  we  find  but  fourteen  vowel-sounds,  most  of  which  are  mere 
shades  of  sound,  we  propose  to  phonetize  English  with  the  present 
alphabet  with  very  little  change  or  expense,  and  involving  no 
confusion  either  in  writing,  reading,  education,  literature,  science, 
and  without  interfering  with  books  now  in  our  libraries. 

We  hope  a  few  personal  remarks  on  authors  of  this  period  will 
not  be  considered  out  of  place  here  :  The  vocabulary  of  Robert 
of  Gloucester's  "  Chronicle"  forms  the  transition  between  Anglo- 
Saxon  and  Franco-English  ;  as  such  it  deserves  the  notice  of 
philologists  and  literati.  It  averages  about  twenty  per  cent. 


Sixteenth  Century.  397 

French.  Robert  Manning's  and  Adam  Davie's  writings  open 
the  fourteenth  century,  and  prepare  the  way  for  Chaucer  and 
Gower. 

No  English  education  is  complete  unless  the  individual  who 
claims  it,  went  with  Chaucer  from  Tabard  to  Canterbury  in  com- 
pany with  "  Prioresse  Eglantine,''  the  Sergeant  of  the  Lawe,  Monk, 
Sompnour,  and  the  other  twenty-five  pilgrims.  We  must  con- 
fess we  were  agreeably  disappointed  to  find  in  the  fourteenth 
century  a  book,  which,  for  its  critical  acumen,  delicate  satire  and 
dry  wit,  reminded  us  of  our  college  years'  classics  :  Theophrastus' 
TJfliKoi  xapaxT>7pes,  Cervantes'  "  Don  Quixote,"  La  Bruyere's 
"  Cbaracteres,"  and  VVieland's  "  Abderiten ;  "  only  the  touch  and 
go  style,  in  description  of  character,  surpasses  anything  we  ever 
read.  We  met  "Madame  Eglantine"  in  convents  of  our  day; 
Sompnours,  who  "wold  speken  no  word  but  Latin,"  we  saw  and 
heard  in  our  travels ;  Sergeants  of  the  Lawe  are  legion  ;  so  are 
"  Doctours  of  phisike  "  here  and  now.  Read  "  Canterbury 
Tales,"  then  peruse 'Tyrwhitt's  comments  thereon;  for,  if  you 
read  Tyrwhitt's  comments  before  or  while  reading  Canterbury 
Tales,  your  literary  ardor  will  be  cooled. 

If  in  Chaucer's  day  Greek  books  had  been  common  in  Western 
Europe,  we  should  say  he  read  Theophrastus'  "  Moral  Characters" 
and  received  the  ideal  of  his  personages  and  characters  thence. 
We  think  Cervantes,  who  died  the  same  day  as  Shakespeare, 
April  23,  1616,  scanned  the  Canterbury  Tales  and  obtained  the 
first  glimpse  of  his  knight-errantry  therefrom.  Surely,  "Ye 
Knightes  Tale"  is  sufficiently  quixotic,  for  he  commences  by 
telling : 

"  How  wonnen  was  the  regne  of  Feminie, 
By  Theseus,  and  hy  his  chevalrie ; 
And  of  the  grete  bataiile  for  the  nones 
Betwix  Athenes  and  the  Amasones ; 
And  how  asseged  was  Ipolita, 
The  faire  hardy  quene  of  Scythia." 

As  to  La  Bruyere,  1688,  he  may  have  perused  Chaucer;  but 
he  himself  tells  us  his  characters  are  Theophrastic.  No  doubt, 
Wieland,  who  was  versed  in  English,  and  made  the  first  German 
translation  of  Shakespeare's  dramas,  was  acquainted  with  Chau- 
cer's writings,  and  conceived  therefrom  ideas  for  his  Abderites. 


398         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

u  The  Man  of  Lawes  Tale"  who  opens  his  story  by  thus  chiding 
the  beggar  : 

"  Maugre  thin  hed  thou  must  for  indigence 
Or  stele,  or  bege,  or  borwe  thy  dispence," 

was  well  calculated  to  suggest  ideas  for  the  characters  of  judges 
and  lawyers  of  ancient  Abdera.  From  this  standpoint  alone 
Chaucer  merits  to  be  styled,  not  only  the  Father  of  English  Liter- 
ature, but  the  giver  of  European  literary  ideals. 

Gower's  writings  could  never  rouse  our  enthusiasm ;  the  fault 
may  be  in  us  and  not  in  the  poet's  productions.  We  cannot 
help  holding  Lydgate's  writings  and  character  in  high  esteem. 
Langland's  vocabulary  seems  to  us  choicer  and  clearer  than  that 
of  any  other  writer  of  this  period.  We  were  delighted  to  find  so 
much  more  in  Occleve's  works  than  we  expected.  As  Spenser 
closes  our  Extracts  and  Tables,  he  may  be  considered  the  tran- 
sition author ;  of  him  Campbell  says  :  "  He  threw  the  soul  of 
harmony  in  our  verse,  and  made  it  more  Warmly,  tenderly,  and 
magnificently  descriptive  than  it  ever  was  before,  or,  with  a  few 
exceptions,  than  it  has  ever  been  since." 

It  is  a  mistake  to  say  and  think,  that  these  Medieval  authors  are 
difficult  to  understand  :  only  the  first  look  at  their  productions 
gives  that  erroneous  impression  ;  on  a  second  attempt  the 
words  and  phraseology  become  interesting  on  account  of  their 
very  primitiveness,  simplicity,  and  quaintness,  as  may  be  realized 
by  the  few  lines  we  quote  from  Chaucer's  "Canterbury  Tales" 

A  retrospect  of  the  'arts  and  mechanics  of  the  Franco-English 
Period  (A.D.  1200—1600)  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  ;  for  they 
have  been,  are,  and  ever  will  be  rich  sources  of  linguistic  lore  : 
through  them  language  gains  in  vocabulary,  force  and  refinement. 
About  the  opening  of  this  period  bands  of  artists,  mechanics  and 
workmen  of  different  trades  and  countries  formed  themselves  into 
societies,  under  the  blessing  of  the  Pope,  styled  themselves  "Free- 
Masons"  and  offered  their  skill  to  liberal  princes,  nobles,  bishops 
and  abbots.  Henry  III.  of  England  was  one  of  their  most  zealous 
patrons.  It  is  claimed,  that  during  his  reign  (1216-1273),  157 
abbeys,  priories  and  other  religious  houses  were  founded.  These 
vast  and  numerous  structures  attracted  foreign  artisans  to  Eng- 
land, and  introduced  through  them  technic  terms  into  the  starting 


Sixteenth  Century.  399 

English  idiom  ;  this,  no  doubt,  must  have  directly  and  indirectly 
contributed  to  make  English  the  composite  language  it  now  is. 
Beautiful  specimens  of  the  delicate,  yet  solid,  style  of  Gothic 
architecture  rose  :  among  the  most  noteworthy  are  the  cathedrals 
of  Salisbury,  Winchester,  York.  Coventry,  &c.,  which  rival  any- 
thing of  the  kind,  not  excepting  those  of  Strasburg,  Paris,  Burgos, 
Vienna,  &c.  This  architecture  has  been,  is  and  ever  will  be  the 
admiration  of  mankind  for  its  ethereality  ;  yet  it  does  not  lack 
solidity,  as  shown  by  its  having  resisted  atmospheric  and  other 
influences  over  four  centuries.  Thus  was  England  studded  with 
architectural  monuments  of  every  description  from  A.D.  1200  to 
1600.  The  magnificent  Gothic  structure,  St.  Michael's  cathedral 
at  Coventry,  was  begun  during  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  (A.D. 
I327-I377)>  by  two  brothers,  Adam  and  William  Bota,  at  their 
own  expense.  It  took  them  twenty-two  years  to  build  it,  and 
cost  about  ^2,000.  It  has  one  of  the  most  graceful  steeples  in 
Europe  ;  the  length  of  the  main  edifice  and  the  height  of  the 
steeple  are  the  same,  namely  303  feet,  the  width  of  the  building 
being  104  feet.  Its  style  is  as  chaste  and  ethereal  as  that  of  "La 
Sai?ite  Chapelle"  at  Paris. 

As  yet  England  had  no  eminent  painters ;  but  already  Zeuxis 
and  Apelles  had  inspired  Raphael,  A.D.  1500,  and  Albert  Diirer, 
A.D.  1508  ;  Phidias  and  Praxiteles  had  reappeared  in  Michael 
Angelo,  A.D.  1510,  and  in  his  pupil  Torrigiano,  who  wrought  the 
monument  of  Henry  VII.  at  Westminster,  A.D.  1518,  for  which 
he  received  the  liberal  sum  of  ^1,000.  This  eminent  artist  died 
a  victim  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain,  A.D.  1522.  Hans  Holbein 
found,  through  his  friend  Erasmus,  such  liberal  patrons  in  Sir 
Thomas  More  and  Henry  VIII.  that  he  went  to  England,  where 
he  practised  his  art  and  died  A.D.  1554.  The  great  German 
artist  took  portraits  of  the  family  of  Henry  VIII.  and  of  many 
noble  families.  Those  portraits  are  now  the  pride  of  the  English 
Museums.  Thus  did  art  radiate  over  the  Earth  and  enrich  lan- 
guage, and  through  it  literature  and  science ;  thus  found  the  fine 
arts  remuneration  in  England,  where  taste  and  elegance  were 
studies,  as  may  be  observed  in  the  refined  manly  and  womanly 
bearing  and  expression  of  character.  Surely,  the  mixing  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  Franco-Norman  and  Celtic  races  in  Britain  was  an 
anthropologic  improvement.  Let  us  not  omit  that,  while  this 


4OO         Franco- English  Period,  A.D.  1200-1600. 

artistic  activity  was  going  on  in  England,  superb  structures  were 
reared  in  France,  Italy,  Germany,  Netherlands,  and  Spain. 

During  this  Period  books  and  manuscripts  were  written  with 
initial  letters,  in  which  human  figures  were  drawn  and  adorned 
with  water  colors.  Likenesses,  styles  of  dress,  and  even  man- 
ners and  customs  have  been  obtained  from  that  source.  The  art 
has  been  called  illumination. 

The  melodious  art  that  soothes  or  excites  the  nerves,  accord- 
ing to  its  style,  had  zealous  admirers  and  patrons  in  Britain  : 
Henry  V.,  himself  a  performer  and  singer,  had  a  band,  in  which 
were  ten  clarions.  This  band  played  one  hour  morning  and 
evening  before  his  tent,  about  A.D.  1416.  It  is  said  James  I. 
of  Scotland  (1424)  could  perform  on  eight  different  instruments. 
Music  had  votaries  in  England  during  the  sixteenth  century ;  for 
Henry  VIII.  was  a  lover  of  the  harmonious  art ;  and  Queen 
Elizabeth  not  only  favored  it,  but  must  herself  have  been  no 
mean  performer,  if  she  could  play  the  pieces  in  her  virginal  book. 
Marbeck  and  Tallis  were  the  foremost  English  composers  and 
contributors  of  the  musical  vocabulary  in  the  English  language. 
Marbeck  wrote  a  work  entitled  "Book  of  Common  Prayer 
Noted,"  1550,  while  Tallis  composed  anthems  that  are  con- 
sidered of  high  value  now.  Lulli,  styled  the  Father  of  Dramatic 
Music,  only  appeared  in  the  seventeenth,  Mozart  in  the  eighteenth, 
and  Bellini  in  the  nineteenth  century.  The  learned  antiquarian, 
Strutt,  thinks  the  following  lines  on  music  were  penned  during 
the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  (A.D.  1485-1509).  We  cite  them  as 
a  specimen  of  the  musical  vocabulary  of  that  time  : 

"  Who  pleyethe  on  the  harpe,  he  sholde  pi  eye  trewe  ; 

Who  syngythe  a  songe,  let  hys  voyce  be  tunable  ; 
Who  wrestythe  the  clavycorde,  mystunynge  eschewe  ; 

Who  blowethe  a  trompet,  let  ys  wynde  be  mesurable  ; 
For  instromentes  themselves  be  firme  and  stable, 

And  of  trowthe,  wolde  trowthe  to  every  man's  songe, 
Tune  them  then  trewly,  for  in  them  is  no  wronge." 

Final  mute  e  has  been  dropped  with  advantage  from  sixteen 
words  of  these  lines.  The  English  idiom  would  gain  in  simplicity, 
terseness,  and  force  if  final  mute  e  was  dropped  from  thousands 
more.  Drydcn  calls  music  "inarticulate  poetry'"1  We  think 
music  is  more  exactly  and  harmoniously  articulated  than  any 


Sixteenth  Century. 


401 


poetry,   especially  when    the   term   is   applied    to  instrumental 
music. 

Naval  architecture  lost  its  Anglo-Saxon  frailty  and  lightness. 
This  change  became  imperative,  when  naval  warfare  and  distant 
commercial  enterprise  came  in  vogue  ;  massive  oak  walls  were 
needed  to  face  oceanic  storms  and  cannonading.  Now  more 
and  more  new  naval  terms  flowed  into  the  English  language. 
Spain's  "Invincible  Armada"  commanded  by  some  Don,  could 
not  withstand  England's  "  Men  of  War"  commanded  by  a  "  gal- 
lant tar?  A.D.  1588. 

Gradual  accessions  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  Dialect  from  the  close  of  the  sixth  to 
the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century. 


ANGLO-SAXON 

GRECO-LATIN  : 

OR    GOTHO- 

CELTIC  : 

SEMITIC  : 

GERMANIC  : 

From  A.D.  50010   600... 

94  per  cent. 

6  per  cent. 

"           600 
700 

700... 
800.  . 

8 

! 

6       • 
14       ' 

800 

900. 

. 

94 

' 

6       | 

900 

1000. 

95 

' 

4 

i  per  cent. 

looo 

1  100 

IIOO. 
I2OO. 

88 

! 

5 

12          * 

1200 

1300. 

74 

* 

24          ' 

i  per  cent. 

i       " 

1300 

I4OO. 

60 

• 

38          " 

i       " 

i        " 

1400 

I5OO. 

53 

* 

46          * 

i 

i 

1500 

l6oO. 

:   so    • 

47 

i 

2          " 

i       " 

This  Table  shows  that  only  in  the  sixteenth  century  and  at  the 
close  of  the  Franco-English  Period  the  foreign  element,  Greco- 
Latin,  Celtic,  and  Semitic,  equalled  the  native  Anglo-Saxon  or 
Gotho-Germanic,  each  being  fifty  per  cent. 
26 


ENGLISH  PERIOD,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY. 


"  There  is  not  perhaps  any  language  in  the  world,  which  has  experienced  so  many  revolu- 
tions as  the  English  ;  and,  like  the  political  constitution  of  the  country,  it  seems  to  have  gained 
both  strength  and  energy  by  every  change." — FRY'S  JPantography,  p.  60. 

AT  the  opening  of  this  period  the  language  had  passed  through 
the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Franco-English  transitions,  and  become 
pure  English.  Free  from  complicated  Gotho-Germanic  declen- 
sion, conjugation,  inflections,  syntactic  puerilities,  and  having 
attained  more  directness  in  construction,  it  could  easily  admit 
words,  thoughts,  ideas,  and  modes  of  expression  from  any  and  all 
languages.  As  scientists,  literati,  inventors,  and  discoverers  in 
all  departments  of  knowledge  became  numerous,  we  must  attend 
to  classes,  genera,  species,  and  overlook  individual  thinkers  and 
writers.  During  the  Anglo-Saxon  and  Franco-English  periods, 
when  vernacular  authors  were  few  and  far  between  (most  works 
being  written  in  Latin),  we  commented  on  every  one,  because  we 
were  glad  to  see  any  thought  blooming  into  vernacular  expres- 
sion. We  dilated  on  every  chronicler  :  an  alphabet,  an  allu- 
sion to  any  personage  or  event,  a  few  lines,  a  short  prayer  in  the 
vernacular  was  welcome  ;  even  poor  Latin  was  a  forerunner  of, 
and  guide  to,  vernacular  thought,  conception,  ideas  and  expres- 
sion. The  hitherto  contracted  linguistic  horizon  expanded  be- 
yond the  British  Isles  :  England,  with  a  mixed  enterprising  popu- 
lation of  Goths,  Germans,  Celts,  and  French,  was  ready  to  enter 
upon  her  grand  mission  and  become  cosmopolitan,  as  indicated 
by  her  isolated  island  home.  As  this  period  opens  with  an 
unparalleled  vista  of  great  intellects,  not  only  in  Britain,  but  in 
most  countries,  we  shall  notice  mental  productions,  whether  in 


404  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

the  domain  of  science,  art,  or  mechanics,  by  a  method  in  harmony 
with  progressive  strides  and  vast  results. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  England  founded  colonies  in 
America  and  Asia,  where  her  language  began  to  echo  in  1607 
and  1612  :  hence  this  century  may  be  styled  England's  colonizing 
era.  As  the  Puritans  and  Quakers  were  intellectual  people  and 
brought  pure  English  to  the  New  World,  America  has  no  patois 
or  provincialisms  like  the  mother  country.  When  we  consider 
that  the  United  States,  stretching  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
2,000  miles,  started  with  the  Virginia  settlement,  1607,  and  the 
Plymouth  colony,  1620,  it  is  an  astounding  fact.  So  is  the  Indo- 
British  Empire,  extending  from  Cashmere  to  Cape  Comorin,  1,900 
miles,  starting  from  a  humble  factory,  erected  at  Surat  about  1612. 

This  mania  for  emigration  was  not  confined  to  England ;  it 
agitated  Europe,  which  became  a  swarming  bee-hive :  after  vari- 
ous attempts,  France  succeeded  in  founding  a  colony  at  Quebec, 
Canada,  1608.  Hollanders  settled  New  Amsterdam  (now  New 
York),  1614;  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  1650,  and  Celebes  Isles 
about  1667.  Swedes  and  Finns  founded  a  colony  on  the  Dela- 
ware, 1627;  but  within  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  Eng- 
land captured  and  annexed  most  of  those  colonies  and  extended 
her  language  and  sway  over  them.  Thus  had  a  spirit  of  adven- 
ture seized  upon  the  children  of  the  Medieval  Goths  and  Ger- 
mans. As  long  as  such  an  elan  does  not  tend  to  war  between 
nations,  let  it  rise  and  subside  like  the  beneficent  storm  that 
clears  and  purifies  a  heavy  atmosphere ;  let  it  ebb  and  flow  like 
the  waves  that  stir  and  mingle  the  waters  of  the  deep  ;  for  such  ac- 
tivity is  calculated  to  produce  expansion  of  races,  mixing  of 
peoples,  and  approaching  of  remote  tribes  towards  civilization. 
Moreover,  this  spirit  is  an  attribute  of  the  soul  that  yearns  for  a 
higher  existence,  ever  asking  where,  when,  and  what  is  it,  while 
intuition  points  to  a  home  beyond  the  grave.  It  is  neither  of 
yesterday  nor  of  to-day ;  it  parted  Noah's  progeny  at  Babel, 
fired  Abraham  in  Chaldee,  inspired  Moses  in  Egypt,  and  led  the 
Phenicians  to  Carthage,  Betica  and  the  British  Isles.  It  accom- 
panied Pytheas  to  Ultima  Thule,  Columbus  to  America,  Gama 
round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Cooke  round  the  world,  Hum- 
boldt  and  Bonpland  over  the  Andes,  Fremont  over  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  Sir  John  Franklin  and  Dr.  Kane  to  the  North  Pole, 


Seventeenth  Century.  405 

Du  Chaillu,  Livingstone,  and  Stanley,  through  Equatorial  Africa. 
It  is  a  noble  spirit ;  it  is  divine. 

Among  the  stirring  personages  and  events  of  this  period,  we 
must  allude  to  some  that  incalculably  influenced  civilization  and 
progress:  "Plymouth  Rock "  became  a  household  word  in  the 
American  mind  ;  the  landing  of  that  band  of  resolute  men  and 
women,  with  their  families,  stamped  on  the  New  World  character- 
istics of  enterprise,  economy,  and  thrift,  that  have  been,  are,  and 
will  be  expanding  over  this  hemisphere.  Mrs.  Hemans'  poem 
on  the  Pilgrims  is  a  befitting  tribute  to  that  bold  colony  of  com- 
bined heroes  and  heroines,  who  sought  new  homes  for  a  progeny, 
whose  industry  turned  the  sterile  New  England  rocks  into  gar- 
dens, and  into  communities,  where  language,  education,  litera- 
ture, science,  art,  mechanics,  and  manufactures,  made  unparalleled 
strides.  A  chivalric  colony,  headed  by  a  warrior,  explorer  and 
geographer,  landed  about  the  same  time  in  a  more  fertile  region, 
where  his  life  was  saved  by  a  gentle  Indian  princess,  after  he  had 
earned  laurels  against  the  Turks.  You  already  think  of  Poca- 
hontas  and  Captain  John  Smith,  who  explored  and  mapped 
Chesapeake  Bay  and  the  coast  of  New  England,  from  1608  to 
1614,  wrote  "General  History  of  Virginia,  New  England,  and 
the  Summer  Isles"  (Bermudas},  1627,  and  "True  Travels  and 
Adventures  of  Captain  John  Smith  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and 
America,"  1630.  As  young  and  old  know  the  touching  story 
of  Pocahontas  and  Captain  Smith,  and  as  art  has  so  skilfully 
portrayed  it,  we  attempt  no  narration  thereof.  We  shoul'd  be 
remiss  in  omitting  here  the  author  and  martyr,  who  penned 
"  Great  Case  of  Liberty  of  Conscience  Debated  and  Defended,^" 
1671;  "Spirit  of  Truth  Vindicated,"  1672;  "England's  Present 
Interest  Considered,"  1674,  &c->  and  founded  an  American 
colony  (1682),  that  did  honor  to  human  nature — namely,  William 
Penn,  whose  name  is  so  felicitously  affixed  to  the  Latin  root 
sylvia,  which,  older  than  Rome,  found  a  new  application  in 
the  Western  Hemisphere.  The  capital  of  Pennsylvania  was 
another  mark  of  rare  linguistic  choice  in  the  term  Philadelphia 
(</><Aos,  .friend,  and  SeAc^os,  brother].  Of  this  most  peaceful 
colony,  and  Penn's  treaty  with  the  Indians,  the  astute  Voltaire 
says  :  "  The  only  league  between  the  Aborgines  and  Christians 
that  was  never  sworn  to  and  never  broken."  Roger  Williams, 


406  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

banished  from  Massachusetts  for  preaching  liberal  doctrines,  went 
among  the  Narraganset  Indians,  who  received  him  hospitably, 
1636,  and  became  the  founder  of  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island. 
He  wrote  a  Treatise  against  Persecution  and  "  Experiments  on 
Spiritual  Health."  Thus  the  Protestants  of  the  New  World  only 
banished  and  did  not  burn  their  victim,  as  the  Calvinists  did 
Servetus,  which  was  a  decided  improvement  on  the  old-fashioned 
way  of  punishing  heretics. 

The  seventeenth  century  is  distinguished  for  literary  achieve- 
ments: the  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  1611,  by  order  of  the 
British  Government,  appointing  the  ablest  divines  and  scholars 
to  perform  that  important  work.  It  was  begun,  1607,  and  com- 
pleted, 1611,  under  James  I.  The  main  text  was  originally  in 
"  black  letter"  while  the  headings  of  the  chapters,  and  expletives 
in  the  text,  were  in  Roman  character.  It  was  truly  the  largest 
literary  undertaking  at  that  date  in  England.  Strange,  King  James 
allowed  a  tax  to  be  levied  on  each  Bible  !  Haydon's  "Dictionary 
of  Dates  and  Universal  References"  says  the  Bible  contains 
773>746  words,  which  our  strict  analysis  enables  us  to  divide  and 
approximate  thus :  about  one-half  are  mere  particles,  or  words 
without  inherent  meaning,  among  which  //^occurs  about  115,768 
times ;  and  96,718  times  ;  the  pronoun  of  the  third  person,  24,055 
times;  in  14,654;  that  11,685  times;  to  10,258  times;  of  8,792 
times  \from  7,327  times;  be,  auxiliary,  about  1,465  times,  &c. 
A  large  proportion  of  the  other  half  are  proper  names  and  repe- 
titions of  nouns,  verbs,  adjectives,  and  qualificative  adverbs, 
which,  if  deducted,  will  leave  but  a  small  number  of  words  of  in- 
herent meaning.  As  commentators,  divines,  and  especially  the 
translators  of  the  new  version,  are  particularly  interested  in  this 
matter,  the  English-speaking  populations  may  look  to  them  for  a 
Bible  in  unison  with  the  present  standard  of  science,  art,  and 
literature.  Surely,  seven-tenths  of  the  96,718  and  might  be 
dropped  without  impairing  the  text  in  any  way  ;  also  the  quan- 
tities of  the,  that,  to,  &c.,  might  be  considerably  reduced,  being 
in  many  instances  mere  expletives.  By  such  pruning  and  weed- 
ing of  particles,  the  Bible  would  not  only  become  clearer  and 
shorter,  but  more  direct  and  forcible.  Our  Extract  and  numeric 
Table  from  an  early  copy  of  the  James'  version  will  fully  show 
its  style  and  vocabulary. 


Seventeenth  Century.  407 

As  the  Scriptures  were  translated  under  Athelstan,  A.D.  925- 
941,  and  James  I.,  1611,  and  are  now  being  revised  under  Vic- 
toria, 1878,  these  sovereigns  may  be  styled  Scriptural  par  excel- 
lence. Speaking  of  the  James'  version  in  his  "  Standard  English," 
p.  303,  Oliphant  says :  "  The  Koran  alone  can  boast  an  equal 
share  of  reverence,  spread  far  and  wide."  When  we  consider 
that  eighty-four  Bible  societies  and  agencies  distributed  110,000,- 
ooo  Bibles  from  1804  to  1873,  and  tnat  at  least  twice  that  num- 
ber was  issued  besides,  we  must  doubt  the  writer's  statement, 
that  the  Koran  can  boast  "an  equal  share  of  reverence  spread 
far  and  wide"  till  it  is  confirmed  by  approximate  figures. 

In  1623  appeared  a  complete  edition  of  Shakespeare's  writings. 
It  was  the  earliest  important  English  work  printed  entirely  in 
the  clear,  distinct  Roman  type,  and  not  in  the  angular  Gothic 
black  letter.  We  hope  our  Extract  and  Table.from  that  edition, 
of  which  there  is  a  copy  in  the  Astor  Library,  will  prove  inter- 
esting to  readers. 

April  23,1564,  saw  William  Shakespeare's  birth;  April  23, 
1616,  witnessed  his  death  at  the  premature  age  of  fifty-two.  H.e 
was  a  favorite  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  of  James  I.  Sam  Johnson 
says  : 

"  The  merit  of  Shakespeare  is  such  as  the  ignorant  can  take  in,  and  the 
learned  add  nothing  to." 

As  the  writings  on  Shakespeare  by  English  and  American 
biographers,  critics  and  essayists  would  make  a  small  library,  we 
shall  only  mention  some  of  the  foreign  writers  on  the  immortal 
bard  of  Stratford-on-Avon.  Wieland  translated  and  issued 
Shakespeare's  Dramas  from  1762  to  1766,  in  eight  volumes. 
Lessing,  in  his  "Dramaturgic"  says  : 

"  Of  all  poets,  perhaps,  Shakespeare  alone  has  portrayed  the  mental  dis- 
eases, melancholy,  delirium,  lunacy,  with  such  wonderful,  and  in  every  re- 
spect definite  truth,  that  the  physician  may  enrich  his  observations  from  them 
in  the  same  manner  as  from  real  cases." 

Eschenburg  gave  to  Germany  "Ueber  W.  Shakespeare"  a 
translation  df  Shakespeare's  dramas  in  fourteen  volumes.  In 
his  lectures  on  "  Dramatic  Art  and  Literature,"  1815,  Schlegel 
observes : 


408  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

u  Never,  perhaps,  was  there  so  comprehensive  a  talent  for  the  delineation 
of  character  as  Shakespeare's.  It  not  only  grasps  the  diversities  of  rank,  sex 
and  age,  down  to  the  dawnings  of  infancy;  not  only  do  the  king  and  the 
beggar,  the  hero  and  the  pickpocket,  the  sage  and  the  idiot,  speak  and  act 
with  equal  truth,  but  he  opens  the  gates  of  the  magic  world  of  spirits,  calls 
up  the  midnight  ghost,  peoples  the  air  with  sportive  fancies  and  sylphs  ;  and 
these  beings,  existing  only  in  the  imagination,  possess  such  truth  and  con- 
sistency that,  even  when  deformed  monsters  like  Caliban,  he  extorts  the  con- 
viction that,  if  there  should  be  such  beings,  they  would  so  conduct  them- 
selves." 

Elsewhere  he  says  : 

"  If  Shakespeare  deserves  our  admiration  for  his  characters,  he  is  equally 
deserving  of  it  for  his  exhibition  of  passion,  taking  this  word  in  its  widest 
sense,  as  including  every  mental  condition,  every  tone,  from  indifference  or 
familiar  mirth  to  the  wildest  rage  and  despair." 

After  this  exhaustive  and  masterly  criticism,  we  cannot  help 
citing  Byron's : 

"  Shakespeare  and  Milton  have  had  their  rise,  and  they  will  have  their  fall." 

Could  Byron,  who  was  ever  at  war  with  himself  and  the  world, 
but  visit  New  York  Central  Park  and  gaze  at  Shakespeare's 
splendid  statue,  he  would  surely  be  agreeably  disappointed ;  for 
he  must  by  this  time  be  at  peace  with  himself  and  the  universe. 
No  doubt,  similar  monuments  will  arise  wherever  there  is  an 
English-speaking  population.  For  the  world  never  can  bestow 
too  much  on  a  character,  of  whom  his  cotemporary  and  rival, 
Ben  Jonson,  wrote  these  lines : 

"  I  loved  the  man  and  do  honor  his  memory — on  this  side  idolatry.  He 
was  indeed  honest  and  of  an  excellent  fancy  and  gentle  expressions." 

Franz  Horn's  '•'•Shakespeare's  Schanspiele  erlautert"  (Shake- 
speare's Dramas  illustrated),  in  five  volumes,  1822—1831.  Ger- 
vinus'  "  SJiakespeare "  in  four  volumes,  1849—1850.  Delius' 
"Mythusvw  W.Shakespeare"  (Myth  of  W.  Shakespeare),  1851. 
Such  were  some  of  Germany's  Shakespearian  admirers.  Guizot's 
"  Shakespeare  et  son  Temps"  1851.  Chasle'  s  "Etudes  sur  Shake- 
speare" 1832.  Victor  Hugo's  "William  Shakespeare"  1864. 
Hagberg's  "Shakespeare  och  Skalderna"  in  Swedish,  1848.  All 
these  works  show  how  universal  has  been  the  admiration  for 


Seventeenth  Century.  409 

Shakespeare.  Not  only  England,  but  Spain  lost  her  greatest 
bard,  April  23,  1616  :  on  that  day  Shakespere  died  aged  fifty- 
two  years ;  on  the  same  day  died  Cervantes,  aged  sixty-nine. 
Was  this  accident,  chance,  or  magnetism  ?  When  we  read  Shake- 
speare's glowing  pages,  we  ask  :  could  a  man  of  ordinary  birth, 
with  few,  if  any,  educational  advantages,  have  conceived  and 
written  dramatic  scenes,  that  interest  high  and  low,  learned  and 
ignorant?  But,  when  we  consider  his  features,  character  and  the 
circumstances  of  his  life  and  death,  as  transmitted  by  cotempora- 
ries,  suspicion  and  doubt  vanish  like  mist  before  a  genial  sun  ;  we 
realize  that  his  physical,  mental  and  moral  qualities  blend  into  a 
consistent  whole,  and  we  begin  to  admire  the  man  as  much  as 
his  writings.  We  attribute  the  uninterrupted  favor  and  success 
of  Shakespeare's  dramas  to  his  mingling  spiritual  entities  with  his 
dramatis  persona  ;  it  required  a  master-hand  to  do  it,  a  delicate 
and  skillful  touch. 

Say  what  we  will,  spurn  as  we  may  the  idea  of  intercourse  be- 
tween beings  of  Earth  and  of  the  spheres ;  call  it  superstition,  if 
you  please — yet  the  traditions,  records,  teachings,  sermons  and 
performances,  that  contain  most  of  it,  have  ever  been  most  read, 
studied,  listened  to  and  admired;  witness  Bible,  Vedas,  Zenda- 
vesta,  Orpheus'  descent  to  Hades  for  Eurioice,  Eneas  in  Elysium, 
Numa's  Egeria,  Socrates'  Demon,  Lucian's  '-'•Dialogues  between 
the  Dead"  Koran,  Dante's  "Divina  Conicdia"  Milton's  "Para- 
dise Lost"  Pension's  "Dialogues  of  the  Dead"  Klopstock's 
"Messaiah  and  Cidli"  Wieland's  ''Letters  from  the  Dead  to  their 
Friends"  Goethe's  "Faust"  "A/men  Fran"  "  Corsican  Broth- 
ers" For.tenelle's  '•'•Dialogues  of  the  Dead"  &c.  Even  the  wild 
spirit  entities  of  the  Edda  enriched  the  English  language  and 
literature  with  the  glowing  pages  of  Carlyle. 

It  is  said  Shakespeare  appropriated  ideas  from  predecessors 
and  cotemporaries.  True,  he  derived  King  Lear  from  Layamon's 
" Brut"— -^  All's  Well  that  Ends  Weir  from  Boccaccio's  " De- 
cameron" Even  his  conception  of  Hamlet  may  be  from  some 
old  Scandinavian  lay;  but  what  of  that?  The  treatment  of  the 
subjects  was  all  his  own.  To  question  Shakespeare's  authorship, 
because  he  had  no  classical  education,  seems  unwarranted  ; 
especially,  when  the  original  folio  volume  of  1623  contains  these 
lines  by  his  cotemporary,  Ben  Jonson  : 


410  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

"  To  draw  no  envy,  Shakespeare,  on  thy  name, 
Am  I  thus  ample  to  thy  book  and  fame  ; 
While  I  confess  thy  writings  to  be  such 
As  neither  Man  nor  Muse  can  praise  too  much." 

Had  there  been  the  least  suspicion  of  the  kind,  would  Jonson, 
who  died  1637,  have  allowed  the  above  to  be  printed  in  1623? 
would  his  numerous  other  co temporary  celebrities  :  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  Beaumont,  and  especially  his  patron  the  Earl  of  South- 
ampton, to  whom  he  dedicated  his  "Venus  and  Adonis"  have 
ignored  such  a  deception  ?  would  it  not  have  reached  the  ears 
of  his  royal  admirers,  Queen  Elizabeth  and  King  James  I.? 
Furthermore,  to  attribute  Shakespeare's  writings  to  Lord  Bacon 
(as  has  recently  been  done)  seems  absurd.  Pope  styles  Bacon  : 

"The  wisest,  brightest,  meanest  of  mankind." 

He  could  no  more  have  written  "Hamlet"  "Winter's  Tale" 
11  King  Lear  "  &c.,  than  Shakespeare  could  have  written  "Novum 
Organum" 

In  the  Shakespearian  likenesses  transmitted  to  us,  we  realize 
that  not  only  anatomy,  physiology,  but  phrenology  and  psychology 
did  their  utmost  to  produce  a  typal  man.  Study  every  lineament ; 
all  express  gentleness,  refinement,  and  equipoise.  Nature  ex- 
hausted her  resources  for  a  cycle  in  casting  the  mould  of  William 
Shakespeare,  who  might  soliloquize  thus  :  I  point  to  no  line  of 
ancestry,  no  Oxford  degree,  no  fortunate  circumstances ;  I  arn 
Nature's  pupil ;  the  causes  and  circumstances  that  developed  my 
being,  and  the  fount  from  which  flowed  my  knowledge,  are  as 
mysterious  and  inscrutable  as  those  that  evolved  the  universe. 
Yet  I  feel  I  am  but  the  microcosm  in  the  macrocosm. 

After  mentioning  native  and  foreign  Shakespearian  critics  and 
admirers,  it  would  be  ungallant  not  to  cite  the  gentlest  and  most 
persevering,  Mrs.  Cowden  Clarke,  to  whom  we  but  alluded  in 
the  opening  of  this  book.  She  not  only  scanned  and  studied  the 
bard's  sublime  conceptions,  ideas,  thoughts,  humor,  and  wit,  but 
his  vocabulary,  which  she  counted  and  found  to  be  "  15,000 
words."  Woman  alone  is  capable  of  such  patience,  detail,  and 
minuteness. 

As  Ben.  Jonson  was  Shakespeare's  friend  and  rival,  it  is  but  just 
we  should  mention  some  of  his  dramas,  the  most  popular  of  which 


Seventeenth  Century.  411 

were  "Sejanus?  1603;  "Alchemist"  1610;  Catilina,  1611,  &c. 
He  was  Poet-Laureate  to  James  I.,  and  died,  1637.  Of  him  Dr. 
Johnson  says  : 

"  Then  Jonson  came,  instructed  from  the  school, 
To  please  in  method,  and  instruct  by  rule  ; 
His  studious  patience  and  laborious  art, 
By  regular  approach  essay 'd  the  heart." 

Jonson's  "Sejanus"  shows  a  vocabulary  of  thirty  per  cent. 
Greco-Latin,  sixty-nine  Gotho-Germanic,  and  one  Celtic. 

While  the  dawn  of  this  enlightened  era  smiled  upon  Shake- 
speare and  Jonson,  it  also  beheld  the  remarkably  united  bards 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  who,  in  happy  conceit  and  union,  wrote 
fourteen  volumes  of  superior  dramas,  comedies,  poems,  and 
essays,  among  which  figure  "  The  Coxcomb"  "  The  Maid's  Tra- 
gedy" "  Cupid 's  Revenge"  &c.  Such  an  intermarriage  of 
thought,  ideas,  sentiment,  and  expression  is  unique  in  the  literary 
world.  What  a  pity  such  mental  accord  is  the  exception  and  not 
the  rule  !  Of  this  rare  duo  Hazlitt  observes  : 

"  They  are  masters  of  style  and  versification  in  almost  every  variety  of 
melting  modulation,  of  sounding  pomp,  of  which  they  are  capable ;  in  comic 
wit  and  spirit  they  are  scarcely  surpassed  by  any  writers  of  our  age." 

The  following  is  Coleman's  appropriate  strain  on  this  congenial 
couple  : 

"  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  those  twin  stars,  that  run 
Their  glorious  course  'round  Shakespeare's  golden  sun." 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  vocabulary  in  "Honest  Man's  For- 
tune," contains  thirty-four  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  sixty-five  Gotho- 
Gennanic,  and  one  Celtic. 

How  we  should  have  liked  to  chance  into  the  "  Mermaid  Tav- 
ern "  when  Shakespeare,  Jonson,  Beaumont,  and  Fletcher  were 
convivially  assembled  there  ! 

Of  all  literary  English  productions,  perhaps  none  has  been 
so  widely  diffused  and  eagerly  read  as  '•'•Robinson  Crusoe"  1719. 
I  never  can  forget  the  day  when  a  German  and  French  transla- 
tion thereof  reached  me.  I  could  not  lay  it  aside  till  I  had  read 
it  several  times  ;  and  even  then  my  mind  dwelled  on  it  for  weeks 


412  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

and  months.  It  outlived  Defoe's  other  210  writings.  As  long 
as  there  are  boys  and  girls  "Robinson  Crusoe"  will  find  devoted 
readers.  A  passage  of  Defoe's  "History  of  the  Devil"  yielded 
thirty-seven  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  sixty  Gotho-Germanic,  two 
Celtic,  and  one  Semitic. 

The  year  1620  saw  a  book  whose  ideas  changed  the  world's 
method  of  scientific  research ;  that  book  was  Lord  Bacon's 
" Novum  Organum."*  Hitherto  science  had  been  theoretic 
and  speculative ;  Bacon  urged  its  being  experimental,  and 
founded  on  observation.  Next  followed  "  De  Augmentis  Scien- 
tiarum,  Instaiiratio  Magna,  and  De  Sapientia  Veterum"  which 
treated  of  religion,  morals,  philosophy,  history,  and  politics. 
Like  many  of  his  predecessors,  Bacon  wrote  in  poor  Latin, 
though  his  native  tongue  had  supplied  Chaucer,  Spenser,  and 
even  Shakespeare.  However,  had  they  been  written  in  Eng- 
lish, they  might  not  have  reached  foreign  lands  so  readily.  In 
1755  Deleyre  wrote  an  analysis  of  Bacon's  works  in  French. 
Lassalle  translated  them  all  into  French,  1800,  and  Bouillet,  1835, 
which  shows  how  his  ideas  were  appreciated  abroad.  Dryden 
rhymes  the  world's  indebtedness  to  his  great  countryman  thus  : 

"  The  world  to  Bacon  does  not  only  owe 
Its  present  knowledge,  but  its  future  too." 

As  Macaulay's  "  Essay  on  Lord  Bacon  "  is  considered  a  master- 
piece, we  refer  readers  to  it. 

In  1639  appeared  Burton's  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy,"  of 
which  Dr.  Johnson  says:  "It  is  the  only  book  that  ever  took 
me  out  of  bed  two  hours  beforfe  I  wished  to  rise."  As  Locke's 
"Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding,"  A.D.  1690,  started  a 
somewhat  new  departure  in  philosophy,  it  deserves  an  honorary 
mention  in  a  linguistic  point  of  view,  furnishing,  as  it  does,  new 
terms  and  changes  of  meaning  in  words  and  phraseology.  So 
does  Bunyan's  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  (1678),  of  which  Macaulay 
says  : 

"  Bunyanhad  no  suspicion  that  he  was  producing  a  masterpiece.    He  could 

*  It  is  said  "Novum  Organum"  contains  words,  thoughts,  ideas,  and 
passages  of  Roger  Bacon's  "Opus  Majus,"  which  was  written,  1265,  and 
first  printed  1733.  Hence,  Lord  Bacon  must  have  read  "  Opus  Majus"  in 
manuscript. 


Seventeenth  Century. 

not  guess  what  place  his  allegory  would  occupy  in  English  literature  ;  for  of 
English  literature  he  knew  nothing.  During  the  latter  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  there  were  only  two  great  creative  minds :  one  produced 
"  Paradise  Lost,"  the  other  "  Pilgrim's  Progress." 

The  medical  world  was  startled  by  Harvey's  grand  discovery, 
entitled  "  Exercitationes  de  Motu  Cordis  et  Sanguinis  "  (Essays 
on  the  Motion  of  the  Heart  and  Blood),  1628,  which  eminent 
physicians  at  home  and  abroad  opposed  as  long  as  they  could, 
and  then  claimed  the  discovery  for  Neme'sius,  Fabricius,  Co- 
lumbo,  Cesalpino,  and  others.  As  previously  stated,  Nemesius, 
Bishop  of  Syria  in  the  fifth  century,  alludes  to  the  circulation  of 
the  blood  in  his  Trepl  <£vsews  dvOpuirov.  It  would  be  curious  to 
know  whether  Harvey  ever  read  that  book?  England's  Escu- 
lapius  also  wrote  "De  Generations  Animalium  "  (On  the  Gene- 
ration of  Animals),  in  which  he  maintains  that  every  animal  is 
produced  from  an  egg. 

Medicine  needs  another  Harvey  to  discover  the  nature  of  the 
mysterious  fluid  that  glides  along  the  nerves,  causing  pleasurable 
or  painful  sensations,  health  or  disease,  which  would  advance 
the  healing  art  more  than  all  the  medical  discoveries  yet  made, 
because  it  is  to  life  what  the  imponderables,  heat,  light,  mag- 
netism, and  electricity  are  to  the  universe. 

MILTON'S  "Paradise  Lost,''  1668,  of  whose  style  G.  P.  Marsh, 
in  his  "Lectures  on  the  English  Language"  observes  : 

"  The  relation  between  Milton's  entire  verbal  resources  and  his  habitual 
economy  in  the  use  of  them  is  most  remarkable,  &c.  .  .  .  Most  of  the 
foreign  words  employed  by  him  are  found  in  a  single  passage,  whereas  the 
Saxon  words  are  very  many  times  repeated.  Nor  is  the  predominance  of 
such  to  be  ascribed  to  the  number  of  particles  or  other  small  words  ;  for  of 
them  Milton  is  very  sparing." 

Our  numeric  analysis  fully  corroborates  this  statement ;  for 
we  find  him  the  most  concise  and  tersest  of  the  many  English 
writers  we  examined.  The  Bible-and-Miltonian-style  are  ex- 
tremes, as  may  be  seen  by  our  Tables  :  It  requires  531  common 
words  from  the  Bible  to  obtain  100  different  words,  whereas  130 
common  words  from  Milton  furnish  100  different  words.  Hence, 
there  are  431  repetitions  in  the  Extract  from  the  Bible,  and  only 
thirty  in  that  from  Milton ;  yet  the  ratio  of  particles  is  about  the 


4 H  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

same  in  both  Extracts,  namely,  one-half;  all  our  other  Extracts 
and  Tables  range  between  those  from  the  Bible  and  Milton  as 
to  the  number  of  common  words.  Milton,  like  Shakespeare, 
had  one  careful  reader  and  patient  admirer,  who  ascertained  that 
his  vocabulary  consisted  of  8,000  words. 

We  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  Milton  visited  Galileo  dur- 
ing his  confinement  by  the  Inquisition.  That  the  author  of 
"Paradise  Lost"  and  the  observer  of  the  isochronism  of  the 
vibrations  of  the  pendulum,  the  champion  of  the  Copernican  sys- 
tem, greeted  each  other  on  the  banks  of  the  Arno  in  1638,  is 
an  event  to  be  remembered  in  the  annals  of  poetry  and  science. 

England  saw  a  prodigy  in  Jeremiah  Horrox,  who  was  born  in 
a  country  village,  1619,  graduated  at  Cambridge,  took  orders, 
and  became  curate  of  Hoole  ;  but,  finding  the  ministry  too  nar- 
row a  field  for  his  expansive  mind,  he  flew  to  astronomy  and 
wrote  the  "  True  Theory  of  Lunar  Motion."  Next  he  pondered 
over  Kepler's  Tables,  constructed  on  Tycho  Brahe's  observa- 
tions, and  found  that  the  transit  of  Venus,  marked  for  1631, 
would  not  occur  till  1639.  December  4,  1639,  ne  na-d  tne  g°°d 
fortune  to  behold  Venus'  transit,  which  no  mortal  had  seen  be- 
fore ;  then  he  penned  his  "Venus  sub  Sole  visa"  and  died  1641, 
at  the  tender  age  of  twenty-two.  Was  there  ever  a  career  so 
rapid,  so  rich  in  events,  so  wonderful  ?  A  university  graduation, 
ministry,  astronomic  achievements,  discovery  and  description  of 
the  rarest  celestial  phenomenon,  all  within  twenty-two  years, 
seem  like  Tnpper's  "  Millennium  in  a  moment."  Thus  a  life  of 
one  score  and  two  set  in  motion,  not  only  the  world's  astrono- 
mers, telescopes,  and  observatories,  but  its  governments  and 
navies,  as  witnessed  at  the  transit  of  Venus  in  1875;  because 
the  successful  observation  of  this  phenomenon  could  furnish 
data  to  ascertain  the  magnitudes  and  masses  of  all  the  planets, 
the  real  dimensions  of  their  orbits,  their  rates  of  motion  round 
the  sun,  their  respective  distances  from  the  sun  and  from  each 
other,  all  of  which  might  ultimate  into  a  universal  standard  of 
astronomic  measure.  What  a  pity  such  a  life  was  cut  so  short ! 
However,  a  being  that  flashed  thus  meteor-like  across  the  horizon, 
does  exalt  human  nature ;  for  of  him  we  may  truly  say :  Horrox 
"  walked  with  God,  and  he  was  not ;  for  God  took  him."  Horrox 
gave  a  decided  impetus  to  astronomy  in  England ;  for  Flamstced 


Seventeenth  Century.  415 

was  appointed  Royal  Astronomer  by  Charles  II.,  1675,  and 
Greenwich  Observatory  was  completed  1676.  Hipparchus  cata- 
logued one  thousand  and  eighty  stars,  150  B.C. ;  Flamsteed 
determined  the  position  of  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighty- two,  the  result  of  which  was  published  in  a  work  entitled 
"Historia  Ccelestis,"  1725.  Thus  did  England  vie  with  ancient 
Greece  in  the  sublime  science  of  the  Heavens. 

The  pioneer  authoress,  Aphra  Behn,  opened  the  vista  of  female 
thought  in  English  literature.  Her  writings  are  called  free  by 
gallant,  and  licentious  by  ungallant  critics.  Besides  seventeen 
dramas,  she  wrote  poems,  songs,  tales,  and  novels.  She  trans- 
lated Fontanelle's  "  Histoire  des  Oracles  and  de  la  Pluralite  des 
Mondes,"  and  Bonnecore's  "  Montre  d' Amour,"  so  much  ridi- 
culed by  Boileau.  "(Enone's  Letter  to  Paris"  was  paraphrased 
by  her  on  the  Latin  of  Ovid.  She  was  daughter  of  a  Mr.  John- 
son, who,  on  his  way  to  America,  as  Governor  of  Surinam,  died. 
His  family  remained  some  time  in  that  colony,  where  Aphra 
Behn  became  acquainted  with  Oroonoko,  whose  history  she 
wrote,  entitled  "Oroonolco,  the  American  Prince,"  which  is  con- 
sidered her  chef-d'ceuvre.  She  read  it  to  Charles  II.  Laplace 
translated  it  from  the  eighth  English  edition.  This  talented 
daughter  of  England  has  been  a  target  for  jealous  critics,  whose 
venom  seems  to  be  spent ;  for  her  works  were  re-issued  in  six 
octavo  volumes,  with  her  likeness,  London,  1871.  On  the  title- 
page  we  read  "The  famous  Aphra  Behn"  an  appellation  given 
her  by  cotemporaries.  Thus  posterity  sooner  or  later  appreci- 
ates intellect's  nobility,  whether  male  or  female.  Tardy  though 
it  may  appear,  England  will  yet  hail  Aphra  Behn  as  her  earliest 
literary  female  star. 

At  periods  of  vast  intellectual  expansion,  literati  and  scientists 
feel  the  want  of  easier  and  more  direct  intercourse  between  indi- 
viduals, nations,  and  races ;  hence  the  idea  of  a  universal  alpha- 
bet and  language  became  a  favorite  theme  :  Leibnitz  advocated 
it,  and  Bishop  Wilkins  wrote  his  "Essay  towards  a  Real  Charac- 
ter and  a  Philosophic  Language"  1668,  which  was  a  step  in  the 
right  direction,  for  the  benefits  resulting  therefrom  are  beyond 
computation.  But  Leibnitz,  Wilkins,  and  their  admirers  little 
dreamt  that  a  universal  alphabet  and  language  must  be  of  slow 
and  gradual  growth  ;  because  they  must  contain  the  very  cream 


41 6  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

and  essence  of  previous  alphabets,  dialects,  and  languages. 
Could  they  have  anticipated  that  the  universal  alphabet  had  its 
origin  in  the  Etruscan  letters  adopted  by  Rome,  and  that  the 
English  language  was  then  adopting  and  assimilating  the  choicest 
terms  from  the  most  refined  idioms,  they  would  have  used  their 
influence  in  favor  of  the  Roman  alphabet  and  English  language, 
which,  in  spite  of  seemingly  insurmountable  obstacles,  have  since 
spread  over  the  gJobe. 

The  Roman  alphabet,  with  its  simple,  rounded,  and  sightly 
letters,  is  now  known  and  used  by  the  American,  Oceanic,  most 
of  the  European,  many  of  the  Asiatic,  and  some  of  the  African 
nations ;  and  even  the  Japanese  are  disposed  to  adopt  it ;  hence 
we  may  fairly  say  that  about  one-half  of  the  thirteen  hundred 
millions  of  Earth's  inhabitants  know  and  use  the  Roman  alpha- 
bet; that  ninety  millions  speak  English;  and  that  two  hundred 
and  seventy-four  millions  are  governed  by  the  English  language. 

Men,  who  advocate  the  introduction  of  a  philosophic  alphabet 
and  language  should  consider,  that  such  an  introduction  would 
interfere  with  our  present  system  of  reading,  writing,  printing, 
and  education  ;  render  our  archives,  books,  and  libraries  useless  ; 
and  destroy  millions  of  property  in  the  shape  of  type  and  printing 
apparatus,  to  say  nothing  of  business  signs  and  inscriptions  on 
public  and  private  buildings.  Why,  as  soon  as  practical  people 
hear  of  such  a  change,  they  pronounce  it  impossible  ;  and  there 
the  matter  ends  and  progress  stops.  Hence  all  we  can  do,  with 
hope  of  ultimate  success,  is  to  spread  the  Roman  alphabet  and 
English  language,  and  speed  them  on  their  triumphant  mission. 
The  Roman  alphabet  with  a  start  of  twenty-six  centuries,  and  the 
English  language  with  a  start  of  twelve,  are  more  likely  to  win 
than  new  comers. 

We  may  dream  of  a  philosophic  character  and  language  ;  but  we 
must  not  overlook  that  there  are  and  must  be  vocal,  auditive,  pho- 
netic and  linguistic  laws  and  correspondences,  which  are  as  immu- 
table as  the  laws  that  control  man's  other  physical  and  mental 
capacities.  Language  involves  not  only  voice,  ear,  and  eye,  but 
telegraphic  conditions,  as  recently  revealed  by  Bell's  telephone  and 
Edison' $  phonograph.  We  may  devise  mechanical  contrivances 
to  transmit  vocal  vibrations  ;  but  nature's  vehicle  and  receptacle 
will  ever  be  the  same  ;  hence,  language  must  continue  in  the 


Seventeenth  Century.  417 

domain  in  which  it  originated  and  developed  ;  and  we  can  no 
more  lay  aside,  change  or  modify  primitive  linguistic  elements, 
roots,  and  correspondences,  than  we  can  alter  the  laws  and  capa- 
cities that  determine  and  regulate  their  production,  conveyance, 
and  interchange. 

This  age  was  not  only  noted  for  literature  and  science,  but  for 
inventions  :  Edward  Somerset,  Marquis  of  Worcester,  constructed 
a  machine  he  styled  "  wafer-engine"  In  1663  Parliament  passed 
an  act  granting  to  the  inventor  the  benefit  of  "  a  water-command- 
ing engine,"  which  has  been  considered  as  the  first  steam-engine. 
The  Marquis  had  an  inventive  genius,  as  may  be  realized  by  his 
curious  book,  entitled  "  Century  of  the  Names  and  Scantlings  of 
Inventions"  This  was  one  of  the  first  books  that  enriched  Eng- 
land's language  with  a  vocabulary  of  mechanical  terms.  Like  all 
men  in  advance  of  their  age,  Worcester  was  considered  as  vision- 
ary by  his  cotemporaries.  Could  he  have  had  the  most  remote 
idea  how  his  water-engine  would  revolutionize  the  world  within 
two  hundred  years  ? 

The  great  fire  in  London,  1666,  gave  quite  an  impetus  to 
architecture  :  Sir  Christopher  Wren  was  England's  great  architect. 
The  Royal  Exchange,  Temple  Bar,  Greenwich  Observatory,  &c., 
were  erected  by  him  ;  but  his  masterpiece  was  St.  Paul's  Cathe- 
dral, started  1675,  and  completed  1710.  It  is  not  a  chaste 
Gothic  model  like  the  Cathedral  of  Salisbury  or  "  Sainte  Chapelle" 
of  Paris  ;  but  it  vies  with  most  structures  of  its  kind.  After  seeing 
Strasburg's  wonder,  St.  Stephens  of  Vienna,  Notre  Dame  of  Paris, 
we  were  struck  by  St.  Paul's  cupola,  which  alone  should  immor- 
talize Wren's  name.  On  that  occasion  the  English  language  was 
enriched  with  Greek,  Latin,  and  Medieval  architectural  terms, 
borrowed  from  the  pioneers,  Raphael  and  Michael  Angelo. 
Sir  Christopher  Wren  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's  with  this  inscrip- 
tion:  "Reader,  if  thou  seekest  his  monument,  look  round." 

Only  in  this  age  of  universal  progress,  Anglo-Saxon,  which  had 
been  neglected  from  1154  to  1659,  began  to  be  appreciated  by 
modern  scholars  like  Somner  and  Hickes  :  the  former  wrote  an 
Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary,  1659;  tne  latter  issued  "  Institutes  of 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Mceso-Gothic  Grammar,"  1689,  which  awakened 
quite  an  interest  in  England's  mother  tongue  and  attracted  many 
votaries. 


418  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

The  "  Bill  of  Rights  "  presented  by  the  English  Parliament  to 
the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Orange,  February  13,  1688,  was  the 
most  important  document  enacted  since  Magna  Charta,  A.D. 
1215.  Codes  and  constitutions  are  efforts  to  utter  a  nation's 
thoughts  and  ideas  in  as  clear,  distinct,  and  forcible  language  as 
possible,  showing  her  intellectual  and  moral  progress,  and  ex- 
pressing her  present  and  future  wants.  Hence  they  are  the  fittest 
representatives  of  that  nation's  linguistic  and  social  status.  As 
readers  find  an  Extract  therefrom  among  our  Tables,  we  forego 
any  further  detail,  except  to  state  that  its  style  required  sixty- 
three  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  and  thirty-six  per  cent.  Gotho-Ger- 
manic  words  ;  whereas  Shakespeare's  Hamlet  needed  thirty-three 
per  cent.  Greco-Latin  and  sixty-two  per  cent.  Gotho-Gerrnanic, 
which  clearly  proves  that  jurisprudence  necessitates  more  Greco- 
Latin  than  the  drama. 

As  Archbishop  Tillotson  was  the  representative  divine  and 
preacher  of  the  seventeenth  century,  we  took  an  Extract  from 
his  sermons,  as  may  be  seen  among  our  "  Tables."  Of  him  Miss 
Lucy  Aikin  observes : 

"  This  prelate  was,  perhaps,  the  first  of  our  great  preachers,  whose  diction 
was  sufficiently  free  from  Latinisms  and  scholastic  terms  to  serve  as  a  general 
model." 

When  the  authoress  of  '•'•Memoir  and  Life  of  Joseph  Addison  " 
penned  this  sentence,  she  little  thought  that  Tillotson' s  diction 
and  writings  averaged  about  forty-seven  per  cent.  Greco-Latin 
words  of  inherent  meaning,  and  fifty-three  per  cent.  Gotho-Ger- 
manic  words,  of  which  twenty-four  are  mere  particles,  leaving  but 
twenty- nine  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon  words  of 
inherent  meaning.  Hence,  he  uses  nearly  twice  as  many  Latin 
as  Gotho-Germanic  expressions  of  inherent  meaning.  Thus  do 
appearances  deceive,  while  close  mathematical  research  unde- 
ceives. 

Bishop  Burnet,  than  whom  there  is  no  better  or  franker  judge, 
styles  Tillotson  : 

*'  A  man  of  a  clear  head  and  a  sweet  temper.  He  had  the  brightest  thoughts 
and  the  most  correct  style  of  all  our  divines ;  and  was  esteemed  the  best 
preacher  of  the  age." 

Such  men  ennoble  the  pulpit,  which  has  ever  been  a  teacher, 


Seventeenth  Centiiry.  4*9 

promoter  and  diffuser  of  language  among  all  nations  ;  formerly 
priesthoods  shrouded  themselves  in  mysteries  and  symbols  to 
conceal  ideas;  the  Jews  would  not  even  utter  the  name  of 
Jehovah ;  the  Egyptians  used  hieroglyphics  ;  the  Greeks  had 
Eleusinian  mysteries;  the  Hindus  have  a  Trinity  and  mysteries  ; 
so  have  the  Roman  Catholics ;  Protestants  threw  off  part  of  the 
mask  and  became  liberal  in  their  language  and  preaching,  and 
tolerant  in  their  opinions  ;  they  realized  the  significant  injunction 
"Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone  /"  they  blended  in  their  ser- 
mons intellectual  and  moral  food,  which  made  their  preaching 
more  practical  and  more  attractive ;  even  science  found  its  way 
into  Protestant  pulpits,  especially  in  America,  where  sermons 
became  intellectually,  morally,  and  scientifically  edifying.  The 
Roman  Catholics  have  been  forced  into  more  liberal  preaching 
by  Protestant  example  ;  but  there  is  still  room  for  improvement  in 
Germany,  England,  and  even  in  America.  There  is  yet  great  un- 
willingness to  allow  unbiased  thinkers  to  express  candid  opinions 
on  great  fundamental  topics ;  The  Creation  has  occupied  the 
human  mind  more  than  any  other  subject :  Moses'  account  in 
Genesis  has  not  silenced  inquiry;  for  whether  we  look  at  the 
starry  Heavens,  or  gaze  upon  the  myriads  of  animate  and  inani- 
mate creatures  on  our  planet,  the  question,  How  did  all  this  come 
about?  forces  itself  upon  the  mind.  As  this  idea  occurs  irre- 
sistibly to  the  child,  the  adult,  and  the  aged,  in  some  form  or 
other,  let  us  evoke  the  noble  host  of  thinkers  of  by-gone  ages  and 
nations,  and  let  us  consider  for  a  moment  what  they  thought, 
said,  and  wrote,  upon  this  all-absorbing  subject,  which  forever 
has  been,  is,  and  will  be,  puzzling  mankind.  The  most  ancient 
philosophers  admitted  matter  as  a  starting-point,  and  its  changes 
as  a  consequence,  depending  upon  its  different  degrees  of  con- 
densation. The  Persian  Magi  looked  upon  fire,  and  the  Hindus 
and  Egyptians  upon  water  as  the  primitive  element  of  all  things. 
Hence  the  Sun,  Ganges,  Nile,  and  Tiber  had  worshippers.  Thales, 
one  of  the  seven  sages  of  Greece,  adopted  the  water  theory,  650 
B.C.  His  pupil,  Anaxamenes,  considered  air  as  the  basis  of  things. 
Anaxagoras,  established  the  hypothesis  of  the  Harmonomeriae,  or 
homogeneous  particles.  B.C.  500,  Pythagoras  and  his  pupil, 
Empedocles,  originated  the  famous  theory  of  the  four  elements : 
fire,  water,  air,  and  earth,  which  was  adopted  by  Aristotle  and 


420  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

prevailed  for  two  thousand  years.  B.C.  440,  Leucippus  con- 
sidered minute  atoms  diffused  in  space,  and  differing  in  form  and 
substance,  as  the  essence  of  all  bodies.  This  theory  was  further 
developed  by  Democritus  and  Epicurus.  According  to  Plato, 
pupil  of  Socrates,  all  visible  objects  are  but  so  many  manifesta- 
tions of  the  Deity.  The  Roman  sages  and  the  Fathers  of  the 
Church  fluctuated  between  the  Pythagorean  and  Platonic  ideas 
as  to  the  world's  origin.  As  previously  stated,  Nemesius,  Bishop 
of  Emesa,  in  Syria,  wrote  a  "Development  Theory,"  in  which  he 
shows  the  whole  of  Creation  as  a  gradual  series  of  phenomena 
from  the  rock  up  to  man.  In  this  genesis  he  considers  the  mag- 
net, which  attracts  iron  for  its  nourishment,  as  the  transition  from 
the  mineral  to  the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  the  zoophytes  as  the 
transition  from  the  vegetable  to  the  animal  kingdom.  This  idea 
seems  to  be  endorsed  by  Christ's  declaration :  "  God  is  able  from 
these  stones  to  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham."  The  four-ele- 
ment theory  ruled  philosophy  to  the  seventeenth  century,  when 
Descartes  looked  upon  matter  as  consisting  of  atoms  that  were 
set  in  motion  by  "  vortices  "  proceeding  from  God,  the  source  of 
all  motion.  Pascal,  Malebranche,  and  Spinosa  espoused  this 
theory.  According  to  Leibnitz,  1680,  monads  constitute  the 
basis  of  the  universe.  These  monads,  when  regarded  as  spiritual 
entities,  must  be  looked  upon  as  imaginary  forces.  From  the 
monads  each  force  has  its  fixed  destination.  The  principal  sup- 
porters of  the  monadic  system  are  Wolf  and  Madame  Duchatelet. 
The  learned  Jesuit,  Boscovich,  rejected  the  atomic  theory,  and 
claimed  that  matter  consists  of  physical  points,  which  possess  only 
attraction  and  repulsion.  These  points  form  around  themselves 
spheres  of  unequal  expansion,  by  which  they  effect  their  union 
with  differently  constituted  bodies,  and  penetrate  each  other  in 
various  ways.  The  practical  naturalists,  Hawksbee,  S'Grave- 
sende,  Muschenbrack,  De  Saguliers,  De  Luc,  &c.,  advocated  the 
Newtonian  theory,  while  Michel,  Priestley,  Robinson,  &c.,  de- 
clared themselves  for  Boscovich. 

Sir  William  Herschel  inaugurated  the  nebular  theory,  accord- 
ing to  which  comets,  planets,  suns,  and  stars  have  been,  are,  and 
will  be  evolving  and  forming  forever.  This  theory  has  numerous 
adherents,  because  geology  seems  to  endorse  it.  Kant  saw  two 
counteracting  forces  in  matter :  the  force  of  thought  and  the 


Seventeenth   Century.  421 

force  of  attraction,  all  whose  predicates  may  be  attributed  to 
motion.  The  Kantian  philosophy,  sometimes  called  transcen- 
dentalism, has  had,  and  still  has  many  warm  defenders.  Cuvier, 
Humboldt,  Comte,  Darwin,  &c.,  have  lately  modified  former  cos- 
mogonies to  suit  their  learned  works  ;  but  as  their  ideas  enter 
into  and  partake  of  those  of  their  predecessors,  we  forego  further 
detail.  These  systems  opened  a  rich  source  of  thought,  language, 
and  literature ;  yet  their  authors  were  called  infidels  and  atheists. 
Men  of  science  never  have  been  and  never  can  be  atheists, 
infidels,  or  bad  men.  Aristotles,  Roger  Bacons,  Newtons,  La- 
places,  Humboldts,  Agassiz,  &c.,  have  been  "  the  salt  of  the  earth  " 
and  mankind's  crowning  glory.  Had  theologians  translated  the 
Hebrew  torn*  by  period  instead  of  day,  then  science  and  the 
Mosaic  Record  would  have  agreed  and  endorsed  each  other, 
and  divines  and  scientists  could  have  gone  hand  in  hand  and 
"looked  through  Nature  up  to  Nature's  God."  How  much  con- 
troversy and  uncharitableness  might  have  been  avoided,  if  this 
error  of  translators  had  been  corrected  in  the  James'  version, 
A.D.  1611  ! 

This  prolific  age  produced  some  institutions  that  greatly  honor 
England  and  France  :  The  "  Royal  Society  of  London"  founded 
under  Charles  II.,  1662,  and  the  French  "Academy  of  Sciences" 
under  Louis  XIV.,  1666.  They  have  ever  since  promoted 
literature,  science,  art,  mechanics,  manufactures,  and  with  them 
language.  They  have  been,  are,  and  will  be  fostering  great 
thinkers  by  telling  them,  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant." 
When  men  have  achieved  something  of  importance  in  any  de- 
partment of  human  progress,  they  like  to  hear  the  cheering  voice 
of  their  fellow-men.  Wherever  you  find  an  Englishman  or  a 
Frenchman,  who  has  distinguished  himself  in  the  domain  of 
science,  literature,  or  art,  you  will  soon  be  made  aware,  that  he 
was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  England,  or  member  of  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  of  France.  Countries  which  thus  honor 
and  reward  merit,  talent,  and  genius,  deserve  the  name  great. 
We  see  with  delight  the  Smithsonian  Institute  in  the  young 


*  The  Hebrew  word  iom  means  day,  period,  epoch,  era.  The  translators 
used  day,  which  readers  and  commentators  considered  of  twenty-four  hours, 
instead  of  a  period  of  hundreds  or  thousands  of  years. 


422  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Western  Republic;  it  argues  well  for  her  future.  Wherever 
civilization  spreads,  such  institutions  become  the  rule.  Sweden, 
Denmark,  Germany,  Italy,  Spain,  Holland,  and  Russia  have 
academies,  that  but  imitate  ancient  Greece.  The  Turks  alone 
seem  not  to  favor  such  institutions  ;  therefore  we  need  not  won- 
der, that  science  and  art  have  been  at  a  low  ebb  at  Constanti- 
nople since  1453. 

Robert  Boyle  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Royal  Society, 
of  which  he  was  elected  President,  1680,  but  refused  the  honor. 
This  savant  devoted  his  life  exclusively  to  the  study  of  Nature's 
arcana,  and  ever  declined  office  or  distinction  of  any  kind. 
While  improving  Guericke's  air-pump,  he  discovered  the  law  of 
the  air's  elasticity,  namely,  that  its  bulk  is  inversely  as  the  pres- 
sure. Behold  what  Holland's  greatest  physician,  Boerhaave, 
says  of  him  : 

"  Mr.  Boyle,  the  ornament  of  his  age  and  country,  succeeded  to  the  genius 
and  talents  of  Lord  Verulam.  We  owe  to  him  the  secrets  of  fire,  air,  water, 
animals,  plants,  and  fossils." 

Butler's  famous  satire,  styled  " Hudibras"  took  England  by 
surprise,  1663.  Of  it  Hallam  says: 

**  Hudibras  was  incomparably  more  popular  than  Paradise  Lost.  No  poem 
in  our  language  rose  at  once  to  greater  reputation." 

We  find  its  vocabulary  numbers  thirty-six  per  cent.  Greco- 
Latin,  sixty-two  Gotho-Germanic,  and  two  Celtic.  As  it  was 
but  a  satire  on  persecuted  men,  women,  and  children,  we  can- 
not admire  it.  Sir  Thomas  Browne's  "Religio  Medici,"  1642, 
is,  according  to  Dr.  Johnson,  "  one  of  the  most  beautiful  prose 
poems  in  the  language ;  its  power  of  diction,  its  subtlety  and 
largeness  of  thought,  its  exquisite  conceits  and  images,  have  no 
parallel  out  of  the  writers  of  that  brilliant  age,  when  poetry  and 
prose  had  not  yet  divided  their  domain."  As  we  mention,  in  our 
bird's-eye  view,  his  "  Hydriotaphia  "  (treatise  on  urn-burial),  we 
say  no  more  of  his  style  here. 

To  the  great  men  of  this  century  Holland  contributed  Hny- 
gens,  who  was  chosen  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London, 
and  member  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  France.  He  became 
the  friend  of  Leibnitz  and  Newton,  who  styled  him  "  Summus 


Seventeenth  Century.  423 

Hy genius"  His  '•''System  of  Saturn"  shows  the  ring  and  satel- 
lite, which  he  discovered  with  a  telescope  of  his  own  make,  1659. 
In  his  " Horologium  Oscillatorium"  dedicated  to  Louis  XIV., 
Huygens  explains  the  theory  of  the  pendulum,  as  applied  to  the 
measurement  of  time,  1673.  He  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  cause 
of  gravity,  1690,  and  another  on  light,  in  which  he  considers 
light  as  moving  in  undulations,  a  theory  since  adopted.  In  his 
"  Cosmotheoros"  he  claims  that  the  planets  are  inhabited.  These 
writings  are  full  of  startling  ideas,  requiring  new  scientific  and 
mechanic  terms,  and  deviations  of  words  from  their  usual  sense, 
to  apply  them  to  other  purposes.  From  horologium  and  oscilla- 
torium  were  derived  horology,  oscillation,  and  other  vocables. 

As  we  mentioned  Germany's  great  physicist,  Leibnitz,  in  con- 
nection with  Newton,  we  must  not  omit  Kepler,  who  discovered 
laws  that  revolutionized  astronomic  thought,  ideas,  and  science ; 
they  are  known  as  " Kepler 's  Laws"  and  read  thus  : 

1.  The  orbits  of  the  planets  are  elliptic. 

2.  The  radius-vector,  or  the  line  extending  from  a  planet  to  the  sun,  de- 
scribes or  passes  over  equal  areas  in  equal  times. 

3.  The  squares  of  the  periodic  times  of  planets  are  proportional  to  the 
cubes  of  their  mean  distances  from  the  sun. 

Of  them  Sir  John  Herschel  says  : 

"  These  laws  constitute  the  most  important  and  beautiful  system  of  geo- 
metric relations,  which  have  ever  been  discovered  by  a  mere  inductive  process, 
independent  of  any  considerations  of  a  theoretic  kind.  They  comprise  within 
them  a  compendium  of  the  motions  of  all  the  planets,  and  enable  us  to  assign 
their  places  in  their  orbits  at  any  instant  of  time  past  or  to  come." 

No  wonder  England's  ambassador,  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  visited 
the  German  savant,  and  invited  him  to  England  ;  Kepler  politely 
refused.  His  works  are  "Astronomia  NovaJ*  1609;  "ffarmonicc 
Mundi"  1610;  "Rudolphin  Tables"  and  "Dioptrica"  1611. 

Kepler's  Laws  leave  nothing  to  chance.  Hence,  science 
founded  on  observation  is  the  surest  guide  to  all  the  laws  that 
have,  are,  and  will  be  developing  the  universe. 

Germany  may  feel  proud  of  another  of  her  sons :  Otto  von 
Guericke,  inventor  of  the  air-pump,  1651,  which  gave  rise  to  the 
vast  science  called  "Pneumatics"  engaged  the  attention  of  Gali- 
leo and  Torricelli  in  Italy,  Pascal,  Fieri  and  Mariotte  in  France, 


424  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Boyle  in  England,  changed  and  dissipated  the  ancient  idea  of  air 
being  an  element.  It  added  to  English  and  other  European  lan- 
guages a  long  vocabulary,  connected  with  gases,  vapors,  steam, 
and  the  terms  pneumatology,  pneumonia,  barometer,  atmosphere, 
&c.  While  other  scientists  thus  looked  beyond  mother  Earth 
and  scanned  the  heavenly  hosts,  Sir  Isaac  Newton  considered 
matter  as  composed  of  " corpuscula"  (small  particles),  which  are 
expansive,  impenetrable  and  inert  in  themselves,  but  yet  attract 
each  other  collectively.  This  theory  is  explained  in  his  treatise, 
entitled  "De  Motu"  (On  Motion),  1685,  and  in  "Principia" 
(Principles),  1686,  which  Laplace  styles  "pre-eminent  above  all 
other  productions  of  the  human  intellect."  It  involves  the  theory 
of  universal  gravitation,  thus  epitomized  by  Sir  David  Brewster  : 

"  Every  particle  of  matter  in  the  universe  is  attracted,  or  gravitates  to 
every  other  particle  of  matter,  with  a  force  inversely  proportional  to  the 
squares  of  their  distances." 

In  his  "Lectiones  Opticce"  (Lectures  on  Optics),  delivered  at 
Cambridge  from  1669  to  1671,  the  great  English  scientist  proved 
to  his  eager  listeners  that  light  is  not  homogeneous,  but  consists 
of  rays  of -different  refrangibility.  Of  this  sublime  discovery 
Sir  John  Herschel  says  : 

"  The  theory  of  Newton  gives  a  complete  and  elegant  explanation  of  what 
may  be  considered  the  chief  of  all  optical  facts— the  production  of  colors  in 
the  ordinary  refraction  of  light  by  a  prism,  the  discovery  of  which  by  him 
marks  one  of  the  greatest  epochs  in  the  annals  of  experimental  science." 

After  such  eulogy  from  Laplace  and  Sir  John  Herschel,  Pope's 

"  Nature  and  Nature's  laws  lay  hid  in  night  : 
God  said,  let  Newton  be  !  and  all  was  light " — 

will  be  the  "ne  plus  ultra." 

Newton  had  probably  read  "  Opus  Majus "  written  by  his 
illustrious  countryman,  Roger  Bacon,  1265,  and  had  realized  what 
the  inquisitive  monk  said  about  light  and  human  vision.  Could 
Bacon  have  imagined,  that  four  centuries  thereafter  Newton 
would  find  hearers  on  the  properties  of  light  at  Cambridge? 
Could  Bacon  or  Newton  have  dreamt,  that  from  1265  to  1878 
their  discoveries  would  develop  new  sciences,  arts,  mechanics, 
and  enrich  language  and  literature  ? 


Seventeenth   Century.  425 

Milton's  nephew  and  pupil,  Phillips,  in  his  "  Theatrum  Poeta- 
rum"  1675,  complains  thus  of  an  influx  of  gallicisms  : 

"  I  cannot  but  look  upon  it  as  a  very  pleasant  humor,  that  we  should  be  so 
compleasant  with  the  French  custom,  as  to  follow  set  fashions,  not  only  in 
garments,  but  in  music  and  poetry." 

The  English  poetess,  Catharine  Philips,  translated  Corneille's 
tragedy  of  "Pompey"  into  English,  about  1667,  and  was  styled 
the  '•'-Matchless  Orinda"  by  her  admirers;  hers  probably  was 
some  of  the  '•'•French  poetry"  Phillips  alluded  to.  France  had 
her  Augustan  Era  under  Louis  XIV.  ;  we  must  therefore  glance 
at  the  array  of  French  intellectual  development  that  so  influenced 
England's  taste,  language  and  literature  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. As  French  criticism  might  seem  one-sided,  let  English 
writers  tell  us  the  merits  of  those  productions  :  The  most  erudite 
of  English  literati,  Hallam,  says  of  Corneille's  "Polyeucte"  :  It  is 
the  noblest  perhaps  on  the  French  stage,  and  conceived  with 
admirable  delicacy  and  dignity."  Of  Racine  he  observes :  "  I 
think  him  next  to  Shakespeare  among  all  the  moderns.  No 
tragedy  of  Euripides  is  so  skillful  or  perfect  as  iAthalie '  or 
Britannicus.  The  style  of  Racine  is  exquisite."  Of  Moliere  he 
says:  "In  the  more  appropriate  merits  of  comedy,  in  just  and 
forcible  delineation  of  character,  skilful  contrivance  of  circum- 
stances, and  humorous  dialogue,  we  must  award  him  the  prize. 
Shakespeare  had  the  greater  genius,  but  perhaps  Moliere  has 
written  the  best  comedies."  Of  the  keenest  of  French  satirists, 
Boileau,  Hallam  tells  us  :  "  He  is  the  analogue  of  Pope  in  French 
literature."  Macaulay  thinks  Addison  imitated  Boileau' s  style  in 
the  "Spectator"  and  "Guardian"  Of  La  Fontaine,  whose  fables 
have  been  translated  into  most  of  the  modern  languages,  Hallam 
says  :  "  The  grace  of  the  poetry,  the  happy  inspiration,  that  seems 
to  have  dictated  the  turns  of  expression,  place  him  in  the  first 
rank  among  fabulists." 

Of  Bossuet's  numerous  writings,  Hallam  observes  :  "  Few  works 
of  genius,  perhaps,  in  the  French  language,  are  better  known  or 
have  been  more  prodigally  extolled."  Macaulay  thus  eulogizes 
Pascal : 

"  His  intellectual  powers  were  such  as  have  rarely  been  bestowed  on  any  of 
the  children  of  men.  The  delicacy  of  his  wit,  the  purity,  the  energy,  the 


426  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

simplicity  of  his  rhetoric  had  never  been  equalled,  except  by  the  great  masters 
of  Attic  eloquence.     All  Europe  read  and  admired,  laughed  and  wept." 

Pascal  excelled  not  only  as  a  literatus,  but  as  a  mathematician 
and  naturalist ;  for  to  him  we  owe  the  discovery  of  the  measure- 
ment of  mountain  heights  with  the  barometer.  W.  T.  Brande, 
F.R.S.,  extols  Mariotte's  pneumatic  experiments  and  ascribes  to 
him  the  important  discovery,  "That  the  volumes  of  gases  are 
inversely  as  the  pressures  they  support,"  which  is  called  Mariotte's 
Law.  Menage's  Etymologic  Dictionary  of  the  French  Language, 
1650,  has  been,  is,  and  will  be  a  standard  work  as  long  as  Greco- 
Latin  roots  and  languages  are  used. 

Macaulay  says : 

"  Vauban  has  during  many  years  been  regarded  as  the  first  of  engineers." 

His  system  of  Military  Engineering  was  adopted  throughout 
Europe ;  from  it  flowed  a  new  vocabulary  into  the  European 
languages,  which  military  men  alone  can  fully  appreciate. 
Tournefort's  "Elements  of  Botany"  1694,  divided  into  fourteen 
classes,  676  genera,  and  8,846  species,  with  451  figures,  were  quite 
an  acquisition  to  botanic  science  of  that  day.  He  was  Professor 
at  the  Royal  Botanic  Gardens.  As  Fenelon's  name  awakens 
reverence  and  admiration,  we  cite  no  criticism.  His  writings 
have  been  models  ;  there  is  probably  no  modern  language  into 
which  his  "Telemachus  "  has  not  been  translated.  It  has  become 
classic  in  most  countries.  Madame  de  Sevigne's  "Letters"  rank 
as  models  of  the  epistolary  style  in  the  World's  literature.  Ma- 
dame Deshoulieres  was  styled  the  "  Tenth  Muse  "  by  cotempo- 
rary  poets  ;  her  Poems  and  "Moral  Reflections"  have  been  uni- 
versally admired.  Madame  Guyon  wrote  thirty-nine  octavo  vol- 
umes, mostly  on  religious  subjects.  Cowper  admired  her  writings 
and  translated  her  autobiography  into  English.  Madame  de  la 
Fayette  wrote  the  two  highly  successful  novels:  " Zayde"  and 
"Princess  of  Cleves"  which  portrayed  the  manners  of  the  French 
nobility ;  she  has  been  considered  by  some  as  the  pioneer  of 
novel-writers. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  Dryden  immor- 
talized himself  by  translating  Homer  and  Virgil  into  English  hex- 
ameter. So  did  Madame  Dacier  distinguish  herself  by  translating 


Seventeenth  Century. 


427 


Homer,  Anacreon,  Aurelius,  Victor,  Floras  and  Plautus  into 
French.  Could  any  writers  of  that  day  have  rendered  more 
signal  service  to  literature  than  by  displaying  to  Europe  the 
treasures  of  Greece  and  Rome  in  two  advanced  modern  lan- 
guages ? 

The  author  of  "Theatrum  Poetarum  "  also  complains  (and  no 
doubt  with  just  cause)  of  a  musical  influx  into  his  country  from 
France  :  Lully,  the  greatest  harmonist  of  that  day,  was  director 
of  the  "Academy  of  Music"  and  the  composer  of  nineteen  suc- 
cessful operas,  among  which  were  " Cadmus"  "Psyche"  "Iris" 
"Temple  of  Peace"  "Roland"  &c.,  besides  sacred  and  other 
music.  It  was  quite  natural  that  his  musical  vocabulary,  sym- 
phonetic  improvements,  and  some  of  his  masterpieces  should 
have  found  their  way  to  the  "beau  monde"  of  London,  notwith- 
standing the  querulous  protestations  of  such  literati  as  Milton's 
nephew,  Phillips. 

We  have  seen  that,  according  to  the  most  able  English  critics, 
France  was  a  center  of  intellectual  celebrities,  some  of  whom 
they  style  superior  to  Plato  and  only  second  to  Shakespeare.  It 
would  have  been  strange,  if  rays  therefrom  had  not  reached  Eng- 
land and  inspired  such  kindred  minds  as  Pope,  Addison,  Catha- 
arine  Philips,  and  a  host  of  others.  With  the  ideas,  poetry  and 
music  of  France  came  an  influx  of  words  of  which  the  following 
are  samples : 


Present  French  : 

Old  French  : 

Present  English  : 

chateau 

chastel 

castle  and  chateau 

conquete 

conquests 

conquest 

coutume 

coustume 

custom 

consolation 

solaz 

solace 

crete 

creste 

crest 

fate 

feste 

feast 

faible 

foible 

foible 

hate 

haste 

haste 

h5te 

hoste 

host 

maitre 

maistre 

master 

pate 

paste 

paste 

pature 

pasture 

pasture 

reconnaitre 

reconnoitre 

reconnoitre 

secours 

socour 

succour 

souffrir 

suffrer 

suffer 

litre 

title 

title 

428  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

This  Table  shows,  that  from  many  old  French  words,  derived 
from  Latin,  unpronounced  s  was  dropped  and  replaced  by  accents. 
As  the  English  pronounced  the  s  it  has  justly  been  retained  by 
them.  The  French  changed  o  into  a  in  such  words  as  foible, 
reconnoitre,  &c.,  to  adapt  letter  to  sound.  The  English  have  not 
altered  the  o  because  it  is  phonetic.  Other  old  French  words 
underwent  changes  to  suit  modern  French  and  modern  English, 
as  :  solaz,  feste,  suffrer,  &c. 

Spain  had  her  Augustan  Era  in  Cervantes,  who,  after  writing 
"Don  Quixote"  and  other  popular  pieces,  died  on  the  same  day 
as  Shakespeare,  April,  1616.  The  prolific  Lope  de  Vega  produced 
2,000  original  dramas  and  died,  1635.  Calderon  de  la  Barca  also 
delighted  his  countrymen  with  500  dramas.  The  names  of  Mu- 
rillo  and  Velasquez  suffice  to  honor  the  country  and  century  in 
which  they  painted. 

Sweden's  throne  had  a  superior  woman  in  Christina,  the  worthy 
daughter  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  She  desired  and  received  a 
masculine  education  :  Greek,  Latin,  Hebrew,  history,  and  science 
were  her  favorite  studies  ;  horseback  riding  and  the  chase  her 
amusements.  She  attracted  to  her  court  such  men  as  Descartes, 
Grotius,  Salmasius,  Bochart,  Vossius,  &c.  Any  talent,  perse- 
cuted or  neglected  at  home,  was  sure  to  find  an  appreciative 
asylum  at  Christina's  court.  In  1654,  while  young  and  bloom- 
ing, she  abdicated  a  brilliant  throne  and  retired  to  Rome.  Hyper- 
critics  ascribe  this  act  to  vanity,  while  the  charitably  disposed 
attribute  it  to  magnanimity.  The  sagacious  Voltaire  says  :  "  She 
preferred  to  live  with  men  who  think,  rather  than  reign  over 
men  without  learning  or  genius."  Christina  wrote  "  Memoires  " 
and  other  works  that  were  highly  esteemed. 

Now,  a  retrospect  of  this  century,  so  remarkable  for  linguistic, 
literary,  and  scientific  progress,  will  not  be  out  of  place,  espe- 
cially when  we  consider,  that  none  of  the  last  fourteen  centuries 
shows  such  a  galaxy  of  great  male  and  female  intellects  :  Shake- 
speare, Lord  Bacon,  Milton,  Harvey,  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Aphra 
Behn,  &c.,  in  England  ;  Corneille,  Racine,  Moliere,  Pascal,  Bos- 
suet,  F6nelon,  Madame  Deshoulieres,  Madame  Dacier,  &c.,  in 
France;  Galileo,  Torricelli,  &c.,  in  Italy;  Leibnitz,  Kepler,  &c., 
in  Germany ;  Cervantes,  Lope  de  Vega,  Calderon  de  la  Barca, 
Murillo,  &c.,  in  Spain  ;  Huygens,  Rubens,  Vandyke,  &c.,  in 


Seventeenth  Century.  429 

Holland  ;  Queen  Christina,  in  Sweden.  When  we  see  such  mar- 
velous intellectual  development  in  all  branches  of  literature, 
science,  art,  and  mechanics  in  one  century  out  of  fourteen,  may 
we  not  pertinently  ask  for  a  cause  of  such  an  intellectual  phe- 
nomenon ;  and  when  we  do  so,  shall  we  ascribe  it  to  physic  or 
psychologic  causes,  or  to  both  felicitously  combined,  as  we  are 
revolving  and  floating  through  interstellar  spaces  around  some  yet 
unknown  central  sun  ? 

The  royal  astronomer  Halley  supplied  the  astronomic  linguistic 
stream  by  his  discoveries  of  the  "Motion  of  the  Fixed  Stars" 
"  Variations  of  the  Magnetic  Needle,"  "Use  of  the  Barometer," 
"Treatise  on  the  Trade  Winds"  and  by  his  "Catalogue  of  the 
Stars  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere,"  to  observe  which  he  had  to 
pass  two  years  in  the  Island  of  St.  Helena,  1676. 

EXTRACTS  AND  TABLES  FROM  ENGLISH  AUTHORS  AND  WRITINGS 
OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY,  SHOWING  THEIR  STYLE  AND 
THE  NUMERIC  ORIGIN  OF  THEIR  VOCABULARY  : 

Bible  Version,  A.D.  1611. 

Shakespeare's  Works,  1623. 

Robert  Burton's  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy,"  1639. 

Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost,"  1668. 

Tillotson's  Sermons,  1678. 

Bill  of  Rights,  1688. 


430 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  the  tlHoly  Bible \  first  authorized  Version,  MDCXL  Imprinted 
at  London  by  Robert  Barker,  printer  to  the  King*s  most  Excellent 
Maiestie,  anno  Doin.  1611."  (From  an  original  copy  in  black  letter, 
now,  1878,  in  the  Astor  Library.} 

1.  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  Heauen  and  the  Earth. 

2.  And  the  earth  was  without  forme,  and  voyd,  and  darknesse  was  vpon  the  face  of  the  deepe  : 

and  the  Spirit  of  God  mooued  vpon  the  face  of  the  waters. 

3.  And  God  said,  Let  there  be  light :  and  there  was  light. 

4.  And  God  saw  the  light,  that  it  was  good  :  and  God  diuided  the  light  from  the  darknesse. 

5.  And  God  called  the  light  day,  and  the  darknesse  he  called  Night:  and  the  Euening  and 

the  Morning  were  the  first  day. 

6.  And  God  said;  Let  there  be  a  firmament  in  the  midst  of  the  waters,  and  let  it  diuide  the 

waters  from  the  waters. 

7.  And  God  made  the  firmament,  and  diuided  the  wnters,  which  were  vnder  the  firmament, 

from  the  waters,  which  were  aboue  the  firm-uncut  :  and  it  was  so. 

8.  And  God  called  the  firmament  Heauen  :  and  the  Euening  and  the  Morning  were  the 

second  day. 

9.  And  God  said,  Let  the  waters  vnder  the  heauen  be  gathered  together  vnto  one  place,  and 

let  the  dry  land  appeare  :  and  it  was  so. 

10.  And  God  called  the  dry  land,  Earth,  and  the  gathering  together  of  the  waters  called  hee 

Seas :  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

11.  And  God  said,  Let  the  Earth  bring  foorth  grasse  and  the  herbe  yeelding  seed,  and  the 

fruit  tree,  yeeld  fruit  after  his  kinde,  whose  seed  is  in  it  selfe,  vpon  the  earth  :  and  it 
was  so. 

12.  And  the  earth  brought  foorth  grasse,  and  herbe  yeelding  seed  after  his  kinde,  and  the  tree 

yeelding  fruit,  whose  seed  was  in  it  selfe  after  his  kinde :  and  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

13.  And  the  Euening  and  the  Morning  were  the  third  day. 

14.  And  God  saide,  Let  there  bee  lights  in  the  firmament  of  the  heauen,  to  diuide  the  day 

from  the  night :  and  let  them  bee  for  signes  and  for  seasons,  and  for  dayes  and  yeeres. 

15.  And  let  them  bee  for  lights  in  the  firmament  of  the  heauen,  to  give  light  vpon  the  earth  : 

and  it  was  so. 

16.  And  God  made  two  great  lights  :  the  greater  light  to  rule  the  day,  and  the  lesser  light  to 

rule  the  night :  he  made  the  starres  also. 

17.  And  God  set  them  in  the  firmament  of  the  heauen,  to  give  light  vpon  the  earth. 

18.  And  to  rule  ouer  the  day,  and  ouer  the  night,  and  to  diuide  the  Light  from  the  darknesse 

and  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

19.  And  the  Euening  and  the  Morning  were  the  fourth  day. 

20.  And  God  saide,  Let  the  waters  bring  foorth  aboundantly  the  mouing  creature  that  hath 

life,  and  foule  that  may  flic  aboue  the  earth  in  the  open  firmament  of  heauen. 

21.  And  God  created  great  whales,  and  euery  liuing  creature  that  moueth,  which  the  waters 

brought  foorth  aboundantly  after  their  kinde,  and  every  winged  foule  after  his  kinde  : 
and  God  saw  that  it  was  good. 

22.  And  God  blessed  them,  saying,  Be  fruitfull,  and  multiply  and  fill  the  waters  in  the  Seas, 

and  let  fouie  multiply  in  the  earth. 

23.  And  the  Euening  and  the  Morning  were  the  fift  day. 

24.  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  foorth  the  liuing  creature  after  his  kinde :  Cattell  and 

creeping  thing  and  beast,"  &c. 


The  < 

a 

of 

to 

from 

in 

with 

by 

Pronoun  of  ist  person 

2d          " 

3d      " 
be,  aux. 


531  common  words,  among  which 
rs        79  times. 


have,  aux. 
shall,     " 
will,       « 
may, 
do,         " 
that 
and 


o  times. 

o 

o 


67 


204 
other  particles,  57 


261  particles. 

Hence,  th^  Bible  style  requires  about  531  common  words  to  furnish  100  different  words, 
and  averages  about  fifty  per  cent,  particles  and  eighty-one  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Seventeenth  Century. 


431 


ARIO-SEMI. 
TIC  TYPE  : 

SEMITIC  FAMILY  : 

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sJ 

II 

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S'        o  o  S            c 

irters  by  Edward  L, 
id  quoted  in  Black- 
,  80  and  81,  we  find 
being  dropped,  left 
d  v. 
s  changed  to  suit  the 
Germanic  languages: 

•s  1        t! 
§  ^,  -8*81  i^ 
J  |r|l?  l-g 

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fable  are  now  (1878) 

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R  GRECO-LATIN  FAMU 

French  : 

z/z/t  words: 

22 

vherent  meaning. 

hese  Franco-English 
they  are  shorter  and 

^2    •                        J5* 

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»o 

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432  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Title-page  of  the  Original  Shakespearian  London  Edition  of  1623,  now  in 
the  Astor  Library,  New  York. 

"  Mr.  William  Shakespeare's 

Comedies 
Histories  and 

Tragedies, 
Published  according  to  the  True  originall  Copies. 

London, 
Printed  by  Isaac  Jaggard,  and  Ed.  Blount,  1623." 


Extract  front    "  The    Tragedie  of  Hamlet — Actus  Secundus—Scena   Se- 
cunda." — p.  270. 

Ger.  "What  have  I  done  that  thou  dar'st  wag  thy  tong 
In  noise  so  rude  against  me  ? 

Ham.  Such  an  act 

That  blurres  the  grace  and  blush  of  modestie, 

Cals  Vcrtue  Hypocrite,  takes  off  the  Rose 

From  the  faire  forehead  of  an  innocent  loue, 

And  makes  a  blister  there.     Makes  marriage  voiues 

As  false  as  Dicers  Oathes.     Oh  such  a  deed, 

As  from  the  body  of  Contraction  pluckes 

The  very  soul,  and  sweete  Religion  makes 

A  rapsidie  of  words.     Heauen'syvztv  doth  glow, 

Yea  this  solidity  and  compound  masse 

With  tristfull  -visage  as  against  the  doome, 

Is  thought  sicke  at  the  act. 

Ger.     Aye  me ;  what  act,  that  roares  so  lowd  and  thunders  in  the  Index. 

Ham.   Looke  heere  vpon  this  Picture,  and  on  this, 

The  counterfet  presentment  of  two  Brothers  : 
See  what  a  grace  was  seated  on  this  Brow, 
Hyperions  curies,  the  front  of  Joue  himself, 
An  eye  like  Mars,  to  threaten  or  command 
A  station,  like  the  Herald  of  Mercurie 
Newlighted  on  a  heauen  kissing  hill : 
A  Combination,  and  forme,"  £c.* 

164  common  words,  among  which 


The  occurs          n  times. 

a  9 

of  7 

to  i 

in  2  " 

with  "                i  " 

from  "               2  " 

by  o  " 

Pronoun  of  ist  person     "  3  " 


2d 


be,  aux. 


have,  aux.  occurs                i  times, 

shall,  "  "                   o  •• 

will  "  "                   o  " 

may,  '  o 

do,  "  i 

that  3  " 

and  "  5  " 


51 


other  particles,  26 


77  particles. 


Hence,  Shakespeare's  style  requires  about  164  common  words  to  furnish  ipo  different  words, 
and  averages  forty-seven  per  cent,  particles,  and  thirty-nine  per  cent  repetitions. 

*  If,  since  the  time  of  Shakespeare,  the  literary  world  had  been  as  conservative  as  they 
show  themselves  to-day,  and  rejected  all  efforts  to  improve  the  mode  of  spelling,  we  should 
still  have  modestie  for  modesty,  heere  for  here,  faire  for  fair,  blurres  for  blurs,  &c.  In  the 
short  Extract  we  give  there  are  twenty-seven  words  that  have  been  changed  in  their  spelling 
since  his  day.  The  time  has  not  yet  come  that  we  should  stop  short  in  the  work  of  improve- 
ment. It  is  not  necessary  to  make  great  and  sudden  changes  that  will  render  old  books  use- 
less ;  the  u  in  favour,  labour,  and  the  like,  has  been  dropt  quite  recently  ;  the  thing  has  been 
done,  and  nobody  was  hurt.  We  must  now  leave  out  the  silent  /  in  such  words  as  believe, 
receive,  &c.  Wherever  two  vowels  occur,  the  one  sounded  and  the  other  silent,  the  useless 
letter  should  be  left  out.  Every  child  would  see  the  utility  of  the  change  :  it  would  be  grad- 
ual. It  would  not  depreciate  books  already  on  the  shelves.  The  telegraph  demands  that  the 
English  language  should  be  rendered  as  compact  as  possible  ;  and  now  is  the  era  to  effect  the 
improvements  ;  it  would  not  cause  a  ripple  on  the  stream  of  literature,  which  will  only  gain 
new  force  from  every  reform  in  the  language. 


Seventeenth  Century. 


433 


ooc. 


II 


h 


i  i  «  if  g 

iJifj 


8SS. 
111. 


3.' 


if 


11 
il 


•II 


no 
cke, 


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8 

X 
H 

28 


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£  g  2J3 


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le  there  are  t 
uckes*  soule, 


434  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Robert  Burton' s  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy"  1621. 

"  I  have  read  many  books  but  to  little  purpose,  for  want  of  good  method  ; 
I  have  confusedly  tumbled  over  divers  authors  in  our  libraries  with  small 
profit,  for  want  of  art,  order,  memory,  judgment.  I  never  travelled  but  in 
map  or  card,  in  which  my  unconfined  thoughts  have  freely  expatiated,  as  hav- 
ing ever  been  especially  delighted  with  the  study  of  cosmography.  Saturn 
was  lord  of  my  geniture,  culminating,  &c.,  and  Mars  principal  significator  of 
manners,  in  partile  conjunction  with  mine  ascendant ;  both  fortunate  in  their 
houses,  &c.  I  am  not  poor,  I  am  not  rich;  nihil  est,  nihil  deest ;  I  have 
little,  I  want  nothing ;  all  my  treasure  is  in  Minerva's  tower.  Great  prefer- 
ment as  I  could  never  get,  so  I  am  not  in  debt  for  it.  I  have  a  competency 
(laus  Deo)  from  my  noble  and  munificent  patrons.  Though  I  live  still  a  co- 
legiat  student,  as  Democritus  in  his  garden,  and  lead  a  Monastique  life,  ipsi 
mihi  theatrum,  sequestred  from  those  tumults  and  troubles  of  the  world,  et 
tanquam  in  specula  positus"  &c. 

167  common  words,  among  which 

The  occurs  2  times. 

3  " 

of  "  6  " 

to  "  i  " 

from  "  2  " 

in  "  2  " 

with  "  8  " 

by  "  o  " 

Pronoun  ist  person     "  18     " 

u         2d       ««          «  0     u 

«         3d       «  «  4  « 

be,   aux.  "  i  " 

have,  "  "  4  " 

shall,  "  "  o  " 

will,   "  "  o  " 

may,  «  "  o  " 

do,     "  "  o  " 

that  "  o  " 

and  "  4  " 

other  particles,  22 

77  particles. 

Hence,  Burton's  style  requires  about  167  common  words  to  obtain  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-six  per  cent,  particles  and  forty-one 
per  cent,  repetitions. 


Seventeenth  Century. 


435 


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8 

§W 

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>> 

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1 

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y}>< 

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H  "*      "*                           5  «3 

n  by  the  perusal  o 

§S 

CO 

lm  i 

flATO-SCLA- 

:c  FAMILY: 

1 

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bJ 

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ct  at 

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the  Englisl 

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111    7               1   1    - 

he  will  be  m 
—at  least  in 

LANGUA 

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436 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  John  Milton's  "Paradise  Lost"  Book  I.,  line  115, 
original  London  Edition.  "A  Poem  in  ten  Books,  printed  by 
S.  Simmons,  1668,"  now  (1878)  in  the  Astor  Library,  New 
York. 

"  So  spake  th'  Apostate  Angel,  though  in  pain, 
Vaunting  aloud,  but  rackt  with  deep  despare : 
And  him  thus  answer' d  soon  his  bold  Compeer. 
O  prince,  O  chief  of  many  Throned  Powers, 
That  led  th'  imbattell'd  Seraphim  to  Warr 
Under  thy  conduct,  and,  in  dreadful  deeds 
Fearless,  endanger' d  Heav'ns  perpetual  King; 
And  put  to  proof  his  high  Supremacy, 
Whether  upheld  by  strength,  or  Chance,  or  Fate, 
Too  well  I  see  and  rue  the  dire  event, 
That  with  sad  overthrow,  and  foul  defeat, 
Hath  lost  us  Heav'n,  and  all  this  mighty  Host 
In  horrible  destruction  laid  thus  low, 
As  far  as  Gods  and  Heav'nly  Essences 
Can  perish  :  for  the  mind  and  spirit  remains 
Invincible,  and  vigour  soon  returns, 
Though  all  our  glory  extinct,  and  happy  state 
Here  swallow'd  up  in  endless  misery. 
But  what  if  he  our  Conquerour,"  &c.   - 


135  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs   4 

times. 

have, 

aux. 

a 

"      o 

it 

shall, 

« 

of 

"       I 

u 

will, 

" 

to 

"         2 

u 

may, 

t( 

from 

"        0 

u 

do, 

" 

in 

"      4 

« 

that 

with 

"        2 

" 

and 

by 

"         I 

M 

Pro.    of 

ist  person     "      4 

u 

_  4." 

ti 

2d       «          "       i 

it 

Oil 

" 

3d       "          "      4 

H 

be,  aux. 

"        0 

n 

1  times. 
o  " 

o  " 

o  " 

o  " 

2  " 

9 


35 

other  particles,  24 


" 


59  particles. 


Hence,  Milton's  style  requires  about  135  common  words  to  obtain  100 
different  ones,  and  averages  about  forty-four  per  cent,  particles  or  words 
without  inherent  meaning,  and  twenty-six  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Seventeenth  Century. 


437 


I 


II 


c'1-2  1-S  E 

3IIIII 


8s 

I 


r 


;j 


•« 

31 

^     o 


438  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Archbishop  Tillotsorfs  Sermon  before  the  House 
of  Commons ',  November  5,  1678,  Vol.  I.,  p.  443. 

"  Among  many  other  things  which  may  justly  recommend  the  Christian 
religion  to  the  approbation  of  mankind,  the  intrinsick  goodness  of  it  is  most 
apt  to  make  impression  upon  the  minds  of  serious  and  considerate  men.  The 
miracles  of  it  are  the  great  external  evidence  and  confirmation  of  it's  doc- 
trines and  precepts,  so  agreeable  to  the  best  reason  and  wisest  apprehensions 
of  mankind,  so  admirably  fitted  for  the  perfecting  of  our  natures,  and  the 
sweetning  of  the  spirits  and  tempers  of  men,  so  friendly  to  human  society, 
and  every  way  so  well  calculated  for  the  peace  and  order  of  the  world.  These 
are  the  things  which  our  religion  glories  in  as  her  crown  and  excellency. 
Miracles  are  apt  to  awaken  and  astonish,  and  by  a  sensible  and  overpower- 
ing evidence,  to  bear  down  the  prejudices  of  infidelity ;  but  there  are  secret 
charms  in  goodness,  which  take  fast  hold  of  the  hearts  of  men,  and  do  in- 
sensibly, but  effectually,  command  our  love  and  esteem. 

"  And  surely  nothing  can  be  more  proper  to  the  occasion  of  this  day  than 
a  discourse,"  &c. 

176  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

17 

times. 

a 

« 

2 

« 

of 

M 

13 

M 

to 

«c 

7 

M 

from 

II 

0 

« 

in 

II 

2 

|| 

with 

II 

0 

II 

by 

M 

I 

<« 

Pro.  of  ist  person 

« 

3 

M 

"     2d       " 

« 

0 

II 

"    3d       " 

K 

4 

II 

be,    aux. 

« 

0 

" 

have,  " 

(( 

0 

II 

shall,  " 

« 

0 

II 

will,    " 

M 

0 

« 

may,  " 

II 

I 

M 

do,      « 

l| 

I 

(( 

that 

M 

o 

ii 

and 

Cl 

15 

« 

66 

other  particles, 

23 

89  particles. 

Hence,  Tillotson's  style  requires  176  common  words  to  obtain  100  differ- 
ent words,  and  averages  about  fifty-one  per  cent,  particles,  and  forty-nine  per 
cent,  repetitions. 


Seventeenth  Century. 


439 


| 

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S 

1' 

|1| 

j 

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W>H 

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y 

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B  ..    Jai'..             ^ 

ill 

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little  would 
blood,  the  s 
in  order  to  : 

440  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  the  "Bill  of  Rights"  1688. 
"BILL  OF  RIGHTS." 

A  Declaration  delivered  by  the  Lords  and  Commons  to  the  Prince  and  Princess 
of  Orange,  February  13,  1688-9,  an<^  afterwards  enacted  in  Parliament  on 
their  accession  to  the  Throne.  It  sets  forth : 

1.  "  That  the  power  of  suspending  laws,  or  the  execution  of  laws,  by  royal 

authority,  without  consent  of  Parliament,  is  illegal. 

2.  That  the  pretended  power  of  dispensing  with  laws,  or  the  execution  of 

laws,  by  regal  authority,  as  it  hath  been  assumed  and  exercised  of  late, 
is  illegal. 

3.  That  the  commission  for  erecting  the  late  Court  of  Commissioners  for 

Ecclesiastical  causes,  and  all  other  commissions  and  courts  of  like  na- 
ture, are  illegal  and  pernicious. 

4.  That  levying  money  for,  or  to  the  use  of  the  Crown,  by  pretence  and 

prerogative,  without  grant  of  Parliament,  for  longer  time  or  in  other 
manner  than  the  same  is  or  shall  be  granted,  is  illegal. 

5.  That  it  is  the  right  of  the  subjects  to  petition  the  King,  and  all  commit- 

ments and  prosecutions  for  such  petitioning,  are  illegal. 

6.  That  the  raising  or  keeping  a  standing  army  within  the  kingdom  in  time 

of  peace,  unless  it  be  with  consent  of  Parliament,  is  against  law. 

7.  That  the  subjects,  which  are  Protestants,  may  have  arms  for  their  de- 

fense, suitable  to  their  conditions,  and  as  allowed  by  law. 

8.  That  elections  of  members  of  Parliament  ought  to  be  free. 

9.  That  the  freedom  of  speech  and  debates,  or  proceedings  in  Parliament, 

ought  not  to  be  impeached  or  questioned  in  any  court  or  place  out  of 
Parliament. 

10.  That  excessive  bail  ought  not  to  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed, 

nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

11.  That  jurors  ought  to  be  duly  impaneled  and  returned,  and  jurors  which 

pass,"  &c. 

245  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs     1  6  times. 

have,  aux.      occurs          i  times. 

a 

I 

shall,     " 

i 

of 

16 

will,       " 

o 

to 

7 

may,      '« 

i 

from 

o 

do,         " 

o 

in 

4 

that 

II 

with 

2 

and 

12 

by 

4 

— 

Pronoun, 

ist  per. 

0 

86 

" 

2d      '« 

0        " 

other  particles,  28 

M 

3d     " 

5      " 



be,       auxT 

5      " 

114  par  tic 

Hence,  the  "BiLL  OF  RIGHTS  "  required  245  common  words  to  obtain  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-seven  per  cent,  particles  and  fifty- 
nine  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Seventeenth  Century. 


441 


£ 


- 
1  IPp 


1  &J 

U* 

1 


a  ft         p.  •«  0.. 


ds  : 
mea 


o-Latin 
63 
of  inher 


442 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Under  James  I.,  King  of  England  from  1603  to  1625,  the 
English  language  extended  to  Scotland,  Orkney,  Shetland,  and 
Hebrides  Islands,  where  the  census  of  1871  found  among  a 
population  of  3,360,018  only  300,000  (nine  per  cent.)  persons 
who  could  speak  Scotch  or  Gaelic.  Thus  have  the  Celtic  dia- 
lects in  the  British  Isles  been  replaced  by  English,  because  they 
could  not  compete  with  a  leading  superior  language  that  con- 
tains the  choicest  roots  of  the  Greco-Latin,  Gotho-Germanic, 
and  Celtic  vocabularies. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  England  began  to  resemble  a 
swarming  bee-hive ;  its  people  and  language  expanded  to 


Virginia A.D.  1607 

Bermuda  Islands "  1609 

Surat,  India "  1612 

Massachusetts,  by  Puritans.  "  1620 

New  Hampshire "  1623 

Maryland "  1624 

Barbadoes  Islands "  1624 

Bahama  "      "  1629 

Rhode    Island,    by   Roger 

Williams "  1636 

Connecticut "  1636 

Madras,  India »«  1639 

New  Jersey "  1640 

North  Carolina "  1640 


Honduras,  Central  Amer- 
ica  A.D.  1643 

St.  Helena.  Island "  1651 

Jamaica  "     "  1656 

Bombay,  India "  1661 

New  York "  1664 

Cape     Coast     Castle,     in 

Guinea,  Africa "  1667 

South  Carolina "  1670 

Pennsylvania,   by  William 

Penn ,.  «  1681 

Sumatra  Island,  Asia "  1690 

Calcutta,  India "  1698 


.   All  of  those  early  colonies,  after  having  been  vastly  extended, 
are  now  (1878)  held  by  the  English-speaking  populations. 

In  previous  centuries  we  extolled  kings,  queens,  nobles,  prelates, 
and  statesmen  for  favoring  and  founding  educational  institutions. 
As  the  idea  of  education  soon  found  favor  among  the  English 
people,  who  carried  it  to  distant  colonies,  let  us  mention  some 
striking  examples  :  The  Puritans  landed  in  Massachusetts  in 
1620,  and  in  1638  they  founded  Harvard  University,  which  was 
the  earliest  and  is  now  the  richest  literary  institution  in  the 
United  States.  Yale  College,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  followed, 
1701 ;  Princeton  College,  N.  J.,  1746,  &c.  Thus  did  England's 
colonists  in  the  New  World  cherish  and  diffuse  the  idea  of  gen- 
eral education.  New  Englanders  have  ever  been  famous  for 
their  love  of  diffusing  popular  knowledge.  Wherever  they 
settled  they  soon  constructed  a  school-house,  a  meeting-house, 


Seventeenth  Century.  443 

a  blacksmith  shop,  a  tavern,  in  order  to  show  their  esteem  for 
education,  religion,  mechanics,  travel,  and  commercial  inter- 
course. This  thirst  for  knowledge,  education,  and' progress  per- 
vades the  United  States  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  and 
from  Maine  to  Te*as  ;  it  started  in  New  England ;  every  State 
has  a  free  university  and  free  schools.  No  doubt,  if  a  universal 
census  could  be  taken,  it  would  probably  show  more  colleges 
and  schools,  more  libraries,  books,  and  newspapers  in  the  United 
States  than  in  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  last  United  States 
census  favors  this  inference ;  it  is  a  curious  document  on  the 
score  of  schools,  libraries,  newspapers,  and  popular  education. 
We  are  glad  to  realize  that  the  idea  of  general  education  finds 
favor  among  the  English-speaking  populations  in  Australia  and 
New  Zealand.  The  mother  country  must  feel  proud  of  her  pro- 
gressive children  in  America  and  Oceanica. 


EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY. 


"The  sole  hope  for  literature  depended  on  the  Latin  language." — HALL  AM. 

THE  descendants  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  and  Franco-Normans, 
after  being  engaged  from  A.D.  1200  to  A.D.  1700,  in  selecting 
and  polishing  their  language,  began  to  feel  the  want  of  more  ex- 
pansive and  sonorous  words  ;  they  had  enough  monosyllables  and 
dissyllables  of  primary  and  secondary  necessity  ;  now  expressions 
of  deep  and  reiterated  action  were  needed.  They  were  not  to 
be  found  in  the  Gotho-Germanic  idioms.  Germany  herself,  with 
her  vast  literature,  has  ever  turned  to  Greco-Latin  for  all  such 
terms,  as  shown  by  Heyse's  Lexicon,  which  records  over  6,000 
foreign  words.  Rome  had  assimilated  the  best  of  antiquity's 
vocabulary  in  her  composite  language:  Thraco  Pelasgic,  Celtic, 
Etruscan,  and  Greek. 

An  astronomer,  in  stilly  night,  gazing  into  stellar  spaces  ;  what 
verb  will  express  his  action  ?  see,  look,  seek,  search,  think  ?  only 
contemplate  is  sufficiently  expressive. 

One  hears  a  loud  noise  going  to  and  returning  from  hill  to  hill ; 
what  term  will  describe  it  all  ?  sound,  boom,  roar,  echo  ?  all  too 
tame,  but  reverberate  tells  the  whole  in  one  word.  Wherever  a 
human  heart  can  be  felt  and  heard,  a  language  without  the  word 
palpitate  cannot  properly  express  the  wonderful  action.  We 
could  cite  any  number  of  like  instances.  Thus  the  English,  to 
perfect  their  superior  language,  resorted  to  Latin.  The  follow- 
ing Table  contains  a  rich  vocabulary  of  deeply  meaning  poly- 
syllabic verbs,  nouns,  and  adjectives : 


446 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


w 

tt> 

I— I 

H^ 
O 

w 

w 

ffi 

H 


O 

3 
o 

•y} 

O 

W 

5 

H 


1 


^g 

J 

I 


Latin  Supine 
and  Perfect 
Participles  : 


1! 

^s 


Latin  Su 
and  Per 
Partici 


in  Supi 
d  Perfe 
rticiple 


is 
ci 


**•„• 

m 


ile 


If  S-Slsl|||ll.l 


n 

liilli 

" 


• 


y-^'S  f*          «« 

ill    lii  i 


o  " 
£  £ 

<%  1'fl 
=5  «  3 


|1|-|ll^'s 

^^§y?|1"  ^rt 


Eighteenth  Century. 


447 


3 3 s t?  S 4T ? $„ § JT4TS » •§ 


J!iil!!!s!|«li|iiilSiS!i|!lSl 


.S  "^  •-* 


448  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  nouns  and  adjectives  formed 
from  the  above  verbs  by  adding  ion  or  ive,  or  by  substituting  ion 
or  ive  to  final  e,  as  :  affliction,  alternative,  corruption,  dissipation, 
election,  fluctuation,  impression,  litigation,  machination,  operative, 
suggestive,  &c.  There  are  aver  three  hundred  words  in  ion 
alone.  Most  of  these  vocables  are  in  French  and  in  English, 
According  to  the  ablest  Latin  commentators,  um  was  pronounced 
by  the  Romans  like  oom  in  room  ;  and  us  like  oose  in  goose. 
Did  it  not  evince  excellent  taste  in  the  English  to  drop  these 
booming  and  oosing  suffixes  ?  Lord  Brougham  advised  the  stu- 
dents of  Glasgow  University  to  avoid  long  Latin  words  and  use 
Anglo-Saxon  terms  instead,  little  dreaming  that  these  vocables 
are  the  dome  of  the  English  language,  whose  finishing  touch  is 
to  be  harmony  between  letter  and  sound. 

Many  English  verbs  are  derived  from  Latin  infinitives  by 
dropping  re,  ere,  and  sometimes  the  consonant  immediately  be- 
fore these  terminations,  as  :  advert,  allude,  admit,  comprehend, 
conclude,  describe,  dissolve,  disturb,  expel,  imbue,  move,  occur, 
produce,  refund,  succumb,  &c. 

By  the  Anglo-Saxon,  French,  and  Latin  "Tables"  an  effort  was 
made  to  unveil  the  almost  hidden  workings  of  the  English  mind, 
in  combining  its  multifarious  vocabulary,  showing,  as  it  were,  the 
analyzing  and  synthetizing  processes  used  in  the  great  work, 
spreading  over  many  centuries,  so  as  to  enable  the  student  to 
observe  the  changes,  as  they  gradually  came  about  in  the  slow 
transition  from  Anglo-Saxon  to  English. 

We  often  hear,  not  only  sensation  speakers,  but  even  men  of 
education  eulogize  Anglo-Saxon  and  express  a  yearning  for  the 
lost  dialect,  whose  framework  is  still  in  the  English.  But  would 
they,  after  due  reflection,  return  to  inflections  in  an,  and  a  vocab- 
ulary with  h  before  /,  ry  and  w,  and  ge  before  many  of  the  words 
as  displayed  in  our  Tables  ?  Would  it  not  be  better  to  proceed 
with  that,  which  has  been  so  admirably  going  on  for  a  very  long 
time,  and  endeavor  to  perfect  the  Gotho-Germanized  and  Greco- 
Latinized  English,  and  render  it  as  harmonious  in  letter  and 
sound  as  it  is  expeditious  in  grammar  and  direct  in  construction. 

England's  colonies,  so  carefully  planted  and  fostered  during 
the  previous  century,  prospered  ;  the  most  beneficent  among 
them  was  that  of  Botany  Bay  with  778  convicts  in  1787,  which 


Eighteenth  Century.  449 

gave  to  outcasts  a  chance  to  reform,  with  their  analogues,  amid 
natural  scenery  instead  of  bars  and  walls,  far  from  the  haunts 
of  vice,  in  contact  with  kindly  mother  Earth,  that  ever  feeds 
those  who  will  cultivate  her.  Every  country  and  large  city  should 
have  such  a  place.  The  like  might  be  done  for  the  incurable 
rheumatics  and  consumptives  that  crowd  our  hospitals.  Could 
they  be  carefully  transplanted  to  warmer  climates,  where  rural 
occupations  might  assist  their  recovery,  a  large  proportion  of 
them  would  regain  their  health  and  become  useful  and  happy.  If 
the  English-speaking  populations  will  continue  to  foster  such 
colonies  as  that  of  Botany  Bay,  and  add  to  them  others  for  such 
as  are  physically  prostrated ;  it  will  not  only  do  a  great  amount  of 
good  to  those  now  very  miserable,  but  will  spread  their  language 
and  civilization  to  regions  now  deserted.  It  is  a  remarkable 
historic  fact,  that  the  descendants  of  those  convict  settlers  have 
usually  turned  out  well.  The  removing  them  from  all  opportu- 
nity to  commit  crime  worked  a  radical  cure  in  the  individuals,  and 
their  old  propensities  did  not  descend  to  their  posterity.  As  that 
class  of  persons  are  usually  intelligent  and  active,  they  find  ample 
opportunity  for  their  activity  in  a  large,  unsettled  territory. 

England  had  a  musical  virtuoso  in  Dr.  Arne,  on  whom  Oxford 
University  conferred  the  degree  of  Dr.  of  Music,  1759.  He  com- 
posed  Addison's  Rosamond^  Masque  of  Alfred,  Comus,  Arta- 
xerxes,  &c.,  organ  Concertos  and  Ballads.  Now  began  the  native 
English  musical  vocabulary.  This  was  a  step  in  the  right  direc- 
tion ;  for  genius  of  any  kind,  whether  in  the  literary,  scientific, 
artistic,  or  inventive  domain,  should  not  only  be  encouraged, 
appreciated,  and  rewarded,  but  honored.  There  is  no  reason 
why  there  should  not  be  Doctors  of  Music,  Painting,  Sculpture, 
Inventions,  Mechanics,  Manufactures,  and  Trades,  as  well  as 
D.D.'s,  M.D.'s,  and  LL.D.'s.  Such  a  system  would  emulate  the 
bright  and  the  dull,  the  quick  and  the  slow.  While  Dr.  Arne's 
symphony  was  delighting  England,  Mozart's  harmonic  pathos 
charmed  Germany. 

In  1735  appeared  "Description  Geographique,  Historique, 
Chronologique,  Politique,  et  physique  de  1'Empire  de  la  Chine, 
et  de  la  Tartarie  Chinoise,"  by  Father  Du  Halde,  who  first  de- 
scribed that  exclusive  empire  and  people  with  accuracy.  His 
information  was  derived  from  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  who  had 
29 


45O  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

visited  China.  In  this  erudite  work  is  a  seemingly  accurate  like- 
ness of  Confucius,  whose  wisdom  illuminated  that  vast  country, 
500  B.C. 

The  opening  of  this  age  saw  Peter  the  Great,  as  reformer  of 
the  Moscovites :  to  accomplish  a  reform  among  his  barbarous 
subjects,  he  traveled  incognito  and  worked  for  wages  as  a  ship- 
carpenter  in  Holland.  Next  he  visited  England  and  other  coun- 
tries, and  returned  to  Russia  after  more  than  a  year's  absence. 
Then  he  procured  the  services  of  talented  foreigners  in  various 
departments  of  science,  art,  and  mechanics.  By  this  course  he 
so  inspired  his  people  with  progressive  ideas,  that  he  raised  his 
country  to  the  rank  of  the  great  European  powers.  Such  enter- 
prise and  self-denial  deserve  mankind's  admiration,  even  if  ac- 
companied by  severity  and  sacrifices  ;  for  within  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  years  from  the  death  of  Peter  the  Great  the  Russians 
so  progressed  that  serfdom,  amounting  to  20,000,000  souls,  could 
be  abolished,  1861. 

In  this  age  the  North  American  Colonies  took  a  high  stand, 
and  achieved  within  one  hundred  years  intellectual,  political  and 
territorial  expansion  unparalleled  in  history.  The  three  millions 
in  the  thirteen  colonies  resented  taxation  without  representation. 
England  had  but  two  statesmen  :  Chatham  and  Burke,  who  saw 
the  justice  of  the  claim  and  vindicated  it  before  the  British  Parlia- 
ment, 1774;  but  George  III.  and  his  supporters,  hugging  the 
principle  of  " divine  right"  ever  backed  by  force,  precipitated  a 
rupture  by  rejecting  with  disdain  all  the  petitions,  presented  by 
Dr.  Franklin,  1775,  when  the  peaceable  American  delegate  re- 
turned from  England  without  hope  of  reconciliation.  On  this 
occasion  the  English  sovereign  and  his  advisers  miscalculated, 
when  they  looked  to  mere  numbers  :  3,000,000  against  the  British 
Empire.  They  little  dreamt  what  would  be  done  by  men,  who 
knew  the  right  was  on  their  side,  and  that  the  whole  world  would 
see  and  appreciate  that  important  fact  and  stand  by  them  in  the 
contest.  Soldiers  like  Washington,  who  had  been  educated  in 
the  English  army ;  statesmen  like  Jefferson,  Adams  and  Hancock ; 
orators  like  Otis  and  Patrick  Henry — all  of  them  men  of  sterling 
integrity,  honesty  of  purpose  and  patriotism,  who  cared  nothing 
for  life,  where  right  against  wrong  was  in  the  balance.  The  men 
and  women  of  that  day  in  America  were  of  the  highest  type,  all 


Eighteenth   Century.  451 

educated  and  struggling  for  their  very  existence  as  a  free  people  ; 
the  result  could  not  be  doubtful.  For  a  graphic  account  of  that 
memorable  seven  years'  war  we  refer  readers  to  C.  Edwards 
Lester's  "Our  first  Hundred  Years,"  written  in  the  style  of 
Thucydides,  Cesar,  Sallust. 

In  the  course  of  this  work  we  often  alluded  to  streamlets  of 
words,  derived  from  new  sciences,  arts,  inventions,  and  devices. 
However,  we  overlooked  one  of  those  linguistic  sources,  proper 
names  ;  yet  the  English  derivatives  from  proper  names  are  numer- 
ous and  important,  as  may  be  noticed  by  galvanic,  galvanize,  gal- 
vanism, galvanist,  galvanometer,  &c.,  from  the  eminent  Italian 
scientist,  Galvani,  whose  experiments  with  electricity  evoked  "De 
Viribus  Electricitatis  in  Motu  muscular i  Commentarius,"  1791, 
(Commentary  on  the  Forces  of  Electricity  in  Muscular  Motion). 
Were  it  not  so  universally  known,  we  should  relate  the  story  of 
the  effect  the  galvanic  current  accidentally  produced  on  some 
dead  frogs  in  the  scientist's  laboratory.  Galvani  was  a  native  of 
Bologna,  where  he  became  Professor  of  Anatomy,  1762.  Thus 
have  proper  names  and  patronymics  ever  been  a  productive  mine 
of  linguistic  lore,  as  shown  in  Mosaic,  Cadmean,  Arcadian,  Orphic, 
Pythagorean,  Socratic,  &c.  ;  Platonic,  Platonist,  Platonize,  Pla- 
tonism ;  Aristotelian  ;  Cesarian,  Cesarism  ;  Christian,  Christi- 
anity ;  Mahometan,  Mahometism ;  Copernican ;  Wicklijfite ; 
Hussite;  Lutheran,  Luther  anism ;  Calvinistic,  Calvinism ;  Car- 
tesian ;  Newtonian ;  Voltaic,  Voltaic  battery ;  Kantian,  Kant- 
ism  ;  Fourier ite,  Fourierism ;  Darwinian,  Darwinism,  &c. 
This  versatile  adaptability  has  been,  is,  and  ever  will  be  a  rich 
tributary  to  the  English  vocabulary.  Hardly  any  of  the  leading 
languages  can  so  felicitously  form  and  appropriate  expressive 
words,  whose  very  sound  and  sight  tell  their  full  meaning  and 
significance.  Many  pre-  and  proto-historic  facts  may  yet  be  in- 
terred and  ascertained  from  proper  names  and  patronymics  by 
truly  scientific  investigators. 

About  1717  appeared  a  rare  mind,  combining  Aristotelian, 
Socratic,  Pythagorean,  Platonic  and  Copernican  ideas  and  meth- 
ods— a  mind  singularly  calculated  to  conceive  and  describe 
natural  and  spiritual  phenomena,  and  blend  them  harmoniously 
on  a  somewhat  practical  basis.  Such  was  the  mind  of  the  Swedish 
physicist,  psychologist,  sage  and  seer,  Swedenborg.  He  first  and 


452  English  Period,  A.D,  1600-1878. 

foremost  scrutinized  and  described  the  visible  and  tangible  world 
according  to  Christ's  injunction  and  sayings : 

u  Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they  grow." 
^    "  God  is  able  of  these  stones  to  raise  up  children  unto  Abraham  " — 

and,  according  to  Pope's  pertinent  adage : 

"  Look  through  Nature  up  to  Nature's  God." 

Swedenborg  studied  these  themes  and  expressed  them  in  the 
clearest  Greco-Latin  terms  he  could  devise  for  scholars  of  all 
countries  and  climes.  They  have  since  been  translated  into  most 
of  the  modern  idioms.  In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Beyer  we  find  clauses 
like  this : 

*'  From  my  fourth  to  my  tenth  year  my  thoughts  were  engrossed  by  re- 
flections on  the  spiritual  affections  of  man.  I  often  uttered  ideas,  which  aston- 
ished my  parents,  and  caused  them  to  say,  that  angels  spake  through  me." 

After  graduating  with  distinction  at  the  university  of  Upsal,  he 
spent  four  years  in  visiting  the  principal  seats  of  learning  in 
Europe.  At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he  edited  the  scientific 
periodical  called  "Dc&dalus  Hyperboreus"  He  was  such  a  prac- 
tical mathematician,  that  Charles  XII.  appointed  him  engineer 
for  the  construction  of  military  works.  Among  Swedenborg's 
first  Essays  on  the  natural  sciences  we  find  "Introduction  to  Al- 
gebra" "Efforts  to  ascertain  the  Longitude  of  Places  by  Lunar 
Observations"  &c.,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  scientists. 
Then  he  wrote  "Miscellanea  Observata  circa  Res  Naturales  " 
(Miscellaneous  Observations  on  Natural  Things);  "Principia" 
(Principles);  "(Economia  Regni  Animalis"  (Economy  of  the 
Animal  Kingdom),  and  "Regnum  Animate"  (Animal  Kingdom). 

Such  a  varied  array  of  studies  of,  and  writings  on  the  natural 
sciences  was  probably  never  penned  by  mortal  before  Sweden- 
borg :  hence  he  must  have  been  exceedingly  practical :  he  thus 
alludes  to  his  preparatory  writings  : 

"  My  object  was  a  knowledge  of  the  soul ;  because  such  a  knowledge  would 
be  the  crown  of  my  studies." 

Thus  was  the  first  part  of  his  life  spent  in  laying  a  natural 
foundation  for  a  spiritual  superstructure.  On  this  basis  the 


Eighteenth  Century.  453 

Swedish  sage  issued  his  "Arcana  Calestia"  (1749),  and  numerous 
other  psychologic  writings,  and  died  in  London  after  a  scientific 
and  contemplative  life  of  fourscore  and  five  years.  Many  inter- 
esting anecdotes  are  related  of  Swedenborg's  powers  as  a  writer, 
seer,  and  medium,  some  of  which  the  learned  metaphysician, 
Kant,  investigated  and  endorsed.  Sceptics  and  hypercritics  sneer 
and  exclaim  :  hallucination,  dreams,  humbug,  &c.,  and  think  they 
have  solved  the  whole  question.  The  varied  Essays  of  this  pro- 
lific author  would  probably  fill  forty  octavo  volumes.  In  them 
we  can  trace  vestiges  and  ideas  for  Gall's  Phrenology,  the  title 
and  terms  for  Clavier's  "Regne  Animal"  and  the  germs  of  modern 
spiritualism. 

Behold  the  dicta  of  an  intelligently  grateful  posterity :  the 
erudite  German  scholar,  Gorres,  tells  us  : 

"  Swedenborg  was  guided  in  his  researches  by  a  mind  clear,  acutely  ana- 
lytic, endowed  with  skill  and  well  disciplined  in  mathematics  and  logic. 
'•Principia '  is  a  production  indicative  of  profound  thought  in  all  its  parts,  and 
not  unworthy  of  being  placed  by  the  side  of  Newton's  *  Principia. '  " 

The  French  biographer  observes  : 

**  Opera  Philosophica  et  Miner  alia,  in  three  folio  volumes  adorned  with 
appropriate  engravings,  do  honor  to  Swedenborg's  knowledge  and  judgment." 

Emerson  says  : 

"  His  writings  would  be  a  sufficient  library  to  a  lonely  and  athletic  student, 
and  the  *  Economy  of  the  Animal  Kingdom '  is  one  of  those  books  which, 
by  the  sustained  dignity  of  thinking,  is  an  honor  to  the  human  race." 

Coleridge  adds  : 

"  Even  from  a  very  partial  acquaintance  with  Swedenborg's  works,  I  may 
venture  to  assert,  that  as  a  moralist  he  is  above  all  praise,  and  that  as  a  natu- 
ralist, psychologist  and  theologian,  he  has  strong  claims  on  the  gratitude  and 
admiration  of  the  professional  and  philosophic  student." 

That  Swedenborgians  are  usually  thinkers  and  highly  moral 
people  speaks  volumes  for  the  ethics  of  their  founder. 

No  doubt,  the  translation  of  Swedenborg's  writings  added 
scores  of  choice  scientific,  moral  and  spiritual  terms  to  the  vocab- 
ulary of  the  leading  European  languages  ;  for  this  reason  alone, 


454  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

to  say  nothing  of  their  high  metaphysic  bearing,  they  deserve  a 
conspicuous  place  in  this  work. 

Swedenborg  was  to  the  eighteenth  century  what  Bunyan  was 
to  the  seventeenth,  with  this  difference  :  the  former  was  a  graduate 
of  a  university,  while  the  latter  was  a  tinker.  The  Jews  would 
have  styled  Bunyan  and  Swedenborg  prophets;  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  oracles  ;  the  Medievals,  wizards.  In  our  day  the  char- 
itably disposed  name  them  clairvoyants  or  mediums,  while  the 
uncharitably  disposed  call  them  impostors  and  other  bad  names. 

During  this  age,  prolific  in  great  ideas,  discoveries,  and  inven- 
tions, language  was  given  to  such  as  "had  been  deprived  thereof 
by  Nature,  namely,  to  deaf-mutes.  We  read  that  the  Abbe  de 
1'Epee  met  at  Paris  two  deaf-mute  girls,  who  lived  in  retirement 
with  a  disconsolate  mother.  The  intelligence  they  showed  and 
the  sorrow  of  the  mother  in  seeing  them  reduced  to  life-long 
silence,  inspired  the  Abbe  with  the  thought  of  devoting  his  leisure 
hours  to  enable  them  to  interchange  ideas  among  themselves  and 
with  the  world.  He  succeeded  so  well  that  he  resolved  to  con- 
secrate his  life  and  fortune  to  teach  deaf-mutes  to  speak.  Under 
his  tuition  pupils  soon  acquired  the  most  useful  knowledge,  and 
the  faculty  to  communicate  it  to  others.  Some  became  thorough 
linguists ;  some  profound  mathematicians  ;  others  obtained  aca- 
demic prizes  for  their  literary  productions.  With  an  income  of 
12,000  francs  per  year,  the  Abbe  supported  an  institution  of 
forty  deaf-mutes.  When  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.  came  to  Paris, 
he  admired  Epee's  asylum  and  the  simplicity  of  its  founder.  He 
asked  permission  to  place  with  him  a  student,  who  could  learn 
his' method  and  transplant  the  benefits  thereof  to  Germany.  In 
1780  the  Russian  Ambassador  complimented  the  Abbe  from  his 
sovereign,  and  offered  him  a  considerable  present. 

"  Tell  Catherine"  replied  Epee,  "I  never  receive  gold;  but  if  my  labors 
have  any  claim  to  her  esteem,  all  I  ask  of  her  is  to  send  me  from  her  vast 
empire  a  deaf-mute  to  educate." 

We  owe  to  Epee  :  "  True  Method  of  Teaching  Deaf -Mutes, 
Confirmed  by  a  Long  Experience."  He  communicated  his  secret 
to  Abbe  Sicard,  who  succeeded  him.  Thus  were  faculties,  de- 
nied by  Nature,  supplied  by  art,  whence  it  would  seem  as  though 
human  ingenuity  was  unbounded  and  almost  divine.  Epee's  insti- 


Eighteenth  Century.  455 

tutions  have  spread  over  the  civilized  world.  Monarchs,  princes, 
States,  communities,  and  municipalities  support  and  take  pride 
in  schools  and  asylums  for  deaf-mutes.  Wallis  in  England,  Ponce 
in  Spain,  Amman  in  Germany,  and  Pereyre  in  France,  had  writ- 
ten and  speculated  on  this  subject ;  but  their  writings  and  ex- 
periments had  no  practical  results.  In  this  connection  we  can- 
not help  mentioning  the  highly  philanthropic  efforts  of  John 
Howard,  who,  after  visiting  most  of  the  English  county  jails  and 
observing  the  brutal  treatment  of  prisoners,  induced  the  British 
government,  1774,  to  reform  the  "prison  discipline"  To  his 
heroic  labors  and  to  his  work,  entitled,  "  The  State  of  the  Prisons 
in  England,"  is  due  the  interdiction  of  cruelty  to  prisoners  through- 
out the  civilized  world.  He  was  in  his  day,  1774,  to  men  what 
Bergh  is  now,  1878,  to  animals.  In  his  tour  over  Europe,  during 
which  he  died,  1790,  in  Russia,  he  visited  not  only  prisons,  but 
hospitals  and  places  of  suffering  and  destitution.  The  eloquent 
Burke  says  : 

"  Howard  was  taking  the  gauge  and  dimensions  of  misery,  depression,  and 
contempt." 

England's  " Royal  Society"  never  added  F.R.S.  so  worthily 
and  deservedly  to  any  name  as  to  that  of  John  Howard.  In 
1740  Captain  Coram  imitated  St.  Vincent  de  Paul's  fervor,  and 
established  a  Foundling  Hospital  in  England.  Parliament,  real- 
izing the  humanity  of  this  institution,  voted  ,£10,000  for  its  sup- 
port, 1756. 

To  this  age  belong  J.  J.  Rousseau's  stirring  writings:  "Dis- 
course oft  the  Origin  of  Inequality  among  Men'1  and  "Social 
Contract ;  or,  Principles  of  Political  Right."  These  two  essays 
were  the  starting-point  of  free  political  thought,  speech,  writing, 
and  printing.  They  suggest  and  urge  comparison  between  the  rich 
and  poor,  labor  and  capital,  pauperism  and  opulence.  This 
comparison  expanded  into  the  idea  of  political  equality,  Fourier- 
ism,  socialism,  and  communism,  which  have  formulated  a  vocabu- 
lary, speech,  press,  and  literature  of  their  own  since  Rousseau. 
Strange,  the  author  of  this  most  humane  theory  should  have  sent 
his  five  children  to  the  foundling  asylum !  Whether  the  fruits  of 
his  teachings  without  example  will  prove  a  blessing  or  curse  to 
humanity,  remains  to  be  seen. 


456  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF 

AMERICA,  JULY  4,  1776. 

This  document,  containing  the  wisdom  of  most  earnest  men, 
assembled  to  deliberate  on  human  rights  and  aspirations,  de- 
serves as  conspicuous  a  place  as  King  Ethelbert's  first  ANGLO- 
SAXON  CODE,  A.D.  597,  MAGNA  CHARTA,  1215,  and  the  BILL 
OF  RIGHTS,  1688.  Was  it  not  "  Time's  noblest  offspring,"  so 
prophetically  announced  in  Bishop  Berkeley's  poem  prior  to 
1753?  Hitherto  history  had  only  hinted  at  two  fundamental 
principles  of  human  government :  Force  and  Divine  right. 
Those  American  sages,  assembled  in  the  New  World's  Phila- 
delphia (City  of  Brotherly  Love),  consciously  or  unconsciously 
added  a  third  fundamental  principle,  by  which  to  govern  men,  in 
this  memorable  sentence  : 

'*  Governments  are  instituted  among  men  deriving  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed" 

Thus  treating  men  as  beings,  whose  consent  might  be  reached 
through  reason.  This  new  principle  of  government  soon  com- 
mended itself,  not  only  to  Americans,  but  to  Europeans,  so  that 
within  a  century  men  have  become  averse  to  government  by 
force,  and  freely  discuss  the  merits  between  government  by 
Divine  right  and  government  by  consent.  On  this  new  principle 
America  based  her  Revolution,  and  it  was  a  success.  France 
based  her  Revolution  on  the  same  principle,  and  it  was  a  failure. 
Mexico,  Central  and  South  America  based  on  it  their  separation 
from  Spain,  and  it  has  since  been  on  trial  in  America.  Europe 
has  been  watching  its  workings  with  intense  interest. 

In  the  first  place,  the  principle  of  government  by  CONSENT  in- 
volves, presupposes,  and  requires  education  ;  for  Consent  cannot 
be  reached  through  ignorance,  superstition,  or  prejudice.  Spain 
has  lately  tried  it  and  failed.  France  is  now  (1878)  trying  it; 
will  it  succeed  ? 

As  Lord  Macaulay's  Essay  on  Randall's  biography  of  Thomas 
Jefferson  is  the  strongest  argument  against  government  by  con- 
sent, we  quote  from  it,  that  readers  may  realize  the  dangers  pre- 
dicted against  that  system : 

"  I  have  long  been  convinced  that  institutions  purely  democratic  must, 
sooner  or  later,  destroy  liberty  or  civilization,  or  both.  In  Europe,  where  the 


Eighteenth   Century.  457 

population  is  dense,  the  effect  of  such  institutions  would  be  almost  instantane- 
ous. What  happened  lately  in  France  is  an  example.  In  1848  a  pure  Democ- 
racy was  established  there.  During  a  short  time  there  was  reason  to  expect  a 
general  spoliation,  a  national  bankruptcy,  a  new  partition  of  the  soil,  a  maxi- 
mum of  prices,  a  ruinous  load  of  taxation  laid  on  the  rich  for  the  purpose  of 
supporting  the  poor  in  idleness.  Such  a  system  would,  in  twenty  years,  have 
made  France  as  poor  and  barbarous  as  the  France  of  the  Carlovingians. 
Happily  the  danger  was  averted  ;  and  now  there  is  a  despotism,  a  silent  tri- 
bune, an  enslaved  press.  Liberty  is  gone,  but  civilization  has  been  saved.  I 
have  not  the  smallest  doubt  that  if  we  had  a  purely  democratic  government 
here  the  effect  would  be  the  same.  Either  the  poor  would  plunder  the  rich, 
and  civilization  would  perish,  or  order  and  prosperity  would  be  saved  by  a 
strong  military  government,  and  liberty  would  perish.  You  may  think  that 
your  country  enjoys  an  exemption  from  these  evils.  I  will  frankly  own  to  you 
that  I  am  of  a  very  different  opinion.  Your  fate  I  believe  to  be  certain, 
though  it  is  deferred  by  a  physical  cause.  As  long  as  you  have  a  boundless 
extent  of  fertile  and  unoccupied  land,  your  laboring  population  will  be  far 
more  at  ease  than  the  laboring  population  of  the  Old  World,  and,  while  that 
is  the  case,  the  Jefferson  politics  may  continue  to  exist  without  causing  any 
fatal  calamity.  But  the  time  will  come  when  New  England  will  be  as  thickly 
peopled  as  old  England.  Wages  will  be  as  low,  and  will  fluctuate  as  much 
with  you  as  with  us.  You  will  have  your  Manchesters  and  Birminghams, 
and  in  those  Manchesters  and  Birminghams  hundreds  of  thousands  of  artisans 
will  assuredly  be  sometimes  out  of  work.  Then  your  institutions  will  be 
fairly  brought  to  the  test.  Distress  everywhere  makes  the  laborer  mutinous 
and  discontented,  and  inclines  him  to  listen  with  eagerness  to  agitators  who 
tell  him  that  it  is  a  monstrous  iniquity  that  one  man  should  have  a  million 
while  another  cannot  get  a  full  meal.  In  bad  years  there  is  plenty  of  grumbling 
here,  and  sometimes  a  little  rioting.  But  it  matters  little.  For  here  the 
sufferers  are  not  the  rulers.  The  supreme  power  is  in  the  hands  of  a  class, 
numerous,  indeed,  but  select  ;  of  an  educated  class  ;  of  a  class  which  is,  and 
knows  itself  to  be,  deeply  interested  in  the  security  of  property  and  the  main- 
tenance of  order.  Accordingly,  the  malcontents  are  firmly  yet  gently  re- 
strained. The  bad  time  is  got  over  without  robbing  the  wealthy  to  relieve 
the  indigent.  The  springs  of  national  prosperity  soon  begin  to  flow  again ; 
work  is  plentiful,  wages  rise,  and  all  is  tranquillity  and  cheerfulness.  I  have 
seen  England  pass  three  or  four  times  through  such  critical  seasons  as  I  have 
described.  Through  such  seasons  the  United  States  will  have  to  pass  in  the 
course  of  the  next  century,  if  not  of  this.  How  will  you  pass  through  them? 
I  heartily  wish  you  a  good  deliverance.  But  my  reason  and  my  wishes  are  at 
war,  and  I  cannot  help  foreboding  the  worst.  It  is  quite  plain  that  your  gov- 
ernment will  never  be  able  to  restrain  a  distressed  and  discontented  majority. 
For  with  you  the  majority  is  the  government,  and  has  the  rich,  who  are  always 
a  minority,  absolutely  at  its  mercy.  The  day  will  come  when  in  the  State  of 
New  York  a  multitude  of  people,  none  of  whom  has  had  more  than  half  a 
breakfast,  or  expects  to  have  more  than  half  a  dinner,  will  choose  a  Legisla- 


458  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

ture.  Is  it  possible  to  doubt  what  sort  of  a  Legislature  will  be  chosen  ?  On 
one  side  is  a  statesman  preaching  patience,  respect  for  vested  rights,  strict 
observance  of  public  faith.  On  the  other  is  a  demagogue  ranting  about  the 
tyranny  of  capitalists  and  usurers,  and  asking  why  anybody  should  be  permit- 
ted to  drink  champagne  and  to  ride  in  a  carriage  while  thousands  of  honest 
folks  are  in  want  of  necessaries.  Which  of  the  two  candidates  is  likely  to  be 
preferred  by  the  workingman  who  hears  his  children  cry  for  more  bread  ?  I 
seriously  apprehend  that  you  will,  in  some  such  season  of  adversity  as  I  have 
described,  do  things  which  will  prevent  prosperity  from  returning ;  that  you 
will  act  like  people  who  should  in  a  year  of  scarcity  devour  all  the  seed-corn, 
and  thus  make  the  next  a  year  not  of  scarcity,  but  of  absolute  famine.  There 
will  be,  I  fear,  spoliation.  The  spoliation  will  increase  the  distress.  The 
distress  will  produce  fresh  spoliation.  There  is  nothing  to  stop  you.  Your 
Constitution  is  all  sail  and  no  anchor.  As  I  said  before,  when  a  society  has 
entered  on  this  downward  progress,  either  civilization  or  liberty  must  perish. 
Either  some  Caesar  or  Napoleon  will  seize  the  reins  of  government  with  a 
strong  hand,  or  your  republic  will  be  as  fearfully  plundered  and  laid  waste  by 
barbarians  in  the  twentieth  century  as  the  Roman  Empire  was  in  the  fifth, 
with  this  difference,  that  the  Huns  and  Vandals  who  ravaged  the  Roman 
Empire  came  from  without,  and  that  your  Huns  and  Vandals  will  have  been 
engendered  within  your  own  country  by  your  own  institutions." 

Here  his  Lordship  assumes,  that  men  and  women  can  never  be 
socially,  morally,  a.nd  politically  educated  so  as  to  heed  the  prin- 
ciple of  right  against  wrong.  History,  viewed  from  his  standpoint, 
calls  for  repression  ;  whereas  history,  viewed  from  the  standpoint 
of  consent,  spurns  repression,  and  trusts  that  man's  innate  sense 
of  right  can  be  so  educated  by  experience  and  precept,  as  to 
require  little  or  no  repression.  The  principle  of  consent  seems 
to  be  the  natural  corollary,  not  only  from  Magna  Charta,  1215, 
and  the  Bill  of  Rights,  1688,  but  from  Alfred  the  Great's  "Na- 
tural Equality  of  Mankind  "  (A.D.  890),  in  which  we  read  : 

"  Whaet  ealle  men  haefdon  gelicne  fruman. '. 
Ealle  hi  beoth  git  gelice  acennede.'. 
Ealle  sint  emn  aedele. '." 

What  !  all  men  have  a  like  origin  ; 
They  all  are  yet  born  alike  ; 
All  are  equally  noble. 

Such  were  the  ideas  of  the  royal  sage  from  A.D.  872  to  891. 
No  wonder  these  thoughts,  uttered  and  penned  in  the  Old  World 
eleven  centuries  ago,  found  their  first  practical  use  in  the  New, 
whence  they  now  re-echo  back  to  where  they  started.  Hence, 


Eighteenth  Century.  459 

the  florid  English  historian  and  critic,  Macaulay,  should  have 
looked  close  at  home  and  traced  the  germ  of  the  ideas,  expressed 
in  the  solemn  Declaration  of  Independence,  to  England's  wisest 
and  most  exalted  monarch. 

The  sages  who  drew  up  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
published  it  to  a  world  governed  by  divine  right,  were  honest  and 
wise  enough  to  govern  and  be  governed  by  such  a  liberal  system  ; 
but  they  did  not  dream  that  their  country  would  become  the  ren- 
dezvous of  Europe's  ignorance,  and  that  such  a  population  would 
overwhelm  their  posterity.  Furthermore,  after  having  achieved 
independence  by  heroic  deeds  and  through  long  suffering,  they 
neglectfully  or  purposely  omitted  to  extend  the  vote  to  their  moth- 
ers, wives  and  sisters,  who,  to  this  day  pay  taxes  without  repre- 
sentation. Had  they  granted  suffrage  to  women  and  withheld  it 
from  those  too  ignorant  to  read  and  write,  their  government  would 
have  been  perfect.  In  1781  they  framed  "Articles  of  Confedera- 
tion" and  in  1789  the  "Constitution  of  the  United  States  of 
America"  from  which  we  have  an  Extract  and  Table,  showing 
sixty-two  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  and  thirty-eight  Gotho-Germanic  ; 
whereas  Ethelbert's  Anglo-Saxon  Code  of  A.D.  597,  which  is  the 
oldest  English  writing,  contains  six  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  and 
ninety-four  Gotho-Germanic ;  the  Code  of  Alfred  the  Great,  A.D. 
890,  numbers  six  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  and  ninety-four  Gotho- 
Germanic ;  and  the  Bill  of  Rights,  1688,  counts  sixty-three  per 
cent.  Greco-Latin,  thirty-six  Gotho-Germanic,  and  one  per  cent. 
Celtic.  Here  may  be  seen  a  remarkable  linguistic  change  of 
vocabulary  in  the  same  style  of  writing  from  Ethelbert's  Code  at 
Canterbury,  A.D.  597,  to  the  "Constitution  of  the  United  States 
of  America"  at  Washington,  1789,  showing  a  Greco-Latin  increase 
of  fifty-seven  per  cent,  and  Gotho-Germanic  decrease  in  the  same 
ratio.  Let  us  observe  in  passing,  that  the  five  Greco-Latin  words 
in  Ethelbert's  Code  are  terms  connected  with  the  Romish  Church, 
which  is  not  the  case  with  the  sixty-two  Greco-Latin  words  in  the 
American  Constitution."  Blackstone's  "  Commentaries,"  1788, 
show  forty-seven  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  fifty-one  Gotho-Germanic 
and  two  Celtic;  whereas  Alfred  the  Great's  Last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment, A.D.  890,  shows  but  one  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  and  ninety- 
nine  Gotho-Germanic.  Hume's  History  of  England,  1776,  has 
a  vocabulary  that  numbers  fifty-two  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  forty- 


460  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

seven  Gotho-Germanic  and  one  Celtic;  whereas  the  "Saxon 
Chronicle"  of  1154  numbers  fifteen  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  and 
eighty-five  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic ;  and  the  Saxon  "  Chron- 
icle "  from  A.D.  60 1  to  640  shows  but  ten  per  cent.  Greco-Latin 
and  ninety  Gotho-Germanic.  Pope's  "Essay  on  Man,"  to  which 
no  English  poetic  production  is  superior,  appeared  1733.  Byron 
thus  vindicates  the  author  of  that  remarkable  poem  : 

"  Those  mountebanks  of  the  day,  the  poets,  disgrace  themselves  and  deny 
God  in  running  down  Pope,  the  most  faultless  of  poets." 

The  world  fully  endorses  Byron  ;  for  already  Pope's  works  are 
about  being  concordanced,  a  distinction  as  yet  only  granted  to 
three  English  poets  :  Shakespeare,  Milton,  and  Tennyson.  Sooner 
or  later  posterity  appreciates  intellect's  nobility.  Pope's  poem 
numbers  thirty-eight  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  sixty  Gotho-Germanic 
and  two  Celtic ;  whereas  the  Anglo-Saxon  poem  "  Beowulf," 
written  a  thousand  years  ago,  is  entirely  Anglo-Saxon  or  Gotho- 
Germanic.  Gibbon's  deep  historic  research,  Addison's  critical 
acumen,  Swift's  humor,  Isaac  Disraeli's  "  Curiosities  of  Litera- 
ture," Burke's  eloquence,  and  Lady  Montagu's  epistolary  spright- 
liness  deserve  mention  here,  not  only  for  enriching  the  English 
language,  but  for  expanding  the  domain  of  thought  and  ideas. 

The  sweetest  English  Muse  of  this  century  is  Goldsmith,  whose 
"Deserted  Village"  "Vicar  of  Wakefield"  "She  Stoops  to  Con- 
quer" &c.,  will  last  as  long  as  the  English  language.  Of  him 
Scott  says : 

"  He  wrote  to  exalt  virtue  and  expose  vice,  and  he  accomplished  his  task 
in  a  manner  that  raises  him  to  the  highest  rank  among  British  authors." 

The  vocabulary  of  his  "Deserted  Village  "  averages  twenty-nine 
per  cent.  Greco- Latin,  sixty-six  Gotho-Germanic  and  five  Celtic. 
England  had  another  genius  from  the  Emerald  Isle  in  Sheridan, 
who  shone  in  the  Forum,  at  the  Bar,  and  in  the  Comic  Drama : 
his  "  School  for  Scandal"  is  a  rich  legacy;  its  moral,  embodied 
in  delicate  linguistic  wit,  is  and  ever  will  be  an  instructive  even- 
ing school,  wherever  vocal  organs  articulate  English.  Such  per- 
formances are  an  intellectual  treat  and  a  happy  variety  after  the 
feverish  excitement  and  drudgery  of  the  day.  Thus,  whether 
acknowledged  or  not,  Sheridan  will  be  the  high-toned  comico- 


Eiglitcenth  Century.  461 

dramatic  moralist.  Our  numeric  analysis  brought  to  light  a  queer 
linguistic  coincidence  :  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  "  Honest  Man's 
Fortune,"  1616,  and  Sheridan's  "  School  for  Scandal,"  though 
written  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  years  apart,  both  show  a 
vocabulary  numbering  thirty-four  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  sixty- 
five  Gotho-Germanic  and  one  per  cent.  Celtic,  as  may  be  ob- 
served in  our  bird's-eye  view  of  literary  productions  during  the 
English  Period  (A.D.  1600-1878). 

These  instances  clearly  prove  that  purely  emotional  subjects 
require  a  larger  proportion  of  primitive  terms,  whereas  socio- 
politic  themes  necessitate  a  more  advanced  and  complex  vo- 
cabulary. 

In  this  century  philology  had  a  number  of  able  votaries.  Sir 
Charles  VVilkins  went  to  Asia,  1770,  where  he  studied  Sanscrit. 
Arabic,  and  Persian.  He  formed  the  literary  society  of  Calcutta 
with  Sir  William  Jones,  1784,  who  wrote  to  him  :  "You  are  the 
first  European  who  understood  Sanscrit."  He  wrote  a  Sanscrit 
grammar,  and  translated  the  Bagavatgita.  About  the  same 
period  Sir  William  Jones  made  the  valuable  version  of  the  Laws 
of  Manu,  and  his  spirited  translations  in  verse  from  the  Hebrew, 
Persian,  Arabic,  and  Turkish  poets.  These  two  savants  were 
the  pioneers  in  a  distinguished  galaxy  of  orientalists. 

Lord  Monboddo's  '•'•Origin  and  Progress  of  Language11  at- 
tracted much  attention.  In  it  he  develops  mankind  from  a 
genus  of  apes.  The  sarcastic  Home  Tooke  ridiculed  Mon- 
boddo's theory  in  his  "Diversions  of  Pur  ley  "  which  is  a  work 
of  deep  linguistic  research.  Elizabeth  Elstob  wrote  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  grammar,  1715,  and  translated  Alfric's  '•'•Homily  on  the 
Birthday  of  St.  Gregory1'  Miss  Gurney  made  a  version  of  the 
"Saxon  Chronicle11  Thus  did  two  ladies  revive  the  study  of 
England's  mother  tongue.  In  1743  appeared  Lye's  elaborate 
Anglo-Saxon  grammar.  Next  followed  David  Wilkin's  "Leges 
Saxonictz"  Anglo-Saxon  Codes  with  a  Latin  translation.  All 
these  linguistic  treasures  from  Sanscrit,  Arabic,  Persian,  Turk- 
ish, and  Anglo-Saxon  opened  quite  a  rich  mine  of  Oriental  and 
Medieval  literature. 

To  overlook  Parnell's  "Rise  of  Woman1'  1716,  would  be  tin- 
gallant.  Of  him  Plume  says :  "  Parnell,  after  the  fiftieth  read- 
ing, is  as  fresh  as  at  the  first."  From  about  1730  to  1760, 


462  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Hogarth  not  only  amused  and  charmed  beholders,  but  do- 
mesticated the  painter's  vocabulary  in  his  native  tongue,  as 
Raphael  had  done  two  centuries  before  in  sunny  Italy.  As  Buf- 
fon's  "Histoire  Naturelle"  1749,  -made  an  epoch  in  natural  sci- 
ence, was  translated  into  most  languages,  epitomized,  illustrated 
for  children,  and  furnished  a  rich  vocabulary  to  language,  it  finds 
a  fit  place  here.  Montesquieu's  "IS Esprit  des  Lois"  1748,  be- 
came an  authority  in  jurisprudence.  Within  about  two  years  over 
twenty  editions  were  issued.  It  was  translated  into  the  leading 
European  idioms.  In  his  "  Miscellaneous  Thoughts  "  the  gieat 
jurist,  speaking  of  Immortality,  simply  observes  : 

"  I  should  much  regret  not  to  believe  in  an  idea  that  exalts  me  so  high." 

Of  him  Voltaire  says  :  "  Mankind  had  lost  its  titles  ;  Montes- 
quieu found  and  restored  them."  May  30,  1778,  witnessed  the 
death  of  Voltaire,  whose  genius  embraced  most  branches  of 
hitman  knowledge.  His  attempt  to  revolutionize  everything  un- 
dermined' the  temple  of  human  progress,  without  furnishing  a 
brick  to  rebuild  it.  As  we  never  could  admire  such  reformers, 
we  cannot  admire  Voltaire  and  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau.  We 
think  no  man  should  try  to  pull  down  his  own  or  his  neighbor's 
house  till  he  has  the  means  of  reconstructing  it  better. 

About  1776  appeared  Adam  Smith's  "  Inquiry  into  the  Nature 
and  Causes  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,"  which  at  once  attracted 
the  world's  attention,  teaching,  as  it  does,  that  labor,  not  money 
or  land,  is  the  real  source  of  national  wealth.  This  seemed  a 
bombshell  thrown  into  the  literary  and  political  arena  ;  for  it  en- 
listed both  scholars  and  statesmen. 

We  cannot  omit  Thomson's  "Seasons"  1730,  which  resemble 
Virgil's  "Georgics,"  Kleist's  "Fruhling?  1759,  and  Delile's  "Les 
Jardins"  1782.  Thus  rural  themes  found  admirers  in  this  age 
in  England,  France,  and  Germany.  Could  we  overlook  Aken- 
side's  "Pleasures  of  the  Imagination"  1744  ? 

The  name  of  Sir  William  Herschel  reminds  us  of  the  planet 
Uranus,  discovered  1781,  and  of  a  telescope  forty  feet  long, 
1789,  with  which  the  great  astronomer  observed  the  Nebulae  and 
other  astronomic  wonders  never  dreamt  of  before.  Caroline 
Lucretia  Herschel  assisted  her  world-renowned  brother,  discov- 
ered five  new  comets,  and  wrote  a  "Catalogue  of  561  Stars" ; 


Eighteenth  Century.  463 

also  a  catalogue  of  Nebulae,  for  which  the  Astronomical  Society 
awarded  her  a  gold  medal.  Katherine  I.,  of  Russia,  rivaled  Eng- 
land and  France.  She  commissioned  Delisle  to  erect  an  obser- 
vatory at  St.  Petersburg,  where  astronomy  has  florished  ever  since. 
This  century  witnessed  a  most  curious  event,  which  some  style 
extinction,  and  others  death,  of  a  language  that  had  resounded 
in  Britain  for  ages.  No  doubt,  the  Phenicians,  Carthaginians, 
Greeks,  and  Romans  heard  its  euphonious  accents,  when  they 
repaired  to  distant  Britain  for  tin  and  hides,  as  related  by  Strabo, 
20  B.C.  That  extinct  or  dead  language  is  Cornish,  of  which 
Scaweri  says  : 

"Cornish  is  not  to  be  gutturally  pronounced  as  the  Welsh  for  the  most 
part  is,  nor  muttering  as  the  Armoric,  nor  whining  as  the  Irish  (which  two 
latter  qualities  seem  to  have  been  contracted  from  their  servitude),  but  must 
be  lively  and  manly  spoken,  like  other  primitive  tongues." 

The  famous  fish-woman,  Dorothy  Pentreath,  whom  princes 
and  lords  visited,  is  said  to  have  been  the  last  speaker  of  that 
primitive  dialect.  She  died,  1778,  and  Prince  Louis  Lucien 
Bonaparte  erected  her  a  monument,  1860.  The  Bonaparte  family 
have  ever  been  doing  acts  that  distinguish  them.  We  are  told 
that  with  her  the  Cornish  dialect  died  and  became  extinct.  Died, 
extinct !  Is  not  Hebrew  more  expanded  now,  than  when  Abram 
and  Sarai  carried  it  from  Chaldee  to  Canaan  forty  centuries  ago  ? 
Does  not  Sanscrit  resound  more  extensively,  than  when  the 
Hindu  Avatar,  Krishna,  taught  in  it  at  Mathura?  It  echoes  in 
all  the  Ario-Japhetic  dialects.  Does  not  Pali  speak  louder  now, 
than  when  Buddha  uttered  it  in  Ceylon  ?  Is  not  Zoroaster's  : 
"  Do  unto  others  as  you  would  have  them  do  unto  you,"  as  audi- 
ble now  as  when  uttered  in  Zend  on  the  plains  of  Persia  to  the 
Magi  ?  Ninevites  and  Babylonians  speak  from  under  their  ruins  ; 
the  echo  of  their  language  vibrates  now  in  London,  Paris,  Rome, 
Berlin,  and  New  York.  The  Pharaohs  and  their  hieroglyphics 
speak  in  museums  all  over  the  civilized  world  and  are  heard 
trumpet-tongued  in  the  land  of  the  Nile.  No  language  can  be 
called  dead  so  long  as  every  name  in  the  country  is  unchanged  ; 
go  into  Cornwall,  where  every  hillock,  brook,  bay  and  inlet  has 
a  tongue  ;  their  very  aura  is  filled  with  those  primitive  sounds, 
that  were  heard  there  by  the  Phenicians.  Hear  the  names  of 


464  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Cornwall's  cities,  towns  and  villages,  and  you  will  no  longer  say 
that  the  Cornish  language  is  dead. 

As  Dr.  Sam.  Johnson's  "English  Dictionary,"  printed  and  re- 
printed, did  more  for  the  polish  and  expansion  of  the  English 
language  than  any  other  work,  we  mention  it  with  gratitude.  Our 
Extract  and  "Table"  from  this  eminent  author  will  show  his 
vocabulary  and  style.  James  Watt  increased  the  linguistic  steam- 
vocabulary  by  improving  Worcester's  primitive  steam-engine,  1 765. 
He  little  dreamed  that  his  machine,  dipping  water  from  mines, 
contained  principles  that  would  one  day  enable  man  to  outfly 
the  eagle  on  land  and  sea.  Richard  Arkwright,  inventor  of  the 
cotton-spinning  machine,  was  knighted  for  his  invention,  1786. 
His  mechanical  genius  gave  an  astounding  impetus  to  manufac- 
tures and  commerce  among  the  English-speaking  populations, 
and  angmented  the  language. 

Among  all  the  benevolent  societies,  "  The  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts"  has  been  the 
most  useful.  It  was  incorporated  by  royal  charter,  1701.  We 
have  had  occasion  to  observe  since  the  mission  of  Augustine  to 
Britain,  A.D.  596,  wherever  Christianity  has  been  carried,  in- 
tellectual development  in  the  shape  of  writing  and  literature 
soon  followed.  Late  missionary  efforts  in  Polynesia  have  shown 
the  same  result ;  they  have  now  four  newspapers,  regularly  pub- 
lished, two  in  English  and  two  in  the  native  tongue,  in  the  Sand- 
wich Islands.  Capt.Cook  carried  the  English  language  around  the 
world  and  died  a  martyr  to  his  explorations,  of  which  he  left  glowing 
accounts,  translated  into  all  the  leading  European  languages.  The 
Sandwich  Islanders,  who  murdered  him,  1779,  were  the  first  Poly- 
nesians that  turned  to  civilization  and  became  Christians,  as  may 
be  noticed  in  our  Extracts  and  Tables  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

A  fresh  linguistic  streamlet  into  English  and  other  idioms  was 
formed  by  James  Htitton's  "Dissertation  on  the  Philosophy  of 
Light,  Heat  and  Fire"  and  '•'•Theory  of  the  Earth"  1794  and 
1795.  Professor  Playfair  called  it  the  "  Huttonian  Theory  ;  " 
others  called  it  the  "Plutonian  Theory."  Leibnitz  inclined  to 
the  system  of  evolution  by  fire.  This  idea  developed  modern 
geology,  which  has  been  a  prolific  source  of  new  terms.  The 
Swedish  scholar,  Linneus,  contributed  the  botanic  quota  to  the 
European  languages  from  1727  to  1778. 


Eighteenth  Century.  465 

In  1751  the  English  Parliament  passed  an  ordinance  substitut- 
ing the  Gregorian  calendar  for  the  Julian,  by  adding  eleven  days. 
Hence  they  made  and  called  the  third  of  September  of  1752  the 
fourteenth,  thus  dropping  what  is  usually  denominated  the  old 
style  and  adopting  the  new.  By  so  doing  England  placed  herself 
in  unison  with  Italy,  France,  and  Spain.  Germany  followed  Eng- 
land's example,  1777,  and  Sweden,  1782.  Russia  is  the  only 
enlightened  Christian  country  that  now  adheres  to  the  old  style. 
While  I  lived  among  the  Sclavonic  populations  of  Austria  and 
Turkey  (1838-1840)  it  looked  queer  to  see  the  Sclavonians  cele- 
brate Christmas  and  Easter  about  a  fortnight  after  the  Roman 
Catholics  and  Protestants. 

In  this  century  Holty  and  Gellert  were  the  pioneers  who  pol- 
ished the  German  language,  which  had  been  comparatively  rude. 
They  opened  the  way  for  the  great  German  writers,  who  florished 
in  the  nineteenth  century.  Of  Gellert,  Guizot  says: 

'*  He  will  always  possess  the  merit  of  having  powerfully  contributed  to 
form  the  language  and  improve  the  minds  of  his  countrymen." 

Lavoisier,  who  added  to  language  his  rich  nomenclature  of 
chemistry,  before  he  died  a  martyr  to  that  fiendish  tribunal,  styled 
*'  The  Reign  of  Terror"  1794,  merits  our  grateful  remembrance. 
That  nomenclature  has  been,  is  and  ever  will  be  a  brilliant  page 
in  the  lexicon  of  science. 

As  we  have  mentioned  America's  military  and  legal  achieve- 
ments, let  us  allude  to  her  literati,  among  whom  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin stands  pre-eminent.  Could  that  American  patriarch  have  con- 
ceived, that  the  mysterious  fluid,  which  descended  the  string  of 
his  kite  in  1752,  would  by  1878  glide  around  the  globe  over 
304,000  miles  of  wire,  and  along  52,000  miles  of  cable,  and  carry 
language  from  continent  to  continent,  from  country  to  country, 
and  from  city  to  city,  and  that  his  own  native  tongue  would  com- 
municate most  of  the  world's  submarine  intelligence.  Franklin's 
"Precepts,  Essays  and  Autobiography  "  have  been  translated  into 
French  and  other  languages.  Of  him  Mirabeau  observes  : 

"  Antiquity  would  have  raised  altars  to  this  mighty  genius,  who,  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  mankind,  compassing  in  his  mind  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  was 
able  to  restrain  alike  thunderbolts  and  tyrants." 
30 


466  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Lord  Chatham  styled  him  : 

"  One  whom  all  Europe  held  in  high  estimation  for  his  knowledge  and  wis- 
dom, and  ranked  with  our  Boyles  and  Newtons ;  who  was  an  honor,  not  only 
to  the  English  nation,  but  to  human  nature." 

Behold  Franklin's  eulogy  in  Rome's  dialect  by  Turgot : 
"  Eripuit  ccelo  fulmen,  sceptrumque  tyrannis." 

The  French  and  English  statesmen  would  realize,  that  the 
American  people  fully  appreciate  their  own  Franklin,  if  they  saw 
the  statues  raised  to  his  memory,  the  places  and  streets  called  by 
his  name,  and  the  reverence,  with  which  he  is  always  mentioned. 
When  Franklin  presented  his  grandson  to  the  aged  Voltaire  and 
asked  his  blessing,  the  philosopher  replied  : 

"  God  and  liberty  is  the  only  one  fitting  for  Franklin's  children." 

"  Franklin's  quiet  memory  climbs  to  heaven, 
Calming  the  lightning  which  he  thence  hath  riven ; 
Or  drawing  from  the  no  less  kindled  earth 
Freedom  and  peace  to  that  which  boasts  his  birth." — Byron. 

We  may  truly  say  that  Jonathan  Edwards  was  to  America 
what  Tillotson  was  to  England  and  Bossuet  to  France.  In  him 
Calvinism  had  a  zealous  advocate  and  an  able  expounder. 
Among  his  numerous  writings  his  book  on  "Freedom  of  the  Will" 
is  considered  as  one  of  the  best  metaphysical  essays.  Our  Ex- 
tract and  Table  will  show  that,  his  style  averages  forty-three  per 
cent.  Greco-Latin  and  fifty-seven  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic. 
Perhaps  James  Otis  and  Patrick  Henry  had  no  superiors  among 
either  ancient  or  modern  orators.  They  were  the  ablest  and 
most  zealous  advocates  of  American  Independence;  their  fiery 
eloquence  roused  the  whole  country. 

Our  Extract  and  Table  from  "  Washington's  farewell  Address  " 
will  show  his  style  to  be  forty-four  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  and 
fifty-six  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic.  It  is  a  unique  composition, 
breathing  patriotism,  candor,  and  solicitude  for  human  welfare ; 
full  of  sincere  advice  to  save  his  country  from  entangling  foreign 
alliances  and  internal  party  strife,  to  say  nothing  of  the  clear, 
lucid,  and  forcible  style  in  which  it  is  conceived  and  written. 
He  was  no  Macchiavelli,  no  Metternich,  no  Talleyrand  ;  he  hated 
diplomacy  and  all  connected  with  it.  This  address  bears  the 


Eigh teenth  Centti ry.  467 

closest  scrutiny.  The  more  it  is  studied  the  more  its  wisdom  and 
statesmanship  shine  forth.  The  last  score  of  Washington's  life 
was  a  remarkable  drama,  whose  first  act  was  the  "  Declaration 
of  Independence,"  1776;  second,  the  war  and  conclusion  of 
peace  with  England,  1 783 ;  third,  the  articles  of  confederation, 
1784,  which  proved  a  total  failure  ;  fourth,  the  Constitution,  1789; 
fifth,  Washington's  election,  1789,  and  re-election  as  President, 
and  his  "Farewell  Address,"  1796,  a  befitting  close  to  an  hon- 
est, straightforward  career,  as  well  as  a  grand  denouement  of  the 
great  AMERICAN  DRAMA.  Here  the  proverb  "  Truth  is  stranger 
than  fiction"  finds  its  full  application;  for  history  never  recorded 
a  score  of  years  that  witnessed  a  new  fundamental  principle  for 
human  government,  and  a  war  for  independence  with  three  mil- 
lions of  poor  colonists  on  one  side,  and  a  colossus,  backed  by 
vast  resources  on  the  other;  peace  concluded  in  favor  of  the 
weaker,  a  liberal  government  firmly  established,  and  a  president, 
who,  after  being  elected  and  re-elected,  utters  this  unique  abne- 
gation :  "  I  rejoice  that  the  state  of  your  concerns,  external  as 
well  as  internal,  no  longer  renders  the  pursuit  of  inclination  in- 
compatible with  the  sentiment  of  duty  or  propriety.;  I  am  per- 
suaded, whatever  partiality  may  be  retained  for  my  services,  that 
in  the  present  circumstances  of  our  country  you  will  not  disap- 
prove of  my  determination  to  retire,"  &c.  Next  this  Laconic  ad- 
vice :  "The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us,  in  regard  to  foreign 
nations,  is,  in  extending  our  commercial  relations,  to  have  with 
them  as  little  political  connection  as  possible ;  so  far  as  we  have 
already  formed  engagements,  let  them  be  fulfilled  with  perfect 
good  faith ;  here  let  us  stop,"  &c.  Then  concluding  with  these 
modest,  touching  and  serious  words  :  "  After  forty-five  years  of 
my  life,  dedicated  to  its  service  with  an  upright  zeal,  the  faults 
of  incompetent  abilities  will*  be  consigned  to  oblivion,  as  myself 
must  soon  be  to  the  mansions  of  rest,"  &c. 

Such  disinterestedness,  candor,  and  modesty  can  only  proceed 
from  a  great  soul.  Washington's  career  has  engaged  able  native 
and  foreign  pens,  the  principal  of  which  are  Sparks  and  Wash- 
ington Irving  among  Americans.  Guizot's  "  Vie,  Correspondence 
et  Ecrits  de  Washington"  four  volumes  8vo,  1839,  *s  considered 
the  most  complete.  No  patriot  ever  reaped  such  universal  ad- 
miration at  home  and  abroad  as  GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 


468  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

EXTRACTS  AND  TABLES  FROM  AUTHORS  OF  THE   EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY,  SHOWING  THE  ORIGIN  OF  THEIR  VOCABULARY  : 

Before  proceeding  with  our  dry  Tables  to  prove  the  origin  of 
the  English  language,  we  will  mention  the  most  earnest  English 
philanthropist,  bard,  and  moralist,  Bishop  Berkeley,  who  was 
among  the  earliest  champions  of  education  in  America,  whither 
he  went  to  advocate  and  found  schools  and  colleges.  Any  one 
who  will  read  his  "Querist"  1735,  and  "Maxims"  1750,  will  ac- 
quire ideas  that  will  improve  his  understanding  in  most  depart- 
ments of  human  affairs.  As  a  few  sentences  therefrom  may  in- 
cite readers  to  peruse  the  whole  of  them,  we  quote  some : 

"MAXIMS." 

"  He  who  saith  there  is  no  such  Thing  as  an  honest  Man,  you  may  be  sure 

is  himself  a  Knave." 

"  A  Patriot  will  never  barter  the  public  Money  for  his  private  gain." 

"  A  Patriot  will  admit  there  may  be  honest   Men,  and  that  honest   Men 

may  differ." 

"Gamesters,  Fops,  Rakes,  Bullies,  Stockjobbers;  alas  !  what  Patriots?" 
"  The  facetious  Man  is  apt  to  mistake  himself  for  a  patriot,"  &c. 

From  the  "Querist,"  consisting  of  595  queries: 

I.   "  Whether  there  ever  was,  is,  or  will  be,  an  industrious  Nation  poor,  or 

an  idle  rich  ? 

3.   Whether  the  Drift  and  Aim  of  every  wise  State  should  not  be,  to  en- 
courage Industry  in  its  Members  ?     And,  whether  those,  who  employ 
neither  Heads  nor  Hands  for  the  common  Benefit,  deserve  not  to  be 
expelled  like  Drones  out  of  a  well  governed  State  ? 
30.   Whether  there  be  any  Virtue  in  Gold  or  Silver,  other  than  as  they  set 

People  at  Work,  or  create  Industry  ? 

71.  Whether  Pictures  and  Statues  are  not  in  Fact  so  much  Treasure?    And 
whether  Rome  and  Florence  would  not  be  poor  Towns  without  them  ? 

107.  Whether  comfortable  Living  doth  not  produce  Wants  and  Wants  In- 
dustry, and  Industry  Wealth? 

195.  Whether  a  wise  State  hath  any  Interest  nearer  at  Heart  than  the  Edu- 
cation of  youth  ? 

251.  Whether  there  are  not  to  be  seen  in  America  fair  Towns,  wherein  the 
People  are  well  lodged,  fed  and  clothed,  without  Beggars  in  their 
streets,  although  there  be  not  one  Grain  of  Gold  or  Silver  current 
among  them?  (It  is  somewhat  different  now,  1878.) 

372.  Whether  there  should  not  be  erected,  in  each  Province,  an  Hospital  for 
Orphans  and  Foundlings  at  the  Expence  of  old  Bachelors  ? 


Eighteenth  Century.  469 

392.  Whether  Felons  are  not  often  spared  and  therefor  encouraged  by  Com- 
passion of  those  who  should  prosecute  them  ? 

442.  Whether  we  are  not  in  Fact  the  only  People,  who  may  be  said  to  starve 
in  the  midst  of  Plenty  ? 

560.  Whether  it  be  not  evident,  that  not  Gold  but  Industry  causeth  a  Country 
to  flourish  ? 

593-  Whether  Force  be  not  of  Consequence,  as  it  is  exerted ;  and  whether 
great  Force  without  great  Wisdom  may  not  be  a  Nusance  ?  "  &c. 

Perusal  of  these  maxims,  queries,  and  answers  thereto,  would 
render  rulers,  prelates,  financiers,  merchants,  mechanics,  farmers, 
and  laborers,  wiser.  A  study  thereof  might  prove  beneficial  to 
such  as  invoke  political  economy,  socialism,  communism,  utter 
capital  against  labor,  and  think  they  have  solved  the  intricate 
question  of  Rousseau's  "Inequality  among  Men." 

Never  did  Solomon,  Seneca,  Krummacher,  Leclerq,  &c.,  pen 
wiser  and  more  practical  maxims  than  the  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  of 
whom  behold  posterity's  dicta  : 

"  To  Berkeley  every  virtue  under  Heaven." — Pope. 

"  Berkeley  was  a  profound  scholar  as  well  as  a  man  of  fine  imagination." — 
Dr.  Johnson. 

"  Adverse  factions  and  hostile  wits  concurred  only  in  loving,  admiring,  and 
contributing  to  advance  him." — Sir  James  Mackintosh. 

We  read  prophecies,  oracles,  visions,  &c.,  but  we  never  saw 
anything  more  inspired  and  prophetic  than  the  following  stanzas 
on  America's  future : 


470  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

"  The  Muse,  disgusted  at  an  Age  and  Clime 

Barren  of  every  glorious  Theme, 
In  distant  lands  now  waits  a  better  Time, 
Producing  Subjects  worthy  Fame : 

In  happy  (Climes,  where  from  the  genial  sun 
And  virgin  Earth  such  scenes  ensue, 

The  force  of  art  by  Nature  seems  outdone, 
And  fancied  Beauties  by  the  true ; 

In  happy  climes  the  seat  of  Innocence, 
Where  Nature  guides  and  Virtue  rules, 

Where  Men  shall  not  impose  for  Truth  and  Sense 
The  Pedantry  of  Courts  and  Schools : 

There  shall  be  sung  another  golden  age, 
The  rise  of  Empire  and  of  Arts, 

The  good  and  great  inspiring  epic  Page 
The  wisest  Heads  and  noblest  Hearts. 

Not  such  as  Europe  breeds  in  her  decay ; 

Such  as  she  bred  when  fresh  and  young, 
When  heav'nly  Flame  did  animate  her  clay, 

By  future  poets  shall  be  sung. 

Westward  the  course  of  Empire  takes  its  way ; 

The  four  first  acts  already  past, 
A  fifth  shall  close  the  Drama  with  the  Day ; 

Time's  noblest  offspring  is  the  last." 

1 66  common  words,  among  which 


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times. 

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be,  aux. 

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2 

" 

Hence,  Bishop  Berkeley's  style  requires  about  166  common  words  to  fur- 
nish loo  different  words,  and  averages  about  thirty-nine  per  cent,  particles 
and  forty  per  cent,  repetitions. 


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472  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Jonathan  Edwards'  Works,  1758. 

"Thoughts  on  the  Revival." 

"  Another  erroneous  principle,  that  has  been  an  occasion  of  some  mischief 
and  confusion  is,  that  external  order  in  matters  of  religion,  and  use  of  the 
means  of  grace,  is  but  little  to  be  regarded.  It  has  been  spoken  lightly  of, 
under  the  names  of  ceremonies  and  dead  forms,  &c.,  and  is  probably  the  more 
despised  by  some ;  because  their  opposers  insist  so  much  upon  it,  and  because 
they  are  so  continually  hearing  from  them  the  cry  of  disorder  and  confusion. 
It  is  objected  against  the  importance  of  external  order,  That  God  does  not 
look  at  the  outward  form :  he  looks  at  the  heart.  But  that  does  not  consist 
in  it;  for  it  may  be  equally  made  use  of  against  all  the  outward  means  of 
grace  whatever.  True,  Godliness  does  not  consist  in  ink  and  paper;  but  yet 
that  would  be  a  foolish  objection  against  the  importance  of  ink  and  paper  in 
religion,  when  without  it  we  could  not  have  the  word  of  God.  If  any  ex- 
ternal means  at  all  are  needful,  any  outward  action  of  a  public  nature,  or 
wherein  God's  people  are  jointly  concerned  in  public  society,  without  doubt 
external  order  is  needful.  The  management  of  an  external  affair,  that  is  pub- 
lic, or  wherein  a  multitude  is  concerned,  without  order,  is  in  every  thing  found 
impossible," 

216  common. words,  among  which 


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may,     " 

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do,        » 

3      " 

that 

6      " 

and 

8      " 

77 

other  particles, 

32 

109  particles. 

Hence,  Jonathan  Edwards'  style  requires  about  216  common  words  to  ob- 
tain loo  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty  per  cent,  particles  and  fifty- 
four  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Eighteenth  Century. 


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474  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Pope's  "Essay  on  Man"  1 733. 

"  Know  then  thyself,  presume  not  God  to  scan, 
The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man. 
Plac'd  on  this  isthmus  of  a  middle  state, 
A  being  darkly  wise,  and  rudely  great : 
With  too  much  knowledge  for  the  sceptic  side, 
With  too  much  weakness  for  the  Stoic's  pride, 
He  hangs  between ;  in  doubt  to  act,  or  rest ; 
In  doubt  to  deem  himself  a  god  or  beast ; 
In  doubt  his  mind  or  body  to  prefer ; 
Born  but  to  die,  and  reasoning  but  to  err ; 
Alike  his  ignorance,  his  reason  such, 
Whether  he  thinks  too  little,  or  too  much  : 
Chaos  of  thought  and  passion,  all  confus'd ; 
Still  by  himself  abus'd  or  disabus'd ; 
Created  half  to  rise,  and  half  to  fall ; 
Great  lord  of  all  things,  yet  a  prey  to  all; 
Sole  judge  of  truth,  in  endless  error  huii'd : 
The  glory,  jest  and  riddle  of  the  world  1 
Go,  wondrous  creature  !  mount  where  science  guides 
Go,  measure  Earth,  weigh  air,  and  state  the  tides." 

158  common  words,  among  which 


The                         occurs            5  times. 

a                                  "3 

« 

of                                «                4 
to                               "               6 

« 

u 

in                                "                4 

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do,        " 

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M 

and                            "                6 

" 

other  particles,     28 

73  particles. 

Hence,  Pope's  style  requires  158  common  words  to  obtain  100  different 
words,  and  averages  about  forty-six  per  cent,  particles  and  thirty-seven  per 
cent,  repetitions. 


Eighteenth  Century. 


475 


Origin  of  100  different  words  from  the  preceding  Extract  of  Pope's  "Essay  on  Man,"  1733. 
"Men  of  letters  should  admire  him  as  being  the  greatest  literary  ARTIST  that  England  has  seen."  —  THACKERAY. 

1 

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ARIO-JAPHETIC  TYPE  OF  LANGUAGES  : 

SARMATO-SCLA- 
VONIC  FAMILY  : 

GOMERO-CELTIC 
FAMILY  J 

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SCYTHO-GOTHO-GERMANIC  FAMILY  : 

German  : 

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meaning. 

Anglo-Saxon  : 

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Greek: 

4/6 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Hume's  "History  of  England"  *  1776. 

€i  The  Saxons,  who  subdued  Britain,  as  they  enjoyed  great  liberty  in  their 
own  country,  obstinately  retained  that  invaluable  possession  in  their  new 
settlement ;  and  they  imported  into  the  island  the  same  principles  of  inde- 
pendence, which  they  had  inherited  from  their  ancestors.  The  chieftains  (for 
such  they  were,  more  properly  than  kings  or  princes),  who  commanded  them 
in  those  military  expeditions,  still  possessed  a  very  limited  authority ;  and  as 
the  Saxons  exterminated,  rather  than  subdued  the  ancient  inhabitants,  they 
were,  indeed,  transplanted  into  a  new  territory,  but  preserved  unaltered  all 
their  civil  and  military  institutions.  The  language  was  pure  Saxon  ;  even 
the  names  of  places,  which  often  remain,  while  the  tongue  entirely  changes, 
were  almost  affixed  by  the  conquerors  ;  the  manners  and  customs  were  wholly 
German  ;  and  the  same  picture  of  a  fierce  and  bold  liberty,  which  is  drawn 
by  the  masterly  pencil  of  Tacitus,  will  suit  those  founders  of  the  English 
government.  The  king,  so  far  from  being'  invested  with  arbitrary  power, 
was  only  considered  the  first  among  the  citizens." 

158  common  words,  among  which 


The                        occurs         14  times. 

have,  aux.         occurs           i  times. 

a                                "3 

shall,    " 

0 

of                              "               4 

will,     " 

i 

to                              "               2 

may,     " 

0 

from                          "               2 

do,       » 

0 

in                                               5 

that 

I 

with                          • 

I 

and 

6 

by 

2 

— 

Pro.  of  ist  person    ' 

O 

57 

"      2d      "         ' 

0 

other  particles,     29 

**      3d      **         ' 

10 

— 

be,  aux.                     ' 

5 

86  particles. 

Hence,  Hume's  style  requires  about  158  common  words  to  obtain  100  dif. 
ferent  words,  and  contains  about  fifty-four  per  cent,  particles,  and  thirty-six 
per  cent,  repetitions. 


*"It  is  Hume  who  is  read  by  everybody.  Hume  the  historian,  whose 
views  and  opinions  insensibly  become  our  own.  He  is  respected  by  the  most 
enlightened  reader."  Such  is  Prof  Smyth's  opinion  of  Hume.  Whenever 
we  take  up  one  of  Hume's  volumes,  we  can  hardly  lay  it  down.  Thus 
Hume's  writings  attract  an  unbiased  foreigner.  Not  mythic  like  Herodo- 
tus ;  not  obscure  like  Tacitus ;  not  monotonous  like  Anquetil ;  not  long- 
phrased  and  involved  like  Schiller — his  vocabulary  is  chaste,  his  diction  fluent, 
his  narration  pleasing.  As  long  as  English  is  spoken,  Hume  will  find  readers, 
in  spite  of  narrow-minded  detractors. 


Eighteenth  Century. 


477 


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478 


English  Period  \  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  "Declaration  of  Independence  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  by  their  Representatives  in  Congress  assembled, 
July  4,  1776." 

"  When,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes  necessary  for  one  people 
to  dissolve  the  political  bands  which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and 
to  assume,  among  the  powers  of  the  Earth,  the  separate  and  equal  station  to 
which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect 
to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they  should  declare  the  causes  which 
impel  them  to  separation. 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident  :  —  that  all  men  are  created  equal;* 
that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable  rights  ;  that 
among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  ;  that  to  secure 
these  rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed  ;  that  whenever  any  form  of  government 
becomes  destructive  of  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to 
abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such 
principles,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most 
likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed,"  &c. 

199  common  words,  among  which 

ccurs        i  times. 
«<  2     " 

«<  0     «« 


0     « 

6     " 
»     « 


The                    occurs 

13  times. 

have,  aux. 

a                            " 

2         " 

shall,     " 

of 

12         " 

will,      " 

to                           " 

12         " 

may,     •• 

from                       " 

I          " 

do,        « 

in 

3      " 

that 

with 

2         " 

and 

by 

2         " 

Pron.  of  ist  per.   " 

I          " 

u      2d     u     « 

0         " 

oi 

u     3d    "     « 

IS         " 

be,  aux.                  " 

3       " 

82 
other  particles,  19 


101  particles. 


Hence,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  requires  about  199  common  words 
to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-one  per  cent,  particles 
and  fifty  per  cent,  repetitions. 


*  It  would  seem  as  though  the  writer  of  this  solemn  document  must  previ- 
ously have  read  King  Alfred  the  Great's  "Natural  Equality  of  Mankind." 


Eighteenth  Century. 


479 


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480  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Sir  W.  BlackstonJs  "  Commentaries  on  the  Laws 
of  England,"  L.  E.,  Vol.  III.,  p.  144,  1788. 

Chapter  IX.,  of  "Injuries  to  Personal  Property." 

"In  the  preceding  chapter  we  considered  the  wrongs  or  injuries  that  af- 
fected the  rights  of  persons,  either  considered  as  individuals,  or  as  related  to 
each  other,  and  are  at  present  to  enter  upon  the  discussion  of  such  injuries 
as  affect  the  rights  of  property,  together  with  the  remedies  which  the  law  has 
given  to  repair  or  redress  them. 

And  here  again  we  must  follow  our  former  division  of  property  into  per- 
sonal and  real :  personal,  which  consists  in  goods,  money,  and  all  other 
movable  chattels  and  things  thereunto  incident ;  a  property  which  may  attend 
a  man's  person  wherever  he  goes,  and  from  thence  receives  its  denomination  ; 
and  real  property,  which  consists  of  such  things  as  are  permanent,  fixed,  and 
immovable,  as  lands,  tenements,  and  hereditaments  of  all  kinds  which  are  not 
annexed  to  the  person,  nor  can  be  moved  from  the  place  in  which  they  subsist. 

First,  then,  we  are  to  consider  the  injuries  that  may  be  offered  to  the  rights 
of  personal  property ;  and,  of  these,  first  the  rights  of  personal  property  in 
possession,  and  then  those  that  are  in  action  only. 

I.  The  rights  of  personal  property  in  possession  are  liable  to  two  species 
of  injuries :  the  amotion  or  deprivation  of  that  possession,  and  the  abuse  or 
damage  of  the  chattels,  while  the  possession  continues  in  the  legal  owner. 
The  former,  or  deprivation  of  possession,  is  also  divisible  into  two  branches ; 
the  unjust  and  unlawful  taking,"  &c. 

235  common  words,  among  which 

The  occv 

a  " 

of  " 

to  " 

from  " 

in  " 

with  " 
by 

Pro.  of  ist  person      " 

"    2d  " 

"   3d  " 

be,  aux.  " 

Hence,  Blackstone's  style  requires  about  235  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-two  per  cent,  particles,  and  fifty- 
seven  per  cent,  repetitions. 


20  times. 

have, 

aux.             occurs    i  times. 

2      " 

shall, 

0      " 

13      " 

will, 

0      " 

6      " 

may, 

2      " 

2        " 

do, 

"           0      " 

7      " 

that 

<«        4     « 

i      " 

and 

"      13     " 

0        " 

82 

4      " 

0        '* 

other  particles,  39 

4      " 

12  1  particles. 

3      " 

Eighteenth  Century. 


481 


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French  : 

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offered 

action 
liable 
abuse,  n. 
damage,  n. 

words  : 
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and  testament,  ; 
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rose  forty-six 

482  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Dr.  Johnson's  "Lives  of  the  Most  Eminent  English 
Poets"  1784. 

*'  Nor  was  the  sublime  more  within  their  reach  than  the  pathetick ;  for  they 
never  attempted  that  comprehension  and  expanse  of  thought,  which  at  once 
fills  the  whole  mind,  and  of  which  the  first  effect  is  sudden  astonishment,  and 
second  rational  admiration.  Sublimity  is  produced  by  aggregation,  and  little- 
ness by  dispersion.  Great  thoughts  are  always  general,  and  consist  in  positions 
not  limited  by  exceptions,  and  in  descriptions  not  descending  to  minuteness. 
It  is  with  great  propriety  that  subtlety,  which  in  its  original  import  means 
exility  of  particles,  is  taken  in  its  metaphorical  meaning  for  nicety  of  distinc- 
tion. Those  writers,  who  lay  on  the  watch  for  novelty,  could  have  little  hope 
of  greatness;  for  great  things  cannot  have  escaped  former  observation.  Their 
attempts  were  always  analytick,  they  broke  every  image  into  fragments,  and 
could  no  more  represent,  by  their  slender  conceits  and  laboured  particularities, 
the  prospects  of  nature,  or  scenes  of  life,  than  he  who  dissects  a  sunbeam 
with. a  prism,  can  exhibit  the  wide  effulgence  of  a  summer  noon." 


170  common  words,  among  which 

The  occurs  9  times. 

a  "  2  " 

of  "  7 

to  "  o  " 

from  "  o  " 

in  "  5  " 

with  "  3  " 

by  "  4 

Pronoun  of  i  st  person      "  o  " 

"  2-d       "         "  o  " 

ft  gd  ft  ft  g  tt 

be,  aux.  "  2                  " 

have,  "  "  i                  " 

shall,  u  "  o                  " 

will,  "  "  o                  " 

may,  "  "  o 

do,  "  "  o 

that  "  2                 " 

and  "  8 

52 
other  particles,  29 

8 1  particles. 

Hence,  Johnson's  style  requires  about  170  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-eight  per  cent,  particles  and  forty- 
one  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Eighteenth   Century. 


483 


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484 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  "T/ie  Constitution*  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica" adopted  in  Convention,  September  17,  A.D.  1787,  car- 
ried into  effect  March  4,  A.D.  1789. 

"  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect 
union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common 
defence,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to 
ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the 
United  States  of  America  : 

ARTICLE  I. 

Section  I. 

i.  All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 


sentatives. 


Section  2. 


1.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of  members  chosen 

every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  several  States,  and  the  electors 
in  each  State  shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the 
most  numerous  branch  of  the  State  Legislature. 

2.  No  person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 

age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven  years  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that  State 
in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

3.  Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several 

States  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  according  to  their  re- 
spective numbers,  which  shall  be  determined  by  adding  to  the  whole 
number  of  free  persons,  including  those  bound  to  service,"  &c. 

225  common  words,  among  which 

The  oc 

a 
of 
to 

from 
in 

with 
by 

Pro.  of  ist  person 
"     2d         " 

"     3d        " 
be,  aux. 

Hence,  the  "Constitution  of  the  United  States"  of  1789  requires  about 
225  common  words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty- 
eight  per  cent,  particles  and  fifty-five  per  cent,  repetitions. 

*  New  York  and  Virginia  were  the  only  States  that  ratified  this  document 
with  a  reservation.  We  read  in  Elliott's  "  On  the  Constitution"  that  New 
York  inserted  in  her  ratification  that  after  six  years'  trial  it  would  only  be- 
come binding.  Virginia  ratified  with  the  reservation  :  she  would  only  be 
governed  by  it  as  long  as  she  felt  happy  under  it.  Hence,  had  not  Virginia 
a  right  to  withdraw  whenever  she  saw  fit  ? 


20  times. 

have, 

aux.         occurs        I  times. 

6 

shall, 

it 

10 

16 

will, 

n 

o 

4 

may, 

H 

I 

0 

do, 

t( 

I 

5 

that 

I 

0 

and 

8 

2 



3 

86 

0 

other  particles,  23 

2 



6 

IOQ  particl 

Eighteenth  Century. 


485 


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English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Dr.  Franklin 's  Letter  to  Noah  Webster,  Dec.  26, 

1789. 

"  The  Latin  language,  long  the  vehicle  used  in  distributing  knowledge 
among  the  different  nations  of  Europe,  is  daily  more  and  more  neglected  j  and 
of  the  modern  tongues,  viz.  :  French,  seems,  in  point  of  universality,  to  have 
supplied  its  place.  It  is  spoken  in  all  the  courts  of  Europe  ;  and  most  of  the 
literati,  those  even  who  do  not  speak  it,  have  acquired  a  knowledge  of  it  to 
enable  them  easily  to  read  the  books  written  in  it.  This  gives  a  considerable 
advantage  to  that  nation.  It  enables  its  authors  to  inculcate  and  spread 
through  other  nations  such  sentiments  and  opinions  on  important  points  as 
are  most  conducive  to  its  interests,  or  which  may  contribute  to  its  reputation, 
by  promoting  the  common  interests  of  mankind.  Our  English  bids  fair  to 
obtain  the  second  place.  The  great  body  of  excellent  printed  sermons  in  our 
language,  and  the  freedom  of  our  writing  on  political  subjects  have  induced  a 
great  number  of  divines  of  different  sects  and  nations,  as  well  as  gentlemen 
concerned  in  public  affairs,  to  study  it  so  far  at  least  as  to  read  it.  And  if  we 
were  to  endeavour  the  facilitating  its  progress,  the  study  of  our  tongue  might 
become  much  more  general" 

197  common  words,  among  which 


The 

a 

of 

to 
in 

with 

from 

by 

Pronoun  ist  person 
"        2d       " 
"        3d       " 

be,  aux. 

have,  *' 

shall,  " 

will,    " 

may,    " 

do,       «        • 

that 

and 


occurs 

12  times. 

(i 

3      " 

« 

10        " 

u 

10 

(( 

5 

i 

0 

i 

0 

« 

I 

« 

5 

« 

o 

u 

ii 

u 

2 

It 

3 

(( 

o 

u 

0 

« 

2          ' 

« 

I         " 

(( 

I         " 

(I 

7      " 

74 

other  particles, 

23 

97  particles. 


Hence,  Dr.  Franklin's  style  requires  197  common  words  to  obtain  100  dif- 
ferent words,  and  contains  about  forty-nine  per  cent,  particles,  and  forty-nine 
per  cent,  repetitions. 


Eighteenth  Century. 


487 


1! 

<1 


•9 


II 

8  | 
Vj 

«   15 

;,  s 


| 

FAMILY  : 

ooo  t>  COM  M      o           S  S 

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RECO-LATIN  I 

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1    ^ 

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s^ 

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488 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Thomas  Wartoris  ( '  History  of  English  Poetry" 

1790. 

4'The  last  of  these  three  dialects  (Norman  Saxon),  with  which  these  annals 
of  English  Poetry  commence ',  formed  a  language  extremely  barbarous,  irregu- 
lar,  and  intractable ;  and  consequently  promises  no  very  striking  specimens 
in  any  species  of  composition.  Its  substance  was  the  Danish  Saxon,  adulter- 
ated with  French.  The  Saxon  indeed,  a  language  subsisting  on  uniform 
principles,  and  polished  by  /0<?/j  and  theologists,  however  corrupted  by  the 
Danes,  had  ?##<:/*  perspicuity,  strength,  and  harmony ;  but  the  French  im- 
parted\yj  the  Conqueror  and  his  people  was  a  confused  jargon  of  Teutonic, 
Gaulish,  and  vitiated  Latin.  In  this  fluctuating  state  of  our  national  speech, 
the  French  predominated.  Even  before  the  Conquest  the  Saxon  language 
began  to  fall  into  contempt,  and  the  French,  or  Frankish,  to  be  substituted  in 
its  stead  :  a  circumstance  which  at  vtuc/t  facilitated  and  foretold  the  Norman 
accession.  In  the  year  652,  it  was  the  common  practice  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
to  send  their  youth  to  the  monasteries  of  France  for  education  :  and  not  only 
the  language  but  the  manners  of  the  French  were  esteemed  the  most  polite 
accomplishments.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  the  resort  of  Nor- 
mans to  the  English  court  was  so  frequent,  that  the  affectation  of  imitating 
the  Frankish  customs  became  almost  universal ;  and  the  nobility  were  ambi- 
tious of  catching  the  Frankish  idiom." 

187  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

26   times. 

have,  aux. 

occurs  o  times. 

a 

44 

4       " 

shall,    " 

"      o       " 

of 

" 

10        " 

will,     " 

«                      Q                        « 

to 

" 

5      " 

may,    » 

«          0          44 

from 

" 

0         " 

do,       » 

44           Q           «| 

in 

44 

2         " 

that 

44            j             « 

with 

(4 

2         " 

and 

i«           p           44 

by 

II 

3         " 

yf  _ 

Pro.  of  ist 
»        2d 

person      " 

44                 44 

I         " 
0        " 

09 
.  other  particles,  25 

"        3d 

(4                (( 

4      " 

94  particles. 

Be,  aux. 

'« 

2         " 

Hence,  Warton's  style  requires  about  187  common  words  to  obtain  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  51  per  cent,  particles,  and  47  per  cent, 
repetitions. 


Eighteenth  Century. 


489 


S  to 

•1C  FAMILY  : 

/'"**•  i  ijl 

c/  ^r 

E 

L,                      C3                      O   O 

<H 

I 

f..  Ja    II 

i  .. 

55 

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SARMA1 
VONIC  I 

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gs 

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1 

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_O     W             ^* 

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> 

01 

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w 

j 

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9 

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5 

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ji?aI8i|ii|'s^l*j 

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1       fe^ 

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$ 

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tjJ2  eg  r?1  v  J2  £  «.ti  5-8  5"o  5-S.3  c  t>  c  u  w  c  rt 

o-Latin  wot 
58 
*«*  meaning 

3 

I 

II 

j; 

THRACO-I 

Greek: 

§      ^  Jl  &|§'il  -g8!'!-^ 

all  words  <j 

490 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Gibbon's  "Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire" 

1783- 

"  While  the  Kingdoms  of  the  Franks  and  Visigoths  were  established  in 
Gaul  and  Spain,  the  Saxons  achieved  the  conquest  of  Britain,  the  third  great 
diocese  of  the  prefecture  of  the  west.  Since  Britain  was  already  separated 
from  the  Roman  Empire,  I  might  without  reproach,  decline  a  story,  familiar 
to  the  most  illiterate,  and  obscure  to  the  most  learned,  of  my  readers.  The 
Saxons,  who  excelled  in  the  use  of  the  oar  or  the  battle  axe  were  ignorant 
of  the  art  which  could  alone  perpetuate  the  fame  of  their  exploits ;  the  pro- 
vincials, relapsing  into  barbarism,  neglected  to  describe  the  ruin  of  their 
country ;  and  the  doubtful  tradition  was  almost  extinguished,  before  the  mis- 
sionaries of  Rome  restored  the  light  of  science  and  Christianity.  The  decla- 
mations of  Gildas,  the  fragments,  or  fables,  of  Nennius,  the  obscure  hints  of 
the  Saxon  laws  and  chronicles,  and  the  ecclesiastical  tales  of  the  venerable 
Bede,  have  been  illustrated  by  the  diligence,  and  sometimes  embellished  by  the 
fancy,  of  succeeding  writers,  whose  works  I  am  not  ambitious  either  to  censure 
or  to  transcribe.  *  Yet  the  historian  of  the  empire  may  be  tempted  to  pursue 
the  revolution  of  a  Roman  province,  till  it  vanishes,"  &c. 

183  common  words,  among  which 


The                        occurs    32  times. 

have,  aux.      occurs          I  times. 

a 

2 

shall,     " 

0 

of 

18 

will,       " 

o 

to 

6 

may,      " 

2 

from 

2 

do,         " 

0 

in 

•3 

that 

o 

with 

0 

and 

8 

by 

2 

— 

Pronoun,  ist  per. 

3 

88 

"       2d     " 

0 

other  particles,  21 

"      3d     " 

4 



be,  aux. 

5 

109  particles. 

Hence,  Gibbon's  style  requires  about  183  common  words  to  obtain  100  dif- 
ferent words,  and  averages  about  sixty  per  cent,  particles  and  forty-five  per 
cent,  repetitions. 


*  We  are  sorry  to  find  this  wholesale  impeachment  of  Celtic  and  Anglo- 
Saxon  authors  and  records  in  a  work  we  much  admire.  To  us  it  would  have 
seemed  a  most  laudable  ambition  to  furnish  plausible,  if  not  tangible  proof  to 
support  an  attack  against  Gildas,  A.D.  560,  and  Nennius,  against  Asser  who 
mentions  Nennius,  against  Bede,  who  endorses  Ethelbert's  laws,  against  Al- 
fred the  Great,  who  cites  Ethelbert's  and  Ina's  laws,  and  against  the  numerous 
unknown  chroniclers,  who  penned  the  simple  and  unpretending  "  Saxon 
Chronicle"  from  year  to  year  during  six  successive  centuries.  This  totally 
unsupported  sneer  appears  to  us  rather  bold,  not  to  say  superficial,  because  it 
involves  a  pretty  well  connected  historic  chain,  extending  from  about  A.D. 
560  to  11541  and  attaches  directly  and  indirectly  to  personages  and  writers^  as 
King  Ethelbert,  King  Ina,  Alfred  the  Great,  Archbishop  Plegmund,  Gi'.das, 
Bede,  Nennius,  Asser,  and  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth. 


Eighteenth  Century. 


! 


i 


i! 

! 


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Ai 

I 


Sw 

J 

i 

o^"1 

y 
^ 

..  "*  -       ^     31 

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§     ..    i-.su            Sf-§ 

&    ..j:  JJ1"  S'-g  Jj                 OOU 

O-SCLA- 
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if  " 

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A 

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V  J 

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RECO-LATIN 

French  ; 

Pl:|S|||||SJl|l|| 

^^'s^  ^    °y>'a«'t*H 

'n  words  : 
'rent  mean, 

U 

"S-o^«"  «t>f^  ,d«    «-i  s 

~*    10   ^ 

«"*1 

I  >        'Is 

y 

J  >  lll'i.'a  B  «=  J  ^  ^  "'^'^'1 

^  s 

s     * 

a 

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S    >3 

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11 


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r2^t 
Cic  0 


492  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Robertson's  "History  of  America"  1777. 

"As  the  conquest  of  the  two  great  empires  of  Mexico  and  Peru  forms  the 
most  splendid  and  interesting  period  in  the  history  of  America,  a  view  of  their 
political  institutions  and  a  description  of  their  national  manners  will  exhibit 
the  human  species  to  the  contemplation  of  intelligent  observers  in  a  very 
singular  stage  of  its  progress.  When  compared  with  other  parts  of  the  New 
World,  Mexico  and  Peru  may  be  considered  as  polished  States.  Instead  of 
small,  independent,  hostile  tribes,  struggling  for  subsistence  amidst  woods 
and  marshes,  strangers  to  industry  and  arts,  unacquainted  with  subordination, 
and  almost  without  the  appearance  of  regular  government,  we  find  countries 
of  great  extent  subjected  to  the  dominion  of  one  sovereign,  the  inhabitants 
collected  together  in  cities,  the  wisdom  and  foresight  of  rulers  employed  in 
providing  for  the  maintenance  and  security  of  the  people,  the  empire  of  law 
in  some  measure  established,  the  authority  of  religion  recognized,  many  of 
the  arts  essential  to  life  brought  to  some  degree  of  maturity." 

161  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

14 

times. 

a 

u 

3 

U 

of 

" 

13 

ft 

to 

II 

5 

"  ' 

from 

" 

0 

u 

in 

u 

5 

ii 

with 

11 

2 

" 

by 

II 

0 

u 

Pro.  of  ist  person 

u 

I 

u 

"     2d       " 

ft 

0 

II 

tt     3(i       tt 

" 

3 

" 

be,      aux. 

" 

i 

u 

have     " 

M 

0 

ft 

shall     " 

u 

0 

tt 

will      " 

u 

I 

11 

may     " 

" 

I 

ft 

do        " 

u 

0 

II 

that 

u 

0 

ft 

and 

tt 

7 

tt 

56 

other  particles, 

13 

75  particles. 

Hence,  Robertson's  style  requires  about  161  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-six  per  cent,  particles,  and  thirty- 
nine  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Eighteenth  Century. 


493 


f*        T3 

••*  fl 

• 

|    I 

§  i? 


| 

t?    is 

-  uT 


"?    £ 


»  -3 
j 

JS 


ARIO-SE 
TIC  TYP 


gl 

li 

],- 


ill 

«  >'I. 


I   | 


I    ^8 
I    I? 

141 

<|  si 
«  §i 

>3   $J 


11 


494  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Washington 's  Farewell  Address,  Sept,   17,  1776. 

"FRIENDS  AND  FELLOW  CITIZENS: 

"  The  period  for  a  new  election  of  a  citizen  to  administer  the  executive  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  being  not  far  distant,  and  the  time  actually 
arrived  when  your  thoughts  must  be  employed  in  designating  the  person  who 
is  to  be  clothed  with  that  important  trust,  it  appears  to  me  proper,  especially 
as  it  may  conduce  to  a  more  distinct  expression  of  the  public  voice,  that  I 
should  now  apprise  you  of  the  resolution  I  have  formed  to  decline  being  con- 
sidered among  the  number  of  those  out  of  whom  the  choice  is  to  be  made. 

"I  beg  you  at  the  same  time  to  do  me  the  justice  to  be  assured,  that  this 
resolution  has  not  been  taken  without  a  strict  regard  to  all  the  considerations 
appertaining  to  the  relation,  which  binds  a  dutiful  citizen  to  his  country,  and 
that  in  withdrawing  the  tender  of  service,  which  silence  in  my  situation  might 
imply,  I  am  influenced  by  no  deficiency  of  grateful  respect  for  your  past  kind- 
ness, but  am  supported  by  a  full,  &c. 

183  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs               14 

times. 

a 

6 

" 

of 

9 

" 

to 

10 

u 

from 

0 

" 

in 

3 

M 

with 

i 

M 

by 

2 

" 

Pro.  of  ist  person 

7 

11 

"     2d       " 

5 

" 

u      ^d         (i 

3 

" 

be,    aux. 

"                   6 

II 

have,  " 

"                           2 

II 

shall,  " 

"                           I 

" 

will,    " 

"                          0 

" 

may,   " 

2 

" 

do,      u 

"                           0 

" 

that 

4 

II 

and 

3 

II 

78 

other  particles,  25 

103 

particles. 

Hence,  the  style  of  Washington's  "  Farewell  Address  "  requires  183  com- 
mon words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-six  per  cent, 
particles,  and  forty-five  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Eighteenth  Century. 


495 


"C/3 

•6  o 


l 

C  8 


1 


^S     rt 


ilj|liglllsi&fil4J!llljj!f.8 


496 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


In  this  age  England's  language  expanded  to : 


Gibraltar 

Newfoundland,  America. . 
St.  Christopher  I.,  "  .. 
Vermont,  " 

Georgia,  " 

Canada,  " 

Tobago  Island,          " 
Michigan,  " 

Tennessee,  " 

Falkland  Islands,  "  .. 
Society  Islands,  Oceanica. 
Seychelles  Islands,  Africa. 

Australia,  Oceanica 

New  Zealand,     "      

Kentucky,  America 


A.D.  1704 

"  1713 

"  1713 

"  1724 

"  1733 

"  1759 

"  1763 

"  1763 

"  1765 

"  1765 

«  1767 

"  1768 

"  1770 

"  1770 

"  1775 


Van   Diemen's    Land,    or 
Tasmania,  Oceanica. .  ..A.D. 

Mysore,  Asia u 

Vancouver's   Island,    Am- 


Carnatic,  Asia 

Penang,  or  Prince  of  Wales 

Island,  Asia 

Sierra  Leone,  Africa 

Ohio,  America 

Pitcairn's  Island,  Oceanica 

Malacca,  Asia 

Cape  Colony,  Africa 

Ceylon,  Asia 

Trinidad  Island,  America. 


1777 
1780-' 

1781 
1783 

1786 
1787 
1788 
1789 
1795 
1795 
1796 
1797 


England  lost  her  finest  and  most  prosperous  colony  as  to  gov- 
ernment, but  not  as  to  language,  which  is  spoken  in  America 
with  less  provincialism  and  patois  than  in  the  British  Isles. 
Whatever  may  have  happened  previously,  since  the  compromise 
of  Geneva  the  British  Empire  and  the  United  States  can  and  may 
go  hand  in  hand  to  promote  civilization  and  progress  all  over  the 
Earth. 


NINETEENTH   CENTURY. 


"  The  peculiar  structure  of  the  English  language  is  far  from  having  been  investigated  as  yet 
with  that  degree  of  attention  and  accuracy  that  it  deserves.  Among  other  things,  we  do  not 
find,  that  any  grammarian  has  been  at  the  pains  to  take  a  full  comparative  view  of  its  two 
great  components,  by  which  we  mean,  on  the  one  hand,  those  words  that  are  derived  from 
the  Saxon,  Danish,  and  other  northern  languages  ;  and  on  the  other  hand  those  from  Greek, 
Latin,  French,  and  other  idioms." — P.  S.  DUPONCEAU. 

WE  shall  endeavor,  as  far  as  possible,  to  take  the  "full  com- 
parative view  "  desired  by  the  above  eminent  linguist,  to  whom 
the  French  Institute  awarded  a  prize  for  his  "  Memoir  on  the 
Indian  Languages  of  North  America,"  1835  ;  then  we  shall  lay 
the  result  before  the  English-speaking  populations  for  approval  or 
disapproval. 

As  the  authors  of  this  century  are  fresh  in  the  minds  of  English 
and  American  readers,  we  shall  not  enter  into  much  detail, 
because  our  thirty  Extracts  and  Tables  from  writers  in  different 
styles  will  speak  for  themselves.  After  our  close  numeric  re- 
search, showing  terseness  or  prolixity  in  vocabulary  and  direct- 
ness in  construction,  criticism  must  rest  on  a  numeric  basis  as  to 
words  of  inherent  meaning,  particles,  and  repetitions.  Great 
social  improvements  and  international  connections,  that  encour- 
age commerce  and  favor  linguistic,  literary,  and  scientific  ex- 
change, will  engage  our  attention,  although  they  may  only  seem 
indirectly  connected  with  language. 

Fulton  tried  to  apply  Watt's  steam  engine  to  navigation.  After 
various  disappointments  in  France  and  England,  and  after  being 
called  visionary  by  the  New  Yorkers,  he  succeeded,  1807,  in 
floating  and  propelling  by  steam  the  "  Clermont "  at  the  rate  of 
five  miles  per  hour.  But  soon  envy  and  rapacity  deprived  him 
of  any  benefit  from  his  patent  and  his  title  of  inventor,  which,  we 
are  told,  so  grieved  him  that  it  hastened  his  death,  1815.  How- 
ever, Fulton  will  be  remembered  when  mere  titled  celebrities  are 
forgotten.  From  Fulton's  success  there  was  but  a  step  to  tra- 
verse the  ocean  by  steam,  which  was  proposed  in  England  about 
1835,  accomplished  1840,  and  since  kept  in  successful  operation 


498  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

by  the  Cunards.  Soon  it  extended  over  the  globe  and  expedited 
travel,  international  intercourse,  and  civilization  more  than  any 
other  means. 

The  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal,  1825,  mainly  brought 
about  by  De  Witt  Clinton's  influence,  advanced  the  intercourse 
between  the  East  and  West  by  connecting  the  great  lakes  with 
the  Atlantic,  which  greatly  cheapened  the  transportation  of  food 
and  other  articles  of  necessity. 

S.  F.  B.  Morse  had  to  hold  his  lightning-speed  conveyance  of 
language  in  abeyance  from  1832  to  1844.  In  vain  he  applied  to 
capitalists  for  means  to  put  it  in  operation  ;  they  called  him 
visionary  and  crazy.  In  1837  he  asked  Congress  for  a  grant, 
which  was  refused.  In  1843  he  was  granted  $30,000  to  establish 
his  wires  between  Washington  and  Baltimore — he  made  it  a  per- 
fect success.  It  is  said,  that  when  he  received  the  first  telegram, 
he  turned  pale  and  almost  fainted,  either  from  sudden  joy  or  the 
recollection  of  the  trials  through  which  he  had  passed  for  twelve 
years.  But  an  ovation  was  in  store  for  the  great  inventor.  Dec- 
orations were  showered  upon  him  by  most  of  the  European 
sovereigns  ;  $80,000  were  presented  to  him  at  Paris  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  great  powers,  as  a  reward  for  his  invention.  A 
bronze  statue  has  been  erected  to  him  by  his  fellow-citizens  in 
Central  Park,  New  York.  It  was  done  during  his  lifetime.  It 
is  related  that  when  the  Emperor  of  Russia  received  him  he  re- 
marked, "  The  name  of  Morse  will  be  remembered  long  after 
mine  is  forgotten"  All  this  conclusively  shows,  that  nations 
have  so  progressed  as  to  appreciate  real  merit  better  than  they 
ever  did  before,  and  that  national  jealousies  are  waning.  The 
writer  remembers  with  emotion,  that  the  great  inventor  presented 
him  his  likeness  and  autograph  only  a  few  weeks  before  his 
death.  Meanwhile  the  literary  and  scientific  achievements  were 
brilliant  among  the  English-speaking  populations,  who  had  such 
authors  as  Scott,  Southey,  Coleridge,  Byron,  Campbell,  Moore, 
Hallam,  Wordsworth,  Mrs.  Hemans,  Mrs.  Sigourney,  Burns, 
Halleck,  Sir  John  Herschel,  Rogers,  Irving,  Audubon,  Dickens, 
Faraday,  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  Bryant,  George  Bancroft,  Longfellow, 
Tennyson,  and  a  host  of  others.  As  we  have  extracts  and 
tables  from  most  of  their  works,  we  only  allude  to  them  here. 

We  cannot  help  mentioning  here  Agassiz  and  Max  Miiller, 


Nineteenth  Century.      .  499 

who  are  an  honor  to  their  native  countries  and  to  the  English- 
speaking  populations,  among  whom  they  cast  their  lot.  Science 
and  language  point  to  them  as  eminent  representatives. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  age  one  of  the  most  useful  sciences 
had  progressed  from  alchemy  to  chemistry,  which  enriched  lan- 
guage with  a  vast  vocabulary,  reaching  into  arts,  mechanics, 
and  manufactures  :  Lavoisier,  Berzelius,  Priestley,  Sir  Humphrey 
Davy,  Liebig,  Draper,  &c.,  furnished  each  his  quota  of  elements, 
symbols,  equivalents,  gases,  fluids,  ethers,  agents,  reagents,  &c., 
which  have  since  swelled  into  a  Dictionary  of  Chemistry.  Dr. 
Gall's  new  science,  Phrenology,  although  rejected  by  the  French 
Institute,  1808,  has  been  a  rich  linguistic  fount ;  for  Spurzheim 
and  Dr.  Geo.  Combe  taught  it  in  England  and  America,  where 
manuals  have  been  written  and  successful  periodicals  established 
by  O.  S.  Fowler.  If  ever  you  go  to  Paris,  visit  the  "  Garden  of 
Plants"  and  see  Gall's  Phrenologic  Collection,  donated  to  that 
Institution.  Next  ride  to  "  Pere  la  Chaise,"  where  Gall  and 
Hahnemann  rest  side  by  side  under  modest  marble  slabs,  which 
singularly  contrast  with  the  costly  surrounding  monuments.  After 
being  coldly  treated  and  persecuted  in  the  Fatherland,  the  author 
of  phrenology  and  the  founder  of  Homeopathy  went  to  France's 
capital,  where  they  lived,  taught,  were  esteemed,  wrote,  and 
quietly  died.  No  wonder  Hume,  in  "My  own  Life,"  says: 

"  There  is  a  real  satisfaction  in  living  at  Paris,  from  the  great  number  of  sen- 
sible, knowing,  and  polite  company,  with  which  that  city  abounds,  above  all 
places  in  the  universe.  I  thought  once  of  settling  there  for  life." 

The  humble  tombs  of  those  two  scientists,  in  a  foreign  land, 
impressed  me  agreeably;  because,  after  all,  their  new  ideas  found 
sympathizers  abroad,  if  not  at  home  ;  but  it  convinced  me  of  the 
force  of  Christ's  .saying:  "A  prophet  is  not  without  honor,  save 
in  his  own  country."  However,  Gall  and  Hahnemann  have 
been,  are,  and  ever  will  be  gratefully  remembered  for  having  each 
added  his  quota  to  the  world's  stock  of  scientific  lore ;  whereas 
their  detractors  already  are,  and  ever  will  be,  disdainfully  for- 
gotten. During  my  sojourn  in  Vienna  I  was  glad  to  hear  emi- 
nent citizens  express  regret  at  Gall's  illiberal  treatment  by  their 
government. 

Daguerre's  invention,  called  Daguerreotype,  1839,  has  since 


5<x>  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

facilitated  other  arts  and  sciences,  fostered  photographing 
galleries  all  over  the  globe,  speeded  astronomic  observations 
and  added  words  and  phraseologies  to  language  and  literature. 
In  connection  with  this  devotee  to  science.  I  read  a  curious 
anecdote  while  in  Paris,  1848  :  Daguerre  had  watched,  toiled, 
and  labored  eight  years  at  his  mysterious  discovery  to  catch  a 
fleeting  figure  and  enable  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich  to  have 
images  of  absent  and  departed  friends,  when  his  wife  went  to 
one  of  Dumas'  chemical  lectures,  after  which  she  solicited  an 
interview,  which  was  granted  by  the  learned  Professor.  She  told 
him  her  husband  had  been  trying  to  catch  a  shadow  for  eight 
years,  asked  whether  such  a  thing  was  possible,  and  desired  to 
know  whether  M.  Dumas  did  not  consider  her  husband  insane? 
"  Madame,  I  cannot  tell  you  whether  it  is  possible  or  not  to  catch 
a  shadow  ;  many  things  were  thought  impossible  that  are  now 
possible."  Of  course  Madame  Daguerre  went  home  disappointed 
at  not  being  encouraged  by  the  great  chemist  to  apply  for  a  writ 
to  send  her  husband  to  an  insane  asylum.  However,  Daguerre 
persevered  four  years  longer  and  caught  the  shadow.  Instead 
of  patenting  it,  poor  as  he  was,  he  gave  it  to  the  world,  for  which 
the  French  government  granted  him  a  pension  of  about  $575. 
Here  it  was  not  the  church  or  government,  as  in  the  case  of 
Roger  Bacon,  Chaucer,  Hahnemann,  &c.,  but  the  nearest  and 
dearest,  that  tormented  the  scientist  during  his  laborious  re- 
search. Thus  have  the  martyrs  to  science,  art,  and  progress, 
depended  on  their  own  intuitions,  and  self-reliantly  worked  to 
attain  some  beneficent  object. 

In  1844  America  had  the  first  glimpse  of  a  most  beneficent 
discovery  :  Anaesthesis  by  "  nitrons  oxyd  gas"  first  experienced 
by  Horace  Wells,  M.D.  The  subsequent  vocabulary  of  that  dis- 
covery is  familiar,  not  only  to  surgeons  and  dentists,  but  to  the 
people  ;  no  Manual  of  Medicine  or  Dentistry  is  without  it. 

We  cannot  help  mentioning  here  the  discovery  of  a  planet 
by  pure  scientific  induction  and  deduction :  Leverrier,  after 
graduating  with  distinction  at  the  Polytechnic  School  in  Paris, 
devoted  himself  to  Astronomy.  While  rectifying  the  tables  of 
Uranus,  whose  course  was  disturbed  by  certain  deviations,  the 
young  aspiring  astronomer  paused  and  reasoned  thus :  If  Uranus, 
with  a  given  orbit,  mass,  and  position,  deviates  outwards,  there 


Nineteenth  Century.  501 

must  be  somewhere  outside  of  it  another  planet  with  such  and 
such  an  orbit,  such  and  such  a  mass,  such  and  such  a  position. 
With  Uranus  O.  M.  and  P.  the  young  savant  commenced  his  cal- 
culus for  X.  As  he  advanced  he  discovered  step  by  step  the 
quantities  of  the  unknown  planet,  and  communicated  to  the 
Academy  of  Sciences,  June,  1846,  his  results,  which  were  trans- 
mitted to  all  the  observatories.  By  these  data  the  planet  was 
telescoped  and  called  Neptune.  This  was  the  greatest  scientific 
triumph  ever  achieved,  proving  as  it  does  that  nothing  in  the 
universe  is  left  to  chance ;  that  seeming  deviations  and  irregu- 
larities are  subject  to  law.  The  writer  had  the  pleasure  of  visit- 
ing and  conversing  with  the  distinguished  astronomer  in  Paris, 
1848.  Cuvier's  "Regne  Animal,"  1817,  read  and  admired  by 
the  civilized  world,  has  become  classic.  Laplace's  "  Mecanique 
Celeste,"  1825,  has  been  considered  the  "ne  plus  ultra"  in 
mathematics  and  astronomy.  The  American  savant,  Bowditch, 
translated  it  into  English  with  explanatory  notes,  which  was  pro- 
nounced a  Herculean  task  by  English  critics.  "  What  we  know 
is  little ;  what  we  know  not  is  immense,"  were  Laplace's  dying 
words,  which  show  the  modesty  of  the  great  scientist. 

To  give  some  idea  of  Holland's  eminent  bard,  Bilderdijk,  1831, 
we  quote  his  apostrophe  to  language,  so  felicitously  translated  by 
Longfellow  : 

"Ye  flowing  sounds,  in  which,  with  breath  pour'd  forth, 
Like  Godlike  light  in  rays  the  soul  imparts 
Itself  !     Surpassing  light  or  melody  ; 
Deep  feeling's  offspring,  in  close  harmony, 
Spirit  and  matter  blending  and  uniting  ! 
Thro'  which  the  soul,  unburden'd,  breathes  and  lives 
The  life  of  angels  !     Thou  blest  tie  of  beings, 
No  vain  attempt  of  human  skill  art  thou, 
By  toilsome  minds,  with  pains  and  care  sought  out ; 
But  heaven's  own  gift,  breathed  with  breath  of  life, 
Shed  thro'  Creation,  far  as  mind  pervades  !  " 

The  opening  of  this  century  found  two  eminent  lexicographers, 
J.  Walker  and  N.  Webster.  While  the  former  pointed  out  some 
of  the  remaining  disharmony  and  irregularities  in  the  English 
language,  the  latter  urged  their  correction  and  showed  the  real 
origin,  not  only  of  the  English,  but  of  most  of  the  Ario- Japhetic 
dialects,  as  no  philologist  had  done  before.  Webster's  improve- 


502  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

ments  were  such  that  England  yielded  him  the  palm,  and  adopted 
his  orthoepy  and  suggestions  in  the  new  Imperial  Dictionary. 
Anglo-Saxon  also  has  had  enthusiastic  votaries  in  this  age  :  In- 
gram produced  a  splendid  edition  of  the  "  Saxon  Chronicle," 
while  Bosworth  wrote  an  Anglo-Saxon  Dictionary,  containing 
about  25,000  words,  1838,  and  an  excellent  Anglo-Saxon  Gram- 
mar, for  which  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Royal  Society. 
Thus  is  the  mother  tongue  of  English  now  revered,  after  being 
neglected  for  several  centuries  ;  "better  late  than  never." 

Bopp,  Gesenius,  Adelung,  Rask,  Burnouf,  Max  Miiller,  Dupon- 
ceau,  Whitney,  &c.,  made  language  a  noble  science,  which  they 
christened  philology,  a  name  that  dates  to  Chaucer's  "  Canter- 
bury Tales,"  A.D.  1300.  Already  it  has  cleared  up  history, 
geography,  ethnology,  and  archaeology ;  the  more  it  is  searched 
the  more  light  it  will  throw  on  man's  origin  and  progress. 

Since  Sir  Charles  Wilkins  and  Sir  William  Jones  mused  over 
Sanscrit  and  other  Oriental  literature  during  the  last  century, 
philology  has  taken  a  high  place  among  the  modern  sciences. 
Countess  Blavatsky's  "fsis  Unveiled :  a  Master-Key  to  the  Mys- 
teries of  Ancient  and  Modern  Science  and  Theology"  recently 
published  by  J.  W.  Bouton,  of  New  York,  is  calculated  to  throw 
much  light  on  the  customs,  symbols,  and  languages  of  Central  Asia, 
where  that  bold  lady  spent  many  years  as  an  observer  and  student. 
Her  work  is  a  thesaurus  of  new  phases  and  facts,  so  sprightfully 
related,  that  even  the  uninitiated  may  read  them  with  interest. 

From  the  opening  of  this  century  nothing  could  be  more  re- 
markable than  the  array  of  great  German  minds :  Goethe,  Schil- 
ler, Herder,  Kant,  Fichte,  Korner,  Klopstock,  Bopp,  Gesenius, 
Blumenbach,  Jean  Paul  Richter,  Wieland,  Niebuhr,  Bunsen, 
Uhland,  Liebig,  and  their  crowning  glory,  Alexander  von  Hum- 
boldt,  whose  "Cosmos"  will  ever  stand  pre-eminent  as  a  monu- 
ment to  human  genius.  Madame  de  Stael's  treatise  on  German 
literature,  styled  "  De  1'Allemagne,"  has  been  pronounced  a 
chef-d'oeuvre  by  French,  German,  English,  and  American  critics. 
Hence  we  refer  lovers  of  German  literature  to  her.  Whoever 
will  carefully  peruse  Goethe's  "Herman  and  Dorothea "  and 
" Werther's  Sorrows"  will  see  in  the  former  a  true  picture  of 
the  German  character,  manners,  and  customs ;  in  the  latter  a 
German  youth's  romantic  and  tragic  dreams.  These  are  Goethe's 


Nineteenth  Century.  5°3 

only  writings  that  have  a  moral  point ;  the  others  are  highly 
artistic  productions,  which,  like  the  author's  own  life,  are  with- 
out any  apparent  moral  tone.  Faust  may  be  considered  as 
Goethe's  autobiography. 

Schiller  was  the  whole-souled  man  and  author — open,  sincere, 
true.  His  parents  had  destined  him  for  the  ministry,  but  he  pre- 
ferred law  or  medicine,  which  latter  he  studied  for  a  time,  but  was 
finally  educated  at  Charles'  Academy  as  a  cadet  for  the  service 
of  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg.  The  reading  of  Wieland's  excel- 
lent version  of  Shakespeare's  works  awakened  Schiller's  enthu- 
siasm for  the  drama ;  but  as  there  was  an  ordinance,  forbidding 
cadets  to  be  literati,  Schiller  resolved  to  desert  and  'cast  his  lot 
among  the  English-speaking  populations  in  Britain  or  America. 
Schiller's  life  and  all  his  writings,  especially  his  "Jungfrau  von 
Orleans"  (Maid  of  Orleans),  evince  a  deep  veneration  and 
championship  for  woman.  Shakespeare  and  Voltaire  perverted 
history,  and  injured  themselves  by  casting  a  slur  on  the  pure 
woman,  who  died  a  martyr  to  save  her  country.  Schiller  and 
Southey  fully  vindicated  Joan  of  Arc  in  their  admired  essays.  As 
Schiller's  private  correspondence*  expresses  noble  sentiments 
and  shows  his  real  character  more  clearly  than  any  of  his  literary 
productions,  we  cite  a  few  passages  therefrom.  The  English 
and  Americans,  who  are  unacquainted  with  this  phase  of  the 
great  writer's  career,  will,  no  doubt,  feel  a  deep  interest  therein : 

"To  MADAM  VON  WOLZOGEN  :f 

"HANOVER,  January,  1783. 

"  I  have  made  a  decided  change  in  my  plans.  I  at  first  thought  of  Hol- 
land, and  now  I  have  turned  towards  England;  it  is  not  from  inclination. 
My  great  desire  is  to  see  the  New  World.  If  North  America  becomes  free, 
then  it  is  settled  that  I  go  there.  Something  boils  in  my  veins — I  long  to 
make  a  leap  in  this  rugged  world  that  shall  be  heard  of.  Write  to  me,  I  beg, 
and  let  me  hear  that  you  are  still  my  friend." 

"  FRANKFORT,  Jan.,  1783. 
41  To  WILLIAM  VON  WOLZOGEN  :  \ 

"  My  fate  has  now  led  me  hither,  &c.  Did  I  not  always  say  to  you,  when 
we  were  yet  together,  that  my  fortunes  would  be  nearly  the  same  as  they  have 

*  The  gems  of  that  interesting  interchange  were  translated  into  English  by 
Mrs.  Jane  L.  Weisse,  1841. 
f  "  Letters  of  Schiller,"  p.  17. 
\  Schiller's  schoolmate,  son  of  Madam  Wolzogen. 


504  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

now  become  ?  I  can  no  longer  endure  this ;  *  I  depart  for  America,  and  this 
shall  be  my  farewell  letter.  I  have  exact  information  from  a  commercial 
house  here,  how  one  goes  forward  in  the  New  World.  But  you  will  ask, 
what  will  I  do  there  ?  that  time  and  circumstances  shall  determine ;  I  have 
not  neglected  my  medicine — or  I  could  teach,  as  professor  of  philosophy — 
perhaps  enter  into  politics — perhaps  nothing  of  all  that.  But  I  shall  not 
therefore  cease  to  write  tragedies ;  you  know  that  my  whole  being  depends  on 
that.  If  I  have  the  opportunity,  you  shall  hear  from  me  from  America.  Fare- 
well, dearest  friend,  and  continue  to  love  me,  as  I  love  you.  Remember  me 
to  Petersen,  Abel  and  all  others,  that  were  dear  to  my  heart." 

"  JENA,  Sept.  12,  1789. 
"  To  CHARLOTTE  VON  LENGEFELD  :  f 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  a  walk.  In  the  great  free  space  of  Nature  as 
in  my  solitary  chamber,  it  is  ever  the  same  ether  in  which  I  move,  and  the 
fairest  landscape  is  to  me  but  a  more  beautiful  mirror  of  ever-remaining  form. 
Never  have  I  felt  so  much,  how  freely  the  soul  deals  with  all  created  things, 
how  little  they  can  give  of  themselves,  but  all — all  receive  from  the  soul. 
Only  by  that,  which  we  lend  to  Nature,  does  she  attract  and  enrapture  us. 
The  charm,  in  which  she  dresses  herself,  is  only  the  reflection  of  the  agreeable 
in  the  soul  of  the  spectator ;  and  enthusiastically  we  kiss  the  glass  that  sur- 
prises us  with  our  own  image.  Who  could  otherwise  bear  the  eternal  same- 
ness of  her  appearance,  the  eternal  repetition  of  herself?  Only  through  man 
becomes  she  various :  only  because  we  renew  ourselves,  becomes  she  new. 
How  often  have  I  seen  the  sun  go  down,  and  how  often  has  my  fancy  lent  it 
speech  and  soul!  but  never,  never  as  now  have  I  read  in  it  my  love,"  &c., 

p.    121. 

As  many  of  the  fifty-eight  letters,  thus  translated,  contain  phi- 
losophic ideas  full  of  pathos  and  are  an  acquisition  to  any  litera- 
ture, we  quote  from  the  one  that  attributes  all  to  man's  soul, 
without  which  the  universe  would  have  no  witness,  no  contem- 
plater,  no  admirer.  Imagine  Schiller  in  America  (1783)  as 
teacher,  physician,  or  politician ;  for  there  was  little  room  for 
tragedies  among  the  Puritans  or  Quakers.  He  might  have  be- 
come eminent  among  his  countrymen,  who  have  ever  been  excel- 
lent citizens  of  the  great  Republic ;  but  would  he  have  become 
the  lofty  poet  and  historian  ?  His  grateful  countrymen  remem- 
bered him  and  placed  his  statue  with  that  of  Humboldt  in  New 
York  Central  Park.  How  his  enthusiastic  spirit  must  glory  in 
this  triumph  ! 

*  Living  concealed  as  a  deserter. 
f  The  lady  Schiller  married,  1790. 


Nineteenth  Century.  5°5 

Balbi's  "Ethnographic  Atlas  of  the  Globe  ;  or,  Classification  of 
Ancient  and  Modern  Nations  according  to  their  Language  "  con- 
tains a  mine  of  useful  knowledge,  derived  from  Humboldt,  Cham- 
pollion,  Adelung,  and  other  savants.  Italy  may  feel  as  proud  of 
Balbi  in  this  as  she  did  of  Dante  in  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
metaphysic  mysticism  of  Kant,  Fichte,  Schelling,  Hegel,  &c., 
culminated  in  the  beginning  of  this  age.  Some  called  it  "Trans- 
cendentalism." Soon  it  spread  to  France,  England  and  America, 
where  it  found  advocates  in  Cousin,  Carlyle,  Emerson,  &c. 
Hazy  words,  tortuous  construction  and  obscure  phraseology  were 
considered  philosophic  profundity.  To  be  one-third  misunder- 
stood, one-third  doubted  and  one-third  apprehended  were  char- 
acteristic merits.  However,  this  literary  movement  had  the 
fortunate  effect  of  emancipating  authors  from  scholastic  conven- 
tionalities, academic  dictation  and  grammatic  puerilities.  Hum- 
boldt, Cuvier,  Laplace,  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  &c.,  succeeded  in 
substituting  pure  science  to  metaphysics,  so  that  within  the  last 
twenty-five  years  hardly  any  metaphysic  writing  appeared  in 
Germany.  It  is  yet  somewhat  indulged  in  by  a  few  English  and 
American  writers.  Transcendentalism  modified  language  by  ex- 
panding and  changing  the  sense  of  words  and  by  adding  Greco- 
Latin  neologisms.  Those  who  admire  Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost," 
will  find  somewhat  of  a  parallel  in  Klopstock's  "  Messiah." 
Some  of  Klopstock's  odes  are  replete  with  tender  and  lofty  ideas. 
We  might  pen  eulogistic  pages  on  each  and  all  of  these  great 
authors ;  but  there  are  excellent  translations,  and  whoever  will 
peruse  them  will  not  regret  the  time  spent  therein.  We  have 
thus  throughout  this  work  incidentally  alluded  to  German,  French, 
Italian,  Spanish  and  Portuguese  literature;  because  they  advanced 
"  pari  passu  "  with  the  English,  and  constantly  acted  and  reacted 
on  each  other. 

Lately  appeared  a  movement,  styled  spiritualism,  which  has 
spread  over  the  Christian  world :  it  has  already  modified  the 
meaning  of  many  words  and  introduced  new  terms  and  phrase- 
ologies. Its  literature  is  legion  ;  even  the  pulpit  uses  expressions 
from  its  vocabulary ;  so  do  novelists  and  other  literati. 

As  a  Table  of  some  of  the  principal  words  from  the  English 
spiritual  vocabulary  will  exhibit  the  versatility  of  England's  idiom 
in  that  department,  we  give  it  here : 


5o6 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Table  of  some  of  the  Principal  Words  that  Constitute  the  English  Spiritual 

Vocabulary : 


Greco- 
Latin: 

Gotho- 
Gerntanic  : 

Celtic: 

Semitic: 

Sanscrit  : 

Zend: 

Deity 

God 

Deu-tatt 

Elohitn 

Ormuzd 

Divinity 
Creator 
Supreme 
Omnipotent 

Godhead 
Lord 
Gospel 

Almighty 

(god-father,  or 
Teutas  of  the 
Celts) 

,  Jehovah 
Jah 

Avatar 
(divine  meta- 
morphosis) 

[good  spirit) 

Omniscient 

Allwise 

Eternity 
Infinite 

Everlasting 

Immortality 

•     Soul 

Providence 

Angel 
Spirit 

Ghost 

Seraphim 
Cherubim 

Demon 

Genii 

Gnomes 

Hobgoblins 

Sylph 

Elf 

Nymph 
Muses 

Seer 
Soothsayer 

Prophets 

Oracle 

Wizard 

Sibyl 

Witch 

Penates 

rlousehold  Gods 

Bible 
Paradise 

Foreboding 
Heaven 

Koran  (teaching) 
Eden 

Vedas  (know- 
ledge) 

Zendavesta 

Hades 

Valhalla 

Satan 

Ahriman 

Celestial 

Elysium 

happiness 

(bad  spirit) 

Felicity 

Tartarus 

Hell 

Destiny 

Redeemer 

Christ 

Psychology 
Psychologize 

Manes 

Martyrology 
Spiritualism 

Clairvoyant 

Medium 

Spheres 

Circles 

Inspiration 

Intuition 

Vision 

Magic 

Magician 

Omen 

Impression 

Presentiment 

Prophecy 

Devil 

Trinity 

Monotheism 

Theogony 

Theology 

Theocracy 

Theosaphy 

Christianity 
Beatitude 

Trance 

Astrology 
Talismans 

Shrine 

Reliquary 

Purgatory 
Necromancy 

Ordeal 

Legends 

Apparition 
Saints 

Nineteenth  Century.  507 

Here  are  about  one  hundred  words  that  originated  in,  and 
addressed  themselves  to,  man's  highest  faculties;  they  flowed 
into  English  from  Gotho-Germanic,  Greco-Latin,  Celtic,  and 
Semitic  sources ;  hence,  no  language  has  as  rich  and  varied  a 
metaphysic  and  spiritual  vocabulary  :  ancient,  Medieval,  and 
modern  streams  contributed  their  quota.  This  vocabulary  con- 
stitutes the  charm  of  the  Bible,  Zendavesta,  Koran,  and  Vedas. 
Take  from  the  Bible  Elohim,  who  uttered  the  first  language  on 
Earth :  "  Let  there  be  light ;  "  created  the  universe  in  six  epochs* 
conversed  with  Adam  and  Noah,  and  told  Abraham  :  "  Get  thee 
out  of  thy  country ;"  omit  the  angelic  visitors  in  human  form  to 
Abraham  and  Lot ;  the  intercourse  between  Jehovah  and  Moses ; 
the  poetic  strains  of  seers  and  prophets  ;  and  the  spiritual  expe- 
riences of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  converse  with  seraphim  from  his 
birth  to  his  death.  Drop  the  pleasant  dialogues  between  Or- 
muzd  and  Zoroaster  from  the  Zendavesta,  and  do  the  same  with 
the  Koran  and  Vedas. 

Next  expunge  spirit  entities,  apparitions,  impressions,  influ- 
ences, omens,  presentiments,  dreams,  forebodings,  &c.,  from 
Socrates',  Confucius',  and  Zoroaster's  teachings ;  from  Plato's 
writings  ;  from  Homer's  Iliad  and  Odyssey ;  from  Virgil's  Eneid; 
from  Dante's  Inferno ;  from  Shakespeare's  Dramas ;  from  Mil- 
ton's "  Paradise  Lost ;"  from  Swedenborg's  "Arcana  Celestia;" 
from  Klopstock's  "Messiah;"  from  Herbert  Spencer's  "Prin- 
ciples of  Psychology;"  from  Dumas'  "Monte  Christo,"  and 
numerous  other  romantic  writings,  which  have  of  late  been  so 
full  of  spiritual  terms  and  ideas ;  then  what  have  you  left  ?  If 
materialists  could  thus  obliterate  the  spiritual  element  from  sacred 
and  profane  literature,  they  would  beggar  mankind  of  what  is 
sublimest  and  most  attractive  in  language ;  for  children  and  the 
unlettered  listen  eagerly  to  ghost  stories,  talismans,  and  fairy- 
tales ;  while  the  aged  and  wise  delight  in  thinking,  speaking,  and 
reading  of  spiritual  themes  here  and  hereafter.  Skeptics  may 
pretend  to  sneer  at  spirituality  and'  assert  materiality  as  the  ulti- 
matum ;  they  do  not  and  cannot  consistently  believe  what  they 
say  and  write ;  for  if  they  did,  and  would  be  consistent,  they 
could  not  and  would  not  face  the  vicissitudes  of  this  life  "  three 

*  Translate  Hebrew  torn  by  epoch,  and  not  day  of  twenty-four  hours. 


508  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

score  and  ten  "  years ;  because  to  endure  them  with  becoming 
fortitude,  something  higher  than  matter,  something  of  the  seer 
and  stoic,  is  indispensable. 

History  mentions  periodic  spiritual  movements  among  tribes, 
nations,  and  races  :  the  Shepherd  Kings  and  Magi  contemplated 
and  questioned  the  stars  concerning  man's  destiny,  contrived  a 
science  styled  astrology,  on  which  the  Phenicians,  Greeks,  and 
Romans  based  their  theogony.  Zoroaster,  Pythagoras,  Socrates, 
Plato,  Numa,  and  Seneca,  conceived  and  advocated  a  loftier 
morality  than  polytheism  and  stoicism.  The  skepticism  of  Pyr- 
rho  and  materialism  of  Epicurus  were  but  anti-spiritual  interludes. 
Christ,  his  apostles,  and  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  appeared  and 
gave  the  world  a  higher  standard  of  religion  than  Platonism ;  but 
the  Romish  hierarchy  carried  saints,  shrines,  and  reliquaries  to 
such  excess  that  a  reaction  became  indispensable  :  that  reaction 
came  with  Pierre  de  Bruys,  A.D.  1147,  Wickliffe,  1382,  Huss, 
Luther,  &c.,  who  protested  against  numerous  saints,  shrines,  and 
legends,  and  styled  them  ghost-stories  and  fairy-tales.  Next 
Protestantism  tried  to  abrogate  all  intermediary  entities  between 
God  and  man,  and  to  deprive  mankind  of  spiritual  visitors  in 
human  form,  tolerated  and  encouraged  even  by  Judaism  in  Abra- 
ham's day.  Lately  modern  spiritualism  arose  among  the  Protes- 
tants of  the  New  World  to  check  this  stern  and  barren  rationalism 
(which  is  but  ancient  stoicism  in  disguise),  and  to  bring  about  a 
spiritualism  free  from  excessive  Protestantism  and  from  priestly 
puerilities  and  legends — a  spiritualism  based  on  the  purest  of 
Christ's  ethics,  which  challenge  man's  highest  aspirations. 

The  above  Table  shows  seventy  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  twenty 
per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  eight  per  cent.  Semitic,  and  two  per 
cent.  Celtic.  Hence,  the  English  spiritual  vocabulary  is  nearly 
three-quarters  Greco -Latin  and  one-quarter  Gotho-Germanic. 
Some  of  these  words  apply  to  good,  and  some  to  bad  entities  or 
principles ;  but,  as  Shakespeare  tells  us,  "There  is  some  soul  of 
goodness  in  things  evil"  we  cite  both. 

The  English  language  gained  more  prestige  in  the  laying  of 
the  first  Atlantic  Cable  from  1854  to  1866,  than  by  any  other 
previous  event,  action  or  contrivance.  That  Herculean  enter- 
prise taxed  the  aggregate  intellect  of  the  scientists,  engineers, 
statesmen  and  financiers  of  England  and  America ;  never  was 


Nineteenth  Century.  5°9 

there  a  sublimer  conception  than  that  of  taming  the  Ocean  by  a 
submarine  lightning  speed  language-carrier  * 

We  might  rehearse  some  of  the  thrilling  details  coincident  with 
the  conception,  manufacture  and  laying  of  the  Cable,  as  related 
by  W.  R.  Russell,  Robert,  Dudley  and  H.  M.  Field,  D.D.,  whose 
"History  of  the  Atlantic  Telegraph"  written  in  a  most  attractive 
style,  deserves  perusal  by  all  who  are  interested  in  national  prog- 
ress. We  might  enlarge  on  the  numerous  failures  and  disasters 
to  the  combined  English  and  American  navies  during  the  twelve 
years  of  experiments  and  trials,  first,  in  laying  the  cable  between 
Nova  Scotia  and  Newfoundland,  next  between  Newfoundland  and 
Ireland,  a  distance  of  1600  miles  :  but  as  most  of  them  are  well 
known,  we  only  state  that  Lieutenant  Maury's  letter  and  naval 
report  of  February  22,  1854,  and  Professor  Morse's  prophetic 
lines  to  Hon.  J.  C.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  August 
10,  1843  : 

"  The  practical  inference  from  this  law  is,  that  a  telegraphic  communica- 
tion, on  the  electro-magnetic  plan,  may  with  certainty  be  established  across 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Startling  as  this  may  now  seem,  I  am  confident  the 
time  will  come  when  this  will  be  realized." 

This  prophecy  was  more  than  fulfilled  ;  for,  after  four  failures 
and  a  cost  of  about  $10,000,000,  two  cables  were  laid  (1866)  on 
that  remarkable  submarine  plateau,  where  they  have  worked 
for  twelve  years,  and  are  yet  working,  1878,  without  showing  signs 
of  decay  ;  thus  binding  the  two  continents  by  an  electro-magnetic 
grasp,  that  will  not  and  cannot  be  severed,  as  long  as  English- 
speaking  peoples  live  on  this  planet. 

Two  telegraphic  congratulations,  handed  to  Mr.  Cyrus  W. 
Field  about  the  same  moment  at  St.  Johns,  Newfoundland,  July 
1866,  one  from  Egypt  by  M.  de  Lesseps,  across  the  Mediterra- 


*  After  all,  how  poor  language  yet  is,  when  it  attempts  to  utter  and  pen 
thoughts  and  ideas  of  a  sublimely  conceived  and  vastly  combined  plan  of 
Nature's  forces,  as  the  above  !  We  should  and  must  have  a  language  capable 
of  uttering,  writing  and  printing  such  a  conception  and  achievement  in  one 
word,  instead  of  five.  Even  Greek  and  Latin  are  inadequate  to  furnish  ety- 
mons for  such  a  combination.  Perhaps  Essays  like  Winter's  "  Etymologi- 
con,"  or  Max  Miiller's  and  Whitney's  Studies  of  Sanscrit  roots,  may  succeed 
in  suggesting  a  method  to  form  such  vocables. 


5io  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

nean  and  Atlantic,  the  other  from  California  over  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  deserve  special  attention,  showing,  as  they  do,  that 
even  the  land  of  the  Pharaohs  and  the  land  of  the  remotest 
pioneers  of  the  New  World  can  instantly  be  brought  together 
by  this  most  marvelous  of  scientific  devices. 
.  In  connection  with  this  unparalleled  triumph  over  obstacles 
that  were  styled  impossibilities  by  would-be  scientists,  we  must 
not  overlook  three  indispensable  agents  :  Gutta-Percha,  the  Deep 
Sea  Sounding  Apparatus  of  J.  A.  Brooke,  lieutenant  of  U.  S.  N., 
and  the  Great  Eastern,  whose  advent  seems  to  have  coincided 
with  the  demand  for  the  Atlantic  Cable.  Gutta-Percha  is  the 
coagulated  juice  of  the  Isonandra  gutta,  a  stately  tree  of  about 
one  hundred  years'  growth,  in  the  Malayan  Archipelago.  This 
pliable,  elastic,  water-proof  substance,  discovered  1848,  was 
necessary  to  insulate  the  wires  of  the  Atlantic  Cable. 

Brooke's  Sounding  Apparatus  was  used  to  ascertain  the  depth 
and  character  of  the  Atlantic  between  Ireland  and  Newfoundland, 
1854,  and  revealed  that  its  bottom  was  a  plateau  of  minute  shells ; 
the  Great  Eastern,  constructed  without  reference  to  the  Atlantic 
Cable,  proved  to  be  the  ship  required  to  lay  it  in  1866.  Thus, 
from  one  triumph  to  another,  means  seem  to  be  mysteriously 
provided  to  prepare  the  human  mind  for  higher  and  nobler 
themes  :  first  the  Marquis  of  Worcester's  conception  of  the  power 
of  steam,  1660;  next  Watt's  steam-engine,  1765;  soon  Fulton's 
steamboat,  1807  ;  then  the  majestic  train  of  cars,  whose  imposing 
look  and  velocity,  caused  an  unsophisticated  Indian  to  exclaim  : 
"Hell  in  harness!" 

Shall  we  describe  how  England  and  America  rewarded  their 
scientists  and  workers,  not  for  achieving  martial  victories,  but  for 
promoting  "  peace  and  good- will  towards  men  ?  "  Shall  we  cite 
the  encouraging  words  of  the  Queen,  knighting  those  who  made, 
tested,  engineered,  laid,  and  worked  the  cable  ?  Shall  we  name 
the  American  whom  the  Queen  mentioned  as  first  and  last  in  that 
vast  enterprise  ?  Shall  we  read  the  unanimous  vote  of  Congress 
(March  2,  1867),  requesting  the  President  to  tender  thanks  and 
present  a  gold  medal  "to  Cyrus  W.  Field?"  As  most  of  us  know 
these  details,  let  us  pass  to  some  of  the  unanticipated  and  yet 
untold  benefits  conferred  upon  the  English-speaking  populations 
and  the  world  by  that  unique  achievement :  Who  did,  who  could 


Nineteenth  Century.  511 

anticipate  that  within  a  decade  of  years  from  that  seemingly  super- 
human task  52,500  miles  of  cable  would  gird  the  globe,  that  this 
vast  submarine  lightning-speed  language-carrier  would  almost 
be  entirely  controlled  by  the  English-speaking  populations,  that 
about  nine-tenths  of  the  distant  submarine  telegrams  would  be 
transmitted  in  English  and  translated  into  other  idioms,  and  that, 
in  spite  of  this  seemingly  complicated  method,  time  and  expense 
would  be  saved,  because  the  English  mind  and  language  are 
specially  fitted  for  telegraphing.  Thus  some  Prescient  Intelli- 
gence adapted  means  to  ends  that  were  beyond  human  foresight, 
and  prepared  the  English  language  for  universal  adoption,  pro- 
vided the  English-speaking  populations  realize  that  their  welfare 
and  that  of  mankind  are  identic. 

Hear  what  the  British  statesman,  Lord  Stanley,  then  Minister 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  said  at  the  grand  banquet  given  by  the  Liver- 
pool Chamber  of  Commerce,  Oct.  i,  1866  : 

"  We  are  going  to  bring  the  people  of  England  and  the  United  States  into 
a  closer  connection  with  one  another  than  has  ever  existed  before.  That  is, 
in  my  mind,  a  great  gain.  They  have  no  opposite  interest ;  united  they  are  a 
match  for  the  world,  while  a  quarrel  between  them  would  be  a  fearful  injury, 
not  only  to  themselves,  but  to  the  best  interests  of  mankind.  It  is  my  deep 
conviction  that  on  the  union  of  the  two  nations  more  than  on  any  other  earthly 
thing,  the  future  of  civilization  depends." 

Behold  the  unanimous  thanks  to  Cyrus  W.  Field  by  the  Com- 
pany, of  which  Peter  Cooper  was  President  and  Wilson  G.  Hunt 
Secretary  : 

' 4  To  him  more  than  any  other  man  the  world  is  indebted  for  this  magnifi- 
cent instrument  of  good  ;  and  but  for  him  it  would  not,  in  all  probability,  be 
now  in  existence ;  his  services,  though  so  great  in  themselves,  and  so  valuable 
to  this  company,  were  rendered  without  any  remuneration." 

Also  a  few  words  from  the  felicitous  speech  of  A.  A.  Low, 
President  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce,  at  the  banquet 
given  by  that  body,  Nov.  15,  1866  : 

"  We  may  fairly  claim  that,  from  first  to  last,  Cyrus  W.  Field  has  been 
more  closely  identified  with  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  than  any  other  living  man, 
and  his  name  and  his  fame,  which  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  has  justly  left 
to  the  care  of  the  American  government  and  people,  will  be  proudly  cherished 
and  gratefully  honored." 


512  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Mr.  Field's  answer  to  his  fellow-citizens  tended  to  "  peace  and 
good-will "  in  this  key-note  : 

"  Let  who  will  speak  against  England,  I  beg  my  countrymen  to  remember 
the  ties  of  kindred ;  and  he  is  an  enemy  of  his  country  and  of  the  human  race 
who  would  stir  up  strife  between  two  nations  that  are  one  in  race,  in  lan- 
guage, aiid  in  religion.  I  close  with  this  sentiment  :  England  and  America — 
clasping  hands  across  the  sea — may  this  firm  grasp  be  a  pledge  of  friendship 
to  all  generations."  (Enthusiastic  applause — the  audience  rising  and  giving 
three  cheers.) 

No  doubt  the  Atlantic  cable  has  been,  is,  and  ever  will  be,  ce- 
menting England  and  America ;  for  it  is  visible  in  Americans  cele- 
brating Queen  Victoria's  birthday,  and  in  the  reception  of  ex- 
President  Grant  in  England,  1877;  yet  only  a  decade  has 
elapsed  since  that  great  triumph  was  achieved. 

It  is  but  just  to  state  here  and  now  that  the  grand  triumph  of 
1866  originated  in  the  laying  of  the  cable  between  Nova  Scotia 
and  Newfoundland  by  five  New  York  merchant-princes  :  Cyrus 
W.  Field,  Peter  Cooper,  Chandler  White,  Moses  Taylor,  Mar- 
shall O.  Roberts,  and  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  whose  failures  during 
two  years,  and  ultimate  success,  1856,  strengthened  Professor 
Morse's  prediction  and  suggested  the  possibility  of  a  similar  con- 
nection between  the  Old  and  New  World.  The  public-spirited 
directors  of  this  company,  of  which,  as  previously  stated,  Peter 
Cooper  was  President,  liberally  used  their  influence  and  wealth 
to  complete  the  grandest  work  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Another  gigantic  task  was  the  connecting  of  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  by  rail,  which  soon  linked  America  to  Japan  and  China 
by  steamships,  while  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  and  Red 
Sea  were  made  to  percolate  the  sandy  desert,  so  as  to  form  the 
Suez  Canal.  Now  one  more  triumph,  a  ship-canal  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  is  reserved  for  the  English-speaking  popula- 
tions. After  Nature's  arcana  have  been  thus  explored  by  science, 
and  seemingly  insurmountable  obstacles  overcome  for  man's  phy- 
sical, mental,  and  linguistic  progress,  we  may  rationally  ask  what 
next  ?  The  answer  is  already  half  developed  :  man  will  transmit 
with  his  telegrams  the  sympathetic  accents  of  his  voice  ;  London 
and  New  York  will  be  within  speaking  distance  by  means  of  the 
recently  invented,  but  yet  to  be  perfected  Telephon  and  Phono* 


Nineteenth  Century.  513 

graph  ;  then  the  simplest,  most  felicitously  combined,  most  tele- 
graphic language,  which  is  the  English,  will  become  universal. 

In  this  age  of  wonders,  the  philanthropic  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe,  of 
Boston,  discovered  a  method  of  teaching  the  blind  how  to  read 
by  running  the  tips  of  their  fingers  along  raised  letters.  His  suc- 
cess with  Laura  Bridgeman  attracted  the  world's  attention  to  his 
method.  In  1832  he  opened  the  u  Perkins  Institution  for  the 
Blind,"  and  devoted  his  life  to  the  education  of  the  blind  and 
idiotic,  whose  faculties  and  language  he  wonderfully  improved. 
The  New  York  Bible  House  prints  Bibles  with  raised  letters, 
which  are  really  curious.  When  we  see  one  of  the  five  senses 
thus  substituted  for  another,  namely,  touch  for  sight,  we  may 
really  exclaim  :  "  What  is  there  not  in  a  touch  ?  "  Here  one  part 
of  language,  denied  by  Nature,  was  supplied  by  art.  Dr.  Howe 
might  truly  say  with  Job  xxix.,  15  :  "  I  was  eyes  to  the  blind." 

As  the  sciences  styled  Sociology  and  Political  Economy  have 
lately  added  many  new  terms  and  phraseologies  to  language,  and 
placed  volumes  on  the  shelves  of  our  libraries,  we  must  allude  to 
them.  Rousseau's  "Inequality  Among  Men"  1753,  and  Adam 
Smith's  "Nature  and  Causes  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations"  1776, 
attracted  scores  of  writers. 

Malthus'  "Future  Improvement  of  Society"  1798;  Fourier's 
"Theory  of  Four  Movements  and  General  Destinies"  1808; 
Robert  Owen's  "New  View  of  Society"  1812  ;  Saint  Simon's 
"Reorganization  of  Labor"  1814;  Louis  Blanc's  "Organiza- 
tion of  Labor"  1840,  &c.  Malthus'  principle  that  population 
increases  in  geometrical  progression,  whereas  the  supply  of 
food  and  other  necessaries  of  life  only  increase  in  arithmetical 
progression,  startled  publicists,  statesmen,  and  rulers.  We  think 
enough  grows  on  this  planet  to  feed,  clothe,  and  house  all 
classes  of  the  human  family  comfortably.  The  only  thing  needed 
is  a  just  and  equitable  distribution  of  all  the  necessaries  of 
life  and  of  the  labor  required  to  produce  them.  The  social 
questions  and  theories  culminated  in  the  upheaval  of  1848,  which 
revolutionized  most  of  the  European  nations,  who  became  tinged 
with  socialism,  communism,  pauperism,  capital  against  labor,  &c., 
terms  that  conveyed  to  the  masses  an  idea  of  equal  division 
of  production  and  wealth.  The  motto,  "  Liberty,  Equality,  and 
Fraternity,"  intoxicated  young  and  old,  ignorant  and  learned. 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Proudhon,  one  of  the  philosophers  and  legislators  of  that  period 
even  declared  and  published  the  strange  anomaly  :  "La  propriete 
c*est  le  vol "  (properly  is  theft),  as  though  a  man  who  would  clear  a 
plot  of  ground,  plough,  cultivate,  and  reap  it,  could  commit  a 
theft  by  so  doing  !  !  !  The  only  result  of  such  teaching  can  be 
social  chaos,  which  can  be  averted  by  general  education  alone. 
Let  all  be  educated  according  to  their  capacities  ;  let  all  be 
taught  Zoroaster's  "Do  unto  others  as  you  would  have  them  do 
unto  you"  and  Christ's  '•'•Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  &c.  All 
can  be  taught  and  all  can  understand  these  simple  precepts, 
which,  if  practised,  will  solve  all  the  intricate  questions  lately 
started  by  socialists,  political  economists,  and  philanthropists. 
Let  us  educate  our  children  with  the  idea,  that  labor  of  every 
kind  ennobles  and  idleness  degrades  human  nature  ;  that  self- 
sacrifice  and  generosity  exalt,  whereas  selfishness  and  egotism 
brutalize  a  man ;  let  them  not  only  know,  but  practise  these 
sublime  truths ;  then  the  next  generation  will  be  able  to  look 
into  these  social  problems  and  legislate  wisely,  justly,  and  equita- 
bly on  them.  The  phrases,  "  rich  against  poor"  "  capital  against 
labor"  "  eight  hours'  work"  &c.,  have  but  tended  to  irritate, 
disturb  and  unsettle  society  and  aggravate  things  without  bene- 
fiting young  or  old,  rich  or  poor,  ignorant  or  learned.  If  those 
who  now  innocently  utter  "  capital  against  labor"  could  be  made 
to  realize  that  capital  is  but  labor  laid  up  in  improved  lands  and 
farms,  villages,  towns,  cities,  houses,  stores,  manufactures,  roads, 
telegraphs,  ships,  &c.,  they  would  see  that  labor  thus  laid  up 
cannot  be  against  labor  to  be  performed.  History  teaches  that 
tribes,  communities  and  nations,  who  had  least  of  such  capital, 
were  savage  or  barbarous,  whereas  those  who  had  most  were 
civilized,  enlightened  and  prosperous ;  witness  our  Scythian 
ancestors,  the  American  Indians,  Congo  Negroes,  &c.,  who  never 
founded  cities,  constructed  roads,  built  ships,  favored  interna- 
tional intercourse  and  commerce.  Thus  instruct  the  masses, 
who  now  utter  these  disturbing  phrases,  and  the  next  generation 
will  understand  the  questions  at  issue  and  regulate  first  the  labor 
to  be  performed  and  next  the  production  derived  therefrom.  As 
to  Malthus'  geometric  progression  of  population,  and  arithmetic 
progression  of  food  and  necessaries  of  life,  even  if  true,  society 
has  reason,  wisdom  and  power  to  regulate  both  by  proper  educa- 


Nineteenth  Century.  515 

lion  and  legislation.  We  cannot  give  up  the  idea  that  enough 
grows  to  feed,  clothe  and  house  all ;  but  men  must  be  educated 
to  renounce  selfishness  and  practise  self-denial  for  the  good  of 
all.  When  men  can  be  educated  so  as  to  understand  that  trust 
between  nations  and  between  individuals,  in  other  words,  public 
credit  is  the  only  source  of  wealth,  they  will  cease  to  discuss  and 
quarrel  about  capital  and  labor,  gold,  silver,  paper  or  greenbacks 
as  a  medium  of  exchange ;  for  they  will  know  that  all  must  have 
for  their  basis  trust  and  credit,  which,  like  the  barometer,  are 
disturbed  by  the  least  social  agitation  and  only  thrive  during 
calm,  "peace  and  good-will  to  men."  Even  the  present  stagna- 
tion is  partly  due  to  a  mental  collapse  after  the  over-excitement 
of  the  war,  first  in  the  United  States,  next  between  France  and 
Germany,  then  between  Turkey  and  Russia, — and  partly  to  dis- 
harmony between  employers  and  laborers,  and  not  to  any  real 
lack  of  capital  or  necessaries  of  life,  of  which  there  is  a  surplus. 
International  confidence  and  harmony  between  employers  and 
employees  would  soon  restore  prosperity.  Hence,  it  depends  on 
mankind  to  say  when  activity  and  commerce  shall  take  a  new 
start.  Theocracy  proved  a  failure  in  Palestine  ages  ago  ;  mili- 
tarism based  on  "black  broth  "and  communism  was  tried  at 
Sparta  and  was  found  wanting ;  royalism,  patrician  republic  and 
Augustan  imperialism  were  tried  at  Rome  and  signally  failed  ;  for 
the  people,  as  related  by  Salvian,  who  was  an  eye-witness,  hailed 
and  welcomed  the  Goths  and  Vandals  to  escape  from  military  rob- 
beries and  exactions  of  corrupt  officials.  Feudalism  prevailed 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  but  it  satisfied  neither  rulers  nor  people ; 
for  the  masses  began  to  think  ;  and  Napoleon  said  :  "  When  bayo- 
nets think,  it  is  difficult  to  govern."  Government  by  consent  has 
been  on  trial  in  America  and  France  ;  will  it  succeed  ?  Fourierism, 
labor  associations,  and  theories  to  increase  national  wealth  and 
diminish  population,  are  proving  a  failure.  Eight  hours'  labor  has 
diminished  production  twenty  per  cent,  and  increased  the  necessa- 
ries of  life  in  the  same  ratio  for  poor  and  rich.  Now  the  masses 
and  their  deluded  leaders  suggest  communism,  which  portends  a 
return  to  Spartan  "black  broth,"  chaos,  despotism.  Hence,  poor 
humanity  has  only  been  rotating  to  reach  again  the  spot  where  it 
started.  As  universal  education,  based  on  self-denial,  generosity, 
simplicity  and  frugality,  has  never  been  practically  tried,  let  us  give 


516  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

it  a  fair  trial ;  for  in  the  present  state  of  the  world  it  is  the  only 
hope  for  suffering  humanity.  Let  children  be  taught,  that  it  is 
glorious  to  make  others  comfortable  and  happy ;  and  let  the 
young  grow  up  with  the  idea  that  it  is  wrong  that  one  man  should 
spend  a  million  while  others  are  wanting  the  necessaries  of  life, 
and  that  one  individual  is  gorgeously  dressed,  while  others  go 
almost  naked.  We  think  in  these  United  States  the  strong  com- 
mon sense  of  our  mechanics  and  farmers  will  adjust  matters  by 
restoring  harmony  between  labor  laid  up  or  capital  and  labor  to 
be  performed. 

A  most  attractive  and  important  theme  remains  :  woman,  whose 
capacities  were  extolled,  and  whose  claims  were  urged  through- 
out this  work,  covering  fourteen  successive  centuries,  A.D.  449- 
1878.  The  Mosaic  Record  styles  woman  "  a  help-meet  "  (Gen.  ii. 
1 8),  and  mentions  but  four  antediluvian  women  :  Eve.  Adah,  Zil- 
lah,  and  Naamah  (Gen.  iv.  19  and  22).  Thenceforth  ages  passed 
and  the  deluge  intervened  ;  yet  no  other  woman's  name  of  that 
long  proto-historic  night  reached  posterity  till  Sarah  accompanied 
Abraham  to  his  western  home  in  Canaan.  She  surely  deserved 
to  be  called  "help -meet"  From  Sarah,  who  became  the  post- 
diluvian representative  of  her  sex,  woman  continued  to  occupy  a 
more  conspicuous  place  in  history ;  for  the  Jews  had  Miriam  and 
Deborah,  whose  poetic  strains  in  the  Sacred  Record  have  been 
delighting  readers  about  four  thousand  years.  Under  Deborah, 
as  judge  and  ruler,  the  Jews  were  happy  and  prosperous.  Egypt 
worshiped  Isis,  and  India  Is  hi,  which  were  but  Hebrew  Isha 
(woman)  Gen.  ii.  23.  Assyria  gloried  in  Semiramis.  Two 
Canaanite  or  Phenician  princesses,  Dido  and  her  sister  Anna 
(which  in  Hebrew  means  gracious],  left  their  native  city,  Tyre, 
and  sought  a  home  in  Africa,  where  they  founded  Carthage,  which 
became  the  greatest  maritime  state  of  antiquity.  Hellenicus,  in 
his  History  of  Persia,  410  B.C.,  tells  us  that  Atossa,  daughter  of 
Cyrus  the  Great,  and  queen  of  Cambyses,  was  the  first  person  who 
wrote  epistles.  Hence,  ancient  Persia  had  literary  women,  500 
B.C.  Esther  saved  her  race  and  country  from  destruction,  400 
B.C.  Greece  points  with  pride  to  Sappho,  Corinna,  Agnodice, 
Hypatia,  &c. 

Rome  was  a  military  despotism  where  women  were  ever  in- 
triguing without  aspiring  to  be  heroic  or  literary.  The  Maries 


Nineteenth  Century.  5  *  7 

clung  to  Christ  after  the  disciples  had  deserted  him.  Thus 
women  remained  faithful  where  men  sneaked  away.  It  is  re- 
corded that  Mary  composed  and  sang  the  beautiful  hymn  styled 
'•Magnificat"  Christ's  ethics  settled  woman's  social  and  moral 
status ;  yet  her  educational,  civil,  and  political  rights  remained  in 
abeyance.  Mahomet  made  woman  a  doll  and  slave-,  which  she 
has  been  wherever  a  Moslem  ruled,  except  in  India,  where  the 
Mogul  Emperors  married  Hindu  women. 

Among  our  Scytho-Germanic  ancestors  in  Asia,  woman's  rights 
were  fully  recognized,  as  related  by  Herodotus,  who  mentions 
Tomiris  as  a  great  queen  and  the  Amazons  as  heroines.  All 
their  European  descendants,  whether  Goths  or  Germans,  re- 
spected woman's  claims,  except  the  Franks,  who  established  the 
salic  law,  excluding  women  from  the  throne,  which  stands  to  this 
day  as  a  huge  injustice  in  the  statutes  of  France,  especially  when 
we  consider  the  glorious  reigns  of  Margaret  in  Scandinavia,  Isa- 
bella in  Spain,  Elizabeth  in  England,  Katharine  I.  in  Russia, 
Maria  Theresa  in  Austria,  Ahalia  Bai  in  India,  and  Queen  Vic- 
toria in  Britain,  and  that  France  glories  in  Joan  of  Arc. 

Women  may  point  with  pride  to  the  Empress  Eudoxia,  A.D. 
1068,  who  wrote  "Ionia"  a  kind  of  pantheon  of  divinities,  heroes, 
and  sages ;  also  a  poem  on  Ariadne ;  a  treatise  on  Occupations 
fit  for  Princesses ;  one  on  Monastic  Life ;  and  one  for  the  benefit 
of  the  sex  in  general.  Of  these  only  "  Ionia"  remains,  a  copy  of 
which  is  in  the  library  at  Paris.  Strange,  no  Countess  Mary  Arun- 
del,  Madame  Dacier,  or  Bettina,  tried  to  translate  this  female 
intellectual  gem  !  As  we  elsewhere  mentioned  Anna  Comnena's 
"Alexiad"  we  only  allude  to  the  accomplished  Greek  princess  here. 

India  had  intellectual  and  literary  women  from  remote  an- 
tiquity; for  the  Vedas  contain  hymns  and  odes  by  Romasa,  Lop- 
amudra,  and  Visvavara  of  the  Chhandas  period ;  Gargi  dis- 
cussed philosophic  questions  with  Hindu  sages  at  the  court  of 
Janaka,  who  was  the  Solomon  of  India.  Salvana  visited  distant 
countries  in  search  of  knowledge.  Rukmini  corresponded  with 
the  Hindu  avatar,  Krishna.  Every  Hindu  woman  prays  that  she 
might  be  like  Arandhati,  who  was  intellectually  and  morally  the 
Hindu  model  woman.  Those  who  read  Fredericka  Richardson's 
translation  of  the  Ramayana  will  readily  understand  in  what  es- 
teem the  early  Hindus  held  woman ;  for  there  Sita  is  portrayed 


518  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

with  the  most  exalted  female  attributes.  Hindu  women  have 
been  intellectual  and  literary  to  our  day ;  for  Mira  J3ai,  who 
lived  in  the  reign  of  the  Mogul  Emperor  Akbar,  A.D.  1590,  wrote 
poems  and  odes,  unsurpassed  by  any  early  female  bard.  Sahaji 
Bai,  sister  6f  the  Hindu  Reformer,  Charandas,  composed  Sagas 
Prakas  and  Sala  Nirmaya,  about  A.D.  1754.  Let  us  not  omit  to 
state  that  since  the  Mogul  Emperors  conquered  India,  they 
usually  married  Hindu  princesses,  who  gave  to  their  progeny 
qualities  not  possessed  by  Mahometan  women.  The  fair  sex  of 
India  was  not  only  intellectual  and  literary,  but  heroic  and  prac- 
tical, as  may  be  realized  by  the  following  quotations  from  Tek- 
chand  Thakur's  Ramaranjika,  Calcutta,  1860  : 

"  When  Delhi  was  invaded  by  the  Sultan  of  Ghazni,  the  Chohan  Emperor 
sees  his  wife,  who  thus  addresses  him  :  '  Who  asks  women  for  advice  ?  The 
world  deems  their  understanding  shallow  ;  even  when  truth  issues  from  their 
lips,  none  listen  thereto.  Yet  what  is  the  world  without  women  ?  The  men 
of  wisdom,  the  astrologers,  can  from  the  books  calculate  the  motion  and  course 
of  the  planets  ;  but  in  the  book  of  woman  they  are  ignorant,  and  this  is  not  a 
saying  of  to-day,  it  ever  has  been  so  ;  our  book  has  not  been  marked ;  there- 
fore to  hide  their  ignorance  they  say,  in  woman  there  is  no  wisdom.  Yet 
woman  shares  your  joys  and  sorrows  ;  even  when  you  depart  for  the  mansion 
of  the  sun,  we  part  not. '  The  Chohan  felt  the  force  of  her  inspiration.  He 
marched  in  battle  array,  leaving  her  to  head  Delhi's  heroes.  She,  however, 
made  up  her  mind  to  lose  him,  and  lived  on  only  water,  saying  :  '  I  shall  see 
him  again  in  the  region  of  Snrya,  but  never  more  in  Jognipor  '  (Delhi).  Her 
lord  fought  and  fell,  and  she  mounted  the  funeral  pyre." 

So  much  for  the  heroic  Hindu  empress.  Now  read  about  the 
practical  Hindu  princess  : 

"  Ahalya  Bai,  the  widow  of  Malhar  Rao,  who  lived  A.D.  1754.  She  had 
a  son,  who  was  a  foolish  boy,  and  she  wept  openly  for  his  follies.  He  died, 
however,  at  an  early  age.  She  possessed  a  daughter,  who  became  a  widow; 
and  as  the  latter  had  also  lost  her  only  son,  she  was  sick  of  this  life,  and  reso- 
lute in  burning  herself  as  a  sati.  The  remonstrances  of  Ahalya  were  of  no 
avail ;  and  she  had  to  witness  the  painful  scene.  She  assumed  the  govern- 
ment of  the  country,  and  sat  in  open  darbar  at  the  age  of  thirty.  She  was 
remarkable  for  her  patience  and  unwearied  attention,  in  the  consideration  of 
all  measures  affecting  the  welfare  of  the  country.  She  respected  private 
rights  sacredly,  listened  to  every  complaint  personally,  and  studying  the  in- 
terests of  all  classes,  she  was  a  great  advocate  for  moderate  assessment,  and 
rejoiced  at  the  prosperity  of  her  subjects,"  &c. 

During  her  reign  of  thirty  years,  public  edifices  were  reared, 


Nineteenth  Century.  519 

wells  dug,  and  a  road  over  the  Vindya  Mountains  constructed. 
The  Hindu  historian  adds  : 

"  She  was  not  only  humane  to  man,  but  also  to  the  brute  creation.  The 
oxen  ploughing  the  fields  were  refreshed  with  water;  the  birds  and  fish  also 
partook  of  her  compassion. " 

To  her  the  philotheric  Bergh  may  point  as  an  exemplar. 

It  seems  Asiatic  female  sagacity  was  not  confined  to  India  ;  it 
expanded  eastward ;  for  Lieutenant  Murray  Day,  of  the  United 
States  Navy,  who  was  employed  by  the  Emperor  of  Japan  to 
survey  some  parts  of  his  Empire,  told  me  that  the  present  Em- 
press astonished  him  by  her  knowledge  of  astronomy.  When 
he  had  arranged  everything  at  the  imperial  observatory  for  watch- 
ing the  recent  transit  of  Venus,  the  Empress  took  a  deep  in- 
terest in  the  observations  and  asked  him  questions,  which  con- 
vinced him  that  she  was  a  highly  educated  woman.  Also  at 
court  levees  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Day  found  her  Majesty  exceedingly 
ladylike  and  cultivated.  Hence,  the  women  of  those  eastern 
barbarians  have  never  been  far  behind  their  western  sisters. 

In  America,  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Switzerland,  where, 
within  the  last  two  centuries,  women  improved  every  chance  to 
educate  themselves  in  the  classics  and  in  national  affairs,  they 
are  fully  prepared  for  equal  educational,  civil  and  political  rights. 
These  countries  have  reached  a  social  status  that  can  hardly 
progress,  unless  wives,  mothers,  daughters,  and  sisters  can  go 
arm  in  arm  with  their  husbands,  sons,  fathers,  and  brothers  to 
vote  who  shall  tax  them,  collect  their  money,  disburse  it,  and 
govern  their  country,  state,  city,  town,  &c. ;  for  in  these  nations 
women  have  evinced  much  genius,  as  proved  by  Madame  Des- 
houlieres,  Mrs.  Hemans,  Madame  Dacier,  Miss  Edgeworth, 
Madame  de  Stael,  Elizabeth  Smith,  Mrs.  Somerville,  Mrs. 
Sigourney,  Caroline  Herschel,  Miss  Sedgwick,  Madame  Guizot, 
Miss  Mitchell,  Miss  Nightingale,  Dix,  Hosmer,  Faithful,  Gilbert, 
Rosa  Bonheur,  &c.,  whose  literary,  scientific,  artistic,  and  phi- 
lanthropic labors  challenge  the  world's  admiration.  As  some  of 
these  lady  writers  took  a  high  position  in  science,  we  mention  a 
few  of  their  achievements :  Mrs.  Somerville  epitomized  and 
translated  Laplace's  "  Me~canique  Celeste,"  wrote  "  Connexion 
of  the  Physical  Sciences"  and  "Physical  Geography,"  was 


520  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

elected  honorary  member  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society, 
and  received  a  yearly  pension  of  ^300  for  her  signal  services  to 
science.  Even  Humboldt  wrote  a  complimentary  letter  to  this 
English  lady  scientist.  Mrs.  Sabine  translated  Humboldt' s  "  Kos- 
mos  "  into  English,  a  herculean  task  for  a  lady.  Miss  Mitchell, 
after  issuing  several  astronomic  treatises,  wrote  an  essay  on  a 
telescopic  comet  she  discovered,  1847,  for  which  the  King  of 
Denmark  awarded  her  a  gold  medal.  This  American  lady  scientist 
is  now  professor  of  astronomy  at  Vassar  College. 

We  must  not  forget  Miss  Elstob,  who,  realizing  that  her  coun- 
trymen had  neglected  Anglo-Saxon,  the  mother-tongue  of  English, 
from  A.D.  1154  to  1700,  drew  attention  to  this  omission  by  writ- 
ing a  grammar  for  Anglo-Saxon  students,  1715.  Hence,  the 
English-speaking  populations  are  indebted  to  a  lady  scholar  for 
the  linguistic  treasures  discovered  in  Anglo-Saxon  literature.  She 
also  translated  Alfric's  "  Homilies  "  from  Anglo-Saxon,  and  Scu- 
dery's  "Essay  on  Glory"  from  French  into  English.  Charlotte 
Smith's  popular  works,  among  which  "Romance  of  Real  Life" 
ranks  highest,  deserves  attention.  No  less  a  personage  than  Sir 
Walter  Scott  was  her  biographer.  Napoleon's  and  Charlotte 
Smith's  biographies  by  the  same  distinguished  author  are  contrasts 
— the  former  being  described  as  a  monster,  the  latter  as  an  angel. 
Frederika  Richardson's  version  of  Valmiki's  "Ramayana"  shows 
that  English  women  have  even  become  students  of  Sanscrit. 
Her  translation  is  popularly  called  "  Iliad  of  the  East."  The 
varied  productions  of  that  remarkable  authoress,  known  as  Woll- 
stonecraft,  raise  woman's  mind  to  heights  that  defy  the  sneers  of 
supercilious  critics. 

We  reluctantly  confess  that  in  Germany,  women,  being  not  only 
"help-meets,"  but  drudges,  while  their  fathers,  brothers,  husbands, 
and  sons  play  soldier,  have  not  been  able  to  aspire  to  literary, 
artistic,  and  philanthropic  fame;  true,  Bettina's  "  Gunderode" 
Miihlbach's  and  Reinberg's  Essays  reached  beyond  the  Father- 
land. Also  Anna  Schurmann's  learning  flashed  across  Germany's 
horizon.  Switzerland  gave  birth  to  Madame  Necker  and  Angelica 
Kauffmann,  and  Sweden  to  Frederika  Breiner.  About  two  cen- 
turies ago  Italy  saw  literary  and  artistic  celebrities  in  Propertia 
de  Rossi,  Vittoria  Colona,  Maria  Bassi,  &c. ;  but  they  vanished 
without  successors.  Holland  may  justly  glory  in  Katharina  Bil- 


Nineteenth  Century.  521 

derdijk,  author  of  "  Elfrida,"  Iphigenia,  and  translator  of  Southey's 
"  Roderick."  Spanish,  Portuguese,  Mexican,  and  South  Ameri- 
can women  have  as  yet  displayed  no  sign  of  literary  aspiration  ; 
perhaps  priestcraft  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  intellectual  female 
stagnation  ?  Recently  Russian  women  went  to  other  countries 
to  study,  which  surely  evinces  progress  in  the  female  Moscovite 
mind  ;  but  a  suspicious  government  interdicted  it.  We  must  not 
overlook  here  the  philanthropic  French  Martha,  who  was  honored 
and  rewarded  at  Paris,  1814,  by  the  Emperors  of  Russia  and 
Austria,  and  by  the  Kings  of  France  and  Spain,  for  nursing  with 
equal  care  the  wounded  of  the  belligerent  nations.  As  such 
benevolence  adds  a  divine  attribute  to  humanity,  we  wonder  not 
that  emperors  and  kings  noticed  it. 

The  Sarahs,  who- accompanied  the  Pilgrims  to  Plymouth,  A.D. 
1620,  were  intellectual  and  heroic  women,  and  deserve  to  be 
ranked  with  Sarah,  Dido,  and  the  Maries  of  old.  Even  the  In- 
dian princess,  Pocahontas,  cast  her  lot  with  that  of  England's 
illustrious  daughters.  Also  America's  Revolutionary  women  : 
Mrs.  Washington,  Adams,  Hancock,  &c.,  must  be  counted 
among  eminent  English-speaking  women,  not  only  for  their  in- 
tellectual attainments,  but  for  the  heroic  endurance  and  spirit 
they  displayed  during  the  protracted  struggle.  Mrs.  Adams' 
"  Letters,"  mentioning  directly  and  indirectly  the  aspirations  of 
Revolutionary  heroes  and  the  status  of  European  society,  de- 
serve a  high  place  among  the  literary  archives  of  that  period, 
because  they  show  a  rare  degree  of' social  and  political  discrimina- 
tion. Thus  may  the  English-speaking  populations  look  back  over 
fourteen  centuries,  dotted  with  female  stars,  among  which  Bertha, 
Ethelburga,  A.D.  626;  Elfleda,  900;  Countess  Mary  Arundel, 
I54°l  Queen  Elizabeth,  1600;  Mrs.  Hemans,  Mrs.  Sigourney, 
Mrs.  Somerville,  and  Miss  Mitchell  shine  with  peculiar  luster. 
To  oir.it  Anne  of  Bohemia,  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Charles 
IV.,  and  Queen  of  Richard  II.,  styled  "  Good  Queen  Anne," 
A.D.  1382,  would  be  a  solecism;  for  she  stood  by  Wickliffe  in 
his  opposition  to  the  abuses  of  the  Roman  hierarchy,  and  used 
her  influence  on  the  side  of  Reform. 

As  women's  apostolic  and  civilizing  capacities  have  been  pre- 
viously mentioned,  we  only  name  here  Helena,  mother  of  Con- 
stantine  the  Great,  who  saw  the  guiding  star  and  pointed  it  out 


522  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

to  her  beloved  son,  about  A.D.  312  ;  Placidia  among  the  Goths, 
A.D.  414;  Libussa  among  the  Bohemians,  A.D.  418;  Clotilda 
among  the  Franks,  A.D.  496  ;  Bertha,  Ethelburga,  and  Achfleda 
among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  from  A.D.  570  to  653  ;  Theodelinda 
among  the  Lombards,  A.D.  600;  Dombrowska  among  the  Poles, 
A.D.  965  ;  Anna  among  the  Russians,  A.D.  988 ;  and  Kama- 
main  among  the  Sandwich  Islanders,  A.D.  1820.  Hence,  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  Earth's  children,  now  scattered  over  the 
globe,  point  to  eminent  women  as  the  morning  star  of  their  pres- 
ent civilization.  These  eleven  apostolic  women  carried  the  civil- 
izing torch  of  Christianity  farther  and  to  greater  numbers  than 
ever  did  the  Twelve  Apostles ;  yet  they  never  received  one -twelfth 
of  the  credit.  Aye,  in  the  very  countries  that  have  been  Christian- 
ized through  woman's  influence,  women  have  been,  and  are  now 
disfranchised  !  When  will  France,  Italy,  Russia,  and  the  ninety 
English-speaking  millions  disown  that  ingratitude  and  do  justice 
to  women  ?  Even  in  the  so-called  Republics  :  United  States, 
France,  Switzerland,  Mexico,  Peru,  &c.,  women  are  to  this  day 
denied  equal  rights  with  men.  In  the  United  States  the  fair  sex 
study  the  learned  professions,  science,  and  the  fine  arts ;  the 
pulpit  and  the  forum  echo  their  learning ;  journals  and  periodi- 
cals are  filled  with  their  essays.  They  also  evince  superior 
business  tact ;  for  wherever  the  Government  employed  women 
in  the  Mint,  Treasury,  Post-Office,  they  have  shown  themselves 
more  trustworthy  and  industrious  than  men  ;  so  they  have  in 
telegraph  offices  and  other  affairs,  thus  displaying  not  only  lit- 
erary, but  financial  capacities. 

After  granting  the  elective  franchise  to  emigrants  from  the 
Old  World,  and  to  the  untutored  children  of  Ham,  it  might  be 
advisable  to  invite  woman's  quick,  intuitive  sagacity  to  assist  in 
governing  our  40,000,000.  Statistics  show  but  one  woman  in 
four  criminals,  which  is  a  valid  reason  why  women  should  per- 
form and  exercise  all  the  political  duties,  so  as  to  see  the  one 
female  culprit  and  the  three  male  criminals  adequately  dealt 
with  in  and  out  of  court.  At  a  recent  Communistic  meeting  in 
Philadelphia,  June  10,  1878,  only  one  woman  was  present,  which 
conclusively  proves,  that  American  women  do  not  readily  indorse 
Utopian  theories.  Most  of  our  women  are  more  intellectual 
and  sober  than  men.  Thousands  of  them  do  business  and  pay 


Nineteenth  Century.  523 

taxes  "  without  representation  "//  Widow  B.  pays  state,  county, 
and  city  tax,  and  forty  per  cent,  duty  to  the  United  States  on  every 
silk,  and  twenty  per  cent,  on  every  calico  dress  she  wears ;  yet 
she  cannot  vote ;  while  Patrick,  her  coachman,  and  Sambo,  her 
waiter,  who  pay  no  tax,  can  vote.  Thus  has  the  fundamental 
principle,  which  caused  the  Revolution  of  1776,  been  violated 
with  regard  to  women.  Hence,  to  say  nothing  of  the  wrong 
done  within  the  first  hundred  years  of  the  great  Republic,  let  us 
redress  it  by  calling,  even  at  this  late  hour,  the  wisdom  of  our 
mothers,  wives,  sisters,  and  daughters  into  our  National,  State, 
city,  and  town  councils. 

The  Senate  Committee  of  June  13,  1878,  composed  of  nine 
members,  considered  the  petitions  for  woman  suffrage,  and  de- 
clined to  recommend  action  thereon,  because  it  would  create 
several  millions  of  voters,  all  incapable  of  performing  military  duty 
to  enforce  the  laws  they  would  help  to  make  ;  because  the  peti- 
tions contain  but  30,000  signers,  and  because  any  State  may  grant 
the  right  of  suffrage  to  women.  The  idea  of  six  out  of  nine  United 
States  Senators,  to  whom  the  country  should  look  for  consummate 
national  wisdom,  issuing  such  special  pleading  and  overlooking 
the  fundamental  principle,  "  Taxation  without  representation" 
on  the  ground  of  military  disability,  insufficient  petitioners,  and 
on  the  ground  of  its  belonging  to  States'  rights.  What  a  libel  on 
common  sense  !  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  six  similar  incapaci- 
ties in  a  jury  of  any  country  town  in  the  United  States.  We 
think  one  tax-paying  woman  has  a  right  to  demand  representa- 
tion for  herself  and  sex  ;  and  as  soon  as  her  demand  reaches  the 
country's  legislative  body,  that  body  is  in  honor  bound  to  grant, 
not  only  her  individual,  but  her  sex's  right,  because  based  on  a 
universally  conceded  principle,  for  which  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  fought,  suffered,  and  triumphed  one  hundred  years  ago. 
Even  the  Masonic  fraternity  excludes  woman  from  its  ranks, 
which  seems  an  anomaly,  for  it  claims  to  be  liberal,  just,  high- 
minded,  and  practical. 

Now,  women  have  but  quietly  to  persevere  in  their  lofty  aspira- 
tions, and  educate  their  sons  and  brothers  to  realize  their  equal, 
if  not  superior  talents,  and  full  concession  of  their  long-deferred 
claims  will  and  must  follow  as  a  necessary  sequence;  for  already 
three  senators  out  of  nine  have  indorsed  woman  suffrage.  Already 


524  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

men  begin  to  feel  and  appreciate  woman's  signal  services.  In 
France  the  Code  Napoleon  gives  to  woman  a  full  half  of  all  the 
property  acquired  by  husband  and  wife.  Thus  have  liberal 
countries  produced  intellectual  and  literary  women  ;  whereas 
illiberal  States  have  nurtured  intriguing  dolls  and  nobodies. 

The  world's  reformation  depends  on  woman,  for  men  have 
done  their  best  and  their  worst  without  success  ;  now  they  seem 
to  be  incapable  to  ameliorate  or  destroy  humanity.  Hence,  if 
woman,  with  her  gentler  disposition  and  quieter  perseverance, 
turns  her  mind  to  literature,  science,  art,  politics,  inventions,  and 
mechanics,  she  can  render  incalculable  service  to  all  that  is  en- 
nobling and  glorious  in  human  experience  and  progress. 

We  close  our  essay  on  Woman  in  History  by  Fitz- Green 
Halleck's  beautiful  "  Ode  to  Woman  "  : 

"  Lady,  although  we  have  not  met, 

And  may  not  meet,  beneath  the  sky  ; 
And  whether  thine  are  eyes  of  jet, 
Gray,  or  dark  blue,  or  violet, 

Or  hazel — Heaven  knows,  not  I ; 

Whether  around  thy  cheek  of  rose 

A  maiden's  glowing  locks  are  curled, 
And  to  some  thousand  kneeling  beaux 
»          Thy  frown  is  cold  as  winter's  snows, 
Thy  smile  is  worth  a  world  ; 

Or  whether,  past  youth's  joyous  strife, 

The  calm  of  thought  is  on  thy  brow, 
And  thou  art  in  thy  noon  of  life, 
Loving  and  loved,  a  happy  wife, 

And  happier  mother  now — 

I  know  not :  but,  whate'er  thou  art, 

Whoe'er  thou  art,  were  mine  the  spell, 
To  call  Fate's  joys  or  blunt  his  dart, 
There  should  not  be  one  hand  or  heart 

But  served  or  wished  thee  well. 

For  thou  art  woman — with  that  word 
Life's  dearest  hopes  and  memories  come, 

Truth,  Beauty,  Love — in  her  adored, 

And  Earth's  lost  Paradise  restored 
In  the  green  bower  of  home." 


Nineteenth  Century.  525 

What  is  man's  love  ?     His  vows  are  broke, 

Even  while  his  parting  kiss  is  warm  ; 
But  woman's  love  all  change  will  mock, 
And,  like  the  ivy  round  the  oak, 

Cling  closest  in  the  storm. 

And  well  the  Poet  at  her  shrine 

May  bend,  and  worship  while  he  woos ;    • 
To  him  she  is  a  thing  divine, 
The  inspiration  of  his  line, 

His  Sweetheart  and  his  Muse. 

If  to  his  song  the  echo  rings 

Of  Fame — 'tis  woman's  voice  he  hears ; 
If  ever  from  his  lyre's  proud  strings 
Flow  sounds  like  rush  of  angel-wings, 
'Tis  that  she  listens  while  he  sings, 

With  blended  smiles  and  tears  : 

Smiles — tears — whose  blessed  and  blessing  power. 

Like  sun  and  dew  o'er  summer's  tree, 
Alone  keeps  green  through  Time's  long  hour, 
That  frailer  thing  than  leaf  or  flower, 

A  poet's  immortality.* 

Our  thirty  Extracts  and  Tables  of  this  century  are  so  chosen 
as  to  represent,  not  only  literature  and  science,  but  the  pulpit, 
school-room,  press,  forum,  and  fireside.  The  notes  that  accom- 
pany them  deserve  perusal,  showing,  as  they  do,  the  comparative 
status  and  progress  during  the  Three  Periods  of  the  English 
language  and  literature. 


*  The  vocabulary  of  this  poem  furnishes  twenty-two  per  cent.  Greco-Latin, 
seventy-seven  Gotho-Germanic,  and  one  per  cent.  Celtic,  as  will  appear  in  our 
Bird's  Eye  View  of  the  poetic  style  of  writing. 


526 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Byron's  "Lines  written  beneath  an  Elm   in  the 
Churchyard  at  Harrow-on-the-Hill"  Sept.  2,  1807. 

"  Spot  of  my  youth  !  where  hoary  branches  sigh, 
Swept  by  the  breeze  that  fans  the  cloudless  sky ; 
Where  now  alone  I  muse,  who  oft  have  trod, 
With  those  I  loved,  thy  soft  and  verdant  sod ; 
With  those  who,  scattered  far,  perchance  deplore, 
Like  me,  the  happy  scenes  they  knew  before : 
Oh!  as  I  trace  again  thy  winding  hill, 
Mine  eyes  admire,  my  heart  adores  thee  still, 
Thou  drooping  Elm!  beneath  whose  boughs  I  lay, 
And  frequent  mused  the  twilight  hours  away ; 
Where,  as  they  once  were  wont,  my  limbs  recline ; 
But  ah!  without  the  thoughts,  which  then  were  mine, 
How  do  thy  branches,  moaning  to  the  blast, 
Invite  the  bosom  to  recall  the  past, 
And  seem  to  whisper  as  they  gently  swell : 
Take,  while  thou  canst,  a  lingering,  last  farewell ; 
When  fate  shall  chill  at  length  this  fever'd  breast, 
And  calm  its  cares,"  &c. 


144  common  words,  among  which 
occurs 


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with 

by 

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may,     « 
do,        « 
that 
and 


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o 

3 

i 

9 
7 
4 
i 
i 
i 
o 
o 
i 
I 
4 


45 
other  particles,  32 

77  particles. 

Hence,  Byron's  emotional  poetry  requires  about  144  common  words  to 
furnish  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-three  per  cent,  particles 
and  thirty-one  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


527 


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528  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Scoffs  "Rob  Roy? 

"  Warmed  by  such  tales  I  looked  upon  the  Scottisli  people  during  my  child- 
hood as  a  race  hostile  by  nature  to  the  more  southern  inhabitants  of  this 
realm;  and  this  view  of  the  matter  was  not  much  corrected  by  the  language 
which  my  father  sometimes  held  with  respect  to  them.  He  had  engaged  in 
some  large  speculations  concerning  oak-woods,  the  property  of  Highland 
proprietors,  and  alleged,  that  he  found  them  much  more  ready  to  make  bargains 
and  extort  earnest  of  the  purchase  money,  than  punctual  in  complying,  on 
their  side,  with  the  terms  of  the  engagements.  The  Scotch  mercantile  men, 
whom  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  employing,  as  a  sort  of  middle-men,  on 
these  occasions,  were  also  suspected  by  my  father  of  having  secured,  by  one 
means  or  other,  more  than  their  own  share  of  the  profit,  which  ought  to  have 
accrued.  In  short,  if  Mabel  complained  of  the  Scottish  arms  in  ancient  times, 
Mrs.  Osbaldistone  inveighed  no  less  against  the  arts  of  these  modern  Sinons ; 
and  between  them,  though  without  any,"  &c. 

1 68  common  words,  among  which 


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times. 

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11 

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that                               " 

I 

" 

and                                " 

4 

" 

68 

other  particles, 

34 

102  particles. 

Hence,  Scott's  style  requires  about  168  common  words  to  obtain  100  differ- 
ent words,  and  averages  about  sixty-one  per  cent,  particles  and  forty  per  cent, 
repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


529 


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English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Mrs.  Hemans'  "  The  Lost  Pleiad" 

"  And  is  there  glory  from  the  Heavens  departed  ? 
O  void  unmarked  ! — thy  sisters  of  the  sky 

Still  hold  their  place  on  high, 

Though  from  its  rank  thine  orb  so  long  hath  started, 
Thou,  that  no  more  art  seen  of  mortal  eye. 

Hath  the  night  lost  a  gem  ?  the  regal  night ; 
She  wears  her  crown  of  old  magnificence, 

Though  thou  art  exiled  thence ; 
No  desert  seems  to  part  those  urns  of  light, 
Midst  the  far  depths  of  purple  gloom  intense. 

They  rise  in  joy,  the  starry  myriads  burning, — 
The  shepherd  greets  them  on  his  mountains  free, 

And  from  the  silvery  sea 
To  them  the  sailor's  watchful  eye  is  turning — 
Unchanged  they  rise,  they  have  not  mourned  for  thee. 

Couldst  thou  be  shaken  from  thy  radiant  place 
E'en  as  a  dew-drop  from  the  myrtle  spray, 

Swept  by  the  wind  away  ? 
Wert  thou  not  peopled  by  some  glorious  race, 
And  was  there  power  to  smite  them  with  decay  ? 

Why,  who  shall  talk  of  thrones  of  sceptres,"  &c. 


159  common  words,  among  which 


occurs 

II    times. 

have,  aux 

occurs    3 

« 

2         " 

shall,    " 

u        I 

« 

5       " 

will,      " 

"          0 

tt 

3      " 

may      tk 

"       o 

i< 

5      " 

do         " 

"          0 

H 

i      " 

that      " 

"       I 

« 

i      " 

and 

"       3 

tt 

2         " 

61 

ft 

0         " 

8      u 

other 

particles,     25 

" 

9      " 

86 

(t 

6      " 

times. 


The 

a 

of 

to 

from 

in 

with 

by 

Pro.    ist  person 
"      2d    " 
u      ^d     " 

be,  aux 


Hence,  Mrs.  Heman's  poetry  requires  about  159  common  words  to  obtain 
100  different  words,  and  averages  about  54  per  cent,  particles  and  37  per  cent, 
repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


531 


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English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Sharon  Turner's  "History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons." 

"Words  have  been  divided  into  nine  classes:  the  Article;  the  Substantive 
or  Noun ;  the  Pronoun ;  the  Adjective  ;  the  Verb ;  the  Adverb ;  the  Preposi- 
tion ;  the  Conjunction ;  and  the  Interjection. 

u  Under  these  classes  all  the  Saxon  words  may  be  arranged,  although  not 
with  that  scientific  precision  with  which  the  classifications  of  natural  history 
have  been  made.  Mr.  Tooke  has  asserted  that  in  all  languages  there  are 
only  two  sorts  of  words  necessaryfor  the  communication  of  our  thoughts, 
and  therefore  only  two  parts  of  speech,  the  noun  and  the  verb ;  and  that  the 
others  are  the  abbreviations  of  these.  That  nouns  and  verbs  are  the  most 
essential  and  primitive  words  of  language,  and  that  all  others  have  been 
formed  from  them,  are  universal  facts,  which,  after  reading  the  'Diversions 
of  Pur  ley'  and  tracing  in  other  languages  the  application  of  the  principles 
there  maintained,  no  enlightened  philologist  will  now  deny.  But,  though  this 
is  true  as  to  the  origin  of  these  parts  of  speech,  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
the  names,  established  by  convential  use,  may  not  be  still  properly  retained, 
because  the  words  now  classed  as  conjunctions,  prepositions,  &c.,  though 
originally  verbs,  are  not  verbs  at  present,  but  have  long  been  separated  from 
their  verbal  parents,  and  have  become  distinct  parts  of  our  grammatical  syn- 
tax." 


208  common  words,  among  which 


The 


occurs 
« 


of 

to 

from 

in 

with 

by 

Pro.  ist  person 
"    2d       " 
"    3d       " 

be,     aux. 

have,  " 

shall,  " 

will,    " 

may,    » 

do       " 

that 

and 


other  particles, 


23  times. 
o 
ii 

2 
2 

3 
2 

I 
2 
O 
2 

7 
7 
o 
i 

3 
o 

5 
7 

78 
33 


in  particles. 

Hence,  Sharon  Turner's  style  requires  about  208  common  words  to  obtain 
100  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-three  per  cent,  particles  and 
fifty-two  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


533 


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1 

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u 
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534  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Cooper's  "Red  Rover." 

"  By  this  time  the  crew,  under  the  orders  of  the  pilot,  were  assembled  at 
the  windlass,  and  had  commenced  heaving-in  upon  the  cable.  The  labour 
was  of  a  nature  to  exhibit  their  individual  powers,  as  well  as  their  collective 
force,  to  the  greatest  advantage.  Their  motion  was  simultaneous,  quick,  and 
full  of  muscle.  The  cry  was  clear  and  cheerful.  As  if  to  feel  his  influence, 
our  adventurer  lifted  his  own  voice  amid  the  song  of  the  mariners,  in  one  of 
those  sudden  and  inspiriting  calls,  with  which  a  sea-officer  is  wont  to  encour- 
age his  people.  His  utterance  was  deep,  animated,  and  full  of  authority. 
The  seamen  started  like  mettled  coursers,  when  they  first  hear  the  signal,  each 
man  casting  a  glance  behind  him,  as  if  he  would  scan  the  qualities  of  his  new 
superior.  Wilder  smiled,  like  one  satisfied  with  his  success  ;  and,  turning  to 
pace  the  quarter-deck,  he  found  himself  once  more  confronted  by  the  calm, 
considerate,"  &c. 

1 60  common  words,  among  which  i 

The  occurs  15  times. 

a 
of 
to 

from 
in 

with 
by 

Pronoun,  ist  person 
"        2d       " 

"       3d      " 
be,      aux. 

have,  " 

shall,  " 

will,  " 

may,  " 

do  " 
that 
and 


If 

3 

ii 

u 

7 

« 

14 

5 

u 

(( 

0 

u 

M 

2 

u 

U 

2 

II 

U 

2 

II 

II 

I 

It 

ll 

O 

II 

u 

12 

(( 

(t 

O 

it 

u 

I 

If 

u 

0 

If 

u 

I 

II 

<( 

0 

u 

u 

0 

If 

u 

0 

If 

u 

5 

If 

56 

Other  particles, 

16 

72 

particles. 

Hence,  Cooper's  style  requires  about  160  common  words  to  obtain  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-five  per  cent,  particles  and  thirty- 
eight  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


535 


^s 

W>H 

Is 


II 

£S- 
GO< 
J 

1=: 


>>  «    P?^" 

ja  cu  y*o 


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.     . 


t 

- 


a  II 

u? 

§ 


|»|j-|i'ial3.|i 

I'rall'fli! 


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.45* 
f  inheren 


536  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  "Epicures  Receipt  Book"  or  "Home  Advice" 

"  FILLET  OR  LEG  OF  VEAL  :  Make  a  stuffing  of  grated  bread  and  finely 
chopped  pickled  pork,  or  fat  ham,  or  bacon.  If  the  pork  is  not  convenient, 
rub  a  piece  of  butter  into  the  bread ;  season  with  pepper,  salt,  sweet  herbs, 
and  a  little  grated  lemon  peel  or  mace ;  moisten  with  the  yolks  of  two  eggs ; 
make  four  slits  parallel  to  the  bone,  and  stuff  full.  Roast  and  baste  the  same 
as  the  loin.  For  sauce,  see  *  Pan  Gravy. '  Have  fresh  lemon  on  table  to 
eat  with  it. 

"  NOTE. — Perfectly  wholesome." 

"  '  COCOA-NUT  CAKES  :'  Made  exactly  like  '  Almond  Cake?  using  half  a 
pound  of  grated  cocoa-nut  instead  of  the  almonds.  Flavor  with  rose  water. 

"  NOTE. — The  cocoa-nut  is  indigestible;  the  rest  of  the  cake  is  much  like 
'  Sponge  Cake? 

"  MARKETING  :  Beef— how  to  choose  it.  If  the  beef  is  good,  the  fat  will 
be  white  and  the  meat  of  a  light  red,  and  the  fat  and  lean  marbled  in  together. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  the  lean  is  dark  and  purplish,  and  the  fat  yellow  and  oily, 
it  is  all  very  poor,"  &c. 


The 

a 

of 

to 

from 

with 

in 

by 

Pronoun  ist  per 

"        2d       " 

«      3d    " 
be,  aux. 


occurs 
ii 

ii 

M 
u 
II 
Ii 

u 
II 


181  common  words,  among  which 

have,  aux.  occurs    o  times. 

shall,     " 

will,      " 

may,      " 

do,         « 

that 


17 

times. 

5 

it 

7 

« 

8 

" 

0 

* 

4 

M 

3 

M 

0 

" 

0 

fl 

0 

" 

4 

« 

0 

" 

and 


o 
I 
o 
o 
o 

10 


59 

other  particles,    19 

78  particles. 


Hence,  the  lt  Receipt  Book"  requires  181  common  words  to  obtain  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-three  per  cent,  particles  and  forty- 
five  j>>  f  cent,  repetitions. 

N-/TE. — It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  "Receipt  Book"  derives  its 
vocabulary  from  nine  different  languages :  a  greater  variety  than  has  been 
used  in  almost  any  other  work  we  examined.  We  are  told  that  Napoleon 
said :  ' '  Cooking  is  a  science  and  roasting  an  art ; "  there  is  great  truth  in 
this  statement.  In  England  and  France  all  interest  themselves  to  see  that  it 
is  properly  attended  to.  Its  importance  cannot  be  over-estimated,  for  the 
health  of  the  family  and  community  rests  upon  it.  Here  the  universal  interest 
in  the  subject  seems  to  be  linguistically  proved. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


537 


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538  English  Period,  A,D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Washington  Irving"  s  "Life  of  George  Washington" 

"  The  scene  of  this  battle,  which  decided  the  fate  of  Pb  ladelphia,  was  within 
six  and  twenty  miles  of  that  city,  and  each  discharge  of  cannon  could  be  heard 
there.  The  two  parties  of  the  inhabitants,  whig  and  tory,  were  to  be  seen  in 
separate  groups  in  the  squares  and  public  places,  waiting  the  event  in  anxious 
silence.  At  length  a  courier  arrived.  His  tidings  spread  consternation 
among  the  friends  of  liberty.  Many  left  their  homes,  entire  families  aban- 
doned every  thing  in  terror  and  despair,  and  took  refuge  in  the  mountains. 
Congress,  that  same  evening,  determined  to  quit  the  city  and  repair  to  Lan- 
caster, whence  they  subsequently  removed  to  Yorktown.  'Before  leaving 
Philadelphia,  however,  they  summoned  the  Militia  of  Pennsylvania  and  the 
adjoining  States  to  join  the  main  army  without  delay  ;  and  ordered  down  fif- 
teen hundred  troops  from  Putnam's  command  on  the  Hudson.  They  also 
clothed  Washington  with  power  to  suspend  officers  for  misbehavior,"  &c. 

146  common  words,  among  which 


The                            occurs 

12 

times. 

a                                    " 

I 

u 

of 

7 

u 

to                                  " 

6 

u 

from                               " 

i 

" 

in                                    " 

6 

u 

with                              " 

3 

" 

by 

o 

" 

Pronoun,  ist  person    " 

o 

u 

u         2d      „         (t 

0 

" 

"        3d      "         " 

5 

" 

be,     aux.                        " 

2 

II 

have,  "                          " 

0 

" 

shall,  "                          " 

0 

u 

will,   "                          " 

0 

u 

may,  "                          u 

0 

" 

do,      4'                          " 

0 

n 

that                                " 

2 

" 

and                                 ** 

9 

a 

, 

54 

other  particles, 

15 

69  particles. 

Hence,  W.  Irving's  style  requires  146  common  words  to  obtain  100  differ- 
ent words,  and  averages  about  forty-eight  per  cent,  particles  and  thirty-three 
per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


539 


•  •Jr'K3  " 

llffi 


s 


.9 


Is    o"8 


t 


II 

8* 

1 

it 

_c 

.a 


It! 

«"-S 

i    ^> 


8 


** 


«s  * 

If 


«a 
W 

il 


540 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Prescotfs  "History  of  the  Conquest  of  Peru" 

Book  IV.,  Chapter  vi. 

"  The  first  step  of  the  conspirators,  after  securing  possession  of  the  capital, 
was  to  send  to  different  cities,  proclaiming  the  revolution  which  had  taken 
place,  and  demanding  the  recognition  of  the  young  Almagro  as  governor  of 
Peru.  Where  the  summons  was  accompanied  by  a  military  force,  as  at  Trux- 
illo  and  Arequipa,  it  was  obeyed  without  much  cavil.  But  in  other  cities  a 
colder  assent  was  given,  and  in  some  the  requisition  was  treated  with  con- 
tempt. In  Cuzco,  the  place  of  most  importance  next  to  Lima,  a  considerable 
number  of  the  Almagro  faction  secured  the  ascendency  of  their  party,  and 
such  of  the  magistracy  as  resisted  were  ejected  from  their  offices  to  make  room 
for  others  of  a  more  accommodating  temper.  But  the  loyal  inhabitants  of 
the  city,  dissatisfied  with  this  proceeding,  privately  sent  to  one  of  Pizarro's 
captains,  named  Alvarez  de  Holguin,  who  lay  with  considerable  force  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  that  officer,  entering  the  place,  soon  dispossessed  the  new 
dignitaries  of  their  honors,  and  restored  the  ancient  capital  to  its  allegiance. 

"The  conspirators  experienced  a  still  more  determined  opposition  from 
Alonzo  de  Alvarado,  one  of  the  principal  captains  of  Pizarro,  who  defeated, 
as  the  reader  will  remember,"  etc. 


172  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

a 

M 

of 

it 

to 

u 

from 

it 

in 

ti 

with 

ti 

by 

it 

Pro., 

ist  person, 

<t 

ti 

2d        " 

it 

ii 

3d      " 

(1 

be, 

aux. 

it 

have, 

44 

<t 

shall 

it 

u 

will 

it 

it 

may 

it 

li 

do 

U 

ii 

that 

it 

and 

ii 

21  times. 

4 

H 

5 

2 

4 

3 

i 

0 

0 

5 

5 

i 

o 

i 

0 

0 

I    " 

5      " 

72 

other  particles,    20 

92  particles. 

Hence,  Prescott's  style  requires  172  common  words  to  obtain  100  different 
words,  and  averages  about  53  per  cent,  particles  and  42  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


541 


W0H 


n 

ss 


C  bo 


.,  e     i.  </i     . 

Uirl§2 


cy 
cy 


y    o-o    c .«  „  .3  «  o  ; 

llfllldSlliliiil 
jiHiiHiilr"H 


i 


I, 

M  -5 

.S   a 


6    T3 

•5   U 


s? 


og 

<  "o 

ill 

§« 


g] 


542  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  T.  J3.  Shauts  "Outlines  of  English  Literature" 

"Phillips,  the  nephew  and  pupil  of  Milton,  in  the  preface  to  his  ttThea- 
trum  Poetarum"  a  work  which  is  without  doubt  deeply  tinged  with  the 
literary  taste  and  opinions  of  the  author  of  "Paradise  Lost"  complains  of 
the  gradually  increasing  French  taste,  which  characterized  our  literature,  when 
he  wrote,  i.  e.,  in  1675,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  :  'I  cannot  but  look  upon 
it  as  a  very  pleasant  humour,  that  we  should  be  so  compliant  with  the  French 
custom  as  to  follow  set  fashions,  not  only  in  garments,  but  in  music  and  poetry.' 
Now,  whether  the  trunk  hose  fashion  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  days,  or  the  panta- 
loon genius  of  ours,  be  best,  I  shall  not  be  hasty  to  determine.  The  cause  of 
the  great  influx  of  Gallicisms,  which  took  place  at  the  Restoration,  is  un- 
doubtedly to  be  found  in  the  long  exile  of  Charles  II.  during  the  stormy  period 
of  the  Republic.  Charles  and  the  few  faithful  adherents  who  composed  his 
court,  passed  many  of  those  years  in  France  ;  he  was  indeed  a  pensioner  of 
Versailles.  He  there  naturally  acquired  a  taste  for  the  artificial  and  somewhat 
formal  acquirements." 


173  common  words,  among  which 

The 

occurs 

17  times. 

a 

" 

4 

" 

of 

« 

12 

u 

to 

u 

4 

u 

from 

11 

0 

u 

in 

u 

7 

(t 

with 

(t 

2 

" 

by 

it 

O 

u 

Pronoun 

ist  person     u 

5 

" 

it 

2d         «            " 

0 

rl 

u 

3d       "         " 

6 

II 

be,    aux. 

11 

3 

n 

have,  " 

«' 

2 

u 

shall,  " 

ii 

I 

u 

will,   " 

u 

0 

u 

may,  " 

u 

0 

u 

do,      « 

u 

o 

u 

that 

M 

I 

If 

and 

M 

5 

14 

69" 

other  particles, 

27 

96  particles. 

Hence,  Shaw's  style  requires  about  173  common  words  to  obtain  100  differ- 
ent words,  and  averages  about  fifty-five  per  cent,  particles  and  forty-six  per 
cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


543 


w 

5 

•i 

W£ 

1 

"*  *          |s          c*  c 

0- 

! 

SEMITIC  I 

jj      j.._        1| 

1 

1ATO-SCLA- 
C  FAMILY  I 

nil  i 

1 

a 

11 

1 

y 

I 
j 

M 

1 

M£           |1- 

J 

1 

a 

i 

JJ 

? 

2 

o 

S 

JH 

*s  *< 

T3 

<j 

IH     t*     ^            (^ 

V          *^    ^ 

w 

£5 

y 

^t2  g      •* 

§       bfl  SJ 

3 

o 
5 

i 

8 

•jJl 

i 

3 

i 

o 

i 

2 

h 
O 

M 

i-GOTHO- 

i 

liiijiMMiipiniii 

III 

j 

Sj 

1 

^ 

3   § 

1 

• 

** 

R 

e         ••"!>* 

« 

'o 

y 

w 

y* 

.y 

H 

2 

H 

^?i/i^"O             -^   ^  w             •-        3 

P 

S 

J                 'o 

J 

P< 

1 

c                                           a 

O 

.. 

C  C  e-2                 o"S  e       uJi'"O'rt_  S 
^'c    r  j-g  «  co  3  o    -"  o"'*  "'«  rt  6 

1 

2 

[  FAMILY 

i 

|H|  ^    ?P    S-8^  i 

f 

a 

• 

I 

,         BB.         ^^^Jji^^         dg         C 

i'  .5 

2 

6 

^•"Sw'jj'rt   ^2^  "3  -^3  "•""*[?§—  o^S--  — 

i  « 

<•> 

f 

|s.|1|  |:|l  ||1  1  1-||J  |i|  ||| 

s     8 
jt»  1 

1 

o 
§ 

u 

f^| 

O           V 

i 

E  g      *               - 

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B 

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6 

H  5.    .g                 a 

1 

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544 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Prof.  Hitchcock 's  "Elementary  Geology." 

"  We  are  now  brought  to  the  period  when  the  country  had  attained  essen- 
tially its  present  altitude.  All  the  agencies  that  produced  drift,  viz.  :  ice- 
bergs, glaciers,  landslips,  and  waves  of  translation,  are  still  in  operation  in 
some  parts  of  the  world,  and  therefore  drift  is  still  being  produced.  Ever  since 
the  tertiary  period  these  causes  have  been  acting,  but  their  intensity  has  varied 
in  different  ages. 

"  The  same  is  true  of  the  agencies  that  have  produced  beaches,  osars,  escars, 
subaqueous  ridges,  and  terraces,  viz. :  the  action  of  rivers  and  the  ocean 
combined  with  secular  elevation  of  continents.  In  other  words,  the  agencies, 
producing  drift  and  modified  drift,  have  run  parallel  to  each  other  from  the 
very  first.  Hence  they  are  varieties  of  the  same  formation,  extending  from 
the  close  of  the  tertiary  period  to  the  present.  The  sections  describing 
aqueous,  igneous,  and  organic  agencies,  contain  the  history  of  this  period  in 
detail.  The  Flora  and  Fauna  are  those  now  existing.  Man  has  existed  on 
the  earth  a  comparatively  short  part  of  the  alluvial  period.  We  have  a  few 
records  of  the  commencement  of  this  period.  There  are  many  examples  of 
river  beds  on  a  former,"  &c. 


IQI  common  words,  among  which 


The                          occ 

urs 

a 

* 

of 

( 

to 

i 

from 

i 

in 

ti 

with 

< 

by 

i 

Pro.  of  ist  person 

i 

"        2d 

i 

3d       " 

t    • 

be,     aux. 

i 

have,  " 

shall    " 

will      " 

may     " 

do       «« 

that 

it 

and 

t 

other  particles, 


20 

times. 

3 

u 

10 

u 

3 

II 

it 

5 

II 

0 

II 

2 

(i 

0 

" 

2 

M 

3 

u 

7 

II 

0 

M 

0 

it 

0 

*' 

0 

II 

I 

tt 

6 

(C 

64" 

19 

83 

particles. 

Hence,  Prof.  Hitchcock's  geologic  style  requires  184  common  words  to  ob- 
tain 100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-three  per  cent,  particles, 
and  forty-eight  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


545 


| 

i 

1 

2o 

H 

d 

|H 

<e^ 

1 

i 

•5 

(/) 

H    OWN    M    M    M    H    M 

1  8 

s  ^ 

rj 

p 

j 

1 

D                   § 

1    H 

|i 

g| 

H  'A, 

? 

H       J               rt  ••  o       **      *• 

ocx 

\  C/3 

SAKMA 
VON  1C 

1 

i|it|l|j| 

.   - 

y 

u  >. 

^ 

HH 

| 

Vd 

§§ 

3 

c 

1 

H 

•iS  " 

s2 

>>i 

1 

8 

c 

8 

g, 

**5                             *^          in 

^ 

.h 

1 

y 

i 

.a 

"    1    "    "    1     ^ 

1 

M 

i 

1 

1 

m 

|        1^ 

fe    ^-s 

o 

2 

«2 

»  -N 
•S  Ji 

o 
o 

O  GOTHO-GER] 

nglo-  Saxon  : 

'I; 

14 

i  v 

~~~ 

"rotho-  Gernta  t 
.47 
are  particles, 
of  inherent  ) 

a 

1 

^ 

j 

u  i 

<       .s     c«       ^_|.^c 

o-a.S 

|?j 

i 

«o 

o 

^ 

j-C^o1-;,^--1       ^,"grt> 

1  | 

3  o 

"f 

g 

5        -0'       ^           2     * 

•: 

| 

* 

M 

-a-o       g 

i 

o 
2 

j 

i||||ii|1|M 

til 

|| 

5- 

8 

<j 

i 

'  ^ 

jgS^^tS0''00     TJ  w 

E      *" 

3   W 

a 

i 

8 

8 

1 

H 

E 

••       - 

OR  GRECO-LA 

< 

1- 

i 

ages 
escars 
terraces 

II: 

combined 

Latin  ivord 

5i* 
>•*«/  meantn. 

H 

(•) 

§     -* 

• 
I 

1 

f 

rtiitfliii  . 

*     1 

g 

«s 

*  —  ' 

3^(j^>D^Cf^rt 

^ 

I 

s 

3.2  rt"a      B-o         ^ 

| 

i 

•Jl 

C3 

H 

1 

a 

546 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Mrs.   Somerville's  "  Connexion  of  the  Physical 
Sciences" p.  194,  gf/i  L.  E.,  1858. 

"  Water  polarizes  light  circularly,  when  between  the  points  of  maximum, 
density  and  solidification  :  hence  it  becomes  crystalline.  The  colored  images 
from  polarized  light  arise  from  the  interference  of  the  rays.  MM.  Fresnel 
and  Arago  found,  that  two  rays  of  polarized  light  interfere  and  produce  col- 
ored fringes,  if  they  be  polarized  in  different  planes.  In  all  intermediate 
positions,  fringes  of  intermediate  brightness  are  produced.  The  analogy  of  a 
stretched  cord  will  show  how  this  happens.  Suppose  the  cord  to  be  moved 
backwards  and  forwards  horizontally  at  equal  intervals  ;  it  will  be  thrown  into 
an  undulating  curve,  lying  all  in  one  plane.  If  to  this  motion  there  be  super- 
added  another  similar  and  equal,  commencing  exactly  half  an  undulation  later 
than  the  first,  it  is  evident  that  the  direct  motion  every  molecule  will  assume, 
in  consequence  of  the  first  system  of  waves,  will  at  every  instant  be  exactly  neu- 
tralized by  the  retrograde  motion  it  would  take  in  virtue  of  the  second,  and  the 
cord  itself  will  be  quiescent  in  consequence  of  the  interference.  But  if  the 
second  system  of  waves  be  in  a  plane  perpendicular  to  the  first,  the  effect 
would  only  be  to  twist  the  rope,  so  that  no  interference  would  take  place. 
Rays,  polarized  at  right  angles  to  each,"  &c. 


206  common  words,  among  which 


The 

a 

of 

to 

from 

in 

with 

by 

Pronoun  of  ist  per. 
"        2d     *• 
"        3d    " 

be,     aux. 

have,  " 

shall,  " 

will,     " 

may,    " 

do,       " 

that 

and 


occurs 
it 

M 
II 
II 

It 
It 
II 

it 
U 


i? 

tim< 

3 

u 

9 

u 

5 

u 

2 

II 

6 

it 

0 

'* 

I 

1 

0 

* 

0 

* 

5 

( 

5 

1 

0 

1 

0 

1 

8 

< 

o 

( 

0 

(( 

3 
5 

II 
II 

69 

other  particles,    20 

89  particles. 

Thus,  Mrs.  Somerville'  s  style  requires  about  206  common  words  to  obtain 
i oo  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-three  per  cent,  particles  and 
fifty-one  per  cent,  repetitions. 


•".rt 


% 

SEMITIC  FAMILY  I 

Nineteenth  Century. 

-;""""  IS    |J 

%       "ci'e-                      OOO 

ISSISi    {;; 

t^  M    « 

1 

*  Miss  Edgeworth's  "  Letters  of  Literary  Ladies  "  shows  fifty  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  forty-eight  Gotho-Germanic,  and  two  per  cent.  Celtic.  Thus  the  episto-  4^ 
lary  style  required  more  Greco-Latin  than  Mrs.  Somerville's  Science. 

ARIO-JAPHETIC  TYPE  OF  LANGUAGES: 

SARMATO-SCLA- 
VONIC  FAMILY  : 

L 

6  s 

M    < 

I 

1     "                     1          1       H 

Celtic  ivords  : 

2 

SCYTHO-GOTHO'GERMANIC  FAMILY  : 

German  : 

*                           *           fl 

1     1    " 

Gotho-Germanic  ivords: 
51 
of  which  26  are  particles,  leaving  25  ivords  of  in- 
herent meaning. 

Anglo-Saxon  : 

' 

}-{{jii«jf>l!il1JJi 

THRACO-PELASGIC  OR  GRECO-LATIN  FAMILY  : 

1 

* 

Greco-  Latin  ivords  : 
47* 
all  ivords  of  inherent  meaning,  except  one. 

&    1  °                     .5              'C"H 

1 

fljjl|fpi|l  s 

Greek: 

548 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  "  Contributions  to  the  Natural  History  of  the  United 
States  of  America"  by  Prof.  Agassiz* 

First  Monograph,  Vol.  I.,  p.  17. 

"  Where  naturalists  have  investigated  the  influence  of  physical  causes  upon 
living  beings,  they  have  constantly  overlooked  the  fact,  that  the  features, 
which  are  thus  modified,  are  only  of  secondary  importance  in  the  life  of  ani- 
mals and  plants,  and  that  neither  the  plan  of  their  structure,  nor  the  various 
complications  of  that  structure,  are  ever  affected  by  such  influences.  What, 
indeed,  are  the  parts  of  the  body  which  are,  in  any  way,  affected  by  external 
influences  ?  Chiefly  those  which  are  in  immediate  contact  with  the  external 
world,  such  as  the  skin,  and  in  the  skin  chiefly  its  outer  layers,  its  color,  the 
thickness  of  the  fur,  the  color  of  the  hair,  the  feathers,  and  the  scales  ;  then 
the  size  of  the  body  and  its  weight,  as  far  as  it  is  dependent  on  the  quality  and 
quantity  of  the  food  ;  the  thickness  of  the  shell  of  mollusks,  when  they  live 
in  waters  or  upon  a  soil  containing  more  or  less  limestone,  &c.  The  rapidity 
or  slowness  of  the  growth  is  also  influenced  in  a  measure  by  the  course  of  the 
seasons,  in  different  years;  so  is  also  the  fecundity,  the  duration  of  life,  &c. 
But  all  this  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  essential  characteristics  of  animals." 


203  common  words,  among  which 


The                             occ 

urs  28 

times. 

have,  aux. 

a 

2 

*' 

shall,     " 

of 

16 

u 

will, 

to 

i 

u 

may,     u 

from 

0 

II 

d0;    « 

in 

7 

l< 

that 

with 

2 

M 

and 

by 

2 

t  t 

Pron.  of  ist  person 

0 

II 

"      2d       " 

O 

tk 

ot 

"      3^       " 

7 

II 

Be,  aux. 

3 

it 

other  particles, 


2  times. 

o 

o 

o 

o 


78 
31 


109  particles. 

Hence,  Agassiz'  style  requires  about  203  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-four  per  cent,  particles,  and  fifty- 
one  per  cent,  repetitions. 

*  This  noble  and  liberal-minded  scientist  refused  the  enticing  invitations  of 
Napoleon  III.  to  be  Director  of  the  Garden  of  Plants  at  Paris  and  Senator  of 
France,  and  preferred  to  remain  Abbot  Lawrence  Professor  at  Cambridge. 
So  did  Max  Miiller,  as  previously  stated,  decline  the  Kaiser's  invitation  to  be 
professor  at  the  University  of  Strasburg.  Intellect  and  science  can  and  do  add 
eclat  to  royalty :  Virgil  and  Horace  throw  a  halo  around  Augustus ;  Shake- 
speare and  Jonson,  around  Elizabeth ;  Corneille  and  Racine,  around  Louis 
XIV.  ;  Humboldt,  around  Frederick  William  III.  ;  whereas,  the  Emperor  of 
Rome,  Queen  of  England,  Kings  of  France  and  Prussia,  could  not  enhance 
the  fame  of  Virgil,  Shakespeare,  Corneille,  Humboldt.  America  must  ever 
feel  proud  of  Agassiz;  England  of  Max  Miiller  ;  the  world  of  Humboldt. 


Nineteenth  Century.                           549 

( 

» 

d 

3 

Is 

a 

t^  jo  J  ro  w    I    g 

| 

.s  | 

I 

Su 

u 

E 

H   «      lis 

1 

<H 

1 

K       "en  c  •• 

1 

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:  FAMILY; 

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J  2  2"  S3           «5J 

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w  •« 

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numbered  fift} 
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y 

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of  lectures  a 
vocabulary  c 

0 

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Latin  : 

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550  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Sarah  Josepha  Hale's  "Woman's  Record" 

"Kamamalu  (the  name  signifies  'The  shade  of  the  lonely  one"1)  was  the 
daughter  of  Kamehameha,  King  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  who,  from  his  con- 
quests and  character,  has  been  styled  '  the  Napoleon  of  the  Pacific?  Kama- 
malu  was  his  favorite  daughter,  and  he  married  her  to  his  son  and  heir, 
Liholiho,  who  was  born  of  a  different  mother,  intermarriages  of  brother  and 
sister  being  then  practiced  in  those  heathen  islands. 

"  After  the  death  of  Kamehameha,  his  son  Liholiho  succeeded  to  the  King 
of  Hawaii  and  all  the  islands  of  the  group,  and  Kamamalu  was  his  queen  and 
favorite  wife,  though  he  had  four  others.  This  was  in  1819.  The  following 
year  was  the  advent  of  the  Gospel  and  Christian  civilization  to  these  miserable 
heathen.  As  has  ever  been  the  case,  women  joyfully  welcomed  the  glad 
tidings  of  hope  and  peace  and  purity.  Kamamalu  was  among  the  first  con- 
verts, and  eagerly  embraced  the  opportunities  for  instruction.  In  1822  she 
was  diligently  prosecuting  her  studies,  could  read  and  write,  and  her  example 
was  of  great  influence  in  strengthening  the  wavering  disposition  of  her  hus- 
band, and  finally  inducing  him  to  abandon  his  debaucheries  and  become,  as 
he  said,  4  a  good  man.'  *  As  a  proof  of  the  wonderful  progress  made  by  this 
people  in  the  manners  of  civilized  life,"  &c. 


199  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs  21    times. 

have,  aux 

occurs 

2  times. 

a 

«        3       " 

shall     " 

*» 

0         " 

of 

«      14       " 

will      *l 

M 

0         " 

to 

«        4       « 

may     *' 

M 

0         " 

from 

(4                j              «« 

do        " 

It 

0         «* 

in 

"        5       " 

that 

II 

0         " 

with 

ii        0       «« 

and 

U 

15       « 

by 

i       " 

— 

Pro.  ist  person 
«    2d       " 

<i           0         u 

«       0       <i 

other 

particles, 

85 
13 

«    3d      '« 

"      15       " 

98  particles. 

be,  aux. 

4       «« 

Hence,  Mrs.  Hale's  style  requires  199  common  words  to  obtain  100  differ- 
ent words,  and  averages  about  50  per  cent,  particles  and  50  per  cent,  repe- 
titions. 


*  Even  in  this  nineteenth  century  we  have  a  bright  example  of  woman's  in- 
tuitive capacity  to  know  what  is  best  and  choose  it :  Helena  at  Rome, 
Clotilda  in  France,  Bertha  in  England,  Theodelinda  in  Italy,  Anna  in  Russia, 
&c.,  were  the  worthy  instruments  through  whom  Christianity  and  civilization 
found  their  way  to  the  peoples  of  those  countries. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


551 


I 
1 


\A~ 

Sa 


38 


MAT 
IC  F 


s- 


I* 


* 


ides,  leaving 
nt  meaning* 


(3        •» 


552  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Allen's  "  Compendium  of  Har  dee's  Tactics"  New 
York  Ed.,  i86i,/.  12. 

"44.  The  object  of  this  school  being  the  individual  and  progressive  instruc- 
tion of  the  recruits,  the  instructor  never  requires  a  movement  to  be  executed, 
until  he  has  given  an  exact  explanation  of  it ;  and  he'  executes  himself,  the 
movement  which  he  commands,  so  as  to  join  example  to  precept.  He  accus- 
toms the  recruit  to  take  by  himself  the  position  which  is  explained,  teaches 
him  to  rectify  it  only  when  required  by  his  want  of  intelligence,  and  sees  that 
all  the  movements  are  performed  without  precipitation. 

45.  Each  movement  should  be  understood  before  passing  to  another.  After 
they  have  been  properly  executed  in  the  order  laid  down  in  each  lesson,  the 
instructor  no  longer  confines  himself  to  that  order  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  should 
change  it,  that  he  may  judge  of  the  intelligence  of  the  men. 

46.  The  instructor  allows  the  men  to  rest  at  the  end  of  each  part  of  the 
lessons,  and  oftener,  if  he  thinks  proper,  especially  at   the  commencement; 
for  this  purpose  he  commands  Rest. 

47.  At  the  command  Rest,  the  soldier  is  no  longer  required  to  preserve 
immobility,  or  to  remain  in  his  place.     If  the  instructor  merely  wishes  to  re- 
lieve the  attention  of  the  recruit,  he  commands,  In  place — Rest ;  the  soldier 
is  then  not  required  to  preserve  his  immobility,  but  he  always  keeps  one  of  his 
feet  in  its  place. 

48.  When  the  instructor  wishes  to  commence  the  instruction,  he  commands 
— Attention ;  at  this  command  the  soldier  takes  his  position,  remains  motion- 
less, and  fixes  his  attention. 

49.  The  school  of  the  soldier  will  be  divided  into  three  parts,"  &c. 


258  common  words,  among  which 


The                    occurs 

29 

times. 

have,  aux. 

a                             •• 

2 

u 

shall,     " 

of 

9 

" 

will,      " 

to                            " 

12 

ii 

may,     " 

from                       " 

O 

" 

do,        « 

in                             " 

5 

" 

that, 

with 

O 

ii 

and 

by 

2 

« 

Pron.  of  ist  per.   " 

0 

M 

"    2d     "     " 

O 

N 

oth 

«    3d    «     « 

26 

M 

be,  aux.                  " 

6 

M 

occurs  2  times. 

«  j  « 

««  I  " 

"  I  '< 

"  o  " 

«  o  <« 

(«  .  ft 


103 

other  particles,    29 


132  particles. 


Hence,  the  didactic  military  style  requires  about  258  common  words  to 
furnish  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-one  per  cent,  particles 
and  sixty-one  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


553 


4,  .. 

IN 

.4 

wS 
gs 

1C  KAMI 

•»***''  IS    || 

38 

i 

§     i..         11^ 

</) 

u        -J5  e                   OCu 

» 

e"S  Ac"                  « 

P 

•Jllll         |-  = 

U 

•a- 

y 

•J 

•g 

| 

B  s 

'k 

2     M 

>ts)   M 

p 

s 

•st 

2 

1 

a 

>* 

1 

«j  rt^i       M 

•5 

^ 

^ 

*^  ^i 

.» 

3 

"*         W)  SJ 

1 

<; 
u 

_'      jj 

1  11 

1 

z 

1 

il||   a 

K      —  g 

o 

3 

I 

i 

]f|ii](B«|li«jj>iiji»jjii 

11 

hi 

O 

^t 

"^'^rt                            c'fl           vO**          *>^ 

&       rt  ^ 

0 

9 

§                                 -2 

<5       &*§ 

OH 

s 

H 

u 

! 

*  |l 

H 

H 

"g 

9 

>^>*                -^c^            •&*•        C* 

A, 

**u  r.    ui>    iiScrcJf>""^^^®**« 

< 

>—i 

.. 

liiJifrS'iillilflali   * 

tc  c  ^-0=3  S  P«O<£  £-0  u  £  rt"3§'a<« 

0 

> 

2 

i 

i 

SP, 

i 

H 

i 

.f»a                 -             ««         8-og 

*  1 

3 

rf|il|  ^  I*'"*!  -"*  8-l.i^  |a|  sf  'ig 

1  i 

8 

HH'HHrWIflfq*"1 

C                                                                                              Oi 

W 

y  . 

c 

1  -1 

w 

.R 

'iTifl   i 

i 

•^ 

•§,-§  1  11 

a 

K 

32 

8 

H 

^ 

554  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Longfellow's  "Psalm  of  Life" 

"  Tell  me  not  in  mournful  numbers, 
*  Life  is  but  an  empty  dream  ! ' 
For  the  soul  is  dead  that  slumbers, 
And  things  are  not  what  they  seem. 

Life  is  real  !  life  is  earnest  ! 

And  the  grave  is  not  its  goal ; 
Dust  thou  art,  to  dust  returnest, 

Was  not  spoken  of  the  soul. 

Not  enjoyment,  and  not  sorrow, 

Is  our  destined  end  or  way ; 
But  to  act  that  each  to-morrow 

Find  us  further  than  to-day. 

Art  is  long  and  time  is  fleeting, 

And  our  hearts,  though  stout  and  brave, 

Still  like  muffled  drums  are  beating 
Funeral  marches  to  the  grave. 

In  the  world's  broad  field  of  battle, 

In  the  bivouac  of  life, 
Be  not  like  dumb,  driven  cattle; 

Be  a  hero  in  the  strife  ! 

Trust  no  future,  howe'er  pleasant  ; 

Let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead  1 
Act — act  in  the  living  present, 

Heart  within  and  God  overhead. 

Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 

And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Footsteps  on  the  sands  of  time. 

Footsteps  that  perhaps  another, 
Sailing  o'er  life's  solemn  main,"  &c. 


1 80  common  words,  among  which 


The  c 

a 

of 

to 

from 

in 

with 

by 

Pro.  of  ist  person 


be,  aux. 


3d 


10  times. 

have, 

aux. 

2       " 

shall, 

« 

5    " 

will, 

u 

5 

may, 

« 

0 

do, 

« 

5 

that 

2 

and 

0 

8 

i 

Ot 

3 

4 

occurs 


o  times, 
o    " 

o 
o 
o 
3 

7 


other  particles,    24 

79  particles. 


Hence,  Longfellow's  poetic  style  requires  about  180  common  words  to  fur- 
nish 100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-four  per  cent,  particles, 
and  forty-four  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


555 


LA- 

MILY  : 


-SC 

MIL 


x  "Me.  .•*.... 


CO 


8 
V» 


r* 

<  o 

uj  > 


2^ 


V     4-J 
>     t/1 

rt  3 


g   !-> 


bers 


Bf 


»J  5 

«f  S 
J 

r 

a 


SJ 

rl 

I  I 


556 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Robert  Dale  Owen's  "Footfalls  on  the  Boundary  of 

Another  World"  p.  48. 

"  A  large  portion  of  the  periodicals  of  the  day  have  hitherto  either  wholly 
ignored  the  subject  of  ultramundane  interference,  or  else  passed  it  by  with 
superficial  and  disparaging  notice.  After  a  time  there  will  be  a  change  in 
this.  The  subject  is  gradually  attaining  a  breadth  and  importance,  and  win- 
ning a  degree  of  attention,  which  will  be  felt  by  the  better  portion  of  the 
press,  as  entitling  it  to  that  respectful  notice,  which  is  due  of  a  reputable  op- 
ponent. And  surely  this  is  as  it  should  be.  Let  the  facts  be  as  they  may, 
the  duty  of  the  press  and  of  the  pulpit  is  best  fulfilled,  and  the  dangers,  inci- 
dent to  the  subject,  are  best  averted  by  promoting,  not  discouraging,  inquiry ; 
but  inquiry  thorough,  searching,  sedulously  accurate,  and  in  the  strictest  sense 
of  the  term,  impartial. 

"The  first  requisite  in  him,  who  undertakes  such  an  investigation  —  more 
important,  even,  than  scientific  training  to  accurate  research — is  that  he  shall 
approach  it  unbiased  and  unpledged,  bringing  with  him  no  favorite  theory  to 
be  built  up,  no  preconceived  opinions  to  be  gratified  or  offended,  not  a  wish 
that  the  results,"  &c. 


189  common  words,  among  which 


The 
a 
of 
to 

from 
in 

with 
by 

Pronoun  of  ist  person 
"  2d       " 


occurs 


be,  aux. 

have,  " 

shall,  u 

will,  " 

may,  « 

do,  " 
that 
and 


3d 


16 
8 
9 

o 
3 

2 

3 
o 
o 

8 
6 

i 

2 
2 
I 
O 

3 

7 


times. 


76 
other  particles,  24 


100  particles. 


Hence,  R.  D.  Owen's  style  requires  about  189  common  words  to  obtain 
loo  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-three  per  cent,  particles  and  forty- 
seven  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


557 


!  I 

It       8 

^      =3 


Sa 

s 

j 

f! 

JnS 

233WMM  |  ( 

1    •- 

i  *> 

fj 

ii 

SEMITIC 

i    I'.. 

^ 

c 

Hi 

•JS! 

33 

U   "^ 

i  =i'i  l-j'i' 

•c  |  oc  S  -5  s 

i 

?5   i 

§s 

6  < 

~""<"ow 

i 

N»  C1    H 

1C 

s  y 

1 

o  -^ 

<  o 

Cfl    > 

I? 

U 

.^ 

C   j- 

§.. 

•y 

C  o 

g> 

§s 

1 

1  - 

i. 

II 

U    < 

IS 

^ 

cS  ^ 

§ 

i  a 

•2 

t>° 

X 

^3     .           | 

1 

N 

I 

P 

n 

s 

5 

$ 

u 

3j 

0 

1 

"c     "w^1 

§1 

< 

u 

•W     *v 

a     'E'S 

t  § 

t> 
0 

z 

J  3  -S        « 

"°    '5 

.;  H 

1  «  a-5 

li 

3 

0 
H 

0, 

1 

1 

!:Nl-4i 

3M 

hW|I 

i%y 

Gotho-Germ 
4 
7  art  par  tic  L 
of  inherent 

rty-seven  per 
1350,  to  Ower 

fc 

3   ° 

X 

~ 

'%   • 

O 

* 

^||||||s| 

•-11 

i!J]"-B 

1 

3- 

'w 

I'-5  ?  w 

'^ 

"8 

8V 

fT  2 

M 
S 

^rf  1-^d 

£» 

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>. 

|||.|§|||^ 

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J 

^cji  o"£  o  §"h,« 

-  _§ 

< 

! 

«"  3  c*^       a          " 

. 

§"£ 

• 

SCO-LATIN 

French  : 

Si's 

4p|i 

I! 

^£ 

8« 

I 

•3 

!  B-  '    fi  U 

.Li 

S  8 

§ 
U 

1 

B-3-O^.Sd        B2 

&.2-«  i!  £  £,;  g  u'E 

niw||i|| 

III 
•V 

'.1  e  g!  a 

'IIP 

Greco-  Lat, 
ivords  of  inh( 

I's  "  Vision  of 
se  twenty  per 

§ 

8. 

0 
ctf 

c  2 

• 

< 

I 

i'   Elilic 

3  fjjIP 

averted 
promoting 

.jp.liilmi.ilv 

"ss-S 

321i  2 
1« 

*  Langl; 
reco-Latm 

3* 

O 

558  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Marsh's  "Lectures  on  the   English   Language" 

P-  *33- 

"  The  causes  which  have  led  to  the  adoption  of  so  large  a  proportion  of 
foreign  words,  and  at  the  same  time  produced  so  important  modifications  in 
the  signification  of  many  terms  originally  English,  are  very  various.  The 
most  obvious  of  these  are  the  early  christianization  of  the  English  nation,  a 
circumstance  not  always  sufficiently  considered  in  the  study  of  our  linguistic 
history  ;  the  Norman  conquest  ;  the  crusaders  ;  and  especially  the  mechanical 
industry  and  commercial  enterprise  of  the  British  people,  the  former  of  which 
has  compelled  them  to  seek  both  the  material  for  industrial  elaboration,  and 
a  vent  for  their  manufactures  in  the  markets  of  the  whole  Earth  ;  the  latter 
has  made  them  the  common  carriers  and  brokers  of  the  world.  With  so  many 
points  of  external  contact,  so  many  conduits  for  reception  of  every  species  of 
foreign  influence,  it  would  imply  a  great  power  of  repulsion  and  resistance  in 
the  English,  if  it  had  not  become  eminently  composite  in  its  substance  and  in 
its  organization.  In  fact  it  has  so  completely  adapted  itself,"  &c. 


171  common  words, 

among  which 

The                                     occurs 

19  times. 

a 

u 

4     " 

of 

M 

H     " 

to 

U 

2       " 

from 

U 

0       " 

in 

H 

7     " 

with 

(i 

i     " 

by 

u 

0       '« 

Pronoun,  ist  person 

« 

1    " 

"        2d       " 

U 

0       «« 

"        3d       " 

u 

9     u 

be,      aux. 

(« 

0       " 

have,    " 

II 

5     " 

shall,     " 

it 

0       kt 

wiU,      u 

II 

i     " 

may,     « 

M 

0        U 

do,        « 

t« 

0       '* 

that 

u 

0       " 

and 

II 

7     " 

70 

other  particles,   17 

87  particles. 

Hence,  Marsh's  style  requires  about  171  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-one  per  cent,  particles  and  forty-one 
per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


559 


</>  s 

& 
ii 


N\0    0>N    M     I     0  Kg 

M*M        8     i 


1  4 


i 


S 
8-8 


•STj-C  4 

111} 

gfi^^ 


.S«ad«a«J«a8      ^s-=«s 

ifmjfliiimflEjlU 


reco-Latin 
58* 
inherent  m 


S6o 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Horatio  Seymour's  Speech  before  the  Democratic 
State  Convention  at  Albany,  March  n,  1868. 

"  If  the  assaults  from  without  are  never  resisted,  and  the  rottenness  and 
mining  from  within  are  never  guarded  against,  who  can  preserve  the  rights 
and  liberties  of  the  people,  when  they  shall  be  abandoned  by  themselves  ! 
Who  shall  keep  watch  in  the  temple,  when  the  watchmen  sleep  at  their  post  ? 
Who  shall  call  upon  the  people  to  redeem  their  possessions  and  revive  the 
republic,  when  their  own  hands  have  deliberately  and  corruptly  surrendered 
them  to  the  oppressor,  and  have  built  the  prisons  or  dug  the  graves  of  their 
own  friends?  Let  us  then  appeal  to  the  virtue  of  our  people.  I  believe  that 
now  they  ponder  by  their  firesides  upon  the  time,  when  under  Democratic 
rule  we  had  honest  officials,  economy  in  affairs,  and  a  cvn-rency  of  sterling  coin. 
I  believe  their  hearts  are  stirred  with  indignation  at  the  outrages  now  per- 
petrated at  Washington.  Let  us,  then,  write  in  letters  of  gold  the  words 
honor,  honesty,  economy,  upon  one  side  of  the  folds  of  our  flags,  and  upon 
the  other,  freedom  of  speech  and  an  independent  judiciary.  Then  lift  our 
standard  high  and  march  on.  The  path  of  honor  is  the  path  to  victory. " 


195  common  words,  among  which 


The 
a 
of 
to 

from 
in 

with 
by 

Pron.  of  ist  per. 
"      2d    '• 

"      3d    " 
be,     aux. 
have, 
shall, 
will, 
may, 
do, 
that 
and 


19  times. 

2 

9 

4 

2 

3 
3 

i 
8 
o 

10 

4 

2 

3 
o 
o 
o 
I 

10 

Si 


other  particles,    29 

no  particles. 

Hence,  Governor  Seymour's  style  requires  about  195  common  words  to 
obtain  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-six  per  cent,  particles  and 
forty-eight  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


561 


| 

SEMITIC  FAMILY  '. 

~*<r-  §  |j 
.   |  „!„....-    jj 

i 

SR 

ARIO-JAPHETIC  TYPE  OF  LANGUAGES: 

SAKMATO-SCLA- 
VONIC  FAMILY  : 

GOMERO-CELTIC 
FAMILY  : 

SCYTHO-GOTHO-GERMANIC  FAMILY  I 

t 

UMilJl 

Gotho-Germanic  words: 

of  which  29  are  particles,  leaving  but  28  words  of  inher- 
ent meaning. 

i 

. 

THRACO-PELASGIC  OR  GRECO-LATIN  FAMILY  : 

French  : 

- 

'**              .3 

atin  words: 
nnerent  meaning. 

i 

tllfip- 

Greco-L 
all  words  oft 

! 

562 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Prof.  Draper's  "History  of  the  Intellectual  Devel- 
opment of  Europe" 

"The  sciences,  therefore,  join  with  history  in  affirming  that  the  great  aim 
of  Nature  is  intellectual  improvement.  They  proclaim  that  the  successive 
stages  of  every  individual,  from  its  earliest  rudiment  to  maturity — the  number- 
less organic  beings  now  living  contemporaneously  with  us,  and  constituting 
the  animal  series — the  orderly  appearance  of  that  grand  succession,  which  in 
the  slow  lapse  of  time  has  emerged — all  these  three  great  lines  of  the  manifest- 
ation of  life  furnishes,  not  only  evidences,  but  also  proofs  of  the  dominion  of 
law.  In  all  those  three  lines  the  general  principle  is  to  differentiate  instinct 
from  automatism,  and  then  to  differentiate  intelligence  from  instinct.  In 
man  himself  the  three  distinct  modes  of  life  occur  in  an  epochal  order  through 
childhood  to  the  most  perfect  state.  And  this  holding  good  for  the  individual, 
since  it  is  physiologically  impossible  to  separate  him  from  the  race,  what  holds 
good  for  the  one  must  also  hold  good  for  the  other.  Hence,  man  is  truly  the 
archetype  of  society  j  his  development  is  the  model  of  social  progress." 


1 68  common  words,  among  which 


The                        occurs 

18 

times. 

a                                  " 

i 

'* 

of 

9 

ft 

to                               " 

5 

ft 

from                            " 

4 

i 

in                                " 

4 

* 

with                            " 

2 

« 

by 

O 

< 

Pron.  of  ist  pers.       " 

I 

i 

«    2d    " 

0 

« 

«    3d    «          « 

5 

" 

be,      aux. 

0 

M 

have,                           " 

X 

M 

shall, 

0 

«' 

will, 

0 

« 

may, 

0 

« 

do, 

O 

u 

that 

3 

" 

and                             " 

3 

" 

56 

other  particles, 

18 

74  particles. 


Hence,  Draper's  style  requires  about  168  common  words  to  obtain  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-four  per  cent,  particles  and  forty 
per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


6  g 
u  < 


2    m 


I 


•II 


t  i 

II 


564 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Prof.  TyndaUs  "  Heat  Considered  as  a  Mode  of 
Motion"  a  course  of  twelve  lectures  delivered  at  the  Royal 
Institute  of  Great  Britain,  1863. 

"  The  chief  characteristic  of  Natural  knowledge  is  its  growth  ;  each  fact  is 
vital,  and  every  new  discovery  forms  a  starting-point  for  fresh  investigation. 
Thus  it  seems  destined  to  advance,  until  the  phenomenavand  laws  of  the  mate- 
rial universe  are  entirely  subdued  by  the  intellect  of  man.  But,  though  each 
department  of  natural  knowledge  has  been  adding  to  its  store,  at  a  rate  un- 
known in  former  times,  no  branch  of  it  has  expanded  so  rapidly,  of  late,  as 
that  which,  in  these  lectures,  is  to  occupy  our  attention.  In  scientific  manu- 
als but  scanty  reference  has  as  yet  been  made  to  the  modern  ideas  of  Heat, 
and  thus  the  public  knowledge  regarding  it  is  left  below  the  attainable  level. 
But  the  reserve  is  natural  ;  for  the  subject  is  still  an  entangled  one,  and,  in 
entering  upon  it,  we  must  be  prepared  to  encounter  difficulties.  In  the  whole 
range  of  Natural  sciences,  however,  there  are  none  more  worthy  of  being 
overcome  —  none  whose  subjugation  secures,"  &c. 


163  common  words,  among  which 


The 

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that 
and 


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9  " 
5  " 
o  " 

4  " 

0  " 

1  «' 

2  " 


5 

3 
o 
o 
o 
o 
i 
4 

54 
25 


79  particles. 

Hence,  Prof.  Tyndall's  style  requires  about  163  common  words  to  obtain 
loo  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-eight  per  cent,  particles,  and 
thirty  -nine  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


565 


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566  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Max  Mailer's  "  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop" 
Vol.  ///.,/.  n,  N.  Y.  Ed.,  1871. 

"  The  German  emperors  and  nobles  opened  their  courts  to  receive  their 
guests  with  brilliant  hospitality.  Their  festivals,  the  splendor  and  beauty  of 
their  tournaments,  attracted  crowds  from  great  distances,  and  foremost  among 
them  poets  and  singers.  It  was  at  such  festivals  as  Heinrich  von  Veldecke 
describes  at  Mayence,  in  1184,  under  Frederick  I.,  that  French  and  German 
poetry  were  brought  face  to  face.  It  was  here  that  high-born  German  poets 
learnt  from  French  poets  the  subjects  of  their  own  romantic  compositions. 
German  ladies  became  the  patrons  of  German  poets ;  and  the  etiquette  o  f 
French  chivalry  was  imitated  at  the  castles  of  German  knights.  Poets  made 
bold  for  the  first  time  to  express  their  own  feelings,  their  joys  and  sufferings, 
and  epic  poetry  had  to  share  its  honors  with  lyric  songs.  Not  only  France 
and  Germany,  but  England  and  Northern  Italy  were  drawn  into  this  gay  so- 
ciety. Henry  II.  married  Eleanor  of  Poitou,  and  her  grace  and  beauty  found 
eloquent  admirers  in  the  army  of  the  Crusaders.  Their  daughter  Mathilde 
was  married  to  Henry  the  Lion,  of  Saxony,  and  one  of  the  Provenjal  poets 
has  celebrated  her  loveliness.  Frenchmen  became  the  tutors  of  the  sons  of 
the  German  nobility.  French  manners,  dresses,  dishes,  and  dances  were  the 
fashion  everywhere.  The  poetry  which  florished  at  the  castles  was  soon 
adopted  by  the  lower  ranks." 

192  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

1  6  times. 

have, 

aux.             occurs    i  times. 

a 

" 

0        " 

shall, 

tt                  tt        Q     n 

of 

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do, 

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2        " 

that 

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2        " 

and 

««     14   " 

by 

tt 

I        " 

— 

Pro.  of  ist 

44   2d 

person      " 
a         tt 

O        " 
O        4* 

72 

other  particles,  18 

44  3d 

u          tt 

13        " 

90  particles. 

be,  aux. 

" 

5      " 

Hence,  Prof.  Max  MUller's  style  requires  about  192  common  words  to  fur- 
nish 100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-seven  per  cent,  particles  t 
and  forty-eight  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


567 


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568  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  "Practice  of  Medicine"  by  T.  H.  Tanner,  M.D.> 
F.L.S.,  $th  American  Ed.,  p.  521,  1872. 

"  Bronchitis,  inflammation  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  bronchial  tubes, 
is  one  of  the  most  common  of  the  pulmonary  diseases  which  come  under  the 
notice  of  the  practitioner.  Bronchitis  (from  Bpovxos — the  windpipe ;  termi- 
nal it  is)  may  be  acute  or  chronic,  and  one  or  both  lungs  may  be  affected 
throughout,  or  only  a  portion  of  these  organs — usually  the  upper  lobes,  &c. 

The  chief  symptoms  consist  of  fever,  a  sense  of  tightness  or  constriction 
about  the  chest,  sternal  pain  or  tenderness,  hurried  respiration  with  wheezing, 
severe  cough,  and  expectoration — at  first  of  a  viscid  glairy  mucus,  which  sub- 
sequently becomes  purulent.  The  pulse  is  frequent  and  often  weak ;  the  tem- 
perature in  the  axilla  varies  from  99.5°  to  102° ;  the  tongue  is  furred  and  foul, 
and  there  is  headache,  together  with  lassitude,  sickness,  and  often  much  mental 
uneasiness  or  even  great  anxiety. 

Inflammation  of  the  larger  and  medium-sized  tubes  is  attended  by  less 
severe  symptoms,  and  is  much  less  destructive  to  life  than  general  and  capillary 
bronchitis,"  &c. 

159  common  words,  among  which 


The                            occurs 

15  times. 

a 

u 

3 

(c 

of 

t< 

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u 

to 

M 

2 

u 

from 

II 

2 

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in 

1C 

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« 

with 

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14 

0 

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0 

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««       3d      " 

II 

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M 

Be,    aux. 

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2 

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0 

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shall,    " 

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0 

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0 

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may,    « 

II 

2 

u 

do,       " 

if 

0 

II 

that 

u 

0 

ft 

and 

« 

7 

u 

47 
other  particles,  22 

69  particles. 

Thus,  Dr.  Tanner's  didactic  medical  style  requires  about  159  common 
words  to  obtain  100  different  words,  and  averages  forty-three  per  cent,  par- 
tides,  and  thirty-seven  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


569 


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5/0  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Prof.   W.  D.   Whitney's  "Language  and  the  Study 
of  Language" 

"It  is  not  national  prejudice  that  makes  us  claim  for  English  literature,  in 
respect  to  variety  and  excellence,  a  rank  second  to  none.  We  can  show,  in 
every  or  nearly  every  department,  men  who  have  made  our  English  tongue 
say  what  no  other  tongue  has  exceeded. 

**  This  is  not,  however,  the  only  test.  We  cannot  but  ask  also  how  our  lan- 
guage is  fitted  to  admit  and  facilitate  that  indefinite  progress  and  extension 
of  thought  and  knowledge  to  which  we  look  forward  as  the  promise  of  the 
future.  Has  it  all  the  capacity  of  development  which  could  be  desired  for 
it  ?  In  their  bearing  upon  this  inquiry,  two  of  its  striking  peculiarities — the 
two  most  conspicuous,  in  the  view  of  the  historical  student  of  language — 
call  for  special  notice  :  namely,  its  uninflective  or  formless  character,  and  its 
composition  out  of  two  somewhat  heterogeneous  elements,  Germanic  and 
Romanic. 

"  Both  these  peculiarities  have  been  made  the  subject  of  repeated  reference 
in  our  discussions  hitherto.  For  its  poverty  in  formative  elements,  for  its 
tendency  to  monosyllabism,  for  its  inclusion  of  many  parts  of  speech  in  the 
same  unvaried  word,  we  have  compared  English  more  than  once  with  Chinese. 
But  we  must  beware  of  misapprehending  the  scope  and  reach  of  the  com- 
parison." 

201  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

10 

times. 

a 

« 

i 

« 

of 

« 

12 

« 

to 

« 

5 

« 

in 

it 

6 

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from 

M 

0 

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with 

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ii 

by 

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person              " 

9 

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2d 

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ii 

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0 

ii 

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H 

o 

ii 

may,     " 

M 

0 

ii 

do,        " 

N 

0 

« 

that 

« 

2 

Ii 

and 

(( 

7 

M 

70 

other  particles, 

34 

104  particles. 

Hence,  Prof.  W.  D.  Whitney's  style  requires  about  201  common  words 
to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-one  per  cent,  particles 
and  fifty  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


571 


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572  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  "A  Short  Course  in  Astronomy"  by  Henry  Kiddle, 
A.M.,  Superintendent  of  Schools,  New  York,  p.  127. 

"In  order  to  identify  a  comet,  or  ascertain  that  it  is  the  same  which  has 
previously  appeared,  we  must  know:  i.  The  longitude  of  the  perihelion  of 
its  orbit ;  2.  The  longitude  of  its  ascending  node ;  3.  Its  inclination  to  the 
ecliptic;  4.  Its  eccentricity;  5.  The  direction  of  the  comet's  motion;  and 
6.  Its  perihelion  distance  from  the  sun.  These  facts  are  called  the  Elements 
of  its  Orbit. 

"204.  Elliptic  comets. — The  elliptic  comets  are  divided  into  two  classes: 
those  of  short  periods  and  those  of  long  periods.  The  former  are  seven  in 
number,  and  have  all  reappeared  several  times,  their  identity  being  satisfac- 
torily established  by  an  entire  correspondence  of  their  elements.  The  most 
noted  of  these  is  the  comet  of  Encke,  the  period  of  which  is  about  3^  years, 
nineteen  returns  of  it  having  been  recorded. 

44  The  others  are  De  Vice's,  the  period  of  which  is  5^  years ;  Winecke's,  5^ 
years;  Brorsen's,  5!  years;  Biela's,  6£  years;  Darrest's,  6f  years;  Faye's, 
7-^  years.  These  comets  are  named  after  the  distinguished  astronomers  who 
first  discovered  them,  or  determined  their  periods  and  predicted  their  returns. 

u  205.  These  comets  have  comparatively  small  orbits,  the  mean  distance  of 
each  being  less  than  that  of  Jupiter,  and  all  revolving  within  the  orbit  of 
Saturn.  The  inclination  of  their  orbits  is  comparatively  small;  and  they  all 
revolve  from  west  to  east.  They  are  not  conspicuous  objects,  but  have  been 
generally  visible  only  with  the  aid  of  a  telescope. 

"  206.  With  the  exceptions  of  a  few  comets,  the  periods  of  which  have  been 
computed  to  be  about  75  years,  all  the  remaining  elliptic  comets  are  thought 
to  be  of  very  long  periods,  some  more  than  100,000  years. 

44  The  comet  of  1744  is  estimated  to  require  nearly  123,000  years  to  com- 
plete one  revolution,"  &c. 

266  common  words,  among  which 

5  times. 
o     44 

o  " 

o  " 

o  " 

2  " 


101 


1 29  particles. 

Hence,  Superintendent  Kiddle's  didactic  style  requires  about  266  common 
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particles,  and  sixty-two  per  cent,  repetitions. 


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have,  aux. 

occurs 

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of 

21          " 

will,      44 

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may,     44 

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8      " 

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574  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  the  li  London  Times"  of  December  5,  1863. 

*'The  number  of  suggestions,  which  have  lately  appeared  in  our  columns  on 
the  condition  of  the  destitute  poor  of  London,  prove  at  once  the  magnitude 
of  the  evil  and  the  extent  of  the  efforts  made  to  remedy  it.  It  is  really  sur- 
prising to  see  how  many  various  agencies  for  this  purpose  come  to  light,  when 
attention  is  once  called  to  the  subject.  They  work  beneath  the  surface  of 
society  in  unknown  homes  of  poverty  ;  their  labor  is  almost  unobserved,  be- 
cause, alas  !  when  considered  as  a  whole,  almost  ineffective ;  and  we  forget 
their  existence  in  ordinary  times,  as  we  forget  the  poverty  itself.  Besides  the 
workhouses  and  the  ordinary  relief  of  the  parish  Clergyman,  we  have  Refuges, 
Homes,  Societies  for  the  relief  of  the  distressed,  Institutions  for  distressed 
workpeople,  and  all  manner  of  minor  agencies  for  distributing  and  organizing 
charity.  It  was,  indeed,  not  unreasonably  suggested  in  the  letter  of  "A 
London  Curate"  in  a  recent  impression,  that  these  agencies  are  too  numerous 
and  various.  It  may  be  that  they  work  in  too  disconnected  and  haphazard  a 
way,  and  fling  largesses  broadcast  every  winter,"  &c. 

181  common  words,  among  which 


The                            occurs 

15 

times. 

a                                     " 

4 

M 

of 

8 

" 

to                                   " 

4 

" 

from                               " 

0 

II 

in                                    " 

6 

II 

with                               " 

0 

II 

by 

0 

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Pro.  of  ist  person         " 

4 

" 

u     2d       «             «« 

0 

M 

"     3^       " 

7 

II 

be,    aux.                        " 

4 

M 

have,  "                          " 

i 

" 

shall,  "                           " 

0 

" 

will,    "                           " 

0 

" 

may,  « 

i 

" 

do,      « 

0 

" 

that                                " 

2 

" 

and 

8 

f| 

64 

other  particles, 

25 

89  particles. 

Hence,  the  style  of  the  London  Times  requires  about  181  common  words  to 
obtain  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-nine  per  cent,  particles, 
and  forty-five  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


575 


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s    -SB 

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5/6  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  the  "New  York  Herald"  March  31^  1870. 

"  PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  AMENDMENT — NOW  FOR  A  UNIVERSAL 

AMNESTY. 

"  Upon  the  final  passage  of  the  bill  yesterday  for  the  restoration  of  Texas, 
the  last  of  the  list  of  the  late  Southern  rebellious  confederacy,  the  President 
promptly  issued  his  proclamation  of  the  ratification  of  the  fifteenth  amend- 
ment to  the  national  constitution,  establishing  equal  suffrage  through  all  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land  to  citizens  of  all  races  and  colors,  and  regard- 
less of  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

"  The  right  of  the  citizen,  therefore  (male,  above  the  age  of  twenty-one), 
to  vote  in  all  our  political  elections,  white  man,  black  man,  yellow  man  or  red 
man,  is  fixed  in  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  North,  South,  East,  and 
West  the  politicians  of  all  parties  will  actively  begin  to  cultivate  the  colored 
element  in  view  of  the  balance  of  political  power — eight  hundred  thousand 
voters— which  it  commands.  The  negro  question  is  thus  definitely  settled 
en  the  broad  basis  of  civil  and  political  equality." 


164  common 

words, 

among  which 

The 

occurs 

21 

times. 

a 

ii 

I 

N 

of 

M 

18 

,« 

to 

II 

4 

" 

from 

U 

0 

tl 

in 

U 

2 

it 

with 

(4 

0 

44 

by 

it 

0 

" 

Pro. 

of  ist  person 

II 

0 

(4 

1 

'      2d         " 

" 

0 

M 

"    3d       "               " 

2 

II 

be, 

aux. 

" 

2 

ll 

have 

u 

II 

0 

" 

shall 

n 

tl 

0 

tl 

will 

" 

ct 

I 

(4 

may 

" 

" 

0 

H 

do 

u 

it 

0 

M 

that 

H 

0 

« 

and 

•i 

6 

M 

57 
other  particles,    9 

66  particles. 

Hence,  the  New  York  Herald's  style  requires  about  164  common  words  to 
obtain  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty  per  cent,  particles,  and 
thirty-nine  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


577 


0-SEMI- 
:  TYPE  : 

'1C  FAMILY  I 

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LANGUAGE 

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1 

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^^  s  i  g  u  c'i^j-gs'Si'c'S'S'o^'i  i  £ 

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words  of  inker  * 

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578 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  the  "New  York  Weekly  Tribune"   Nov.  22,  1871. 

HORACE  GREELEY'S  OPENING  EDITORIAL. 

"The  consolidation  of  Italy,  so  long  fragmentary  and  impotent,  into  one 
powerful  State,  with  Rome  as  its  capital ;  the  humiliation  of  France  through 
a  series  of  crushing  defeats,  ending  with  the  siege  and  capitulation  of  her 
proud  and  gay  metropolis ;  the  expulsion  of  the  Bourbons  from  the  Spanish 
throne,  and  the  substitution  for  them  of  a  scion  of  the  most  liberal  among 
royal  houses;  the  virtual  absorption  of  the  kingdoms  of  Saxony,  Hanover, 
Bavaria,  with  Baden,  Hesse,  the  Hanse  Towns,  &c.,  under  the  headship  of 
Prussia,  into  the  triumphant  and  powerful  empire  of  North  Germany ;  and 
the  arming  of  Russia  to  re-assert  her  preponderance  in  the  councils  of  Europe, 
or  to  prosecute  her  often  postponed,  but  never  relinquished  designs  on  the  great 
city  founded  by  Constantine,  and  the  vast  but  decaying  and  anarchical  dominion 
of  the  Sultan,  all  combine  to  invest  with  profound  interest  the  ever-changing 
phases  of  our  tidings  from  the  Old  World.  The  Tribune,  through  trusted 
correspondents  stationed  at  all  points  in  Europe,  where  great  movements  are 
in  progress  or  imminent,  aims  to  present  a  complete  and  instructive  panorama 
of  events  on  that  continent,  and  to  mirror,"  &c. 


170  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

1  8  times. 

a 

ii 

3     " 

of 

ii 

15     " 

to 

(4 

4     " 

from 

U 

2      " 

in 

14 

2      " 

with 

a 

4     " 

by 

II 

I    " 

Pronoun,  ist 

person       u 

I    " 

2d 

«                   Ct 

0      " 

"         3d 

«           a 

4     " 

be,     aux. 

« 

0      " 

have,   ' 

a 

0      " 

shall,    ' 

II 

0      " 

will,     ' 

u 

0      " 

may,     ' 

II 

0      " 

do,       « 

ii 

0      " 

that 

u 

I   " 

and 

14 

10      " 

65 

other  particles, 

17 

82  particles. 

Hence,  Greeley's  style  required  about  170  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averaged  about  48  per  cent,  particles  and  forty-one  per 
cent,  repetitions. 


m 

»*/* 

£#^  Century.                           579 

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French  : 

words  : 
nt  meaning. 

II 

-PELASGIC  OR  GRE 

Greco-Latin  • 

58* 
1  words  of  inhere 

Press  of  the  Engli 
lated  to  decrease  I 

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B*f          !2       c       WO"S  B 

ilfttllf8lift« 

Ifi-  PPIIlr  M 

*  Thus  th 
reading  is  calc 

580  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Tennyson's  "Ode  to  Memory" 

"  Large  dowries  doth  the  raptured  eye 

To  the  young  spirit  present, 

When  first  she  is  wed  ; 

And  like  a  bride  of  old 

In  triumph  led, 

With  music  and  sweet  showers 

Of  festal  flowers, 
Into  the  dwelling  she  must  sway. 
Well  hast  thou  done,  great  artist  memory, 
In  setting  round  thy  first  experiment 
With  royal  frame-work  of  wrought  gold, 
Needs  must  thou  dearly  love  thy  first  essay, 
And  foremost  in  thy  various  gallery 

Place  it,  where  sweetest  sunlight  falls 

Upon  the  storied  walls  ; 

For  the  discovery 

And  newness  of  thine  art  so  pleased  thee, 
That  all,  which  thou  hast  drawn  of  fairest 

Or  boldest  since  but  lightly  weighs 
With  thee  unto  the  love  thou  bearest. 
The  first  born  of  thy  genius,  artist  like, 
Even  retiring  thou  dost  gaze 
On  the  prime  labor  of  thine  early  days ; 
No  matter  what  the  sketch  may  be  ; 
Whether  the  high  field  or  the  bushless  Pike, 
Or  even  a  sand-built  ridge,"  &c. 


157  common  words,  among  which 


The 

a 

of 

to 

from 

in 

with 

by 

Pronoun,  ist  per. 
«       2d     " 
"      3d     « 

be,  aux. 


occurs 


10  times. 
2 
6 
I 
o 
3 
3 
o 
o 

12 

3 

i 


have,  aux.      occurs          2  times. 

shall,     " 

o 

will,       " 

o 

may,      " 

i 

do,         " 

2 

that 

I 

and 

3 

50 

other  particles,    23 

73  partic 

Hence,  Tennyson's  poetic  style  requires  about  157  common  words  to  obtain 
100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-seven  per  cent,  particles  and 
thirty-six  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


581 


aii 

\ 

.y 

i 

ll 

ARIO-SE 
TICTYP 

SEMITIC  FAM 

Hebrew 

« 

H 

i     \-  :-  .. 

Jreco-Latin. 
jotho-Germa 

d-S 

Semitic  we 
i. 

1 

SARMATO-SCLA- 
VONIC  FAMILY  I 

'JIiillllll 

27  per  cent.  ( 
71  "  ( 

H     H 

Gotho-Germanic 
twelve  hundred  y< 
ur  nine  styles  cff 

?s 

II 

0 

I 

'o. 

- 

i 

§ 

•a.S.g 

fif 

c    ..— 

1 

sketch,  n. 

•    .1  i      1 

H                          Ti        M              » 

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f  inherent 

if 

^"i 

JGUAGES 

1C  FAMILY 

1 

2  _,  w    "S  -o  «  JJ. 

rlls  -ill  s 

^     >                     ^ 

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sweet 

X                                                     >             •  tn 

j  _   3  -  4^   ^0^  4>   ^     ,         >»  >   o 

•fji 

II 

\\ 

,"  A.D.  68 

oetic  style 
Dtho-Germ 

-JAPHET 

| 

^slllljlll^ 

•i-] 

»1 

of  which  3 

Mi 

O 

FAMILY  : 

ij 

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GRECO-LAT^ 

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tin  words  • 
7* 
\erent  meant 

c  ^s 

§ 
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<s 
S 

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a     'S 
|     " 

^\ 

edmon's  "  Poet 
reco-Latin  rose 
writing  Greco-L 

THRA 

Cr^yfe  .' 

11 

582  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from    Gladstone's  Speech  on  Legislation  for  Working" 
men,  delivered  at  Greenwich,  October  28,  1871. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  I  am  drawing  very  near  my  close,  but  I  must  still  refer 
to  the  sentiment,  which  undoubtedly  has  been  more  perceptible  in  the  country 
during  the  present  year,  than  I  have  noticed  it  in  a  good  many  former  years — 
I  mean  the  suspicion  on  the  part  of  many  members  of  the  working  classes, 
that  they  are  not  governed  as  they  ought  to  be,  and  that  their  interests  are 
not  properly  considered.  Well,  I  will  not  enter  upon  the  particular  causes, 
connected  with  the  state  of  Europe,  which  may  go  far  to  account  for  that 
sentiment ;  but  I  will  venture  to  say  this :  that  I  think  the  workingmen  will 
do  well  briefly  and  calmly  to  review  history  with  respect  to  the  last  eighteen 
years.  I  take  that  period — I  might  take  a  longer  one — but  I  take  that  period, 
because  it  enables  me  to  present  results  in  a  tolerably  simple  form,  and  be- 
cause it  is  a  period  within  which  I  have  been  most  intimately  conversant  with 
a  number  of  questions,  with  which  the  welfare  of  the  masses  of  the  community 
is  deeply  and  directly  concerned  Now,  within  those  eighteen  years,  what 
has  taken  place  affecting  all,"  &c. 

198  common  words,  among  which 
The  occurs  9  times. 


a 

n 

5 

of 

" 

5 

to 

ii 

6 

in 

M 

3 

with 

M 

5 

from 

" 

0 

by 

» 

0 

Pronoun 

1st  person         ** 

'3 

" 

2d       " 

0 

" 

3d       "            " 

6 

be,    aux. 

" 

6 

have,   " 

u 

4 

shall,   " 

ii 

o 

will,     " 

«« 

3 

may,    " 

" 

2 

do,      " 

" 

0 

that 

M 

5 

and 

*                                " 

3 

75 

other  particles, 

33 

1 08  particles. 

Hence,  Gladstone's  style  requires  about  198  common  words  to  obtain  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  fifty-four  per  cent,  particles  and  forty- 
nine  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


583 


fi- 

Ill 


x        x 


1  l-i 

.11 

i10** 


>» 

a  "H 


•~w  8 

3*? 


584  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  President  Granfs   Inaugural  Address*  March 

4,  1869. 

"CITIZENS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES: 

"  Your  suffrages  having  elected  me  to  the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States,  I  have,  in  conformity  with  the  Constitution  of  our  country,  taken  the 
oath  of  office  prescribed  therein.  I  have  taken  this  oath  without  mental 
reservation,  and  with  the  determination  to  do,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  all 
that  it  requires  of  me. 

"  The  responsibilities  of  the  position  I  feel,  but  accept  them  without  fear. 
The  office  has  come  to  me  unsought ;  I  commence  its  duties  untrammeled. 
I  bring  to  it  a  conscientious  desire  and  determination  to  fill  it  to  the  best  of 
my  ability  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people.  On  all  leading  questions  agitat- 
ing the  public  mind  I  will  always  express  my  views  to  Congress,  and  urge 
them  according  to  my  judgment,  and  when  I  think  it  advisable,  will  exercise 
the  constitutional  privilege  of  interposing  a  veto  to  defeat  measures  which  I 
oppose.  But  all  laws  will  be  faithfully  executed,  whether  they  meet  my  ap- 
proval or  not. 

"I  shall  on  all  subjects  have  a  policy  to  recommend,  none  to  enforce,' 
against  the  will  of  the  people.  Laws  are  to  govern  all  alike  —those  opposed 

to  as  well,"  &c. 

\ 
198  common  words,  among  which 


The                    occurs 

17  times. 

have, 

aux.           occurs     4  times. 

a 

3       " 

shall, 

U                            ft                 j            tt 

of 

9      " 

wiU, 

3       " 

to 

14      " 

may, 

'«                "         o      " 

from                        " 

o      " 

do, 

«                     u            0      '  ** 

in 

i       " 

that 

«•       I     " 

with                       " 

2         " 

and 

4      « 

by 

0         " 

O  _r 

Pro.  of  ist  per.     " 
«    2d     "       " 

16      <l 
I      " 

85 

other  particles,    17 

(t     3(j     (i       «« 

8      " 

102  particles. 

be,  aux.                  " 

i      " 

Hence,  President  Grant's  style  requires  about  198  common  words  to  fur- 
nish 100  different  words,  and  averages  fifty-two  per  cent,  particles,  and  forty- 
nine  per  cent,  repetitions. 

*  As  every  American  who  can  read  does  usually  read  the  President's  In- 
augural Address,  it  is  the  fittest  linguistic  representative  of  its  day. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


585 


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586  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  Queen  Victoria's  Address  to  Parliament,  February 

6,  1866.* 

"My  LORDS  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

"  It  is  with  great  satisfaction  that  I  have  recourse  to  your  assistance  and 
advice. 

"  I  have  recently  declared  my  consent  to  a  marriage  between  my  daughter, 
Princess  Helena  and  Prince  Christian  of  Schleswig  Holstein  Sonderbourgh- 
Augustenburg.  I  trust  this  union  may  be  prosperous  and  happy. 

"  The  death  of  my  beloved  uncle,  the  King  of  the  Belgians,  has  affected 
me  with  profound  grief.  I  feel  great  confidence,  however,  that  the  wisdom, 
which  he  evinced  during  his  reign,  will  animate  his  successor,  and  preserve  for 
Belgium  her  independence  and  prosperity. 

u  My  relations  with  foreign  powers  are  friendly  and  satisfactory,  and  I  see 
no  cause  to  fear  any  disturbance  of  the  general  peace.  The  meeting  of  the 
fleets  of  France  and  England  in  the  ports  of  the  respective  countries  has  tended 
to  cement  the  amity  of  the  two  nations,  and  to  prove  to  the  world  their 
friendly  concert  in  the  promotion  of  peace. 

"I  have  observed  with  satisfaction  that  the  United  States,  after  terminating 
successfully  the  severe  struggle  in  which  they  were  so  long  engaged,  are  wisely 
repairing  the  ravages  of  civil  war.  The  abolition  of  slavery  is  an  event  call- 
ing," &c. 


178  common  words,  among  which 


The                     occurs 

17 

times. 

have, 

aux           occurs 

4  times. 

a 

u 

2 

ti 

shall, 

u                    u 

o     " 

of 

u 

II 

1  1 

will, 

u                      u 

I     " 

to 

M 

6 

(i 

may, 

«                         l< 

I     " 

from 

(I 

0 

<« 

do, 

<(                    « 

0      " 

in 

«  " 

3 

u 

that 

u 

3     " 

with 

U 

4 

ti 

and 

t( 

6    " 

by 

<( 

0 

u 

— 

Pro.  of  ist  person 

« 

ii 

u 

79 

«     2d       " 

II 

i 

II 

other  particles, 

ii 

"     3d       " 

If 

7 

M 

— 

be,  aux 

It 

2 

H 

90  particles. 

Hence,  Queen  Victoria's  diplomatic  style  requires  about  178  common 
words  to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averages  fifty  per  cent,  particles  and 
44  per  cent,  repetitions. 

*  As  every  word  in  a  document  like  this  is  considered  and  studied  by  the 
author,  and  eagerly  canvassed  by  every  Englishman  who  can  read,  it  is  one 
of  the  fittest  linguistic  representatives  of  its  day,  especially  referring,  as  it 
does,  to  domestic  and  State  affairs. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


587 


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588  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

After  closing  our  analysis  with  England's  Queen,  it  is  but  fair 
we  should  mention  here  one  of  England's  bravest  daughters,  Mrs. 
Behoni,  whose  presence  cheered  her  husband's  arduous  explora- 
tions in  Egypt,  which  added  to  the  British  Museum  its  finest  relics  : 
the  colossal  head,  styled  the  Young  Memnon,  the  Alabaster  Sarco- 
phagus, &c.  As  she  was  long  among  Moslem  women,  she  wrote 
an  interesting  sketch  of  their  manners,  customs  and  mode  of  life, 
which,  being  a  unique  acquisition  to  English  literature,  deserves 
attention  and  perusal.  While  in  Brussels,  1849  and  1850,  we 
became  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Belzoni,  who,  the  day  before  our 
departure,  came  and  invited  my  wife  and  me  to  take  tea  with  her. 
We  were  the  only  guests.  As  she  ever  took  a  warm  interest  in 
archeologic  researches  and  discoveries,  we  conversed  freely  about 
them.  She  spoke  of  Gliddon  and  his  writings  on  Egyptian  anti- 
quities, then  added : 

"  I  was  with  my  husband  during  his  arduous  labors  in  Egypt  and  traversed 
the  Holy  Land  with  only  a  guide ;  now  I  have  but  one  desire,  which  is  to 
visit  America,  in  order  to  see  Niagara  and  those  Indian  Mounds,  described 
by  Davis  and  Squier." 

From  such  conversation,  on  the  part  of  one  nearly  "three 
score  and  ten,"  may  be  inferred,  that  she  was  still  young  in  mind. 
Thus  the  evening  had  passed  delightfully,  and  we  were  about 
taking  leave,  when  she  asked  me  in  a  most  winning  manner : 

"  Doctor,  will  you  do  me  a  favor  ?"  As  I  had  previously  given  her  medi- 
cal advice,  I  thought  her  request  was  of  a  professional  character.  "  Certainly, 
madam,  I  will  do  anything  in  my  power  for  you."  "  Then  you  will  accept 
this  hand  :  I  have  borne  it  about  me  for  twenty- two  years,  in  remembrance 
of  my  husband  and  his  discoveries."  "  I  am  the  last  man  to  deprive  you  of 
so  precious  a  relic."  "  But  you  just  now  said  you  would  do  anything  in  your 
power  for  me ;  it  is  certainly  in  your  power  to  receive  it  as  a  memento  of  me." 
"  As  such,  madam,  I  will  gratefully  accept  and  keep  it." 

It  was  the  hand  of  the  mummy  of  the  Egyptian  priestess  her 
husband  found  in  the  tomb  of  Psammuthis,  1818,  to  which  she 
added  manuscripts  and  diagrams  of  Egyptian  Freemasonry  ;  then 
she  seized  a  pen  and  wrote  on  them  :  "  My  unlettered  Theory.'1'1 
The  mummy  of  the  priestess  is  in  the  Brussels  Museum,  minus 
the  right  hand.  Those  interesting  relics  are  now  in  my  posses- 
sion. In  1851  I  was  delighted  to  learn,  that  Parliament  had 
granted  her  an  annual  pension  of  ;£ioo. 


ORIGIN   OF    THE   ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 


"  Language  is  the  armory  of  the  human  mind,  containing  at  once  the  trophies  of  the  past, 
and  the  weapons  for  its  future  conquests." — COLERIDGE. 

BEFORE  we  could  reach  the  origin  of  the  English  language,  we 
had  to  trace  its  progress  from  the  earliest  written  document, 
King  Ethelbert's  Code  of  Laws,  A.D.  597,  showing  ninety-four 
per  cent.  Anglo-Saxon  and  six  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  — to  the 
"Constitution  of  the  United  States,"  1789,  numbering  but  thirty- 
six  per  cent.  Anglo-Saxon  and  sixty-two  per  cent.  Greco-Latin. 
As  we  advanced  in  this  long  vista  of  thirteen  centuries,  we  noticed 
the  linguistic  and  literary  progress  by  pointing  out  numerous 
authors  and  events  that  stimulated  thought,  language,  and  liter- 
ature ;  even  a  new  discovery  in  art  or  science,  whether  in  or  out 
of  England,  was  mentioned  in  its  place  and  time,  so  as  to  indicate 
when  and  how  ideas  and  words  came  into  England's  idiom.  Any 
movement  that  favored  intellectual  activity,  or  betokened  mental 
stagnation,  was  eulogized  or  stigmatized.  Any  author,  whose 
writings  influenced  Europe's  advancement,  finds  a  grateful  tribute 
in  these  pages,  showing  the  cream  and  essence  of  linguistic  lore, 
now  to  be  found  in  the  English  language,  as  set  forth  in  our  fifty 
Tables  of  the  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878.  The  expansion 
of  the  English-speaking  populations  is  mentioned  en  passant. 
Thus  only  could  we  fully  and  properly  portray  the  workings  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  Franco-English,  and  English  mind  from  A.D.  597 
to  1878.  Only  in  this  English  period,  when  the  language  has 
passed  through  its  various  transitions,  can  we  trace  its  origin 
from  the  fifty  Tables,  numbering  5,000  words,  among  which  par- 
ticles like  the,  of,  and,  &c.,  occur  each  fifty  times  ;  so  other  words 
are  repeated  among  the  5,000.  We  therefore  again  drop  repeti- 
tions, and  only  retain  different  words,  as  may  be  observed  in  the 
following  columns  of  Ultimate  Totals  and  percentages,  that  irre- 
vocably prove  the  origin  of  the  English  language : 


590 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


5  s 

^    ^ 

I  I 


•  s 
g£ 


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3 


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8    6 


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s-^         < 


8  * 

"II 


••If 

si 


Nineteenth  Century. 


591 


i 

S22 

11 
•8J 

N 

Cornish  : 

j 

1 
cJ 

I 

00 

Danish: 

1 

d 
ll 


s^ssS-    ub^    rt*u  =  '£jj..g    c^sS"    SJiSw    <«    a«*   Jjb    >.§    o-^ 


c  i=  £  s  8:l'l  a  o.'s-g-a'l  8  §  eJ  S 


&  O  M  fj 


VO         tj.W   Ov  O   H   N 


vr,      vo   tj. 


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lioo 


c5  d      o      d 
d>  d      H      N 


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d      do 


592 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


g§ 


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d>      d  M  ei  co  -4-      tovd 


ii 


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3  a  c'S'O  S  h  S.a  ft  «  9-e  n^  a  s 


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6.  dialec 


B.S 


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d  d  o"      d      d  d  d  d  d      o'-g  g  o  d 

*N  ^  CO         CO         CO  CO  CO  CO^         C0%  CO  •«•  5- 


Nineteenth  Century. 


593 


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13 

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1 

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p.  "0    ^ 


il  iisl  if..s  i 
" 


«d         °.      6      6  6  6 
S. 


594 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


H 


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•^       .£. 


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n  rt'0";'          W  2*-1          «5--J 


Nineteenth  Century. 


595 


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s    i    *    1 

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s^lllifi; 

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596 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


M 

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Nineteenth  Century. 


597 


1 

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a 

3 

& 

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k 

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f> 

1 

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Cornish  : 

H 

Danish  : 

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1 
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Swedish  : 

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Gothic  : 

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598 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


WP« 

§e 
38 


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93 


^y 
5S 


2g 

B5 


tiiliiiiilJiiiii 

•"mi  i  HI wi 


Nineteenth  Century. 


599 


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« 
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5  'B' 


illll 


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B 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


y  •• 

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41   £  o         P.      "O   «J 

«  co  -4-  >o         \o      i^oo      d\  6 


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Nineteenth  Century. 


601 


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81 

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h.f    ?  -  iS  g*  w'S-  a  W^«^S  g  ^"8  5  a^c 
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s.1  fel  Il-ls  I  s'&l  aj-^i  gfs  |||  g 


^^^^  f-s^-l-s^^  "a-ac*  8?      ^  I1 

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602 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


?i 


2s 


1/1  -"  o  S  >  ^  X  °°  e   "3  "  [        w        5) 


Nineteenth  Century. 


603 


s  •? 


6-a 


!«isi.iil 


'Slt'Sg^fi-d'Sg1    B    ll 

Illiliil1l&loli 


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604 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


M  N  jo  4      jo  \o  N. 


-5^ 


a. 
j  g-sU  S  1-3 


2  *•§  §li  ts-l  g  §1  ill  III  §  niii  k-s ^.s 

1-l|  il  84  sJil  §."§  ?ii|  J  §1  Sl-li  n  I 

'•5:3'a8y)in      w-S^S.S1''"353^  °.£P-o  £  I 
—        i-        8 


Nineteenth  Century. 


605 


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1 


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.2  o  s  o  o  j=  s 

I3    "§"" 

10*0  t>.c»  o\       d  H  cl       fo  4-  iovo 


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•oS-    2-e^        =1    1.3'SS    £*L. 


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etc  S 


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8*     s?J    «Av§^        S4 


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606 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


ARIO-SEMI- 
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Nineteenth  Century. 


BS 

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d  d 


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Sis  >>    ££        £>• 

o|  *%  °  °'  °t  °  °'  °"g  o"  o  §  I  o  d  d  d  0-3 
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608 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Sw 


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rt     ^ 


Nineteenth  Century. 


609 


SUMMARY  : 

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0        0        M        O        O 

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3S 

SCLAVONIC 
FAMILY  : 

•uvjssny 

M        O        O        O        0 

- 

Sclavonic 
word  : 
i. 

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6io  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Origin  of  the  English  Language,   as   shown  by  our  Numeric 
Analysis  of  English  Literature. 

The  preceding  totals  of  the  fifty  Tables  of  the  Eng- 
lish Period,  A.D.  1600-1878,  number  2,282  ultimate 
different  words,  derived  from  twenty-two  dead  and 
living"  languages.  Among  these  2,282  ultimate  dif- 
ferent words — 

1,557  are  Greco-Latin,  including  1,224  French; 
686    "•  Gotho-Germanic,   including   643    Anglo- 
Saxon  ; 
35     "   Celtic; 
3    "   Semitic ; 
i     "   Sclavonic. 


2,282 

Hence,  the  English  language  contains : 

68+    per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  including  53  per  cent. 

French ; 
30+  Gotho-Germanic,  including   28  per 

cent.  Anglo-Saxon  ; 
2-  "          Celtic,  and 

Traces  of  Semitic  and  Sclavonic. 

Hallam  says  :  "  We  cannot  well  assign  a  definite 
origin  to  our  present  language"  We  think  our  close 
numeric  analysis  assigns  as  definite  an  origin  to  the 
English  language  as  can  be  reached.  As  the  Eng- 
lish vocabulary  counts  fifty-three  per  cent.  French, 
Joseph  Bosworth,  D.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.R.A.,  was  correct 
in  stating:  "The  foreign  words  in  the  English  lan- 
guage are  for  the  most  part  used  to  express  scien- 
tific or  abstract  ideas,  and  were  introduced  from  the 
French."  To  corroborate  the  above  figures  and 


Nineteenth  Century.  611- 

percentages,  furnished  by  our  numeric  analysis  of 
English  literature,  we  average  Walker's  and  Web- 
ster's Dictionaries : 

Noah  Webster,  in  his  "  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language," 
1861,  Author's  Preface,  p.  xiv.,  says  :  "What  individual  is  com- 
petent to  trace  to  their  source,  and  define  in  all  their  various 
applications,  popular,  scientific,  and  technical,  seventy  or  eighty 
thousand  words  ?  " 

We  averaged  the  words  therein,*  and  found  about : 
55,524   Greco-Latin  words. 

22,220    Gotho-Germanic  (mostly  Anglo-Saxon)       " 
443    Celtic 

98   Sclavonic  " 

1,724   Semitic  (Hebrew  and  Arab.)  " 

80,009 

We  also  averaged  Walker's  "  Critical  Pronouncing  Dictionary 
and  Expositor,  of  the  English  Language,"  Edinburgh  edition, 
1852,  and  realized  about : 

56,108    Greco-Latin  words. 

21,777    Gotho-Germanic  (mostly  Anglo-Saxon)       " 
461    Celtic  " 

768    Semitic  " 

79>IT4 

The  averages  of  the  above  figures,  from  the  two  dictionaries, 
give  about 

70  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  ; 
27         "         Gotho-Germanic; 
i£       '*         Semitic  ; 

£  of  one  per  cent.  Celtic,  and  a  fraction  of  Slavonic. 
As  the  percentages  of  our  close  numeric  analysis  of  English 
literature  nearly  agree  with  the  above,  we  may  consider  them  as 
correct  as  possible. 

*  By  counting  the  words  of  a  page  in  each  of  the  twenty-six  letters,  and 
tracing  them  to  their  origin ;  then  averaging  them  and  multiplying  the  aver- 
ages by  the  number  of  pages  in  the  Dictionary,  we  obtained  the  above  figures. 


612  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Thomas  Shaw,  in  his  "  Outlines  of  English  Literature,"  p.  44, 
says  :  "  The  English  now  consists  of  about  38,000  words."  Some 
anonymous  writer,  who  had  the  patience  to  count  the  words  in 
each  part  of  speech,  observes  :  "  There  are  in  the  English  lan- 
guage 20,500  nouns,  40  pronouns,  9,200  adjectives,  8,000  verbs, 
2,600  adverbs,  69  prepositions,  19  conjunctions,  68  interjections, 
and  2  articles  ;  in  all  about  40,498  words."  No  doubt  the  figures 
of  Shaw  and  of  the  anonymous  writer  refer  to  school  dictionaries, 
in  which  many  scientific  and  technical  words  are  omitted.  Since 
people  speak  of  language,  as  though  it  were  within  the  covers  of 
some  Dictionary  or  Encyclopedia,  let  us  survey  its  domain  as  to 
time,  space,  and  importance.  According  to  the  Sacred  Record, 
language  antedates  everything,  even  light ;  for  God  said  :  Let 
there  be  light;  called  the  light  Day,  the  darkness  Night ,  the 
firmament  Heaven,  the  gathering  together  of  the  waters  Seas, 
&c. — (Gen.  i.  3-11.)  Thus,  Elohim  uttered  and  formed  lan- 
guage before  He  made  man,  animals,  or  plants. 

Next  we  read,  Gen.  ii.  19,  20:  "  Adam  gave  names  to  all 
cattle,  and  to  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  to  every  beast  of  the  field 
— and  whatsoever  Adam  called  every  living  creature,  that  was 
the  name  thereof."  Then  followed  the  dialogue  between  Eve  and 
the  serpent,  Gen.  iii.  1-6  ;  the  conversation  between  the  Lord  God, 
Adam  and  Eve  in  the  garden,  9-20.  "  Cain  talked  with  Abel,  his 
brother,"  Gen.  iv.  8  ;  also  the  dialogue  between  the  Lord  God 
and  Cain,  Gen.  iv.  9-16.  Thenceforth  language  progressed 
among  Adam's  progeny  for  ages, 'till  the  Deluge,  when  it  was 
confined  to  Noah  and  his  family,  who,  after  floating  on  the  waters 
that  inundated  the  Earth,  spied  land,  and  exclaimed,  Gen.  viii. 
4  :  "Ar-ar-at  !  "  which  is  but  the  Hebrew  for  earth,  earth  ahead ; 
in  other  words  :  "  Land,  land,  ahead"  as  sailors  are  wont  to  sing 
out  when  they  see  terra  firma.  As  the  primitive  Hebrew  root, 
ar,  seems  to  signify  earth  or  ground,  Gen.  iv.  2,  it  may  be  in- 
ferred that  the  dialect  of  Noah  and  his  family  was  Hebrew. 
Gen.  xi.  i  and  6,  the  Sacred  Historian  tells  us:  "The  whole 
Earth  was  of  one  language  and  of  one  speech,"  &c.  77?^  Lord 
said,  "Behold  the  people  is  one  and  they  have  all  one  language" 
Soon  we  read,  Gen.  xi.  9,  of  "Babel,"  or  the  confusion  of  lan- 
guage. By  these  primitive  linguistic  allusions  we  may  realize 
that  Moses  was  quite  a  philologist,  for  he  seems  to  have  watched 


Nineteenth  Century.  613 

and  studied  language  with  peculiar  interest.  Yet  we  are  told 
philology  is  a  modern  science,  when  we  find  the  term  philologie 
in  Chaucer's  "Canterbury  Tales"  A.D.  1390,  and  when  Moses 
mentions  the  origin,  progress,  oneness,  and  multiplication  of  lan- 
guage in  the  first  eleven  chapters  of  his  remarkable  Record, 
penned  thirty-five  centuries  ago.  True,  he  does  not  trace  roots 
and  derivations  as  we  do,  because  the  language  he  mentions  was 
one  and  primitive.  Thus  we  find  in  that  ancient  book  the  ele- 
ments of  most  sciences — cosmogony,  theogony,  astronomy,  agri- 
culture, mineralogy,  botany,  zoology,  philology,  and  even  chem- 
istry, which,  together  with  metallurgy,  was  needed  to  make  the 
"molten  calf  from  the  "golden  earrings,"  Exod.  xxxiv.  4,  and 
this  knowledge  the  Jewish  sage  did  not  transmit  to  us  in  hiero- 
glyphic, or  in  mysterious  cabalistic  and  Cabiric  symbols,  signs, 
and  figures,  but  in  clear,  distinct,  alphabetic  characters,  known 
in  his  day  to  the  Israelites,  Arabs,  Canaanites,  and  Phenicians, 
who  carried  them  to  most  of  the  ancient  nations,  who  formed 
their  alphabet  therefrom.  Hence,  let  who  will  sneer  at  the 
Mosaic  Record  (which  seems  now  to  be  the  fashion),  any  one 
who  will  impartially  analyze  it,  must  consider  it  as  the  starting- 
point  of  primitive  tradition  and  knowledge  ;  for,  taking  it  merely 
as  a  historic  record,  what  should  we  know  of  the  ancient  world, 
tribes,  peoples,  nations,  and  races  without  the  Pentateuch,  which 
has  been,  is,  and  will  be  evoking  thought,  developing  dialects  and 
languages,  expanding  and  enriching  literature,  art,  and  science 
all  over  the  globe.  No  other  history  evinces  the  genuineness  of 
the  Mosaic  account,  which  narrates  the  follies  and  vices,  wisdom 
and  virtues  of  its  heroes  and  heroines  with  equal  candor,  and 
without  attempt  to  exaggerate  or  conceal  any  of  the  attending 
circumstances. 

Language  embraces  Zoology  and  the  names  of  its  245,000  liv- 
ing species  of  animals;  Botany  and  the  names  of  its  100,000 
living  species  of  plants ;  Geology  with  its  95,000  fossil  species 
of  animals  and  2,500  fossil  species  of  plants;  Mineralogy  with 
its  myriads  of  crystals,  metals  and  minerals.  Language  includes 
not  only  the  ordinary  dictionary  of  40,000  popular  words,  but 
the  Classical  Lexicon,  the  Dictionaries  of  Medicine,  Jurispru- 
dence, Chemistry,  Arts  and  Manufactures,  Biography,  and  the 
Universal  Gazetteer.  The  4,000  Christian  names,  the  Bible 


614  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

names  and  the  innumerable  family  names  also  belong  to  lan- 
guage. Even  Allibone's  "  Critical  Dictionary  of  English  Litera- 
ture and  British  and  American  Authors  "  contains  46,000  articles, 
names,  &c.  Have  we  not  compassed  language?  Not  yet.  Look 
at  yonder  cathedral  and  churches  with  their  lofty  spires  ;  at  those 
grand  edifices,  reared  for  parliaments,  congresses,  legislatures, 
courts,  institutes,  universities,  faculties,  colleges,  theatres  ;  watch 
that  post-office  and  the  mails  streaming  to  and  from  it  ;  glance 
at  those  newspaper  palaces,  issuing  bulletins  and  extras  ;  behold 
those'  wires,  freighted  with  the  tersest  and  choicest  treasures  of 
language,  rapping  out  telegrams  in  yonder  office  ;  see  those 
structures,  erected  for  casting  type,  printing,  binding,  publishing, 
and  selling  books.  Forget  not  the  eighty-four  Bible  societies  and 
agencies  that  issued  and  distributed  110,000,000  Bibles  and 
Testaments  since  1804  —  one  and  all  were  founded  to  diffuse  and 
convey  thought  by  and  through  language,  either  spoken,  written, 
printed,  or  mapped.  Should  the  God,  who  originated  language 
on  earth,  strike  mankind  dumb  to-day,  to-morrow  these  architec- 
tural splendors  would  begin  to  fade,  for  language  raised  them  ; 
language  underlies  them  all.  Now  we  can  exclaim  with  Home 
Tooke  :  "  Language  is  an  art  and  a  glorious  one,  whose  influence 
extends  over  all  others,  and  in  which  all  science  whatever  must 
center."  Hence,  should  not  this  most  powerful  of  engines  —  lan- 
guage —  be  made  as  simple,  easy,  fluent,  and  perfect  as  possible  ? 
Lift  your  eyes  to  that  azured  dome  !  When  you  have  learned 
that  language  gave  names  and  lent  speech  to  those  comets, 
moons,  planets,  suns,  stars,  constellations  and  galaxies,  you  will 
be  able  to  realize  Jean  Paul  Richter's  striking  simile  on  language  : 


biiuft,  bcv  9J£cnfd)  roiirbe  fid)  (fo  lute  ba§  ftrad)(oje  Sfyter,  bag  in  ber 
aufceren  2Belt,  toie  in  cinein  bnnfeut,  betanbenben  2Bctten=9fteere  fdjrotmmt), 
ebenfatts  in  bcin  DoUgeftirnten  §immet  ber  aufeeren  2(nfdjauitng  bnmpf  tier* 
lieren,  ft>enn  cr  ba3  uevtDorrene  £eudjten  md)t  burd)  ©pracfye  in  ©ternbitber 
abtfyeilte,  unb  ftd)  bnvd)  bie[e  ba§  ©anje  in  SHjeite  fiir  bag  SBeainfcrfetn  auf= 
Ibfete." 

From  this  survey  of  language's  vast  domain,  we  conclude  that 
the  English  Vocabulary  should  number,  at  least,  one  million  of 
words  to  satisfy  present  science,  art  and  literature.  Lately  the  idea 
of  a  universal  dictionary,  including  not  only  what  is  commonly 


Nineteenth  Century.  615 

called  language,  but  Biography,  Gazetteer,  Encyclopaedia,  Myth- 
ology, and  Lexicons  of  separate  sciences,  arts,  manufactures,  me- 
chanics and  trades,  has  been  gaining  ground,  thus  embracing 
and  covering  the  linguistic  expanse  just  alluded  to.  Such  a  work 
would  be  a  library  in  itself,  and  suffice  for  ordinary  purposes  of 
reference.  No  wonder,  then,  the  German  Universal  Dictionary, 
now  issuing  by  the  Brothers  Grimm,  is  to  contain  500,000  words ! 
In  Vol.  II.,  p.  449,  of  Sharon  Turner's  "  History  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,"  we  read  this  significant  sentence: 

"Nouns  and  verbs  are  the  parents  of  all  the  rest  of  language,  and  it  can 
be  proved  that  of  these  the  nouns  are  the  ancient  and  primitive  block  from 
which  all  other  words  have  branched  and  vegetated." 

As  we  were  curious  to  know,  not  only  "the  parents  of  all 
language,  but  also  their  children,"  we  thus  selected  the  different 
words  from  the  fifty  Tables  of  the  English  Period  for  our  ultimate 
synopsis : 

1,096  different  nouns. 
520        "        verbs. 
445         "        adjectives. 
107        "        qualificative  adverbs. 

2,169  different  words  of  inherent  meaning,*  and 
113  different  words  without  inherent  meaning,  or  par  tides. \ 

Home  Tooke  observes  : 

"  In  English  and  in  all  languages  there  are  only  two  sorts,  of  words,  which 
are  necessary  for  the  communication  of  our  thoughts.  And  they  are :  I.  Noun ; 
2.  Verb."  Vol.  I.,  p.  47. 

As  we  fully  agree  with  the  Sage  of  Purley,  we  exhibit  not  only 
the  totals  of  the  different  nouns  and  verbs,  but  of  the  different 
adjectives,  qualificative  adverbs  and  particles,  giving  their  re- 
spective origin  in  the  following  Tables  : 

*  By  words  of  inherent  meaning  we  understand  words  having  physical  rep- 
resentatives, that  are  realized  by  the  senses,  as :  sun,  man,  red,  slow,  run, 
sit,  slowly,  &c.,  or  words  that  have  a  metaphysical  signification,  like  wisdom, 
good,  think,  wisely,  &c. 

\  By  words  without  inherent  meaning,  or  particles,  we  understand  words 
that  have  merely  a  relative  sense,  as :  the,  of,  shall,  and,  alas,  &c. 


616  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

WORDS    OF    INHERENT   MEANING. 

Table,  showing  the  origin  of  the  different  Nouns  from  the  Fifty 
Tables  of  the  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878  : 


Greek  : 

91 

Latin  : 

116  1 

French  : 

686 

Spanish  : 

r  817  different  Greco-Latin  nouns. 
4  I 

Italian  : 

I 

Portuguese  : 

J 

Anglo-Saxon  . 

237 

Danish  : 

9 

German  : 

8 

Dutch  : 

Flemish  : 

0 

•261  different  Gotho-Germanic  nouns. 

Swedish  : 

2 

Gothic  : 

I 

Icelandic  : 

0, 

Welsh  or  Cymric  : 

8' 

Armoric  : 

4 

Irish  : 

3 

17  different  Celtic  nouns. 

Scotch  : 

i 

Cornish  : 

i 

Russian  : 

I  >      i  Sclavonic  noun. 

Hebrew  : 

if-      I  Semitic  noun. 

1,096  different  nouns. 

This  shows  that  our  Fifty  Tables  count : 

75— percent,  different  Greco-Latin  nouns,  including  sixty-three 

per  cent.  French  nouns. 
Gotho-Germanic  nouns,  including  twenty- 
two  per  cent.  Anglo-Saxon. 
Celtic  nouns,  and 
Traces  of  Sclavonic  and  Semitic. 


23- 


2   ^™ 


Hence,  the  English  language  contains  now  over  three  Greco- 
Latin  nouns  to  one  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


617 


WORDS  OF  INHERENT  MEANING. 

Table,  showing  the  origin  of  the  different  Verbs  from  the  Fifty 
Tables  of  the  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878  : 


364  different  Greco-  Latin  verbs. 


Greek  : 
Latin: 
French  : 

0 
109 

Spanish  : 
Italian  : 

It 

Portuguese  : 

oJ 

Anglo-Saxon  : 
Danish  : 

134" 

2 

German  : 

Dutch: 

Flemish  : 

Swedish  : 

Gothic  : 

Icelandic: 

1 

Welsh  or  Cymric  : 
Armoric  : 
Irish: 
Scotch  : 
Cornish  : 

• 

:j 

Russian  : 

•I 

Hebrew  : 

.1 

142  different  Gotho -Germanic  verbs. 


V    13  different  Celtic  verbs. 

o  Sclavonic  verbs. 

if-      i   Semitic  verb,  which  is  gaze. 
520  different  verbs. 

This  proves  that  our  Fifty  Tables  contain  : 
70  — per  cent,  different  Greco-Latin  verbs,  including  forty-nine  per 

cent.  French  verbs. 

27+      "  "         Gotho-Germanic  verbs,  including  twenty- 

five  per  cent.  Anglo-Saxon. 

2+      "  "         Celtic  verbs,  and  traces  of  Semitic. 

Hence,  the  English  language  has  now  nearly  three  Greco- 
Latin  verbs  to  one  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon. 

Sharon  Turner  has  this  pertinent  remark  on  the  importance 
of  verbs  : 

"They  are  like  the  secondary  mountains  of  the  Earth — they  have  been 
formed  posterior  to  the  ancient  bulwarks  of  human  speech,  which  are  the 
nouns." 


6i8  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

WORDS    OF    INHERENT   MEANING. 

Table,  showing  the  origin  of  the  different  Adjectives  from  the 
Fifty  Tables  of  the  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878  : 


different  Greco-Latin  adjectives. 


Greek  : 
Latin  : 
French  : 
Spanish  : 
Italian: 

6°] 

233  1 

Portuguese  : 

0  J 

Anglo-Saxon  : 
Danish  : 

131  1 

2 

German  : 

I 

Dutch  : 
Flemish  : 

3 

0 

Swedish  : 

0 

Gothic  : 

0 

Icelandic  : 

0 

Welsh  or  Cymric  : 
Armoric  : 

ol 

Irish  : 

' 

Scotch  : 

I 

Cornish  : 

oj 

137  different  Gotho-Germanic  adjectives. 


Russian : 


4  different  Celtic  adjectives. 


o  >•      o  Sclavonic  adjectives. 


Aramaic  or  Syriac  :         I  X     I  Semitic  adjective. 
445  different  adjectives. 

Thus  our  fifty  Tables  exibit : 

68  per  cent,  differeat  Greco-Latin  adjectives,  including  fifty-two 

per  cent.  French. 
31  Gotho-Germanic      adjectives,      including 

twenty-nine  per  cent.  Anglo-Saxon. 
i  Celtic  adjective,  and  traces  of  Semitic. 

Hence,   the  English  language  counts  now  over  two    Greco- 
Latin  adjectives  to  one  Gotho-  Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon. 


Nineteenth  Century. 

WORDS    OF    INHERENT   MEANING. 


Table,  showing  the  origin  of  the  different  Qualiftcative  Adverbs 
from  the  Fifty  Tables  of  the  English  Period,  A.D.  1600- 
1878: 


66  different  Greco-Latin  qualificative  adverbs. 


Greek  : 

o  "] 

Latin  : 

19 

French  : 

47 

Spanish  : 

0 

Italian  : 

0 

Portuguese  : 

OJ 

Anglo-Saxon  : 

40  ^ 

Danish  : 

0 

German  : 

0 

Dutch  : 

0 

Flemish  : 

0 

Swedish  : 

0 

Gothic  : 

0 

Icelandic  : 

0 

Welsh  or  Cymric  : 

'1 

Armoric  : 

0 

Irish  : 

0 

Scotch  : 

°i 

Cornish  : 

oJ 

Russian  : 

0 

40  different    Gotho-Germanic  qualificative  ad- 
verbs. 


Hebrew 


i  Celtic  qualificative  adverb. 


o  Sclavonic  qualificative  adverbs. 

Of      o  Semitic  qualificative  adverbs. 
107  different  qualificative  adverbs. 


This  shows  that  our  fifty  Tables  number : 

6 1  -i-  per  cent,  different  Greco-Latin  qualificative  adverbs,  includ- 
ing forty -four  per  cent.  French. 

37  +      "  "         Gotho-Germanic,  all  Anglo-Saxon, 

i  -     "  "         Celtic. 


Therefore,  the  English  language  numbers  now  almost  two  Greco- 
Latin  qualifcative  adverbs  to  one  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo- 
Saxon. 


620  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

WORDS    WITHOUT    INHERENT   MEANING,    OR    PARTICLES. 

Table,  showing  the  origin  of  the  different  Particles  from  the  Fifty 
Tables  of  the  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878  : 


7    different    Greco-Latin   particles,  or   words 
without  inherent  meaning. 


Greek  : 

0  ^| 

Latin  : 

2 

French  : 

5 

Spanish  : 

0 

Italian  : 

Portuguese  : 

oj 

Anglo-Saxon  : 

101   -j 

Danish  : 

0 

German  : 

3 

Dutch  : 

0 

Flemish  : 

o 

Swedish  : 

0 

Gothic  : 

I 

Icelandic  : 

I  J 

Welsh  or  Cymric  : 

°] 

Armoric  : 

o   1 

Irish  : 

o  j. 

Scotch  : 

Cornish  : 

Russian  : 

°} 

Hebrew  : 

0     - 

106  different  Gotho- Germanic  particles. 


o  Celtic  particles. 

o  Sclavonic  particles. 

o  Semitic  particles. 
) 

113  different  particles. 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  figures  that  our  fifty  Tables 
contain 

6  per  cent,  different  Greco-Latin  particles. 

94         "  "          Gotho-Germanic,   including   93   per    cent. 

Anglo-Saxon. 

Hence,  the  English  language  contains  sixteen  Gotho-Germanic 
particles  to  one  Greco-Latin,  which  clearly  proves  that  languages 
do  change  their  vocabulary  as  to  words  of  inherent  meaning, 
while  they  retain  their  original  particles,  or  words  without  inher- 
ent meaning. 


Nineteenth   Century. 


621 


that 

occurs  10  1  tim 

be,      aux. 

"     164     " 

have,     " 

"       88     " 

shall,     " 

"       28     " 

will,       " 

«       27     " 

It  seems  to  us  a  few  remarks  on  the  occurrence  of  particles 
might  be  of  interest  here  :  The  9,554  words  that  constitute  our 
fifty  Extracts  of  the  English  Period,  include  4,693  particles, 
among  which 

The  occurs  851  times, 

and  "     416     " 

Pro.  ist  person      "     150     " 
"    2d       "  "       46     " 


Hence,  our  best  English  writings  average  about 

9+  per  cent.  the, 

4^         u  and, 
i£         "              pronouns  of  ist  person, 

a  small  fraction         "  2d         " 

2§  per  cent.  3d 

i^-       "  be,       aux. 

i—      "  have,     " 

a  small  fraction  per  cent.  shall,     " 

"  "  "  will,       " 

i  +  "  that       " 

We  expected  to  find  less  the,  more  and,  THAT,  and  auxiliaries. 
We  are  not  surprised  at  the  small  number  of  pronouns  of  the 
first  and  second  persons,  and  the  large  number  of  pronouns  of  the 
third ;  because  the  former  belong  more  to  conversation  and  ora- 
tory, while  the  latter  belong  to  history  and  description  :  hence, 
pronouns  of  the  first  and  second  person  are  usually  oral,  whereas 
those  of  the  third  are  in  writing  and  print. 

The  percentages  of  nouns,  verbs,  adjectives,  and  qualitative 
adverbs  conclusively  prove,  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  words 
of  inherent  meaning  in  the  English  language  are  Greco-Latin,  and 
less  than  one-third  Gotho-Germanic  ;  whereas  nine-tenths  of  the 
words  without  inherent  meaning,  or  particles,  are  Gotho-Ger- 
manic, and  only  one-tenth  Greco-Latin.  This  clearly  shows,  that 
English  greatly  changed  and  increased  its  vocabulary  as  to  words 
of  inherent  meaning,  while  it  retained  its  original  Anglo-Saxon 
particles. 


622  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

We  can  neither  assent  to  Sharon  Turner's  exclusive  eulogy  on 
nouns  and  verbs,  nor  to  Marsh's  calling  "Particles,  Pronouns,  and 
Auxiliaries  the  mere  wheel-works  of  syntactical  movement"  for  we 
consider  many  particles,  especially  pronouns ,  auxiliaries,  adverbs, 
of  place  and  time;  prepositions^  interjections •,  as  highly  important 
words,  taking,  as  they  do,  not  only  the  place  of  nouns,  but  of 
two,  three,  four  words,  and  even  of  a  whole  sentence.  Pronouns 
save  the  repetition  of  the  names  of  persons  speaking,  spoken  to, 
and  of  persons  and  things  spoken  of:  the  man,  woman,  or  child, 
who  utters  the  monosyllables  /,  we,  my  •  thou,  you,  your ;  he, 
she,  it,  they,  &c.,  asserts  individuality,  which  involves  existence, 
life,  &c.  Here,  there,  where ;  now,  then  ;  alas,  &c.,  are  truly 
epitomic  terms  :  here  standing  for  in  this  place  ;  there  for  in  that 
place  ;  where  for  in  what  place  ;  now  for  at  the  present  time  ; 
then  for  at  some  time  either  past  or  future  ;  alas  !  for  a  whole  sen- 
tence. Any  one  who  overlooks  such  linguistic  gems  makes  a 
sad  mistake  ;  for  they  constitute  the  Laconism  and  essence  of  re- 
fined speech  and  language.  Any  dialect  that  has  them,  cannot 
be  called  a  jargon,  because  such  words  involve  thought,  calcula- 
tion, analysis,  and  synthesis. 

The  delicate  shades  of  linguistic  relation,  indicated  by  the 
short  invariable  prepositions,  of^  to,  with,  from,  &c.,  marking 
possession,  addition,  separation,  &c.,  could  not  be  expressed  un- 
less by  cumbersome  terminations  like  Greek  ov,  779,  lov,  at?,  015,  or 
Latin  ae,  i,  is,  orum,  arum,  abus,  ibus,  obus,  &c.,  that  vary  ac- 
cording to  gender,  number,  and  declension.  So  with  the  terse 
English  auxiliaries :  be,  have,  shall,  will,  may,  &c.  They  truly 
are  auxiliaries  and  help-meets  ;  for  they  obviate  the  complicated 
affixes  and  suffixes  we  find  in  Greek,  Latin,  Anglo-Saxon,  French, 
German,  and  other  languages. 

No  doubt  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  has  undergone  much  change 
since  Edward  the  Confessor,  A.D.  1042 ;  but  these  precious 
monosyllables  have  survived,  and  should  therefore  be  counted 
among  the  "  ancient  bulwarks  "  of  the  English  language  ;  as  Home 
Tooke  so  justly  observes:  "  They  are  the  wheels  of  language, 
the  wings  of  Mercury."  Let  us  add :  they  are  worthy  of  the 
telegraph.  We  look  upon  a  refined,  choice,  and  progressed  lan- 
guage, as  we  would  upon  a  stately  architectural  structure  :  nouns 
are  its  foundation-stones;  verbs,  its  bricks;  adjectives,  its  orna- 


Nineteenth   Century.  623 

ments  ;    qualificative  adverbs,  its  roof;    while    particles   are  its 
cement  and  mortar. 

Now  our  analysis  of  the  fifty  English  Extracts  and  Tables  of 
the  English  Period,  A. I).  1600-1878,  may  be  epitomized  thus  : 
About  one-half  of  the  words  in  the  fifty  Extracts,  numbering 
9,554  words,  are  repetitions  ;  again,  over  one-half  of  the  words  in 
the  fifty  Tables,  counting  5,000  words,  are  repetitions,  leaving  but 
2,282  ultimate  different  words,  which  shows  that  the  tersest  and 
choicest  productions  of  English  literature  contain  only  about  one- 
quarter  of  ultimate  different  words,  the  other  three-quarters 
being  repetitions,  which  are  mostly  particles.  Such  is  language 
now,  not  only  English,  but  all  language.  Will  it,  can  it,  remain 
so  with  the  telegraph,  telephone,  phonograph,  and  amid  the  exact 
sciences,  arts,  and  mechanics  ? 

While  searching  the  origin  of  the  vocabulary,  used  by  the  fifty 
authors  of  the  English  Period,  we  perceived  that  some  uncon- 
sciously employed  more  or  less  Anglo-Saxon  or  Greco-Latin 
words,  according  to  the  nature  of  their  subjects,  while,  if  emo- 
tional or  domestic,  the  vocabulary  would  number  more  Gotho- 
Germanic  than  Greco-Latin  terms  ;*  if  historic,  legal,  or  scien- 
tific, the  vocabulary  would  contain  more  Greco-Latin  than  Gotho- 
Germanic  vocables.  To  show  this  linguistic  phenomenon  more 
fully,  we  give  these  comparative  Extracts  and  Tables  from  Byron's 
"  Occasional  Prologue,"  Longfellow's  criticism  on  Anglo-Saxon 
poetry,  P>ryant's  "  Thanatopsis,"  and  Popular  History  of  the 
United  States,  and  from  Queen  Victoria's  "Journal  of  our  Life 
in  the  Highlands:" 


Wordsworth's  "Despondency"  is  the  only  exception  we  found  to  this 
rule  :  in  it  the  bard  uses  forty-nine  per  cent.  Greco- Latin,  forty-nine  Gotho- 
Germanic,  and  two  per  cent.  Celtic. 


624  English  Period,  A.D.   1600-1878. 

Extract  from  "An  Occasional  Prologue"  by  Byron: 

"  To-night  you  throng  to  witness  the  debut 
Of  embryo  actors,  to  the  Drama  new  : 
Here  then  our  almost  unfledged  wings  we  try  ; 
Clip  not  our  pinions  ere  the  birds  can  fly  : 
Failing  in  this  our  first  attempt  to  soar, 
Drooping,  alas  !  we  fall  to  rise  no  more. 
Not  our  poor  trembler  only  fear  betrays, 
Who  hopes  yet  almost  dreads,  to  meet  your  praise  ; 
But  all  our  Dramatis  personae  wait 
In  fond  suspense  this  crisis  of  our  fate. 
No  venal  views  our  progress  can  retard ; 
Your  generous  plaudits  are  our  sole  reward  ; 
For  these,  each  Hero  all  his  power  displays  ; 
Each  timid  Heroine  shrinks  before  your  gaze. 
Surely,  the  last  will  some  protection  find  ; 
Whilst  youth  and  beauty  form  the  female  shield, 
The  sternest  Censor  to  the  fair  must  yield  ; 
Yet  should  our  feeble  efforts  naught  avail,"  &c. 


138  common  words,  among  which 


The 
a 
of 
to 

from 
in 

with 
by 

Pro.  ist  person 
"    2d       " 

be,     aux. 

have,  " 

shall,  " 

will,  " 

may,  " 

do  " 
that 
and  * 


6  times. 
o 

2 

6 
o 

2 

2 

O 

II 

4 
i 

I 
o 
i 
i 
o 
o 
o 
I 


38 

other  particles,    24 

62  particles. 

Hence,  Byron's  unemotional  style  requires  138  common  words  to  furnish 
100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-five  per  cent,  particles  and 
twenty-seven  per  cent,  repetitions. 


*  This  is  the  only  Extract  among  our  ninety  Extracts  and  Tables,  in  which 
and  occurs  but  once  in  138  common  words,  which  is  less  than  one  per  cent. 
Surely  Byron  is  one  of  the  tersest  English  authors. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


625 


ARID-SEMI- 
TIC TYPE  : 

SEMITIC  FAMILY  : 

Hebrew  : 

a                    « 
S    . 

.a 

t^CO    iriHMNMMHHlO                    S 

is  .si 

ifll 

Semitic  word: 
i. 

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si 

(->  b. 

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K  2 

«  IO 

<  0 

in  > 

y 

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.. 

H 

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MERO-CKL 
FAMILY  : 

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11  -  1 

1  -  |  !  -  |  }  - 

f 

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£ 

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A  nglo-Saxon 

f       >                               ui            X 

2  ^  E  °  o^S  ^  J-^S  S-            "^^.g  —  jjgvc  £  g, 

Gotho-Germa 

?7 
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c2  ti  o      '".c'o  ^^03  2  "o  g.-o  S  "2  rt      S!3  >2  ^ 

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626 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Longfellow's  "Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe"  p.  3. 

"The  first  thing,  which  strikes  the  reader  of  Anglo-Saxon  poetry,  is  the 
structure  of  the  verse  ;  the  short  exclamatory  lines,  whose  rhythm  depends  on 
alliteration  in  the  emphatic  syllables,  and  to  which  the  general  omission  of  the 
particles  gives  great  energy  and  vivacity.  Though  alliteration  predominates 
in  all  Anglo-Saxon  poetry,  rhyme  is  not  wholly  wanting.  It  had  line  rhymes 
and  final  rhymes,  which,  being  added  to  the  alliteration  and  brought  so  near 
together  in  the  short  emphatic  lines,  produce  a  singular  effect  upon  the  ear. 
They  ring  like  blows  of  hammers  on  an  anvil.  For  example  : 

"  Other  peculiarities  of  Anglo-Saxon  poetry,  which  cannot  escape  the 
reader's  attention,  are  its  frequent  inversions,  its  bold  transitions,  and  abundant 
metaphors.  These  are  the  things  which  render  Anglo-Saxon  poetry  so  much 
more  difficult  than  Anglo  Saxon  prose.  But  upon  these  points  I  need  not 
enlarge.  It  is  enough  to  have  thus  alluded  to  them. 

"One  of  the  oldest  and  most  important  remains  of  Anglo-Saxon  literature 
is  the  epic  poem  of  "Beowulf."  Its  age  is  unknown  ;  but  it  comes  from  a 
very  distant  and  hoar  antiquity ;  somewhere  between  the  seventh  and  tenth 
centuries." 


174  common  words,  among  which 


The 

Dccurs 

a 

41 

of 

u 

to 

n 

from 

" 

in 

H 

with 

u 

by 

n 

Pronoun  of  ist  per. 

u 

"           2d      " 

(1 

"        3d    » 

(1 

be,     aux. 

M 

have,   " 

If 

shall,  " 

• 

will,     " 

I 

may,    " 

1 

do,       " 

i 

that 

' 

and 

1 

14  times. 


3 
o 
o 

i 
o 
8 
3 

2 
O 
O 
O 
O 
O 

6 

53 


other  particles,    29 

82  particle 


Hence,  Longfellow's  prose  style  requires  174  common  words  to  furnish  100 
different  words,  and  averages  about  forty -seven  per  cent,  particles  and  forty- 
three  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


627 


j 

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Nr^oroMMlO           -S" 

M'  CO  10                      O                %    V 

3JI 

6  ^J   *> 

| 

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ojj-f 

w 

g     ".."Wg"                   ^^ 

38 

— 

S  c  a 

IATO-SCLA- 
C  FAMILY  : 

^ 

yr-four  per 
forty-seve 
[,  as  moral 

</j  > 

1 

y 

>,  w  fl 

GOMERO- 
FAMI1 

||| 

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.. 

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ill 

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2              H                                                     •«                     rt              H 

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628  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Extract  from  William  C.  Bryants  "Thanatopsis"  (Death  Sight). 

"  To  him,  who,  in  the  love  of  Nature,  holds 
Communion  with  her  visible  forms,  she  speaks 
A  various  language :  for  his  gayer  hours 
She  has  a  voice  of  gladness,  and  a  smile 
And  eloquence  of  beauty,  and  she  glides 
Into  his  darker  musings,  with  a  mild 
And  healing  sympathy,  that  steals  away 
Their  sharpness  ere  he  is  aware.     When  thoughts 
Of  the  last  bitter  hour  come  like  a  blight 
Over  thy  spirit,  and  sad  images 
Of  the  stern  agony,  and  shroud,  and  pall, 
And  breathless  darkness,  and  the  narrow  house 
Make  thee  to  shudder,  and  grow  sick  at  heart, 
Go  forth  under  the  open  sky  and  list 
To  Nature's  teachings,  while  from  all  around — 
Earth  and  her  waters,  and  the  depths  of  air — 
Comes  a  still  voice.     Yet  a  few  days,  and  thee 
The  all-beholding  sun  shall  see  no  more 
In  all  his  course ;  nor  yet  in  the  cold  ground, 
Where  thy  pale  form  was  laid  with  many  tears,"  &c. 
161  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

a 

fi 

of 

« 

to 

u 

in 

i< 

from 

(i 

with 

ii 

by 

11 

Pro.  of  ist  person 

a 

"       2d         " 

" 

<  «         -  fj           11 

<« 

be,      aux. 

u 

have, 

11 

shall, 

ii 

will, 

ii 

may, 

li 

do, 

*' 

that 

it 

and 

it 

curs 

9  times. 

tt 

6 

« 

6 

u 

3 

M 

3 

(1 

i 

« 

3 

« 

o 

a 

0 

" 

4 

« 

j  j 

K 

i 

« 

o 

t| 

i 

(« 

o 

II 

0 

M 

0 

t< 

I 

it 

13 

62 

other  particles, 

16 

78  particles. 

Hence,  Bryant's  poetic  style  requires  about  161  common  words  to  furnish 
100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-eight  per  cent,  particles,  and 
thirty-seven  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century.                           629 

, 

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;g 

^ 

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J 

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M 

a  a, 

2  5 

1 

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1 

u 
H 

i 

H       ••         |^ 

1; 

S^ 

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M                                 ^ 

rg-8 

J   > 

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avmg  but  51  v 

.  Greco-Latin, 
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APHETIC 

1 

I 

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M 

II 
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s 

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IRECO-LATIN 

French  : 

l{i*its.8frli&ibi4 
i|llllii}Ji|!Plt  - 

rds: 
meaning. 

J?O 
•fj 

If 

u 

'•i 

ie-3 

U 

n 

si 

•v. 

« 
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l&a  - 

fsl 

E*  S 

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Greco-, 
words  of 

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630 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  William  C.   Bryanfs   '•'•Popular   History   of  the 
United  States."     Preface,  p.  xxii. 

"  The  history  of  the  United  States  naturally  divides  itself  into  three  periods, 
upon  the  third  of  which  we  lately,  at  the  close  of  our  civil  war,  entered  as  a 
people,  with  congruous  institutions  in  every  part  of  our  vast  territory.  The 
first  was  the  colonial  period ;  the  second  includes  the  years  which  elapsed  from 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  .to  the  struggle  which  closed  with  the  extinc- 
tion of  slavery.  The  colonial  period  was  a  time  of  tutelage,  of  struggle  and 
dependence,  the  childhood  of  the  future  nation.  But  our  real  growth,  as  a 
distinct  member  of  the  community  of  nations,  belongs  to  the  second  period, 
and  began  when  we  were  strong  enough  to  assert  and  maintain  our  indepen- 
dence. To  this  second  period  a  large  space  has  been  allotted  in  the  present 
work.  Not  that  the  military  annals  of  our  Revolutionary  War  would  seem 
to  require  a  large  proportion  of  this  space,  but  the  various  attendant  circum- 
stances, the  previous  controversies  with  the  mother  country,  in  which  all  the 
colonies  were  more  or  less  interested,  and  grew  into  a  common  cause ;  the 
consultations  which  followed ;  the  defiance,"  &c. 


185  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

22  times. 

a 

u 

6 

of 

u 

12 

to 

u 

7 

from 

u 

4 

in 

It 

i 

with 

1 

3 

by 

1 

0 

Pronoun,  ist  person 

( 

7 

"        2d       " 

( 

o 

"        3d      " 

t 

i 

be,      aux. 

14 

2 

have,    " 

14 

I 

shall,    " 

It 

O 

will,     " 

(( 

I 

may,    " 

« 

O 

do        " 

u 

o 

that 

(1 

I 

and 

(( 

4 

72 

other  particles, 

19 

91  particles. 

Hence,  William  C.  Bryant's  prose  style  requires  about  185  common  words 
to  furnish  100  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-six  per  cent,  repetitions 
and  forty-nine  per  cent,  particles. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


631 


ERO- 
AMI 


I 

*f& 


•S    ."y ; 

§  «t:  i 

I*ai 


Latin  words 
57 
ent  meaning, 


iiiiiiliil 


632 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Extract  from  Her  Majesty,  Queen  Victor  ids  "Leaves  from  the 
Journal  of  our  Life  in  the  Highlands?  p.  2  73. 

"  During  our  voyage  I  was  able  to  give  Vicky  her  lessons.  At  three 
o'clock  we  all  got  into  the  barge,  including  the  children  and  Mademoiselle 
Gruner,  their  governess,  and  rowed  through  an  avenue  of  boats  of  all  descrip- 
tions to  the  l  Fairy  J  where  we  went  on  board.  The  getting  in  and  out  of 
the  barge  was  no  easy  task.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  swell,  and  the  Fairy 
herself  rolled  amazingly.  We  steamed  round  the  buy  to  look  at  St.  Michael's 
Mount  from  the  other  side,  which  is  even  more  beautiful,  and  then  went  on  to 
Penzance.  Albert  landed  near  Penzance  with  all  the  gentlemen,  except  Lord 
Spencer  (who  is  most  agreeable,  efficient  and  useful  at  sea,  being  a  captain  in 
the  navy),  and  Colonel  Grey.  They  went  to  see  the  smelting  of  copper  and 
tin,  and  the  works  in  serpentine  stone  at  Penzance.  We  remained  here  a 
little  while  without  going  on,  in  order  to  sketch,  and  returned  to  the  '  Victo- 
ria and  Albert,'  by  half- past  four,  the  boats  crowding  around  us  in  all  direc- 
tions; and  when  Bertie  showed  himself  the  people  shouted  '  Three  cheers  for 
the  Duke  of  Cornwall ! '  Albert  returned  a  little  before  seven,  much  gratified 
by  what  he  had  seenr  and  bringing  home  specimens  of  the  serpentine  stone." 

196  common  words,  among  which 


The 

occurs 

17  times. 

a 

M 

5     " 

of 

" 

7     " 

to 

44 

7 

from 

H 

i 

in 

tl 

4 

with 

M 

i 

by 

U 

2 

Pronoun, 

ist  person    *4 

5 

M 

2d     " 

0 

(( 

3d     « 

5 

be,    aux. 

0 

have,  " 

i 

shall,  " 

0 

will,    " 

« 

0 

may,  " 

M 

0 

do,     " 

U 

o 

that 

" 

0 

and 

u 

13 

68 

other  particles, 

26 

94  particles. 

Hence,  Queen  Victoria's  style  requires  about  196  common  words  to  furnish 
loo  different  words,  and  averages  about  forty-eight  per  cent,  particles  and  forty- 
eight  per  cent,  repetitions. 


Nineteenth  Century. 


633 


•••SAli-a. 

mm. 


W   Q 


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i 


634  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

The  change  of  vocabulary  in  our  previous  Extracts  and  Tables 
from  the  same  authors  is  curious  :  Byron's  Prologue  shows  fifty- 
seven  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  thirty-seven  Greco-Latin,  five 
Celtic,  and  one  per  cent.  Semitic  ;  whereas,  the  emotional  "  Lines 
beneath  an  Elm,"  contain  but  twenty-three  per  cent.  Greco-Latin, 
seventy-six  Gotho-Germanic,  and  one  per  cent.  Celtic.  In  the 
former  the  bard  swells  into  the  scholar,  critic,  artist,  and  man  of 
the  world ;  in  the  latter,  he  shrinks  int>3  the  sad  youth,  and 
becomes  the  primitive  Anglo-Saxon  under  Egbert,  A.D.  800. 
You  may  sympathize  with  him  in  the  childlike  attitude  beneath 
the  Elm  at  Harrow  ;  but  if  he  had  remained  there,  the  world  would 
miss  the  graphic  descriptions  and  the  life-like  characters  that 
charmed  readers  and  called  forth  Finden's  beautiful  illustrations, 
which  adorn  our  center-tables.  We  might  wish  Byron  had 
realized  his  "  Lines  written  beneath  the  Elm  in  the  Churchyard 
of  Harrow,"  rather  than  become  the  fevered,  impulsive,  and 
passionate  "Childe  Harold,"  who  died  a  martyr  to  Greece's 
emancipation  from  Turkish  tyranny,  at  Missolonghi,  1824.  As 
well  might  we  wish  to  see  England  as  she  was  under  Edward  the 
Confessor ;  but  then  would  her  sails  have  whitened  the  ocean  ? 
Would  her  flag  float  over  the  five  parts  of  the  world  ?  Would  the 
sun  daily  shine  twenty-four  hours  on  her  vast  dominions  ?  Expe- 
rience, advance,  progress,  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  are  the 
destiny  of  individuals,  tribes,  nations,  and  races,  as  shown 
throughout  history. 

Our  Extract  and  Table  from  William  C.  Bryant's  "Thanatopsis" 
(Death  Sight),  shows  but  twenty-two  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  and 
seventy-seven  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic.  This  is  the  lowest 
Greco-Latin  percentage  of  the  numerous  authors  and  writings  we 
analyzed  in  the  English  language,  except  the  Bible  and  Fitz- 
Green  Halleck's  poetry,  which  also  have  twenty-two  per  cent. 
Greco-Latin.  Hence,  "  Thanatopsis,"  the  Scriptures,  and  Fitz- 
Green  Halleck  may  be  considered  parallels  as  to  Greco-Latin  : 
next  come  Byron  and  Longfellow,  whose  emotional  poems  show 
twenty-three  and  twenty-four  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  while  their 
other  writings  exhibit  forty-seven  and  forty-eight  per  cent.  Greco- 
Latin  ;  then  follow  Tennyson  with  twenty-seven  per  cent.  Greco- 
Latin  ;  Shakespeare,  thirty-three ;  Mrs.  Hemans,  thirty-four ; 
Milton  and  Pope,  thirty-six ;  Scott  with  forty  per  cent.  Greco- 


Nineteenth  Century.  635 

Latin,  &c.  Yet  our  Extract  and  Table  from  the  preface  to 
Bryant's  "Popular  History  of  the  United  States,"  exhibits  fifty- 
seven  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  and  forty-two  per  cent.  Gotho- 
Germanic ;  thence  it  appears  that,  while  the  New  York  bard  was 
rhyming  his  "  Thanatopsis,"  he  was  the  emotional  moralist,  and 
his  soul  overflowed  with  primitive  Anglo-Saxon  expressions ; 
whereas,  while  penning  the  preface  to  the  history  of  his  beloved 
country,  the  impulsive  Greco-Latin  muse  carried  him  to  Greece 
and  Rome,  where  a  streamlet  of  progressed  Greco-Latin  terms 
flowed  into  his  mind  to  picture  statesmanlike  ideas.  Could  he 
have  written  that  philosophic  and  scholarly  preface  in  the  limited 
Anglo-Saxon  vocabulary  ?  Her  Majesty's  Address  to  Parliament, 
closing  our  fifty  Extracts  and  Tables  of  the  English  Period,  shows 
fifty-seven  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  forty-one  Gotho-Germanic,  and 
two  per  cent.  Celtic.  In  this  state  paper  she  unconsciously  paid 
a  linguistic  compliment  to  the  Franco-Norman,  Gotho-Germanic, 
and  Celtic  elements  of  the  English-speaking  populations,  by 
using  words  from  their  respective  vocabularies. 

We  add  here,  as  a  point  of  comparison,  an  Extract  and  Table 
from  Queen  Victoria's  "Journal  of  our  Life  in  the  Highlands," 
which  has  but  thirty-six  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  sixty-three  Gotho- 
Germanic,  and  one  per  cent.  Semitic.  When  her  Majesty 
penned  the  word  "amazing"  she  became  orientalist,  and  as 
such  unconsciously  paid  a  delicate  linguistic  compliment  to  the 
Jewish  and  oriental  element  of  her  subjects.  We  expected  this 
vocabnlar  difference  between  the  Address  to  Parliament,  and 
"Journal  of  our  Life  in  the  Highlands;  "  for  the  former,  being 
diplomatic,  required  Greco-Latin ;  while  the  latter,  being  do- 
mestic, needed  Gotho-Germanic.  To  say  I  read  this  touching 
effusion  with  interest,  would  be  stating  the  least  of  my  emotions  ; 
but  to  say  I  perused  it  with  a  deep  gratitude  to  her  Gracious 
Majesty  for  the  encouraging  literary  example  she  left  to  her  sex, 
approaches  the  impression  it  left  on  my  mind.  The  Queen  of  Eng- 
land rejoicing  to  be  able  to  give  her  darling  daughter  her  lessons 
during  a  voyage  !  No  wonder  the  old  world  styled  this  queenly, 
production  "A  unique  book  in  literary  History" — Round  Table ; 
while  the  New  World  hailed  it  thus :  "It  were  well  that  it  should 
enter  into  every  household  in  England  and  America,  as  an  example 
of  goodness  and  stainless  honor.'1 — New  York  Home  Journal. 


636  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

The  change  of  vocabulary,  as  shown  from  Byron's,  Longfellow's, 
Bryant's,  and  Queen  Victoria's  writings,  proves  that  different 
themes  and  styles  of  composition  require  words  and  phraseologies 
from  different  types  and  families  of  languages.  This  is  a  singular 
feature,  which  is  peculiar  to  a  "  composite  languarge "  like  the 
English,  in  which  the  bard  may  readily  find  any  appropriate  voca- 
bulary for  poetizing ;  the  orator,  for  haranguing  ;  the  statesman, 
for  legislating  ;  the  preacher,  for  exhorting  ;  a  language  in  which 
the  gay  can  "Rejoice  with  them  that  do  rejoice"  and  the  sad 
"Weep  with  them  that  weep" 

ODE   TO  LANGUAGE. 

"  All  nature  speaks  to  us  in  varied  tone, 
From  the  wild  carol  of  the  morning  lark 

To  evening's  drowsy  moan. 
Go  listen  to  the  voices  of  the  storm — 
The  crashing  of  the  woods — the  ocean's  roar, 

When  winds  its  face  deform. 

Is  IT  NOT  SPEECH  ? — when  terror  rides  the  gale, 
And  calls  to  us  to  hurry  from  its  course, 

With  a  forewarning  wail  ? 
We  hear  it  long  before  the  storm  appears, 
In  far-off  sobbings  of  the  low  south  wind, 

That  sighing  wakes  our  fears. 

Then  signal  splashes  of  big  drops  of  rain ; 
Even  the  hush  and  stillness  has  a  voice, 

Boding  the  deep  refrain. 
In  finest  forms,  that  orator  e'er  used, 
He  does  but  copy  sounds  heard  long  before, 

And  with  his  thought  infused : 

First,  with  a  voice  subdued,  attention's  caught 
To  go  along  with  him,  and  note  his  course — 

The  current  of  his  thought ; 
Then  with  a  swelling  force  his  periods  flow — 
A  storm  of  words — the  lightning  flash  of  wit — 

And  bolts  that  strike  and  glow. 

Nature  the  teacher,  an  apt  scholar,  man 
Gathers  the  sounds  significant  and  fit, 

And  gives  them  shape  and  plan, 
FORMING  A  LANGUAGE,  that  essential  need 
For  mental  growth,  a  vehicle  through  which 

The  intellect  to  feed  ; 

To  send  the  winged  thought  from  mind  to  mind 
In  speech,  where  teeming  brains,  conversing  free, 

Advanced  ideas  find. 

Its  language  is  the  touchstone  of  a  race  : 
Be  it  refined  or  coarse,  in  all  its  shades 

The  Nation's  type  we  trace. 


Nineteenth  Century.  637 

We  now  might  doubt  the  Greek  or  Latin  power, 
Were  not  their  language  left ;  but  there  embalmed 

It  stands  to  this  late  hour. 
We  should  not  call  those  ancient  idioms  dead / 
Diffused  they  are,  but  they  live  on  in  tongues,  < 

Through  which  their  words  are  spread. 


Among  rude  nations  no  such  terms  we  find, 
Thought  and  refinement  only  reach  for  them ; 

They  serve  the  polished  mind. 

So,  where  those  graphic  words  have  made  their  home, 
A  state  advanced — a  cultured  race  they  mark, 

Like  those  of  Greece  or  Rome. 


In  classic  times  language  could  paint  the  thought, 
And  as  it  left  the  lips  the  subject  glowed. 

A  picture  finely  wrought. 

Words  dropt  like  coinage  from  beneath  the  die, 
Stampt  with  intrinsic  worth,  and  no  base  mint 

Could  highest  needs  supply. 

The  fairest  offspring  of  linguistic  lore, 
Now  in  ascendant,  is  the  English  tongue, 

Spreading  the  wide  world  o'er : 
A  full  clear  stream  .rom  many  fountains  fed, 
All  languages  in  one  that's  culled  from  all — 

The  living  and  the  dead. 

JANE  LEE  WEISSE. 

"Where  the  mere  historian  may  take  little  notice  and  hasten,  the  philolo- 
gist must  linger  and  watch  the  monotonous  tide  of  language,  which  is  bid 
the  social  under  tow,  bearing  on  its  surface  dynasties,  statesmen,  divines,  and 
soldiers,  who  are  only  bubbles,  that  vanish,  while  that  irresistible  under-tow, 
language,  progresses." — ANONYMOUS. 

Here  and  now  we  find  ourselves  in  this  category :  we  cannot 
hasten ;  we  must  linger  to  draw  the  conclusions  of  new  linguistic 
phases  from  the  incontestable  numeric  results  of  fourteen  con- 
secutive centuries,  A.D.  449-1878. 

While  tracing  the  vocabulary  in  the  fifty  Extracts  and  Tables 
of  the  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878,  we  perceived  linguistic 
phenomena  we  can  only  explain  by  giving  the  following  synopsis 
of  their  numeric  results,  which  will  enable  us  to  show  at  a  glance, 
not  only  the  origin  of  their  vocabulary,  but  the  character  of  their 
style,  as  compared  with  other  writers  of  the  English  Period,  A.D. 
1600-1878. 


638  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


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640  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

This  synopsis  shows  at  a  glance : 

1.  That  the  vocabulary  in  the  Fifty  Tables  from 
the  most  varied  literary  productions  of  the  English 
Period,  A.D.  1600-1878,  contains 

from  22  to  64  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  ; 
"     35  "  ?8        "          Gotho-Germanic  or  An- 
glo-Saxon ; 

i   "     5        "  Celtic,  and 

Traces  of  Sclavonic  and  Semitic. 

2.  That  to  obtain  Fifty  Tables  of  100  different 
words  each  it  required  Fifty  Extracts,  numbering 
from  135  to  531  common  words,  including 

"       26  to    8 1  per  cent,  repetition s  ; 

39  "  6 1  "  words  without  inherent 
meaning,  or  particles,  and 
68  "  82  "  words  of  inherent  meaning. 
Among  the  fifty  authors  and  writings,  Milton's 
style  has  least  (twenty-six  per  cent.)  repetitions ; 
whereas  the  Bible's  has  most  (eighty-one  per  cent.) 
repetitions.  Bishop  Berkeley's  style  shows  least 
(thirty-nine  per  cent.)  particles  ;  whereas  the  style 
of  the  Bible  shows  most  (sixty-one  per  cent.)  par- 
ticles. Jonathan  Edwards'  style  numbers  least 
(sixty-eight  per  cent.)  words  of  inherent  meaning, 
whereas  Berkeley's  numbers  most  (eighty-two  per 
cent.)  words  of  inherent  meaning.  The  previous 
synopsis  applies  more  to  the  style  than  to  the 
vocabulary  of  the  authors  of  the  English  Period, 
A.D.  1600-1878. 

Hence,  may  not  the  hitherto  hidden  charm  of  Milton's,  Shake- 
speare's, Pope's,  Hume's,  Berkeley's,  Irving's,  Mrs.  Hemans'  and 
Cooper's  style  be  due  to  their  having  least  repetitions  and  par- 
tides  and  most  words  of  inherent  meaning  ?  for  we  ail  consciously 
or  unconsciously  like  conciseness  and  dislike  verbiage. 


Nineteenth  Century.  641 

But  the  most  striking  feature,  elicited  by  this  synopsis  and  by 
our  previous  ultimate  result,  is,  that  the  Fifty  Extracts,  number- 
ing 9,554  common  words,  contain  but  2,282  (or  twenty-four  per 
cent.)  ultimate  different  words,  leaving  7,272  (seventy-six  per 
cent.)  repetitions.  The  9,554  common  words  of  the  Fifty  Ex- 
tracts include  also  4,693  (forty-nine  per  cent.)  words  without  in- 
herent meaning,  or  particles.  Think  of  English,  the  tersest,  most 
elastic  and  most  direct  of  the  leading  languages,  having  in  its 
best  literary  productions  only  twenty-four  per  cent,  ultimate  dif- 
ferent words,  seventy-six  per  cent,  repetitions,  and  forty-nine  per 
cent,  particles,  which  makes  one  word  in  every  four  an  ultimate 
different  word,  three  words  in  every  four  repetitions,  and  one 
word  in  every  two  an  insignificant  particle.  As  previously  stated, 
if  English  is  such,  what  shall  be  said  of  other  leading  languages, 
more  complicated  in  grammar  and  less  direct  in  construction  ? 
Are  languages,  so  constituted,  consistent  with  the  telegraph, 
cable,  telephone,  phonograph,  and  with  the  exact  sciences,  arts, 
and  mechanics?  Is  it  not  time  to  consider  this  unscientific 
status  of  language  and  devise  an  educational  system,  calculated 
to  simplify  language  and  correct  this  undreamt  of  prolixity  ?  The 
ninety  English-speaking  millions,  scattered  over  the  globe,  have 
the  deepest  interest  in  this  problem  ;  for  the  nation  that  solves  it, 
will  confer  the  greatest  and  most  lasting  benefit  on  mankind. 

In  our  synopsis  of  Extracts  and  Tables  the  drama  and  pulpit 
exhibit  low  percentages  of  Greco-Latin  and  high  percentages  of 
Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon ;  whereas  the  school-room, 
press,  history,  and  forum  show  high  percentages  of  Greco-Latin 
and  low  percentages  of  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon.  This 
seems  to  indicate  a  difference  of  vocabulary  in  the  various  styles 
of  writing,  and  suggests  the  possibility  of  reaching  average  per- 
centages concerning  the  origin  of  the  varied  vocabularies  in  those 
styles.  As  the  results  of  the  Fifty  Extracts  and  Tables  would  not 
suffice  to  furnish  satisfactory  average  percentages  for  the  nine 
different  styles,  we  analyze  other  literary  productions  of  the  Eng- 
lish Period,  A.D.  1600-1878,  and  add  about  150  more.  Not  to 
incumber  our  book  with  additional  Extracts  and  Tables,  we  only 
give  the  numeric  results,  as  seen  in  the  following  bird's-eye  views, 
showing  the  origin  of  the  vocabularies,  used  in  the  school-room, 
pulpit,  press,  forum,  theatre,  history,  poetry,  romance,  and  mis- 
cellaneous writings  : 


642 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


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AVERAGE  ORIGIN  OF  ITS  VOCABULj 

H.  Blair,  1783,  "  Rhetoric  and  Belles-Lettres  "  
Noah  Webster,  1840,  "  Introduction  to  his  Dictionary  ".  . 
Dr.  J.  Abercrombie,  "Intellectual  Philosophy  "  
Fowne,  "Manual  of  Elementary  Chemistry  "  
T.  B.  Shaw.  "  Outlines  of  English  Literature  "  
Prof.  C.  H.  Hitchcock,  "  Elementary  Geology  "  
Prof.  L.  Agassiz,  "  Contributions  to  the  Natural  History 
O.  Mitchel.  "  Popular  Astronomy  "  
Prof.  Tyndall,  "  Heat  considered  as  a  Mode  of  Motion  "  . 
Th.  H.  Tanner,  "  Practice  of  Medicine"  used  in  Medical 
Prof.  Hickok,  "  Empyrical  Psychology  "  
Prof.  A.  Gray,  "  How  Plants  Grow  "  
Prof.  Proctor,  "  Lectures  on  Astronomy  "  
Prof.  Huxley,  "  Lay  Sermons,  Addresses,  fievifics,"  1870 
Prof.  Max  Miiller,  "  Chips  from  a  German  Workshop".. 
Prof.  J.  Fiske,  "Lectures  at  Harvard  University"  1871 
Parker  and  Watson,  "  Reader  ''''for  Beginners  
Prof.  W.  D.  Whitney,  "  Language  and  the  Study  of  Lan 
Prof.  Youmans,  "  Handbook  of  Household  Science"  
H.  Kiddle,  A.M.,  "  Short  Course  of  Astronomy  "  
Barnes'  Educational  Monthly,  April,  1878,  "Adopting  Tex 

Hence,  the  style  of  the  School-room,  Unive 

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smuch  as  the  rage 
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tin,  thirty-per  t.  Gotho 


Nineteenth  Century.  643 


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644 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Bird's-Eye  View  concerning  the  origin  of  the  Vocabulary,  used  in  the  Sacred  Style  of  Writing  during  the  English  Period,  A.D. 
1600-1878. 

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Right  Rev.  W.  B.  Stevens,  P>ishop  of  Pennsylvania,  on  "  Promotion  of  Christiai 
Rev.  H.  E.  Potter,  Pastor  of  Grace  Church,  New  York,  sermon  on  "  Liturgy  an 
Rev.  Samuel  Osgood,  seimon  on  ''The  Pauline  Paradox  in  its  Modern  Bearing 

Nn  TT  Vnl  T 

"  New  York  Churchman,"  No.  n,  Vol.  I.,  May  25,  1878,  "  Reply  to  a  Criticism 
Moody  and  Sankey,  "  Gospel  Awakening,"  sermon  on  "  Love  and  Sympathy" 
Rabbi  Gustav  Gottheil,  on  "  Position  of  the  Jews  in  America,"  "  North  America 
Dr.  W.  Smith's  "  Dictionary  of  the  Bible."  "  Tehovah  "... 

:  :  : 

>n,  1678,  sermon  before  the  House  of  Commons,  Nov 
,  1758,  "  Thoughts  on  the  Revival  "  
,  on  the  "  Sermon  on  the  J\Iount  "  

on  "  Paul's  First  Prayer  "  
hton  Oxenden,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Montreal  and  Metro 

Robertson,  Bishop  of  Missouri.  "  History  and  Claimf 
dinal  McCloskey,  "  Funeral  Oration  at  the  Obsequie 
L'oxe,  P)ishop  of  Western  New  York,  sermon  in  Cab 

.  .  . 

839,  sermon  on  "  Autumn  "  
sermon  on  "  Cruelty  to  Animals  "  
'  Preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  Poor  "  
sermon  on  '  '  Charity  "  

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"  Hebrew  Trader,"  New  York,  May  3,  1878,  "  Our  Societies 
"Catholic  Review,"  New  York,  May  4,  1878,  "Topics  of  the 
"The  Orudunoi,"  a  monthly  magazine  devoted  to  religion,  s 
lished  by  Rev.  N.  Brown,*  editor  at  the  American  Bapti: 
"New  York  Evangelist,"  "Editorial  Notes,"  May  2,  1878... 

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his  superintendence  by  the  natives,  whom  he  found  intelligen 
part  in  English.  This  indefatigable  missionary  and  scholar  is 
severance  of  the  English-speaking  populations.  He  present 
Francis  Xavier,  Las  Casas,  Hue,  &c. 

646 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


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| 

SEMITIC 

WORDS  : 

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H 

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Politico-Legal  Style  of  Writing  di 
\\ 

GRFCO-LATIN 
WORDS  : 

ro  O  moo  f»  «  u->  o  -^O  M  O  ro  moo  ro  t»  f>  «  O  co  r-s 

\O    to  10  10  -<»-*O    lO'*lOt(-»o-*Tt--*-fO-*-lOT»-lOlO'<»->0 

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::.::::::::  :u  :: 

'.  i  i  '.'.'.'.  ''.'.'.'-'.''.'.'.I  :•«•.: 
:.....:  c  .  . 

? 

Greco-Latin  ; 
Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon  ; 
Celtic,  and  trace  of  Semitic. 

,  and  Courts  resound  with  a  voca 
nt.  Greco-Latin  and  forty-eight  p 
•adually  adopt  a  somewhat  corres 
atercourse. 

Vocabulary,  used  in  the  . 
A.D.  1  600-  1  87  J 

ITS  VOCABULARY  : 

!  :  :  :  ':  ':  ':  i  i  :  1  :  :  I  :  :  :  i  :§  :  i 
::::::::  «  ::::::::::  ^  :: 

i  f  !  i  i  i  Is  yii  ill  1  !j  i  i 

orum  averages  :  50  -1-  per  c«nt. 

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s 

s 
s 

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AVERAGE  OR 

Bill  of  Rights,  under  William  of  Orange,  A.D.  1688 
Queen  Anne's  Speech  in  Parliament,  A.D.  1704  
"  Declaration  of  Independence,"  Philadelphia,  July, 
Burke's  speech  in  Parliament  on  "  Economical  Refor 
Black-stone's  "  Commentaries,"  1788  

Washington's  "  Farewell  Address,"  1796  
J.  C.  Calhoim's  speech  in  Congress  on  "  Economy  ai 
James  Madison  on  "The  Reponsibility  of  our  Count 
E.  Everett  on  "  The  Extension  of  the  Republic,"  183 
Lord  Brougham's  speech  on  "  Neutral  Rights,"  in  P. 
D.  Webster  on  "  Influence  of  Great  Actions,"  1846.  . 
John  Bright  on  "  Punishment  of  Death,"  in  Parliam 
James  Brooks'  speech  in  Congress,  1864  
Lord  Palmerston's  speech  in  Parliament,  March  31,  i 
W.  Sevvard  on  "  Reconstruction,"  February  22,  1866 
W.  D.  Voorhees'  "  Resolutions  in  Congress,"  Janua 
H.  Seymour's  speech  at  Albany,  March  n,  1868  
U.  S.  Grant's  "  Inaugural  Address,"  1869  
Earl  of  Dufferin,  Governor  of  Canada,  speech  at  Wir 
Gladstone's  speech,  October  28,  1871  
Queen  Victoria's  speech,  in  Parliament,  1866  

u 

1 

1 

1 

Among  these  twenty-two  Politico-Legal 
Rights,  1688,  numbers  most  Greco-Latin  and 
whereas,  Lord  Palmerston's  speech  counts 
most  Gotho-Germanic  words.  Nations,  w 

Nineteenth  Century. 


649 


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&  & 

GRKCO-LATIN 
WORDS  : 

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5 

3      2 

X     rjf; 
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*      0) 

•?'s"l 

O     'u       Jr 

o    O    .Q 

X 

tn      C/3_o 

^     s     52 

1  III  II 

tic  style  averag 
u  ; 
manic  or  Anglo 
traces  of  Semit 

S    &    s 

o      p^    • 

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&,  §  5 

D      ""O      *Zj 

>     d    -r 

VOCABULARY  : 

i  j![i!jitijnJl 

dence,  the  Drama 
r  cent.  Greco-Lati 
"  Gotho-Ger 
"  Celtic,  and 

C     "^       _*,        ' 

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< 

"2   •'-     •  *   "rt-fl   •   •   •  =     •*  «3 

g    ^    5     , 

Shakespeare,  A.D.  1616,  "  Hamlet  "  
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  1617,  "Honest  Ma 
Ben.  Jonson,  1617,  "  Fall  of  Sejanus  "  
Rev.  Dr.  J.  Hume.  1756,  Tragedy,  entitled 
Sheridan,  1777,  "School  fur  Scandal"  
Rev.  James  Townley,  1778,  "High  Life  belc 
Sheridan  Knowles,  1820,  "  Virginius  " 
Rev.  James  White,  Drama,  entitled  "Feud 
i.  R.  Planche.  Farce,  entitled  "Captain  of 
ulwer  1  .y  tton.  "  Richelieu  "  
Epes  Sargent,  Drama,  "Yclasco"  
Robert  F.  Conrad,  Drama,  "Eylmere"  ... 
Geo.  H.  Calvert,  Comedy,  "  Like  unto  Like 
J.  Howard  Payne,  Tragedy,  "Brutus".  . 
Rip  Van  Winkle,  adapted  by  Charles  Uurke 
Bret  Hane,  Drama,  "  Two  Men  of  Sandy  I 

Here  we  realize  that  Sheridan  K 
and  most  Gotho-Germanic,  and  Ben 
least  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxc 
matic  authors.  Communities,  whos< 

650 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


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o-Latin  ; 
o-Germanic  or  Anglo 
c. 

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VOCABUL/ 

•  I;::::::::::  a 
.::....          .  .  .  p, 

:  :  :  :<2  :::;::.:  d 

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o 

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1  1  1  1  a  11 

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2  •  *  *  '     •  ••"„•• 

rt    o    9,    S    c    §    « 

Bird1  s-  Eye  View  concerning  the  origin  of 

i 
| 

< 

Hume,  A.D.  1776,  "  History  of  England  "  
Thomas  Warton,  "  History  of  English  Poetry  "  
Gibbon,  "  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  ".  . 
Robertson,  "History  of  America,"  1777  
Halhm,  "View  of  the  State  of  Europe  during  the  Mic 
Sharon  Turner,  "  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  "  
Buckle,  "  History  of  Civilization  in  England  "  
Prescott,  *'  Conquest  of  Peru  "  
Washington  Irving,  "  Life  of  George  Washington  ".  . 
C  J  dwards  Lester,  '•  Our  First  Hundred  Years". 
J.  A.  Froude,  "  Short  Studies  on  Great  Subjects"  .  . 
J.  W.  Draper,  "Intellectual  Development  of  F.urope  ' 
Geo.  Bancroft,  "  History  of  the  United  States"  
W.  C.  Bryant,  "  Popular  History  of  the  United  State 

•* 

^ 
V 
J9 

V 

W 

Thus  Robertson  uses  most  Greco-Latin 
manic,  and  Froude  least  Greco-Latin  and  m 
Anglo-Saxon  words  among  the  English  His 
tory  deals  with  intricate  and  distant  inte 
requires  advanced  ideas  and  expressions;  he 
Greco-Latin  and  low  average  of  Anglo-Sax 
sons  have  acquired  the  information  given  in  s 

Nineteenth  Century. 


65 


3 

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ii^i§3- 

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GOTHO- 
GERMANIC 
WOKDS  I 

—  —  — 

fo 

£   §    S  .5  .5   S 
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c    x  -d    ta  ^  - 

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,3   .S    «»  -~    S    rt 

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» 

i 

GRECO-LATIN 
WORDS  : 

<f*>Cc'i  T?rococJ>?efc?c?romc?cre!  &« 

8 

n  ; 
manic  ; 

Semitic. 

CX            3     o>    ^     oj 

O        ^"    "-1-.        VH      <*-        r; 

O-    O     rt       „    O     o 

lllll! 

isfii; 

i 
v 

1 

Vj 

L 

«« 

Pfii 

OOUH 

r3 

+  +  i 

^N 

u 

among  intensely  active  z 
and  and  America.  Ho 
Tassos,  &c.,  belong  to  ii 
etry  usually  sings  home 
expressions  ;  hence,  the 
age  of  Anglo-Saxon  wor 

'Vocabulary,  used  in 
I  600-  I 

ITS  VOCABULARY  : 

\mmm 

e  style  of  Poe.try  averag 

•S   3   £   i   2  5 

•a^JII 

8  3  i    .  <u  v 

jjmi 

1   11   I*  3o 

£ 

§ 

\                III 

« 

s^ll-5- 

V 

2 
o 

i 

;          8  1 

i       ;   irs  Z 

M 

•!    5=3   h"f% 

f  HB  $  !  = 

I 

-1 
f 

AVERAGE 

Milton,  A.  D.  1674.  "  Paradise  Lost  "  
Dryden,  1680.  "  Character  of  a  Good  Parson".  . 
Bishop  Berkeley,  1728,  "  Poem  on  America  "  
Pope,  173  ^,  "  Essay  on  Man  "  
Young,  1765,  ''Night  Thoughts,"  Sixth  Night  .. 
Goldsmith.  1770,  "  Deserted  Village"  
Wordsworth,  1807,  "  Despondency  "  
Moore,  1812,  '•  Lalla  Rookh—  Paradise  and  the  P 
Shelley,  1819,  "  Witch  of  Atlas"  
Byron,  "  Lines  Written  Beneath  the  Elm  in  the  ( 
Mrs.  Hemans,  "  The  Lost  Pleiade  "  

Longfellow,  "  Psalm  of  Life  "  
Tennyson,  "Ode  to  Memory  "  
Fitz  Green  Halleck,  "  Woman  "  
Edgar  Poe,  "  The  Raven  "  
W.  C.  Bryant,  "Thanatopsis  "  

Thus,  among  English  poets,  Wordswc 
and  least  Gotho-Germanic,  whereas  Hall 
Greco-Latin  and  most  Gotho-Germanic. 
the  same  vocabulary  as  to  origin,  only  tw 
Latin,  As  poetry  deals  in  measure  and  rh 
and  fancy  in  composer  and  reader,  it  is  n 

652 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


^' 

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II 

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GOTHO- 

GEKMANIC 
WOKDS  : 

—  ™— 

s 

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Writing  during  I 

GRECO-LATIN 
WOUDS  : 

"'----«="--«="«=« 

« 

nic  or  Anglo-Saxon  ; 
ices  of  Semitic. 

ve  vocabulary,  as 
average.  No  woi 
effort,  are  sought 

I 

::::::::      :::::•.:     :  : 

jreco-Latin  ; 
jOtho-Gennn 
"eltic,  and  tr 

111 

rt    I    o 

'  Romantit. 
'8. 

immmmmim 

4-  per  cent,  i 
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OJ     "fi     J^     ^ 

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A     :  :      :  :     :  :  :  :  :|  :  :§      :  : 

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1 

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i       iV.i  :     j|  |4-  15  j'j^   S^ 

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rt 

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NIOIHO  3OVH2 

yle  of  Romanct 

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Bird^s-Eye  View  concerning 

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3  ?tf  i  iii'jy  y  s  vv^j  « 

8 

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Ills 

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SI3I 

Nineteenth  Century.  653 

As  some  literary  friends  are  curious  to  know  the  age  of  English 
as  compared  with  other  ancient  and  modern  languages,  let  us  try 
to  satisfy  their  curiosity  as  cursorily  as  possible  : 

In  his  archeologic  works,  Baron  von  Bunsen  intimates,  that  it 
required  ten  thousand  years  to  develop  the  Sanscrit  language. 

History  furnishes  no  criterion  for  a  linguistic  evolution  of  10,- 
ooo  years,  as  may  be  noticed  by  the  following  languages  : 

Hebrew  (named  after  Heber  or  Eber,  Gen.  x.,  24),  from  Abraham,  "the 
Hebrew"  1921  B.C.,  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  A.D. 
70,  when -it  ceased  to  be  a  living  language,  had  approximated  an  evolu- 
tion of , _. 1991  years. 

Greek,  from  Inachus,  founder  of  Argos,  1856  B.C.,  to  the  capture  of  Con- 
stantinople by  the  Turks,  A.U.  1453,  had  an  evolution  of  about  3309  years. 

Latin^  from  the  founding  of  Rome  by  Romulus  and  Remus,  753  B.C.,  to  the 
conquest  of  Italy  by  the  Heruli  under  Odoacer,  A.D.  476,  was  developed 
in  about 1229  years. 

German,  from  the  irruption  of  the  Teutones  and  Cimbri,  no  B.C.,  to  A.D. 
1878,  has  been  evolving  about 1988  years. 

Spanish,  from  the  invasion  of  the  Vandals,  Alani  and  Suevi,  A.D.  410,  to 
1878 1468  years. 

English,  from  the  arrival  of  the  Jutes,  Saxons  and  Angles  in  Britain,  A.D. 
449,  to  1878 1429  years. 

French,  from  Me'rovee,  founder  of  the  Merovingian  dynasty,  A  D.  458,'  to 
1878 •. 1420  years. 

Italian,  from  the  conquest  of  Italy  by  the  Heruli  under  Odoacer,  A.D.  476,  to 
1878 1402  years. 

These  eight  most  highly  developed  languages  furnish  an  average 
evolution  of  1780  years.  In  presence  of  these  figures  and  their 
average,  the  10,000  years  of  Sanscrit  development  must  dwindle, 
unless  it  can  be  demonstrated  that  prehistoric  linguistic  evolution 
required  six  times  as  much  time  as  historic,  which  seems  an  im- 
possibility at  this  remote  period.  We  cannot  help  considering 
figures  and  dates  for  prehistoric  probabilities  out  of  place,  until 
we  acquire  more  circumstantial  evidence,  which  may  yet  be  found 
in  ancient  Asiatic  ruins  and  records.  Sanscrit  scholars  style  the 
Hindu  idiom  the  most  perfect  of  languages  ;  so  do  students  of 
Hebrew  and  Greek  regard  Hebrew  and  Greek  as  most  perfect. 
Latin  enthusiasts  neglected  their  mother  tongues  and  penned  poor 
Latin  throughout  the  Middle  Ages.  Germans  only  see  linguistic 
perfection  in  the  Fatherland's  self  sustaining  language.  Even  the 
generous  Schiller  wrote  against  borrowing  foreign  words.  French- 
men think  there  never  was,  nor  will  be,  a  language  like  theirs ; 
hence  they  neglected  foreign  tongues,  till  Jourdain  found  gems 
in  Persian,  Cousin  in  German,  Taine  in  English,  £c.  The  Eng- 
lish-speaking populations,  who,  with  their  elastic  and  grammati- 
cally simple  language,  have  been  selecting  gems  from  most  lan- 
guages, are  but  the  wiser  and  richer  for  such  eclecticism. 


654 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


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Nineteenth  Century. 


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656 


English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 


Synopsis  of  the  average  origin  of  the  Vocabulary  of  the  Nine 
Styles  of  Writing. 


H 

h 

u 

2; 

2; 

z 

U 

u 

04 

in 

<   W 

W   § 

M 

PH 

£ 

H-I    U 

O  u 

• 

6  * 

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£3 

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I 
M 

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Didactic  or  School-room  Style.  .  . 

49  + 

49  + 

I  — 

traces 

Sacred  or  Pulpit  

41  — 

57  — 

traces 

traces 

C2  + 

47  — 

i  — 

0 

Politico-legal  .... 

49  — 

i  — 

traces 

Dramatic        .                

--    • 

64  — 

traces 

Historic  

i 

46  — 

i 

0 

Poetic  

71  + 

66  + 

2  — 

traces 

Romantic   

18  + 

61 

traces 

Miscellaneous  

46  + 

52  + 

r  _|_ 

traces 

These  percentages  show,  that  historians,  journal- 
ists, statesmen,  and  jurists  use  more  Greco -Latin 
and  less  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon  than 
poets,  dramatists,  novelists,  and  miscellaneous 
writers.  The  pulpit,  averaging  forty  three  per 
cent.  Greco  Latin  and  fifty-seven  per  cent.  Anglo- 
Saxon,  is  a  happy  medium  between  the  press  and 
the  drama.  Poetry  averages  least  Greco-Latin 
and  most  Anglo-Saxon,  because  Greco-Latin  words 
are  usually  polysyllabic,  and  therefore  unsuited  to 
measure  and  rhyme,  whereas  Anglo-Saxon  words 
are  mostly  monosyllabic,  and  therefore  more  ame- 
nable to  measure  and  rhyme.  Words  like  responsi- 
bility, theology,  reconciliation,  &c.,  are  unwieldy  in 
metric  language,  where  spondees  and  dactyls  are 


Nineteenth  Century.  657 

indispensable.  Thus  the  press  and  history,  with 
an  average  of  fifty-two  and  fifty-three  per  cent. 
Greco- Latin  and  forty-seven  and  forty-six  per  cent. 
Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon,  are  antipodal  to 
poetry,  with  an  average  of  thirty-one  per  cent. 
Greco-Latin  and  sixty-six  per  cent.  Gotho-Ger- 
manic or  Anglo-Saxon. 

To  realize  the  extremes  of  vocabulary  in  the  nine 
different  styles  of  writing,  readers  may  compare 
our  Extract  from  Robertson's  "  History  of  Amer- 
ica," numbering  sixty-four  per  cent,  different  Greco- 
Latin,  and  only  thirty-five  per  cent,  different  Gotho- 
Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon  words,  with  Fitz-Green 
Halleck's  "  Ode  to  Woman,"  counting  but  twenty- 
two  per  cent,  different  Greco-Latin  and  seventy- 
seven  per  cent,  different  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo- 
Saxon  words ;  they  show  how  the  English-speak- 
ing populations  have  succeeded  in  selecting,  amal- 
gamating, shortening,  and  harmonizing  words  from 
heterogeneous  types  and  families  of  dialects,  and 
making  a  homogeneous  whole,  ultimating  in  the 
present  telegraphic  English  language. 

Before  we  undertook  this  close  numeric  analysis,  we  had  read 
books  of  all  kinds,  and  formed  opinions  as  to  the  style  and  vo- 
cabulary of  authors.  We  knew  that  the  Bible,  prayer  books, 
legal  writings,  didactic  treatises  and  manuals  abound  in  repeti- 
tions and  particles,  and  that  poetry  had  a  primitive  Gotho-Ger- 
manic vocabulary  with  comparatively  few  Greco-Latin  terms. 
We  were  positive,  that  scientific  works  would  show  fewer  repeti- 
tions, particles  and  an  almost  purely  Greco-Latin  vocabulary, 
and  that  historic,  romantic,  and  journalistic  styles  would  range 
between  the  sacred  and  scientific  ;  but  the  numeric  results  of 
our  Fifty  Extracts  and  Tables  compel  us  to  modify  our  precon- 
ceived notions  concerning  the  style  and  vocabulary  of  English 


658  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

literary  productions.    The  following  is  one  of  the  curious  features, 
elicited  by  our  strict  analysis. 

To  furnish  a  Table  of  100  different  words  : 

The  Bible  requires  531  common  words. 

Hardee's  Tactics  "  258  " 

Bill  of  Rights  "  245  " 

Blackstone  "  235  " 

Constitution  of  the  United  States        "  225  " 

Jonathan  Edwards  **  216  " 

Sharon  Turner  "  208  " 

Agassiz  "  203  rt 

Whereas. : 

Milton  requires  but  135  common  words. 

Byron  "  144  " 

W.  Irving  "  146 

Tennyson  "  157  .  u 

Pope  "  158  " 

Hume  "  158  " 

Mrs.  Hemans  "  159 

Cooper  "  1 60 

Robertson  "  161  " 

Shakespeare  "  164  " 

New  York  Herald  "  164  " 

Hence,  the  Bible  requires  most  and  Milton  least  common 
words  to  furnish  a  table  of  100  different  words. 

The  following  percentages  of  repeated  words  are  about  as  we 
expected : 

Bible  has  81  per  cent,  repetitions. 

Hardee's  Tactics  "   61 

Bill  of  Rights  "   59 

Blackstone  "57 

Constitution  of  the  United  States    "   55 

Jonathan  Edwards  u    54 

Sharon  Turner  "   52 

Agassiz  "   51 

Whereas : 

Milton  has  but  26  per  cent,  repetitions. 

Byron  "       31  " 

W.  Irving  "        33  " 

Hume  "       36 

Tennyson  "        36  " 

Mrs.  Hemans  "37  "            " 


Nineteenth  Century.  6$o 

Cooper  has  but  38  per  cent,  repetitions. 

New  York  Herald      "       39         " 
New  York  Tribune    "       41         "  " 

London  Times  "45         "  " 

Hence,  Milton's  "Paradise  Lost"  is  the  most,  and  the  Bible 
the  least  concise  of  the  fifty  literary  productions  we  examined. 
Another  fact  is,  that  the  legal,  didactic,  and  scientific  styles  seem 
to  contain  numerous  repetitions,  whereas  Poetry,  History,  Drama, 
Romance,  and  Journalism  contain  less. 

We  were  sure  the  Bible  would  show  a  larger  percentage  of 
particles  than  any  other  book  extant,  containing  46,219  ands  as 
stated  in  Hayden's  "  Dictionary  of  Dates  and  Universal  Refer- 
ence." So  with  the  "Bill  of  Rights  "and  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  ;  yet 


The  Bible 

has  6  1  per  cent,  particles. 

Gibbon 

"   60        " 

tt 

Hume 

"  54        " 

" 

Scott 

"   54        " 

ii 

Mrs.  Hemans 

"   54        " 

" 

Prof.  Agassiz 

"  54        " 

" 

Sharon  Turner 

"  53        " 

ii 

Prescott 

"  53        lt 

ii 

Byron 

"  53        " 

M 

Blackstone 

"  52 

" 

Tillotson 

il         j-  T                       " 

II 

Jonathan  Edwards 

ft           ^                              ft 

ft 

Queen  Victoria's  Address  to  Parliament 

tt  so     tt 

" 

Whereas  : 

London  Times                                   counts 

but  49  per  cent. 

particles. 

Franklin 

49         " 

M 

Constitution  of  the  United  States           " 

48         «« 

'« 

H.  Kiddle 

48         « 

II 

New  York  Tribune 

48         <• 

u 

Shakespeare                                                " 

47 

a 

Bill  of  Rights                                             " 

47 

ft 

Pope 

46        « 

t€ 

Milton 

44         4t 

tt 

Longfellow 

44         " 

tt 

Prof.  J.  W.  Draper 

44         " 

tt 

Mrs.  Somerville                                         " 

43        " 

M 

New  York  Herald                                     «' 

40 

M 

Bishop  Berkeley                                       " 

39        " 

u 

66o  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Hence,  the  Bible  exhibits  the  highest,  and  Bishop  Berkeley's 
famous  "  Poem  on  the  Planting  of  Arts  and  Learning  in  America" 
the  lowest  percentage  of  particles. 

The  above  figures  seem  to  indicate  that  historic  works  contain 
more  particles  than  other  literary  productions  ;  and  that  the  Bill 
of  Rights  and  Constitution  of  the  United  States  occupy  a  middle 
rank  as  to  particles. 

Behold  some  of  the  writings  and  authors  whose  works  contain 
most  and  least  words  of  Gotho-Germanic  origin  : 


The  Bible 

has 

78  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  words. 

Bryant's  poetry 

" 

77 

M 

ii 

Fitz  Green  Halleck 

" 

77 

II 

u 

Byron 

M 

76        - 

U 

II 

Mrs.  M.  J.  Holmes* 

" 

75        " 

11 

II 

Aphra  Behn 

" 

74 

" 

" 

Shelley 

" 

74 

II 

" 

Longfellow's  poetry 

ii 

73        " 

II 

u 

Tennyson 

u 

71        " 

II 

u 

Spurgeon 

11 

71        " 

1  1 

II 

Home  Journal,  N.  Y., 

u 

71        " 

" 

II 

Dickens 

u 

69        " 

|| 

II 

R.  C.  Trench 

(( 

68 

M 

M 

Miss  M.  Br  addon 

K 

68        " 

« 

II 

Mrs.  Hemans 

II 

67        " 

ii 

II 

Mrs.  Sigourney 

" 

65        " 

II 

u 

Miss  V.  W.  Johnson 

(C 

65        « 

u 

" 

Mrs.  J.  L.  Weisse 

(C 

64        « 

it 

" 

Cardinal  McCloskey 

M 

64        " 

it 

14 

Epes  Sargent 

" 

64        " 

" 

II 

Queen  Victoria's  "  Journal" 

" 

63        « 

il 

" 

Hubert  H.  Bancroft 

u 

63        « 

" 

" 

Shakespeare 

" 

62        " 

" 

II 

New  York  Daily  Graphic 

II 

62 

It 

M 

Dryden 

M 

61 

il 

" 

Milton 

" 

61        " 

" 

14 

Pope 

" 

61         " 

u 

" 

E.  H.  Chapin 

II 

61 

<( 

II 

Miss  Sedgwick 

II 

58        « 

ll 

" 

H.  Seymour 

11 

57        " 

" 

(I 

W.  Seward 

" 

57        M 

u 

«« 

Archbishop  Oxenden 

II 

56        - 

ll 

*' 

*  Here  are  eleven  authoresses,  using  from  seventy-five  to  fifty-one  per  cent. 
Anglo-Saxon.     Aphra  Behn,  A.D.  1670,  was  the  pioneer  English  authoress. 


Nineteenth  Century.  66 1 

Miss  Edgeworth                                   has  56  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  words. 

Prof.  J.  W.  Draper                             "55         "  "  4* 

John  Bright                                             "     55         "  "  " 

J.  A.  Froude                                         "55         "  "  " 

James  Brooks                                        "     55         "  "  " 

Harper's  Monthly  Magazine               "     55         "  "  " 

Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle                           "     54         "  "  " 

' 'The  Nation. "  N.  Y.,                        "     53         "  "  " 

Bret  Harte                                             "     53         "  "  " 

New  York  Times                                  "52         "  "  " 

Hallam                                                   "     52         "  "  '« 

San  Francisco  Daily  Morning  Call    u     52         "  •'  " 

Gladstone                                              "     52         "  "  " 

Hume                                                     "     52  **  " 

Prof.  Max  Miiller                                 "     52         "  "  " 

Buckle                                                    "     51         "  "  " 

Calcutta  Journal  of  A.  S.                   "     51         "  u  «* 

Mrs.  Blavatsky                                      "     51         4t  4<  *4 

Bishop  W.  B.  Stevens                        "50        "  "  " 

Whereas  : 

The  New  York  Observer            has  but  33  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  words. 

Robertson's  History                          "       35         "  "  «« 

Bill  of  Rights                                      "       36         "  "  «' 

Constitution  of  the  U.  S.                  u       36         *«  «•  '« 

Geo.  Bancroft                                     "       38         "  "  «• 

Geo.  P.  Marsh                                   u       41         "  "  " 

Queen  Victoria's  Address  to  P.       "       41         "  "  *« 

Sir  James  Mackintosh                        "      41         "  "  " 

New  Orleans  Times                           "       42         tl  ««  " 

Prof.  J.  Fiske                                    "      43         "  "  «« 

Montreal  Gazette                              "      44         "  "  u 

Sharon  Turner                                   "       45         4t  "  " 

Declaration  of  Independence,  1776, "       45         "  "  " 

Bishop  A.  C.  Coxe                            "47         "  "  " 

Boston  Daily  Globe                           "       47         "  "  " 

Lord  Brougham                                  u       48         "  "  " 

Prof.  Huxley                                       "       48         "  "  «* 

Bishop  C.  F.  Robertson                    "48         "  "  «• 

Hence,  the  Bible  has  most  and  the  "  New  York  Observer  "  and 

Robertson's  works  least  GothD-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon.     The 

above  percentages  clearly  show,  that  sacred  literature,  poetry,  and 

romance  contain  most,,  while  history  law,  and  the  press  contain 
least  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon. 


662 


English  Period,  A.D.  1603-1878, 


We  are  disappointed  to  find  but  forty-ojie  per  cent.  Gotho-Ger- 
manic  in  Sir  James  Mackintosh  and  Marsh,  and  forty -five  per  cent, 
in  Sharon  Turner.  Such  strenuous  advocates  of  Anglo-Saxon 
should  have  furnished  in  their  own  writings  a  pure  Anglo-Saxon 
vocabulary ;  yet  the  former  used  fifty-nine  and  fifty-eight,  the 
latter  fifty-five  per  cent.  Greco-Latin.  Also  Locd  Brougham, 
who  advised  the  graduates  of  Glasgow  University  to  avoid  Latin 
words  and  use  Anglo-Saxon,  employed  forty-eight  per  cent. 
Gotho-Germanic  and  fifty-one  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  ! ! 

We  expected  to  find  most  Greco-Latin  in  scientific  and  medi- 
cal works  ;  not  so — for 


The  New  York  Observer 

Robertson's  History 

Philadelphia  Ledger 

Bill  of  Rights,  A.D.  1688, 

Melbourne  Argus  (Australia) 

Constitution  of  the  U.  S. 

"The  World,"  New  York, 

Geo.  Bancroft 

New  York  "Sun" 

Philadelphia  "Press" 

Warton 

New  York  "  Tribune  " 

Teckchand  Thakur  (India) 

Queen  Victoria's  Address  to  P. 

H.  Kiddle 

W.  D.  Voorhees 

Prof.  J.  Fiske 

Montreal  "Gazette" 

Port  Elizabeth  Telegraph  (Africa 

Gibbon 

Washington's  Farewell  Address 

London  Times 

Appleton's  Journal 

Bombay  Indian  Spectator 

Robert  Burton,  A.D.  1621,  " 

Prescott  " 

T.  H.  Tanner's  "Practice  of  Medicine"  " 

Chicago  "Tribune"  " 

Prof.  J.  W.  Draper  " 

S.  A.  Allibone 

Darwin  u 

Barnes'  Educational  Journal 


shows  65  per  cent.  Greco  Latin  words. 
"  64 
"  64 
"  63 
"  63 
"  62 
"  62 
"  61 
"  60 
"  60 
"  58 
"  58 
"  58 
u  57 
"  57 
"  57 
"  56 
"  56 

56 

55 

55 

55 

55 

55 

54 

54 

54 

54 

53 

53 

53 

« 


Nineteenth  Century.  663 

New  York  "  Herald"  shows  52  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  words. 

Ex-President  Grant  "       52  "  "  " 

Prof.  C.  H.  Hitchcock  "51  "  "  " 

New  Zealand  Herald  (Oceanica)  "      51  *«  "  " 

Prof.  W.  D.  Whitney  "       50  "  "  «• 

Prof.  Huxley  "       50  •«  "  " 

Lord  Dufferin  "       50  "  ".  " 

Whereas : 

The  Bible  shows  but  22  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  words. 

Halleck  "       22  "  "  " 

H.  Blair,  A.D.  1783,  "      49  "  "  " 

Mrs.  Somerville  "47  "  "  " 

Prof.  Proctor  (Astronomy)  "       47  "  "  " 

Prof.  Max  Miiller  "       47  •«  "  " 

Prof.  Tyndall  "       46  "  "  " 

Prof.  A.  Gray  "       45  "  "  " 

Prof.  Agassiz  "42  "  "  " 

Hence,  The  New  York  Observer,  Robertson's  History,  and 
Philadelphia  Ledger  have  most,  and  the  Bible  and  Halleck  least 
Greco-Latin.  Here  we  find  that  History,  Jurisprudence,  and  the 
Press  use  more  Greco-Latin  words  than  sacred  writings,  poetry, 
romance  and  domestic  subjects.  Science  ranks  between  history 
and  poetry  as  regards  Greco-Latin  words ;  for 

Agassiz's  "  Natural  History"  has  42  per  cent.  Greco-Latin. 
Professor  Tyndall  il   47         "  " 

Even  Medicine,  in  which  we  expected  to  find  a  pure  Greco-Latin 
vocabulary,  contains  less  of  that  class  of  words  than  Histoiy, 
Law,  and  the  Press,  as  shown  by  our  Extract  from  Tanner's 
standard  work,  entitled  "  Practice  of  Medicine,"  which  gives  but 
fifty-four  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  while  Robertson's  history  has 
sixty-four  and  the  Constitution  of  the  U.  S.  sixty-two  per  cent. 
Greco-Latin. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  above  figures  may  err,  as  regards  an 
author's  entire  works.  So  they  may ;  but  they  are  the  nearest 
approach  that  can  be  made,  as  to  repetitions,  particles  and  origin 
of  words.  Since  most  styles  of  writing  and  standard  authors  of 
every  century  are  to  be  found  in  our  close  numeric  analysis,  the 
most  accurate  results  possible,  as  to  the  origin  of  the  English 


664  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Language,  have  been  reached,  although  some  writers'  works  may 
not  be  fully  represented  in  our  Extracts  and  Tables. 

We  observed  throughout  our  analysis,  from  Aphra  Behn  to  Mrs. 
Somerville,  that  women  used  more  Anglo-Saxon  than  Greco- 
Latin  words,  as  may  be  noticed  in  our  Bird's-Eye  Views  of  the 
nine  styles.  We  attribute  this  more  numerous  Anglo-Saxon 
vocabulary  to  the  fact,  that  women,  having  no  classical  education, 
are  not  as  familiar  with  Greco-Latin  terms  as  men.  Aphra  Behn, 
A.D.  1670,  was  the  pioneer  of  English  literates.  She  opened 
the  galaxy  of  English  female  intellects.  No  wonder  the  English 
court  and  people  welcomed  a  real  English  authoress.  Whatever 
hypercritics  may  say,  Sir  Walter  Scott's  grand-aunt  told  her  illus- 
trious nephew :  "  I  have  heard  (Aphra  Behn's  books)  read  aloud 
for  the  amusement  of  large  circles,  consisting  of  the  first  and 
most  creditable  society  in  London." 

At  this  the  illustrious  bard  was  ready  to  hold  up  his  hands  in 
holy  horror  ;  for  he  thought  himself  and  his  generation  purer  and 
better  than  that  of  Aphra  Behn,  forgetting  History's  lesson,  that 
language,  literature,  manners,  customs,  and  even  morals  change 
according  to  times,  circumstances,  communities,  nations  and 
races :  The  Egyptians,  Phenicians  and  Hindoos  worshiped  de- 
formities and  monstrosities ;  our  Medieval  ancestors  used  fire  and 
sword  in  war,  massacred  prisoners,  built  feudal  castles  and  per- 
formed scriptural  plays  instead  of  dramas.  The  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans raised  altars  to  dissolute  Jupiter,  drunken  Bacchus,  indecent 
Venus,  thieving  Mercury,  and  even  to  infernal  Pluto  and  Discord ; 
yet  they  had  Minos,  Pythagoras.  Socrates,  Plato,  Corinna,  Aris- 
totle, Hypatia;  Numa,  Egeria,  Cincinnatus,  Cato,  Cornelia, 
Pliny,  Seneca,  Antoninus  Pius,  &c.,  which  but  proves  Christ's  : 
"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart"  and  St.  Paul's  :  "  Unto  the  pure 
all  things  are  pure."  Moreover,  the  eminent  novelist  overlooked 
the  fact,  that  the  bee  gathers  honey,  not  only  from  the  lily  and 
rose,  but  from  the  brier  and  thistle. 

After  thus  tracing  the  origin  of  the  vocabulary  of  English 
literature  in  its  different  styles,  we  cursorily  allude  to  some 
authors  who  unintentionally  gave  erroneous  impressions  on  the 
status  of  the  English  language  as  to  the  origin  of  its  present  vo- 
cabulary. We  read  in  Sharon  Turner's  "  History  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons,"  Vol.  II.,  p.  441  : 


Nineteenth  Century. 


665 


"  The  great  proof  of  the  copiousness  and  power  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  lan- 
guage may  be  had  from  considering  our  own  English,  which  is  principally 
Saxon.  It  may  be  interesting  to  show  this  by  taking  some  lines  of  our  prin- 
cipal authors  and  marking  in  italics  the  Saxon  words  : 

"  SHAKESPEARE." 

"  To  be  or  not  to  be,  that  is  the  question ; 
Whether  V/'j  nobler  in  the  mind  to  suffer 
The  stings  and  arrows  of  outrageous  fortune, 
Or  to  take  arms  against  a  sea  of  troubles, 
And  by  opposing  end  them  ?     To  die,  to  sleep  ; 
No  more  !  and  by  a  sleep  to  say  we  end 
The  heartache,  and  the  thousand  natural  shocks  ;  * 
The  flesh  is  heir  to!  'twere  a  consummation 
Devoutly  to  be  wished.      To  die,  to  sleep  ; 
To  sleep  ?  perchance  to  dream  !  " 

This  passage,  according  to  Sharon  Turner's  "marking,"  con- 
tains sixty-eight  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon,  and  thirteen 
Greco-Latin — total,  eighty-one  words,  which  include  thirty-five 
repetitions  that  should  not  be  counted  when  tracing  the  origin 
of  the  words,  because  among  the  sixty-eight  Anglo-Saxon  words 


to 

the 

and 

a 

of 

by 

or 


occurs 


13  times. 
6     " 

4  " 
3  " 

2  " 
2  U 
2  " 

32  particles. 


be  occurs  7  times, 

sleep,  n.  and  v.,        u  4      ** 

die  "  2      u 


Hence,  the  above  seven  insignificant  Anglo-Saxon  particles 
count  thirty-two  instead  of  seven,  and  the  three  verbs,  be,  sleep, 
die,  count  thirteen  instead  of  three,  whereas  the  thirteen  Greco- 
Latin  words,  question,  fortune,  &c.,  and  the  twenty-three  other 
Anglo-Saxon  words,  occurring  each  but  once,  count  each  but 
one.  No  doubt,  the  erudite  author  of  "  History  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons"  did  not  perceive  the  inconsistency  of  his  method  in 
tracing  the  origin  of  the  English  vocabulary  ;  his  Anglo-Saxon 

*  We  think  with  N.  Webster,  that  the  English  shock,  n.  and  v.,  was  de- 
rived from  French  choc,  n.,  and  choqner,  v.  Bosworth's  Anglo-Saxon  Dic- 
tionary has  scacan^  to  shake. 


666  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

enthusiasm  caused  this  oversight.  By  our  method  of  analyzing, 
in  which  one  and  the  same  word  counts  but  one,  whether  it  is 
an  insignificant  particle  like  the,  and,  of,  &c.,  or  a  term  of  the 
highest  importance,  like  question,  mind,  consummation,  dream, 
&c.,  we  only  find  in  the  above  passage  forty-six  different  words, 
fourteen  of  which  are  Greco-Latin,  all  words  of  inherent  mean- 
ing, and  thirty-two  Gotho-Germanic,  sixteen  of  which  are  par- 
ticles, leaving  but  sixteen  Gotho-Germanic  words  of  inherent 
meaning.  As  our  readers  fully  understand  our  mode  of  analyz- 
ing, we  only  give  ultimate  results  without  a  Table. 

The  above  passage  from  Shakespeare  is  followed  by  similarly 
marked  extracts  from 

Milton,  Spenser,  Robertson, 

Cowley,  Locke,  Hume, 

Bible,  Pope,  Gibbon, 

Thomson,  Young,  Johnson. 

Addison,  Swift, 

After  counting  passages  in  the  works  of  Alfred  the  Great,  and 
other  Anglo-Saxon  writers,  including  repetitions,  Sharon  Turner 
observes,  p.  446 : 

"  Perhaps  we  shall  be  nearer  the  truth  if  we  say  as  a  general  principle,  that 
one-fifth  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  language  has  ceased  to  be  used  in  modern  Eng- 
lish. This  loss  must  be  of  course  taken  into  account,  when  we  estimate  the 
copiousness  of  our  ancient  language,  by  considering  how  much  of  it  our  Eng- 
lish authors  exhibit." 

This  "general  principle"  of  Sharon  Turner  is  thus  contra- 
dicted in  Oliphant's  "Sources  of  Standard  English,"  1873,  P-  2l6  : 

"Of  all  the  weighty  words  (nouns,  adjectives,  verbs,  and  adverbs},*  used 
in  the  Song  On  the  Confessor's  Death,  as  nearly  as  possible  half  have  dropped 
out  of  speech.  In  the  poems  written  a  hundred  years  after  the  Conquest,  say 
the  rimes  on  the  Lord's  Prayer,  published  by  Dr.  Morris,  the  proportion  of 
words  of  weight,  now  obsolete,  is  one-fifth  of  the  whole,  much  as  it  is  in 
English  prose  of  that  date.  In  the  poem  of  1066,  nearly  fifty  out  of  a  hundred 
of  these  words  are  clean  gone." 

Geo.  P.  Marsh,  in  his  Lectures  on  the  English  Language,  p.  90, 
says: 

*  Oliphant  means  to  convey  the  idea  that  words  of  inherent  meaning  be- 
came obsolete,  while  particles  remained. 


Nineteenth  Century.  667 

"  Conclusions,  based  on  data  so  insignificant  in  amount  as  those  given  by 
Turner,  are  entitled  to  no  confidence  whatever." 

Yet,  according  to  this  statement,  p.  91  : 

"  In  all  cases  proper  names  are  excluded  from  the  estimates,  but,  in  com- 
puting the  etymological  proportions  of  the  words  used  in  the  Extracts  examined, 
all  other  words  of  whatever  grammatical  class,  and  all  repetitions  of  the  same 
words,  are  counted." 

He  imitates  Sharon  Turner's  method  of  counting  in  his  con- 
clusions the,  and,  of,  &c.,  as  many  times  as  they  occur;  then  he 
adds : 

"I  have  made  no  attempt  to  assign  words,  not  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin,  to 
their  respective  sources,  &c.  Words  of  original  Latin  etymology  have  been 
in  the  great  majority  of  instances  borrowed  by  us  from  the  French,  and  are 
still  used  in  forms  more  in  accordance  with  the  French  than  with  the  Latin 
orthography." 

The  more  accurate  Oliphant,  seeing  this  glaring  inconsistency, 
observes  in  his  '•'Standard  English,"  p.  216  : 

"I  cannot  see  the  use  of  counting,  as  Marsh  does,  every  of  and  the  and 
him,  in  order  to  find  out  the  proportion  of  home-born  English  in  different 
authors." 

Another  erudite  writer  on  the  origin  of  the  English  vocabulary, 
Dean  Trench,  tells  us  : 

"Suppose  the  English  language  to  be  divided  into  a  hundred  parts ;  of 
these,  to  make  a  rough  distribution,  sixty  would  be  Saxon,  thirty  would  be 
Latin  (including  of  course  the  Latin  which  has  come  through  the  French), 
five  would  be  Greek;  we  should  then  have  assigned  ninety-five  parts,  leaving 
the  other  five,  perhaps  too  large  a  residue  to  be  divided  among  all  the  other 
languages,  from  which  we  have  adopted  isolated  words." 

On  these  percentages  Geo.  P.  Marsh  has  the  following,  p.  91  : 

"  The  proportions,  five  per  cent.,  allowed  by  Trench  to  Greek  words,  I 
think  too  great,  as  is  also  that  for  other  miscellaneous  etymologies,  unless  we 
follow  the  Celtic  school  in  referring  to  a  Celtic  origin  all  roots  common  to 
that  and  to  Gothic  dialects." 

The  learned  J.  Bosworth,  D.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  author  of  the 
best  Anglo-Saxon  dictionary  and  grammar,  says  : 

"  The  foreign  words  in  the  English  language  are,  for  the  most  part,  used 
to  express  scientific  or  abstract  ideas,  and  were  introduced  from  the  French." 


668  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

After  such  convincing  proof  of  Sharon  Turner's,  Marsh's,  and 
Trench's  erroneous  methods  and  statements,  we  need  not  com- 
ment thereon  any  further. 

We  think  our  68  -f  per  cent.  Greco-Latin, 

30  -f  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon, 

2  —        "         Celtic,  and  traces  of  Semitic  and 

Sclavonic, 

resulting  from  ultimate  different  words  of  fifty  Tables  from  the 
fifty  most  prominent  authors  and  writings  of  the  English  Period, 
A.D.  1600-1878,  must  irrevocably  settle  the  origin  of  the  present 
English  vocabulary ;  for  these  percentages  contain  no  repeated 
words.  Even  before  our  average  percentages  of  the  nine  styles 
of  writing,  based  on  from  fourteen  to  thirty- eight  authors  and 
writings,  the  idea  of  five  or  thirty  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  must 
vanish  ;  because  about  200  of  the  noblest  literary  productions, 
represented  in  the  nine  styles,  show  percentages  averaging  from 
thirty-one  to  fifty-three  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  as  may  be  seen 
in  the  average  of  the  poetic  and  historic  s-tyles.  The  average 
percentages  from  the  styles  include  repeated  words,  especially 
the,  and,  of,  &c.,  which  occur  in  the  result  from  every  author  or 
writing;  whereas,  the  percentages 
68  -f-  per  cent.  Greco-Latin, 
30  +  "  Gotho-Germanic, 

2  —        "          Celtic,  and  traces  of  Sclavonic  and  Semitic 
are  from  ultimate  different  words. 

As  we  have  extolled  the  advantages  of  English,  let  us  now 
allude  to  some  of  its  defects,  thus  far  unconsciously  retained  by 
eminent  authors  :  Our  fifty  Extracts  of  the  English  Period,  A.D. 
1600-1878,  numbering  9,554  words,  contain  7,272,  or  seventy- 
six  per  cent,  repetitions,  and  4,693,  or  forty-nine  per  cent,  parti- 
cles ;  yet  these  fifty  Extracts  are  from  the  best  English  authors 
and  writings.  When  we  realize  such  facts  we  must  confess,  that 
even  English,  the  choicest  and  most  elastic  of  the  modern  idioms, 
is  not  as  telegraphic  and  concise  as  it  might  be,  and  is  yet  capa- 
ble of  improvement  as  to  repetitions  and  particles,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  harmony  between  "  the  written  and  spoken  word."  Milton's 
"  Paradise  Lost  "  shows  twenty-six  per  cent,  repetitions,  while 
Blackstone's  Commentaries  exhibit  fifty- three  per  cent. ;  Shake- 
speare has  forty-seven  per  cent,  particles,  while  Gibbon  has  sixty 


Nineteenth   Century.  669 

per  cent,  repetitions.  Such  discrepancies  should  be  brought  to 
the  notice  of  linguists  and  educators,  who  may  endeavor  to  cor- 
rect them  as  much  as  possible,  and  render  their  already  superior 
language  worthy  of  its  high  mission.  The  fact  that  some  emi- 
nent writers  use  so  many  more  repetitions  and  particles  than 
others  shows,  that  a  happy  medium  might  be  reached.  Before  we 
made  this  numeric  analysis  we  could  not  have  imagined,  that  the 
insignificant  particle  the  occurs  nine  times,  and  four  times,  where 
such  words  as  God,  ma?i,  plant,  virtue ;  come,  think,  admire ; 
divine,  hitman  ;  kindly,  gentle,  &c.,  occur  each  but  once.  This 
abuse  is  not  confined  to  English  ;  we  find  it  in  Greek,  French, 
German,  Latin,  &c%.  6,  fj,  TO,  /cat,  &c.,  are  numerous  in  Homer 
and  Demosthenes  ;  le,  la,  les,  et,  &c.,  in  Racine  and  Thiers  ; 
der,  die,  das,  und,  &c.,  in  Schiller  and  Humboldt ;  et  and  que  in 
Latin.  True,  Latin  has  no  articles,  but  that  is  more  than  coun- 
terbalanced by  complicated  inflections  of  nouns  and  adjectives. 
Children  at  school  should  have  their  attention  drawn  to  these 
linguistic  abuses,  and  should  be  educated  to  convey  their  ideas 
in  the  fewest  words  possible. 

Our  numerous  Extracts,  Tables,  and  Percentages  reveal  these 
linguistic  facts  ;  sacred  writings,  domestic  topics,  school-books, 
and  didactic  lectures  abound  in  repetitions ;  next  come  preach- 
ers, journalists,  political  speakers,  historians  and  scientists  ;  then 
poets,  whom  measure  and  rhyme  compel  to  be  concise.  Nearly 
half  the  words  in  the  best  authors  are  words  without  inherent 
meaning,  or  particles.  If  such  is  the  case  in  print,  what  shall  be 
said  of  daily  intercourse  and  conversation  as  regards  repetitions 
and  particles  ?  It  is  to  be  hoped  telegraphing,  phonography,  and 
philology  will  do  away  with  linguistic  prolixity  in  order  to  save 
time,  ink,  and  paper,  to  say  nothing  of  vocal  organs.  Spartan 
laconism  in  speech  and  print  and  Pythagorian  schools  would  not 
come  amiss  in  this  age  of  small  print  and  smaller  talk,  less  tongue, 
more  brain,  fewer  words,  more  thought ;  less  spelling-books,  less 
grammar,  syntax,  more  practice  in  expressing  thought  on  paper  ; 
less  preaching,  more  example  would  soon  lead  towards  a  higher 
intellectual,  social,  and  moral  standard.  All  tends  to  shorten  space 
by  air-line  railroads,  time  by  telegraphs,  cables,  telephones,  and 
labor  by  machinery.  This  is  well ;  but  why  not  carry  the  same 
tendency  into  language  ? 


670  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

The  Greco-Latin  vocabulary,  in  the  English  idiom,  consists 
almost  entirely  of  words  with  inherent  meaning  ;  whereas  the 
Anglo-Saxon  or  Gotho-Germanic  contains  mostly  words  without 
inherent  meaning,  or  particles. 

Certain  styles  of  writing  demand  more  or  less  Gotho-Germanic, 
while  others  require  more  or  less  Greco-Latin  :  for  domestic  and 
emotional  subjects  Gotho-Germanic  almost  suffices ;  whereas 
topics  of  science,  art,  and  progress  necessitate  Greco-Latin.  Thus 
one  and  the  same  author,  writing  a  prayer,  or  a  poem  on  some 
primitive  theme,  unconsciously  uses  about  seventy-eight  per  cent. 
Gotho-Germanic  and  twenty-two  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  ;  yet  in 
the  preface  he  uses  from  fifty  to  sixty  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic, 
and  from  forty  to  fifty  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  as  appears  in  Hal- 
leek's,  Bryant's,  and  Longfellow's  writings. 

Historians,  jurists,  statesmen,  and  scientists  use  about  fifty  or 
sixty  per  cent.  Greco-Latin  (all  words  of  inherent  meaning),  and 
forty  or  fifty  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  including  from  eighteen 
to  thirty-two  per  cent,  words  without  inherent  meaning,  or  parti- 
cles. The  only  reason  we  can  assign  for  this  vocabular  difference 
is,  that  Gotho  Germanic  is  primitive  and  Greco-Latin  progres- 
sive. Hence  it  is  evident  that,  as  science,  art  and  literature 
advance,  the  Greco- Latin  element  increases  in  the  English  lan- 
guage, while  the  Gotho-Germanic  diminishes  or  remains  station- 
ary. This  tendency  is  not  confined  to  English,  for  the  objections 
of  German  critics  to  Greco-Latinisms  and  Heyse's  Dictionary  of 
6,000  foreign  words,  show  a  similar  tendency  in  German.  After 
all,  language  is  a  mysteriously  divine  attribute  ;  for  among  the 
245,000  species  that  occupy  the  rounds  of  the  animal  ladder,  man 
alone  possesses  it. 

Present  English,  invariable  as  to  articles,  having  hardly  any  in- 
flections for  nouns  and  adjectives,  tells  the  learner  add  "  s  "  to  the 
singular  and  you  have  the  plural  (with  but  a  decade  of  excep- 
tions, as  :  child,  children;  man,  men,  &c.),  and  is  nearly  without 
conjugational  change  in  verbs.  Hence,  grammatic  trifles  and 
puerilities,  so  numerous  in  Greek,  Latin,  French,  and  German, 
are  comparatively  unknown  f.o  English,  which  might  be  styled  the 
telegraphic  language  par  excellence,  were  it  not  for  its  compli- 
cated spelling,  that  could  be  easily  adjusted. 

We  have  throughout  this  work  alluded  to  thoughts,  ideas,  Ian- 


Nineteenth  Century.  671 

guagps.  literatures  and  events,  that  directly  or  indirectly  acted 
and  reacted  on  the  English  language  and  literature ;  because  we 
oeiieve  there  is  a  mental  as  well  as  a  material  magnetism.  We 
think  there  are  mental  as  well  as  electro-magnetic  currents ; 
mental,  as  well  as  isothermal  lines  around  our  planet.  Thoughts 
and  ideas,  whether  merely  conceived,  orally  uttered,  written  or 
printed,  are  as  indestructible  as  matter ;  they  circulate,  undulate, 
vibrate  as  do  light,  heat,  electricity,  magnetism ;  they  are  to  the 
mental  what  imponderabilia  are  to  the  material  world.  Ideas, 
conceived,  uttered  or  written  in  Asia,  Africa,  Europe,  by  Japhet- 
ite,  Semite,  Hamite,  Arian,  Greek,  Roman,  Celt,  Goth  or  Ger- 
man, have  ever  been  winging  their  way  around  the  Earth  to  meet 
minds  ready  to  re-conceive,  re-utter,  re-write  and  re-print  them 
more  clearly,  more  distinctly,  more  forcibly,  more  impressively. 
Thus  all  in  the  universe  moves,  lives  and  tends  to  progress, 
whether  we  realize  it  or  not.  The  telegraph,  cable,  telephone 
and  Edison's  phonograph  corroborate  our  theory.  There  is  deep 
significance  in  Christ's  saying :  "The  wind  bloweth  where  it 
listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell 
whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth  :  so  is  every  one  that  is 
born  of  the  Spirit" 

Here  a  concise  retrospect  of  the  three  Periods  of  the  English 
language  and  literature  will  enable  readers  to  survey  at  a  glance 
fourteen  centuries,  A.D.  449-1878: 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  ANGLO-SAXON,  FRANCO-ENGLISH  AND  ENGLISH 
VOCABULARIES,  COMPARED. 

Ultimate  Results  from  the  three  Periods  of  the  English  language, 
indicating  the  gradual  additions  to  its  vocabulary,  as  shown 
by  our  Extracts  and  Tables  : 

At  the  close  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  A.D.  1200,  the  vocab- 
ulary of  the  Anglo-Saxon  literature  numbered  : 
91+ per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon  ; 
8  +       "         Greco-Latin,  including  but  two  per  cent.  French,  and 
Traces  of  Semitic,  that  came  into  it  through  the 
Bible. 

At  the  close  of  the  Franco-English  Period,  A.D.  1600,  the  vo- 
cabulary of  the  Franco-English  literature  showed  : 


672  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

50  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,  including  47  per  cent.  Anglo-Saxon  ; 
48       "         Greco-Latin,  including  43  per  cent.  French  ;  about 
2       "         Celtic,  and 

Traces  of  Semitic. 

Whereas  the  vocabulary  of  the  literature  of  the  English  Period 
from  A.D.  1600  to  our  day,  1878,  counts  : 

30  + per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic,    including  28  per   cent.   Anglo- 
Saxon  ; 

68+        "          Greco-Latin,  including  53  per  cent.  French  ;  about 
2—       "          Celtic,  and 

Traces  of  Sclavonic  and  Semitic. 

Hence,  within  the  last  fourteen  centuries  the  Greco-Latin  ele- 
ment in  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect  rose  to  8  per  cent,  during  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  48  per  cent,  during  the  Franco-English,  and  68  per 
cent,  during  the  English  Period ;  53  of  the  68  per  cent.  Greco- 
Latin  are  French. 

In  the  face  of  this  constant  and  steady  increase,  Anglo -Saxonists 
clamored  in  vain  against  the  addition  of  foreign  words ;  the  Greco- 
Latin  rivulet  so  swelled  the  linguistic  stream,  that  in  1878  English 
counts  but  about  30  per  cent.  Gotho-Germanic  and  68  per  cent. 
Greco-Latin.  With  such  a  percentage  of  Greco-Latin  should 
English  be  classed  any  longer  among  the  Gotho-Germanic  lan- 
guages ? 

Could  the  three  humble  Gotho-Germanic  tribes,  Ju-tes,  Saxons 
and  Angles,  who  carried  the  Gothic  and  German  dialects  to 
Britain  from  A.D.  449  to  586.  have  dreamt  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
idiom,  formed  therefrom,  would  attract  the  choicest  linguistic 
roots,  and  mould  them  into  a  language,  which  would  rule  pro- 
gressed and  unprogressed  nations  and  tribes,  inhabiting  zones, 
that  extend  from  the  North  to  the  South  Pole  ? 

English  and  American  scholars  and  statesmen  are  slow  to  real- 
ize, that  their  language  is  now  about  three-quarters  Greco-Lati?i 
and  one-quarter  Gotho-Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon  ;  that  language 
is  the  closest  international  bond ;  that  harping  on  Anglo-Saxon 
is  out  of  date  and  contrary  to  the  instincts  of  the  English-speak- 
ing masses,  who,  like  their  native  tongue,  incline  more  towards 
Greco-Latin  than  Anglo-Saxon  or  Gotho-Germanic  ideas,  which 
have  been  fading  from  the  English  idiom  for  five  centuries.  Any 
man,  who  speaks  a  language  three-quarters  Greco-Latin,  is  at 


Nineteenth   Century.  673 

least  three-quarters  Greco-Latin  in  his  feelings,  thoughts,  and 
ideas.  Moreover,  the  English  and  Greco-Latin-speaking  nations 
of  to-day  lean  towards  Republicanism,  whereas  the  Gotho-Ger- 
man-speaking  races  talk  of  the  Fatherland  and  hug  a  military 
despotism,  that  makes  every  man  a  life-long  consuming  and  killing 
machine.  A  people's  language  and  proclivities  are  the  surest 
test  of  its  instincts,  intellectuality,  morals,  and  religion.  To  ig- 
nore this  places  the  governing  and  governed  in  a  false  position 
towards  each  other,  which  sooner  or  later  produces  such  revolu- 
tions as  the  English  (1688)  and  the  French  (1789),  intellectual 
restraint  being  more  resented  than  any  other.  Show  me  a  na- 
tion's vocabulary,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  that  nation  is  or  was. 
To  bring  about  a  grand  international  linguistic  reform,  we  ad- 
vocate uniform  decimal  measures,  weights,  and  coins,  as  its  fore- 
runner. France,  Italy,  Belgium,  and  Switzerland  have  initiated 
the  movement;  if  England  and  the  United  States  join,  uniform 
measures,  weights,  and  coins  will  soon  gird  the  globe,  as  other 
nations  must  and  will  follow  their  example.  Such  means  and 
combinations  would  simplify  commerce,  facilitate  travel,  favor 
general  education,  and  necessitate  a  universal  language. 


DESTINY  OF   THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE. 


BEFORE  we  speak  directly  of  the  destiny  of  the  English  lan- 
guage, a  few  preparatory  remarks  will  be  of  importance  :  The 
extension  of  the  English  language  since  the  landing  of  the  Jutes 
on  the  Isle  of  Than-et  under  Hengist  and  Horsa,  A.D.  449,  is  a 
curious  historic  and  geographic  phenomenon,  especially  when  we 
consider,  that  the  Jutes  were  of  Scytho-Gothic  origin,  and  carried 
to  Britain  the  elements  of  the  Gothic  dialect,  into  which  Ulfilas 
translated  the  Scriptures  for  the  Goths,  A.D.  376 ;  that  the  Saxo?is 
and  Angles  brought  to  Britain  the  roots  of  the  Germanic  dia- 
lects; that  from  A.D.  449  to  1154  the  Gothic  and  Germanic  vo- 
cabularies mingled  and  produced  the  Anglo-Saxon  tongue  and 
literature,  which  amalgamated  with  Greek  and  Latin  through 
French,  and  formed  the  present  "  composite  English  language," 
43 


674  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

whose  expanse  within  the  last  two  hundred  and  seventy  years 
has  been  astounding,  as  may  be  realized  by  the  following  Table  : 

EXPANSE  OF  ANGLO-SAXON  AND  ITS  DAUGHTER  ENGLISH,  FROM  A.D. 
449  TO  1878,  IN  EUROPE,  TO 

A.D. 

The  Isle  of  Thanet  (landing  of  the  Jutes  under  Hengist  and  Horsa). . .  449 

Kent  (Kingdom  of  Kent  under  Hengist) 455 

Sussex  (Kingdom  of  Sussex  under  Ella) 491 

Wessex  (Kingdom  of  Wessex  under  Cerdic) 494 

Essex  (Kingdom  of  Essex  under  Erchesvin) 527 

Bernicia  (Kingdom  of  Bernicia  under  Ida) 547 

Deira  (Kingdom  of  Deira  under  Ella) 557 

East  Anglia  (Kingdom  of  East  Anglia  under  Uffa) 571 

Mercia  (Kingdom  of  Mercia  under  Crida) 586 

Cornwall  and  Chester,  conquered  by  Egbert  about 810 

Ireland,  conquered  by  Henry  II 1 169 

Wales,           "          "Edward  1 1284 

Scotland,  Orkney,  Shetland,  and  Hebrides  Isles,*  annexed  under  James 

I.,  King  of  England 1603 

Gibraltar,  conquered  from  Spain 1704 

Malta  Island,  \ 

Gozo                 L  conquered  from  France 1800 

Comino   "        ) 

Heligoland  Isle,  taken  from  Denmark 1807 

Area:  121,250  sq.  m.     Population:  31,977,427501113=264  souls  per  sq.  m. 

Imagine  the  three  humble  Gothic-Germanic  tribes :  Jutes, 
Saxons,  Angles,  carrying  from  Germany  to  Britain  the  elements 
of  a  language  which,  A.D.  1800,  triumphed  in  the  Isle  of  Melita, 
where  the  Phenicians,  Carthaginians,  Greeks,  and  Romans  had 
ruled  successively,  and  where  Paul  was  stranded  on  his  way  to 
Rome  ;  then  follow  that  magic  tongue  to  America,  where,  in 
spreading  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  it  echoed  in 

A.D. 

Newfoundland  or  Labrador,  under  the  guidance  of  Cabot 1497 

Virginia 1607 

Bermuda  Islands 1609 

Massachusetts 1620 

*  The  Orkney  and  Shetland  Isles  were  given  to  James  III.,  King  of  Scot- 
land, as  a  dowry  for  Margaret,  daughter  of  Christian  I.,  King  of  Denmark 
from  A.D.  1460  to  1488.  As  the  language  in  them  was  Danish,  it  had  more 
affinity  with  English  than  with  Scotch. 


Nineteenth  Century.  675 

A.D. 

New  Hampshire 1623 

Barbadoes  Islands 1624 

Maryland ,  .  1624 

Bahama  Islands 1629 

Rhode  Island,  settled  by  Roger  Williams 1636 

Connecticut 1636 

New  Jersey 1640 

North  Carolina. 1640 

Honduras 1643 

Jamaica  Island,  conquered  from  Spain 1656 

New  York,  conquered  from  Holland 1664 

South  Carolina 1670 

Pennsylvania,  settled  by  the  humane  William  Penn 1 68 1 

St.  Christopher  Island  (West  Indies) 1713 

Newfoundland 1713 

Vermont 1724 

Georgia 1733 

Canada,  conquered  from  France 1759 

Tobago  Island  (WTest  Indies) .. ...  1763 

Michigan,  conquered  from  France 1763 

Tennessee 1765 

Falkland  Islands. 1765 

Kentucky  (Daniel  Boone) 1 775 

Ohio I788 

Vancouver's  Island 1781 

Oregon,  discovered  by  Capt.  Robert  Gray,  of  Boston 1791 

Trinidad  Island  (West  Indies) 1797 

Louisiana,  ceded  by  France  to  the  United  States 1803 

British  Guayana,  conquered  from  Holland , 1809 

Indiana 1816 

New  South  Shetland  Islands,  discovered  by  Captain  Smith 1819 

Florida,  ceded  by  Spain  to  the  United  States 1821 

Texas,  conquered  from  Mexico 1821 

California,  Nevada,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  &c.,  conquered  from  Mexico,  1848 

Alaska,  purchased  from  Russia  for  $7,200,000 1867 

Population. 
England's  American  Area  :  3,76i,35osq.m.    5,339,822souls=i|soul  per  sq.m. 

United  States  "       4,344,117     "     38,923,210  "     =9   souls  44  " 

8,105,467     "    44,263,032  «     =5^     "     «  " 

Thus  has  English,  since  A.D.  1607,  penetrated  these  and  other 
States,  Territories,  and  Isles  of  the  New  World,  where  it  replaced 
Indian  dialects,  Spanish,  French,  Dutch,  and  Russian,  and  where, 
at  no  distant  period,  it  is  destined  to  be  the  only  ruling  language, 

provided  the  English-speaking  populations  continue  the  wise  and 


676  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

liberal  policy  of  their  founders  :  Roger  Williams,  Penn,  Washing- 
ton, &c.  Already  (1878)  a  party  of  graduates  from  Boston  Uni- 
versity are  about  to  embark  with  the  best  school  apparatus  for 
South  America,  where  they  intend  to  establish  schools  on  the 
most  approved  system  of  English  instruction.  Another  party  of 
teachers  is  soon  to  follow.  This  looks  as  though  the  progeny  of 
the  Puritans  had  consciously  or  unconsciously  resolved  to  expand 
their  ideas  and  language  over  the  continent  their  ancestors  trod 
A.D.  1621. 

In  Asia  English  gradually  extended  to 

A.D. 
Surat  (a  factory,  established  by  grant  from  the  Great  Mogul,  Jehan-Geer)  1612 

Madras         "                     "                     "                     "           1639 

Bombay  Island,  given  as  dowry  to  Charles  II.  for  Catharine  of  Braganza,  1661 

Sumatra,  settlement  at  Bencoolen 1690 

Calcutta,  purchased 1698 

Mysore  (kingdom  in  Southern  Hindostan,  conquered) 1780 

Carnatic,  partly  conquered  and  partly  ceded 1783 

Penang,  or  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  purchased 1786 

Malacca,  conquered  from  Holland 1795 

Ceylon  Island,         "               "         1796 

Nepaul,  part  thereof  conquered 1816 

Deccan,  in  Central  Hindoostan,  ceded  to  England 1818 

Singapore  Island,  purchased 1819 

Assam,  conquered  from  Burman  Empire 1826 

Aracan,              "                          "                 1826 

Martaban,         "                         "                1826 

Tenasserim,      "                         "                1826 

Aden,  province  and  its  capital  in  Southern  Arabia 1&39 

Hong  Kong  Island,  on  coast  of  China,  conquered 1841 

Sarawak,  in  Borneo,  ceded  to  England 1841 

Scinde,  in  Northern  Hindoostan,  conquered 1843 

Punjaub,                  "                             "         1846 

Labuan  Island,  ceded  to  England 1846 

Pegu,  or  British  Burmah,  conquered  from  the  Burman  Empire 1852 

The  Isle  of  Cyprus,  ceded  to  England  by  Turkey 1878 

Area  :  1,643,678  sq.  m.     Population  :  237,341,436  souls=i44  souls  per  sq.  m. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  or  said  of  this  cession,  the  Christian 
populations  of  Asia  may  congratulate  themselves  on  their  having 
the  English  so  near  to  protect  them  against  Turk  and  Cossack. 
English  will  now  resound  where  formerly  echoed  Hebrew,  Phe- 
nician,  Assyrian,  Persian,  Greek,  Latin,  Arabic,  and  Turkish. 


Nineteenth  Century.  677 

As  England  has  ever  used  Gibraltar,   Malta,  Aden,  Singapore 
for  the  interest  of  commerce,  civilization,  and  progress,  she  will, 
no  doubt,  use  Cyprus  for  a  similar  purpose.     Queen  Victoria  was 
proclaimed  Empress  of  India,  April,  1876. 
In  Africa,  English  extended  to  : 

A.D. 

St.  Helena  Island,  conquered  from  Holland 1651 

Cape  Coast  Castle,  in  Guinea 1667 

Seychelles  Islands,  Indian  Ocean,  conquered  from  France 1768 

Sierra  Leone,  colonized 1787 

Cape  Colony,  taken  from  Holland 1795 

Mauritius  Island,  Indian  Ocean,  taken  from  France..  I 1810 

Ascension  Island,  Atlantic  Ocean,  garrisoned 1815 

Liberia,  colonized  by  emancipated  slaves  from  the  United  States 1821 

Natal,  colonized 1823 

Fernando  Po  Island,  in  the  Atlantic. Ocean 1827 

Kaffraria ^34 

Transvaal,  77,000  sq.  miles,  very  fertile 1871 

Area  :  347,975  sq,  miles.     Population  :  2,716,962  souls=:8  souls  per  sq.  mile. 

The  Kings  of  Abyssinia  and  Ashantee,  lately  conquered,  only 
hold  their  crowns  by  England's  sufferance. 

Suez  Canal,  about  100  miles  long,  was  constructed  by  French  and  Eng- 
lish capitalists  at  a  cost  of  sixty  millions  of  dollars,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  F.  de  Lesseps,  and  completed 1869 

In  1875  the  British  Government  authorized  Rothschild  to  buy 
the  Khedive's  portion  of  the  canal  for  ^4,080,000 ;  and  in  1876 
the  House  of  Commons  voted  the  sum  to  pay  therefor.  The 
French  and  English  capitalists,  who  united  to  build  this  commer- 
cial highway,  intended  to  use  it  only  for  industrial  purposes.  The 
vast  purchase  by  the  English  Government  looks  like  a  damper  to 
the  intention  of  the  projectors.  Perhaps  England  is  preparing 
for  eventualities  in  the  East. 

The  Transvaal  and  Orange  Republics,  lately  founded  in 
Southern  Africa  by  European  and  African  emigrants,  unable  to 
sustain  themselves,  must  cast  their  lot  with  the  neighboring 
English  colonies.  Perhaps  the  cry  of  diamonds  in  that  region 
was  but  a  bait  to  adventurers  and  emigrants  ?  Central  Africa 
has  recently  engaged  the  world's  attention.  Baker  explored  it 
from  1861  to  1864;  then  came  Livingstone,  whose  route  Lieu- 
tenant Verney  Cameron  followed,  traversed  1,200  miles  of  fertile 


678  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

country,  and  arrived  at  Portuguese  settlements.  Stanley,  sup- 
ported by  the  New  York  Herald  and  London  Daily  Telegraph, 
1875,  went  to  the  relief  of  Livingstone,  whom  he  found  in  an  ex- 
hausted and  dying  condition.  After  assisting  and  tending  the 
intrepid  explorer  and  his  companions,  Stanley  surveyed  Lake 
Victoria  Nyanza,  230  by  180  miles,  and  found  his  way  to  the 
Atlantic  by  the  river  Congo,  now  to  be  called  Livingstone  by 
common  consent.  Thus  is  Africa's  future  directly  and  indirectly 
connected  with  that  of  the  ninety  English-speaking  millions. 
English  enterprise  and  English  explorers  will  find  their  way  to 
Central  Africa,  its  vast  lakes,  rivers,  and  fertile  regions,  till  emi- 
grants follow,  navigate,  settle,  and  cultivate  them  ;  for  such,  as 
we  have  shown,  has  been  England's  course  since  she  colonized 
Virginia,  A.D.  1607,  and  founded  a  factory  at  Surat,  A.D.  1612. 
The  population  of  Liberia,  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States  and  England,  might  do  much  towards  civilizing  their  race 
in  benighted  Africa;  for  they  have  the  elements  of  progress,  even 
newspapers,  as  shown  in  our  Bird's-Eye  View  of  the  style  of  the 
Press. 

In  Oceanica,  English  expanded  to  : 

Society  Islands,  visited  by  Captain  Wallis,  A.D 1767 

and  by  Capt.  Cook,  1769.  In  1829  ten  thousand  of  the  natives 
had  learned  how  to  read  under  the  tuition  of  European  mission- 
aries. Now  the  whole  population  are  christianized  and  civilized. 

Australia  (New  Holland),  explored  by  Capt.  Cook 177,0 

who  landed  at  Botany  Bay,  which  he  called  New  South  Wales. 
First  English  settlement  at  Sydney,  1788,  where  the  Government 
Gazette  was  printed,  1795.  Melbourne,  founded  1835,  now  one 
of  the  most  thriving  cities  of  Australia. 

New  Zealand,  visited  by  Capt.  Cook 1 770 

English  missionaries  began  their  work,  1814.  First  English 
colony,  1839.  Now  the  settlers  are  chiefly  English,  having  among 
them  Americans,  French,  and  Germans.  In  1856,  the  natives 
numbered  about  120,000;  they  are  naturally  gentle,  easily 
taught,  and  capable  of  a  high  degree  of  civilization.  Auckland, 
the  capital,  has  now  newspapers,  literary  institutions,  museums, 


Nineteenth  Century.  679 

opera,  and  theatres  of  a  high  order  for  a  country  so  recently 

colonized. 

Tasmania  (Van  Diemen's  Land),  visited  by  Capt.  Cook 1777 

First  English  penal  settlement,  1803.  In  1848,  the  population 
of  this  distant  colony  numbered  43,692  free  persons,  2,246  mili- 
tary; 24,188  convicts;  and  but  38  aborigines!  total,  70,164. 
It  seems  the  natives  of  that  distant  isle  were  numerous  when  the 
Dutch  mariner,  Tasman,  discovered  it,  A.D.  1642.  Though  they 
resembled  Negroes,  their  features  were  more  pleasing.  Now 
that  race,  numbering  but  38  in  1848,  is  probably  extinct,  as  so 
many  races  have  been,  are,  and  will  be  becoming  on  this  planet. 

Pitcairn's  Island,  a  small  fertile  spot  six  miles  long  and  three  broad, 
famous  for  its  settlement  by  the  mutineers  of  H.  M.  ship  "Boiinty" 
with  their  Tahitian  wives A.D.  1789 

After  setting  Capt.  Bligh  and  eighteen  sailors  adrift  in  a  boat, 
the  mutineers  landed  on  that  island.  John  Adams,  whose  real 
name  was  Alexander  Smith,  became  the  patriarch  of  the  colony. 
Accounts  of  this  settlement  by  Capt.  Beechey,  1825,  Sir  John 
Barrow  about  1845,  and  Rev.  E.  Murray,  1853,  interested  readers. 
"  The  Island"  a  poem  in  four  cantos,  by  Byron,  is  founded  on 
the  history  of  this  colony.  Thus  did  a  criminal  adventure  ex- 
pand the  English  language  and  literature.  All  those  who  visited 
that  lonely  isle,  speak  of  this  English  and  Tahitian  cross-breed, 
as  a  fine  athletic  race,  whose  females  and  males  have  counte-' 
nances,  that  win  the  respect  and  admiration  of  strangers,  who 
unanimously  extol  the  modesty  and  morality  of  those  innocent 
Polynesians.  Why  should  not  this  superior  cross-breed  be  en- 
couraged to  expand  over  the  southern  hemisphere  ? 

Fiji  Islands,  first  English  settlement 1860 

Ceded  to  England  by  the  native  chiefs 1874 

It  seems  Capt.  Wallace  visited  them  1767? 

Australia,  area:  3,100,000  sq.   miles.      Population:  2,000,000  souls=o.65 
soul  per  sq.  mile. 

Thus  has  England  increased  her  wealth  and  expanded  her 
superior  language.  Being  the  marine  police  of  the  world  for 
nearly  three  centuries,  she  succeeded  in  stopping  the  slave  trade 


680  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

in  Western  Africa,  and  is  now  trying  to  arrest  this  nefarious  traffic 
in  Eastern  Africa.  Her  soldiers  passed  through  the  fearful  trials 
of  the  Black  Hole,  contrived  for  them  by  Hindoo  Moslems.  Her 
trusting  Envoy,  Sir  William  Macnaghten  and  his  suite,  died  mar- 
tyrs by  the  treachery  of  Akb'ar  Khan,  1841,  and  were  signally 
avenged.  France  checked  Moslem  progress  in  the  West  on  the 
Loire,  A.D.  732.  England  attacked  and  humbled  Mahometan 
despotism  in  its  Eastern  strongholds  :  Delhi,  Afghanistan,  Mysore, 
Burmah  and  Aden.  Her  Majesty's  ambassador,  Gladstone,  pro- 
tested against  King  Bomba's  tyranny  towards  the  Lazzaroni.  Eng- 
land and  the  United  States  have  been  the  asylum  of  the  oppressed 
and  persecuted  of  all  countries  and  climes.  The  Huguenots 
ivere  welcomed  in  England  and  America,  A.D.  1685  ;  so  were  the 
Poles,  Hungarians,  Cubans,  &c. ;  even  the  deluded  communists, 
Louis  Blanc,  Caussidiere,  Cabet,  &c.,  were  received  ;  also  fugitive 
royalty  from  France,  Spain,  Italy  and  Germany  sought  and  found 
shelter  among  the  English-speaking  populations.  The  United 
States  are  in  honor  bound  to  watch  over  and  protect  the  infant 
republic  of  Ham's  progeny  in  Liberia.  England  has  been  the 
advocate  and  champion  of  individual  rights  since  the  day  of 
Magna  Charta.  Her  eldest  daughter,  the  United  States,  espoused 
that  principle,  when  Captain  Graham  rescued  Kotzka  from  Aus- 
trian oppression  at  Smyrna,  and  was  indorsed  by  the  liberal  policy 
of  his  government.  America  also  vindicated  the  individual  rights 
of  runaways  from  life-long  military  service,  telling  Prussia  that, 
after  such  individuals  had  become  adopte.d  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  she  must  respect  such  citizenship ;  and  finally  the  bombas- 
tic Hohenzollern  dynasty  conceded  this  international  principle. 
Thus  have  the  ninety  English-speaking  millions  championed  pri- 
vate rights  at  home  and  abroad,  at  the  risk  of  threatening  compli- 
cations. Humanity  should  and  must  feel  proud  of  a  race  that 
has  been,  is  and  will  be  favoring  individual  rights  and  carrying 
forward  international  progress  so  quietly  and  effectually. 

The  eminent  scientist,  de  Candolle,  thought  it  was  extremely 
probable  that  within  a  hundred  years  the  English  language  would 
be  spoken  by  860,000,000  of  souls,  while  German  would  be  the 
language  of  124,000,000,  and  French  of  69,000,000  only. 

As  previously  stated,  Dr.  K.  M.  Rapp,  in  his  "  Physiology  of 
Language,"  says :  "  The  other  nations  of  Europe  may  esteem 


Nineteenth  Century. 


68 1 


themselves  fortunate,  that  the  English  have  not  made  the  discovery 
of  the  suitableness  of  their  language  for  universal  adoption." 

After  analyzing  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  English  tongue, 
its  choice  vocabulary,  simple  grammar,  direct  construction,  varied 
literature,  we  come  to  its  destiny,  which  we  base  on  the  character 
of  its  speakers,  and  on  its  extent,  influence  and  importance  ;is  a 
means  of  civilization  : 

STATISTICS*     SHOWING    THE    POLITICAL,    SOCIAL,    INTELLECTUAL,    MORAL 

AND   RELIGIOUS    STATUS   OF   THE    POPULATIONS   GOVERNED   BY 

THE    ENGLISH   LANGUAGE. 

The  English-speaking  Populations  Tinderstand  the  Science  of  Government 
better  than  any  other  Nation,  as  may  be  realized  by  the  following  Table : 


ITEMS  : 

EARTH'S  STATISTICS: 

SHARE    OF    THE    POPULATION 
RULED   BY  THE  ENGLISH 
LANGUAGE  : 

Earth's  Dry  Land,            1873 
Population, 

51,590,000  square  miles. 
1,377,000,000  souls. 
(26  souls  per  square  mile,) 

13,3*8,370  square  miles,  ('/4) 
318,298,857  souls,                (V4) 
(24  souls  per  square  mile.} 

"       Dwellings,                " 
Commercial  Navy,  '  ' 

(?) 
205,469  vessels. 

51,185,485  dwellings. 
67,282  vessels,    (over  V<' 

War  Navy, 

4,005  ships. 

808  ships,                  V,) 

Tonnage,                  " 
Railroads, 
Telegraphs, 

15,724,522  tons. 
145,825  miles. 
304,500  miles. 

9,943,727  tons,     (nearly  a/8) 
85,660  miles,       (over  %  \ 
146,353  miles,    (nearly  ȣ) 

(  Almost  entirely  controlled 

"      Submarine  Cables,  " 

52,500  miles. 

-<    by    the     English-speaking 

(  populations. 

"      Annual    Expendi-      ) 

ture  for  Govern-  "  V 
ments,                        ) 

4,011,670,000  dollars. 

1,160,930,000  dollars,  (over  1/i) 

"       Standing    Armies      j 

on  a  peace  foot-  "  > 
ing,                           ) 

5,357,133  soldiers, 
(i  soldier  per  257  souls.) 

418,640  soldiers,          (only  Vis) 
(i  soldier  per  650  souls.) 

Imports, 
"       Exports,                   " 
Postal  Service  from  ) 

6,563,620,000  dollars. 
5,228,720,000  dollars. 

2,711,620,000  dollars,  (over  ]/s) 
2,466,647,000  doll's,  (nearly  l/«) 

1868  to  1871  inclu-  > 

3,468,227,000  letters. 

1,761,875,000  letters,  (over  Va) 

sive,                            ) 

(2  letters  per  soul.  ) 

(6  letters  per  soul.) 

Bibles  and  Testaments  ~j 

distribute.4,  by  84  Bi-  ' 
ble     Societies    from  f 

117,000,000  Bibles  and  Tes- 
taments. 

84,918,215    Bibles  and  Tes- 
taments,               (over  a/s) 

1804  to  1874,               J 

Thus,  Earth's  area  is  51,590,000  square  miles,  and  its  population 
Ij377)0oo,ooo.  Of  this  total  population  the  English  language 
rules  318,298,857  souls  (about  one-fourth},  and  13,318,370  square 
miles  (one-quarter]  of  Earth's  land.  This  land  and  its  dwellers 


*  From  Census  of  United  States,  1870,  and  of  Ergland,  1871-1872. 


682  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

are  scattered  from  the  North  Pole  to  the  Equator,  and  thence  to 
the  South  Pole.  It  abounds  in  the  most  multifarious  mineral  and 
agricultural  resources,  from  gold  and  diamond  to  iron  and  coal, 
from  wheat  to  millet,  from  the  sturdy  oak  to  the  fragrant  cinna- 
mon tree.  Its  occupants  cultivate  and  manufacture  the  most 
varied  articles,  which  they  ship,  carry,  sell  and  exchange  all  over 
the  globe.  The  English  language  controls  the  highways  and  by- 
ways of  trade.  It  is  spoken  by  all  races,  from  the  Esquimaux, 
Caucasian,  Malayan,  Hindoo  and  American  Indian  to  the  Hot- 
tentot. It  commands  most  of  the  world's  mechanical  skill,  con- 
sequently most  of  its  manufactures  and  commerce,  and  most  of 
its  political,  intellectual,  social,  moral  and  religious  influence. 
The  sun  sets  daily  on  other  leading  languages,  but  it  never  sets 
on  the  English-speaking  populations.  While  the  speakers  of 
other  leading  languages  are  plunged  in  darkness  and  sleep, 
speakers  of  English  are  wide  awake  and  busily  at  work  in  another 
hemisphere.  In  every  country  of  the  globe  are  English-speaking 
missionaries,  trying  to  advance  Christianity  and  with  it  their  lan- 
guage, civilization  and  progress.  To  govern,  guard,  and  protect 
this  vast  domain,  every  soul  ruled  by  the  English  language  paid 
but  $4.25  annual  tax,  and  the  total  population  furnished  only  one 
soldier  per  650  souls  in  1873;  whereas  every  soul  ruled  by  the 
Russian  language  paid  $4.50,  and  the  total  population  furnished 
one  soldier  in  107  souls  ;  every  soul  of  the  Fatherland  paid  $6.30, 
and  the  total  population  furnished  one  soldier  per  102  souls; 
every  soul  in  Italy  paid  $11,  and  the  total  population  furnished 
one  soldier  per  80  souls  ;  every  soul  in  Japan  paid  $4.50,  and  the 
total  population  furnished  one  soldier  per  289  souls.  Hence, 
even  government  is  less  onerous  under  English  than  under  any 
other  rule. 

In  the  imports  of  1873  tne  share  of  the  English-speaking  popu- 
lations was  about  one-third,  while  their  share  of  the  exports  was 
nearly  one-half.  This  conclusively  shows,  that  they  command 
nearly  one-half  of  the  world's  gold  and  silver  ;  yet  their  popula- 
tion is  but  one-fifth  of  Earth's  inhabitants,  and  their  area  but  one- 
quarter  of  Earth's  land.  London  and  New  York  are  mankind's 
commercial  agents  and  financiers. 

Of  the  318  millions,  ruled  by  the  English  idiom,  only  about  ninety 
millions  speak  English.  As  far  as  can  be  surmised  rrom  prehis- 


Nineteenth  Century.  683 

toric  indications  and  historic  data,  no  language  was  ever  so  ;videly 
diffused.     We  conclusively  proved,  that  English  is  composed  of 
68  + per  cent.  Greco-Latin  ; 

30+  Gotho-Germanic,  or  Anglo-Saxon  ; 

2  —       "         Celtic,  and  traces  of  Sclavonic  and  Semitic. 

As  above  stated,  this  superior  linguistic  mixture,  printed  in  the 
simple,  comely  Roman  character,  rules  over  one-fourth  of  Earth's 
inhabitants  and  over  one-quarter  of  Earth's  land. 

Who  then  can,  who  will  doubt,  that  a  language  with  such  a 
choice  vocabulary,  such  vast  resources,  and  such  an  enterprising 
population,  is  destined  to  become,  at  no  distant  period,  the  uni- 
versal language  on  Earth  ?  Circumnavigate  the  globe — go  from 
pole  to  pole — and  the  English  tongue  will  hail  you  on  every 
ocean  and  sea,  greet  you  on  every  island,  welcome  you  in  every 
haven,  accompany  you  along  Morse's  wires  above  and  under 
water  with  lightning  speed.  Even  around  the  sources  of  the 
White  Nile,  and  among  the  jungles  of  Central  Africa,  it  echoed 
from  the  lips  of  Baker,  Livingstone  and  Stanley.  On  this  tour 
you  meet  the  ancient  Ophir,  the  famous  Eldorado,  and  a  southern 
continent  as  large  as  Europe,  governed  by  the  English  idiom. 

The  English-speaking  populations  had  their  Nuina  and  Egeria 
in  Ethelbert  and  Bertha,  A.D.  570;  their  Solon  in  Alfred  the 
Great,  their  Junitts  Brutus  in  Cromwell,  their  Cincinnatus  in 
Washington ;  their  Homer  and  Hesiod  in  Caedmon,  Chaucer, 
and  Milton  ;  their  Sophocles  in  Shakespeare  ;  their  Aristotle  in 
Bacon  and  Newton  ;  their  Herodotus-,  Thucydides,  &c.,  in  Hume, 
Gibbon,  Prescott,  Bancroft,  &c.  ;  their  Hippocrates  and  Galen 
in  Sydenham  and  Harvey  ;  their  Archimedes  in  Watt,  Franklin, 
Faraday,  and  Morse  ;  their  Demosthenes  and  Cicero  in  Burke, 
Pitt,  and  Webster ;  their  Hanno  and  Nearchus  in  Cook,  Drake  and 
Anson  ;  their  Pytheas  in  Sir  John  Franklin  and  Dr.  Kane  ;  their 
Sappho,  Corinna,  Hypatia  in  Aphra  Behn,  Lady  Montagu,  Mrs., 
Hemans,  Browning,  Sigourney,  Miss  Mitchell ;  their  Marco  Polo 
in  Sir  John  Mandeville  ;  their  Hipparchus  in  Horox,  Herschel, 
Proctor,  Mitchel,  &c. ;  their  Virgil,  Horace,  &c.,  in  Dryden,  Gold- 
smith, Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  Longfellow,  Bryant,  Lowell,  &c.  ; 
their  Semiramis  in  Elizabeth  ;  and  now  their  Dido  in  the  gentle 
but  firm  Victoria,  who  rules  over  234,762,593  souls,  dwelling  in 
44,142.651  houses.  Let  us  not  forget  that,  where  Greek  and 


684  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

Latin  had,  in  any  branch  of  literature  and  science,  one  eminent 
author,  the  English  idiom  has  ten.  Hence,  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
Greece,  Carthage,  and  Rome  must  go  in  the  shade,  when  com- 
pared with  the  countries  ruled  by  the  English  language,  com- 
prising the  British  Empire,  the  United  States,  and  Liberia. 
England  and  the  United  States  should  ever  go  hand  in  hand — 
for  England  and  America  at  war  should  make  the  angels  weep, 
and  cause  Hope,  Liberty,  and  Justice  to  hide  their  faces.  Both 
countries  have  been  expanding  the  English  language — England 
by  sending  colonies  to  all  parts  of  the  globe,  America  by  receiv- 
ing, Anglicizing,  and  assimilating  emigrants  from  all  nations — 
thus  England  acting  as  the  bee-hive  of  the  English-speaking 
populations,  America  as  their  magnet.  With  their  vast  domains, 
England  and  America  can  say  to  the  masses  of  Europe  and  Asia : 
"  Come  unto  us,  all  ye  that  labour,  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  we 
will  give  you  rest.  Our  yoke  is  easy  and  our  burden  is  light" 
Matt.  xi.  1 8. 

Now  notice  the  conclusive  evidence  of  a  higher  intellectual 
development  among  the  English-speaking  populations  :  The 
world's  postal  service,  from  1868  to  1871,  inclusive,  shows 
3,468,227,000  letters  mailed  and  carried.  Of  these  billions  and 
millions  of  letters  1,761,875,000  (over  one-half]  were  written, 
mailed,  and  read  by  the  English-speaking  populations.  Can 
there  be  a  surer  sign  of  individual  and  national  progress — 
"  reading  and  writing  being  the  primary  requisites  and  key  to 
knowledge  "  ? 

The  world's  statistics  of  1880  will  show,  that  the  ninety  Eng- 
lish-speaking millions  have  more  books,  newspapers,  and  there- 
fore more  reading  and  diffusion  of  general  knowledge,  than  the 
other  1,200,000,000  of  Earth's  inhabitants.  Soon  Australia  and 
New  Zealand,  with  their  superior  newspapers,  will  have  native 
authors  and  a  native  literature.  So  will  Cape  Colony,  Natal, 
Mauritius,  and  even  the  Fiji  Islands;  for  they  start  with  a  su- 
perior language,  which  is  a  prompter  of  thought,  ideas,  litera- 
ture, and  science. 

England  and  America  can  afford  to  look  quietly  at  the  jeal- 
ousies and  wars  in  Europe,  while  races  of  all  climes  increase 
their  domain,  and  while  everything  points  to  a  speedy  advance 
of  civilization  in  the  southern  hemisphere,  whose  serene  sky, 


Nineteenth  Century.  68$ 

bright  constellations,  atmospheric  conditions,  telluric  formation 
and  soil  are  ready  for  higher  intellectual  development.  Starting 
without  Medieval  prejudices  and  drawbacks,  Oceanica  may  soon 
rival  the  mother  country,  especially  since  the  rich  gold  fields  of 
Australia  have  been  discovered  and  opened  to  all  nations.  The 
English-speaking  populations  have  done  much,  and  may  yet  do 
more  for  the  untutored  children  of  Ham.  The  Greco- Latin 
races  of  Europe,  France,  Italy,  and  Spain  will  gladly  aid  the 
progress  of  Africa,  where  the  fabled  gardens  of  the  Hesperides 
may  yet  be  realized  by  the  enterprise  and  daring  of  such  men  as 
Baker,  Livingstone,  Long,  Cameron,  and  Stanley,  whose  recent 
explorations  across  equatorial  Africa  electrified  the  world.  As 
guardians  of  civilization,  England  and  the  United  States  should 
forget  their  jealousies  and  stand  together,  whenever  and  wherever 
a  question  of  progress  arises.  Already  the  Sandwich  Islanders 
had  their  Bertha  in  Kamamalu,  and  their  Ethelbert  in  Liholiho. 
N'ow  they  are  being  educated  in  their  own  and  in  the  English 
language.  Of  the  four  newspapers  they  issue,  two  are  native  and 
two  English.  Lately  the  chiefs  of  the  Samoan  or  Navigator's 
Islands  desired  to  be  annexed  to  the  English-speaking  popula- 
tions, only  the  rivalry  between  England  and  the  United  States 
prevented  the  union.  Ham's  progeny  in  Ashantee  must  cast 
their  lot  with  the  English-speaking  populations,  and  affiliate  with 
the  Liberians,  who  are  Hamites  civilized  in  America.  A  colony 
of  Icelanders  tried  to  negotiate  terms  with  the  United  States  for 
a  settlement  in  Alaska  since  their  millennial  celebration,  August 
2,  1874.  Lately  Mennonites,  persecuted  in  Russia,  and  Ice- 
landers sought  and  found  welcome  homes  in  Canada,  where  they 
were  graciously  visited  by  the  humane  Governor,  Lord  Dufferin. 
Thus  dwellers  of  the  Arctic  and  Antarctic  regions,  as  well  as 
those  of  torrid  Africa  and  Oceanica,  are  casting  their  fate  with 
the  ninety  English-speaking  millions. 

Such  are  the  character  and  enterprise  of  the  English-speaking 
peoples ;  such  their  means  and  resources ;  such  their  extent. 
As  to  the  intrinsic  merits  of  their  composite  language,  we  have 
proved  that  it  numbers  sixty-eight  per  cent.  Greco-Latin,  thirty 
Gotho-Germanic,  two  per  cent.  Celtic,  and  traces  of  Semitic, 
which  enable  the  instructor  of  youth,  the  preacher,  scientist, 
journalist,  legislator,  dramatist,  historian,  poet,  novelist,  and 


686  English  Period,  A.D.  1600-1878. 

miscellaneous  writer  to  find  vocabularies  suited  to  their  varied 
themes;  these  advantages  English  alone  possesses,  now,  only 
harmonize  letter  with  sound.  Already  the  French  savant,  de 
Candolle,  tells  us  English  will  be  spoken  by  eight  hundred  and 
sixty  millions  within  a  hundred  years ;  and  the  German  scien- 
tist, Dr.  Rapp,  author  of  "Physiology  of  Language"  speaks  of 
its  '''•suitableness  for  universal  adoption"  After  such  proofs 
and  testimonials  from  unbiased  foreign  scholars,  need  we  add 
anything  more  concerning  the  intrinsic  merits  of  the  English 
tongue  ? 

Under  William  the  Conqueror,  A.D.  1085,  the  Anglo-Saxon 
dialect,  mother  of  English,  ruled  over  about  2,000,000  souls. 
Under  James  I.,  A.D.  1603,  the  English  language  began  to  rule 
over  a  population  of  about  7,500,000  souls.  Now,  1878,  it 
rules  over  318,000,000  souls,  scattered  over  the  five  parts  of  the 
globe ;  and  all  this  has  been  accomplished  within  about  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  years.  If  its  expanse  continues  in  the 
same  ratio  for  a  similar  period,  it  is  easy  to  calculate  what  the 
English  language  will  be  to  mankind,  A.D.  2000. 

Of  all  reforms  discussed,  that  of  a  universal  language  is  the  most 
important ;  for  as  soon  as  the  thirteen  hundred  millions  of  souls 
on  this  planet  can  interchange  their  thoughts  and  ideas  in  one 
and  the  same  language,  Earth  will  be  a  more  progressive,  more 
intellectual,  and  happier  home  for  her  children.  As  linguistic 
limitations  disappear,  national  and  social  intercourse  will  expand  ; 
a  universal  language  will  reveal,  that  the  Himalayas,  Alps,  Cordil- 
leras, and  Andes,  saw  races  and  tribes,  whose  customs,  religion, 
rites,  and  monuments  were  similar ;  that  those  races  uttered  roots 
and  words,  which  had  a  common  origin ;  and  that  the  Ganges, 
Amoor,  Euphrates,  Jordan,  Nile,  Tiber,  Don,  Rhine,  Thames, 
Mississippi,  and  Amazon,  watered  fields,  cultivated  by  kindred 
tribes  and  nations.  Moses,  the  oldest  philologist,  tells  us,  Gen. 
xi.,  i  and  6  :  "TAe  whole  Earth  was  of  one  language  and  of  one 
speech.  The  people  is  one,  and  they  have  all  one  language" 
When  mankind  again  listens  to  one  speech,  the  Millennium  will 
be  at  hand  ;  for  printing,  steam,  telegraph,  cable,  telephone,  and 
phonograph  will  centuple  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  wisdom. 


INDEX 


INDEX. 


IN  this  index  the  important  results  may  be  found  under  the  heads  of  Origin, 
Progress,  Destiny,  Language,  Synopses,  Percentages,  Statistics,  Anglo- 
Saxon,  Franco-English,  English,  French,  Celtic,  and  Obsolete.  Under  such 
headings  as  Anatomic,  Legal,  Medical,  Theologic,  Miisical,  Astronomic,  &c. , 
Vocabulary,  students  will  find  how  and  where  the  terms  and  phraseologies  of 
their  respective  branches  came  into  the  English  language ;  hence,  these  head- 
ings will  be  printed  in  italics. 


ABDALLA,  57 
Abelard,  214 
Academies  of  literature,  science,  &c., 

421,  422 

Adam  Davie,  286,  287,  397 
Adam  of  Bremen,  178 
Adalbert,  Apostle  of  Prussia,  Hungary, 

and  Lithuania,  177 
Adam  Smith,  462 
Adams,  Mrs.,  521 

Adapting  sound  to  letter,  201,  385-396 
Adelard  of  Bath,  scientist,  215 
Addison,  427,  449 

Additions  of  linguistic  gems  to  Anglo- 
Saxon,  223,  375,  610 
Adjectives,  English,  618 
Advent  of  pure  English,  403 
Adverbs,  English,  619 
Agassiz,  Prof.,  348,  663 
Age   of  languages:    English,  French, 

German,    Greek,    Hebrew,     Italian, 

Latin,  Sanscrit,  Spanish,  653 
Agricultural  vocabulary,    87,    89,    no, 

191,  229,  237,  351,  462 
Ahalya  Bai,  Empress  of  India,  518,  519 
Air-pump,  423 
Akenside,  462 
A    language    to     suit     Anglo-Saxons, 

Franco-Normans  and  Celts,  244,  245, 

250,  251,  255 
Albigenses,  214,  243 
Alchneda,  Apostle  of  the  Mercians,  78, 

522 

Alcock,  337 

Alcuin,  107,  no,  in,  130 
Aldhelm,  89,  in 
Alfred  the  Great,  n,  59,  67,  105,  in, 

129,  130,  148,  152,  153,  154,  190,  458  ; 

on    equality   of    mankind,    138 ;    on 

44 


"national  education,"  137;  as  a  sci- 
entist, 141,  142 

Alfredan  Era,  136,  181 ;  jewel,  131 

Alfred's  census,  133 ;  A.  S.  Code,  152, 
I53.  *54  I  Philosophic  Address  to  De- 
ity,* 139 ;  navy,  166 ;  will,  143  ;  grand- 
daughters (five)  married  European 
sovereigns,  162,  163 

Alfred,  anatomist,  242 

Alfric,  47,  167,  168 

Algebraic  vocabulary,  315 

Alkalem  II.,  178 

Allibone,  S.  A.,  654,  662 

Alphabet,  51,  52,  53,  54,  70,  359,  416, 
613  ;  universal,  54,  55,  386,  387,  396, 
415,  416,  686 

America,  310,  311,  450,  492,  674,  67^, 
684 

America  and  England  hand  in  hand  for 
progress,  496,  497,  498,  501,  508-513, 
672,  673,  680,  684,  685 

American  Bible  Society,  42 

American  enterprise,  404,  405,  442,443, 
445-448,  450,  456-459.  465,  496.  497. 
508-513 

Americans  expanding  English,  675,  676, 
677 

America's  aborigines  add  a  word  to 
English,  352 

America's  future,  469,  470 

Americo-Indian  languages,  313 

Americus  Vespucius,  312 

Anatomic  -vocabulary,  85,  231,  242,  2=52, 
258,  266,  267,  342,  344,  413 

Andrews,  Pettit,  29,  71,  105,  130,  181, 
182,  211,  335 

An,  dropped  from  Anglo-Saxon  infini- 
tives, 379 

Anesthesis,  500 


690 


Index. 


Angles,  29,  30,  48,  130,  144 ;  slaves  in 
Rome,  30,  47 

Anglo-Saxon  Period,  23-232  ;  alphabet,  i 
51 ;  origin  and  progress  of,  32-41,  43,  i 
62,  63,  loo,  123,  155,  175,  200,  222,  223  ;  i 
literature,  60,  78,  81,  82,  83,  91,  94,  97, 
114,  115,   117,  120,  137,  138,  139,  140, 
141,  143,  144,   146,   147,  149,  152,  169, 
179,  193, 197,  217,  220;  Iliad,  112-116; 
Bible  translated  into,  166  ;  ceased  to 
be  a  writtten  language,  203,  204,  205 ; 
spelling  phonetic,  147,  148  ;  spelling 
altered  by  the  Danes  to  Dano-Saxon, 

179,  180 ;  spelling  disfigured  by  Orr- 
min,  207,  208,  233  ;  dialect,  223  ;  num- 
ber of  words  therein,  224;  words  ob- 
solete, 223 ;  appreciated  by  modern 
scholars,  in,  113,  114,  224,  417,  461  ; 
ingenuity  in  mental  arithmetic,  109  ; 
enterprise  and  commerce,   146,  161, 
166,    167;    jewelry,    styled    "Opera 
Anglica,"  famous  all  over  Europe, 
131,  230 ;  missionaries,  101,  102,  103, 
123 

Anglo-Saxons  and  Franks  or  French 
harmonious,  43,  44,45,  48,  49,  50,  51, 
72,  77.  85-  86,  101,  102,  103,  no,  123, 
125,  129,  130,  132,  133,  162,  164,  165, 

180,  181 ;   till   alienated  by  Norman 
and  Plantagenet   ambition,  181-188, 
258, 259,  260 ;  Christianity  among  the, 

43-  44-  45-  5°,  51 
Animal  utterance,  51,  52 
An  intellectual  prodigy,  414 
Anna  Comnena,  213 
Anna,  Apostle  of  the  Russians,  177,  522, 

55° 
Anscarius,  Apostle  of  the  North,  159, 

176 

Anthemius,  68 

A  philosophic  language,  415,  416 
Apostrophe  to  Language,  by  Bilder- 

dijk,  501 

Appleton's  Journal,  646,  662 
April  25th,  1564,  407 
Ar  (linguistic  root  meaning  earth  or 

land),  7 

Ar — ar — at  (land,  land  ahead),  612 
Arabian  figures,  175  ;  literature,  69,  103, 

160,  178,  211,  214 
Arabic  words  in  English,  214 
Aramaic  or  Syriac  in  English,  609 
Arandhati,  517 
Architectural  vocabulary,   86,   90,  163, 

191,  230,  353,  398,  399,' 401,  417,  499 
Argus,  Melbourne,  Australia,  646,  662, 

678 

Aria,  32,  35 

Arian  languages,  their  origin,  32-35 
Arian  Code,  59 

Arians  (farmers),  32  ;  in  Germany,  34 
Ariavarta,  32 
Ario-Japhetic  languages,  their  origin, 

4.  5-  32,  33.  34.  35.  3*3 
Ariosto,  350 


Aristotle's  works  sent  to  Western  Eu- 
rope, 238,  239 

Arne,  Doctor,  449 

Array  of  great  German  minds,  502 

Art's  vocabulary,  398,  399,  400 

Arundel,  Countess,  313 

Ascham,  348 

Asiatic  Empire  of  England,  314,  676, 
677 

Asser,  131,  132,  134,  135,  162,  163,  165, 
/66 

Astor  Library,  307,  308,  330,  436 

Astronomic  vocabulary,  57,  85,  109,  238, 
241,  316,  344,  359,  360,  361,  414,  415, 
420,  423,  462,  500,  501,  519,  520 

Athelstan,  150,  166,  176 

Attila,  26 

Auckland,  678,  679 

Audubon,  498 

Aught,  final,  its  origin,  280,  385,  391 

Augustine,  Apostle  of  the  Anglo-Sax- 
ons, 47,  72  ;  and  the  forty  monks  at 
King  Ethelbert's  court,  50,  51 

Australia,  678,  684 

Authors  of  Anglo-Saxon  Period,  226 ; 
Franco-English  Period,  376  ;  English 
Period,  638,  639 

Authors'  styles  and  vocabularies  com- 
pared, 657-664 

Average  origin  of  the  words  in  Walker's 
and  Noah  Webster's  Dictionaries, 
610,  6n 

Avenzoar,  211 

Averrhoes,  211 

BABEL  (confusion  of  language),  612 

Bacon,  Lord,  410,  412 

Roger,  28,  233,  234,  236,  424 

Balbi,  7,  505 

Bancroft,  Geo.,  650,  661,  662 

Hubert  H.,  35,  313,  654,  655 

Barbarians,  Goths  and  Vandals  be- 
came Europe's  reformers,  26,  27 

Barbour,  John,  261 

Barometer,  429 

Barnes'  Educational  Monthly,  642,  662 

Bassi,  Maria,  520 

Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  411 

Bede,  23,  29,  30,  51,  59,  71,  73,  76,  78, 
84,  85,  87,  loi,  102,  105,  109,  130,  133, 
204 

Beginning  of  protesting,  215 

Bchaim,  311 

Behn  Aphra,  415,  660,  664 

Belzoni,  Madam,  588 

Benjamin  of  Tudela,  211 

Benedictines,  88,  89,  216 

Beowulf,  112-116,  216,  460 

Berg,  philotherist,  455,  519 

Berkeley,  Bishop,  468,  470,  651 

Bertha,  Apostle  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
43-  44.  45,  5°.  5L  72,  75-  522,  550 

Berzelius,  499 

Bible  translated  into  Anglo-Saxon,  166; 
into  English,  406,  407  ;  into  Franco- 


Index. 


691 


English,  265,  299,  341 ;  into  Gothic, 

25,  36  ;  Bible,  polyglot,  337 
Bilderdijk,  Holland's  eminent  bard,  501 

—  Katharina,  520,  521 
Bill  of  Rights,  418,  440,  441 
Bird's-eye  views  of  the  nine  styles  of 

writing,  642-657 
Biscop,  Benedict,  84,  85,  86,  87,  88,  no, 

130 

Blackstone,  235,  480,  481,  639,  648 
Blavatsky,  Countess,  337,  502,  654,  661 
Boadicea,  Queen,  16 
Boccaccio,  268 
Bodleian  Library,  58 
Boethius,  133,  178 
Boileau,  425 

Bombay  Indian  Spectator,  646,  662 
Bonaparte,  Prince  L.  L.,  463 
Boniface  (Winfrid),  Apostle   of  Ger- 
many, 123,  124,  157 
Books,  58,  85,  263  ;  scarcity  of,  108,  214, 

377-  378 
Bopp,  502 
Bossuet,  425 

Boston  Daily  Globe,  646,  661 
Boston  News  Letter,  646 
Botanic  vocabulary,  243,  352,  359,  426, 

464,  613 

Bowditch,  N.,  501 
Boyle,  Robert,  422 
Brian  Boru,  King,  168 
Bret  Harte,  649,  661 
Bright,  John,  648 

British  Isles  attracted  the  world's  at- 
tention,  15-21,  30,  43,  44-59.  65.  66. 

71,  72,  77,  84,  101,  102,  103 
Brompton,  262 

Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle,  646,  661 
Brooks,  James,  648,  661 
Brougham,  Lord,  648 
Brown,  Rev.  N.,  645 
Brunehaut,  Queen,  44,  48,  49,  50,  76 
Bruys,  Pierre  de,  214,  508 
Bryant,  Wm.  C.,  628,  629,  630,  631,  634, 

635.  636,  650,  651,  660,  683 
Buckle,  650 
Buffon's  rich  vocabulary  of  the  natural 

sciences,  462 
Bulwer,  652 

Bunsen,  Baron  von,  653 
Bunyan,  412,  413,  454 
Burke,  648 
Burnet,  Bishop,  418 
Burning  for  heresy  by  Catholics,   215, 

301,  341  ;  by  Protestants,  344,  345 
Burnouf,  35 

Burton,  Robert,  412,  434,  435,  569 
Butler's  Hudibras,  422 
Byron,  435,  460,  526,  527,  624,  625,  639, 

679 

CABLE,  Atlantic,  508-512 
Cabot,  314,  338 
Caedmon,  80,  83,  91,  130,  156 
Calcutta  Journal,  646,  660 


Calderon,  De  la  Barca,  428 
Calendar,     Roman,    43,    55,    56,    57  ; 

changed,  351,  365 
Calhoun,  John  C.,  648 
Calvin,  339,  345 
Cambridge  University,  79, 163, 190,  3"oi, 

338,  343 
Camden,  89 
Camera-obscura,  234 
Camoens,  350,  351 
Candolle,  de,  680 
Canute,  180 
Cape  Colony,  684 
Capital  against  labor,  469,  513-516 
Caractacus  (Caradoc)  King,  16 
Caribert,  King,  43,  44,  45 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  103 
Cassiterides,  16 
Casivellaunus,  King,  16 
Castle  of  the  Heavens,  360,  361 
Cathedral  of  Coventry,  399 
Catholic  Review,  645 
Caxton,  William,  306-309,  330,  331 
Celtic  dialects  waning  and  dying,  227, 


253.  254.  442,  463 
'eltic  in    Anglo-Sa 


Celtic  in  Anglo-Saxon,  223,  226;  in 
Franco-English,  375  ;  in  English,  610  ; 
wit,  159 

Celts,  self-reliant,  20,  21,  50 

Census  by  Alfred  the  Great,  133 ;  by 
William  the  Conqueror,  189,  190,  191 

Ceolfrid,  87 

Certain  styles  demand  more  or  less 
Greco-Latin,  670 

Cervantes,  397,  428 

Cesar,  16,  21,  in 

Cesnola,  35 

Champollion,  35,  505 

Change  of  vocabulary  according  to 
subjects,  623,  636,  668,  669,  670 ;  ac- 
cording to  styles,  641-657,  668,  669, 
670 

Channing,  W.  E.,  644 

Chapin,  Rev.  E.  H.,  644,  660 

Charles  Martel,  101,  127 

the  Bald,  130,  155,  157 

the  Simple,  165 

V.,  Emperor,  on  languages,  313 

Charlemagne,  101,  123,  125,  127,  129; 
his  dialect,  125 

Chaucer,   n,  269-282,  294,  295,  397 

Chaucerian  Era,  299 

Cheke,  Sir  John,  343 

Chcmic  vocabulary,  127,  233,  342,  465, 
469,  499,  613 

Chicago  Tribune,  646,  662 

China,  178,  240 

Christian  Era,  or  Gregorian  Calendar, 
57.  4.65 

Christianity  introduced  into  Britain, 
16 ;  into  Ireland,  21 ;  into  Kent,  43 ; 
into  Scotland,  21 

Christina  of  Sweden,  428 

Christian  topography,  68 

Christ's  Ethics,  their  influence  on  Ian- 


692 


Index. 


guage,  36,  43,  69,  70,  90,   339,  340, 
^342,  464,  490,  508,  517 
Ciaran,  Saint,  64 
Cincinnati  Commercial,  646 
Cirencester,  268,  269 
Clarke,  Mrs.  Cowden,  n,  410 
Classification  of  languages,   its  basis, 

4,  5 

Claudia,  16,  17 
Claudius,  16 

Clergyman's  Magazine,  London,  644 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  498 
Clotilda,    Apostle   of  the   Franks,    25, 

522,  550 

Code  of  honor,  in 
Coifi,  his  speech,  78 
Coins,  79 
Coleridge,  589 
College  at   Rome,   Anglo-Saxon,   116, 

161 

Columbus,  Christopher,  311,  312 
Columbia  College,  226 
Combe,  George,  499 
Communistic  vocabtdary,  455,  469,  513- 

5i6 
Consent,  government  by,  138,  456-459, 

473,  479 

Consonants,  interchangeable,  40 
Cook,  Captain,  678,  679 
Cooper,  J.  F.,  534,  535,  639 

Peter  (Philanthropist),  511 

Copernicus,  28,  344 

Coram,  Captain,  455 

Corneille,  425,  428 

Cornish    in    English,    609 ;    died   with 

Dorothy  Pentreath,  463 
Cornwall,  16,  463 
Cosmas,  68 
Cosmos,  502 

Coxe,  Bishop  A.  C.,  644,  661 
Crusades,  their  influence  on  language, 

200,  209,  210,  213 
Cunards,  498 

Cuneiform  decipherings,  35 
Cuvier,  501 

DACIER,  Madame,  340,  426 
Daguerre,  500 

Daily  Graphic,  New  York,  646,  660 
Dana,  Richard  H.,  347 
Danes,  in,  132,  149,  179 
Danish  in  English,  609 
Dano-Saxon,  130,  179 
Dante,  138,  268 
Darwin,  20,  654,  662 
Davy,  Sir  Humphrey,  499 
Dawnings  of  progress,  233 
Day,  Murray  S.,  U.S.N.,  519 
Deaf-mutes  taught  to  read,  454 
Death  of  a  language,  A.D.  1778,  463 
Decimal  measures  and  weights,  673 
Declaration  of  Independence,  138,  456, 

478,  479 

De  Foe,  Daniel,  411,  412,  652 
De  1'Epee,  Abbe,  454,  455 


Dentistry,  500 

Disraeli,  I.,  460 

Descartes,  28,  420 

Destiny  of  the  English  language,  673- 

686 
Devotional    utterance    and    language, 

141,  142,  143 

Dialects,  number  of,  312,  313 
Diaz  (navigator),  309 
Dictionaries  of  Webster  and  Walker, 

611  ;  origin  of  their  words,  611 
Didactic    style    of    writing,    642,    643  ; 

origin  of  its  vocabulary,  656,  657 
Different  words  from  the  Fifty  English 

Extracts  and  Tables,  589-609,  610 
Discoveries  (geographic),  309-315 
Disharmony  between  letter  and  sound, 

its  origin,  280,  392,  393,  394 
Divine  right,  government  by,  450,  456, 

458,  459 
Dix,  Miss,  519 
Domain  of   language,    612,  613,   614, 

615 
Dombrowska,    Apostle   of    the    Poles, 

177,  522 

Dominicans  (Inquisition),  243 
Dooms-day  Book,  133,  189 
Dorset,  Lord,  Father  of  English  Trag- 
edy, 346 

Dr.  Schopher's  Sta  terra.  344 
Drama,  its  origin,  339,  345~347 
Dramatic  style  of  writing,  649  ;  origin 

of  its  vocabulary,  656,  657 
Draper,   Prof.  J.  W.,  5,  215,  300,  499, 

562,  563,  639,  650,  659,  661,  662 
Druids  (scientific),  21 
Dryclen,  350,  360,  426 
Dufferin,  Ear£  648,  663,  685 
Du  Halde,  449 
Duns  Scotus,  242 
Duponceau,  497 
Dutch,  in  English,  609  ;  literature,  239, 

422,  423,  501,  520,  521  ;  replaced  by 

English,  675,  676,  677 

EANFLEDA,  A.  S.  queen,  78 

E  and  ee,  final,  changed  into^y,  276 

Ebsfleet,  23 

Edburga,  mother  of  Alfred  the  Great, 
162 

Edda,  125,  189,  216 

Edgeworth,  Miss,  547,  652,  661 

Edinburgh  Review,  646 

Edison,  Prof.,  395,  671 

Editha.  Queen,  180 

Education  among  Anglo-Saxons,  58, 
84,  85,  86,  108,  109,  no,  137,  212, 
231,  232  ;  in  America,  442,  443,  676  ; 
in  England,  212,  255,  301,  337,  338; 
in  Oceanica,  443 ;  the  corner-stoac 
of  social  structure,  643  ;  incomplete 
without  Anglo-Saxon  and  Franco- 
English,  397 

Edward  the  Confessor,  180,  193 

the  Elder,  163 


Index. 


6Q3 


Edward  III.,  258,  259,  260 
Edwards,  Jonathan,  466,  472,  638 
Edwin,  77,  78,  149 
Egbert,  England's  first  king,  129,  130, 

15° 

Bishop,  107,  no 

Eginhard,  57,  129,  228 

Eighteenth  Century,  445-496 

Eighth  Century,  105-128 

Eleutherius,  Pope,  17 

Eleventh  Century,  179-201 

Elfleda,  143,  176 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  348 

Elizabethan  Era,  349 

Elmham,  58 

Elstob,  Miss,  pioneer  Anglo-Saxonist, 
461,  520 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  20,  505 

Emma,  Pearl  of  Normandy,  180 

Empress  of  Japan,  highly  educated  and 
accomplished,  519 

E  mute,  dropped,  354,  400 

Enactments  of  Parliament  to  be  issued 
in  the  vernacular,  241 

Endearment,  words  of,  33 

England  and  America,  champions  of 
freedom,  496,  680 

English  Period,  403-686 ;  pure,  began 
with  Shakespeare,  James'  Version  of 
the  Bible,  and  Milton,  u,  12,  403, 
406,  407-411,  413,  414 ;  literature, 
403,  406-440,  460,  461,  464,  465-495, 
497,  498,  505,  519,  520-587,  638,  639, 
683,  684  ;  accession  of  expansive 
words,  445-448 ;  -speaking  popula- 
tions :  their  character,  15 ;  enter- 
prise, 508-512,  673-680 ;  resources, 
681,  682  ;  higher  intellectual  develop- 
ment, 684  ;  language,  12,  15,  609,  610, 
6n ;  its  domain,  612—615 ;  extent, 
673-680 

"  Equality  of  mankind,"  138,  458 

Erasmus,  343 

Erroneous  analysis  of  English,  664- 
668 

Ethelbert  I.,  5,  9,  II,  44,  45,  49,  51,  59, 
60,  64,  71,  75 

Ethelbert's,  A.  S.  Code,  58,  60,  62; 
deed,  72 

Etlielburga,  Apostle  of  the  Northum- 
brians, 77,  116,  522 

witha,  Alfred's  queen,  162 

Ethelwerd,  Alfred's  son,  23,  44,  163, 
164,  165 

Ethel  wulph,  130,  136 

Ethelingay,  Island,  131 

Etymology  of  English  at  a  glance,  379, 
380,  381,  382,  384,  446,  447,  448 

Euclid,  215,  216 

Eucloxia,  Empress,  517 

Eurmel,  Egenolf,  Father  of  News- 
papers, 356 


Eusebius,  17 

Evening  Post,  New  York,  646 
Evolution  theory,  418,  419,  420,  421 
Extracts  and  Tables:*  60-62;  91-93  ; 
94-96  ;  97-99 ;  117-119  ;  120-122  ;  149- 
151 ;  152-154  ;  169-171  ;  172-174  ; 
193-196  ;  197-199 ;  217-219  ;  220,  221 ; 
246,  247 ;  248,  249 ;  250,  251  ;  284, 
285  ;  286,  287 ;  288,  289 ;  290,  291  ; 
292,  293  ;  294,  295  ;  296,  297  ;  324, 
325 ;  326,  327 ;  328,  329 ;  330,  331  ; 
332,  3331  334,  335:  362,  363;  364, 
365  ;  366,  367  ;  368,  369 ;  370,  371  ; 

372,  373 ;  43°.  431 ;  432,  433 ;  434, 

435  I  436,  437  ;  438-  439 ',  44°,  44*  ; 

470,  471  ;  472,  473 ;  474,  475 ;  476, 

477 1  478,  479 1  42o,  481  ;  482,  483  ; 

484,  485 ;  486,  487  ;  488,  489  ;  490, 

491 ;  492,  493 ;  494,  495 ;  526,  527  ; 
528,  529  ;  530,  531  ;  532,  533  ;  534, 

535;  536,  5371  538,  5391  540,  54i; 

542,  5431  544,  545:  546,  5471  548, 

549  I  55°,  55i  ;  552,  553  I  554,  555  ; 

556,  557 1  558,  559  I  56o,  561  ;  562, 

563  I  564,  565 ;  566,  567  ;  568,  569  ; 

570,  57i;  572,  573;  574,  575:  576, 

577  I  578,  579  ;  58o,  581 ;  582,  583  ; 

584,  585 ;  5S6,  587  ;  624,  625  ;  626, 
627  ;  628,  629  ;  630,  631 ;  632,  633 

FABIAN,  Robert,  305 

Faithful,  Miss,  519 

Family  names,  168 

Faraday,  353,  498 

Fashion's  vocabulary,  228,  229 

Father  of  English  Poetry,  270  ;  of  Eng- 
lish Prose,  265  ;  of  English  Classic 
Drama,  349;  of  Chemistry,  127  ;  of 
Dramatic  Music,  400 

Fayette,  Madame  de  la,  pioneer  of 
novel-writers,  426 

Fenelon,  428 

Fergus,  I.,  21 

Fernham,  243 

Feudalism  in  England,  353 

Field,  Cyrus  W.,  509,  510,  511,  512 

Rev.  H.  M.,  509 

Fifteenth  Century,  301-338 

Fifth  Century,  23-28 

Firdousi,  178 

Finn,  Magnusen,  126 

First  foreign  expanse  of  England's  lan- 
guage, 127 

First  Hebrew  word  in  English,  226 

First  western  Protestant,  18-21 

First  writing  in  Anglo-Saxon,  60,  61 

Fiske,  Prof.  J.,  642,  661,  662 

Flamsteed,  414,  415 

Flemish,  155  ;  earliest  writing  in,  156  ; 
in  English,  609 

Fleta,  treatise  on  farming,  237 

Fleurs  de  lis,  131,  258 


*  These  ninfty  Extracts  and  Tables  are  specimens  of  English  literature  from  its  earliest 
writing,  A.D.  597  :  fourteen  in  A.  S.  period  ;  22  in  Franco-Eng. ;  and  54  in  Eng.  period. 


694 


Index. 


Force,  government  by,  450,  456,  458, 

459 

"  Foreign  words  "  in  English,  667 

Foundling  asylum,  347,  348,  455 

Fowler,  O.  S.,  499 

Fourteenth  Century,  255-300 

France  the  educator  of  Europe,  43,  44, 
45,  48,  49,  65,  72,  76,  85,  86,  101,  102, 
103,  no,  125,  129,  130,  132,  133,  176, 
180,  182,  183,  208,  212,  213,  236,  425, 
426,  427,  488 

Francic,  or  Old  High  German,  104,  124, 
125,  155, 156, 157,  158  ;  earliest  writing 
in,  124,  125  ;  its  analogy  to  Gothic,  An- 
glo-Saxon, and  Low  German,  36,  37  ; 
Charlemagne's  dialect,  Latin  and 
Celtic,  formed  French,  125 

Franco-English.  Period,  233-403  ;  fusion 
of  Anglo-Saxon  and  French,  n,  233, 
243,  488  ;  pioneer,  Robert  of  Glouces- 
ter, 244,  245,  250,  251,  299,  396,  397 ; 
Bible  translated  into,  265,  266,  341 ; 
Chaucer  simplified  the  A.  S.  gram- 
mar, 279,  280 ;  Chaucer  complicated 
A.  S.  spelling,  280,  308,  309  ;  Chaucer 
introduced  a  French  vocabulary,  271- 
280;  Anglo-Saxon  verbs  changed  into, 
378,  379  ;  Anglo-Saxon  verbs  replaced 
by  French,  Latin,  and  Welsh,  382, 
383 ;  French  verbs  changed  into,  380, 
381 ;  authors  and  copyists  disfigured 
A.  S.  spelling,  253,  308,  309,  38-5-396, 
488 ;  English  classic  education  in- 
complete without  A.  S.  and  Franco- 
English,  397,  398  ;  dialect,  375  ;  ob- 
solete words,  375  ;  enterprise,  314,  338 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  20,  465,  466,  486, 
487,  638,  659,  683  ;  his  prophecy  con- 
cerning the  English  language,  486 

Sir  John,  404,  683 

Franks,  25,  43,  44,  101,  209 

Frederika  Bremer,  520 

Freemasons,  398,  523 

French,  14,  180-188,  208,  209,  244,  255, 
272,  277,  486,  488,  667  ;  origin  of,  155, 
157,  158  ;  earliest  writing  in,  157 ; 
Code  in  England,  182,  183  ;  at  court 
and  in  schools,  205 ;  in  Anglo-Sax- 
on, 223;  introduced  by  Robert  of 
Gloucester,  250,  251  ;  by  Chaucer, 
271-277  ;  and  other  eminent  writers, 
389 ;  verbs  Franco-Anglicized,  380, 
381 ;  replace  Anglo-Saxon  verbs,  282, 
283 ;  in  Franco-English,  375  ;  litera- 
ture, 350,  425,  426,  427,  428,  462,  465, 
500 

Froissart,  264 

Froude,  J.  A.,  650 

Fulton,  Robert,  497,  498 

GALAXY  of  English  women,  340,  519, 

520  ;  of  Orientalists,  461 
Galileo,  28,  414 
Gall,  Apostle  of  Switzerland,  66,  257 ; 

phrenologist,  499 


Galvani,  451 

Gamut,  201 

Gargi,  517 

Garments  (their  names),  229 

Gascoigne,  Father  of  Classic  Drama  in 
England,  349 

Gazettes,  356 

Geber,  Father  of  Chemistry,  127 

Gellent,  465 

Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  49,  50,  65,  68, 
206 

Geographic  vocabulary,  68,  145,  146, 178, 
211,  238,  240,  260,  261,  264,  268,  269, 
300,  309,  310,  311,  312,  313,  314,  315, 
366,  404,  449,  505,  506,  519,  643-679 

Geologic  vocabulary,  464,  544,  545,  613 

German,  formed  from  Gothic,  Old  High 
German  or  Francic,  and  Low  Ger- 
man, 33,  35-41 ;  its  earliest  writings, 
124,  125,  155-158 ;  Bible  translated 
into,  339,  340  ;  literature,  54,  158,  212, 
339.  34°<  423.  465,  502,  503,  504,  505  ; 
in  English,  609 

Gesenius,  502 

Getae,  Goths,  Jutes,  Scythians,  Celts, 
23.  24,  25 

Gibbon,  27,  146,  283,  490,  491,  638,  650, 
662,  683 

Gilbert,  Miss,  519 

Gilbert,  W.  (on  the  magnet),  353 

Gildas,  20,  65 

Giraldus,  Cambrensis,  206 

Gladstone,  582,  583,  639,  648,  661,  680 

Glasgow  Weekly  Herald,  646 

Glass  windows  a  luxury,  230 

Goethe,  502,  503 

Gold  coined,  267 

Goldsmith,  460 

Gomara,  210 

"  Good  Husbandrie,"  351 

Goths  and  Vandals,  Europe's  moral  re- 
formers, 25,  26,  27 

Gottheil,  G.,  Rabbi,  644 

Government  by  consent,  456-459,  478, 
479,  515 ;  by  Divine  right,  450,  456- 
459  ;  by  force,  456 

Gradual  accessions  to  the  Anglo-Saxon 
dialect,  224 

Grammar,  167 

Grant  (President),  584,  585,  639,  648 

Greco-Latin  in  English,  610  ;  increas- 
ing, 670;  -speaking  populations,  673 

Greek,  85,  238,  316,  318,  320,  342,  343  ; 
first  Greek  book  printed  in  England, 
351  ;  professorship,  343 

Greenland  discovered,  310 

Gregory  of  Tours,  43 

I.,  Pope,  30,  45,  46,  47,  48,  57,  59, 

71,  72,  76 

Grimm,  Jacob,  n,  125,  377 

Guericke,  423 

Guido  of  Arez:?o,  200 

Guisaunt,  William,  267 

Guizot,  182 

Gunpowder,  258 


Index. 


695 


Gutta-percha,  510 

Gwen  Llyan,  Welsh  heroine,  209 

HAHNKMANN,  499 

Hakluyt,  264 

Hale,  Mrs.,  550,  551,  639 

Haliam,  177,  271,  283,  425,  445,  610 

Halleck,  Fitz-Green,  524 

Halley,  429 

Hammer,  Baron  von,  35 

Hardicanute,  180 

Harold,  181 

Haroun  al  Raschid,  160 

Harper's  Monthly  Magazine,  646,  661 

Hart,  John,  353,  396 

Harvard  University,  13,  442 

Harvey,  413 

Hawaiian  Gazette,  Sandwich  Islands, 

646 

Hawthorne,  652 
Hebrew  in  English,  609 ;  Leader,  New 

York,  645  ;  first  Hebrew  book  printed 

in  England,  351 ;  professorship,  343 
Helena,  Apostle  of  the  Romans,  72,  521, 

522,  550 

Heliand,  155,  156 
Hemans,  Mrs.,  530,  531,  651,  683 
Hengist,  23,  24,  31,  44 
Henry  d'Avranches,  first  poet-laureate, 

241 
of  Huntingdon,  206 

-  VIII.,  74.  339.  340 
Heptarchy,  31,  58,  116,  129,  149 
Herald,  New  York,  358,  576,  577,  639, 

646,  658,  659,  663,  664,  678 
Herodotus,  7,  23,  25,  29,  30,  31,  34 
Herschel,  Sir  William,  420,  462 

—  Miss  C.  L.,  462,  463,  519 
Hickes,  80,  133 

Higden's  Polychronicon,  255,  264 
Hieroglyphics,  463 
Hilda,  abbess,  80,  84 
Historian  and  philologist,  637 
Historic  style  of  writing,  650;  origin  of 

its  vocabulary,  656,  657,  663 
Hitchcock,  Prof.,  544,  545,  639 
Hofer,  Dr.  103,  127 
Hoffman,  Hon.  John,  654 
Hogarth,  462 
Holty,  365 
Home  Journal,  New  York,  633,   635, 

646,  647,  660 

Homeopathic  vocabulary,  499 
Honour,  274,  275,  354 
Home  Tooke,  614,  622 
Horrox,  414,  683 
Horsa,  23,  44 

Houses  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  230 
Hoveden,  206 
Howard,  John,  455 
Howe,  Dr.  S.  G.,  513 
Huguenots,  360,  378 
Humboklt,  7,  312,  404,  421,  502 
Hume,  23,  78,  130,  300,  476,  477,  499, 

638,  650,  658,  659,  683 


Hunt,  Wilson  G.,  512 
Huss,  John,  301,  508 
Huttonian  Theory,  464 
Huxley,  Prof.,  20,  642,  661,  663 
Huygens,  422,  423 

ICELANDIC  in  English,  609 

le,  final,  changed  into  y,  276,  277,  280, 

354 

Ight,  final,  its  origin,  280,  388 
Illuminated  books,  400 
Immortality,  HI,  462,  506 
Importa?ice  of  adapting  letter  to  sound  in 

English,   12,    13,   385,  386,  390,  391, 

396,  655,  680,  681,  686 
Important  socio-legal  measures,  241 
Ina's  A.  S.  Code,  HI,  116,  117,  119  ;  A. 

S.  College  at  Rome,  127 
India,   131,   145,   161 ;  its  eminent  wo- 
men, 517,  518,  519 
Infinitives,  Anglo-Saxon,  changed  into 

English,  379,  383 ;  French   changed 

into   English,    380,  381,   383 ;    Latin 

changed  into  English,  448 
Ing,  final,  its  origin,  280 
Ingoberga,  44 
Ingulphus,  180,  191 
Inquisition,  243 
Intrinsic  merits  of  the  English  language, 

15,  685,  686 
Introduction,  9-21 
lorn,  421,  507 
lona  Island,  66 
Ireland,  168,  227 
Irish   in   English,   609 ;   literature,   64, 

124,  159,  168,  227,  228 
Irish  missionaries,  66 
Irving,  W.,  103,  538,  539,  638,  650,  658 
Isabella  of  Spain,  311 
Isidore  of  Seville,  103,  104 
Italian  in  English,  609  ;  literature,  268, 

315.  317.  343.  35°,  359.  414.  499 

J,  INTRODUCED  into  the  Roman  alpha- 
bet, 359,  360 

James  I.  of  Scotland,  303 
Jansen,  Zacharias,  359 
Japanese,  396,  416,  519 
Jarrow,  89,  105 
Jengis  Khan,  240 
Jerome,  St.,  42 
Jesus  College,  Oxford,  338 
Jewish  Schools,  205 
Jews,  205,  2ii,  242 
Joan  of  Arc,  503 
Johnson,  Sam.,  293,  412,  464 
Johnson,  Miss.y.  W.,  652,  660 
Jones,  Sir  William,  35,  103,  178 
Jonson,  Ben,  409 
Josephus,  7,  34,  42 
Journalism,  354,  359,  646,  647 
Judah,  Aben,  Prince  of  Translators,  240 
Judith,  Queen,  130 
Justice  of  Alfred  the  Great,  134,  135 
Justinian,  his  code,  67,  68. 


696 


Index. 


Jutes,  Scythians,  Getae,  Goths,  23,  24, 
31,  113,  144 

KAAB,  103 

Kamamalu,    Queen,    Apostle    of    the 

Sandwich  Islanders,  522,  550,  551 
Kant,  142,  420,  421 
Katharine  I.  of  Russia,  463 
Kemble,  82,  113 
Kent,  31,  44,  50 
Kepler,  423,  428 

Kiddle,  Henry,  572,  573,  642,  662 
Kindred  (words  of),  33 
Klopstock,  505 
Knighton  (chronicler),  262 
Koran,  407 

LA  BRUYERE,  397 

Lafontaine,  425 

Langland,  262,  288,  289 

Langtoft,  243 

Langton,  Archbishop,  236 

Language,  see  Dedication  page ;  its 
origin,  32,  33,  34,  312,  313  ;  its  vast 
domain,  612-615,  673  I  philosophic, 
415,  416,  417  ;  English,  15,  609,  610, 
6li ;  universal,  686 

Languages,  number  of,  7,  312,  313 

Laplace,  501 

Latin,  159,  208,  224,  445,  446,  447,  486  ; 
expansive  words  in  English,  445,  446, 

447 

Lavoisier,  465 

Layamon,  238 

Leabhar  nah-Uidhei,  64 

Legal  vocabulary,  its  progress,  72,  73,  87, 
180,  182,  183,  205,  235,  236,  237,  301, 
370,  380,  440,  441,  480,  481,  484,  485  ; 
its  origin,  648,  656,  657,  663 

Leibnitz,  28,  420,  423,  428,  464 

Lesseps,  M.  de,  509 

Lester,  C.  Edwards,  451,  650 

Leverrier,  500 

Libussa,  Queen  of  Bohemia,  27,  522 

Liebig,  499 

Lily,  W. ,  342 

Limborch,  van,  244 

Linguistic  facts,  669,  670  ;  incongrui- 
ties, their  origin,  278,  279,  3'85-396, 
488  ;  laws  immutable,  416,  417 

Linus,  Lleyn,  Pope,  16,  17 

Lippincott's  Magazine,  Philadelphia, 
646 

Literary  Women,  English,  340,  341, 
503  ;  French,  426 

Literature,  English,  its  richness, 683,  684 

Livingstone,  683,  685 

Llorente,  on  the  Inquisition,  244 

Locke,  412 

Lollards  or  Wickliffites,  265,  266 

London  Times,  574,  575,  627,  639,  646, 
651,  659,  660,  662 

Longfellow,  80,  82,  113,  114,  554,  555, 
626,  627,  634,  635,  636,  639,  659,  660, 
683 


Lope  de  Vega,  428 

Lord's   Prayer,    a  linguistic    point    of 
comparison,   35,   36,   37,   38,  39,  40, 

4i 
Lothair  and  Edric's  A.   S.   Code,  94, 

95.  96 

Low,  A.  A.,  511 
Lowell,  poet,  683 
Low  German,  or  Old  Saxon,  37,  155, 

156 

Lucius,  King,  18 
Luidhard,  Bishop,  4.5,  77 
Luther,  Father  of  German  Language, 

339-  340.  5°8 

Lydgate,  John,  304,  326,  327 
Lyell,  Sir  Charles,  n,  498 

MA,  32  33,  34 
Macaulay,  35,  412,  439,  456 
Macintosh,  Sir  James,  662 
McCloskey,  Cardinal,  644,  660 
Madden,  Sir  F.,  238 
Madoc,  Prince,  210,  310 
Maerland,  Father  of  the  Flemish  Lan- 
guage, 239 
Mackam,  300 
Mngna  Charta,  235,  236 
Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  338 
Macpherson,  James,  64 
Madison,  James,  648 
Magellan,  311 
Magnet,  28,  353 
Magnetism  (mental  and  material),  65, 

69,   138,  139,   146,  314,  353,  429,  671, 

672 
?,L;^ncto-e!cctric   vocabulary,   342,  353, 

465,  466 

Magnifying  glasses,  233,  334,  335 
Mahomet,  103,  316,  319 
Malala's  Chronicle,  67 
Malthus,  513,  515 
Mandeville,  Sir  John,  260  290,  291 
Manning,  Robert,  243,  284,  285,  397 
Mannus,  34 
Manu,  32 

Mapes,  Walter,  209 
Marbeck,  400 
Marco  Polo,  238 

Margaret,  Semiramis  of  the  North,  302 
Maries,  516,  517 
Mariotte's  law,  426 
Marsh,  G.  P.,  13,  14,  223,  289,  295,  558, 

559,  622,  662,  667 
Martha,  French,  521 
Martyrs  to  science  and  progress,  500 
Masora,  395 

Matilda,  Princess,  164,  176 
Mathcmatic  vocabidary,  56,  85,  89,  109, 

267,  315 

Matthew  of  Westminster,  116 
Matthew,  Paris,  242,  243 
Max  Miiller,  Prof.,  7,   15,  162,  509,  566, 

567,  639,  642,  661,  663 
Mechanic  vocabulary,  315,  316,  417,  464, 

497 


Index. 


697 


Medical  vocabulary,  68,  85,  90,  231,245, 

267,  306,  342,  663 
Melbourne,  678 
Meranon,  young,  588 
Mermaid  Tavern,  411 
Mesrob,  70 
Mctaphysic  vocabulary,    505,    506,  507, 

508 
Military  vocabulary,  163,  182,  258,  426, 

552>  553  I  service  in  different  coun- 
tries, 682 
Milton,  ii,   12,  413,  414,  436,  437,  638, 

651,  658,  659,  660,  683 
Mincralogic  vocabulary,  613 
Minnesingers,  200 
Mirabeau  on  Franklin,  465 
Miscellaneous   style    of  writing,    454 ; 

origin  of  its  vocabulary,  656,  657 
Mitchel,  O  ,  573 
Mitchell,  Miss,  520,  521,  683 
Moelmuiri,  64 
Moliere,  425,  428 
Monboddo,  Lord,  461 
Mongolians  or  Tartars,  240 
Montesquieu,  462    • 
Montfaucon,  68 

Montreal  Gazette,  646,  661,  662 
Moody  and  Sankey,  644 
Morse,  S.  F.  B.,  353,  498,  509,  683 
Moses,  earliest  philologist,  42,  612,  613, 

686 

Miihlbach,  520 
Mulcaster,  368,  571 
Mundinus,  258 
Musical'vocabulary,  43,  57,  85,  89,  106, 

109,  200,    201,    230,    231,    257,  400,  427, 

449 
Mythical,  35,  225. 


A7,  FINAL,  dropped  from  Anglo-Saxon 

words,  179 
Names  indicate  language,  nation,  race, 

184,   187,   613;   words  derived  from, 

45L  613,  614 
Napoleon    abolished   the    Inquisition, 

244 
National     Republican,      Washington, 

D.  C.,  646 

7  vocabulary,    146,  166,  167,  230, 

258,  401 
Neckham,  210 
Nemesius,  Bishop,  28 
New  England,  31,  405,  442,  443,  676 
New  Era,  Monrovia,  Liberia,  646 
New  Orleans  Times,  646,  661 
News  letters,  origin  of,  355 
Newspaper.1!,    their     origin,      354-359; 

style,  646,  647,  656  ;  statistics  of,  357, 

358  ;  style  and  origin  of  vocabulary, 

646, 647,  656,  657,  663  ;  their  influence 

and  duty,  358,  647 
Newton,  20.  28,  423,  424 
New  York  Churchman,  645 
Evangelist,  645 


New  Zealand   Herald,   Aukland,  646, 

663,  678,  679,  683 
Nicholas  de  Lima,  264 
Nibelungen,  189,  216 
Nine  styles  of  writing,  origin  of  their 

vocabularies,  641-657 
Nineteenth  Century,  497-686 
Ninth  Century,  129-161 
Nithard,   grandson    of    Charlemagne, 

155 

Nightingale,  Miss,  519 
"  Nitrous-oxyd  gas,"  500 
Nouns,  English,  616 
Number  ot  words  in  Anglo-Saxon,  224  ; 

in  English,   611-615 1    languages,   7, 

312  ;  dialects,  312,  313 

OBSERVATORIES,  360 

Observer,  The  New  York,  646,  647, 
661,  662,  663 

Obsolete  Anglo-Saxon  words,  percent- 
age of,  223,  224,  382,  383;  Greco- 
Latin  words,  percentage  of,  223 

Occleve,  320,  323 

Ockham,  264 

Okamites,  264 

October,  26,  A.D.  901,  a  most  useful 
career,  146 

O'Curry.  E. ,  228 

Ode  to  Language,  by  J.  L.  Weisse, 
636,  637  ;  to  Memory,  by  Tennyson, 
580;  to  Woman,  by  Fitz-Green  Hal- 
leek,  524 

Odin  or  Woden,  44,  78 

Offa,  King,  no,  116,  121,  129,  150 

Ohthere,  146,  161,  167 

Olga,  Russian  princess,  177 

Oliphant,  105,  113,  271,  275,  323,  667 

One  and  the  same  author  used  differ- 
ent vocabularies,  623-636 

One  and  the  same  word  is  noun,  ad- 
jective, and  verb,  272,  273 

Oneness  of  language,  613,  686 

Oppert,  35 

Optic  vocabulary,  234,  359,  500 

Ordericus  Vitalis,  182,  206,  207 

Oriental  literature,  178,  240,  502 

Origin  of  the  English  language,  609, 
610,  611 ;  Anglo-Saxon  dialect,  223  ; 
Franco-English  dialect,  375 ;  three 
periods  compared,  671,  672 

Orosius,  20,  133 

Orrmin's  spelling,  207,  208,  233,  392 

Orthographic  improvement,  109,  167 

Orudunoi,  644 

Osgood,  Rev.  S.,  644 
"4.  65 

Otfrid,  156,  158,  166 

Otho  von  Freisingen,  212,  213 

On  in  English  words,  its  origin,  253; 
274.  275,  280 

Ottfh  in  English,  285,  354,  385,  386, 
388,  389,  391,  392,  393,  394 

Ought  in  English,  its  origin,  280,  385, 
388,  391 


698 


Index. 


Ow  in  English,  385,  386,  388 

Oxenden,  Ashton,  Archbishop  of  Cana- 
da, 644,  660 

Oxford,  13,  190,  226,  229,  231,  261,  301, 
449 

PA,  32,  33.  34 

Paccioli,  315 

Pacific  Railroad,  512 

Paine,  Thomas,  20,  138 

Painter's  vocabulary,  87,  89,  399,  462 

Pali,  463 

Palladius,  21 

Palmerston,  Lord,  648- 

Pandects,  67,  87 

Paracelsus,  342 

Paris  University,  211,  212,  213 

Particles,  12,  61,  294,  406,  430,  589, 
615,  620-623,  638-641,  659,  663,  668- 
670 

Pascal,  426,  445 

Patrick,  St. ,  21 

Patrologiae,  45 

Patronymic  vocabulary,  451 

Paul,  St.,  16,  17 

Peacock,  Bishop,  305,  324,  325 

Pelagius,  18,  19,  20 

Penmanship,  109,  167,  229 

Penn,  William,  405 

Pentateuch,  7,  613 

Pentreath,  Dorothy,  with  whom  died 
the  Cornish  dialect,  463 

Percentages,  showing  the  origin  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  dialect,  223  ;  of  Franco- 
English  dialect,  375  ;  of  English  lan- 
guage, 609,  610,  611  ;  of  English 
nouns,  616 ;  verbs,  617  ;  of  adjectives, 
618  ;  of  adverbs,  619  ;  of  particles, 
620;  showing  the  ultimate  different 
words  in  English  literature,  641  ; 
the  repetitions  in  English  literature, 
641  ;  obsolete  Anglo-Saxon  words, 
223,  224 

Pepin,  101,  123 

Perpetuity  of  language,  69,  670,  671 

Persian  words  in  Gotho-Germanic  lan- 
guages, 35 

Peter  the  Great,  357,  450 

Petrobrusians,  early  Protestants,  214 

Pertz,  101 

Philadelphia  Ledger,  646,  663 

Press,  646,  662 

Philanthropic  vocabulary,  454,  455,  513, 
518,  519,  521 

Phillips    (Milton's   nephew),   425,    427, 

Philips,  Catharine,  425 

Philologic vocabulary,  32-41,  42,  43,  103, 
104,  147,  148,  214,  271-280,  353,  368, 
379-384.  393-  445-448,  501,  502,  609, 
612,  613,  614,  638,  639,  686 

Philologist  and  historian,  637 

Philosophic  language,  415,  416 

Philosophic  vocabulary,  108,  133,  139, 
140,  141,  241,  312,  313,  418-421 

Phonetizing  English,  147,  148,  201,  253, 


280,  353,  354,  359,  360,  385-396,  486, 
488  ;  its  importance,  12,  13,  386,  390, 
391,  655,  686 

Phonographic  rule,  12,  13 

Photius,  160 

Phrenologic  vocabulary,  499 

Physiologic  vocabulary^  28,  241,  242, 
266,  267,  342,  413 

Pitcairn's  Island,  679 

Pitman's  Alphabet,  396 

Placidia,  Apostle  of  the  Goths,  522 

Planet  discovered  by  pure  mathemat- 
ics, 500,  501 

Plantagenets,  258,  259,  260 

Plegmund,  in 

Plymouth  Rock,  405,  521 

Pocahontas,  405 

Poema  del  Cid,  211 

Poet  laureate  (First),  241 

Poetic  style  of  writing,  651  ;  origin  of 
its  vocabulary,  656,  657,  663 

Political  economy,  469,  513-516 

Politico-legal  style  of  writing,  648 ; 
origin  of  its  vocabulary,  656,  657 

Polyglot  Bibles,  337 

Pope,  poet,  424,  427,  460,  474,  475,  638, 
651,  659,  660 

Popol  Vuh,  7 

Porta,  Batista,  359 

Port  Elisabeth  Telegraph,  Cape  Col- 
ony, Africa,  646,  662 

Portuguese  in  English,  609  ;  enterprise, 
314;  literature,  309,  310,  350,  351, 

505 

Postal  service,  its  origin,  306 

statistics,  684 

Potato,  352 

Potter,  Rev.  Henry  C.,  644 

Preface,  5-8 

Prescott,  W.,  540,  541,  639,  650,  659, 
662,  683 

Press,  the,  its  origin,  354-359,  579,  646, 
647,  656,  657 

Priestley,  499 

Primitive  Arian  words,  32-35 

Princeton  College,  442 

Printing,  178,  302,  307,  308 

Procopius,  67 

Proctor,  Professor,  642,  663 

Progress  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  dialect, 
43,  60,  61,  62,  63,  zoo,  123,  155,  175, 
200,  222,  223 ;  Franco-English,  252, 
298,  336,  374,  375  ;  Anglo-Saxon, 
Franco-English,  and  English,  43,  51, 
62,  63,  223,  375,  377,  610  — litera- 
ture, 60,  61,  226,  376,  638,  639 

Prolixity  in  English  literature,  641 

Provincialisms,  385-396,  488 

Psychologic  vocabulary,  28,  451-454, 
506 

Ptolemy,  23,  24 

Pudens,  16,  17 

Pure  English,  403,  496 

Puritans  or  Pilgrims,  405,  442,  443,  £21, 
676 


Index. 


699 


QUKEN  Theodelinda  and  Charlemagne, 
set  the  fashions,  228,  229 

RABELAIS,  350 

Racine,  425,  428 

Rahman,  Abder,  126,  127 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  349 

Ramist  letters,  J  and  V,  359,  360 

Rapp,  Dr.  K.  M.,  see  title-page. 

Rationalism,  508 

Rawlinson,  7,  35 

Reformers,  27,  214,  215,  262,  264,  265, 

266,  301,  339,  341,  405,  462 
Regions  of  Beatitude,  32 
Relationship  of  languages,  33,  39,  40, 

41,  312,  313 
Remarks   on  Franco-English  authors, 

396,  397,  398 
Renan,  7 
Repetitions,    12,  61,  227,  294,  430,  589, 

623,  638-641,  658,  659,  668-670 
Resources     of    the     English-speaking 

populations  at  a  glance,  681,  682,  683 
Retrospect  of  the  fourteenth  century, 

671 ;  seventeenth  century,  428 
Richter,  Jean  Paul,  614 
Ricola,  A.  S.  princess,  78 
"  Rise  of  Woman,"  461 
Robert  Curthose,  191 

—  of  Gloucester,  24,  244,  245,  250, 

251,  299,  396 

Dale  Owen,  556,  557,  639,  654 

Roberts,  Marshall  O.,  512 

Robertson,   Bishop   of    Missouri,    644, 

66 1 

Rollin,  27 

"  Roll  of  Battel  Abbeie,"  184-187 
Roman   letters,    54,    55,  359,  360,  407, 

416,  433  ;  numbers,  56,  70 
Romantic  style  of  writing,  652  ;  origin 

of  its  vocabulary,  656,  657 
Rothschild,  677 
Ronsard,  350 

Round  Table,  London,  635 
Rousseau,  J.  J.,  455,  513 
Rowena,  24,  44 
Royal  Society,  London,  421 
Rubruquis,  missionary,  240 
Runes,  35,  55,  82,  126 
Russia,  215,  312,  422,  450 
Russian  in  English,  609  ;  replaced  by 

English,  675 
Ruthwell  Cross,  81 
Ryhan,  Aboo,  178 

SACRED  style  of  writing,  644,  645  ;  ori- 
gin of  its  vocabulary,  656,  657 

Saemund,  125 

Saint  Louis  Globe-Democrat,  646 

Saltiiir  of  Tara,  64,  69 

Salvian,  26,  515 

San  Francisco  Daily  Morning  Call,  646, 
661 

t,  24,  34,  461,  463 

Saracens,  126,  127,  176,  178 


Sarahs,  521 
Sargent,  Epes,  649 

Saxon  Chronicle,  in,  112,  133,  144,  145 
Saxons,  Saci.ms,  Sakas,  Sakars,  Scyth- 
ians, 24,  25,  31 
Schiller,  503,  504 
Schism,  between  E.  and  W.  Churches, 

160 

Schleicher,  7,  35 
Schliemann,  35 
Scholars,  English  and  American,  slow 

to  appreciate  their  language,  672,  673 
Schools  and  Colleges  established,  301 
Schurmann,  Anna  H.,  340 
Science  attributed  to  Satan,  234,  244, 

262 

Scientific  American,  New  York,  646 
Sclavonic  peoples,  319 
Scoloti,  Scoti,  Scots,  Celts,  Scythians, 

23,  24,  25,  282,  283 
Scotch  in  English,  609  ;  or  Gaelic,  64, 

65,  442 
Scotland,  442 
Scots,  21,  23 

Scot,  Sir  Michael,  241,  242 
Scot,  Sir  Walter,  528,  529,  639,  652,  664 
Scotus,  John,  or  Erigena,  159 
Scriptures  translated,  36,  69,  70,   166, 

265,  3°i-  339-  341,  395.  396,  406,  430, 

431 
Scythians,      Sacians,     Getae,     Jutes, 

Goths,  23,  24,  25,  34,  282,  283 
Scytho  -  Gotho  -  Germanic    languages, 

their  origin,  4,  5,  32-41  ;  their  earliest 

writings,  36,  37,  155,  156,  157,  158 
Septuagint,  42 
Serfdom  abolished,  450 
Servetus,  Michael,  344,  345 
Seven  Liberal  Sciences,  109 
Seventeenth  Century,  403-443 
Seventh  Century,  71-104 
Sevigne,  Madame  de,  426 
Seward,  William  H.,  648 
Seymour,  Horatio,  560,  561,  639,  648 
Shakespeare,  9,    n,   407-411,  432,  433, 

638 
Sharon  Turner,  9,  63, 113,  223,  224,  662  ; 

his   defective    method   of  analyzing 

English,  664-668 
Shaw,  J.  B.,  542,  612,  639 
Sheridan,  460 
Ships,  Anglo-Saxon,  230 
Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  346 
Sighelm,  131,  145,  161 
Sinding,  212 

Sixteenth  Century,  339-401 
Sixth  Century,  29-70 
Skalds,  126,  200 
Skinner,  Stephen,  277 
Smithsonian  Institute,  421 
Socialistic  vocabulary,  455,  469,  513-516 
Sociology,  613 
Somerville,  Mrs.,  521,  546, 547,  639,  654, 

659 
Sophia,  St.,  Church  of,  68 


700 


Index. 


Sources  of  English  drama,  romance, 
allegory,  and  fiction,  206 

Southey,  210 

Spanish  in  English,  609 ;  literature, 
103,  104,  160,  210,  211,  337,  428,  505; 
replaced  by  English,  674,  675 

Spelling,  English,  12,  201,  253,  385-396 

Spenser,  206,  349,  350,  372,  373,  629 

Spiritualism,  505-508 

Spiritual  vocabulary,  506 

Spurzheim,  499 

Spurgeon,  644,  660 

Stael,  Madame  de,  350,  351,  502,  519 

Stanley,  explorer,  35,  678,  683,  685 

Statistics,  133,  189,  190,  191,  227,  253, 
254.  312,  357,  358,  442,  674,  675,  676, 
677,  679,  681,  682,  684,  686 

Steam  vocabulary,  417,  464,  497 

Stenographers,  12 

Stephen,  King  of  Hungary,  177 

Stevens,  Bishop  of  Penn,  644,  661 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  78,  417 

Strabo,  7,  16,  34 

Style  and  vocabulary  of  fifty  English 
authors  at  a  glance,  638,  639. 

Styles  of  writing  (nine)  642-657,  670 ; 
origin  of  their  vocabularies  at  a 
glance,  656 

Sumner,  Charles,  390,  655 

Sun,  New  York,  646,  662 

Supines,  Latin,  Anglicized,  445,  446, 
447,  448 

Swedenborg,  45^-454 

Swedish  in  English,  609 

Swinton,  14,  205 

Swiss  spirit  of  independence,  257,  258 

Sylvester  II.,  Pope,  175,  176 

Synopses,  showing  the  origin  and  prog- 
ress of  the  English  language  and 
literature,  63,  100,  123,  155,  175,  200, 
222,  252,  298,  336,  374  ;  of  the  three 
Periods,  223,  224,  226  ;  375,  376  ;  609, 
610,  611  ;  615,  638,  639,  642,  644,  646, 
648,  649,  650,  651,  652,  653,  654,  656, 
674-  675,  676,  677,  678,  679,  681 

Syriac,  or  Aramaic,  in  English,  609 

Table  of  different  words  from  the  fifty 

English  Extracts  and  Tables,  590-609 
Tacitus,  7,  16,  29 
Taine,  341 
Tallis,  400 

Tamerlane,  30,  35,  282,  283 
Tanner,  J.  H.,  568,  569,  639 
Tasso,  350 
Taxation  in   different   countries,   682; 

without  representation,  450,  456,  458, 

459 

Taylor  Moses,  512 
Tekchand  Thakur,  654,  655,  662 
Telegraphic  language,  55,  511,  641 
Telegraph,  London  Daily,  358,  678 
Tell,  William,  252,  257 
Tennyson,  580,  581,  639,  651,  658,  660,  | 

683 


Tenth  Century,  162-178 

"Tenures,"  Littleton's,  338 

Thanet,  island  of,  22,  23,  24,  150 

Theatre  in  America,  347 

The  Earth  is  motionless !  ! !  344 

The  Nation,  New  York,  646 

Theodelinda,  Apostle  of  the  Lom- 
bards, 66,  228,  522,  550 

Theodore,  Archbishop,  84,  no 

Theodoret,  Bishop,  16 

Theofail,  215 

Tluologic  vocabulary,  36,  37,  41,  42,  51, 
58,  78,  85,  101,  106,  107,  108, 109,  no, 

138,    139,    140,    141,    210,  211,  214,  233, 

234,  248,  262,  264,  265,  308,  339,  340, 
341,  344,  345-  362,  406,  407,  418-421, 
505-508,  644,  645,  656,  657,  686  i 

The  southern  hemisphere  ready  for 
higher  intellectual  development'  685 

The  sun  never  sets  on  the  English- 
speaking  populations,  673-682 

The  World,  New  York,  644 

Things  thought  impossible  that  are  now 
possible,  499,  500 

Thirteenth  Century,  233-254 

Thorpe,  80 

Thought  and  ideas  as  indestructible  as 
matter,  670,  671 

Three  fundamental  principles  of  human 
government,  456 

Tillotson,  418,  644 

Times,  New  York,  646,  661 

Timothy,  Epistle  to,  16 

Tindale,  W.,  341 

Tithes,  109 

Tombs  of  two  scientists,  499 

Tournefort's  Botany,  426 

Transcendentalism,  421,  505 

Trench,    12,    204,    233,   339,   365,    436, 

Trial  by  jury,  132  ;  by  ordeal  ceased, 
241 

Tribonian,  67 

Tribune,  New  York  Weekly,  578,  579, 
639,  646,  659,  662 

Troubadours,  163,  200 

Tuiston,  34 

Tusser,  351,  352 

Twelfth  Century,  203-232 

Two  eminent  lexicographers,  501 

Tycho  Brahe,  "Restorer  of  Astron- 
omy," 361,  414 

Tyndall,  Prof.,  642,  663 

Tyrwhit,  14 

U,  SUPERFLUOUS,   dropped  from  the 

suffix  our,  274,  275,  276,  354 
Ulfilas,  Apostle  of  the  Goths,  25,  36,  59, 

69 
Ultimate  different  words  from  the  fifty 

Extracts  and  Tables,  609,  610,  623 
Uniform  measures  and  weights,  267 
Unitarians,  25,  27 
Universal  alphabet,  395,  396,  415,  416  ; 

language,  396,  513,  673,  681,  683,  686 


Index. 


701 


V,  INTRODUCED  into  the  Roman  al- 
phabet, 359 

Vandals,  25,  26 

Valhalla,  in 

Valmiki,  35,  142 

Vanderberg,  310 

Vasco  de  Gama,  314 

Vauban,  426 

Vedas,  7 

Vesalius,  342 

Verbs,  English,  617  ;  forty-five  express 
the  utterance  of  245,000  animal  spe- 
cies, 51,  52 

Victoria,  Queen  and  Empress,  5,  395, 
396,  512,  586,  587,  632,  633,  635,  636, 
648,  659,  660,  661,  662,  677,  683 

Victoria  version  of  the  Bible,  395,  407  ; 
how  it  should  go  forth,  395,  396 

Vincent  de  Paul,  St.,  347,  348 

Vista  of  great  intellects,  403 

Vocabulary  of  scientific  words,  108,  109, 

139,    140,    141,   210,   215,    233,    234,    241, 

242,  344,  359,  418,  419,  420,  421,  422, 
423,  424,  462,  500,  505,  519,  520,  663 

Vocabulary  of  Anglo-Saxon  authors 
a.t  a  glance,  226 ;  of  Franco-Eng- 
lish authors  at  a  glance,  376;  of 
English  authors  at  a  glance,  638, 
639  ;  of  nine  styles  at  a  glance,  656 

Voltaire,  462 

Voorhees,  W.  D.,  648,  662 

Vortigern,  23,  24,  44 

Vowel  combination,  392 ;  and  conso- 
nant combination,  15 

Vulgate,  42 

WAGE,  Robert,  206 

Waldenses,  early  Protestants,  214 

Wales,  31,  49,  150,  161,  210,  253,  254 

Walker,  203,  386,  501,  611 

Wallingford,  Abbot,  57 

Walsingham,  378 

Warton,  113,  179,  188,  262,  349 

Washington,  Geo. ,  466,  467,  494,  495,  j 

638,  648 

Water-engine,  Worcester's,  417 
Watt,  James,  464,  497,  683 
Webster,  Daniel,  648 

Noah,  12,  611 

Weisse,  Mrs.  John  A.,  503,  637,  654,  660  ; 

Wells,  Horace,  M.D.,  500 

Welsh,   149,  150,  253,  254;  in  English, 

609 

Wesley,  John,  644 
Wharton,  133,  166 


Whitney,  Prof.  W.  D. ,  5,  35,  509,  570, 

571,  642,  663 
White,  Chandler,  512 
Wickliffe,    20,  262,  265,  266,   299,  300, 

301,  508 
Wieland,  397 
Wilberforce,  14 
Wilbrord,  101,  102,  159 
Wilkins,  Bishop,  415,  416 
David,   94,   95,  96,   117,  133,  152, 

153.  J54 

William  (he  Conqueror,  112,  181,  182 
—  of  Malmesbury,  131,  145 

Williams,  Roger,  405 

Wiseman,  Cardinal,  644 

Wrladimir,  Duke  of  Russia,  177, 

Woman  in  history  and  literature,  516- 
525 ;  her  apostolic  and  civilizing  ca- 
pacities, 260,  521,  522 ;  Ode  to,  by 
Fitz-Green  Halleck,  524 ;  Rise  of, 
by  Parnell,  461 ;  taxed  without  repre- 
sentation, 459,  523  ;  uses  more  Gotho- 
Germanic  or  Anglo-Saxon,  than  Gre- 
co-Latin, 664 

"Woman's  Record,'1  by  Mrs.  S.  J. 
Hale,  550 

"Woman's  Words,"  Philadelphia,  647 

Worcester,  Marquis  of,  417 
Words,  monosyllabic  and  primitive,  34, 
445  ;  dissyllabic,  445  ;  polysyllabic, 
445-448  ;  of  inherent  meaning,  615- 
619,  621,  623,  639,  640,  641,  670  ;  with- 
out inherent  meaning,  or  particles, 
615,  620,  621,  622,  623,  639,  640,  641, 
670 ;  of  endearment  or  kindred,  32, 

Wordsworth,  623,  651 

World's  reading  and  writing  capacities, 

357.  358,  684 

Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  417 
Wright,  Thomas,  309 
Wufsig,  Bishop,  136 

XIMENES,  Cardinal,  7,  337 

YALE  College,  13,  226,  231,  442 
Youmans,  Professor,  642 
Young,  Dr.,  41 

ZEND,  40,  463 

Zendavesta,  7,  32,  59 

Zeno  (explorers),  310 

Zoologic  vocabulary,    51,    52,   241,  413, 

462,  501,  613 
Zoroaster,  142,  508,  514 


706  BROADWAY, 

New  York,  December,  1878. 


J.  W.  Bouton's  Catalogue 


OF 


NEW  AND   RECENT   PUBLICATIONS, 


Importations  and  Remainders^ 


COMPRISING   IMPORTANT   AND  VALUABLE    WORKS   IN  THE 
FOLLOWING  DEPARTMENTS  OF  LITERATURE  : 


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Origin,    Progress,   and   Destiny  of   the 
English  Language  and  Literature. 

By  JOHN  A.  WEISSE,  M.D.     1  vol.,  8vo,  700  pages, cloth,  $5.00. 

The  object  of  this  work,  to  which  the  author  has  devoted  his  leisure  hours  for  thirty  years,  is  : 
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Stanfield's  Coast  Scenery. 

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The  Philosophy  of  Existence. 

The  Reality  and  Romance  of  Histories.  In  Four  Books. 
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The    Meclallic    History   of   the    United 
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Isis  Unveiled; 

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The  recent  revival  of  interest  in  Philology  and  Archaeology,  resulting  from  the  labors  of 
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Bible  of  Humanity ; 

By  JULES  MICHELET,  author  of  "The  History  of  France," 
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from  the  French  by  V.  CALFA.  1  vol.  8vo,  cloth,  $3.00. 

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he  carries  away  the  reader  with,  such  rapid  (light  of  imagination  as  almost  to  make  him  giddy." — 
Larousse's  Universal  Dictionary. 

NEW  EDITION  OF  HIGGINS'  GREAT  WORK. 

The  Anacalypsis ; 

An  attempt  to  draw  aside  the  Yeil  of  the  Sa'iticlsis;  or,  an 
Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  Languages,  Nations,  and  Religions. 
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Serpent  and  Siva  Worship 

And  Mythology  in  Central  America,  Africa,  and  Asia  ;  and 
The  Origin  of  Serpent  Worship.  Two  Treatises.  By 
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by  scholars." 


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Musical  Instruments,  Sound,  &c. 

Les  Harmonies  du  Son  et  les  Instruments  de  Musique, 
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An  entirely  new  work,  in  which  the  subject  is  treated  in  a  most  exhaustive  manner.  The  book  is 
divided  into  four  general  heads,  ihejlrst  devoted  to  the  History  of  Music,  and  its  influence  on  Phy- 
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in  this  branch.  Tlie,t/tir<t,  on  the  History  01  Musical  Instruments.  r±hz  fourth,  on  the  Voice,  etc. 

The  Apophthegms  of  Erasmus. 

Translated  into  English  by  Nicholas  Udall.  Literally 
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tractions  have  been  filled  in,  and  the  Greek  quotations,  which  were  exceedingly  incorrect,  have  been, 
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C AX  TON  COMMEMORATION  VOLUME. 

The  Dictes  and  Sayings  of  the  Philos- 
ophers. 

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infallibly  all  the  characteristics  of  the  original  work,  and  the  binding  is  a  careful  reproduction  of  that 
of  Caxtpn's  day. 

This  memorial  volume  is  rendered  still  more  interesting,  and  to  the  connoisseur  more  valuable,  by 
an  Introduction  by  William  1'ladcs,  Ksq. ,  author  of  the  Life  and  Typography  pf\yilliam  Caxton,  giv- 
ing a  short,  historical  account  of  the  book,  the  circumstances  that  led  to  its  publication,  and  its  position 
annul,;  the  works  printed  by  Caxton.  It  is  believed  that  the  publication  of  this  work  will,  apart  from 
us  value  to  collectors,  be  generally  acceptable  as  representing  the  first  work  issued  from  the  press  in 
England,  and  as  illustrating  the  state  oi  the  art  of  printing  in  its  infancy. 


To  form  Six  Volumes,  demy  Sv<?  (Vols.  /.-///.  Poetry  ;  IV.- VI.  Prose  Works). 

Complete  Works  of  Robert  Burns. 

Edited  by  W.  SCOTT  DOUGLAS,  with  Explanatory 
Notes,  Various  Readings  and  Glossary.  Containing  327 
Poems  and  Songs,  arranged  chronologically,  15  of  which 
have  not  hitherto  appeared  in  a  complete  form  ;  Nasmyttis 
Tivo  Portraits  of  Burns,  newly  engraved  on  steel ;  The 
Birthplace  of  Burns  and  Tarn  d1  SJianter,  after  Sam  Bough , 
by  W.  Forrest ;  and  the  Scottish  Muse,  by  Clark  Stanton  ; 
Four  Facsimiles  of  Original  MS S.  ;  a  Colored  Map,  Wood 
Engravings,  Music,  &c. 

%*Now  Ready,  Volumes  L,  II.,  III.,  and  IV.,  8vo, 
cloth,  price  $5.00  each.  Also  on  Large  Paper,  India  Proof 
Plates,  royal  8vo,  cloth,  $10.00  per  volume. 

THE  THIRD  VOLUME  contains  hitherto  unpublished 
Poems,  drawings  of  Ellisland  and  Lincluden  by  SAM 
BOUGH,  engraved  on  steel  by  Forrest,  facsimiles,  &c. 

OPINIONS   OF  THE  PRESS. 

"We  heartily  congratulate  the  admirers  of  Burns,  and  of  poetry,  in  the  prospect  of  having  in  their 
hands  .  .  .  such  a  labor  of  love  and  of  knowledge." — ]V.  M.  Kossrtti  in  The  Academy. 

"  Promises  to  outshine  all  former  editions  in  completeness,  accuracy,  and  interest." — Aberdeen 
Journal. 

"The  edition  will  be  unquestionably  the  best  which  has  yet  appeared.'' — Birmingham  Gazette. 

"  Will  doubtless  supersede  all  others  as  library  edition  of  Hums." — Daily  Review. 

"  Really  an  '  exhaustive  effort'  to  collect  the  whole  of  the  poems." — Edinburgh  C our  ant. 

"  May  challenge  comparison  with  any  previous  product  of  the  Scottish  press." — Inverness  Courier. 

"A  gratifying  addition  to  general  literature.  Is  of  the  highest  order  of  merit." — London  Scottish 
Journal. 

"  A  fine  library  edition  of  Scotland's  greatest  poet." — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

The  Plays  and  Poems   of  Cyril  Tour- 
neur. 

Edited,  with  Critical  Introduction  and  Notes,  by  JOHN 
CHURTON  COLLINS.  2  vols.  8vo,  cloth.  $6.00.  Large 
paper  (only  50  printed).  $12.00. 

"  So  much  of  the  dramatic  fire  and  vigor  which  form  the  special  characteristics  of  the  Elizabethan 
dramatists  is  discernable  in  Cyril  Tourneur,  that  it  is  satisfactory  to  see  his  works  collected  .... 
If  on  the  one  hand  he  may  claim  to  have  enriched  the  drama  with  characters  that  may  compare  with 
the  best  in  Chapman  or  Mansion,  he  has  also  in  realism  gone  beyond  Webster Mr.  Col- 
lins has  discharged  completely  his  editorial  duties,  and  his  notes  display  a  considerable  amount  of 
reading. " — ATHEN^KUM. 

OFFERED  AT  A   GREAT  REDUCTION  IN  PRICE. 

An  Analysis  of  Religious  Belief. 

By  VISCOUNT  AMBERLEY.  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."  2  large,  handsomely 
printed  vols.  demy  8vo,  new  cloth,  uncut.  $8.00  (usual 
price  $15.00). 

<vLet  them  (the  readers)  remember  that  while  he  assails  much  which  they  reckon  unassailable,  he 
does  so  in  what  to  him  is  the  cause  of  goodness,  nobleness,  love,  truth,  and  of  the  mental  progress  of 
mankind." — Extract  front  Lady  Russell's  Preface. 

"  He  has  bequeathed  to  the  world  a  collection  of  interesting  facts  for  others  to  make  use  of.  It  is  a 
museum  of  antiquities,  relics,  and  curiosities.  All  of  the  religions  of  the  world  are  here  jostling  one  an- 
other in  picturesque  confusion,  like  the  figures  in  a  masquerade." — Times. 

"This  work  has  more  than  one  claim  on  the  reader's  attention.  Its  intrinsic  interest  is  consider- 
able."— Specta  tor. 

"  No  one  will  fail  during  its  perusal  to  be  deeply  interested,  and,  what  is  more,  powerfully  stimu- 
lated to  independent  thought." — Kxaminer . 


Polychromatic  Ornament. 

100  PLATES  IN  GOLD,  SILVER,  AND  COLORS,  comprising 
upwards  0/2,000  specimens  of  the  styles  of  Ancient,  Orien- 
tal, and  Mediteval  Art,  and  including  the  Renaissance,  and 
XVIIlh  and  XVIIIth  centuries,  selected  and  arranged  for 
practical  use  by  A.  Racinet,  with  Explanatory  Text,  land  a 
general  introduction.  Folio,  cloth,  gilt  edges.  $40.00. 

Monsieur  Racinet  is  well  known,  both  in  France  and  in  this  country,  as  the  author  of  the  principal 
designs  in  those  magnificent  works,  "  Le  Moyen  Age  et  la  Renaissance  "  and  "  Les  Arts  Somptu- 
aires."  He  is  therefore  peculiarly  well  fitted  to  grapple  with  the  difficulties  of  so  intricate  a  subject, 
and  it  will  be  found  that  he  has  discharged  his  task  in  a  manner  to  deserve  general  approval  and  ad- 
miration. His  happy  choice  of  subjects,  all  of  them  taken  from  originals,  his  ingenious  grouping  of 
them  in  harmonious  forms,  his  wonderful  accuracy  in  drawing,  and  his  perfect  fidelity  of  color  are  only 
equalled  by  the  profound  knowledge  which  has  enabled  him  to  combine  so  vast  a  collection  in  historical 
order,  and  yet  in  a  classical  form. 

Keramic  Art  of  Japan. 

LA  CERAMIQUE  JAPONAISE.  FRENCH  EDITION,  traduit 
par  M.  P.  Louiby.  Containing  Sixty-three  Plates  {Thirty- 
Jive  of  which  are  in  Gold  and  Colors],  and  nearly  200 
pages  of  Text,  with  numerous  Wood  Engravings  printed 
in  Colors  ;  the  whole  being  produced  from  original  Japan- 
ese works  of  the  greatest  beauty,  and  representing  the  en- 
tire range  of  Japanese  Keramic  Art,  Ancient  and  Modern. 
By  G.  A.  AUDSLEY  and  J.  L.  BOWES,  of  Liverpool.  Con- 
taining a  Comprehensive  Introductory  Essay  upon  Japan- 
ese Art  .in  all  its  various  branches,  illustrated  by  thirteen 
Photo-Lithographic  and  Autotype  Plates,  and  numerous 
Wood  Engraving,  printed  in  colors.  Also,  a  concise  Dis- 
sertation on  Keramic  Productions  of  Japan,  from  the  earli- 
est records  up  to  the  present  day  ;  with  sectional  articles 
on  the  Pottery  and  Porcelain  of  the  various  provinces  of  the 
Empire  in  which  manufactories  exist,  fully  illustrated  by 
thirty-five  plates,  superbly  printed  in  full  colors  and  gold, 
and  fifteen  plates  in  autotype.  To  be  supplied  in  7  parts, 
folio,  at  $10.00  each.  Parts  L,  II.,  and  III.,  now  ready. 

N.  B. — Parts  not  sold  separately. 

No  one  who  has  examined  the  Art  productions  of  Japan  can  have  failed  to  observe  the  great  beauty 
of  the  Keriinic  Wares  of  the  country,  and  the  refined  and  educated  feeling  everywhere  displayed  in 
their  decoration.  Their  general  artistic  excellence,  and  the  skilful  rendering  of  natural  objects  they 
usually  present,  have  long  commended  them  to  the  attention  of  the  artists  of  Europe — long,  indeed, 
before  they  were  sought  after  by  collectors ;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  many  of  our  well-known 
artists  have  shown  by  their  works  their  appreciation  of  Japanese  drawing  and  coloring. 

The  Eoyal  Masonic  Cyclopaedia 

Of  History,  Rites,  Symbolism,  and  Biography.  By  KEN- 
NETH R.  H.  MACKENZIE,  i  vol.  demy  8vo,  cloth  (pp. 
768),  $7.00. 

The  most  complete  and  valuable  work  of  reference  that  has  ever  been  presented  to  the  Craft. 

"The  task  of  the  Editor  has  been  admirably  performed,  and  there  can  be  no  question  the  work  will 
be  a  valuable  addition  to  every  Masonic  library." — Freemason's  Chronicle. 

"The  Editor  has  lavished  much  reading  and  labor  on  his  subject." — Sunday  Times. 

"  A  deeply-learned  work  for  the  benefit  of  Freemasons."— Publishers'  Circular. 

"Your  new  work  is  excellent"— Bro.  W.  R.  WOODMAN,  M.D.,  G.S.15. 

"  Evidences  a  considerable  amount  of  hard  work,  alike  in  research  and  study,  .  .  .  and  we 
can  honestly  and  sincerely  say  we  wish  fraternally  all  success  to  the  Royal  Masonic  Cyclopaedia."— 
Freemason. 


8 

Wilson's  American  Ornithology : 

Or,  Natural  History  of  the  Birds  of  the  United  States:  with 
the  Continuation  by  PRINCE  CHARLES  LUCIAN  BONAPARTE.  NEW 
AXD  ENLARGED  EDITION,  completed  by  the  insertion 
of  above  One  Hundred  Birds  omitted  in  the 

original  lVOr?C,  and  illustrated  by  valuable  Notes  and  a 
life  of  the  Author  by  Sir  WILLIAM  JARDINE.  Three  Yols.,  8vo, 
with  a  Portrait  of  WILSON,  and  103  Plates,  exhibiting  nearly 
Four  Hundred  figures  of  Birds,  accurately  engraved  and  beauti- 
fully colored,  cloth  extra,  gilt  top,  $18.00.  Half  smooth  morocco, 
gilt  top,  $20.00.  Half  morocco  extra,  gilt  top,  $25,00.  Full  tree 
calf  extra,  gilt  or  marbled  edges,  $30.00. 

A  few  copies  have  been  printed  on  LARGE  PAPER.  Imperial 
8vo  size,  3  vols.,  half  morocco,  gilt  top,  $40.00. 

One  of  the  cheapest  books  ever  offered  to  the  American  public.  The  old  edition,  not  nearly 
so  complete  as  the  present,  has  always  readily  brought  from  $50.00  to  $00.00  per  copy. 

"  The  History  of  American  Birds,  by  Alexander  Wilson,  is  equal  in  elegance  to  the  most  distin- 
guished of  our  own  splendid  works  on  Ornithology."— CUVIEK. 

"  With  an  enthusiasm  never  excelled,  this  extraordinary  man  penetrated  through  the  vast  ter- 
ritories of  the  United  States,  undeterred  by  forests  or  swamps,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  describing 
the  native  birds." — LORD  BROUGHAM. 

"  By  the  mere  force  of  native  genius,  and  of  delight  in  nature,  he  became,  without  knowing  it 
a  good,  a  great  writer." — KacktOOOtTt  Magazine. 

•'  All  his  pencil  or  pen  has  touched  is  established  incontestably ;  by  the  plate,  description,  and 
history  he  has  always  determined  his  bird  so  obviously  as  to  defy  criticism,  and  prevent  future  mis- 
lake.  .  .  .  We  may  add,  without  hesitation,  that  such  a  work  as  he  has  published  is  still  a 
desideratum  in  Europe." — CHARLES  LUCIAN  BONAPARTE. 

COMPLETION  OF   PLANCHES  GREAT  WORK. 

Cyclopaedia  of  Costume  ; 

Or,  A  Dictionary  of  Dress — Regal,  Ecclesiastical,  Civil,  and 
Military — from  the  Earliest  Period  in  England  to  the  reign  of 
George  the  Third,  including  Notices  of  Contemporaneous  Fash- 
ions on  the  Continent.  By  J.  R.  PLANCHE",  Somerset  Herald. 
Profusely  illustrated  by  fourteen  full-page  colored  plates,  some 
heightened  with  gold,  and  many  hundred  others  throughout  the 
text.  1  vol.  4to,  white  vellum  cloth,  blue  edges,  unique  style, 
$20.00.  Green  vellum  cloth,  gilt  top,  $20.00.  Half  morocco, 
extra,  gilt  top,  $25.00.  Full  morocco,  extra,  very  elegant, 
$37.50. 

"  There  is  no  subject  connected  with  dress  with  which  '  Somerset  Herald '  is  not  as  familiar  as 
ordinary  men  are  with  the  ordinary  themes  of  everyday  life.  The  gathered  knowledge  of  many 
years  is  placed  before  the  world  in  this  his  latest  work,  and  there  will  exist  no  other  work  on  the  sub- 
ject half  so  valuable.  The  numerous  illustrations  are  all  effective — for  their  accuracy  the  author 
is  responsible  :  they  are  well  drawn  and  well  "ngraved.  and,  while  indispensable  to  a  proper  com- 
prehension of  the  text,  are  satisfactory  as  work;  of  art." — Art  Journal. 

"  These  numbers  of  a  Cyclopedia  of  Ancient  and  Modern  Costume  give  promise  that  the  work 
will  be  one  of  the  most  perfect  works  ever  published  upon  the  subject.  The  illustrations  are  nu- 
merous and  excellent,  and  would, even  without  the  letter  press,  render  the  work  an  invaluable  book 
of  reference  for  information  as  to  costumes  for  fan ';y  balls  and  character  quadrilles.  .  .  .  Beauti- 
fully printed  and  superbly  illustrated." — Standard. 

"Those  who  know  how  useful  is  Fairholt's  brief  and  necessarily  imperfect  glossary  will  be  able 
to  appreciate  the  much  greater  advantages  promised  by  Mr.  Planches  book."— Athentxum. 


9 

UNIFORM  IN  STYLE  WITH  LtlBKE'S  AND  MRS.  JAMESON'S  ART  WORKS. 

Monumental  Christianity ; 

Or,  the  Art  and  Symbolism  of  the  Primitive  Church,  as  Witnesses 
and  Teachers  of  the  one  Catholic  Faith  and  Practice.  By  JOHN 
P.  LUNDY,  Presbyter.  1  vol.  demy  4to.  Beautifully  printed  on 
superior  paper,  with  over  200  illustrations  throughout  the  text, 
and  numerous  large  folding  plates.  Cloth,  gilt  top,  $7.50.  Half 
morocco,  extra,  gilt  top,  $10.00.  Full  morocco,  extra,  or  tree 
calf,  $15.00. 

This  is  a  presentation  of  the  facts  and  verities  of  Christianity  from  the  earliest 
monuments  and  contemporary  literature.  These  include  the  paintings,  sculptures, 
sarcophagi,  glasses,  lamps,  seal-rings,  and  inscriptions  of  the  Christian  Catacombs  and 
elsewhere,  as  well  as  the  mosaics  of  the  earliest  Christian  churches.  Many  of  these 
monuments  are  evidently  of  Pagan  origin,  as  are  also  the  symbols ;  and  the  author  has 
drawn  largely  from  the  ancient  religions  of  India,  Chaldea,  Persia,  Egypt,  Etruria, 
Greece,  and  Rome,  believing  that  they  all  contained  germs  of  religious  truths  which 
it  is  the  province  of  Christianity  to  preserve,  develop,  and  embody  in  a  purer 
system.  The  Apostles'  Creed  is  exhibited,  with  its  parallel  or  counterpart,  article  by 
article,  in  the  different  systems  thus  brought  under  review. 

The  book  is  profusely  illustrated,  and  many  of  the  monuments  presented  in  fac- 
simile were  studied  on  the  spot  by  the  author,  and  several  are  specimens  obtained  in 
foreign  travel.  This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  ecclesiastical  and 
archaeological  literature.  The  revival  of  Oriental  learning,  both  in  Europe  and  America, 
has  created  a  demand  for  such  publications,  but  no  one  has  occupied  the  field  which 
Dr.  Lundy  has  chosen.  The  Expositions  which  he  has  made  of  the  symbols  'and 
mysteries  are  thorough  without  being  exhaustive ;  and  he  has  carefully  excluded  a 
world  of  collateral  matter,  that  the  attention  might  not  be  diverted  from  the  main 
object  of  the  work.  Those  who  may  not  altogether  adopt  his  conclusions  will 
nevertheless  find  the  information  which  he  has  imparted  most  valuable  and  in- 
teresting. 

*'  As  a  contribution  to  Church:  and  general  history,  the  exhaustive  and  learned 
work  of  Dr.  Lundy  will  be  welcome  to  students  and  will  take  a  high  place." — Church 
Journal. 

"When,  indeed,  we  say  that  from  beginning  to  end  this  book  will  certainly  be 
found  to  possess  a  powerful  interest  to  the  careful  student,  and  that  its  influence  for 
good  cannot  fail  to  be  considerable,  we  in  nowise  exaggerate  its  intrinsic  merits.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  valuable  additions  to  our  literature  which  the  season  has  produced." — 
Mew  York  Times, 

The  Epicurean; 

A  Tale,  and  ALCIPHRON;  a  Poem.  By  THOMAS  MOORE.  With 
vignette  illustrations  on  steel,  by  J.  M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A.  1  vol. 
12mo.  Handsomely  printed  on  toned  paper.  Cloth,  extra,  gilt 
top,  $2.00.  Tree  calf  extra,  gilt  edges,  $4.50. 

"Our  sense  of  the  beauties  of  this  tale  may  be  appreciated  by  the  acknowledge 
ment  that  for  insight  into  human  nature,  for  poetical  thought,  for  grace,  refinement, 
intellect,  pathos,  and  sublimity,  we  prize  the  Epicurean  even  above  any  other  of  the 
author's  works.  Indeed,  although  written  in  prose,  this  is  a  masterly  poem,  and  will 
forever  rank  as  one  of  the  most  exquisite  productions  in  English  literature," — Literary 
Gazette. 


10 

The  Turner  Gallery, 

A  SERIES  OF  SIXTY  ENGRAVINGS,  from  the  Works  of  J". 
M.  W.  TURNER,  R.A.  With  Biographical  Sketch  and  Descrip- 
tive Text  by  RALPH  N~.  WORNUM,  Keeper  and  Secretary  of  the 
National  Gallery,  London.  One  volume,  folio,  INDIA  PROOFS. 
Elegantly  bound  in  half  Levant  morocco,  extra,  gilt  edges, 
$50.00.  Full  Levant  morocco,  extra,  very  elegant,  $75.00. 

The  same.  Atlas  folio.  LARGE  PAPER.  Artitsttf 

Proofs.  Half  morocco,  extra,  $110.00.  Full  Levant  mo- 
rocco, extra,  $165.00 

THE  TURNER  GALLERY  is  already  so  well  known  to  lovers 
of  art  and  to  students  of  Turner,  that,  in  announcing1  a  re- 

77  O 

issue  of  a  limited  number  of  copies  of  this  important  National 
Work,  little  need  be  said  by  way  of  comment  or  introduc- 
tion. The  Original  Engravings  have,  for  the  lirst  time,  been 
employed,  instead  of  the  electrotype  plates  hitherto  used, 
thus  securing  impressions  of  more  genuineness  and  brilliancy 
than  have  yet  been  offered  to  the  public.  Of  the  high-class 
character  of  the  Engravings  themselves,  and  of  the  skill  and 
excellence  with  which  they  are  executed,  such  well-known 
names  as  JEENS,  ARMYTAGE,  WILLMORE,  E.  GOODALL,  BRAN- 
DARD,  WALLIS,  COUSENS,  and  MILLER,  will  be  a  sufficient 
guarantee 

From  the  London  Art  Journal. 

"  A  series  of  engravings  from  Turner's  finest  pictures,  and  of  a  size  and 
equality  commensurate  with  their  importance,  has  not  till  now  been  offered  to 
the  public. 

u  In  selecting-  the  subjects,  the  publisher  has  chosen  judiciously.  Many  of 
his  grandest  productions  are  in  this  series  of  Engravings,  and  the  ablest  land- 
scape engravers  of  the  day  have  been  employed  on  the  plates,  among  which  are 
some  that,  we  feel  assured,  Turner  himself  would  have  been  delighted  to  see. 
These  proof  impressions  constitute  a  volume  of  exceeding-  beauty,  which 
deserves  to  find  a  place  in  the  library  of  every  man  of  taste.  The  number  of 
copies  printed  is  too  limited  for  a  wide  circulation,  but,  on  that  account,  the 
rarity  of  the  publication  makes  it  the  more  valuable. 

"It  is  not  too  much  to  affirm,  that  a  more  beautiful  and  worthy  tribute  to 
the  genius  of  the  great  painter  does  not  exist,  and  is  not  likely  to  exist  at  any 
future  time." 

The  attention  of  Collectors  and  Connoisseurs  is  particularly 
invited  to  the  above  exceedingly  choice  volume ;  they  should 
speedily  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity  of  securing  a  copy 
at  the  low  price  at  which  it  is  now  offered. 


11 

AN  ENTIRELY  NEW    WORK    ON    COSTUME    BY   M.    RACINET 
AUTHOR  OF  "POLYCHROMATIC  ORNAMENT,"  ETC. 

Le  Costume  Historique. 

Illustrated  with  500  Plates,  300  of  which  are  in  Colors, 
Gold  and  Silver,  and  200  in  Tinted  Lithography  (CamaYeu). 
Executed  in  the  finest  style  of  the  art,  by  Messrs.  DlDOT 
&  Co.,  of  Paris.  Representing  Authentic  Examples  of  the 
Costumes  and  Ornaments  of  all  Times,  among  all  Nations. 
With  numerous  choice  specimens  of  Furniture,  Ornamental 
Metal  Work,  Glass,  Tiles,  Textile  Fabrics,  Arms  and 
Armor,  Useful  Domestic  Articles,  Modes  of  Transport,  etc. 
With  explanatory  Notices  and  Historical  Dissertations  (in 
French).  By  M.  A.  RACINET,  author  of  "  Polychromatic 
Ornament."  To  be  issued  in  20  parts.  Small  4to  (7^  x  8^ 
inches),  $4-5°  each.  Folio,  large  paper  (i  i^  x  16  inches), 
in  cloth  portfolio,  $9.00  each. 
NO  ORDERS  RECEIVED  EXCEPT  FOR  THE  COMPLETE  WORK, 

Each  part  will  contain  25  plates,  15  in  colors  and  10  in  tinted  Lithography.  Parts  i,  2,  and  3  are 
now  ready  for  delivery  Upon  completion  of  the  work,  the  price  will  be  raised  25  per  cent. 

"The  Messrs.  Firmin  Didot  &  Co.,  of  Paris,  a  firm  that  disputes  with  the  house  of  Hachette  & 
Co.  the  honor  of  supplying  France  and  the  world  with  the  most  beautiful  books  at  the  cheapest  rates 
compatible  with  the  greatest  excellence  in  editing  and  '  making,'  have  recently  published  the  beginning 
of  a  work  which,  by  making  its  appeal  chiefly  to  the  eye,  is  sure  of  a  welcome  in  this  picture- loving  age 
of  ours.  This  is  the  HISTORY  OF  COSTUME,  by  A.  Racinet,  well-known  already  to  that  portion  of  our 
public  which  is  interested  in  the  decorative  art  by  his  illustrated  work  on  ornament.  UOrncment 
PjfffycArom£.—Ra.cme\.  gives  the  word  'costume  '  almost  as  wide  a  sweep  of  meaning  as  Viollet-le-Duc 
gives  to  furniture  in  his  now  famous  Dictioniiaire  du  Klobilier.  *  *  *  *  The  field  surveyed  con- 
sists not  only  of  costumes  proper,  but  of  arms,  armor,  drinking  vessels,  objects  used  in  the  service  of 
the  church,  modes  of  transport,  harness,  head-gear  and  modes  of  dressing  the  hair,  domestic  interiors, 
and  furniture  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term.  Each  plate  is  to  be  accompanied  with  an  explan- 
atory text,  and  there  will  be  added  an  historical  study,  so  that  little  will  be  wanting  to  make  this  one  of 
the  completes!  encyclopaedias  of  the  sort  that  has  ever  appeared.  *  *  *  *  A  charming  taste  has 
presided  over  the  selection  of  the  subject,  and  the  abundant  learning  that  has  been  brought  to  bear  in 
the  collection  of  illustrations,  from  so  wide  a  field  of  human  action,  is  made  to  seem  like  play,  so  lightly 
is  it  handled.  *  *  *  No  scientific  arrangement  is  observed  in  the  order  in  which  the  subjects 

are  presented.  We  have  ancient  Egypt,  Assyria,  Rome,  Greece,  India,  Europe  in  the  middle  ages, 
and  from  the  fifteenth  to  the  eighteenth  centuries,  Japan,  Turkey,  Syria,  Russia,  and  Poland,  mixed 
up  for  the  present,  as  if  the  work  were  an  illustrated  report  of  a  fancy  ball;  and,  to  most  of  us,  the  gay 
parade  as  it  rolls  along  is  none  the  less  pleasant  for  this  want  of  order." — Scribner's  Monthly. 

'The  name  of  P'irmin  Didot  &  Co.,  of  Paris,  is  such  a  guarantee  of  mechanical  execution  in  a 
book,  that  it  is  sufficient  to  state  that  Le  Costume  Historique  is  fully  on  a  par  with  any  of  the  former 
publications  of  this  distinguished  house.  In  addition  to  its  other  features,  this  work  has  numerous 
illustrations,  giving  restorations  of  Roman,  Greek,  and  Egyptian  interiors.  In  fact  the  work  is  conceived 
on  a  large  plan,  and  will  be  found  most  useful  to  the  artist.  With  such  a  book  as  a  reference,  some  of 
the  glaring  inconsistencies  we  still  see  from  time  to  time  on  the  stage,  where  periods  as  to  costume,  some 
hundreds  of  years  apart,  are  terribly  mixed  up,  might  be  prevented,  and  the  unities  saved.  The  pub- 
lishers have  had  the  excellent  idea  of  reducing  the  size  of  the  illustrations,  so  as  to  bring  the  price  of 
this  picture-cyclopaedia  of  the  costufne  of  the  world  within  the  means  of  the  most  prudent  book-buyer." 
— N.  Y.  Daily  Times. 

"  A  new  work  on  costume,  most  expensive  to  the  publishers  and  cheap  to  the  subscribers.  Parts 
I.,  II.,  and  III.,  with  twenty-five  pictures  in  each,  are  ready.  We  have  minutely  examined  them,  and 
find  them  worthy  of  great  praise,  both  for  general  excellences  of  execution  and  for  the  recondite  and 
curious  sources  drawn  upon — the  latter  characteristic  making  the  collector  master  of  a  great  many  pic- 
torial facts  and  illustrations  whose  original  sources  are  hard  even  to  see  and  impossible  to  become  pos- 
sessed of." — Nation. 

'This  work  is  unquestionably  the  best  work  on  its  subject  ever  offered  to  the  public,  and  it  will  en. 

gage  very  general  attention.     In   shapeliness  and   convenience,  too,  it  leaves  nothing  to   be  desired, 

which  cannot  be  said  often  of  cyclopaedias  of  costume.     One  can  enjoy  the  colors  and  contents  of  these 

parts '  while  lounging  in  a  veranda  or  rocking  in  a  boudoir.     It  is  not  necessary  to  adjourn  to  a  public 

library  and  to  an  immovable  chair." — Evening  Post. 

NEW  SERIES. 

Examples  of  Modern  Etching. 

A  series   of  20  Choice  Etchings  by  QUEROY,  BRUNET- 
DEBAINES,    HAMERTON,   GEORGE,   BURTON,  WISE,   LE-. 
GROS,  LE  RAT,  SEYMOUR-HADEN,  etc.,  etc.,  with  descrip- 
tive text  by  P.  G.  HAMERTON,  folio,  cloth  gilt,  $12.00. 


12 

Examples  of  Modern  Etching. 

Edited,  with  notes,  by  PHILIP  GILBERT  HAMERTON,  Editor  of 
the  "  Portfolio.'"  Twenty  Plates,  by  Balfourier,  Bodmer,  Brac- 
quemond,  Chattock,  Flameng,  Feyen-Perrin,  Seymour  Haden, 
Hamerton,  Hesseltine,  Laguillerniie,  Lalanne,  Legros,  Lucas, 
Palmer,  Raj  on,  Yeyrassat,  etc.  The  text  beautifully  printed  on 
heavy  paper.  Folio,  tastefully  bound  in  cloth,  full  gilt,  $10.00. 

Among  the  contents  of  this  choice  volume,  may  be  mentioned  "  The  Laughing 
Portrait  of  Itcmbrandt,"  by  Flameng;  Twickenham  Church,  by  Seymour  Haden; 
Aged  Spaniard,  by  Legros ;  The  Hare — A  Misty  Morning,  by  Bracquemond  ;  The 
Thames  at  Richmond,  by  Lalanne  ;  The  Ferryboat,  by  Veyrassat,  etc. 

*£*  A  set  of  proofs  of  the  plates  in  the  above  volume  alone  are  worth  in  the  Lon- 
don market  £10  10s.  Od.,  or  seventy  dollars  currency. 

Etchings  from  the  National  Gallery. 

A  series  of  eighteen  choice  plates  by  Flameng,  Le  Rat,  Raj  on, 
Wise,  "Waltner,  Brunet-Debaihes,  Gauclierel,  Richeton,  etc.,  after 
the  paintings  by  Masaccio,  Bellini,  Giorgione,  Moroni,  Mantegna, 
Velasquez,  Rembrandt,  Cuyp,  Maes,  Hobbema,  Reynolds,  Gains- 
borough, Turner,  and  Landseer,  with  Notes  by  RALPH  N.  WORXU:,! 
(Keeper  of  the  National  Gallery).  The  text  handsomely  printed 
on  heavy  paper.  Folio,  tastefully  bound  in  cloth,  full  gilt, 
$10.00. 

To  admirers  of  Etchings,  the  present  volume  offers  several  of  the  most  notable  of 
recently  executed  plates,  among  others  the  Portrait  of  Rembrandt,  by  Waltner;  The 
Parish  Clerk,  after  Gainsborough,  by  the  same  etcher ;  The  Burial  of  Willtie,  after 
Turner,  by  Brunet-Debaines ;  Portrait  of  a  Youth,  after  Masaccio,  by  Leopold 
Flameng,  etc. 

French  Artists  of  the  Present  Day. 

A  series  of  twelve  fac-siinile  engravings,  after  pictures  by 
Gerome,  Rosa  Bonheur,  Co  rot,  Pierre  Billet,  Legros,  Ch.  Jacque, 
Yeyrassat,  Hebert,  Jules  Breton,  etc.,  with  Biographical  Notices 
by  Rene  Menard.  Folio,  tastefully  bound  in  cloth,  gilt,  $10.00. 

Chapters  on  Painting. 

By  REN£  M&NARD  (Editor  of  "Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts"). 
Translated  under  the  superintendence  of  Philip  Gilbert  Hamer- 
ton. Illustrated  with  a  series  of  forty  superb  etchings,  by  Fla- 
meng, Coutry,  Masson,  Le  Rat,  Jacquemart,  Chauvel,  etc.,  the 
text  beautifully  printed  by  Claye,  of  Paris.  Royal  4to,  paper, 
uncut,  $25.00.  Half  polished  levant  mor.,  gilt  top,  §30.00. 


13 

Ancient  Art  and  Mythology. 

The  Symbolical  Language  of  Ancient  Art  and  Mytho- 
logy. An  Inquiry.  By  RICHARD  PAYNE  KNIGHT, 
author  of  "Worship  of  Priapus."  A  new  edition,  with 
Introduction,  Notes  translated  into  English,  and  a  new  and 
complete  Index.  By  ALEXANDER  WILDER,  M.D.  I  vol. 
Svo,  cloth,  handsomely  printed,  $3.00. 

"Not  only  do  these  explanations  afford  a  key  to  the  religion  and  mythology  of  the  ancients,  but 
they  also  enable  a  more  thorough  understanding  of  the  canons  and  principles  of  art.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  latter  was  closely  allied  to  the  other  ;  so  tha:  the  symbolism  of  which  the  religious  emblems  and 
furniture  consisted  likewise  constituted  the  essentials  of  architectural  style  and  decoration,  textile  em- 
bellishments, as  well  as  the  arts  of  sculpture,  painting,  and  engraving.  Mr.  Knight  has  treated  the 
subject  with  rare  erudition  and  ingenuity,  and  with  such  success  that  the  labor  of  those  who  come  after 
him  rather  add  to  the  results  of  his  investigations  than  replace  them  in  important  particulars.  The 
labors  of  Champollion,  Bunsen,  Layard,  Honomi,  the  Rawlinsons,  and  others,  comprise  his  deductions 
so  remarkably  as  to  dissipate  whatever  of  his  assertions  that  appeared  fanciful.  Not  only  are  the 
writings  of  Greek  and  Roman  authors  now  more  easy  to  comprehend,  but  additional  light  has  been 
afforded  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  canon  of  the  Holy  Scripture." — Extract  from  Editor's 
Preface, 

A    SUPPLEMENTARY    VOLUME    TO    ''ANCIENT    FAITHS." 

Ancient  Faiths  and  Modern. 

A  Dissertation  upon  Worships,  Legends,  and  Divinities 
in  Central  and  Western  Asia,  Europe,  and  Elsewhere, 
before  the  Christian  Era.  Showing  their  Relations  to 
Religious  Customs  as  they  now  exist.  By  THOMAS 
INMAN,  M.D.,  author  of  "  Ancient  Faiths  Embodied  in 
Ancient  Names,"  etc.,  etc.  I  vol.  Svo,  cloth,  $5.00. 

This  work  is  most  aptly  expressed  by  the  title,  and  the  author,  who  is  one  of  our  most  learned  and 
accomplished  modern  writers,  has  done  ample  justice  to  his  subject.  He  pries  boldly  into  Bluebeard's 
closet,  little  recking  whether  he  shall  find  a  ghost,  skeleton,  or  a  living  being  ;  and  he  tells  us  very 
bluntly  and  explicitly  vvl  at  he  has  witnessed.  Several  years  since  he  gave  to  the  learned  world  his 
treatise  on  Ancient  Faitks  Rinbodied  in  Ancient  Names,  in  which  were  disclosed  the  ideas  under- 
lying the  old-world  religions,  and  the  nature  of  hieroglyphical  symbols  employed  in  the  East.  The 
present  volume  complements  that  work,  elaborates  mote  perfectly  the  ideas  there  set  forth,  and  traces 
thrir  relations  to  the  faiths,  worship,  and  religious  dogmas  of  modern  time.  We  are  astonished  to 
find  resemblances  where  it  would  be  supposed  that  none  would  exist,  betraying  either  a  similar  origin 
or  analogous  modes  of  thinking  and  reasoning  among  nations  and  peoples  widely  apart  in  race, 
country,  and  period  of  history.  The  author  is  bold  and  often  strong  in  his  expressions,  from  the 
intensity  of  his  convictions,  but  this  serves  to  deepen  the  interest  in  his  subject.  Those  who  have  read 
his  former  works  with  advantage  will  greet  this  volume  with  a  cordial  welcome;  and  all  who  desire 
to  understand  the  original  religiom  of  mankind,  the  ideas  which  lie  back  of  the  revelations  of  Holy 
Scripture,  and  particularly,  those  who  are  not  easily  shocked  when  they  come  in  contact  with  senti- 
ments with  which  they  have  not  been  familiar,  will  find  this  book  full  of  entertainment  as  well  as  of 
instruction.  Dr.  Inman  is  working  up  a  new  mine  of  thought,  and  the  lover  of  knowledge  will  give  his 
labor  a  welcome  which  few  of  our  modern  authors  receive. 

Wheeler's   India. 

History  of  India.  By  J.  TALBOYS  WHEELER,  Assist- 
ant Secretary  to  the  Government  of  India,  in  the  Foreign 
Department,  Secretary  of  the  Record  Commission,  Author 
of  the  "  Geography  of  Herodotus." 

The  Ramayana  and  the  Brahmanic  Period.  Svo,  cloth, 
pp.  Ixxxvi  i.  and  680,  with  two  maps.  $6.00. 

Hindu,  Buddhist,  Brahmanical  Revival.  Svo,  cloth,  pp. 
484,  with  two  maps,  cloth.  $5.00. 

Under  Mussulman  Rule,     (Vol.  IV.),  Svo,  $4.50. 


16 

Ancient  Pagan  and  Modern  Christian 
Symbolism. 

By  THOMAS  INMAN,  M.D.,  author  of  "Ancient  Faiths 
Embodied  in  Ancient  Names,"  i-tc.  Second  edition, 
revised  and  enlarged,  with  an  Essay  on  Baal  Worship,  on 
"the  Assyrian  Sacred  Grove,"  and  other  allied  symbols. 
By  JOHN  NEWTON,  M.R.C.S.E.,  etc.  Profusely  illustrated. 
I  vol.  cloth,  $3.00. 

This  book  contains  in  a  nutshell  the  essence  of  Dr.  Inman's  other  publications,  and  for  the 
reader  of  limited  means  is  just  what  he  requires.  The  subject  of  symbolism  is  as  deep  as  human 
thought  and  as  broad  in  its  scope  as  humanity  itself.  The  erudite  thinker  finds  it  not  only  worthy  of 
his  best  energies,  but  capable  of  taxing  them  to  the  utmost.  Many  pens  have  been  employed  upon  it, 
and  it  has  never  grown  old.  Dr.  Inman's  views  are  somewhat  peculiar  ;  he  has  concentrated  his 
attention  to  the  ideas  which  he  believes  to  underlie  the  symbolism  of  the  most  ancient  periods,  and 
can  be  traced  through  the  autonomy  of  the  Christian  Church.  He  finds  the  relation  which  exists,  and 
the  antiquarian  likewise,  between  Asshur  and  Jehovah,  the  Baal  of  Syria  and  the  God  whom  Chris- 
tians worship  ;  and  the  mysteries  of  the  Sacred  Grove,  of  which  the  Old  Testament  says  so  much,  are 
unfolded  and  made  sensible  to  the  common  intellect.  Scholars  will  welcome  this  volume,  and  the 
religious  reader  will  peruse  its  pages  with  the  prpfoundest  interest.  The  symbols  which  characterize 
worship  constitute  a  study  which  will  never  lose  its  interest,  so  long  as  'earning  and  art  have  admirers. 

The  Lost  Beauties  of  the  English  Lan- 
guage. 

An  Appeal  to  Authors,  Poets,  Clergymen,  and  Public 
Speakers.  By  CHAS.  MACKAY,  LL.D.  I  vol.  I2mo, 
cloth  extra,  $1.75. 

Words  change  as  well  as  men,  sometimes  from  no  longer  meeting  the  new  wants  of  the  people,  but 
oftener  from  the  attraction  of  novelty  which  impels  everybody  to  change.  A  dictionary  of  obsolete 
words,  and  terms  becoming  obsolete,  is  a  valuable  reminder  of  the  treasures  which  we  are  parting 
with  ;  not  always  wisely,  for  in  them  are  comprised  a  wealth  of  expression,  idiom,  and  even  history, 
which  the  new  words  cannot  acquire.  Dr.  Mackay  has  placed  a  host  of  such  on  record,  with  quota- 
tions to  illustrate  how  they  were  read  by  the  classical  \vriters  of  the  English  language,  not  many  cen- 
turies ago,  and  enables  us  to  read  those  authors  more  understandingly.  If  he  could  induce  us  to 
recall  some  of  them  back  to  life,  it  would  be  a  great  boon  to  literature  ;  but  hard  as  it  might  have 
been  for  Caesar  to  add  a  new  word  to  his  native  Latin  language,  it  would  have  been  infinitely  more 
difficult  to  resuscitate  an  obsolete  one,  however  more  expressive  and  desirable.  Many  of  the  terms 
embalmed  in  this  treatise  are  not  dead  as  yet :  and  others  of  them  belong  to  that  prolific  department 
of  our  spoken  language  that  does  not  get  into  dictionaries.  Hut  we  all  need  to  know  them  ;  and  they 
really  are  more  homogeneous  to  our  people  than  their  successors,  the  stilted  foreign-born  and  alien 
English,  that  "  the  Kest  '*  is  laboring  to  naturalize  into  our  language.  The  old  words,  like  old  shoes 
and  well-worn  apparel,  sit  most  comfortably, 


Fu-Sang  ; 


Or,  the  Discovery  of  America  by  Chinese  Buddhist 
Priests  in  the  Fifth  Century.  Containing  a  Translation  of 
Professor  Carl  Neumann's  work  on  the  subject,  made  un- 
der supervision  of  the  Author  ;  a  letter  by  Colonel  Bar- 
clay Kennon,  late  of  the  U.  S.  North  Coast  Pacific  Sur- 
vey, on  the  Possibility  of  an  Easy  Passage  from  China  to 
California;  and  a  Resume  of  the  Arguments  of  De  Guigues, 
Klaproth,  Gustave  D'Eichthal,  and  Dr.  Bretschneider  on 
the  Narrative  of  Hoei-Shin,  with  other  Contributions 
and  Comments,  by  CHARLES  G.  LELAND,  i  vol.  I2mo, 
cloth,  $1.75. 


17 

FRANCE    IX   THE   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY. 

Lacroix. 

(BIBLIOPHILE  JACOB)  XVIIImc  SINGLE,  INSTITUTIONS, 
USAGES,  ET  COSTUMES,  France,  1700-1789.  Illustrated 
with  twenty-one  large  and  beautifully  executed  chromo- 
lithographs, and  upwards  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  engrav- 
ings on  wood  after  Watteau,  Vanloo,  Boucher,  Lancret, 
Chardin,  Bouchardin,  Saint-Aubin,  Eisen,  Moreau,  etc.  I 
vol.  thick  Imperial  8vo,  half  red  morocco,  extra  gilt  leaves, 
$13.50. 

—The  same,  full  crimson  Levant  super-extra,  $22.50. 

The  title  of  this  new  work,  by  the  indefatigable  Paul  Lacroix,  conveys  but  an  indifferent  idea  of 
its  contents.  It  is  admirably  gotten  up,  and  is  illustrated  in  a  most  profuse  manner,  equalling,  if  not 
excelling,  the  former  works  of  the  same  author,  giving  t.s  a  living  picture  of  the  i8th  century — the 
king,  nobility,  bourgeoisie,  people,  parliaments,  clergy,  army  and  navy,  commerce,  education,  police, 
:tc.,  Paris,  its  pleasures,  promenades,  fetes,  salons,  cuisine,  theatres,  costumes,  etc.,  etc. 

A   NEW   WORK  ON   CHRISTIAN   ART. 

J6sus-Christ. 

Attendu,  vivant,  continue,  dans  le  monde,  par  LOUIS 
VEUILLOT,  avec  une  etude  sur  1'Art  Chretien  par  E.  CAR- 
TIER.  16  large  and  beautifully  executed  chromo-litho- 
graphs,  and  200  engravings,  etchings,  and  woodcuts,  from 
the  most  celebrated  monuments,  from  the  period  of  the 
Catacombs  to  the  present  day.  Thick  Imp.  Svo,  new  half 
morocco  extra,  gilt  leaves,  $13.50. 

—The  same,  printed  on  large  Holland  paper.     Imp. 
Svo,  half  polished  Levant  morocco,  gilt  top,  $22.50. 

This  elegant  work  is  uniform  in  style  and  illustration  with  the  works  of  Paul  Lacroix,  by  the  same 
house.  The  illustrations  (which  were  prepared  under  the  direction  of  M.  Dumoulin),  are  of  the  most 
attractive  character,  and  present  a  chronological  view  of  Christian  art.  The  exquisite  series  of 
chromos  are  from  pictures  by  Giotto,  Ghirlandajo,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Raphael,  Fra  Bartolommeo- 
Angelico,  Sacchi  di  Pavia,  Flandrin,  and  a  head  of  Christ  from  the  Catacombs,  Fac-similes,by  Armand, 
Durand,  from  rare  etchings  by  Marc  Antonio,  Durer,  etc.,  also  a  reduction  from  Prevost,  plate  of  the 
wedding  at  Cana.  after  Paul  Veronese,  and  nearly  200  charming  engravings  on  wood. 

UNIFORM  WITH  THE  WORKS  OF  PAUL  LACROIX. 

Jeanne  D'Arc. 

Par  H.  WALLON  (Secretaire  de  1'Academie  des  Inscrip- 
tions et  Belles-Lettres).  Beautifully  printed  on  heavy  vel- 
lum paper,  and  illustrated  with  14  CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHIC 
PLATES,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  fine  engravings  on 
wood  after  monuments  of  art,  fac-similes,  etc.,  etc.  I 
large  volume,  thick  royal  Svo,  half  red  morocco,  full  gilt, 
gilt  edges,  $13.50.  Full  polished  morocco  extra,  $22.50. 

;  Contents  :  An  account  of  the  arms  and  military  dresses  of  the  period,  accompanied  by  descriptive 
figures  taken  from  the  seals  of  the  Archives  ;  a  map  of  feudal  France,  by  M.  Aug.  Longnon,  a  new 
work  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  history  of  the  isth  century  ;  a  study  of  the  worship  shown  to 
Joan  of  Arc  in  the  French  and  Foreign  literatures  (it  is  known  that  during  the  lifetime  of  Joan,  her 
wonderful  mission  was  represented  on  the  stage)  ;  fac-similes  of  letters  of  Joan,  etc.,  etc. 


18 

Dramatists  of  the  Restoration. 

Beautifully  printed    on    superior    paper,  to   range  with 

Pickering's  edition  of  Webster,  Peele,  Marlowe,  etc.     As 

the   text  of  most  of  these  authors  has,  in  later  editions, 

been  either  imperfectly  or  corruptly  dealt  with,  the  several 

Plays  have  been   presented  in  an  unmutilated   form,  and 

carefully  collated  with  the  earliest  and  best  editions. 

Biographical  Notices  and  brief  Notes  accompany  the  works  of  each 

author.     The  series  has  been  entrusted  to  the  joint  editorial   care  of 

JAMES  MAIDMENT  and  W.   H.   LOGAN.     It  comprises  the  following 

authors  : 

SIR  WILLIAM  DAVENANT'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS.     5  vols. 
JOHN  CROWNE'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS.    4  vols. 
SIR  ASTON  COKAIN'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS,     i  vol. 
JOHN  WILSON'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS,     i  vol. 
JOHN  LACY'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS,     i  vol. 
SHAKERLEY  MARMION'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS,     i  vol. 

Together,  13  vols.  post  8vo,  white  vellum  cloth,  $50.00. 
Large  paper,  13  vols.  8vo,  $75.00.  Whatman's  drawing 
paper  (only  thirty  copies  printed),  $110.00. 

The  First  Edition  of  Shakespeare. 

Mr.  WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE'S  Comedies,  Histories,  and 
Tragedies.  Published  according  to  the  True  Original 
Copies.  London.  Printed  by  ISAAC  IAGGARD  and  ED. 
BLOUNT.  1623.  An  exact  reproduction  of  the  extremely 
rare  original,  in  reduced  fac-simile  by  a  photographic  pro- 
cess, ensuring  the  strictest  accuracy  in  every  detail.  Post 
8vo,  half  mor. ,  gilt  top,  $3.00. 

"A  complete  fac  simile  of  the  celebrated  First  Folio  edition  of  1623  for  half-a-guinea  is  at  once 
a  miracle  of  cheapness  and  enterprise.  Being  in  a  reduced  form,  the  type  is  necessarily  rather 
diminutive,  but  it  is  as  distinct  as  in  a  genuine  copy  of  the  original,  and  will  be  found  to  be  as  useful, 
and  far  more  handy  to  the  student." — Athenaeum. 

The  Violin. 

Its  famous  makers  and  their  imitators.  By  GEORGE 
HART.  In  the  above-mentioned  work  the  author  treats 
of  the  Origin,  History,  Development  of  this,  the  greatest 
of  musical  instruments,  and  gives  interesting  details  con- 
cerning those  ingenious  makers  who  brought  it  to  its 
present  state  of  perfection. 

It  is  illustrated  by  upwards  of  forty  first-class  Wood 
Engravings  from  Photographs,  which  represent  the  exact 
Outlines  and  Proportions  of  the  masterpieces  of  ANTONIUS 
STRADIUARIUS,  AMATI,  BERGONZI,  and  others,  including 
the  celebrated  violin  by  JOSEPH  GUARNERIUS,  on  which 
PAGANINI  achieved  his  marvellous  success.  I  vol.  post 
8vo,  cloth,  $4.00. 

The  same.     Large  Paper.     Demy  4to,  cloth,  $8.00. 


19 

A  SUPERB  SERIES  OF  ETCHINGS. 

The  Wilson  Collection. 

Collection  de  M.  John  W.  Wilson.  Exposee  dans  la 
Galcrie  clu  Cercle  Artistique  et  Litteraire  de  Bruxelles,  au 
profit  des  pauvres  de  cette  Ville.  Troisieme  edition. 
Handsomely  printed  on  heavy  paper,  and  illustrated  with 
a  series  of  68  large  and  most  exquisitely  executed  etch- 
ings, from  the  most  remarkable  pictures  in  this  celebrated 
collection.  FINE  IMPRESSIONS.  Thick  royal  4to,  paper, 
uncut,  $25.00;  or  in  half  morocco,  gilt  tops,  uncut,  $30.00. 

%*  Already  out  of  print  and  scarce. 

This  charming  catalogue  was  gotten  up  at  the  expense  of  the  generous  owner  of  the  collection,  and 
the  money  received  from  its  sale  donated  to  the  fund  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  of  the  city.  The 
edition  consisted  of  1,000  copies.  It  was  immediately  exhausted. 

The  Catalogue  is  a  model  of  its  kind.  The  notices  arc-  in  most  instances  accompanied  with  a  fac- 
simile of  the  artist's  signature  to  the  picture  ;  a  biographical  sketch  of  the  artist;  notices  of  the  en- 
graved examples,  if  any  ;  and  critical  notes  on  each  picture. 

The  graphic  department  is,  however,  the  great  feature  of  this  Catalogue,  embracing,  as  it  does, 
upwards  of  sixty  examples  of  the  best  etchers  of  the  present  day.  including  Greux.  Chaiivel,  Martial. 
Rajon,  Gaucherel,  Jacquemart,  He"douin,  Lemaire,  Duclos,  Masson.  Flameng,  Lalanne,  Gilbert, 
etc.,  etc. 

Diirer's  "  Little  Passion." 

Passio  Christi.  A  complete  set  of  the  Thirty-seven 
Woodcuts,  by  Albert  Durer.  Reproduced  in  fac-simile. 
Edited  by  W.  C.  Prime.  One  volume,  Royal  4to  (13  x  ioj- 
inches).  Printed  on  heavy  glazed  paper,  half  vellum, 
$10.00.  Morocco  antique,  $15.00. 

The  Little  Passion  of  Albert  Durer,  consisting  of  thirty-seven  woodcuts,  has  long  been  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  collections  of  illustrations  known  to  the  world.  Complete  sets  of  the 
entire  series  are  excessively  rare.  The  editions  which  have  been  published  in  modern  times  in  Europe 
are  defective,  lacking  more  or  less  of  the  Plates,  and  are  of  an  inferior  and  unsatisfactory  class  oi 
workmanship. 


-ZEsop's  Fables. 


With  56  illustrations,  from  designs  by  Henry  L.  Ste- 
phens. Royal  4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  leaves,  $10.00. 

Mr.  Stephens  has  no  superior  in  the  peculiar  style  of  illustration  which  is  most  effective  in  bring- 
ing out  the  spirit  of  /Ksop's  Fables,  and  in  this  volume  he  has  given  us  fifty-six  full  page  cartoons, 
brimming  with  droll  humor,  reciting  the  Fables  over  again,  and  enforcing  their  morals  just  as  effect- 
ively as  was  done  by  the  words  of  /F.sop  himself.  The  illustrations  are  among  the  finest  specimens  of 
art  ever  produced  in  this  country,  and  the  volume  as  a  whole  is  most  creditable  to  American  artistic 
skill. 

Boccaccio's   Decameron ; 

Or,  Ten  Days'  Entertainment,  Now  fully  .translated 
into  English,  with  Introduction  by  THOMAS  WRIGHT, 
ESQ.,  M.A.,  F.S.A.  Illustrated  by  STOTHARD'S  Engrav- 
ings on  Steel,  and  the  12  unique  plates  from  the  rare 
Milan  Edition.  One  volume,  thick  I2mo,  cloth  extra, 
$3.50,  or  handsomely  bound  in  half  polished  Levant 
morocco,  gilt  top.  $5.50. 

The  most  complete  translation,  containing  many  passages  not  hitherto  translated  into  English. 


18 

Dramatists  of  the  Restoration. 

Beautifully  printed    on    superior   paper,  to   range  with 

Pickering's  edition  of  Webster,  Peele,  Marlowe,  etc.     As 

the   text  of  most  of  these  authors  has,  in  later  editions, 

been  either  imperfectly  or  corruptly  dealt  with,  the  several 

Plays  have  been   presented  in  an  unmutilated   form,  and 

carefully  collated  with  the  earliest  and  best  editions. 

Biographical  Notices  and  brief  Notes  accompany  the  works  of  each 

author.     The  series  has  been  entrusted  to  the  joint  editorial   care  of 

JAMES  MAIDMENT  and  W.    H.    LOGAN.     It  comprises  the  following 

authors  : 

SIR  WILLIAM  DAVENANT'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS.     5  vols. 
JOHN  CROWNE'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS.     4  vols. 
SIR  ASTON  COKAIN'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS,     i  vol. 
JOHN  WILSON'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS,     i  vol. 
JOHN  LACY'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS,     i  vol. 
SHAKERLEY  MARMION'S  DRAMATIC  WORKS,     i  vol. 

Together,  13  vols.  post  8vo,  white  vellum  cloth,  $50.00. 
Large  paper,  13  vols.  8vo,  $75.00.  Whatman's  drawing 
paper  (only  thirty  copies  printed),  $110.00. 

The  First  Edition  of  Shakespeare. 

Mr.  WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE'S  Comedies,  Histories,  and 
Tragedies.  Published  according  to  the  True  Original 
Copies.  London.  Printed  by  ISAAC  lAGGARD  and  ED. 
BLOUNT.  1623.  An  exact  reproduction  of  the  extremely 
rare  original,  in  reduced  fac-simile  by  a  photographic  pro- 
cess, ensuring  the  strictest  accuracy  in  every  detail.  Post 
8vo,  half  mor. ,  gilt  top,  $3.00. 


"A  complete  fac  simile  of  the  celebrated  First  Folio  edition  of  1623  for  half-a-guinea  is  at  once 
liracle  of  cheapness   and    enterprise.     Being  in  a  reduced  form,    the  type  is  necessarily  rather 
diminutive,  but  it  is  as  distinct  as  in  a  genuine  copy  of  the  original,  and  will  be  found  to  be  as  useful, 


cheapness   and    enterprise.     Being  in  a  reduced  form,    the  type  is  necessarily  rather 
ut  it  is  as  distinct  as  in  a  genuine  copy 
and  far  more  handy  to  the  student." — Athenaeum. 

The  Violin. 

Its  famous  makers  and  their  imitators.  By  GEORGE 
HART.  In  the  above-mentioned  work  the  author  treats 
of  the  Origin,  History,  Development  of  this,  the  greatest 
of  musical  instruments,  and  gives  interesting  details  con- 
cerning those  ingenious  makers  who  brought  it  to  its 
present  state  of  perfection. 

It  is  illustrated  by  upwards  of  forty  first-class  Wood 
Engravings  from  Photographs,  which  represent  the  exact 
Outlines  and  Proportions  of  the  masterpieces  of  ANTONIUS 
STRADIUARIUS,  AMATI,  BERGONZI,  and  others,  including 
the  celebrated  violin  by  JOSEPH  GUARNERIUS,  on  which 
PAGANINI  achieved  his  marvellous  success.  I  vol.  post 
8vo,  cloth,  $4.00. 

The  same.     Large  Paper.     Demy  4to,  cloth,  $8.00. 


A  SUPERB  SERIES  OF  ETCHINGS. 

The  Wilson  Collection. 

Collection  de  M.  John  W.  Wilson.  Exposee  dans  la 
Galcrie  du  Cercle  Artistique  et  Litteraire  de  Bruxelles,  au 
profit  des  pauvres  de  cette  Ville.  Troisteme  edition. 
Handsomely  printed  on  heavy  paper,  and  illustrated  with 
a  series  of  68  large  and  most  exquisitely  executed  etch- 
ings, from  the  most  remarkable  pictures  in  this  celebrated 
collection.  FINE  IMPRESSIONS.  Thick  royal  4to,  paper, 
uncut,  $25.00;  or  in  half  morocco,  gilt  tops,  uncut,  $30.00. 

%*  Already  out  of  print  and  scarce. 

This  charming  catalogue  was  gotten  up  at  the  expense  of  the  generous  owner  of  the  collection,  and 
the  money  received  from  its  sale  donated  to  the  fund  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  of  the  city.  1'he 
edition  consisted  of  1,000  copies.  It  was  immediately  exhausted. 

The  Catalogue  is  a  model  of  its  kind.  The  notices  arc  in  most  instances  accompanied  with  a  fac- 
simile of  the  artist's  signature  to  the  picture  ;  a  biographical  sketch  of  the  artist;  notices  of  the  en- 
graved examples,  if  any  ;  and  critical  notes  on  each  picture. 

The  graphic  department  is,  however,  the  great  feature  of  this  Catalogue,  embracing,  as  it  does, 
upwards  of  sixty  examples  of  the  best  etchers  of  the  present  day.  including  Greux.  Chauvel,  Martial. 
Rajon,  Gaucherel,  Jacquemart,  He'douin,  Lemaire,  Uuclos,  Masson.  Hameng,  Lalanne,  Gilbert, 
etc.,  etc. 

Diirer's  "  Little  Passion." 

Passio  Christi.  A  complete  set  of  the  Thirty-seven 
Woodcuts,  by  Albert  Diirer.  Reproduced  in  fac-simile. 
Edited  by  W.  C.  Prime.  One  volume,  Royal  4to  (13  x  10^- 
inches).  Printed  on  heavy  glazed  paper,  half  vellum, 
$10.00.  Morocco  antique,  $15.00. 

The  Little  Passion  of  Albert  Durer,  consisting  of  thirty-seven  woodcuts,  has  long  been  regarded 
as  one  of  tlie  most  remarkable  collections  of  illustrations  known  to  the  world.  Complete  sets  of  the 
entire  series  are  excessively  rare.  The  editions  which  have  been  published  in  modern  times  in  Europe 
are  defective,  lacking  more  or  less  of  the  Plates,  and  are  of  an  inferior  and  unsatisfactory  class  oi 
workmanship. 


^Esop's  Fables. 


With  56  illustrations,  from  designs  by  Henry  L.  Ste- 
phens. Royal  4to,  cloth  extra,  gilt  leaves,  $10.00. 

Mr.  Stephens  has  no  superior  in  the  peculiar  style  of  illustration  which  is  most  effective  in  bring- 
ing out  the  spirit  of  /Esop's  Fables,  and  in  this  volume  he  has  given  us  fifty-six  full  page  cartoons, 
brimming  with  droll  humor,  reciting  the  Fables  over  again,  and  enforcing  their  morals  just  as  effect- 
ively as  was  done  by  the  words  of  ft. sop  himself.  The  illustrations  are  among  the  finest  specimens  of 
art  ever  produced  in  this  country,  and  the  volume  as  a  whole  is  most  creditable  to  American  artistic 
skill. 

Boccaccio's   Decameron ; 

Or,  Ten  Days'  Entertainment-  Now  fully  -translated 
into  English,  with  Introduction  by  THOMAS  WRIGHT, 
ESQ.,  M.A.,  F.S.A.  Illustrated  by  STOTHARD'S  Engrav- 
ings on  Steel,  and  the  12  unique  plates  from  the  rare 
Milan  Edition.  One  volume,  thick  I2mo,  cloth  extra, 
$3.50,  or  handsomely  bound  in  half  polished  Levant 
morocco,  gilt  top.  $5.50. 

The  most  complete  translation,  containing  many  passages  not  hitherto  translated  into  English. 


20 

Bell's  Anatomy  and  Philosophy  of  Ex- 
pression, 

As  connected  with  the  Fine  Arts.     Profusely  illustrated 
Royal  8vo,  cloth,  uncut,  $4.50. 

Tom  D'Urfey's  "  Pills  to  Purge  Melan- 
choly." 

Being  a  collection  of  Merry  Ballads  and  Songs,  old  and 
new,  fitted  to  all  humors,  having  each  its  proper  tune  for 
voice  and  instrument.  An  exact  and  beautiful  reprint  of 
this  very  scarce  work.  Small  paper,  6  vols.,  crown  8vo, 
bds.,  uncut,  $15.00.  Large  paper,  6  vols.  crown  4to. 
Only  a  few  printed.  Bds.,  uncut,  $24.00. 

"  lint  what  obtained  Mr.  D'Urfey  his  greatest  reputation  was  a  peculiarly  happy  knack  he  pos- 
sessed in  the  writing  of  satires  and  irregular  odes.  Many  of  these  were  upon  temporary  occasions, 
isnd  were  of  no  little  service  to  the  party  in  whose  cause  he  wrote  ;  which,  together  with  his  natural 
vivacity  and  good  humor,  obtained  him  the  favor  of  great  numbers,  of  all  ranks  and  conditions, 
r.ioiiarchs  themselves  not  excluded.  He  was  strongly  attached  to  the  Tory  interest,  and  in  the  lalter 
part  of  Queer.  Anne's  reign  had  frequently  the  honor  of  diverting  that  princess  with  witty  catches  and 
songs  of  humor  suited  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  written  by  himself,  and  which  he  sang  in  a  lively  and 
entertaining  manner.  And  the  author  of  the  Guardian,  who.  in  No.  67.  has  given  a  very  humorous 
account  of  Mr.  D'Urfey,  with  a  view  to  recommend  him  to  the  public  notice  for  a  benefit  play,  tells 
us  that  he  remembered  King  Charles  II.  leaning  on  Tom  D'Urfey's  shoulder  more  than  once,  and 
humming  over  a  song  with  him. 

"He  appears  to  have  been  a  diverting  companion,  and  a  cheerful,  honest,  good-natured  man  ;  so 
that  he  was  the  delight  of  the  most  polite  companies  in  conversations,  from  the  beginning  of  Charles 
II. 's  to  the  latter  part  of  King  George  I.'s  reign  ;  and  many  an  honest  gentleman  got  a  reputation  in 
his  country  by  pretending  to  have  been  in  company  with  Tom  D'Urfey." — C/ialmers. 

UNIFORM    WITH    "TOM    D'URFEY'S    PILLS." 


Musarnm   Deliciae  ; 


Or,  The  Muses'  Recreation,  1656;  Wit  Restor'd,  1658; 
and  Wit's  Recreation,  1640.  The  whole  compared  with 
the  originals ;  with  all  the  Wood  Engravings,  Plates, 
Memoirs,  and  Notes.  A  new  edition,  in  2  volumes,  post 
Svo,  beautifully  printed  on  antique  laid  paper,  and  bound 
in  antique  boards,  $4.00. 

A   FEW  LARGE  PAPER    COPIES    have   been   prepared. 
2  vols.  4to,  $7.50. 

*#*  Of  the  Poets  of  the  Restoration,  there  are  none  whose  works  are  more  rare  than  those  of  Sir 
John  Mennis  and  Dr.  James  Smith.  The  small  volume  entitled  "  Musarum  Deliciae  ;  or,  The  Muses' 
Recreation,"  which  contains  the  production  of  these  two  friends,  was  not  accessible  to  Mr.  Freeman 
when  he  compiled  his  "  Kentish  Poets,"  and  has  since  become  so  rare  that  it  is  only  found  in  the 
cabinets  of  the  curious.  A  reprint  of  the  "  Musarum  Delicise,"  together  with  several  other  kindred 
pieces  of  the  period,  appeared  in  1817,  forming  two  volumes  of  Facetiae,  edited  by  Mr.  E.  Dubois, 
author  of  "  The  Wreath,'1  etc.  These  volumes  having  in  turn  become  exceedingly  scarce,  the  Publish- 
ers venture  to  put  forth  the  present  new  edition,  in  which,  while  nothing  has  been  omitted,  no  pains 
have  been  spared  to  render  it  more  complete  and  elegant  than  any  that  has  yet  appeared.  The  type, 
plates,  and  woodcuts  of  the  originals  have  been  accurately  followed  ;  the  Notes  of  the  editor  of  1817 
are  considerably  augmented,  and  indexes  have  been  added,  together  with  a  portrait  of  Sir  John 
Mennis,  from  a  painting  by  Vandyke  in  Lord  Clarendon's  Collection. 


21 

The   Story   of  the   Stick 

In  all  Ages  and  all  Lands.  A  Philosophical  History  and 
Lively  Chronicle  of  the  Stick  as  the  Friend  and  Foe  of 
Man.  Its  Uses  and  Abuses.  As  Sceptre  and  as  Crook. 
As  the  Warrior's  Weapon,  and  the  Wizard's  Wand.  As 
Stay,  as  Stimulus,  and  as  Scourge.  Translated  and  adap- 
ted from  the  French  of  ANTONY  REAL  (Fernand 
Michel).  I  vol.,  I2mo,  extra  cloth,  red  edges,  $1.50. 

"  Wrought  for  a  Staff,  wrought  for  a  Rod." 

SWINBURNE. — Atalanta  in  Calydon. 

The  above  work  condenses  in  a  lively  narrative  form  a  most  astonishing  mass  of  curious  and  recon- 
dite information  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  which  it  treats.  From  the  bludgeon  of  Cain  to  the  trun- 
cheon of  the  Marshals  of  France,  from  the  budding  rod  of  Aaron  to  the  blazing  cane  of  M.  de  Balzac, 
the  stick,  in  all  its  relations  with  man  since  first  he  meddled  with  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  of  Good 
and  Evil,  is  shown  here  to  have  played  a  far  greater  part  in  history  than  is  commonly  imagined.  It 
has  been  the  instrument  of  justice,  it  has  been  the  tool  also  of  luxury.  It  has  ministered  to  man,  its 
maker,  pleasure  as  well  as  pain,  and  has  served  for  his  support  as  well  as  for  his  subjugation.  The 
mysteries  in  which  it  has  figured  are  some  of  them  revealed  and  others  of  them  hinted  in  these  most 
entertaining  and  instructive  pages,  for  between  the  days  of  the  society  of  Assassins  in  the  East  and 
those  of  the  society  of  the  Aphrodites  in  the  West,  the  Stick  has  been  made  the  pivot  of  many  secret 
associations,  al!  of  them  interesting  to  the  student  of  human  morals,  but  not  all  of  them  wisely  to  be 
treated  of  before  the  general  public.  The  late  Mr.  Buckle  especially  collected  on  this  subject  some 
most  astounding  particulars  of  social  history,  which  he  did  not  live  to  handle  in  his  own  inimitable 
way,  but  of  which  an  adequate  inkling  is  here  afforded  to  the  serious  and  intelligent  reader. 


OUR  EMIGRANT  ANCESTORS. 

Original  Lists  of  Persons  of  Quality. 

Emigrants  ;  Religious  Exiles  ;  Political  Rebels  ;  Serv- 
ing-men Sold  for  a  Term  of  Years  ;  Apprentices  ;  Chil- 
•  dren  Stolen ;  Maidens  Pressed ;  and  others  who  went 
from  Great  Britain  to  the  American  Plantations,  1600- 
1700.  WTith  their  Ages,  the  Localities  where  they  formerly 
Lived  in  the  Mother  Country,  Names  of  the  Ships  in 
which  they  embarked,  and  other  interesting  particulars. 
From  MSS.  preserved  in  the  State  Paper  Department  of 
Her  Majesty's  Public  Record  Office,  England.  Edited  by 
JOHN  CAMDEN  ROTTEN.  A  very  handsome  volume, 
crown  4to,  700  pages,  elegantly  bound  in  half  Roxburghe 
morocco,  gilt  top,  $10.00. 

A   few  Large  Paper  copies  have  been   printed,    small 
folio,  $17.50. 

Blake's   (Wm.)    Marriage   of    Heaven 
and  Hell : 

A  reproduction  and  facsimile  of  this  marvelous  work, 
printed  in  colors,  on  paper  made  expressly  for  the  work. 
4to,  hf.  Roxburghe  morocco,  uncut,  $10.00.  1790  (1868). 

%*  A  very  few  copies  remaining, 

"  The  most  curious  and  significant,  while  it  is  certninly  the  most  daring  in  conception  and  gorgeous 
in  illustration  of  all  Blake's  works."  —  Gilchrisfs  Life  of  Blake. 


A   NEW  AND    ATTRACTIVE  BOOK   ON   MEXICO. 

A   Peep  at   Mexico : 

Narrative  of  a  Journey  Across  the  Republic,  from  the 
Pacific  to  the  Gulf,  in  December,  1873,  and  January,  1874. 
By  J.  L.  GEIGER,  F.R.G.S.  Demy  8vo,  pp.  368,  with 
4  Maps  and  45  original  Photographs.  Cloth,  $8.50. 

The   English   Eogne. 

Described  in  the  Life  of  MERITON  LATROON,  and  other 
Extravagants,  comprehending  the  most  Eminent  Cheats 
of  both  Sexes.  By  RICHARD  HEAD  and  FRANCIS  KIRK- 
MAN.  A  fac-simile  reprint  of  the  rare  Original  Edition 
(1665-1672),  with  Frontispiece,  Fac-similes  of  the  12 
copper-plates,  and  Portraits  of  the  authors.  In  Four 
Volumes,  post  8vo,  beautifully  printed  on  antique  laid 
paper,  made  expressly,  and  bound  in  antique  boards, 
$6.00,  or  LARGE  PAPER  COPIES,  4  vols.  8vo,  $10.00. 

%*  This  singularly  entertaining  work  may  be  described  as  the  first  English  novel,  properly  so- 
called.  The  same  air  of  reality  pervades  it  as  that  which  gives  such  a  charm  to  stories  written  by 
DeFoehalfa  century  later.  The  interest  never  flags  for  a  moment,  from  the  first  chapter  to  the 
last. 

As  a  picture  of  the  manners  of  the  period,  two  hundred  years  ago,  in  England,  among  the  various 
grades  of  society  through  which  the  hero  passes  in  the  course  of  his  extraordinary  adventure^,  and 
among  gypsies,  beggars,  thieves,  etc.,  the  book  is  invaluable  to  students. 


The    Bump  ; 


Or,  An  Exact  Collection  of  the  choicest  POEMS  and  SONGS 
relating  to  the  late  Times,  and  continued  by  the  most 
eminent  Wits  ;  from  Anno  1639  to  1661.  A  Fac-simile 
Reprint  of  the  rare  Original  edition  (London,  1662),  with 
Frontispiece  and  Engraved  Title-page.  In  2  vols.  post 
8vo,  printed  on  antique  laid  paper,  and  bound  in  antique 
boards,  $4.00  ;  or  Large  Paper  Copies,  $6.00. 


A  very  rare  and  extraordinary  collection  of  some  two  hundred  Popular  T'allads  and  Cavalier 
js,  on  all  the  principal  incidents  of  the  great  Civil  War,  the  Trial  of  Strafford,  the  Martyrdom 
of  King  Charles,  the  .Commonwealth,  Cromwell,  Pym,  the  Roundheads,  etc.  It  was  from  such 
materials  that  Lord  Macaulay  was  enabled  to  produce  his  vivid  pictures  of  England  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  To  historical  students  and  antiquaries,  and  to  the  general  reader,  these  volumes  will  be 
found  full  of  interest. 


Westminster  Drolleries. 

Ebsworth's  (J.  Woodfall)  Westminster  Drolleries,  with 
an  introduction  on  the  Literature  of  the  Drolleries,  and 
Copious  Notes,  Illustrations,  and  Emendations  of  Text. 
2  vols.  I2mo,  cloth,  uncut,  §8.00.  Boston  (Eng.),  1875. 

***  Only  a  small  Edition  ;  privately  printed. 


23 

Swinburne's  William  Blake ; 

A  Critical  Essay.      With  Illustrations  from  Blake's   De- 
signs in  Fac-simile,  some  colored.      8vo,  cloth,  $3.00. 

A  valuable  contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  a  most  remarkable  man,  whose  originality  and  genius 
are  now  beginning  to  U:  generally  recognized. 

Holbein  and  His  Times. 

By  DR.  ALFRED  WOLTMANN,  translated  by  F.  A. 
BUNNETT.  With  portraits  and  nearly  60  fine  engravings 
from  the  works  of  this  wonderful  artist.  Royal  8vo,  cloth 
extra,  gilt  leaves,  $5«c>o. 

Memoir  of  the  Lady  Ana  De  Osorio, 

Countess  of  Chinchon,  and  Vice-Queen  of  Peru,  A.D. 
16.29-39.  With  a  Plea  for  the  Correct  Spelling  of  the 
Chinchona  Genus.  By  CLEMENTS  R.  MARKHAM,  C.B., 
Member  of  the  Imperial  Academy  Naturae  Curiosorum, 
with  the  Cognomen  of  CHINCHON.  Small  4to,  with  Illus- 
trations, $7.50. 

FOUNDERS    OF    THE    BRITISH    MUSEUM. 

Lives  of  the  Founders,  Augmenters, 
and  other  Benefactors  of  the  British 
Museum. 

1 570  to  1870.  Based  on  new  researches  at  the  Rolls 
House ;  in  the  Department  of  MSS.  of  the  British 
Museum  ;  in  the  Privy  Council  Office,  and  in  other  Col- 
lections, Public  and  Private.  By  EDWARD  EDWARDS. 
I  vol.  8vo,  large  and  beautiful  type,  cloth,  $4.00. 
LARGE  PAPER,  ROYAL  8vo  (only  60  copies  printed),  cloth, 
$10.00. 

%*  By  a  special  arrangement  with  the  English  publishers, 
Messrs.  Triibner  &>  Co.,  the  above  is  offered  at  the  greatly  reduced 
price  mentioned. 

Legge's  Chinese  Classics. 

Translated  into  English,  with  Preliminary  Essays  and 
Explanatory  Notes.  Vol.  I.,  THE  LIFE  AND  TEACHINGS 
OF  CONFUCIUS.  Vol.  II.,  THE  LIFE  AND  WORKS  OF 
MENCIUS.  Vol.  III.,  THE  SHE  KING;  OR,  THE  BOOK 
OF  POETRY,  Together  3  vols.  8vo,  cloth,  $10,00. 


24 

Diary  of  the  American  Bevolutioru 

By  FRANK  MOORE,  from  Newspapers  and  Original 
Documents.  Handsomely  printed  on  heavy  laid  paper, 
and  Illustrated  with  a  fine  series  of  steel-plate  portraits, 
INDIA  PROOFS.  2  vols.  impl.  8vo,  paper  uncut,  $8.00. 
New  York,  printed  privately,  1865. 

$*$  Large  Paper.     Only  a  Limited  Impression.     Published  at  $20.00  per  copy. 

Littre's  French  Dictionary. 

Dictionnaire  de  la  Langue  Franchise.  Par  E.  LlTTRl, 
de  1'Institut  (Academic  Fran9aise  et  Academic  des  In- 
scriptions et  Belles-Lettres).  Four  large  vols.  royal  quarto, 
new  half  morocco,  $40.00. 

"  No  language  that  we  have  ever  studied,  or  attempted  to  study,  possesses  a  Dictionary  so  rich 
in  the  history  of  words  as  this  great  work  which  M.  Littr6  has  fortunately  lived  long  enough  to  com- 
plete."— Saturday  Review. 

UNIFORM    WITH    THE    LARGE    FOLIO    SHA.KSPEARE  EDITED  BY 
THE    SAME   AUTHOR. 

Halliwell's  New  Place. 

An  Historical  Account  of  the  New  Place,  Stratford- 
upon-Avon,  the  last  residence  of  Shakspeare.  Folio,, 
cloth  (uniform  in  size  with  the  edition  of  Shakspeare's 
Works  edited  by  the  Author),  elegantly  printed  on  super- 
fine paper,  and  illustrated  by  upwards  of  sixty  woodcuts, 
comprising  views,  antiquities,  fac-similes  of  deeds,  etc.  By 
JAMES  O.  HALLIWELL,  F.R.S.  $10.00. 

This  is  a  most  important  work  for  the  Shakspearian  student.  The  great  researches  of  the  author 
have  enabled  him  to  bring  to  light  many  facts  hitherto  unknown  in  reference  to  the  ''great  bard."  All 
the  documents  possessing  any  real  claim  to  importance  are  inserted  at  full  length,  and  many  of  them 
are  now  printed  for  the  first  time.  With  respect  to  the  illustrations,  which  have  been  executed  by  J. 
T.  Blight,  Esq.,  F.  W.  Fairholt,  Esq.,  E.  W.  Ashbee,  Esq.,  and  J.  H.  Rimbault,  Esq.,  no  endeavors 
have  been  spared  to  attain  the  strictest  accuracy. 

REISSUE    OF    CRUIKSHANICS  ETCHINGS. 

Cruikshank's  Illustrations  of  Time. 

A  series  of  35  Etchings.     By  GEORGE   CRUIKSHANK 

Oblong  quarto,  paper,  carefully  printed  from  the  original 

plates.      $2.00.  1874 

The  Same.     COLORED.     $3.00.  1874 

Cruikshank's     Phrenological    Illustra- 

T1ONS  ;  or,  An  Artist's  View  of  the  Craniological  System 
of  Doctors  Gall  and  Spurzheim.    By  GEORGE  CRUIKSHANK. 
A  series  of  33  Etchings,  illustrative  of  the  various  Organs 
of  the  Brain.     Oblong  quarto,  paper,  $2.00. 
The  Same.     COLORED.     $3.00. 

***  This  reissue,  of  which  only  a  limited  impression  has  been  made,  is  printed  from  the  original 
coppers. 

"Have  we  not  before  us,  at  this  very  moment,  a  print — one  of  the  admirable  *  Illustrations  of 
Phrenology'' — which  entire  work  was  purchased  by  a  joint-stock  company  of  boys — each  drawing  lots 
afterwards  for  the  separate  prints,  and  taking  his  choice  in  rotation  ?  The  writer  of  this,  too,  had  the 
honor  of  drawing  the  first  lot,  and  seized  immediately  upon  '  Philoprogenitiveness ' — a  marvellous 
print,  indeed — full  of  ingenuity  and  fine,  jovial  humor." — WM.  M.  THACKERAY. 


25 

SEVEN   GENERATIONS   OF   EXECUTIONERS. 

Memoirs  of  the  Sanson  Family. 

Compiled  from  Private  Documents  in  the  possession  ci 
the  Family  (1688  to  1847),  by  HENRI  SANSON.  Trans- 
lated from  the  French,  with  an  Introduction  by  CAMILLE 
BARRERE.  Twovols.  post  8vo,  cloth,  $5.50;  or  half  calf, 
extra,  $7.50. 

"A  faithful  translation  of  this  curious  work,  which  will  certainly  repay  perusal,  not  on  the  ground 
of  its  being  full  of  horrors— for  the  original  author  seems  to  he  rather  a-shamed  of  the  technical  aspect 
of  his  profession,  and  is  commendably  reticent  as  to  its  details — hutbecause  it  contains  a  lucid  account 
of  the  most  notable  causes  celedrts  from  the  time  of  Louis  XIV.  to  a  period  within  the  memory  of 

persons  still  living The  memoirs,  if  not  particularly  instructive,  can  scarcely  fail  to  be 

extremely  entertaining." — Daily  Telegraph. 

'*  A  book  of  great  though  somewhat  ghastly  interest.  .  .  .  Something  much  above  a  mere  chap- 
ter of  horrors."—  Graphic. 

Avesta. 

THE  RELIGIOUS  BOOKS  OF  THE  PARSEES.  From  Pro- 
fessor SPIEGEL'S  German  Translation  of  the  Original 
Manuscripts,  by  A.  H.  BLEECK.  3  vols.  in  I,  8vo,  cloth, 
$10.00. 

English  scholars  who  wish  to  become  acquainted  with  the  "  Kible  of  the  Parsees,"  now  for  the 
first  time  published  in  English,  should  secure  this  copy.  To  thinkers  the  4i  Avesta  "  will  be  a  most 
valuable  work  ;  they  will  now  have  an  opportunity  to  compare  its  TRUTHS  with  those  of  the  BIBLE,  the 
KORAN,  and  the  VEDAS. 

Freemasonry. 

PATON'S  (CHARLES  I.)  FREEMASONRY,  ITS  SYMBOLISM, 
RELIGIOUS  .NATURE,  AND  LAW  OF  PERFECTION.  Thick 
8vo,  new  cloth,  uncut,  $3.50. 

Hand-Book  of  Archaeology. 

Egyptian — Greek — Etruscan — Roman.  By  H.  M.  WES- 
TROPP.  Profusely  Illustrated  with  Engravings  on  Wood. 
Svo,  new  cloth,  uncut,  $3.00. 

The  Gnostics 

AND  THEIR  REMAINS,  ANCIENT  AND  MEDIAEVAL.  By 
C.  W.  KING.  Profusely  Illustrated.  Svo,  new  cloth,  gilt, 

$7.50. 

*%  The  only  English  work  on  the  subject     Out  of  print  and  scarce. 

Champneys'  Quiet  Corner  of  England. 

Studies  of  Landscape  and  Architecture  in  Winchelsea, 
Rye,  and  Romney  Marsh.  With  thirty-one  Illustrations 
by  ALFRED  DAWSON.  Imperial  Svo,  cloth,  gilt,  gilt  leaves, 
$5.00. 

"  Mr.  Champneys  is  an  architect  who  takes  the  liberty  to  think  for  himself — a  man  of  much 
original  genius  and  sincere  culture,  young,  and  with  an  enthusiastic  contempt  for  conventionality, 
which  I  hope  he  may  never  outgrow." — New  York  Tribune,  Letter  from  London  Correspondent. 


26 

Ireland's  Shakspeare  Forgeries. 

The  Confessions  of  William  Henry  Ireland,  containing 
the  Particulars  of  his  Fabrication  of  the  Shakspeare  Manu- 
scripts ;  together  with  Anecdotes  and  Opinions  of  many 
distinguished  Persons  in  the  Literary,  Political,  and  Thea- 
trical World.  A  new  edition,  with  additional  Fac-similes, 
and  an  Introduction  by  RICHARD  GRANT  WHITE.  I  vol- 
ume, I2mo,  vellum  cloth,  uncut  edges,  $2.00  ;  or,  on 
Large  and  Thick  paper,  Svo,  $3.50,  Edition  limited  to 
300  copies. 

Enthusiasts  are  easily  duped,  and  of  all  enthusiasts,  excepting  the  religious,  those  who  give  them- 
selves up  to  the  worship  of  some  great  poet  or  artist  are  the  easiest  prey  of  the  impostor.  To  them,  a 
hook,  a  letter,  the  least  scrap  or  relic  which  is  connected  directly,  or  it  would  seem  indirectly,  with 
their  idol,  is  an  inestimable  treasure,  and  they  are  uneasy  until  it  is  in  their  possession,  or  removed 
hopelessly  beyond  their  reach.  Of  all  these  enthusiasts  the  "  Shakspearians  "  are,  and  for  a  hundred 
years  have  been,  at  once  the  most  numerous,  and  the  most  easily,  because  the  most  willingly,  deceived. 
To  their  craving  and  their  greed  we  owe  the  "  Ireland  Forgeries,"  which  were  merely  an  impudent 
attempt  to  supply  a  demand — an  attempt  made  by  a  clever,  ignorant  young  scamp,  who  succeeded  in 
deluding  the  whole  body  of  them  in  England  two  generations  ago.  His  ''Confessions"  are  the 
simply  told  story  of  this  stupendous  imposture  :  and  the  book — long  out  of  print  and  scarce — is  one 
the  most  naif  and  amusing  of  its  kind  in  the  whole  history  oi  literature.  His  exhibition  of  the 
"gulls,"  whom  he  made  his  victims,  is  equally  delightful  and  instructive;  and  chiefly  so,  because  of 
his  simplicity  and  frankness.  He  conceals  nothing,  palliates  nothing ;  tells  the  whole  story  of  his 
ridiculous  iniquity,  and  leaves  a  lasting  lesson  to  the  whole  tribe  of  credulous  collectors,  Shakspearian 
and  others. 

"It  has  frequently  afforded  me  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  think  how  this  literary  fraud  could 
have  so  long  duped  the  world,  and  involved  in  its  deceptions  vortex  such  personages  as  Parr,  Whar- 
ton,  and  Sheridan,  not  omitting  Jemmy  Boswell,  of  Johnsonian  renown  :  nor  can  I  ever  refrain  from 
smiling  whensoever  the  volumes  of  Malone  and  Chalmers,  together  with  the  pamphlets  of  Hoaden, 

Waldron,  Wyatt,  and  Philalethes,  otherwise, Webb,  Esq.,  chance  to  fall  in  my  wav."— W.  H. 

IRELAND'S  '•  Ckalcografhimania." 

Womankind  in  Western  Europe, 

From  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Seventeenth  Century. 
Illuminated  Title,  IO  ClIROMO-LITHOGRAPHIC  PLATES, 
and  numerous  Woodcuts.  Small  4to,  cloth,  extra  gilt, 
$4.50.  1869. 

This  work  is  something  more  thr.n  a  drawing-room  ornament.  It  is  an  elaborate  and  careful 
summary  of  all  that  one  of  our  most  learned  antiquaries,  after  years  of  pleasant  labor  on  a  very 
pleasant  subject,  has  been  able  to  learn  as  to  the  condition  of  women  from  the  earliest  times. 

DeFoe's  Life  and  Works, 

Life  and  Newly-Discovered  Writings  of  Daniel  DeFoe. 
Comprising  Several  Hundred  Important  Essays,  Pam- 
phlets, and  other  Writings,  now  first  brought  to  light, 
after  many  years'  diligent  search.  By  WILLIAM  LEE, 
Esq.  With  Facsimiles  and  Illustrations.  3  vols.  Svo, 
cloth,  $6.00.  Or  in  tree  calf,  extra,  $15.00. 

Vol.  I. — A  NEW  MEMOIR  OF  DEFOE.  Vols.  II.  and 
III. — HITHERTO  UNKNOWN  WRITINGS. 

A  most  valuable  contribution  to  English  history  and  English  literature. 

For  many  years  it  has  been  well  known  in  literary  circles  that  the  gentleman  to  whom  the  public 
is  indebted  for  this  valuable  addition  to  the  knowledge  of  DeFoe's  Life  and  Works  has  been  an  inde- 
fatigable collector  of  every  thing  relating  to  the  subject,  and  that  such  collection  had  reference  to  a 
more  full  and  correct  Memoir  than  had  yet  been  given  to  the  world. 


World's  Masonic  Begister: 


Containing  Name,  N'umbcr,  Location,  and  Time  of 
Meeting  of  every  Masonic  Lodge  in  the  World,  etc.,  also 
every  Chapter,  Council,  and  Commandery  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  Date  of  Organization,  etc.,  and  Statis- 
tics of  each  Masonic  Jurisdiction,  etc.  By  Leon  Hyneman. 
Portrait,  thick  8vo,  pp.  566,  cloth,  $2.00. 

The  Eosicrucians ; 

Their  Rites  and  Mysteries.  With  chapters  on  the  An- 
cient Fire  and  Serpent- Worshippers,  and  Explanations  of 
the  Mystic  Symbols  represented  in  the  Monuments  and 
Talismans  of  the  primeval  Philosophers.  By  HARGRAVE 
JENNINGS.  Crown  8vo,  316  wood  engravings,  $3. 

#*#  A  volume  of  startling  facts  and  opinions  upon  this  very  mysterious  subject. 

Scientific   and   Eeligious   Mysteries   of 
Antiquity : 

The  Gnosis  and  Secret  Schools  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
Modern  Rosicrucianism,  and  Free  and  Accepted  Masonry. 
By  John  Yarker.  I2mo,  new  cloth,  $2.00. 

a**  "The  sublime  depths  of  the  mysteries  of  antiquity  have  been  sounded  but  by  few  minds  in 
the  lapse  of  ages,  and  those  who  have  leisure  to  follow  upon  their  tracks  will  meet  with  an  ample 
reward. 

ONLY  ONE  HUNDRED  COPIES  PRINTED. 

Duyckinck's  Cyclopaedia  of  American 
Literature. 

Printed  by  Alvord,  on  a  hand-press,  and  on  tinted 
paper  of  extra  weight  and  finish,  prepared  expressly  for 
the  work.  For  the  convenience  of  persons  desirous  of  il- 
lustrating the  work,  for  which  purpose  it  is  admirably 
adapted,  it  has  been  issued  in  five  parts,  with  separate 
rubricated  titles,  each  of  the  two  original  volumes  being 
divided  into  two  parts,  of  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
pages  each,  and  the  new  Supplement  forming  the  fifth. 
A  finely  engraved  portrait  printed  on  India  paper  is  given 
v/ith  each  part.  The  subjects  of  these  portraits  are  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  James  Fenimore  Cooper,  Washington 
Irving,  William  Hickling  Prescott,  and,  with  the  Supple- 
ment, a  portrait  of  the  late  George  L.  Duyckinck,  newly 
engraved  in  line,  by  Burt,  after  an  original  painting  by 
Duggan.  5  vols.  4to,  uncut,  $25.00.  Half  morocco,  gilt 
top,  $50.00. 

Only  thirteen  sets  of  this  edition  now  remain. 


28 


Payne  Knight's  Worship  of  Priapus. 

A  discourse  on  the  Worship  of  Priapus,  and  its  connec- 
tion with  the  Mystic  Theology  of  the  Ancients.  I>y 
RICHARD  PAYNE  KNIGHT,  Esq.  A  new  edition.  T< 
.vhich  is  added  an  essay  on  the  worship  of  the  generative 
powers  during  the  middle  ages  of  Western  Europe.  Il- 
lustrated with  138  engravings  (many  of  which  are  full- 
page),  from  Ancient  Gems,  Coins,  Medals,  Bronzes, 
Sculpture,  Egyptian  Figures,  Ornaments,  Monuments, 
etc.  Printed  on  heavy  toned  paper,  at  the  Chiswick  Press, 
I  vol.  4to,  half  Roxburghe  morocco,  gilt  top,  $35.00. 

14  R.  P.  Knight,  the  writer  of  the  first  '  Essay,"  was  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  a  member 
the  llritish  Parliament,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  antiquaries  of  his  time.     His  museum  of  1'hal 
objects  is  now  most  carefully  preserved  in  the  London  British  Museum.     The  second  '  Essay.'  bring- 
ing our   kii<iwl'-dge  of  the   worship  ot   Priapus   down   to   the  present  time,  so  as  to  include  the  — 
recent  discoveries  throwing  any  light  upon  the  matter,  is  said  to  be  by  one  of  the  most  distingi; 
English  antiquaries — the  author  of  numerous  works  which  are  held  in  high  esteem.     He  was    assisted 
it  is  understood,  by  two  prominent  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Society,  one  of  whom  has  recently  presented 
a  wonderful  collection  of  Phallic  objects  to  the  British  Museum  authorities." 


Gesta  Romaiiorum. 

Or,  Entertaining  Moral  Stories.  Invented  by  the 
Monks  as  a  fireside  recreation ;  and  commonly  applied  to 
their  Discourses  from  the  Pulpit,  whence  the  most  cele- 
brated of  our  Poets  and  others,  from  the  earliest  times, 
have  extracted  their  Plots.  Translated  from  the  Latin, 
with  Preliminary  Observations  and  Copious  Notes,  by  the 
Rev.  CHARLES  SWAN.  New  edition,  with  an  Introduc- 
tion by  THOMAS  WRIGHT,  Esq.,  M.A.,  E.S.A.  2  vols. 
8vo,  vellum  cloth,  uncut,  printed  on  large  and  heavy 
paper,  $10.00.  Eull  calf,  extra,  $17.50. 

A  limited  edition  only  was  printed,  of  which  now  only 
14  copies  remain. 

"  They  "  (the  Monks)  '•  might  be  disposed  occasionally  to  recreate  their  minds  with  subjects  of 
light  and  amusing  nature ;  and  what  could  be  more  innocent  or  delightful  than  the  stories  of  tl" 
GKSTA  ROMANOKUM  !  " — Donee's  Illustrations  to  Shakespeare. 


Jones'  (Owen)  Grammar  of  Ornament. 

A  Scries  of  112  exquisitely  colored  Plates,  executed  in 
Chromolithography,  comprising  3000  examples  of  the  Dec- 
oration of  all  Ages  and  Nations,  with  Descriptive  Letter- 
press, illustrated  with  Woodcuts.  Folio,  cloth,  extra,  gilt 
edges.  $30.00. 

This  new  edition  is  a  reproduction  of  the  larger  work  on  a  smaller  scale  ;  a  few  of  the  plates 
which  could  not  be  reduced  have  been  printed  on  a  larger  scale,  and  the  same  artistic  maMer  lias  been 
extended  from  100  to  112  plates. 


29 

Dibdin's  Bibliomania ; 

Or,  Book-Madness  :  A  Bibliographical  Romance.  With 
numerous  Illustrations.  A  new  Edition,  with  a  Supple- 
ment, including  a  Key  to  the  Assumed  Characters  in  the 
Drama.  Svo,  half-Roxburghe,  $6.00  ;  a  few  Large  Paper 
copies,  Imp.  Svo,  half-Roxburghe,  the  edges  altogether 
uncut,  $12.00. 

"  I  have  not  yet  recovered  from  the  delightful  delirium  into  which  your  '  Bibliomania*  has  com- 
pletely thrown  me.  Your  book,  to  my  taste,  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  gratifications  I  have  en- 
joved  for  many  years." — ISAAC  DISRAELI. 

Greville's  Memoirs. 

Journal  of  the  Reign  of  King   George  IV.    and  King' 
William   IV.     By  the  late   Charles  C.    F.   Greville,   Esq. 
Edited  by  Henry  Reeve.     3  vols.  Svo,  cloth,  $7.50. 

No  equally  important  contribution  to  the  political  history  of  the  last  generation  has  been  made  by 
any  previous  writer.  As  a  man  of  rank  and  fashion,  Mr.  Grevilld  associated,  on  terms  of  equality, 
with  all  the  statesmen  of  his  time,  and  his  long  tenure  of  a  permanent  office  immediately  outside  of  the 
circle  of  politics  compelled  him  to  observe  a  neutrality  which  was  probably  congenial  to  his  character 
and  inclination. — Saturday  Review. 

Archie  Armstrong's  Banquet  of  Jests. 

Reprinted  from  the  original  edition.,  together  with 
ARCHIE'S  DREAM  (1641),  handsomely  printed  in  antique 
style,  with  red  line  borders.  Square  I2mo,  new  vellum 
cloth,  uncut,  $6.50. 

The  same,  printed  on  Whatman's  paper  (limited  to  25 
copies).  Square  I2mo,  new  cloth,  $9.00. 

a**  The  edition  (of  all  kinds)  was  limited  to  252  copies.  It  is  completely  exhausted,  and  copies 
are  n<».v  difficult  to  obtain. 

"  A  more  amusing  budget  of  odd  stories,  clever  witticisms,  and  laughter-moving  tales,  is  not  to  be 
found  :u  Jester's  Library." 

Nares'  Glossary. 

Or,  Collection  of  Words,  Phrases,  Names,  and  Allusions 
to  Customs,  Proverbs,  etc.,  which  have  been  thought  to 
require  Illustration  in  the  Works  of  English  Authors,  par- 
ticularly Shakespeare  and  his  contemporaries.  NEW 
EDITION,  with  additions,  etc.,  by  J.  O.  Halliwell  and 
Thomas  Wright.  2  vols.  Svo,  new  cloth,  $6.50. 

Gavin  Douglas'  Poetical  Works. 

With  Memoir,  Notes  and  Glossary,  by  J.  Small,  M.A., 
F.S.A.  Illustrated  by  specimens  of  the  Manuscripts, 
nnd  the  title-pages  and  woodcuts  of  the  early  editions  in 
facsimile.  Handsomely  printed  in  4  vols.  post  Svo,  cloth. 
$18.00.  iS/4- 

-The  same,  LARGE  PAPER.  Fifty  copies  only  printed. 
4  handsome  demy  Svo  vols.  cloth,  $25.00.  (Published 
@  £6.6.0.) 

The  distinguished  poets,  William  Dunbar,  Gavin  Douglas,  Bishop  of  Dunkeld,  and  Sir  David 
Lindsay  oi  the  Mount,  form  a  trio  of  whom  Scotland  has  every  reason  to  be  proud;  but.  as  the  works 
of  the  second  of  these  ha\e  not  hitherto  been  collected,  an  Edition  of  them  has  long  been  a  desider- 
atum in  Scottish  Literature. 


30 

Walford's  County  Families. 

The  County  Families  of  the  United  Kingdom  ;  or,  Man- 
ual of  the  Titled  and  Untitled  Aristocracy  of  Great  Britaii 
and  Ireland.  Containing  a  Brief  Notice  of  the  Descent, 
Birth,  Marriage,  Education,  and  Appointments  of  each 
person  ;  his  Heir  Apparent  or  Presumptive  ;  as  also 
Record  of  the  Offices  which  he  has  hitherto  held,  with  hi: 
Town  Address  and  Country  Residence.  By  EDWARI 
WALFORD,  M.A.  i  vol.  thick  imperial  octavo.  Cloth,  gilt 
edges.  1,200  pages,  $8.00. 

Caxton's  Statutes  of  Henry  VII.,  1489. 

Edited,  with  Notes  and  Introduction,  by  JOHN  RAE, 
Esq.,  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Institution.  The  earliest  knowi 
volume  of  Printed  Statutes,  and  remarkable  as  being  ii 
English.  It  contains  some  very  curious  and  primitive 
Legislation  on  Trade  and  Domestic  Matters.  In  remark- 
able fac-simile,  from  the  rare  original.  Small  folio,  half 
morocco,  uncut,  $7.50. 


Owen  Jones'  Alhambra. 

Plans,  Elevations,  and  Sections  of  the  Alhambra,  witl 
the  elaborate  details  of  this  beautiful  specimen  of  Moor- 
ish   Architecture,   minutely  displayed  in    100  beautifull; 
engraved  plates,  67  of  which  are  highly  finished  in  gob 
and  colors,  from   Drawings  taken  on  the   spot  by  Ji 
GOURY  and  OWEN  JONES,  with  a  complete  translation  of 
the  Arabic  Inscriptions,  and  an  Historical  Notice  of  UK 
Kings  of  Granada,  by  PASCUAL  DE  GAYANGOS.     2  vols. 
imperial  folio  (pub.  at  £24),  elegantly  half  bound  morocco, 
gilt  edges,  full  gilt  backs.     $IOO. 

The  same  work  on  Large  Paper,  2  vols.  atlas  folio,  n 
plates,  67  of  them  in  gold  and  colors,  the  engraved  plates 
on  India  paper  (pub.  at  £36),  half  bound  morocco,  gill 
edges.  $125. 

For  practical  purposes,  to  architects  the  small  paper  copies  will  suffice  ;  but  gentlemen  dcsir 
of  adding  a  noble  book  in  its  finest  appearance  to  their  library,  must  have  a  Large  Paper  copy. 

''  In  spite  of  earthquakes,  mines  and  counter-mines — spite  of  Spanish  convicts,  Fiench  soldier 
Spanish  bigotry,  and  Flemish   barbarism  of  thieves  and  gipsys,  contrabandists  and  briyamK,  pai 
pers,  charcoal-burners  and   snow-gatherers,    the   Alhambra   still   exists — one  of  the   most  recent 
European  nuns.     It  is  the  most  perfect  in  repair  and  the  richest  in  design  ;  it  has  suffered  less  fro 
man.  or  the  elements,  and  has  fallen  more  gently  into  decay.     It  was  not  molten  like  Nineveh  in  ar 
hour,  or  buried  in  a  day  like  Pompeii ;    it  was  not  smitten  down  at  a  blow  like  Corinth,  or  sapped  foi 
centuries  like  Athens.     Though  it  has    been   alternately  a   barrack,  a  prison,  a   tea  garden,  and  at 
almshouse — though  its  harem  nas  been  a  hen-house,  its  prisons  pens  for  sheep  ;   the  Alhambra  is  stif 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  productions  of   Eastern  splendor,  lingering  in  Europe  long  atier  the  Mo* 
Ism  waves  have  rolled  hack  into  Asia,  like  a  golden  cup  dropped  on  the  sand,  or  like  the  last  tent 
some  dead  Arab,  still  standing,  when   the  rest  of  his  tribe  have  long  since  taken  up  their  spears,  " 
tcttrered  their  camels,  and  sought  their  new  homes  in  the  far  desert." 


31 


Prostitution. 


DUFOUR  (PIERRE).  Histoire  de  la  Prostitution  chez 
tous  les  peuples  du  Monde,  depuis  1'antiquite  la  plus  recu- 
lee  jusqu'a  nos  jours.  Illustrated  witJi  numerous  fine  en- 
gravings on  steel.  6  vols.  in  3,  Svo,  hf.  cf.  gilt  tops. 
Scarce.  $18.00.  6  vols.  Svo,  cloth,  $13.50. 

ORIGINAL  and  ONLY  GENUINE  EDITION. 

In  this  learned  work — the  best  that  we  have  on  the  subject — many  of  the  chapters  are  devoted  to 
dissertations  on  matters  of  general  interest  to  students  of  literature.  We  instance  Chap.  XXIV.,  con- 
taining a  treatise  on  the  Obscenity  of  the  French  language,  the  Jargon  of  Argot,  its  Origin,  etc.  ;  also 
in  Chap.  XXXII.,  a  highly  interesting  bibliographical  account  of  the  Aretin  plates  by  Marc  Antonio, 
etc.,  etc. 

The  author  was  threatened  with  criminal  prosecution,  and  pledged  himself  never  to  reproduce  the 
work  ;  it  has  now  become  scarce. 

NEW  AND  MAGNIFICENT  WORK  ON  TEXTILE  FABRICS. 

Ornamental  Textile  Fabrics 

Of  all  Ages  and  Nations.  A  practical  Collection  of  Speci- 
mens. Illustrated  with  Fifty  Plates  in  Gold,  Silver,  and 
Colors,  Comprising  upwards  of  I,OOO  various  styles  of  An- 
cient, Mediaeval  and  Modern  Ornamental  Designs  of  Textile 
Fabrics,  with  Explanatory  Description  and  a  General  In- 
troduction. By  M.  DUMONT-AUBERVILLE.  I  vol.  folio, 
cloth,  gilt,  extra.  $25.00. 

The  Editor  of  this  work,  M.  Dupont-Auberville,  is  known  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished  archae- 
ologists of  modern  France,  and  Textile  Art  is  the  department  of  archaeology  to  which  he  has  devoted 
the  best  years  of  his  life.  His  collection  of  specimens  of  textile  fabrics  embraces  models  taken  from  all 
ages  and  from  all  countries,  and  is  admitted  by  all  artists  to  be  unique  in  every  respect. 

The  works  of  ancient  textile  art,  both  in  the  East  and  the  West,  are  done  full  justice  to,  but  at  the 
same  time  the  framer  of  ''Ornamental  Textile  Fabrics  "  has  drawn  more  amply  from  the  extensive 
stock  of  models  belonging  to  more  recent  periods.  From  his  immense  collection  of  specimens  taken 
from  >he  Renaissance  and  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  lie  has  selected  those  subjects 
which  are  most  worthy  of  the  attention  both  of  the  amateur  and  the  manufacturer.  In  this  manner  the 
work  now  submitted  to  the  public  is  not  a  mere  ornamental  one,  but  at  the  same  time  it  possesses  a 
practical  usefulness  which  must  cause  it  to  be  valued  by  all  who  make  a  study  of  taste  in  manufacturing 
industry  in  general,  and  the  art  of  weaving  in  particular. 

AN  ENTIRELY  NEW  AND  REVISED  EDITION. 

Old  Print  Collectors'  Guide: 

An  Introduction  to  the  Study  and  Collection  of  Ancient 
Prints.  Frontispiece,  plates  of  monograms,  and  illustra- 
tions. By  WM.  H.  WlLLSHlRE.  Handsomely  printed. 
2  large  vols.  demy  Svo,  half  morocco,  gilt  top,  $11.00. 

#*#This  new  edition  entirely  supersedes  the  previous  one,  having,  in  addition  to  much  new  mat- 
ter, full  lists  of  Monograms  and  marks  of  celebrated  collectors  and  amateurs.  A  work  indispensable 
to  the  Print  Collector,  being  a  concentration  in  one  volume  of  all  the  varied  information  relative  to  the 
History  of  Engraving  and  of  Ancient  Prints. 

CONTENTS.  — I.  Engraving  in  Ancient  Times.     II.  Engraving  in  General,  from  the  beginning  oi 


.         . 

the  i3th  to  the  isth  Century.  lit.  On  the  Various  Processes  or  kinds  of  Engraving.  IV.  Advice  on 
the  Study  and  Collection  of  Prints.  V.  The  Various  Schools  of  Engraving.  VI.  The  Northern 
Schools  to  the  time  of  Durer.  VII.  Northern  Schools  from  I  Mirer  to  the  1 7th  Century.  VIII.  1  he 
Southern  Schools  of  Wood  Engraving.  IX.  i  he  Masters  of  "Chiaro  oscuro."  X.  Metal  Engrav- 
i;i!i.  Masters  of  1446,  ec..  XI.  Dutch  and  Flemish  Schools.  XII.  French  and  English  Schools. 
XIII.  Chief  Etchers  of  the  Northern  Schools.  XIV.  On  Engraving  in  the  "Dotted  Manner. 
XV.  The  Southern  Schools  of  Engraving  on  Metal.  Nielli.  XVI.  Italian  Schools.  XVII.  School 
of  Marc  Antonio.  XVIII.  Chief  Etchers  of  the  Italian  Schools.  XIX.  Mezzotinto  Engravings  and 
Engravers.  XX.  On  the  Examination  and  Purchase  of  Ancient  Prints.  XXI.  On  the  Conserva- 
tion ami  Arrangement  of  Prints.  Appendix.— British  Museum  Collection.  Douce  Collection.  Oxford, 
Polytypage,  Cliche",  Mezzotinto  Engraving,  High-priced  Books,  Varia  Bibliography,  Monograms, 
indexes,  etc..  etc. 


32 

The  Works  of  William  linger. 

A  Series  of  Seventy-two  Etcliings  after  tlie  Old 
Blasters.  With  Critical  and  Descriptive  Notes  by  C. 
YOSMAER.  Comprising  the  most  celebrated  paintings  oi 
the  following  artists:  TINTORETTO,  RUYSDAEL,  KEMP.RANDT, 
Gumo,  POUSSIN,  RUBENS,  OSTADE,  JAN  STEEN,  VAN  DYCK, 

WOUVERMANS,    PAUL    PoTTER,  FRANS    IlALS,  VERONESE,    JoR- 
DAENS,  VAN  DER  VELDE,  BfiOUWER,  etc.,  etc. 

Ten  parts  folio,  16x22  inches,  printed  on  heavy  Dutch 
paper,  $60.00.  Or  half  morocco,  extra  gilt  top,  elegant 
and  substantial,  $80.00. 

"  No  engraver  who  ever  lived  has  BO  completely  identified  himself  with  painters  ho  had  to  in- 
terpret as  Professor  Unger  in  the  seventy-two  plates  which  compose  his  l  Works/  lie  can  adopt  at 
will  the  most  opposite  styles,  and  work  on  each  with  ease,  a  fluency  such  as  other  men  can  only 
attain  in  one  manner — their  own — and.  after  half  a  lifetime.  Indeed,  one  would  not  be  going  far 
wrong  to  describe  Professor  Ungcr  as  an  art  critic  of  very  uncommon  insight,  who  explains  the 
sentiment  and  execution  of  great  painters  with  an  etching  needle  instead  of  a  pen. 

"  It  has  been  said  of  engraving  that  it  is  an  nnintellcctnal  occupation,  because  it  is  pimply 
copyism  ;  but  such  engraving  as  this  is  not  unintellectual,  for  it  proves  a  delicacy  and  keenness  of 
understanding  which  are  b:>th  rare  among  artists  and  critics.  Unger  has  not  the  narrowness  of 
the  ordinary  artist,  for  he  can  enter  into  the  most  opposite  styles  :  nor  has  he  the  technical  igno- 
rance of  the  ordinary  critic,  for  he  can  draw — I  will  not  say  like  a  great  master,  but  like  twenty 
different  great  masters. 

"  Mr.  Vosmaer,  the  now  well-known  Dutch  critic,  who  writes  in  English  and  French  as  well 
as  in  his  own  language,  ha"B  much  increased  the  interest  in  Unger's  etchings  by  accompanying 
them  with  a  valuable  biographic  e^say  of  his  own,  much  superior  to  the  ordinary  '  letter-press,' 
which  publishers  in  general  appear  to  consider  as  a  necessary  companion  to  engraving. 

"  The  seventy-two  etchings  before  us  are.  on  the  whole,  the  most  remarkable  set  of  studies 
from  old  masters  which  has  been  issued  by  tlie  enterprise  of  our  modern  publishers,  ami  they  caa 
hardly  fail  to  make  fine  work  better  appreciated  both  by  artists  and  amateurs. 

"  A  few  words  of  praise  are  due  to  the  spirited  publisher,  Mr.  Sijthoff,  of  Leyden,  for  the 
manner  in  which  these  etchings  of  Unger  have  been  published.  They  are  printed  on  fine  Dutch 
paper,  and  mounted  (pasted  by  the  upper  edge  only)  on  sufficiently  go.id  boards  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  enter  into  the  most  carefully  arranged  collections  without  further  change.  They  are  accom- 
panied by  a  text  printed  with  the  greatest  taste,  on  very  fine  Dutch  paper.  This  series  is  printed 
in  one  class  of  proof  only,  and  issued  at  a  price  that  is  most  reasonable,  and  Mr.  Sijthoff  deserves 
our  thanks  for  placing  works  of  real  art,  thoroughly  well  got  up,  within  the  reach  of  cultivated 
people  who  have  limited  incomes. 

"  We  recommend  them  strongly  to  all  artists  and  lovers  of  art  as  a  valuable  means  of  art  edu- 
cation and  a  source  of  enduring  pleasure." — HAMEKTON  in  the  International  Review  for  Jan.,  1876. 

Etchings  after  Frans  Hals. 

A  Series  of  20  beautifully  executed  Etchings.  By 
WILLIAM  UNGER.  With  an  Essay  on  the  Life  and  Works 
of  the  artist,  by  C.  Vosmaer.  Two  parts,  complete,  royal 
folio.  Impressions  on  India  paper,  $25.00.  Selected  proofs, 
before  letters,  on  India  paper,  $40.00.  Artist  proofs  on 
India  paper,  $60.00.  Or  elegantly  bound  in  half  Levant 
morocco,  extra,  gilt  top,  $15.00  additional  to  the  above 
prices.  Uniform  with  Unger's  works. 


"  They  who  know  the  Dutch  painter  Hals  only  through  the  few  portraits  by  him  which  have 
reached  this  country  have  but  a  slight  comparative  acquaintance  with  his  works.  '  A  stranger  to 
all  academical  lore,  to  all  literary  co-operation,'  writes  Mr.  Vosmaer,  '  Frans  Hals  appeared  merely 
as  a  portrait-painter,  like  most  of  the  modern  artists  of  his  youth  ....  true  to  life,  but  also  excel- 
ling by  naturalness  and  masterly  handling.  Subsequently  he  portrayed  the  joyous  popular  life  of 
the  streets  and  the  tavern ;  at  last  those  phases  of  national  social  life,  which  have  at  once  their 
image  and  memorial  in  the  pictures  of  the  arquebusiers  and  the  civic  governors.' " — London  Art 
Journal,  Aug.  1873. 


33 

Tim   NEW  FRENCH  ART  JOURNAL. 

L'Art. 

Revue  Hebdomadaire  Illustre"e.  (M.  Eugene  Veron  et 
Chas.  Tarclicu,  redactcurs.)  Handsomely  printed  on 
heavy  toned  paper,  and  illustrated  with  several  hundred 
engravings  on  wood  from  drawings  and  pictures  by  cele- 
brated cotemporary  artists,  examples  of  antique  and  mod- 
ern sculpture,  objects  of  Art  Industry  in  all  branches,  and 
a  series  of  superbly  executed  etchings  by  the  best  living 
etchers,  executed  expressly  for  this  work ;  being  principally 
from  the  more  noticeable  pictures  exhibited  in  the  Salons 
of  Europe,  carefully  printed  on  Holland  paper.  Forming 
four  volumes  a  year.  Royal  folio  (17  j£  X  12  in.)  of  about 
500  pp.  each,  with  nearly  200  woodcuts,  facsimiles,  etc., 
and  upwards  of  twenty  etchings  in  each  volume.  4  vols., 
folio.  Stitched,  paper  covers,  uncut,  $32.00.  In  cloth, 
gilt  top,  uncut  edges,  $40.00.  Handsomely  bound  in  half 
red  morocco  (Jansen  style),  gilt  tops,  uncut  edges,  $60.00. 

ANOTHER  EDITION,  printed  throughout  on  heavy  Hol- 
land paper,  in  the  most  careful  manner.  The  etchings  in 
two  states,  Artist  proof  on  Japan  paper,  and  ordinary 
print  on  Holland  paper.  The  edition  is  strictly  limited  to 
one  hundred  copies,  numbered.  Forming  4  thick  volumes, 
folio.  Price,  $125.00. 

%*  N.  B. — Payments  to  be  made  on  delivery  of  each 
quarterly  volume. 

OPINIONS  OF  THE   PRESS. 

"Nowhere  but  in  Paris  could  such  a  Review  be  produced  every  week  as  L1 Art,  so  magnificent 
in  every  respect,  paper,  typography,  illustrations,  and  above  all,  so  many  sided  in  its  view  of  art.  and 
so  abundant  and  interesting  in  its  information.  It  has  now  been  brought  to  the  fourth  year  of  its  life, 
with  every  sign  of  assured  and  increasing  vigor,  and  we  are  glad  to  learn,  from  the  report  of  the  edi- 
tor to  the  subscribers,  that  something  more  substantial  than  the  succes  tfestime  has  rewarded  the 
experiment  of  such  a  costly  venture.  .  .  .  It  is  simply  the  cheapest  and  the  best  thing  of  its  kind. 
M.  Veron  seems,  at  any  rate,  to  have  solved  the  problem  of  combining  excellence  with  cheapness. 
We  find,  besides  numerous  little  facsimiles  of  sketches,  and  autograph  letters  of  eminent  artists, 
musicians,  and  dramatists,  no  less  than  seventy  fine  etchings  by  such  men  as  Flameng,  Country, 
Desbrosses,  Langon,  etc.,  and  woodcuts  of  Claude's  and  Turner's  pictures,  with  a  series  of  very  re- 
markable copies  of  the  famous  tapestries  at  Madrid,  from  the  designs  of  Albrecht  Diirer  and  Van 
Eyck,  by  Edmond  Yon,  Perrichon,  and  C.  Maurand,  as  well  as  singularly  fine  examples  of  wood  en- 
graving. Supposing  the  reading  matter  of  the  Review  were  as  ephemeral  and  trivial  in  its  purpose 
as  the  cheapest  of  the  cheap  instead  of  being,  as  it  is,  rich  and  racy,  with  the  native  style  of  all  French 
pens,  thoughtful  and  often  profoundly  suggestive,  and  generally  complete  in  reference  to  detail,  the 
tvro  etchings  by  Flameng,  from  pictures  by  Frans  Hals  and  Nicholas  Maas,  alone  would  be  really 
most  valuable  and  acceptable  to  the  print-collector.  .  .  .  While  L'Art  is  conducted  in  this  style 
the  editor  may  feel  quite  secure  that  France  will  not  lose  that  artistic  supremacy  she  has  long  held." — 
London  Times. 

"  It  would  be  easy  and  pleasant  to  go  on  discoursing  about  the  pictures  m  I."1  Art,  a  paper  which 
is  so  full  of  good,  sober,  and  just  criticisms,  trustworthy  news  about  art,  and  designs  not  otherwise  to 
be  obtained  by  most  people."— Saturday  Review. 

"  The  new  volume  of  L'Art  sufficiently  manifests  the  success  of  a  very  valuable  and  interesting 
publication.  .  .  .  There  is  no  other  journal  in  existence  which  so  happily  and  skilfully  combines 

c  labors  of  artists  and  authors  which  does  not  subordinate  art  to  letters,  or  letters  to  art,  but  permits 
t.iem  t<>  go  'hand  in  hand,  not  one  before  another.'  .  .  .  In  brief,  this  grand  folio  volume  of  L'Art 
abounds  in  matters  of  interest  to  all  readers  and  students  of  aesthetic  and  cultivated  taste."—  T'te 
World  (London). 

'  There  is  some  monotony  in  praising  each  successive  portion  of  a  periodical  as  it  appears  with  an 

wolutely  equal  cordiality  ;  but  the  evenness  of  merit  in  V Art  makes  this  uniformity  of  commenda- 
tion a  duty."— Tke  Nation. 

"  America  is  so  destitute  of  illustrated  works  which  can  at  all  compare  with  L'Art  that  she  cannot 

o  better  than  study  and  enjoy  this  French  publication.  Certainly  there  is  no  other  means  by  which 
so  many  valuable  pictures  can  be  obtained  at  so  small  a  price." — The  Christian  Union. 

"Sumptuous  in  paper  and  type,  lavish  in  illustrations,  and  with  critical  and  explanatory  text  of 
singular  merit ;  the  most  famous  of  modern  art  journals."— N.  Y.  Times. 


34 

The  Portfolio: 

An  Artistic  Periodical,  edited  by  PHILIP  GILBERT 
HAMERTON.  Illustrated  with  Etchings,  Autotypes,  Wood- 
cuts, Facsimiles,  Engravings,  Heliogravures,  etc.  Pub- 
lished monthly. 

Subscription  reduced  to  TEN  DOLLARS  per  annum. 

#%  Sent,  Postage  free,  to  any  part  of  the  United  States, 
on  receipt  of  the  Subscription  price. 

"The  chief  intention  of  'The  Portfolio'  is  to  supply  to  its  subscribers,  at  a  lower  cost*  than  would 
be  possible  without  the  certain  sale  of  a  regular  periodical  circulation,  WORKS  OF  ART  of  various  kinds, 
but  always  such  as  are  likely  to  interest  a  cultivated  public  ;  and  to  accompany  them  with  literature  by 
writers  of  proved  ability,  superior  to  mere  letter-press,  and  more  readable  than  pure  criticism  or  cata- 
loguing." Among  the  artists  who  have  furnished  original  etchings  are  Bracquemond,  Lalanne,  Rajon, 
Legros,  and  Leopold  Flameng,  who  has  given  some  noble  specimens  of  his  skill,  especially  in  the  repro- 
duction of  "The  Laughing  Portrait  of  Rembrandt,"  in  his  particular  province  as  a  reviver  of  the  works 
of  that  artist.  The  subjects  in  all  cases  are  chosen  for  their  worth  and  rarity,  and  in  these  respects  the 
"  Portfolio"  fairly  rivals  its  great  contemporary,  one  of  the  noblest  fine-art  periodicals  ever  issued,  the 
Parisian  "  Gazette  des  Beaux-Arts."  It  has  the  same  finish  in  execution  in  the  minutest  details  of 
paper  and  print,  and  is  in  every  way  a  thoroughly  artistic  production,  far  ahead  in  this  way  of  any- 
thing of  the  class  heretofore  issued  in  England. 

There  are  numerous  single  illustrations  in  the  "  Portfolio,"  worth  the  price  of  the  volume,  suitable 

for  framing. 

OPINIONS  OF  THE   PRESS. 

"Of  the  PORTFOLIO  altogether  it  is  to  be  said,  that  not  only  is  it  the  first  periodical  in  the  Eng- 
lish language  devoted  to  fine-art,  but  that  tt  leads  all  others  by  a  very  great  distance,  whatever 
the  second  and  third  of  such  publications  may  be  taken  to  be. 

"We  warmly  commend  it  to  the  notice  of  all  who  would  cultivate  in  themselves  and  their  families 
an  appreciation  of  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  art.  The  illustrations  are  largely  of  sylvan  scenery,  and 
etchings  from  the  finest  paintings  are  given,  with  letter-press  descriptions,  and  the  best  articles  from 
the  highest  authorities,  so  that  the  monthly  paper  itself,  an  illustration  of  what  is  taught,  becomes  a  com- 
plete magazine  of  the  science  of  art.  IV e  would  regard  the  introduction  of  such  a  journal  into  thf 
family  as  a  good  educator,  while  it  will  prove  a  source  of  exquisite  pleasure  to  those  who  /i<i7>e 
already  a  taste  for  the  beautiful." — N.  Y.  Observer. 

"We  look  for  the  PORTFOLIO  as  for  the  only  serial  published,  in  which  works  of  art  of  a  certain 
kind  and  of  peculiar  merit  are  to  be  found.  Etching  is  not  as  popular,  perhaps,  as  it  should  be,  but  if 
anything  is  likely  to  bring  its  merits  before  the  public,  it  is  such  examples  as  are  to  be  had  here.  Their 
effect  is  striking,  and  in  execution  they  arc  little  short  of  perfect ;  at  any  rate  they  exhibit  this  kind  of 
work  in  the  highest  degree  of  perfection  to  which  it  has  attained." — N.  Y.  Daily  Times. 

"  Mr.  Hamerton's  PORTFOLIO  is  easily  chief  among  English  art  periodicals,  and  has  the  advantage 
of  being  written  by  men  who  are  not  only  familiar  with  the  literature  of  art  and  the  works  of  artists,  but 
are  artists  by  profession,  and  so  know  the  feelings,  aims,  and  technicalities  of  artists.  The  editor  is 
probably  better  acquainted  with  continental  artists  and  their  work  than  most  of  the  insular  fellows,  and 
his  art  theories  and  criticisms  are  proportionately  more  catholic  and  valuable.  The  PORTFOLIO,  instead 
of  being  a  magazine  of  current  gossip  about  artists  and  their  doings,  is  a  work  of  permanent  value,  apart 
from  its  excellent  illustrations,  as  a  collection  of  able  essays,  critical,  historical,  technical,  and  personal, 
very  free  from  narrowness  and  professional  or  national  prejudice.  It  is  the  glory  of  the  PORTFOLIO 
that  it  is  in  a  way  cosmopolitan,  free  from  the  prejudices  of  nations  and  schools."— Atlantic  Afont, 

"The  Portfolio  is  very  charming.  An  Art  periodical  far  superior  to  anything  which  has  hitherto 
appeared." — Guardian. 

"  From  the  first  it  has  stood  nearly  alone  as  really  'an  artistic  periodical.'  An  hour  spent  over  the 
Portfolio  is  one  of  refreshment,  encouragement,  and  unalloyed  delight.'' — Spectator. 

"  Of  the  Etchings  the  merits  are  unquestionable ;  indeed,  the  work  is  enriched  with  some  of  the 
finest  examples.     The  literary  part  is  generally  worthy  of  praise  for  being  scholarly,  graceful,  an 
interesting." — Athenaum. 

"  Dealing  with  artistic  subjects  generally,  and  always  in  a  spirit  of  intelligence  and  refinement."- 
Graphic. 

"To  the  portfolio  is  unanimously  accorded  the  first  place  as  an  artistic  periodical." — Cambridge 
Chronicle. 

Back  volumes  for  1870,  '71,  '72,  '73,  '74,  '75,  '7°",  and 
'77  may  still  be  had  on  application.  Any  volume  sold 
separately.  Price,  in  blue  cloth,  gilt  leaves,  $14.00  each. 


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