and destruction wherever they came. The resistance of the Britons was long, continued, and bloody, and ended only in the almost total extirpation of the whole race (1). So great was the number of these barbarians, and so complete the annihilation of the Ancient Britons, that from the Frith of Forth to the coasts of Kent and Suffolk, the British language disappeared, except from Wales, where it still exists, and is commonly spoken by the inhabitants. The only language throughout the rest of the country was that of the conquerors; and the Saxon must therefore be considered as the root from whence first sprung the modern English. These Saxons were, in their turn, exposed to the irruptions of other barbarians-the Danes-who eventually subjected the country to their dominion, during the reigns of Canute and his two sons they had however no further influence on the language than the introduction of a certain number of Danish words, which may still be traced in it. The return of the English line, in the person of Edward the Confessor, restored the predominance of the Saxon; so that when the Normans entered the island, the Anglo-Saxon was almost universally spoken. Of this language, now become a dead one, many considerable specimens still exist, the earliest of which is fixed at about 680. It is a fragment by Cadmon (2), preserved by Alfred, in his translation of Bede's history, and of which the following is an extract. Nu we secol herigean And his (1) mod gethane, Now we shall praise Heaven (*) kingdom's guardian; And his mind's thoughts, (Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, passim. (2) Warton's History of English Poetry. (') «Weard,» guardian: the let.ers w, and gu, being identical; e: g: ward-robe,» garde-robe, (*) «Mod»--now «mood,» tone or character, state of mind. (*) The termination «ric,» kingdom, the German «reich,» is retained in the word «Bishopric.» Weorc wuldor fœder! Swa he wuldres gehwas Ece drihten Ord onstealde; He ærest gescop Firum faldan ; Frea almihtig. Beda Op. IV. 24. Of works glorious father! So he of every glory Eternal Lord! The beginning established; He first shaped The Earth for the children, (of men) Holy shaping, (creator)! Of Man's kind the guardian; Afterwards made The ground for men; What degree of influence the Norman Conquest had on the language of the country, it would perhaps be very difficult to decide, though we should rather incline to the opinion of Hallam (1) that it was very slight. Even before this event the French language had become popular amongst the higher classes in England; and it is remarked that a greater number of French words were then introduced, than during the first hundred years after the Normans had made themselves masters of the country. The neglected state of learning in the English monasteries-then the only seats of knowledge-and which in the 8th century had been so flourishing, forced the nobility, and those who were desirous to study, to seek for education abroad; and they naturally repaired to the French colleges, then in some esteem. Fashion had also its effect, as the nobles, ashamed of their less civilized customs, manners, language, and habits, were generally ambitious of imitating every thing that was Frankish. To all this the Conquest put a total stop. A most deadly hatred and sturdy opposition against the conquerors arose on all sides, and this, for a time at least, prevented any mixture of the two languages, even in spite of all the efforts of William. The laws were, by his order, administered in Norman (') Hallam's Hist. of the Literature of Europe. 1st. Vol. French children at school were forbidden to read in their native tongue, and were instructed in Norman-French only. But William's tyrannical attacks upon the language of the natives failed in the success he had anticipated for in the earliest production of any consequence after the conquest,Layamon's chronicle,-supposed to have been written about a hundred years after that event, all the change which had taken place in the Anglo-Saxon was the introduction of a few French words, and the suppression of some of the Saxon terminations. This epoch is therefore generally considered as the dawn of the English language. Towards the close of the 13th century, we find many examples of translation from the French romances; and this perhaps may be considered as the period at which French words began to be so abundantly engrafted on the English language. This, however, does not seem to have been the case before; for as Hallam says (1), though translation was the means by which words of French origin were afterwards more copiously introduced, very few occur in the extracts of Layamon hitherto published. » In the reign of Edward III, the Commons, most of whom were of Saxon origin, had so far gained a superiority over the Barons, as to cause an act of parliament to be passed, by which all law-pleadings were to be carried on in English. The Saxon language had now undergone a very considerable change, not only by the introduction of French words, but even in its forms and terminations. To trace this is impossible (2), all that we know is that it took place gradually, and left us the rude elements of that now spoken. Having thus brought the language down to a period when it may be comprehended by the general reader, we shall proceed to exemplify its further progress by extracts from some of our best writers, as the simplest mode of showing its march through the course of centuries. Passing over the other poets of this period, our first extract shall be from Chaucer, the father of English poetry, and a (') Hist. of the Literature of Europe. 1st, Vol. (2, Dr. Johnson's Hist. of the English Language. genius of the highest order, who flourished in the latter end of the 14th Century, and was justly considered as the most elegant writer of his time: (Ther was, as telleth Titus Livius, 28 3 And strong of frendes, and of gret richesse. 9 Whan that me list; who can me 10 contrefete? Pigmalion? not, though he aye should forge, and "bete, To form and peinten earthly creatures, 18 Right as me list, and "eche thing in my cure is And for 17 my 18 I made 1 hire to the worship of my lord; 21 What colour that they han, or what figures. This maid of age 22 twelf yere was and tway, 23 In which that nature hadde 23 swiche 24 delit: Ere she was born, upon hire 26 limmes free, (') Canterbury Tales. • Paint. • When Each. 'Called. Great. More. Person. Formed her. ' Would say. it pleases me. 10 Counterfeit. "Beat, forge. 1 Should work. "Chief creator. "Care. 16 Moon. 17 Work. 18 Ask." Her. 20 21 My. Whatever colours they have. "Twelve years and two. Such. Delight, 25 White. 23 24 Limbs. Wheras by right swiche colours shulden be: And Phebus 9 With mesure eke of 10 bearing and array, Discrete she was in answering alway. Though she were wise as Pallas, dare I sain, To 13 semen wise, but after hire" degree 17 Shamefast she was in maidens shamfastnesse, 19 THE DOCTOUR'S TALE. The prose style, always more slow in its formation than the poetic, would of course be considerably inferior to the poetry of this time. We extract from Wickliffe's translation of the Bible : 6 THE PRODIGAL SON. A mann hadde twey sones: and the yonger of (20) hem seide to the fadır, «Fadir, geve me the porcioun of catel that fallith to me; » and he departide to (2) hem the catel. And not after manye dayes, whanne alle thingis weren gederid togider: the yongere sone wente forth in pilgrimage, into a fer cuntree, and ther he wastid hise goodis in lyvynge riotously. And after that he hadde endid alle thingis, a strong hungur was maad in that cuntree, and he bigan to have nede. And he wente and (25) drough him to oon of the cyteseynes of that cuntree, and he sente him into his toun to feed swyn. And he coveitide to fille his (24) wombe of this coddis that the hoggis eeten, 10 4 5 'Dyed. ' Large, abundant. 'Streams of his burning heat. Quality. That deserves praise. Mind. Bloomed. Modesty. Reserve. Behaviour, deportment. Speech. 12 Also. 13 Seem. "Rank. " Sounding. Good-breeding. "Bashful. 7 Heart. Em ployment. (") Them. (") Him. (") Drew. (22) Belly. |