Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

complaints against the encroachments of foreign words and idioms. Uncorrected by the influence of the educated classes, the dialects heard in different parts of the country became more and more distinct, so that the people of one section could scarcely be understood by those of another. For nearly a hundred years these conditions seemed, in the main, to grow worse instead of better. When at last the language began to emerge from this chaos, it was not a new language, but it was very much changed. With all its influx of French words it was grammatically a more simple language than ever before, having lost most of its inflections, especially those of the noun. Of course the relations and conditions formerly indicated by inflections had to be expressed by separate words. During this transition period, especially toward the latter part of it, there were not a few who wrote in English; but their works are, for the most part, unimportant in the study of literature. They were principally on religious themes, and are chiefly interesting as indications of the changes that were taking place in the language.

About one hundred

22. Layamon's "Brut." and fifty years after the Conquest, a priest by the name of Layamon wrote in verse a chronicle of Britain. was mostly derived from Keltic traditions that had been preserved in France and parts of England. The story makes Brutus, a son of the Trojan Æneas, a founder of the British line of monarchs. It was written for the common people of a rural district, and was a specimen of pure Saxon. It is said that the original text did not contain fifty words taken from the French.

23. The "Ormulum."

- In the thirteenth cen

tury a writer by the name of Orm, or Ormin, wrote in verse a series of homilies based upon portions of the New Testament. It is evidently the work of a good man, with worthy motives but very little genius. The book was called, from its author's name, the "Ormulum." Its language, though quaint, resembles that of

modern times much more than does that in the "Brut" of Layamon.

24. Conclusion. To the critical student of languages and their development, this transition period, of nearly three hundred years, affords a very interesting study; but for the purpose of this book, it might be unprofitable to give it more than this passing notice. With this period closes the Ancient, or Early, English, and also the Middle, or Transition, English. With the writings of the latter part of the fourteenth century begins our Modern English. During the five centuries since that time the language has received many modifications and many new words, but there has been no radical change in its fundamental structure.

CHAPTER FOUR.

THE AWAKENING.

25. Irrepressible Spirit of the English People. Although checked and impeded by the results of the Norman invasion, the current of English thought could not be restrained for any long period. Its springs were too deep and copious to be dried, even by the withering drought of oppression. The English people were cast in too large a mold to be held under the heel of tyranny. Their native love of independence burned within them, and sooner or later was certain to burst forth. Titles and lands they could be compelled to yield, but their freedom of conscience, never.

The Christian

26. The Arrogance of Rome. religion had been a blessing to the English people. The best literature the nation could boast had been prompted by the pure principles and unselfish motives taught in the Bible. Not only had the moral tone of English literature been improved by contact with these sacred writings, but the language itself was greatly enriched by the bold imagery and refined diction of the tongues in which the Scriptures had been written, and through which they had been translated.

She

But the Church of Rome had become arrogant. had presumed to dictate to the people, not only what they should think, and how they should worship, but

what they should do with their hard-earned means. Mendicant friars were sent all through England begging for the church. It was said that the taxes paid to the church were ten times as great as those required by the government. Thus the people were really impoverished by the unnecessary demands of a power that had no love for them and gave them very little in return.

But worst of all, many of these friars, as well as the priests themselves, were corrupt in character. They did not even give the people the benefit of a good example.

27. Romish Abuses Denounced.- At last the exasperation of the people began to break out in sarcasm and denunciation. Men of learning and genius were aroused, and began to write against the abuses practised by the greedy emissaries of Rome. Foremost among these were William Langland and John Wycliffe.

28. Piers Plowman.- Langland wrote a poem called the "Vision of Piers Plowman," in which Peter the Plowman represents the peasantry, or rural working people of the country. The author falls asleep on the Malvern Hills, and sees in vision a company of people. In his poem he records what he saw and heard. In this way, he portrays, in allegory, the injustice that had been exercised toward the common people, not only by the church, but by the State as well. This book set forth the feelings of the people so truly that they eagerly caught it up, and it has been thought that the humble volume finally played a considerable part in preparing the way for the Reformation. A number of years later,

Langland wrote another book, called "The Complaint of Piers Plowman." This book attacked not only the practises of the church but its doctrines, since Langland was a friend of Wycliffe, and followed in his wake.

29. John Wycliffe.- Wycliffe had a powerful mind and great energy of purpose. He was a scholar. After taking his degree at Oxford, he lectured there on divinity, expressing his anti-Romish views freely. He also labored with great zeal in preaching, not on Sundays alone, but on the festival days of the church as well. He is said to have been "a most exemplary and unwearied pastor." His ability was recognized everywhere. He was highly appreciated by the king and court, but continued unhesitatingly to expose the corruptions of the Church of Rome, and was called upon, time after time, to appear before a meeting of the Convocation to answer for his bold words against the pope, to whom he had applied the term of Antichrist. When he ap

peared at the Convocation, he was accompanied by his powerful friend, John of Gaunt, and by other men of influence. Soon a great tumult began. The citizens of London burst into the chapel, and frightened the synod of clergy so that they were quite willing to let Wycliffe go. Then the ecclesiastics appealed to the pope, who issued several bulls, three addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops, one to the king, and one to the University of Oxford. These bulls commanded an inquest into the erroneous doctrines of the reformer. Again circumstances favored Wycliffe, and he escaped without harm. These persecutions made Wycliffe the more thorough in his efforts at reform. When

« ZurückWeiter »