by little, Norman words began to creep into every-day English speech. French was the language of the court, of parliament, and of the colleges; and very soon a smattering of the new language became a badge of gentility. English had been in the main a spoken language, while the Norman-French was written extensively. Having to that extent the better chance of survival, it was only a question of time for a considerable element of French to become infused into the language of the common people. Old English inflections began to drop away, and to give place to the fixed and more rational forms of the FrenchLatin. Moreover, the common necessities of life demanded that the rulers and the ruled should have intelligible intercourse with one another when they met at church, at fairs, and in the market-place. The French wars were especially influential in the same way, because they brought into very close relations the Saxon bowman and his Norman lord. In all these cases men were obliged to talk with each other. "Every man turned himself into a walking phrase-book." The Norman used English synonyms for his French words; and whenever an Englishman spoke with a Norman, he sought in his turn French equivalents for the words of his vernacular. And so our language began to swarm with words that went in couples. The traces of this are to be seen in our present vocabulary, where we find such pairs of words as will and testament, aid and abet, pray and beseech, acknowledge and confess, and dissemble and cloak, most of which have come down to us in the set forms of expression of the church and the law of England.1 The English people held fast to their own speech, but 1 In this way our language has come into possession of a wealth of synonyms such as no other tongue affords. These pairs of words, providing for the use of what Swift calls " proper words in proper places," enable us to give expression to the nicest shades of meaning. they inevitably adopted many French words as time. passed. This process went on for several hundred years; and then, about the middle of the fourteenth century, it seemed as if the English language would not absorb any more French. The loss of Normandy in 1204 had given to the ruling class and the mass of the people of England a common political interest, and the whole tendency of religious teaching was to break down the barriers between them. Finally, by act of parliament (1362), both French and Latin were made to give place to English in the courts of law. The Latin contribution to our language, which resulted from the Conquest, imparted to it a new quality, and gave it wider powers of expression. So true is this that we may say that until this element was thoroughly transfused into the original English the writings of Shakespeare were impossible. This is still truer of Milton. His most powerful thoughts are written in lines the most telling words in which are almost always Latin. This may be illustrated by the following verses from "Lycidas" (see page 69): "It was that fatal and perfidious bark, Built in the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark, On the other hand, it is to be observed that whole sentences can be made containing only words of English origin, while it is impossible to do this with Latin or other foreign words. In the following passage from "Macbeth" there is but one Romance word: "Go bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready, She strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed! — Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come! let me clutch thee! It is further to be noted that the names of classes of things and of generalizations are mainly of Latin origin; while the names of particular things are Anglo-Saxon. Thus color is a general term, and of Latin origin, while red, yellow, black, white, green, brown, are Saxon and particular; number is general, while one, two, three, four, five, six, etc., are particular; move is general, while leap, spring, slip, slide, fall, walk, run, swim, ride, creep, crawl, fly, are particular. The first prose writer of the fourteenth century was Sir John Mandeville (1300–1372). He has been called the "Father of English Prose," since, though not the first of the writers of prose in our language, he is the first whose work survives. He was educated to be a physician, but from early manhood seems to have been seized with a passion to see "cities of men, manners, climates, councils, governments." He wrote a narrative of his travels, first in Latin, then in French, and finally in English, in order that, as he said, “every man of my nation may understand it." Many copies of this work were circulated in manuscript, but it was not put into type until the year 1499,that is, about twenty-five years after Caxton set up his printing-press in London. Mandeville's narrative tells of his journeyings from one end to the other of the world as then known; and while it is probably authentic in general outline, the account is defaced by stories of marvelous scenes and preposterous adventures.1 1 Some notion of his style may be derived from the following passage in the introduction to his work: "And for als moche as it is long tyme passed, that ther 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 Maundevylle, Knyght, alle be it I be not worthi, that was born in Englond, in the Town of Seynt Albones, passed the See, in the Zeer of our Lord Jesu Crist MCCCXXII, in the Day of Seynt Michelle; and hidre to [hitherto] have heen longe tyme over the See, and have seyn and gon thorghe manye dyverse Londes, and many Provynces and Kingdomes and Iles, and have passed thorghe Tartarye, Percye [Persia], Ermonye [Armenia] the litylle and The most influential writer of prose was John Wyclif (1324-1384). His fame rests upon the translation of the Latin version of the Scriptures, in the making of which many hands were employed under his supervision. This work was completed only a short time before his death. The words and the style of Wyclif's translation were of permanent service in giving fixity to the best English usage of his day. This was the first translation of the whole Bible into our language.1 the grete; thorghe Lybye, Caldee, and a gret partie of Ethiope; thorghe Amazoyne [Amazonia], Inde the lasse and the more, a gret partie; and thorgbe out many othere Iles, that ben abouten Inde; 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." 1 Comparing Wyclif's translation of the opening verses of St. Luke xxiv. with the latest English rendering, we may see some of the changes our language has undergone in a period of five hundred years. 1380 But in o day of the woke ful eerli thei camen to the grave, and broughten swete smelling spices that thei hadden arayed. And thei founden the stoon turnyd awey fro the grave. And thei geden in and foundun not the bodi of the Lord Jhesus. And it was don, the while thei weren astonyed in thought of this thing, lo twey men stodun bisidis hem in schynyng cloth. And whanne thei dredden and bowiden her semblaunt into erthe, thei seiden to hem, what seeken ye him that lyveth with deede men? He is not here; but he is risun have ye minde how he spak to you whanne he was yit in Golilee, and seide, for it behoveth mannes sone to be bitakun into the hondis of synful men: and to be crucifyed and the thridde day to rise agen? And thei bithoughten on hise wordis, and thei geden agen fro the grave and teelden alle these thingis to the ellevene and to alle othere. And there was Marye Maudeleyn and Jone and Marye of James, and othere wymmen that weren with hem, that seiden to Apostlis these thingis. 1880 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came unto the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, while they were perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel: and as they were affrighted, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said. unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying that the Son of man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered his words, and returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; and the other women with them told these things unto the apostles.. The greatest figure in the poetry of the fourteenth century was Geoffrey Chaucer (1328-1400). The accounts of his early life are not very full; but we know that, owing perhaps to his handsome presence, as well as to his powers and attainments, he early found favor at court. He traveled extensively on the Continent, especially in France and Italy, and had a most varied experience as soldier, ambassador, and member of parliaChaucer's greatest work is CHAUCER ment. the "Canterbury Tales," which is a collection of stories in verse. The finest part of this work is the Prologue; the noblest story is the "Knightes Tale." The Prologue is the work of a great literary artist, drawing from nature with incomparable force, sureness, and freedom. It is worthy of note that in 1362, when Chaucer was a very young man, the session of the House of Commons was first opened with a speech in English; and thus he wrote at a time when our language was freshest and newest. He was closely familiar with Italian literature; and it is undoubtedly due to this that in his hands English was proved to be rich in sweetness and harmony, no less than in force. Tennyson thus refers to him: "Dan1 Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath The spacious times of great Elizabeth With sounds that echo still." The lesser poets of this period were William Langlande (1332-1400), who used the alliterative form, and whose a poetical title of honor master |