SMALLER SPECIMENS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. CHAPTER I. OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH. A.-OLD ENGLISH. (-1154). 1. The Saxon Chronicle. (History, p. 11.) ON the 18th of March, 979, King Edward, afterwards known as 'the Martyr," was assassinated at "Corfes-geat," in Dorsetshire. The Peterborough chronicler vents his indignant sorrow in the following terms : The characters in the above extract that are no longer in use are ð, þ, and . The first is generally taken to represent the sound of th in though, the second that of th in think; and the third is a contraction for þæt, that. The curious (apparent) contractions ye, yt, for the, that, owe their existence to the early printers confounding the second of these letters with y. The words that seem to have totally disappeared from the language are:-ac, but; magas, kinsfolk; swide, exceedingly; adilgian, to destroy; se, the; eadmodlice, submissively; ongytan, to perceive; smeagunga, devices; syndon, are. The rest are still found, if not exactly in the same forms and significations, in others more or less akin to their ancient. The grammatical inflections and terminations that have met with the same fate are:-e, dat. sing. of noun, and adverb; on, en, adverb of motion from, and plur. of verb; a, definite declension of adject., and gen. plur. of substantive; an, plur. of adject., and dat. sing. of substantive; að, present plur. of verbs. The rest still survive in some shape :-an of the infin. in such phrases as "seeing is believing," &c.; um of dat. in whilom; ne of accus. in then, when. Even the reduplication of past participle (ge-) still exists in ago; and an of plural nouns in oxen. NOTES. 1. Ne... nan. In O. E. and M. E. an accumulation of negatives strengthened the negation. The existence of the adverb ne gave the language a power that is now entirely lost-that of forming all kinds of negative words. To this we owe nill (ne will), not (ne ought), none (ne one). Weard, pret. of weorthan, to become, but used here as a mere passive auxiliary. The same verb is still found in the phrase "woe worth," as in "wor worth the day," i.e., woe be to, &c. 4. Hine, accus. The modern him, whom, are in reality datives. 6. On life. This is the origin of the word alive, v and f being interchangeable letters, and a being a shortened form of on, as in ashore, abed, &c. 7. Sanct, one of the Latin words that had already been taken into the language, principally owing to ecclesiastical influences. 8. Nolden, ne wolden. See Note I. "To wreak on innocent, frail man his 12. Gemynd. This word is still found in the provincial use of mind, as remember. 15-19. Heofenum.... libbendum dædum banum. These are datives. 16. pa pe. The first of these words is a plur. demon., the second a relative. 17. Lichaman, dative of lichama, a corpse (Ger. Leichnam), still found in lychgate, Lichfield. 19. Abugao, pres. ind. plur. of abûgan. 20. Ongytan, infin. The so-called verbal noun in ing is often nothing but this infin. See preliminary Note. 24. Syndon, pres. ind. plur. of substantive verb. The modern are is supposed to have been introduced into the language by the Danes. Extracts from the character of the Conqueror, taken from the Peterborough Chronicle of the year 1087. The entry in the Chronicle has been ascribed-without reason, it would appear-to the celebrated St. Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, one of the few native dignified clergymen who enjoyed the favour of the Conqueror. Few passages from any old English work possess so powerful an interest. (From Mr. Earle's Edition, p. 221.) 1 Se cyng Willelm þe we embe specad was swide wis man. and swide ríce. and wurðfulre and strengere ponne ænig his foregengra wære. He was 5 milde pā godū mannu þe God lufedon. and ofer eall gemett stearc pa mannū be widewædon his willan.... Eac he was swyse wurðful. þriwa he bær bis cynehelm ælce geare. swa oft swa 10 he was on Englelande. on Eastron he hine bær on Winceastre. on Pentecosten on Westmynstre. on midewintre on Gleaweceastre. And þænne wæron mid hi ealle pa rice men 15 ofer eall Englaland. arcebiscopas. TRANSLATION. The King William that we are speaking about was (an) exceeding wise man and exceeding rich, and more worshipful and stronger than any of his foregangers were. He was mild to those good men that loved God and beyond all measure stark to those men that gainsaid his will. . . . Also he was exceeding worshipful. Thrice he bare (wore) his royal-helmet each year, as oft as he was in England; at Easter he it bare at Winchester; at Pentecost at Westminster; at Midwinter at Gloucester. And then there were with him all the rich men over all England, archbishops, and people's bishops (diocesan-bishops), abbots and earls, thegns and knights. Also he was (such an) exceeding stark man and terrible, so that one durst not anything against his will do. He had earls in his bonds, that did against his will. . . . Among other things should not be forgotten the good peace that he made in this land; so that one man that himself were worth aught might fare (travel) over his kingdom with his bosom full of gold unmolested. And no man durst slay another man, had he never so much evil done against the other. The words in this extract that are barely, if at all, traceable in modern English are:-se, the; embe, about; swide, exceedingly; frið, peace; ungederad, uninjured. All the rest exist, either in themselves or their derivatives. NOTES. 1. Se, masc. defin. article, se, seo, Sat. 3. Wurfulre. Mr. Earle takes this to mean more self-assertory. 4. Foregangra, gen. plur. This word almost exactly represents the classical derivative predecessors. 5. pā godu mannu. This stroke placed over these letters denotes a contraction of the final m. 6. Gemett, still found in the Biblical verb mete. Stearc, an expressive word, without any exact equivalent in the modern form of the language; it means something like "unbendingly stern." 7. Widewædon, pret. third per. plur. The prefix with is found in the sense of against in withstand; and our modern gainsay (against-say, contra-dict) was once represented by withsay. The defective verb quoth is a derivative from the latter part of this same word. 9. Cynehelm, kin-helm (or, according to others, royal-helm), crown. 15. Englaland, land of the English. Engla, of which a weakened form, Engle, is used in line 10-is a gen. plur. 16. Leodbiscopas.-Leod means people, Ger. leute. It is the same word as the modern adj. lewd, though the meaning has been strangely altered. In its transition state it signified lay, illiterate. 17. Cnihtas. Cniht (h had the sound of gh in O. E.) meant merely a servant (Ger. knecht), just as pegn was taken from Jegnian, to serve. 18. Eac, the eek of Middle English. 20. Dón, infin. depending on dorste. Even in our present stage of the language the verbal forms that follow may, can, shall, will, see, hear, &c., are infinitives. 22. Nis na to forgytane.-This is an idiomatic phrase which still survives perhaps in "not far to seek." Forgytane is the gerundial infin., which is a dative case of the ordinary form in an. Chaucer's "redy to wenden," our modern "prepared for going," "a house |