rally considered the earliest specimen of true English. Hem Burs godef fríkume Bimo Engleneloande. Lhoauerd on Polond. Oub on Gorm on daucam and on Aniolo gend ugvetnge to alle hufe halde ikide and idea bede on Buurendon Schu Bre Phiten se bel alle pre ballen and bune Bare Bre bre padefmen alle ofer Be moare dalof heom pare beaf reholen Bury us and burs Bart Coandel folk on bie bunenche habbef eden and fehulle don im Be Boubneffe of sode and on bre treolbfe for pe freme of Beloonde Burs Be Behste of Bon to forenlerde rodermen. Beo feedefifft and abuten ande And Be Raaten alle bye treo Be fat heo of ozen Bat heo feedefæftliche Realden and fiberen to healden and to Beren be Verneffef fre Beon imabede and Beon to mabien furs fan to foron Verde ritdehmen The same in Modern Characters. Henr' burg Godes fultume King on Engleneloande Lhoaverd on Yrloand Duk on Norm' on Aquitain' and Eorl on Aniow, send igretinge to alle hişe halde ilærde and ileawede on Huntendon' Schir. Dat witenge wel alle bæt we willen and unnen bæt bæt ure rædesmen alle ober be moare dæl of heom bat beod ichosen burg us and burg þæt loandes folk on ure kuneriche habbed idon and schullen don in be worbnesse of Gode and on ure treowbe for be freme of be loande burg be besigte of ban toforeniseide rædesmen beo stedefæst and ilestinde inn alle thinge abuten ænde. And we haaten alle ure treowe inn be treowbe bat heo us ogen bæt heo stedefæstliche heilden and sweren to healden and to werien be isetnesses that beon imakede and beon to makien burg ban toforeniseide rædesmen.-See the Translation at p. 22. ENGLISH. PROSE CONSISTING OF SPECIMENS OF THE LANGUAGE IN ITS EARLIEST, SUCCEEDING, AND LATEST STAGES WITH NOTES EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL AND A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Intended as a Text-Book for Schools and Colleges BY JOSEPH PAYNE EDITOR OF "STUDIES IN ENGLISH POETRY" "SELECT POETRY FOR CHILDREN" CROSBY LOCK WOOD AND CO. 7 STATIONERS'-HALL COURT, LUDGATE HILL 1881 270. g. 883. PREFACE. THE editor of this little volume claims to be the first who has presented to the public specimens of the entire English language with a commentary of illustrative notes, pointing out the various changes effected in it from age to age. His appreciation of the term "English" is that of Palgrave, Craik, Cockayne, Freeman, and others who have proved decisively that the language of Æthelbert, Beda, Ælfred, and Ælfric was "English," that the people who spoke it was the "English" people, and that the land which they occupied was Engla-land, the land of the Angles or English. The epithet Anglo-Saxon, so frequently applied to our forefathers who lived before the Norman conquest, is a misnomer of modern invention. There never was, strictly speaking, either an Anglo-Saxon nation or an Anglo-Saxon language. The use of this term has led to the disconnection, in popular estimation, of modern Englishmen from their true and noble ancestors, and to forgetfulness of the fact that our present national character, our most valued institutions, our tone, spirit, and language, are but developments of germs which began growing in this soil thirteen hundred years ago. We are too prone to speak of the Norman conquest as the beginning of our national life, whereas that event, all-important as it was, was only an episode in our history. The Norman conquest did indeed threaten the entire English nation with destruction, but the result, as we know, was, that the spirit of the native population proved to be indomitable, that the conquerors were themselves made captive, that they adopted the English name and language as their own, a 2 |