rally considered the earliest specimen of true English. Vem Hurs godeh hukume Bing on Engleneloande. Lhoquerd on prlo and. Oub on Horm aquetam and coil on choll gend igreange to alle hufe halde lande and tea bede on Buntendon scher on BB Baten se Gel alle fare billen and bune. Bare fare bre padesmen alle over be moare dal of heom fake beef wholen puro us and furg Bæt loandes folk on be bunenche habbet den and schulle don 'in be Worknesse of gode and on bre trolife for pe freme of Be loance furg Be Benste of Ban to forensende rodesmen. Beo stedefaft and lesende in alle finge abuten ande. And be Raaten alle bye treoßbem fe treol fe fate heo bf ogen. Barthes ferdefaftliche helden and fiberen to healden and to weren be herneffef fæt Beon makede and Beon to makien furg fan to foren. Herderadesmen 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 witen ge wel alle pet we willen and unnen þæt þæt ure rædesmen alle oper be moare dæl of heom þat beod ichosen purg us and burg pæt loandes folk on ure kuneriche habbed idon and schullen don in be worpnesse of Gode and on ure treowbe for pe freme of be loande burg pe besigte of pan toforeniseide rædesmen beo stedefæst and ilestinde inn alle thinge abuten ænde. And we haaten alle ure treowe inn pe treowpe pat heo us ogen pæt heo stedefæstliche heilden and sweren to healden and to werien þe isetnesses that beon imakede and beon to makien burg pan to foreniseide rædesmen.-See the Translation at p. 22. ENGLISH PROSE SPECIMENS OF THE LANGUAGE IN ITS EARLIEST, CONSISTING OF 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 ETC. SECOND EDITION 270. LONDON CROSBY LOCKWOOD AND CO. 7 STATIONERS'-HALL COURT, LUDGATE HILL 1881 a 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 Ethelbert, 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, |