The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-26 00:00:00

brated, are written. It is the language' the pure
and classical language of Scotland, which must on
no acconnt be regarded as a provincial dig lect, any
more than French was so regarded in the reign of
Henry V., cr Italian in that of the first Wapoleon,
or Greek under the Roman Empire. Nor is it to
be in any manner of way considered as a corruption
of the Saxon ; on the contrary, it contains much of
the old and genuine Saxon, with an inter] mixture
from the northern nations, as Danes aid Nozse, and
some, though a small adoption, from the Celtic.
But in whatever way composed, or from wliatever
sources arising, it is a national language, wed by
the whole people in their early years, by many
learned and gifted persons throughout life, and in
which are written the laws of the Scotch, their judi-
cial proceedings, their ancient history, ab eve all
their poetry. Its Saxon origin may be at once
proved by the admitted fact, that Barbour, Cliaucer's
contemporary, is more easily understood :by an
English reader at this day, than the Saxon of the
Father of English poetry. The merits of the Scotch
language arc attested, as regards conciseness, by
the brevity of the Scotch statutes compared with
the English, and as regards clearness, by the fact
that there has been much more frequent occasion
for judicial interpretation of the latter than of the
former. But the peculiar value of the language
arises from the great body of National Poetry en-
tirely composed in it, both in very remote times,
and in those nearer our own day ; and there can be
no doubt that the English language, especially its
poetical diction, would greatly gain by beim', en-
riched with a number, both of words and of plAses,
or turns of expression, now peculiar to the Scotch.
It was by such a process that the Greek became
the first of tongues, as well written as spoken. Nor
can it be for a moment admitted that the Scotch has
less claim to this partial adoption than, the
Doric had to mingle with the lonian, or the
.Xolic with the Attic. Indeed, of Lolic works
there are none, while there is a whole body of
Scotch classics. Had Theocritus lived before any
poet like Pindar made frequent use of the new
Doric, his exquisite poems, so much tinged with
Sicilian, must have given that dialect admission
into the pure Greek. Indeed Pindar, himself
Boeotian,. and naturally disposed to use the old
Doric, has recourse to the new for its force or ex-
pression, probably as much as he would have done,
had he, like Theocritus, been a Sicilian ; as Moschus
did, who belonged to those colonies in Asia Minor,
the origin of the language and literature of Greece.
It must be allowed that When we refer to the free
admission of various dialects into the classical lan-
guage of Greece, we should bear in mind the pecu-
liar fastidiousness of the Attic taste, and its sera -
pulous rejection of all barbarisms, and all solecisms
—all words in languages not purely Greek, and all
terms of expression arising from a corruption of
that pure tongue.
It is a great mistake to suppose, as some have
done, that the interest excited in all minds by the
associations in early years, forms the only ground.
of desiring to retain in certain compositions the
language familiar to us in childhood. The charm
imparted by such associations is unquestioned ; but
it is not the only merit of the language which may
have other claims to being preserved independent
of that. Thus Scotchmen will beyond all doubt
feel a greater interest in Burns' poetry, because it
is in the lanomage used by those who cherished.
them in childhood, and which themselves first
spoke. But so they will feel a greater interest
than foreigners in the songs which they knew at
the same period of life, in whatever language com-
posed, an interest wholly independent of the lan-
guage; and yet there may be in the merits of the
language itself strong claims to being preserved
and adopted. A Sicilian might feel the charm of
Theocritus' verse, because it reminded him of the
pastorals, the national songS of the peasantry, from
whence, indeed, it was in a great part taken ; and.
he might delight in that verse all the more for the
language in which it was composed. But others,
as Pindar and. Moschus, who could have no feeling
of local associations, could adopt that language in
their lyrics and pastorals, if not preferring it, yet
uniting it to their own, because of its peculiar
adaptation to the subjects of their composition.
The events which brought about the genera dis-
use of the Scotch language, first, the union of the
Crowns, but "infinitely more, that of, the kingdoms,
have not extinguished the great works in which it
is preserved. It stands in very different circum-
stances from the Italian in this important respect.
The accident of the great writers, especially the
Poets, being Tuscans, in all probability prevented
the dialect of Venice from being the classical lan-
guage of Italy, and its great beauties make men.
lament that it is not partially adopted. into the
more expressive but harsher Tuscan, the pre-
, valence of which has kept all poets of emi-
nence from using any. other. Scotland. stands
very differently in this important particular, for
the greatest of modern lyric poets has used
the Scotch alone. Assuredly, had either
Dante or Petrarch been Venetians, the Tuscan
would have divided its sovereignty with the dialect
of Venice. The accident of all the great writers of
the fourteenth century being Tuscans had the same
effect in preventing the other language from keep-
ing its ground which political changes had in dis-
couraging.the Scotch ; yet it can hardly be doubted
that if Ariosto or Tasso, at a much later period, had
used the Venetian, it would have gained an ample
share of estimation ; and if to this had been added
the important circumstance that all the Italian
national poetry was confined to the shores of the
Adriatic, as all the-Scottish has ever been to the
country beyond the Tweed, the inevitable conse-
quence would have been a great softening of, the
Tuscan by the sweeter Venetian, at once to improve
the language, and to prevent two several tongues
being used by the same people.
Would it not afford means of enriching and im-
proving the English language if full and accurate
glossaries of approved Scotch words and phrases,
those successfully used by-the best writers, both in
prose and verse, were given with distinct explana-
n and reference to authorities? This has been

lone in France and other countries, where some

dictionaries accompany the English, in some cases
with Scotch synonymes, in others with varieties of
expression. It may be hoped that the very learned
person who is preparing an important philological
work of the same description, may incorporate with
it, the flowers at least of our Northern Doric. Two
of our most venerated names, those of Playfair and
Stewart, may be cited ; they were wont to express
their desire to borrow some Scotch words as of
great scientific use. In the judicial proceedings o
Parliament we have, at least of late years, discoun-
tenanced all attempts at translating Scotch techni-
cal expressions into English. Let it be added,
that the. greatest poet, after Burns,
i whom Scotland
has produced (there wants no mention of T. Camp-
bell), was wont to lament the inability of using his
mother tongue with the mastery which he had so
happily gained over a foreign language.
I have
tbouatpoonlolygifsociftohre this
length intrusion torfutte
nletlltpero,n at:thide
is inferiority to the subject.—Yours .•
faithfully,
BROUGHAM.
meeting;

Cannes, 17th January, 1559.

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