Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1847-06-10

oDscures, men repented OF their property IN
man. This feeling often found expression
during the 18th century, in deeds of manu-
mission, couched in terms like the follow
ing -" Seeing that in the beginning God
made all men by nature free, and that af-
forwards the law of nations placed certain
of them under the yoke Of servitude, we
think it would be pious and meritorious in
the sight of God to liberate such persons, to
us subject in villanage, and to free them en-
tirely from such services. Know then that
we have freed and liberated from all yoke of
servitude - -, our knaves of the man
or of -, them, and all their children,
born and to be born" The current use,
perpetuated to our own times, of these
words, "knave" and "villain," indicates
clearly enough in what estimation these poor
labourers were held, though many of them
were the offspring of wealthy mobiles, and all
of them descended from race of conquer
ing freemen, the bravest of the Teutonic
stock-the richest outburst from the " store
house of nations" The work of emanci-
patton, however, went steadily forward, has
tened by the better appreciation of free la
bour. 1t was soon found better to have far
mers, paying steady rents, than to have the
ground occupied by slaves, doing, like all
other slaves, as little work as possible, since
they laboared without hope or reward, Ian
gushing under degrading and demoraiz-
ing yoke. When interest chimes in with
freedom, they will soon ring the knell ofty-
ranny and monopoly.
About this time Parliament divided into
two houses In the lower, the feudal ten
ants or Norman race, and the petty proprie-
tors, were associated with the Saxon citizens
the representatives of commerce. This
tended greatly to do away with the distinc-
tons of race, and to generate in the Com
mons national feeling, which was strength
ened in the Normans by the fondness of the
king for the society of foreigners, whom he
enriched and ennobed, to the great mortif-
cation of the old settlers. The rapid extern
sion of commercial affairs in the 18th CEN
fury naturally increased the parliamentary
Importance of the burgesses, who were far
more an fait in financial matters than the
sporting knights of the shire in the same
House The revolution thus wrought by
the general progress of manufactures and
commerce speedily led to another equally
memorable, the triumph of the English Ian
guage over the Norman French, which was
banished from the House of Commons.
AT the end of the 18th century French
was still the official language of England
the language of all the higher classes. 1t
was spoken by the king, the bishops, the
Judges, by all the aristocracy and gentils
hommes 1t was the language taught their
children as soon as they could speak, while
the Saxon tongue occupied the degraded po-
sition of the Gaelic of Ireland in more mod
ern times But this court language was bad
French, vtiated by the peculiar dialect of
Normandy, and tinctured with an English
accent. These degenerating tendencies be-
came stronger as they ceased to be counter
acted by intercourse with the polite society
of France, broken off by the wars, and the
disannexing of Normandy from the English
crown. AT the same time the vigorous
growth of native literature favoured the
| English, which was permitted, not ordered,
to be used in pleadings before the civil
courts, by statute of Edward III. But the
lawyers continued to interlard their speech
with French phrases for long time after
From the year 400, or thereabouts, the pub
lie acts were drawn up alternately and i'll
differently in French and English. The
first bill of the Lower House of Parliament
that was written in the English language
bears the date of 1925. From the year 1850
no more French pieces are to be found in
the printed collections of the public docu-
ments of England. Thus four centuries af-
ter the conquest of England by the Nor
mans, their language disappeared, together
with the inequality of civil condition, which
separated the families that had sprung from
the two races, or rather two tribes of the
same blood. The reign of Henry VII. may
be considered as the period when the dstri-
button of ranks ceased to correspond in a
general manner with that of races, and as
the commencement of the state of society
now existing in England. 1t was COMMERCE
that conquered the Conquest, and gave to
English nationality the noblest of modern
languages. 1t is true this victory has been
slowly acquired, remaining for centuries in
complete, until its last decisive blows have
been given in the Reform Bill of 1882, and
the abolition of the Corn Laws in 1916.
"When the Normans entered England, 4"
says Mr.. Wright, although but a century
and halfhad elapsed since their settlement
/, in France, they had entirely lost the Ian
guage they had brought with them from the
) north, and had long adopted that ofthe Peo-
, pie whom they had conquered, one oil the d.
, alects derived from the ancient Latin, called,
| from their origin, ingua Romano, or tangue
, Romano, which has in the sequel been moul-
: ded down into the modern French. As ear
, Iy even as the second of the Norman dukes,
William l., only. few years after the death
of Rollo, we are told by Dudo de st. Quen-
5 tin, that the Duke was obliged to send his
l son to Bayeux to learn the Danish tongue,
| as the iangue Romano was almost the only
: tongue spoken at Rouen, then the chiefseat
= of the power of the Mortimer in France"
, 1t is probable that with their language,
, they had lost most Of their national tradl-
tons and poetry for the literature OF Nor
: mandy, when it first becomes known to us,
which is not earlier than the year llOO, is
1 in this respect purely French 1t first APP
: pears in poems of religious and serious
a character, and, in pous legends, composed
Q by the TrouuereS, who were numerous in
: the 10Th century.
: Previous to the Conquest, the Latin lam
: guage was sinking into neglect in England,
: knowledge of every kind being then spread
e abroad in the Anglo-Saxon tongue, whose
S use, as a written language, was almost abol'
ished nv that calamitOus event " Ii was