The Cedar County advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Iowa) 1853-1856, 1854-03-11

1he Englsh LaaeuaSe.
Until the conquest Of England, by
William Duke, of Normandy, A. y. l066,
the Saxon language was spoken through
out that kingdom. William undertook
the difficult task Of abolishing the Sax
on tongue; and therefore ordered the
youth Of his newly acquired dominions to
be instrucledm m the French language
The pleadinys in the supreme courts Of
judicature, ne title deeds to estates, and
the laws Of he land were written in Nor
man Frenct, and that language alone
was spoken at court. But the inter-
course between the conqucror and the
conquered gave rise to the gradual form
alton of dialect compounded Of the
Anglo-Saxon and Norman-F French, in
order tha, they might render themselves
mutually in,euigible and from this ne
cesslty arose the structure Of the present
English language, which has been 50
richly improved by importations from the
classical languages and from those spo-
ken by the southern nations Of Europe.
About A. d. ll5O may be dated the
decline of pure Saxon. In A. ID. 1869
we have English rhymes BY St. Godrick,
hermit Of Funcal, who died the sue
ceeding year; although we have speci-
mems Of an earlier date in prose. Rich
ard l., who died A. ID. ll9O, was not
known to have uttered an English word.
In the library Of Glastonburgh Abbey,
in A. d. l54S there were only four
books which were written in the English
language. About A. d. 1850 may be
dated the commencement Of pure English.
In A. d. 1858 Magma Chartn was trans
lated into English, and the first royal
proclamation in our vernacular was also
made in that year, addressed by Henry
Ill. TO the citizens of Huntingdonshlre.
In the same year also. the poem Of WAGE
was translated from the Latin into En-
glish by Robert, monk Of Gloucester.
Edward l., who died A. d. 1907,
spoke English but once. Plays were
first acted in English during the reign Of
Edward ILL.,, and It was about A. D,
1862, that the use Of the French language
in pleadings and title deeds was aboiish-
ed, and our vernacular substituted
About the same period also the English
language was first spoken at the court OF
London. And il was not until A. d.
1885, that children IN the schools oil En-
gland were universally taught the En-
glish to the expulsion Of the French
language.
Cover, Chaucer and Wicklitfe rose at
the latter half Of the fourteenth century !;
after which our vernacular underwent no
further radical changes; and as learn
ing advanced and manners improved, it
gradually assumed that form in which it
is exhibited to us, in those two works
which may be considered the standards
of pure English--our common version Of
the Bible, and the writings OF Shakspear.
The Cromwell Bible, printed in A. d.
1863, is in the style now in use; conse-
quently our vernacular has undergone no
material change for two centuries. The
English language is the vernacular OF up
wards Of sixty millions Of human beings,
and consists Of about twenty-three thou
sand radical words, of which five-eights
are derived from the Anglo Saxon. OF
the six,y-six words composing the Lords
Prayer, all but five are Anglo Saxon. The
first chapter Of st. Johns gospel contains
(cmitting proper names) nine hundred
and fiity-.hree words, Of which all but
fitty-fve are Anglo Saxon.
Gray,s Elegy in a country Church.
yard, which has recently attained a COM
mendable notoriety, contains nine hun
dred and ninty seven words, of which
eight hundred and three are derived from
the Anglo Saxon. The sohloquy of Ham,
let contains eighty one words, OF which
all but thirteen are Anglo Saxon.
There is, perhaps, no work in our Ian
guage in which the Anglo Saxon words
more abound than in the common ver-
sion Of the Bible. Even in the works Of
our most classical writers, such as Milton,
Johnson, and Addison, words Of An
glo Saxon origin greatly predominate.--
Works whieh treat of the common ai-
fairs CT life, have the most, and scien-
tifc works the least.
IOiAOVIlS q SpSSiAiSI VI VIZ
Lords prayer IN the style in use six hun
dred years ago.
"Fader ure in hcune, haleweide beothe
thi neune, cumen thi kunerlche the willie
beothe ldon in heune aud in erthe. IRE
euerych drave breid gi fous thilk darye.
And vorzilure dettes, as vi yorziien ure
dettoures. And lede Gus nought into
iemp,a;ioun DO, delyyer GUS from uyel -
Amen
to- The ". Y. Herald says that no
less than eleven vessels are fitting out
in different parts of Cuba, for the coast 0,
Africa, the object being to load and re-
turn with negroes; also tina, seven yes
sels have sailed within six or eigh. weeks
from Baltimore, Boston and New York,
with the direct intehtion Of beng en-
gagged as slaves.
H0r The bank note circulation Of
Great Britain amounts to $l9S, ,45O, 900.
A SrRoso WILL.--Onc with couple
hundred thousand in it.