Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-09-03
WEEKLY HERALD.
saxon woros 10 Parliament-
Irr,m The rAll M.ll oa.s.te.


A correspondent who seems to have
taken great deal Of pains to arrive at
his results, sends us the following analv.
sis Of the origin OF the words used by
leading speakers in the recent debates.
He says:
ssThe language used in the House is
exec ptionally English, and the small
part that foreign languages play 10 the
construction Of our ordinary speech is
remarkable. Owing in a great measure
to its monosyllabic character, the Saxon
is extremely forcible and impressive.
Both from his natural genius and from
his long practice, Mr.. Gladstone is un.
doubtedly the best orator in the
House Of Commons. A careful
analysis Of the derivation of the
language employed by Mr.. Glad
stone in his speeches gives the fol-
lowing results: 20 per cent. Of the
words Saxon, IL per cent. Latin, and l3
per cent French, the remaining per
cent. beiog composed of words derived
from different sources One fact is pc
culi6r. With all his liking for Greek
aud his well-known attainments in that
language, his usage Of words derived
from that score does not equal l per
cent. Even on topics involving an ap-
peal to early history, such as the theo-
logical side OF tho discussion on the
Parliamentary Oaths bill. Mr.. clad
stones language is scarcely more classi-
cal, as the figures ia the latter instance
stood thus: Saxon, " per cent; Latin,
is per cent; French Il per cent?; other
words, 2 per cent, of which Greek
again forms less than per cent. An
analysis of the speeches Of the leader Of
the Opposition shows that in his Ian
gnage there Is great similarity with
the component parts of Mr.. Gladstone's.
Sir Stafford Northcote's speeches give
the following results: Saxon. 70 per
cent; Latin, l6 per cent; French, II
per cent; other words, 3 per cent. Sir
William Harcourt is forcible speaker,
and when occasion requires he is without
an equal in invective and sarcasm, but
In general his speeches, both in style Of
delivery and subject matter, are much
above the average of the House. They
show the following results: Saxon, II
per cent; Latin, Is per cent; French, 7
per cent; other words, per cent. Mr..
Bright does not speak much now, and
since his great speech on the Irish Land
Act Of 1881. which kept the House
crowded till long past midnight,
he has spoken comparatively sell
dom ia Parliament. There is
no question as to bis being great
orator. As speaker he has always
been regarded as an Englishman Of the
English; but. strange to say, an analysis
OF some Of his later speeches gives fig
ures which vary but little from those Of
the other speakers already quoted.
They stand thus: Saxon, IA per cent;
Latin, IL per cent; French, 10 per cent:
other words, per cent. No one could
possibly refer to the prominent speakers
In the House without including Lord
Rsndolph Churchill, for lately, upon
al subjects, great and small, be has had
great deal to say. A speech Of his on
the franchise question gives the follow
ing results: Saxon, y per cent; Latin,
is per cent; French, 9 per cent; Greek,
2 per cent; other words, per cent.
Naturally the best speakers in the
House are looked for among the occu-
pants Of the tirst two benches, but be-
low them mssly good speakers, like Mr..
Cowen and Mr.. Morley, are to be found,
and, whatever may be said for the opin-
Ions and the tactics Of the Irish party,
1t must be confessed that there are so,ne
very able speakers to be found in its
ranks. From these few figures two
facts arc deducible first, that the Ian.
guags Of all the speakers quoted approx
imAles greatly to one standard; and,
secondly, that tho greatest strength Of
The language is derived from the Saxon
element. Taking the words derived from
the French as being originally Latin, it
may be said that OF the language used in
the House OF Commons three-fourths
comes from the Saxon and one-fourth
from the Latin. Both our political aud
literary history Of the past accounts for
the number OF Latin words Nsed, bul
still they are only words Of general &C.
ceptance and words whose import is per-
fectly well understood. The utilitarian
theory applies nowhere more strongly
than in the case of language, ard II q
word is useful 1t is sure TO be retained.