The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-05-15
The Scribe's Report.

stream of these words flowed into our
language during the fifteenth and six
teenth centuries, starting from the
universities, cloisters and courts, and
disseminated by the writers and preach
ers of the time. In order to call your
attention to the great number of words
in constant use which came to us in
this way, you were asked-especially
those of you who are studying Latin
to think of as many words as possible
that are derived from the single Latin
word fdciO, " to make" of which one
form is .fdctum No one has sent
list of such words; but one member of
the club quotes Swinton as saying that
there are five hundred of them. Count
ing in the words which come from flo,
the passive form of tdcio (Which in
clude all our words ending in ~, like
certify" "glorify," etc., this can
not be any too high an estimate of the
number; for Lynde's L" Class-Book of
Etymology" mentions 112 words that
these have several derivatives. Famil-
lar examples are factor, factory, manu-
facture, etc.
And now, in leaving this subject of
wordstudy, the Scribe would urge upon
every girl and boy the importance of
cultivating the acquaintance of the
Unabridged Dictionary. If you have
not copy in all your homes, it is to be
hoped you have it for reference in all
school-rooms. If not, lose no time in
petitioning your town fathers for copy
to use there. No other uninspired
book contains between its covers so
much help of every kind suited to the
needs of all. Let it be one of your am
billions sometime to have an I'm
abridged" of your own; and, if you
make good use of it, the world can
never get far ahead of you in general
knowledge. Please do not think that
this is special hobby of your Scribe.
Others also are calling attention to the
same subject. Doubtless many of you
have the Sunddy-SchOOl Times in your
homes; and you may have noticed an
article, a few weeks ago, on The Use
of the Dictionary" which showed how
much that was helpful and interesting
in Bible study could be found in the
Unabridged Dictionary, and one of
the illustrations given was a word
which had already been assigned for
you to study-the word " tribulation,"
which the writer of that article said
contains " a whole sermon, and one that
can hardly fail to interest the older boys
and girls"
And now in one of the last numbers
of the same duplication over half a
page is given to another subject which
we have been studying. 1t is review
of "Our Oldest Book about Books"
This old book, entitled Philobibon,"
was the work of Richard de Bury, who
lived from 1887 to 1916. 1t has just
been newly published, and in describing
it the readers of the Sunday School
Times are given this glimpse into the
times when it was written-a glimpse
which will seem quite familiar to those
who have followed our studies thus far.
Before Chaucer had given dignity to
our language, the writer says, De
Bury, as a matter of course, enshrined
his good counsel in the everlasting Latin
of the church and the universe ties.
He recommended no English books
not that he despised things present,
but what English books were then
worth mentioning? The tongue of
Alfred and Caedmon, and the writers
of the Chronicle, had long been unin-
telligible, while Iron dug from the
North, ductile gold from the South
had not yet been compounded into
our Roman-Saxon-D Danish n Norman
English"
Returning now to the Eizabethan
period, we have received the following
answers to the remaining questions of
April II:
(2) The chief literary works of Sir
Philip Sidney were the Arcadia A" and
the " Defense of Poesy."
.(3) Sir Philip Sidney was the idol of
his times, as well as the especial pet
of his queen-more, perhaps, for his ro-
mantle nature than for his skill in
diplomacy. Yet here and there one
may see glimpses of great courage and
certain democracy of spirit not often
found in that age.
Two instances showing these char
acteristics are given by the writer of
the above answers, which may be briefly
stated. One is his " Remonstrance ~
addressed to Queen Elizabeth against
her proposed marriage to the Duke of
Anjou. The other was quarrel with