The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-01-30
Our Mons anb Q6lrIs.
A Few Words from the Scribe.

TO the Boys and GirlS:-Although
the allotted period for receiving answers
to the first three questions in English
/ literature has not expired at the time of
writing this, it will have expired by the
time this reaches you. So we may
as well plunge into our subject at once.
1t has occurred to some of you that be-
fore any nation can have literature of
| its own it must have settled language,
and before people can have a settled
language they must have permanent
residence. A migratory people, who
/ are constantly moving about from place
to place, like the Bedawins of Arabia,
are not expected TO have any literature
of their own. They can not have any,
for their language is continually chang
ing, owing to their coming in contact
with people speaking different dialects
and to their having no rules or stand
ards of grammar and rhetoric, such as
need to be observed in writings that
are to be preserved. The unsettled
condition of such people prevents the
development of any literary talent
among them, as they have no schools
or libraries or other facilities for in
tellectual improvement
Now this was just the condition Of
things all over Europe for about six
hundred years after the downfall of
the Roman Empire, which happened
A. ID. 476. This is one of the very i'm
portant dates in the history of the
world, and we can remember it by as
sociating it with the beginning of our
own nation-just - Chow many?) CEN
turtles before our declaration of indie
pendence. You all know that the Roman
Empire extended over nearly the whole
known world at the time of Christ.
Perhaps you also know that julius
Caesar had much to do with bringing
this about, and that, among other con-
quests, he took possession of the south
ern part of Britain, which is now En-
gland, fifty-iive years before Christ.
The Romans always tried to make the
people whom they conquered adopt
the language and customs of Rome
But they did not succeed in doing this
with the Britons, and almost the only
words which they succeeded in plant
ing on the soil of Britain during the
five hundred years that they kept pos
session of it were few military words
which appear in the examinations of
some of the proper names. Thus the
Latin word caStrd, meaning " camp"
appears, slightly changed, in the ter
limitations of Lancaster, Worcester and
Rochester. Also the termination coin
in Lincoln is from the Latin cOlOnid,
meaning a " colony" Sometime before
the downfall of the Roman Empire
(what year was that?) the Romans
were becoming so weakened that they
withdrew their forces from Britain to
help defend Rome itself The Brit
ons had been so long accustomed to
depend upon the Romans for protec-
ton from their neighboring enemies
that they were left quite defenceless by
the withdrawal of the Roman soldiers.
These neighboring enemies were the
Picts and Scots, the people of what is
now Scotland and Ireland. The terri
tory of the Britons was soon invaded by
the Picts and Scots, and they appealed
several times to the Romans for help.
Twice the Romans responded, but at
last refused, and the groan of the
Britons," as their last appeal was called,
remained unanswered. The tables are
turned now, you know, and instead of
the people of England groaning be-
cause of their prosecutors from the EN-
erald Isle, the groans come now from
the other side of the Irish Sea.
But neither the Britons nor the Scots
nor Picts were our ancestors, nor did
we obtain our language from them. So
we will have these questions for the
next time:
QD What people at that time (about
A. d. 476) were the ancestors of the
English-speaking people of to-day?
(2) How came they to be living in
what is now England?
CD What became of the ancient
Britons?
Send answers within two weeks to
Scribe" Is South Loring street,
Lowell, Mass.