The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-24
THE LANGUAGE OF ASSENT.
CURIOUS UNCERTAINTY ABOUT THE
ORIGIN OF THE WORD AYE"
Content and Not .1COntent"-A
Queer Church Custom.

I
informs US that
There are nine and sixty ways of con-
| structing tribal lays.
And every single one OF them is right!
| The same may be said Of the language of
assent. II has an ample vocabulary There
IS the negative affirmative, for instance As
| Bret Harte's stage-drver says at the con-
olusion of his wondrous story of the coach
that Travelled down the Geiger Grade on
three wheels, then two. and finally for L.
200 yards or more on one:
Who swerves from the truth in his tale
No, thank you-Wen, since you are
| pressing,
Perhaps l don't care If 1 do; you may
| give me the same, Jim-no sugar!
II don't mind if | do" is quite familiar
form of assent in some specially
TO such offers as the stage-driver gracious
| ly accepted.
The variations in public methods of ex-
pressing assent are curious Every one is
familiar with the public meeting formula,
in which an who are of certain opinion
are bid to express the same in the usual
manner, whereupon up go what the report
a
inspiring is the method sometimes adopted
the reporter loves to call a forest of
hands" More inspiring is the method
sometimes adopted of inviting those who
assert to say AYE" This is House of
Commons fashion, though comparatively
few propositions sufficiently stir the House
10 the roar of agreement that goes up
from an excited public meeting. The Gu
rious thing about AYE" is that no one
x4rba he GA MuTraV
says that as an affirmative exclamation II
appeared suddenly about 1915, and was eX-
ceedingly common about 1900, but its origin |
is unknown. OF course, it is easy TO guess, |
and the plausible suggestion has been |
made that 1t Is the same as the adverb |
"ay," which means ever always. But GU
riously enough, at first it was always |
written phoneticalfy, pa spelling never
found with the meaning of "ay,' ever; so
the problem remains open. Drayton, in his
string of sonnets called lead Q59D
writes Nothing but No and 1, and and
No" The word. wherever it may have
come from, was early adopted by the
House of Commons. Andrew Marvel, in
one of his letters referring TO parliament
airy proceedings in 1869, writes; THE ayes
proved 1888 and the noes 129 and it was in
use long before that date.
The Lords Quaint Formula.
The House of Lords fashion of express
ing assent and the Content and
Not Content'-is equally old, but grown
quainter in style. 1t is, of course, founded
on the older elliptical use of content" as
an exclamation of agreement which is
now obsolete in ordinary speech. In the
first part of Henry W. the King calls
upon the contentious serving men-some
with their heads already broken-to cease
from disturbing the peace and join in
friendship as their superiors had done.
Content" eXclaims one III to the sur
| geon's." The earliest allusion TO the
| House of Lords practice which has been
found is dated 1921, in an account printed
by the Camden Society of the Peers de-
bates: 'tSuch as are of OPINION
that the charge shall be sent to the Lord
Chancellor say-Content. Such as wyll
have his Lordship come neither to heare
the charge, saye-Not Content" Another
variation the "placet" and its reverse of
| ecclesiastical councils and of university
governing bodies, is, of course, simply the
Latin equivalent, 1T pleases," of Con
tent"
Perhaps the most singular of English
forms of expressing agreement or appro-
bation-long sine obsolete-was the prac-
tice once in vogue even among church
congregations of making a humming noise
when anything was said which the audi
! ence particularly liked or agreed with
| heartily. In a contemporary account OF
the trial of the regicides in 1860 it is often
| stated that 1.-The people hum d. evidently
in approval of what was being said. Once
| later. when Bishop Burnet preached be
| fore the House of Commons, part of his
| congregation, we are told, "hummed," so
loudly and so long that he sat down to en-
| Joy it, and rubbed his face with his hand
kerchief. Another preacher of that era.
! however DR.. Sprat Bishop of Rochester,
WI he Inl1 blI he
| cation, stretched out his hand and cried:
| Peace. peace, l pray you peace" Ma
caulay tells us that when William III
! five days after his proclamation, went
| down to the House of Lords, and from
| his seat on the throne addressed the COM
| mons assembled at the bar, the speech
1 was received by the crowd of members
of the lower house with the deep hum
| by which our ancestors were won't to IN
| dictate appreciation"
Origin OF Hear! Heart"
II was about this time. according to tho
| same writer, that another curious mode
| of expressing assent or agreement began
| TO be commonly used-that is the inter
| jected Hear! her!" which In the House
/ of Commons of the present day means.
according to the ntonation, agreement or
derision, admiration Or Indignation but
| In ordinary use elsewhere is generally re-
strcted TO indication of agreement.
| Macauiay says that the phrase Hear
| him" was first used to ST.
| lence irregular noises and re-
call attention 10 the speaker, but grad
| ually became what Hear, hear is now.
| The form Hear hm!' lasted for a very
long time A poeticol art of Polticks"
of 1881 gives the sensible advice
If. when you speak, you'd hear a Needle
fail
And make the frequent hear-hims rend
| the wall
In matter suited to your Taste engage.
| Remembering still your Quality and Age.
The German Pastor Morltz, who wrote
an account of his Travels Through Sew
| eral Parts of England" in 1872, describing
the House of Commons of that day. SAYS
that friends and admirers of a speaker
made their appreciation known by calling
out Hear himr-whch Is often repeated
by the whole House at once. This calling
| out is always regarded as a great encour