"Language most shows a man: speak, that I may see thee."-BEN JONSON. "The noblest literary study of an Englishman is the study of the English language. The noblest literary gain of the educated man is the power of wielding that language well."-THRING. "The English language possesses a veritable power of expression such as perhaps never stood at the command of any other language of man.”— GRIMM. "The English language necessarily invites every thinking man to the study of comparative philology. It is a language utterly unintelligible to those who pay no attention to its character and growth."-PROFESSOR BLACKIE (Introductory Lecture-1875). "It seems strange there should be so few who have really made themselves acquainted with the origin, the history, and the gradual development into its present form of that mother tongue which is already spoken over half the world, and which embodies many of the noblest thoughts that have ever issued from the brain of man. To use words with precision and accuracy we ought to know their history as well as their present meaning. And, depend upon it, it is the plain Saxon phrase far more than any term borrowed from Greek or Roman literature that, whether in speech or writing, goes straightest and strongest to men's heads and hearts."-LORD STANLEY. PREFACE. THIS small book has been compiled in order to provide a Class-Book suitable in size and price for schools. While primarily intended for Burgh and Higher Schools, it will be found useful as a text-book in Elementary Schools where English Literature is taken as a special subject. It also contains all that is prescribed in English for Pupil Teachers of the fourth and fifth years. In addition, it will be of service to those preparing for Government, University, Local, and other Examinations, in which some knowledge of the sources and growth of the English Language is required. The study of English is deservedly rising in popular estimation as an instrument of education and culture, and it is hoped this short sketch may be of use as an introduction to larger and more comprehensive books on the subject.* THE ACADEMY, MONTROSE, March 1876. * Among these larger books may be mentioned :— D. C. Morris's Historical Outlines of English Accidence; Fowler's English Language; Marsh's English Language; Latham's English Language; Angus's Hand-Book of the English Tongue; Adams's English Language; Farrar's Chapters on Language; Earle's Philology of the English Tongue; Kington-Oliphant's Sources of Standard English; Abbot and Seeley's English Lessons for English People; Trench's English Past and Present, and other works; Max-Müller's Lectures on the Science of Language, and other works; Taylor's Words and Places; Vernon's AngloSaxon Guide, &c., &c. |