All heore rihten :
All their rewards:

He gef seolver, he gef gold,
He gave silver, he gave gold,
He gef hors, he gef lond,
He gave horse, he gave land,
Castles and clothes eke,
Castles and clothes also,

His monnen he iquende.

His men he satisfied.

The next phase of our language is called by scholars Early English. This was another step forward; the language now began to admit a considerable number of French words, and though its grammatical forms were but little changed, the two streams, Norman-French and Saxon, were more closely intermingled. There is no doubt that this was the natural consequence of their relative position; and, in all probability, it contributed very materially to the ultimate ascendency of the English over the French.

PERIOD OF EARLY ENGLISH.

A.D. 1250-1350.

SPECIMENS.

1. Dedication by the author of the Ormulum,' to his Brother (about 1250) :

:

Nu, brotherr Walterr, brother min, afterr the flashes kinde,
Now, brother Walter, brother mine, after the flesh's kind,

And brotherr min i Crisstendom, thurrh fulluht and thurrh
And brother mine in Christendom, through baptism and through

trowwthe,
faith,

And brotherr min i Godess hus, yet o the thridde wise.
And brother mine in God's house, yet in the third wise.
Thurrh

thatt witt hafenn takenn ba án reghell-boc to Through (for) that we have taken both one rule-book to

follghen follow

Vnnderr kanunnkess had and lif, swa summ Saunt Awwstin
Under cannon's rank and life, so as
Saint Austin

sette; ruled;

Icc hafe don swa summ thu badd, and fortheddte thin wille :
I have done so as thou badest, and furthered thy will (wish)
Icc hafe wennd inntill Ennglissh goddspelless halghe lare
I had turned into English (the) gospel's holy lore
Affterr thatt little witt tatt me min Drihhten hafethth lenedd.
After that little wit that me my Lord hath lent.

2. Proclamation of Henry III. to the Inhabitants of Huntingdonshire (A.D. 1258):—

Henry, thurg Godes fultume, King on Engleloande, Lhoaverd Henry, through God's grace, King in England,

Lord

on Yrloand, Duk on Norm', on Aquitain', and Eorl on in Ireland, Duke in Normandy, in Aquitaine, and Earl in Aniou, send, igretinge, to alle hise halde, ilærde and ilawed, Anjou, sends, greeting, to all his subjects, learned and lay,

on Huntendon' schir':

in Huntingdon shire:

That witen ye wel, alle, that we willen and unnen that thaet This know ye well, all, that we will and grant that that ure raedesmen, alle other the moare dael of heom, thaet beoth our counsellors, all, or the more part of them, that

be

ichosen thurg us and thurg that loandes folk on ure kuneriche chosen through us and through the land's folk in our kingdom

habbeth idon, and schullen don, in the worthnesse of Gode, and have done, and shall do, in the honour of God, and

on ure treowthe, for the freme of the loande, thurg the besigte in our truth, for the good of the land, through the business of than to-foreniseide redesmen, beo stedefaest and ilestinde in of the to-foresaid counsellors, be steadfast and lasting in

alle thinge abuten aende. &c. all things without end. &c.

3. The commencement of Robert of Gloucester's
Chronicle' (about A.D. 13001) :—

Engelond ys a wel god lond, ich wene, of each lond

best,

England is a very good land, I ween, of every land (the) best,
Yset in the ende of the world, as al in the West,
Set in the end of the world, as wholly in the West,
The see goth hym al a boute, he stont as an yle;
The sea goeth it all about, it standeth as an isle;

Here fon heo durre the lasse doute,
Her foes she need the less fear,

but hit be thorw gyle except it be through guile

Of fol of the selue lond, as me hath yseye wyle.
Of folk of the same land, as one has seen sometimes.

From South to North he is long eighte hondred myle;
From South to North it is long eight hundred mile;
And foure hondred myle brod from Est to West to wende
And four hundred mile broad from East to West to wend

Amydde tho lond as yt be, and noght as by the on ende. &c.
Amid the land as it be, and not as by the one ende. &c.

1 Robert of Gloucester is supposed to have been a monk in the abbey of that city. Nothing is known of his biography. His work is an account of English affairs, from the beginning down to his own time. The chronicle is in rhyme, and consists of more than 10,000 lines.

4. From Robert de Brunne's Translation of Piers de Langtoft's 'French Chronicle' (1340?)':—

Edward did smyte rounde peny, halfpeny, ferthing,
The croise passed the bounde of alle thorghout the ryng,
The kyng's side salle be the hede, and his name writen,
The croyce side, what citè it was incoyned and smyten;
A thousand and two hundred and fourscore yeres mo,
Of this monè men wondred first when it gan go.

About the middle of the 14th century the French language declined, and was eventually discontinued in England. This was, in all probability, materially assisted by the strong national feeling against the French in the reign of Edward III.; a natural consequence of the wars of that monarch with France. There is also evidence to show that, at the same period, the practice of making boys construe Latin into French was discontinued, English being substituted for French, as a medium of instruction in grammar schools. Again, it was ordered, in 1362, that henceforward all trials should be conducted in the English, and not in the French, language. Thus the ascendency of the Saxon over the French element in our language was established, and dates from this period.

1 Robert Manning was a canon in the monastery of Brunne (of Bourne), in Lincolnshire, who lived in the latter part of Edward the First, and the whole of Edward the Second's, reign. He translated a French Chronicle of England by Peter de Langtoft, a monk of Bridlington in Yorkshire.

PERIOD OF MIDDLE ENGLISH.

A.D. 1350-1550.

1. Extract from Lawrence Minot's poem on Edward the Third's Expedition to France' (about 1350) 1 :

Edward, owrè comely king,

In Braband has his woning2,
With many comely knight;
And in that land, truely to tell,
Ordains he still for to dwell,
To time he think to fight.

Now God, that is of mightés mast1,
Grant him grace of the Holy Ghast
His heritage to win;

And Mary, Moder, of mercy free,
Save our king and his meny5

Fro sorrow, shame, and sin.

Thus in Braband he has been,
Where he before was seldom seen,

For to prove their japes";

Now no langer will he spare

Bot unto France fast will he fare,

To comfort him with grapes.

1 Lawrence Minot lived and wrote about the middle of the 14th century. His poems are chiefly concerning the battles and victories of Edward III., and are remarkable for their vigour and heroic spirit.