21. From Macaulay's Essay on the Earl of The Duke of Richmond had given notice of an Address to the Throne against the further prosecution of hostilities with America. Chatham had, during some time, absented himself from Parliament, in consequence of his growing infirmities. He determined to appear in his place on this occasion, and to declare that his opinions were decidedly at variance with those of the Rockingham party. He was in a state of great excitement. His medical attendants were uneasy, and strongly advised him to calm himself, and remain at home. But he was not to be controlled. His son William, and his son-in-law, Lord Mahon, accompanied him to Westminster. He rested himself in the Chancellor's room till the debate commenced, and then, leaning on his two young relations, limped to his seat. The slightest particulars of that day were remembered, and have been carefully recorded. He bowed, it was remarked, with great courtliness to those peers who rose to make way for him and his supporters. His crutch was in his hand. He wore, as was his fashion, a rich velvet coat. His legs were swathed in flannel. His wig was so large, and his face so emaciated, that none of his features could be discerned, except the high 'Thomas Babington Macaulay was born on October 25, 1800, at Rothley Temple, in Leicestershire, and died at Kensington, on December 28, 1859. His prose works are 'Critical and Historical Essays,' and a ' History of England from the Accession of James II.' His style is clear, vigorous, copious, animated, and sustained; and, above all, thoroughly English. curve of his nose, and his eyes, which still retained a gleam of the old fire. When the Duke of Richmond had spoken, Chatham rose. For some time his voice was inaudible. At length his tones became distinct and his action animated. Here and there his hearers caught a thought or an expression which reminded them of William Pitt. But it was clear that he was not himself. He lost the thread of his discourse, hesitated, repeated the same words several times, and was so confused that, in speaking of the Act of Settlement, he could not recall the name of the Electress Sophia. The House listened in solemn silence, and with the aspect of profound respect and compassion. The stillness was so deep that the dropping of a handkerchief would have been heard. The Duke of Richmond replied with great tenderness and courtesy; but while he spoke the old man was observed to be restless and irritable. The Duke sat down. Chatham stood up again, pressed his hand on his breast, and sank down in an apoplectic fit. Three or four lords who sat near him caught him in his fall. The House broke up in confusion. The dying man was carried to the residence of one of the officers of Parliament, and was so far restored as to be able to bear a journey to Hayes. At Hayes, after lingering a few weeks, he expired in his seventieth year. His bed was watched to the last with anxious tenderness by his wife and children; and he well deserved their care. Too often haughty and wayward to others, to them he had been almost effeminately kind. He had through life been dreaded by his political opponents, and regarded with more awe than love even by his political associates. But no fear seems to have mingled with the affection which his fondness, constantly overflowing in a thousand endearing forms, had inspired in the little circle at Hayes. THE NATURE AND GENIUS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. We have already seen that English is a composite language, i. e., derived from many sources. But writers are not agreed on the exact proportion of its elements. Thus, out of one hundred parts, Archbishop Trench would give sixty to Saxon, thirty to Latin (and LatinFrench), five to Greek, and five to all other sources.1 Mr. Shaw considers five-eighths of the language to be of Saxon origin; adding that in our most idiomatic writers (as De Foe) about nine-tenths of the words are Saxon, and in our least idiomatic (as Gibbon) two-thirds are Saxon.2 Professor Gäbler tells us that there are about 53,000 words in the English language, of which 3,820 may be considered primitives. Of these, some 2,500 (2,513) are derived from the Germanic, and 1,250 from the classic stock.3 may From all these calculations, we may pretty safely arrive at the conclusion that at least three-fourths of the present English words are still Saxon; and this sufficiently prove the innate strength of the Germanic part of the language, which has for many centuries so firmly resisted all the influences of foreign invasion and internal oppression, as still to exhibit a considerable preponderance over all the other elements. 1 English, Past and Present,' p. 11. Ꮓ This triumph of the Saxon over the French or Latin portion of our language may be also illustrated by the well-known fact that, though it is easy enough to compose long sentences in English every word of which shall be Anglo-Saxon, it is impossible to write the shortest proposition, using only Latin or French words, in which an Anglo-Saxon element, or at least grammatical inflection, will not appear. For example:'I rode in the highway betwixt Topcliff upon Swale and Boroughbridge, the way being somewhat trodden afore by wayfaring men; the fields on both sides were flat, and lay almost yard deep with snow; the night before had been a little frosty, so that the snow was hard.' Here, literally, every word is of Anglo-Saxon origin; and it would be easy to write hundreds of sentences of the same materials, provided that the subject were some ordinary occurrence, and not of a scientific or moral nature. On the other hand, here is a short sentence in which every word is of Latin origin :-Avarice produces misery.' Now, notwithstanding the Latin derivation of the words, one letter (the s in 'produces') is sufficient to prove the character of the language to be Teutonic, and not Romanz.1 It cannot, however, be denied, that the Saxon character of our language, both in its words and inflections, is gradually though slowly disappearing. We may take it for granted, that any verb introduced into English will, in future, form its past tense indica•tive by the addition of d or ed (as, amuse, amused), and not by a change or modification of the vowelsound (as, run, ran)—thus adopting the French rather 1 See Max Müller's Survey of Languages,' p. 7. than the Germanic principle. In the same way, all plurals of nouns will, no doubt, for the future be formed by the addition of the letter s (as, page, pages), and not by modifying the internal vowel (as, foot, feet). Having so far ascertained the proportion which Anglo-Saxon bears to the whole language, it will be now expedient to consider those classes of ideas in which the elements of English are principally found. Here, however, the rule will be seldom without exceptions, as may be readily understood when we consider the mixed nature of the language, the long period during which its elementary parts have been amalgamated, and the various influences that have affected it. WORDS OF SAXON ORIGIN. 1. Terms expressive of primary ideas and simple objects; as, man, woman, sun, moon, land, sea, sky, star, light, shade, &c. 2. Words denoting degrees of kindred; as, father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife, &c.1 3. The names of the primary colours: red, black, white, green, brown, blue, yellow.2 4. Names of metals: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, brass.3 5. The common and simple acts of life: come, go, eat, run, swim, fly, sing, climb, speak, &c. 6. Words denoting parts of the body; as, head, hair, The French word 'cousin' is an exception. Names of compound colours, as 'purple,' 'orange,' 'lilac,' &c., are derived from other sources. • Platinum, a later discovery, is a Spanish word. |