-
Articles/Ads
Article REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews Of New Books.
to he the Basques of Spain . Hecent travellers have given to the world speculations upon this singular people , who lookrdown upon the old Gastillans with undisguised contempt ; and who commonly boast ( and ^ ^ ^ b firmly ) that theirs is the primitive language of the earth , which was spoken by Adam and Eve . The nmst honest and respecta ^ member of the Buonaparte family has within the last fow years ^ tf the subject of this ancient tongue with great enthusiasm . These Iberians were slaughtered or driven out after which ., Eomans , Saxons , Frisians , Jutes , and Warings , by successive invasions and settlements in the country , came to have their Influence upon its speech . The pure " English , " however , from the east of Jutland soon became the dominant race , and gave to the land , folk , and laws , as well as speech , their distinguishing name . This Bro ; Clarke shows to be no rash theory , by a comparison of the dialect spoken in Somersetshire at the present day with that of the Frisians , who still hold themselves our kinsmen . He tells us that some of Shakspeare ' s plays have been put into Frisian almost word for
word . Many able men of our time have deplored the disguise which of late years has been thrust upon the English language , and some contributors of no mean talent to the newspapers and magazines which have become a necessity to our civilization , have done their utmost to restore the honest vernacular English as a means of expressing great thoughts and brilliant wit . To name one only—the late Douglas Jerrold set his face always against the
use of Anglo-French or Anglo-Latin words ; and as his reward , he found his writings universally read and universally understood by high and low . That his example may be more often followed is our sincere wish ; and we are glad to find the able pen of Hyde Clarke inveighing against the overlaying the English tongue with French and Latin . Recent discoveries in science and recent revivals in art have done much to introduce a corrupt
style of speaking and writing ; and while we acknowledge the benefits which chemists , painters , and the host of seekers after beauty and knowledge which the present day has brought forth have bestowed upon their fellows , we do wish that they had taken the English language to express their findings-out in place of coining words from Latin and Greek , which often place valuable knowledge beyond the grasp of those who have not received a " classical " education . And that this is not needful is shown
by our author , who points out that in the last century the Hollanders and High Dutch freed their tongues from Latinisms by bringing back or making words of home stock . Many reflections suggest themselves to our mind in connexion with the English language considered as an index of the national character , but our
space is limited , and though we would willingly pursue the subject , we must content ourselves with presenting our readers with one or two extracts by which they may judge for themselves of the value of this excellent treatise . Speaking * of the various shapes which English has assumed , Bro . Clarke attributes the most enduring qualities and the most truly English type to the southern dialects , of which he says : —
" The southern dialects having been long spoken by a great body of the English , from among whom the great English writers and thinkers have sprung , have been those which have taken the lead , aud from them has been made the English tongue as written , and as commonly acknowledged - It 1 b south of Trent we find the birth-towns of ShakBpearey Spenser , Milton , Dry den , Pope , Byron , De Foe , Fielding , Bacon , Locke , and Newton ; it is in their southern tongue tho master works have been written , and the great statesmen of the land have spoken . It is in this tongue we mustwek the living law of the English speech , the lex et norma
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews Of New Books.
to he the Basques of Spain . Hecent travellers have given to the world speculations upon this singular people , who lookrdown upon the old Gastillans with undisguised contempt ; and who commonly boast ( and ^ ^ ^ b firmly ) that theirs is the primitive language of the earth , which was spoken by Adam and Eve . The nmst honest and respecta ^ member of the Buonaparte family has within the last fow years ^ tf the subject of this ancient tongue with great enthusiasm . These Iberians were slaughtered or driven out after which ., Eomans , Saxons , Frisians , Jutes , and Warings , by successive invasions and settlements in the country , came to have their Influence upon its speech . The pure " English , " however , from the east of Jutland soon became the dominant race , and gave to the land , folk , and laws , as well as speech , their distinguishing name . This Bro ; Clarke shows to be no rash theory , by a comparison of the dialect spoken in Somersetshire at the present day with that of the Frisians , who still hold themselves our kinsmen . He tells us that some of Shakspeare ' s plays have been put into Frisian almost word for
word . Many able men of our time have deplored the disguise which of late years has been thrust upon the English language , and some contributors of no mean talent to the newspapers and magazines which have become a necessity to our civilization , have done their utmost to restore the honest vernacular English as a means of expressing great thoughts and brilliant wit . To name one only—the late Douglas Jerrold set his face always against the
use of Anglo-French or Anglo-Latin words ; and as his reward , he found his writings universally read and universally understood by high and low . That his example may be more often followed is our sincere wish ; and we are glad to find the able pen of Hyde Clarke inveighing against the overlaying the English tongue with French and Latin . Recent discoveries in science and recent revivals in art have done much to introduce a corrupt
style of speaking and writing ; and while we acknowledge the benefits which chemists , painters , and the host of seekers after beauty and knowledge which the present day has brought forth have bestowed upon their fellows , we do wish that they had taken the English language to express their findings-out in place of coining words from Latin and Greek , which often place valuable knowledge beyond the grasp of those who have not received a " classical " education . And that this is not needful is shown
by our author , who points out that in the last century the Hollanders and High Dutch freed their tongues from Latinisms by bringing back or making words of home stock . Many reflections suggest themselves to our mind in connexion with the English language considered as an index of the national character , but our
space is limited , and though we would willingly pursue the subject , we must content ourselves with presenting our readers with one or two extracts by which they may judge for themselves of the value of this excellent treatise . Speaking * of the various shapes which English has assumed , Bro . Clarke attributes the most enduring qualities and the most truly English type to the southern dialects , of which he says : —
" The southern dialects having been long spoken by a great body of the English , from among whom the great English writers and thinkers have sprung , have been those which have taken the lead , aud from them has been made the English tongue as written , and as commonly acknowledged - It 1 b south of Trent we find the birth-towns of ShakBpearey Spenser , Milton , Dry den , Pope , Byron , De Foe , Fielding , Bacon , Locke , and Newton ; it is in their southern tongue tho master works have been written , and the great statesmen of the land have spoken . It is in this tongue we mustwek the living law of the English speech , the lex et norma