noun. Such was the case, in all probability, with man in the infancy of his being; and it is not likely that he added this new species of words to his primitive and necessary stock, until sufficient advance had been made in the formative process to show their great advantage as regards brevity of expression and pleasantness of sound.

Among the early races of men, it seems probable that there was much less said than at the present day. Their sentences were at once fewer, shorter, and simpler, than ours. As successive advances, however, were made, and it was found that mutual intercourse was a source of pleasure, men did not confine themselves simply to what it was necessary to com municate, but imparted freely to each other even such thoughts as had no practical bearing. The original brief mode of expression was gradually laid aside; longer sentences were used; and a new class of words was required to connect clauses so closely related in construction and sense as not to admit of separation into distinct periods. This was the origin of Conjunctions; and the same cause, when man's taste was still further improved and he began to think of beautifying language while he extended its power of expression, led to the invention of the Relative Pronoun.

To tell how, when, and where the action expressed by the verb was performed, and also to indicate the degree in which any object possessed a certain quality, as for instance how tall a tree was, man's inventive faculties were not long in perceiving that a new species of words was required and in forming them accordingly. Adverbs were thus introduced; and with them the elements of language, or Parts of Speech, as they are termed, were complete. Man now had the means of expressing fully and intelligibly all that came into his mind;

Oroun? What do they employ in its place? What is gained by the use of the Personal Pronoun? What was the character of the sentences used by the early races of men? What change took place in the course of time? What kind of sentences came into use? What now class of words was thus required? What parts of speech ongi.

nated in this way? Describe the origin of Adverbs. What are the elements of lan

and his future efforts were to be directed, not to the creation of new elements, but to improving and modifying those already devised, to harmonizing the whole and uniting them in a consistent system. Up to this point necessity had operated; the improvements subsequently made must be attributed to the desire of pleasing.

§ 16. In thus tracing the origin of the Parts of Speech, we have based our theory and deductions on the supposition that man's starting point was a state of utter ignorance. It is believed by many that this ignorance was entailed on the human race at the same time with death, as a punishment for the first disobedience; that, immediately on their expulsion from Eden, our first parents lost that enlightenment with which they had been originally endowed by the Deity. Others think that this sinking to savagism was gradual, and was the result of the moral degradation which, as the Bible informs us, characterized most of the descendants of Adam at the time of the Deluge. In either of these cases, or if there was no direct revelation from on high, the successive steps in the formation of language were probably similar to those described above, for such would be their natural order. If God did assist men directly, it is likely that He merely put them in possession of such elements as barely enabled them to communicate with each other what was absolutely essential, and that much was left for human ingenuity to devise; in which case, also, we may conclude that the steps of formation were successively taken in the order described above.

In what condition men were as regards their language at the time of the Deluge, cannot be ascertained. Different communities probably spoke different dialects, of greater or less comprehensiveness and power of expression, according to the various circumstances of their position and history.

guage, or classes of words, called? After the formation of the parts of speech, to what were man's efforts directed?

§ 16. On what supposition is this theory of the origin of words based? According to some, when was this ignorance entailed on man? What is the opinion of others on this subject? In either case, what seems probable with respect to the steps of formation? To what extent is it likely that the Deity assisted men? What is said regarding the different dialects spoken at the time of the Deluge?

LESSON VI.

ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

§ 17. Britain before the Roman Conquest.-The earliest authentic account that we have of the inhabitants of Britain is from Julius Cæsar, by whom the southern part of the island was conquered in the year 54 B. C. The Roman general informs us that he found the people of Kent far more civilized than the rest, and adds that there was no great difference between their customs and those of Gaul.* This is not to be wondered at, as the southern part of the island was unquestionably peopled directly from Gaul; that is, from the northern districts of what is now called France, which lay directly opposite and were separated from it by a strait so narrow as to prove no obstacle to emigration. The historian Tacitus, who, in his Life of Agricola, takes occasion to describe the ancient British, confirms this account. He remarks that many points in the personal appearance of the Silures, or inhabitants of South Wales, together with their proximity to the Spanish coast, afford sufficient foundation for the belief that they were a branch of the Iberi, or first settlers of Spain; while there was little question that the parts opposite to Gaul had been seized on by the people of that country, their respective languages, religious rites, and general characteristics, bearing a marked resemblance to each other.t

* Ex his omnibus longe sunt humanissımı qui Cantium incolunt : quæ regio est maritima omnis; neque multum a Gallica differunt consuetudine,-CESAR, de Bello Gallico, Lib. V., c. 14.

In universum tamen æstimanti, Gallos vicinum solum occupasse credibile est. Eorum sacra reprehendas, superstitionum persuasione: sermo haud multum diversus: în deposcendis periculis eadem audacia,

§ 17. Who furnishes us with the earliest authentic account of the people of Britain? What part of the island did Cæsar conquer, and when? Which of the inabitants did he find most civilized? Whom did they resemble in their manners and Bustoms? How is this accounted for? Who confirms Cæsar's account? Where did the Silures live? From whom, according to Tacitus, did they derive their origin? By whom does he think that the parts opposite Gaul were peopled? What great race had

The great Celtic race was at this early period scattered over the whole of Southwestern Europe; and no doubt suc cessive bodies had found their way to Britain, either directly, or after a temporary residence on the opposite coasts of the continent. At the time of Cæsar's invasion, therefore, in Britain, as well as in Gaul and Spain, dialects of the great Celtic tongue were spoken; but it was not to this original vernacular that our English of the present day owes its origin. We allude to it here because it is important that the student should be acquainted with its history and be able to trace its connection with our language, in the formation of which it has had its share, in a measure directly, but more particularly through the medium of its derivatives, the Latin and Norman French.

Ireland appears to have been originally peopled by colonies from Carthage, and through this channel to have received its language from the Phoenicians, to whom also the Celts seem to have been indebted for · theirs. Their own historians declare this to have been the case; and the Irish language was originally called Bearni Feni, or the Phoenician tongue. No inscription, however, is to be found in Ireland in Phoenician characters; and it is therefore probable that the colonies which emigrated thither from Carthage started after the First Punic War, for it was at this period that the Carthaginians gave up their own alphabet for that of the Romans. Subsequently to this settlement, there was probably a considerable influx of Iberi from Spain; who carried with them their Celtic dialect, and, grafting it on the Phoenician before in use, produced a tongue which, though not identical with that of ancient Britain, bore a close resemblance to it.

et, ubi advenere, in detractandis eadem formido.-TACITUS, Julii Agricolæ Vita, XI.

settled in Southwestern Europe? What language prevailed both there and in Britain' at the time of Cæsar's invasion? Is Celtic the groundwork of English? What share has it had in the formation of our language?

Whence does Ireland seem to have been peopled? From whom did it receive its language? What was the Irish language originally called? At what period is it probable that the Carthaginian colonies emigrated to Ireland? What reason is there for this supposition? What other element, besides the Phoenician tongue, had a share in the formation of ancient Irish? By whom was the Celtic language introduced into Ireland? What islands, also, were colonized by the Spaniards? What was their ancient name? For what were they renowned? What people carried on an extensive

The Spaniards, also, we are informed by Dionysius,* colonized the Scilly Isles, those famous Kassiterides, renowned among the ancients for their exhaustless stores of tin. The Phoenicians seem, from a very early date, to have carried on an extensive commerce with these islands, for the express purpose of supplying the nations on the Mediterranean with this useful metal. For a long time they succeeded in keeping the posi tion of the islands a secret; and we are informed that a Phoenician trader, perceiving himself to be watched by a Roman merchantman, ran his vessel ashore rather than betray their locality, and was recompensed for his loss from the treasury of the state. The successive attempts of different nations to discover these valuable islands wee, however, at last successful; and the Kassiterides, as well as the large islands to which they were adjacent, were soon peopled by the restless Celts.

§ 18. Celtic Language.-The Celtic Language derives its name from the word Keλrot, the appellation given by the Greeks to the primitive inhabitants of Western Europe, who came originally from the same stock as the Greeks and Romans themselves, but had pushed their migrations further. The name was afterwards assumed by an individual tribe, who, after various wanderings, settled in Gaul immediately south of the Loire. Celtic is regarded by etymologists as the parent of most of the languages of Southern and Western Europe, of some African tongues, and the various dialects of the two Tartaries.† Latin and Greek are also reckoned among its derivatives.

* Τοθι κασσιτέροιο γενεθλη

Αφνειοι ναιουσιν ἀγανοι παιδες Ιβηρων.

DIONYSIUS, Perierg., v. 563.

La langue celtique dans son sens le plus extendu, est la langue que parlerent les premiers habitans de l'Europe, depuis les rives de l'Hellespont et de la Mer Egée, jusques à celle de l'océan; depuis le cap Sigée aux portes de Troie, jusques au cap de Finisterre in Portugal, ou jusques en Ireland.-GEBELIN, Disc. Prélim., art. 2.

Lingua Hetrusca, Phrygia, Celtica, affines sunt omnes; ex uno fonte derivatæ. Nec Græca longe distat; Japheticæ sunt omnes ergo et ipsa Latina.-STIERNHELM.

de with the Kassiterides? What incident is related in illustration of the value which the Phoenicians set upon their exclusive trade with these islands? By whom, at last, were the Kassiterides peopled?

§ 18. From what does the Celtic language derive its name? From what stock did the KEATO: Spring? By whom was the name afterwards assumed? What tongues have been formed from the Celtic? From what language was Celtic an offshoot! . What resemblance confirms this fact?