ANCIENT LANGUAGE OF ENGLAND. 



Hope dawns upon us from a new source we are led to expect that 

 the lore which ought to descend upon us from collegiate turrets, will 

 take a welcome possession of the minds of many persons whose 

 knowledge of English literature reaches back to the age of Queen 

 Elizabeth, but does not extend to an earlier period. There are 

 thousands who have often perused the plays of Shakspeare, who 

 know no prior native compositions. The History of King Lear and 

 his three Daughters is one of the works that is most studied by this 

 very numerous class, who welcome any illustration of its meaning, or 

 corroboration of its essential truth, and often complain of the meagre- 

 ness of the information which commentators have attached in their 

 notes upon it, and shrewdly suspect also, " that there may be in 

 existence cotemporary details, that will, if ever discovered and pub- 

 lished, throw light upon the dramatised history." Now it happens, 

 that an English gentleman, already distinguished as a Saxon scholar, 

 Mr. Benjamin Thorpe, has discovered a manuscript nearly nine hun- 

 dred years old, which is a history in Anglo-Saxon rhyme of the 

 worthy, ill-treated monarch and his cruel daughters. Mr. Thorpe 

 has printed* some very curious extracts from this manuscript, and he 

 promises to edit the whole of it ; with an eye probably only to the 

 gratification of a few veteran archaeologians. We hope that so ad- 

 mirable an opportunity of creating interest in precious and recondite 

 literature, by grafting it upon that which is both excellent and well- 

 known, will not be lost ; the gulph between the scholar and the 

 mere reader of modern English may be lessened without any loss 

 of dignity to the higher character, and with delight and advantage 

 to him whose actual range of philological information is not extensive. 

 We are apprehensive that, under the groundless fear of not being able 

 to excite an extensive interest in the aforesaid history of King Lear, 

 Mr. Thorpe may send it forth unaccompanied by those explanations 

 which will be essential to the comprehension of it on the part of those 

 who have not already received a good initiation into the language in 

 which it is composed, and we, therefore, exhort him to popularize it 

 as far as possible. We do not call upon him to make any sacrifice to 

 popularity that is a very different thing. But there are many who 

 do not appear to recognize the reality and validity of the distinction 

 between a vile ad captandum literature without depth, or elevation, in- 

 stantly comprehensible but not worth understanding and a litera- 

 ture of which profound thoughts, noble principles, and high ima- 

 ginings are the characteristics, and the comprehension of which is 

 rendered easy to ordinary attention and capacity from the copiousness 

 and the familiarness of the accompanying illustrations. They differ 

 as the demagogue does from the philanthropist the one of whom 

 pleads to the people, but never for them ; the man of sincere and com- 

 prehensive benevolence will plead for them, will instruct them, im- 

 plant in their minds the most important truths, eradicate, if possible, 

 the errors which may have taken root in their minds, and, as far as he 

 can do so, banish from their thoughts all unhallowed purposes. He 



* In a graduated Saxon reading book, entitled " A uilecta Suxonica," of 

 which we shall ere long give a regular notice in our reviewing department. 



