223 



The Antiquary: 



[oa. 1, 



]cft. The intermediate snceftry of our when mefathefis was frequent.* Mono- 

 Janou:ge dcniamls peculiar warinefs, and fyllables were frequently changed for dif- 

 requir-s not only the moit dextrous but fyllablce and dirtyllables fos monolyllables. 

 the moi\ difficult exertions of critical ac- Letters were fometimes added to the end 

 tivity, fin e remotenefs ot fituilion in the of word>, as b in poinb, b in hslenb, and 

 people, their conntition wiih other na- the final a in the Cimbric infinitive wa« 

 tions either in the way of war or com- changed U>x, e, i, o, and u ; and fo re- 

 mcrce, m.iy have lb changed or amplified pugnant to the ideas of the Dano Saxons 

 their lirgnat^e, that however related to was the final ii, that for the fake of remov- 

 anothtr by firtt principles, the fuperftruc- ing it they fometimes dropped the lait fylla- 

 ture which has been raifir.g fur ages may bje of a word ; as in eprj'o Tor eptj'ona. 

 foiTietimes put regulaiity and analogy to But among ail the exotic iorrns ot writ- 

 defianre. i^sTi none was more c.infpicuous than the 



To return, however, to the Saxon termination of the infinitive in a inttcad 



Dr Hick.es, whrn treating of the diffe- of an ; nor was this the only part of the 

 rent epoclis of the language, unfortunate- verb that change of termination was con- 

 ly termed ihcin dialect* j forgetting th.U fined to: and even the calts of nouns were 

 by dialscls are meant the various methods confounded againll fyrtax. Such are 

 of pronim:iation peculiar to diflPeient forts fome of the leading features in the great 

 or tiihcs of people, all iding the fime Ian- corrujition ot the Djnc.Saxon dialefl. 

 guage at tlie fame time. This objei5lion Dr. Hickes has adduced innumerable in- 

 may to ibme perhaps feem fiivolous ; and ftances of thefe from one of the fineft and 

 it would not have been mentioned here, uioit valuable manufcripts in the Ian- 

 had not the very name of Hickes, on this guage. He has pi^inted out this confu- 

 accoiint alme, been treated difretpeifttiliy fion not only in liie cafes, but in the nuni- 

 bv one or two modern Saxonifts. btrs of nouns j in the joining adjtflives 



l"he firft epoch, from the arrival of the and Aibftantivcs of difi'erent genders, in 

 Saxons in 449 to the invalion of the Danes, the pafTive ufe of aitive verbs, and in 

 compiehended a period of 537 years, and many other particulars which feem to 

 was aptly lenneil by Billiop Nicolfon the place ail rules of graminar at definnce, 

 dialedl of the Anoli. Of this dialeft the The manufcript alluded to is the cele- 

 cnlv lema.n is a fragment ot the true brated Rufliworth Codex, new depofited 

 Csei'mon, a monk, of Whitby (inlerted in in the Bodleian Library. Some addi'ion- 

 Kmg Al'ied's rianflntion of Bede's Ec- al and valuable infcrmation concerning the 

 c ef:a(fical Hiftorv), whofe grandeur and Dano-Ssxon dialecl, from the Durham 

 iublimity arc much admired. Book in tbe Mnfeum (MS. Cotton Nero. 



The lec nd r'poch, fr. m the invafic n of D. iv,), ot equal age and beauty with the 

 the Danes to the arrival of the N. rm:ins, Kufhvvonh Manulcript, may be derived 

 conipiizrd a period oi 274 years; and from the following letter wiitten by the 

 th.y who are dcfiious of knowing how the fame great mafter of northern learning to 

 D'in'S rc.bbed the purer Saxon of i:s na- Mr., afterwards Bilhop, Nicolfon, and 

 tive eir-gance, will find amplj faisfaction left undated, 

 in (he Tne aurus m Dr. Hickes. For 



I'.iough, as a iai guage (cidom wiitten, it 

 might nHve mary vari'.tio.'is, yet «as it 

 reecr lb var.ou~ or i<> arbitrary as in pe- 

 r o(!s when the profpenty cf learning 



" HONOURED SIR, 



" I now come after a long (ilence, for 

 which I aflc your pardon, to anfwer your 

 ot>lii;ing letter of 0(ft. 31. 1 have fince that 

 time had the misfortune of two removals. 



ir.ioh' jiave ncen ex;'eirea to have given .^^^ ojher avocations, or elfe 1 had replied 

 ii h mort Ic'iled form. fooner. Tlic church of Durham, with great 



1 he p ri »d i'( tiie Dai^o Saxon tongue uianimiiy and civility, have contributed 

 Vi-as :'a' m which tiie interchange of vow- twenty pounds, for which I am in a great 

 eU was m •» conlpicuous* : a circum- tne^iure obliged to you and the eximplc of 

 fiance whih he Saxon liudent muft be your church, which I now. begin to hope 

 eve mu.d ul of". It wssa period, too, moa of the reft will follow. In your tranf- 



laticnof the Sason verfcs of Durham I vvill 

 Utjcc:j'(i<>nd, and only make thofe twoalte- 



* The gre.it interchange of vowels, fo 

 remarkable in the earlier periods of nearly all 

 the Europ. jn languages, muft perhaps be ge- 

 nerally referred 10 the Eaft. In many in- 

 iKuices it rekMibles the general nroptr:ies of 

 \vhat grammarians term the Attic dialcA of 

 the Greeics. 



rHiions you allow of I intend to fend you 

 tile Dano-Saxoiiico Menologium, and my 

 verfion of it, which I defire you to revife, 

 and tell me your free opinion of every thiog 



* As tinrepse for rinrpsge. 



1 think 



