Cll I^^TRODLCTION. 



novelty. Our ancestors carelessly lost 

 many good native names by preferring 

 Latin ones in their places. It is not to be 

 supposed that all the Latin which is found 

 in the Saxon plant-list was introduced into 

 places previously vacant. As well might 

 we reason that all the Latin and Greek 

 words that have been adopted into English 

 within the last three hundred years were 

 so adopted because the language had pre- 

 viously no equivalents for them. We know 

 well, that in a very great number of in- 

 stances there was as good a word in full 

 currency before, often even a better word ; — 

 and that no inference at all can be drawn 

 from the avidity of receiving foreign words 

 as to the previous needs of the language 

 which has displayed such avidity. The adop- 

 tion of classical words was in deference to 

 the prestige of the classical languages at 

 first, then it became a piece of scholastic 

 pedantry, which spreading ever wider and 

 wider became at length a fashion because 

 it was a flag of social pretension. And 

 now that the movement has reached the 

 outskirts of the community and we can 



