Wolk |. No. 23 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
A WEEKLY JOURNAL: DEVOTED-T0-THE: BEST: INTERESTS:OF- THENORTH-SHDRE- 
BEVERLY, MASS., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1904 
EFLEP WOR, 
Three Cents 
ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 
BY, D..F. LAMSON. 
[The present article is intended as an in- 
troduction to a series of papers on some of 
the great masters of English literature. An 
attempt will be made in these papers to pre- 
sent in a concise but readable form a sketch 
of the author’s life, some notice of his works 
and the influence of his writings upon the 
language. ] 
The stream of the English language 
did not rise in England, it had its 
source in the land of the Saxons. The 
original language of Britain was Celtic 
and survives in the Gaelic, the Erse, 
the Welsh and the Manx. The in- 
debtedness of our tongue to our 
Anglo-Saxon ancestors is attested by 
the fact that in Bosworth’s Anglo- 
Saxon Dictionary, out of 2000 words 
over 500 are still in use as modern 
English words. Of words in present” 
use a large proportion of the more 
common and useful words are of 
Saxon derivation; such are names of 
natural objects, terms which express 
the domestic relations, and the every- 
day employments of life, and ordinary 
feelings and affections. 
The Old English was a homely and 
homespun form of speech, with very 
few foreign elements. Some Latin 
words come in through intercourse 
with the continent, and others, mostly 
of an ecclesiastical nature, such as 
monk, priest, bishop, saint, psalter, 
epistle, porch, cloister, choir, transcept, 
lectern, chalice, cope, were introduced 
by® Christianity. The earliest speci- 
mens of Old English belong to the 
seventh century, and the best known 
remains are Beowulf, an epic poem, 
which israther Teutonic than English, 
the writings of the venerable Bede, 
and of the King of the West Saxons, 
“ The pious Alfred, king to Justice dear, 
Lord of the harp and liberating spear.” 
The period is called by some the 
Saxon or the Semi-Saxon period, but 
Alfred himself uses the word ‘ Eng- 
lise’’ in speaking of his language. 
Our Rockbound Coast. 
[Lines written at Manchester during a Northeaster.] 
I gaze from afar o’er the scarce-covered reef 
At the waves that roll in from the sea 
And break in great masses of white shim- 
n’ring foam 
That scatter far off to the lea. 
And I think how those billows start far in 
the north, 
In the home of the walrus and whale, 
Whence great mountains of ice from Green- 
land’s wild fiords 
Are driven far south by the gale. 
And I think of the fisherman out on the 
banks, 
In the fog and the sleet and the cold. 
& ase 
“EAGLEHEAD” IN A STORM. 
Situated at the northern end of the 
famous Singing Beach, Manchester, 
this bold promintory, which gets its 
name from its semblence with an 
eagle’s head, is one of the most pic- 
turesque spots on the whole New 
England coast. Especially at this 
season of the year, when the waves 
dash in frenzy over its crest is the spot 
dear to lovers of nature’s beauty 
scenes. 
But he thinks how those billows will soon 
bear him home, 
Where the love dwells that never grows 
old. 
Thus often through life the things that seem 
hard 
Are sent us by God’s tender care 
To teach us if need be through suffering and 
pain 
Of his great love that reigns everywhere. 
And if always to him we keep open our 
hearts, 
With our eyes ever fixed on the Light, 
We shall aye find the strength that shall 
conquer the world 
For the cause of the Truth and the Right. 
—J.H.S. in the Boston Transcript. 
