pronounced together. But if we mean the function which that little word discharges in the economy of the language, then the word' is French at least nine times out of ten. Where the Saxon of was used, we should now mostly employ another preposition, as Alys us of yfle. Deliver us from evil. The following from the Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 894, shews one place where we should retain it, and one where we should change it : Ne cóm se here oftor eall ute of þæm setum bonne tuwwa. opre sipe pa hie ærest to londe comon. ær sio fierd gesamnod wære. opre sipe pa hie of pæm setum faran wol don. The host came not all out of the encampment oftener than twice: once when they first to land came, ere the Fierd was assembled once when they would depart from the encamp ment. Thus the Saxon of has to be sought with some scrutiny by him who would find it in modern English. There was indeed one use in which it already coincided with French de, namely, as the link between the passive verb and the agent. Though we employ this Saxon of no longer, though by has entirely superseded it in this function, our ears are still familiar in Bible English with this passival of :— When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not downe in the highest roume: lest a more honourable man then thou be bidden of him.— Luke xiv. 8. Paul after his shipwreck is kindly entertained of the barbarians.-Acts xxviii. (Contents.) I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Iesus. -Phil. iii. 12. As before said, the common and current of which is so profusely sprinkled over every page, is French in its inward essence. Numerous as are the places in which this preposition now occurs, it is less rife than it was. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the language teemed with it. It recurred and recurred to satiety. This Frenchism is now much abated. I will add a few examples in which we should no longer use it. How shall I feast him? What bestow of him? Twelfth Night, iii. 4. 2. 3 Henry VI, ii. 5. 3. What time the Shepheard, blowing of his nailes. Doe me the favour to dilate at full, What haue befalne of them and thee till now. Comedy of Errors, i. I. 124. In the Fourth Folio this last of is at length omitted. 524. Off, a modified of, is now little used prepositionally; it is mostly reserved for such adverbial uses, as be off, take off, wash off, write off, they who are far off. But this is a modern distinction, and it exhibits one of the devices of language for increasing its copia verborum. Any mere variety of spelling may acquire distinct functions to the enrichment of speech. In Miles Coverdale's Bible (1535) there is no sense-distinction between of and off: as may be seen by the following from the thirteenth chapter of the prophet Zachary : In that tyme shall the house off Dauid and the citesyns off Ierusalem haue an open well, to wash of synne and vnclennesse. And then (sayeth the LORDE off hoostes) I will destroye the names of Idols out off the londe. On and its compound upon. ... and layde him on the Altar vpon the wood.-Genesis xxii. 9. upon. There were slaine of them, vpon a three thousand men.-I Maccabees iv. 15. And if any will judge this way more painfull, because that all things must be read upon the book, whereas before by the reason of so often repetition they could say many things by heart: if those men will weigh their labour, with the profit and knowledge which daily they shall obtain by reading upon the book, they will not refuse the pain, in consideration of the great profit that shall ensue thereof.-Old Common Prayer Book, The Preface. over. In a series of Acts passed over the veto of the President, Congress provided for the assemblage in each Southern State of a constituent Convention, to be elected by universal suffrage. 525. Till is from an ancient substantive til, still flourishing in German in its rightful form as ziel, and meaning goal, mark, aim, butt. Thus in some Saxon versified proverbs, Til sceal on eðle domes wyrcean. Mark shall on patrimony doom-wards work. Two Saxon Chronicles Parallel, p. xxxv. i.e. a borne or landmark shall be admissible as evidence. For its prepositional use, see the quotation from R. Brunne in 515. This preposition is now appropriated to Time: we say till then, till to-morrow; but not till there. Earlier it was used of Place, as in the Passionate Pilgrim : She, poor bird, as all forlorn, This preposition enjoys a provincial function which is unknown in literature: Well, Hester, do you feel tired now that there are two sets of lodgers in the house? Yes, Sir, till night I do. (Clevedon, Somersetshire.) to (= comparable to). A sweet thing is love, It rules both heart and mind; There is no comfort in the world To women that are kind. Ballad Society, vol. i. p. 320. With. This preposition had a value in the fourteenth century which is unknown in Saxon and which did not permanently root itself in English. It was used like the by of passivity, as Who saved Daniel in the horrible cave, Ther every wight, save he, master or knave, The Man of Lawes Tale, 4895. i. e. was devoured by the lion before he could stir. The isolation of this use at a particular point in our literature leads to the supposition that it may have been Danish, especially as this is the use of Danish ved to this day1. 526. The prepositions are more elevated in the scale of symbolism than the pronouns. They are quite removed from all appearance of direct relation with the material and the sensible. They constitute a mental product of the most exquisite sort. They are more cognate to mind; they have caught more of that freedom which is the heritage of mind; they are more amenable to mental variations, and more ready to lend themselves to new turns of thought, than pronouns can possibly be. To see this it is necessary to stand outside the language; for these things have become so mingled with the very circulation of our blood, that we cannot easily put ourselves in a position to observe them. Those who have mastered, or in any effective manner even studied Greek, will recognise what is meant. To see it in our own speech requires more practised habits of observation. But here I can avail myself of testimony. Wordsworth had the art of bringing into play the subtle powers of English prepositions, It is the preposition used in title-pages before the author's name, as'Bjowulfs Drape. Et Gothisk Helte-Digt af Angel-Saxisk paa Danske Riim ved Nic. Fred. Sev. Grundtvig, Præst. Kjöbenhavn, 1820.' Beowulf's Death. A Gothic Hero-Poem from Anglo-Saxon, in Danish Rime, by N. F. S. Gruntvig, Priest. Copenhagen, 1820. and this feature of his poetry has not escaped the notice of Principal Shairp. Here, in passing, I may note the strange power there is in his simple prepositions. The star is on the mountain-top; the silence is in the starry sky; the sleep is among the hills; the gentleness of heaven is on the sea.' Studies in Poetry and Philosophy, p. 74. Wordsworth dedicated his Memorials of a Tour in Italy to his fellow-traveller, Henry Crabb Robinson. The opening lines are: Companion! by whose buoyant spirit cheered, It was originally written 'To whose experience.' Mr. Robinson suggested that 'In' would be better than 'To,' and the poet, after offering reasons for a thing which can hardly be argued upon, ended by yielding his own superior sense to the criticism of his friend. Diary, 1837. Flexional Prepositions. 527. A second series of prepositions are those in which flexion is traceable; for example, the genitival form, as against, besides, sithence; or comparison, as after, near, next. after. Full semyly aftir hir mete she raughte. Prologue, 136. The vintners were made to pay licence duties after a much higher scale than that which had obtained under Ralegh.-Edward Edwards, Ralegh (1868), ii. p. 23. besides ( = beyond, or contrary to). Besides all men's expectation.-Richard Hooker, Of the Laws &c. Preface, ii, 6. sithence. We require you to find out but one church upon the face of the whole earth, that hath been ordered by your discipline, or hath not been ordered |