what of their perfections. But when we regard our homely dialects, the dilapidation is patent, and we naturally think of reconstruction by sounder specimens; and in this thought lies the germ of the philological idea.

$9. The King's English.

67. We have a phenomenon to account for. In the midst of this Babel of dialects there suddenly appeared a standard English language. It appeared at once in full vigour, and was acknowledged on all hands without dispute. The study of the previous age does not make us acquainted with a general process of convergency towards this result, but rather indicates that each locality was getting confirmed in its own peculiar habits of speech, and that the divergence was growing wider. Now there appeared a mature form of English which was generally received.

The two writers of the fourteenth century who most powerfully display this language are Chaucer and Gower. Piers Plowman is in a dialect; even Wiclif's Bible Version may be said to be in a dialect: but Chaucer and Gower write in a speech which is thenceforward recognised as THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, and which before their time is hardly found. This seems to admit of but one explanation. It must have been simply the language that had formed itself in the court about the person of the monarch. Chaucer and Gower differ from the other chief writers of their time in this particular, which they have in common between themselves, that they were both conversant with court life, and moved in the highest regions of English society. They wrote in fact King's English. This advantage, joined to the excellence of the works themselves, procured for these two writers, but more especially for Chaucer, the preference over all that had written in English.

68. An admiring foreigner (I think it was M. Montalembert), among other compliments to the virtues of this nation, observed, as a proof of our loyalty and our attachment to the monarchy, that we even call our roads 'the Queen's Highways,' and our language 'the Queen's English'! No Englishman would wish to dim the beauty of the sentiment here attributed to us, nor need we think it is disparaged though a matter-of-fact origin can be assigned to each of these expressions. Of the term 'King's Highway' the origin is historically known. When there were many jurisdictions in this country, which were practically independent of the crown, the tracts in which jurisdiction might be uncertain, such as the border-lands of the shires and the highways, appertained to the royal jurisdiction. That is to say, a crime committed on the highway was as if committed in the King's own personal domain, and fell to his courts to judge. The highways were emphatically under the King's Peace, and hence they came to be (for a very solid and substantial reason, at a time when travellers sorely needed to have their security guaranteed) spoken of as the King's Highways.1 Of the origin of the term 'King's English' we have not any direct testimony of this kind; but it seems that it may be constructively shewn, at least as a probability, that it was originally the term to designate the style of the royal or governmental proclamations, charters, and other legal writings, by contrast with the various dialects of the provinces2.

69. From about the middle of the thirteenth century, it had become usual to employ French in the most select documents, instead of Latin, which had been the documentary

1 Omnes herestrete omnino regis sunt. Laws of Henry III.

2 As a small collateral illustration and confirmation of this view, it may not be amiss to observe that the style of penmanship in which such documents were then written has always been known as 'Court Hand.'

Hallam tells us

language from the time of the Conquest. that 'all letters, even of a private nature, were written in Latin till the beginning of the reign of Edward I (soon after 1270), when a sudden change brought in the use of French.' But neither of these strange languages were suitable for edicts and proclamations addressed to the body of the people, and we may suppose that the vernacular was generally employed for this purpose, although few examples have survived. The earliest extant piece of this class is of the reign of Henry III, at the moment of the triumph of the barons and in the employment of the English language at this crisis we may see 'the anxiety of the barons to explain their conduct to the people at large, by the use of the best medium of information.'

Proclamation in the name of Henry III, sent to the several Counties of England, October 18, 1258.

¶ Henr', þur3 Godes fultume, King on Engleneloande, Lhoauerd on Yrloand, Duk on Norm' on Aquitain' and eorl on Aniow, send igretinge to alle hise holde, ilærde and ilawede on Huntendon' schir'.

pet witen ze wel alle þat we willen and unnen þæt. þæt vre rædesmen alle oper be moare dæl of heom, þæt beop ichosen þurz us and þur þæt loandes folk on vre kuneriche. habbeþ idon and schulle don. in þe worpnesse of Gode and on vre treowpe, for pe freme of pe loande pur3 pe besigte of þan to foren iseide redesmen. beo stedefæst and ilestinde in alle pinge a buten ænde.

And we hoaten alle vre treowe, in pe treowpe þæt heo vs ozen. þæt heo stedefæstliche healden and swerien to healden and to werien þe isetnesses þæt beon imakede and beon to makien, þur3 þan to foren iseide rædesmen oper burz pe moare dæl of heom, alswo alse hit is biforen iseid.

And þæt æhc oper helpe þæt for to done, bi þan ilche ope azenes alle men. Rizt for to done and to foangen. And noan ne nime of loande ne of ezte. wherpurz pis besigte muze beon ilet oper iwersed on onie wise. And if oni oper onie cumen her onzenes, we willen and hoaten þæt alle vre treowe heom healden deadliche ifoan.

And for þat we willen þæt þis beo stedefæst and lestinde. we senden zew pis writ open, iseined wip vre seel. to halden a manges 3ew ine hord. Witnesse vs seluen æt Lunden', pane eztetenpe day. on pe monpe of Octobr' in be two and fowertizþe 3eare of vre cruninge.

And þis wes idon ætforen vre isworene redesmen, Bonefac' Archebischop on Kant'bur'. Walt' of Cantelow. Bischop on Wirechestr'. Sim' of Muntfort. Eorl on Leirchestr'. Ric' of Clar' eorl on Glowchestr' and on Hurtford. Rog' Bigod. eorl on Northfolk and marescal on Engleneloand'. Perres of Sauveye. Will' of ffort. eorl on Aubem'. Joh' of Plesseiz eorl on Warewik. Joh' Geffrees sune. Perres of Muntefort. Ric' of Grey. Rog' of Mortemer. James of Aldithel and ætforen opren inoze.

¶ And al on po ilche worden is isend in to æurihce opre shcire ouer al þære kuneriche on Engleneloande. And ek in tel Irelonde.

Here we remark that in Iwas still in common use.

1258 the letter p (called 'Thorn') There is one solitary instance of the Roman th in the above document, and that is in a family name; by which we may suppose that the th was already recognised as more fashionable. The following is the modern English of this unique proclamation.

Henry, through God's help, King in England, Lord in Ireland, Duke in Normandy, in Aquitain, and Earl in Anjou, sends greeting to all his subjects, learned and lay, in Huntingdonshire.

This know ye well all, that we will and grant that that which our counsellors all or the more part of them, that be chosen through us and through the land's folk in our kingdom, have done and shall do, in the reverence of God and in loyalty to us, for the good of the land, through the care of these aforesaid counsellers, be stedfast and lasting all things aye without end.

And we enjoin all our lieges, in the allegiance that they us owe, that they stedfastly hold, and swear to hold and maintain the ordinances that be made and shall be made through the aforesaid counsellors, or through the more part of them, in manner as it is before said.

And that each help the other so to do, by the same oath, against all men: Right for to do and to accept. And none is to take land or money, wherethrough this provision may be let or damaged in any wise. And if any person or persons come here-against, we will and enjoin that all our lieges them hold deadly foes.

And, for that we will that this be stedfast and lasting, we send you this writ open, signed with our seal, to hold amongst you in hoard (store). Witness ourselves at London, the eighteenth day in the month of October, in the two and fortieth year of our crowning.

And this was done in the presence of our sworn counsellors, Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury; Walter of Cantelow, Bishop of Worcester; Simon of Montfort, earl of Leicester; Richard of Clare, earl of Gloucester and Hertford; Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk and Marshal of England; Piers of Savoy; William of Fort, earl of Albemarle; John of Plesseiz, earl of

Warwick; John Gefferson; Piers of Montfort; Richard of Grey; Roger of Mortimer; James of Aldithel,—and in the presence of many others.

¶ And all in the like words is sent in to every other shire over all the kingdom of England; and also into Ireland.

70. This is not a specimen of 'King's English,' nor of any type of English that ever had a living existence. It is to English something like what the Hindustani of one of our Indian interpreters might be to the spoken language of the natives-good enough to be understood of the people, and clumsy enough to betray the hand of the stranger. It is a piece of official English of the day, composed by the clerk to whom it appertained, off notes or an original draft, which (in either case) were couched in French. The strength of the composition consists in set and established phrases, which had long been in use for like purposes, and which betray themselves by their flavour of anachronism here. Such are, fultume, willen and unnen, isetnesses, on in places where it was no longer usual, and other less palpable anachronisms, among which we should probably reckon the use of the word hord.

That this proceeds from the pen of one whose sphere was more or less outside the people, appears from the overcharged rudeness and broadness of many of the forms, running on the verge of caricature. Such are, loande, Lhoauerd, moare, hoaten, foangen, æurihce, shcire, tel.

The proportion of French words is so small, compared to the literary habits of the date, that it is plain they have been studiously excluded, even with a needless excess of scruple; for a vast number of French words must before now have become quite popular. Besides iseined and cruninge the translator might perhaps have safely ventured on the word purveance (providence, provision, care), which is what he had under his eye or in his mind when he in two