wicensis we have, uuldur, fadur, for uuldor, fader. Before n the a is also changed into u, as fold. or foldun, middun, for foldan, middan.

71. The a was not yet resolved into ea, as ward, barnum, for weard, béarnum; nor the o into eo, as scôp [Old. Dut. schóep; Ger. gaskop creabat] for gescéop agreeing with the present Dut. schiep.

72. The e, which has its origin in i, and was afterwards changed into eo, remained unaltered in heben, hefaen for heofon. It seems that eo has produced o in -fon, in the same manner as a proceeded from e, and affords an instance of some assimilation of vowels in two succeeding syllables. I must add, however, that it is questionable whether the vowel of the latter syllable operates upon that of the former, or the former upon that of the latter. If the vowel of the former syllable depend upon that of the latter, then -fæn and -fon were changed before he- and héo-; but if the latter upon that of the former, then he- and heo- before -fæn and -fon. I do not lay much stress upon this observation, as languages in their most ancient state have not this kind of assimilation; it seems, however, to rest in the mind on the same foundation as alliteration, both being a feeling for rhythm. For whatever may be the assimilation of one syllable to another in the same word, the same relation one word has to another in two successive lines of poetry. This assimilation of vowels is called by German grammarians umlaut.

73. The ia being proper to the old Westphalian and Zelandic, undergo no change in tiada; the i being changed into e, the a ought to follow the impulse and pass to o, and make teode from teon producere; to hape tiath in unum conveniunt, Asg. bk. 335; tya ducere, Em. l. 88; tíoda ducebat; Icel. tiadi, id. The Moes. tiuhan ducere ; tauch ducebat; hence the Frs. v. teach, taech, Frs. l. 79, 81: but there was once an Old Frs. imperfect tíade, as the Dut. tijde.

74. So i had not yet passed to e, nor u to o, in metudas, later metodes. 75. The imperfect astelide was not yet contracted to astealde.

76. It is clear that the earliest languages consisted of single words, and that two separate ideas were expressed by two separate words; but, by being constantly used together, at last united in one idea and one word. The adjective, in this process, passing from adjectives, separately existing, to the first and specifying component of the word, loses the adjective termination, by doubling its accent on the principal vowel, and looks like an adverb or preposition compounded with a word.

Thus, on ealddagum olim, originally on ealdum dagum olim; Dut. eertyds, originally eeres tijds in former times. Dut. oudvader; Ger. altvater a patriarch, formerly oude vader, and alte vater. In the MS. Episc. Norwic. we meet with an instance in which the meaning of such a compound appears, but the grammatical form is not yet developed. The compound aelda barnum appears as two words, yet aelda is not in the dat. as it ought to be when separate, and it only requires the process of time to become one word aeldbarnum, the same as Ger. altvater. Aelda barnum does not signify antiquis liberis, but children of old; and thus it has the whole meaning of the compound, but only half its grammatical form. Alfred, finding the phrase a little antiquated, used eorðan bearnum filiis terræ. There could be no

objection to the form, because, in Alfred's time, ealda-fæder, ealde-moder, and ealdewita, were sometimes used for ealdfæder avus, ealdmoder avia, ealdwita senior ecclesiæ.

77. The pronoun þe was omitted before scylun we must, precisely as the Moes. skulum debemus, Lk. xviii. 1.

78. In this word the u had not yet been changed into eo. From Moes. skulum was derived A.-S. scylun, the more modern scéolon.

79. As a had not yet gone over into éa, or o into éo, or e into éo, so also e had not yet been changed into ea: thus we find astelide for astéalde.

80. This comparison affords a few important deductions. As there appears to be no mixture of the dialect of the Northmen, the MS. must be of a date anterior to their conquest of Northumberland, which agrees with the statements of Wanley.

81. In it we find also many analogies with cognate languages not apparent in the writings of Alfred, and this affords a further proof of the antiquity of the MS.; for we have already observed, that the resemblance of languages is greater in proportion to their age, and, on the other hand, that dialect differs most which has most diverged from the parent stock.*

82. The development of the diphthongs ea and eo from simple vowels, was the result of nearly two centuries between the date of the MS. Episc. Norwic. and the time of Alfred; for no one, I believe, will pretend that the simple vowel in these instances was a dialectic variation peculiar to Northumberland, as these diphthongs are still distinctly pronounced there, like death in Yorkshire. The diphthong was of course developed in the north, as well as in the south of England. If we now go back still further, from the time of the MS. Episc. Norwic. to the descent of the Anglo-Saxons on Britain, [from 737 to 449,] and if we suppose that during this period the cognate languages approached nearer to the A.-S. in the same proportion as they did from Alfred to Cædmon, then indeed we have a clear conception how all these tribes of Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and Friesians, whose languages some centuries later were quite unintelligible to one another, could, at their departure from their native shores to Britain, as men of one speech, unite in council and action.

83. This comparison implies further, that the peculiarities by which the A.-S. is distinguished, relate to the state in which this tongue has come down to us.

84. I have nothing more to add about the Moso-Gothic, to what I stated in the fourteenth and fifteenth paragraphs. The peculiar character of the A.-S., as distinguished from the Moso-Gothic, would for the most part be removed, if we could trace the A.-S. to the time of the Moso-Gothic, about the middle of the 4th century. The means of comparison are greatly increased by the exertions of Angelo Mai, Count Castiglione and Massmann.† The stores within the reach of Junius were exhausted by him, for comparison with the A.-S. in almost every word of his Glossarium Gothicum, in many articles of his Etymologicon Anglicanum, and in his other Dictionaries, still sleeping, to the common shame of the English and Friesians, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. The first that made a classification and comparison of the Gothic languages was Lambert ten Kate, a Dutchman. The foundation laid by him has more

recently been greatly extended by the unwearied toil of Rask and Grimm. I need not boast that I have done the same, for it requires no genius-the labour is purely mechanical. Some will present you with the oldest form of a word, but this is not right, when it has to be compared with a subsequent and more advanced development. For my part, I shall not hesitate to avail myself of the labours of my predecessors, and to cite parallel words in different cases and times, when I think it does not affect the vowel or consonant to be compared.

85. I do not know any A.-S. scholar, who has instituted a comparison between the Anglo-Saxon and Friesic so minute as their near relationship claims. Some did not see the force of the comparison, and all wanted materials. A brief account of the materials I have used may not be uninteresting.

86. The Asega-bôk, the book of the judge, contains the laws of the Rustringian Friesians located around the gulf of the Jade, as far as the southern banks of the Weser. Its date may be about A.D. 1212-1250.

87. Littera Brocmannorum,† the letter, i.e. the written law of the Brôcmen, Friesians bordering on the sea in the western part of EastFriesia, [Dut. Oostvriesland]. Its date is reckoned between A. D. 1276 and 1340.

88. The Amesga-riucht, the code of the country of the Ems, containing registers of the mulcts for the Friesians situated about the eastern banks of the Ems, A.D. 1276-1312.

89. The Keran fon Hunesgena londe,§ [Dut. Het Hunsingoër landrecht,] the statutes of the country of Hunsingo, A.D. 1252, revised and corrected, but as to their origin of a far earlier date. This most remarkable monument of Friesian antiquity is published in the Verhandelingen van het genootschap pro excolendo jure patrio, tom. ii. Groningen, 1778, but in a manner so negligent, that I deem it matter of great danger for a critic to cite words from this edition. I, however, entertain the pleasing hope, that this defect will soon be redressed by one of my friends, who intends to publish a second edition, founded on an excellent codex within our reach, as soon as the literary public feel inclined to defray the costs of the press.

90. Jeld and botha, the value of the money and the mulcts, to be

• Asega-buch ein Alt-friesisches gesetzbuch der Rustringer, herausgegeben, übersetzt und erläutert von F. D. Wiarda, Berlin, 1805.

+ Willküren der Brockmänner eines freyen Friesischen volkes, herausgegeben von F. D. Wiarda, Berlin, 1820.

Het Emsiger landregt van het jaar, 1812. Leeuwarden, 1830, published by Mr. Hettema. § Verhandelingen ter nasporinge van de wetten en gesteldheid onzes vaderlands door een genootschap te Groningen, pro excolendo jure patrio, tom. v. Groningen, 1773-1828.

|| Groot placaat en Charterboek van Vriesland, verzamelt door G. F. Baron thoe Schwartzenberg en Hohenlansberg, 5 vols. folio; Leeuwarden, 1768-1793. The pages 59-461, containing a catalogue of the ecclesiastical estates in Friesia, made up by order of Charles V. though already printed, are suppressed in the 3rd volume, and replaced by other materials. A great number of the estates, after the Spanish revolution, having fallen into unjust hands, it was feared that the publication would be an inducement to endless curses and persecutions against the aristocracy. The 6th tome is also printed, but not yet published, for the greatest number of the copies was burnt during the disorders of the French Revolution.

observed in several parts of the country of Friesia, forming a part of the present kingdom of the Netherlands. This piece is of A.D. 1276, and published in the Groot placaat en Charterboek van Vriesland, tom. i. p. 97, together with a great many little records of latter times in the Friesian tongue.

*

91. The most complete system of Friesian laws, though of a more recent date than the foregoing, is contained in the Old Friesian Laws, published by two eminent Friesian lawyers, P. Wierdsma and Brantsma, whose commentary bears witness to the depth and extent of their erudition. The laws in this collection, as well as those found in the Charterboek, had force chiefly within the limits of the country of Friesia in the Netherlands.

92. To the same country belongs also the collection of charters dispersed in the history of its capital Leeuwarden, by Gabbema.† They are all of a recent date, when the Friesic was about to be disused in public charters. In the enumeration of these laws and records, I have descended from the north to the south, beginning at the Wezer and ending at Old Friesia, situate at the mouth of the Rhine. But let us now ascend still higher, beginning with the Friesians conterminous with the Angles.

93. Friesic is still spoken in a tract of country bordering the coast of the German sea, in the district of Bredsted, dutchy of Schleswig. It is strongly tainted with Danish; but a corn-merchant of my native village, [Friesia, part of the Netherlands,] on going there to buy rapeseed, was not a little surprised that he and the peasants could understand each other in their respective mother-tongues. The late Reverend N. Outzen has left a glossary of the Friesic dialect, which for some years has been in the press, at the expense of the Royal Society of Copenhagen. The first eighty-eight pages, which were intended for me by my friend the late Professor Rask, and sent to me through the courteous attention of Professor Rafn, have fully convinced me of the identity of this dialect with the other branches of the Friesic.

94. Of the language of the Ditmarsian Friesians, and those living between the Elbe and Wezer, nothing remains. Their long and obstinate struggle against the aggressions of the Danish kings, Bremish bishops, or dukes of Oldenburg,‡ terminating with the extinction of their liberty and language, has long since effaced the last trace of the Friesian tongue and nationality, and destroyed the MSS. of their ancient laws.

95. A more lucky fate was allotted to the land between the Wezer and

* Oude Friesche wetten met eene Nederduitsche vertaling en ophelderende aantekeningen voorzien. Part I. Campen en Leeuwarden, 1782. The Preface and Part II., though prepared by the publishers, were lost after the death of Wierdsma.

Verhaal van de stad Leeuwaarden-beschreeven van Simon Abbes Gabbema, Franeker, 1701.

the Ems. The latter subjugation of this country has caused the preserving of a single codex of the Asega-bôk in the archives of Oldenburg. I here give a specimen of its language.

Thit is thet twintegoste londriucht. Sa hwersa northmann an thet lond hlapath. and hia enne mon fath. and bindath. an ut of lande ledath. and eft withir to londe brangath and hini ther to twingath thet hi husbarne. and wif nedgie. and man sle and gadis hus barne, and hwed sa hi to lethe dwa mi. alsa hi thenne undfliuch ieftha lesed werth. and withir to londe kumth. and to liodon sinon. sa willath him tha liode thing to seka. and sinne opa werpa truch thet gintec morth ther hi er mith tha witsingond efrenuthe heth. Sa mire thenne afara thene warf gunga. and iechta mire tala. enne eth hachf hi thenne opa tha heligon to swerande. thet hit al dede bi there nede. alsa him sin hera bad. ther hi was liues. and lethanas en unweldich mon. Sa ne thuruon" him tha liode ne frana. to halda seka ni sinna truch thet thi frana ne muchte him thes frethai waria. thi skalkk skolde dwa alsa him sin hera bad truch thes liues willa.-Asega-bôk, p. 97.

This is the twentieth landright (law).

When any Northman leaps on the land (shore), and he takes a man, and binds and leads (him) out of the land, and brings (him) after (wards) to the land (ashore) and forces him to this, that he burns houses and violates wives, and slays men and burns God's houses, and what he may do to harm, (A.-S. late.) When he then flees away or is loosed, and again comes to land, and his ledeb (is restored to his land and kindred). If then the court of justice of the people will seek him (prosecute him), and his relations intend to charge him with the horrible murder which he has ere (formerly) framed (committed) with the pirates; he may then go (appear) before the court, and he may tell (confess) known and proved facts; he ought then to swear an oath by the saints, that he did it all by need (force), as his lord bade him, because he was a man not wielding his life (body) and members. In this case, neither the lede (people), nor the king's attorney, nor his relations, are allowed to seek him (harass him) with fetters, through (because) that the attorney might not (was unable) to secure him his safety. The servant should do as his lord bade him through will of the life (for the sake of his life).

a A.-S. weorpan, werpan, jacere.

b Lede people, Jun. Et. Angl.

< ginte Wiarda translates yonder. I deem it to be horrible, tremendous murder, which agrees with the Low-Saxon version of the Asega-bôk, which has great, enormous murder. This word is connected with A.-S. ginian, of course yawning, enormously vast, horrible. In this way the English adj. huge vast, great even to deformity, explains the meaning of Icel. ugr terror, whence ugly; of A.-S. oge, whence Frs. v. [ouw-lik] onjouwlik horrible, all derived from the idea of wide vastness, still apparent in Moes. auhn, Swed. ogn, ugn.

A.-S. wicing pirata. The c by the Friesic and English being changed into tsh, wicing becomes witsing. Thus A.-S. cerene, Frs. v. tsher'ne or tsjerne, Eng. churn. Sometimes the Frs. v. retains both forms with some shade of the signification: Frs. v. kâtje to talk, but tsjatterje to chat, chatter. From A.-S. cidan, properly to make a noise as an inharmonious bird, and hence to quarrel, the Frs. v. has only tsjitte to make a noise as quarrelling sparrows and women. The original signification, now lost in English, was very well known in the old English. "The swalowes chyterid and songe."- Golden Legend, I. 493. Frs. v. De swéalen tsjittene in songen. It is dubious whether wicing is to be derived from wic-cing sinus vel ripa unde insidiabantur pirata, rex, or from wig-cing the king of slaughter.

e 4.-S. fremad. Wiarda not knowing this Anglo-Saxon word, deems efrenuth to be spurious; for this word does not occur elsewhere. This instance may teach us how easily the most difficult words are explained in Anglo-Saxon and Friesic, when aided by each other. * A.-S. liða. f Ah possidet, proprie, vinctus est, of the verb agan.

The Anglo-Saxon has the Friesian form in this verb thurfon. 1 A.-S. friðian protegere, frið pax. j A.-S. warian cavere.

k A.-S. scéalc servus.