Mutatis mutandis the material history of the HighGerman is nearly that of the Low. The former extended itself in the south as the latter extended itself in the north. So far as Switzerland is German, it is High-German; so are the dialects of the Tyrol and the Italian frontier, so also the German of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, where it comes in contact with the Slavonic; so is the German of Hungary, Bohemia, Saxony, Bavaria, Swabia, and Franconia. The importance, however, of the High-German form of speech by no means consists in the magnitude of its area; but rather in the fact of its being the language in which the literature of Germany is embodied. It was cultivated betimes, and it was cultivated successfully. The Reformation determined its ascendancy. Whilst the Protestant portion of the empire lay almost wholly within the limits of Low Germany, the language of Luther was the High-German of Saxony; and it was the HighGerman of Saxony into which the standard translation of the Holy Scriptures was made. Hence it became the language of the Church and the Schools; and that in the extreme Low-German districts-the districts which were most especially Protestant. Of the standard literature, then, which has been developed since the Reformation, the LowGerman dialects of Germany supply little or nothing. The Dutch of Holland (as has been stated) is a cultivated language: and in Holland only is the Low-German form of speech the vehicle of a national literature.

The Low-German-propagated by the Carlovingian Franks-encroached upon the Angle, the Old Saxon, the Frisian, and the Danish. The High-German of the Reformers has encroached, and is encroaching, upon the Low.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE KELTIC CLASS.

§ 94. THE original British was akin to the present Welsh. So was the Cornish. So, also, was the Armorican

§ 95. Again-the Gaelic of Ireland, the Gaelic of Scotland, and the Manks of the Isle of Man, are all closely related to each other, and somewhat more remotely to the Welsh, Cornish, and Breton.

§ 96. The class to which all these forms of speech belong is the Keltic; of which the Welsh, Cornish, and Breton form the British, the Irish, the Scotch, and the Manks the Gaelic, branch.

CHAPTER XVIII.

LANGUAGES AKIN TO THE LATIN AND GREEK.

§ 97. THE languages of Greece and Rome belong to one and the same stock; of which the Greek with its dialects, both ancient and modern, constitutes one branch, the Latin with its dialects, another.

Now, although the Greek dialects are of only secondary importance in the illustration of the history of the English language, the Latin elements require a special consideration.

This is because the Norman-French, introduced into England by the battle of Hastings, is a language derived from the Latin.

From Italy, its original seat, the Latin was extended— 1. To the Spanish peninsula.

2. To Gaul.

3. To Dacia, i. e. the Danubian Principalities.

4. To parts of Switzerland.

From these different introductions of the Latin into different countries, we have the following modern languages-1st, Italian; 2nd, Spanish and Portuguese; 3rd,

French; 4th, Wallachian; 5th, the Romanese of part of the Grisons.

$ 98. The Norman-French.-The North-western form of the French language in Normandy, Picardy, &c., is called Norman-French. The Battle of Hastings introduced it into England.

SPECIMEN.

FROM THE ANGLO-NORMAN POEM OF CHARLEMAGNE."

Un jur fu Karléun al Seint-Denis muster,

Reout prise sa corune, en croiz, seignat sun chef,

E ad ceinte sa espée: li pons fud d'or mer.
Dux i out e demeines e baruns e chevalers.
Li emperères reguardet la reine sa muillers.
Ele fut ben corunée al plus bel e as meuz.

Translation, Literal.

One day was Charlemagne at St. Denis' minster,

Had taken his crown, in-cross marked (signed) his head,

And had girt his sword; the hilt was of gold pure (mere),

Dukes there he had, and lords (domines, or dons) and barons and cavaliers. The emperor looked-at (regarded) the queen his wife;

She was well crowned, at the most beautiful and at the best.

Latin.

Unum diurnum fuit Carolus, ad illud Sancti Dionysii monasterium,
Re-habebat prehensam suam coronam, in cruce signatum suum caput,
Et habebat cinctam suam spadam; ille pugnus fuit de auro mero,

Duces ibi habebat, et dominos, et barones, et caballarios.

Ille imperator contemplatus est illam reginam suam mulierem;
Illa fuit bene coronata ad plus bellum et ad melius.

The Norman-French is also called the Anglo-Norman.

CHAPTER XIX.

SYSTEMATIC VIEW OF THE CLASS TO WHICH THE ENGLISH AND THE GERMAN LANGUAGES IN GENERAL BELONG.

$99. THE relations of the English to the Anglo-Saxon have been considered. So have those of the Anglo-Saxon