THOMAS WALSINGHAM: a Benedictine monk of St. Albans (flourished about 1440); wrote a History of England from 1273 A.D. to the death of Henry V. (1422 a.d.) JOHN CAPGRAVE (1393 A.D.—1481 a.D.): was a celebrated divine and historian. SIR JOHN FORTESCUE: chief justice, and a distinguished writer; he studied at Lincoln's Inn and was called to the bar; chief justice of the court of Queen's Bench; he was attainted by parliament for his devotion to the cause of Henry VI.; and fled with Queen Margaret to Flanders, where he wrote his well-known work "De Laudibus Legum Angliæ”—The Praises of the Laws of England. 66 SIR THOMAS LITTLETON: born at Frankley in Worcestershire 1421 A.D.; wrote a work on Tenures" in Norman-French; regarded as the principal authority for the law of real property in England; a judge of the court of Common Pleas ; died 1481 a.d. WILLIAM CAXTON (1410 a.d.-1491 a.D.): native of Kent; he was the earliest English printer; went to Flanders, where he acquired a knowledge of the art; returning to England, he established a printing press in Westminster Abbey 1471; in 1477 he issued the "Dictes and Sayings," the first book printed in England; wrote a great many works, of which little is known. JOHN MORTON: born at Bere in Dorsetshire 1410 A.D.; in 1485 appointed Master of the Rolls, and in 1485 was made Archbishop of Canterbury, and in the following year Lord Chancellor; died 1550 A.D. (To be continued.) CHAPTER IV. THE QUESTIONS ASKED AT THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION HELD ON THE 15TH AND 16th Days of FEBRUARY, 1871, WITH THE ANSWERS. Candidates were requested to write an essay or letter, &c., not less than two pages in length, on one of the following subjects: (1.) Milton. (2.) The war of 1870 between France and Germany. (3.) School life. (4.) The choice of a profession. (5.) Our national defences. (6.) Some incident of travel or personal adventure. [See Chapter VI. for remarks on this subject.] II. English Language. There are forty-two elementary sounds of the English alphabet. Twelve are simple vowel sounds; that is to say, they can be pronounced by themselves: 1. The sound of a in father. Classification according to the organs of speech affected: Labials (labia, the lips), P, B, F, V, M. Dentals (dentes, the teeth), T, D, TH (2), s, z (2), SH, CH. There are two and forty sounds for six and twenty letters. It has been suggested that the original alphabet consisted of sixteen letters, that the rest are variations of these, and that a, e and o are the three principal vowel breathings. The alphabet is not full enough, since many single articulate sounds have no corresponding signs whereby they may be expressed. It is uncertain, inconsistent, erroneous, deficient and redundant. The f in fan and the v in van (sounds in a certain degree of relationship to p and b) are expressed by a sound as unlike as f is unlike p, and as v is unlike b. The sound of the th in thin and th in thine, the sh in shine, similarly related to t, d and s, are expressed by signs as like t, d and s respectively as th and sh. The i in bite is considered as the long (independent) sound of the i in pit; whereas it is a diphthongal sound. The u in duck is looked upon as a modification of the u in bull; whereas it is a specifically distinct sound. There are numerous other examples showing the incomplete state of the alphabet. Qis superfluous, cw and kw being its equivalent. X also is superfluous, ks, gz or z being equivalent to it, &c., &c. The ordinary rule for the formation of the plural of nouns in English is by adding the letter s to the singular. These are the exceptions:-Nouns ending in s, x, sh, ch soft and o take es; as, losses, foxes, fishes, churches and potatoes. If a word ends in o preceded by a vowel it takes only s: folios. Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel take only s, as boys; but if the y be preceded by a consonant it is changed in i and es is added; as, flies. Most nouns ending in f and fe form their plural in ves; as, calf, calves; knife, knives. A few nouns, as grief, hoof, stuff, &c., simply take the s. A few nouns of Saxon origin form their plurals by changing the vowel sound of the singular; as, man, men; goose, geese; tooth, teeth, &c. A few nouns take an ending :-Ox, oxen; child, children; brother, brethren, &c. (1) The man who possesses great ability. (2) The man who appeared to possess great ability. We find in A. S. the infinitive was inflected; as, nom. and acc. writ-an, to write; dat. to writ-ann-e, for writing, and this dative is usually called the gerund. The nom. and acc. writ-an afterwards assumed the forms writ-en, writ-in and finally writing, and this form of the infinitive is also known to modern grammarians as the gerund. In O. E. we occasionally find at instead of to before the infinitive, hence the similarity of the forms writing and to write. We also find that the old infinitive suffix -an becomes -ingwriting. Where the old infinitive suffix -an and the dative case-ending -e are lost-to write, this is also known as the gerund. The gerund in -ing is frequently found with the old preposition on, an or a prefixed-a-writing, a-building. To, in to write, is a dative case governed by the preposition to, and means for writing. This form must be distinguished from the ordinary infinitive (to) write; as, He came to learn (for learning, gerund). He likes to learn (infinitive). A common use of the gerund with to is to express a purpose. The gerund with to is found in connection with adjectives and nouns: ""Tis time to sheathe the sword and spare mankind." In modern English the gerund represents an action without reference to the agent or the time of the action. Sometimes this form is found: "He is a-coming." A is derived from the prepositions on and an. Sometimes the preposition in is found with the gerund in ing, as-" He took time in doing the work." As our space is limited, we cannot extend this answer any further. Conjunctions are classified thus: Co-ordinate are those which couple independent propositions. Subordinate join a dependent to a principal sentence. Conjunctions unite propositions, or the different parts of an extended sentence. Than is a conjunction, and has the same case after it as before it : He is taller than she (Nom.). tive sentences. Yes. It is the Dative Absolute: Some grammarians say that this is the Nominative Absolute. (a) The first do is the second person plural of the auxiliary verb "do" employed interrogatively; the second do is derived from the verb dugan, "fare.' (b) The me in me thinks is a personal pronoun, third person singular, dative case. The subject is expressed in the words that follow the verb. (c) The preposition to is used to express what is called a dative relation; the expression has the form of an adverb; a is an indefinite article, turn is a noun, singular number, dative case. (d) To blame (i. e. to be blamed) is the gerund with to, used in a passive sense. (e) The to in to-morrow is a form of the demonstrative pronoun. (f) But is an adverb in this sentence. Not but is equivalent to two negatives and is a weak affirmative or a concession. III. English History. Julius Cæsar first invaded Britain August 20th, 54 B.C., and landed near Dover in Kent; but part of his fleet being shattered, he returned to Gaul, having been absent about a month. Cæsar made a second invasion in the following year (55 B.C.), but was opposed by Cassivelaunus, chief of the Trinobantes (counties of Essex and Middlesex), who ultimately submitted and paid hostages to the Romans. The Romans, led by Aulus Plautius, returned in the reign of Claudius, and were opposed by Caractacus, chief of the Silures (South Wales). Plautius was assisted by Vespasian, who, it is said, fought more than thirty battles before he could subdue the Britons. Plautius was succeeded by Ostorius Scapula (50-53), who attacked Caractacus and took him prisoner, and sent him to Rome, where, on account of his manly bearing, the Emperor Claudius ordered his release. (53 to 57.) Aulus Didus was the next Governor of Britain, and was chiefly employed in replacing Cartismandua in the government of the Brigantes, from which she had been expelled for giving up Caractacus to the Romans. (58 to 68.) Suetonius Paulinus, a most distinguished Roman general, was the next governor of Britain. His first act was to attack the Druids who encouraged the Silures and Ordovices to oppose the Romans. He next defeated (61 A.D.) Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, under the following circumstances: Prasutagus died and left his property to be divided between the emperor and his daughters, but the imperial procurator seized all, and when Boadicea expostulated, she was ordered to be imprisoned. The Iceni, assisted by the Trinobantes, then attacked the Romans on their colony of Camalodunum (Colchester), which was reduced to ashes. Paulinus then gave the Britons battle, and about 80,000 were slain. Boadicea, unwilling to survive their defeat, ended her life by taking poison. He Julius Agricola (78-84) may be said to have completed a conquest which had somewhat dimmed the Roman arms. first marched into the mountains of the Ordovices and put nearly the whole tribe to death, for having destroyed a troop of cavalry |