resolved to give battle in person; and for that purpose he drew near to the Normans, who had removed their camp and fleet to Hastings, where they fixed their quarters. by his native courage, Harold as well as pricked on by his inborn boldness (the boldness he was born with: 'fearlessness', being negative, could hardly prick him on '), Harold made up his mind to give fight at the head of his troops (showing himself in the field, to fight with his own hand, that he would himself fight); and for that end (therefore) he drew near to the Normans, who had taken away (fitted) their camp and ships to Hastings, where they took up their ground (set themselves up). He believed so fully (had so strong belief, or trust) that he should win, that he sent word to the duke that he would give him a great deal (much wealth), if he would leave (go out of) the kingdom without the shedding of blood. He was so confident of success, that he sent a message to the duke, promising him a sum of money, if he would depart the kingdom without effusion of blood. But his offer was rejected with disdain; and William, not to be behind his enemy in vaunting, sent him a message by some monks, requiring him either to resign the kingdom, or to hold it of him in fealty, or to submit their cause to the arbitration of the pope, or to fight him in single combat. But his offer (bid) was thrown aside with scorn; and William, not to be behind with his foe in boasting, sent him word by some monks (holy men, men of God) that he must either yield up the kingdom, or hold the kingdom of him as his man, or leave it with the Head of the Church to say which of them had the better right, or fight him man to man. Harold replied that the God of battles would soon be the arbiter of all their differences. (Hume.) The next is from De Quincey. Still, with all this passion for being despised, which was so essential to my peace of mind, I found at times an altitude—a starry altitude― in the station of contempt for me assumed by my brother that nettled me. Sometimes, indeed, the mere necessities of dispute carried me, before I was aware of my own imprudence, so far up the staircase of Babel, that my brother was shaken for a moment in the infinity of his contempt: and, before long, when my superiority in some bookish accomplishments displayed itself, by results which could not be entirely dissembled, mere foolish human nature forced me into some trifle of exultation at these retributory triumphs. Harold answered that the God of fights would soon settle all the things that they were not at one upon. Still, with all this (warm) wish to be scorned (looked down upon), which was so thoroughly needful to my (without which I could have no) peace of mind, I found at times a height—a starry height in the station of scorn for me put on by my brother that nettled me. Sometimes, indeed, the bare needs of dispute (word-strife) bore me, before I was aware of my own want of wary foresight (unwisdom, unwariness, heedlessness), so far up the stair of Babel, that my brother was shaken for a twinkling (little time) in the boundlessness of his (in his endless) scorn: and, before long, when I showed myself better than him in some bookish knowledge, by results (an outcome) that could not wholly have another face put upon them (it), silly human nature, and nothing else, drove me into some trifle of boisterous (jumping, frisking,) gladness at these victories whereby I took revenge on him. Eut more often I was disposed to grieve over them. They tended to shake that solid foundation of utter despicableness upon which I relied so much for my freedom from anxiety. But more often I was minded to sorrow over them. They went to shake that strong groundwork of utter scorn (-ableness) upon which I leaned (to which I trusted) so much for my freedom from painful care. COMPOSITION OF WORDS. The simple words of the language-root words, as they are called—are formed into compounds, with new or modified meanings. This is done by joining to them significant syllables, called prefixes and endings or suffixes, according as their place is at the beginning or at the end. The chief benefit of the compounding operation is to shorten the expression of meaning. For a 'person making a holiday tour' we say 'tourist'; the syllable ist containing the meaning of five words. A man that does not think well what he is doing' is described as 'thoughtless'. There are three poems of Wordsworth, entitled, Yarrow unvisited', 'Yarrow visited', 'Yarrow revisited'; the small syllables ' un' and 're' being sufficient to express facts circumstantially different. . The number of significant syllables joined to words in this way is very considerable; and as one root word may be compounded with two, three, or even four such syllables, the words of the language may, by means of composition, be multiplied indefinitely. Certain of the prefixes and endings are of Saxon origin. Others are of classical origin; these, however, do not all equally demand our attention for the purposes of English. The great matter as regards Derivation is to be regular in the use of such compounding syllables as are significant. They should all have an understood meaning; we ought to see what that meaning is, and, as far as possible, to keep by it. The faults, therefore, coming under Derivation, are, first, using prefixes and endings wrongly; and, secondly, using them without any meaning at all. PREFIXES. The Saxon Prefixes. The full enumeration of Saxon prefixes reaches nearly thirty; there being several couples spelt alike, although different words originally-a, for, un. The first a-abed, ablaze, aflame, aside-is a contracted adverbial phrase-' on bed', on blaze', &c.; it gives us a certain number of adverbs. Writers consider themselves at liberty to coin new examples; nevertheless, the whole number in general use is not very considerable. In a few similar compounds, the 'a' has a different origin: as 'ge-' in 'aware', 'along (of)'; 'of' in ' ashamed', 'athirst', &c. Such instances are of philological, not of practical, importance. The second a, in 'arise', 'arouse', is one of the vague prefixes. Perhaps the only difference that we feel now between the simple word and the compound is that the compound gives a fuller sound, and may occasionally be thought more impressive. The prefix has descended to us in about half-a-dozen verbs, and does not enter into new formations. It is not worth while to detain pupils on a prefix that is so rare, undecided, and pithless. After and all being in use as detached words, their meaning is apparent in composition, and is essentially kept up in the compounds; as afterthought', 'Almighty'. The compounds with 'after' are expressive condensations, and may be pointed out as such: 'after-crop' is the crop that comes after the first or chief crop of the year,—a second crop. The preposition by as 'be' makes a few adverbial com binations-besides, before, betimes—which are hardly worth taking to pieces in ordinary parsing. The combination with verbs become, bestir-has in numerous instances almost ceased to manifest a distinct meaning. The prefix operates to better purpose in combining with nouns (and a few adjectives) to form verbs: bedim, befriend, bewitch. It is used with both Saxon and classical roots. In nouns, the form by is much more common than 'be'; we have belief', 'behest', but also-by-name, by-path, bystander, byword. The preposition in (also em, en) is an extensively used prefix: and its meaning, as a primary fact of place, is apparent throughout. For in 'forbid', 'forego', 'forswear', 'forbear', is an energetic negative; and, though it combines with a few classical roots, still more might have been made of it. The effect, however, is marred by confusion with 'fore', in 'foretell', 'forerun'; also, in its way, a useful prefix. Forth has but two or three compounds: forthcoming, forthgoing, forthwith. Mr. Kington-Oliphant gives 'forthward' as the prior form of 'forward'. Full, in the verb fulfil', is solitary; it has a few combinations with participles, full-blown', ' full-grown '. There is no restriction to such compounds; they express shortly an important circumstance, or else give intensity or emphasis to the action. Gain implies' against', opposition, in a very few examples: gainsay (compare contradict), gaingiving, gain stand, gainstrive. The first is the only compound in modern use. Mis is one of the strong, marked, and decided Saxon prefixes; and might be selected as a prominent example in teaching derivation. It signifies, originally, separation; as seen in the verb 'miss', to deviate, or err, and thereby to lose, or cause failure; occurring in many habitual combinations with energetic meanings (misbehave, misdeed, misgive, misshape, misspell, misspend). It may be extended at our pleasure. It is not confined to Saxon words, being too valuable to be withheld from words generally; whence many |