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 would have died out. His inﬂuence, however is not different in kind from that exercised by every author of commanding genius. It is only because he was prior in time that it was greater in degree." (Vol II).

When Caxton introduced the art of printing into England, he deliberately followed the diction and style of Chaucer, then in fashion among literary men. The idiom was perfectly English though the style was French. The old English terms which some of his friends urged him to use were "so rude and bread that he could not himself understand them."

In less than two hundred years, however, Chaucer’s English became obsolete and was unintelligible even to scholars.

Milton's friend Waller says in a spirit of resignation:—

While Sir Aston Cockayne, like the leaders of Telugu Academy, denounces those who call the old language obsolete and uninteligible and rates