Page:King Alfred's West-Saxon Version of Gregory's Pastoral Care (2).djvu/528

Rh developed themselves. There can be little doubt as to the originally vocal character of the þ, f, and h, and when this is once admitted, some modification of our views on the lautverschiebung becomes absolutely necessary. Misled by false notions of symmetry, philologists have hitherto assumed that the þ was originally an aspirated t, and have thus been obliged to make historical facts fit in with unproved assumptions.

I have also added a list of errata; it is believed that such errors as may still lurk in the text are of a wholly insignificant character. I must confess that the translation stands in need of a thorough revision, which, however, I am unfortunately quite unable at present to bestow on it.

I intended originally to add the readings of the three Cambridge MSS. in a separate Appendix, but have been prevented by want of time and access to the MSS. The omission is, however, not much to be regretted. These MSS., which are of late date - two of them at least being of the eleventh century, - are of little or no value in elucidating the language of Alfred.

In conclusion, I cannot refrain from expressing a hope that this work may contribute somewhat to that reviving interest in the study of English, of which so many cheering signs begin to show themselves from various quarters. Ignorance and literary intolerance may sneer at 'Anglo-Saxon,' but all liberal minds are agreed that, even if Old English were totally destitute of intrinsic merit, it would still form a necessary link in the history of our language, and, as such, be well worthy of attention. Here, as in all branches of knowledge, it may be safely asserted that the wider the range of study, the more valuable will be its fruits: Shakespeare is elucidated by Chaucer, Chaucer, again, cannot be fully appreciated without a knowledge of the Oldest English, whence to the kindred tongues is but a short step - to the Heliand, the Edda, and the classic prose of Iceland.