Page:The Sources of Standard English.djvu/49

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Old Britain was by degrees swept away, after much hard fighting; and the history of New England at length begins. Christianity, overspreading the land in the Seventh Century, did much to lighten the woes of the down-trodden Celts: a wonderful difference there was between the Christian conquest of Somerset and the Pagan conquest of Sussex. The new creed brought in its train scores of Latin words, such as candle, altar, church, &c., which have been employed by us ever since the Kentish King's baptism.

At this point I halt, finding no better opportunity for setting forth the grammar employed by our forefathers, traces of which, mangled as it is by the wear and tear of centuries, may still be found.