Essex Archæological Society.

believe , ifc is now universally acknowledged that ifc is from the Anglo-Saxon that wc get the point and strength of our tongue . " And if the strength , then tho most valuable clement ; for in art—in painting , architecture , language , whether prose or verse—weakness is the one unpardonable fault , and strength the virtue which hides a multitude of sins . I proposethento speak of tho peculiarities of tho

, , Essex talk under three heads : — 1 st . Such idioms and words as arc noiv considered vulgar , but are to bo found , nevertheless , in the best authors . 2 nd . Words which I can explain or illustrate . 3 rd . Words of ivhich I can make nothing , and upon which I would invite all East Saxons ivho may bo present to exercise their ingenuity .

1 . Tho first expression I shall notice is one which is common , I believe , to Essex , with Norfolk and Suffolk—" at least wise , " or , " at the least ways . " There is no doubtthat if any one ivere to say at the least ivise , instead of at least , he would be set down as being very vulgar . Yet wc find ifc used by Hooker , the most polished and dignified writer in the English language . In Book v . of the Ecclcs . Polity he

asks .- "Arc they resolved , then , at the least wise , if preaching bo the only ordinary means whereby ifc pleasefch God to save our souls , what kind of preaching it is that doth save ? " In the same writer we find another idiom , now quite

confined to the common people . Long is used as to mean "' owing to , " as "It was long of you I lost my place . " "Few there arc " says Hooker . " Few there are of so weak capacity , but public evils they easily espio ; fewer so patient as not to complain when the grievous inconveniences thereof work sensible smart . Howbeit to see wherein the harm which they sec consisteth the seeds from ivhich ifc sprang and the

method of curing it , belongoth to a skill , the study whereof is so full of toil , and tho practice so besot with difficulties that wary and respective men had rather seek quietly their own , and wish that the world may go well , so ifc be not long of them , than with pain and hazard make themselves advisers for the common good . " Another vulgarism is the use of tho old verb to fare . "Ifc fare as though ifc was a

going to rain . " Now faro is perfectly good English , and is used by Hooker . "AVith religion ifc farefch as with other sciences , the first delivery of tho elements thereof must , for like consideration , be framed according to the weak and slender capacity of young beginners . " I may mention here , in passing , that besides this meaning , to lave is used for to farrowand a fare for a farrow . A soiv is said to fare

, , meaning to bring forth her young , and tho litter is called a fare . That ' s a fine fare of p igs . This Avord I find in Tusscr . SOAVS ready to farroiv this time of the year Are for to be made ofj and counted full dear ; For now is the loss of a fare of the sow

More great than fclie loss of two calves ol the cow . And again— Good faring SOAV Holds profit Avith cow . Here we find both verb and noun as now in use . The next shall be the last example of obsolete idioms . "Being" is used somewhat in the sense of as or since . For instance

, an East Saxon will say— "Being you arc going to have that mead for hay this year , we had better shut it off at once . " Tho first clause of the sentence is thus made a kind of noun active absolute—and it is by no means a bad constructionstronger far , I think , than ' if the . sentence had begun with as . So thought Pearson , almost the only great writer , I believe , in the English language upon dogmatic theology .

"For being , " says Pearson , " every particular congregation professing the name of Christ was from the beginning called a Church ; being likewise all such congregations considered together were originally comprehended under the name of the Church ; being these fcivo notions of the word were different , ifc came to pass that , for distinction ' s sake at first , they called the Churchtaken iu the large and

comprehen-, sive sense , by as large and comprehcusii-e a name , the Catholic Church . " I will next mention some grammatical inflections now in common use among the people , which seciu to me to be infinitely stronger and better than those which arc considered more correct . You know that there arc tivo ways of forming the past tenses of verbs , viz ,., cither by altering the vowels or by adding cd . The former is

called the strong , tho latter the weak inflection . Now the tendency of change has been to disuse the strong , and adopt the weak in its place . And sorry I am to be obliged to say that one of the most nervous and trul y Saxon of our writers has favoured this change , and proposed that it should be adopted in all cases . This is ono of the few mistakes which Cobbet made in matters of taste . Well ,,

the East Saxon peasant still holds to the strong inflection . Thus , he will tell you that he rc ] i an acre of wheat ; that he sew tares in his field , aud mew them in . the spring for his horses ; that he holp to lod the waggon ; and thafc when ifc ii'as lod ho dreff ifc to Colchester ; that James Crush shew him a monstrous fine calf , and thafc he retch out his hand to feel if it was fat . ( Laughter . ) I might

point out hundreds of examples , in Chaucer , Piers , Ploivmaii , and other old writers , of this inflection ; but time would fail . Then . for nouns . Our Saxon ancestors had a nice car , which is shown in the way in which they softened the proper names in the Bible—instance , Maiiclcleii for Magdalen . Thcj- could not endure that excessive hissing which now distracts Italian singers when they attempt to sing English songs . AVhen thev wanted , therefore , to

make a noun ending ivith a hissing letter plural , instead of adding s they added n . AVe still keep this formation in oxen , but in the analagous case of housen we have disused , while the East Saxon has shown his good taste in keeping ifc . I might multiply examples , but 1 must- hasten to tho next branch of my subject . The Rev . gentleman having quoted many provincial words , the meaning of which he

could not tell , concluded by saying that he hoped he had shown many of the provincial expressions were far from being un-English , and that it was a great pity they had been removed from the written language . An effort was now being made to restore them to a proper English form , and as this was a branch of stud y which had not been much pursued , ho would invite any one who felt an interest iu the

subject to collect such words as he found in common use in his own district , and note down all similar expressions which were found in the writings of old authors . He was sure a most interesting collection might thus be obtained , and hy that means many words might be restored to common use ivhich had been most unjustly discarded . If any persons present should find , words which they did not want themselves , he should be extremely obliged if they would let him kai'c them .

The CilAiioiAX said , after the interesting paper which had been read , ho did not know whether he should be right in asking or axing the Eev . F . Spun-ell to read the next paper .. ( Laughter . ) 'flic Eev . F . Sru'RiiEr . L , then read a notice of a wooden Effigy of a Priest in tho Church at Little Lei ghs . There is nothing whatever to identify the person represented ; and .

accordingly for want of any other appropriation , the Effigymust be assigned to that of a Rector of the parish of Little Leighs , ivho lii'cd afc the period ol its assumed date . With regard to the Effigy of Little Leighs , these two facts might be fairly deduced : —1 st , that it ' is one of the very 1 ' specimens of the wooden effi gies existin g in England ; and second , that it is the onl y known example of tho wooden

Effigy of a Priest ; and these two reasons this Effigy seemed , to require some notice and mention to be made of ifc . Dr . DUSCAX next read a paper on " The Roman Tonography of Colchester . " After alluding to the rich field opened iii Colchester for antiquarian research , and expressing his regret that so many of their most valuable anti quities had boon carried array to enrich the collection of sfera-no-ers

01-had been sold , he started on a tour of investigation through all the Roman portions of the town , and pointed out the spots where the greater number of urns , & c , had been found . He explained the construction of the Avail , the gates , the drain , and other Roman ivorks , and described the beauty of tho tcssclatcd pavement which had been discovered in various : parts of the toivn , being assisted in his work by a large mar

upon which were defined all the objects of interest . An allusion having been made by Mr . King , of London , to the drawing of St . John ' s Abbey Gate , the GiuntMAX suid that property had now passed into the hands of Government-, and tho farm ivas shortly to be converted into barracks . Many months ago he was spoken to upon the