§ 102. Concerning the extent to which the Anglo-Norman was used, I retail the following statements and quotations. 1. "Letters even of a private nature were written in Latin till the beginning of the reign of Edward I., soon after 1270, when a sudden change brought in the use of French."--_Mr. Hallam, communicated by Mr. Stevenson_ (_Literature of Europe_, i. 52, _and note_). 2. Conversation between the members of the Universities was ordered to be carried on either in Latin or French:--"_Si qua inter se proferant, colloquio Latino vel saltem Gallico perfruantur._"--_Statutes of Oriel College, Oxford._--_Hallam, ibid._ from Warton. 3. "The Minutes of the Corporation of London, recorded in the Town Clerk's Office, were in French, as well as the Proceedings in Parliament, and in the Courts of Justice."--_Ibid._ 4. "In Grammar Schools, boys were made to construe their Latin into French."--_Ibid._ "_Pueri in scholis, contra morem cæterarum nationum, et Normannorum adventu, derelicto proprio vulgari, construere Gallice compelluntur. Item quod filii nobilium ab ipsis cunabulorum crepundiis ad Gallicum idioma informantur. Quibus profecto rurales homines assimulari volentes, ut per hoc spectabiliores videantur, Francigenari satagunt omni nisu._"--_Higden_ (_Ed. Gale_, p. 210). § 103. The reigns of Edward III., and Richard II., may be said to form a transition from the _Old_ to the _Middle_; those of Mary and Elizabeth from the _Middle_ to the _New_, _Recent_ or _Modern English_. No very definite line of demarcation, however, can be drawn. § 104. The _present_ tendencies of the English may be determined by observation: and as most of them will be noticed in the etymological part of this volume, the few here indicated must be looked upon as illustrations only. 1. The distinction between the subjunctive and indicative mood is likely to pass away. We verify this by the very general tendency to say _if it is_, and _if he speaks_, rather than _if it be_, and _if he speak_. 2. The distinction between the participle passive and the past tense is likely to pass away. We verify this by the tendency to say _it is broke_, and _he is smote_, for _it is broken_ and _he is smitten_. 3. Of the double forms, _sung_ and _sang_, _drank_ and _drunk_, &c., one only will be the permanent. As stated above, these tendencies are but a few out of many, and have been adduced in order to indicate the subject rather than to exhaust it. * * * * * QUESTIONS. 1. Classify the Celtic elements of the English language. 2. Enumerate the chief periods during which words from the Latin were introduced into English, and classify the Latin elements accordingly. 3. What words were introduced _directly_ by the Danes, Scandinavians, or Norsemen? What _indirectly_? Through what language did these latter come?