Suppose that whilst the Latin of Virgil and Cicero in Italy had been changing into the modern Italian, in some old Roman colony (say Sardinia) it had remained either wholly {60} unaltered, or else, altered so little as for the modern _Sardinian_--provided he could read at all--to be able to read the authors of the Augustan age, just like those of the era of Charles Albert; no other portion of the old Roman territory--not even Rome itself--having any tongue more like to that of the Classical writers, than the most antiquated dialect of the present Italian. Suppose, too, that the term _Latin_ had become obsolete, would it be imperative upon us to call the language of the Classics _Old Italian_, _Old Roman_, or at least _Old Latin_, when no modern native of Rome, Latium, or Italy could read them? Would it be wrong to call it _Sardinian_ when every Sarde _could_ read them? I think not. _Mutatis mutandis_, this is the case with Iceland and Norway. * * * * * {61} CHAPTER V. ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE--GERMANIC ELEMENTS. s. 103. The population and, to a certain extent, the language of England, have been formed of three elements, which in the most general way may be expressed as follows:-- _a._ Elements referable to the original British population, and derived from times anterior to the Anglo-Saxon invasion. _b._ Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, or imported elements. _c._ Elements introduced since the Anglo-Saxon conquest. s. 104. Each of these requires a special analysis, but that of the second will be taken first, and will form the contents of the present chapter. All that we have at present learned concerning the Germanic invaders of England, is the geographical area which they wholly or partially occupied, and the tribes and nations with which they were conterminous whilst in Germany. How far, however, it was simple Saxons who conquered England single-handed, or how far the particular Saxon Germans were portions of a complex population, requires further investigation. Were the Saxons one division of the German population, whilst the Angles were another? or were the Angles a section of the Saxons, so that the latter was a generic term, including the former? Again, although the Saxon invasion may be the one which has had the greatest influence, and drawn the most attention, why may there not have been separate and independent migrations, the effects and record of which, have in the lapse of time, become fused with those of the more important divisions? Questions like these require notice, and in a more advanced state of what may be called _minute ethnographical_ {62} _philology_ will obtain more of it than has hitherto been their share. At present our facts are few, and our methods of investigation imperfect.