The printers have been good enough to let me write rime in the English, and not in the Greek, way. But I may mention that they have in general struck out z in favour of s; thus they have printed civilise instead of the civilize I wrote. Had they made alterations in a Teutonic word, I should at once have sprung to the rescue. I give this as an instance of the shifting that may be remarked in the history of the English tongue: some change or other is always at work. Caxton and his sons have ruled our spelling for the last four hundred years; in the instance referred to above, they may justify their alteration by Wickliffe's verb evangelise.
I rejoice to see that England is waking up at last to the importance of studying her own tongue in all its stages; and I hope that this small book, my first attempt in Philology, may help forward the good cause.
Charlton House, Wimbledon:
October 14, 1873.
