8 Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. -Mr. Cumberiand't New Theory. [Feb. 1, 

 Such a work might be most advan- a pamphlet on the result of his inqui- 

 tageously composed in a university on ries. If iiis heirs would communicate 

 the coniines of Upper and Lower his papers on this subject to any one 

 Saxony, where the two dialects of capable of executing the arduous task 

 Germany are spoken. In such a situ- of giving to the world an Anglo-Saxon 



ation, I wrote as follows to my friends 

 in England : — 



'. Brunswick, Thursdaii-evenirtg , 

 February 11, 1783. 

 " The language of Lower Saxony, dis- 

 tinguished by tlie name of Plat Deutchc, 

 meaning Low German, and which is 

 spoken by the common people, is nearly 

 the same language with English. I was 

 mistaken when at Dresden I supposed 

 myself among the descendants of the 

 Angles. It is at Helmstadt that Low 

 German begins to be spoken; and, I am 

 now satisfied, from the language of the peo- 

 ple, as well as the authority of Tacitus and 

 his commentators, which 1 have been just 

 reading at Professor Escheudach's, that I 

 am in the country whence the Angli mi- 

 grated, Helmstadt, as well as Brunswick, 

 has very much the appearance of an Eng- 

 lish ro\n)try-town : most of the houses are 

 half-limbered, and the beams painted 



English etymological dictionary, they 

 would deserve the gratitude of all 

 lovers of literature. 



Jonathan Stokes. 

 Chesterfield, June 23, 1822. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



passinir conrteous, 



But slow iu speech, yet sweet as spiing-time floweri. 

 Taming the Shrew. 

 SIR, 



IT is a great misfortune, no doubt, 

 to have differed in opinion with 

 Mr. John Farcy ; with one also, who, 

 with his own eyes, might or has seen 

 the stony masses, the aerolites, fall 

 from sateilitic bodies, which still jogged 

 on their courses, unconscious of the 

 treasure they were showering at Ids 



geoloj;ical feet. 



There is some consolation, however, 

 black, or grey, and the plaister while; not to be the solitary object of his ire, 

 though those more lately built are of brick, and to find that I share his indignation 



covered with plaister, coloured, as in the 

 Prussian towns, according to the fancy of 

 the owners. There is a paved way of 

 flagstones, of sufficient width for two to 

 walk abreast, throughout the whole town, 

 which you will remark as a phenomenon on 

 the continent, from tiie accounts I have 

 given you of the towns through which I have 

 passed. Some of these circumstances 

 struck me as the el!"ect of their connexion 



with the truly excellent professor 

 Buckland ; to whom, indeed, I should 

 be seriously sorry to give oDence, and 

 from whom I would rather expect 

 mercy than judgment. 



But then again, that Mr. J. Farey 

 should have " nursed his wrath to 

 keep it warm," ever since your 52d 

 volume appeared, is a thing rather 



with England, in consequence of the alii- hard on a quiet man, who thought it 

 ance with their princes with tho^e of no sin to believe in those nncient tra- 

 Hanover on the British throne; but we ditions which the evidence of his sight 

 must look for these analogies rather in the jj^^j |„„g corroborated, and to which 

 identity of the race. Those who speak ^^^^ French philosophy has been 

 High German, admit that Low German is compelled, by the force of truth, to 

 softer, and nioie pleasmg to the ear, and subscribe 

 more concise. These excellencies we may _,. ' ... ... . . 



imagine the English to possess in a supe- Since however, nothing w" satisfy 

 rior degree, having been cultivated for two this pertinacious gentleman but the 

 centuries by good writers, who have sup- admission ot the theory lie approves, 

 pliedits deficiencies by a selection of words or the instantly informing him— 

 from the languages of ancient and modern " When ? how? and in what state? or 



for what purpose the matter of the 

 universe was created, other than at 

 the times he has indicated," I must 

 beg leave to decline the challenge, and 

 to leave him in full possession of his 

 self-satisfactory contempt of Mosaical, 

 or bible geologies, as he is pleased to 

 call them ; being contented, for my 

 own part, to remain in ignorance as to 

 the original purpose for which the 

 Germany, about the time of the reforma- matter of the universe was created, 

 tion." and so I take my leave. 



Herbert Croft resided some time in G. Cumberland. 



LowerSaxony,withaviewtoperfecthis Bristol; Dee. 9, 1822. 

 IViend Johnson's dictionary, and wrote JFor 



iiguages 

 Europe. Low German agrees with High 

 German in expressing declinations and 

 cases by termination, as in Greek and 

 Latin, and not by particles, as iu English, 

 French, Italian, and the languages of Scan- 

 dinavia. Terminations, Prof. Abert tells 

 me, are found in the most ancient records ; 

 and, it is matter of surprise, how they came 

 there. Low German is regarded as the 

 most ancient, and it was into this language 

 that the Bible was first translated 



