1831.] Monlhlii Review of Lileraiure. 451 



— with phrases ground in the same mill — taste, tone, and cadence, all undistin- 

 guishably semper vnttm et idem, I'he ])ieces thus translated in this Jirst series 

 are by Canning, Richardson, Copieston, Puller, Baker, Atkins, Herbert, Cony- 

 beare, and Shuttleworth ; and none of them, living or dead, can, or could thank, 

 the translator, for forcing them from the comfortable obscurity in which they 

 have long reposed, into the light which they must all be ashamed to face. 



IIoMONyMEs Franqais, or the Fuench Homonymous Words, &c., dy 

 Dominique Albert, and Egerton Smith, Liverpool. 



These homonymous words — for the term itself may require explanation — 

 are words of similar sound, but of dissimilar signification, and generally dissi- 

 milar orthography. Words of this kind are frequent in most languages, but 

 abound in the French, and present formidable obstacles to speaking the language, 

 or at least to the learner's discovering what the speaker means. In reading, au, 

 aux, aulx, eau, o, oh, os, nobody will confound, but to the ear they all come with 

 the same sound, and often baffle the learner — suggesting as they do such odd and 

 out of the way combinations of meanings, as if the purpose of the speaker was 

 merely to mystify. To get rid of this embarrassing inconvenience as quickly as 

 possible, the authors have ingeniously brought together in these homonymous 

 words single sentences, which are to be committed to memory, trusting to its 

 facility in retaining new associations for the success of the contrivance. Sup- 

 pose the homonymous words to be antre, a noun, entre, a verb, and entre, a pre- 

 position — they are introduced into the sentence — Pour visiter la sibylle, on eiitre 

 ,<enters) dans un untre (cave) profond, perce entre (between) deux enormes roches. 

 Again — On ne doit (ought) jamais montrer personne au doujht (finger) — which 

 at once distinguishes the words, and conveys a lesson of good manners. 



Waverley Novels. Vol. XXVH. Peveril or the Peak. 



The story of William Christian is conspicuous in the annals of the Isle of 

 Man. His father had been governor, and he himself eventually was one of the 

 dcmpsters, or supreme judges. Both father and son embraced the party of the 

 islanders, who contested some feudal rights claimed by the Earl of Derby, as 

 king in Man. During the civil wars, the carl, as every body knows, was 

 beheaded at Bolton-le-Moors ; after which event William Christian i)Iaced 

 himself at the head of the insurgent party of the island, and opened a commu- 

 nication with the [jarliamentary fleet. The island was formally surrendered, and 

 the countess and her son, a child, were thrown into prison, where they con- 

 tinued till the restoration of Charles. On that occasion she was released ; and 

 Bci/.ing on Christian, she, in quality of regent for her son, caused him to be 

 tried and executed for treason to his liege lord. For this stretch of feudal 

 power Charles, glad of the occasion to get money, levied a heavy fine upon the 

 Derby estates. This masculine asserter of her regal rights was a daughter of 

 the French House of Tremouillc, and well known in the civil wars for her 

 gallant defence of Latham House. Sir Walter's preface is chiefly remarkaldc 

 for a defence of (Jhristian and hits brother, by the present representative of the 

 family, John Christian, Esq., who still holds the oflice of dempster in the isle. 

 Sir Walter, it will be remembered, exhibits Christian's brother Edward as a 

 wretch of unbounded depravity ; but this he did, it appears, without knowing 

 in fact that there ever existed such a brother. He found an Edward Cliristiun, 

 " with whom connected, or by whom begot," he knows not, associated with 

 Blood and O'Brien in the conspiracy against the life of the Duke of Buckingham 

 — whose character answered his purpose, and he adopted him. 



Newton's Like, dy Dr. Brewster. Vol. XXIV. or Murray's 



Family Library. 



No person could be better qualified for writing the Life of Newton than 

 Dr. Brewster, frcjni liis great familiarity with the history of science down to its 

 uiiuutest ]>oinls : and he lius uccouiplibhed his tusk with cxeuiplary diligence. 



