2<^i S. VI. 153., Dec. 4. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



465 



EXGUSH MODE OF PROSOUNCING LATIN. 



(2'"» S. vi. 267. 313.) 



The following extract from Coryate's Crudities 

 (page 352. of the 4to. edition, 1611), tends to 

 show that the present English pronunciation of 

 Latin was already in use in the time of Queen 

 Elizabeth. Tom Coryate was born in the year 

 1577, and his knowledge of Latin must have been 

 acquired before the close of that century : — 



"The Italian, Vr'hen he uttereth any Latin word wherein 

 this letter i is to be pronounceil long, doth alwaies pro- 

 nounce it as a double c, viz., as ee. As for example : he 

 pronounceth feedes for Jides ; veeia for vita ; ameecus for 

 amicus, &c. ; but where the i is not to be pronounced long, 

 heutlcreth it as we doe in England: as in these wordes, 

 impius, aquila, patria, ecchsia ; not arpieela, patreea, eccle- 

 seea. And this pronunciation is so generall in all Italj', 

 that every man which speaketh Latin soundeth a double 

 e for an /. Neither is it proper to Italy onh', but to all 

 other nations whatsoever in Christendome saving to Eng- 

 land. For whereas in my travels I discoursed in Latin 

 with Frenchmen, Germans, Spaniards, Danes, Polonians, 

 Suecians, and divers otiiers, I observed that every one 

 with whom I had any conference pronounced the i after 

 the same manner that the Italians use. Neither would 

 «ome of them (amongst whom I was not a little inquisi- 

 tive for the reason of this their pronunciation) sticke to 

 affirme that Plautus, Terence, Cicero, Hortcnsius, Ccesar, 

 and those other selected flowers of eloquence amongst the 

 auncient Romans, pronounced the i in that sort as they 

 themselves doe. Whereupon having observed such a 



" Litera porro y cum proxima sedem occupet ante «, x, ; 

 aut aliud y, huio tu nou suum, sed sonum v liters accom- 

 modato, < autem post v posita; sonum y affingito. 



"Xe multa. In sonis omnino ne philosophator, sed 

 utitor prnesentibus. In hiis siquid emendandum sit, id 

 omne autoritati perniittito. Publice vero profiteri quod 

 ab autoritate sancita diversura, et consuetudine loquendi 

 recepta alienum sit, nefas esto. 



" Quod hie exprimitur, id consuetudini consentaneum 

 ducito, hactenusque pareto. 



" Si quis autem, quod abominor, secus fecerit, et de 

 sonis, re sane (si ipsam spectis) levicula, si contentionis 

 inde natce indignitatem, non ferenda : controversiara pub- 

 lice moverit, aut obstinate animi proposito receptum a 

 plerisque omnibus sonorum modum abrogare aut impro- 

 bare perreserit ; quive sciens prudens ad hoc data opera, 

 quod hie sancituni est, verbo factove publico, palam con- 

 terapserit, hunc hominem, quisquis is erit, iueptura omnes 

 habento : et a senatu, siquideni ex eo numero jam fuerit, 

 is qui auctoritati prreest, nisi resipuerit, expellito. Inter 

 candidates vero si sit, ab omni gradu honoris arceto. Ex 

 plebe autem Scholarium si fuerit, quum ita haberi id ei 

 commodo esse possit, pro scholar! ne censeto. Puerilem 

 denique temeritatem, si quid publice ansa fuerit, domi 

 apud suos castigari curato. Postremo, Vicecancellarius et 

 Procuratores, qua; hie prajscripta sunt, ne contemuantur, 

 neve edicto fraus aUqua fiat, pro modo jurisdictiouis sin- 

 guli providento. 



" Ab his si quid adversum hxc admissum sit, aut 

 omissum, mulcta est quam dixerit Cancellarius. In 

 summa, hoc edictum omnes sacrosanctura ita habento, 

 ut uec contumacibus remissum, nee resipiscentibus seve- 

 riim esse videatur. Datum Londini IS Calend. Junias, 

 anno Domini 1542." 



T. W. WonroE. 



Brighton. 



generall consent amongst them in the pronunciation of 

 this letter, I have thought good to imitate these nations 

 herein, and to abandon my old English pronunciation of 

 vita, tides, and amicus, as being utterh- dissonant from 

 the sound of all other nations ; and have determined (God 

 willing) to retayne the same till mj' dying day." 



We should do well to follow the example of 

 the Odcombian, and abandoning our present ab- 

 surd pronunciation of the Latin vowels, adopt 

 that in use among all Continental nations, as well 

 as in Scotland. Henky Huth. 



HEWETT OF KLLLAMARCH OK KYNWOEDMAECH, 

 DEEBY. 



(2°-* S. vi. 382.) 



Epitaph and Curious Epigram. 



As continuation of, and pendant to, a communi- 

 cation respecting this family, I submit the inscrip- 

 tion on the splendid monument in St. Paul's 

 cathedral, erected to the memory of one of the 

 members of that house : — 



"Memoris S. 



Gulielmo Hewit, Armigero, 



Roberti Hewit, 



A Killaniarch, in Agro Derbiensi 



Filio, secundo genito. 

 Qui mortuo fratre, Natu i\Iajore, 

 Paternam crevit ha;reditatem, 



Posterisque transmittit: 



Nobilera Mercaturam Exeixuit. 



Vita integerrima fuit, et moribus suavissimis. 



Bouarum literarum studia promovit. Egenorum provea- 



tus largiter auxit. 



Liberalitate, 



Charitate, 



Insignis, 



Nee Minor Pietate, 



Eeligionem, cum Ministris Sacris, et 



Coluit et fovit. 



Ita per omnia sic ubique gessit, nt 



Probitatis, 



Comitatis, 



Candoris, 



Virum exemplar. 



Christum Redemptorem Cogitans, 



Vitam ante Blortem Consummaverit. 



Filios genuit quatuor, 



Joanneni, 



Salomonem, 



Thomam, 



Gulielraum, 



Et Filias duas, 



Mariam, (1) 



Elizabethani, (2) 



Annum 77 agens. 



(3) 12"' June, 1599, ad patriam 



Ccelestcm Evocatus, 



Magnum sui desiderium reliquit 



Posteris, 



Qui hoc pie ac moeren. 



P. P." 



[ Vide also Collins' Baronetage, i. 448.] 



In connexion with the above fulsome epitaph, 

 I transcribe a satirical epigram contrasting with, 

 and written in ridicule of it : — 



