GENERAL LITERATURE, &C. 281 



than the letters, syllables, and words, arrange them- 

 selves according to innumerable rules of speech, 

 while he never thinks of these rules. He does all 

 this as it were by inspiration, without thinking of any 

 of these rules, or breaking any of them. 



To some men and women, the incessant exercise 

 of speech seems no less necessary than the function 

 of respiration ; and to such persons, while indulging 

 this incontrollable propensity, the entertainment of 

 their hearers is not at all jan object, it is sufficient 

 that they can obtain patient listeners. 



Hand-writing. 



The specific differences that mark hand- writings. 

 In this particular, the general effect in character, 

 which the object presents to the practised eye of a 

 man of business, is a much more infallible criterion of 

 identity, than a precise resemblance in a few promi- 

 nent details. A banker's clerk will discover a forgery 

 with much more certainty than a writing-master or 

 engraver.* 



English Names. 



Camden says, that there is not a village in Nor- 

 mandy, but gives its name to some family in England, 

 such as Mortimer, Warren, Albigny, Piercy, Deve- 

 reux, Tanker ville, Nevil, Tracy, Montfort, &c. &c. 



Latin. 



The bulk and foundation of the Latin language is 

 the Greek, but a considerable portion of it is the 

 language of our northern ancestors grafted on the 



* Hand-writing indicates, to a certain degree, the character 

 and temperament of the individual, whether impetuous, or cool 

 and deliberate, confused or clear. This does not apply to the 

 modern hand-writings of ladies, which are all exactly alike. 



