45?3 Remarks on the Energy, k e. of the English Language, [Dec. 1 ^ 
per SPiuim in rent and taxes, and some¬ 
times witii coals and candles, u’o; th ol. 
more ; tiieir nett salary ought therefore 
to vary acci>rding tv> tlm quantity ot duty, 
say iron! COl. to lOOL ye'' ‘an.nmn, and 
to pay or (UTer less at the present %vorth 
of uionev, is an insult to tiie uretclied re- 
ceivers, and a disgrace; tn those who pay. 
Ah our Ciuiowed schools require a 
revision in this respect, in order to ren¬ 
der them useful, by stii'ouiating the ex¬ 
ertions fU’ tlie masters. The 40l. 
and 501. salaries of Elizabeth, ought 
forthwith to be niuitiplied by four or 
live. The consideration presses—and I 
really believe that notliing more is 
yvanted in this country than to draw 
altentibn to a point of Inimanity, and 
the purpose generahy is etTected, as a 
tiling of course. I may at least hope, 
that my observations may have some 
effect in rcgulatnig the appointments 
rmder that divine emanaticn which has 
just been publislied, through the medium 
of r'ic inerarciiy of L'ngland. 
Sov. loll. ’ CoM-woN Sense, 
To (lie Editor cf the MovJht^ Magazine. 
SI R, 
English is such a compound of 
A languages dissonant and dissimilar 
in structure, as would appear fitted to 
produce a chaotic jargon ; bur, as four 
contradictory substances compose the 
rich and cordial liquor denominated 
punch, f'O this Bahy'onisli mixture of 
tongues, happily blended and gradually 
mellowed, have formed one lai^guage, m 
many resuects superior to them all. 
It issuiiject to numerous n rcgulaiities, 
which render its attainment difiicuk to 
foreiiiners; but the general structure is 
remarkably simple, neither the noun nor 
1 he verb being sulqect to the variety of 
inflections used in ihe Latin or French; 
and ir has a great advantage over them, 
l>y afiixint: tlie ma>cnline or feminine 
Lender only to males aitd females, leaving 
ml ovi.tr tiling^; as Nature lias done, to 
t;:e neuter. It is no exc.e| tinti f-) this 
mat we erd! the sun Ac, or a s’n.p she, 
t:;ese heit'g merely figurative personifi- 
cr.nr,r,s ot t'ne oljtct. Aimtuer superi- 
c-ritv of tiie En.Li’sh is ii: tl'C [0)>5esslve 
rror.cH.f., and wltich e .a^-e enabled to 
Ta^e ad'.untairt of, in .con-eqncnce of the 
jivavapfiiicatiori ;i);' gender 'o inanimate 
sub^^a^ces.■ IVe say hi^ or her hoedx, 
-isiwing di'-tmed'’ to whntn the bonk be- 
h ngs, v. hicii'ennuot be kiiovii eiriier oy 
e chos' /.’Vt'-of the Luiiiis; Cr liiie 
Cl ice Ibtijch. 
Tn point of copiousness the English 
yields vrtily to the German; in strejigtli 
and energy of expression it certainly is 
inferior to none: chieny from this cause 
that it is tnore concise. The Latin is 
said to be more expressive, because 
s’lorter than any modern langiiage ; and 
this may he fairly allowed in its deriva¬ 
tives tlie Italian, .Spanish, and French; 
yet the English, although much of it is 
derived from the Latin, and that princi¬ 
pally through the French, is, on the 
whole, closer than tlie Latin itself. The 
hexameter verse, though longer by three 
or four syllables, is easily compressed 
into one of our heroic lines. Various 
picc'is of English poetry have been 
translated .into Latin, and in general 
nothing can be more tame and deadc 
Compare, for example, with the origi¬ 
nal, a translation, inserted in the Spec¬ 
tator, of Cato’s c;-]ebral(d sohinquy, and 
observe how the same thought is strong 
in English, and weak in Latin, from its 
being close in the former language, and 
diiTuse in the latter; for, as much as one 
language exceeds another in length, iu 
tf;e s'.\me proportion does it fail in ex-- 
pfession. Translations are cr>mmon]y 
more verbose than their original, which 
is one reason for their weakness; wher¬ 
ever they are less so, they are stronger. 
Freiicli and Italian are much more diffusa 
than English. 
Although-, in some respects, theEngli-h 
of tiie present day may perhaps be tOvO 
much refined, I deem it, on the whole, 
more perfect ne?w than it was at any 
fiirmcr pieriod. In tlie early writers 
tliere is no idea of a simple, natural, style. 
A man was held 'iinlit to write, who could 
not express his thoughts out of the com- 
mon latiguage; quaintness, conceit, and 
allVctati!!!), every-where prevailed. But 
it is piubahle tluit the oral or conversa- ' 
tioti language of these times was other¬ 
wise. In the .‘.tate-rriids duriiig"the reigns 
of Elizabeth u.mi Jambs, we find nearly 
the taTuc style as i> u.:>ed al present, and 
tin's was takrm linjiiediately from the 
n'.oiith. In tliose passage.- where Sliake- 
spearefs genius iun! I'ot free scope, may 
ha (/useivevi altempis to be thought 
learneii and lefined; but where the sub¬ 
ject was too inipetm.ms io In’ocT restraint, 
tl.e iai'guage is as perfect as tiie idea. 
The reign of Qu-ceo Anne was an era of 
vast improvement in, the English, and 
jitidison hi-n-ed'did mo-e in this respect 
than all the l.-ibours of the lUircH for a 
ceiitury before, uoi'ing ease, eiegance, 
aiiTcncrgy; yet neither .'js nor the best 
of . 
