IS 11.] Remarks on the Energy^ Kc. of the English Language, 429 
of his learned cotemporarics are free 
from inaccuracies, not to be found in the 
most fiqmble writers in the reign of 
George the Third. As to our orthogra¬ 
phy, it is but of late that it was fi>;ed 
even in ti-.e most common words. Two 
htindred years ago every person spelled 
a-s he liked: no'.v, orthography is ticarly 
reduced to a standard : and one gieat 
article of refineuient in this respect is 
the suppression of useless letters, parti¬ 
cularly vowels, which however is perhaps 
at preient carried too fir in Icavji'g out 
the 71 in Itoifour, favoui'y and tl;e like, 
and the final k in ci-itick, &c. . I may 
also just mentioi) one very modern i/n- 
provernent iti writing and printing, name¬ 
ly, dropping the capita! letters, except 
in the beginning of senteiices, proper 
liames, and particular emphatic words. 
Tlie London dialect is the cause of 
various corruptions v\!iich have begun to 
make a pait of our wiitten language. 
The custom among the vulgar of adiling 
ati s to many words. apf)eais to liave oc¬ 
casioned its being allixed to some by wii- 
ters of respectability, n ho from haiiitual 
couversatinii did not perceive the impro¬ 
priety, I'hey write, for example, roc/is 
and acquuinLahiccii, although coat and cc- 
qnaialaacc, heiiig aggregate nouns, admit 
of no plural termination. 1 no sleep 
—I set nic dozo77 .— 1 got me up —such a 
thing is u doing- — a going—^ comiog— I'rce 
lofisters—/triS cattle—1 v^il! call of you —■ 
he is gone of an errand—a ship lays at 
anchor—I have no to pay buch 
a sum,—are all expressions heard eveiy 
tlay, and most of them are written witn- 
not scruple, especially by editors of 
newspapers, whose woiks h.aviug more 
readers than any descriotion of nooks, 
their errors have a very great effect m 
corrupting the language ; such errors in 
a great measure proceed from the hurry 
i-n which tliey write, ami tlirouglr which 
they iusensdily adopt the cnll-juidal vul¬ 
garisms they daily hear. The.be editors 
also, in their duf v of translators from the 
French, have added much to our voca¬ 
bulary, and unproved the h'nglibh idioms. 
Thev (lady “ cover ihemselves with 
glory,”—they assisted ur a party,”-— 
v\hicli it must be cont’essedjs more ex¬ 
pressive than saying they “ were pres-ent 
at a party.” For the French exposce^ 
fchfy are above using the common ex¬ 
pression statement^ p.'-obably thinking e.r- 
position better ailapted to the folly of 
these gasconades. A famous translator 
savs, that the orientals never take a. walk 
(promenade) except on horsebuck> I read 
lately, that the pope had not now so 
many persons as formerly to kiss his niulc’, 
and tliis very day I saw a translation of 
an olFicial account from Spain, stating, 
among other things, that ‘Mlie dukeof 
llctguba received a grand equipags f-ir 
bridges;” an expression fioin which the 
reader would rather siqipose that tiiis 
general had received a magnificent state 
carriage to pass along bridges, than a 
great provision of materials for attacking 
them. 
There are school-books corn'iiled by 
persons so extiemeiy ignorant, tiiat in a 
modern spelling-book, writien, f pre¬ 
sume, by a Cockney, miirum \s, explainer! 
to be ‘‘ a fi nit welt known and drowned 
is stated to be “ commonly pronounced 
drowndedf 
I'he debates in parliament, tliongh 
certainly the best specimens ofelmpaence 
tliat can he produced, have f eriuently 
given birth to barbarisms, which hecarns 
naturalized in the language. !f an emi¬ 
nent speaker, in the liurry of declama¬ 
tion, coin a word, or use a bad plirase^ 
it is adopted by others on his authority. 
Scarcely a session passes tliat does nor 
produce something ot'this sort, wliich, iv 
;t get into the public papers, is spread 
over the kingdom, and soon becomes 
fixed too firmly ever to be removed. 
Though deviating rather from tlie 
subject, I shall now make a sh irt ohser- 
variou on what is very much admired in 
poetry, makiiig'the sound an echo to the 
sense. 1, for my part, think not only 
that there is something puerile in these 
arrempis, but that in fact they are de¬ 
lusive. Observe in Mr. Pope at once 
the precept and example : 
“ When Ajax strives some stone’s vast weight 
to throw. 
The line too labours, and the words move 
slow' ; 
Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain, 
Flies o’er the unbending corn, or skims along 
the main.” 
Again, speaking of Syslphus ; 
“ With many a weary step, and many a groan. 
Up a high hill lie Iieaves a huge large stone ; 
Tim Iiuge large stone, resulting from a bound, 
1 hundf-rs impetuous down, and roils along 
tlie ground.” 
Now, let, these lines be recited to a 
per-on eniirely ignorant of onr language, 
and, witlumt such emphasis as to give 
pariictiiur expression to the differenf: 
soumds intended, I venture to affirm thac 
tliov wdl produce nothing of that effect. 
Nay, even i:e»id them in the way I have 
S 1 2 iwentiuned 
