*- Cross. 
1810.] - 
last sent. However, though they were 
so unwilling to reward his services, yet 
they were desirous to prevent his art of 
decyphering from dying with him; for 
which purpose he was solicited by Mr. 
‘Leibnitz, by order of George I. then 
elector of Hanover, to instruct a young 
gentleman whom he would send over; 
and desired the doctor to make his own 
terms. But he excused himself by say- 
ing, “ that he should always be ready to 
serve his electoral highness, whenever 
there should be occasion; but, as bis art 
of decyphering was a curiosity that might 
be of further service to his own country, 
he could not think of sending it abroad 
without the consent of his sovereign.” 
This was a great act of disinterested- 
ness in the dactor, and deserves the 
highest commendation; because it is 
certain he might have made a very 
advantageous bargain for himself, with- 
out the least impropriety of conduct, had 
he not preferred the good of his country to 
his own private emolument; and it was, 
no doubt, considered as such by King 
William, who settled oa him a pension 
of 100/, a year, with survivorship to his 
grandson, whom he had instructed in the 
art of decyphering at the particular de- 
sire of his majesty. We must now look 
back, and see the other methods in which 
his useful pen was employed; and we 
shall find it at no period idle. About 
_the year 1653 he published his “Tractus de 
LoqueiA Grammatica-physicus;” where- 
in he gives a particular account of the 
physical or mechanical formation of 
sounds used in speech, or expressed by 
the letters of several languages. In the 
year 1699, he published at Oxford three 
Jarge folios upon mathematics, with this 
title, “ Mathesis Universalis.” Part of - 
the third volume of his ‘‘ Opera Mathe- 
matica,” is employed in preserving and 
restoring divers ancient Greek authors, 
which were in danger of being lost. In, 
the year 1642, he published a book, 
entitled “ Truth Tried ;” in answer toa 
treatise written by Lord Brook, entitled 
‘¢ The Nature of Truth.” In the year 
1653 was published, in Latin, his Gram. 
mar of the English Tongue, for the use 
of foreigners ; m which he has a curious 
observation on words beginning with c7, 
as if they took their meaning from the 
In his “ Praxis Grammatica,” he 
gives us the following jeu-d’esprit, whiclr 
shows him to have been so well 
acquainted with the English tongue, as 
to be able to translate extempore, from 
. 1 
\ J 
‘ 
Memoirs of Dr. John Wallis. ‘143 
the French, an example of joining kin- 
dred sound (sensus) with kindred words. 
In the above book the doctor says, “* Ay 
certain learned French gentleman pro- 
posed to me the underwritten four 
chosen French verses, composed oa 
purpose ;*boasting from it wonderfully of 
the felicity of his French language, 
which expressed kindred senses by 
kindred words; complaining, in the mean 
while, of our English one, as very oftez 
expressing kindred senses by words cons 
joined by no relation : 
Se 
Quand un cordier, cordant, veult corder une 
corde ; 
Pour sa corde corder, trois cordorts il accorde’z 
Mais, si un des cordons de la corde déscordey 
Le corden déscordant fait déscorder la corde. 
But, that I might show that this felicity 
of language was not wanting to our own, 
immediately, without making choice of 
fresh matter, I translated verbally the 
same four verses into the English tongue, 
retaining the saine turn of words which 
be had observed:in his, only substituting 
the word twist, purely English, for the 
exotic word cord, which he expected me 
to use: | 
yee 
When a twister, a-twisting, will twist him a 
twist, 
For the twisting his twist, he three twines 
doth entwist 5 
But, if one of the twines of the twist does 
untwist, 
The twine that untwisteth, untwisteth the 
twist. 
And to'them these four others « 
Untwirling the twine that untwisted bee 
tween, 
He twirls with his twister the two in a 
twine: a . 
Then, twice having twisted the twines of the. 
twine, 
He twisteth the twine he had twined in 
twain. 
And these ; if 
The twain that, in twining hefore in the 
twine,’ ‘ 
As twins were entwisted, he now doth un- 
twine: 
*Twixt the twain intertwisting a twige more 
between, 
He, twirling his twister, makes a twist of 
the twine.” 
In the year 1658, came out his * Come 
mercium Epistolicuin,” being an epistay 
lary _ correspondence between Lord 
Brouncker and Dr, Wallis, on one part, 
and Messrs. Fermate and Frenicle, 
(two Trepch gentlemen) on the other; 
gecasioned ’ 
