1807.) 
ON A PERSON WHO USED TO ALTER 
THE CLOCK, 
“HOU art the vileft liar yet unhung 
When tired your own, you lie with 
otber’s tongue. 
——S a 
THE DERIVATION OF AN EFPIGRAM. 
\ E call it, Sir, an epigram, 
Becaufe ’ tis like a pig and ram; 
*Tis like a ram—it fometimes dutts, 
And upon vice derifion puts ;— 
Evtratis from the Port-folio of a Man of Letters. 
264 
Tis like a pig, whofe tail, my friend, 
in gen’ral in a point does end. 
aL 
ON A LADY’S SENDING A TONGUE AND 
"A HARE TO A FRIEND; 
TH AT Mu’am fhould fend a tongue, no 
myfry’s there, 
eG prithee, wherefore did fhe fenda hare ? 
Why blockhead, with the tongue a hare {be 
ent, 
To let you know how faft the other vent. 
Extradls from the Port-folio of a Man of Letters. 
ee 
GRAMMATICAL ELUCIDATION. 
PW ae (ol, wai. 9p2/225) 
has enquired why the words fweczde, 
regicide, &c. are employed to exprefs 
both the aét and the perpetrator; and 
whether we might not ufe /uiczfm, regi- 
cifm, &c. for the deed of felf-flaughter, 
or king-flaughter. He attacks a real 
difeate of languag ze; but fuggelts a bad 
remedy. 
The Latins have paricidium for the aé, 
and paracida for the perpetrator of par- 
ricide. In old Vrench books the ab- 
firact fubitantive is gallicized by parri- 
cidie, and the agent by parricide. But 
as words in ze arefeminine in French, 
and as neuter Latin fubftantives become 
maiculine in French, the word parricidie 
was felt as anomalous, and abandoned 
for parricide. From the French we have 
our “Englith word. 
Had “Baglilh, writers been borrowing 
directly from the Latin, they would have 
faid parricidy and parricider ; fuicidy and 
furcider; regicidy and regicider: they 
would thus have preferved the defirable 
diftinétion. 
Words in ism defcribe the theory or 
doétrine of the word fo terminating. Thus 
theijin means the doétrine of “deity ; 
mortalifin, the doétrine that there is no 
future ftate; regicidifm the doctrine of 
king-killing; and fuacidifin, the doctrine 
of ielf-{flaughter. The fhorter forms 
regicifin and Jjurcijm are inadmilfible, 
even in this fenfe; becaufe they do not 
include a fyllable eflential to the etymo- 
logy, and confequently to the fignificance 
of the terms. 
There is little hope of familiarizing in 
this infilance the expedient ‘innovation. 
Some of the words to, be inflected would 
become too long. Who could be in- 
duce to write tyrannicider, and tyran- 
nicidy 2? Tyrant-flayer is bearable; but 
not tyrani-laughter, becaufe it would 
excite the idea of more than one death, 
I am afraid, therefore, that Zeteites will 
not accomplith the reformation he pro- 
pofes ; though, forone, I would concur 
in writing _fucidy and fuicider. The con-— 
cert of authors is the true road to the 
-emendation of language. : 
ERIANDER. 
An ill-made novel with this title 
was printed foon after the  Refto- 
ration; it is full of flattery to Charles 
the Second, and was written by one 
John Burton. Will fome of your bios 
graphic correfpcndents fay whether this 
is the fame Barton who wrote the Ana- 
tomy of Melancholy? The following paf- 
faze from Eriander, 1s fuch as we might 
expect from him :— 
“‘ Certain days were appointed for 
{ports and recreations, a piece of pru- 
dent and cautelous policy. It is eafy for 
any man to obferve, that fedentary and | 
melancholic perfons, who are either by 
nature or cuftom averfe from ce 
are inclined to malice, peevifhnefs, di 
content and envy, fit to devife siete 
and mifchief. But {portive recreations 
with convenient motion clear the fpirits 
of man, diffipate his dumpith and fullen 
humours, make him britk'and fociable, 
and adaptate him to love and kmdheart- 
ednefs. Therefore Alcidruinus prudently 
appointed fuch meetings, as means to 
promote peace, procure holpitality. and 
good neighbourhood, beget . friendihip 
and alliance among the people, and pre 
vert many matinous difcontents, which 
retired and fullen’ thoughts might hatch 
in their working brains.” 
The ttory of Eriander is wholly unin- 
tere{ting ; but there are many,good com- 
mon-places interfperfed through the nar- 
rative, which might merit traufeription. 
Lefling, as your correfpondent has told 
us, propofed a periodic publication, 
which was te felect the beft from -bad 
books : 
