ard, Jeremy Collier, and others, from 1660 to 1700, who were the great masters of this vernacular English (as it might emphatically be called, with a reference to the primary* meaning of the word vernacular); and I verily believe, that, if any part of this slang has become, or ever should become a dead language to the English critic, his best guide to the recovery of its true meaning will be the German dictionaries of Bailey, Arnold, &c. in their earliest editions. By one of these, the word Potztausend (a common German oath) is translated, to the best of my remembrance, thus :"Udzooks, Udswiggers, Udswoggers, Bublikins, Boblikins, Splitterkins,' &c. and so on, with a large choice of other elegant varieties. Here, I take it, our friend the hoaxer had been at work but the drollest example I have met with of their slang is in the following story told to me by Mr. Coleridge. About the year 1794, a German, recently imported into Bristol, had happened to hear of Mrs. X. a wealthy widow. He thought it would be a good speculation to offer himself to the lady's notice as well qualified to "succeed" to the late Mr. X.; and accordingly waited on the lady with that intention, Having no great familiarity with English, he provided himself with a copy of one of the dictionaries I have mentioned; and, on being announced to the lady, he determined to open his proposal with this introductory sentence-Madam, having heard that Mr. X., late your husband, is dead: but coming to the last word "gestorben," (dead,) he was at a loss for the English equivalent; so, hastily pulling out his dictionary (a huge 8vo.), he turned to the word" sterben," (to die,) and there found -; but what he found will be best collected from the dialogue which followed, as reported by the lady :: - German. Madam, hahfing heard that Mein Herr X., late your man, is -(these words he kept chiming over as if to himself, until he arrived at No. 1 of the interpretations of "sterben,"-when he roared out, in high glee at his discovery)—is, dat is-has, kicked de bucket. Widow. (With astonishment.)"Kicked the bucket," Sir!-whatGerman. Ah! mein Gott!-Alway Ich make mistake: I vou'd have said-(beginning again with the same solemnity of tone)-since dat Mein Herr X., late your man, havhopped de twig-(which words he screamed out with delight, certain that he had now hit the nail upon the head.) Widow. Upon my word, Sir, I am at a loss to understand you: Kicked the bucket," and "hopped the twig!" German. (Perspiring with panic.) Ah, Madam! von-two-tree-ten tousand pardon: vat sad, wicket dictionary I haaf, dat alway bring me in trouble: but now you shall hear-(and then, recomposing himself solemnly for a third effort, he began as before)-Madam, since I did hear, or wash hearing, dat Mein Herr X., late your man, haaf-(with a triumphant shout)-haaf, I say, gone to Davy's locker Further he would have gone; but the widow could stand no more: this nautical phrase, familiar to the streets of Bristol, allowed her no longer to misunderstand his meaning; and she quitted the room in a tumult of laughter, sending a servant to show her unfortunate suitor out of the house, with his false friend the dictionary; whose help he might, perhaps, invoke for the last time, on making his exit, in the curses"Udswoggers, Boblikins, Bublikins, Splitterkins!" N. B. As test words for trying a modern German dictionary, I will advise the student to look for the words-Beschwichtigen, Kulisse, and Mansarde. The last is originally French, but the first is a true German word; and, on a question arising about its etymology, at the house of a gentleman in Edinburgh, could not be found in any one, out of five or six modern Anglo-German dictionaries. * What I mean is this. Vernacular (from verna, a slave born in his master's house). 1. The homely idiomatic language in opposition to any mixed jargon, or lingua franca, spoken by an imported slave:-2. Hence, generally, the pure mother-tongue as opposed to the same tongue corrupted by false refinement. By vernacular English, therefore, in the primary sense, and I mean, such homely English as is banished from books and polite conversation to Billingsgate and Wapping. ( ORIGINAL LETTER FROM SIR PHILIP FRANCIS TO MR. GEORGE THICKNESSE (FORMERLY MASTER OF ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL). THE following letter will be read with interest by those who think they see in the writer the author of the Letters of Junius. There are passages in it which will help to confirm them in that opinion. But it has much higher merit than that of a polished style-merit that will give it interest with all readers---simplicity of manner, kind-heartedness, and delicacy of feeling. It was written soon after the return of Sir Philip Francis from India, at the time when the impeach ment of Warren Hastings was proceeding with all its vigour; and some would think it as unlikely to have sprung from the heart of Sir Philip Francis at this period, as from that of Junius at any time: in their opinion, "Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye." They are, however, equally mistaken in both cases: the whole spirit of the Letter is redolent of Junius; witness, in particular, some of his private notes to Woodfall. It is proper to add, that this Letter would not have seen the light, but for the gratitude of the gentleman to whom it is addressed; and that some parts of it furnished those fac similes of handwriting which were made use of to prove the identity of Junius with Sir Philip Francis. Upper Harley-street, 20th Jan. 1785. MY DEAR SIR,-I received the favour of your letter with a real sensation of pleasure, but not unmixed with some uneasiness. I cannot but feel that it was my part and duty to have recalled myself long ago to your remembrance. But though I condemn myself for neglect, believe me, I have never ceased to think of you, as of my friend and benefactor. You have the best claim to my gratitude, and a right to every service in my power. I called at your brother's lodgings yesterday, wishing to see him before I answered your letter; but he was not at home. Not knowing the situation of his son, I have no idea how I can be of use to him. You will easily conceive, that, in the present circumstances, I can have no interest with the Admiralty; and, I assure you, that my interest at the India-house is worse than negative. In that quarter I and all who belong to me are proscribed. I did what I could to save the body corporate from ruin; and that was not the way to gain the friendship of individuals. Mr. Hastings took the opposite course, and has succeeded accordingly. I cannot but be touched with the account you give me of your own situation. I well know how heavily the public burthens press, in every sense and direction, on moderate and even upon considerable fortunes; at least, such as used to be thought so. The idea of your being forced to quit a house which, I am told, you find comfortable, makes me very uneasy; and you will do me a very great favour, if you will allow me to obviate the necessity of a step, which, I seriously believe, you would not feel more than I should. For the purpose of answering these last taxes, I have taken the liberty of enclosing to you a bank note of twenty pounds, which, in future, as long as you and I live, you shall regularly receive in the beginning of every year. I entreat you not to refuse this little mark of my gratitude and affection for you; and much more earnestly do I entreat you, not to attribute this offer to any motive that ought to disincline you to me. I shall learn from your brother what parts of my speeches he has sent you, in order that I may supply you with the remainder. If there be any thing good in them, I deem it to be principally due to your early instructions. I mean to send you, from time to time, any thing that may be worth your notice, or likely to amuse you. I am, with the sincerest affection and esteem, Dear Sir, Your most obliged and faithful servant, I beg of you to make whatever use of my privilege you think fit, without the smallest scruple. To Mr. George Thicknesse RITSON versus JOHN SCOTT THE QUAKER. Critics I read on other men, And Hypers upon them again.-Prior. I HAVE in my possession Scott's "Critical Essays on some of the Poems of several English Poets,"-a handsome octavo, bought at the sale of Ritson's books; and enriched (or deformed, as some would think it) with MS. annotations in the handwriting of that redoubted Censor. I shall transcribe a few, which seem most characteristic of both the writers-Scott, feeble, but amiable-Ritson, coarse, caustic, clever; and, I am to suppose, not amiable. But they have proved some amusement to me; and, I hope, will produce some to the reader, this rainy season, which really damps a gentleman's wings for any original flight, and obliges him to ransack his shelves, and miscellaneous reading, to furnish an occasional or make-shift paper. If the sky clears up, and the sun dances this Easter (as they say he is wont to do), the town may be troubled with something more in his own way the ensuing month from its poor servant to command. Ritson. A beauty, as in Thomson's Winter- Save when its annual course the caravan A superficial person-Mr. Scott, for instance, would be apt to connect the last clause in this period with the line foregoing-" bends to the coast of Cathay with news," &c. But has a reader nothing to do but to sit passive, while the connexion is to glide into his ears like oil? ELIA. COLLINS'S ORIENTAL ECLOGUES. The second of these little pieces, called Hassan, or the Camel Driver, is of superior character. This poem contradicts history in one principal instance; the merchants of the east travel in numerous caravans, but Hassan is introduced travelling alone * May I have leave to notice an instance of the same agreeable discontinuity in my friend Lloyd's admirable poem on Christmas? Where the broad-bosom'd hills, Swept with perpetual clouds, of Scotland rise, GRAY'S CHURCH-YARD ELEGY. Save where the beetle wheelsScott. The beetle was introduced into poetry by Shakspeare * Shakspeare has made the most of his description; indeed far too much, considering the occasion: -to black Hecate's summons The shard-born beetle with his drowsy hum Hath rung night's yawning peal. The imagination must be indeed fertile, which could produce this illplaced exuberance of imagery. The poet, when composing this passage, must have had in his mind all the remote ideas of Hecate, a heathen Our author's language, in this place, is very defective in correctness. After mentioning the general privation of the "bloomy flush of life," the exceptionary "all but" includes, as a part of that "bloomy flush," an aged decrepid matron; that is to say, in plain prose, "the bloomy flush of life is all fled but one old woman." Ritson. Yet Milton could write: Far from all resort of mirth, Or the bell-man's drowsy charm—— and I dare say he was right. O never let a quaker, or a woman, try On the Death of Mr. Dennis. • Adieu, unsocial excellence! at last Thy foes are vanquish'd, and thy fears are past: His reason dies not, and has friends to find: No wrongs shall reach him through his future days; And nations read him into lasting fame. In his defects untaught, his labour'd page Mix'd in faint shades, may with his memory go, |