accounts of Phenician commerce, and hence assume it as indubitable, that that people must necessarily have materially altered and modified the language of the natives. But to assert that the ancient and true Cornish is mostly derived from the Greek, is an hypothesis which must either have been formed from an imperfect examination of the subject at all; or have proceeded from an ignorance of at least one of the two languages, I have indulged in a full scope for etymology, and yet how very few Greek words have been found in the Cornish! and even of these, a certain portion may be disputed. It is true, however, that the Cornish is allied to the old Latin tongue, or Celtic, as will appear hereafter; but to affirm that it is indebted to this Greek and Latin connexion for its freedom from the guttural harshness peculiar to the Hebrew and Chaldee, cannot be substantiated by any conclusive argument. There is no need to have recourse to those mediums to account for its less disagreeable, and more harmonious sound, than its kindred dialect the Welsh. I ascribed that philological phenomenon to very natural causes in a former letter. The reasons I there assigned, are not confined to the European dialects, but are universal. In eastern Asia, the Malay is distinguished for the harmony of its sounds and the elegance of its diction. Captain Cook also found that the languages of Polynesia were full of vowels and particularly soft, though the speech of some islands was more pleasing than that of others. It is therefore ludicrous to have recourse to the intervention of Greek for the superior polish of the Cornish tongue, since it is probable, that it might have flowed from causes as natural as those which have operated on the Italian, the Persian, the Malay, and the Otaheitan. But, as the Doctor adds, "The language at that time spoken in other parts of this island, having travelled over a vast continent, was compounded and impure; and therefore we may boldly infer, that the superior purity of the ancient Cornish is chiefly to be ascribed to its genuine introduction from the shores of Greece and Sidon." The

A great connexion must have taken place between the Greeks and the Thracians; and many words must have been mutually imported. The latter were probably Teutonic. Ed.

Doctor might as well have said that our tinners are lineally de scended from Phenician colonies, and that being sprung from Sidon, they are, through Canaan, the eldest branch of Ham the son of Noah. (Gen. x. 15.) To be serious, if the Doctor here means any thing, it must relate to the Greek and Phenician; but how improbable a theory! At most, the Britons could only have caught a few foreign words from the factories on their coast, and indeed the present state of the Cornish confirms this supposition. But from the latter part of the quotation, one would understand, that the Cornish was introduced from Greece and Sidon, in the same manner that the Europeans now carry their languages and institutions to their colonial establishments. Whatever was the author's meaning, his words certainly lead us to imagine that our Cornish is only a corruption from the languages of those nations, This is, however, so absurd, that it only requires to be examined to be exposed; and then it will appear that no more Greek or Phenician remains in Cornish than could have been acquired by the natives of any country from foreign factories.-Thus far for this inconsiderate hypothesis of Dr. Pryce.

I conclude these remarks with those Cornish words, which appear to have affinity to the Greek,

The following are also derived from the Greek, but it is evident from their meanings, that they are not of a very ancient date, and that they were naturalised subsequent to the conversion of the Britons to Christianity.

The signification of all the words of this latter list determines

their

age at once.

D.

OBSERVATIONS ON SOME

ORATIONS ASCRIBED TO CICERO.

No. III. [Continued from No. XXXIV. p. 409.]

EQUIDEM quum' C. Marcelli, viri optimi et commemorabili pietate præditi, lacrymas modo vobiscum viderem, omnium Marcellorum meum pectus memoria offudit: quibus tu etiam mortuis, M. Marcello

1 Equidem quum-memoria offudit) Commemorabili pietate, vel alia virtute, præditus nemo reperitur apud Ciceronem, etsi hoc genus laudis ei frequentissimum est; et memorabili fortasse usus esset fideliore memoria Scriptor. Agnoscendum autem est bonum judicium aut potius magna fortuna, quod Orator optimum virum illum accuratius designare neglexit, et extrema etiam Oratione simpliciter fratrem appellavit, quod nomen non tantum ad germanum sed et patruelem pertinere constat. Alioqui mors, quæ sæpe hominum scripta expungit et reliqua turbat consilia, forsan hujus quoque Scriptoris spem infregisset, certumque indicium voteías ex historia præberet. Nam quos perisse civili bello duos Consules memorat Cicero Philipp. XIII. 14, ii sunt C. Marcellus, frater germanus Marci nostri, et L. Lentulus Crus. Vide Perizon. Animadvv. hist. c. Ix. p. 396. et Ferrat. Epp. iv. 5. f. Sed illud ad liquidum perduci nequit. Mox conjunctivus viderem rectus est et optimi usus; in quo et similibus grammaticis minutiis nuperum Editorem errare potuisse, summe mireris. Plus dubitationis habet extremum verbum propter duplicem in libris scripturam, in aliis et melioribus quidem, offudit ; in aliis et pluribus, effodit. Sed priorem harum lectionum Latinæ consuetudinis esse, ii ipsi, qui eam ob fidem librorum prætulerunt, nullis exemplis, nulla analogiæ ratione demonstrant; et cras forsan, non hodie sperabo, exstiturum alio tempore, qui id facere conetur. Nam primum huic verbo accusativus jungi non potest; tum per se nihili est, memoria alicujus offudit pectus meum, aut pectus memoria offusum, aut pectori meo offusa est memoria; denique nullus hic omnino locus est verbo offundere, nec memoriam offundere quisquam dixit umquam pro refricare, id quod temere sumebat Grævius. Alterum illud, vulgatum olim et a Victorio V. L. XXXIV. 9. ceterisque usque ad Gruterum eruditissimis Viris defensum, minore quidem molestia premitur, neque tamen nulla. Rursus enim duplex exsistit interpretatio hujus verbi altera hæc, quæ hodie imperitissimo cuique prima in animum veniat, commovit, percussit, laceravit, ut sensus sit: Marcellorum omnium mihi memoria subiit non sine singulari acerbitate vel dolore animi mei, quum unum eorum pro alterius salute lacrymantem viderem; altera Victorii est, ut alia translatione capiatur aperuit hoc sensu: Marcellorum subita recordatio patefecit sibi viam in animum meum. Ita nova optio data est, sed talis, ex qua equidem neutram partem capere velim. Nam posterius remedium extremæ est desperationis, magnoque auctore ejus indignum: prius autem quamquam imaginem offert tritissimam, tamen ipsum vocabulum, hac vi positum, longe recedit a vetustatis consuetudine. Confodere, opinor, citius erat tolerandum, quum certe pectus confossum telo dicatur, Valerio Maximo etiam causa confossa crimine etc.; sed effossum pectus sic abhorret ab ingenio linguæ, nullius ut probati scriptoris auctoritate excusari queat. VOL. XVIII. NO. XXXV.

Cl. Jl.

G

conservato, dignitatem suam reddidisti, nobilissimamque familiam, jam ad paucos redactam, pæne ab interitu vindicasti. Hunc tu igitur diem tuis maximis et innumerabilibus gratulationibus jure antepones. Hæc enim res unius est propria C. Cæsaris: ceteræ

I

Quare, his rejectis, nihil superest nisi conjectura Faërni, memoriam effudit: at id ipsum nihil est, etsi Patricius hoc dicit videri sibi etiam atque etiam considerandum. Ego certe quo id diligentius considero, eo magis et aptam sententiam et Ciceronianam dictionem requiro.

Quibus tu-pane ab interitu vindicusti) Ferri potest, quod conservato dicit pro restituto; etsi non est sermo de acie, neque homini vitam, sed patriam et dignitatem reddidit Cæsar. Ita supra §. 2. etiam junxit conservatam ac restitutam, exemplo quidem Catilin. III. 1., verumtamen minus accommodate loco, quam apud Ciceronem. Deinde quod familiam dicit ad paucos redactam, pertinet hoc ad memoratum unum C. Marcellum et ad paucitatem summam amicorum, propinquorum et necessariorum in M. Marcelli epist. inter Famil. IV. 11., quum Cicero aliud significare videatur, semel iterumque totam Marcelli domum scribens, et genus Marcellorum ac Marcellinorum. Utcumque se ea res habuit, in verbis, pane ab interitu vindicasti, in animo recursant ex Or. post R. in Sen. c. 10. Metelli ab inferis et pane ex Acheronte excitati, et plures loci in Indice consignati propter ineptum illud complementum orationis.

• Hunc tu igitur diem etc.) “ Diem, videndum: non quin per se rectum sit, sed quia h. 1. cum eo, quod sequitur, non satis convenit. Statim enim comparat hunc diem, non cum aliis diebus aut temporibus, sed cum gratulationibus, quæ mihi non plane directa esse videtur comparatio. Legerim, Hanc igitur tu rem, pro diem: sequitur enim in redditione causæ statim: Hac enim res, et rursus mox, Hujus autem rei. Sed tamen libenter quæro aliud, quod reponam, sive laudem, sive quid aliud. Fidem non longe abesset a diem: sed et hoc videndum. Quid si, Hoc tu igitur diem? commutatis videlicet litteris idem pro diem. Quid? si diem plane deleas, et simpliciter legas: Hanc tu igitur tuis max. etc. et quidem hanc, ut subaudias gratulationem. Quid autem denique? si totum legas sic: Hanc tu igitur laudem, quæ unius est propria Cæsaris, tuis muximis et innumerabilibus gratulationibus jure antepones. Cetera enim duce te gesta, magna illa quidem, sed tamen-hujus autem rei tu idem dux es et comes: quæ quidem tanta est etc. Dixi, quod videretur, et quidem utcumque videretur: tu quin tuo judicio utare, nihil impedio." Animi causa totam posui annotationem Patricii, ut discant lectores, non nostra demum ætate ortam esse hanc modestam levitatem criticam. Acute tamen sensit Vir doctus, quam sint ingrata hæc et perperam vincta: Hunc tu diem-Hac enim res- -Hujus autem rei. De cetero, ne dubita gratulationes Rhetorem scripsisse pro supplicationibus; nec id male, nisi quod vpov quiddam videtur esse in tuis et in maximis. Nemo enim nos docebit, quæ sit supplicatio magna, aut ubi veteres scripserint Cæsaris, Pompeii, etc. gratulationem vel supplicationem. Præterea pro re nimis grave vocabulum est innumerabilibus: nam, etiamsi singuli festi dies numerentur, numerus eorum non ingens fuerit, qui facile potuit iniri ex Senatus consultis; tametsi verum est, Cæsari plurium, quam cuiquam ante ipsum, dierum supplicationes decretas esse. Forsan intempestive meminerat Rhetor loci pro Deiot. c. 4. f. "Cn. Pompeii bella, victorias, triumphos, consulatus, admirantes numerabamus: tuos (intell, illa omnia) enumerare non possumus."