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since the multiplicity of books on each of these subjects lays every new author under an obligation to explain his motives for having intruded himself on the public. We find that the writer of this work, in his practice as a tutor, had frequently occasion to lament the want of a text-book, on the plan of Walkingame's Arithmetic, suited to the capacity of the higher forms in schools, and as introductory to the study of mixed mathematics. To fill this gap in the sciences, he has compiled the little treatise before us; in which, without either definitions or principles, the student is required to enter on various mechanical problems: as, for example, the laws of falling bodies, the collision of bodies, elastic and nonelastic; the descent of bodies over pulleys, &c. We shall only observe that we cannot see the propriety of this mode of arrange

ment.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Art. 35. A Refutation of the Claims preferred for Sir Philip Francis and Mr. Gibbon to the Letters of Junius. 8vo. pp. 52. 28. Reed. 1819.

Another appeal to the public on the claims to the honour of being Junius! with the difference, however, that instead of arguments for we have here arguments against the pretensions of two prominent (involuntary) candidates. The writer of this short pamphlet contests the claims of Sir Philip Francis in every way; - as to style, intellect, knowlege of law, or personai connection. Sir Philip, who was indebted for his promotion under government to Mr. Welbore Ellis and Lord Barrington, could never, he says, have assailed the characters of these men with the vehemence and malignity which were manifested towards them by Junius nor does he admit any foundation for the alleged resemblance between the hand-writing of Sir Philip and Junius. - The pretensions of Mr. Gibbon are deemed still less tenable; the style of Junius being direct and inartificial, while that of Gibbon is verbose and perpetually pointed at display. Gibbon was, as we learn from his history, very deficient in knowlege of jurisprudence, a department of study with which Junius was well acquainted; and in knowlege of the world and penetration into character, we can hardly suppose a more complete contrast. If any of our readers are still sceptical, we beg leave to refer them to our remarks on this subject, in our Numbers for October, 1818, and June, 1819; which contain a discussion of the claims set up for these wellknown characters.

Art. 36. Observations introductory to a Work on English Etymology. By John Thomson, M.A.S. late private Secretary to the Marquis of Hastings, Governor-General of India. 8vo. pp.52. Murray. 1818.

These observations on English etymology are introductory to a more comprehensive work on the subject, which the author proposes to publish. They display many of the requisite qualifications, but not all. For instance, the historical antiquities of those dialects, which have coalesced into the English tongue, cannot have

been

been carefully studied by a writer who maintains in his first sentence
that the English language is derived from the Gothic and Celtic.
Let us suppose that he gives the name of Gothic to the language
in which the Gospels ascribed to Ulphilas have been composed.
To what dialect would he give the name of Celtic? To the Erse,
or to the Welsh? Now to whichever of them he awards that in-
definite name, it is not true that the English language is derived
in any degree from it. None of our grammatical inflections or
formative syllables, and very few individual words, can be referred
The Welsh never
with probability to either of these sources.

overspread the eastern or English half of Great Britain, as Cam-
den pretended. A Norse dialect, allied to the Saxon, was that of
Caledonia in the time of Agricola; and an English dialect akin to
the Saxon was that of London in the time of Julius Cæsar. In-
tercourse with France introduced what is called Norman phraseo-
logy; but this is not a Celtic but a Romane (see vol.lxxiii. p.487.)
There is surely nothing Celtic in the Eng-
or Romanse dialect.
lish language. London is long town; not, as our author would
have it at p. 30., the Armoric lyn din, lake-town.

A good dissertation occurs on the inherent aversion of our language to hybrid compounds; and we extract a passage on this topic.

Instances, however, do occur where Gothic terminating particles coalesce with Latin words; either because the latter were deficient in expression or could not otherwise be reconciled to the idiom of our language. The Gothic adjunct, full, employed in converting substantives into adjectives, as rueful, manful, hateful, has been extended to joy, scorn, cheer, use, which belong to another source; and we have substituted the Gothic adverbial termination ly, for the French ment, in derivations from the Latin. Gothic adjectives became substantives by the addition of ness, such as coldness, sadness, brightness; and our Latin words tedious, tardy, neat, plain, rude, apt, have followed the same construction; but all substantives used adjectively by the aid of y final, like hearty, handy, filthy, witty, are Gothic, except gaudy, balmy, and rosy. Substantives ending in head, or hood, from Gothic het, Teutonic heit, state, condition, like Godhead, maidenhood or maidenhead, manhood, childhood; which added to adjectives is contracted into th, as breadth, width, health, dearth, sloth; together with verbs rendered frequentative by the termination er, of which among many others are waver, chatter, clamber, wander; from wave, chat, climb, wend; and all those that admit of the prepositions, for, Substantives fore, up, y, or be, belong assuredly to the Gothic. made adjectives by ish, as English, childish, are all Gothic, but the vulgarism of feverish for feverous. The Gothic an or un being synonin:ous with the Latin negative in, and er with re, when used as prefixes, frequent substitutions of them have arisen, by which we say undoubtedly and indubitably, unviolated or inviolate, and release is the Gothic erlæsa confounded with the Latin relaxo.

On the Latin side must be placed all our substantives and adjectives of two or more syllables ending in able, ible, al, ant, ate, ent,

ence,

ence, ce, cy, ment, ous, ty, including also tude, by which adjectives become substantives, as solitude, multitude; and others converted into verbs by fy, as deify, vilify, glorify; but so inapplicable do they prove to our Gothic compositions that the most ignorant person would not transgress so far as to say lonelytude, manytude; or godify, foulify, praisify; which, however intelligible, could not be endured by an English ear. The prepositions ab, com, con, de, di, dis, e, ex, inter, ob, pre, pro, sub, subter, super, (French sur,) tra and trans, obtain alliance only with Latin or Celtic words; nor, with the exception of a very few terms from the Norman code which end with ance or ment, can any surer test of discrimination be applied than that no foreign graft is ever admitted on a Gothic stock.'

Many other delicate and curious observations are to be found in this pamphlet, which merits the perusal and consideration of our grammarians by profession.

CORRESPONDENCE.

We have received a letter relative to our recent notice of an ephemeral trifle called The Fudger Fudged, in which the writer relates a story concerning an alleged change of political principle in Mr. Moore. We are entirely ignorant as to the grounds of this charge, which we cannot admit to be authenticated by our correspondent, who is unknown to us, even if his signature be not fictitious: but, supposing the facts here asserted to be correct, they do not substantiate the allegation; and we can with confidence repeat what has been for years reported in highly respectable circles, that Mr. M. has sacrificed the fairest views of advancement to his patriotic feelings. The question involves no considerations personal to us which could make us shrink' from it: but it does involve circumstances and characters which it is not for us to bring into more particular discussion in this place.

We are certainly inclined to wish that political writers, of all parties, would moderate, if they cannot subdue, their personal hostilities: but the author of The Fudger Fudged, and his advocate, our correspondent, must be told that the language of both that publication and of this letter is such as to preclude the possibility of their complaining, with justice, of the strongest terms of reprehension.

The letter from Barkisland urges a request with which it is not usual for us to comply: but it is also unusual for us to have it supported by such circumstances, and in such terms, as in the case before us; and, if not prevented, we will endeavour to attend to it.

The continued illness of a coadjutor again prevents the accom. plishment, this month, of several intended objects.

The APPENDIX to this Volume of the Review will be published on the 1st of June, with the Number for May.

THE

APPENDIX

TO THE

NINETY-FIRST VOLUME

OF THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

ENLARGED.

FOREIGN LITERATURE.

ART. I. Traité des Grandes Opérations, &c.; i.e. A Treatise on Military Operations, on a great Scale; containing a Critical History of the Campaigns of Frederick II., compared with those of the Emperor Napoleon; and a Summary of the general Principles of the Art of War. By General Baron DE JOMINI, a Staff-Officer in the Service of Napoleon. Illustrated by a Military Atlas, and Plans of Battles. Second Edition.

Vols. I-IV. Paris.

8vo.

Suite du Traité, &c.; i.e. A Critical and Military History of the Campaigns of the (French) Revolution, compared with the System of the Emperor Napoleon; being a Sequel to the Treatise on Military Operations on a large Scale. By General Baron DE JOMINI. 8vo. Vols. V--VIII. Paris.

WE E had occasion, in our Appendix to vol. lxxxvi., p. 485., to apprize our readers of the extent of tactical knowlege possessed by General DE JOMINI, and to express our sense of the value of his observations on the interesting work of the Archduke Charles, respecting the principles of the military art, and the events of the memorable campaign of 1796. A native of Swisserland, and born about the year 1775, M. DE JOMINI was early destined to the military career, and entered the French service in a Swiss regiment: but he was obliged, by the disorders of the Revolution, to return to the Cantons; where, amid pursuits of a very different nature, he continued to cherish his original predilection for tactical APP. REV. VOL. XCI.

G g

investi

investigations, and actually composed the first part of the present treatise as early as 1804. In that year, Marshal Ney having become apprized of the extent of his study and research, recalled him to active service, and gave him an appointment on his staff; in 1805 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel; and, in the capacity of head of the staff to the corps of Marshal Ney, he went through the brilliant campaigns of 1806 and 1807. After having filled the same situation in Spain, in the less successful operations of 1808 and 1809, he was removed to the general staff under Berthier, but soon fell into a misunderstanding with that officer: in 1812, however, he participated in the dangers of the Russian campaign; and in 1813, he took a share in the early part of the operations of Napoleon in Germany. Here, unfortunately, his dissensions with Berthier recommenced, and led to a step unpardonable under any provocation in a military man; viz. that of abandoning his comrades in arms, and passing clandestinely to the hostile army: which event took place in August (1813), at the critical moment of the rupture of the armistice. The arrival of so well informed a staff-officer in the allied camp was a matter of high importance at that juncture, and procured for the fugitive the rank of Lieutenant-General in the Russian service: but it cast a permanent stigma on his honour, and prevents him at present from being received in the first circles of Paris, where he now resides, engaged in the prosecution of his military works.

The great majority of military authors confine their narratives to a detail of successive movements and conflicts, without attempting to illustrate the general combinations of a campaign: but, among the writers of the last century, are two striking exceptions; our countryman, General Lloyd, and Tempelhof, a German officer, both of whom displayed their talents in a history of the memorable war of 1756. The ideas of Lloyd are, in the opinion of M. DE J., sometimes contradictory, and seldom sufficiently generalized: but he teaches the rarely understood lesson, that military operations may be reduced to simple principles. Of Tempelhof, the great merit consists in exhibiting a correct view of the tactics of Frederick II., the motives of his principal movements, and the causes of his superiority over the Generals of the coalition. A work on the principles of tactics, by the Prus sian General Bulow, though comparatively recent, is deficient in clearness, and so involved in scientific phrases about angles, segments, and circumferences, as to be almost unintelligible to any but a mathematician. Warned by this unsuccessful example, M. DE J. determined to observe a style studiously

simple,

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