Accordingly, I the next morning began to knock down one of the walls of it, in order to let in the fresh air, and had packed up fome of the houfhold goods, of which I intended to have made thee a prefent; but 'the falfe valet no fooner faw me falling to work, but he fent me word to defire me to give over, for he would have no fuch doings in his house. I had not been long in this nation, before I was told by one, from whom I had asked a certain favour from the chief of the king's fervants, whom they here call the lord treasurer, that I had eternally obliged him. I was fo furprifed at this gratitude, that I could not forbear faying, what fervice is there which one man can do for another, that can oblige him to all eternity! However, I only afked him for my reward, that he would lend his eldest daughter during my ftay in this country; but I quickly found that he was as treacherous as the rest of his countrymen.

me

"At my firft going to court, one of the great men almost put me out of countenance, by afking ten thoufand pardons of me for only treading by accident upon my toe. They call this kind of lye a compliment; for when they are civil to a great man, they tell him untruths, for which thou wouldst order any of thy officers of ftate receive a hundred blows upon his foot. I do not know how I fhall negociate any thing with this people, fince there is fo little credit to be given to them. When I go to fee the king's fcribe, I am generally told that he is not at home, though perhaps I faw him go into his house almoft the very moment before. Thou wouldeft fancy the whole nation are physicians, for the first question they always afk me, is, how I do. I have this question put to me above a hundred times a day. Nay, they are not only thus inquifitive after my health, but with it in a more folemn manner, with a full glass in their hands, every time I fet with them at table, though at the fame time they would perfuade me to drink their liquors in fuch quantities as I have found by experience will make me fick. They often pretend to pray for my health also in the fame manner; but I have more

reafon to expect it from the goodness of my conftitution, than the fincerity of their wishes. May thy flave escape in fafety from this double-tongued race of men, and live to lay himself once more at thy feet in thy royal city of Bantam.”

I HAVE

SPECTATOR, Vol. VIII. No. 557.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

HAVE fomewhere read of an eminent perfon, who ufed in his private offices of devotion, to give thanks to heaven that he was born a Frenchman. For my own part, I look upon it as a peculiar blessing that I was born an Englishman. Among many other reafons, I think myfelf very happy in my country, as the language of it is wonderfully adapted to a man who is fparing of his words, and an enemy to loquacity.

As I have frequently reflected on my good fortune in this particular, I fhall communicate to the public my fpeculations upon the English tongue, mot doubting but they will be acceptable to all my curious rea

ders.

The English delight in filence more than any other European nation, if the remarks which are made on us by foreigners are true. Our difcourfe is not kept up in converfation, but falls into more paufes and intervals than our neighbouring countries; as it is obferved, that the matter of our writings is thrown much closer together, and lies in a narrower, compafs than is ufual in the works of foreign authors. For, to favour our natural taciturnity, when we are obliged to utter our thoughts, we do it in the fhortest way we are able, and give as quick a birth to our conceptions as poilible.

This humour fhews itself in feveral remarks that we may make upon the English language. As firft of all, by its abounding in monofyllables, gives us an opportunity of delivering our thoughts in few founds. This indeed takes of from the elegance of our tongue, but at the fame time expreffes our ideas in the readiest

manner, and confequently anfwers the first defign of fpeech better than the multitudes of fyllables, which make the words of other languages more turable and fonorous. The found of our English words are commonly like thofe of ftring mufic, ihort and tranfient, which rife and perifh upon a fingle touch; thofe of other languages are like the notes of wind inftruments, fweet and fwelling, and lengthened out into variety of modulation.

In the next place we may obferve, that where the words are not monofyllables, we often make them fo, as much as lies in our power, by our rapidity of pronunciation; as it generally happens in moit of our long words which are derived from the Latin, where we contract the length of the fyllables that gives them a grave and folemn air in their own language, to make them the more proper for dispatch, and more conformable to the genius of our tongue. This we may find in a multitude of words, as liberty, confpiracy, theatre, orator, &c.

The fame natural averfion to loquacity has of late years made very confiderable alteration in our language, by clofing in one fyllable the termination of our præterperfect tenfe, as in thefe words, drown'd, walk'd, arriv'd, for drowned, walked, arrived, which has very much disfigured the tongue, and turned a tentlf part of our smootheft words into fo many clusters of confonants. This is the more remarkable, becaufe the want of vowels in our language has been the general complaint of our politeft authors, who nevertheless are the men who have made these retrenchments, and confequently very much increased our former scarcity.

This reflection on the words that end in ed, I have heard in converfation from one of the greateft geniufes this age has produced. I think we may add to the foregoing obfervation, the change which has happened in our language, by the abbreviation of feveral words that are determined in ek, by fubftituting an s in the room of the last fyllable, as in drowns, walks, arrives, and innumerable other words, which in the pro ncia. tion of our forefathers were drowneth, walketh, arriveth.

This has wonderfully multiplied a letter which was before too frequent in the English tongue, and added to that biffing in our language, which is taken fo much notice of by foreigners; but at the fame time humours our taciturnity, and eafes us of many fuperfluous fyllables.

I might here observe, that the fame fingle letter on many occafions does the office of a whole word, and reprefents the his and her of our forefathers.

There

is no doubt but the ear of a foreigner, which is the beft judge in this cafe, would very much difapprove of fuch innovations, which indeed we do ourfelves in fome measure, by retaining the old termination in writing, and in all the folemn offices of our religion.

As in the inftances I have given, we have epitomized many of our peculiar words to the detriment of our tongue, fo on other occafions we have drawn two words into one, which has likewife very much untuned our language, and clogged it with confonants-as mayn't, can't, shan't won't, and the like, for may not, can not, shall not, will not, &c.

It is perhaps this humour of fpeaking no more than we needs muft, which has fo miferably curtailed fome of our words, that in familiar writings and conversations they often lofe all but their first fyllables, as in mob. rep. pos. incog. and the like; and as all ridiculous words make their first entry into a language by familiar phrafes, I dare not answer for thefe that they will not in time be looked upon as a part of our tongue. We fee: fome of our poets have been fo indifcreet as to imitate Hudibras's doggrel expreffions in their feri ous compofitions, by throwing out the figns of our fubftantives, which are effential to the English language. Nay, this humour of fhortening our language had once run fo far, that fome of our celebrated authors, among whom we may reckon Sir Roger L'Eftrange in particu lar, began to prune their words of all fuperfluous letters, as they termed them, in order to adjust the spelling to the pronunciation; which would have confounded all our etymologies, and have quite deftroyed! our tongue.

VOL. II.

B2:

We may here likewife obferve, that our proper names when familiarized in English, generally dwindle to monofyllables; whereas in other modern languages they receive a fofter turn on this occafion, by the addition of a new fyllable. Nick in Italian is Nicolini, Jack in French, Janot; and fo of the rest.

There is another particular in our language which is a great inftance of our frugality of words, and that is the fuppreffing of feveral particles which must be produced in other tongues to make a fentence intelligible. This often perplexes the beft writers, when they find the relatives whom, which, or they, at their mercy, whether they may have admiffion or not; and will never be decided till we have fomething like an academy, that by the best authorities and rules drawn from the analogy of languages, fhall fettle all controverfies between grammar and idiom.

I have only confidered our language as it fhews the genius and natural temper of the English, which is modeft thoughtful, and fincere, and which perhaps may recommend the people, though it has fpoiled the tongue. We might perhaps carry the fame thought into other languages, and deduce a great part of what is peculiar to them from the genius of the people who fpeak them. It is certain, the light talkative humour of the French has not a little infected their tongue, which might be fhewn by many inftances; as the ge nius of the Italians, which is fo much addicted to mufic and ceremony, has moulded all their words and phrafes to thofe particular ufes. The ftateliness and gravity of the Spaniards fhews itfelf to perfection in the folemnity of their language; and the blunt honeft humour of the Germans found better in the roughness of the High Dutch, than it would in a politer tongue.

SPECTATOR, Vol. II. No. 165. C.

I have often wished, that as in our constitution there are feveral perfons whose business is to watch over our laws, our liberties, and commerce, certain men might be fet apart as fuperintendants of our language, to hinder any words of a foreign coin from paffing among