Imatges de pàgina
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the idleness and debauchery of the feafon it could not be answered. The orders being returned to the merchants, were fent, for execution, to other towns; with which, the interconrie, being thus opened, was continued. The high price of labour affixed to fome particular articles, at the firft invention, though then an encouragement to ingenuity and induftry, eventually has operated to the general detriment of trade. It furnished fome of the more careful and provident labourers with the means of becoming manufacturers themselves; and of fetting up locms in their own houfes and the number of competitors was greatly multiplied: who, not having capitals, that would enable them to give credit, and to carry on business with ease, were obliged, by abatements on the price, to procure a speedy return for their goods. The value of the articles being thus reduced at market, a reduction of wages neceffarily followed. This could not be effected without warm ftruggles between the different claffes of manufacturers: nor, when carried, without bringing on a corruption of the quality of goods, which muft fink their eftimation in foreign markets. The taste of those markets has alfo changed; and a preference, at them, is given, to woollen goods of a different kind; or rather to the various articles of the cotton manufactory. But the decline of the Taunton trade must be alfo afcribed, in a great degree, to the advantage which the manufacturers in the north have derived; over us, from the introduction and use of spinning machines which would have been peculiarly useful here, not only to fecure the exact and true execution of this part of the trade, but to fupply the wants of hands for conducting it, which, for a number of years, was very fenfibly felt.

To thefe caufes it is conceived, may be traced the decline of the trade of this town. Some of them, at leaft, will, fooner or later, affect other places and other manufactories. Whether the wisdom and activity of any fpirited perfons can do away their effects on Taunton, must be left for time to fhew.

It is, however, a pleasure to one who feels an attachment to its intereft, to reflect, that, though its woollen manufactories have declined, the town has not wholly loft its weight and importance, as a town of trade. The populoufnefs and fertility of the country around it must continue to keep up its markets, and to preferve its internal commerce. And fome new fources of trade have alfo opened in it.'

Mr. Toulmin feems to have conceived a juft opinion of the ufefulness of local hiftory, and has purfued his idea to the best advantage. Even a perfon not particulary interested in the town of Taunton, will derive more fatisfaction from the prefent work, than is usual in productions of the kind; an effect which is owing to a judicious felection of materials, and the connecting the progrefs of the borough with the public tranf actions of the kingdom.

Ariftarchus;

Ariftarchus; or, the Principles of Compofition. Containing a me thodical Arrangement of the Improprieties frequent in Writing and Converfation, with felect Rules for attaining to Purity and Elegance of Expreffion. Second Edition. 8vo. 65.62, Boards. Ridgway. 1791.

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HE author, we apprehend, is beyond the reach of praise or cenfure; not to be foothed by the one, nor pained by the other. His motely performance may therefore receive its proper tribute, and the puerility, the abfurdity, and the ingeWe muft not, nuity of his remarks be freely pointed out. however, be too copious, and discriminate the value of each page; but give a view of the whole by a careful selection of thofe parts which will beft afcertain the real character of the work.

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The Introduction is on the fuperior excellence of mental acquifitions, and the first section on speech; the advantages of fpeaking with elegance and correctnefs. We wanted not, however, fo many authorities. The first part is on accuracy of language, and the various inelegancies and errors of colloquial intercourfe, or fome occafionally met with in authors of credit. The inftances are, in general, well chofen: Ariftarchus, however, is not always, even in this plain path, free from error. He does not, for instance, fee the force of the firft could' in the eleventh example. I could with him dead, means certainly the provocation is fo great as to juftify any revenge on my fide: I could with him dead if it were not a crime. Our author, in a fubfequent example, does not advert to the difficulty of diftinguifhing in converfation in't from an't. In a fubfequent fection, he does not diftinguish between the force of the nouns of multitude, which may undoubtedly be used with a verb either fingular or plural. He is equally erroneous in his obfervation on the force of those nouns, which have no fingular: when multitude is not implied in thefe, the verb may be fingular. In the inftance adduced, 'the wages of fin is death,' we think to be good English. The fubject and the predicate are undoubtedly convertible, in many inftances; but a skilful writer will vary his phrase, and not wound the ear. Again: not to believe rafhly is the finews of wisdom,' is accurate but unpleafing. What anfwers to the nominative cafe is fingular, and we are only hurt from being fenfible that the predicate may change places with the subject. If foundation' or 'force' was placed instead of finews the inconvenience would be avoided. When our author oppofes the pofition of Mr. Harris, juft mentioned, he errs against the firft rules of logic, by adducing as examples a genus and a fpecies; it was never contended, that in thefe inftances, the sub

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ject and the predicate were convertible. Of the vulgarifms we fhall felect an entertaining specimen.

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1 got on horfeback within ten minutes after I received your letter. When I got to Canterbury, I got a chaife for But I got wet through before I got to Canterbury, and I have got fuch a cold as I fhall not be able to get rid of in a hurry. I got to the treafury about neon, but first of all I got shaved and dreft. I foon got into the fecret of getting a memorial before the board, but I could not get an answer then, however I got intelligence from the meffenger that I fhould most likely get one the next morning. As soon as I got back to my Inn, I got my supper, and got to bed, it was not long before I got to fleep. When I got up in the morning, I got my breakfast, and then got myself dreft, that I might get out in time, to get an answer to my memorial. As foon as I got it, I got into the chaife, and got to Canterbury by three and about tea time, I got home. I have got nothing particular for you, and fo adieu.

Every phrafe in this extract is in popular and perpetual ufe; and it is far from my wifh, to deprive the vulgar, and the wealthy illiterate of fo convenient an abridgement of terms. On the contrary, I recommend it to the pious care of Dr.

to compofe

a hiftory of the world, on this elegant plan of abbreviation. All the events, from the birth of time to his Majesty's journey to Cheltenham, may be detailed without the aid of a fingle verb in the English language, the omnipotent-get-excepted.

This verb is of Saxon origin; arrival at the place of deftination, the primitive idea; hence acquifition; and hence poffeffion. With the latter idea, the illiterate ufe it in conflruction with-have I have got; in other words,. I have have. E. g. I have got a father ninety years old.

For obvious reafons, I have got a father must be restricted to -1 poes; confequently, it is abfurd to prefix-bave-Į bave poffefs !!

It may, therefore, be advanced as a general rule,-when pof feffion is implied, it is vulgar to ufe-have-in conftruction with got.

Permit me to add, our ancestors have furnished us with innumerable terms to exprefs all the ideas which the vulgar affix to their Fac totum-got.

Are you in queft of any thing? Do not exclaim with the illiterate-I have got it. But fay-I have found it, or I bave itHere it is, &c.

Again. I mounted my horfe, or I was on horseback within ten minutes after I received your letter: as foon as I arrived at Canterbury, Tengaged (or hired) (or stept into) a post chaife for town. I was wet through before I reached Canterbury, and

have (or I bave taken) fuch a cold as I fhall not easily remove (or care.)

I arrived at the treafury about noon, being previously fhaved and dreft. I foon discovered the secret of introducing a memorial to the board; I could not, however, obtain an immediate answer; but the meffenger told me, that I probably should receive one, next morning. I returned to my Inn, jupt, went to bed, and slept well. I refe early, and dreft immediately after breakfast that I might be in time for the answer to my memorial. As foon as I received it, I took poft chaife, reached Canterbury by three, and my home about tea time.. I have nothing particular to add.

It was not my defign to paraphrafe the extract in terms of elegance I only wished to prove, that men of common education might exprefs the ufual occurrences of life, without the aid of-get-and got - and I have got, &c.

The general fenfe of get, or that nearest to its original fignification, is to obtain, and this idea will be found to pervade every part of the example. Do you fee' is another vulgarifm, which our author does not ridicule with equal fuccefs. Will and fhall, fo often misplaced by our neighbours, and the numerous inelegancies of Dr. Blair, which we formerly noticed, in our review of his Lectures, furnish copious subjects of pleafantry and remark to Ariftarchus. We are furprised that he should not have adverted to the Latin idiom, when he notices the impropriety of the term enjoy bad health. The fignification of gaudeo is very extenfive, and it pervades, we fay not with how much propriety, many parts of our language. Expect is a word that Ariftarchus might have noticed, as applied often very inaccurately: lord Barrington, for instance, is faid to have replied to an officer, who during the American war applied for leave of abfence: it is impoffible, fir-I expect the French to land every minute.

The principal part of our author's work relates to the analyfis of founds, and the formation of language. In this, as we have already remarked, he mixes errors and abfurdities, with ingenious remarks and just reflections. He is very unjustly fevere on lord Monboddo, whofe work on the Origin and Progrefs of Language, though difgraced by many faults, is, on the whole, an excellent one. The great error of Ariftarchus, which pervades all his reafoning, is his idea that the forms. of letters are explicable on philofophical principles, and that the cyphers are of a very early date, beyond probably written records.

• The art of speaking I conceive to be coeval with man.

• The art of writing, I mean the present mode of writing, originated in the fymbols of the Chaldean priesthood.

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It is not an unreasonable poftulate that Noah himfelf poffefled the art of recording events, and of communicating inftructions by fymbols. But we have no fatisfactory evidence of the fact, and it is inconfiftent with my fyftem of reafoning to deduce arguments from gratuitous affumptions.

It is alfo probable, a priori, that religious difputes foon arose among Noah's defcendants.

This probability is realized by the facred hiftorian; for in the days of Nimrod, that powerful enemy to the transmitted creed of the faithful, the people were distracted with herefies; and the ancient fymbols confounded.

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By the intolerant fpirit of Nimrod, multidudes were dif perfed in every direction. They carried with them such symbols as they approved, and fuperadded fuch as were necessary to complete the credenda of the fect.'

This is tracing the subject too far; nor is Ariftarchus more • correct in his theory of the early invention of fmbolical speech, for he confiders children in a state of nature, and then fupposes them to frame sounds for abstract ideas, before they have attained fenfible ones. Symbolical speech could never be applied in the infancy of cultivation to the firft expressions, for they would be either arbitrary, or imitative founds; and these, to be fufficiently expreffive, are always accompanied, in the favage ftate, by action. The primitive letters are, in our author's opinion, fourteen, and he is fully perfuaded, (we could with the foundation of his perfuafion had been adduced) that they were in ufe before the deluge. They are A, B, C, D, E, I, L, M, N, O, R, S, U. From B are derived P, F, V; from C-G, K, Q, X. From D-T, and the Greek . From E, Eta, and H. The O, Circle, or Cypher is, according to Ariftarchus, the mark of 10. and the one before it only means one ten, in oppofition to 2, 3, or 4 tens. But, in this fubject, he confounds the ideas of numerical notation with multiplication and addition. We fhall return to the letters, and felect a curious inftance from our author's account of the converfion of letters.

C--Symbolical. G-K-Q-Derivatives.

Soon after the Trojan war, the Greeks began to regulate their alphabet by the prevailing diflinction in founds. and r were appointed to fucceed C in the beginning of words; and C confined to the middle, either alone as in AHMOCOENHC, or combined with the Sigma, as in aɛgo.

The Gothic and the Saxon alphabets have the effential form ofC-in perfection.

I proceed

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