Gazette of the United-States., November 10, 1790, Page 634, Image 2

LONDON, Aug. 31.
Tlie States General have admitted the heredi
tary Prince ofOraoge to a feat in the Council of
State, and they have intimated at the fame time,
that if the Stadtholder shall appoint hint a gene
ral in their armies, they will allow 10,000 florins
a year of extra pay.
PARI S, Aug. 16.
M. Dupre has publilhed, " A juftification of the
Duke of New Orleans," but the tide of popular
opinion runs so strongly against the prince, that
it is impolfible to turn it by cool reasoning.——
" Epaininondas, (fays the author, at the conclu
iion of his pamphlet) was condemned by his un
grateful countrymen for having defeated their
enemies ; and Louis Philippe Joseph, Duke of Or.
leans, is condemned for having saved ths em
pire of France."
M. de Cazalet, who fooghta duel with M. Bar
nave., is in a fair way ot recovery.
Since the National Aflembly's decree, which
fupprefles all titulary and borrowed names, with
all the d e s that.can be found in the French fami
lies, the players have refunied their humble ap.
pellations; Laßine, Dugazon, Fleury, and Beau
lieu, are nowcalled Mattduit, Courgaud, Mefnard,
Thierriet, and Brernond. Why should you be
afhatned, gentlemen, to be ealled by your family
.names ? M. Guignard, (St. Priest) Madame Bru
ard (Genles and Sillely) and many other persons
of diftincftion, have set you the example. Were
Moliere and Voltaire alive, they would certainly
lign their letters Ptequelin and Arouet. Let your
condndlin life be blameless, and refle(ftthat Car
rick, Lork&in, Baron, and Brigard never altered
their names.
Avignon has published, in a manifefto, therea
fons For leaving the papal yoke j the pamphlet
«ontains but thirty-two pages, but abounds with
curious anecdotes refperting the adininiftering
jnftice under that ecclesiastical government. Two
men having had some words in a public ilreet,
began to fight; an hontfft fellow passing by, was
lucky to perfnade the antagonilts to de
lilt. The mcorney General, incensed at the loss
of a criminal suit at law, had the mediator arrett
ed, for having interrupted the coitrf; of jujiice :To
obtain his liberty, he was obliged to pay the ex
pences the affray would have produced in court.
For ten crowns, a debtor at Avignon, can obtain
a respite for five years, which vtas a quinquennial
brief; for the fame sum the creditor obtained
another brief, that annulled the respite. The
debtor could procure himfelf, for ten crowns
more, another delay, at a different tribunal ; so
that the debtors and creditors were incefTantly
leedingthe greedy leeches of justice—the former
to pay, the latter never to be paid.
" The general confederacy, fays the author
of afpirited pamphlet, Ibouldbe renewed every
twenty-five years, beginning from the present
one ; and take the place of chose jubilees, not
evangelic, but papal, to which we have too long
submitted. It is no longer the time toamufe and
seduce the people with indulgencies ; the entbu
fiafm of liberty, an attachment to their country,
and the virtues and courage of patriotism inuft
be inculcated to them."
M. I'Abbeßaynal, the celebrated historian, has
been restored, by adecree of the National Aflem
bly, to the rights of a citizen, of which he had
been deprived by an arret of the Parliament of
Paris, in 1781. Lewis the XVlth. notwithstand
ing the arret, had recalled the Abbe about two
years ago. but his religious tenets were always
anobftacle to his being re-instated.
St. GEORGE'S (Grenada) Aug. 20.
The following is the translation of a letter receiv
ed by his excellency general Matheiv, from Don
Jofttpb Maria Chacon, governor of Trinidad.
island of Trinidad, Sept. 4.
MOST EXCELLENT SIR,
I HAVE the pleasure to communicate to your
Excellency that thecuftomof acknowledgingand
declaring, for free, the fugitive slaves from the
other Antilles, in this island, has ceased accord
ing to the directions given me dn the Royal Or
der, which I have received, dined at Aranjuez,
1 7th of May last.
As his Majesty's intention is to flop the flight of
negroes, of that and the other islands who came
to this government to enjoy their freedom, I
thought proper (exclusive of the publication I
ordered the 28th Aaguft last) to acquaint your
Excellency of this circumstance—in order that
being informed in your government that the fu
gitive Haves from thence can have no manner of
protection here, that they may abstain from run
ing away from their tnafters, to whom, such as
henceforward may come here, will be returned,
in cafe they are reclaimed, and the property re
gularly proved.
I wifli for occasions to lliew your Excellency,the
honor of being, most excellent fir,
your attentive and rcfpedtful servant,
Joseph Maria Chacon.
His Excellency Edward Mathew, 7
governor-general «f Grenada. J
Shptsmber 24.
On Sun Jay last a Sp.nHh brig arrived here witli
a cargo of Logwood, .nd ten thousand dollars on
board This is the fiA veflel of that defcr.ption
that has come to an eitry at this port, agreea e
to the late amendmeit in the free-port ac't, y
which it isexpetfted nat the valuable trade wit 1
the Spaniards will be greatly advanced, as it is 110
longer confined to velels ot any particular ur
then.
LA3 O U R
Palma negata macrum, daiata rcdacit opinutn.- Hon
To Jink injhamt, Jrfwell with pride,
As the gay palm is grafted or deny* a. Francis.
THE multitudes thatfupport life by corporal Idiom
and eat their bretd in the five at of their brov)
commonly regard inaClhity as idlsnefs ; and have tit
conception that wearintfr can be contracted in an el
bow-chair, by now and'then peeping into a book am
musing the reft of the day : thefedentary and Jtudious
therefore, raise their ttivy or contempt, as they appeal
either to pojfefs the conveniencies of life by the msri
bounty of fortune, or to fuffer the want of them by re■
fujing to work.
It is, however, certain, that to think, is to labour .
and that-as the body is affeCted by the exercise of tht
mind, the fatigue of tht study is not less than of tht
field or the manufactory.
But the labour oj the mind, though it is equally
rijome with that of the body is not attended with tht
fame advantages. Exercise gives health, vigour, am
cheerfulnefs, found Jleep, and a keen appetite : Tht
effeCts ojfedentary thoughtfalnefs are difsafes that im
bitter and J})ortsn life, interrupted reft, tajlelefs meals
perpetual languor and taufelefs anxiety.
No natural inability to perform manual operations
has been obftrvtd to prtceedfrom d'tjinclination ; tht
rsluCtance, if it cannot le retrieved, may be surmount
ed ; and the artificer then proceeds in his work wit)
as much dexterity and exaCtness, as ij no extraordina
ry effort had been made to begin it : but with refpeC
to the productions of imagination and wit, a mere de■
termination of the will is not fuffic'tent ; there must bi
adifpojition of the mind which no human being can pro
cure, tr the work will have the appearance of a forcec
plan, in the production of which the tnduftry of art ha.
been fubjlitutcd for thevigour of nature.
Nor does this difpofttion always ensure success,
though the want of it never fails to render application
ineffectual, for the who fits down in the morn
ing fired with his subjeCt and teeming with ideas, often
finds at night, that what delighted his imagination of
fends his judgment and that he has loft the day by in
dulging apleafmg dream, in which he joined together a
multitude of splendid images without perceiving their
incongruity. (To be continued.)
From WEBSTER'S DISSERTATIONS on the ENGLISH LAN-
Of MODERN CORRUPTIONS in the ENGLISH
PRONUNCIATION.
I PROCEED now to examine a mode of pronouncing certain
words, which prevails iir England and some parts of America,
and which, as it extends to a vast number of words, and creates a
material difference between orthography and is a
matter of serious consequence.
To attack eftablifhet} customs is always hazardous ; for man
kind, even when they fee and acknowledge their errors, are sel
dom obliged to the man who exposes them, The danger is in
creased, when an opposition is made to the favoiite opinions of
the great ; for men, whose rank and abilities entitje them to par
ticular refpeft, will sooner dismiss their friends than their preju
dices. Under this con vision, my present situation is delicate and
embarrafling : But as some facrifices must often be made to truth ;
and as I am corifcious that a regard to truth only diftatcs what I
wriie, I can sincerely declare, it is my wifli to inform the under-
Handing of eve™ man, without wounding the feelings of an indi
vidual.
The pra&ice to which I allude, is that of pronouncing d, t, and
J preceding u ; which letter, it is said, contains the found of e or y
and oo ; and that ofcourfc tducation must be pronounced edyucation ;
nature, natyure ; and fvperior, fyuperior : From the difficulty ot
pronouncing wjiich, we naturally fall into the found of dzhy tjh,
and yft ; Thus education becomes edzhucation or education ; nature
becomes natfhure or nachure ; and fupcrior becomes/Superior.
How long this pra&ice has prevailed in London, I cannot as
certain. There are a few words, in which it seems to have been
universal from time immemorial ; as pleasure, and the other Words
of that analogy. But I find no reafou to suppose the practice of
pronouncing nature, duty, nachure, juty, prevailed before the period
of Gai rick's reputation on the llage.
On the other hand, the writers on the language have been silent
upon this point, till within a few years ; and Kendrick speaks of
it as a Metropolitan pronunciation, supported by certain mighty Jine
fpeaken*, which implies that the pra&iceis modern,and pioves it
to be local, even in Great Britain. But the prattice has prevailed
at court and on the Itage for fcveral years, and the reputation of a
Garnck, a Sheridan and a Siddons, has given it a very rapid and ex
tensive diffufion in the polite world. As the innovafion is great
and extends to a multitude of words, it is necessary, before we
embrace the practice in its trtmoft latitude, to examine into its
propriety and confequcnces.
The only reasons offered in support of the practice, are, the
Englifti or Saxon found of u, which is said to and euphony,
or the agreeablenefs of the pronunciation.
But permit me to enquire, on what do the advocates of this
prattice ground their affenion, that u had in Saxon the fouud of
eu or yu ? Are there any teftiroonies to support it, among old wri
ters of authority ? In the course of my reading I have discovered
none, nor have I ever fecn one produced or referred to.
Will it be said, that yu is the name of the letter ? But where
did this name originate ? Certainly not in the old Saxon practice,
for the Saxons cxpreffed this found by era, or eo : And I do no't
recoiled a single word of Saxon origin, in which the warmed
sticklers for the pradicc, give a this found, even in the present
age. Kendrick, who has investigated the powers of the English
letters with much more accuracy than even Sheridan himfelf'ob
ferves, that we might with equal propriety, name the other vow
els in the fame manner, and fay, ya, ye, yi, yo, as well asji/f.
* Rhttaical Grammar, f'efixtd to his DiHijnarv, pit- v Lenin
>773- + Rk«. Grm. - 3 3 ' ' * "
634
GUAGE.
t'in union, uft, tec. ha: the found of )U ; but these ire all of
Latin originj and can be i»o proof thai u, bad, in S&xofi, the found
of ew or )v.
The whole argument is founded on amiftake. Uin pure En.
glifli has not the found ot ew ; but a found that approaches n ;
which is defined with great accuracy by the learned Walhs, who
wasoneofthe firft corredl writers upon Englilh Grammir, and
who'fe tieatife is the foundation ot Lowtn's introduction and alt
the bed subsequent compilations^.
This writer defines the Englilh lettet B In these words, " llunc
fonum Extranei tere alfcquenter, si dipthongum lu conentur pro
nunciare; nempe iexile literae 11, vel w preponentes ; [ut in H
panorum ciudad, civitas.] Non tamcn idem eji omnino'fonu;, quumvn,
ad ilium proxime acccdaf, eft enim iu fonus coinpofitus, at Ariglorum
et Gallorum u fonus Gram. Ling. Angl. Si£l.
This is precisely the idea I have ever had of the Englilh u ; a.
ccptthat I cannot allow the found to be perfctlly fiuiple. II »c
attend to the manner in which we begin the found ol u in pite,
abjure, truth, we (hall observe that the tongue is not pressed 10 the
mouth so clofcly as in pronouncing ethe aperture ol the orgins
is not so small; and X presume that grfod speakers, and am confi
dent that mod people, do not prronounce these words jleute, abjeure
tructb. Neither do they pronounce them Jloote,abjoore, trooth ; but
with a found formed by an easy natural aperture of the mouth,
between iu and 00 ; which is the true Englilh found. This found,
however obfenred by affectation in the metropolis of Great-Bri
tain and the capital towns in Amcrica, is still prefcrved by the
body of the people in both countries. There are a million de
fendants of the Saxons in this country who retain the found of a
in ill cases, precisely according to Wallis's definition. Ast any
plain countiyman, vthol'e pronunciation has not been exposed to
corruption by mingling with foreigners, how he pronounces the
letters, t, r,u,th, and he will not found u like eu, nor 00, but will
express the real primitive English u. Nay, if people wiih to make
an accurate trial, let them direst any child of faven years old, who
has had no previous inftru&ion refpe&ing the matter, to pro
nounce the words suit, tumult, due, &c. and they will thus ascertain
the true found of the letter. Children pronounce 11 in the molt
natural manner ; whereas the found of iu requires a considerable
effort, and that of to, a forced position of the lips. Illiterate per
sons therefore pronounce the genuine English u, much bolter than
those who have attempted to (hape their pronunciation according
to the polite modern praSice. As fmgular as this afiertion may
appear, it is literally true. This circumstance alone would be
fufficient to prove that the Saxons never pronounced a like yu, for
the body of a nation, removed fromthe reach of conquest and fear
from a mixture of foreigners, are the fa fed repositories of ancient
cuftom> and general practice 111 speaking.
But another ltrong argument agaihll the modern practice is,
that the pretended dipthone, iu or yu, is heard in fcarccly a fingte
1 word of Saxon origin. Almost all the words in which d, t and f
are converted into other letters, as education, due, virtue,ra\4ure, Ju-
perior.fupreme, See. are derived from the Latin or French ; foihat
the pia&ice itfelf isa proof that the principles on which it is built,
are falfe'. It is pretended that the Englifn or Saxon found of u
requires the pronunciation, edzhucation, natjliure, and yet it is in
troduced aim oft solely into Latin and French words. Such an in
consistency refutesthe reafoningand isa burlefquc on its advocates.
(To be continued-) ,
| His grammar was written in Latin, in the reign of Charles lid.
The work is Co scarce, that I have never been able to find but a Jingle.co
py. The author was one of the jounders of the Royal Society.
§ This found of u, foreigners will nearly obtain, by attempting t*
pronounce the dipthong iu ; tbat is, the narrow i before uor w ; fas in
the Span ifli word exuded, a city.) Yet the found (of u) is not exactly
the fame, altho it approaches very near to it; jor the found of iu is com
pound ; whereas the uof the Evglifh and French is a simple found"
[Lord Anfon, of nautical memory, built a Temple
at his feat iu Staffordshire, dedicated to the Winds :
Dr. Johnson-wrote a Latin Epigram, applicable to
thefubjett : The seven different translations, by as ma
ny different hands,-which follow,if they fbould appear
of the (lrum-kind,flat at both ends, they will at lea/1
furnifh an tnftance of that variety of words which
, may be made use of to convey the fame thought.
EPIGRAM.
GRATUM ANIMUM LAUDO, QUI DEBUIT OMNIA VENTIS,
QUAM BENE VENTORUM, TEMPLUM SURCERE JUHET.
TRANSLATIONS.
No. I.
SINCE to the Winds alone, heow'd the wealthy prize',
I praise the grateful foul that bade this temple rife..
No. 11.
THE grateful Avjon here adores the gales,,
That bore to wealth hisfwelling fails.
No. 111.
FROM profp'rous Winds, fincc profp'rous fortune refe,
This faue is rais'd to every wind that blows.
No. IV.
THIS temple to the Wind, his gratitude has raisM ,
As the Wind gave him a!/, 'tis fit the wind be prais'i},
No. V.
WELL, to the Winds, may he this fane afford,
Whom their propitious breath has made a Lord.
No. VI.
HAIL, thou great foul, whom gratitude bids raifr,
This offering to the Winds, which fwell'd thy prailc.
No. VII.
THE Winds Anfon all, his very food,
And to the \\ inds, this marks his gratitude ;
'Tisan ill Wind indeed that blows no good.
[At a mating of a number of the American commanders of velfefj,
now , n the fort of London, held at the Maryland Coffee-Houfi,in Co,n
hill, on the lid day oj July, 1790 ,for the putfoff of con fulling uion
the measurer that it might he prudent for them to 'adopt, in order % alle
viate the prejent fituatun of /earner. here belonging to the United Staler
oj America, the J allowing resolutions were unanmoujly voted :]
1. 'T'HAT anl American mariner in Great Britain, in beinj
-1 expoied to all the ngor of British press-warrants—in
being liable to the aflaults and outrages of a British press-gang—
an in eing eventually liable to be compelled into a foreign fcr
vice (except each commander of the velTel from which he is thus
forced, can trace him to that very (hip, whither h.c is dragged for
confinement, and will pof,lively (wear that he is a native Si sub
ject of the United States) must be considered in an unfafeaud tru
y a ormuig condition a fituatipn, not only inviting to atempor-
haaarding a total fubvcrAon of his most precious
J, h , at L he c0 "/cqucnces resulting from this unprotected fitua.
, e , ai . Cltlz^ li s» are so irksome to the feelings, and detri
? ° ■C ; lntcr s American mariners and comraandm,
t hr*lr .°^ in 0n l^°^ c present, fine* no minister or consul of
?k lS ° n tnC t ' 10 w hom, under fucli difficulties, they
j r V , V .' mor c propriety resort with complaints—and for re
is xpccnentihat they now have recoutfe to force other