tues of your perfon, and the ftrength to the endeared affections of the of that place, which you may think wrongfulness of what has been faid. parliament and people of England, Your highness's humble fervant, SIR, ANSWER. I pet, and defire to know if you will give me leave to fend a mef fenger to the king to know his pleasure therein. I am, Received yours by your trum Your fervant, RUPERT REPLY, REPLY. SIR, The priests, flaves to the philo-fophers, bark at me to make their court. The people, whom I idolized, YOUR overture of fending look on me as a floven and an ill fated man. The men of genius revenge themfelves by infulting me, because they feel my fuperiority. The women, dupes of two men who defpife them, hate him who me.. tits moit from them. The Swifs will never pardon me the evil they have done me. The magiftrate of Geneva is fenfible of his faults, knows that I pardon him for them, and he would repair them if he durft. The chiefs of the people, elevated on my shoulders, would conceal me fo effectually, that none but themfelves fhould be fseen. Authors pillage me, and cenfure me; knaves curfe me; and the mob hoot at me. Good men, if there are any, yet filently lament my fate; and I blefs it, if haply it may one day inftruct mankind. Voltaire, whom I prevent from fleeping, will parody thefe lines; his grofs injuries are an homage which he is forced to render me, in fpite of himself. The ridiculous Mifapplication of Surnames expofed. erously abfurd than the prac TOTHING can be more prepof tice of inheriting cognomina, which ought never to be purely perfonal. I would ask thee, for example, what propriety there was in giving the name Zenophon, which fignifies one that fpeaks a foreign language, to the celebrated Greek who diftin guished guished himself not only as a confummate captain, but alfo as an elegant writer in his mother tongue? What could be more ridiculous than to denominate the great philofopher of Crotona Pythagoras, which implies a ftinking fpeech? or what could be more mifap; lied than the name of the weeping philofopher Heraclitus, fignity ing military glory? The inheritance of furnames, among the Romans, produced ftill more ridiculous confequences. The best and nobleft families in Rome derived their names from the coarfeft employments, or elfe from the corporeal blemishes of their ancestors. The Pifones were millers: the Cicerones and the Lentuli were fo called from the vetches and the lentils which their forefathers dealt in. The Fabij were fo denominated from a dungpit, in which the first of the family was begot by ftealth in the way of fornication. A ploughman gave rife to the great family of the Serrani, the ladies of which always went without fmocks. The Suilli, the Bubulci, and the Porci, were defcended from a fwine-herd, a cow-herd, and a hog-butcher.What could be more difgraceful than to call the fenator Strabo, 'Squintum; or a fine young lady of the houfe of Poti, Pigfnies? or to diftinguifh a matron of the Limi by the appellation of Sheep's-eye? What could be more difhonourable than to give the furname of Snub-nofe to P. Silius, the proprætor, becaufe his great-great-greatgrand-father had a nofe of that make? Ovid, indeed, had a long nofe, and therefore was juftly denominated Nafo: but why thould Horace be called Flaccus, as if his ears had been ftretched in the pil lory: I need not mention the Burrhi, Nigri, Rufi, Aquilij, and Rutilij, because we have the fame foolish furnames in England; and even the Lappa; for I myself know a very pretty mifs called Roughhead, though, in fact, there is not a young lady in the bills of mortality, who takes more pains to drefs her hair to the best advantage. The famous dictator, whom the deputies of Rome found at the plough, was known by the name of Cincinna tus, or Ragged-head. Now I leave you to judge how it would found in thefe days, if a footman at the playhoufe fhould call out, "My lady "Ragged-head's coach." Room "for my lady Ragged-head." I am doubtful whether the English name of Hale does not come from What the Roman cognomen Hala, which fignified ftinking breath. need I mention the Plauti, Panci, Valgi, Vari, Vatiæ, and Scauri; the Tuditani, the Malici, Ceneftellæ, and Leccæ; in other words, the Splay-foots, Bandy-legs, Shamble-fhins, Baker-knees, Club-foots, Haminer-heads, Chubby-cheeks, Bald-heads, and Letchers.-I fhall not fay a word of the Buteo, or Buzzard, that I may not be obliged to explain the meaning of the word Triorchis, from whence it takes its denominations; yet all thofe were great families in Rome. But I cannot help taking notice of fome of the fame improprieties, which have crept into the language and customs of this country. Let us fuppofe, for exampla, a foreigner reading an English news-paper in these terms: "Laft Tuefday the right honourable Timothy Sillyman, fecretary of ftate for the fouthera department, gave a grand entertainment to the nobility and gen try at his houfe in Knaves-acre. Julius Wolf; and Henry Grave, Friday laft ended the feffions at the abfence of two material viz. Sarah Brown, clear-ftarcher, of Pimlico, and Anthony Black, fcarlet-dyer of Wandfworth." I ask thee, Peacock, whether a fenfible foreigner, who underftood the literal meaning of thefe names, which are all truly British, would not think ye were a nation of humorists, who delighted in crofs-purposes and ludicrous fingularity? But, indeed, ye are not more abfurd in this particular, than fome of your neighbours.-I know a Frenchman of the name of Bouvier, which fignifies Cow-keeper, pique himfelf upon his noblefle and a general called Valavoir, is faid to have loft his life by the whimfical impropriety of his furname, which fignifies go and fee. You may remember an Italian Groffa-tefta, minifter, called though, in fact, Great-head, had fcarce any head at all. nation has, likewife, its Sforzas, Malateftas, Boccanigras, Porcinas, Guidices; its Colonnas, Muratorios, Medices, and Gozzi; Endeavours, Chuckle-heads, Black Muzzels, Hogs, Judges, Pillars, Mafons, Leeches, and Chubby-chops. Spain has its Almohadas, Girones, Utreras, Urfinas, and Zapatas; 02 or he That figni fignifying Cushions, Gores, Bul- its title imports. Character of the Senti nental Jour. IT is welke Doctor Sterne al T is well known that Mr. Yo The bad ufe Dr. Sterne has fometimes made of his talents, has occafioned too great a prejudice against him. He has had great injuftice done him in being efteemed merely a comic wri. ter, the Rabelais of England.-He was not only one of the firft Beaux Efpirits of the prefent age, he was a man full of fentiment, a pathetic writer, who poffeffed in a fuperior degree the power of moving and affecting the foul. We believe it impoffible for any poffeffed of fenfible hearts, to read fome parts of this Journey, without being affect ed to the highest degree, without loving and regretting the author. * A Paduan, amongst medallifts, is a modern medal struck with all the marks and characters of antiquity. The naine is taken from a famous Italian painter, called the Paduan, from Padua, the place of his birth, who fucceeded so well in the cheat, that the best judges are as a lofs to distinguish his medals from those which are really antique, His fon Octavian, born at Rome, was called the Paduan. Laurentius Parmelanus and Bellus Vicentinus in Italy, and Carieron in Holland, had likewife the art of imitating dais in great perfection. |