I

concio Attica. Quippe ipse, de sua cum Themistocle, contentione judicans, e concione digressus, nisi, inquit, Themistoclem et me ipsum Athenienses in barathrum dent præcipites, nulla Reip. erit salus οὐκ ἔσται σωτηρία τοῖς ̓Αθηναίων πράγμασιν, εἰ μὴ καὶ Θεμιστοκλέα καὶ αὐτὸν τὸ βαράθρον ἐμβάλοιεν. avròv eis rò ẞapálpov éμßáλolev. Ac nulla certe Reip. salus est, irri-, tatis et ægris eo usque animis, ut, quemadmodum Themistocles et Aristides, præ odio et invidia duo viri principes cum factionibus quisque suis sibi invicem adversentur, etiam tunc quando recte agant atque ex utilitate Reipublicæ. Tali autem rerum conditione, neque unquam fere alia, Ostracismo usos Athenienses, supra vidimus. Quin, si perdurasset Ostracismi consuetudo, fortassis diutius liberæ fuissent Athenæ, quæ non uno concidisse malo, concionum licentia, sed et altero, Oratorum ac Demagogorum secum æmulantium vehementia, videntur. Quæ de Sylla ac Mario, de Julio Cæsare et Pompeio, si fuisset Romæ Ostracismus, hic disputari possent, ex dictis, nemo est, qui non colligat facillime.

§. VIII. Idcirco, quando servanda est forma popularis, et sunt in civitate duo, quorum alter parem, alter superiorem ferre non potest, salus publica suprema Lex esto, valeatque Taciti sententia: Habet aliquid ex iniquo omne magnum exemplum, quod adversus singulos utilitate publica rependitur: quanquam haud sumus nescii, quam ista sententia Tyrannidi viam munire possit, quod, etsi fatemur, abusu usum tolli minime æquum est. Quin et, de ipso Ostracismo agens Ill. Montesquieu :3 "illa aliquando sunt tempora (inquit), ut velanda sit Libertas, quemadmodum velabantur olim Deorum statuæ:" illique Viro summo in eandem sententiam comites dare liceat Scriptorum Gallorum par,+ lætissima usum fama, quorum alter, etsi sæpius nequaquam probandus, vere tamen de Ostracismo pronunciasse videtur: nec tantum in istam partem pedibus iverunt homines elegantiores, sed severi Themidos ministri. Ulricus Huberus omnium sit instar, qui in Libris de Jure Civitatis, eadem ratione Petalismum et Ostracismum veterum Rerumpublicarum diserte defendit: et non aliud Viri literati scriptisque politicis inter Germanos celeberrimi, Joannis-Henrici Boecleri, est judicium ;6 "Ex vro0ével (inquit) status Democratici, et

.6

2 Annal. Lib. xiv. cap. 44.

1 Plut. Arist. p. 320. A. 3 Esprit de Loix, Liv. xii. chap. 20. "J'avoue pourtant, que l'usage des peuples les plus libres me fait croire, qu'il y a des cas, où il faut mettre pour un moment un voile sur la Liberté, comme l'on cache les Statues des Dieux."

4 Itin. Anachars. 1. laud. Recherches Philosophiques sur les Grecs par Mr. de Pauw, Tomo ii. p. 12. "Ce nombre (de six-mille citoyens) etoit également requis pour procéder à l'Ostracisme, qui sera toujours d'une nécessité absolue dans les véritables Démocraties; et, faute d'une institution semblable, la République Romaine ne put jamais se soutenir: lorsque Sylla et César se furent faits Dictateurs, il n'étoit plus possible de les punir; mais à Athènes ils auroient été chassés de l'Etat huit jours avant leur Dictature." 5 Lib. i. cap. 9. §. 9. 6 Dissert. Acad. Tomo ii. p. 1157.

2

æqualitatis qua nititur ille status, intolerabilis liberæ civitati et nimius homo videbitur."-Sed veterum testimoniis utimur et rectius et lubentius, quare in iis desinimus, in Aristotele præsertim, qui laudato sæpius loco : διὸ κατὰ τὰς ὁμολογουμένας υπεροχας, ἔχει τι δίκαιον πολιτικὸν ὁ λόγος ὁ περὶ τὸν ὀστρακισμόν. Idem δίκαιον πολιτικὸν in Ostracismo probat Aristides Rhetor, non si Lex per se spectetur sola, sed in ea, quæ Athenis erat, Reip. forma. Uno verbo, quod de universa Reip. Atticæ ratione scripsit Xenophon,3 vel quisquis fuerit Libelli de Rep. Atheniensium Auctor, id nos de Ostracismo sentimus; atque hæc illius verba omnis hujus disputationis conclusionem quandam faciant et finem: 'De Atheniensium vero forma Reip. quod talen elegerint modum, non equidem laudo, quia, eam formam eligentes, elegerunt simul volueruntque, ut pravis melius esset quam bonis. Propterea igitur eos non laudo. Quando autem illis sic visum est, quod bene recteque servent formam illam suam, et cætera quoque recte administrent, in quibus peccare reliquis Græcis videntur, id ego demonstrabo.”—Et nos quoque de Ostracismo demonstrasse vide

mur.

66

2 d. 1. Tom. iii. p. 398. c. 3 Opp. p. 402. Ed. Steph.

LETTERS ON THE ANCIENT BRITISH
LANGUAGE OF CORNWALL.

No. IV. [Continued from No. XXXVIII. p. 226.]

LETTER VII.

ORTHOGRAPHY, &c.

THE uncertain orthography of the Cornish may be esteemed as one of its principal defects. This is, however, a consequence of the circumstances in which it existed, as the uncultivated language of a small and imperfectly civilised people. It is well known how difficult it has proved to establish a canon of orthography in the several modern languages. The spelling of Petrarch and Boccace, though they are still the standards of Tuscan elegance and purity, is different from that of the modern Italians. In fact, a language may be highly refined, and yet have no settled orthography; this can only become fixed through the medium of learned societies, as of the Academies Della Crusca, and those of Paris and Madrid; or as with us, when a great number of eminent authors preponderate by their example, and firmly establish their practice. But those languages, which have had neither of these advantages, must be uncertain in their orthography. Of this a remarkable instance occurs, among the moderns, in the Portuguese, which has fixed its canon neither by means of any learned body, nor by the uniform practice of a sufficient number of celebrated writers. Vieyra's Dictionary is full of references to words, which are differently written. If this is then the case in a living, polished, and even classical tongue, what a confusion may we not expect in the extinct, unwritten, or rarely written, and almost unknown dialect of Cornwall? Instead of the authority of great authors, or even of printed books, there remain in it only a few manuscripts, which were composed at distant periods, in which the words were written according to the discretion of each of the authors; a few other trifling fragments, taken from the oral conversation of the common people, were afterwards committed to writing, according to their different pronunciation, or as the sounds might have been caught by different hearers. This diversity of spelling the Cornish was therefore unavoidable; and a material, if not the principal inconvenience arising from it, is that it adds to the disguise and corruption of the foreign words, so that some of them can no longer be recognised. In

such a perplexity, it must have been difficult to be accurate in a Vocabulary, though, with a few blemishes, such a point might have been attainable by a reference to the synonyms. But I am sorry to say, that when Dr. Borlase began to treat about the language of his ancestors, his former diligence seems to have forsaken him, and that he was then merely endeavouring to finish his book as quickly as possible. As an antiquarian and a naturalist, he was undoubtedly possessed of great acquirements; but he appears to have been no linguist, in the sense that the word would be now understood. Some of his words have the usual reference to their synonyms, which are differently spelt; but in general they are unnoticed; of others he only gives particular cases and tenses, and without pointing out the root, as in Bym, I have been; Cardonion, friends; and Cuthens, covered. On the whole, it is evident, that the Vocabulary was made in haste, and with very little attention either to the selection or the arrangement of the materials. I am even inclined to suppose that the compiler was not aware of the identity of many words, which appear to be merely inflections of the same word. However, as an inquiry into facts, and not censure, is the object of these remarks, I will proceed to give a few instances of those words which are variously written.

Agrys. Cresy. Criedzy. Grys. To believe.
Amenen. Emenin. Butter.

Annerh. Onowr. Honour.

Beghas. Fehas. Peghas. Sin.

Beyn. Peynys. Peyny. Poan. Poenis. To punish.
Brawd. Breur. A brother.

Car. Carer. Keer. Ker. Kerd. A friend.

Carou. Karo. Karu. A deer.

Caus. Kez. Kezu. Cheese.

Cheliock. Colyek, Kelioc. Kullag. A cock.

Churisigen. Guzigan. A bladder.

Clehe. Glihi. Klihi. Ice.

Coed. Coit. Cos. Cuit. Kois. Kuit. Kuz. A wood.

Coth. Coz. Goath. Goth. Koth.

Couz. Gouz. Kouz. To speak.

Cugol. Kugol. A monk's cowl.

Dan. Deins. Dyns. A tooth.

Old.

Dayer. Dir. Dor. Doar. Doer. Oar. Ter. Tir. Tyr. The earth.

De. Dyth. A day.

Den. Deen. Dien. Dyn. Teen. A mun.

Dus, Duz. Tez, Tiez. Tiz. Tuz. A man.

Edhen. Ethen. Ezen. Idhen. Ithyn. A bird.

Edzhewon. Eshowon. Jedhewon. Jews.

Ehual. Euhal. Hecuhal. Heual. Uchal. Ughel. Uhal. High.
Euin. Juin. Winaz. Nails.

Gil, Guil. Gul. Gyl. To make.

Gual. Gwal. A wall.

Gueder. Gwydr. Glass.

Gueden. Guiden. Uedhn. A widow.

Guer. Guirdh. Gwer. Green.

Gueth. Kueth. Clothing.

Gurah. Gruah. An old woman.

Gydhaz. Jugye. Yuggye. To judge.

Halein. Halvin, Halen. Heln. Holan. Holoine. Telliz. Zal. Salt.

Helwys. Hoalen, Hylwys. Whole. Wole. To weep.

Heuul. Houl. Sul. The sun.

Jevam. Yonk. A young man.

Ladh. Latha. To kill.

Lait. Lath. Leath. Milk.

Leven. Louan. Lowan. Lowene.

Pleasant.

Maen. Mean. Men. Mein. Vean. A stone.

Maruo. Merwy. To die.

Neith. Nied.

A nest.

Noaz. Noydh. Naked.

Pechadyr. Pehadyr. A sinner.

Pendzhivig. Penzivik. A gentleman.

Pesk. Pisc. Pysga. Pysgaz. Pyzgh. Pusgar. Fish.

Pouis. Poes. Pois. Poiys. A burden.

Res. Ros. Rosh. A valley.

Seasys. Seha. Seygh. Zeah. Zeh. Zeth. Dry.

Seera. Sira. A father.

Seitham. Seithyn. Żeithan. A week.

Seth. Zeth. An arrow.

Seubellen. Seubilen. Ysenbell. A broom.

Ti. Tshei. A house, &c.

I am far from having selected in this list all the Cornish words which are differently spelt. They are however sufficient to leave no doubt concerning the great discrepancy which exists in the orthography; though it must still be owned, that a few, though derived from the same source, seem to have always been distinct words; as Brawd, Breur, from frater; and Churisigen, and Gurigan, from vesica.

Thus far I have examined the Cornish Vocabulary, and compared it with the above languages; though with what success, it is not for me to determine. Let it be however remembered, that to compare and to trace words under the several disguises in which they may present themselves, is at best tedious to the reader; but how much more so must it be to the patience of one who undertakes to write on such a subject! It is, however, better to proceed thus, than to hazard assertions, which cannot be proved, or to labor at the establishment of any particular theory, which does not rest upon a solid basis. I have therefore adhered to no particular opinions of any former authors, but endeavoured to ascertain facts by a careful collation of the scanty remnants of the Cornish Dialect. Hence my conclusions are at variance with those of some former writers, who have but too often re-echoed the sentiments of each other. In the first place, I have found, (or, to be more