The above are among a thousand scattered proofs of the errour in supposing that he who undertook to vindicate the ways of GOD to Man, would not deign to bestow thought on such slight points of Criticism as Syllables and Sounds. (The Rambler; No. 95.) The Moralist must have forgotten, that not to be apprehensive of abasement, by paying attention to inferiour circumstances, is a privilege of conscious greatness.

ILLUSTRATION, R.
(Referred to in p. 190.)

Anough.] Mr. Todd thinks anough instead of enough" literally an imitation of the Doric "Dialect;" and Peck says idly, that it is " very 'pastoral" (Mem. of the Life and poetical Works of MILTON; &c. p. 153. 4to. 1740). And also remarks of Comus, that, 66 being of the pastoral sort, "our Authour had many pastoral words in it." ib. p. 136. To prop this conceit, he particularized, among other instances, woome for womb, hearbs for herbs, and infers the same from the duplication of the o in the first syllable of bosom (p. 142), as well as from this Letter being prefixed to ugly (p. 150), yet these modes of spelling were not confined to Comus; neither did MILTON propose to throw an air of rusticity over a Masque to be performed before a sort of vice-regal Court; on the contrary, this dramatic piece is written throughout in a sus

tained style. The fact is, that these with many other words are printed in the Edition of his minor Poems in 1645, as they were then sounded.

This pronunciation of enough continues in general use; use; and so does hearb and boosom to this day among the uneducated in the West of England: as ougly still is in the northern part of the Island and in Cornwall. Mr. Warton took this to be only the old way of writing ugly; and the rule of Orthography which our Authour adopted has been variously misconceived. Johnson decides it (Pref. to his Dict.) to have been "in zeal for ana

logy," that he dropped the e in height; while Mr. Capell Lofft fancied sovran for sovereign to be a Poet's licence. But that supposition falls to the ground when we find it equally in the prosewritings. He was as ill understood by Richardson; who tells the Reader that MILTON ejected the c from scent, because it was not in the French sentir; nor in the Italian sentire; whence we borrowed it. Of this suggestion Bishop Pearce in his Review of Bentley's emendations of Par. Lost declared his approbation.

MILTON'S Scheme of Orthography was not however governed by the derivation. He concurred with those, and the practice was then by no means singular, who would make the written represen

S

tation of Thought correspond with oral Speech: e. gr. hainous, lantskip, mountanous, Divell, detters, scholler. To the same end, he suppressed the silent Letters in haughty, apophthegm, learning, viscount, signiory, &c., as well as wrote Chetiv, not Chetib; and Piatza, in conformity to the Italian utterance of the double z; as Burton did Novitza, and, if I remember rightly, Harrington Putzuoli.

In the instances apparently in opposition to this observation, where he departs from the customary mode as in frontispice, extasy, rarify, accedence, skeptical, Ghittar, aery, glutenous, &c. ;-though these Orthographies be more etymological, his aim was, we may now discern, a nearer approximation to vocal Language; to bring the alphabetic characters of Thought in closer affinity to the "articulated air" of which these combinations of Letters are the visible signs.

In pursuance of this principle " grassy sord,"

i.e. sward, is the genuine reading in Par. Lost. (XI. 433.) This peculiarity, which Johnson calls a corruption, prompted Fenton to give erroneously sod in the Edition of which he superintended the Publication. The Lexicographer again misapprehended MILTON's object when disposed to think that he intended to preserve the Saxon gpuns, by exhibiting grunsel. (Par. Lost. I. 460.) But I am unaware of any reason to suppose, that the

Anglo-Saxon had ever engaged MILTON's notice, and he is by no means accustomed to hide his acquirements behind a veil. He was, I believe, scarcely a stranger in any other walk of Learning than the northern. But the time was not come for these studies. He and other literary Men yet occupied their minds with the writers of Rome and Athens, and of modern Italy.

The Anglo-Saxon tongue had once, and I think, but once, since the Conquest, obtained the regards of our Forefathers. This was at the æra of the Reformation, for the purpose, as it should seem, of putting beyond the power of controversy, what were the heterodox novelties which the Romish' Priesthood had subsequently engrafted on the Christianity planted in Britain by its primitive propagators.

ILLUSTRATION, S.

(Referred to in p. 196.)

In procuring by petition this Order.] Mr. Har-' grave printed the succeeding document in," an "Argument in Defence of Literary Property," from a M. S. in the possession of the Stationers' Company; and it will show who were the first to promote the revival of Licensers to the Press. "The following declaration was signed near two "years before the ordinance of 1643, by some of

"the most favourite Divines of the then prevailing party in Parliament.

"We whose names are subscribed at the request of certain stationers or printers, do hereby "inform those whom it may concern, that to "the knowlege of divers of us (and as all of "us do believe) that the said stationers or prin"ters have paid very considerable sums of money "to many authours for the copies of such useful "books as have been imprinted. In regard "whereof we conceive it to be both just and

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very necessary that they should enjoy a pro"priety for the sole imprinting of their copies. "And we further declare, that unless they do so enjoy a propriety, all scholars will utterly be deprived of any recompence from the stationers "or printers for their studies and labours in "writing or preparing books for the Press. Be"sides, if the books that are printed in Eng"land be suffered to be imported from beyond "the seas, or any other way reimprinted to the "prejudice of those who bear the charges of "the impressions, the authours and the buyers "will be abused by vicious impressions, to the "great discouragement of learned men, and "extream damage to all kinds of good learning. "The plaintures (and other good reasons which "might be named) being considered, we certify "our opinions and desires that fitting and suf"ficient caution be provided in this behalf.