18., tsadi, Greek z, zeta, the fish angle. 19. kuf, the hole of the ear. 20., resh, Greek P, rho, the head. 21., shin, the teeth. 22., thof, Greek, theta, a mark. The fisher takes his switch or rod, goes to the water to catch fish, he catches a thick or large one through the eye, mouth, or ear-hole, etc., etc.; telling plainly that the alphabet of the Hebrews originated on the banks of a river where fishing was the common employment. The alliance of the Greek alphabet with it is obvious, the ordinary tradition being that Cadmus carried it to Greece. The only ground for this is that Cadmus resembles kedem, the Hebrew word for east; but the hypothesis of the Arimaic and Hebraic origin of the Greek alphabet is not to be confused with that fancy. Pliny informs us that the letters. were brought from Assyria; Diodorus mentions Syria as the fatherland of the alphabet, and Manetho declares that the second Hermes found in the Syriadic land the antediluvian pillars with the inscriptions of the first Hermes, which he had buried under ground. We are of the opinion of Dr. Wise, the learned author of the "History of the Israelitish Nation," that these three lands are used synonymously by these writers, for the region along the Euphrates in the south-west of Asia. Thus their alphabet preserves a record of the original locality, and the employments of a great people, where all other trustworthy records fail, and history becomes mythical. The principle of the imitative character of letters and sounds, as giving the key-notes of words, although its actual proof, a posteriori, is rendered impossible by our remoteness from the simple forms of language, which grow complex as life grows complex, is nevertheless rendered antecedently probable by the well known sympathies of sound and sense, which are continually arresting our attention in literature. The finest words and sentences call forth pictures and sonatas. Shakspeare's "Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth," is Haydn's Kinder-sinfonie in a line. Shudderingly do we read, "Grinned horribly a ghastly smile." So the very beat and metre of Virgil's famous line causes a horse to gallop along a frozen plain, even to the eye of one ignorant of the language in which it is described: "Quadrupedante putrem sonitu, quatit ungula campum." Or, take the mere mechanical effect of certain words: What a shiver is in cold-what a mystery in geist, ghost. How properly does the word form, implying limitation, end with a letter which closes the lips firmly together! The rolling along of the voice necessary for sounding the letter r, associates by imitation with the objects or actions it best expresses-roar (Sax. rarien), roll (rollen, rouler, ruilha, etc.), reel, river. An evil-minded philologist might derive the word baby from Babel," signifying confusion;" and, though we have always deprecated Lamb's toast "to the memory of the much maligned but really good King Herod," we must, nevertheless, confess to the relationship between Babel and baby, which, with such words as babble, blab (Latin, balbus, fabula; German, plappern), are imitative of a child's first lip-noises, and when used concerning adults, indicate childish practices and propensities. The doubt which here arises may be stated thus: If this be the true theory of the word, how is it to be explained, that various races of men should have adopted such entirely different words for the same objects? Why is it, that what one calls a woman, another calls femina, another gune, another frau? These differences do not affect the theory that each object has its name written in its nature, but are to be attributed-1st, to the many different aspects in which any one thing may be viewed; 2d, to the different temperaments and conditions of the various races and nations which tend to place them at different points of view. Thus, in the first regard, a tree, for example, may be thought of as wood, or vegetable, or a particular one, or as hard, or round, or tall, or beautiful, or medicinal. A utilitarian nation, whose living came hard, might think of its fruit or useful timber; a scientific nation might think of it botanically; an imaginative people might think of its beauty or symbolism; and, of course, each name would be as distinct as if the tree were not only thought of in different associations, but were intrinsically different. We have but to apply this principle to primitive and figurative speech, to see its action, as a matter of fact. And it is at once seen to be an inevitable one when we take into consideration our second reason; namely, the condition which tend to If, as Jean Paul Richter varieties of national temperament and place races at different points of view. has said, "Providence has given to the French the empire of the land; to the English that of the sea; to the Germans that of the -air!" it must follow, that whatsoever these would describe, they must describe from their several stand-points. There are many familiar words which illustrate the permanent operation of this law in word-formation. The English, for instance, used the word consider, literally to sit down with a subject; the Germans express the analogous act of the mind by überlegen, to be down over a subject; the Greeks said oxentoμaι, I shade my eyes in order to look steadily at a subject. Now, any one will find the more he ponders these three forms of expression for the same thing that they are faithful representatives of the respective national temperaments. So the use of the English occur to express mental reception (ob and curro), in which it is implied that an idea runs against, or to meet the mind, may be compared with the German einfallen, in which the superior introversion of the Teuton finds that the idea falls into him. Compare also the English imagination with einbildungskraft, a word not only metaphysically perfect, but replete with poetry. To see this fully, we have only to remember that these distinctions must have been equally operative in the infancy of language. It is frequently the case, however, that two totally distinct races, which could never be traced to any common origin or temporary intercourse, have been arrested by the same aspect of an object, in which cases their words are radically identical; a notable instance of which is found in the name given to one of the finest American rivers by the Indians, Potomac; which is almost literally the Greek word for river, norauos (comp. Latin, potare). These identities would doubtless be much more numerous, if it were not for the arbitrary and immethodical innovations made upon the natural form of words by those vandals, Ignorance, Affectation and Slang. The very roots of words are often irretrievably lost. To take one from a mass- -who would imagine that the common word wig is derived from the Greek nos, hair? What two words could be more unlike? Yet this cos-hair, wool, or felt-became in Rome the pileus, a hair-cap given to slaves when freed. The Spanish got thence piluca; by the natural change of liquids, it became in France peruke; it crossed the channel and became periwig; afterwards the vandalism aforesaid cut off for convenience all except wig,-losing the root, and leaving in the word only one letter in common with its original! In this connection may be mentioned two words found on our continent, which have puzzled our transatlantic friends, and which Mr. Trench has called on us to explain. These are the words Canada and caucus. The history of the first of these illustrates well how easily the real origin of a word may be obscured through a slight variation caused by ignorance. The Indian name for Canada, was Huachalaga.* When the country was invaded by the early Spanish gold-hunters, the Indians heard them repeat the words vaca nada-nothing here. When these, finding no gold, had gone, and others, permanent settlers, appeared, the Indians thinking they could speak to the whites, to that extent at least, cried out 'canada-unfortunately leaving off the first syllable. The whites imagined this to be the name of the land. The other word, caucus, which is purely American, arose from the meetings held by the caulkers or disguised revolutionists, in the Massachusetts ship-yards; the name became generic for all such private meetings where the interests of one party are represented, and was afterwards spelt phonetically instead of rightly. The origin of this word has such peculiar associations that we can easily pardon the limited research of our English brethren in its direction. * How melancholy that these Indian names were lost! It would almost seem to be a sufficient reason for the existence of these Indians to have furnished a rich and poetical nomenclature to this country. Their names, wherever they are preserved, are the very autographs of the lakes, rivers, and landscapes. And, is it not too bad, that we should have bedizened our cities, and the grand phenomena of a New World, in the threadbare names of other lands and ages! Compare, as names for cities, New York, Syracuse, Boston, Cincinnati (THE CINCINNATUSES!), with Ticonderoga, Ontario, Niagara and Potomac ; or the names of the rivers Charles, James, Whetstone or St. Johns, etc., with Roanoke, Altamaha, Rappahannock, Olentange (to which name we are glad to find the Whetstone has returned), or Merrimac. It is too evident that " the eternal fitness of things" has been violated, first, in baptizing America to the name of a pirate; and afterwards inflicting on our cities and places worn-out names which in no respect represent them. THE SACRED DANCE. [From the Persian. ] [THE Dervish supposes that the inspired dance describes curves which exactly correspond with the orbits of the heavenly bodies. The Persians sup. pose that a magic gem was lost by Solomon on their coasts, and that some pearl-diver will one day find it: this will explain the allusion in the ninth line of the verses.] Spin the ball! I reel, I burn, Nor head from foot can I discern, I am seeker of the stone, From the shore of souls arrived, Love is the air-fed fire intense, But the censer can not know!! I'm all-knowing, yet unknowing; Stand not, pause not in my going; Ask not me, as Muftis can, To recite the Alcoran : Well I love the meaning sweet I tread the Book beneath my feet! Lo, the God's love blazes higher, Till all differences expire; What are Moslems? What are Giaours ? All are love's, and all are ours; I embrace the true believers, But I reck not of deceivers. Firm to Heaven my bosom clings, |