Smyrna times., 1858-05-27


sell, contained the following amusing and in.
sructive passage:
The point to which have next to direct at
tenton is man!ness in speech. There arc
many young men who seem to consider it es.
sentIal to manincss that they should be masters
Of slang. The sporting world, like its brother
the swell mob, has language of lis own; but
this dog-English extends far beyond the sport
ing world. 1t comes with its hordcs of barba.
rOus words, threatening the entire extinction
of genuine English.
Now just listen for moment to our fast
young man, or the age of fast young man,
who thinks that to be Il man he must speak in
the dark phraseology Of slang. II he does any.
thing on his own responsibility, he does it on
his own "hook." If he sees ANYTHING re-
narkably good he calls it sumner" the
superlative Of which Is irregular sumner" =
Ii man Is requested to pay tavern bll he is
asked If he viii stand Sam" If he meets Il
savage locking dog, ho calls him IN &" ugly Gus
toner" Ii he meets an eccentric man, he
calls him u "ruinmy old cove" sensible
man Is =" chap has up to snuff"
Our young trrnd never scods, but "blows
uP;" never pays, but " stu'nps up;" never finds
1t difficult TO pay, bat is " hard up" never feels
tatigued, but is used up" lie has no hat,
but shelters his head beneath " tile" He
wears no neckcIotb, but surrounds his throat
with a " chokcr." He lives nowhere, but
there IS some place where he "han9s out =
lie never goes away or WithdraWs, but he
" bolts he slopes" he "m5ZZics = he
makes himself scarcc'-hc "waks his chalks'
he "makcs tracks he " cuts his stick''-Or
what is the same think, he cuts his lucky"-
The highest compliment that YOU can pay him
fs~to tell him that he is " regular brick He
does not profess to be brave, but he prides HIM
self on being "pucky." Money Is word
which he has forgotten, but he talks rood
deal about "tIn," and "thc nccdiul," "thc
r4no," and " the ready" When man spea ks
he "spants," when he holds his peace lie :. shuts
up;' when he is Inundated, he Is "takrn down
peg or two" and 'madG to sing small."--
Now, good deal Of this slang IS harmless;
many tthe terms are, think, very expressive,
yet there IS much in slang that is objection
ab'c.
For example, as Archdeacon Hare observes
in one Of his sermons. the word governor" as
applied TO IA father, is TO be reprchended.
have heqrd young man call his father the ere
Ilevlng officer" Does it not betrav on the
part of young men great ignorance OF the pa
terna and tiIlaI relationship, or great contempt
tor them !" Their father is to such young mon
merely %oVcrnor--mercy the representative
otauthorily. lnnocently enough the expression
is used by thousands of young men who vener-
ate and love their parents. but only think of it,,
and ! am sure you Will admit that it is a cold,
heartlcss word when thus applied, and one that
ought forthwith to be abandoned.
The CHENEsE.-ln a country where tie
roses nave 10 fragrance, and the women no pet
ticoats; whore the laborcr has no Sabbqlh, and
: thn nj e e.,
roads bear no vehicles, and the ships no kecls :
where old men fly kites; where the needle
points to the south and the sign of bciRg puz-
zlcd is to scratch the antipodcs Of the head ;
where the place Of honor is on the left hand
aud the scat of intellect is in the stomach :;
where to take OIL your hat is an usnlcnt gcs-
turC, and to wear white garments is to put your
sell IN mOurnur-WC ought not to be as'OnishCd
to find literature without an alphabet and
anguage without ii grammar. FIVE add that's
for countless centuries ;hc Government had
been in the hands Of State philosophers, and the
vcrnacular dialects have been abandoned TO the
laborlng classes, q am about in the next few
words to call forth the cXecration Of every ST.
nologuc in Europe and Asia) we must not be
startled to find that this Chinese language is
the most intricate, cumbrous and unwicdy vc-
hlCle OF thought that ever obtained among any
people.
There are eighteen distinct language; in
China, besides the Court dialect; and although,
by beautiful invention, deserving Of all imta-
tlon, the written language is so conrivcd as to
denote by the same character the sounds of
each of the nineteen different words, all Of
which it equally represents, this is of no great
use among tie multitude who cannot read
There Is not a man amc ng our Chinese scho-
ars who can speak three of these languages
with tlucncy, and there is not one who can
safely either write or interpret an important
Sta te paper without the assistance of teach
er."-Hong hoag Correspondent London
Times.
BILLY BOwLEGs.--This Seminole savage, it
seems, went on big drunk in Pensacola,
when passing through there on the 18th On
Uncle Sans custody, with his "warriors
squaws, servants and plccaninIes," amounting
altogether TO some hundred and sixty.Gve souls.
Billy and his #" Inspector General" Assahar-
ga, it seems, dned with the Hon. Mr.. Max
well, (Navy Agent and late Representative in
Congress) "Flre water" was freely inbbed
on the occasion, and the great Seminole be-
came, ere he was aware of it,
'--hnppy and glorious,
O'er all the ills of life Victorious"
lie got noisy, as well as tipsy,-and, when tip.
sy, he grew lkative,-and, imagining for the
moment that he was back again in the ever
glOdes, boasted that he had whipped the United
States more than once, had killed some five
hundred white men (mOre or less. and could do
as much again. Buwlcgs went on so, that he
had to be carried out. The last we have heard
Of him, he had arrived at New Orleans, where
he was quite lion.
1t is to be hoped that the assurance we have
nOw--' that the Florida War is over" will not
turn out to be only popular fallacy. Billy
Bowlegs has been smoked out, il is lruc,--but
| Il seems there are still ns manv % hrnvns' re.