The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-03-19

names, bayonet from Bayonne, the place
where that weapon was invented and ptsto
from Pistoia. The potent word dollar ].
from the German haler, term derived
from Joachimsthal valley OF Joachim),
little mining town where that silver coir
was first made.
A variety Of words in the English are
the result of apparent accident, having
undergone certain contractions without
any obvious law or system. This is the
case especially with French words used by
persons not familiar with the idiom from
which they were borrowed. In their new
form they may be convenient additions to
our vocabulary, but have lost all their
original significance and grace. Thus pierre
(stone) became pier ueStiaire IA robing-
room) uestry; chaufer ito heat) chafe and
chaf; feuille IA leaf) foil. The French
dent de lion Cion's tooth) is Anglicised into
dandelion, or as it has sometimes been
spelt, into dandy lion; the beautiful rose
dss quatre saiSonS (of the four seasons)
into one of quarter sessions; and the fra
grant tubere,lSe "a tuberous plant) into tube
rose. A dormouse is the French sowis
dorme,Lse sleeping mouse); a SummerSet,
made by politicians, is the rope-dancer's
soubresauH dumping over) and another
frequent political situation, quandary is
from the French qudnd duudi-je, according
to the author, which is unmeaning, but
may come from gu en- dirai,je (rhat shall
say Of IT..
Mr.. Schele De We're discusses at some
length the different uses of the verbs shall
and ,oiH, by which Scotchman, an Irish
man, or an American southerner infallibly
betrays his origin, as distinguished from a
native of England or of New England, but
fails to throw any clear light on the per-
picking mystery. He gives up the pro-
blem in despair, asserting that there is no
absolute rule laid down by any grammarian
that will apply to all cases.
On the contrary, we think that the for
mula will hold good without exception,
that when the simple idea of future occur
renee is to be expressed, you must use
shall in the first person, and ,oiH in the Sc
cond and third persons, but when the idea
of compulsion or necessity is intended,
,oiH must be employed in the first person,
and shall in the second and third-the
phraseol0gy in the two cases being direct
| ly the reverse Of each other. Thus, to say
that certain event ,oiH happen (mere fu-
turity), the form is as follows: shall die,
you ,oiN die, he ,oiH die. But to say that a
certain event shall happen (compulsioD,
necessity, or determination,) the form is
1 ,oiH die, you shall die, he shall die.
The author acknowledges this double fu-
ture as a great beauty of the English lam
guage, but regards its correct use as hardly
attainable by foreigners, there being no
sure guide but that instinct which is given
to all who learn language with their
mothers milk, or who acquire it so sue
cessfully as to master its spirit as well as
its form. His own example shows the cor
rectness Of his remark; for although in
general he uses our language with idiomatic
propriety and force, he often fails in the
true application Of the verbs in question,
which may be due either to his foreign
birth or his southern associations. Thus
Up. ~, "We 1r0uld err grievously, how
ever, if we were to conclude" &c.
in which case should is the proper word.
Again Up. l40), If we go back to the
oldest forms Of English, we ,oiN there tind,"
&c., instead of shall, which no English
writer would think twice before using.
Another doubtful form which has crept
into our language from the German, but
without classical authority, "in our midst "
(page y, "in whose midst" (page l3) ap-
pears to be used by the author without
scruple. But these are minor blemishes in
work which every competent judge will
regard as valuable acquisition to the stu
dent of English philology, and not sufficient
to impair the friendly welcome which it
deserves by its various and sound learning,
its pregnant suggestions, and, in general,
the remarkable ability of its execution.