The Portland daily press., 1869-11-13


126 "a.
Abus;uc ,le Kiuss EnsHsh
"Tet me- make peoples baiiads, SAID
sooo - o,den time, "and 1 don't care who
,,o,,os their laws" 1t never entered that
worhys mind to imagine state of society
where the amphitheatre would be filed with
an audience not one in fifty of whom would
understand syllable the singer uttered
When, on the day of Pentecost the apostles
were moved to speak with "other tongues"
than their native Galilean, it was that the
stranger tarrying at Jerusalem ''out of every
nation under Heaven" might have the divine
message delivered to him in his own language
which he could readily understand. The
tongues were sunknown' only to the passive
vehicles who transmitted the message, but
were readily apprehended by those to whom
it was addressed. In these days, Yankee
girl who finds herself endowed with the
divine gift of song, hastens to Italy and spends
toilsome years there that she may make her
SINGING unintelligible to her countrymen.
That those having the opportunity to profit
by European culture and experience should
avail themselves of it is proper and desirable;
but that they should ever after deem it be-
meath their dignity to employ their vocal
organs upon their own vernacular is absurd.
It is partly TO be attributed to the influence
of foreign education and associations. That
those who have not even this plltry ex-
cuse should crowd the concert-room and
pretend to be delighted with singing of
which they don't comprehend word is not
only ridiculous but pitiable in the extreme.
This is abusing and depreciating the En-
glish language by neglect and tacit approval
of the adoption Of another in our entertain
ments.
A more fragrant abuse is where En-
gish words, names given at the baptismal
font, are latinized and mutilated beyond re-
cognition. This form of pedantic folly is per-
petuated in our college triennials and sane
toned by those numerous Boards, and other |
useless lumber, which cumber the path of |
progress in all the institutions of learning es-
tablished in our midst, What can be more alb
surd than TO find our familiar friends John
Smith and Jacob Bell appearing in the Bow
dom catalogue as johannes" Smith and "Ja-
cobus" Bell? He whose name and reputa-
ton as the good physician" are identified
with Portland is disguised as Guliemus
Wood; and our late Democratic representa-
tive figures as Laurentius d. NJ. Sweat, who |
is declared to have been in Cong. Rerump. |
Foed. Repr.-thus, as it were, giving support
to Andy Johpson's idea that it was Rump
Congress of which Mr.. Sweat was member.
The Latin scholar alone could detect the
name of the world renowned Increase Math-
or in the Harvard triennial under the dis
guise of Mather Crescentius; which nine
tenths of the college graduates would re-
translate Groacing Mather. Can any one
good, solid reason be given for persistng in
this pedantry? If it be important that John
Smiths first name be printed Johannes, why
should not the last be put Faber? Is it any
more scholarly to latnize ones Christian
name than his surname? If Ex-senator Bell
must, in his cass-roll, bear the name of ia
cobus instead of the one his father and |
mother gave him, to be consistent he mus.
exchange his last name for that of Tintipa-
bulum.
Ii DIR. Wood is to be gulled at all, let us |
make thorough work of il and dub him Gull |
elmus Lignum; call Frederick Fox, Fredricus |
Vulpes, and Frank Miller, Jacobus Franciscus |
Moiitor, Esq. But would it not be far prefer
able to give to each man the name his parents |
sc ected for him, and which alone is actually |
his? Weknow ofno justification for misealljng
one in the coll -ge catalogue any more than in
the assessment list or roll-call of the Leeisla-
ture.
This offence to good taste and patriotism |
becomes positive evil when carried to such |
an extent that the prescriptions upon which |
the lie OF patient depends are couched in
terms of which large proportion of our
druggists boys-not to say our druggists |
bave not the faintest conception. The safety |
Of the invalid frequently hangs upon the sa-
gacity of the youthful compounder in select |
Ing such ingredients as he knows ''can't do |
any harm, anyhow" so il they accomplish
aught 1t must be good. If a doctor wants
three ounces of tincture of rhubarb mixed |
with other medicines, would it not be as we'll |
to say SO in plain English as to write "Infusa |
rhei capiat uncids tres?" The law has been !
popularity supposed to be the stroneh) I'D and |
last resort of pedantic old fogyish conserva-
tism; but the Norman French and Latin law
terms have long since been abandoned. The
hard-fisted, common-sense farmers who con-
troll our General Courts took Care of that mat
ter long ago, and declared that all legal pro-
ceedlnss should be in the English language.
We wish it distinctly understood that it is
for the public benefit that we write. Individ-
ually we have no interest in this matter, for
OF course these foreign terms DO not embar- |
rass us. Like all of our fraternity we are |
polyglot. We can say with Hud bras:
- IT'S known peak Greek
AS natural as pigs squeak:
hai Latin il no more difice
Ihan to blackbird its t. whistle"
Those whose only knowledge of us has
been obtained outside our sanctum NAV con-
slider our sudden acquisition of linguistic pow
er as miraculous as that which descended up
on the apostles on the day of Pentecost; but
they do not recollect that whatsoever takes his
seat upon the editorial tripod becomes imme-
diately inspired with oracular wisdom to
know all knowledge. We pray for reform
IN the matters herein adverted to solely for
the sake OF our more benighted and less for
tunate fellow-ctizens.
Political Notes.
The Upper Des Moines gives as a reason
Tor light Republican vote in Kossuth Coun