The poor and the needy mourned for him especially, for he had taught the religion of love as much in his actions as in his words. The following instance will prove this. tionary and writings. To this great authority, I will add that of Dr. Barrow, who, in his book on education, strongly recommends the use of the k in terminations. Our excellent He once visited, as he often used grammarian, Murray, says, Many to do, a sick parishioner, and found writers of latter years omit the kin him on a hard mattrass: he asked words of two or more syllables;" him, kindly, where the bed was and observes, very judiciously, that which he had found him lying upon "this practice is productive of irreguthe last time he saw him? Ah! larities, such as writing 'mimic and sighed forth the unfortunate, I was mimickry,* traffic and trafficking.' compelled to sell it, to bury my wife Yet to this custom, "productive" as with the money he then asked, he acknowledges it to be, "of irrewhence arose that unpleasant smell in his room? The distressed invalid shewed him, that the corpse of his wife, for want of money to bury her, had been kept in the house too long, and occasioned the smell. DIED RICH, touched with pity, not only bought him his bed again, but made arrangements for the interment of the deceased, and sent him food and cordials till he was restored to health. [To be continued.]· gularities," which our best gramma rians have concurred in their endeavours to diminish, he has, by his practice, added the weight of his authority. But these irregularities have an operation much more extensive than that which Mr. Murray has pointed out. To this, and at the same time to the inconsistency of these writers, I wish to direct your particuJar attention. They do not reject the k from all words of two or more syllables," nor from any word of one syllable: thus the advocates for " mu On the IMPROPRIETY of not using sic, physic, comic, poetic," who ne the Letter "K" to certain Words. "Non sunt contemnenda quasi parva, sine quibus contare magua non possunt." IN SIR, N submitting the following observations to your attention, and to that of your numerous readers, I am aware that I endeavour to eradicate a custom now grown so inveterate as probably to defy the force of any arguments, however strong, which may be urged in favour of its discontinuance. Of established usage as it has, in general, reason for its foundation, I would not be understood as wishing to diminish the authority: but to custom, when it is found to be arbitrary, capricious, and unsupported by reason, I cannot hesitate to refuse my allegiance, especially in writing or speaking a language. The practice to which I allude is the rejection of the final k from the words "publick, musick," &c. Dr. Johnson, from whose decisions, whether in morals or in literature, there seldom lies an appeal, says that "c, according to English orthography, never ends a word;" and he has accordingly retained the k final throughout his dic vertheless do not hesitate to write back, crack, trick, stick, clock, rock," &c. would think it absurd to write "arrac, attac, barrac, ransac, bulloc, billoc, hammoc, mattoc, haddoc, paddoc:" yet surely the absurdity is not greater or more obvious in one word than in another. I will here give you a very curious specimen of orthography, evidently arising from the innovation of which I now complain. Reading, in a respectable morning paper, a long article, in which the words traffick and trafficking" frequently occurred, I observed that the k was not only struck off from the former, but from the latter. I at first naturally supposed it to be an error of the press; but seeing both The irregularity here would be better illustrated by substituting the word "mimicking;" for, admitting "mimic" to be the correct orthography, analogy (unless indeed its authority be at once formally, as it has long been virtually, denied) requires that the k in " mimickry" be omitted, especially as, in this instance, it is not necessary to the proper sound of the word. the words still recur in the same share in determining the actions of form, I concluded that the author, mankind. noticing the irregularity of the usual The love of liberty is a most noble orthography, rather than restore the pass on, and has frequently stimulated k to the verb, determined on rejecting its possessor to the most heroic deeds. it from the participle, an absurdity so In defence of it the sword has been palpable that it is surprising it could frequently unsheathed, and not a few escape even the most careless writer. have preferred a premature death to Even proper names are not secure the highest offices of state under the from this innovation. We already controul of an arbitrary tyrant. But see Frederic, Dominic, Roderic, our business is not to seek for exthen why not Patric? It is, therefore, not improbable but we may soon see "Garric, Derric, Merric, Berwic, Warwic, Limeric, Woodstoc, Tavistoc." As analogy and etymology are our only guides in orthography, let us not, by forsaking them and following the dictates of caprice, render ineffectual the labours of our 66 great lexicographer," and of our most eminent grammarians. If, in your opinion, these remarks are not unworthy of the pages of the Universal Magazine, the insertion of them will greatly oblige Your admirer and tremes, but to confine ourselves to the general tenor of human life. It is hence we are to draw our conclusions; for here only can we form any just idea of man, and of the principles by which he is actuated. The love of liberty seems to be a very prevailing passion. In this our highly favoured isle it pervades all ranks: the rich and the poor, the peer and the peasant, seem equally sensible of its value, and combine to defend it from every encroachment, The liberty of his country, of his family, of his friends, is a sacred pledge which heaven has committed to the care of every true born Briton, for which he would cheerfully sub-mit to every privation, would readily make the most costly sacrifices, yea, would willingly spend the last drop of his blood in its defence. This is the only country where liberty is fully enjoyed, and the only place other countries are citi where we can see its genuine effects. liberty is, in a great measure, subdued; a long series of oppression and habits of servility have either annihilated the spirit or made it inactive. The inhabitants have never known its blessings, therefore do not seek the enjoyment of them; or, on the other hand, it has degenerated into a spirit of turbulent democracy, equally subversive of the rights of man. Two of these grand moving causes are the love of liberty and the love of woman. The former of these I shall define, a perfect freedom from restraint both of body and mind; but But the love of personal liberty is such a freedom as is consistent with common to every man, to whatever the laws of a mild and equitable go- nation he may belong, under whatvernment, which is absolutely neces- ever climate he may be born. A sary to the very being of true liberty, condition of slavery or confinement -The latter principle is too well is repugnant to every faculty of the known to need any explanation. soul; and that mind must be broken Every bosom has one time or other indeed, and lost to every sense of felt the pleasing pain: the most sa- manly feeling, who would not sacrivage heart has been subdued by the fice a hundred lives, if he possessed soft emotion. Let us then consider them, to obtain his freedom. Man the influence of each, and endeavour cannot bear restraint in any situation, to discover which has the greatest and the very appearance of it renders irksome many an employment in which he might otherwise take delight. Look at the active youth just entered on the term of his apprenticeship: how eagerly does he long for the period to arrive when he shall have completed that term and become his own master. To this period he looks forward with anxious expectation, and blesses every revolving sun which brings him nearer the wished-for point. ought to be called into action to support it. But the love of liberty, however strong the passion, must yield her share in the government of the human heart to the love of woman. This passion knows no bounds, acknowledges no laws. With a mighty force it breaks through every obstacle that might intervene between the subject of it and the beloved object, and, like a rushing torrent, bears To what cause can we assign the down every thing that would impede innumerable classes of mendicants its progress. For the love of woman, that infest our streets, but to this man would forego his dearest rights, innate principle of independence and even liberty itself, and voluntarily love of liberty. The laws of this submit to the most galling yoke. The country make an ample provision for love of liberty is sometimes subdued; the wants of every individual; and instances of which may be frequently those who make vagrancy a trade, do seen among that unfortunate class of it in open violation of them, and are, mankind, the slaves. Long accusconsequently, liable to punishment. tomed to habits of servitude, and to But this is the most trifling, or rather obey the nod of their imperious masno obstacle in their way. Rather than ters, they forget their natural rights submit to confinement and restraint as men, and fully acquiesce in their within the walls of a workhouse, miserable condition. There may be where they might be warmly clothed and comfortably fed, they prefer a wandering life, exposed to every inclemency of the season, with nothing but hunger and rags, to such a provision with such a restraint.-What an instance do we meet with of the love of liberty in the gypsey tribe. These elude the vigilance of every law, and trample on all the rights of man. Confined to no settled place of abode, they range the country through, and pitch their camps wherever convenience or inclination lead them. They lay every rank of society under a kind of contribution, and what they cannot gain by entreaty, they procure by artifice and fraud. a few noble spirits among them, whose lofty minds no oppression can tame, nor the severest tortures can subdue: yet instances have not been wanting of those, who, after having been emancipated from slavery, have voluntarily entered it again for a small quantity of spirituous liquors or tobacco. But even in these breasts the love of woman is not subdued. She still holds her empire there, and is frequently the sole directress of his actions. If we take a view of the married state, we shall find another striking proof of the superior influence of female attractions. When a man enters this important stage of his life, It is for liberty the labouring kind he must renounce a great portion of will toil from morning till night, and his liberty, and become the slave of sustain the heats of summer and the woman. In this condition he must colds of winter, the chill damps of renounce that freedom of mind, that morning and the scorching blaze of freedom of will, that freedom of afthe midday sun, without repining. fection, that freedom of action, which When he has finished the labour of he before possessed, and must, in a the day, and the shades of evening measure, submit them all to the diapproach, he can retire to his humble, rection of his fair tyrant. With her peaceful dwelling, with a heart un- he must consult in all his undertak fettered by any chain, and enjoy that ings; he must enter into no engagefreedom there which the nobleman ment without her approbation. Not possesses in his mansion or the king but that, where love abounds, these in his palace. Freedom, both of body sacrifices, these concessions will be and mind, is one of the rights of mutual; but still they must be made man, and every energy of the soul in order to secure the happiness of the married state. Far be it from me to insinuate here, that matrimony is an object to be dreaded on these accounts; neither would I by any means deter man from entering upon it; but, on the contrary, would recommend the union of two kindred souls, ever anxious to promote each other's happiness, as the highest pitch of human felicity. Love will make such a slavery delightful, will deem no sacrifice too great to augment the pleasures of the beloved object. Hence, then, we consider the love of woman to be the more powerful passion, and consequently possesses greater influence over the actions of men. And that however deep the love of liberty may be rooted in the human heart, and whatever sacrifices a man may make for the enjoyment of it, he will make much greater, and even immolate liberty herself, at the shrine of the beloved object. London, June 20, 1809. C. S. EDMUND DE WATTEVILLE. A NORMAN TALE. Translated from the GERMAN. For the Universal Magazine. THE HE evening began to close, and the lowering clouds threatened an approaching storm, while the keen north wind, which whistled through the leafless branches of the forest, presented an aspect of desolation to the weary traveller. To a mind less hardy than that of EDMUND's, this would have been sufficient to deter from braving its united horrors by entering, that night, the immense wood which now stretched before him. But he was impelled by a motive superior to any consideration of personal danger; all subordinate apprehensions were absorbed in the greater one of being too late to stop a dreadful sacrifice to resentment. Thus incited, he spurred his willing steed, and entered at once the gloomy track which lay before him. Unconscious, or fearless of danger, he omitted the precaution of loading the fire-arms which he had about him; he was anxious only to reach the Chateau de Rouligne, yet twenty leagues distant, ere sun rise the next morning; for he knew the horrid UNIVERSAL MAG. VOL. XII. deed which would be perpetrated should he be later. Let us then leave him for a while pursuing his journey, and take a retrospect of the events which had occurred previously to the present juncture. Edmund de Watteville was the only son of an opulent Norman lord, and he was, consequently, the peculiar object of paternal solicitude and affec tion. He was educated according to the received modes of his age; and, in conformity to the popular opinion, was taught to consider military prowess as the highest attainable excellence of man. The softer arts of life, and the polish which fits an individual for the more gentle intercourse of society, were entirely neglected; feats of arms, tournaments, battles, sieges, distressed damsels, and infuriate tyrants, glowed in his youthful bosom, and gave a romantic ardour to his thoughts, which held forth a promise of future excellence, beyond what even a fond parent could wish for. He was early distinguished by a spirit of resistance, and a sanguinary severity of resentment, which, in that age, bore the false appellations of magnanimity and honour. While yet a youth he had signalized himself at the head of a few chosen men, by repelling the attack of a desperate banditti on the estate of a neighbouring lord. But as he advanced in years, his courage became gradually hardened into desperate ferocity, and warlike force obtained for him what. might be denied to justice or entreaty. His father, though he beheld with admiration the martial qualities of his son, yet often reflected with anxiety upon the impetuosity of his temper, which, united with such qualities, might, he feared, lead to the most fatal consequences. Sometimes, indeed, he would endeavour to awaken in the mind of Edmund a sense of the necessity of curbing his passions ; but his admonitions were ineffectual, and often drew from the youth some bitter taunt or sarcastic reflection.— "You must be sensible," he would often observe," how little can be gained by coercion. Force will be repelled by force, and insult by insult; and though superior numbers or courage may for a time enable B you to remain triumphant, yet the of a murdered father. Giving the injury which is unprovoked can never rein, one day, to his sanguinary be forgotten; and those whom you passion, he exclaimed, "Oh Nature! despoil to-day, may in their turn to why didst thou not give me power morrow despoil you. Remember, equal to my will? Why was I that warfare is not the peculiar right not rather the aspiring offspring of a of one man; it is the privilege of all; regal sire, than of him whom the and he, who, by petty depredations world now calls my father? I would and wanton insults, makes every man have been familiar with slaughter, his enemy, must expect one day to ere the dawn of manhood bloomed become the victim of every man's upon my cheek. Groans of death revenge. I would teach you, that should have been the most pleasing forbearance alone can command re- music to my ears, and I would have spect, happiness, or safety; and that glutted my sight with the writhings a promptitude to support justice, to of condemned victims, when drops redress grievances, and to protect of agony stood upon their brow, and virtue, should be united with a heart their whole frame shook with the formed for social happiness, and an tremblings of convulsed nature. understanding willing to discriminate These should have been my delight: between rectitude and obliquity." these must be it.-I cannot calm the phrenzy of mind which pants for pleasures congenial to its feelings!" These cautions, however, had but little effect upon the conduct of Edmund. He still gloried in recounting how many had fallen by his arm, and what new attempts he purposed making upon the property of others. His anxious sire beheld with affliction how obnoxious he every day became to the surrounding nobles, and foresaw that a few months would inevitably involve him in that ruin which his profligate son was hourly accumulating over his head. Reduced to the last extremity, he resolved to use coercive measures, and however painful to his feelings, yet the general safety of himself and family demanded that he should restrain his licentious conduct., He therefore compelled him to keep within the bounds of his own domain, and by dismissing all his retainers, he reduced him to the necessity of abandoning, at least for a time, his predatory conduct. The fiery youth raged, in vain, at this decree; imperious circumstances demanded it, and the father yielded to no entreaties. Such depravity could be restrained by no common means. But he had hypocrisy equal to his other passions, and he af length assumed an apparent tranquillity of mind and deportment, which easily deceived the willing father, who was anxious to believe what he had long wished. Several days elapsed in this manner, during which frequent conversations took place between them. Nothing now appeared which could excite the smallest suspicion as to the truth of the change, and he was finally restored to that perfect liberty which his licentiousness had forfeited. It was now that he began to reflect how he should resume his former conduct, and yet not expose himself to similar consequences. His retainers were dismissed, his expenses were retrenched, and his actions watched with unceasing attention. Thus circumstanced, he felt it necessary to lull every fear asleep by a continuance of his peaceable During this restriction many fruit- deportment. He appeared, therefore, less attempts were made to soften the to enjoy with all possible zest the ferocity of his nature, and to lead him conversation and amusements of his back to reason and humanity. He family. He would often join in the resisted them all by a sullen silence, chace of the wild boar with his fawhich he never broke except when ther and the other neighbouring noalone. Then, sometimes, he expiated blemen, and partake with them its upou the scenes of blood which be various amusements. His evenings would one day triumph in; and often he spent in domestic enjoyments, in the height of his savage exulta- and in the placid occupations of the tion at imaginary sacrifices, he would female part of his family. His modare to intermingle the ideal groans ther, ever anxious for the welfare of |