is I believe common in all parts of America, though not sanctioned by good authorities; the same may be said of the verb to progress, and the adjective lengthy. Of vulgarisms I shall take no notice, further than to remark, that those English travellers who have reported pot-house dialogues where they abound, have shown a contemptible spirit, in wishing by such means to represent the Americans as incapable of speaking good English.

In the grammatical construction of sentences, but little difference between the two countries is observable. Perhaps however the educated part of society in America, are not quite so careful to observe the rules of syntax, as the same class in England; the reason for which I take to be, that not finding it necessary to use endeavours to free themselves from provincialisms in pronunciation, their attention is less called to the niceties of language, than is the case with most Englishmen. I must also remark, that some amongst them seem too fond of adopting those cant expressions, which from time to time become current with persons who affect the airs and behaviour of coachmen, stable-boys and the like; which expressions were condemned by Swift, as the most ruinous of all corruptions in language.

The Americans say, and say correctly, that they have as much right to set themselves up for authorities in the use of words as the English. Still, I cannot help thinking, that it would be better for them not to reject the authority of those standard English authors whose works are our common property. The preservation of our language in uniformity and purity, is the interest of both countries; and as the colonies naturally appeal to England for example in the use of words, America may find her advantage in yielding allegiance. On the other hand, an Englishman or a Scotchman desirous of learning to speak English in such a manner as not to be distinguished for provincial peculiarity, probably he could not do better than to reside for a few years in one of the principal cities in the United States; and if I were asked what city seems to me to have the best pronunciation, I should say that I think it is Baltimore. In Philadelphia and New York, I observed that words with an initial V, were pronounced by some, as if spelt with a W. This is the only one of our vulgar errors with which I can charge them; and as a counterpoise to this I may properly here add, that the Americans universally pronounce the letter H in words where it is preceded by W, as the Scotch and Irish do; whereas the unedu

cated English almost universally pronounce such words as if no H occurred. The only exception to this that has come under my notice, is in that part of Northumberland contiguous to Scotland. Persons of education however, are careful to make the proper distinction between when and wen, whale and wale.

These remarks may appear trifling to some; but those who know how much pains were taken by the Roman rhetoricians to pronounce their language correctly, will not think them unimportant. And those who are fond of observing the mutations and diversities of our language, will be pleased at gaining information of its present state in America.

This is a suitable place for me to mention, that the German spoken in Pennsylvania and the neighbouring parts of New York and Virginia, is very corrupt, being a compound of German, English and I know not what besides. Some idea may be formed of the corruption it has undergone, from a remark made by one with whom I was conversing, which was, that I spoke better German than he did. On smiling at his bantering, he said he was in earnest, for that natives of Germany all told the German Americans of

their bad language, and that mine corresponded with that of the native Germans much more than his. Various as are the dialects in Germany, and bad as some of them are, judging by the most generally approved standards, perhaps the worst is less faulty than that in Pennsylvania. It seems to be what the author of Hudibras calls a Babylonish dialect. I suspect that Adelung, with all his knowledge as a linguist, would be as puzzled with it, as the people in Sir John Mandeville's tale, when they heard the mingled voices which the thaw had freed from their icy fetters.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ORATORY.

IN America, as in all countries where popular government is established, oratory is much studied, it being one of the most powerful means of obtaining the favour of the public. The complaint of Milton, that since the decay of Roman eloquence, no revival has taken place, has been long since refuted. France and England have produced orators, of reputation scarcely inferior to that of Demosthenes or Cicero ; and America may justly be proud of her Patrick Henry, a man whose eloquence illuminated with a sudden glare like that of a meteor, so dazzling and terrific that ́inferior lights were obscured in the blaze. She likewise boasts of the names of Pinckney, Ames and a few others. But of her living orators, there is not, so far as my information reaches, a single name of transcendent merit. I heard some of the most distinguished lawyers in the United States, as well as several of the most active members of Congress; but it was not my lot to hear a single speech which was overpowering. Perhaps the