INGENIOUS CYPHER The following was written by Prof. Whewell at the request We once saw a young man gazing at the *ry heavens, with a in 1 and a of pistols in the other. We endeavored to attract his attention by .ing to a ¶ in a paper we held in our , relating 2 a young man in that § of the country, who had left home in a state of mental derangement. He dropped the † and pistols from his with the! "It is I of whom U read. I left home be4 my friends knew of my design. I had so the of a girl who refused 2 lis10 2 me, but smiled b9nly on another. Ied madly from the house, uttering a wild' 2 the god of love, and without replying 2 the ??? of my friends, came here with this † & of pistols, 2 put a 2 my existence. My case has no | in this §." OXFORD JOKE. A gentleman entered the room of Dr. Barton, Warden of Merton College, and told him that Dr. Vowel was dead. "What!" said he, "Dr. Vowel dead! well, thank heaven it was neither U nor I." In an old church in Westchester county, N. Y., the following consonants are written beside the altar, under the Ten Commandments. What vowel is to be placed between them, to make sense and rhyme of the couplet? P. R. S. V. R. Y. P. R. F. C. T. M. N. ESSAY TO MISS CATHARINE JAY. An SA now I mean 2 write 2 U sweet K T J, The girl without a |, The belle of U T K. I 1 der if U got that 1 I sailed in the R K DA, And sent by L N Moore. My M T head will scarce contain But A T miles from UI must M- this chance 2 write. And 1st, should NE NV U, BE Z, mind it not, Should N E friendship show, B true; From virt U nev RDV 8; A like induces 10 dern S, And if U cannot cut a Or cut an ! I hope U'll put a . 2 17. RU for an X ation 2, My cous N?-heart and He off R's in a ¶ A 2 of land. He says he loves U 2 X S, UR virtuous and Y's, In X LNCUX L All others in his i's. This S A, until UI C, And do not burn in F E G My young and wayward muse. Now fare U well, dear K T J, I trust that U R true When this U C, then you can say, Monosyllables. "And ten low words oft creep in one dull line." SOME of our best writers have very properly taken exception to the above line in Pope's Essay on Criticism, and have shown, by reference to abundant examples, that many of the finest passages in our language are nearly, if not altogether, monosyllabic. Indeed, it could not well be otherwise, if it be true that, as Dean Swift has remarked, the English language is "overstocked with monosyllables." It contains more than five hundred formed by the vowel a alone; four hundred and fifty by the vowel e; nearly four hundred by the vowel i; more than four hundred by the vowel o; and two hundred and sixty by the vowel u; besides a large number formed by diphthongs. Floy has written a lengthy and very ingenious article, entirely in monosyllables, in which he undertakes, as he says, to "prove that short words, in spite of the sneer in the text, need not creep, nor be dull, but that they give strength, and life, and fire to the verse of those who know how to use them." Pope himself, however, has confuted his own words by his admirable writings more effectively than could be done by labored argument. Many of the best lines in the Essay above referred to, as well as in the Essay on Man,-and there are few "dull" or "creeping" verses to be found in either,—are made up entirely of monosyllables, or contain but one word of greater length, or a contracted word pronounced as one syllable. The Universal Prayer-one of the most beautiful and elaborate pieces, both in sentiment and versification, ever produced in any language-contains three hundred and four words, of which there are two hundred and forty-nine monosyllables to fifty-five polysyllables, thus averaging but one of the latter to every line. A single stanza is appended as a specimen :- If I am right, thy grace impart Still in the right to stay; If I am wrong, oh, teach my heart To find that better way! Rogers, conversing on this subject, cited two lines from Eloisa to Abelard, which he declared could not possibly be improved : Pant on thy lip, and to thy heart be press'd; Give all thou canst-and let me dream the rest. Among the illustrations employed by Floy, are numerous selections from the hymnology in common congregational use, such as the following: Sweet is the work, my God, my King, To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing; And talk of all thy truth at night.—WATTS. Are there no foes for me to face? Is this vile world a friend to grace O might I feel thee in my heart!-C. WESLEY. The same writer, to show Shakspeare's fondness for small words, and their frequent subservience to some of his most masterly efforts, enters upon a monosyllabic analysis of King Lear, quoting from it freely throughout. Those who read the play with reference to this point will be struck with the remarkable number of forcible passages made up of words of one syllable: Thou know'st the first time that we smell the air, We wawl and cry: I will preach to thee; mark me. To this great stage of fools.-This a good block?-Act IV. Sc. 6. The following occurs in the play of King John, where the King is pausing in his wish to incite Ilubert to murder Arthur: Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet; I had a thing to say.-But let it go.-Act III. Sc. 3. But who I was, or where, or from what cause, From whom I have that thus I move and live?-Paradise Lost, B. VIII. Herrick says, in his address to the daffodils: We have short time to stay as you, We have as short a spring; As quick a growth to meet decay We die As your hours do, and dry Like to the rain, Or as the pearls of dew. Now I am here, what thou wilt do for me, I read, and sigh, and wish I were a tree, For sure I then should grow To fruit or shade: at least some bird might trust Her household to me, and I should be just.-GEORGE HERBERT Thou who hast given me eyes to see And love this sight so fair, Give me a heart to find out Thee, And read Thee everywhere.-KEBLE. The bell strikes one. We take no note of time Save by its loss; to give it then a tongue Were wise in man.-YOUNG. Ah, yes! the hour is come When thou must haste thee home, Pure soul! to Him who calls. The God who gave thee breath Walks by the side of death, And naught that step appalls.-LANDOR. New light new love, new love new life hath bred; |