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For A Friend of the Family. Mr. Editor: In looking over the Api 1 number of the North American Review, for the present year, I met with an ably written article on the Pronunciation of the Latin Lan guage- Entertaining the opinion that a free circulation of tracts of this sort would tend greatly to promote the cause of truth, by disnbusing our minds of erroneous impressions, I have deter mined to offer it for insertion in your useful Family Journal, in the hope, that the subject, of which it treats, may meet with that fair and candid consideration which its importance seems to demand. Let it no longer be said of us, that O “We know the right, and we approve it too, Condemn the wrong’, but still the wrong pursue.” Let us endeavor to attain, as far as practicable, a correct knowledge of the old, and consequently of the £re,~pronun ciation of the classic tongues of antiquity ; and, by tins means, shall we be enabled to restore to them that harmony and ele gance by which they were once so eminently distinguished. It is full time that the reign of bigotry and prejudice should cense; and that innovation, in its rapid strides from bad to i worse, should bo arrested. It is uot pretended that the subject is free from difficulties; nor is it here maintained, that all the niceties in the pronun ciation of ancient Greece and Rome are accurately known, or have been definitively settled ; but because we cannot attain to the whole truth, shall we, for that reason, reject that por tion of it which is indisputably within our grasp ? I leave any candid and unprejudiced mind to answer this question. I now take leave of the subject, with a recommendation of llie article to the careful attention of your intelligent readers. VERA PRONUNTIATIO. N. B.—l have taken the liberty of adding some things, which are contained in brackets. PRONUNCIATION OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE. “ It is impossible,” says Yolney, “in passing in review the different alphabets of Europe, to see without surprise, that nations proud of their progress in the sciences and arts have remained so far behind in the most elementary science of all, the science indeed which serves as the base of this vast, complicated edifice of civilization. The alphabetic methods of our Europe are true caricatures.* Irregularities, incoherences, defi ciences, redundancies appear in the Spanish and Italian alphabets, in the German, the Polish, and the Dutch; as for those of the French and Eng lish, they are disorder itself.” The English alphabet is the most confused and disordered of all. Yet no modern tongue began its career as a written language under better au spices than the Anglo-Saxon. The Roman alpha bet was adapted to this language with excellent judgment. The characters of this alphabet were employed to denote the sounds which the two languages had in common ; while, to represent those which were wanting in the Latin, charac ters were invented or were borrowed from other alphabets. The disorder which prevails in the notation of our language is not to be attributed to our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. It is to be ascribed chiefly to the Norman ascendency in England, arid to the influence which the superior civiliza tion of the French gave them over the higher classes in that country, who not only imitated their more refined neighbors in matters in which they were worthy to give example, but—led by that blind devotion to a vague idea of fashion, which, it must be confessed, is the weakness of the English, and. by inheritance, our own—fol lowed them in their errors with equal zeal. No where are the effects of this idle subserviency more evident, or more injurious, than in the dis order which it has introduced into the notation of our language. Our alphabet, indeed, ns at pres ent pronounced,t would appear to be framed for the service only of that inconsiderable portion of our language which is derived from the corrupted Latin ; and we have, in a manner, shut ourselves out from all chance of detecting and reforming our errors, by adopting, in our pronunciation of Latin, all the Frankish corruptions, and by even adding to these the numerous irregularities and caprices which —the standard of reason being once abandoned have continually introduced themselves unchecked into the English language. We have already spoken, in a former article, of the defective and disordered state of the English alph abet, and of the increased difficulty which | we experience in the study of other languages, and in the pursuit of the science of language it self, from the false and imperfect manner in which the groundwork of our education is laid. To introduce at once a radical reform into the writing of the English language is a task hardly possible of accomplishment ; and, even if it were possible, we believe that it is very little desirable that such a reform should be attempted at the present time, when the very low state of philolo gical science among us leaves little room to hope that such a plan would be judiciously executed. Amendments in the spelling or pronunciation of a living language can only take place very grad ♦ An exception should here be made in favor of the Rus sian and some other of the Sclavonic alphabets. The author resets to those nations using the Roman alphabet. f We refer here more particularly to the mispronunciation • ot the letters which, with the Romans, represented the gut turals, and which still represent them with us, in all pure English words, as in can, get, &c. We now attribute toe in our alphabet the sound of s, though its name in the Roman alphabet was that which we give to the kin ours. This was also the sound'which it denoted in all Anglo-Saxon, as well as in all Latin words. \\ e give to tno g, whose proper sound in English, ns well ns in Latin, is that which it has in get, give , &c.. the sound which is also denoted in our alphabet by the character j, a soun.J unknown to the Anglo-Saxon, and also to the pure Latin, though it is supposed to have existed in some of the rustic dialects. ually, and are to be brought about only by pucly a general diffusion of knowledge, as shall bringj the people, whose property the language is, to a sense of the necessity of them. A great deal may j be done to this end by the introduction of a very j simple reform reeommended by Dr. Ivraitsir. ; He proposes that in teaching the alphabet, the; letters shall be called by the names given to them in the Roman and in the Anglo-Saxon alphabet, and which express the sounds which these letters invariably represented in those languages.* By this means the correct pronunciation would be the rule, and the deviations from it would be known as the exceptions. Another advantage arising from this reform would be, that it would draw attention to the derivation of our words ; the very defects of our alphabet would, in this way, become instructive ; the discrepancy between the char acter and the sound would suggest the history of the mispronounced word, and even the common reader would readily trace the affinities between our Latin-derived words, and the older and more original part of our language, from which they now appear almost wholly disconnected. Dr. Ivraitsir proposes another measure of re form, yet more easy of introduction, since its adoption depends upon the more educated class es. This is the restoration of the correct pronun ciation of Latin in our schools. The Latin is a language of the utmost importance to the student of philology. Forming, as it does, the ground work of p.n important class of the languages of modern Europe, and being, at the same time, in timately allied with the ‘Teutonic and the Celtic, it forms the connecting link between these several! classes; and as these have each contributed to j the formation of our language, a correct knowl-j edge of the Latin is peculiarly important to the English student. But, by forcing upon the Latin lhe corruptions which have found place in the languages derived from it, we destroy its utility in this respect, while at the same time, we rob it of all that its antiquity should give it of venerable and dignified. The restoration of the correct pronunciation of the Latin would also be found of great advantage in giving a knowledge of the true nature and pur pose of an alphabet. The learning to spell and pronounce any one language correctly would, indeed, have a great effect in clearing from our minds that perplexity in regard to all matters connected with the study of language, which, involving them, as it does, from earliest infancy, is a fatal hinderance to “our progress, clogging every step wiih doubt and in security. The ancient languages offer greater advantages, in this view, than any modern tongues that come within the ordinary compass of our study; inasmuch as the notation of sounds in them is regular and consistent, the same character never being employed to represent articulations belonging to different classes. For, with the an cients, the office of letters was truly—as Quinti lian expresses it—to preserve sounds, and render them up to the reader, as a pledge entrusted to their care. But we lose entirely the benefit we might derive, in this respect, from the study of die ancient languages, and more especially of the Latin, carrying into our pronunciation of that the errors and ‘inconsistencies that perplex our own. We introduce the'same 4 con fusion among the vowel sounds.f The character which, in one position, represents the short sound of one vowel, in another position, denotes the long sound of quite another.! We pronounce and b ihongs as simple vowels, simple vowels as diph thongs.]! C andg, when they come before c and i, no longer stand for gutturals; the proper sound of c is displaced by a sibilant; that of gis changed to a harsh palatal.§ We give to i wh n t stands before a vowel, the same harsh sound. * The proportion which the Teutonic part of the Engl'sh language bears to that which is taken from the Latin, and the modern languages derived from it, is somewhat more than that ot three to one. When, from the foreign portion of our language, we deduct those words in which the root letters remain uncorrupted—the gutturals retaining, even in Latin and French-derived words, their original power before three of the vowels, and before the liquids l and r—it will be appa rent, that it is only to a very small portion of our language that our alphabet, as at present pronounced, is applicable. t In the Roman alphabet, the a has the sound which we give it in ah ,* the e as the a in came j thez as we pronounce ein be. The diphthongal sound which is given to i in the English alphabet was denoted in Latin by ~ae, and, more an ciently, by ai, as in the Greek. t Thus i npava, we give to the a, in the first syllable, the long sound of e; in the second its own short sound/ In decern, the first e is pronounced as i; the secoud has its proner |i The i of dico is pronounced ai ; the ae of caedo, i. In primaevus , the diphthong and the simple vowel are made to change places. The simple vowel i in the first syllable be coming a diphthong ; the diphthong ae, in the second syllable, taking the sound of i. J §As in duc-o, duc-ere ; which we pronounce duco, du scre ; leg-o, leg-ere. which we pronounce lego, lejere. IF As in iung-o, iung-ere , pro nounced by us, jungo, junjere. It is impossible to imagine a more unpleasant combination of sounds than that heard in these words and the English ones directly derived from them; as junction, Ac. The older English words from the same root still keep the original sound: as yoke, Ac. This mode of pronouncing the i consonant is likewise a fertile source of perplexity to ffie y > un "“nt! who attempts to fathom toe mysteries of scanning. lie is told, for example, that the a of magis is short; but that the a of major (manor) islong, in virtue of tho consonant wffiich fol lows it. Yet he is taught to give to the jof the one, and he <goi the other, the same sound. Major or maiior is in fact the regular comparative of magnus ; (the n os magnus being cas nal,) the g softened into i (as in royal from regalis) makes a diphthong with the vowel a, and it is this which gives its loiw quantity tathe first syllable. The sound which the iin Latin had before a vowel is represented in English by y • as Lat Cugum ; Goth, juk ; Eng., yoke. The only word, we believe’, in which we still represent this sound bv j, is hallelujah. The barbarous manner in which the Latin lan-| guage is pronounced by the English has long been the subject of the animadversion ol foreigners, and the regret of their own scholars. It is allowed, on all hands, that this pronunciation of Latin not only carries into that harmonious language many harsh and discordant sounds which are wholly foreign to it, but that it perplexes the student with a vast number of irregularities that have no place in the language itsell; and that it is destructive of the beauty of Latin poetry, since it is absolutely j incompatible with the just quantity of syllables, j These objections to the mode oi pronouncing j Latin now prevalent in England and this country are obvious to all who will yield an unprejudiced attention to the subject ; there are other evils in volved in it, which lie deeper, and which, in the view of the philologist, are yet more serious. To be Continued. ~~~ B&I&KE’S INTENT, FI RE-PROOF PAINT, FROM OHIO. n.xHis singular and valuable Substance is sold in fine powder, j A then mixed with linseed oil to the consistency of thick paint, and applied with a* brush, and after an exposure of a few months to the atmosphere, this coating becomes a perfect slate or coat of mail protecting whatever is covered from the action of the weather and horn lire. It is a mineral substance, and has been found upon analyzation by Dr. Chilton, of the city of New York, to consist ot larger pro portions of Silicia Alumine, Prot. Oxide of Iron and Magnesia, with lesser of Lime and Carbon. It is used extensively for cover ing roofs of i ither shingles, matched boards, tin, zinc,sheet iron or thick paper, if your shingles have been on for years, you have only to sweep off the moss and lint, with a stiff broom, and cover with two or three good coats, and in a few months you hav e a perfect slate I roof, impervious to the action of the weather and /?re. There is j nothing equal to it for steamboats and car decks, for all kinds of iron, | it forms a coaling nearly as hard as the iron itself, and never cleaves j off. It should boused for everything that you wish to protect from fire and weather. In -o me places a spurious article has been sold as the genuine, therefore purchasers should be careful to buv of authorized Agents. Every Bbl. is marked BLAKE’S FIRE PROOF PAINT. The above Paint is for sale by C- A. L. LAMAR sept ]3 ts Savannah, Ga. FALL AMD WINTER CLOTHING; TO the Merchants of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ala bama and Florida.—The subscribers having established a house in this city for the sale of READY MADE CLOTHING in connection with an extensive Manufacturing establishment in New ark, N. J., where one of the firm gives his personal attention en tirely to tha manufacture, while the other devotes himself to the receipt and sale of the same in Savannah. Possessing these advan tages, we flatter ourselves that we can compete with any establish ment in the United States in Price, style and workmanship, We w receiving our Fall and Winter supply, to which we invite entionof merchants, planters, and the public in general, sept 6 1 PIERSON & HE IDT. ~r7~s. hard wick & cookeT FACTORS & COMMISSION MERCHANTS, Savannah, Ga. y | HIE Undersigned have associated themselves, under the above \ A style, in the business above specified. Mr. Hardwick is a Planter of Hancock county, and, of course, identified infeelmgand interest with his brother Planters. Mr. Cooki: is a citizen of Sa vannah, and is thoroughly acquainted with all the branches of the Commission Business. We are prepared to make liberal advances on produce instore, and will fill orders for Plantation and Family Supplies with scrupu lous care. We arc mutually bound not to speculate in Cotton or any other article of Merchandise. We respectfully solicit patronage and pledge ourselves to deserve it by faithful attention to the business entrusted to us. R. S. HARDWICK, aug 23 J. G. COOKE. Staves. PERSONS in the country desirous of engaging in getting out Staves, are informed that the preparation required for foreign export is as follows : To be made either out of White Gakov Water Oak Trees. Length, from 42 to 44 inches. Breadth, not less than 4 or more than 7 inches. Thickness, not less than I or more than inches on the thincst part of the thinest edge. The back and edge of the Stave should be dressed down to the same thickness—should have a clear cleft or split, and be free from knots, crooks, and worm-holes. Staves prepared in conformity with this specification will be re ceived al the fuil market price during the ensuing autumn and inter. I lcsenf \alue, thirty-five dollars per one thousand pieces - AN DR’ W LOW & CO. JAM E S SULLIV AN, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL MANUFACTURER OF TIN WARE, Sheet Iron, Copper and Zinc, and dealer in Ja fl panned, Britannia and planished Ware, also in all kinds of SIO\ Some of the best and most approved patterns of COOKING STOVES will be kept on hand during the season, as well as a variety of other Stoves Stove work of all kinds will be piompliV attended to. Bathing tubs and Pans, also Hand Shower Baths for sale. All orders for Tin Ware are solicited. Casbpur chasers will be supplied at prices as low as thev can buy in New Y ork or anywhere Au £ _ No. 12 Whitaker-sf reet, near Bay. JOHN A. GEORGE. PLATE, SHEET fflO GOFFER, ZINC AND LEAD WORKER, No. SO, St. Julian Street. r nilE S ibscriber wou;d inform the public that lie engages no L hands but those who are fully competent to turn out work in dil I branches of his business faithfully and workmanlike, at the s ortest notice. Particularly Ship and House Plumbing. A Go >d Wso t ment of Manufactured Tin Ware will hereafter be kept constantly on hand at low prices for Cash. Orders from the County punctually attended to. ]y aug 2.3 PAIN I AND OIL STORE, west sinn of monument! square. JOHN G. FALLIGANT invites his friends and the public generally, both from town and country, to call and ex amine his stock before they purchase. Every article is selected by himself and will be warranted of the best quality, and he will sell at low prices and on accommodating teims. W r HIiE LEAD.—IO,OOO LBS. Atlantic White Lead, war ranted pure ; 4000 English do. do. do. For sale by J. G. FALL IGA NT, W ,NDO JL^ S 1 lES , ANO miNOS.Zr.OOO iishh.rtby 10 oas/i , _OOO d° ] 0 by 12 do; 1000 do assorted sizes: 100 pair \ enetian Blinds, assorted sizes. For sale by Au - 2 J G., FALLIGANT. Window {>< lass. TfM) E -°o E , S A™?!' -an and Fr-nch Window Glass, from n it oiZ L to ,, IGX rl 8 ’ lo',I o ', ‘* o ’ do ’ Coacf > and Picture do. n lo 2xlß to 3ux44. I’or sale bv Au S- ‘ j. G. FALLIGANT Tiirpeitiiise. “I BARRELS City Distilled, for sale bv JLSJ Aug J- G. FALLIGANT. SITUATION WANTED A S £™c.S^ EEPEEI b - V a ntan. Good Apply auhis Office! * “ y pe "° n t ■ —ice. HOWARD HOUSE, MARIETTA, GEORGIA WE are gratified to inform the public, and especially t rav i, from the low country, that the Howard House passed into our agency, we are determined to do away v\iH Vln * complaints that Marietta does not afford the requisite convex ! ** by which visiters would be induced to sojourn in this delightful cality. Ul ,0 * The Howard Mouse is now renovated, and accommodations pared which cannot tail to please. ’1 he chambers are pleasant conveniently furnished. The table will be amply supplied ’T every luxury the country affords. Attentive servants are e n^V In short, if agreeable quarters, a well spread table, ! attention, joined with moderate charges, can phase, we assure patrons that they will be found at the Howard House. sep t> DIX FLETCHEfI IKisslon A Webster. DEALERS in Groceries Provisions, Forei^ and Domestic Liquors, Oil, Gunpowder, Shot Prii j, and wrapping Paper. Corner of Bay and Whitaker-street® Savannah, Georgia. EDWARD SWIFT, ALLEN A. DENS LOW, JOSEPH W. WKBsTv July 25 ‘ *’ FALL AND WINTJHt C^OTHJNgT JUST received per brig Clinton, a splendid assortment of Tu e Coats, Frocks and Sacks, fancy Cass. Pants, fancy Si\k Cass. Vests, together with a large assortment of Twilled t'l Pants and Jackets, Satinet Pants and Jackets, Cordemy p a , Beaver Coats, Sacks, Blanket and Flushing Coats and Over-Sacli For sale, very low, wholesale and retail, at No. 10 Whitaker-strj. sept 0 PIERSON & HEIDI. P A NCOST has removed to Bryan street, East side Men / ument square, near the State bank, where he may be sou at all hours, night or day, lullv piepared to wait upon his fri ends & the public generally. JN. B. Aiuf'cial teeth inserted from one to a whole set, and u red to give s,. ‘sfa-etion to tlie wearer. N. B. Charges greatly reduced. 6rno aug j) A CAKiK rpHE undersigned having re-opened, with an JL entire New Stock of DRUGS, CHEMICALS nnd FANCY ARTICLES, at No. 139 (South side) Broughton sireet, (formerly Walkers Marble Yard,) is now readyt 0 furnish any thing in liis line, at the shortest notice. WATER, made in his own peculiar way, sent to any part ,* the city, and always to be had at the store, in the highest stt of perfection. Prescriptions put up with care nnd despatch. The subscriber having served the public long and faithfully, respectfully solicits a share of their patronage. apr 2G ‘ TIIOS. RYERSON. the and iTrmcrs ofkouth Carolina, Ceorgia, Alabama, Henn esssa and Florida [ AM THE AUTHORIZED AGENT for the J- sale and purchase of the CAMELINA SATIVA or GOLD OF PLEASURE SEED, a native of Siberia. I am now ready to fill all orders for the seed, and being mi thorized by the Company to purchase the same, I will pay the | highest market price fur nil that lnav be shipped to me in i Savannah. WM. HUMPHREYS, Jr., may 31 Agent for the Company of New York. Til A “YOUNG MAN, as Clerk or Book keeper, jLT good references can be given to any person needing las services. Apply office. m,iv ::j piEILsON & HETDT offer for sale Clothing, J Wholesale and Retail, at New York prices. No. 10 Whitaker-street. apr 26 To ISae Public, THE Subscriber, having entered extensively into the making of BRICK of a superior quality to any manufactured in this city, is prepared to till orders at the short* est notice, and as low as any establishment of the kind in or near Savannah. WM. 11. LLOYD. June 21 ROBERT N. ADAMST CABINET-MAKER AND UNDERTAKER, No. 93 Broughton St., Savamuih, Ga., TS prepared to execute all orders in his line at JL the lowest prices, with dispatch. Orders from the count!}’ promptly attended to. Ready-made coflins always on hand, and made to order at short notice. June 28 3mo ill. A. 1 ohvsi. (Late of the firm of S. Solomons Cos.) mimm ‘m forwauhm bermt. savannah, ga. Agent for steam packets 11. L. Cook and Ivanhoe. MARSH & WEBSTER, .ATTORNEYS AT LAW, - 175 Bay-Street—Up-Stairs. SAVANNAH, GEORGIA. M ulfgrd Marsh. Andrew M. W ebster BOOK AND JOB PRINTING, jOf all kinds, executed at ilsiw Oilscc, with ncafnrM* M* <leii>nteh. HAYING lately put our Office in complete or (Id and made large additions to it, we have now the most ft tensive Job Printing Office in the City and are execute all kinds of PLAIN AN i) FANCY PRINTIN'- with nearness and despatch, and on the most accomodat# terms. Office 102 Bryan-street, entrance on Bay Lane. Savannah, March 22d, 1849. EDWARD .T.” PURSE A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY. A WEEKLY SOUTHERN NEWSPAPER, PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY, BY EDWARD J. PURSE. T ERMS:—T WO DOLLARS A Y’ EA K I hree C opies for one year, or one copy three years, & Seven Copies, 10 C Twelve Copies, lo l1i) Advertisements to a limited extent, will be inse rfP1 ‘ at the rate of 50 cents for a square of nine lines or the first insertion, and 30 cents for each subsequent iosuu Business cards inserted for a year at Five Dollars. A liberal discount will be made to Post Masters will do us the favor to act as Agents. Postmasters are authorized to remit money to Publish arid all money mailed in presence of tho Postmaster* duly forwarded by him, is at our risk. All communications to be addressed (post-pakD t* 1 E. 1. TCK.SE, Savannah. *•