8

· SYDNEY SMITH AND THEODORE HOOK.

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69

Sydney Smith personally, because my nature feels the want of the artistic and imaginative1 in his nature; " but what he has done for humanity, for society, for liberty, for truth—for us women! What has Theodore Hook done that has not perished with him? Even as wits 5 —and I have been in company with both-I could not compare them; but they say 10 the wit of Theodore Hook was only fitted for 11 the company of men— the strongest proof 12 that it was not genuine of its kind,13 that when most bearable 14 it was most superficial. I set aside the 15 other obvious inference, that it required to be excited by 16 stimulants, and those 17 of the coarsest, grossest kind. The 18 wit of Sydney Smith almost always 19 involved a thought worth remembering 20 for its own sake,21 as well as worth remembering 22 for its brilliant vehicle; the value of ten thousand pounds sterling of sense concentrated into a cut 23 and polished diamond.

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1 The want, etc......., literally: "the absence of the art and the imagination"-2 what he has done, "what has he not done" 3" what (qu') has done T. H.". 4 has, subjunctive 5 wits, beaux-esprits-6 I have been, "I have found myself" (see note ", p. 33)-7 in company, en société—8 I could not, il ne m'est pas possible de-9 compare them, les comparer l'un à (not avec) l'autre 10 but they say, mais, dit-on-1 was only fitted for, ne s'adaptait bien qu'à 12 "that is (c'est là) the strongest proof" genuine of its kind, naturel-14" when it was the most bearable". the, cette-16 it required to be excited by, il lui fallait-17 and those, et encore— 18 "but the "19 see note, p. 3-20 worth remembering, qui valait la peine qu'on s'en souvînt--21 for its own sake, “for itself”—22 worth remembering, to be left out-23 cut, taillé.

13

15

a "In his nature," "dans sa nature à lui.”—This addition of the personal pronoun à lui is necessary to express in French the contradistinction contained in the text, and to convey the emphasis which in English is sufficiently marked by underlining his in writing, and laying stress upon it in reading.

For us women, pour nous autres femmes.-The adjective autres is often used in this way with nous and vous, for the sake of emphasis or contradistinction.

It is not true, as I have heard it said,1 that after leaving the society of Sydney Smith you only remembered how much you had laughed, not the good things at which you had laughed. Few men-wits by profession-ever said 5 so many memorable things as those recorded 7 of Sydney Smith.

MRS. JAMESON.

WRITING MATERIALS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.

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The most ancient mode of writing was on bricks, tiles, and oyster-shells, and on tables 10 of stone; afterwards on plates of various materials,11 on ivory, on barks of trees, on leaves of trees.

18

To write on these substances they used 12 an iron bodkin, called a stylus. This was made sharp 13 at one end to write with,14 and blunt and broad 15 at the other 16 to efface and correct easily; hence the phrase vertere stylum, to turn the stylus, was used 17 to express blotting out.1 But the Romans forbad the use of this sharp instrument, from the circumstance of many persons having used them 19 as 20 daggers. A21 school-master was killed with the Pugillares, or table-books,22 and the styles 23 of his

1 I have heard it said, je l'ai entendu dire-2 after leaving, après avoir quitté-3 at which you had laughed, "which had made you laugh "-4 by, de-5 ever said, simply: "have said" (see note ", p. 32)-6 memorable, dignes d'être confiées à la mémoire-7 as those recorded, qu'on en rapporte.

8 Writing materials, matériaux d'écriture- "the ancients wrote first on"-10 tables, tablettes-11 materials, matières--12 they used, on se servait de-13 this was made sharp, que l'on faisait pointu14 to write with, pour servir à écrire-15 blunt and broad, gros et arrondi-16" at the other end"-17 hence the phrase. was used, de là l'expression...... que l'on employait 18 to express blotting out, pour signifier effacer-19 from the circumstance of......having used them, "because......had used them"-20 as, en guise de 21 a, c'est ainsi qu'un-22 table-books, tablettes-23 styles, poinçons.

WRITING MATERIALS, ANCIENT AND MODERN 71

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own scholars. They substituted1 a stylus 2 made of the bone of a bird, or other animal; so that their 5 writing resembled engraving. When they wrote upon softer materials they employed reeds and canes split like our pens at the point, which the Orientalists a still use 8 to lay their colour or ink neater9 on the

The pumice stone was a writing material 10 of the ancients; they used it to smooth the roughness of 11 their parchment, or to sharpen their reeds.

in

In the progress of time 12 the art of writing consisted

13 painting with different kinds of ink. This novel mode occasioned them to invent 14 other materials proper to receive their 15 writing: the 16 thin bark of certain trees and plants, or linen; and at length, when this was found apt to 17 become mouldy, they 18 prepared the skins of animals; on the dried skins of serpents were once written 19 the Iliad and Odyssey.20 The first place where they 21 began to dress 22 these skins was Pergamus, in Asia; whence the Latin name is derived 23 of Pergamena or parchment. These skins are, however, better

1 They substituted, on y substitua-2 stylus, stylus-3 of the bone of a, d'un os d'-* other, de tout autre-5 their, "the"—" they, les Romains-7 softer, moins durs-8 which the......still use, comme les

..s'en servent encore de nos jours-9 to lay their......neater, pour mieux fixer la......10 a writing material, au nombre des matériaux d'écriture-1 to smooth the roughness of, pour lisser-12 in the progress of time, avec le temps-13 in, à-14 occasioned them to invent, amena l'invention de-15 their, "the"-16"such as the"-17 when this was found apt to, comme on s'aperçut que cette substance était apte à-18 they, on-19 on the......were once written......, on écrivit une fois......sur des...... 20 the I. and O., l'Iliade et l'Odyssée21 where they, où l'on- 22 dress, apprêter-23 23"whence is derived the

Latin name."

a Orientalists, Orientaux (i. e., the people of the East, and more especially the Turks, the Persians, and the Arabs), and not Orientalistes, a term applied to scholars versed in the old literature and different languages of the East.

known amongst the authors of the purest Latin 2 under the name of membrana, so called from the membranes of various animals of which they were composed. The ancients had parchments of three different colourswhite, yellow, and purple. At Rome, white parchment was disliked, because it was more subject to be soiled than the others, and a dazzled the eye.5 They generally 7 wrote in letters of gold and silver on purple or violet parchment. This custom continued in the early 10 ages of the church; and copies of the Evangelists of this kind 11 are preserved in the 12 British Museum.

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When the Egyptians employed for writing the bark of a plant or reed, called papyrus, or paper-rush,13 it superseded all materials 14 hitherto employed. Formerly it 15 grew in great quantities 16 on the sides 17 of the Nile.18 This plant 19 has given its name to our paper, although the latter 20 is now composed 21 of linen and rags, and

1 Amongst, chez-2 the purest Latin, la plus pure latinité3 so called, nom qui leur vient-4 to be soiled, "to soil itself" (see note ", p. 50)-5 dazzled the eye, il éblouissait-6 c they there" on y -7 see note, p. 3-8 in, en-9 continued, existait encore-10 early, premiers of this kind, dans ce genre-12 in the, au— 13 or paper. rush, to be left out-14 materials, substances-15 it, cette plante16 in great quantities, "in abundance"-17 sides, bords-18 Nile, Nil -19 this plant, elle-20 the latter, celui-ci-21 composed, fait.

" When the conjunction and stands as it does here for "and because," or, "and when," "and as," "and after," etc., it must be translated by "et que." In other words, conjunctions are not repeated in English before each of the dependent propositions which they govern, except in case of emphasis. The same in French; but que must be used before the second and any other dependent proposition, the verb or verbs which follow que being put in the same mood as that governed by the conjunction; that is, the indicative or conditional after parce que, comme, lorsque, quand, après que, etc., and the subjunctive after quoique, bien que, pourvu que, afin que, etc. (see note a, p. 20).

A printed copy is an exemplaire-a manuscript copy is a copie.

WRITING MATERIALS, ANCIENT AND MODERN. 73

formerly had been of1 cotton wool, which was brittle and yellow. After the eighth century the papyrus was superseded by parchment. The Chinese make their paper with silk.

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The use of paper is of great antiquity. It is what the ancient Latinists call charta or chartæ. Before the use of parchment and paper passed to 5 the Romans, they used the thin peel found between the wood and bark of trees. This skinny substance they call 7 liber, from whence the Latin word liber, a book, and library and librarian in the European languages, and the French livre for book; but we of northern origin derive 10 our book 11 from the Danish bog, the beech-tree, because that 12 being the most plentiful in Denmark was used to engrave on.13 Anciently, instead of folding this bark, this parchment, or paper, as we fold ours, they rolled it according as they wrote on it; 14 and the Latin name which they gave to these rolls has passed into our language as well as the other. We say a volume, or volumes, although our books are composed 15 of leaves bound together. The books of the ancients on the shelves of their libraries were rolled up on a pin,16 and

_3

1 And formerly had been of, aprés l'avoir été de- 2" and of a yellow colour". of great, d'une haute-4 passed, eût passé (see note a, p. 6)-5 to, chez-6 found, literally: "which finds itself" (see note p. 50)-7" this skinny substance they call it"-8 the French livre for book, le mot français livre-9 we, see note, p. 69 10"we derive"-11 our book, notre mot book-12 "that tree"13 was used to......on, on s'en servait pour......dessus-14 according as......on it, selon la manière dont......dessus-15 are composed, se composent 16 pin, baguette.

a In or to before a name of country is generally expressed by en (without the article), as "To be in" or "to go to England, etc.;" 66 'être," or "aller en Angleterre, en France, en Danemark, en Egypte, en Amérique, en Australie," etc. But, with certain distant countries, à is used (with the article), as être," or "aller au Mexique, au Pérou, au Chili, au Paraguay, au Brésil, au Japon, aux Indes."