“In the orthography of English words derived from the Latin, one great and leading principle must be kept in view.  If the word is of new adoption, it is certain that its spelling will be like that which appears in the original word; or if it has come to us through the French, the spelling will be conformable to the word in that language; thus, persecution from persequor, pursue from poursuivre.  Again, flourish from fleurir, efforescent, florid, &c., from floreo.  And to establish our orthography on certain grounds, it ought to be the business of the lexicographer to determine the date of the first appearance of an adopted word, and thus satisfactorily determine its spelling.” (Lecture, p. 20. footnote.)

D.V.S.

Home, March 2.

* * * * *

ERRORS IN POPE’S HOMER’S ODYSSEY.

In all the editions I have seen of this translation, the following very palpable errors exist, which I do not remember to have seen noticed.  The first of these errors is contained in book ix. lines 325, 326, 463, and 533,

  “Fools that ye are! (the savage thus replies,
  His inward fury blazing at his eyes.)”

  “Sing’d are his brows:  the scorching lids grow black.”

  “Seest thou these lids that now unfold in vain?”

and consists in Mr. Pope having bestowed two organs of sight on the giant Polypheme.

The second occurs in line 405 of the same book;

  “Brain’d on the rock:  his second dire repast;”

and is owing to the inadvertency of the translator, who forgets what he had previously written in lines 342 to 348.

  “He answer’d with his deed:  his bloody hand
  Snatch’d two, unhappy of my martial band;
  And dash’d like dogs against the stony floor;
  The pavement swims with brains and mingled gore. 
  Torn limb from limb, he spreads his horrid feast,
  And fierce devours it like a mountain beast.”

And in lines 368 and 369;

  “The task thus finish’d of his morning hours,
  Two more he snatches, murders, and devours!”

{332}

by which it distinctly appears that line 405 has a reference to the third “dire repast” of the Cyclops, instead of the second.

Perhaps you will not deem me presumptuous in offering an amendment of these passages by the following substitutions:—­

For lines 325 and 326,

  Fools that ye are! (the savage made reply,
  His inward fury blazing at his eye.)

for line 463,

  Sing’d is his brow; the scorching lid grows black.

for line 405,

  Brain’d on a rock:  his third most dire repast.

and for line 533,

  Seest thou this lid that now unfolds in vain?

DAVID STEVENS.

Godalming, Feb. 10. 1850.