[177] So Gillies, in his Hist. of Greece, chap. II. talks about the death of the "_friend_ of Achilles;" but leaves the reader to discover the person--not having once mentioned the name of _Patroclus_. I would observe further that such appellations as the _son of Leda_ are borrowed from the Greek; but wholly improper in our language. The Greeks had a distinct ending of the name of the father to signify son or descendants; as _Heraclidæ_. This form of the noun was known and had a definite meaning in Greece; but in English the idiom is awkward and embarrassing. [178] Readers of the last description are the most numerous. [179] _Czar_, the Russian appellation or Emperor, is a contraction of _Cæsar_. It is pronounced in the Russian, _char_ or _tshar_. [180] In ancient inscription, and the early Roman authors, _v_ was written _u_, and pronounced _oo_ or _w_. The following extracts from the laws of Romulus, &c. will give the reader an idea of the early orthography of the Latin tongue:-- 1 DEOS patrios colunto: externas superstitiones aut fabulas ne admiscento. 3 NOCTURNA sacrificia peruigiliaque amouentor. 8 VXOR farreatione viro iuncta, in sacra et bona eius venito--ius deuortendi ne esto. 13 SI pater filiom ter venumduit, filius a patre liber esto. _A law of Numa._ 5 QUI terminum exarasit, ipsus et boues sacrei sunto. _A law of Tullius Hostillius._ 2 NATI trigemini, donicum puberes esunt, de publico aluntor. [Illustration] _APPENDIX._ AN ESSAY _On the_ NECESSITY, ADVANTAGES _and_ PRACTICABILITY _of_ REFORMING _the_ MODE _of_ SPELLING, _and of_ RENDERING _the_ ORTHOGRAPHY _of_ WORDS CORRESPONDENT _to the_ PRONUNCIATION. [Illustration] [Illustration] It has been observed by all writers on the English language, that the orthography or spelling of words is very irregular; the same letters often representing different sounds, and the same sounds often expressed by different letters. For this irregularity, two principal causes may be assigned: 1. The changes to which the pronunciation of a language is liable, from the progress of science and civilization. 2. The mixture of different languages, occasioned by revolutions in England, or by a predilection of the learned, for words of foreign growth and ancient origin. To the first cause, may be ascribed the difference between the spelling and pronunciation of Saxon words. The northern nations of Europe originally spoke much in gutturals. This is evident from the number of aspirates and guttural letters, which still remain in the orthography of words derived from those nations; and from the modern pronunciation of the collateral branches of the Teutonic, the Dutch, Scotch and German. Thus _k_ before _n_ was once pronounced; as in _knave_, _know_; the _gh_ in _might_, _though_, _daughter_, and other similar words; the _g_ in _reign_, _feign_, &c.