PRICES or STOCKS, from the 26th of JANUARY, to the 22d of FEBRUARY, 1810, both inclusive. N. B. In the 3 per Cent. Consols the highest and lowest Prices are given; in the other Stocks, the highest only. WM. TURQUAND, Stock and Exchange Broker No. 9, St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill. MONTHLY MAGAZINE. No. 197.] APRIL 1, 1810. [4 of VOL. 29. As long as thofe who write are ambitious of making Converts, and of giving their Opinions a Maximum of Influence and Celebrity, the moft extenfively circulated Mifcellany will repay with the greatest Erect the Curiosity of those who read either for Amufement or Intruction,JOHNSON. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, some have called him Linné, but hitherto with little success. I presume no one I to yet weer midiculus, N reply to your correspondent in the would wish to anglicize his name into p. 123, I beg leave to give my reasons for continuing to write the name of Linnæus in its original form, rather than Linné. The Swedes did not adopt the use of regular surnames till the early part of the last century. When each family took a name, literary people, in general, chose one derived from Greek or Latin; hence arose the family-names of Mennander, Melander, Solander, Dryander, Aurivillius, Celsius, &c. Some gave a Latin termination to names of barbarous origin, as Bergius, Retzius, Afzelius, Browallius; and these became Swedish names, even with that termination entire. The name of Linnæus was in this latter predicament. Its termination therefore is by no means boorish, or plebeian, or vile, but of classical origin; and these names have the peculiar felicity of being transferable into any language without inconvenience, and especially of entering spontaneously into Latin composition. If your correspondent be in the habit of writing or reading many scientific books in Latin, he will duly appreciate this last consideration. With respect to English writing, as we mention Titus, and Marcus Aurelius, in their original orthography, without following the French, who call them Tite and Marc Aurele; no one has found any difficulty in making an English word of Linnæus. When this great man became ennobled, I am well aware that, in conformity to the court ceremonies of the day, which were all French, a termination borrowed from the language of that people was,.in his case, as in others, adopted, with the strange jumble of a Gothic prefix; and he became in Swedish von Linné, as in French de Linné, and in barbarous Latin à Linné. No one, that I know of, has adopted any of these in English; though MONTHLY MAG. No. 197. would be the only correct and consistent measure, unless we retain the von, the de, or the d. I have therefore always used his original name, without any design, or surely any suspicion, of slighting the honours which his sovereign conferred upon him, and which, I will venture to say, reflected glory on his royal patron in return. By such a disposal of honours their lustre is preserved, as in the cases of a Mariborough, a Newton, and a Nelson, from that deterioration to which, from human imperfection and error, they are, in their very nature, otherwise prone, but from which it is the interest of every good citizen to guard them. I do not conceive however, that any one needs to be reminded of the various dignities, whether courtly or academical, conferred on the illustrious Swede. His simple name Lin næus recals them all. We have no occasion to say the emperor Julius Cæsar, king Henry the 4th of France, Mr. secretury Milton, or the right honourable Joseph Addison. Neither is it necessary to say sir Charles Linnæus, or the chevalier de Linné, to remind us that he was knight of the polar star; and the first person who ever received that honour, equal to the garter with us, for literary merit. I must therefore protest against any inter pretation of an intended slight in this case, for my meaning is the very reverse. I believe the practice followed in Enga land, has decided the conduct of other nations. In Latin he is now always called Linnæus, even by the Swedes; and what is still more striking, the French now write Linnæus, even in their own language. 1 presume your correspondent had never a design of recommending for Latin composition any thing but Linnæus; and I hope he will not hereafter think me pertinacious, 2 C pertinacious, or in any degree blameable, if, for the above reasons, I continue the same practice in English; leaving every one to follow me or not, at his discretion, and trusting to time and experience for a final decision. I must express my regret that the title of the Linnaan Society, as I would always write it, has in its charter been spelt Linnean. The latter had in view the name of Linné, and was so far proper; but I have always conceived the diphthong to be more classical, and, if we preserve the word Linnaus in English, undoubtedly more correct. In this point, most certainly, every writer may judge for himself, and in speaking there luckily is no ambiguity. Norwich, JAMES EDWARD SMITH. March 10, 1810. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, THO HOSE coins which the French denominate medailles plaquées, or plated medals, are generally of brass, covered with a coat of gold or silver. Some few have been discovered of iron and of lead, but hitherto this branch of numismatic antiquity has been neglected; which consideration induced M. Waxell, a very learned and ingenious Russian, lately in this country, to communicate, in a little French work, (elegantly printed and published by Booth, in Duke street,) the result of his enquiries, which he hopes may lead to interesting discoveries on the subject of ancient Greek and Roman coinage. From his work we learn, that, in almost all nations, necessity or poverty, and we might perhaps add, avarice, occasioned the counterfeiting of legitimate coin, a'though death was the punishment of this crime.-See Ulpian: Leg. digest. ad leg. Cornel de falsis; and Cod. Theod. fuls, monctá. As merely counterfeits of current money, the collectors of genuine medals have thought the plated beneath their notice; but perhaps the principal origin of these base coins may be attributed to a desire of imposing on the amateurs, or vir tuosi, of early times. From the age of Augustus to that of Gordian the Third, the sciences flourished, and the emperors protected and encouraged artists of distinguished abilities. Marcus Aurelius patronized the ingenious; and, as Pliny informs us, Hadrian had formed a fine collection of medals. This example would naturally influence his subjects; and in all probability there were, in his time, many persons who cultivated the study of numismatics. This opinion is confirmed by plated medals; amongst which are found some that never were, perhaps, in general currency as legat coin. Such is a denarius of Tiberius, with the reverse of the children of Augustus, and the legend "C. L. Casures Augusti F.Cos.desig. Princ. Juventutis." Other coins esteemed, on whatever account, most rare, are discovered amongst the plated, especially those of the Roman empresses; and to a fraud directed against the ancient collectors, M. Waxell is willing to attribute those handsome counterfeits, whilst the more common were probably made from the same motives which influence the coiners of base money in our own times: and this appears from the beauty of the former, which bespeaks the hands of excellent artists; whilst the others are coarsely executed, and often exhibit errors in the dates and orthography, which show that the only object in making them, was that they might circulate in place of the current and legal money. We are authorised in supposing that the plated medals are of the most remote period of coinage. The oldest are found amongst the Grecians, of which the reverses are impressed with four strokes of the punch, probably because the art of striking both sides was not known in those early ages; or perhaps from the circumstance of the medal being placed on a block or supporter, whilst it received the blow of the hammer. In M. Waxell's collection, is a medal of Macedon, considered as of the most ancient kind; this proves that the art of plating coins was practised about five hundred years before the Christian æra. Among the Roman medals, some are found of the first consular classes, plated; and from the workmanship of these, it appears that the art was introduced with that of coinage in a certain degree of perfection, and that the Romans were indebted for it to the Greeks. Pliny, speaking of those counterfeits, informs us that in his time, some of them were purchased at a higher price than the truc medals; a proof that they were col lected by persons desirous of completing certain series, or of possessing curious and uncommon coins. Even at this time, if a plated medal exhibits a rare reverse, or interesting device, it differs very little in price from the genuine une; but those of common devices are not esteemed by collectors, collectors, unless the perfect state of their preservation should render them somewhat valuable. However, after a very accurate calculation, it will be found that among one hundred and fifty or two hundred medals, one plated will be discovered. The Grecian of this kind are more rare than the Roman, and those of the kings more rare than those of the cities. Of Phenician, or Punic, or that class cailed disconnoscidas (or unknown), M. Waxell says, he has not yet found any. The proportion of Greek to Roman plated, is as one of the former to twenty-five of the latter. The age of Augustus was the most abundant in plated coins; and to the length of his reign, and the great number of denarii which he struck, that abundance may be attributed. We find a great variety of curious reverses, besides those of Agrippa, the rarity of which is well known: the beauty of those plated coins, in some instances, equals the originals. Some of Tiberius's time, but not so numerous, are found of great value; such as the fine denarius of that emperor, with the image of his predecessor Augustus on the reverse. Of Caligula, the plated are as rare as the genuine medals; but those of Claudius prevent several fine reverses, with portraits of Drusus and of Agrippina. Under Nero also a great many are found, well executed, and of considerable beauty; especially those which represent that emperor in his infancy; or with these legends, " Equester ørdo principi juventutis," and "Sacerd. coop. in omn. conl. suprà num. ex s. c." on the reverses; also those which exhibit him with his mother Agrippina. Of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, the reigns were so short, that the plated medals of those emperors are very rare, especially those of the last two; but under Vespasian, Titus, and above all, Domitian, they appear in great numbers, and with a va. riety of reverses. Nerva's are rare. Of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius, there are many; and these, we may almost say, conclude the series of plated medals. M. Waxel! had seen but one of Marcus Aurelius, struck under Antoninus; and only one of Commodus; perhaps the wise administration of Marcus Aurelius for some time succeeded in suppressing counterfeits. In M. Waxell's collection, is a denarius of Philip the father, which, from the size, may be considered as a medallion. The latest of the emperors found hitherto on plated cuins of silver, are Trajan Decius, and Herennius Etruscus Messius; from their time none are found but a very few of the lower empire, plated in gold: of these latter M. Waxell had seen one of Honorius, and one of Zeno. From Augustus to Trajan Decius, some of the Cesars and tyrants are found, but rarely; very few also are discovered of Pompey, Mark Antony, or Julius Cesar. The Roman empresses are more rare on plated coins than the emperors; and it is a curious circumstance, that those empresses which are most rare on the true medals, are most often discovered amongst the counterfeit. M. Waxell has not met with any of Sabina, Faustina the elder, Crispina, Lucilla, &c. but he had several of Matidia, Marciana, Domitilla, Domitia, &c. and in his collection he was fortunate enough to possess a plated medallion of Domitia; this confirms his opinion, that it was to complete the series of rare coins for ancient amateurs, that those common medals were fabricated. Silver medallions are of such rarity, as all collectors know, that the very few found plated, are considered of equal value: perhaps, as being more scarce than the originals, they ought to be more highly prized. In the plated state, the Greek medallions of Roman emperors are more rare than their Latin medallions. No plated quinarii of any emperor have yet been discovered; if such exist, they may be esteemed great curiosities. The art of fabricating those counterfeits, (as far as medals are concerned) may be considered as lost; for no modern ingenuity, even in England, where the current money is so frequently counterfeited, can by any means equal the perfection of those ancient productions, especially in their high relief. Some have imagined, that the ancients placed a coat of silver over the brass medal already coined; and this opinion was founded on the appearance of some medals which retained scarcely any vestiges of the silver coating, whilst the impres sion on the bronze was still sharp and perfect: but the fact is, those medals had passed through the hands of Jews, who, by a simple process, had removed the silver, and by means of some platiną had improved the type of it on the bronze. But M. Waxell cannot believe that the ancients could give so good a finish to those medals by this method of coining: he rather thinks that the plated medals were, like the true, struck with: the hamı mer. A piece of brass, covered on both sides with a leaf of silver, was placed in the the die, and received the impression; the fractures on the edges would be a sufficient proof of this, if there were not another still more incontrovertible. This is, the circumstance of M. Waxell's having in his own collection two plated me For the Monthly Magazine. On SHAKSPEARE'S CHARACTER of SIR JOHN FALSTAFF. "I have much to say in behalf of that Falstaff."-Henry IV. Part 1, Act 2, Scene 4. genius "held the mirror up to dals, one of Domition and the other of Interre," it surely was in the produc the Legion XV. which exhibit reverses incuse or struck in, as intaglios: this may be ascribed to the carelessness of the comer, who too precipitately substituted the piece that was to be struck, withous removing that which had just been comed; and which, adhering to the hammer by the force of the descending blow, left the reversed impression on the new piece. This proves that the plated coins of the ancients were struck in the same manner as their denarii. To this curious little work, which is well worthy the notice of antiquaries and medallists, M. Waxell has subjoined an eugraved plate of several coins described in the course of his essay. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. I SIR, HAVE been much interested by the letters of your correspondent from Dunbartonshire, signed J. M. on the subject of benefit-clubs; and still more with the spirit of benevolence in which they originate. There can be no doubt that, among all the methods devised of assisting the lower classes in an hour of sickness and sorrow, no one can be compared to these, when formed upon just and accurate principles, and rightly conducted; taking also into the account, their tendency at once to relieve the distresses, and to improve the character, of the persons assisted by them. That gentleman has favoured me with a letter, inclosing a well-written paper from the Glasgow Herald of the 15th of December last, signed A. B. on the best mode of making provision for funerals; a subject hitherto very imperfectly understood. This paper, in my opinion, merits more general circulation; but as J. M. has not favoured me with his name, I have no method of addressing him or his friend, to request they would adopt measures to this end, but through the medium of your valuable Magazine. Will you then, sir, have the goodness to insert this letter; which may lead to the further discussion of a subject in which the welfare of many is concerned, and which will much oblige an occasional corre spondent? САТИ. САРРЕ. York, Feb. 10, 1810. tion of this character. He is a personage the best known, the most conspicuous, and the most original, in all the compositions of Shakspeare, or of any of our other dramatic writers. The critic who delights in the motes that trouble the mind's eye, and in the search after difficulties which admit not of a solution, may find a wide field for his lucubrations in that important question, What gave rise to that admirable character? and to him we leave the decision of a point equally important, namely, Whether the name of Oldcastle was that which was first assigned to him by his illustrious godfather the poet? For my own part, 'Davus sum, non dipus.' Heaven avert such disquisitions from an epistolary quill! Those who are not thorough-bred blackletter dogs, may content themselves with the account left us by the profound and erudite "Master Robert Shallow, justice of the peace and coram," that he had been page to Thomas Mowbray, duke of Nor. folk; but as we believe little to he known of his birth, parentage, and education, we may without regret leave such considerations to the descendants of Aristarchus. "essen To reduce the conduct of mankind to some fixed principles, and to bring the thousand shades of human character to one standard, has long since occupied men of speculative habits and confined experience. Every one however who has examined his own actions and their respective motives, can readily perceive that the aim of such theorists is a shadow of their own creating; and that they are, as Falstaff himself expresses it, tially mad without seeming so." Can it be any thing but infatuation, to endea vour to prescribe limits to that which is ever changing, and to fix the most volatile of all things? What naturalists affirm of a certain species of shells, that there are not two alike, may be in an unqualified manner asserted of the characters of men. The reason of this must be, that the infinite number of impressions from contingent and external circumstances, which tend more immediately to constitute individual character, cannot be the same in any two possible instances. These |