L — Les Anguilles de Melun to Letters of the Sepulchre (Part 2 of 3)

Letter of Marque A commission authorising a privateer to make reprisals on a hostile nation till satisfaction for injury has been duly made. Here “marque” means march, or marca, a border-land (whence our “marquis,” the lords appointed to prevent border-incursions). A letter of marque or mart was permission given for reprisals after a border-incursion. Called jus marchium.

Letter of Orders (A). A certificate that the person named in the letter has been admitted into holy orders.

Letter of Pythagoras (The). The Greek upsilon, Y

“They placed themselves in the order and figure of y, the letter of Pythagoras, as cranes do in their flight.”- Rabelais: Pantagruel, iv. 33.

Letter of Safe Conduct A writ under the Great Seal, guaranteeing safety to and fro to the person named in the passport.

Letter of Uriah (2 Sam. xi. 14). A treacherous letter of friendship, but in reality a death-warrant. (See Bellerophon .)

“However, sir, here is a guarantee. Look at its contents: I do not again carry the letters of Uriah.”- Sir W. Scott: Redgauntlet, chap. xvi.

Letters Their proportionate use is as follows:-

E . 1,000	H .. 540	F .. 236	K .. 88
T .. 770	R .. 528	W .. 190	J .. 55
A .. 728	D .. 392	Y .. 184	Q .. 50
I .. 704	L .. 360	P .. 168	X .. 46
S .. 680	U .. 296	G .. 168	Z .. 22
O .. 672	C .. 280	B .. 158
N .. 670	M .. 272	V .. 120

   Consonants, 5,977. Vowels, 3,400.
   As initial letters the order is very different, the proportion being:-

S .. 1,194	M .. 439	W .. 272	Q .. 58
C .. 937	F .. 388	G .. 266	K .. 47
P .. 804	I .. 377	U .. 228	Y .. 23
A .. 574	E .. 340	O .. 206	Z . 18
T .. 571	H .. 308	V .. 172	X .. 4
D .. 505	L .. 298	N .. 153
B .. 463	R .. 291	J .. 69

    E is the most common letter (except in initials), and r, s, t, d, are the most common final letters.
   I and a are the only single letters which make words. Perhaps o, as a sign of the vocative case, should be added. Of two letters, an, at, and on are the most common, and of three letters the and and. (See Long Words.)
   Letters. Philo affirms that letters were invented by Abraham.
   Many attribute the invention to Badamanth, the Assyrian.
   Blair says they were invented by Memnon, the Egyptian, B.C. 1822.
   The same authority says that Menes invented hieroglyphics, and wrote in them a history of Egypt, B.C. 2122.
   Josephus asserts that he had seen inscriptions by Seth, son of Adam.
   Lucan says:-

“Phoenices primi, famæ si creditur, ausi
Mansuram rudibus vocem signare figuris.”
Pharsalia, iii. 220.

   Sir Richard Philips says- “Thoth, the Egyptian who invented current writing, lived between B.C. 2806 and 3000.”
   Many maintain that Jehovah taught men written characters when He inscribed on stone the ten commandments. Of course, all these assertions have a similar value to mythology and fable.
   Cadmos, the Phoenician, introduced sixteen of the Greek letters.
   Simonides introduced h, w, x, ; and Epicarmos introduced q, c. At least, so says Aristotle. (See Lacedemonian Letter, and Letter Of Pythagoras.)
   Father of Letters (Pére des Lettres). Francois I. of France (1494, 1515-1547).
   Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificient (1448-1492).
   A man of letters. A man of learning, of erudition.

Letters expletive, and marks on letters.
   In French there are two letters expletive- l and t. The former, called `l ephelcystic,' is placed before on if the preceding word ends with a vowel, as si-l-on. The latter is called “t euphonistic,” and is used in interrogative sentences between the third person singular of verbs ending with a vowel, and a pronoun beginning with a vowel, as gelle-t-il? a-t-elle?
   The chief accents are the grave (`), acute (´) and circumflex (^) .
   Two dots over the latter of two vowels (called diaeresis), signify that each vowel is to be sounded, as Aët'ius (4 syl.).
   A hyphen between two or more nouns or syllables denotes that they form a compound word, as mother-in-law. The hyphen in French is called a “trait d'union,” as irai-je.
   In French, the mark (¸) under the letter c is called a cedilla, and signifies that the c (which would otherwise be = k) is to be pronounced like s, as ca (sah), and garcon (garson).
   A small comma (`) over an, a, o, or u, in Scandinavian languages, is called an umlau, and a vowel so marked is called an umlaute (3 syl.).
   (“or ºº) over the vowel o in German is called a zweipunct (2 syl.),