ritish counties are almost all named by compounds ending with the word
_shire_; as, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire,
Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, &c. But the best books we
have, are full of discrepancies and errors in respect to names, whether
foreign or domestic; as, "_Ulswater_ is somewhat smaller. The handsomest is
_Derwentwater_."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 212. "_Ulswater_, a lake of England,"
&c. "_Derwent-Water_, a lake in Cumberland," &c.--_Univ. Gazetteer_,
"_Ulleswater_, lake, Eng. situated partly in Westmoreland,"
&c.--_Worcester's Gaz._ "_Derwent Water_, lake, Eng. in
Cumberland."--_Ibid._ These words, I suppose, should be written _Ullswater_
and _Derwentwater_.

OBS. 10.--An affix, or termination, differs from a distinct word; and is
commonly understood otherwise, though it may consist of the same letters
and have the same sound. Thus, if I were to write _Stow Bridge_, it would
be understood of a _bridge_; if _Stowbridge_, of a _town_: or the latter
might even be the name of a _family_. So _Belleisle_ is the proper name of
a _strait_; and _Belle Isle_ of several different _islands_ in France and
America. Upon this plain distinction, and the manifest inconvenience of any
violation of so clear an analogy of the language, depends the propriety of
most of the corrections which I shall offer under Rule 6th. But if the
inhabitants of any place choose to call their town a creek, a river, a
harbour, or a bridge, and to think it officious in other men to pretend to
know better, they may do as they please. If between them and their
correctors there lie a mutual charge of misnomer, it is for the literary
world to determine who is right. Important names are sometimes acquired by
mere accident. Those which are totally inappropriate, no reasonable design
can have bestowed. Thus a fancied resemblance between the island of
Aquidneck, in Narraganset Bay, and that of Rhodes, in the AEgean Sea, has
at length given to a _state_, or _republic_, which lies _chiefly on the
main land_, the absurd name of _Rhode Island_; so that now, to distinguish
Aquidneck itself, geographers resort to the strange phrase, "_the Island of
Rhode Island_."--_Balbi_. The official title of this little republic, is,
"_the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations_." But this name is
not only too long for popular use, but it is doubtful in its construction
and meaning. It is capable of being understood in fou