I am a plant and its fruit. Retail me, and I am a well-known fruit; retail me again, and I am a gem.
Answer: Pea, pear, pearl.
I am of great warmth. Retail me, I am bleak and barren; retail me again, and I am a pagan.
Answer: Heat, heath, heathen.
ANAGRAMS.
The inversion or transposition of the letters of a word or sentence to form a new word or phrase is an anagram. This is indeed a literary amusement which will extend the intellect and quicken the thinking powers of all ingenious riddlers who seek to excel in this mental pastime. In past ages it engaged the attention of statesmen and divines, and many wise and witty persons have devoted their leisure hours to this exercise of ingenuity.
The term anagram, in its proper sense, means the letters of one or several words written backwards, being derived from two Greek words "ana" (backwards) and "gramma" (letter). Thus the word live would form its anagram—evil; but the term anagram is now used in the wider sense in which we explained it. Our young friends must not be discouraged at their first attempts in forming anagrams—their anagrams may have little merit, crude efforts seldom have much to recommend them—but perseverance here, as elsewhere, will be rewarded. The true merit of an anagram springs from an apt association of ideas, and a close relation between the transposed words and the original from which they are derived. This involves much practice, great thought, and an infinitude of patience, but is productive of real enjoyment.
The father of the Earl of Beaconsfield, Isaac D'Israeli, devoted a chapter in his "Curiosities of Literature" to a consideration of the anagrams which he had met with in his wonderful research. The chapter should be read by all who wish to excel in these literary exercises, and from it we have selected a few of the choice specimens recorded therein:—
"Charles James Stuart—claims Arthur's seat," "James Stuart—a just master." "An eccentric dame in the reign of Charles I. believed herself to be gifted with the spirit of prophecy, but as her prophesies were usually against the Government of the day, she was eventually brought by them into the Court of the High Commission. She based her claim as prophetess upon an anagram she had formed on her name: 'Eleanor Davies—Reveal, O Daniel.' This anagram was imperfect, as it had one l too many, and the letter s was omitted, but it satisfied her. The bishops reasoned with her out of the Scriptures to no avail, but one of the Deans of Arches vanquished her with her own weapons. He took a pen and hit upon this excellent anagram, 'Dame Eleanor Davies—Never so mad a ladie.'"
An anagram on the late Princess Charlotte, daughter of George IV., is also considered worthy of record:—