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1^
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THE LIFE
CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
Beru^mi.
4.
J^,
CoKK^
t>^^^a.-2^^y^*>J'*
THE LIFE
CARDINAL MEZZOFANTl;
AN INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR
C.
W. RUSSELL, D.D.
ST,
PRESIDENT OF
LONDON
CO.
1858.
[The Right of TransMion
is
rewved.l
PEEFACE.
The following Memoir had its origin in an article on Cardinal Mezzofanti, contributed to the Edinburgh Review in the year 1855. The subject appeared at that time to excite considerable interest.
The
article
was translated
;
and
I received
through
to me,
unknown
should complete
offers of additional
of the
Cardinal on
at that
which that
article
all
time comprised
2000161
VI
PEEFACE.
whose
skill in
At
me
to
and tongues, who had known and spoken with the Cardinal, it might be possible to lay the foundation of a much more exact judgment regarding him than had hitherto been attainable.
me
that,
although scatstill
languages ascribed to
able,
from their own personal knowledge, to declare whether, and in what degree, he was acquainted with each and I resolved to try whether it might
;
many of the
persons
whom
have had to consult being ex-pupils of the Propaganda, residing in very distant countries more
;
than one beyond the range of regular postal communication, and only accessible by a chance message transmitted through a consul, or through the
friendly offices of a brother missionary.
For the
met,
I
spirit in Avhich
my
I
am
deeply grateful.
many to whom
am
tion.
PREFACE.
Vil
special
to whom I owe a most and grateful expression of thanks his Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop of TVestminster.
There
is
one, however,
From him,
my
task, I received
me
in
my
further inquiries
and
that
it
delightful
store
and in which
it
attractive episodes.
Several
the
sheet
owe
to his
Eminence.
are
who
named
CONTENTS.
PREFACE,
pp. v-vii.
INTRODUCTORY MEMOIR.
Ancient period
History of Linguists
:.~
little
known Legendary Linguists the The Asiatics The GreeksMithridates Cleopatra The Romans Prevalence of Greek under the Empire The Early Chris Decline of the Study Separation of the two Empires The Spain Council Crusaders Frederic II The Moorish Schools of VienneRoderigo Ximenes Venetian travellers Fall of Constantinople-.-Greeks Complutensian Polyglot, pp. 3-18.
Jews
tians
in in Italy
:
Modern
I.
period
Alhanar
Dragomans Genus Bey Jonadab Interpreters the Levant Ciceroni at Mecca Syrian Linguists The Assemani Greeks Armenians The MechitarLinguists of the East.
in
ists,
The Propaganda Schools of the Religious Orders Giggei Galani Ubicini Magistris Finetti Maracci Podesta Piromalli Giorgi De Valperga de Galuso The De Rossis, pp. 25-34.
II. Italian Linguists.
......
Pico della Mirandola
Colleges
pp.
18-24.
Teseo Ambrosio
Pigafetta
Linguistic
Missionary
III.
Fernando
di
Cprdova
Libertas Cominetus Arias Mantanus Del Rio Lope de Vega Missionaries Antonio Fernandez Carabantes Pedro Paez Hervaz-y-Pandura, pp. 34-41. IV. French Linguists. Postel Polyglot-Pater-Nosters Scaliger Le Cluse Peiresc Chasteuil Duret Bochart Puguet Croze RenaudotFourmont Deshauterayes De Le Jay De Guignes Diplomatic the Levant De Paradis, Langles Abel Remusat Modern School, Julien, Bournouf, Renan, Fresnel,
Covilham
_
la
affairs in
the d'Abbadies,
pp. 41-58.
V. German, Dutch, Flemish, and Hungarian Linguists. Miiller Drusius (Regiomantanus) Bibliander Gesner Christmann HotSchultens Maes Haecx Gramaye Erpen The Goliuses tinger Kircher Ludolf Rothenacker Andrew Miiller Witzen
X
Wilkins Leibnitz Gerard
li?_Catholic
Dobritzhofer,
roth, Niebuhr,
Biblical
CONTENTS.
Missionaries Richter,
Widmann, Grebmer,
Vater, Pallas, Klap-
Linguists Hungarian
Koros,
pp. 39.81.
VI. British and Irish Linguists. Crichton Andrews Gregory Castell, Walton, Pocock, Ockley, Sale, Clarke, Wilkins, Toland, " Orator" Henley, Carteret, Jones, Marsden, Colebrooke, Craufurd,
Lumsden, Leyden, Vans Kennedy, Adam Clarke, Roberts Jones, Young, Pritchard, Cardinal Wiseman, Browning, Lee, Burritt,
pp. 81-99.
VII.
Slavoniaii Linguists.
Russians
Scantiness
of Materials
Early Period
Jaroslav,
Boris
The
Romanoffs
Berunda
Pameva,
I.,
Mentschikoff,
Timkoffsky, Bitchou-
Kazem-Beg
Rzewuski,
Po/es Meninski,
Italinski
gift of
Bohemians
Komnensky,
Dobrowsky, Hanka,
pp. 99-110.
tongues Royal Linguists Lady-Linguists pp. 110-121. Infant Phenomena -Uneducated Linguists,
Miraculous
CHAPTER
Birthand family history
I.
(1774-98.)
tales
'
Legendary Early education First and interrupmasters School friends Ecclesiastical studies
Illness
languages
pointmeftt as Professor of
Arabic
Deprivation
(1798-1802.J
of professorship,
pp. 125-147.
CHAPTER
Straitened
II.
family
Private tuition The Marescalchi Manner of study the Magyar, Czchish, Polish, Russian, and Flemish languages Foreigners The Confessional Intense application Examples of literary labour,
circumstances
The
military
hospitals
pp.
148-161.
CHAPTER
Appointed
Catalogue Raisonne
III. (1803-1806.)
the Istituto di Bologna Professorship of Oriental Languages Paper on Egyptian obelisks De Rossi correspondence with him Polyglot translations Caronni's account of him Visit to Pai'raa, Pezzana,
as Asssistant Librarian of
CONTENTS.
Bodoni
XI
settle at Paris
-
relations
Domestic
pp. 162-190.
IV. (1807-14.)
Labour of compiling Catalogue His skill as linguist tested by the Russian Embassy Deprivation of Professorship Death of his
Literary friends Giordani's account Greek scholarship Bucheron's of Latinity Deputy Librarianship of University Visitors Lord Guildford Learned Academy of Institute Paper on Mexican symmother
to
Visit
trial
his
societies
bolic Paintings,
pp. 191-204.
CHAPTER
Invites Mezzofanti to
V. (1814-17.)
Pius
"VT^I.
at
Bologna
languages
Death
ists Kephalides
of his father Notices of Mezzofanti by Tour Appointed head librarian Pupils Angelelli
-
pp. 205-18.
CHAPTER
VI. (1817-20.)
In
Society Bologna Mr. Har Stewart Rose Byron The Opuscoli Letterarj Bologna Panegyric of F. Apoute Emperor Francis Bologna Clotilda Tambroni Lady Morgan's account of Mezzofanti Inaccuracies The Bologna M. Molbech, pp. 219-40.
Tourists' Notices of Mezzofanti
ford
di
I.
at
dialect
CHAPTER
Illness
VII. (1820-28.)
Pisa,
sultori
Visit to IMantua, Modena, and Leghorn Solar Eclipse Baron Von Zach Bohemian Admiral Smyth The Gipsy language Blume Armenian Georgian Flemish Pupils Cavedoai,Veggetti,Rosellini Foreigners Daily dutiesCorrespondence Death of Plus VII.Appointment member of Colleglo del Con Jacobs' account of him Personal appearance Cardinal Cappellarl Translation of Oriental Liturgy Mezzofanti's estedness Birmese, pp. 241-70.
as
disinter-
CHAPTER
Visit of
VIIL
(1828-30.)
Crown Prince of Prussia Trial of skill in languages M. Braunerhjelm Crown Prince of Sweden Countess of BlesIrish Students Lady Bellew sington Dr. Tholuck Persian
couplet
ters
Academy of the
pp. 271-8G.
Xii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
Political parties at
IX. (1831.)
Librl's account of
Bologna M.
Mezzofanti
Hindoo
Manner
Revolution of Bologna Delegates to Reception by Gregory XVI. Visit the Propaganda Dr. CuUen Polyglot conversation Renewed InviRome Consents Calumnies of revolutionary partation to Rome, pp. 287-300. Dr. Wordsworth Mr. Milnes Removal ty
of study
Rome
Mezzofanti at
Rome
settle at
to
CHAPTER
Rome
at
X. (1831-33.)
a centre of
fully tested
Naples
Appointments
many languages
at
Mezzofanti's
pretensions
Rome
ties
Return to Rome Polyglot society of Rome The Amusing Gregory XVI. Library of of rare books on languages Appointed FirstPropaganda rich keeper of the Vatican Library Letters,pp. 301-17.
Illness
Propaganda
in
CHAPTER XL
(1834.)
The Welsh language Dr. Forster Dr. Baines Dr. Edwards Mr. Flemish Mgr. Malou Mgr. Wilde Canon Aerts l^hys Powell Dutch M. Leon Dr. Wap Pere Legrelle Pere van Calven Mezzofanti's extempore Dutch verses Bohemian The poet Frankl Conversations on German and Magyar Poetry Maltese Padre Schem-
CHAPTER XIL
College of St. The Vatican Library Mezzofanti's colleagues His literary friends in Rome Mezzofanti made Rector Peter's Accademia della Cattolica Religione He reads paAngelo Mai Gregory XVI.'s kindness Cardinal Giustipers in this Academy
niani
Albani Pacca ZurlaPolyglot party at Cardinal Zurla's honour Opinions regarding him Number of languages Mr. Mazzinghi Dr. Cox Dr. Wiseman Herr Fleck Greek Epigram Herr Fleck's criticisms Mezzofanti's Latinity His English Dr. Baines Cardinal Wiseman Mr. Monckton Milnes Mezzofanti's style formed on books Lady Morgan's opinion of English Swedish Literature Professor Carlson Count Oxenstjerna Armenian Literature Mgr, Hurmuz Padre Angiarakian Arabic of Syria Greek Literature Mgr. Missir Romaic Abate Matranga Polish Literature Sicilian The poet Meli, pp. 338-54.
in his
his
his
CONTENTS^
Xlll
(-1836-38.)
CHAPTER
in it
XIII
in
Californian language Mezzofanti's success Nigger Dutch of Cura9oa American Indians Propaganda Augustine Hamelin " The Blackbird" Mezzoknowledge of Indian languages Dr. Kip Algonquin Chippewa Delaware Father Thavenet His studies the PropagandaArabic Albanese Mr. Fernando's notice of him Cingalese East Indian languages Hindostani Mahratta Guzarattee Dr. M'Auliffe Count Lackersteen M. Eyoob Chinese, of
Californian students in Propaganda
fanti's
in
diflSculty
Chinese students
Testimony
of Abate Umpierres
man
West
Cardinal
Wise,
African languages
ental languages
Paul
Alkushi
Father
CHAPTER
Created Cardinal
ments, congregations,
oflBces
XIV, 0838-41.)
Its history, duties,
The Cardinalate
of
his
emoluof
Mezzofanti's
of
the
as
poverty
Gregory
Filopieri
XVI Congratulations
Kindness
friends
Bolognese
The
Polyglot
congratulations
Propaganda
Still
Friends
visit
among
quire
the Cardinals
His
life
Cardinal
continues to ac-
languages Abyssinian M. d'Abbadie His to Basque Amarinna Arabic IlmormaMezzofanti's failure Studies Amarinna Abyssinian Embassy to Rome Their account of the Cardinal The Basque language M. d'Abbadie Prince L.L. Bonaparte M. Dassance Strictures on Mezzofanti Mrs. Paget Baron Glucky de Stenitzer Guido Gorres Modesty of Mezzofanti Mr. Kip Gorres Cardinal Wiseman Mezzofanti
new
Mezzofanti
among
pp. 373-97.
CHAPTER XV.
Author's recollections of Mezzofanti
;
(1841-43.)
in
His personal appear Languages which the author heard him speak His English conversation Various opinions regarding Impressions of the author Anecdotes Cardinal Wiseman Rev. John Smyth Father Kelleher His knowledge of English literature Mr. Harford Dr. Cox Cardinal Wiseman Mr. Grattan Mr. _^Badeley Hudibras Author's own conversation with the Cardinal The Tractarian movement Mr. Grattan. Baron Bunsen Author's second to Rome The Polyglot Academy of the Propaganda Playful of Mezzofanti's powers by the students His wonderful versatility of language Analogous examples of this faculty Description of by visitors His own lustration The Irish language Mezzofanti's admission regarding
1841
his attractive
simplicity
in
it
visit
trial
it
il-
experi.
XIV
CONTENTS.
Dr. Murphy
The
Gaelic language
Mezzofanti's
jectional
extempore Metrical
compositions Specimens
Ra-
them
Power of accommodating
-
his pro-
sounds Playfulness
Puns,
XVI.
CHAPTER
Death of
his
(1843-49.)
nephew Mgr. Minarelli His sister Teresa Letter Visitors Rev. Ingrahara Kip English conversation English liteThe American Indian languages rature American literature Rev. John Gray MezScottish dialect Burns and "Walter Scott The Abbe Graume French zofanti as a philologer Baron Bunsen
Spanish Father Burrueco Mexican PeruvianNew Zea Armenian and Turkish Father Trenz Russian M. Mouravieff The Emperor Nicholas Polish Klementyna z Tanskish Hoflfmanowa Makrena, Abbess of Minsk Her history Her account of Mezzofanti His occupations House of Catechumens First communion Fervorini The confessional Death of Gregory XVI. Election of Pius IX. Mezzofanti's epigrams on the occasion His relations with the new Pope Father Bresciani's aceffect on Cardinal Mez. count of him The revolution of 1848 Death and funeral, zofanti His pp. 432-56.
patois
land language
Its
illness
CHAPTER XVIL
Plan pursued
in
(Recapitulation.)
Number
of languages
known
to
Mezzofanti
Points What
of inquiry
is
meant by
knowledge of a language
by him
Dr.
Minarelli's
list
of languages
numknown
Classification
less
Languages spoken by him with great perfectly languages which guages spoken
knowledge
in
Laninitiate
he could
a conversation
Languages known from books Dialects Southern and central American languages Total number known to him in various degrees His speaking of languages not literally faultless,
His plan of studying languages Various systems of study much labour Habit of thinking in
His success a special
gift of
nature
In what this
Quickness of perception Analysis Memory Peculiof his memory His enthusiasm and simplicity Mezzofanti as
critic,
a philologer, as a
charity, liberal
a historian, a
spirit
man
of science
Piety and
and tolerant
Social virtues.
APPENDIX,
CORRiaENDA,
Page
35,
Line
6,
for
" yards
'"
read "
feet.'"
62,
57,
last, after
59,
76,
Bourmouf," read " Boumouf." John and," read " and John." 2nd last, for " Boehthingk," read " Boehtllngk."
last,
117, 119,
4th
2nd
last, for
last,
121,
2nd
(and three other places,) for "marvelous," read " marvellous.' " months," read " years." for " Hall,'" read " Hill."
281,
283, 312, 426,
4th
last, for
and
J^ff^-semi^'
m Sit^e^^J^ana'aaa^es.
-4l>J(l'
-'y
<rf/'y
c<r7i
Otitic
fo^3ot
^/
COL
MEMOIRS
OF
EMINENT LINGUISTS.
<,>JOO
In the Life of Cardinal Mezzofanti I have attempted to by direct evidence, the exact number of languages with whicli that great linguist was acquainted, and the degree
ascertain,
Eminence
in
is
necessarily
relative.
We
until
we have
seen hira by the side of other men ; nor shall we be able to form a just notion of the linguistic accomplishments of Cardinal Mezzofanti, or at least to bring them before our minds as a practical reality, until we shall have first considered what had
been effected before him by other men who attained to distinction in the same department. I have thought it desirable, therefore, to prefix to his Life a summary history of the most eminent linguists of ancient and modern times. There is no branch of scholarship which has left fewer traces in literature, or has received a more scanty measure of justice from history. Viewed in the Hght of a curious but unpractical pursuit, skill in languages is admired for a time, perhaps indeed enjoys an exaggerated popularity but it passes away hke a nine days' wonder, and seldom finds Hence, while the literature of an exact or permanent record. every country abounds with memoirs of distinguished poets, philosophers, and historians, few, even among professed antiquarians, have directed their attention to the history of eminent linguists, whether in ancient or in modern times. In all the ordinary repositories of curious learning Pliny, Aulus Gellius, and Atheuaeus, among the ancients ; Bayle, Gibbon, Feyjoo, Disraeli, and Vulpius, among the moderns this interesting chapter is entirely overlooked ; nor does it appear to have engaged the attention even of linguists or
philologers themselves.
1
The following Memoir, therefore, must claim the indulgeiice No one due to a first essay in a new and difficult subject. can be more sensible than the writer of its many imperfections of the probable omission of names which sliould have been recorded ; of the undue prominence of others with inferior pretensions; and perhaps of still more serious inaccuracies
of a
different
kind.
It is
only
ofl'ered
in
the absence of
something better and more complete ; and with the hoj)e of directing to what is certainly a curious and interesting subject, the attention of others who enjoy more leisure and opportunity
for its investigation.
The
diversity of languages
branches of the
human
intercommunion
which
is
civilization.
"The
confusion of tongues, the first great judgment of God upon the ambition of man," says Bacon, in the Introductory Book
of his "
Advancement
of Learning,'^
" hath
chiefly
imbarred
Perhaps it would be more correct to say that these two great impediments to intercourse have mutually assisted each other. The divergency of languages seems to keep pace with the disl)ersion of the population.
Adelung
lays
it
down
as the result
among
the ancients
and as still prevail among the less civilized populations, no language can maintain itself unchanged over a space of more than one hundred and fifty thousand square miles.f It might naturally be expected, therefore, that one of the earliest t^fforts of the human intellect would have been directed towards the removal of this barrier, and that one of the first sciences to invite the attention of men would have been the knowledge of languages. Yew sciences, nevertheless, were
ancients.
many of the ancient nations contain legends on this head which might almost throw ir.to the shade the greatest marvels related of Mezzofanti. In one of the Chinese stories regarding the youth of Buddha,
It is true that the early literatures of
Works
I., p.
42.
Einleitung,
p. 7.
translated by Klaproth,
it
is
related
that,
he was to be an
apostle to
men; and
that
ignorance of all except the Indian dialects, the child himself taught his master " fifty foreign tongues with their respective characters/'* A still more marvellous tale is told by one of the Rabbinical historians, Rabbi Eliezer, who relates that Mordechai, (one of the great heroes of Talmudic legend), was acquainted with seventy languages and that it was by means of this gift he understood the conversation of the two eunuchs who were plotting in a foreign tongue the death of the king-t Nor is the Koran without its corresponding prodigy. "When the Prophet was carried up to Heaven, before the throne of the Most High, " God promised that he should have the
;
knowledge of all languages.";}: But wiien we turn to the genuine records of antiquity, we find no ground for the belief that such legends as these
have even that ordiuary substructure of truth which commoidy fables of mythology. Neither the Sacred Narratives, nor those of the early profaue authors, contain a single example of remarkable proficiency in languages. It is true that in the later days of the Jewish people, interpreters were appointed in the synagogues to explain the lessons read from the Hebrew Scriptures for the benefit of iheir foreign brethren; that in all the courts of the Eastern monarchs interpreters were found, through whom they communicated with foreign envoys, or with the motley tribes of their own empire; and that professional interpreters were at the service of foreigners in the great centres of commerce or travel, who, it may be presumed, were masters of
underlies the
Hue's Chinese Empire, II., p. 187-8. Stiicke aus Hebraischen Schriftstellern, den zweiten Jahrhundert bis auf die Gegenwart. Berlin, 1840. p. 10. Tlie book is entitled Pirhi Rabbi Eliezer, " The chapters of Rabbi Eliezer." Its date is extremely uncertain. See Moreri Diet. Hist. VII., .361.
in
on
Auswahl Historischer
Mahomet,
p. GG.
account of Pliny, Dioscurias, a city of Colchis (the present Iskuriah,) was frequented for commercial purposes by no less than three hundred different races ; and he adds that a hundred and thirty interpreters were eraploved there under the Romans (Hist. JS'at. VI., 5. Miller ' Ed. II.', 176.) The Arabian writers, Ibn Haukal and ^lusadi, mention seventy-two languages which were spoken at Derbent. Strabo speaks of twenty-six m the Eastern Caucasus alone. See The Tribes of the Caucasus, p. 14, also p. 32.
to the
According
several
languages.
The philosophers,
too,
who
traversed
remote countries iu pursuit of wisdom, can hardly be supposed to have returned without some acquaintance with the languages Solon of the nations among whom they had voyaged. and Pythagoras are known to have visited Egypt and the East ; the latter also sojourned for a considerable time in Italy and the islands; the wanderings of Plato are said to have been even more extensive. Nay, in some instances these pilgrims of knowledge extended their researches beyond the limits of their own ethnographical region. Thus, on the one hand, the Scythian sages, Anacharsis and Zamolxis, themselves most probably of the Mongol or Tartar tongue, sojourned for a long time in countries where the Indo-European family of languages alone prevailed ; on the other, the merchants of Tyre were in familiar and habitual intercourse with the
; and the Phcsnician explorers, iu their circumnavigation of Africa described by Herodotus, must have come in contact with still more numerous varieties both of race and of tongue. Nevertheless it may fairly be doubted whether these or similar opportunities among the ancients, resulted in any very remarkable attainments in the department of languages. The absence of all record furnishes a strong presumption to the contrary ; and there is one example, that of Herodotus, which would almost be in itself conclusive. This acute and industrious explorer devoted many years to foreign travel. He visited every city of note in Greece and Asia Minor, and every site of the great battles between the Greeks and Barbarians. He explored the
Italo-Pelasgic race
well-known
Xerxes in his disastrous expedition. chief islands of the Egean, as well as those of the western coast of Greece. His landward wanderings extended far into the interior. He reached Babylon, Ecbatana, and Susa, and spent some time among the Scythian tribes on the shores of the Black Sea. He resided long in Egypt, from which he passed southwards as far as Elephantine, eastwards into Arabia, and westwards through Lybia, at least as far as Gyrene. And yetDahlmann is of opinion that, with all his industry, and all the spirit of inquiry which was his great characteristic, Herodotus never became acquainted even with the language of Egypt, but contented himself with the service of an interpreter."^
line of the route of
whole
He
* Dahlmann, It would be presumptuous to differ from so p. 47. ingenious a writer, and so profound a master of the subject which he treats ; but I may observe that there are some passages of Herodotus
In like manner, it would be difficult to shew, either from the Cyropsedia, or the Expedition of Cyrus, that Xenophon, during his foreign travel, became master of Persian or any
kindred Eastern tongue. Nor am I aware that there has ever been discovered in the writings of Plato any evidence of familiarity witli the language of those Eastern philosophers from whose science he is believed to have drawn so largely. It is strange that the two notable exceptions to this barrenness of eminent linguists which characterizes the classic times, Mithridates and Cleopatra, should both have been of royal rank. The former, the celebrated king of Pontus, long one of the most formidable enemies of the Eoman name, is alleged to have spoken fluently the languages of all the subjects of his empire; an empire so vast, and comprising so many difl'erent nationalities as to throw an air of improbability over the story. According to Aulus Gellius,* he " was thoroughly conversant" (percalkdt) with the languages of in number) over which his all the nations (ticcnty'five The otlier writers who relate tlie circumrule extended.t Valerius Maximus,J Pliny, and Solinus make stance Some commentators have the number only twenty-two. regarded the story as a gross exaggeration ; and others have sought to diminish its marvellousness by explaining it of But there different dialects, rather than of distinct languages. does not appear in the narrative of the original writers any Pliny reason whether for the doubt or for the restriction. declares that " it is quite certaiii ;" and the matter-of-fact
all
relate
it,
to be understood literally.
It
makes it clear that they wished was the king's invariable practice,
all
communicate with
" never througli an directly and in person, and interpreter ;" and Gellius roundly affirms that he was able to
empire
which seem to imply a certain degree at least of acquaintance with Egyptian (for instance II. 79, II. 99), and with the ancient language of Persia, as IX. 100, &c. It must be admitted, however, that a very superficial knowledge of either language would suffice to explain
these allusions.
XVII. 17. f This is not Mithridates's only title to distinction. Pei-haps it may not be so generally known that he was equally celebrated for
his
Athenaeus tells of him that he powers of eating and drinking once offered a prize of a talent to the greatest eater in his dominions. After a full competition the prize was awarded to Mithridates Athenceus, Deipnusoph, Book X.,p. 415. himself. X VIII. 7. Hist. Nat. VII. 24, and again XXV. 2.
!
10
converse iu each and every one of these tongues "
v.itli
as
much
correctness as if it were his native dialect." The attainments of Cleopatra, although far short of what
is
reported of Mithridates, are nevertheless described by Plutarch^ as very extraordinary. He says that she "spoke most languages, and that there were but few of the foreign ambassadors to
whom she gave audience through an interpreter." The languages which he specifies are those of the Ethiopians, of the Troglodytes (probably a dialect of Coptic), of the Hebrews, of the Arabs, the Syrians, the Medes, and the Persians ; but he adds that this list does not comprise all the languages which this extraordinary woman understood. T\ ow the very prominence assigned to these examples, and the absence of all allusion to any other which might be supposed to approximate to them, may afford a presumption that they Valerius Maximus, in his well-known are almost soUtary. chapter Be Studio et Induatna, cites the case of Mithridates It is as a very remarkable example "of study and industry." highly probable therefore, that, if he knew any other eminent Yet the only linguists, he would have added their names. cases which he instances are those of Cato learning Greek in his old age, of Themistocles acquiring Persian during his exile, and of Publius mastering all the five dialects of Greece during the time of his Prsetorship. In like manner. Aulas Gellius has no more notable hnguist to produce, in contrast with Mithridates, than the old poet Ennius, who used to boast that he had three hearts,t because he could speak Greek, Latin, and his And Pliny, with all his love of rude native dialect, Oscan. parallels, is even more meagre he does not recite a single name in comparison with that of Mithridates.
:
The Homans,
laiiguages
dearly,
;
especially
under the
early
Eepublic, appear
Tarentum,
is
and the bad Greek of the Roman ambassadors to which the Tarentines paid so almost an average specimen of the accomplishments
for their ridicule of
of the earlier Romans as linguists. Nor can this circumstance fail to appear strange, when it is remembered over how many
different races
The
*
and tongues the wide domain of Rome extended. very multiplicity of languages submitted to her government
Langhornu's Plutai-ch, v. p. 182. some such fanciful analogy that Cecrops obtained the name 'hi(^mx, because he knew both Greek and Egyptian.
Life of Antliony.
t
It
was probably
b}'
1-1
would
public
]3ut,
seeoi to
with at least the principal ones among them. for a long time they steadily pursued the policy of imposing, as far as practicable, upon the conquered nationalities the Latiu language, at least in public and official
on the contrary,
transactions.*
and Northern languages, was successfully and permanently enforced at Rome. The slave population of the city comprised almost The every variety of race within the limits of the Empire.
And,
this exclusion
very names of the slaves who are introduced in the plays of Syra, Phoenicium, Afer, Geta, Dorias, Plautus a!id Terence &c, (which are but their respective gentile appellatives) embrace a very large circle of the languages of Asia, Africa, and Northern Europe. And yet, with the exception of a
Plautus,
in
is introduced,t nothing in either of these dramatists from which we could infer that any of the manifold languages of the slave population of Rome eil'ected an entrance among their haughty They were all as completely ignored by the Romans, masters.
of
Hanno
the Carthaginian
From the Augustan age onwards, this polished language began to dispute the mastery with Latin, even in Rome itself. ** Graecia capta ferum cejnt captorem, et artes " Intulit agresti Latio In the applies to the language, even more than to the arts. days of the Rhetorician, Molon, (Cicero's master in eloquence,) Greek had obtained the entree of the Senate. In the time of
Tiberius,
its
With
the emperors
use was permitted even in forensic pleadings. who succeeded, J the triumph of Greek
Prom Plijiy downwards, there is was still more complete. hardly an author of eminence in the Roman Empire who did
of examples cited by Bajle, Diet, Histor. I. 943. on the subject, however, was not uniform ; nor is it easy to reconcile some parti of it with each other, or to understand any general principles on which they can be founded.
*
See a long
legislation
list
The
Paenulus, act v., sc. 1 With the exception of Tacitus, who claimed to be of the family of the great historian, and made a vigorous but unsuccessful effort for the revival of declining Latinity.
t
12
not write in that language ;Pausanias, Dion, Galen, even the Emperor Marcus Aurelius himself, with all the traditionary
Roman
It
was so
literature of
first
Eome.
Almost
all
The
early
Koman
in
liturgy
Rome was
are Greek, and some even of the Latin ones are engraved in Greek characters. Nay, the early Christian churches in Gaul, Vieune, Lyons, and Marseilles, and the few remains of their literature which have reached us
Roman Catacombs
era,
In a word, during the first two centuries of the Christian making due allowance for the diff'erence of the periods, Greek and Latin held towards each other in Rome the same relation which we find between Norman-French and Saxon in England after the Conquest ; and we may safely say that, during those centuries, a knowledge of both languages was the ordinary
accomphshment
of
all
many of the lowest of the population. Beyond this limit, however, we read of no remarkable linguists even among the accomplished scholars of the Augustan
age.
taken
doubt that the two Varros may fairly be most favourable specimens of the class. Now neither of them seems to have gone further than a knowledge of Greek. Out of the four hundred and ninety books which Marcus Terentius Varro wrote, there is not one named which would indicate familiarity with any other
will
as, in this respect, the
No
one
foreign language.
The Neo-Platonists of the second and third centuries, whose researches in Oriental Philosophy must have brought them into contact with some of the Eastern languages, may possibly form an exception to this general statement j but, on the whole, in the absence of positive and exact information on the subject it may not unreasonably be conjectured that, among the Christian scliolars of the second, third, and fourth centuries we might find a wider range of linguistic attainments
among
than study of the Bible itself involved the necessity of familiarity, not only with Greek and Hebrew, but with more than one cognate oriental
their gentile contemporaries.
The
critical
dialect besides.
St.
Jerome, besides
the.classic
languages and
I.,
28-9.
13
his native lUyrian,
to liave been familiar willi several and it is not improbable that some of the earlier commentators and expositors of the Bible may be taken as equally favourable specimens of the Christian Origen's Hexapla is a monument of his scholarlinguists.* and probably in Syriac and Samaritan. ship in Hebrew, was perhaps even a more St. Clement of Alexandria accompHshed linguist ; for he tells that of the masters under whom he studied, one was from Greece, one from Magna Grsecia, a third from Ccele-Syria, a fourth from Egypt, a fifth And St. Gregory an Assyrian, and a sixth a Hebrew.f Nazianzen expressly relates of his friend St. Basil, that, even before he came to Athens to commence his rhetorical studies, he was already well-versed in many languages.^
is
known
;
of
tlie
Eastern tongues
IVom
rapidly
began
dis-
decline,
even
among
ecclesiastics.
The
ruption of the Empire naturally tended to diminish the intercourse between East and West, and by consequence the It would appear, too, as if interchange of their languages. the barbarian conquerors adopted, in favour of their own languages, the same policy which the Romans had pursued
Attila is said to have passed a law prohibiting the for Latin. use of the Latin language in his newly conquered kingdom,
and
to
At all events, procure the substitution of Gothic in its stead. in whatever way the change was brought about, a knowledge of both Greek and Latin, which in the classic times of the Empire had been the ordinary accomplishmentof every educated man, became uncommon and almost exceptional. Pope Gregory the Great, who, bitterly as he has been assailed as an
first and second century, interpreters [ E^fciivtvTcti'], whose duty it was to translate into the provincial tongues what had been read in the church. They resembled the interpreters of the Jewish synagogue. See Neander's Kirchen-Geschichte, I. 530. t Stromata, I. 276 (Paris, 1641.) Horn, in Laudem St. Basilii. t Opp. I. 326 (Paris, 1609.) It is curious that the See Bayle, Diet. Historique, I. 408. victorious Mussulmen at Jerusalem enacted the very opposite. No Christiaij, was permitted to speak the sacred language of the Koran. See Milman's " Latin Christianity," II. 42, and again III. 223. It would be interesting to examine the history of enactments of this kind, and their effects upon the languages which they were intended to suppress, the Norman efforts against English, those of the English against Celtic, Joseph II's against Magyar, and others of the same kind.
*
there were
14
oncmv
of lettrrs,
eiiiitient
must be confessed to luive been the most Western scholar of his day, s[)oke Greek \CTy imper-
complains that it wasdifiicult, eveu at Constantinople, any one who could translate Greek satisfactorily into Latin ;* and a still earlier instance is recorded, in which a ])ope, in other respects a man of undoubted ability, was unable to translate the letter of the Greek patriarch, much less to communicate with the Greek ambassadors, except through an interpreter.!
fectly; he
to find
More
was embittered through the misunderstandings caused between the East and West by mutual ignorance of each other's language. Pelagius succeeded in obtaining a favourable decisiou from the Council of Jerusalem in 415, chiefly because, while his Western adversary, Orosins, was unable to speak Greek, tlie fathers of the Council were ignorant of Latin. The protracted controversy on the Three Ciiapters owed much of its
inveteracy to the ignorance of the WesternsJ of the original language of the works whose orthodoxy was iujpugned and it is well known that the condemnation of the decree of the sixth council on the use of sacred images issued by the fathers of Erancfort, was based exclusively on a strangely erroneous Latin translation of the acts of the council, through which translation alone they were known in Germany and Gaul. The foundation of the Empire of Charlemagne consunmiated the separation between the Greek and Latin races and their languages. The venerated names of Bede and of Alcuiu in the Western Church, and the more questionable celebrity of the Patriarch Photius in the Eastern, constitute a passing exception. But it need hardly be added that they stand almost
;
Ep. VI.
27.
the Pati-iarch Nestorius wrote to Pope Celestine his account of the controversy now known under his name, the latter was obhged, before he could reply, to wait till Nestorius's letter had been translated into Latin Erat eniin in Latinum sernio vertendus. This letter, together with those of Cyril of Alexandria, form part of an interesting correspondence which illustrates very strikingly the pre-eminence then enjoyed in the Church by the Roman bishop, and is found in Hardouin's Concilia, I. 1302. See also Walch's Historic der Ketzereien, V. 701. t Even Pope Vigilius himself professes his want of familiarity with the Greek language. See his celebrated Cuustitutuin in Hardt
When
ouin's Coll. Concil 111. eol. 39. See the original in Labbe's Concilia, VIII. 835. original and the translation will be found in Leibnitz's " Theology," p. 52, note.
Both
the
System of
15
and it will readily bo believed that, amid liie Barbarian irruptions from without, and the tierce intestine revolutions, of which Europe was the theatre during the rest of the earlier mcdiseval period, even that familiarity with the Greek and oriental languages which we have described, entirely disappeared in the West. The wars of the Crusades, and the reviving intellectual activity in which this and other great events of the second mediaeval period originated, gave a new impulse to the study of languages. IVederic II., a remarkable example of the union of great intellectual gifts with deep moral perversity, spoke fluently six languages, Latin, Greek, Italian, German, Hebrew, The Moorish schools in Spain began to and even Arabic* In tliis manner Arabic found be visited by Christian students. its way into the West; and the intermixture of learned Jews in the European kingdoms alibrded similar opportunities for the cultivation of Hebrew, which were turned to account by many, especially among biblical scholars. On the other hand, notwithstanding the contempt for profane learning which breathes through the Koran, the Saracen scholars began to
entirely alone;
and the
Ibn Wasil, wlio came into Italy in languages of other races. 1250 as ambassador to Manfred, the son of Erederic II., was The Spanreported to be familiar with the Western tongues. The ish iVIoors, too, began sedulously to cultivate Greek. works of Aristotle, of Galen, of l)ioscorides, and many other Greek writers, chiefly philosophical, were translated into AraAnd the Jewbic by Averroes, Ibn Djoldjol and Avicenna. lish scholars of that age were equally assiduous in the cultivaThe learned llabbi Maimonides, born in Cortion of Greek. dova in the early part of the 12th century, was not only master of many Eastern tongues, but was also thoroughly familiar with the Greek language. It would be a mistake, however, to imagine that it was
among
the
Moors
or the
Hebrews
dy of languages first couimenced. Alcuin, in additio)i to the modern languages with which liis sojourn in various kingdoms must have made him acquainted, was also familiar with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Hermann, the Dalmatian, the first translator of the Koran, was well acquainted with Latin, Greek, The celebrated Raymond Lnlly, Hebrew, and Arabic. who was a native of Majorca, was able to lecture in Latin
*
p. 58,
16
Greek,
Hebrew ; an accomplishone who was among the most laborious and prolific writers of his age, and who left after him, according to some authorities, (though this, no doubt, on is a great exaggeration), not less than a thousand* works the most -diversified subjects. At the instance of this eminent orientalist, the council of Vienne directed that professorships should be founded in all the great Universities, for the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic languages. An example of, for the period, very remarkable proficiency iu modern languages is recorded in the history of the Fourth Lateran Council, 1215. Roderigo Ximenes,J Archbishop of Toledo in the early part of the thirteenth century, a native of Navarre, but a scholar of the University of Paris, was one of the representatives of the Spanish Church at that Council. A controversy regarding the Primacy of Spain had arisen between the Sees of Toledo and Compostella, which was
Arabic,
and
perlia[)s
ment
especially wonderful in
Xime-
nes addressed to the council a long Latin oration in defence of the claim of Toledo ; and, as many of his auditory, which consisted both of the clergy and the laity, were ignorant of that language, he repeated the same argument in a series of dis.is.\
courses addressed to the natives of each country in succession to the Romans, Germans, French, Enghsh, Navarrese, and
Spaniards,^ each in their respective tongues. Thus the number of languages in which he spoke was at least seven, and it is highly probable that he had others at his disposal, if his auditory had been of such a nature as to render
them necessary.
languages and literature of the East received a further stimulus from the foundation of the Christian principalities at Antioch and Jerusalem, from the establishment of the Latin Empire at Constantinople, and in general from the long wars in the East, to which the enthusiasm of the age attracted the most enterprising spirits of European
taste for the
The titles of nearly two hundred of his works are t Rohrbacher Hist.de lEglise, XIX., 569.
still
The
preserved.
X He is the author of a History of Spain, in nine books ; and besides his very remarkable attainments as a linguist, was reputed among the
most learned scholars of his age. See the account in Labbe, Collect. Concil. VII. 79. The writer observes Cum ab apostolorura tempore auditum non sit nee scriptuni reperiatur, quemque ad populum eandem concioneni habuisse tot ac
;
tarn diversis linguis cuncta exponendo. The fact is also related by Feyjoo. Teatro critico, IV. p. 400. An interesting account of this remarkable scholar will be found in the Bibliotheca Hispana Veins ll.pp. 149-50.
17
same on their return from the East, brought witli them the knowledge, not only of Greek, but of more than one of the oriental languages besides. The long imprisonments to which, during the holy wars, and the Latin campaigns against the Turks, they were often subcliivalr)!.
result.
Many
of
Syriac, Turkish, or
Persian.
enterprise of the
Western Nations, and still more powerful instrument of the interchange of languages. Few modern voyagers have possessed more of that spirit of travel which is
especially ofthe Venetians
The commercial
the celebrated
the best aid towards the acquisition of foreign tongues, than Marco Polo. It is hard to suppose that he can
have returned from his extensive wanderings in Persia, in Tartary, in the Indian Archipelago, and in China and Tibet, without some tincture of their languages. Still less can this be supposed of his countryman, Josaphat Barbaro, who sojourned for sixteen years among the Tartar tribes.^ It was in the commercial settlements of the Venetians in the Levant that the profession of interpreters, of which I shall have to speak hereafter, and which has since become hereditary in certan families, was originated or brought to perfection.
It is only,
letters,
properly so
was
chiefly
the Bible. The Greek scholars \\ho were driven to the West by the Moslem occupation of Constantinople brought their language, in its best and most attractive form, to the Universities
The Family of Barbaro produced many distinguished linguists, according to the opportunities of the time. Francesco Barbaro, born in 1398, was one of the earliest eminent Greek scholars of Italy. Ermolao, the commentator on Aristotle, was said by the wits of his time to have been such a purist in Greek, that he did not stop at consulting the devil when he was at a loss for the precise meaning of a See Bayle's Diet. word the much disputed UrtXtj^ux of Aristotle
Barbara I. 473. t Venice was long remarkable for her encouragement of skill It was a necesary qualification for most of in living languages. -her diplomatic appointments and, while Latin, in Europe, was still the ordinary medium of diplomatic intercourse, we find a Venetian ambassador to England, in 1309, Badoer, capable of conversing like See an interestingpaper, a native in English, French, and German. " Venetian Dispatches," in the Quarterly Review, vol. xcvi. p. 369.
Hist. Art.
;
18
of Italy. In the Council of Florence, in 1438, more tlian one Italian divine, especially Arabrogio Traversari, was found capable of holding discussions with the
their native tongue.
Greek representatives in
In like manner, the Jews and Moors, who were exiled from Spain by the harsh and impolitic measures of Ferdinand and Isabella, deposited through all the
schools of Europe the seeds of a solid and critical knowledge The of Hebrew and Arabic and their cognate languages.
may be discerned at a comparatively period in the biblical studies of the time. Antonio de Lebrixa published, in 1481, a grammar of the Latin, Castilian and Hebrew languages and I need only allude to the mature
fruits of their teaching
early
and various oriental learning which Cardinal Ximenes found ready to his hand, in the very first years of the sixteenth cenAltury, for the compilation of the Complutensian Polyglot. though some of the scholars whom he engaged, as for instance, Demetrius Ducas, were Greeks ; and others, as Alfonzo Zamora or Pablo Coronell,* were converted Jews; yet, the names of Lopez de Zuniga, Nunez de Guzman, and Vergarat are a sufficient evidence of the success with which the co-operation of native scholars was enlisted in the undertak-
i"g4
From this period the number of scliolars eminent in the department of languages becomes so great, and the history of raanyamongthera presents so frequent points of resemblance, that it may conduce to the greater distinctness of the narrative to classify sej)arately the most distinguished linguists of each
among
I.
preserved than any other. In the East indeed, the faculty of language aj)pear8, for the
most
part, in a
form
sliall find
among
the scholars of the West. The Eastern linguists, with a few exceptions, have been eminent as mere speake'S of languages, rather than scholars even in the loosest sense of the
word.
* M'Crie's Reformation in Spain, See also Hallam's I. p. Gl. Literary History, 1. p. 197. j See the Bibliotheca Ilispana, vol. I. pref. p. vii. X See Ilefele's Der Cardinal Ximenea : one of the most interesting and learned biograplues with which 1 am acquainted, p. 124.
19
As
it is
in tlic
Dragoman
or "inter-
])reter"
first
most
notable Oriental linguists have belonged to that profession. A very remarkable specimen of this class occurs in the reign of Soliman the Magnificent, and flourished in the
most interesting account given of him, under his Turkish name of Genus Bey, by \\\sCos7nograj)hieUniverselle* Thevet, in that curious repertory He was the son of a poor fisherman, of the Island of Corfu ;
early part of the sixteenth century.
is
was carried away by pirates and sold as a Thence he was carried into Egypt, Syria, and other Eastern countries and he would also seem to liave visited most of the European kingdoms, or at least to have erijoyed the opportunity of intercourse with natives of them all. His proficiency in the languages both of the East and West, drew upon him the notice of the Sultan, who appointed him his Thevet (who would Fiist Dragoman, with tlie rank of Pasha. seem to have known him personally during his wanderings,) describes him in his quaint old French, as " the first man of his day for speaking divers sorts of languages, and of the happiest memory under the Heavens.'^ He adds, that this extraordinary man " knew perfectly no fewer than sixteen languages, viz Greek, both ancient and modern, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Moorisli, Tartar, Armenian, Kussian, Hungarian, Polisli, Italian, Spanish, German, and French." Genus I3ey, was, of course, a
a boy,
slave at Constantinople.
renegade ; but, from a circumstance related by Thevet, he appears to have retained a reverence for his old faith, though not
He was soby some bigoted Moslems to remove a bell, which the Christians had been permitted to erect in their little church. For a time he refused to permit its removal ; but at last he was Thevet iuducedby a large bribe, to accede to the demand. relates that, in punishment of his sacrilegious weakness, he was struck with that loathsome disease which smoteKing Herod, and perished miserably in nine days from the date of this inauspisufficiently strong to be proof against temptation.
licited
cious act.
In Naima's " Annals of the Turkish Empire," another renegade, a Hungarian by birth, is mentioned, who spoke fourteen languages, and who, in consequence of this accomplishment, was employed during a siege to carry a message through the lines of the blockading armv.t
Vol.
II., p.
788.
Naiiiia's
zer, fur the Oriental Translation Society. For this fact I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. "Watts, of the British Museum, but I am
20
A still more marvellous example of tlie gift of languages is thatof mentioned by Duret, in his Treaor des Langues (p. 964) Jonadab, a Jew of Morocco, who lived about the same period. He was sold as a slave by the Moors, and lived for twenty-six
With more
constancy to his creed, however, than the Corfu christian, he withstood every attempt to undermine his faith or to compel its abjuration; and, from the obduracy of his resistance, received from his masters the opprobrious name Alhanar, " the serpent" or " viper." Duret says that Jonadab spoke and wrote twentyHe does not specify their names, eight different languages. however, nor have I been able to find any other allusion to
the man.
It
would be
interesting,
if
in
the
in
the
islands.
The
race of
M. Antoine d'Abbadie ceased to flourish in the Levant. informed me that there are many families in which this office, and sometimes the consular appointment for which it is an indispensable qualification, have been hereditary for the last two or three centuries; and that it is very common to find among them men and women who, sufficiently for all the ordinarypurposes of conversation, speak Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Italian, Spanish, English, German, and Trench, with little or no This accomplishment is not confined to one single naaccent. tion. Mr. Burton, in his " Pilgrimage to Medinah and Meccah," mentions an Afghan who"spoke five or six languages.""^
speaks of another, a Koord settled at Medinah, who " spoke five languages in perfection." The traveller, heassures us, "may hear theCairene donkey-boys shouting three or four European dialects with an accent as good as his own ;" and he " has frequently known Armenians (to whom, among all the Easterns, he assigns the first place as linguists) speak, besides their mother tongue, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, and Ilindostanee, and at the same time display an equal aptitude for the Occidental languages."t But of all the Eastern linguists of the present day the most notable seem to be the ciceroni who take charge of the pilgrims at Mecca, many of whom speak fluently every one of the numerous languages which prevail over the vast region of the Moslem. Mr. Burton fell in at Mecca with a one-eyed Hadji,
He
Pilgrimage to El Medinah,
I.,
II. p.
368.
t Ibid.
p. 179.
21
who spoke
fluently and with good accent Turkish, Persian, Hindostani, Pushtu, Armenian, English, French, and Italian."^
In the "Turkish Annals" of Naima, already cited, the learned Yankuli Mohammed Effendi, a contemporary of Sultan Murad Khan, is described as " a perfect linguist."t Many
much difficulty, be collected ; can it be doubted that, among the numerous generations which have thus flourished and passed away in the East, there may have been rivals for Genus Bey, or even for " the Serpent" himself. But unhappily tlieir fame has been local and transitory. They were admired during their brief day of success, but are long since forgotten ; nor is it possible They are any longer to recover a trace of their history.
similar instances might, witliout
nor
unknown,
Carent quia vate sacro.J however, to represent this as On the conthe universal character of the Eastern linguists. trary, it has only needed intercourse with the scholars of the "West in order to draw out what appears to be the very remarkable aptitude of the native Orientals for the scientific study of languages. Thus the learned Portuguese Jew, Eabbi Menasseh Ben Israel (1604--1657), was not only a thorough master of the Oriental languages, but was able to write with ease and exactness several of the languages of the West, and published almost indifferently in Hebrew, Latin, Spanish, and English, I allude more particularly, however, to those bodies of Eastern Christians, which, from their community of creed with the Roman Church, have, for several centuries, possessed establishments in Rome and other cities ecclesiastical of Europe.
It
would be
a great injustice,
* Burton's Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah. III., 368. Annals of the Turkish Empire, p. 45. melancholy instance of the capriciousness of this sort of reX putation, and of the unhappiness by which, in common with many other gifts, it is often accompanied, is recorded in the Paris journals of the early part of this year. man apparently about fifty years old, named Tinconi, a native of Constantinople, was found dead at his lodgings in the Rue des Vieux Augustins, having perished, as it afterwards appeared, of hunger. This ill-fated man was possessed of an ample fortune, and had held high diplomatic appointments ; and, besides being well-versed in ancient and modern literature, he spoke not fewer than ten languages, and knew several others Yet almost the only record of his varied accomplishments is that which also tells the story of his melancholy end See his life by Pococke, prefixed to the translation uf his work
t
De
Termino
Vitce.
1G99.
22
The
Syrians liad been remarkable, even
from the
classic
times,* for the patient industry with which tliey devoted themselves to the labour of translation from foreign languages into
of the modern Syrians, however, have higher fame of original scholarship. The Maronite community of Syrian Christians has jjroduced several scholars of unquestioned eminence. Abraham Echellensis was one of the chief assistants of Le Jay, at Paris, in the preparation of his Polyglot. His services in a somewhat similar capacity at Rome are familiar to all Oriental scholars. But it is to the name of Assemani that the Maronite body owes most of its reputation. Por a time, indeed, literature
their
own.
Many
deserved the
still
would seem to have been almost an inheritance in the family It has contributed to the catalogue of Oriental of Assemani. scholars no less than five of its members Joseph Simon, who died in 1768 ; his nephews, Stephen Evodius and Joseph Lewis; Joseph Aloysius, who died at Rome in 1782; and Simon, who died at Padua in 1821. The first of them is the well-known editor of the works of St. Ephrem, and author of
the
Bibliotheca Orientalis. The Greeks, with greater resources, and under circumstances
more favourable, are less distinguished as linguists. John Matthew Caryophilos, a native of Corfu, who was archbishop of Iconium and resided at Rome in the early part of tlie
seventeenth century, was a learned Orientalist, and, besides several literary works of higher pretension, published some elementary books on the Chaldee, Syriac, and Coptic languages.
among his countrymen. Leo Allatius profound scholar, and familiar with every department of the literature of the West, whether sacred or profane,t can hardly be considered a linguist in the ordinary
But he
lios
few imitators
(Allazzi), although a
* See Dr. Paul De Lagarde's learned dissertation, "De Geoponicon Ver.-iione Syriaca" (p. 3, Leipsig, 1835). This dissertation is an account of a hitherto unknown Syriac version of the " Scriptores Rei liu-sticae" which Dr. De Lagarde discovered among the Syriac MSS. of the British Museum. He has also transcribed from the same collection many similar remains of Syriac literature, partly sacred, partly profane, which he purposes to publish at intervals. Some of the former especially, as referring to the Ante-Nicene period, by Mr. Cureton, of great are, like those already published interest to students of Christian antiquity, although the same drawback duubt as to their age and authoi'ship must affect the doctrinal value of them all. t This laborious and prolific writer, whose works fill nearly 20
2^
The same may be said of th<^ many Greek students, as, for instance, Metaxa, Meletius Syrius, and others, who, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, repaired
sense of the word.
It to the universities of Italy, France, and even EngUuid.* can hardly be doubted, of course, that many of them acquired a certain familiarity with the languages of the countries in which they sojourned, but no traces of this knowledge appear to be now discoverable. By far the most notable of them, Cyrillus Lucaris,the well-known Calvinistic Patriarch of Constantinople, spoke and wrote fluently Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Italian; but, if his latinity be a fair sample of his skill in the other languages, his place as a linguist must be held low indeed.f It should be added, however, that as polyglot speakers, the The Greeks have long enjoyed a considerable reputation. celebrated Panagiotes NicusiusJ (better known by his Italianized
name
Dragoman
is said to have used the same pen for no less than forty and to have been thrown almost into despair upon its accidental destruction at the end of that period. Some of these visited the English universities. Of one among the number, named Metrophanes Critopulus, who was sent by Cyrillus Lucaris to be indoctrinated in Anglican Theology, and who lived at Oxford at the charge of archbishop Abbott, a very amusing account is given by the disappointed prelate in a letter quoted by Neale (History of Alexandria, II., 413-5.) He turned out " an unworthy fellow," far from ingenuity or any grateful respect," a "rogue and beggar," and in other ways disappointed the care bestowed on
him.
+ One specimen may suffice, which is furnished by Mr. Neale " Collavi (I have collated) sua notata cum textu Bellarmini." Neale, II., p. 402. The Easterns seldom seem at home in the languages of Europe Italian, and still more French orthography, is their great puzzle. I have seen specimens of Oriental Italian which, for orthography, might rival " Jeames's " English, or the French of Augustus the Strong. X Panagiotes was a native of Scio, and was known in his later life under the sobriquet of "the Green Horse," in allusion to a local proverb, that " it is easier to find a green horse than a wise man iu Scio." The appellation was the highest tribute that could be rendered to the prudence and ability of Panagiotes ; but it is also a curious confirmation of the evil repute, as regards honesty, in which the The reader islanders of the Egean were held from the earliest times. will probably remember the satirical couplet of Phocylides about the honesty of the Lerians, which Porson applied, in a well-known English parody, to the Greek scholarship of Herrmann.
;
A^ga< Kuxoi
b>t
ftiv
oi
24
the seventeenth century ; and, from his time forward, the office was commonly held by a Greek, until the separation of Greece
from the Ottoman Empire. Mr. Burton's observation (hat no natives of the East seem to possess the faculty of language in a higher degree than the Armenians, is confirmed by the experience of all othertravellers ; and the commercial activity which has long distinguished them, and has led to their establishing themselves in almost all the great European centres of commerce, has tended very
much
far
higher
foundation of
many
religious
establishments of the Armenians in diH'erent parts of Europe, which have rendered invaluable services, not only to their own
native language and literature, but to Oriental studies generally.
Among these the fathers of the celebrated Mechitarist order have earned for themselves, by their manifold contributions to sacred literature, the title of the Benedictines of the East.
The
publications of this learned order (especially at their principal press in the convent of
San
known
to
require
any
particular
notice.
Most
of their
pubHcations regard historical or theological subjects ; but many also are on the subject of language,* as grammars, dictionaries, and philological treatises. A little series of versions, the Prayers of St. Nerses in twenty-four languages, printed at their press, is one of the mosl beautiful specimens Among of polyglot typography with which I am acquainted. the scholars of the order the names of Somal, Khedeston, Ingigean, Avedichian, Minaos, and, above all, of the two Auchers, are the most prominent. One of the latter is best known lo English readers as the friend of Byron, his instructor in Armenian, and his partner in the compilation of an Anglo-
Armenian grammar. The fathers of this order generally, however, both in Vienna and in Italy, have long enjoyed the reputation of being excellent linguists. Visitors of the Armenian convent of St. Lazzaro at Venice cannot fail to be struck by this accomplishment among its inmates. Besides
An elaborate account of them will be found in Neumann's Versuch einer Geschichte der Anneitischen Literatur. Leipzig, 1836. On the exceeding importance of the Armenian language for the general study of the entire Indo-Germanic family, see the extremely Urgescliichie der Armenier, ein learned essay, Philologischer Versuch. (Berlin, 1834.) It is published anonymously, but is believed to Lie from the pen of the distinguished Orientalist named in
'
page 22.
25
the ordinary Oriental languages, most of them speak Italian* French, and often German. I have heard from M. Antoine
d'Abbadie
that,
in
1837, Dr.
ir.
LINGUISTS OF ITALY.
the nations of the
West
at the
is
of Letters,
of
The
of
first
in
order, dating
them
all
many
most
the celebrated ments, each in the highest degree of perfection ; Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, son of the Duke John Francis of that name.* He was born in 1463, and from his childhood was regarded as one of the wonders of his age. Before he had completed his tenth year, he delivered lectures in civil and canon law, not less remarkable for eloquence than for learning.
attain-
While
all
the principal
Greek
;
and Latin
while he
cabalistic
Hebrew
and,
of
was engaged
that study,
a large
collection
manuscripts, which were represented to him as genuine works of Fisdras, turned his attention to the other Eastern languages, and especially the Ciialdee, the Rabbinical Unfortunately, tlie strange dialect of Hebrew, and the Arabic. and fantastic learning with which he was thus thrown into
contact gave a tinge to his mind, which appears to haveafl'ected His progress in languages, however, all his later studies. cannot but be regarded as prodigious, when we consider the At the age of poverty of the linguistic resources of his age.
reputation of knowing no fewer than twenty-two languages, a considerable number of which he spoke with fluency." And while he thus successfully cultivated the department of languages, he was, at the same time, an
extraordinary proficient in
all
earlier) Felix of
do not think it necessary to mention (though he is a little Ragusa, the principal librarian, or rather book He is said to collector, of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary. have known, besides Greek and Latin, the Chaldee, Arabic, and
I
Syriac languages.
26
marvellous examples of that gift which are enuiuerated by the
writers upon this faculty of the human mind. Cancellieri states that he was able, after a single reading, not only to recite the contents of any book which was offered to him, but to repeat
In 1486 he maintained a thesis in Rome, Beomni Re Scibili. Much of the learning which it displayed was certainly of a very idle and puerile character ; much of it, too, was the merest pedantry ; but nevertheless it is undeniable that the nine liundred propositions of which it consisted, comprised every department of knowledge cultivated at that period. And it is impossible to doubt that, if Pico's career had been prolonged to the usual tern of human life, his reputation would have equalled that of the greatest scholars, whether of the ancient or He was cut off, however, at the the contemporary world.
early age of thirty-one.
It is not unnatural to
may have
acquirements. But, even allowing every reasonable deduction on this score, his claim must be freely admitted to the character of one of the greatest wonders of his own or any other age, whether he be considered as a linguist or as a general scholar. Marvellous, however, as is the reputation of Pico della Mirandola, perhaps the science of language owes more to a less brilliant but more practical scholar of the same period, Teseo Ambrosio, of the family of the Albonesi. He was born at Pavia, in 1469. His admirers have not failed to chronicle such precocious indications of genius as his composing Italian, Latin, and even Greek poetry, before he was fifteen ; but he himself confesses that his proficiency in these studies dates from
a considerably later time.
He
Regular of St. Augustine, and fixed his residence at Rome, where he devoted himself with great assiduity to Oriental studies, and acquired such a reputation, that when, in the Lateran Council of 1512, the united Ethiopic and Maronite Christians solicited the privilege of using their own pecuhar liturgies while they maintained the communion of the Roman church, it was to liim the task of examining those liturgies, and of ascertaining how far their teaching was in accordance with the doctrines of the Church, was entrusted by the Holy See. Teseo assures us that, at the time when he received this
* Sugli
Uomini
di
gran Memoria,
p.
27-
27
commission,
lie
knew
little
of
Hebrew,
He set to work with the assistance of Chaldee, and Arabic. a native Syrian (who, however, was entirely ignorant of Latin);
and, carrying on their communication by mutual instruction, he was soon able liot only to master the difficulties of these languages, but to set on foot what may be regarded as (at least conjointly vrith the Complutensian Polyglot) one of the earliest systematic schemes for the promotion of Oriental studies. He had types cast expressly for his projects ; and he himself
prepared the Chaldee Psalter for the press, and re])aired to his
native city of Pavia for the purpose of having
it
printed.
He
died (1539) before it was completed;* but his types were turned to account by other scholars. It was with Teseo's
types that William Postel printed two out of the five Pater Nosters contained in his collection the Chaldee and theArmeAnd to him we owe a still greater boon the first nian.t regular attempt at a Polyglot Grammar; which, however imperfectly, comprises the elements of Chaldee, Syriac, Armenian, and ten other languages. The scholarship of Auibrogio was derived almost entirely from books. llis countryman, Antonio Pigafetta, enjoyed among his contemporaries a different reputation, that of considerable skill as a speaker of foreign languages, acquired during his extensive and protracted wanderings. Pigafetta was born at "Vicenz:i, towards the end of the fifteenth century. In the exj)e{litiou undertaken, under the patronage of Charles v., for the conquest of the Moluccas, by the celebrated Fernando Magellan, the first circumnavigator of the globe, one of the literary staff was Pigafetta, who acted as historiographer of the expedition, and to whose narrative we are indebted for all the particulars of it, which have been preserved. Marzari describes Pigafetta as a prodigy of learning; and, although this has been questioned by later inquirers, there is co reason to doubt his acquirements in modern languages at
;J:
* The history of this MS, is a strange one. In the sack of Pavia by the French under Lautrec, it was carried oif among the j)lunder. Teseo was in despair at tlie loss, and was returning to Rome with a sad heart. At Ferrara, he chanced to see a quantity of papers at a charcoal burner's, just on the point of being consigned to the furnace. What was his delight to find his precious Psalter among them! He began the printing of it at Ferrara without delay, but did not live to
t Adelung's Mithridates,
II., p. 25.
I.,
646.
Biograph. Univ.
XV.
231).
28
and particularly his skill and success in obtaining information as to tlie languages of the countries which he visited.
least,
It is to him* we are indebted for the first vocabularies of the language of the Philippine and Molucca islands, the merit of which is recognized even by recent philologers.f It may be permitted to class with the linguists of Italy, a Corsican scholar of the same period, Augustine, bishop of Nebia. It is difficult to pronounce definitively as to the extent of his attainments ; but his skill in the ancient languages, at least, is sufficiently attested by the polyglot Bible which he published, (containing the Hebrew, Greek, Chaldee, and Arabic texts,) of which Sixtus of Sienna speaks in the highest terms and if we could receive without qualification the statement of the same writer, we should conclude that Augustine's familiarity with modern languages was even more extensive. Sixtus of Sienna describes him as " deeply versed in the languages of all the nations which are scattered over the face of the earth." Towards the close of the sixteenth century the study of languages in Italy assumed that practical character in relation to the actual exigencies of missionary life by
which
it
has ever
Oriental press established at Florence by the Cardinal Ferdinand de Medici, under the superintendence of the great orientalist
The
Giambattisa Kaimondi ;J
lege I)e
Rome of the Colthe foundation of the College of San Pancrazio, for the Carmelite Oriental Missions in 1662; the opening of similar Oriental schools in the Dominican, the
the opening at
Propaganda Fide
Franciscan, Augustinian, and other orders, for the training of candidates for their respective n)issions in the East ; and above
all,
began
the constant intercourse with the Eastern missions which to be maintained, gave an impulse to Oriental studies,
Antonio,
another Pigafetta fFelippo), some years the junior of also a very extensive traveller, having visited Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Croatia, Hungary, the Ukraine, and the northern kingdoms. He was sent into Persia on a diplonuitic mission by Sixtus V. But 1 have not been able to find any record of his skill in languages. t Thevet's Thresor des Langues, p. 964. X Raimondi had spent many years in the East, and -was acquainted with most of the Oriental languages, living and dead. He projected a polyglot bible whicli should contain the Arabic, Syriac, Persic, Ethiopia, Armenian, and Coptic versions, accompanied by the Grammars and Dictionaries of these languages. But the death of Gregory XIII., on whose patronage he mainly relied for the execution of his project, put a stop to the undertaking.
is
There
who was
29
the more powerful and the more peruianeiit, becnuse it was founded on motives of rehgion ; and although we do not meet among the missionary linguists that marvellous variety of lan-
gunges which excites our wonder, yet we find in them abundant evidences of a solid and practical i-cholarship, whose fruits, if less attractive, are more useful and more enduring. Nearly all the linguists of Italy from the close of the sixteenth century, appears to have been either actually missionaries, or connected with the colleges of the foreign mission. Thus, Antonio Giggei, one of the " Oblates of Mary," taught Persian in a missionary college, at Milan, and, at a later period, taught Arabic in Florence. Giggei's Thesaurus Lxngua Arahica* is still much esteemed. He wrote besides, a Grammar of Chaldee and of Rabbinical Hebrew, which is still preserved in manuscript in the Ambrosian Liband his translation of a Rabbinical comrary at Milan mentary on the Proverbs of Solomon, published at Milan in 1620, is an evidence of his familiarity, not only with Biblical Hebrew, but with the language of the Talmud in all its
;
successive phases.
In like manner, Clemente Galani, the eminent Armenian than twelve years as a missionary in Armenia. On his return to Rome, in 1650, he was such a proficient in the language that he was able, not only to write
schohir, spent no less
both in Armenian and Latin his well-known work on the conformity of the creeds of the Armenian and Roman Churches,t but also to deliver theological lectures to the Armenian students in Rome in their native iongue.| Toramaso Ubicini was a Franciscan missionary in the LeHe was born at Novara, and entered young into the vant. He was named guardian of the Franorder of Friar-minors. ciscan convent in Jerusalem ; and, during a residence of many years, made himself master, in addition to Hebrew and Chaldee,
*
copy of
this
work
zofanti's Library, by
1632. \ Conciliatio Ecclesiie Armenae cum Romana, ex ipsis Armenorum Patrum et Doctorum Testimoniis. 2 vols fol., Romse 1658 It is in Bonifazi's Catalogue of the Mezzofanti Library, p. 20. \ Feller's Diet. Biog. art. Galani, The learned Jesuit, Father Gianibattista Ferrari, author of the Nomenclator Syrns, is an exception to the general rule. He does not appear to have been a member of any of the Eastern missions. Angelo Canini, the eminent Syriac scholar, though born in Italy, belongs rather to the French school.
30
of
at
tlie
The
latter years
San Pietro
in
Montorio
where, besides publishing several works upon these languages, he taught them to the students of his order. His great work, Thesaunis Arahico-Syi o-hattnus was not published
till
J
Rome;
Ludovico Maracci, best known to English readers by the copious use to which Gibbon has turned his translation and annotations of the Koran, was one of the missionary " Clerks of the Mother of God." He was born at Lucca in 161?., and first obtained notice by the share which he had in the Roman edition of the Arabic Bible, published in 1671 He taught Arabic
many years with great distinction in the University of the Sapienza at Rome. But his best celebrity is due to his critical edition of the Koran, and the admirable translation which accompanies it.t From this repertory of Arabic learning. Sale has borrowed, almost without acknowledgment, or rather with
for
all
that
is
most valuable in
at
and notes.
One
Fazana
of Maracci's pupils,
early in the
another exception to the general rule. Having perfected his Oriental studies in Constantinople, he was appointed Oriental Secretary of the Emperor Leopold at Vienna, and attained considerable reputation as Professor of Arabic in that university. He published a Grammar of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish ; which, however, was severely, and, indeed, ferociously, criticised by his contemporary and rival, Meniuski. But Podesta's contemporary, Paolo Piroraalli, was trained in the school of the Mission. He was a native of Calabria,
17th century),
and became a member of the Dominican order. Piromalli was for many years attached to the Mission of his order in Armenia, and was eminently successful in reconciling the separated Armenians to the Roman Church , having even the
happiness to number
patriarch himself.
converts
tlie
schismatical
Missions of Georgia and Persia. He afterwards went, in the capacity of Apostolic Nuncio, to Poland, with a comniission of
much importance
to the
Emperor from
tlie
Wadding assigns his death to the year 1638; but it is clear from the preface of the Thesaurus that he was dead several years before its publication, which was in 1036. 2 vols, fol., Padua, 1698. t Alcorani Textus Universus.
31
In the course of one of his voyages he was made prisoner bv the Algerine corsairs, and carried as a slave to Tunis ; but he
was soon after redeemed and called to Rome, whence, after he had been entrusted with the revision of an Armenian Bible, he was sent back to the East, as Bishop of Nachkivan in 1655. He remained in this charge for nine years, and was called home as Bishop of Bisiguano, where he died in 1G67. Piromalli published two dictionaries, Persian and Armenian, and several other works upon these languages.* The Augustinian order in Italy, also, produced a linguist, not inferior in solidity, and certainly superior in range of attainments, to any of those hitherto enumerated Antonio Agostino Giorgi.t He was born at San Mauro, near Eimini, in 1711, and entered the Augustinian order at Bologna but Benedict XIV., who, during his occupancy of the see of Bologna, had become acquainted with his merit, invited him to Rome after his elevation to the Papacy, and appointed him to a professorship in the Sapienza. Father Giorgi occupied this post with much distinction for twenty-two years, till his death, in 1797. His acquirements as a linguist were more various than those of any of the scholar? hitherto named. Besides modern languages, he knew not only Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, Samaritan, and Syriac, but also Coptic and (what was at that period a mucli more rare accomplishment) Tibetan. On the last named language he compiled an elementary work for the use of missionaries, which, although it is not free from
the highest praise as a then untried language. Simon De Magistris, one of the priests of the Oratory, (born at Ferrara in 1728) was for many years at the head of the Congregation of the Oriental Liturgies in Rome. He was not only deeply versed in the written languages of the East, but spoke the greater number of them with the same ease and
inaccuracies, deserves, nevertheless,
first
essay in that
till
Muency as
unable to offer its cognate Languages" is a sufficient evidence of his ability as an Orientalist ; but ic contains no indication of anything beyond the learning which is acquired from books.
Finetti,
I
am
any particulars.
"
On
the
Hebrew and
Biogr. Uni. XV. 263, (Brussels Ed.) He must not be confounded with a German Orientalist, Christopher Sigismund Georgi, who lived about the same time. t Biographie Universelle, Vol. XXVI, p. 128.
j-
32
The same may be said of the Oratoriaii, Valperga de Galuso. He was born at Turin in 1737, but lived chiefly in In the convents of iiis order at Naples, Malta, and Rome.
addition, iiowever, to his accomplishments as
au Orientalist, Padre de Galuso had the reputation of being one of the most skilful mathematicians of his day. He died in 1815. Our information regarding the two De Rossi^s, Ignazio, author of the Elymologicum Copticum, and Giambernardo, of Parma, is more detailed and more satisfactory. Ignazio de Rossi was born at Viterbo in 1740, and entered In the schools of (he Jesuit society at a very early age. Macerata, Spoleto, and Florence, he was employed in teaching the Humanities and Rhetoric until the suppression of the order in 1773, after which event he repaired to Rome, and received an appointment as professor of Hebrew in the University, which he held for thirty years, rejoining his brethren, however, at tiie first moment of their restoration under Pius VII. As a general scholar. Father De Rossi was one of the first men of his day. His memory may be ranked among the most On one prodigious of which any record has been preserved. occasion, during the villeggiatura at Frascati, it was tried by a test in some respects the most wonderful which has ever been applied in such cases. A line being selected at pleasure from any part of any one of the four great Italian classics, Dante, Petrarca, Tasso, and Ariosto, De Rossi immediately repeated the hundred lines which followed next in order after that which had been chosen and, on his companions expressing their surprise at this extraordinary feat (which he repeated several times), he placed the climax to their amazement by reciting in the reverse order the hundred lines immediately preceding any line taken at random from any one of the above-named poets.* His reputation as an Orientalist was founded chiefly upon his familiarity with Hebrew and tlie cognate languages. But he w as also a profound Coptic scholar and it is a subject of regret to many students of tiiat language that his numerous MSS. connected therewith have been suffered to remain so long He died in 18^4. uni)ublished. Giovanni Bernardo de Rossi was a linguist of wider range.
; ; ;
For tliis interesting anecdote of Father Ignazio de Rossi, I am indebted to Cardinal Wiseman, who learned it from the companions of the good old father upon the occasion. His Eminence added, that it was done as a mere amusement, and without the least effort or the remotest idea of prejiaration.
33
He
his
in
Piedmont,
in 174?.,
and
in
ecclesiastical state.
He began
and manifested very early that which distinguished his after life.
Hebrew
studies,
he produced a long Hebrew poem. In addition to the Biblical Hebrew, he was soon master of the Rabbinical language, of Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. He learned besides, by private study, most of the languages of modern Europe; his plan being lo draw up in each a compendious grammar for his own use. In this way he prepared grammars of the German, English, and Russian languages. In 1769, he obtained an appointment in the Royal Museum at Turin ; but, being invited at the same time to undertake the much more congenial
office of
Professor of Oriental Languages in the new University of Parma, he gladly transferred himself to that city, where he
more than
forty years.
During the
latter half
of this period,
De
in
of their common studies.^ Erom the terms which such a scholar as Mezzofanti speaks of De Rossi, and the deference with which he appeals to his judgment, we may infer what his acquirements must have been. On occasion of the marriage of the Infante of Parma, Charles Emanuel, he published a polyglot epit.halamium,t a Collection of Hymeneal Odes in various languages which even still is regarded as the most extraordinary of that class of com positions J ever produced by a single individual. it does not belong to my present plan lo allude to the works of De Rossi, or to offer any estimate of his learning ; but without entering into any such particulars, or attempting to specify the languages with which he was acquainted, it may safely be said that no Italian linguist
the kindness of the Cavaliere Pezzana, Royal Librarian I have been fortunate enough to obtain copies of some of Mezzofanti's letters to De Rossi, which will be found in their chronological order hereafter. t It is a magnificent folio, entitled "Epithalamia Exoticis Linguis Reddita ;" one of the most curious productions of the celebrated press of Bodoni. Parma, 1775. X The Panglossia in honour of Peiresc was the work of many hands, and cannot fairly be compared with the Epithalamia of De Rossi. I have never seen a copy of the latter, nor does De Rossi himself, in his modest autobiography, (^Memorie Storiche, Parma, 1807, p. 19), enumerate the languages which it contained.
*
Through
34
from tlie days of Pico della Mirandola can be compared with him, either in the solidity or the extent of his linguistic attainments. De Rossi died in 1831.* Tlie fame of the linguists of Italy during the nineteenth century has been so completely eclipsed by that of Mezzofanti, that I shall not venture upon any enumeration of them, though the list would embrace such names as Rossellini, Luzatto, Molza, Laureani, &c. There are few of whom it can be said with so much truth as of Mezzofanti
:
PrcBgravat artes
Infra se positas.
III.
The catalogue
less
of Spanish linguists opens with a name hardly marvellous than that which I have placed at the head of
Nature, in the prodigal exercise of her creative powers, occasionally produces, as if to display their extent and versatility. He was born early in the fifteenth century, and was hardly less precocious than his Italian rival, Pico della Mirandola. At ten years of age he had completed his courses of grammar and rhetoric. He could recite three or four pages of the Orations of Cicero after a single reading. Before he attained his twenty-fifth year, he was installed Doctor in all the faculties and he is said by Eeyjoo to have been thorough master (supo con toda la perfeccion) of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic. Eeyjoo add?, that he knew, besides, all the principal European languages. He could repeat the entire Bible from memory. He was profoundly versed in theology, in civil and canon law, in mathematics, and in medicine. He had at his perfect command all the works of St. Thomas, of Scotus, of Alexander of Hales, of Galen, Avicenna, and the otlier hghts of the age in every department of science.J Like the Admirable Crichton, too, he was one of the most accomplished gentlemen and most distinguished cavahers of his time. He could play on every known variety of instrument ; he sang exquisitely ; he was a most
whom
The ingenious mechanician, Prince Raimondo di Sansevero, of Naples, had some name as a linguist. He is said to have known Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, and several modern lanBut his knowledge was very superficial. guages. f Theatro Critico, IV., p. 401, Art. Glorias de Enpum. j Bibliotheca Uispaua, Vol. IV,, p. 75.
35
{graceful
rider;
dancer; an expert swordsman and a bold and skilful and he was master of one particular art of fence by which he was able to defeat all his adversaries, by springing upon them at a single bound of twenty-three or twenty-four
;
!
yards
In a word,
to
whose simple narrative these statements rest, " if you could live a hundred years without eating or drinking, and were to give the whole time to study, you could not learn all that this young man knew."^ The occasion to which this writer, quoting Monstrelet's Chronicle,t refers was the Royal Fete at Paris in 1445 so that Fernando must have been born about 1425. Of his later history but little is known. He was sent as ambassador to JR,ome in 1469, and died in 1480. A Portuguese of the same period, Pedro de Covilham, is mentioned by Damian a Goes in his curious book, De Ethiojpum Moribus in terras which, if we could take them literally, should entitle him to a place among the linguists. During the reign of John II. of Portugal (1481-95) (3ovilham, who had already distinguished himself as an explorer under Alfonzo v., was sent, in company with Alfonzo de Payva, in search of the kingdom of Prester John, which the traditional notions of the time placed in Abyssinia. Payva died upon the expedition. Covilham, after visiting India, the Persian Gulf, and exploring both the coasts of the Red Sea, at length reached Abyssinia, where he was received with much distincHe married in the country, and obtained tion by the King.
old chronicler on
;
large possessions
still exists in Japan, prohibiting any one who may have once settled in the country ever again to leave it, he was compelled to adopt Abyssinia as a second
in
Wanley's
"Wonders
of the
World,"
p.
285
:_
"
all
writ,
He
vaunted to pronounce (Like a young Antichrist) if he Did read the same but once."
The work was printed in the same volume with Peter I P. 457. Cologne, 1574. Martyr's De Rebus Oceanicis. 134. t Bruce's Travels, III,
3G
lionip.
When,
therefore,
he
was
to
recalled
by
John
II.,
the
tliat
King
of Abyssinia
refused
relinquish him,
pleading
" that he was skilled in almost all the languages of men " * and he had made to him, as his own adopted subject, large Covilham, after a resigrants of land and other possessions. dence of tliirty-three years, was still alive in 1525, when the embassy under Alvarez de Lima reached Abyssinia.
Very
early
in the
Spanish convert from Judaism, called inLatin " Libertas Corainetus" [Libertas being, in all probability, but the translation of his Hebrew patronymic,) whose acquirements are more precisely defined. He was born at Cominedo, towards the close of the fifteenth century, and renounced his creed about 1525. His fellow-convert Galatinus, an Italian Jew, and himself no mean linguist, describes Libertas in his work " De Arcanis Catholica Veritatis," as not only deeply versed in Holy Writ, but master of fourteen languages.f The Biographical Dictionaries and other books of reference are quite silent regarding him. The nameof Benedict Arias Montanus, editor of the so-called " King of Spain's Polyglot Bible, " is better known to Biblical students. He was born at FrexenalJ in Estremadura in 1527' and studied in the university of Alcala, then in the first freshness of the reputation which it owed to the magnificence of the great Cardinal Ximeues. Montanus entered the order of St. James, and after accompanying the Bishop of Segovia to the Council of Trent, where he appeared with great distinction, returned to the Hermitage of Nuestra Seuora de losAngel.^s near Aracena, with the intention of devoting himself entirely to study and prayer. From this retreat, however, he was drawn by Philip 11., who employed him to edit a new Polyglot Bible on a more comprehensive plan than the Complutensian Polyglot. On the completion of this task, Philip sought to reward the learned editor by naming him to a bishopric ; but
Duret refers for some notice of Covilham, to the rare work of Alvarez, De Histuria Ethiopian. In the hope of discovering something further regarding this remarkable and little-known linguist, 1 endeavoured to consult that author ; but I have not been able to find a copy, It is not in the British Museum. t Galatinus de Arcanis Cath. Veritatis Libri XII. (Frankfort 1572), B. III. c. e, p. 120. X There is considerable difference of opinion as to his birth-place. But Nicholas Antonio, in the Bibliotheca Hispana, savs it was Frexenal Vol, III. p. 207.
'61
Montanus had humility and self-denial enough to decline the honour, and died an humble chaplain, in 1598. The estimate formed by his contemporaries of Montanus's attainments in languages falls little short of the marvellous. Le Mire describes him as omnium fere gentium Unguis et Uteris raro exemplo excultus ; but we may more safely take his own modest statement
in
the
preface
knew
ten lan-
guages."**"
The
known perhaps
Walter Scott's pleasant sketch, by his vast work on Demonology, was also a very distinguished hnguist. Del Rio, although of Spanish parentage, was born at Antwerp in May 1551. His first university studies were made at Paris; but he received the Doctor's degree at Salamanca, and has merited a place in Baillet's Enfans Celebres, by publishing an edition of Solinus, with a learned commentary, before he was twenty years old.f Del Rio's talents and reputation opened for him a splendid career ; but he abandoned all his offices and all
to English readers, since Sir his
prospects
of preferment,
According to Feyjoo, J Del Rio knew ten languages; andBaillet would appear to imply even more, when he says that he was master of at least that number. Del Rio died at Louvain in 1608. One of Del Rio's most distinguished contemporaries, the celebrated dramatic poet. Lope de Vega, although his celebrity rests upon a very different foundation, was also a very resthe Jesuits at Yalladolid in 15S0.
pectable
cially
languages.
so far, at least, as regards the modern The extraordinary fecundity of this author, espewhen we consider his extremely chequered and busy career
linguist,
would seem
to
preclude the possibility of his having applied himself to any other pursuit than that of dramatic literature. The mere
physical labour
of committing
to
hundred
versified plays,
ca's
Baillet says it was an edition of Senep. 198. but this is a mistake. The In Seneca Tragedias Adversaria did not appear till 1574. t Teatro Crit.icu, IV. 401. " Seguramente podemos creers in alguna X Feyjoo IV. p. 401. rebaxa." The Bibliotheca Hispana enumerates twelve languages, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, French, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, and English. I. p. 207. This is, strange as it may seem, the lowest computation, and rests on Lope de Vega's own testimony, written in 1630, five years before his death. Speaking of the number of his dramatic fictions, ha
Enfans Celebres,
;
Tragedies
Mil y
3
"
38
three hundrerl interludes and sacred dramas''^, ten epic poems, and eight prose novels, besides an infinity of essays, prefaces,
and other miscellaneous pieces, would appear more than enough to occupy the very busiest human life. Yet notwithstanding all this prodigious labour. Lope de Vega contrived to find time for the acquisition of Greek, Latin, Italian, Portuguese, French, and probably English Well might Cervantes call him " a Prodigy of isature!" Although the missionaries of Spain and Portugal are, as a body, less distinguished iu the department of languages than those of Italy, yet there are some among them not inferior to the most eminent of their Italian brethren. The great Coptic and Abyssinian scholar, Antonio Fernandez, was a Portuguese Jesuit. He was born at Lisbon in 1566, and entered the Jesuit society as a member of the Portuguese province of the order. After a long preparatory training, he was sent, in 1602-, to Goo, the great centre of the missionary activity of Portugal. His ultimate destination, however, was Abyssinia, which country he reached in 1604, in the disguise of an
!
dedications,
Armenian. He resided in Abyssinia for nearly thirty years, and was charged with a mission to the Pope Paul III. and Philip IV. of Spain, from the king, who, under the influence of the missionaries, had embraced the Catholic religion. Fernandez set out with some native companions in 1615 ; but they were all made prisoners at Alaba, and narrowly escaped being put to death ; nor was he released in the end, except on condition of relinquishing this intended mission, and returning to Abyssinia. On the death of the king, who had so long protected them, the whole body of Catholic missionaries were expelled from Abyssinia by the new monarch in 1632 ; and Feriiandez returned, after a most chequered and eventful career, to Goa, where he died, ten years later, iu 1642. Of his acquirements in the Western languages, I am unable to discover any particulars ; but he was thoroughly versed in Armenian, Coptic, and Amharic or Abyssinian, in both of which last named languages he has left several ritual and ascetic works for the use of the missionaries and native children.
Accordother authors the number is made much greater. ing to some, as his friend, Montalvan, he wrote eighteen hundred plays and Bouterwek, in his History of Spanish Literature, puts it down at the enormous estimate of tioo thousand. ^^ Spanish Literature,"!, p. 361. ' Montalvan says The Bibliotheca Hispana says four hundred. (vol. iv., p. 75,y'elgkteen hundred plays, and above four hundred sacred dramas.
;
By
39
The Spanish and Portuguese
missionaries in America, too,
good service
to
the study of the numerous native languages of both continents.* Most of the modern learning on the subject is derived from
their treatises, chiefly manuscript, preserved by the Society.
ISor were the other orders less efficient. Padre Josef Carabantes, a Capuchin of the province of Aragon, (born in 1648) wrote a most valuable practical treatise for the use of
missionaries, which was long a text
book
in their hands.
One
still
of the Portuguese
missionaries in Abyssinia,
Father
ency in Gheez, the learned language of Abyssinia, not equalled even by the natives themselves. J A Franciscan missionary at Constantinople about the same time, mentioned by Cyril Lucaris, is described by him as "acquainted with manylanguages;" but I have not been able to discover his name.
By
ever,
far
is
the
He
Horcajo, in
la
Having entered the Jesuit society, he taught philosopiiy for some years in Madrid, and afterwards in a convent in Murcia; but at length, happily for the interests of science as well as of religion, he embraced a missionary career, and remained attached to the Jesuit mission of America, until 1767.
Mancha.
On
devoted himself to his early philosophical however, he ultimately, in a great measure, relinquished in order to apply himself to literature and especially to philology. When the members of the society were permitted to re-establish themselves in Spain, Hervas went to Catalonia ; but he was obliged to return to Italy, and settled at Rome, where he was named by Pius VII. keeper of
studies, which,
Cesena,
and
of grammars, vocabularies, dictionaries, catechisms, forty-five different languages, compiled by tlie Spanish missionaries, is given in the Bibliotheca Hispana, vol. IV. pp. 577-79. M. d'Abbadie assures me that Father Paez is still spoken of as f " Ma aiim Petros" by the professors of Gondar and Bageniidir. X Neale's History of the Patriarchate of Alexandria (London, 1837) II. 405. Letter to M. Le Leu de Wilhem, quoted by Neale, II. 402.
*
A long
list
&c., in
more than
40
the Vatican Library. In this honourable charge he remained
his death in
till
1809. Father Hervas may with truth be pronounced one of the most meritorious scholars of modern times. His works are
exceedingly numerous; and, beside his favourite pursuit, philology, embrace almost every other conceivable subject, theology,
mathematics, history, general and local, palaeography ; not to speak of an extensive collection of works connected with the
order,
which he
edited,
and
a translation of Bercastel's
if
History
not by him-
Besides all the at least under his superintendence. stupendous labour imphed in these diversified undertakings, Father Hervas has the still further merit of having devoted
himself to the subject of the instruction of the deaf-mute, for
little series
of publications,
and pub-
very valuable
essay
on the principles
is
to be followed
in their instruction.*
Our
They form part of a great work Idea dell' Universo ; and were printed at intervals, at Cesena, in Italian, from which language they were translated into Spanish by his friends and associates, and republished in Spain. It will only be necessary to particularize one or two of them the Saggio Prattico delle Lingue, which consists of a collection of the Lord's Prayer in three hundred and seven languages, together with other specimens of twenty-two additional languages, in which the
author was unable to obtain a version of the Lord's Prayer, by grammatical analyses and annotations ; and the Calalogo delle Lingue conosciute, e Notizia delle loro Affinita e Biversita.f In the compilation of these, and his other collections, it is true, Hervas had the advantage, not alone of his own extensive travel, and of his own laborious research, but, also of the aid of his brethren ; and this in an Order which numbered among its members, men to whose adventurous spirit every corner of the world had been familiar :
all illustrated
Biographie Universelle, IX. 301. Of the latter work I have never seen the Italian original. I know it only from the Spanish Catalogo de las Lenguas de las naciones eonocidas, y numeraciun, division, y classes deestas, segun la Diver sidad de sus idiomas y dialectos. 6 vols 4to. Madrid, 1800-3.
t
41
" In Greenland's icy mountains,
On
But
true
grammars
;
science, he freely communicated to William von HumHe boldt for publication in the Mithridates of Adelung.
was a most refined classical scholar and a profound Orientalist. He was perfectly familiar, besides, with almost all the European languages; and, wide as is the range of tongues which his published works embrace, his critical and grammatical notes and observarions, even upon the most obscure and least known of the languages which they contain, altiiough in many cases they have of course all the imperfections of a first essay, exhibit, even in their occasional errors, a vigorous and original mind. The name of Father Hervas-y-Pandura is a fitting close to the distinguished line of linguistic " Glorias de Espana."
IV.
FRENCH LIKGUISTS.
into
The University
the study of
rival schools
much
zeal as the
department which we meet in that of the celebrated Eabbinical scholar, William Postel. This extraordinary man was born at Dolerie in 1510. Having lost both his parents at a very early age, he was left entirely dependent upon his own' exertions for support; and, with that indomitable energy which often accompanies the love of knowledge, he began, from his very boyhood, a systematic course of self-denial, by which he hoped to realize the means of prosecuting the studies Having for which he had conceived an early predilection. scraped together, in the laborious and irksome occupation of a school-master, what he regarded as a sufficient sum for his modest wants, he repaired to Paris ; but he had scarcely
firsf^ great
The
name
in this
is
* Anthony Rodolph Chevalier, a Hebraist of .=ioine eminence, born in Normandy in 1507, three years before Postel, has perhaps some claim to be mentioned before him, inasmuch as several of his
versions
Walton's Polyglot
but
his
history has
42
reached
that city,
long
all his years of self-denial ; and a which he was thrown by the chagrin and privation which ensued, reduced him to the last extremity. Even still, however, his spirit was unbroken. He went to Eeauce, where, by working as a daily labourer, he earned the means of returning to Paris as a poor scholar. Presenting
illness into
himself at the College of Saint Barbara, he obtained a place as a servant, with permission to attend the lectures ; and having iu
of a Hebrew grammar, he contrived, hours of leisure, to master the language so thoroughly, that in a short time his preceptors found themselves outstripped by their singular dependent. His reputation as an Oriental scholar spread rapidly. When La Poret^s memorable embassy to the Sultan was being organized by Prancis I., the king was recommended to entrust to Postel a literary mission, somewhat similar to that undertaken during the reign of Louis Philippe, at the instance of M. de Villemain, one of the objects of which was to collect Greek and Oriental MSS. It was on his return from this expedition, (in which he visled Constantinople, Greece, Asia Minor, and part of Syria,) that Postel met Teseo Ambrosio at Venice, and published what may be said to have been the first systematic attempt as yet made to bring together materials for in
his
the philosophical investigation of the science of language* being a collection of the alphabets of twelve languages, with a shght
soon
He was of each among the number.* appointed Professor of Mathematics, and also of Oriental Languages, in the College de Prance; but the wild and visionary character of his mind appears to have been quite unsuited to any settled pursuit. He had conceived the
account
after
mission of uniting all which he recogPrancis I. of France, whom he maintained to be the nized lineal descendant of Sem, the eldest of the sons of Noah. Under the notion that this was his pre-ordained vocation, he refused to accompany La Poret on a second mission to the
divinely called to the
the head of
East, although he was pressed to do so by the king himself, and a sum of four thousand crowns was placed at his disposal
for the, purchase of
manuscripts.
that state
He
soon
offered
himself,
in
unsuitablcness
for
became so apparent,
I.
43
to receive liiin.
After
many wanderings
in France, Italy,
and
reached its greatest height,) he undertook a second expedition to the East, in 1549, whence lie returned in 1551, with a large number of valuable MSS. obtained through the French ambassador, D'Aramont, but wilder and more visionary than
ever.
He resumed
flocked to hear
his
now who
him were so great, that they were obhged where he addressed them from one
alter-
of the windows.
nation of successes and embroilments. The Emperor Ferdinand invited him to Vienna, as Professor of Mathematics. While there, he assisted Widmandstadt in the preparation of his
Vienna,however, after a short 1551 or 1555. He was put into prison in Rome, but liberated in 1557. In 1562 he returned to Paris. The extravagancies of his conduct and his teaching led to his being placed under a kind of honourable surveillance, in 1564, in the monastery of St. Martin des
Syriac
New
Testament.
He
left
Champs, near Paris. Yetsoiiiterestingwas his conversation that crowds of the most distinguished of all orders continued to visit him in this retreat till his death in 15S1. Postersattainments in languages living or dead, were undoubtedly most extensive. Not reckoning the modern languages, which he may be presumed to have known, his Introduciion exhibits a certain familiarity
than twelve languages, chiefly eastern ; and he is said converse in most of the living languages known in his lime. Duret states, as a matter notorious to all the learned, that he "knew, understood, and spoke fifteen languages ;"* and it was his own favourite boast, that he could
less
withnot
the aid of an
In addition
Postel
we owe the
These compilations as carried out by later collectors, have rendered such service to philology, that, although many of their authors were little more than mere compilers, and have but slender claims to be considered as linguists, in the higher sense of the word, it would be unpardonable to pass them over without notice in a Memoir like the present.
TItresor de
V Histoire de toulcs
les
Langues dc
cet Univers.
Cologne,
[y^
613, p. 9G4.
^\
44
Towards the
soldier
close
Hungarian
named John
the
;
Turks in Hungary, was made prisoner by the and on his return home, after a captivity of thirty-two He years, published (in 1428) an account of his adventures. appended to his travels, as a specimen of the languages of the countries in which he had sojourned, the Lord's Prayer in Armenian, and also in the Tartar tongue. This, however, was but Postel's publication (Paris, a mere traveller's curiosity 1558) is more scientific. It contains specimens of the characters Chaldee , Heof twelve different languages, in five of which brew, Arabic, Greek, and Armeniau,the Pater Noster is printed both in Roman characters and in those of the several languages. This infant essay of Postel was followed, ten years after, by the collection of Theodore Bibliander, (the classicized form of the German name Buchnann^ which contains fourteen dfferent Pater Nosters. Conrad Gesner, in 1555, increased the number to twenty-two, to which Angelo Rocea, an Augustinian Bishop, added three more (one of them Chinese) in 1591. Jerome Megiser, in 1592, extended the catalogue to forty. John Baptist Gramaye, a professor in Louvain, made He was taken a still more considerable stride in advance. prisoner by the Algerine corsairs, in the beginning of the next century, and after his return to Europe, collected no fewer than a hundred different versions of the Pater Noster, which he pubHshed in 1623. But his work seems to have attracted little notice ; for more than forty years later, (1668) a collection made by Bishop Wilkins, the learned linguist, to whom I shall hereafter return, contains no more than fifty. In all these, however, the only object appears to have been
against
enemy
of languages as possible, without But, in the latter part arrangement. of the same century, the collection of Andrew Miiller (which comprises eighty-three Pater Nosters) exhibits a considerable advance in this particular. Men began, too, to arrange and classify the various families. Francis Junius (Van der Yonghe) published the Lord's Prayer in nineteen different languages of the German family ; and Nicholas Witsen devoted himself to the languages of Northern Asia the great Siberian family, in eleven of which he published the Lord's Prayer in 1692. This improvement in scientific arrangement, however, was not universal ; for although the great collection of John Chamberlay ne and David Wilkins, printed at Amsterdam in 1715, contains the Lord's Prayer in a hundred and fifty-two Ianto collect as large a
number
any attention to
critical
45
guages, and that of Christian Frederic Gesner the well-known Orientalischer und Occidentalischer Sprachneister (Leipzic
two hundred, they are both equally compiled upon have little value except as mere specimens of the various languages which they contain.* It is not so witli a collection already described, which was published near the close of the same century, by a learned Spanish Jesuit, Don Lorenzo Hervas y Pandura. It is but one of that vast variety of philological works from the same prolific pen which, as I have stated, appeared, year after year, in Cesena, originally in Italian, though they were all afterwards pubhshed in a Spanish translation, in the author's native country. Father Ilervas's collection, it will be remembered, contains the Lord's Prayer in no less than three hundred and seven languages, besides hymns and other prayers in twentytwo additional dialects, in which the author was not able to
17-48)
in
same time with this important publicamore extensive philological work made its appearance in the extreme north, under the patronage and indeed the direct inspiration, of the Empress Catherine II. of Russia. The plau of this compilation was more comprehensive
Almost
at the very
tion of Hervas, a
than that of the collections of the Lord's Prayer. It consisted of a Vocabulary of two hundred and seventy-three familiar and ordinary words, in part selected by the Empress herself, and This Vocabulary, which is very drawn up in her own hand. judiciously chosen, is translated into two hundred and one languages. The compilation of this vast comparative catalogue of words was entrusted to the celebrated philcloger, Pallas, assisted by all the eminent scholars of the northern capital; among whom the most efficient seems to have been Bakmeister, the Librarian of the Imperial Academy of St. The opportunities afforded by the patronage of Petersburg. a sovereign who held at her disposition the services of the
* Adelung, in the appendix of the first volume of his IMithridates, has enumerated sereral other Pater Nosters, Thevet, Vulcanius (the latinized form of iSme^),Merula,Duret,Mauer Waser, Reuter,Witzen, Bartsch, Bergmann, and others. None of these collections, however, possesses any special interest, as bearing on the present inquiry, nor does it appear that any of the authors was particularly unless we are to presume that eminent as a speaker of languages Thevet, Duret, Gramaye, and Witzen, may, in their long travel or sojourn in foreign countries, have acquired the languages of the
;
nations
among whom
they lived.
Of
names
I shall
say
^** Ir'*^
'
46
functionaries of a vast, and,
])olyglot
in the literal sense of the word, a empire like Kussia, were turned to the best account. Languages entirely beyond the reach of private research, were unlocked at her command ; and the rude and hitherto almost
unnamed dialects of Siberia, of iVorthern Asia, of the Halieutian islanders, and the nomadic tribes of the Arctic shores,
this monster vocabulary, beside the more tongues of Europe and the East. jN'evertheless, the Vocabulary of Pallas (probably from the circumstance of its being printed altogether in the Russian character)* is but little familiar to our philologers, and is chiefly known from the valuable materials which it supplied to Adelung and his colleagues in the compilation of the well-known Mithridates. The Mithridates of Adelung closes this long series of philological collections but although in its general plan, it is only an expansion of the original idea of the first simple traveller who presented to his countrymen, as specimens of the languages of the countries which he had visited, versions in each language of the Prayer which is most familiar to every Christian, yet it is not only far more extensive in its range than any of its predecessors, but also infinitely more philosophical in its method. There can be no doubt that the selection of a ])rayerso idiomatical, and so constrained in its form as the Lord's Prayer, was far from judicious. As a specimen of the structure of the various languages, the choice of it was
find
place in
polislied
l/Us
'
singularly infelicitous
* portion of the edition contains a Latin preface, explanatory but the majority of the copies have this of the plan and contents preface in Russian ; and, in all, the character employed throughout This character, however, may be the body of the work is Russian. mastered with so little difficulty, that, practically, its adoption can hardly be said to interfere materially with the usefulness of the work and the use of the Russian character had many advantages over the Roman,in accurately representing the various sounds, especially those of the northern languages. Au alphabetical digest (4 vols. 4to. 1790-1) of all the words contained in the Vocabulary (arranged in the order of the alphabet without reference to language) was compiled, a ?evf years later, by Theodor Jankiewitsch de Miriewo, by which it may be seen at once But this digest is described as to what language each word belongs. unscientific in its plan and execution ; and it was commonly believed that the Empress was so dissatisfied with it, that the work was suppressed and is now extremely rare ; but I have been informed by Mr. Watts of the British Museum, that copies of it are now copy has been for some years not unfrequently offered for sale. in the British Museum.
; ;
47
pies of criticism (and in truth of everything
multiplication
collections, is
of
specimens),
wiiich
an additional aggravation of
defect.
But
it is
It retains
the Lord's Prayer, it is true, like the rest, as the si)ecimen (although not the oidy one) of eacii language ; but it aban-
dons the unscientific arrangement of the older collections, the languages being distributed into groups according to their ethnographical affinities. The versions, too, are much more
carefully
illustrations
they are accompanied by notes and critical ; and in general, each language or dialect, with the literature bearing upon it, is minutely and elaborately described. In a word, the Miihridates, although, as might
;
made
be expected,
still
is
a strictly
;
and
has formed the basis, as well as the text, of the researches of all the masters in the modern schools of comparative philology.* To return, however, to the personal history of linguists,
work
of Postel.
celebrity
and even
more unamiable, than Postel's, is that of his countryman and contemporary, the younger of the two Scaligers. Joseph Justus Scaliger was born at Ageu in 1544^ and made his school studies at Bordeaux, where he was only remarkable for his exceeding dulness, having spent three years in a fruitless, though painfully laborious, attempt to master the first rudiments of the Latin language. These clouds of the morning, however, were but the prelude of a brilliant day. His after successes were proportionately rapid and complete. The stories which are told of him seem almost legendary. He is said to have read the entire Iliad and Odyssey in twentyone days, and to have run through the Greek dramatists and lyric poets in four months. He was but seventeen years old when he produced his ffidipus. At the same age he was able to speak Hebrew with all the fluency of a Rabbi. His application to study was unremitting, and his powers of endurance are described as beyond all example. He himself tells, that even in the darkness of the night, when he awoke from his brief slumbers, he was able to read without lighting
* It is true that some part of its materials have since become superannuated by the fuller and more accurate researches of later inBut vestigators, (see Bunsen's Christianity and Mankind, III. 47.) it is nevertheless a work even still of immense value.
48
liis
lamp
!*
So powerful, according
to his
own
:
account, was
l\is
" Alike to him was tide and time. Moonless midnight, and matin prime
!"
was spent.
could repeat eighty couplets of poetry after a single reading he knew by heart every line of his own compositions, and it
was said of him that he never forgot anything which he had But with all his gifts and all his accomplishments, he contrived to render himself an object of general disHis vanity was insuflike, or at least of general dis-esteem. ferable ; and it was of that peculiarly ofTensive kind which is only gratified at the expense of the depreciation of others. His life was a series of literary quarrels ; and in the whole annals of literary polemics, there are none with which, for acrimony, virulence, and ferocity of vituperation, these quarrels may not compete. And hence, although there is hardly a subject, literary, antiquarian, philological, or critical, on which he has not written, and (for his age) written well, there are few, nevertheless, who have exercised less influence upon conScaliger spoke thirteen languages, in temporary opinion. the study of which Bailletf says he never used either a dicHe himself declares the same. The tionary or a grammar. languages ascribed to him are strangely jumbled together in
learnt once.
Du
Bartas
" Scaliger, merveille de notre age, elegamment Hebreu, Grefois, Romain, Espagnol, Allemand,
Soleil des savants, qui parte
In
most others,
to ascertain the
To Du Bartas's degree of his familiarity with each of these. poetical epithet, elegamment, of course, no importance is to be
attached
;
and
it
to rely
on
* Strange and incredible as this anecdote may seem, it is told seriously by Scaliger himself, who adds that the same extraordinary power was possessed also by Jerome Cardan and by his father. See
the curious article in Moreri, voce " Scaliger." t Enfans Celebres, p. 196. X An equally eulogistic epigram, by Heinsius, Literary History, II. 35.
is
quoted by Hallain.
49
the
depreciatory
representation?
is
One
light
thing, at least,
He was not the man to hide his He was one of the from any overweening delicacy. In one place greatest boasters of his own or any other time. he boasts that there is no language in which he could write In another he professes to with such elegance as Arabic*
of his accomplishment.
write Syriac as well as the Syrians themselves.f
And
it is
curiously
significant
commonly
own day used to say that there was one particular department of each language in which there could be no doubt of his powers its Billingsgate vocabulary There was not one, they confessed, of the thirteen languages to which he laid claim, in which he was not fully
enjoyed, that the wits of his
qualified
to
The eminent
Le
temporary of Scaliger, can hardly be called a great linguist, as his studies were chiefly confined to the modern European languages, with several of which he was thoroughly conversant; but he is remarkable as having contributed, by a familiarity with modern languages very rare among the naturalists of his day, to settle the comparative popular nomenclature
of his
science.
He
is
even
still
a high authority
on
this
The reader who remembers the extraordinary reputation enjoyed among his contemporaries by the learned Nicholas Peiresc, may be disappointed at finding him overlooked in this enumeration but, as of his extraordinary erudition he has left no per:
manent
acquirements as a linguist
no authentic record has been preserved. The same is true of his friend, Galaup de Chasteuil, a less showy, perhaps, but
better read orientalist.
Through devotion
to these
studies,
under the influence of religious feeling, Chasteuil made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and, in 1631, permanently fixed his abode in Palestine and so thoroughly conversant did he become, not only with the language and literature, but also with the manners, usages and feelings of the Marouites of the Lebanon, that, on the death of their
quite as
as
;
much
Scaligeriana, p. 130.
This collection
is
the
first
of the series of
50
patriarch, despite the
all
Easas
Western
Lewis de Dieu, the he was, head of their national church."* two Morins Stephen, the Calvinist minister, and John, the the two Cappels, Lewis and James, learned Oratorian convert and even the celebrated D'Herbelot, author of the Bibliotheque Orientale, all belong rather to the class of oriental scholars than of linguists in the popular acceptation of the word.
The two Cappels, as well as their are best known in connexion with
Masoretic Points.
adversaries,
the
Buxtorfs,
One of the writers named in a previous page, Claude Duret, although Adelungt could not discover any particulars regarding him, beyond those which are detailed in the title of his book, (where he is merely described as " Bourbonnais, President a Moulins,^'') nevertheless deserves very special mention on account of the extensive and curious learning, not alone in languages, but also in general literature, history and science, which characterize his rare work, Thresor de PKistoire cles This work is undoubtedly far from Langues de cet Univers-X being exempt from grave inaccuracies; but it is nevertheless,
for its age, a marvel, as well of curious learning
and extensive
(according to
many
one account, seventeen,) languages, both of the East and of the West. How much of this, however, is mere book-scholarship, and how much is real familiarity, it is impossible, in the absence of all details of the writer's personal history, to decide. Although far from being so universal a linguist as Duret, the great biblical scholar, Samuel Bochart (born at Rouen in 1599) was much superior to him in his knowledge of Hebrew and the cognate languages, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and even Coptic. His Hierozoicon and Geographia Sacra, as monuments of philological as well as antiquarian knowledge, have maintained a high reputation even to the present time, notwithstanding
V.
p. 312.
Cologne 1615. cannot help thinking that Adelung quite underrates this curious work. 1 have seldom consulted it but with pleasure or profit. And the concluding chapter, " on the language of animals and of birds," on which great ridicule has been thrown, is in reality a very curious, interesting, and judicious essay.
j
I
51
the advantages enjoyed by
ties
modern students
of biblical antiqui-
and history.*
Bochart's pupil and his friend in early life, (although they were bitterly alienated from each other at a later period, and although Bocliart's death is painfully associated with their literary quarrelt) the celebrated Peter Daniel Huet, can hardly deserve a place in the catalogue of French linguists; but he was at least a liberal and enlightened patron of the study.
French missionaries of the seventeenth century and among them especially Francis Picquet, who, after serving for several years as French consul at xVleppo, embraced a missionary life^ and at last was consecrated Archbishop of Bagdad in 1674. Le Jay, the projector and editor of the well-known polyglot Bible which appeared in France a few years before the rival publication of Brian Walton, though he is often spoken of as the mere patron of the undertaking, was in reality a very profound and accomphshed Orientalist. The same may be said of Rapheleng, the son-in-law of Plantin, and often described as his mere assistant
of the
Many
would deserve
in
King
of
Benedictine, although a superficial scholar and a hasty and inaccurate historian, was a very able linguist. But, as we descend lower in the history of this generation of French linguists, we find comparatively few names which, for variety of attainments, can be compared with those of Italy
Germany. Beyond the cultivation of the Bibhcal languages, was done in France for this department of study during the rest of the seventeenth century. There seems but too
or
little
* Mr. Kenrick, in the preface of his recent work on Phoenicia, confesses that " the most diligent reader of ancient authors with a view to the illustration of Phoenician history, will find himself anticipated or surpassed by Bochart." t Bochart's death was the consequence of a fit v.ith which he was seized during a vehement dispute which he had with Huet, in the academy of Caen in 1667, respecting the authenticity of some Spanish medals. Huet appears to have long felt the memory of it painfully. He alludes to it in a letter to his nephew, Piadore de Chersigne, above forty years afterwards ; and seems to console himself by thinking that Bochart's death " ne lui fut causee par notre dispute, sinon en partie." It is curious that Disraeli has overlooked this in his " Quarrels of Authors."
52
])eclantic
Menage
as a linguist,
is
extravagantly
exaggerated,
was an accomplished classicist, and his acquaintance with modern languages was tolerably extensive. He was a good etymologist, too, according to the servile and unscientific system
lie
of the age.
But
his
very questionable.
it
And
period, if
were not
to,
it
on the antiquity and authority of the Masoretic Points, might almost be said that Oriental studies had fallen entirely Even of those who took a part in that into disuse in France discussion, the name of Masclef (who knew Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic, with perhaps some of the modern languages) is the only one which can approach the rank of
The three Buxtorfs (father, the higher masters of the study. son, and grandson), Guarin, and even Girandeau, were mere
Hebraists ; patient and accurate scholars, it is true, but with La Bletterie few of the characteristics of an eminent linguist. can hardly claim even this qualified reputation. the eminent historian and There is one briUiant exception He was born at Paris controversialist, Eusebius Jienaudot. Having made his classical studies under the Jesuits, in 1646. and those of Philosophy in the College d'Harcourt, he entered But he very soon quitted the congregation of the Oratory. that society ; and, although he continued to wear the ecclesiasHis life, however, tical dress, he never took holy orders. was a model of piety and of every Christian virtue ; and it was
many of his closest friends and most intimate literary allies were members of the Jansenist party, Renaudot was inflexible in his devotion to the judgment His first linguistic studies lay among the of the Holy See. Oriental languages, the rich fruit of which we still possess in his invaluable Collection of Oriental Liturgies, and in the last two volumes of the Perpetuite de la Foi sur VEucharistie, which But he soon extended his reare also from his prolific pen. searches into other fields ; and he is said to have been master of seventeen languages,* the major part of which he spoke with ease and fluency. But Renaudot stands almost alone.f The only names which
X.
p.
476.
Perhaps I ought to mention Renaudot's contemporary, the Jesuit, Father Claude Francis Menestrier, (1G3I-1704), although
t
53
may
claim to be placed in comparison with
his,
arc
tliose of
the two Pctis, EraiiQois Potis, and Francois Petis dc la Croix. The latter especially, who succeeded his father as royal Orien-
under Lewis XIV., and made several expediwas well versed, not only in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Tartar, but also in Coptic and Armenian. His translation of tlie Arabian Nights Entertainments is the work by which he is best known but his dissertations and collections on Oriental history arc full of valuable learning. The eighteenth century in France was a period of greater activity. Etienne Fourmont, although born in 1683, belongs proi)erly to the eighteenth century. He is often cited as an example of extraordinary powers of memory, having, when a mere boy, learnt by rote the whole list of Greek Roots in Ihe Port Royal Treatise, so as to repeat them in every conceivable order. He soon after published in French verse all the roots of the Latin language. But it is as an Orientalist that he is chiefly remarkable. He was appointed to the chair of Arabic in the College Royal, and also to the office of Oriental interpreter in the Bibliotheque du Roi ; and soon established such a reputation as an OrientaHst, that he
tal inter|)reter,
not a great linguist, is at least notable for the rather rare accomplishment of speaking Greek with remarkable propriety and fluency, and still more for his prodigious memory, which Queen Christina of Sweden tried by a very singular ordeal. She had a string of three hundred words, the oddest and most unconnected that could be devised, written down without the least order or connexion, and read over once in Menestrier's presence. He repeated them in thei? exact order, without a single mistake or hesitation Biogruphie
!
Univ.,
Vol.
XXVIII., p.
293.
more extraordinary example of this power of memory is Padre Menocchio (the well-known Biblical commentator, Menochius) of a young Corsican whom Muretmet at Padua, and who was not only able to repeat in their regular order a jumble of words similar to that described above, but could repeat them backwards, (Old ivith various other modijications ! The youth assured Muret that he could retain in this way 36,000 words, and that he would undertake to keep them in memory for an entire year See Menocchio's Stuore, Part III., p. 89The Stuore is a miscellaneous collection,
still
related by
compiled by this learned Jesuit during his hours of recreation. He called the work by this quaint title (Ang. " Mats") in allusion to the habit of the ancient monks, who used to employ their leisure hours in weaving mats, in the literal sense of the word. This fanciful title is not unlike that chosen by Clement of Alexandria for a somewhat similar miscellany, his J^T^df^ecTx [Tapestry], or perhaps the more
literal
one
*'
time.
54
was consulted on philological questions by the learned of every country in Europe. He was thoroughly master of Greek, Hebrew, xlrabic, Syriac, and Persian, and was one of the first French scholars who, without having visited China,* attained
to any notable proficiency in Chinese.
His nephew, Michael Angelo Desha uterayes, born at ConHonorine, near Pontoise, M2i, was even more j)recocious. At tiie age of ten, he commenced his studies under Fourmont's superintendence. He thus became familiar at an early age with Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and Chinese ; so that in his twenty-second year he was appointed to succeed his uncle as Oriental Interpreter to the lioyal Library, to which post, a few years later, was added the Arabic professorship in the College de France. In these employments he devoted hinjself to Oriental studies for above thirty years. Another pupil of Fourmont, Joseph dc Guignes, born at Pontoise in 1721, attained equal eminence as an Orientalist. At Fourmont's death, he was associated with the last named linguist on the staft' of the lioyal Library. But De Guignes' merit in the department of Oriental history and antiquities,~has almost overshadowed his reputation as a mere linguist, altliough he was a proficieut in all tlie principal Eastern languages, and in many'of those of Europe. His History of the Huns, Turks, Moguls, and other Tartar nations, notwithstanding that many
flans Ste.
views are now discarded, is still regarded as a reperOriental learning ; and, while both in this and also in some others of his works, De Guignes is often visionary and even paradoxical,t he is acknowledged to have done more for Cliinese literature in France, than any linguist before Abel Eemusat ; nor is there one of the scholars of the eighteenth century, who in the spirit, if not in the letter, of the views which he put forward, comes so near to the more enlarged and more judicious theories of the scholars of our own day, ou the general questions of philology.
of
its
tory of
* Many of the French missionaries in China, of course, were distinguished Chinese scholars. The Dictionary of Pere Aiuiot, for example, although not published till after his death, is still a standard work. It was edited by Langles in 1789-90. f For msta,r\ce his Me7noire (laiis le quel on pronve que les Chinois sont line Co/onie Egyptienne ; a notion which was warmly controverted by his fellow pupil, Deshauterayes. De Guignes argues from the supposed resemblance of the Chinese and Phoenician characters. His great Chinese Dictionary, with Klaproth's supplement, (2 vols. fol., Paris, 1813-19) is in Mezzofanti's Catalogue, p. 6,
55
the higher departments of time into disrepute in France; but a powerful impulse was given to the practical cultivation of Oriental languages by the diplomatic relations of that kingdom with Constantinople and the Levant. The official appointments connected with that service served to supply at once a stimulus to the study and an opportunity for its practice. Cardonne, Ruffin,"^ Legrand, KiefFer, Venture de Paradis, and Langles, were all either trained in that school, or devoted themselves to the study as a preparation for it. Of these, perhaps John ]\lichael Venture De Paradis is the most remarkable. His father had been French Consul in the Crimea, and in various cities of the Levant, and appears to have educated the boy with a special view to the Oriental diplomatic service. From the College de Louis le Grand, he was transferred, at the age of fifteen, to Constantinople, and, before he had completed his twenty-second year, he was apThence pointed interpreter of the French embassy in Syria. he passed into Egypt in the same capacitj', and, in 1777,
linguistic science
fell
From
the days of
De Guigues
for a
accompanied Baron de Toit in his tour of inspection of the French estabhshments in the Levant. He was sent afterwards to Tunis, to Constantinople, and to Algiers ; and eventually was attached to the ministry of Foreign Atfairs in Paris, with the Professorship of Oriental Languages. His last service was in the memorable Egyptian expedition under Bonaparte, in which he fell a victim to fatigue, and the evil effects of the chmate, in 1799.t Lewis Matthew LanglesJ was a Picard, born at Peronne, in 1703. From his boyhood he too was destined for the diplomatic service and studied first at Moutdidier, and afterwards in Paris, where he obtained an employment which
;
afforded
him considerable
under Caussin de Perceval, and Persian under Ruf&n. Soon afterwards, however, he engaged in the study of Mantchu, and in some time became such a proficient in that language, that he was entrusted with the task of editing the Mantchu Dictionary of Pere Amiot. From that time his reputation was estabhshed, at least with
ite studies.
He
learned Arabic
Although of French parents, Ruffin was born in 1742 at Salonica, where his father was living in the capacity of chief interpreter of
France. Feller, vol XL, p. 163. t Biogr. Univ. XIX., 172 (Brussels ed.) t Biogr. Univ., vol. LXX., p. 189-200.
56
tlie
ment
general public. His subsequent publications in everj departHe of languages are nuraerous beyond all precedent.
had the reputation of knowing, besides the learned laiiguages, Chinese, Tartar, Japanese, Sanscrit, Malay, Armenian, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. But it must be added that the solidity of
these attainments has been gravely impeached, and that by many he is regarded more as a charlatan than as a scholar.
No
of, after
De
Guignes,
He the true reviver of Chinese literature, Abel K.emusat.''*' was born at Paris in 1788, and brought up to the medical profession ; and it may almost be said that the only time devoted by him to his early linguistic studies was stolen from the laborious preparation for the less congenial career to which
By a very unusual preference, he was destined by his father. he applied himself, almost from the first, to the Chinese and Tartar languages. Too poor to afford the expensive luxury of a Chinese dictionary, he com])iled, with incredible labour, a vocabulary for his own use; ai^d the interest created at once by the success of his studies, and by the unexampled devotedness with which they were pursued, were so great as to procure for him, at the unanimous instance of the Academy of Inscriptions, the favour, at that period rare and difficult, of exemption from Trom that time forward the chances of military conscription. he applied himself unremittingly to philological pursuits ; and, although he was admitted doctor of the faculty of medicine, at Paris in 1813, he never appears to have practised actively On the creation of the two new chairs of in the profession. Chinese and Sanscrit, in the College de Prance, after the Restoration, Hemusat was appointed to the former, in November, 1814; from which period he gave himself up entirely to literature. He was speedily admitted into all the learned societies both of Paris and of other countries ; and in 1818 he became one of the editors of the Journal des Savans. On the establishment (in which he had a chief part,) of the Societe Asiatique, in 1822, he was named its perj)etual secretary; and, on the death of Langles, in 1824, he succeeded to the charge of keeper of Oriental MSS. in the Bibhotheque du Roi. This office he contiimed to hold till his early and universally lamenRemusat's eminence lay more in the ted death in 1832.
Augusts Herbin, a few years Remusat's senior (having been born was cut oft' in the very commencement of a most promising career as an Orientalist, He died in 1806, before he had completed his twenty-fourth year.
*
at Paris 178.3),
57
depth and accuracy of his scholarsliip in the one great hiuiich of Oriental languages, which he selected as his own those of Eastern Asia and in the profoundly phil()soi)hical s[)irit which he brought to tlie investigation of the relations of these languages to each other, and to the other great families of the earth, than in the numerical extent of his acquaintance with particular languages. But this, too, was such as to place him in the very first rank of linguists. A few words must suiRce for the I'rcnch school since llemusat, although it has held a very distinguished place in philological science. The Socicte Asiati([ue, founded at Kemusat's instance, and for many years directed by him as secretary, has not oidy produced many eminent individual philologers, as De Sacy, Quatremere, ChampoUion, Kenan, Fresnel, and De Merian ; but, what is far more important, it has successfully carried out a systematic scheme of investigation, by which alone it is possible, in so vast a subject, to
Chinese
M.
in
Marcoux's
M. Stanislas Julien's researches Dulaurier^s in the Malay languages Fatiier the American Indian ; Eugene Bourmouf's
;
in those of Persia
East Africa,
and
especially in
unknown Abyssinian and Ethiopian families; Eugene Bore in Armenian;* M. Fresnel's explorations among the tribes of the western shores of the Ked Sea and many sunilar successful investigations of particular
departments, are contributing to lay up such a body of facts, as cannot fail to afford sure and reliable data for the scientific solution by the philologers of the coming generation, of those great problems in the science of language, on which their fathers could only speculate as a theory, and at the best
could but address themselves in conjecture. Although 1 have no intention of entering into the subject of living Erench linguists, yet there is one of the gentlemen whom 1 have mentioned,
M. Eulgence
Fresnel,
whom
alluding to before I pass from the subject of French philology. His name is probably familiar to the public at large, in con-
nexion with the explorations of the French at Nineveh ; but he long known to the readers of the Journal Asiatique as a linguist not unworthy of the very highest rank in that branch
is
in Armenia what the two D'Abbadies once a schohir and a missionary the pioneer of religion and civilization, no less than of science.
*
have been
Abyssinia
at
58
M. d'Abbadie,* himself a most accomplished informed me tliat M. Presnel, althougli exceedingly modest on the subject of his attainments, has tlie reputation The facility with which he of knowing twenty languages. has acquired some of these languages almost rivals the fame of Mezzofanti. M. Arago having suggested on one occasion the desirableness of a French translation of Berzelius's Swedish Treatise " On the Blow-pipe," Fresnel at once set about learning Swedish, and in three months had completed the desired translation He reads fluently Hebrew, Greek, Romaic, Latin, Itahan, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and what little is known of the Hieroglyphical language. He is second only to Lane as an Arabic scholar. Among the less known languages of which M. Fresnel is master, M. d'Abbadie heard him speak a few sentences of one, of which he may be said to have himself been the discoverer, and which is, in some respects, completely anomalous. M. Fresnel describes this curious language in the Journal Asiatique, July, 1838. It is spoken by the savages of Mahrak ; and as it is not reducible to any of the three families, the Aramaic, the Canaanitic, or the Arabic, of which, according to Gesenius, the Ethiopia is an elder branch, M. Fresnel believes it to be the very language spoken by the Queen of Saba Its present seat is in the mountainous district of Hhacik, Mirbat, and Zhafar. Its most singular characteristic consists it its articulations, which are exceedingly difficult and most peculiar. Besides all the nasal sounds of the French and Portuguese, and that described as the "sputtered sound" of the Amharic, this strange tongue has three articulations, which can only be enunciated with the right side of the mouth ; and the act of uttering them produces a contortion which destroys the syuimetry of the features ! M. Fresnel describes it as " horrible, both to hear and to see spoken." Endeavouring to represent the force of one of these sounds by the letters hh, he calls the language Ehhkili.^
of scholarship.
linguist,
!
!
" I gladly avail myself of this opportunity to acknowledge the valuable assistance on many points which I have received, in the form both of information and of suggestion, at the hands of this distinguished philologist and traveller. I am but speaking the common feeling of the learned of every country, when J express a hope that, before long, the world may be favoured with the results of his long and laborious researches in the language, literature, and history of Ethiopia. t Journ. Asiat. 3me., Serie, Vol. VI. p. 79.
59
V.
If we abstract from the Sacred Languages, the Clerman scholars were slow in turning themselves to Oriental studies.
John Miiih^r, of Konigsberg, commonly known as Regiomontanus, although he had tlie highest repute for learning
all the German scholars of the fifteenth century', does not appear to have gone beyond the classical languages. Martin Luther, Eeuchiin,t Ulrich Van Hutten, Hoogenstraet,were Hebraists and no more ; John and VYidmanstadt, when he wished to study Arabic, was forced to make a voyage to Spain ex-
of
The
first
student of
German
race
at
all
distinguished
by scholarship in languages, was Theodore Bibliander,J who, besides Greek and Hebrew, was also well versed in Arabic, and probably in many other Oriental tongues. The celebrated naturalist, Conrad Gesner, though perhaps not so solidly versed as Bibliander, in any one language, appears to have possessed a certain acquaintance with a greater number. His Mithridates ; cle Differentiis Linguarum,\\ resembles in plan as well as in name, the great work of Adelung. The number and variety of the languages which it comprises is extraordinary for the period. It contains the Pater Noster in twentytwo of these ; and, although the observations on many of the s])ecimens are exceedingly brief and unsatisfactory, yet they ofteuexhibitmuch curious learning, and no n)ean familiarity with the language to which they belong.^ Gesner's success as a
* Under this head are included all the members of the German family Dutch, Flemings, Swedes, Danes, Swiss, &c. 1 have found it convenient, too, to include Hungarians (as Austrian suhjects), although, of course, their proper ethnological place should be elsewhere. t Better known by his Grecised name, Capnio {kxtthoI) Rauchlein,
"a
little
smoke.")
Mis % Bibliander was a Swiss, horn at Bischoffzell about 1500. family name was Bachniann (Bookman), which, in the fashion of his time, he translated into the Greek, Bibliander. Duret says they were *' beyond numbering" ; but so vague a
Thresor, p. 963. statement cannot be urged too literally. Zurich 1545. It is a small 12mo. ^ Gesner's Mithridates is perhaps remarkable as containing the earliest printed specimen of the Rothwalsches, or " Gipsy-German." He gives a vocabulary of this slang language, of about seven pages in length. It is only just to his memory to add that in his Epilogue, which is a very pleasing composition, he acknowledges the manifold imperfections of the work, and only claims the merit of opening a way for infjuirers of more capacity and better opportunities of research.
II
60
linguist
is tlie more remarkable, inasmuch as that study by no means formed his principal pursuit. Botany and Natural History might much better be called the real business of his Accordingly, Beza says of him, that he united literary life. in his person the very opposite genius of Varro and Pliny
and, although he died at the comparatively early age of fortynine, his works on Natural History fill nearly a dozen folio voBoth Gesner and Bibhander fell victim^, one in 1564, lumes.
the
other in
1565,
to
century.
Jerome Megiser, who, towards the close of the same century compiled the more extensive polyglot collection of Pater Nosters He is dealready referred to, need scarcely be noticed. scribed by Adelung,* as a man of various, but trivial and superficial learning.
Not so another German scholar of the same age, Jacob Christmann was no less distinguished Christmann, of Maintz. He held for many years as a philosopher than as a linguist. at Heidelberg the seemingly incompatible professorships of Hebrew, Arabic, and Logic, and is described as deeply versed in all the ancient and modern languages, as well as in mathematical and astronomical science.
It would be unjust to overlook the scholars of the Low Countries during the same period. Some of these, as for example, Drusius, and the three Schultens, father, son, and grand-
and the Dutch schools, whose scholarship was of a very high order. Among the former,
Andrew Maes
(Masius,)
deserves
very
special
notice.
was born in 1536, at Linnich in the diocess of Courtrai. In 1553 he was sent to Home as charge d'affaires. During his residence there, in addition to Greek, Latin, Spanish, and other European languages, with which he was already familiar, he made himself master, not only of Italian, but also of Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac. He is said J to have
assisted Arias
He
Montanus
this
in the compilation of
is
his Polyglot
in
Bible
but of
no mention
made by Montanus
the
doubt, however, can be entertained of his great capacity as an Orientalist; and Sebastian Munster used to say of him that he seemed to have been brought up among
preface.
*
No
Mithridatos,
I.,
G49.
Biographic
IJiiiversellc,
61
the Hebrews, and to have lived in tlie classic days of the Roman Empire. About the same period, or a few years later, David Haecx published his dictionary of the Malay languages, one of the earliest contributions to the study of that curious
family.
his life in
Eome, was
as
a native
of Antwerp.
collector of
Pater Nosters, acquired some reputation as one of the first contributors to the history of the languages of Africa, although Grahis work is described by Adelung as very inaccurate. maye was a native of Antwerp, and became provost of Arnheim On a voyage from and historiographer of the Low Countries.
Italy to Spain,
he
fell
into the
carried
him
to xllgiers.
hands of Algerine corsairs, who There he was sold as a slave, and was
detained a considerable time in Barbary. Having at length obtained his liberty, he pubhshed, after his return, a diary of his captivity, a descriptive history of Africa, and a polyglot coition of Pater Nosters,
known
of his
among which are several African languaknown in Europe,^ Very little, however, own personal acquirements, which are notice-
able,
than of their great extent or variety. Some of the linguists of Holland may claim a higher rank. The well-known Arabic scholar, Erpenius, (T'homas Van Erpen,) was also acquainted with several other Oriental languages, Hebrew, Chaldee, Persian, Turkish, and Ethiopic. His countryman and successor in the chair of Oriental languages at Leyden. James Golius, was hardly less distinguished. Peter Golius, brother of James, wbo entered the Carmelite Order and spent many years as a missionary in Syria and
other parts of the East, became equally celebrated in
for
Rome
In ail these three cases the knowledge of the languages was not a mere knowledge of books, but had been acquired by actual travel and research in
his Oriental
scholarship.
too,
a pupil of
James Golius
at
Leyden, and the learned Jesuit, Eather Athanasius Kircher, The latter, who is well known belong also to this period. for his varied and extensive attainments in every department of science, was moreover a linguist of no ordinary merit.t He was born at Geyzen, near Eulda, in 16U2, and entered
*
62
No the Jesuit society in J 618, when only sixteen years old. detailed account is given by iiis biographers (with whom languages were of minor interest,) of the exact extent of his attainments in the department of languages; but they were both diversified and respectable, and in some things he was far beyond His Lingua Egjjptiaca Restituta the men of his own time. may still be consulted with advantage by the student of
Coptic.
Most of these men, however,confined themselves chiefly to one The first really universal linguist of Germany is the great Ethiopic scholar, Job Ludolf, wlio was
particular department.
Early in
life
Duke
Swedish ambassador in Paris coupled with his unexampled industry,* enabled him, notonly to hold a high rank in history and general literature, but also
rarely to attain to a success as a linguist which had been equalled before his time. He is said to have been master of twenty-five languages,t but as I have never seen any exact enumeration of them, I am inclined to allow for considerable exaggeration. There is even more reason to suspect of exaggeration ihe popular accounts which have come down to us of a self-educated linguist of the same period a Saxon peasant called Nicholas Schmid, more commonly known as Ciintzel of Eothenacker, from the name of the village where he was born, in 1606. This extraordinary man was the son of a peasant. His youth was entirely neglected. He worked as a common labourer on his father's farm, and, until his sixteenth year, never had learned even the letters of the alphabet. At this age one of the farm-servants taught hira to read, greatly to the dissatisfaction of his father, who feared that such studies would withdraw him from his work. Soon afterwards, a relative who was a notary, gave him a few lessons in Latin atid, under the direction of the same relative, he learned the rudiments of Greek, Hebrew, and other languages. During all this time, he continued his daily occupation as a farm-labourer, and had no time for his studies but what he was able to steal from the hours allotted for sleep and for meals ; the latter of which he snatched in the most hurried manner, and always with an open
Even
at his meals
t Feller's Diet.
Ludolf always kept an open book before him. Biog. VII., p. 622.
63
book by his side. In this strange way, aniit! the toils of field and of the farm-yard, Schmid is said to have acquired a store of knowledge the details of which border upon the marvelous, one of his recorded performances being a translation
of the Lord's Prayer into fifty-one languages \^
the
One
Polyglot,
Andrew
was born about 1630, at Greiffenhagen was a precocious genius. wrote verses freely in Latin, Greek, and Hecompletion of his studies, he became pastor of the Warta ; but the duties of that charge soon
Miiller, like Crichton,
He
became
himself to literature.
He
making arrangements for the publication of his celebrated Polyglot Bible, and at once entered earnestly into the scheme. He took up his residence in the house of John Castell in the Strand, where, for ten years, he applied himself unremittingly to study. It is told of him that, in the ardour of study or
the indifference of scholastic seclusion, he would not raise his head from his books to look out of the window, on occasion of Charles II.^s triumphal progress at the Eestoration Having received from Bishop Wilkins some information on the subject of Chinese, he conceived a most enthusiastic passion for that language. He obtained some types at Antwerp, and, through the instructions of the celebrated Jesuit, Father Kircher, and other members of the society, he was perhaps the first European scholar who, without actually visiting China, acquired a mastery of its language ; as he is certainly one of the first who deserted the track of the old philologers, and attempted the comparative study of languages on principles approaching to those which modern science has made familiar. Soon after the completion of W^alton's Polyglot Miiller returned to Germany. He was named successively Pastor of Bernau and Provost of BerHn in 16G7, but resigned both livings in He died 1685, and lived thenceforth in retirement at Stettin. in 1694. Although a most laborious man and a voluminous He writer, Muller^s views were visionary and unpractical. professed to have devised a plan of teaching, so complete, that, by adopting it, a perfect knowledge ot Chinese could be
!
XLL,
p. 180.
CA
acquired in half a year, and so simple, tliat it could be applied to the instruction of persons of the most ordinary capacity, lialler states that he spoke no less than twenty languages.
menon.
phenois a more singular literary AVe are so little accustomed to connect that title with any thing above the plodding details of the commerce with
Burgomaster-linguist
is inseparably associated, that the name of Nicholas \\ hich it AVitzen, Burgomaster of Amsterdam, deserves to be specially commemorated^ as an exception to an unliterary class. It was
vocation as a merchant that Witzen acquired the chief part of the languages with which he was He made repeated expeditions to Russia between acquainted. the years 1666 and 1677, in several of which he penetrated far into the interior of the country, and had opportunities of
in the pursuit of his
associating witlv
many
Slavonians,
Tartars,
;
Cossacks,
Saraoiedes, and
the
various
Siberian tribes
kingdoms
Besides inquiries into the geography and natural history of those countries which lie upon the north-eastern frontier of Europe and the contiguous provinces of Asia, AVitzen used every effort to glean information regarding
their languages.
He
obtained, in most
of these languages,
not only versions of the Lord^s Prayer, but also vocabularies comprising a considerable number of Mords ; both of which he supplied to his friend and correspondent, Leibnitz, for publication in his Collectaitea Eti/moIogica.'\ How far Witzen himself
was acquainted with these languages it is difficult to determine; but he is at least entitled to notice as the first collector of materials for this particular branch of the study. David Wilkins, Chamberlayne^s fellow-labourer in the compilation of the Collection of Pater Nosters referred to in a former page, may also deserve a passing notice. The place of his birth, which occurred about 1685, is a matter of some uncertainty. AdelungJ thinks he was a native of Dantzig; by The others he is believed to have been a native of Holland. best part of his life, however, was spent in England ; where, at Cambridge, he took the degree of Doctor of Divinity, in He was afterwards appointed Librarian of Lambeth 1717.
Adelung's Mithridates, I 660. They are given in the second volume. Witzen's letters to Leibnitz are of the years 1C97, 1698, and 1699. Opn. Vol. VI., Part The specimens of the Pater Noster are in the II., pp. 191-206. Collectanea Etvinol., ib, 187.
*
I.,
064.
65
and Archdeacon of Suffolk. His qualiticatioiis ;is Polyglot when he underlouk to assist Chainberlayiie, appear to have consisted rather in patient industry and general scholarship, than in any extraordinary familiarity with languages; though he afterwards obtained considerable reputation, especially by an edition of the New Testament in Coptic, in 1716.
tditor, at the time
With
the illustrious
name
of Leibnitz
we commence
new
This extraordiiiary man, who united in himself all the most varied, and it might seem incompatible, excellencies of other men a jurist and a divine, a mathematician and a poet, a historian and a philosopher added to all his other prodigious attainments a most extensive and profound knowledge of languages. It is not, however, on the actual extent of his acquaintance with particular languages (although this too was most remarkable), that his fame as a scientific linguist rests. He was the first to recognize the true nature and objects of linguistic science, and to direct its studies to an object at once eminently practical and profoundly philosophical. It is not alone that, deserting the trivialities of the old etymologists, he laid down the true principles of the great science of comparative philology, and detected its full importance ; Leibnitz may claim the further merit of having himself almost created that science, and given it forth, a new Minerva, in its full and perfect development. There is hardly
era in the science of languages.
a principle of
and
letters
and, what
with the instinctive sagacity of original genius, anticipated sometimes by conjecture, sometimes by positive prediction, analogies and results which the investigations of actual explorers have since realized.* One of the most important practical services rendered by Leibnitz to science, was the organization of academies and other scientific bodies, by which the efforts of individuals might be systematically guided to one common end, and the
results of their researches,
whether
in
collecting
facts or in
* See several interesting examples in the first of Cardinal Wiseman's Lectures " On the Connexion between Science and Revealed Religion," I., p. 25. The two lectures on the Comparative Studv of Languages exhaust the whole history of philological science down to the date of their publication. Ample justice is also rendered to Leibnitz's rare philological instinct by Chevalier Bunsen, Christianity and Mankind, IIL, 44. See also Guhraucr's "Leibnitz: Eine Biographie," IL, 129.
developing theories, might, through the collision of many minds, be submitted to the ordeal of careful examination and
judicious discussion.
It
is
chiefly
to
is
indebted for the lloyal Society of Berlin and the Academy Both of these bodies, although embracing of St. Petersburg. the whole circle of science, have proved most eminent schools
of languages
policy, in
; and it is a curious illustration of that profound pursuance of which we see Eussia still availing herself of the service of genius wherever it is to be found,
that many of the ablest German linguists of the eighteenth century were, either directly or indirectly, connected with the latter institution. Gerard Frederic Miiller is an early example. He was born, at Herforden in Westphalia, in 1705, and was a pupil of the Mencken, having been invited celebrated Otto Mencken.
to
become a member of the new academy of St. Petersburg, for himself, but recommended his the honour Miiller accordingly accomscholar Miiller in his stead. '^ panied the scientific expedition which was sent to Siberia under the elder Gmelin, (also a German,) from 1733 to 1741. On his return, lie was appointed keeper of the Imperial Archives, and Historiographer of Eussia. Miiller does
declined
not appear to have given much attention to Oriental languages; but he was more generally famihar with modern languages than most of the scholars of that period. Augustus Lewis Schlotzer, another German literary adventurer in the Eussian service, and for a time secretary of Miiller, was a more generally accomplished linguist. Unlike Miiller, he was a skilful Orientalist and he was versed, moreover, in several of the Slavonic languages with which Miiller had neglected to make himself acquainted, before engaging in the compilation of his great collection of Eussian Historians. For this he availed himself of the assistance of his secretary Schlotzer. Gottlieb Bayer of Konigsberg, one of the earliest among the scholars of Germany, author of the Museum Sinicum, also occupied for some years a chair at St. Petersburg; but he is better known by his ferocious controversial writings, than by his philological works. A much more distinguished scholar of modern Germany, almost
;
See Denina's La Prusse Litteraire, III., 83. He wrote chiefly in Russian. See Meusel's Gelehrte Deutschland, a dry but learned and accurate Dictionary of the living writers of Germany in the end of the eighteenth century, begun by Hoinberger in 1783, but continued by Meusel.
t
67
William Buttner, 1716, and was destined by his father (an apothecarj) for the medical profession; but, although he gave his attention in the first instance to the
entirely
in
is
unknown
England,
Cliiistian
He
was born
at Wolfenbiittel in
sciences preparatory to
his
life
that
profession, the
real
pursuit of
great science of ethnography. It was a saying of Cuvier's, that Linnaeus and Buttner realised by their united studies the title of Grotius's celebrated work, "De Zmxq Natura et
Gentium ; Linnseus by his j)ursuit of Natural History assuming the first, and Buttner, by his ethnological studies,
appropriating the second as the respective spheres of their operations. In every country which Buttner visited, he acquired not only the general language, but the most
"
minute
peculiarities
of
its
j)rovincial dialects.
Few
literary
which present such a picture of self-denial and privation voluntarily endured in the cause of learning, as that of Buttner, His library and museum., accumulated from the hoardings of his paltry income, were exceedingly extensive and most valuable. In order to scrape together the means for their gradual purchase, he contented himself during the greater part of his later life with a single meal per day, the cost of which never exceeded a silbergroschen, or somewhat less than three half-pence * It may be inferred, however, from what has been said, that Buttner's attainments were mainly those of a book-man. In the scanty notices of him which we have gleaned, we do not find that his power of speaking foreign languages was at all what might have been exjjected from the extent and variety of his bookknowledge. But his services as a scientific philologer were infinitely more important, as well as more permanent, than any such ephemeral faculty. He was the first to observe and
lives are recorded in history
!
to
cultivate the
them at the head of his scheme and European languages. He was the first to
languages; and he may be looked on as the true founder of the science of glossography. He was the first
cal distribution of
to
systematise and to
alphabetical
trace the
origin
and
his
affiliations of the
various
characters; and
researches
in
the
said
may be
the subject.
Nevertheless, he
has himself
68
but he communicated freely to others the and tjiere are few of the philologers of his time who have not confessed their obligations to him. Michaclis, Sclilotzer, Gatterer, and almost every other conlemporary German scholar of note, have freely acknowledged both the value of his communications and the generous and liberal s[)irit in which they were imparted.^ John David Michaelist (1717 91) is so well known in these countries by his contributions to Biblical literature J that little can be necessary beyond the mention of his name. His grammar of the Hebrew, Chaldec, Syriac, and Arabic languages, sufficiently attest his abilities as an Orientalist
written
very
little;
fruits of
his researches;
and,
as
regards that
particular
family
of
languages,
his
views are generally solid and judicious. But I am unable to discover what were his attainments in modern general science of languages ; and to the comparative
philological
The Cathohc
less
their brethren of Italy and the Spanish Peninsula, have contributed their share to the common stock Many of the Jesuit Missionaries of linguistic science.
numerous than
of Central
Widmaun
foundation of Humboldt's Essay in the Mithridates, were of German origin. Father Dobritzhofer, whose interesting account of the Abipoues has been translated into English , under superintendence, was a native Southey's advice and of Austria ; and the learned Sanscrit scholar, Father Paulinus de Saucto Bartholomeo, (although less known under his German name, Jolm Philip Werdin) was an Austrian Carmelite, and served for above fourteen years in the Indian missions of his order.
A German philanthropist of a different class. Count Leopold von Berc'itold (173(S 1809) the Howard of Germany, deserves to be named, not merely for his devoted services to the cause
\ Denina (Prusse Litteraire, III., p. 31) observes that the name of Michaelis would appear to have had the profession of Oriental
literature as its peculiar inheritance. X For a complete enumeration of his Deutschland, II., 363. 3 vul.s., 8vo., London, 1827.
69
throughout the world, but for his remarkable a linguist. He spoke fluently eight European languages ; * and, what is more rare, wrote and published in the greater number of them, tracts upon the great subject to which he dedicated his life. He died, at a very advanced age, of the plague, and has long been honoured as a martyr in the cause of philanthropy; but he has left no notable work behind h.im.
of Iiumaiiity
acqiiiremeiits as
Very
dates,
almost excluwas born in 1734, at Spantekow in Pomerania. In 1759, he was appointed to a professorship at Erfurt ; but he exchanged it, after a few years, for a place at Leipsic, where he continued to reside for a long series of years. Although habitually of a gay and cheerful disposition, and a most agreeable member of society, he was one of the most assiduous students upon record, devoting as a rule no less than fourteen hours a day to his literary occupations.f His services to his native language are still gratefully acknowledged by every German etymologist, and his Dictionary, (although since much improved by Voss and Campe,)has been declared as great a boon
sively for learning.
John
He
united labours of the Academy had France. Adelung's personal reputation as a linguist was exceedingly high, but his fame with posterity must rest on his great work, the Mithridates, which I have already briefly described, Tlie very origination of such a work, or at least the undertaking it upon the scale on which he has carried it out, would have made the reputation of an ordinary man. In the touching preface of the first volume, (the only one which Adelung lived to see published,) he describes it as "the youngest and probably the last child of his muse ;" and confesses that " he has nurtured, dressed, and cherished it, with all the tenderness which it is commonly the lot of the youngest child to enjoy." % It is indeed a W'Ork of extraordinary labour, and, although from the manner in which its materials were sui)plied, necessarily incomplete and even inaccurate in its details, a work of extraordinary ability. The first volume alone (containing the languages of Asia, and published in ISUO,) is exclusively Adelung's. Of the second, only a hundred and fifty pages had been printed when the venerable author died in his seventy-third year. These printed sheets, and the papers which
to as
Germany,
the
been able to
offer to
Biographic Universelle, LVIII., p. 4. Feller, I., G6. See also Bunsen, III,, 42. % Vol. I., p. XX.
70
he
liaJ collecled
for tlie
to Dr. Severinus Vater, professor of theology at Konigsberg, under whose editorship, with assistance from several friends,
(and especially from the lamented AVilliam von Humboldt and Frederic Adelung,) the second volume, which comprises the languages of Europe with all their ramifications, appeared The third, on the languages of Africa, and of in 1809. America, (for which last the work is indebted to Humboldt,) appeared, in j^arts, between 1812 and 1816; and a supj)lementary volume, containing additions to the earlier portions of the work, by Humboldt, Frederic Adelung, and Yaier It is impossible to overhimself, was published in 1817. state the importance and value of this great linguistic reThe arrangement of the work is strictly scientific, pertory.
The geographical
distri-
bution, the origin and history, and the general structural pecuof each,
not only of the great families, but of the in many cases even of the local
The specimen
and
its vocabulary explained. To each language, too, is prefixed a catalogue of the chief philological or etymological works which treat of its peculiarities; and thus abundant suggestions are su{)plied for the prosecution of more minute researches into its nature and history. And for the most part, all this is executed with so much simplicity and clearness, with so true a perception of the real points of difficulty in each language, and with so almost instinctive a power of discriminating between those peculiarities in each which require s])ecial explanation, and those less abnormal qualities which a philo^
sophical linguist will easily infer from the principles of general grammar, or from a consideration of the common characteristics
it
may
leari^ as
much
of the real character of a language, in a few hours, from the few suggestive pages the Mithridates, as from the tedious ajid
its professional grammarians. Adelung's associate in the Mithridates and its continuator. Dr. Severinus Vater, was born at Altenburg, in 1771; he studied at Jena and Halle, in both of which universities he afterwards held appointments as professor ; at Jena, as extraordinary l^rofessor of Theology in 179(5, and at Halle, as Profesisor of Oriental Languages 1800. Thence he was transferred, in 1809, to Konigsberg in the capacity of Professor of Tiieology and Librarian ; but he returned, in 1820, to
complici^ted details of
71
Halle, where he continued to reside till Although Vater was by no means a very
his death, in
scientific
1826.
linguist,*
shar?which he had in the preparation of the Mithridates (the last three volumes of which were edited by him,) he also wrote well on the grammar of the Hebrew, Polish, Russian, and German
languages.
Nevertheless, his reputation is rather that of a scholar than of a linguist. few years after the author of the Mithridates appears the celebrated Peter Simon Pallas, to whom we are
the importance of his contrilmtions to the study of languages cannot be too highly estimated. Besides the large
indebted for
the great
Comparative Vocabulary" already described. He was born at BerHn in 1741, and his early studies were mainly directed to natural philosophy, which he seems to have cultivated in all its branches. His reputation as a naturalist procured for him, in 1767, an invitation from Catherine II. of Russia, to exchange a distinguished position which he had*
*'
obtained at the Hague for a professorship in the Academy of St. Petersburg. His arrival in that capital occurred just at the time of the departure of the celebrated scientific expedition
to Siberia for the purjjose of observing the transit of and, as their mission also embraced the geography and
Venus
natural
history
an nivitation to accompany them. They set out in June, 1768, and after exploring the vast plains of European Russia, the borders of Calmuck Tartary, and the shores of the Caspian, they crossed the Ural Mountains, examined the celebrated mines of Catherinenberg, proceeded to Tobolsk, the capital of Siberia, and penetrated across the mountains to the Chinese frontier,
of
Siberia,
Pallas gladly
accepted
whence Pallas returned by the route of Astrakan and the Caucasus to St. Petersburg. He reached that city in July, 17 74, with broken health, and hair prematurely whitened by'sickiiess'
and fatigue. He resumed his place in the Academy ; and was rewarded by the Empress with many distinctions and lucrative employments, one of which was the charge of instructing the
It was during these years that he devoted himself to the compilation ofthe focahularia Comparativa, which comprises two hundred and one languages; but, in 1795, he returned to the Crimea, (where he had obtained an extensive gift of territory from the Empress) for the purpose of recruiting his health and pursuing his researches. After a residence there of fifteen years, he
Bunsen's
Christianity
and Mankind/'
III,, p. 44.
72
returiKMl to
year.
Berlin in
in
the follov^ing
his
acquirements in that department, the study of languages was His but a subordinate pursuit of this extraordinary man. fame is mainly due to his researches in science. It is to him
that
tiie
we owe
expedition of
the reduction of the astrojiomical observations of 1708; and Cuvier gives him tiie credit of
completely renewing the science of geology, and of almost It is difficult, entirely re-constructing that of natural history. nevertheless,* to arrive at an exact conclusion as to the sltare which lie personally took in the compilation of the Vocabulary; and still more so, as to his powers as a speaker of foreign lan-
guages ; although it is clear that his habits of life as a traveller and scientific explorer, not only facilitated, but even directly necessitated for him, the exercise of that faculty,to afar greater degree than can be supposed in the case of most of the older philologers.
The
that of a
Although destined by
at
own
With
the aid
ceeded in learning without a master that most difficult language ; and, though he complied with his fatlier\s desire, so far as to pursue with success the preparatory studies of the medical profession, he never formally embraced it. After a time he gave his undivided attention to Oriental studies ; and, in 1802, establislied, at Dresden, the Asiatisches Magazin. Like so many of his countrymen, he accepted service in Russia, at the invitation of Count Potocki, who knew him at Berlin, ; and he was a member of the half-scientihc, half-political, mission to Pekin, in 1805, under that eminent scholar and diplomatist. He withdrew, however, from the main body of this expedition, in order to be able to pursue his scientific researches more unrestrainedly and, after traversing eighteen hundred leagues in the space of twenty months, in the course of which he passed in review all the motley races of that inhospitable region, Samoiedes, Piinis, Tartars, Monguls, Paskirs, Dzoungars, Tungooses, &c., he returned to St. Peters;
Also Biographie
L'niversolle,
XXXII.,
p.
440.
73
burg, in 1806, with a vaj^t collection of notes on the Chinese, Alanlchu, Mongul, and Japanese* languages. With a similar object, he was soon afterwards sent by the Academy, in September, ISO/, to collect information on the languages of the Caucasus, a journey of exceeding difficulty and privation, in which he spent nearly three years. On his return to St. Petersburg, he obtained permission to go to Berlin for the purpose of completing the necessary engravings for his work ; and he availed himself of this opportunity to withdraw altogether from the Russian service, although with the forfeiture of all his titles and honours. After a brief sojourn in Italy, he fixed his residence in Paris. To him i\\Q Socu'fe Asiatlqae may be said to owe its origin ; and he acted, almost up to his death in 1835, as the chief editor of its journal the well-
he published his Asia Pol^glotta, and " New Mithridates.'^ Klaproth, perhaps, does not deserve, in any one of the languages which he cultivated, the character of a very deep scholar; but he was acquainted with a large number: with Chinese, Mongol, Mautchu, and Japanese, also with Sanscrit, Armenian, Persian, and Georgian ;t he was of course perfectly familiar with German, Russian, Prencli, and probably with others of the European languages.
Asiaiiqite.
also,
known Journal
In Paris,
The emiuent historical successes of Berthold GeorgeNiebuhr, at Copenhagen in 1770), have so completely eclipsed the memory of all his other great qualities, that perhaps the
(born
reader will not be prepared to tind that in the department of languages his attainments were of the highest rank. His father, Carsten jMiebuhr, the learned Eastern traveller, had destined him to pursue his own career ; but the delicacy of the youth's constitution, and other circumstances, forced his fatlier to abandon the idea, and saved young Niebuhr for the
far
him.
more important studies to which his own tastes attracted His history, both literary and political, is too recent
well
for
from his life an extremely interesting letter from his father, which bears upon the particular subject of the present inquiry. It is dated December, 1807, when Niebuhr was little more than thirty years
to transcribe
known
It will be
our purpose
a shipwrecked native of Japan he met at Irkutsch ; probably the same mentioned in " Golownin's Narrative." t Biogr. Univ., LXVIIL, 532.
wlioni
74
of agp.
" My son has gone to Memel," writes the elder When he Niebuhr, " with the commissariat of the army. found lie shoukl probably have to go lo Riga, he began forthwith to learn Russian. Let us just reckon how many languages He was only two years old when we came he knows already.
to Meldorf, so that
we must consider, 1 st, German, as his He learned at school, 2nd, Latin; 3rd, mother tongue. Greek; 4th, Hebrew; and, besides in Meldorf he learned, 6th, English 7th, French ; 8th, Itahan; but 5th, Danish only so far as to be able to read a book in these languages; some books from a vessel wrecked on the coast induced him to learn, 9th, Portuguese; 10, Spanish; of Arabic he did not know much at home, because I had lost my lexicon and could not quickly replace it ; in Kiel and Copenhagen he had opportunities of practice in s])eaking and writing French, English, and Danish; in Copenliagen he learned, 11th, Persian, of Count Ludul})h, the Austrian minister, who was born at Constantinople, and whose father was an acquaintance of mine ; and 1 2th, Arabic, he taught himself; in Holland he learned, 13th, Dutch ; and again, in Copenhagen, 14th, Swedish, and a httle Icelandic; at Memel, 15th, Russian; 16th, Slavonic;
;
addition of
17th, Polish; 18th, Bohemian; and, lUih, lllyrian. With the Low German, this makes in all twenty languages.^'* As this letter does not enter into the history of Niebuhr's
later studies, I inquired of his friend, the Chevalier Bunsen, whether he had continued to cultivate the faculty thus early developed. I received from him the following interesting statement: " Niebuhr," he says, "ought not to be ranked among
Lmgmsts,
Language
beyond what it alfords in His proficiency in connection with history and literature. languages was, however, very great, in consequence of his early and constant application to history, and his matchless memori/, I have spoken of both in my Memoir on Niebuhr, in the German and English edition of Niebuhr's Letters and Life ; I think, it is appended to the 2nd volume of both editions. it is somewhere stated how many languages he knew at an early age. What I know is, that besides Greek and Lalhi, he learned early to read and write Arabic ; Hebrew he had also learned, but neglected afterwards ; Russian and Slavonic He wrote he learned (to read only,) in the years 1808,1810. well English, French, and xtalian ; and read Spanish, and
had no special
interest for him,
*
p. 27-8.
75
Danish, he wrote as well as his mother tongue, German, and he understood Swedish. In short, he would learn with the greatest case any language which led him to the knowledge of historical truth, when occujiied with the subject; but language, as such, had no charm for him."
Portuguese.
Among the scholars who assisted Adeluiig and Vater in the compilation of the Mithriclates, by far the most distinguisiied He was w;is the illustrious Charles William von Humboldt. born at Potsdam, in 1767, and received his preliminary His university studies were made partly education at Berlin.
where he formed theacciuaiiitance and friendship of Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, and, above all, of Herder, from whose well-known tastes it is highly jjrobable that Humboldt's mind received the strong philological bias which it exhibited during his life. Unlike most of the scholars who preceded him in this career, however, Humboldt's life was spent amid the bustle and itUrigue of diplomatical pursuits. He was sent to Rome as Prussian Minister in 180:2, and, from that period until 1819, he was almost uniformly employed in Prom his return to Berlin, this and similar public services. in 1819, he lived almost entirely for science, till his death, which occurred at Tegel, near Berlin, in 1835. Humboldt is, in truth, the author of that portion of the third volume of the Mithridaics which treats of the languages of the two continents of America; and, although a great part of its from the materials were derived from the labours of others memoirs, published and unpublished, of the missionaries, from the works and MSS. of Padre Hervaz, and other similar yet no one can read any single article in the volume sources without perceiving that Humboldt had made himself thoroughly master of the subject; and that, especially in its bearings upon
at Gottiiigen, partly at Jena,
the general science of j)hilology, or the great question of the unity of languages and its kindred ethnological problems, he had not only exhausted all the learning of his predecessors,
but had successfully applied to it all the powers of his own To the consideration, comprehensive and original genius. too, of this numerous family of languages he brought a mind stored with the knowledge of all the other great families both of the East and of the West; and although it is not easy to say what his success in speaking languages may have been, it is impossible to doubt either the variety or the solidity of his attainments both as a scieiuitic and as a practical linguist.
But Humboldt's
76
of
on
Human Langunge, and its Influence Development of Mankind/' published })Obthumously in 1836, as an Introduction to his Analysis of the Kawi Language, is a work of extraordinary learning and
the Formation
the
of
Intellectual
research, as well as of profound and original thought ; analysing all the successive varieties of grammatical structure which
in
their
various
development, from the naked simplicity of Chinese up to th.e minute and elaborate inflexional variety of M. Bunsen describes this wonderful the Sanscritic family. work as " the Calculus Sublimis of linguistic theory ,'' and declares that " it places AA'illiam von Humboldt's name by the side of that of Leibnitz in universal comparative ethnological philology."*
The school
of
Humboldt
iai
Germany has
supplied a long
names to philological literature, begin" On the ning with Frederic von Schlegel, (whose Essay Language and Literature of the Hindoos, 1808," opened an entirely new view of the science of comparative philology), and continued, through Schlegel's brotiier Augustu?, Rask, T3opp, Grimm, Lepsius, Pott, Pfizmaier, Hammer-Purgstall (the so-called "Lily of Ten Tongues)", Sauerwein, Diez, Poehtlingk, and the lamented Castreii, down to Bunsen, and
series of distinguislied
learned fellow-labourers. Max Midler, Paul Boetticher, For most of those, as fur Schlegel, Aufrecht, and others. t the Sanscrit family of languages has been the great centre of exploration, or at least the chief standard of comparison ; and Bopp, in his wonderful work, the "Comparative Grammar of the Sanscrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, old Slavonic,
Ids
has almost exhausted this Others (still, however, with the same general view) have devoted themselves to other families, as Lepsius to the Egyptian, Piask to the Scythian, Boehthingk to tlie Tartar, Grimin to the Teutonic, Diez to the Eomanic,
part of the inquiry.
Gothic, and
German Languages,"^
" Chiistianity and Mankind," III., p. 60. t As a mei-e linguist I should name Dr. Pruner, a native of Bavaria, but long a re.^ident of Egypt, where he was physician of the late Pasha. M. d'Abbadie states that Dr. Pruner is reputed to
*
speak twelve languages, Persian, Turi<ish, Arabic, Greek, Latin, German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Danish. % This Grammar lias appeared in successive sections, commencing ill 1833, and only completed in 1852. Klaproth, the great explorer of the Caucasian languages, does not properly belong to Schlegel's school, as he comparatively over-
77
aii(]
most
Universal History applied to L;inij;uage," (the third volume of and Mankind") have digested the entire l\is "Christianity suhjecl, and applied the researches of all to the solution of the great problem of the science. Some of those whom I have
named rather resembled the ancient heroes of romance and adventure, than the conmion race of quiet everyday scholars. The journeys of Rask, Klaproth, and Lepsius, were not only full of danger, but often attended with exceeding privation ; and Alexander Castren of Helsingfors was literally a martyr of
This enthusiastic student,* although a man of extremely delicate constitution, " left his study, travelled for years alone in his sledge through the snowy deserts of Siberia ; coasted along the borders of the Polar Se.i; lived for whole winters in caves of ice, or in the smoky huts of greasy Sanioieiies ; then braved tiie sand-clouds of Mongolia; [)asse(l the Baikal; and returned from the frontiers of China to his duties as Professor at IJelsingfors, to die after he had given to
the science.
the world but a few specimens of his treasures."t Hask and M. Bunsen, even as linguists, deserve to be more
specially
commemorated.
The
former,
in
17S7
at
Brennekilde, in the
island of Funen, traversed, in the course of the adventurous journey already alluded to, the Eastern provinces of llussia,
into the interior of Africa.
visited he
Persia, India, Malacca, and the island of Ceylon, and penetrated In all the countries which he
various languages
which prevai.ed ; so that besides the many languages of his native TfUtonic family, those of the Scandinavian, Finnic, and Sclavonic stock, the principal cultivated European languages,
and the learned languages (including those of the Bible), he Was also familiar with Sanscrit in all its branches and is justly described as the first w ho opened the way to "a real
;
looks the great principle of Schlcgcl the grammatical structure of languages. Castren was an accomplished writer both in his own language and in German, and a poet of much merit. His Swedish version of the old I-'innic Snga " Kulevahx," is perhaps deserving of notice as having fui nishcd in its metre the model of the new English measure adopted l)v Lon>ifello\v in his recent poem "Hiawatha." Castren's birth-place is close to Uleaborg, the spot resorted to commonly by travellers who desire to witness the phenomenon of " the Midnight
Ssun."
+
Bunsen, III
p.
'274.
78
M. Bunsen's great work grammatical knowledge of Zend."* exhibits a knowledge of the structural analysis of a prodigious number of languages, from almost every family. As a master of the learned languages, Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and (though he has cultivated these less), Arabic and Persian, he has few superiors. lie speaks and writes with equal facility Latin, German,English, French, and Italian, all with singular elegance and purity ; he speaks besides Dutch and Danish ; he reads Swedish, Icelandic, and the other old German languages, Spunish, Portuguese, and Romaic; and he has also studied many
of the less
known languages,
as Chinese,
Basqiie,
Finnic,
and Welsh, together with several of the African and North American languages, but chiefly with a view to their grammatical structure, and without any idea of learning to read them. Nevertheless, willi all the linguistic learning which they undoubtedly possess, neither Humboldt nor the other members
of his distinguished
this
school
all
fall
those who were themselves accomplished linguists, the knowledge of languages, (and especially of their vocabularies), is a subordinate They have never proposed the study to themselves, object. for its own sake, but only as an instrument of philosophical inquiry. It might almost be said, indeed, that by tlie reaction which this school has created against the old system of etymological, andin favourof the structural, comparison of languages, a positive discouragement has been given to the exact or extensive study of their vocabularies. Pliilologers, as a class, have a decided dis|)osition to look down ujjon, and even to depreciate, the pursuit of linguists. AVith the former, the
Memoir.
\^
itli
of
them, even
knowledge of the words of a language is a very minor consideration in comparison with its inflexions, and still more its
laws of transposition (Lautverschiebung) Professor Schott of Berlin plainly avows that " a limited knowledge of languages is sufticient for settling the general questions as to their
;
common
origin ;"t
a manifest tendency on the part of many, to regard all further concern about the words of a language as old-fashioned and puerile. It it some consolation to the admirers of the old school to know, that, from time to time, learned philo*
Bunsen,
III.,
j).
53.
t Ibid,
270.
79
have been roughly taken to task for the presumption Miih which they have theorized about knguages of whose vocabuhiry they are ignorant; and it is difficult not to regard the unsparing and often very amusing exposures of Professor Scholt's blunders which occur in the long controversy that he has had with Boehthingk, Mr. Caldwell's recent strictures* upon the Indian learning of Professor Max Miiller, or Stanislaus Julien's still fiercer onslaught on M. Panthier, in
logers
tiie
as
I shall not delay upon the Biblical linguists of Germany Hug, Jahn, Scliott, Windischmann, "Vullers, &c., among
or the rival schools
Catholics,
De
the range of the attainments of these distinguished men in the languages of the Bible, and their literature, this accomplish-
so universal among German J3iblical has almost ceased to be regarded as a title to Its very njasters are lost in the crowd of
all
sides
around him.
there
are a few
Among
the
the scholars
of
modern Hungary
mentioned,
to be
common
origin of the
written
in 177 U, long before the science of Comparative Philology had been reduced to its present form, has obtained the praise of much learning and ingenuity. Gyarmathi, who wrote somewhat later on the affinity of the Magyar and Finnic languages (1799) is admitted by M. Bunsen to "deserve a very high rank among the founders of that
science."
linguist.
But
Father l^obrowtky, of whom 1 shall speak elsewhere, although born in Hungary, cannot j)roj)erly be considered as a Hungarian. Kazinczy, Kisfaludy, and their followers, have confined themselves almost entirely to the cultivation of their
own
native language,
it
involves.
* In his " Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or Soutli-Indian Family of Languages." t The fiercest of them all is contained not in the Journal, but in a pamphlet which was distributed to members of the Society. J Dr. Paul De Lagarde, for instance, has the reputation of know-
and Mankind,
III., 271.
80
discovered one linguist of modern Hungary consider entitled to a special notice, but the singular and almost mysterious interest which attaches to his name may in some measure compensate for the comparative
I have only
I can
it is
mIioui
solitude in which
found.
Magyar pilgrim and pliilologer, Csoma de KiJros. His name is written in his own language, Korosi Csoma Sandor but in the works which he has
I allude to
the celebrated
;
published (all of which are in English), it is given in the above form. He was born of a poor, but noble family, about 1790, at Koios, in Transylvania; and, received a gratuitous The leading idea education at the College of Nagy-Enycd. which engrossed this enthusiastic scholar during life, was the discovery of the original of the Magyar race ; in search of
(after preparing himself for about five years, at Gottengin,by the study of medicine and of the Oriental languages,) lie set out in 1820, on a jnlgrimageto the East, "hghtly clad, with a little stick in his hand, as if medittting a country walk,
which
florins,
The only
re[iort of his
afterwards, informed his friends that he had crossed the Balkan, visited Constantinople, Alexandria, and the Arabic libraries at Cairo ; and, after traversing Egy[)t and Syria, had arrived at Teheran. Here, on hearing a few words of the Tibetan language, he was struck by their resemblance to Magyar; and, in the hope of thus resolving his cherished problem, he crossed Little Bucharia to the desert of Gobi
traversed
many
of the valleys of
buried himself for four years (1827-1830), in the Buddhist Monastery of Kanam, deeply engaged in the study of Tibetan ;
four months of which time he spent in a
room nine
feet square,
!
(without once quitting it), He quickly discovered his tan with Magyar; but he hope of obtaining in the
mistake as to the affinity of Tibepursued his Tibetan studies in the sacred books of Tibet some light
origin of his nation ; and before his arrival at Cal1830, he had written down no less than 40,000 words in that language. He had hardly reached Calcutta when he was struck down by the mortifying discovery that the Tibetan books to which he had devoted so many precious years vera but translations from tiie Sanscrit Erom 1830 he resided for several years chiefly at Calcutta, engaged in the study of Sanscrit and other languages, and employed in various literary services by the Asiatic Society of Bengal. He published in
cutta, in
!
upon the
81
1834
the
a
Bengal Asiatic Society. In 1842, he set out afresh upon the great pilgrimage which he had made the object of his life and, having reached Dharjeeling on his way to Sikam
;
was seized by a sudden illness, which, as he refused to take medicine, rapidly carried him off. This strange, thougli highly gifted man, had studied in the course of his
in Tibet, he
adventurous life, seventeen or eighteen languages, in several of which he was a proficient.* The career of this enthusiastic Magyar resembles in many respects that of Castren, the Danish philologer ; and in nothing more than in the devotedness with which each of them applied himself to the investigation of the origin of his native language
and
VI.
The names with which the catalogue of Italian and that of Spanish linguists open, find a worthy companion in the first name amojig the linijuists of Britain.
With
But it was not so with formed almost the business of life. the wonder of his own and of all succeeding generations " Admirable Crichton" ; who, notwithstanding the the universality of his reputation, became almost equally eminent in each particular study, as any of those who devoted all their powers to that single pursuit. James Crichton was born in 1561, in Scotland. The precise ])lace of his birth is uncertain, but he was the son of Robert He was Crichton of Eliock, Lord Advocate of James VI. educated at St. Andrew^s. The chief theatres of his attainments, however, were Erance and Italy. There is not an accomplishment which he did not possess in its greatest perfection from the most abstruse departments of scholarship, philosophy, and divinity, down to the mere physical gifts and graces of the His musician, the athlete, the swordsman, and the cavalier. memory was a prodigy both of quickness and of tenacity. He could repeat verbatim, after a single hearing, the longest and most involved discourse.^ Many of the details which are told
e sugli
Uomini
82
but him are doubtless exaggerated and perhaps legendary Mr. Patrick Frazer Tytler* has shown that the substance of
of
;
As it seems, is perfectly reliable. regards the particular subject of our presentinquiry, one account states that, when he was but sixteen years old, he spoke ten Another informs us that, at the age of twenty, languages. the number of languages of which he was master exactly equalled
the
number
of his years.
But
we
possess are
drawn from
of Paris, in which he undertook to dispute in any of twelve Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, languages I Italian, French, English, German, Flemish, and Slavonic. am inclined to beheve that Crichton's acquirements extended It might seem that a vague challenge at least so far as this. to dispute in any one of a number of foreign tongues was aa
boast,
and
But
it
is
clear
He that Crichton's challenge was not so unpractical as this. not only specified the languages of his challenge, but there is
hardly one of those that he selected which was not represented in the University of Paris at the time, not only suffijiently to test the proficiency of the daring disputant, but to secure his
ignominious exposure,
if there were grounds to suspect him of Unhappily, however, the promise charlatanism or imposture. of a youth so brilliant was cut short by an early death, in 15 S3, Nor did Crichton leave behind at the age of twenty-two years. him any work by which posterity might test the reality of his
acquirements, except a few Latin verses printed by his friend, Aldus Manutius, on whose generous patronage, with all his
accomplishments, he had been dependent for the means of subsistence during one of the most brilliant periods of his
career.
from the precociousness of Crichton^s genius, his junior in reputation, was Lancelot Andrews, Bishop of Winchester. He was born in London in 1555, and, after a distinguished career in the university, rose, through a long course of ecclesiastical preferments, to the see of Winchester. Beyond the general praises of his scholarship in which all his biographers
indulge, few particulars are preserved respecting his attainments.
Among
his
Life
of
called
" the
Admirable Crichton."
3
most have served and even the more prosaic Chalmers attributes to him a profound knowledge of the " chief Oriental tongues, Greek, Latin, and many modern languages."t John Gregory, who was born at Agmondesham in Buckinghamshire, in the year 1607, would probably have far surpassed Andrews as a linguist, had he not been cut off prematurely before he had completed his thirtieth year. He was a youth of unexampled industry and perseverance, devoting sixteen hours of the twenty-four to his favourite studies. Even at the early age at which he died he had mastered not only the Oriejital and classical languages, but also French, Italian, and Spanish, and, what was far more remarkable in his day, his ancestral Anglo-Saxon. But he died in the very blossom of his promise, in 1646. These, however, must be regarded as exceptional cases The
"Waiiley says'^tlmt
" some
tliouglithe might
a]
study of languages, it must be confessed, occupied at this period but little of public attention in England. It holds a very subordinate place in the great sclieme of Bacon's " Advancement of Learning." In the model Republic of his
"
New
good Latin of the School, and Spanish."]: Gregory's contemporaries, the brothers John and Thomas Greaves, though both distinguished Persian and Arabic scholars, never made a name in other languages. Notwithstand ing the praise which Chirendon bestows on Selden's " stupendous learning in all kinds and 171 all lanfjuages,"^ it is certain that the range of his languages was very limited. So, also, what Hallam says of Hugh Broughton as a man " deep must be understood rather of the in Jewish erudition," literature than of the languages of the East; and although Hugh Broughton's namesake, Richard, (one of the missionary priests in England in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and an antiquarian of considerable merit, mentioned by Dodd^) was a learned Hebraist, there is no evidence of his having
ancient Greek,
||
gone farther
in these studies.
Wonders of the Little World, p. 286. t II., p. 223. Atlantis." Bacon's Works, 11., 84. % Life of Edward Lord Clarendon, I., p. 35. Literary History, II., 85.
"New
II
<f
84
Indeed, strange as it may at fir:t sight apjjcar, tlie first epoch in English history really ])rolific in eminent scholars is It is not a little the stormy period of the great Civil War. remarkable that the most creditable fruit of English scholarship, Walton's Polyglot Bible, was matured, if not brought to light, under the Republic. The men who were engaged in this work, however, were, Edmund Castell, for the most part, merely book-scholars. bornat Ilalley, in Cambridgeshire, in 1606, authorofthe Heptaglot Lexicon, which formed the comj)anion or supplement of Walton's Bible, is admitted to have been one of the most profound Orientalists of his day. This Lexicon comprises seven Oriental languages, Hebrew, Chaldee, Samaritan, Syriac, Ethiand, if we add to these the classioj)ic, Arabic, and Persian ; cal languages, we shall find Castell's attainments to huve been little inferior to those of any linguist before his time; even without reckoning whatever modern languages he may be supposed to have known. Castell, nevertheless, is one of the most painful examples of neglected scholarship in all literary history. Disraeli tiuly says that he more than devoted his life to his Lexicon Heptaglotton * His own Appeal to Charles the Second, if less noble and dignified than Johnson's celebrated ])reface to the Dictionary, is yet one of the most touching documents on record. He laments the" seventeen years during which he devoted sixteen or eighteen hours a day to his labour. He declares that he had expeiuled his whole inheritance (above twelve thousand pounds), upon the work ; and that he spent his health and eyesight as well as his fortune, upon a thankless task." The copies of his Lexicon remained unsold upon his hands; and. out of the whole five hundred copies which he left at his death, hardly one complete copy escaped destruction by damp and vermin. " Tiie whole load of learned rags sold for seven pounds!"t 1 cannot find that either Castell or his friend (though by no means his equal as a linguist), Brian Walton possessed any remarkable faculty in sj)eaknig even the languages with which they were most familiar. Another of Walton's associates in the compilation of the
Polyglot, as well as in
Edward
Pocock (born
Oxford in 1604,) appears to have given more attention to the accomplishment of speaking foreign languages.
at
t Ibid.
85
In addition to Latin, Greek, French, and i)robably Italian, he was well versed in Hebrew, Sjriac, Ethiopic, and Arabic. During a residence of six years at Aleppo, as British chaplain,
(1600-6), he had the advantage of receiving instructions from a native doctor, in the languai^e and literature of Arabia ; and
he engaged an Arab servant for the sole purpose of enjoying the opportunity of sj)eaking the language."^ In a second journey to the East, undertaken a few years later, under the patro-
Edward and Thomas, attained a same pursuit but neither of them can be said to have approached the fame of their father. The mention of Arabian literature suggests the distinguished names of Simon Ockley, the earliest Englisli historian of Mahometanism, and of George Sale, the first English translator of its sacred book. Both were in their time Orientalists of high character; but both of (hem appear to have applied chiefly to Arabic, Persian, and Turkisli, rather than to the
of Pocock's sons, certain eminence in the
;
Two
Both, too, may be cited among the exBiblical languages amples of unsuccessful scholarship. It was in a debtor's prison at Cambridge that Ockley found leisure for the completion of his great History of the Saracens; and it is told of the learned translator of the Koran, that too often, when he quitted his studies, he wanted a change of linen, and frequently wandered in the streets in search of some compassionate friend who might supj)ly him with the meal of the day If Another scholar of high repute at the same period, is Samuel Clarke. He was born at Brackley, in jSortliamptonshire, in 1623, and was a student at Merton College, Oxford, when the parliamentary commission undertook the reform of the
University.
The general
him
but the oulj his powers, is the fact that he assisted Walton in the p eparation of his Polyglot Bible, and also Castell in the composition of his Heptaglot He died in 1669. Lexicon. Early in the same century was born John Wilkins, another Perhaps, however, he is better linguist of some pretensions. known by the efi'orts which he made to recommend that ideal project for a Universal Language which has occupied the thoughts of so many learned enthujiiasts since his time, than by his own positive and practical attainments; althougii lie published aCol Rose's Biocrrapl.'ical Dictionary, t Disraeli's Miscellanies, p. 131,
as a very profound
XI
IJ6.
86
lection of Pater Nosters which possesses
logical merit.
no inconsiderable ])hilo1614, at Fawsley, in Northamptonshire ; and at the early age of thirteen, he was admitted a scholar of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he took his degree in 16.34. In the contest between the Crown and the Parliament, Wilkins became a warm partisan of the latter. He was named Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, by the parliamentary commission in 16-i8. Some years later, in 1656, he married Robina, sister of the Protector, and widow of Peter French ; the Protector having granted him a dispensation from the statute which requires celibacy, as one of the conditions of the tenure of his Wardenship. In 1659, Eichard Cromwell promoted him to the Mastership of Trinity College, Cambridge; from which, liowever, he was dispossessed at the Restoration. But his reputation for scholarship, seemingly through the influence of Buckingham,* outweighed his political demerits ; and he was named successively Dean of Eipon and Bisliop of Chester, in which latter dignity he died in 1670. Tlie unhappy deistical writer, John Toland, born in the County Donegal, in Ireland, in 1669, was one of the most skilful linguists of his day. His birth was probably illegitimate, and he was baptized by the strange name of James Junius, t which the ridicule of his schoolfellows caused him to change for that by which he is now known. During his early youtli, he was a member of the Catholic religion; but his daring
He
was born
in
Wilkins was an eminent mathematician, and one of the first the Boyal Society. But his reputation as a humourist was his chief recommendation to Buckingham. His character in many respects resembled that of Swift. One of his witticisms is worth recording. After the first appearance of his well-known Voyage to the Moon [" Discovery of a New World, with a Discourse concerning the Possibility of a Voyage thither"], the eccentric Duchess of Newcastle jestingly remarked to him that the only defect in his account was that it omitted to tell where the voyagers would find lodging and accommodation by the way. That need present no difficulty to your Grace," said Wilkins; " you have built so many castles in the air that yuu cannot be at any loss for accommodation on the journey." { He published the " Pantheisticon," the most profane of all his works, under this pseudonym. I regret to see that an elaborate attempt to recall this long-forgotten book into notice, is made by Dr. Hermann Hettner, in his " Geschichte der Englischen Literatur von 1660 bis 1770," the first volume of which has just been published at Leipsic (1856). Dr. Hettner has even been at the pains to translate largely from its worst profanities.
members of
''
which
and and
notice,
mention that in the singular epitaph, which he composed for his own tomb, he speaks of himself as " linguarum plus decern sciens." In several of these ten languages, as he states in his memorial to the Earl of Oxford,* he spoke and wrote with as much fluency as in English. Toland died at Putney, in 1722. From tills period the same great blank occurs in the history of English scholarship, which we have observed in almost all the contemporary literatures of Europe. Still a few names may be gleaned from the general obscurity. t It is true that what many persons may deem the most notable pubHcation of
the time, Chainberlayne's Collection of Pater Nosters, (1715), was rather a literary curiosity than a work of genuine scholarship.
But there are other higher, though less known, names. The once notorious " Orator Henley," whom the Dunciad
has immortalized as the " Preacher at once, and Zany of his age," His was unquestionably a linguist of great acquirements. " Complete Linguist," consisting of grammars of ten languages, was published when he was but twenty-five years old and throughout his entire career, eccentric as it was, he appears
to
at
have persevered in the same studies. John Henley was born Melton Mowbray, in 1692, and graduated in the University of Cambridge. He took orders, and obtained some notoriety as a preacher; but his great theatre of display was his socalled " Oratory," where he delivered orations or lectures on a variety of topics, religious, political, humorous, and even profane. It was on one of these occasions that he drew together a large congregation of shoemakers, by the promise of showing them "the best, newest, and most expeditious way of making shoes," which he proceeded to illustrate by holding out a boot Henley died in 1756. and cutting off the leg part!
* Disraeli's Miscellanies, p. 110. Among the crowd of bubble companies which arose about the time of the Revolution, was the " Royal Academies Company," which professed to have engaged the best masters in every department of knowledge, and issued 20,000 tickets at twenty shillings each. The fortunate holders were to be taught at the charge of the company Among the subjects of instruction languages held a high place and the scheme of education comprised Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, and Spanish! See Macaulay's History of England, IV., 307. 73-8. X Disraeli has a curious chapter on Henley, Miscellanies, pp.
f
! ;
88
Henley was in the learned languages, the distiuguished Lord Carteret, afterwards Earl of Granville, was in With all his brilliant qualities as a debater, aud the modem. all his great capacity for public nflairs, Carteret combined the Swift leaniinu- and the accomplishments of a finished scholar. said of him that " he carried away from Oxford more Greek, He Latin, and philosophy, than became a person of his rank." spoke and wrote Prench, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and even Swedish ; and one of the first causes of the jealousy witli which Walpole regarded him, was the volubility with which he was able to hold converse in German with their common master, George the First. But Henley and Carteret stand almost alone among the English scholars of the early half of the seventeenth century ; and the first steady impulse which the study of languages received in England, may be chiefly traced to the attractions of the honourable and emolumentary service of the East India ComAVhat the diplomatic ambition of France in the Levant pany. effected among the scholars of that countr}^ the commercial enterprise of the merchant princess of England achieved in her Indian territory ; and the splendid rewards held out to practical Oriental scholarship, gave an impulse to the study of Eastern languages on a more liberal and comprehensive
AVliat
etatesraan
scale."* It is in great part to this, that we are indebted for the splendid successes of Sir William Jones, of Marsden, of Colebrooke, of Craufurd, of Lumsden, of Leyden, and still
of Colonel
Vans Kennedy.
174L
at Harrow, where he exhibited an early taste for languages,t and was especially distinguished in Greek and Latin metrical composition. Li 1764, he entered the University of Oxford, where he learned Arabic from a Syrian whose acquaintance he
* A plan for the promotion of Oriental studies, under the patronage of the Company, formed one of the many magnificent schemes of Warren Hastings, himself no mean linguist. Hastings consulted Johnson on the subject and it is observed as an evidence of his extraordinary coolness and self-possession, that his letter, acknowledging Johnson's present of Sir W. Jones's Persian Grammar, was written in the midst of the excitement of one of the most eventful days in his chequered life. See Oroker's Boswell'is Life of Johnson. Vill., 38-42, and Macaulay's Essays, p. 593. f Even during an attack of ophthalmia he did not relax in hia application to stutly, but u.-^ed to get some of his schoolfellows to read for him while he was himself disabled from reading.
;
89
To this he soon after added Persian ; and performed the very unusal feat of translating the history of Nadir Shah into French, In the following year he pnbh'shed his Persian Grammar, which took the general public as much by surprise, by the beauty and eloquence of the poetical translations which accompanied the copious examples that illustrated it, as it excited the aduiiration of scholars by the simplicity and practical good sense of its technical details. He soon afterwards applied himself to the language and literature of China ; which, however, he never made a profound study, as about this time (1770), feeling the precariousness of a purely literary |)rofpssion, he took steps to have himself called to the English bar, and for the following twelve years devoted himself with all his characteristic energy, and with marked success, to its laborious and engrossing duties. During the same period he endeavoured unsuccessfully to obtain a seat in Parliament; but in 1783, he accepted the appointment of Judge in the supreme court His at Calcutta, and repaired to India in the same year. attention to the duties of his office, is said to have been most But, in the intervals of duty, he earnest and exemplary. travelled over a great part of India; mixed eagerly in native society; and had acquired a familiarity with the history, antiquities, religions, science, and laws of India, such as had never before been attained by any European scholar, w4ien, unhappily for the science to which he was so thoroughly devoted, he was out off prematurely in the year 1791, at the early age of forty-seven. During a life thus laborious, and in great part spent in pursuits utterly uncongeinal with linguistic studies, Sir William Jones had nevertheless amassed a store of languages which had seldom, perhaps never, beea Fortunately too, unlike most of the equalled before his time. linguists whom we have been enumerating, he himself left aa autograph record of these studies, which Lord Teignmouth has In this paper, he preserved in his interesting Biography. describes the total number of languages with which he was in any degree acquainted to have been twenty-eight; but he further distributes these into classes according to the degree
chanced
to form.
lie
in 1770,
Prom this curious memorandum, appears that he had studied critically ^/_(7//^ languages, viz: English, Latin, French, Italian, Greek, Arabic, Persian, Sanscrit ; eight others he had studied less perfectly, but all were intelligible to him with the aid of a Dictionary, viz :
of his familiarity with each.
it
Spanish,
Portuguese,
German,
Runick,
Hebrew,
Bengali,
90
Hindi, Turkish ; twelve others, in fine, he Imd studied least ; but he considered all these attainable ; namely Tibetan, Pali, Palavi, Deri, Russian, Syriac, Ethiopic. Coptic, Welsh, Swedish, Dutch, and Chinese."*
perfectly
Lord Teignmoutht describes him as perfectly fathree lanSpanish, Portuguese, and German, guages which he has himself placed on the list of languages,
Now,
as
raihar with
tionary,"
but intelligible with the aid of a dicbe believed that this estimate is, to say the least, a sufficiently modest one ; and that his acquaintance even with the languages of the third class was by no means another memorandum presuperficial, we may infer from served by Lord Teignmouth from which we find that he had
less
"
critically studied,
it
may
fairly
at least of the number, namely His biographer, however, unfortunately enters into no details as to his power of speaking languages ; but he is said by the writer of the notice in the Biographie JJniverselle to have spoken eight languages as perfectly as his
studied the
grammars of two
native English.
compara-
humble
named
in
conjunction with Sir William Jones, will appear tame and William Marsden was born in Dublin, 1754 ; uninteresting. and, after having completed the ordinary classical studies, was sent out to Bencoolen in the island of Sumatra, at the early age of sixteen. The extraordinary facility which he exhibited for acquiring the Malay languages led to his rapid advance-
ment.
He
was named
first
;
and, before his return in 1779, he had accumulated the materials for the exceedingly valuable
chief secretary of the Island
in
1782.
his
Marsden held
and he employed every interval of his official duties in literary pursuits. He was a thorough master of Sanscrit, and all its kindred languages but he must be described, nevertheless, rather as a book-learned, than a practical linguist. His Essay on the Polynesian or East Insular languages, tracing their connexion with each other, and their common relations with Sanscrit, is
after
important appointments
return, J
Lord Teignmouth's
II., 168.
X He di.splayed great disinterestedness in the public service voluntarily relinquishing, several years before his death, (1836) large pension which he held under the crown.
91
still
standard
source
of
information on
well
this interesting
ethnological question.
known by
his
"numerous
Asiatic
literature,
especially in the
official
Company, whose
employment he entered, while still very young, as a civil servant. Colebrooke was well versed, not only in the Indian languages, but also in those of the Hebrew and cognate races; and his early education in France gave him a greater familiarity with French and other modern tongues than is often found to accompany the more profound linguistic studies. Matthew Lumsden was born in Aberdeenshire in 1777, and went as a mere boy to India, where his brother had an appointment in the service of the Company. Lumsden's knowledge of Hindostani and of Persian led to his being employed first as translator in the criminal court, and afterwards as professor in Fortwilliam College, where he remained till 1820. His skill in Persian and Arabic is attested by several publications upon both, chiefly elementary; but he can hardly be classed with the higher Orientalists, much less with linguists of more
universal pretensions.
Lord Cockburn, in the lively section of his amusing " Memorials of his Own Time" which he devotes to the singular and unsteady career of John Leyden, says that
M'Intosh, towhom "his wild friend" was clearly a source of great amusement, used to laugh at the affected modesty with which Leyden " professed to know but seventy languages. "t It is plain that M'Intosh considered this an extreme exaggeration but there can be no doubt, nevertheless, that Leyden was a This strange man, whose name very extraordinary linguist. will perhaps be remembered by the frequent allusions to it in the early correspondence of Sir Walter Scott, was born of a Though his eduvery humble family at Denholm in 1775. cation was of the very lowest order, yet Scott relates that " before he had attained his nineteenth year, he confounded the doctors of Edinburgh by the portentous mass of his acquisitions Having failed in almost every department of knowledge.''^ very signally in the clerical profession, to which he was brought up by his parents, he embraced that of medicine; and, after undergoing a more than ordinary share of the privations and
17651837.
Memorials of
My Own
Time,
p. 180.
I., p.
323.
93
vicissitudes of literary
life
such as
it
1803 iu the capacity of assistant surgeon in the East India Comjxmy's service. The adoption of this career
Madras
in
He jiad learned, while decided the course of his after studies. mere youtli, preparing for the university, Hebrew and Arabic. He afterwards extended his researches into all (he chief languages of the East, Sanscrit, Hindustani, and many other minor varieties of the Indian tongues. He was also
yet a
His career as Professor of thorough master of Persian. Hindustani at Calcutta was more successful than that of any European scholar since Sir William Jones. Having also studied the Malay language, from which he made several translations, he was induced to accompany Lord Minto on tlie Java expedition in 1811, where he was cut off after a short illness in the same year, too soon, unhappily, to allow of his turning to full account tlie importaiit materials which he had collected for the comparative study of the Indo-Chinese
languages.
The well-known evangelical commentator, Dr. Adam Clarke, born in 1760, of ve:y humble parentage, at Maglierafelt, iu theCoui.ty of Londmidcrry, in the north of Ireland, and for a long course of years the most distinguished preacher of the Methodist communion, enjoyed a high reputation among his followers as a linguist; but his studies had been confined The same may be almost entirely to ihe Biblical languages. said of the Eev. Dr. Barrett, vice-provost of Trinity College, Dublin, wlio is known to Biblical students as the editor of the Palimpsest MS. of the Gospels, and of the celebrated Codex Montfortianus.
But
there
is
more of curious
if
under
of
a place
among examples
ditficulties."
privately
Mr. Roscoe, who and exerted himself warmly iu his behalf, contains several most curious particulars regarding his studies and acquirements, as well as liis personal habits and Mr. Roscoe firsc met him iu 1806, and descriappearance. bed him to Dr. Parr as " a poor Welsh fisher-lad, as ragged as a colt, and as uncouth as any being that has a semblance of humanity. But beneath such an exterior," he adds, " is a
memoir
took
much
interest iu him,
mind
cultivated,
all
reasonable expectation.
93
but beyond all probable conception, lu his fishing boal ou the coast of Wales, at an age little more than twenty, he has acquired Greeks Hebrew, and Latin has read the Iliad,
;
Hesiod, Theocritus, &c. ; studied the refinements of Greek pronunciation; and examined the connection of that language with Hebrew." An attempt was made to raise hiin to a position more befitting liis acquirements. But his habits were of " He loved to lie on his back the rudest and most uncleanly. in the bottom of a ditch. His uncouth appearance, solitary
and perhaps weak intellect, made him an object of and persecution to the children of the district; and, he often carried an iron pot on his head to screen him from the stones and clods which they threw at him. He wore a large filthy wrapper, in the pockets and folds of which he stowed his library and his face, covered with hair, gave him a strangely uncouth appearance ; although the mild and abstracted expression of his features took from it much of its otherwise repulsive character." Mr. Kos coe gives a very curious account of an interview between Dr. Parr and this strange genius, in Iblo, in the course of which Jones "exhibited a familiarity with French, Italian, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and
habits,
ridicule
;
Chaldee." He described too, for Dr. Parr, his mode of acquiring a new language, which consisted in carefully examining its vocabulary, ascertaining what words in it corresponded with those of any language which he had previously learned, and having struck such words out of (he vocabulary , proceeding to impress the rfmaiuivg words upon his memory, as being the only ones which were peculiar to the new language which he sought to acquire. Jt may easily be believed that Jones's uncouth and eccentric habits defeated the irreclaimably
eflbrts
made by
his friends to
more
Clothes with which their thoughtfulness might replace his habitual rags, in a few days were sure to present the same filthy and dilapidated appearance. When a bed was i)rovided for liim, he chose to sleep not xipoUt
befitting his acquirements.
but under
it;
and
all his
mind and
accommodate
himself to the ordinary usages of other men. Dr. Thomas Young, although his fame must rest chiefly upon his brilliant philosophical discoveries, (especially in the Theory of Light), and on his success in deciphering and sjsteniatizing the hieroglyphical writing of the Egyptians, as exhibited in the inscriptions of the Rosetta Stone
and
in
the fane-
94
real papvri,
cannot be passed over in a history of eminent BriYoung was born at Milverton in Somersetshire, His mind was remarkably precocious. He had read in 1773. the whole Bible twice through, besides other books, beIn his seventh year he learnt fore he was four years old. Latin; and before he left school in his thirteenth year, he Soon after his readded to this Greek, French, and Italian. turn from school, he mastered Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, and Persian ; and, in all those languages, as well as in his own, his reading (of which his journals have preserved a most minute and accurate record), was so various and so vast, as almost to Having embraced the medical profession, he exceed belief. passed two years in different German Universities, during which time he not only extended his knowledge of learned not to languages, but also became perfect master of German;
tish linguists.
speak of various other acquisitions, some of them of a class which are seldom found to accompany scholastic eminence, such as riding two horses at tiie same time, walking or dancing on the tight rope, and various other feats of harlequinade Of his skill in the ancient Egyptian language, as well as its more modern forms, in which he rivalled, and as his English biographer. Dr. Peacock, seeks to show,"^ surpassed, Champollion and Lepsius, it is unnecessary to speak and it is highly probable that, having learned Italian while a mere youth, t lie also made himself acquainted with Spanish, and perhaps
:
Portuguese. Dr. Pritchard, who may be regarded as the founder of the English school of ethnography, can hardly, notwithstanding, If we except the Celtic languabe strictly called a linguist.
ges, and Greek, Latin, and German, most of his learning regarding the rest is taken at second-hand from Adelung and ^'evertheless, the linguistic section of his " Eesearches others, into the Physical History of Mankind," is a work of very great value. M. Bunsen pronounces it "the best of its kind; infinitely superior, as a whole, to Adelung's Mithrldates ,% and Cardinal Wiseman, in his masterly lecture " On the Natural History of the Human race," not only gives Pritchard the credit of being " almost the first who attempted to connect ethnography with philology," but even goes so far as to say
* By George Peacock, D.D. Life of Thomas Young, M.D. London, 1855. memoir in the National Review, II., 69 97. f See an interesting X Christianity and Mankind, III., 48.
95
that
it
will henceforth
"be
difficult for
to
Of the school of living British linguists I shall not be expected to speak at much length ; but there are a few names 60 familiar to the scholars of every country that it would be unpardonable to pass them over entirely without notice. The work just quoted, from the very time of its publication in 1836, established the reputation of Dr. (now Cardinal) Wiseman, still a very young writer, as a philologist of the first rank. His latest writings show that, through all the engrossing duties in which he has since been engaged, he has continued to cultivate the science of philology. f The Cardinal is, moreover, a most accomplished linguist. Besides the ordinary learned languages, he is master not only of Hebrew and Chaldee, but also of Syriac (of his scholarship in which his Hora Syriaca is a most honourable testimony), Arabic, Persian, and Sanscrit. In modern languages he has few superiors. He speaks with fluency and elegance French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Portuguese ; and in most of these languages he has frequently preached or lectured extempore, or with little
preparation.
The interesting discoveries of Colonel Eawlinson and of Dr. Hincks, and Dr. Curetou's very important Syriac publications, have associated their names with the linguistic as well as the antiquarian memories of this age. Nor are there many English
Lane.
is so high as that of Mr. unable to speak of the attainments of any of these gentlemen in the other families of language.
Orientalists
But
am
most noticeable names in the list of living linguists John Bowriug, now Governor at Hong-Kong, Professor Lee of Cambridge, and the American ex-blacksmith, Elihu Burritt. All three, beyond their several
far the
By
common
claim
to admir-
John (now
Sir
John) Bowring,
from a Memoir published about three years since, j before he had attained his eighteenth year, had learned Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Dutch. He is said to have since added to his
as I
learn
* Lectures on Science and Revealed Religion, I,, 180. + See especially an exceedingly learned and interesting article in the Dublin Review, Vol. XXXIX., pp. 199-244, on Dr. Donaldson's Jashur. t Illustrated London News, Feb. 10, 1856.
or,
Russian, Servian, store almost ever)' language of Europe; Bohemian, Polish, Hungarian, Slovakian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic, Lettish. Finnish, and even Basque and he is further
;
described as familiar with all the provincial varieties of each ; for instance, of the various oflshoots of German, and of the
several dialects of Spanish wliich prevail in Catalonia, Valencia
and Galicia.
successes in
later career brought him into and Turkish and his still more recent China and in Siam and its dependencies are equally
Dr.
i3o\vririg's
remarkable. It is not so easy to ofl'er an opinion as to the degree of Sir John Bowring's acquaintance with each of the His interesting poetical languages which are ascribed to him. translations from Russian, Servian, Bohemian, and other languages of Europe, are rather a test of elegant literary tastes than of exact linguistic attainments; nor am I aware to what
more
culars
of the
Memoir from which these partiare derived had entered more into detail upon this part subject. But, even making every allowance for possible
it
exaggeration,
seems impossible
to
John Bowring
linguists.
modern
Dr. Samuel Lee is perhaps even a still more extraordinary example of self-education. He was born in the very humblest rank in the village of Longnor in Shropshire, and, after having
spent a short time in the poor-school of his native village, commenced life as a carpenter's apprentice, when lie was but twelve years old. Ln the few intervals of leisure which this laborious occupation permitted, Mr. Jerdan states'^ that, without the least assistance from masters, he taught himself Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Chaldee ; having contrived, from the hoardings of his scanty wages, to procure a few elementary books in these and other languages. On his marriage, however, he was forced to sell the little library which he had accumulated, in order to provide for the new wants with which he found himself encompassed and for a time his struggle after learning was suspended ; but his extraordinary attainments having begun to attract notice, he was relieved from the uncongenial occupation which he had hitherto followed, and appointed master of a school at Shrewsbury. In the more favourable position which he had thus obtained, he soon ex:
in
97
tended his reading to Arabic, Persian, and Hindustani. In 18i'i he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where it is worthy himself no less in science than of note that he distinguished He was in languages, and took his degree with much credit. afterwards appointed superintendent of the Oriental press of the British and Foreign Bible Society, for which body he has not only edited the Arabic, Persian, Coptic, Hindustani, Malay, and other versions of the Bible, but has also translated, or superintended the translation, of many tracts in these various When Mr. Wheaton, an American traveller, languages. (brother of the well-known American jurist of that name) visited Professor Lee, he found him acquainted with no less than " sixteen languages, in most of which he was able to write."* Neither this writer, however, nor Mr. Jerdan, informs us as to the extent of Dr. Lee's attainments in speaking foreign languages. The list of linguists of the British race may be closed not unworthily with the still more remarkable nameof Elihu Burritt, who, though born in America (in IS 11,) is descended of an English family, settled in Connecticut for the last two centuries. The circumstances of Burritt's father, who was a shoemaker, were so narrow, that the education of Elihu, the When his youngest of five sons, was entirely neglected. father died, Elihu, then above fifteen years old, had spent but three months at school; and, being altogether dependent on his own exertions for support, he was obliged to bind himself Fortunately, as an apprentice to tiie trade of blacksmith. however, an elder brother who was a schoolmaster, settled in the same town before the term of Elihu's apprenticeship expired ; and as the latter had carefully devoted each spare moment of his laborious life to reading every book that came within his reach, he gladly availed himself, as soon as he became his
own
iialf
master, of his brother's otTer to take him as a pupil for which was all the time he could hope to spare During that time, brief as it was, Elihu from his craft. " became well versed in mathematics, went through Virgil in
a year,
Having thus the original, and read several French books." the foundation, he returned to his trade, resolved to labour till he should have acquired the means of completing
laid
the work
and, in the strong passion for knowledge which ; devoured him, he actually engaged himself to do the work of
Journal of a Residence
p. 83.
in
A.M.,
98
by receiving double wages, he might desired independence. Yet, even while he was thus doubly tasked, and while his daily hours of labour were no less than fourteen, he contrived to give some time in the mornings and evenings to Latin, French, and Spanish; and he actually procured a small "Greek grammar, which would just lie in the crown of his hat, and used to carry it with him to read during his work the casting of brass cow !" bells, a task which required no small amount of attention With the little store which he thus toilfully accumulated, he betook himself to New Haven, the seat of Hale College, although without a hope of being able to avail himself of its literary advantages. Here too he worked almost unaided. He took lodgings at an inn frequented by the students, though too poor to enter the university ; and in the course of a few months, by unremitting study, he read through the whole Iliad in Greek, and had made considerable progress in Italian and German, besides extending his knowledge of Spanish and French. Having obtained, soon afterwards, a commercial appointment, he was partially released, for a space, from the mechanical drudgery in which he was so long engaged and, as he was thus enabled to devote a little more time to his favourite studies, he contrived to learn Hebrew, and made his first advance towards a regular course of Oriental reading. But this interval of rest was a brief one ; after a very mortifying failure, he was at last compelled to return once more to the
in order
tliat,
two men,
more quickly
realize
the
Still,
never-
he toiled on in his enthusiastic struggle for knowledge. Even while engaged in this painful drudgery, " every moment," says Mrs. Howitt,* "which he could steal out of the four-andtweuty hours was devoted to study ; he rose early in the M'inter mornings, and, while the mistress of the house was preparing breakfast by lamplight, he would stand by the mantel-piece, with his Hebrew Bible on the shelf, and his lexicon in his hand, thus studying while he ate; the same method was pursued at the other meals ; mental and bodily food being taken in together. This severe labour of mind, as might be expected, produced serious effects on his health ; he suffered much from headaches, the characteristic remedy for which were two or three additional hours of hard forging, and
a
little
less
study."
An
p. 244.
99
has preserved, tells the story of his struggle still more touchingly "Monday, June 18, headache; forty pages Cuvier's Theory of the Earth, sixty-four pages French, eleven hours forging. Tuesdai/, sixty-five lines of Hebrew, thirty pages of French, ten pages Cuvier's Theory, eight lines Syriac,
:
ten ditto
fifteen
Danish,
of
ten
ditto
Bohemian, nine
ditto
Polish,
hours forging, Wednesday, twenty-five lines Hebrew, fifty pages of astronomy, eleven hours forging. Thursday, fifty-five lines Hebrew, eight ditto Syriac, eleven hours forging. Friday, unwell ; twelve hours forging. Saturday, unwell ; fifty pages Natural Philosophy, ten hours forging. Sunday, lesson for Bible class."
stars,
names
ten
Through
extraordinary
these and
has
this
Without
it will be year describes him as at present acquainted with eighteen languages, besides his native viz English, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Samaritan,
enough
Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Ethiopic, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Danish, Irelandic, Esthouian, Bohemian, and Polish.* He is author of several works, and was for some time Editor
of a Journal entitled
"The
Christian Citizen."
no attempt is made, in either of the biographies of Burritt which I have consulted, to define with exactness the degree of his knowledge of each among
in the case of Dr. Lee,
As
the various
ficiency in
languages which he has learned ; but if his prothem be at all considerable, his position among linguists must be admitted to be of the very highest ; and as he is still only in his forty-sixth year, it would be difficult to predict what may be the limit of his future successes.
Vn.
The extraordinary
In every educated foreign circle Russians and Poles may be met, whom it is impossible to distinguish, by their language, or even by their accent, from the natives of the country and this accomplishment is frequently found to embrace the entire range of the polite languages of In the higher native Russian society, it is rare to Europe. meet one who does not speak several languages, besides his
:
art. Burritt,
100
owi).
Every candidate
\vitli
for
in connexion
foreign affairs,
German, English, and Italian; and governments of the empire, are constantly to be found employes, who, to the ordinary stock of European languages, add an equal number of the dialects of the Asiatic
four languages, rrencli,
in the Eastern
In most cases, however, this facility in the use of foreign languages enjoyed by the natives of Russia and Polatul, is chiefly conversational, and acquired rather by practice than by and, among the numbers who, during the last thrt-e study centuries, must be presumed to have possessed this gift in an eminent degree, very few a])pear to have acquired a permanent reputation as scholars in the higher sense of the name. Unfortunately, too, even were it otherwise, the materials Not for a history of Russian linguists are extremely scanty. one of those who have written upon Slavonic Literature, appears to have adverted to tliis as a distinct branch of scholarship ; Slavonic scholars, too, have met but imperfect justice from the writers on general biography ; and thus, especially for one to whom the native sources of information are inaccessible, the rare allusions which can be gleaned from the geueral history of Shnvonic literaturcf supply but an uncertain and imperfect guide,''^ even did opportunities present themselves for pursu;
in the inquiry.
101
formed by
tlie cliildreii
with some of the languages of Southern and Western Europe. But no rethe one bright period in early Russian history cord of this
has been preserved, from which any particulars can be gleaned. The division of Jaroslav's dominions between his sons at his death, (in 1054-,) plunged the Russian nation into a series of civil wars and into the barbarism to which such wars lead, from which it did not begin to emerge till the sixteenth century and, although a few translations (chiefly theological), from Greek and Latin, were made during this period, yet, from the interruption of all intercourse with foreign countries, it may be presumed that (with the exception, perhaps, of a I'tw enterprising individuals, like the merchant Nikitin,* who, in the filteenth century, traversed the entire East, and penetrated as far as Tibet,) the natives of an empire so completely isolated concerned themselves little about any language beyond their
own.
Macarius, who was Metropolitan of Moscow in the middle of the sixteenth century, did something to promote the introduction of foreign letters into Russia, t and many translations, not
sical
only from the Greek and Latin fathers, but also from the claswriters, were made under his direction. A still greater impulse must have been given to this particular branch of
study by the new policy introduced by the Czar Boris Feodorowitsch Godounoff, who not only invited learned foreigners to his court, but sent eighteen young nobles of Russia to foreign countries to study their arts, their literature and their languages.^ The results of this more liberal policy, however, had hardly begun to be felt, when the troubles which followed the wellknown revolution of Demetrius the Impostor, revived for a time the worst forms of barbarism in the Empire. The elevation (in 1013,) of the family of Romanoff to the throne, in the person of the Czar Michael, by restoring a more settled government, contributed to advance the cause of letters. The monk Beriinda Pameva, published about this time a SlavoRussian Lexicon, w^hich exhibits in its etymologies an acquaintance with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew,
* For some account of this traveller see Otto's Lehrbiich der Russischen Literatur, p. 231. Kcinig's Literarische BilJer aus Russland, p. 33.
-f-
t Ibid. Pameva was not properly a Russian, ^ Otto's Lehrbueh, p. 246. having been born in Moldavia but he became a monk at Kiew, which thenceforward was the country of his adoption,
;
102
Moscow by the priest-monk ArGreek and Latin, in 1643, one of the scliolars of which, Theodore Rtisclitsche(f, founded a society for transhiting works from foreign languages in 1649 and another school of still more wide-spread influence was opened in the Monastery of Saikonosspassk, in 1G82. It is worthy of remark, nevertheless, that the first Russian grammar, that of Ludolf,"^ was printed, not at any native press, but in the University of
school was founded at
;
Oxford.
One of the members of the Translation Society alluded to above, the monk Epiphanius Slawinezki, appears to have been regarded by his contemporaries as a linguist of notable attainments. He published a Greek, Latin, and Slavonic Dictionary, and commenced a Slavonic translation of the Bible from the original Greek, which was cut short by his death in 1676 ; but there is no reason to believe that he was acquainted with any
of the Oriental languages
and the inference to be drawn from ; the reputation which he enjoyed on so slight a foundation, is far from creditable to the linguistic attainments of his time. It is only from the reign of Peter the Great that the history
of this, as of all other branches of Russian enlightenment, may Independently of the encoube properly said to commence. ragement which Peter held out to foreign talent to devote itself to his service, the grand and comprehensive scheme of the academy which he planned under the direction of Leibnitz, contained a special provision for the department of languages.t And although it was not formally opened until after Peter's death, by the Empress Catherine I. (1725), the influence of the policy in which it originated, bad made itself The Czar's favourite, Mentschikoff, who from felt long before. an obscure origin (1674-1729) built up the fortunes of what is now one of the greatest houses of Russia, was master of eight languages, most of which he spoke with perfect fluency. Demetrius Kantemir, (1673-1723), father of the celebrated lie was despoet of that name, deserves also to be noticed. cended of a Turkish family, and held the office of Hospodar of Moldavia ; but he prized his literary reputation more than He appears to have been a scholar in the highhis rank. est sense of the name, and was familiarly acquainted, not only
* Grammatica Russica et Manuductio ad Linguam Slavorum, Oxford, 1696. " Leibnitz, eine Biographic," Vol. II., pp. 271-5, t See Guhrauer's for the details of this magnificent scheme.
103
with tlie livini^ languages wLicli are so easily acquired by liis countrymen, but with several of the learned languages, both of the East and the West.* The poet, his son Autiochus
Demetrjewitsch,
ges, ancient
is
also described as
ing the great traveller, was born at Kiew, in 170:2. He must necessarily have acquired, during his long and adventurous wanderings in Europe and the East, a familiarity with many of the languages of the various countries through which he journeyed, although he was prevented from turning it to account upon his return to Russia by his premature death in 17474 Basilius Kikiiitsch Tatisscheff, one of the youths sent abroad by Peter the Great, for the purpose of studying in the foreign universities, enjoyed a considerable reputation as a linguist. The History of Russia which he compiled, supposes a familiarity with several Asiatic, as well as European languages; but, as it is not improbable that part of the materials which he employed in this history were translated for his use by assistants engaged for the purpose, it may be doubted whether this can be assumed as a fair test of his own capabilities. The linguistic attainments of the celebrated poet Lcmonossoff, although considerable, form his least soHd title
||
" master of several languaThe same may be inferred regardBasilius Gregorowitsch Barskj, who
to fame.
His
history
is
so full of interest,
that its
incidents,
almost utterly unvarnished, have supplied the narrative of one Born (1711) of the most popular of modern Russian novels. in a rude fisher's hut in the wretched village of Denissowka on the shore of the Frozen Ocean, he rose by his own unassisted genius not only to high eminence in science, but to the very of which he first rank in the literature of his native country, may truly be described as the founder ; and, although he does not seem to have made languages a special study, he deserves He was perfect master to be noticed even in this department. of Greek, Latin, Erench, and German ; and possessed with
for
other ancient and modern languages, an acquaintance sufficient The attainments of his conall the purposes of study.
Otto's
t
Lehrbuch,
article
p. 179.
See an
Vol.
1., p. 610. % See an interesting notice in Otto's Lehrbuch, suh voce. Otto's Lehrbuch, p. 294. 5. See Konig's Literarische Bilder aus Russland, p. 38, also Otto's Lehrbuch, p. 204, and Bowring's Russian Anihologij, 1. 205. 8. His
II
works
fill
104
temporary, Basilius Petrowitsch Petroff, (1736) were perhaps more profound. He was a scholar of the celebrated convent of Saikonosspassk ; and having attracted notice by an ode which he composed for the coronation of the Empress Catherine, he was employed, through the influence of Potemkin, at tlie English and several other European courts. Through the opportunities which he thus enjoyed, he became one of the best linguists of his day, and we may form an estimate of his zeal and perseverance from the circumstance of his having learned Eomaic after his sixtieth year.* Gabriel, Archbishop of St. Petersburg, (17751801) and one of the
most distinguished pulpit orators of Russia, is also mentioned as a very remarkable linguist. t His success, however, lay chiefly in modern languages. The most eminent scholars engaged in the philological and ethnological investigations undertaken by the Empress Catherine II. were foreigners as, for example, Pallas, and Bakmeister. Some, however, were native Russians, but few details are preserved regarding them. Of SujefF, who accompanied Pallas in the expedition to Tartary and China, and who translated
;
I have not been have been equally unsuccessful as to the history of Theodore Mirievo de Jankiewitsch, the compiler of the alphabetical Digest of Pallas's Comparative Vocabulary, described in a former page ; but it can scarcely be doubted, from the very nature of his task, that he must have been a man of no ordinary acquirements as a linguist,
tlie
During the present century a good deal has been done in Russia for the cultivation of particular families of languages. The " Lazareff Institute," founded at Moscow in 1813, by an Armenian family from which it takes its name, comprehends in its truly munificent scheme of education not only the Armenian, Georgian, and Tartar languages, but also the several members of the Caucasian family. An Oriental Institute^ on a somewhat similar plan was established at
||
* Otto's Lehrbuch, p. 257* tBiograph. Univ. VIII. p. 87. j Otto's Lehrbuch, p. 246. See an interesting sketch of
this
institute,
by M, Dulaurier:
L'Institut Lazartff des Languea Orientates, Paris 1856. Dulaurier, p. 48. % Historic View of the Language and Literature of the Slavonic Nations, by Talvi the pseudonym of Theresa A. L. von Jacob,
II
105
St,
Petersburg in 1823.
at
the
still
more favourable centre of lauijuages, Odessa, in 1829; and a fourth, yet more recently, at Kazan, the meeting point of
the two great classes of languages which j)ractically divide between them the entire Russian Empire.* Individual scholars, too, have taken to themselves particular branches of the study, some of them with very remarkable success. Timkoli'sky, the well-known missionaiy in China,t and Hyacinth Bitchourin, who was head of the Pekin Russian Mission from 1S08 to 1812, have contributed to popularize the study of Chinese.^ Igumnoff of Irkutsch published a useful dictionary of the Mongol Giganoff, and more recently Volkoff, a dictionary of the Tartar languages ; of which Mirza Kazem-Beg, professor of the I'urkish and Tartar languages at St. Petersburg, has compiled an excellent grammar. The same service has been rendered to the language of Georgia and its several dialects by David Tchubinoff. The numerous philological writings of Goulianofl", too, and, more lately, Prince Alexander Ilandjeri's Bictionnaire Fran(;ais^ AraLe, Persan, et Turc,\\ have establishcfi a European reputation.
:
The present Prefect Apostolic of the Arctic Missions, who a convert from the Russian Church, is said to be a very extraordinary linguist. Even before he entered upon his missionary charge, in which, of course, the circle of his languages is much enlarged, he habitually heard confession?, at Paris, in
is
six langnages.
Perhaps also it may be permitted to enumerate among Russian linguists three eminent literary men wlio have long been resident at St. Petersburg, and who, although not natives of Russia, may now be regarded as naturalized subjects of Senkowsky, Gretsch and Mirza Kazem-Beg. the Empire The first is by birth a Pole ;1[ but having early attained to much eminence as an Orientalist, and having travelled with
(formed of her several initials), daughter of the celebrated Professor von Jacob, aiid)now wife of Dr. Robinson the eminent American Biblical scholar, p. 73.
Ibid
f Travels of the Russian Mibsion through
2 vols. 8vo, 1827 \ Historical View of Slavonic Languages, p. 32. Ibid, p. 98, His Georgian Dictionary obtained the Demidoff prize. See catalogue de I'Acadeaiie Imperiale a St. Petcrsbourg, p. 58. 3 vols. 4to. Moscow, 1840. \ Literari^che Bilder aus Russland (Kanig), pp. 312-21,
II
106
some reputation
as an explorer in Syria and Egypt, he obtained the Professorship of Oriental languages in the university of St. Petersburg, in which he has since distinguished himself by an important controversy with the celebrated Von Hammer. S'enkowsky, since his residence in St. Petersburg, has made
one of the most modern Russian His grammar of that language is among the most literature. "With intelligible to foreigners that has ever been issued. most of the languages of Europe, he is said to be perfectly familiar, and his attainments as an Orientalist are of the very He is a corresponding member of the Asiatic highest rank. Societies of most of the capitals of Europe, and publishes indifferently in Polish, Russian, German, and French. Gretsch, the editor of the well-known St. Petersburg Journal, " The Northern Bee," is perhaps less profound, but Although a German by equally varied in his attainments. birth, he writes exclusively in Russian, and is the author of the best and most popular extant history of Russian literature ; of which Otto's Lehrliich der Russischen Literatur, although apparently an independent work, is almost a literal translation.'^ Mirza Kazem-Beg is of the Tartar race, but a native of Astracan, where his father, a man of much reputation for learning, had settled about the commencement of the century. Soon after the establishment of the professorship of the Turkish and Tartar languages at Kazan, Kazem-Beg was selected to fill it ; and, after some time, he was removed to the same chair Besides in the University of Petersburg, which he still holds. the ordinary learned languages, he is acquainted with the Hebrew, Chaldee, Arabic, Syrian, Persian, and Turkish, as well as those of the Tartar stock ; and he is described as perfect master of the modern European languages, especially Prench, The last named language he Italian, German, and English. speaks and writes with great ease and elegance, and has even published some translations into it, as, for example, the
the Russian language his own, and writers in the entire range prolific
is
of
" Derbend-Nameh."t
The
So
far
is
equally high.
Literature
p. 244.
185L
107
accompamed Henry to Poland, says tliat of the two Imndred roiisl nobJes who were then assembled, there were hardly two who did not speak in addition to their native Polish, German.
and
Latin.-*^
Italian,
last
which have left any permanent trace in history. Prancis Meninski, the learned author of the Thesaurus Linguarum Oneniahum,X was not only a profound scholar in most of the ancient and modern languages, but, from his long residence in he Last, and from the office of Oriental Interpreter which he held farst in the Polish and afterwards in the Imperial service must be presumed to have spoken them freely and familiarly. i3ut Meninski was a native of Lorraine, and by some is believed have been originally named Menin, and only to have adopted tJie Fo ish affix, sh, on receiving from the Diet his patent of naturalization and nobility.
named language that, with perhaps a pardonable exaggeration, Martin Kromer alleges that there were fewer in Pdand tUan in Latiura itself who did not speak it.f Nevertheless few names present themselves in this department
Among
classical
Jesuits were
it
and Oriental
of their
many accomplished
ticulars
attainments,
enumerate them.
iiobrowski
In later
historian,
may be mentioned
among many other titles to fame. He was most laborious and successful collector of materials for Polish history, m search of which he explored the libraries of Italy,
a
Origine et Rebus Gestis Polonorum, Lib. XXX., ibid 244 and Lang, of Slavonic Nations, p. 178, The Thesaurus (4 vols, folio, Vienna 1680) t supposes in its author a knowledge of at least eight different languages. Arabic. Persian, Turkish, Latin, Italian, French, German, and Polish. Meninski was a man of indomitable energy. In two successive pamphlets which he published in the course of a controversy which he carried on with his great rival, Podest^ (who was professor of Arabic in the University) he went to the pains of actually transcribing with his own hand in each copy the quotations from Oriental author* as there were no Oriental types in Vienna from which they could be printed Meninski's Thesaurus, however, is best known from the learned edition of it which was printed at Vienna (1780-1802) under the revision of Baron von lenisch, himself an Orientalist of very high reputation, and for a considerable time interpreter of the Austrian embassy at Constantinople.
t Lilt,
!
De
108
from wheuce lie carried borne, after three years of ])atient research, a hundred and ten folio volumes of extracts copied with his own hand IFrom Italy he proceeded toStockliolin and L'psala, where many important documents connected with the time of John III. and Sigismond III. are preserved and here, being, from some unworthy jealousy, oidy permitted to inspect the desired documents on the condition of not making notes or copies in the library, his prodigious memory enabled him on his return each evening to his apartments, to commit to writing what he had read during the day, and the collection thus formed amounted to no fewer than ninety folio volumes!* Albertrandy's historical works are very numerous ; and when his labours in this department are remembered, his success as a linguist will appear almost prodigious. Besides Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, he knew most of the modern languages, French, English, Italian, German, and Russian, and spoke the majority of them with ease and propriety. The well-known Polish General, Wenceslaus Rzewuski, devoted the later years of his busy and chequered career to He is said to literary, and especially to linguistic, pursuits. have spoken the learned tongues as well and as freely as his native Polish, and to have been master, moreover, of all the leading modern languages of Europe. The great Oriental Journal published at Vienna, Fimdgruben des Orients, which is really what its title implies, a mine of Oriental learning, was for many years under his superintendence. The Russo-Polish diplomatist. Count Andrew Italinski, is another example of the union of profound scholarship with Born in Poland about the great talents for public afl'airs. middle of the eighteenth century, Italinski visited in the successive stages of his education, Kiew, Leyden, Edinburgh, London, Paris, and Berhu, and acquired the languages of all Being eventually appointed to the those various countries. Russian embassy in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, he became even more perfect in Italian. In addition to all these languages, he was so thoroughly master uf those of the East, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, &c., as to challenge the admiration even of the Easterns themselves.t It is perhaps right to add that the eminent Orientalist of St. Petersburg, Seukowsky, although a Russian by residence
:
memoir
Literature of Slavonic Nations, 270. See also an interesting He was born at Warsaw in in the Biugruphie Universelh\ 1731, and survived till 1808. f See Biographie Universelle (Supplement), Vol. LVII p. 589. Italinski continued and completed D'ilancarville's great work on
*
,
Etruscan Antiquities.
109
is not only, as I liave already ^ita(e(l, of but is, moreover, one of the most popular writers in his native language.
and by association,
birlli,
Polish
Our
meagre.
nolice of
Bohemian
linguists
must
be
even
more
name.
Bohemian letters presents no distinguished the extraordinary activity which the Bohemians exhibited in translating the Bible in the fifteenth century, it
period of
The early
From
might be supposed tiiat the study of Greek and Hebrew liad already taken root in the schools of Prague. But out of tiie " thirty-three copies in Bohemian of the entire Bible, and
twenty-two of the New Testament,""^ which are still extant, translated during that period, not one was rendered from the original languages. Blakoslav, the first translator of the Bible
Irom Greek
erudition.'"
(in
1563)
is
man
of
" profound
later;
George Strye a few years and the Jesuits Konstanj, Steyer, and Drachovsky, are
said of
The same
John Amos Komnensky,also, better known by his Latinized name, Comenius, a native of Komna in Moravia, (1592-1671)
deserved well of linguistic science, not only by his own acquirements, but by his well-known work, the Jauua Linguarum Reserata, which has had the rare fortune of being translated not only into twelve European languages, but into those of
several
Oriental
nations
besides.
however, though it attracted much attention at the time, has long been forgotten. It would be still more unpardonable to overlook the celebrated philologer, Father Joseph Dobrowsky, who, although born in Kaab, in Hungary, was of a Bohemian family, and devoted himseli especially to the literature and language of He had just entered tlie Jesuit society at Bruun his nation.
at the
moment
of
tiie
liepairing to
Prague, he applied himself for a time to the study of the Oriental languages, but eventually concentrated all his energies His works upon on the history and language of Bohemia. Bohemian history and antiquities fill many volumes and his Slavonic Grammar may be regarded as a classical work, not only in reference to his native language, but to the whole
;
Ibid., p. 190.
110
Father Dobrowsky survived till tho year time of his death in active projects for the cultivation of the language and literature of the country of his adoption. But probably the most remarkable name among Bohemian linguists is that of Father Dobrowsky's friend, the poet Wenceslaus Hanka, born at Horeneyes in 1791. Hanka's love of languages was first stirred while he was tending sheep near his native village, by the opportunity which he had of learning Polish and Servian from some soldiers of these races being When he grew somewhat quartered upon his father's farm. older, his parents, in order to save him from the chances of
Slavonian family.
1829, engaged
which, in Bohemia, scholars are ; and he afterwards entered the On University of Prague, and subsequently that of Vienna. the foundation of the Bohemian Museum at Prague, he was appointed its librarian, through the recommendation of Father Dobrowsky ; and from that time he devoted himself almost
to school
Besides his own original compositions, Hanka's name has obtained considerable celebrity in connexion with the controversy about the genuiness of the early Bohemian poems known under the title of " Kralodvor," a controversy which, although it has ended differently, was for a time hardly
country.
animated than those regarding the Ossian and Rowley Notwithstanding the variety of Hanka's in England. pursuits, and his especial devotion to his own language, his acquisitions in languages have been most various and extensive. He is described in the "Oesterreichische National Encyclopsedie" as " master of eighteen languages."*
less
MSS.
Many
the Slavonic race our Catalogue of Linguists closes. regarding the eminent names which it comprises are, of necessity, left vague and undetermined. I
particulars
With
have especially desired to distinguish, in all cases, between mere book knowledge of languages and the power of writing, or still more of speaking, them. But unfortunately the accounts which are preserved regarding these scholars hardly ever enter into this distinction. Even Sir William
should
in
Ill
JoueSj though he carefully classified the languages which he knew, did not specify thisparticular; and in most other instances,
the narrative, far from particularizing, like that of Jones, the extent of the individual's acquaintance with each language, even leaves in uncertainty the number of languages with vviiich
in any degree. very distribution, too, which I have found it expedient according to nations to follow has had many disadvantages.
he was acquainted
The
it
But
could be devised.
it
out upon any clear and intelligible principle, would have been attended with the same disadvantages which characterize that according to nations while the more strictly philosophical distribution according to ethnographical or philological schools, would have in great measure failed to illustrate the object which I have chiefly had Several of the most eminent of the modern ethnoiu view. graphical writers, and particularly Pritchard, disavow all claim to the character of linguists ; and the qualifications of many even of those whose pretensions seem the highest, have, when submitted to a rigid examination, proved far more than
difficult
follow
problematical.
permitted,
There are many curious details, however, into which, if space it would be interesting to pursue this inquiry. It might seem natural, for instance, to investigate the nature and extent of the Miraculous Gift of Languages the ytm yXMo-ffSv of St. Paul whether that possessed by the Apostles and other early teachers of Christianity, or that ascribed in later times to the missionaries among the Heathen, and especially
to the great Apostle of India, St. Francis Xavier. are not wanting
for
Materials
hardly be said to
such an investigation ;* but as it can bear upon the subject of this Biography, I
have reluctantly passed it by. The history of Hoyal Linguists, too, might afford much amusing material for speculation. Mithridates, King of Pontus, Cleopatra was as we have seen, spoke twenty-two languages.
* " Piagmatismus der Geistes-gaben," See Staudenmaier's [Tubingen 1835], and Englmann's " Von der Charismen ira allBesondern." gemeinen, und von dem Sprachen-charismen ira [Regensburg, 1848]. See also a long list of earlier writers (chiefly Rationalistic) in Kuinoel's " Commentarius in Libros N. T." vol. IV. pp. 40-2 also in Englmann, pp. 15-23.
;
112
mistress, not only of seven languages
but,
if
enumerated by
of niost
Plutarcli,
we may
believe
bis
testimony,
oilier
known
languages of tlie time. Tbe acconiplished, but ill-fated, Queen of Palmyra, Zenobia, was faraibar witb Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Egyptian; and it may be presumed from the notion which prevailed among some Christian writers of her being a Jewess, that she was also acquainted with Hebrew or its kindred tongues.* ^I ost of the Eoman Emperors were able indifferently to speak Greek or Latin. Themedieeval sovereigns, with the exception of Frederic II., referred to in a former page,i- and the great and learned Pojjc Sylvester II., better known by his family name Gerbert,:}; share, as linguists, the common mediocrity of the age. The learned Princess Anna Comnena does not appear at all distinguished in this particular ; Charlemagne's reputation rests on his acquaintance with Latin, and perhaps also Greek; and our own Alfred was regarded as a notable example of success, although there is no evidence that his linguistic attainments extended beyond a knowledge of Latin.
The example and patronage of Frederic tended much to promote the rivival of Oriental studies. Many of ihe earliest version of the works of Aristotle from the Arabic, were made under his auspices or those of his son Manfred among others (compare Jourdain's " Recherches surles Traductions Latines d'Aristote," p. 124, Paris 1843; also AVhewell's " History of the Inductive Sciences," I., p. 343;) that of Sir Michael Scott of Balwearie, a learned Orientalist and an accomplished general scholar, although his traditionary character is that of " the wizard Michael Scott." His namesake.
t P. 15.
;
"
That when,
wizard of such dreaded fame, in Salamanca's cave. Him listed his magic wand to wave
The
Roger Bacon's
skill
bells
would ring
in
Notre
Dame !"
Arabic and other Eastern tongues was probably one of the causes which drew upon him the same evil I should have mentioned Bacon among the few notable reputation.
in
mediaeval linguists. He was "an industrious student of Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and the modern tongues. (Milman's Latin Christianity, VI., p. 477). Perhaps I ought also to have named Albert the Great (Ibid., p. 453) but I am rather disposed to believe that the knowledge which he had of Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic authors, was derived from Latin versions, and not from the original works themselves. X Gerbert travelled to Spain with the express purpose of studying in the Arabian schools. See Hock's " Sylvester II., und sein Jalirhundcrt " also Whewell's " Inductive Sciences," L, 273.
;
113
Very early, however, after the revival of letters, Matthias Corvinus, the learned and munificent King of Hungary, attained a rank as a linguist not unworthy of a later day. Besides the learned languages, he was also acquainted with most of the living tongues of Europe. Charles V. knew and spoke five Henry VIIT. spoke four. Several of the Eoman languages.* Pontiffs, particularly Paul IV., in other respects also a most
remarkable scholnr,i- and the great Benedict XIV., were learned Orientalists, as well as good general linguists. The house of Stuart was eminent for the gift of tongues. The ill-fated Mary of Scotland spoke n^ost of the European languages. James I., her son, with all his silly pedantry, was by no means His grandson, Charles II., spoke a contemptible linguist. French and Spanish fluently and his brilliant grand-daughter, Eh'zabeth of Bavaria, who alone, according to Descartes, of all her contemporaries, was able to understand the Cartesian philosophy, was mistress, besides many scientific and literary accomplishments, of no fewer than six languages. J Christina of Sweden surpassed her in one particular. She knew as many as eight languages, the major part of which she spoke fluently. Nor are the courts of our own day without examples of the same acquirement. The late Emperor of Russia spoke five Several of the reigning sovereigns of Europe, languages. Queen Victoria, Alexander of Russia, and Napoleon III.
;
among the number, enjoy the reputation of excellent linguists. The young Emperor of Austria is an accomplished classical
and a perfect master of French, and of all the languages vast empire German, Italian, Hungarian, Czechish, and Servian Prince Lewis Lucian Bonaparte is a distinguished His " Polyglot Parable philologer, as well as a skilful linguist.
scholar,
of his
own
Sower" is an interesting contribution to the former Even the remote kingdom of Siam furnishes, in its two Royal brothers, the First and the Second King, an example more deserving of praise than would be a far higher success The First King, Soradetch Phra in a more favoured land. Paramendt Maha Mongkut, has evinced a degree of intelof the
science.
Buret's Thrcsor, p. 963. Paul IV. is mentioned by Cancellieri, as having known the entire He names several other men, fone of them blind,) Bible by heart. and six ladies, who could do the same ; he tells of one man who could repeat it in Hebrew. X Kemble's Social and Political State of Europe, p. 9.
*
His
full
name
is
114
lectual activity, rare indeed
among
Besides the ancient language and literature of his own kingdom, and all its modern dialects and sub-divisions, he knows Sanscrit,
Cingalese,
especially
From tlie Catholic missionaries, and Peguan. Bishop Pallegoix, he has learned Latin and also His letters, Greek, and from the American Baptists, English. though sometimes unidiomatical, are highly characteristic, and display much intelligence and ability. He is also well versed in European sciences, especially astronomy and mechanics. He has formed, moreover, a very considerable collection of astronomical and philosophical apparatus ; has established printing and lithographic presses in the palace ; and has imported steam machinery of various kinds from America. It is gratifying to add that his brother, the Second King, shares all his tastes, and is treading worthily in his footsteps.
still
more
attractive topic
line of
Lady-
Linguists.
It is not a little remarkable that, among the sovereigns who have distinguished themselves as linguists, the proportion of queens is very considerable. The three names, Cleopatra, Zenobia, and Christina of Sweden, unquestionably represent a larger aggregate of languages than any three of the kinglinguists, if
we exclude
Mithridates.
humbler lady-linguists unworthy this companionThe nun Eoswitha, of Gandesheim, still favourably ship. known by her sacred Latin poetry, was also acquainted with Greek a rare accomplishment in the tenth century. Tarquinia Molza, grand-daughter of the gifted, but licentious poet of the same name, knew Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, as well as the Elena Coriiaro Piscopia knew ordinary modern languages. Italian, Spanish, French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and even Arabic^ Nay, strange as it may seem in modern eyes, the university of Bologna numbers several ladies among the occuare the
Nor
pants of
its pulpits.
The
Mongkut Phra Chom Klau Chau Hu Yua." Bowring's Siam, (DediThe account of the king is most interesting. Valery. Voyage Litteraiie de I'ltalie, p. 237. I have just met a modern parallel for her. The brilliant Mme. Henrietta Herz, according to her new biographer. Dr. Fiirst, knew Hebrew,
cation.)
Greek, Latin,
*'
French, Spanish, German, English, and Sweknowledge of Sanscrit, Turkish, and Malay Henriette Herz, ihre Leben und Erinnerurgen," Berlin, 1858.
Italian,
115
University of Bologna in tlie loth century, was wont to take her father's place as lecturer on law ; observing, however, the precaution of using a veil, lest her beauty should distract the attention of her pupils. Her mother Milancia, scarcely less learned, was habitually consulted by Giovanni on all questions of special difficulty wiiich arose."*^ Laura Bassi held the chair of philosophy in more modern times.f Clotilda Tambroni, the last and not the least distinguished of the lady professors of Bologna, has, besides her literary glories, the honour of
Like her Mezzofanti, she refused, on the occupation of Bologna by the French, to take the oaths of the new government, and was deprived of the professorship of Greek in consequence. The learned ladies of Bologna are not alone among their coun-
trywomen. The celebrated Dominican nun, Cassandra Fedele of Venice ; Alessandra Scala of Florence ; and Olympia Fulvia Morata of Ferrara, are all equally distinguished as proficients in at least two learned languages, Latin and Greek. Margherita Gaetana Agnesi, of Milan, was famihar with Latin at nine years of age ; and, while still extremely young, mastered Greek and Hebrew, together with French, Spanish, and German. In the very meridian of her fame, nevertheless, she renounced the brilliant career which lay open to her, in order to devote herself to God as a Sister of Charity. Another fair Italian, Modesta Pozzo, born at Venice in 1555, deserves to be mentioned, although she is better known for her extraordinary powers of memory, than her skill in languages. J She was able to repeat the longest sermon after hearing it but once. Nor are we without examples, although perhaps not so nuMany Spanish and Portuguese merous, in other countries. ladies learned in languages, are enumerated by Nicholas de Dona Anna de Villegas, and D. Cecilia di ArelAntonio, lano, besides being excellent Latinists, were mistresses of To these languages D. French, Italian, and Portuguese.
||
p. 358.
Fleck (Wisbenschaftliche Reise II., p. 97) says f Valery, 237. Anatomy ; but this is a mistake. There is a very interesting sketch
of Laura Bassi in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, New Series, Vol XII., pp. 31-2. She was solemnly admitted to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1732.
J Cancellieri, "Uomini di gran Memoria." S In the Bibliotheca Hispana, Vol. IV., pp. 344-53. Ibid, p. 345.
ii
116
Cecilia
(le iMorellas added Greek as one of lier accomplishments,* and D. Juliana de Morell, a nun of the Douiinican order in the middle of the seventeenth century, in addition to these languages, was not only a learned Hebraist, but an acute and skilful disputant in the philosophy of the schools.t The accomplished Anna Maria Schurmann, of whom Cologne
is still
numerous
gifts in paint-
and poetry, was mistress of eight lanwhich were Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and
The
a still
brilliant,
more prominent place in the world of letters. The early friend and confidant of the Empress Catherine, and (with a hw alternations of disfavour,) the sharer of most of the literary projects of that extraordinary woman, the Princess Dashkotf had the (for a lady rare) honour of holding the place of PreWhen the Dictionary of the sident of the Russian Academy. Academy was projected, she actually undertook, in her own
of the work, together with the general superintendence of the entire The princess was not unfamiliar with the learned languages, some of which she not only but her chief attainments were in those of spoke but wrote modern Europe. Her autobiographical Memoirs appear to have been written in French ; and the English letters embodied in the work prove her to have possessed a thorough knowledge of that language also. Some of our own countrywomen, if less showy, may perhaps advance a more solid title to distinction. The beautiful Mrs. Carter, translator of Epictetus, well deserves to be mentioned ; and the amiable and singularly gifted Elizabeth Smith, is a not unmeet consort for the most eminent linguists of any age. " With scarcely any assistance," writes her biogra" she taught herpher, Mrs. Bowdler, to Dr. Mummsen,J self the Prench, Italian, Greek, Latin, Spanish, German, and Hebrew languages. She had no inconsiderable knowledge of Arabic and Persian." Her translation of the Book of Job is a permanent evidence that her knowledge of Hebrew was of no ordinary kind.
Bibliotheca Hispana, vol. IV. p. 346. P. S46. An ode of Lope Vega's in her praise describes her as a " fourth Grace," and a " tenth Muse" " que as hecho quatre las Gracias y las Musas diez." Witli a X Fraj);ments in Prose and Verse, by Elizabeth Smith. Life by Mrs. Bowdler, (Bath, 1810,) p. 264.
j-
117
Even
de
la
tlie
New World
has supplied
The Mexican
Cruz, better known as the " Nun precocious knowledge, learned Latin in a marvel of twenty lessons, when a mere girl ; and quickly became such a proficient as to speak it with ease and fluency. Her
95),
in general learning were most various and and when on one occasion, in her seventeenth year, forty learned men of Mexico were invited to dispute with her, she proved a match for each in his own particular department. All these accomplishments, notwithstanding, she had the humihty to bury in the obscurity of a convent in Mexico, where
acquisitions
extensive
and
she silently devoted herself for twenty-seven years to literature religion. She died in 1695, leaving behind many works
still regarded as classics in the language, which fill no less than three 4to. volumes, and have passed through twelve successive editions in Spain. All, with the exception of two, are on sa-
cred subjects.^
"Infant Phenomena" of language would supply another curious and fertile topic for inquiry an inquiry too in a psychological point of view eminently interesting.
Many
Memoir,
Pico of Mirandola, Crichton, Martin del Eio, and several others, owed part of their celebrity to the marvelous precociousness of their gifts. A far larger proportion, however, of those who prematurely displayed this talent, were cut ofE before it liad attained any mature or healthy development. Cancellierit mentions a child named Jacopo Martino,:}: born at Racuno, in the Venetian territory, in 1639, who not only acquired a knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, between the age
of three and seven, but
in
philosophical
science as successfully to maintain a public thesis in pliilosophy This exat Rome, when no more than eight years of age.
traordinary child, however, died of exhaustion in 1649, before he had completed his ninth year. It was tlie same for Claudio del Yalle y Hernandez, a Spanish prodigy, mentioned by the same author.
* Knight's Cyclopaedia of Biography, II. 419. " Sugli Uomini di gran Memoria," pp. 72-80. f was afacchino, X His family name seems unknown his father, who (or porter,) being called simply // Modenese. So marvellous was his performance, that it was seriously ascribed to the Devil by Candido Brognolo, in his " Alexicacon," (Venice 1663), and Padre Cardi thought it not beneath him to publish
;
118
But probably the most extiaordiiiary examples of this psyupon record, occur, by a curious coincidence, almost at the very same date in the commencement of the eighteenth century. Within the three years, from 1719 to 1721, were born in difl'ereut countries, three children of a precociousness (even though we accept the traditions regarding them with great deductions,) entirely without parallel
chological j)henomenon
in history.
of these, John Lewis Candiac, was born at Nismes, This strangely gifted child, we are told, was able, in his third year, to speak not only his native French but also Latin. Before he was six years old he spoke also Greek and Hebrew. He was well versed, besides, in arithmetic, geograBut, phy, ancient and modern history, and even heraldry.* as might be expected, these premature efforts quickly exhausted his overtaxed powers, and he died of water on the brain in 1726, at seven years of age. Christian Henry Heinecken, a child of equal promise, was cut off even more prematurely. He was born at Lubeck in 1721. He is said to have been able to speak at ten months old. By the time he attained his twelfth month, he had learned, if his biographers can be credited, all the facts in the history of the Pentateuch.t In another month he added to this all the rest of the history of the old Testament ; and, when he was but fourteen months old, he was master of all the leading facts of the Bible At two and a half years of age, he spoke fluently, besides his native German, the French and Latin languages. In this year he was presented at the Danish court, where he excited universal astonishment. But, on his return home, he fell sick and died in his fourth year. The third of these marvels of precocity, John Phihp Baratier, who is probably known to many readers by Johnson's interesting memoir,J was born at Anspach in the same year with Heinecken, 1721. His career, however, was not so brief, nor were its fruits so ephemeral, as those of the ill-fated
first
The
in 1719.
When Baratier was only four years old, he was able to speak Latin, French, and German. At six he spoke Greek and at nine Hebrew ; in which latter language the soundness of his attainments is attested by a lexicon which he published in his eleventh year. Nor was Baratier a mere
;
X Johnsons's
Works, VI.
p. 368-7-t.
119
linguis^t.
He
is
said to
in
month's study for the ordinary thesis maintained at taking out He was also well versed in the degree of Doctor of Laws. architecture, in ancient and modern literature, in antiquities,
He translaand even the uncommon science of numismatics. He ted from the Hebrew Benjamin of Tudela's " Itinerary." published a detailed and critical account of the Rabbinical Bible ; and communicated to several societies elaborate papers on astronomical and mathematical subjects. This extraordinary youth died at the age of nineteen in 1760. Later* in the same century was born at Rome a child named Giovanni Cristoforo Amaduzzi,t if not quite so precocious as this extraordinary trio, at least of riper intellect, and destined to survive for greater distinction and for a more useful career. The precise dates of his various attainments do not appear to be chronicled ; but, when he was only twelve years old, he
published a poetical translation of the
Hecuba
of Euripides,
which excited universal surprise ; and a few years later, on the visit of the Emperor Joseph II. and his brother Leopold to Rome, he addressed to the Emperor a polyglot ode of welcome in Greek, Latin, Italian, and French. His after studies, He is wellhowever, were more serious and more practical. known, not only as a linguist, but also as a philologer of some merit ; and in his capacity of corrector of the Propaganda
Oriental Press, a post which he
filled till
his death, in
175)2,
would be interesting
too,
its
advantage
to collect
;
reference
to the history
of the
human mind,
of
Universelle places Amaduzzi's birth (curiously coincidence with those of the three just mentioned), in 17"20; but this is a mistake; he was seventeen years old at the visit His birth therefore must be asof Joseph II. to Rome, in 1767. signed to 1750. + Cancellieri, pp. 84-7. (Cotele. X The learned patristical scholar, John Baptist Cotelier, rius,) is another example of precocious development leading to solid At twelve years of age Cotelier could read and translate fruit.
The Biographic
its
enough for
I may also fluently any part of the Bible that was opened for him ! recall here the case of Dr. Thomas Young, of whom I have already .spoken. His eai-ly feat of reading the entire Bible twice through
before he was four months old, is hardly less wonderful than any of those above recorded. See National Review, vol. II. p. 69.
120
Dragomans, Couriers, " Lohnbedienter," and others^, who,
ignorant of
all else besides, have acquired a facility almost marvelous of speaking several languages fluently, and in many cases with sufficient seeming accuracy. Perhaps this is the place to mention the once notorious (to use his own favourite designation) " Odcombian Leg-stretcher,"
* vocalist, named H. K. von Freher, has appeared recently, who advertises to sing in thirty-six different languages He is a native With how many of these languages, however, he proof Hungary. fesses to be acquainted, and what degree of familiarity he claims with each, I am unable to say ; but he is described in the public journals as " speaking English with purity ;" and in one of his iatei^t performances he favoured the audience with " portions of songs in no less than three or four and twenty diff'erent languages, commencing with a Russian hymn, and proceeding on with a French romance, a Styrian song, a Polish air, which he screeched most amusingly, a Sicilian song, as dismal as the far-famed Vespers of that country, a Canadian ditty, a Hungarian serenade, a Maltese air a Bavarian, a Neapolitan barcarole, a Hebrew psalm, a Tyrolean air, in which the rapid changes from the basso profondo to the falsetto had a most singular effect." " Coryat 'a t The title of this singular volume is worth transcribing: Crudities, hastily gobbled up in five months' Travels in France, Savoy, Italy, Rhetia, (commonly called the Orisons' Country), Helvetia, alias Switzerland, some parts of High Germany, and the Netherlands ; newly digested in the hungry air of Odcombe in the county of Somersetshire, and now dispersed to the Nourishment of the travelling Jlembers of this Kingdom." 4to. London, 1611. It is further noticeable in this place for a polyglot appendix of quizzical verses in Creek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, Welsh, Irish, Macaronic, and Utopian, " by various hands."
!
121
ingly curious parallel with Magliabecchi.*
And many
similar
might doubtless be collected among the couriers, interpreters, and valets-de-place of most of the European capitals. Baron von Zacii mentions an ordinary valet-de-place who could speak nearly all the European languages with the greatest ease and correctness, although he was utterly ignorant
examples
not only of the
that of bis
of every one
species of talent
The
of the
history
it
of such
investigate
mind
and curious as they are for their own sake, have but little bearing on the present inquiry; the purpose of which is simply to prepare the way
for
a fitting estimate
illustrious
J vol. ]2mo printed at Strawberry Hall, 1758, and re-printed Dodsley's Collections, 1761.
,
them the
in
THE LIFE
OF
CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
CHAPTER
[1774-1798.]
I.
Memoir
more
was
The main
interest of
it
may
its
what
is ca-
human mind,
;
concentrating
Mezzofanti
This name was afterwards the subject of a punning epigram. is a compound word, (like the names Mezzabarba, Mezdistich
The house
still
exists,
entirely remodelled.
An
which
Mezzofanti was born was composed by D. Vincenzo Mignani Heic Mezzofantus natus, notissimus Orbi,
Unus
Some
12()
LIFE OF
CAUDIXAL MEZZOFANTI.
1774.*
His
city,
on the
17th
of
September,
father,
was of
Though almost
fanti
is
as
man
intelligence, a skil-
grity, piety,
principles.
For Mezline-
zofanti*s mother,
age
the
name
of Dall'
01mo|
less
Her
education, however,
what superior
nued
to reside.
is
still
in existence,
raodernized.
Mina:
same
street
till
but,
as Librarian, in 1815,
his final
in
the
The
But
it
He
as
} Antonio Dall'
Olmo was
back
1360.
127
;
Of
they
tliis
but
all
named
biography.
man named Joseph Lewis Minarelli,* by trade a hair dresser, to whom she bore a very numerous faTo the kind mily,! several of whom still survive.
courtesy of one of these, the Cavaliere Pietro
Mina-
* Mingarelli has been a distinguished name in Bolognese letters. The two brothers, Ferdinand and John Lewis, were among the most di-
last century.
To
whom
shall
teacher of Alexandria
is
by Tiraboschi, VII., 1073. This family, however, is different from that of Minarelli, with which Mezzofanti was connected.
t No fewer than eleven sons and four daughters. Of the sons only two are now living the Cavaliere Pietro Minarelli, who is a physi. cian and member cf the Medical Faculty of Bologna, and the Cavaliere Gaetano, an advocate and notary. A third son, Giuseppe, em-
braced the ecclesiastical profession in which he rose to considerable distinction. He was a linguist of some reputation, being acquainted
with no fewer than eight languages, (see the Cantica di G. Marocco,
p. 12, note,)
Some time after the departure of the latter for Rome, Giuseppe was named Rector of the University of Bologna, and honorary Domestic Prelate of the Pope Gregory XVI.,
but he died
Filippo,
at a
fourth son,
became an
was disabled by a paralytic attack and died after a lingering and painful
other sons died in childhood.
still
The
The
survive.
the
first.
and
are
now widows.
till
are un-
The former
said to be
an
128
relli, I
LII
t;
OF CAKDIN'AL MEZZOFANTI.
am
history,
venerated
uncle.
It
may
as in those of
life,
in
there are
indications
later
by which
his
years
were distinguished.
According
to
first
years
As
is
usual in the
accomplished painter
excellent linguist.
in
water-colours.
Her
sister,
Gesualda,
is
an
* I take the earliest opportunity to express my most grateful acknowledgment of the exceeding courtesy, not only of the Oavaliere
members of Cardinal Mezzofanti's family, but many other gentlemen of Bologna, Parma, Modena, Florence, I must mention with especial gratitude the Rome, and Naples.
of
Abate Mazza, Vice-Rector of the Pontifical Seminary, at Bologna Cavaliere Angelo Pezzana, Librarian of the Ducal Library, at Par;
ma
di
Florence
Padre Bresciani, the distinguished author of the " Ebreo Verona," at Rome ; the Rector and Vice-Rector of the Irish Coland the Rector and Vice-Rector of the English College
city
;
lege,
in the
and Padre Vinditti of the Jesuit College at Naples. For same some personal recollections of Mezzofanti and his early friends, and for other interesting information obtained from Bologna, I am indebted to Dr. Santagata, to Mgr. Trombetti, and to the kind offices of the learned Archbishop of Tarsus, Mgr. De Luca, Apostolic
Nuncio
at
Munich.
129
and
it
work was
situated
directly oppopriest,
the
window
of a school kept
by an old
who
instructed a
number
Greek.
les-
or Latin book
By some lucky
came
it
to the
knowledge of
A
tic
still
more marvellous
writer,
tale is told
by a popular
;"
American
Mr. Headley,
whom
his transatlan-
an obscure priest in
for piracy,
who were
cell,
to be
On
entering their
he found
unable to understand a word he uttered. Overwhelmed with the thought that the criminals
should leave the world without the benefits of religion,
he returned to his room, resolved to acquire the lan
late
Arch-
The Archdeacon's
his pupil.
brother,
was intimately acquainted with Mezzofanti during was for some time
and
130
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
He
own tongue
his
From
The purity of
mo-
This strange
priest,
Mr. Headley
'*
relates,
;
on the authority of a
a friend of Mezzofanti
and he goes
so far as to say,
that
]\Iezzofanti
of
The imagination might dwell with pleasure upon but, happily for these and similar tales of wonder
;
it is
graphy
of these marvels,
as a
less,
it
is
neverthe-
as these tales
A virtuous
conscious
of their
own want
all
of learning,
appear,
first, to
circumstances permitted
"
According to an account
* Headiev's
Lettei's
from
Ibid, p. 152,
131
obtained from
tlie
Cavalierc;
ISIinarelli,
he was sent,
old,
to a
it
to
sit
a time to
but the
without any
to them,
effort, all
communicated
He was
and,
the various
From
Cicotti, in
ments of Latin.
priest
who conducted
young
as
parents,
to
remove him
to
for
a while
him
a solid elementary
education
in
the
branches
132
of
knowledge suited to
its
humble requirements
uncommon
was unwilling
and unprofitable
was destined
to
Fortunately,
however, his wife entertained higher and more enlightened views for their child, and understood better
his character
and
capabilities.
It
young Mezzofanti was decided. This excellent clergyman, to whom many deserving youths of his native city w^ere indebted for
in their entrance into
life,
of Mezzofanti,
At
his recom-
Bologna
schools conducted
by a
religious
chiefly
for the
also
tlie
of the higher
studies.
Among
the clergymen
who
members
133
not only of
tlie
Roman, but
The expulsion of the society from Spain had preceded by more than three years the general suppression of and the Spanish members of the brotherthe order hood, when exiled from their native country, had
;
states.
Among
by
who were
in
all
either foreigners
the society.
To them
open a
their
field of
own
institute.
;
Many
it
of
them gladly
e4ii
braced
the opportunity
and
which
many
natu-
own
among
One
Emanuel Aponte,
years a meml^er
many
Another,
third. Fa-
more remarkable
career.
He was
a native of
of superintendent of the
Company, and had been born (1746,) a Lutheran. Leaving home in early youth with the design of
9
134
spent some
;
embarked
country.
same ship
in which he had
By
this
became the fellow passenger of several of the exiled fathers. Trained from early youth to regard with
suspicion
and
fear every
member
of that dreaded
fellow passengers.
By
He became
when
it
even
occasionally
becoming a Catholic.
of Corsica, many obstacles were thrown in his way by the Swedish consul at Bastia, himself a Lutheran;
execution at Ferrara, in
1769.
He was
step,
here admitted
simple
vow
in 1772.
and, although
1P>5
no claim
He was
fessed Fathers
later, in
1770, he was
promoted
and
conti-
nued
to reside in Bologna,
which
Two, at
later
least,
of
the
members. Fathers
Aponte,
and
would be interesting
to
and
his successive
acquisitions in
He published
enumerated
in
the "
found an interesting
his early masters,
is
mentioned, as one of
" Per
la illustre e
Giuseppe Mezzofanti,
"
[Roma
1849].
But
have not
136
pursuit of his
details
But,
unfortunately,
it is
so
few
difficult to
named
whom
his-
tory,
geography,
mathematics ;*
As he
it is
an early period,
ed for
it,
too, to
the instructions of
one of these
ecclesiastics, as also
of his
memory.
St.
One
memory
is
recorded by M. Manavit.f
folio
volume of the
his
works of
"
De
Sacerdotio'' in the
Greek.
After a
volume was
closed,
and he repeat-
boy were exceedingly engaging and the friendships which he formed at school continued uninterrupted during life.
Among his
least
is
one who
This at
See the
Me.
Par A. Ma-
137
Avell-known
the
ble origin,
and
F.
like
him owed
his
withdrawal from
Oratorian,
Respighi.*
and as their
homes immediately adjoined each other,f they had been daily companions almost from infancy, and particularly from the time when they began to frequent
the Scuole Pie in company.
The constant
allusions
letters, will
show how
close
and
nued
to be,
embrace the
this
ecclesiastical profession
and although
some secular
in the
to his father,
for
pursuit,^
child
and
end
overcame
Having completed
still
He
di Religiorie, vo).
will
be found,
t Manavit, "
t Ibid, p. 12.
Escjuisse Historique," p. 9.
Manavit assigns a
much
But
the short
me-
moir by Signor
Scrit-
38
in
his father's
of the seminary.
Of
his
collegiate career
little is
recorded, except
his de-
the
candidate for
a
series
a philosophical
of propositions
Mezzo-
fanti, at the
still little
more than a
and
it
would seem
complete failure.
One
of the witnes-
ta dall'
Avvocato G.
Stoltz,
Roma
much more
Serrnones
recon-
cilable
otherwise ascertained.
De Josepho Mezznfdutio,
Duo
auc-
Bologna,
V.
p.
169, et seq.)
was completed
This would
One
*'
is
direct-
ed against
entitled
singular
half-religious,
half-social
confederation,
La
Reveillere-
These
Memorie
di
Reb'gione,
1822,
1823,
and
1824.
Joseph Voglio
is
who was
also
professor in
Bo-
139
the Dis-
to,
of Bologna, gives an interesting account of the occurrence. "For a time," says Dr. Santagata, "the boy's
success was most marked.
Each new
objection,
among
the
many
subtle ones
elicited
But
all
at once the
young
denly
silent,
and at length
to fall
back upon
his seat
and almost
faint away.
mance
hitherto so successful
if
re-
by one powerful
even
shake
and resume
his
answering
with
solidity
than before. He was greeted with the loud and repeated plaudits of the crowded assembly."*
About
this long
way under
tion for
and
his constitu-
interrupt his
*
was
it
until about
p. 172.
]3.
140
One
Poreta, in
the archdio-
Bologna,
still
He
describes
him
l)le
as a youth of
dispositions
and
recollected
might
perhaps
be
noted by
strangers
For his grave looks, too thoughtful
for his years,
all
gaiety
and innocent
this
up
Avhole nights
the purpose of
study.
Mo-
on
Roman Law.
The
Koman
Law
until,
as at once to establish a
many
*
was almost
Duo,"
as great as
Ssermoiits
p. 173.
141
inter-
Under the
direction
and asso-
pursued his
first
Greek reading
and as
his
this
Fortunately, too,
Aponte
was himself an
and
critical
lished
since his
time
;*
and
it
was probably
to the
owed
the exact
knowledge of the
we
shall
Greek under Aponte was the celebrated Clotilda Tambroni, whom I have already mentioned in the list of lady-linguists, and
One
whose name
as of studies
is
fessors at Bologna.
community
of tastes
as well
di
Bologna.
Bulogna 1807.
142
And, what
is
still
more
al-
circle
of uni
Go r res
states
Minga-
If this
in
Nor
guages.
whom
the successive
came
to reside in Bologna.
French. J
F.
He
received
German from
Thiulen,
who
* See Kephalides "Raise durch Italian und Sicilian." Vol. I. p. 29. in the " Ilistorisch-Politische t See two interesting articles
Blatter," vol.
X.
p,
200, and
folio.
The
life
writer
as to the early
of
Mezzofanti was
whom, during
the
a long sojourn in
Rome,
and
in
in 1841-2,
Basque language,
have
Manav it,
Santagata, p. 171.
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTl.
1-43
and
From
also
hira,
most probably,
Italy
Mezzofanti
,
would
have
had
the revolutionary
quickness in mastering the structure of a new language, which often, during Mezzofanti's later career,
excited the
friends.
amazement even
all
of his
most familiar
At
discover
:
any authentic
record,
is
the
following
A
at
Uttini,
who was
the purpose.
The boy,
at his arrival,
was sent
his
act as
interpreter between
:
but
as
it
turned
yet,
no
" Mtmorie
di IvLligiout," vol.
IV.,
p.
4^0.
144
less
a mystery to
Mezzofanti than
it
had already
Mezzofanti.
to establish
ineffectual attempts
an understanding, he asked to
see the
books which the boy had brought with him from his
native country.
was
mind
he speedily disco-
vered the
German
affinities of the
Swedish language,
of form, structure,
and
inflexion,
by which
it is
distinguished from
tonic family
;
the other
him
able,
to acquire the
;
nunciation
and
in the space of a
dom and
Mezzofanti
year 1795.
On
the first of
;
April, 1797, he
was promoted
to deaconship
and a
At
this
De Josepho
Mezzofantio,"
p.
185.
" Applausi
in this
ex-
Frenchman mentioned
(vol.
VI.,
p. 190,)
infinite
guage which he
end of
his
la-
t M. Mauavit
he was at
this
time
twe7i(y-
145
is
15th of
of
that of professor
this
Such an appointment at
unprecedented
eminence as a
linguist.
He commenced
following
his
lectures on
the
15th of the
December.
Dr. Santagata,
who was
and
its
lucid
Unhappily
Avas a
The
relations
re-
of
undergone a complete
volution.
Bonaparte had
But
this
is
an error of a
;
full
year.
and therefore, before September 24th, twenty-third year. M. Manavit was probably
But
can-
is
required for
all
have
De
Luca,)
me from an autograph
note, deposited by
Mezzo-
of Bologna, on the
140
nuary. At
of Bologna was
merged
in the
common
all
designation of
By the treaty
1797, the
concluded
in
February,
to cede to this
new
Ci-
and Romagna
zation of the
new
Bologna became
the
One
lic.
new
rulers
was
to
re-
quire of
ness
and
of
ecclesiastics,
who
with
in Italy, as
still
greater
suspicion
by
the
Republican
for their
them-
of the professors.
He
In
but an
effort
was made to
147
es-
An
intimation accordingly
was conveyed
to
make
of
known by any
authority as
now
by such unworthy temporizing, a dispowhich he did not, and could not, honestly en-
tertain.
He
in
He was
It
is less
His
friend Signora
generally
known
was a martyr in
ments.
He was
;
and
debility
by shame
to decree his
the
He
*
died in 1798.
Manavit,
p. 28.
III. p. 86.
CHAPTER
[1798-1802.]
II.
The
care,
as well as of
Mezzofanti.
Both
his
his parents
were
still
living
his father
no
mother
for
some years
afflicted
ness,
and
The family
of
maintenance,
much
In
addition,
therefore,
own
necessities,
Joseph
a responsibility to which
so dutiful a son
so affectionate a brother,
and
could
not be indifferent.
hitherto relied
To meet these demands, he had mainly upon the income arising from
although this was miserably inade-
his professorship,
149
in
Bologna,
at
the
visited
Italy,
Roman
crowns,
it Avas,
Small, however, as
this salary
income.
As
title to
Cardinal
Giovanetti,
may sound
and an excellent ecclesiastic, F. Anthony Magnani, who had long known and appreciated the virtues of the flimily, and had taken a
pounds
sterling ;*
warm
same amount.
self to
own private resources about the Now, as Mezzofanti had devoted himand lived as a simple
priest at
literature,
true that he
was about
noz,f
but
his
services
appear
ment,
if
any, was
thus,
little
And
when
Manavit, p. 19.
+ Ibid, p. 29.
The
whom
in
English
readers probably
know
solely
Bulwer's
" Rienzi."
will, in 1377,
The Albornoz College was founded in pursuance of his with an endowment for twenty-four Spanish students,
See Tiraboschi " Letteratura Italiana," V.
p. 38.
10
150
upon Providence, hud the courage to throw up, for conscience sake, the salary which constituted nearly
two-thirds
of his entire revenue, he found himself
burdened with the responsibilities already described, while his entire certain income was considerably less
than twenty pounds sterling
!
Nevertheless, gloomy
prospect, far from
it,
and disheartening
as
was
this
down by
he was even
own
house.
filled
1799,
her security
who has been good enough to communicate to me a short MS. Memoir of the events of this period of his
uncle's
life, still
begun
house, at
his sister
had already came to their considerable personal risk, and insisted that and her children should remove to his own
From
that
To meet
this
increased expenditure,
the Abate's
away
private
instruction.
He
not very
numerous acquisitions of
early years.
lol
among
his
pupils
the
and others.
he gave
To
these, as well
as
to
several
foreigners,
instructions
his
in
own
As regarded
most
his
own
personal improvement in
and oppor-
which supplied
that
in the
end an occasion
calchi palace
for
knowledge of languages.
is
The
especially rich
and,
as the
own
it
afforded.
In this fomily,
one
of the
own
country.
At
all
events, whatever
may have
is
it
certain that,
upon the
not
less
203.
Lj2
life.
Northern
Italy,
first
advance
field
French
in
1796,
the
decisive
of
Marengo
powers.
in 1800,
Bologna found
or
itself alternately in
the occupation
of one
the Austrians
The army of
motley ranks,
guages
Teutonic,
Slavonic, Czechish,
Magyar, Roofficers
manic, &c.
and
its
other resources,
it
would
have been
pean
city,
difficult to find in
except Rome.
And these
advancement
enlisted
still
to
the
way which
higher
main incentive
to study.
loved to organize
poor.
Manavit,
p. 21.
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
153
among
celebrated.
sick
own
houses,
and
whom, poor
as he
was
in
him
pro-
cured
but also in
and
'97,
military.
Now
the
camps of both
;
wounded
soldiers
and thus
race.
be found
European
M. Manavit* states that, even before Mezzofanti was ordained priest, he had begun to act as interpreter to the wounded or dying in the hospitals, whether
of their temporal or their spiritual wants
and wishes.
higher and
From
moved
more
same service by a
zeal
still
holy.
"I was at Bologna," he himself told M. Manavit,f^ " during the time of the war. I was then young in
the sacred ministry
military hospitals,
rians, Slavonians,
;
it
was
my
practice to
visit the
Hunga-
been wounded in
campaign
it
and pained me
from
Manavit,
p.
154
want
lics,
among them who were Cathobring back to the Church those who were
her communion.
separated from
accordingly,
I
In such cases,
all
my
make myself understood I required no more. With these first rudiments I presented myself among the sick wards. Such of the invalids as desired it, I managed to conuntil I
J
knew enough
of
them
to
fess
At
by
I
my
private
to
and by a retentive
memory,
belonged,
came
various provinces."
German, he became master successively of Magyar, Bohemian, or Czechish, Polish, and even of the Gipsy
dialect,
race,
who was
Hungarian regiment
It
is
also
learned Kussian.
It
was
the date of
Suwarrow. Mez'*
acquirements of this
the
remark-
notion then
1.55
He
described
him
as
most accomplished
This report,
it
linguist,
and
a wellis
read scholar.
may
be added,
fully
confirmed
by the most recent authorities, and Alison describes him as " highly educated, polished
with
the
It
facility,
art
of war."*
was
that
Mezzofanti
learned Flemish,
He
reputation
which he was
thus
gradually
languages.
visited
to
it
contains.
To
all
and welcome
fertile
access.
whom
his
communication
but,
unknown
tongue, Mezzo-
vol.
IV.
p.
in
het Voorjaar
van
1837.
vols. 8vo,
156
interchange of
leading words
A
as
sufficed
foundation; and
the
he grasped
all
structure of each
to acquire
to enter
new
him
For
let
enough of the
his
enough.
The
memory never
or
go a
word, a phrase,
it
an idiom,
even a sound,
which
knowledge of languages,
verse of foreigners.
"
too,
The
M.
me
of the
diffi-
made no
culty
to be learned,
about calling
who
me
made
it
to
apply
my
ncAv
reach.
I
;
was constantly
and,
or
*
my
head with
strangers,
words
of
whether
high
passed
through
p. 105.
157
Bologna,
my
pro-
must con;
that
it
me
but
little
trouble
for,
in
God had
of
blessed
me
of
with an incredible
speech."
flexibility
the
organs
applications from
them portions of
less
ordinary occurrence.
In
all
such
failing resource
and
his
as his knowledge
was universal.
He
cheerfully ren;
and
it
was
any remuneraservice.
any similar
Even
tals
now
had done
lie
of
many
individuals.
Almost
Mezzofanti
that,
though
it
as a
Ibid, p. 18U.
158
to acquire
from
him or her the rudiments of the language in which The they were to communicate with each other.
process to
was able
him was simple enough. If the stranger to repeat for him the Commandments, the
common property
God,
heaven,
hell, &c., it
was
suffi-
In
many
cases he proceeded
than
this,
I shall
have to
Another, which
me by
Cardinal Wiseman.
Spanish
is
(e.g., Mezzofanti told me that columha nda Sardinian for " my wife.") As Easter approached
whom
she should
be able to
for
make
herself understood.
;
Mezzofanti
but
at that
time he
He
159
be pre-
She laughed at
When
Easter
and
heard the
girl's
confession
which
But
who have
much
light
upon
almost beyond
belief.
exercises of a priest,
and elsewhere
the time regu-
above
to
;
all,
his great
and
all-
may
well be thought
Let no
man doubt
it
ness,
but rather
will
of the
mind against
otherwise
may
160
both."
Other students
may
The celebrated
and
his
devotions.
Castell,
the author of
which accompanied
its
twenty
life
years.*
of eighty
;f
It
may
many
in
almost
exceed them
all
in
amount,
if
not
intensity.
According to
the account
was
His
X.,
p.
204.
would be curious
upon the
amount of time which may profitably be devoted to study. Some students, like those named above, and others who might easily have as the celebrated Pere Hardouin ; or the ill-fated been added Robert Heron, who died in Newgate in 1807, and who for many
;
sixteen
beyond that
Matthew Hale
a day were as
much
as
and even
IGl
He was
;
and
power of enduring the intense cold which prevails in the winter months throughout the whole
his
own
per-
may
the same
Even
have recourse to a
called
fire,
or even to the
portable
Italy
brazier,
scaldino,
which
students in
commonly employ,
of the feet
numbness
eight.
;
Much, of
course, must
CHAPTER
III.
[1803-1806.]
From
the
commencement
his income,
began gradually
On
Bologna
insti-
so justly proud,
founded in
by the celebrated
many
successive
of
scholars
and
citizens
of
Bologna
especially
Its
Benedict XIV.
collections
;
among
thousand volumes.
But whatever of pecuniary advantage he derived from this appointment, was perhaps more than counterbalanced by the constant demand upon his time
from the charge of so extensive a library
:
especially as
1G3
had seldom
too,
To add
it
to the ordinary
engagements of librarian,
was determined, sometime after Mezzofanti's apOriental and Greek department naturally
share.
to
his
up
to this time, to
have been no
inaccurate one
and
as a definite time
it
was
fixed lor
became
for Mezzofanti
in his correspondence.
A
to
more congenial occupation, however, was offered him soon afterwards. In the end of the same year,
On
the 4th of
November
in that year, he
;
was
a place
university,
of con-
The subdissertation
ject
The
itself has
Pavia, to
whom we owe
it
delivery,
speaks of
In
" Lettere
di
Varii illustri
III.,
p.
Itali,
del
Secolo
XVII.,
is
e del
Secolo
XVIII."
Vol.
183.
Count Stratico
the wellin
tlie
known mathematician,
University of Pavia.
of Volta
1G4:
the
neighbouring
John Bernard de
Rossi.
Mezzofanti had
favourite study.
Having
occasion to order
some of De
Rossi's
works from
Parma, he addressed
which soon led
to a
up
to the
time
letters
of
to
death.
Some
of Mezzofanti's
De De
Rossi's
Rossi,
ray
disposal.
They are
The first
To
the
is
Most
profited
illustrious
Signor Abate.
by your
all
made known
over Europe
and
I have, for
some
time,
been
Finding
my esteem, my hope
take advantage
of a
favourable
opportunity to
offer
16-5
studies which
I
feel for
one so distinguished
with
great
ard<^ur,
in the
same
inyself pursue
success.
am
desirous also to
25, and
26,
procure
in
marked
the
Pray give
to
the
in
he
will
immediately
them.
future,
May
to
you
will
allow
me
in
my
Oriental
reading,
litera-
have recourse
Oriental
ture,
declare myself
De
letter,
Rossi
replied
by
an exceedingly courteous
an interest in
that
correspondent,
Mezzofanti
hesitated to consult
letters, in
Their
which characterizes
period,
are
somewhat
and formal
but
their
intercourse
and a
upon the
same kind.
On
one of these
Monsignor Bevilacqua,
166
he, in his
chiefly
turn,
conas
De
Rossi.
His
will
letter
is
curious
showing (what
philologers) that
up
date
Mezzofanti was
The importance
its relations,
which Frederic
Schlegel
first
to
Bologna, February
1805.
I lately received
convinced
me
May
hope that
establish
may
you
me
title
to
1
my
last letter ?
a printed
original,
Mgr. Alessandro Bevilacqua of Ferrara, tells me has been already examined by several [savants, but to no purpose. The book comes originally from Congo ;* having been brought (hence to Ferrara by a Capuchin of the same respectable family. Being
full
myself as soon as
first
means
the
study,
was
at
but this
I look,
therefore, to
for
a satisfactory
to
accept the
assurance of
my
De
Rossi,
also,
shows
in
Congo
Century.
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTL
his career, Mezzofanti*s
167
may have
this time
been sharpened by
what
plodding.
He
first,
to
have
Rossi's superior
to
correction.
letter
you
will
I
kindly
correct
any mistakes
to
which
may have
fallen.
write
it
mention
this,
however, not
to
my own
them on
a
single
who have
me
to
the task.
to take
Not having
counsel,
I
whom
have been
courtesv
make
it
seem
light to him.
Accept
my
thanks
in anticipation
of your compliance.
P. S.
I
should
feel
obliged
if
you could
let
me
in
have your
observations
by return of post.
Pray attribute
this,
perhaps
I
which
am
placed.
to ascertain
what were
As no
Rossi's
now to
be found
among De
De
Rossi, in complying
letter,
returned the
168
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTL
own
corrections.
But
been,
may have
zofanti's
that limit.
of
My
him contained
The work
which
I refer is
the narrative of an
now-a-days,
since Islam
has ceased to
wield, as of old, her thirsty lance.
And
to
to the skies,
realize
as
century ;f
Barbary.
The hero of
He embarked
vessel
at
Palermo
for Naples, in a
small merchant
when a pirate-ship hove in sight. The crew, as commonly happened in such cases, took to the boat
*
The work
is
plain
am
indebted
for the
is
now
rare) to
Mr. Garnett
of the British
in th BibliotheqtLe
Museum. A tolerably full account of it may be found Unwer telle de Geneve (a continuation of the
t A similar narrative was published as late as 1817 by Pananti. "Avventure ed Osservazioni sopra 1e Coste di Barberia." Firene*
169
who
the
defenceless
little
vessel.
his protestations, he
they were
all
the
reclamation of the
French, supported
by the
of being
and
at the
lished in 1819.
was translated into English by Mr. Blacquiere, and pub In the end of the seventeenth century, France and
England
and
Dey
secure for
munity.
But
still
attacks upon their vessels at sea, but even to descents upon their shores,
in
off
slavery,
which
Dutch squadron under Lord of Algiers, the number of was no less than ten hundred and
fleet
still
Nevertheless even
till
bom-
Du
Quesne.
170
tiquities of
was
set at liberty
loss,
and permitted
to return to Italy.
Being at a
had recourse
as
Abate Mezzofanti,
passage.
"No sooner,"
[passport,] than I
of
it
(with the
was not
so
easy, however, to
because
it
the
and because there were introduced into it certain ciphers which are peculiar to the Arabs of Barbary.
These
difficulties,
who
He
has favoured
me
(in four
of the
Tezkerah, [in
Medinah and Meccah," I. 26.) Tazkirehj of a The Moorish Arabic differs considerably (especially in the
common
Caussin de
Grammar
contains both
(inf.
Both
the
Grammars
in the
Mezzofanti Library.
171
and
accompanied by copious
translation in the
fol-
explanations, as also by a
fi-ee
lowing terms
*'
*
THERE
'
IS
IS
HIS PROPHET.'
"
We
He
is
hereby
permitted
of the French
Consul, through
the
medium
of his
in consideration of the
payment of
of
the
ninety-nine
sequins
mahbub, and by
the
privilege
whom
may God
*
prosper
Giomada^
is
the
name
of the sixth
is
month
of the
Hegira.J
from right to
left,) it
Sidi
Hamudah had
782,
when
His
He
survived
till
1815.
Tour
Father Caronni
tells
a Christian,
was about
to
Hamudah, he rebuked
he,
tail."
gade for
jn
his
meanness.
my
t
eyes,
common Arabic of Egypt Gumada, There are two of the Mahomedan months called by this name, Guinadu-l-Oola, and Gumada-t-Taniyeh (Lane's Modern Egyptians, The latter, which is the sixth month of the year, is the I. 330). one meant here. As the Mahomedan year consists of only three
This month
called iu the
hundred and
fifty
days,
it is
its
months
do not permanently correspond with those of our year. They retrograde through the several seasons during a cycle of thirty-three years.
X
The
172
tion
may
backwards,
or,
what
will
will
it
What
did myself
when
first
me)
is
its
particularizing the
payment of ninetylire
would make
lire
:
Milanese
I
whereas this
am
me
ment whatever.
with
much
probability, that it
may
be a part of the
to boast
in
still
and
more no ecclesiastic, has ever been made captive by them without being, even though a Frank, supposed
to be a lawful prize,
made
'
to bleed' a little."*
is
This
my
as
observation
and
it is
particu-
cultivating
not only
languages, but
that,
the
minor
varieties of each.
The knowledge
when he had
was reputed
languages,
may perhaps
which we
more advanced
career.
vol.
II, p.
not uninteresting
The second
at Tunis.
173
In
the
autumn
of
the
Abate
literary
Parma and
Maglia-
De Kossi. The Italians, and especially the men of Italy, are proverbially bad travellers.
his
life,
once
as far
as
Fiesole,
city,
a distance of ten
miles.
life
Many an
lecture-room.
never to have
left his
to point out
many
errors in the
made upon
still
Comte
his
de Choiseul.
fanti, also, as
It has
enhancing
this
statement
am, by
"
I
my many
he
says,
November
1],
1805,
at least a
few
I re-
lines, in grateful
my
regarding your
1
disposition, as
;
but
all
my
fallen
far short of
Feeling that
impossible
i'ur
mu
to
I
offer
you
suitable
to
acknowledgment,
express
it,
beg
that,
although
it
effect,
174
you
me
all
to
be deeply sensible of
my
obligation to you.
I shall
'
preserve
The Per.Niau Authology'* has been greatly who apply to the study of that language.
"
I
by
all
here
shall often
have
to
1 shall
not
fail to
give you.
After the
many
your kindness,
ask you to let
I feel
that I should be
to
me
hope
among
your friends."
The
friendly
courtesy
of
at
the
Abate De Rossi
exceedingly
rendered
agreeable.
Mezzofanti's stay
Parma
One
of the friends
survives,
and
still
Among
affinities
commission you
me
On doing
6nd that
no copy of that
edition here.
*
avail
This book
is
still
Mezzofanti Library.
It is entitled
Anthologia Persiana:
Seu
Latinum
translata,
Ato.
Vienna, 1778.
175
ses which
to
you shewed
;
me
it
was
my
good fortune
be in your society
kindnesses
beg you
which
for
which
it is
my
to find
some opportunity of
respects to Dr.
makingyou
masini,and
areturn.
to present
my
Tom-
to oiler to
my
acknowledgarise in
ments
which
happy,
for tbeii
great
my humble
if you will
myself
my
occupations,
and
will
honour
me
Meanwhile
my
Mezzofanti's
intimacy
named
in this letter,
Parma and an
:
are
still
among
a
the
of
treasures
every
man
rare
merit,
of
his
craft,
the
Stephens,
the
Manuzi,
He
was a native of Saluzzo in the kingdom of Sardinia. His early taste for wood-engraving induced him to
visit
Rome
and he
set out
in
company
office in
school-fellow,
bome
of his
the
Roman
court.
On
by
coldly
liad
received
relied,
the
friend
whom
home
;
they
mainly
but
176
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
before leaving
ing-office
Rome, Bodoni paid a visit to the printof the Propaganda, where he had the good
He
thus obtained
employment
in the
and accuracy of the editions of the Missale ArabicoCoptum, and the Alphahetum Tibetanum of Padre
Giorgi which Bodoni printed,excited universal admiration
;
and when, on occasion of the tragical death of and patron Ruggieri, he resolved
to settle in
his friend
to leave
:
England
and where
all
Himself a
man
of
much
his conversation
and instructive
been published,
is full
With
the Abate
De
*
Rossi,
who employed
Oriental
Charles Emmanuel,
I
'
should say
especially
his
but
reputation.
OF CAHDI.VAL MEZZOFAXTI.
177
Parma,
intimacy
visit to
he treated
De
Rossi's
young
upon
his death in
1813, succeeded
her husband,
like
Avoman.
Among
at
this
received the
of the first
One
;"
De Rossi
was, as
we
have
Anthology
in
and in a
letter to
De
Rossi, written
early in
Pezzana has
published
Memorie
Eddin.
di Religioner)
he expresses
may
be
inferred that
mucli of his
was
still
duties as librarian.
Bibliography
and begs of
1658) and
may
in his
On
to a
this subject
commission of De
:
Rossi's
which he had
executing, he proceeds
178
The
tion,
the
that
name of
is to
title
of the work.
Their value,
no proportion to
all
Grammatical
I
like.
However, should
meet
*ny work of
although,
I
to
communicate
it
to
you
fancy,
it
be
difficult to
its
Grammar
It
of the learned
Dombay,* who
got
for
is
well
known
and
I
for other
happens
that I have
two
copies of
it;
have set
which you
may
perhaps give
It
me
the
contains
Grammar
Meninski
they are found mixed up with those of the Arabic and Turkish.
Your
friend,
M.
Silvestre de
Sacy, reviewed
to
it
in the
Magazin
the
of
the
am
only waiting
for
safe
opportunity
to
forward your
books.
We
cannot
fail
As
to the
" Grammatica Linguae Mauro-Arabicse, juxta vernaculi IdiomaUsum." 4to. Vienna, 1800. Seethe " Catalogo della Libreria
p. 14
Mezzofanti"
t
parallelis Lin-
guarum
%
"Catawas
logo," p. 36.
An
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
Book-buying
Oriental works
spare
is
179
tlie
least
disagreeable part of
I
the
money
this
always find
excessive.
to
me
offers in
which
my
services
may
beuseful.
to be furnished
was
It
so entirely inadequate,
was unable
to this
to
comply
After
is
he alludes in
1806.
May
11,
apologizing for the delay in forwarding the book referred to in the letter of
March
still
3rd, he proceeds
I
My
at the
labour at
the
Catalogue
for its
hope
period appointed
it
close, to
merely sketch
the bare
titles
out
that
is,
we
shall
of the works.
This, however, in
a task so
it
difficult in
our Oriental
MSS., that, up
Greek
and
has
I
have also
to deal
with the
all
is
must be
in
readiness
The
truth
year at
shape to
it
my
is
labour, and in
the
And
in
my
me most pain
am
not able to
it
the very
first
mo-
ment
I
in
my
power.
for
which
beg you
to
accept
my
*
did not
write at the
or the
''
Disserta-
tion on an edition of the Koran," both of which were published at Parma, in 1803. See "Catalogo della Lib. Mezzofanti," p. 17 and
p. 40.
180
do not
much
long
respect
for time
works
in Oriental literature
have shed a
to
lustre.
to
never-
prove
you the
sincerity of
my
gratitude.
Under
fanti's
and protracted labour Mezzo His chest was health began to give way.
this constant
summer
of 1806,
and had
it
nently enfeebled.
Family
cares, too,
The health
She
of his
w^as
now
entirely blind.
of this season he
;
and, in the
time
was surprised by a
residence to
flattering invitation to
transfer his
Paris, with
a promise of
who was
of his
Mezzofanti's
First
many years
University of Pavia.
Lire OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
181
great fellow-discoverer,
Galvaui, or
perhaps
more
the
member
of a Papal
Con Con
la lor poverta,
I'oro,
ond' a
virlii
;
titles,
and,
more
flattering than
all,
warm
Such were at
scientific or literary
eminence in France.
in
Count Maresculchi,
privation,
whose
famil}^
was now Resident Minister of the Kingdom of Italy at Paris. The Count's intercourse with Mez. zofanti was but little interrupted by their separation;
and, even during his residence in Paris, the latter con-
chiefly
on matters
or
li-
connected
with
the
extension
of his
noble
The extent of
may
be
made
" here
is
is
the image of
negative,
life
The
vertebral column
the pile
the liver
the
the
pole."
See
182
Count
dated September
freely
find
him
curing books at Paris, not only for himself but for his
literary friends in Bologna.*
It
was through
this
vitation to Paris
was conveyed
it
No
trace
;
now
discoverable
it is
certainly
more
calchi's sons,
pupil
who had
written a special
own
But three
ted from
an entire year
two from
But
;
to
cheer
take
my
you!
I
If I were
to
this as the
measure of your
I
have
at all
my
regard
and
For
instance
among
after
the books which he asks the Count in this works of " Pimmortale Haiiy ;" the celebrated
Abbe
Haiiy,
who
Rome
who
de
at
I'lsle, is
of Crystallography, and
this
222.)
183
insisting
am
not
afford to
be too rigid in
I
wish to furnish
letters
have been, I
am
deeply grateful
warm and
a/Fectionate sentiments,
such an
not write, no ground for doubting what yourfeelings still are towards
me.
am
shall
be equally
fortunate;
am
fully
I
sensible that
infusing into
really feel.
what
write all
the
warmth and
that I
my
words, in
it
my
it
affection
and, knowing
you
I
than
vince you.
am
still
occupations.
sensible of
Nor am
dissatisfied with
to
my
to
lot,
for I
am
I feel
quite
that
my
inability
take a loftier
I to
flight.
me
best.
Were
go
Paris, I should
I
be
some
candlestick, where
should
only give out a faint and flickering gleam, which would soon die
utterly away.
Nevertheless
I
am
advice
though
1
with
me
because
am
such a
A thousand, thousand greetings to your dear little sisters. Renew my remembrance to your father, and when you have an occasional moment of leisure liom your tasks, pray bestow it upon
Your
sincere friend,
D. Joseph Mezzofanti.
own
fitness for a
him
at Paris,)
Abate Mezzoboth
by-
was
also
moved
and love of
its
university
184:
life
which we
shall find
and by unwillingness
he always
tion.
felt
to part
whom
To the
latter
he had
The expense
children,
who
at this
Memoir
continued to reside
house
To
these
children,
he
was
as a father.
Cavaliere
cited, describes
him
a
as "
to
them, and
of
uniting in
friend
familiarity
ity
with the
In
his
of an
instructor."
of
leisure
from business
in
or
study,
he
often
joined
the
to
them
their little
amusements.
Without
managed
He
usually
made the
festivals
memorable
them by some extra indulgence or entertainment. He encouraged and directed their childish tastes in
little oratories,
or in those
or the decoration
of the
"Christmas Tree."
He
18o
for
hoarded his
little
resources
ia order
to procure
He composed them improving and instructive books. simple odes and sonnets for the several festivals, which it was his greatest enjoyment to bear them recite.
The simplicity
fondness
for
of his
disposition,
and a
one
natui-al
children
which
later
was
life,
of
all
the
this
characteristics even
of his
made
if
easy take
to
him.
He was
at least
to
always
ready,
not to
in
a part,
manifest an
interest,
he actually composed a
comedy, to be acted
his time
was
the Catalogue.
On
De
"A
mo-
My
My
still
own
far
is
from strong.
how-
not save
me
from
feeling of remorse
at
having
been so tardy towards one whose scientific reputation, as well as his courteous manners, entitle him to so much consideration. My
labour, as
you
say,
is
The
I
task, as I
had indeed
one.
As an evidence
of
the
difficulty
need
only mention
186
work which
in
one
seven copies of
his
same work.
This great
orientalist, with
all
learning,
could not
command
quite
unknown and
often
I
imperfect.
For
my
part, I
resolved
at least,
add
to the
am
;
conscious,
that
of haste and
The
grammarians, rhetoricians, poets, prosodians, logicians, and theologians, have taken up all
my
to
I
hope
then
authors; and
shall
my
promise of
think
may
in-
De
this is a reply,
many
the
important improvements.
Mezzofanti, referring to
" In
which
have compared,
But
in the
we
are
promised additional
promise you
articles,
drawn from
the narra-
D'Herbelot.
From
He
MSS.
at Florence.
187
I
whetlier
it is likely
to be useful for
tlie
your purpose.
son of
its
may
be, that
the
articles in question,
may be found by them in the former editions. "As it would be no small distinction for the collection of Oriental MSS. belonging to this Royal Library of ours, if among them there should be found any deserving of a place amongst the MSS. cited in your dictionary, I shall endeavour, in the hope that it may
prove
so, to
complete
my
so as to send
you
at least
may
you
name
author
whom
I
" I believe
have the
title,
Geschichte der
;
Mauritan. Konige;
* but without date
can,
should be published.
have made a
;
as
for
De
Chirurgia.^f
Oxonii, 1778.
The exact
title ia
Marokko."
It
Agram,
called Albucasa,
Gafar ; but properly Abul There are many early Latin transla-
1500,)
is
is in
the British
Museum.
vols. 4to.
The one
in
188
^
Maured Allatafet Jemaleddlni filii Togri Bardii ; seu Rerum Aegyptiacarum Annales ah Anno C 971
ad 1453';*
thias
;
several
'
Anthologias^ and
Chrestoma-
1802
and
At
Rossi
to
correspondence with
De
interrupted
among
De Rossi's
perfected.
may have
was
been,
it
is
at this time
most
However
to nature, it is certain,
plodding industry
and
it
own may
und
Chaldaisches
Lesebuch,
Von
Adelung
f Thus,
in
si
one of Mezzofanti's
spcsso
letters, in 1812,
he speaks of " Le
imolestie che
Le ho
J <"':*
tliat
even
liiis
la-
path; to
and
see
collected
consulted
grammars,
dictionaries,
and to
murmur
or
repine.
It
may
writing out translations from one language into another which these letters disclose,
was continued by
career
it
Mezzofanti
through
his
entire
of
study,
as
more
an
amusement than
It is
as a serious task.
Some
and careful
study.*
On
Italian translation of
was
M. Patru spent
first
very
t
sentence.
III., 183.
Moore's Diary,
190
however, only contained about one-tenth of the entire work,) through an Arabic translation of Apollonius De Sectione Bationis * and M. Arnaud, the first
;
But on
suspicion.
all
is
beyond
life,
His
were at once produced with the utmost freedom and rapidity, and are universally acknowledged to have been
models of verbal correctness
;
is
many
over the peculiar forms and idioms of each. This wonderful success must be ascribed, no doubt,
to
his
of which the
is
but
one example.
D'
Israeli's Curiosities
of Literature, p. 524.
f Moore's Diary,
III., 183.
CHAPTER
[1807-1814.]
IV.
The Catalogue Raisonne of the Oriental and Greek manuscripts was not completed until 1807, having
thus absorbed the greater part of Abate Mezzofanti's
large proportion
of the
Oriental
MSS. had
ordinary library
and no attempt
at
all
them
or
accurately,
character
as
contents.
we
and a
name
of the author.
It
was no
col-
lection
to
and the
;
authorship of each
to
and
reduce
them
all
into
their
respective classes.
cata-
true that
192
But many
of the
to be
and
The
catalogue, as
is still
preseris
des-
valuable supplement to
the Assemanis
;"
and at
events
it
was
to his long
its
prepara-
familiarity
with the
whole literature
which, as
we
shall see,
During the year 1807, an opportunity occurred for testing practically how far the reputation which he
had acquired corresponded with his real attainments. On the outbreak of hostilities between the Porte and
Eussia
Italinski,
in
that
year,
the
Russian
ambassador,
diffi-
made
his
way
to
Ancona.
While the
of Bolognese
who was
;
came
accompanied by
interpreter,
of
the
modern languages
x. 203-4.
vi., p.
of the East.
371-2.
193
As
Bolugua, in the
in their
triumphantly
and Santa-
many and
all
various languages,
that
the
marvellous and
The circumstances
which accompanied his removal have not been fully detailed, but there is
enough
The
conflict of
crisis.
From
the
tlie
Two
cardinal seoffice.
a prisoner in
own
palace
and
his
Now upon
which the
Government
to
remove
him from
and
knowledge; although
which he was
p.
9.
194
November
as it
15, 1808,
by which
was assigned
He
and
own
it
may
feeling of mortification
had subsided,
was
new
research
and
it
seems
to
Sanscrit
family
which had
widely
little
cultivated except
extended
philological
relations,
Frederic
Schlegel*
From
till
the
pre-
life
But her advanced age and infirm health had long prepared him for this
In June, 1810, his mother died.
bereavement.
By
die
Indier/' 1808.
195
The only
which
I
derived from
a letter,
that of the
still
library of
some time
preserved
the
Parma
Collection.
Mezzofanti,
lib-
at once
1
may
mention, what, in a
to be
life
so uneventful,
must claim
regarded
as
an event
a short
sister's sons,
was
value,
As
this letter
it
may perhaps
here
possess
some bibliographical
I shall translate
" In making the catalogue for the library of His Excellency Count Marescalchi, Minister of Foreign Affairs for the kingdom of
Italy, I
description published by
is
at the close,
in
occupies in
page 35,) it would stand better than in your Parma copies. The leaves are 188 in
(at
number, as there happens to be a second blank one before the index. " I mention the fact to you at the suggestion of His Excellency but
;
I gladly avail
affords
me
myself of the opportunity which the communication of thanking you in writing for your kindness in presenting
me
with your learned letter upon the present edition, together with your valuable bibliographical notices of the two exceedingly rare
editions of the 15th century,*
and of renewing,
at the
same time,
the assurance of
my
The
title of
Pezzana's essay
is
Parma:
180S.
It Is printed
by Bodoni.
196
summoned
1812, so
Mudeiia
in
1813, to
ballot
in
the
to
the armies
of France.
Signora
much alarmed
at the chance
drawn
in the conscription,
and in
him
It
to
Modena upon
the occasion.
difficult
becomes especially
part
henceforward to
fol-
The
literary friends
his
career.;
;
his
colleagues
in
the University
Ranzani
Caturegli,
the astrono-
mer
the
eminent
Magistrini
botanist,
Felippo
Re
less
his
fellow-pupil
Schiassi
and others
pursuits,
of
note,
who
as
could
to
his
have
habits
supplied information,
not only
the
and
but as to
The
letters of Pietro
up the blank
entertained
regards
his
the
opinion
in
Bologna
exception
of
character
and
acquirements.
is
Giordani
less
open
than
any
had entered the Benedictine congregation, and had even received the order of sub-deaconship but on the
;
is
Opere di Pietro Giordani, Vols. /.-F/. Milano, 1845. Giordani mentioned by Byron, (Life and Journals, VI., 262,) as one of the few " foreign literary men whom he ever could abide." It is curioui
is
that of Me/.zofanti.
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI,
197
outbreak of the Ke volution, he had renounced the monastic life, cast aside the
at Bologna, he obtained
Deputy Professor
of Latin
means
an interesting
letter of
M.
personal misunderstandings, he
little
may
disposed to
It is
men of Italy at
have held
but
little
his friend
Here, however,
man
but
beyond
You must,
him
knows most
of his learning.
Nevertheless, such
is
his excessive
I
must
Opere
di Pietro
Giordani
Gussalli.
Gussalli
is
pp. 141-68.
13
198
Nor
.Giordani's report to be
regarded as one of
when
visitor
^lezzofanti's
was wont to
Giordani
is
and the
judgment of Mezzofanti
of
Greek criticism
a delicate question
which he
In a letter
1812,) he mentions a
interested
him very
His chief
much
viz.,
Koman
architect, Vitruvius,
in Latin.
argument
yield too
is
much
to fancy, he
had appealed
ment
One
of the persons
on
my own
right.
The
the
my argument
which
I find
rests chiefly
on the
every line of
is
ill-
and
of this point."*
to
In a
letter
199
Cicognara, (since
known as
sagacity.
Mezzofanti
;
but
whom
and
whom
once put an
an
in-
Vitruvius, in speaking of
calls
them
To
the
same
friend.
in
1812, had
written of Mezzofanti's
guages, in
own
"You know
rarest,
"Mezzofanti the
man
of
all
most unheard
I call
men.
him, and he
the
nations
and
all ages.
By Jove
* Cicognara is mentioned by Byron in the Dedication of the Fourth Canto of Childe Harold (VIII. 192.) among " the great names which
Ibid, p. 240.
200
St.
try !"*
may
mention (although
period of his
his
life)
it
to a later
recorded
by Dr. Santagata,
versity of Turin,
and the hero of which was M. and one of the most celebrated
M. Bucheron came
prepossessed
in
all
that
bears
especially
niceties
of
the
language,
and
it
numberless
philological
questions regarding
among
modern
sible,
scholars,
possible estimate
considering
as
it,
in truth, impos-
so
many languages
fame ascribed
to
Mezzofanti,
He
resolved,
and came
the library
prepared with
number
it
of questions, bearing
upon the
niceties of the
were casually,
to
in his expected
conversation.
his
He
was presented
*
Mezzofanti by
friend, Michele
Ferrucci,',Librarian of the
Opere
di
nara, Jan.
30.
201
whom,
may
of their interview.
had pre-deterrained,
subject
:
turn
it
upon those
which he desired
to
The
trial
From
topics.
At^the
moment
its
when
very
height,
business
On
Per Bacco
!
r
e
Per Bacco
His
il
r*
this time universally
celebrity, indeed,
was by
established.
full
With all
to
simpli-
city
and truth
his
young
friend, Carlino
Mares"
calchi) that he
was "best
shade
he
notabilities of
He was
What
scholar
is
the
record
of
his visitors.
is
Among
De
Rossi
in
a letter
of this period
which Mezzohumour
There
is
a mixture of
and
tion
" JEdepol,
the
est
Doctor's Latin
"
!
Diuhulut
202
fanti
introduces to
"
him a certain
" Signor
MoisG
Ber
was
no
other
Rabbi
Moses
Beer
of the
Israelite University
much
which the Library of the Institute had been incorporated by the French) as Deputy-Librarian.
This
As
was an honorary
his
and one of
most
him
and, independently of
for him, as I said,
its
other advan-
became
to exercise himself,
The
*
*
late
Chancellor
pronunciati
di quelli
da Moise S. Beer, gia Rabhino Maggiore presso TUniversita IsraelFasclculo primo. Livorno 1837. The name Beer itica di Roma."
is
an eminent one
;
among
the
German Jews.
Beer of Berlin
his brother,
and
a second brother, Meyer Beer the composer, (commonly written as one name, Meyerbeer,) have made it known throughout Europe:
Possibly
of the
same family.
203
Bologna
and on every
through
guest,
to be
his
he passed
Mezzofanti
all
was invariably
accompanied by
the Greeks
who chanced
As
his reputation
him among
their
members.
He was already
and Arts,"
time, the
and of the
at
Leghorn
this
Two
Sicilies.
The
Academy
been com-
rarely, if at
it is
appeared in
arena,
and
commensurate with
his reputation
The
"
first of
these which
is
noticed by Dr.
Santagata
On
the
March, 1814.
Owing
to his early
association with
several ex-Jesuit
settled in Bologna, he
an interest in the
Among
his
MSS., which
still
remain
in
Mexican Galen-
204
dar,
illus-
symbolical
niece,
Signora
Anna
Minarelli
CHAPTER
[1814-1817.1
V.
The year 1814, so memorable in general history, was also an important one in the humble fortunes of
the Abate Mezzofanti.
in Italy
naturally
men
interest
avenues to distinction.
In the close of 1813, the reverses, which, from the
disastrous Russian expedition,
He
noAv learned,
when
human
to every fireside in
the
still
No longer, therefore,in
treatment of Pius
206
necessary to resrelations
sembhmce
of those
more friendly
with him
in
the
less
Accordingly,
was none
to
which
it
sympathy
issue
an
order
for
the
Pope's
and, as he
desired nothing
it
from
it
beyond the
effect
which he expected
to
1814
commenced
all
served
de-
provisional
April, 1814.
after the
communication of
this
Among the
ecclesi-
who
there hastened to
offer
homa^re to their
207
direct recognition
of the Anti-
Lega-
in
by the Pontificial
government
the more than him by the Pontiff, a recognition of his fidelity and of
sacrifices
Hence the
Avas at
first
attach to his
own immediate
zeal,
who
piety,
trial,
by priestly
and by loyalty
in the
hour of
The re-construction of the various Roman tribunals and congregations which, during the captivity of the
Pope and Cardinals, had been,
pended,
for the
most part,
of
sus-
suggested
an
opportunity
employing,
The
halls
and
public offices
of
the
school or the
208
arena
of
the
celebrated
linguists
;
of
the the
seventeenth
and
eighteenth
centuries
and
De Propaganda
Fide.
"
Accordingly,
Pius
VII.
surprised
to
modest
Abate by
an
invitation
accompany
acceptance
of
him
the
to
Rome,
ganda*
and proposed
for his
im-
portant office of
the secretaryship
the
Propa-
one
and of the
it
involved,
Propaganda
had many
was a proud thought, track of Ubicini, and Giorgi, and Piromalli, and the
the
moreover, to follow in
Assemani's.
But
his
all
these temptations.
which
for
the
more
but far
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZJFANTI.
209
Not content, however, with personal solicitations, the Pope employed Cardinal Consalvi to use his influence with Mezzofanti. But it was to no purpose. The humble Abate could not be induced to leave his native
city.
ed at the disposal of the pontiff, was one which Mezzofanti prized infinitely
more
brilliant, offer
Languages.
He was
he
Avas
much
I
tions, arising
sister, to
from
which
com-
During
the
north of Italy.
But the
cessation
of hostilities in
MemoiaiuUun
in
210
again
began
to flow,
with
its
cities
of the north.
of their
some of their pages one who had now become one of the chief " sights "
It is
amount
and
superficial information,
tales."
But very many, also, will be found to contain the judgment of acute,learned, and impartial observers many of them are the re. suit of a careful and jealous scrutiny of Mezzofanti's
;
attainments,
Mezzofanti's
solid
famili-
and
among them,
received by the writer from his opportunities of personal intercourse with the great linguist.
I
the narrative
Many
pointed out to
me by
add and
211
I shall
be careful, however, in
tion of the biography,
all
its
regard.
The autumn of the year 1814 supplies one such notice, which is remarkable, as the first direct testimony to Mezzofanti's proficiency in speaking German.
He had
to
boyhood
and
it is
De
Rossi,
which he freely
But
in this year
we
German by
tourist,
the
judgment of a
native.
in question
is
The writer
German
named
who
(as
may
November
of 1814.
The Profes-
him
in
the
He
is
warm
Germany,
and he has
stirred
classes in
* He is so described by Baron Zach, (Correspondance Astronomique, IV. 145,) who commends the work highly.
212
We
learn inci-
German
pupils.
whom
lisp
German."
Strangely enough,
any other
reputation as
linguist
of
attainments.
Pozzetti
in earlier
had been Librarian of that Ducal Library at Modena, which Tiraboschi has made
From
the
ti
me
of
his
appointment
as
Prefect of the
and on the
latter's
vol. I. p, 28.
The book
is
in in
The above
passage
quoted
p. 422.
;
physisch-literarisch-artistisch-historischen
X.
The
but
Mezzofanti
alludes to
powers of memory.
LIFE OF CARDLXAL .^lEZZOFANTI.
213
ripened
being
into a
named
his
assistant,
this
intimacy
warm
friendship.
(May
the
the highest
services
office,
praise
of his
the
of
his tenure
institution.
The revenue
office,
and
daily bread.
That he
still
when
it
is
remembered
that,
as
we have
of no less
his exertions.^
Indeed, once released from the sordid cares and excessive drudgery of tuition to which his earlier years
him rather an
But
that,
enjoy-
MS. Memorandum
it
am
unable to state.
aceording
our notions,
that, in the
same University and but a short time before, Giordani's income from the united offices of Lecturer on Latin and Italian Eloquence and Assistant Librarian, was but 1800 francs. See his
Life by Gussalli, " Opere," Vol. I., p. VJ.
X
MS. Memorandum 14
214
ment than a labour. After his removal to the Vatican and even after his elevation to the Cardinalate, we shall find it his chief, if not his only,
Library,
relaxation.
possessed in a higher
The
perfect simplicity of
his exceeding
gentleness
playfulness of his
manner
the
the
cheer-
total absence of
any seeming consciousness of superior attainments his evident enjoyment of the society of the young,
and above
friends, as
all
much
as his marvellous
accomplishments
It is only just to
add
that
all
of their after
life.
By
labour
degrees, too, he
instruction,
the
success,
and
even
distinction, attained
by
quondam
pupils.
One
of these to
whom
young Marchese
University with
Angelelli,
much honour;
marked favour.
fied
much
grati-
by the success of
communicated
to his friend
215
May
8,
1815,
*'
a first essay
name
to
his
work.
From
you, however,
make no secret of it. The author is one of our young nobles, the Marchese Maximilian Francis
Angelelli,
liberal
study.
may
add, as there
is
no danger of
its
reachfirst
You
will accept a
ill
your
library, Avhicli I
am happy
to
know grows
daily,
care of
name.''
no
less
This
first
essay of the
and, a few
of Sophocles, in 1823-4.*
One
was
family.
appointment as librarian
his sister
to separate
and her
He
But
he
still
" Tragedie
2
vols.,
di Sofocle, recate in
lelli."
Bologna, 1823-4. This translation is highly commended by Federici, in his " Notizie degli Scrittori Greci e delle
4to.
216
and especially of
bis
much
profession
uncle's
and,
although
short of
his
extraordinary
he became
had
the satisfaction,
when
his
own
increasing occupations
the
young Minarelli
fully
competent to
after he
His
first
Academy
new
office,
a paper
"On
the Wallachian
;"
Language and
historians
its
a subject
of
Chalcocondylas,
and
which involves
few years
many
as philological considerations.*
later, astonishing a
much
occupied by his
letter
I
The only
II.,
which
to
this
72330.
refer
passage
as
difficulty
which
its
217
to obtain
entirely
occupied
details
and
own humble
new pursuit
upon
resources
and the
shelves
less
and even
its
passing
an evening
to require
it
happened
the
and, though
left
room without a light, proceeded to the library, and in a few moments returned with the volume required.
In July, 1816, Mezzofanti read at the Academy
an essay
*'
much
praise.
descendedfrom those
in the
strag-
army
neighbouring mountains
Manavit,
p. 37.
218
phenomenon of a foreign race and language preserved unmixed in the midst of another people and another tongue for a space of nearly two thousand years.
They occupy seven parishes in the vicinity of Vicenza,* whence their name is derived ; and they still retain not
only the tradition of their origin, but the substance,
insomuch that
visited
and even the leading forms of the Teutonic language Frederic IV., of Denmark, who
them in the beginning of the last century, (1708,) discoursed with them in Danish, and found
their idiom perfectly intelligible.
Communi;
evi-
Roman
Adelung (n.,215) givesaspecimenof eachlanguage. Both German scholar but that of Verona resembles more nearly the modern form of the German language. The affinity is much more closely preserved in both, than it is in the
:
Roman
colony in Transylvania.
may be
last generation, in
in the
county of Wexford
Ireland.
The remnant of the first English or Welsh adventurers under Strongbove, who obtained lands in that district, maintained
themselves, through a long series of generations, distinct in manners,
usages, costume, and even language, both from the Irish population,
and, what
is
settlers
of
all subse-
quent periods.
An
actions
and a metrical specimen, by Vallancey, will be found of the Royal Irish Academy, Vol. II.
Trans-
(Antiquities),
pp. 194-3.
visit is
t Eustace's Classical Tour in Italy, I., 142. The fact of Frederic's mentioned by Maffei, in his Verona Illustrata.
CHAPTER
[1817-1820.]
VI.
that
to
Le Bel, insisted upon having a life of the poet prefixed. M. de Sagrie objected and at last, in
his publisher,
;
of
the
life
of
Mr. que
Southey.
"
was the
!
We
uniform
in
so
few incidents to
narrative, that,
biographer
is
than the
man
seems
p. 60.
220
to
me
depend
less
Instead,
there-
and supplying, by a
my
reach
illustrations,
and anecdotes,
as
which
have survived.
series of
we
They
are,
of course, from
from authors
and creeds;
of all tongues
Some were those who counted beads. Some of mosque, and some of church.
And some,
or I mis-saj, of neither;
it
need hardly be
said,
is
enhanced
by
Proceeding from so
many
in-
too,
may
more
be believed to present,
certainly
a less
minute and
circumstantial,
reliable, portraiture
be hoped even from the daily scrutiny of familiar friends, intimately conversant with his every day life,
221
own matured
to
seemed
was.
cler,
them
to be,
Nor must
it
satis-
judgment
and nature of
only another
his linguistic
accomplishment.
attainments in
he
is
by considering
reference
to
it
was.
of librarian
office
who
visited
Bologna.
would have
desired.
With
a visit to
222
Bologna
in
first
named
palace, Mezzofanti
came
all
in
may
easily be believed to
The
fanti
ford,
earliest
I
whom
Mr. Har-
author of the recent Life of Michael Angelo Buonarroti," * and proprietor of the valuable gallery
of Blaise Castle, which Dr.
Waagen
describes in his
" Treasures of
He renewed
and on both occasions had a full opportunity of observing and of testing his extraordinary gift of language. Mr. Harford has kindly communicated
to
me
his
may most
na-
made
Abbe Mezzofanti,"
This was in the
writes
the
Duke
year 1817.
at
The
I
Bologna, but
He was
I
manners.
*
He made
and
well
By Dr. Waagen.
Vol. III.,
pp. 187-94.
223
Abbe
consequence of questions
wonderful acquainReport, at this
put to him,
for
being
languages
and
1 recollect,
among
had some
is
parti-
him upon
the origin
of what
I
called
his
remember
it
that
resolved
Roman
architecture.
"
My
I
for I did
the year
which
passed in Rome.
I
Cardinal Mezzofanti.
He
in the
me
at Cardinal Lanti's,
to
and
paid
him during
He
conversed with
me
in English,
the utmost fluency and correctness, and only with a slight foreign
accent.
His
to
familiar
*
surprised me.
he said
me
me
various
dialect,'
he went on to say, laughing as he spoke, and imitating it. " On another occasion he spoke to me with high admiration of
the style of Addison, preferring
it
to that of
with
whom he was
;
acquainted.
He commended
it
ease, elegance,
and grace
of
much
fully
inferior
in
real wit
;
and
In
all this 1
and then
send
it
224
to
him, as
felt
in
our
English
literature,
This
whom
was well
"
He
to
me
its difBculties,
and
told
me
that
gentleman who
visited
concluded,' he added,
;
in
but,
after
French.
We
enough
for
me
to discover that
peculiarities of dialect
acknowledge, strike
me
the
with astonishment.
'
of critical
sagacity
in
languages enabled
Cardinal
at
Rome,
in
office.
itsell
to
his
name
that
acquaintance.
visits
1
On
my
who
all
animated conversation."
We
sliall
his curiously
much
*
struck.
I find the
Catalogue
225
been
expressed with
I
regard to
his
acquaintance
with Welsh,
that
early
think
it
Mr.
as
Harford
1817,
to
distinctly
remembers
him,
as
Somewhat later
Mr. Stewart Rose
Rose's presence
in the
visited Mezzofanti.
The
ordeal to
the former
well as in
English.
But
as
we
shall
have
these,
Mr.
the
exceeding
accuracy
of
Mezzofanti*s
English,
As
been
fertile
in
cope
beat,
she
has produced
men who,
in
early
life,
have embraced
such
a circle
imagine their ages would have enabled them to obtain. Thus the wonders which are related of one of these,
Pico di Mirandola,
I
I
till
may add
that, in order to
which has arisen on the subject. In reply Mr. Harford assured me that he himself heard Mezzofanti speak Welsh at his first visit to
Bologna,
in 1817.
22G
"
The living
lion to
whom I allude
I
is
Signor Mezzo-
fanti of Bologna,
who when
This
is
old, read
He
spoke
all
and those
He
passed the
G A
told
me
testimony to his
Grand
Seignior.
;
me was
his accuracy
is
always
niceties.
and
infor-
ought
stated
been made in
p. 54.
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
227
in
He
was in
will be
many succeeding
in June,
travellers.
It
was
earlier in the
on
his
return from
Rome
Byron first saw Mezzofanti. The extract given by Moore from his Journal, in which he describes the impressions made upon him by their intercourse has no
date attached
;
among
names of
it
dated
would seem
no record
likely that he
had
but
met him
Of the
particu;
preserved
He was
Dr.
poetry.
The
late
Cox
of Southampton assured
me
would do credit
to
our best
reviews.
And
called
and unhappy
by which
this gifted
away while he still lay in the shadow of that cold and gloomy scepticism which so often marred his better impulses, and
*
man was
p.
32.
He had
Perhaps
it
name
/ (a
mere tyro
in
But
228
wanu and
bright,
The
" Alas
!
" he one
to
Sooner or
later he
And
then
it
adventurous Pilgrimage
that
and
his
haughty
all
soul,
in the peaceful
bosom of the
this
Such a feeling as
Byron records
he says, "
literary
men
not that
I dislike
them
but I never
knew what
sure
last publication.
;
men
of the
out of
it,
every-day
especially
man and
your foreigners,
whom
name
any other.)
don't
whom
Mezzophanti,
who
is
more
who ought
"
to
Manavit,
'
229
Tower
all
He
is,
in-
deed, a marvel
unassuming
which
I
also.
tried
him
in
the tongues
in
knew
pilots,
a single oath or
gondoliers,
mulepost-
camel-drivers,
post,
vetturini,
;
post-masters,
!
houses,
everything
and egad
he astounded
me
even to my English."
adds, in reference
still
to the last of
current in Rome,
his vocabulary
: '
And
is
that
*
all ?
this curious
Works, IV., 262-3. It may be worth while to note and characteristic passsage, as an example of what Byron has been so often charged with unacknowledged, (and perhaps unconscious) plagiarisms from authors or works which are but little known. The idea of " a universal interpreter at the time of
Life and
is
of the second satire of Dr. Donne, to the hero of which the same
illustration
is
same way.
He came
Till
I
by sure
transition to his
own;
cried out:
'You prove
yourself so able,
make no
Tower had
stood.'
"
fact.
My
friend
Mr. James E.
Doyle, was assured by the late Dr. Charles R. Walsh (an English
who
fell
that
in
Board of Health, during the last cholera in London), he once heard Mezzofanti " doing" the slang of a London cabman
great perfection.
15
230
'
can
poet,
'
and
till
!
unknown
to his
vocabulary
" *
During the winter of 1817-8, a literary society was formed in Bologna for the cultivation of poetry and the publication of literary and scientific essays,
of Avhich Mezzofanti
The
in
fanti's
original
members
number, and included Kanzani, Angelelli, Mezzonephew, Giuseppe Minarelli, several professors,
and some
literary
of the city.
recitations
;
and
called
Bologna.
had hopes of
its
memis
now
living
publi-
Mezzofanti's
his
own Discorso
in
Lode
del P. Aponte
solitary publication,
of the Institute.
On
p.
415.
231
in
tlie
As
at
it
all
to
with
praise
by the
literary
The
to
visit of the
Emperor Francis
contributed
of
I.
of Austria
Bologna in
the
1819,
still
more
to
establish
reputation
Mezzofanti.
Having
Emperor
the
appointed
an
interview with
of
him,
the
took
the
precaution
securing
during
carefully selected
so
Each
in
turn,
lllyrian,
to address the
astonished
is
his
early friend
and
instruc-
The death of
this excellent
and
man had
232
earlier,
(November
22,
1815),
and
liis
funeral
own
and learning
The Discourse
Aponte's
life
is
method pursued
noticeable as
Grammar,
criticism chiefly
by rhythm
than
by
rule
"
by ascertaining
inflexions,
and especially
organs
of
according to
the
different
speech."
As a specimen
of this general
manner
of the Dis-
of his audience.
"And
still
my
to
us.
His
method, which,
in
233
burdens theineinory, and which makes good sense the chief basis
for the right interpreiatiort of
an author,
will
assuredly conduct
to the desired
this
solemn occasion,
that,
you
feel
an ardour so great
had
will preserve
your native
In
fled
taly
when they
Learned
Greeks were
In
Rome
were gathered
men
of vast erudition,
who renewed
illustrious Aliecenases
skill
thanks
to
the
of
the
masters and
tude and excellence of Italian genius, Grecian literature, conjointly with Latin, quickly attained the highest jjitch of cultivation
amongst
us,
letters.
countless series of
names distinguished
in this
branch of learning
me
but
Be
not disturbed
will
by any
which
am
exhorting you
hinder
thoughts, very different, indeed, the cares which distract the mind
its
formed of
it.
No:
theoall
Greek
literature
most agreeable
INIany
of
the
sciences
;
had,
of perfection
others
made
ino.st
234
with
to
titles
de-
These
knowledge;
they amuse
maturer years;
of the gravest
;
moment;
many a
useful thing
And
religion
and learning,
let
your country be
fulfilled in
you.
the paternal designs of our best of princes,His Holiness, the Sovereign Pontiff, who, in his munificence and splendour, daily enlarges
ously prosecute the career so well begun, while your love for Greek
increases with the increasing profit
will
it,
I,
too,
To
this
I will
look for
my
are
dear Father
grati-
Emanuel,
to
to
whom
feel
due them who, by example and by precept, point out to us the road to virtue and to learning, inviting and exhorting us, with
surely
Bologna, 1820.
It
which
will be
found
in the
Appendix.
235
friend, the
cele-
Signora Clotilda
Tambroni, who,
although
seen,
we have
whom
Tambroni was,
reinstated in the
Greek, Latin,
Spanish,
French, and
The
and
to,
HerrKephalides,
;
by
her
conversation
ability, is attested
by
all
who knew
Morgan, J
fanti] in
her. " to
" It
describing to us
heart, do
ample justice
to the
had raised her to an equality of collegiate rank with himself, without an innuendo at that erudition,
which, in England,
vice itself."
Reise durch Italien, I. p. 30-2. Biographic Universelie (Brussels Edition), XIX., 50-1.
is
X Italy,
T.,
292.
236
museum
of the University.
Mezzofanti, librarian to
and
said, that
languages, he was
His
Greek master, being a Spaniard, taught him Spanish. The German, Polish, Bohemian, and Hungarian
tongues he originally acquired during the occupation
of Bologna by the Austrian power
;
and afterwards
travellers.
this
superfluity
of
languages,
he spoke
With
us,
Bologna.
of words were
Spectator
'
and
it
is
professor of
The Abate Mezzofanti was the Greek and Oriental languages under
the French
when Buonaparte
professorship, Mezzoftinti
was pensioned
He was
237
tlie
Pope."*
Like most of Lady Morgan's sketches, this account of
Mezzofanti, although interesting,
is
curacies. Thus she falls into the common error already noticed, that Mezzofanti up to this time " had
still
more important
deprivation of
first
his professorship.
fessorship,
He was
it
(which,
may be
added, was
not
of
Greek but of Arabic,) not because the professorship was suppressed, but because he declined to take the
oaths to the
new government.
is
The account
;
of his
asser-
second deprivation
also inaccurate
and the
those which
The statement
his
" is
an exaggeration.
With the
so
elder
family
mother, and
it
was
and there
Avas
a cousin of
a lively
whom
he was
much
attached,
and with
were
spoke
whom
throughout
the
after
common and
Italian
language.
Even
Lady Morgan's
Italy, Vol.
I.,
p.
200.
23H
tioned as to the
number
"
fifty,
and Bolognese."*
Very nearly
at the
by a tourist
far
more competent
to
of his attainments
M. Molbech, a
Danish scholar,
France, England,
and
Italy.
I shall close
mony.
own
language, the Danish, in which he had an opportunity of fully testing Mezzofanti's knowledge, in
It is clear,
that, while
he
carried
ary
man whom
fall
away the highest admiration for the extraordinhe had seen, he was by no means disinto that blind
posed to
" At
with
succeeded in meet-
whom
in the gallery,
The Bolognese
dialect has so
it
many
It
might well
has
its
own
a comedy of the
(II.,
16th century,
;
Filolauro
a version of the
Gerusalemme Liberata
514).
and
several other
The Bolognese
Pater Noster
as follows
" Pader
'1
'1
noster, ch'
;
si in cil, si
pur santifica
perdonaz
;
al
voster
nom
vegna
voster reyn
sia fatta
la
vostra volonta,
;
com
i
no
perdonen
ai
noster debitur
en c'indusi in Tentazion
ma
liberaz da mal.
Amen."
Adelung,
II., 51.5.
239
a couple of
when
now spent
hours with
university
building, and
at the library,
for his
longed
my
slay at
Bologna
for a
ilie
couple of days,
had not
His
must be an inconvenience
traveller
him
for
scarcely any
educated
visit,
leaves
the
first
This learned
who has
never been so
Florence or
Rome,
there
is
of languages.
is
scarcely
any European
dialect,
speak.
It is said the
total
amounts
to
more than
thirty
lan-
guages; and
to
regiment at Bologna.
"
German
whom
he was conversing
in fluent
began
me
Italien
this,
('
How
After
desire,
almost
his
the time
this,
according to
;
own
polite expression,
Imagine
my
delight at such
I
con-
Of Danish
books, however,
and
in
the
library
Hal-
made me
read him a
Our
very
German
;
literature.
is
The
last
he
is
and he
fond of
German
240
and Goethe,
whom
the
Romans
hardly
know
to
original,
This
col-
which
said
it is
arranged in
to
contain
about
li-
120,000 volumes.
brarian,
two
to the
assistants,
Books are
well
bought
or
sterling, a year.
As an
author he
is
am
aware
I
and he seems
at present to
be no older than
least expected
about
forty.
from a learned
man who
finest
linguistic studies,
that
he has the
time, the
at
the
same
Herr Molbech
the
chief
secretary
is
of
He
one of the
philology
;
Danish Dictionaryf
;
is
on the language
Molbech's
Frankrige
p.
England, og
following.
f
Italien,
vol.
iii.
319, and
The
in
first
hi.s
published
in
Copenhagen
is
in
1833.
seventy-first year,
actively
employed
CHAPTER
[1820.1823.]
VTT.
Mezzofanti's regular studies suffered some interruption in the early part of 1820.
Debilitated by the
had
for
During
this
interval
which he
gress.
is
said
to
He
also
made
tiful district
of Mantua,
and afterwards
to
Modena,
Pisa,
and Leghorn. f
Hebrew Psalmody as followed in the modern synagogues, and with the practical system of accentuation of the ancient Hebrew Language now The object of his in use among the Jews of Italy.
* Manavit, p.
50
Ibiil, p.
51.
242
visit to
Leghorn was,
that,
sailors of
that port, he
modern Romaic*
After a short time his health was perfectly restored,
and
The
year attracted
many
scientific visitors to
cities.
eclipse
by
At Bologna
the
director
Caturegli's reputation
Astronomer, Baron
Von
German Jour-
Erz-und Himmels-
Kunde,)
to select
phenomenon.
He was
* Letter of the
17, 1835.
243
literary
konski,
man
of
highly
cultivated
and
scientific tastes,
Ship,
Ionian
Notwithstanding numerous
together with his
and
friend
whom
Caturegli
The Baron published in his Journal* a very full account of the phenomena of the eclipse, to %vhich
he appended as a note the following sketch of his
The annular
is
for us,
This extraordinary
inan
am
going
to
describe.
Hu
accosted
me
in
Magyar,
that I
He
afterwards spoke to
me
in
German,
of accent
fit
Swabian
to the last
amazed me
degree, and
made me
burst into a
the language
this
astonishing professor.
to
He
same
spoke
Prince Volvolu-
of Bologna.
to tear
myself away
from him.
At a dinner
placed
*
me
at table
next him
after
after
September
in that year.
244
came
into
my
head
to
address
to
him on
a sndden
some words
to to,
I
ol'
Wallachian.
Withont
hesitation,
off
my
that
;
was
Gently, gently,
Mr. Abbe
really
It
you;
am
at the
end of
I
my
Latin- Wallachian.'
though
knew
very well in
my
youth,
when
Transylvania.
The
I,
pi'ofessor
in
the
language than
but he informed
that I
me
on
this
occasion,
to
that
he
of,
get hold
men that spoke it in my regiment. " This was the language of the Zigans, or Gipsies,
formerly had
call
whom
the
French so improperly
Bohemians,
at
which the
good and
king-
is to
dom
little
indignant.
his
Italian abbe,
means
to learn a
Bologna
it,
me-
mory
him
with,
language, which,
dostan."*
more than anj previous notice to extend the fame of As might naturally be expected, howMezzofanti.
ever, details so marvellous,
away
by others
*
as
mere embellishments of a
traveller's tale.
Correspondance Astronomique,
245
In consequence,
Von
Many
volume;
as there
re-
of the
all
analogous
talents
of
Cyrus
passes
and
Milhridates.
little
Although
to
historians have
given
lying,
Valerius,
notwithstanding,
a sufficiently
veracious author.
He
um
milituvi
viginti
People
who came several centuries ai'ler, and who probably did not know more than one language, and possibly not even that one correctly,
have pretended that the twenty-two languages of Milhridates
were only different
of his generals.
It
dialects,
may
be so
we know nothing of
those critics
;
the reality,
and consequently
do know
is,
but what we
that Signor
have mentioned
my
authorities.
It
Smyth gave
their
testimony
But
asked the prince alone, how the professor s])oke Russian, and
told
he
me
il
his
it
as well.
The
said,
The
do
;
captain
sailors
we
vessels,
;
where we have
is
sorts
there
often an
odd
spoken in a ship
it is
the language.'
"
to see
was staying
happened not
to
be in
16
246
visit to
who lodged
in the
same
hotel,
Baron
M.
to
me
and,
as I
company
after this
He
;
took and,
on
in
German
to
had gone on
for
an opportunity of asking
me
how
it
came
pass
that a
in
an Italian university.
a very
good
it.
My
readers, I
am
any sus-
She
is
a thorough
German, highly
cultivated,
and speaks
One
expressed as to the
credibility of
Von
draw out a
testi-
mony
mation which
it
ed as incredible.
" I was very glad," he writes, " to see confirmed by you what
the Chevalier d'Odelga, colonel ani
M. Mezzofanti, and assured me that he would have taken him for a countryman had he not known him to be an Italian. I frankly
confess that until now,
I
tale, for
regard
247
Captain (afterwards admiral) Smyth, who accompanied Baron von Zach on this occasion,
vives, after a career of high professional as
still
sur-
well as
literary
and
scientific distinction.
As
a reply to the
I
incredulity to which
Von Zach
alludes,
may add
which he has
that,
much
interested in the
phenomena
of the eclipse,
and
" It
also,"
Vol.
I.
p.p. 481-2,
London, 1844.
it
t In accounting
with a purely
scientific title.
was
one of
keep
of
it
that
do their
nets,
by attaching pieces
anecdote
most delightful and useful periodical." J Mezzofanti and his friend presented to the Admiral the first volume of the " Ephemerides," which contained the coefiicients for
the principal stars to be observed during five years
at that time three years to run
;
there were
still
On
re-
248
Startling, therefore, as
Von
at
the
time of
its
publication,
we can no longer
its
hesitate to receive
it literally
and in
it,
integrity.
manner
in
language
viz.,
from a gipsy
at Bologna,"
also,
it is
have studied
this
dialect
from books.
The catalogue of
his library
initiated,
is
that which
among
or rather Transylvania,
which
is
the purest of
all
dialects,
gipsies.
turning to
England,
tlie
Dr. Pearson,
(at p.
493
of the
thus acknow-
N.E. angle
ecliptic,
and
from the Bononice Ephernerides for 1817-1822, computed by Pietro Caturegli, which computations have greatly
our labours."
in Spain, p. 240.
I.
Borrow's Gipsies
it
descrip-
tions of
may, perhaps,
be necessary
249
Spanish gipsy
form.
Bologna
and
as there
was no want of
at least
to
critics
not
unwilling to question, or
scrutinize, the
may
became
in
some
who
visited
Von
to task,
and
much
ex-
aggerated.
" Bianconi and Mezzofanti," says Blume, "are the librarians.
The
latter, as is well
known,
is
considered throughout
is
all
Europe
said to speak
and write with fluency two and-thirly dead and living languages.
Willingly as I join in
jiien
ihis
admiration,
talent
for
usually display
I
little
tongues,
'
Correspondance Aswhich
is
to the
"
in
thieves' slang,"
various countries,
the
Rothwalsch" (Red
Italian) of
the " Germania" of Spain, and the " Gergo" of Italy. All these, like the English " slang," consist chiefly of words borrowed from the lan-
guages of the several countries in which they prevail, applied in a hidden sense known only to the initiated. On the contrary the gipsy See a singular chapter idioo) is almost a language properly so called.
in
Borrow's Gipsies in Spain, 242-57. For a copious vocabulary of the " Argot" of the French thieves, see M. Nisard's most curious and
II.
383-403.
250
tronoinique,*
is
much
exaggerated.
Readiness
in
speaking
be confounded
German
as well as
Mezzofanti
but
Platt-Deutsch, or the
It will be
a philologist.
On
guistic talents
un;
of Blume's
criticism,
the
of Platt-Deutsch
ment
cer-
tainly a very
readily excused in
pecially as
es-
Adelung
261),
distinctly
states
of
Hamburg and
if
Altona, that
it
Adelung
two
As
to another statement
want of
studying in the
of all
Bologna or at
itself.
Rome.
He was
*
politeness
251
the visits
But
it
all
which Mezzofanti received were of the character hitherto described, and were attended with no fruit
his
wonderful faculty.
own store of languages. From an Armenian who came to Bologna in 1818, he received
initiation in that difficult
traveller
his
first
He studied Georgian with the assistance of a young man from Teflis, who graduated inmedicineat Bologna. And even
convent of San
Lazzaro,
Venice.
to
distin-
guished.
On
the other
Greek or Oriental
under
his direction.
One
of
Abate Celestino Cavedoni, now librarian of the Este Library at Modena, and one of the most eminent antiquarians of Italy, was his pupil from 1816
till
1821.
With
this
excellent
;
youth Mezzofimti
after Cavedoni's rea
and
steady
and
correspon-
252
an
office
of his
which he owes to the warm recommendation A third was the still more disformer master,
distinguished
who was a native of Pisa, had himself so much duringhis early studies
It
that he should
;
first
course of study
and with
Bologna
all his
characteristic kindness
project.
letter of recommendation.
De
Rossi, at
Parma
later in the
same year, by the representation which he made of his industry and progress, he obtained for him an increase
of the pension which had been assigned for his pro-
bationary studies
and
the
in the
work
on the Hebrew
advice
he
owed much
his
to
of his master.
He remained
was
1824,
when
appointment
made
absolute,
and
dis-
its duties.
is
The
well-known.
di
In 1823.
in the
Memorie
Modena,
2 33
life
he entertained the
and
that,
a special visit to
Rome
him.*
as
The Abate Cavedoni, who, on his return to Modena, we have seen, continued to correspond for many
with
Mezzofanti,
years
to
has
kindly communicated
me
which he has
preserved.
lars
of a portion
and
still
continued to
Mr. Francis
The Countess of
A young Franciscan
Many
among
his pupils.
Indeed, the
own
Cavedoni,
may
Manavit,
p. 51.
254
acquired.
winter
He rose soon after four o'clock, both in and in summer and, after his morning prayer
;
in winter at the
after
or coffee.
At
is
in the university
where,
as
plain
of his
strangers.
As
his
was
at twelve o'clock,
and from
which he returned
to the library.
He
hour
the
symptoms of
approaching sleep
loss of time,
satisfied
him
he might abandon
further thought of
study.
Such were his ordinary every day occupations and, amply as they may seem to fill up the circle of twenty-four hours, he contrived, amidst them all, to find
;
time for
many
offices of
voluntary charity.
He was
of foreigners
of every degree.
For the
255
who
retain a lively
and grateful
still
and the
more con-
Another
extra-official occupation
which absorbed
him
from Rome.
tically, to
'*
his
upon a
single free
moment.
The
library,
my
professorship,
my
I
do not leave
I
me
time to breathe.
lost,
am
fast losing,
nay
have already
;
the habit
to
am
called on to do anything,
find
myself
of this portion
of his
Unfortunately they
perfectly simple
free, to
an extent
so often
destroys
our eyes
the
charm
of the
cleveres-
256
foreign correspondence.
at Bologna,
family.
the
young
abate
Joseph Mezzofanti,
(whom we
shall
find
commemopet name
and
friend.
first
The
written in reply to
letters,
after
his
return to
My
all
I did
on the
first
to
pray with
my
heart that
God may ever bestow abundantly upon you His graces. May lie deign to hear a prayer, which I I commend myself in turn to your to offer
!
fervent prayers.
I
am
is
about
to
em-
ploy his various learning and his great zeal so worthily in the
cause of our holy religion
I shall
be most happy
to
take a copy
I I
am
May
beg of you
numbers
fold the
shall reach
me
They may be
but
let
it
it
will be necessary to
it
be seen that
full
is
may
is
postage.
My
great object
is to
receive the
numbers
at the earliest
moment,
in order that'a
work which
principles
now
unha])pily so current,
may
be read as extensively
as possible.
I
shall
to
succeed
in
I will write to
Let
me know
how
shall send
it
back
to
you.
257
from \ou
we
anxiety.
pointment
to us,
Do
D. Joseph Mezzofanli.
The journal
Morale,
e
is
the now-
di
in
Modena
up
learned
afterwards
of
Modena.
Cavedoni, since his return to Modena, had been
chiefly engaged in arch geological studies,
and especially
in that of numismatics.
He
him
his Spieci-
Numismatico.*
preserve here an impromptu Greek distich of Mezzofanti's,
may
Memoir on
facility
the
Museum
enough
in
sentiment,
at
of
versification.
"Etj KatAiSrhov
Mvri/ji,ara
Kcc-js66viov,
"Ex
It
y^^ovog
rrspdn'
was an impromptu
off
in
the
literal
sense
of the
word, being
thrown
distich.
in the
midst of a group
of friends.
it
Celestino Cavedoni o.
aperis
:
monumenta priorum
tibi
hinc
fama
viget.
258
The following letter throws some light on the time and the manner in which his attention was first
turned to the Georgian language.
The youth
to
whom
1821.
it
refers
Bologna, April
5,
823.
My
for
Dear Don
Celestino,
It will
me
in the
may
not be able to
but to you immediately make allowance for me, and that such delays on my part will never cause you to suspect that I have ceased to remember you with special affection.
it
in
my
power
to reply
you
will
be able
to
Of the
still
author
life
by
his prodigious
learning.
V/ill
you
let
the
little
?
work
in
refer to
script
You
who took
his medical
Alas
my
it
spent in teaching!
;
If I
too
might be content
as
but
ought
to
be done.
which
am much
when you
write again,
special
yon
will
me.
Pray present
order that
it
my
compli-
ments
to the Librarian.
Do
not forget
me;
and,
in
me
that
is
so.
you a thousand
greetings, and
259
The success
of her
ney
to
Brundusium
had
his jour-
The
first
volume,
his-
(of
had
appeared in
Eome
in
object of the
duchess in this
locality of
visit,
Mincius.
'
One
magnificent work.
* " L'Eneide
2vols. folio. It
di Virgilio,recata in versi Italiani,da AnnibaleCaro," was printed by DeRomanis. The duchess wastheLady
of Devonshire.
She
relat-
452,)
by the
also
Essays,
(vol.
i.,
p.
64,) by
J.
a frequent contributor to the Dublin Review, and other periodicals) a repertory of curious literary
solid
260
many
of the copies
to
had
the
been distributed,
she
continued
add
to
number
of the illustrations.
writes,
to
July 6lh,
me
forward to you
In order
to
secure
its
safe
offices
who had
and he at once
undertook
it
admiration of
its
our artists
make
the other
work of
art."
The
desire, which,
his
own
capital,
home still remained unchanged and the Pope named him, in 1824, a member of the Collegio dei consultori at Bologna.
Of his correspondence during this year no portion has come into my hands but there is one of his letters
;
it is
but
an answer
to a
commonplace
letter written
to
him
sale
2G1
always
difficult,"
he writes, " to
in the
fix
market
which
such ])ublications.
it,
In
my
caso,
it
becomes almost
impossible to determine
books, and very
little
it
as I have
leisure even to
obliged to return
in so short
a time.
to select
all
ievr,
"
which
should be
Roman
crowns.
Try
to
make
a bargain for
me, or
at
all
scat-
tered or buried in
some
inaccessible corner.
:
"
The
'
uncertain value.'
The Grammatica Japonica,' Itoma3 No. 22, in the Catalogue. The Grammatica Marasta/ * number 32. The Grammatica Linguee Amharicae.'f number 43. The Osservazioni sulla Lingua albanese number 44. The Grammatica Damulica,'* number 46.
*
' '
;'
Benjamin Schulz's,
'
'Chilidugu; sive ses Chilenses,' ^number C7. Aiid the ' Catecismo en Lengua Espanola y Moxa,'||
I shall
No
71.
"Observations on the
This
is
probably the
Grammar
in 1778.
I.,
lished by the
in this form.
Propaganda,
Adelung,
The name
is
sometimes latinized
220.
t Most likely Ludolf's, Francfort, 1698. t ByBarth. Ziegenbolg, Halle, 1716. Bernard Havestadt, " Descriptio Status
civilis, tuai
turn Naturalis,
turn
It
contains a Chilian
chism
II
in prose,
and
the
Ian-
17
262
appears in the
catalogue
of Mezzofanti's
Library.
New
Testament,
Grammar. Probably
Mezzofanti's humble
means compelled him to fix. lu the August of 1825, he had a visit from the veteran philologist and Uterateur, Frederic Jacobs, of Gotha. The report of Jacobs may be considered of
special importance, as he
Yon
Zach's report, to scrutinize with some jealousy the real extent of the attainments thus glowingly described.
It
is
Von
Zach's narrative,
he fully confirms
"
I
it
"
we
spoke
German
the
for
had
;
full
opportunity
for observing
facility
his conversation
by no means
little
foreign,
and
and there a
of the North
German
He
acquainted with
Voss's
services
German
in
literature,
the
made some
obser-
of the ancients.
common among
is
to
As
by
others,
the
reader
will
observe
the testimony
and
little
philological attainments
in a
department but
and appro-
UFE OF CARDINAL
priateness" of his
MEZZOFAXTI.
263
German
He
proceeds
to
describe
another peculiarity of
faculty which
is
Mezzofanti's extraordinary
equally
whom
we have
"
Not
less
in
he passes
north to the
most
difficult
together, with-
effort
and
so that,
for
instance
the
German
in
in
Germany,
often mixes
;
become
unintelligible
in
Mezzofanti ever draws the line most sharply, and his path
realm of languages
is
each
We may
also
" Mezzofanti,"
he says,
'*
is
of the
middle
size, or
rather
below
it
he
is
thin
delicacy.
He
;
appears to be between
;
his
movements
unembaiTassed
ed
his
whole bearing
is
that of a
man who
has mix-
much
in
society.
He
it
is
active
and zealous
in the discharge
fails to
celebrate
have thought
order
German,
in
that he
him
at a later period.
Vermischte Schriftcn,
vol. vi. p. 317,
Fr. Jacobs,
and following.
264
LIFE OF CARDINAL
MEZZOFANTI.
All his later letters to the Abate Cavedoni, which are filled with apologies for his tardiness as a corres-
pondent,
"
tell
Franciscian
23rcl,
November
for
his
way
to
Modena, has
I I
to write to
that city.
not having
impossible for
me
to
give a denial
and
which
I
wish
could
crowd
all
owe
to
you
for
your
constant and faithful remembrance of one, who, although he certainly never forgets you, yet rarely gives you, at least in writing,
The
it
truth
is
happy
to
do
so,
and that
would seem
to
me
sions
which we used
But unfor-
tunatel}', I
am
I
too
much
this,
laxation.
say
however, only
excuse myself;
for
assure
you
it is
a creat comfort to
me
to receive one.
As
now comis
not
it
You may
grammarians by a brief
annotation to
art
show
will
what
I
is
due
to their
mean
grammarians
You
see that
may possibly appear to them less am but repeating your own opinion,
it
and
ray
if I
was because
own judgment
letter.
your
1
have been
much
gralitied
him
my
best
thanks.
265
me
Remember me
in
vour pravers
write to
uDchaiigiiigly yours.''
The same
days past,
to write
it
you
heartily for
I
is
day that
steal
moment
for
the purpose.
Be
assured that
was
lan-
we were reading
If I recal
to
together the
guages.
that time,
is
life at
it
my
studies,
only for the purpose of letting you see that, as the same state
still
of things
I
show
my
to
rememha\e
brance of me.
I
Still I
my
heart for
it.
much
me
very happy.
I told
Count Valdrighi,
or
it,
friends
in
of.
some
to
dispose
I beg,
to
are
already supplied.
nevertheless,
it.
you
will
take
recommend
would do so willingly
moment.
The
library,
my
my
not leave
me
time to breathe.
advantage
the excellent
I
;
am
blessed.
But
am
my
and now,
am
to
do anything,
thenecessity of improvising.
entering thus min-
Forgive me,
utely into
my
dear
Don
Celestino, for
it
my own
affairs.
Set
down
to
to the
account of our
friendship, in the
in
name
of which
beg of you
to
remember me
;
your prayers.
Continue
to write
me
as of old
for, in
the
midst of
my
266
them, and
in
the
reminiscences
I
JMy
sister
and
my
nephews present
their
we may date
the com-
mencement
and
which eventually
Bologna
to
led to Mezzofanti's
removal from
Rome.
Cappellari, a distinguished
monk
was named
to the cardi-
nalate early in
1826
ganda.
to
an
time returned
it,
The Cardiwith a
his letter
hundred doubloons.
Mezzofanti, with a
straitened
disinterestedness
means made
still
more honourable,
at once wrote to
it
should be
ganda.*
Stolz.
Biogrqfia, p. 10.
For
am
indebted
to an interesting communication
267
This appeal
solitary one.
from Cardinal
sulted
in
bibliographical questions,
MS.
in
some unknown
language.
is
One
St.
" Tetrasticha"
Monosticha."
As
I
this letter
specimen of his
critical writings
which
have been
little light
upon the
There
is
unnecessary to translate
it.*
another
letter,
on the subject of a MS. in the Birman language submitted by the count for his examination, which will
be read with more curiosity.
*
The
Ercole Faello,
is
not mentioned by
as a bibliographical curiosity
is
and Mszzo-
in his letter to
the
cimen of
its
The
Tetrasticha, especially,
It consists of fifty-nine
iambic tetrasera-
many of which,
full
besides the
solid instruction
which they
body, are
of simple beauty.
as an ancient
example of an
in succession
with
Jiia
xad'
r;ij,ipav.
x.r.X.
268
have
to
my
acknowledgement of your
solution which
I
formed of delaying
it
my
;
being able
to
make
more
satisfactory
has tunied
to
in the
by delaying
to
information re-
MS. which
is all
is
that even
first in
it
am
possessed
of.
I
Although your
MS.
the
these characters
that
have
or,
at
also
which
is
that kingdom.
was enabled
first in
to I'ecognize the
by the Propaganda,
As my
your
when
received
letter, did
any other
MS.
except that
it
is
in that
The
tree,
differ
much
in
said
to live
for a
its its
to
die as soon
to live
to
as
has produced
but perhaps
it
may
be said
on by preserving on
transmit to posterity.
It
called in
Burmese
ask what
to
You
will
The
of
be ignorant
called Talapuini,
who
to
live together in
community
little
in a
sort
learning,
TJieir
in a peculiar
charac-
p. 65.
269
The Barnabite
Fathers
who founded
fruit
The
has been
Griffini.
first
written
by
Angelo
was about
you
as soon as I
to
tell
received
was anxious
this view,
to
be able
you something
more
and with
Serampore
in
added
to their
Empire.
be
had
at Paris, or
Accordingly, after
months of delay,
I return
you your
It
Birmese
MS.
has
way
to Italy
facts
the
place whence
came.
I
The
information which
am
able to give
is,
you
compared with jwhat you might have expected, and bears a still
smaller proportion to
my
desire
to
oblige you.
it
wished
to translate
it
all for
you, had
been
in
my
my
gratitude and
my homage
one from
whom
am
indebted for so
receive so many kindnesses, and to whom I many charming books, either composed or il-
lustrated by himself.
For
all
these favours
it
only remains
for
For an account
Rome,
1833.
Sangermano was a
Barnabite Father, and bad been for many years a missionary in Ava He states that he himself translated these sacred books, and Pegu.
(p.
359.)
is
slightly diflFerent
from
Mezzofanti's.
270
me
lo offer
you
should chance
shall
satis-
be able
to
execute
more
more
factorily.
I will at least
promise not
delay as
;
in the
explanation
shall be
show
my
anxious wish
to oblige
by the promptness of
my
reply."
Neither Carey's Birman Grammar, nor any other modern book on the subject, appears in the catalogue
of Mezzofanti's library. It comprises, however, a few
These
books
to
(all
Rome,
we
the pur-
poses of conversation.
CHAPTER
[1828-1830.]
VIII.
(now King Frederic William,) while passing through Bologna, on his way to Rome, sought an interview
with Mezzofanti.
In
common with
all
other visitors?
and accuracy of
arrival at
his
knowledge of languages.
this
On
his
inter-
the Prussian
Embassy
in
me.
an exceedingly
'*
not to
'
He
is
truly a
he spoke
German
with
my
Privy-Councillor
;
with Bunsen,
English
"
272
is still
all
these languages he
alone, without
any
teacher.'
This opinion of
M. Bunsen's,
an exaggermas-
was doubtless
Grobeu.
still
more
distinct
evidence
of his
familiarity with
it
to Bologna.
Crown Prince (now King) Oscar of Sweden M. Braunerhjelm, now Hof-Stallmastare at Stockholm, who was present at the prince's interview with Mezzofanti, assured Mr. Wackerbarth, who was good enough to make the inquiry for me last year,
of the
have received,
the prince, having suddenly changed the conversation into a dialect peculiar to one of the provinces
understand him.
What was
his
amaze-
ful,
him in this very dialect From whom, in the name of all that is wonderhave you learnt it ?" exclaimed the prince.
" "
key to
peculiar in
its
forms, and I
am merely
translating the
common words
The Countess
of Blessington, in
273
She
adds but
little
to
the facts
already
;
we have
many
ing,
respects
manner,
more
character
special-
and
disposition,
ities,
which, after
Lady
mass
Blessiiigton
in the
church of
An
lin-
mony
guist,
"
led
to
her
first
While viewing
the arcades, I
was
my
hemmed
to
in at all
by a moving mass
curiosity.
who seemed
eye
me
with
much
I
To disdiflicult,
confess
experienced a certain
one face
of which
my
satis-
remark of
We
day
for the
fete,'
nttered in English,
'
274
Though
sound of
gave
it is
address
stranger,
1
the
my own
courage
the position in
which
was placed,
me
first
I
speaker, and to
protection of
my
countryman.
my He
party,
must request
the
me
me
to rejoin
my
me
between
him and
said
'
his companion.
'You speak English perfectly, yet are not an Englishman!' I. Then you can be no other than professor Mezzofanti ?'
Both he and
his
My
init
name
I
is
Mezzofanti.'
letter
had a
tendin
into
to leave
for
him
I
my reticule, whence
it
him.
He
unopened
something
me
to repeat, in
He
lish
visit to
remarkably
well.
little
My
surprised to see
me
companied by and
presented them to
at the recital of
in conversation
When
my new acquaintances,
a
they were
much amused
of
my
to
and invited us
to breakfast
wonderful
li)iguist is full
of intelligence,
manner well-bred, unaffected and highly agreeable. His facility and felicity in speaking French, German, and English, is
I
am
told
it
is
He
is
a younger
man
than
expected
is
to
find
totally
ex-
or pedantry." *
p 321.
275
to
An
Lady
year.
adventure
witli
students
on their way to
Rome
in the very
same
T hey
and,
on their journey
seeing
and conversing
re-
Accordingly they
;
pected
closed
at so late
an hour,
and the
to
galleries silent
and deserted.
After
wandering about
some one
whom
an inquiry, they at
last
The spokesman of the party begged of him, in the best Latin he could summon up at the moment, to point out the way to the library.
pearance approach.
"
Do you wish
By
Jove, boys,"
" this
is
Mezzofanti
were
Irish,
One
of the number,
however, having learned the language from books, Mezzofanti entered into a conversation with him on
its
Of
275
more.
The
sole survivor,
Wexford,
still
of the fluency
" Iter
honum faustumque
the
/"
The clergyman alluded to by Lady Blessington, as " Abbe Scandalaria," was, in reality, Padre
late
Padre Scandellari at
fiither,
a few weeks
nied by the late Bishop Gradwell, ex-rector of the English College at Rome, and by her governess, Madame
Mezzoftmti
was a
linguist of no
common
ish
;
Marseillaise,
and propri-
in
December, 1831.
He
is
spoken of
in
Madame
by
whom
LIlFE
OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
277
of
It
will
Crown Prince
Bolognese prodigy.
Having heard
I
interview,
Germany,
in 1829,
to learn
this distinguishto
have
by a
Dr.
critical
which
gratefully
me
a most inter-
is
known
as one
From
the reader
critical
what are his capabilities, as a judge of the same faculty in another. After
infer
his languages entirely
:
may
had learned
Tholuck continues
*'
to
Bologna,
linguist,
considered
On my return it my first
on that eminent
accompanied by a young
Sleswic or Friesland.
in
German,
a quarter of an hour
in
my
native
language.
He
18
278
T.IFE
OF CARDINAL MEZZOFA^'TI.
noticed as
;
many
German
man, which
is to
be accounted
Upon
this I
suddenly turned
my conversation
was spoken.
want of practice.
then turned upon Dutch, which he did not know then, but replied
when addressed
in
Danish he
of.
re-
The
When
we had been
had been
my
my own
own
In
me
mean
while he permitted
me to examine
little
his library.
Turning
I
dialect of Cornwall)
Grammar,
found in
new languages
was no other but that of our school-boys, by writing out paradigms and words, and committing
memory.
it
As
to
the statement of
M. Bunsen, mentioned
fanti's
before,
communication: he confessed
tional
from missionaries.
The number he
;
then professed to
know
well
those which he
knew
imperfectly, almost
same number.
Of
he spoke as a man of
but what we
to
call the
philosophy of
Dr. Tholuck,
it
279
who
as
of those
He had
me
in
eyes for
faults
with
contains, a
more
solid
tribute
to
the
fame of
There
is
an
irresistible
Mezzofanti
what he
we
find
him
and
for
want of
practice." It
is
proper,
languages,
is
the
In
still
Mezzofanti's performance in
German
conversation,
wrote to re-
quest of Dr. Thoiuck a note of the ' four minor mistakes" to which he
alluded.
Unfortunately the
memorandum which
it
which
280
want of practice
is
alone.
by no means
so easy, or so
of instinctive intuition as
Many
all
to various degrees
a word, to
all
The
little
come
was
but
it
took a pleasure in the systematic pursuit of the structure of a language for the mere sake of the mental
exercise which
it
involved.
am
assured by the
languages which
a living lanit
At
still
guage, especially
disappeared,
the
West
still
had quite
Dolly Per.trath,
sive vern;icular.
j-
who was
It
was
in
great part from these papers that Cav. Minarelli comof the several languages
I
piled the
list
shall
281
might be supposed
than that in
him engaged.*
"Among
Albanese
;
which he
thf>n professed to
know
the
accurately,
he
pointed
these
out
specially
the
to
English
and
among
he
professed
know
imperfectly,
some of
ihe
American missionaries.
in
He
then engaged
from
a catechism translated
it is
as the
Americans
There
is
239,)
from M.Molbech'aTravels;
he replied
in
in
Danish
uncertainty as to this
in person,
German Missionary
at
German conmany already known. M. Molbech reiterates and confirms all the statements made by him in his 'Travels.' He has even taken the trouble to forward a note in his own handtestimony to the purity and fluency of his Eminence's
versation I
may add
to the
M.
\\''atts's
He
when
in 184 7>
his
Rome,
found
his
accurate as to
f The reader will scarcely agree with this observation of Dr. Tholuck. The Quichua was one of the languages which, as the Dr. tesIt must be tifies, Mezzofanti only professed to know imperfectly. remembered too, that, during his early years he had many and pro-
282
As
to
which
it
compose,
Gulistan*
and
contained, as
some elegant
acquired
visited him,
am
unable to pro-
But
I find in
which
it is
litera-
From
made
priest
known
much
and
Hebrew in
in
his native
university,
came
to
Bologna
Mezzofanti,
fect
under
in
whom
he
proposed
to
per-
himself
Hebrew and
South American Jesuit missionaries, who had settled at Bologna, and from whom he may have acquired the language, much more
solidly
it
The Gulistan
is
found
^ p. 26,
XFriesche Bymlerije.
mentioned by Adelung,
II. p.
237.
283
guages.
cordiality
and the great ability and industry which he exhibited, as well as his exceeding amiableness and unaffected piety, completely
won
On
his
Don Ubaldo
Fabiani
is
Modena,
after
a sojourn of three
in the
to
months
It
midst of books.
would be impossible
for
me
to describe
you
but
fruit
which he has derived from them has even exceeded the labour,
as
The principal object of his Hebrew text; but he has also apin
plied himself to
Chaldee, and
the end
to
the
Rabiuical
Hebrew
Had
become so necessary an appliance But I have every confidence of the polemics of sacred Scripture. that he will do this also, when he shall return anotheryear to Bolate
and
shall
to
accompany him
in
study also.
am much
to
me
an opportuI
have
for
my
For-
me.
;
give
my
will
irregularity
or rather
for evil,
is
me
the
more frequently.
friend."
You
thus do what
most grateful
to
your devoted
the
Ita-
and was
284
an
illness of
four.
As soon
logna,
Mezzofanti
his
friend
Cavedoni.
Bologna, November 12, 1829.
" Death has snatched Don Ubaldo from us
have we
lost in
!
Alas,
all
how much
the
!
him
hopes
which we
jilaced
in
moment
What
ecclesiastic, so entirely
As
were
:
for
dies had
pleased to take
him
to
flower of years,
to
maturity.
to
Ah,
let
us hope
Don Ubaldo*
to
now
close
the
Divine Fountain,
to
there admitted
the
Now
he
will
recall
to
memory, the
by
aflectionate care
bestowed upon
him here by
by
his parents,
his dear
Don
and
I
will feel
often
last
repeated
parting
at
our
to
'
He
feels
to
Ah,
if,
my
dear
Don
on such an event,
gave room
for a single
moment
let
to earthly
thoughts.
Our
your
heaven
we hope
to
meet him
in everlasting joy.
As-
me by
When
;
deceased friend's parents, comfort them with the true and blessed
consolations which our holy religion bestows
who
are in
tri-
to
pray
disentangle ourselves
285
gyman was
friend, the
this excellent
young
cler-
as a real calamity.
His
*
abate Cavedoni,
but touching
of Modena,
offered
as
the
to
the
rare
merit
of
the
deceased
but,
although
already
known
memory
the fervour,
and above
all,
the amiable
was founded at
inter-
of
Mezzofanti.
it
Like
many
took to
of many
itself
somewhat
falls
fanciful
designation,
among
its
predecessors;
Inquieti, of Bologna,
Umi-
who
in
Tiraboschi,
voL
vii., p.
139-201
his
own account
in the
member
of this society.
286
aflfected, title
and commenced
year.
it is chiefly
to
hold
its
of Mezzofanti,
memorable
for a curious
volume of verses,
on the occasion
All'
Emo
CHAPTER
[1831.]
IX.
chiefly,
his attainments
him
to
the exclusion of
The
the
now
him
in a
new
character.
indispensable
even
within the
scope of
this biography,
as the
most
important event in
the
life
of
Mezzofanti
Rome
it is
that capital at
1831,
288
Leo XII
short
who succeeded
It
on the 31st of
March,
was well
this
whole period,
principali-
Parma, Piacenza, and Modena, and indeed throughout the entire of Italy. Everywhere throughof
remnant of the
French or
and cautiously repressing their aspirations after the cherished vision of a "united and independent Italy,"
yet were notoriously dissatisfied with the domestic
governments, and
lost
no opportunity of embarrass-
Of
this,
in
the
Papal
known, and his antecedents had long marked hin^ out as an ardent and devoted adherent of the Papal rule.
Personally inoffensive and amiable as he was, therefore,
members
289
as
body of
his
fellow-citizens he
was regarded
;
man
of
and we
great
delicacy
and im-
Gregory XVI.
is
made
of Mezzofanti.
distin-
mathematical sciences in
is
M.
Libri
whose name
in itself sufficient to
stamp with authority any statement bearing upon a subject in which he has proved himself a master.
For
this
Mr. AVatts,
to
to
I am whom it
an inquiry kindly
made on my behalf by
letter
is
that gentleman.
its
M.
Libri's
in English,
language
and elegance of
evidence
of
its style
themselves no slight
his
competence to
pronounce
upon
^lezzofanti's accomplishments as
a linguist, no less
than as a mathematician.
M.
Libri's
meeting with
Mezzofanti occurred at
Bologna early in
me
most was unquestionably the Abbe, (afterwards Cardinal) Mezzofanti, who was then librarian at Bologna, and respecting whose
astonishing power in languages
I
ary anecdotes.
had previouslv
made to Bologna, I had already got a glimpse of that celebrated man but it was not until 1830 that I could be said to have
;
290
seen him.
I
him by one of
my
friends,
Count
He
show
made me promise
to
me the
library.
but
it
was
jjrinci-
him
that
next day.
to
say that
mixed
feelings.
Personally,
point of view,
to
man who possesses an incontestible and in this any branch of human knowledge M. Mezzofanti, whom every body acknowledges
every
;
be the
languages than
any other
tion
man, had
It
on
my
part.
was
popularly reported
at
Bologna,
that
M.
Mezzofanti, then
;
fifty
many
in
lan-
and
respect
so
him, by
men
in
whose veracity
have
full
confidence,
many
he became
in
my
eyes a sort
to
On
the
other hand,
the liberal
who
certainly
among
my
ears, consist-
Bologna was a
faculty of
miracle of
and
that,
words by heart,
little
this extraordinary
man
philological erudition.
tion, I
must acknowledge that the judgment passed on Mezzoby persons of some consideration, had made an impression fanti but that upon my mind, far from being favourable to him
:
UFE
carefully studied
OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI,
treatise
291
the
Being
still filled
with admira-
Hindoos on indeterminate
to
analysis,
Mezzofanti,
and
to
merely
to
of the Orientalists.
scientific
;
and
that I thought
How
my surprise,
when
to
me
to
man whose
chief occu-
sciences.
Deeply
me
quite
unexpectedly,
me
the most
diflScult
the history of
lived, before
the
Mahometan conquest,
and how
far those
indirectly, to
On
all
those points
to
doubt
but proving to
me
at the
same
on which
his
mind had
all
already-
with
the
necessary
Brahmegupta and Bhascara. Translated by H. T. Colebroke, London, 1817. The Bija Gannita had already been published by Mr. Strachey in 1813. In referring to these Hindoo treatises on Mathematics, I may add, that an interesting account of the Hindoo Logic, contributed by Professor Max Miiller, is appended to Mr. Tliompson's " Outline of the Laws of Thought," (pp. 369-89,^ London, 1853. The analogies of all these treatises with the works of the
of
and
; ;
292
cannot express
I
how
to
much
testify
me
and
Mezzofanti
all
the
admiration
knowledge
at once so varied
me.
No more
I
was said of
before
visiting
seeing books.
had
and
to
me
most extraordinary
living book,
Encouraged by
modesty,
my
making himself
me, but
less difficult
many
languages.
He
that
positively assured
it
detail, that
;
was a thing
is
there
it is
in
all
languages a
number
;
of points to which
that,
lar attention
and
when one
is
He
number of them.
but
researches.
He
we understand how
and. in speaking to
posed, he told
avoid
falling
into
errors
me
he had com-
me
that
means deserved
tion, as I
was
still
look in a
box
for a manuscript
Mexican
that
his
me
that
it
imperfect, and
completely.
to nie the idea
This excursion
ting a
to
America suggested
him.
I
of put-
new
(piestion to
had
collected at
Florence, par-
Some
and
in
looking through
293
liad
naturally, I asked
words,
M. Mezzofanti what he thought of those and whether the men who spoke languages apparently so
seem
a
to
be endowed with
in
down
book written
one of
me
practically
how,
much
explaI
I
nation from
memory.
According
to
my
and
usual practice,
had
had
written out, on
just
my
return
home,
the
conversation which
if I still
linguist,
possessed that
part of
my
journal,
you would
;
find there
of the
Abbe Mezzofanti
to
to
you
in
After what
to
to
you,
passed at Bologna
shorter,
and as
it
my mind
profound as
I
As, however,
Some
M.
Du
le
foil.
Some words
;
in
contain
thirteen
or fourteen .syllables
M. Du Ponceau
Indians
'^
example
of
thfi
of
Massachusetts
the word
143.
wutappeiittukqulfsunnuhwnhtunhqnoh,
genuflecting !" p.
The
same characteristic is found in the Mexican and Central American languages. In Mexican " a parish-priest " is " notlazomanilzteopitzkatatzins !"
19
294
body, permit
Gioidaiii,a
me
to
tiie
testimony of
man
who
also
generally
for the
ullra-caiholic party to
which
belong, he and
the
some
little
effaced.
Notwithstanding
in his
Mezzofanti was
quite asupsrior
man."
M
them
here.
quoted
repeat
it is
needless to
Aveight to his
to
own
which he
Soon after
refers in this
most interesting
letter.
life
was interrupted
in
for a time.
Paris
July,
1830, and
it
the events
and Poland
were
not
by which
to
was
a
slow
provoke
response
tended.
*
more active and more exFor a time the prudent and moderate policy
became
at once
this letter,
to
me
to in-
was not by
and contains no
fact
which
295
France,
had the
effect
of defeating
;
the
mea-
the thirtieth of
aff'ord
November
in that year,
their
were made.
XVL,
from
It
transmitted
at
Modena.
by
of
the call-
Mantua.
Maria
Louisa,
Duchess
Parma,
And
all
it
had
been rapid.
The duke
of
Modena was
reinstated
by Order was
Parma
and, before
month of ]\Iarch, all traces of the removement had for the time disappeared volutionary
the end of the
See the series of the Gazzetta di B,logna ; see also Spaldiny's " Italy and the Italian Islands," for a compendious but accurate
summary of the
facts.
296
tiff,
most notable
citi-
Many
of the
usage.*
now
the Marchese
Count Lewis
arrived in
Isolani,
They
o.n
Rome
who
in the beginning of
May,t and
the
received
the
in It
particular
the
Pope showed
when returning
visit
He
still
professor had
and
now come when it was in his power to make some acknowledgment. A few days after Mezzofanti's arrival he was named domestic prelate and
the time had
proto-notary apostolic, and at his final audience before returning to Bologna, the pope
renewed in per-
permanently in Rome,
announcements
in the Diariu di
Roma
in
March
and ApriL
f Diariu di
Roma, May
9,
1831.
"
297
Mezzofanti was
as
happy
in his
still
humble
position as he
had heen
in 1815.
He
and
tive city
begun
to
grow
But
to persist farther
ungracious.
He
was
as
veraviente
overpowered,
un assedio )
as
it
that he
would seem, by
XVI.
Holy Father," was his singularly graceful acknowledgment of the kind interest which the Pope
had manifested in
can speak a great
them, nor in them
his
many
all,
languages.
In no one of
how
It
mark
visits
On
as
it
the
morning
after
his
arrival,
the
feast,
he went to the
;
of saying
He was
who
attention
which he justly
298
a pleasing
il-
memory
that
his
disposition,
reminded him of
this circumstance,
and
renewed
his
or corridors.
The
first
room which he
He
sation
with
Hassun
in Turkish.
This
he
speedily
who is now the Catholic Greek bishop at Smyrna. From Greek he turned to English, on the approach of Dr. O'Connor, an Irish student, now bishop of Pittsburgh in the United
States.
tongue
till
at
length,
the
bell
being rung,
the entire
gave
full
scope to
ty of his accomplishment.
it
Dr. O'Connor
describes
as the
;
nessed
and he adds a further yqyj remarkable circumstance that, during the many new visits which
whom
failed
he
to
had spoken on
this
299
June.
Mezzofanti accompanied
it,
change of residence.
He had
this,
reluctance, and
from public
All
who
of his views
disinter-
marked the entire tenor of his and had been attested by long and painful
Nevertheless,
sacrifices.
on
the
return
of
the the
Bolognese
deputation
from
Eome,
he
had
made a
loyalty
the spontaneous
as his
was denounced
;
as the in-
Mezzofanti
felt
founded criticisms.
and these
in
300
Owing to
year, but
Among these
minster(who
in
also
of the poet, Mr. Kichard Monckton The latter was much amused by Mezzofanti's proposing, when he heard he was a Yorkshire man, to
shire,
Milnes.
Wales
It
r
to note this
amu-
remarkable in
details he
as
in
all
geographical
it
not that
another testimony on
the
disputed
He
left
Bologna
finally for
Rome
in October, 1831.
to say, that " the
Rome was
that
of Bologna in 1831."
By
the
Church of Saint Andrew the same apartments at the window of which the lamented Monsignor Palma was shot during the late Revolution.
CHAPTER
[1831-33.]
X.
It
is
" in
order
to
great reputation,
it
is
not
enough
also
must
to
economize them.'*
this
had desired
act upon
From
the very
moment
an ordeal at
than
it
more severe
city in
Without taking into account the many eminent linguists, native and foreign, for whom Rome
the world.
has
ever
been celebrated
though
less noisy,
stream of
pil-
by devotion, or by
302
as
would be sought in
From
a very
cation,
of at
a select few
among
people
and,
notwithstanding the
of
among
nationalities
still
Rome,
some of
In like
the
many
separate houses
es-
each
of the
countries in
failed to observe,
among
the ani-
Hill or the
Ave Maria,
the
costumes
by which
the Holy
several
rites
in
communion with
ian
See
Armen-
most
an archbishop or bishop
usages, and to
connected with
all
its
national
take a part in
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFAXTI.
303
But before all, and more than all, is the great Urban College the college of the Propaganda
which unites in
described,
itself
all
the
nationalities
already
together with
many
others
of which
no
type
is
Every variety
the wide range
of language of
and
dialect throughout
;
western
From
Christendom
every
eastern
Lebanon
form of
speech
silken Sainarcand to cedared
;
many
and more
may
Iii
within
a
its walls.
Dutch
traveller,
who
students
less
its
register,
comprised no
ities.*
Amid
even
gifts,
if
reputation
which awaited him in the great centre of languages, living or dead, had be not been supported by the con
Rome
in bet
If. p. 33.
304
sciousness of the
as attracted
ties for
attainments, as well
facili-
that
in
from
so
the
far
first
Rome,
from
of
his extraordinary
faculty
This,
destined
him
honours of the
theless,
still
Roman Church.
It is clear, never-
his affections
On
occasion of his
first
new year
letters
in
his
new
residence, he received
many
from
his old
friends,
conveying to him
the ordinary
new
year's greetings.
From
his reply
to
him
by a
quence in the university, we may gather how warm and cordial were the attachments which he had left
behind.
Romp., Jajiuary 4, 1852.
"
The new-year
you
I
many
years,
used
to
to
receive from
me
because
tion for
knew them
no
affec-
me.
your
letter are
since they
show me
I
it
that separa-
tion
has not
shall
shall
always retain a
and wherever
may
be,
be m\ endeavour
305
not
insensible
give
it.
proofs
by
my
conduct
that
am
my
most zealous
you the
think
it
advisable that
the
it is
Canonico Schiassi
not only originate
and
So
am
concerned,
shall leave
may
tend
to
fuither
your
wishes.
I
in
May God
a heart so
full
of tenderness as hers,
may
meet nothing
the continued
Present
my
make my compliments
never
to
for a single
it.
to
my
and
seldom cease
speak of
If there
be any matter
in
von not
to spare
me."
One
of
on his being
means
mani-
of
languages,
position.
the
new
On
a careful
establishments
of
Rome,
and especially by the great treusure-hoiise of the Propaganda, he found that there was one language, and
that a language to which he had long and anxiously
looked forward
the
Chinese
;
which
was,
as
yet,
entirely unrepresented
306
Monsig-
and prorest
a proposal
as tilling
The Chinese College of Naples was founded in 1725, by the celebrated Father Matthew Ripa,* with
the permission of the reigning Pope Benedict XIII,
and was formally approved by a bull of Clement In the earlier and more XIII, April 5, 1732. f
favoured days
of the
it
was
chiefly supplied
who
assisted in the
work
among
;"
ceremonies
fol-
lowed the
final
hope
domestic
all
effect-
ually
excluded
from
of sus-
taining the
raissioji
was
The Memoirs
Home
little
work
itself.
is
t This Bull
in the
307
who might pass unnoticed among the populawho would at least possess one chance of
would preclude.
of a
foreigner
With
this
view.
whom
he hoped to train
up under a
purpose.
him
for the
not merely of
impracticability
its
;
its
absolute
and he saw that the only hope of beyond the reach of perse-
Pope Innocent
III.
kingdom
to his
own country
;
means of accomplishing
city,
his
design
under the
name
of " the
institution
sists of
Holy Family of Jesus Christ, " the which be had projected at Pekin. It concollege,
tion.
The
hitter
is
lay
brothers,
(not
similar
however,
religious
to
vows),
very
its
constitution
the
Oratory of
association
is
St.
Philip Neri.
The
is
object of their
The
o08
all
cost,
and
their
;
native
merely
either
devote
their
lives,
from
this
China,
the
mission
institution
has
;
relied
mainly
still
upon
its
admirable
and even
members continue
priest,
Church.
The
for
letter
Francis
are
Tien,
the
faith
detailed
So likewise
Pian,
is
Thomas
who
services to the
Propaganda
grants in California.
At
March
23, 1832,
was
Father John
He
received the
great linguist with the utmost cordiality; and during the entire time of his sojourn, the students and superiors vied with each other in their atteutions to their
distinguished guest.
From
the
moment
all
of his arrival
characteristic
his
;
and notwith-
309
standing
its
its
even to him
all
rudimental structure.
how-
ever, before he
had time
strength gave
way under
application,
fever,*
by which
was
for
The
who
was
This, how-
amusing
all.
traveller's story, is
but a
Cardinal
Wiseman
was
memory
He
completely forgot
all his
languages.
its first
uneducated con-
According
,"
to
Mezzofanti laboured
chiancarelle
is
was ascribed
to
own immoderate
My
mind was
tion of the
name of
the
Holy Father,
whom
derly attached.
t Fleck's Wissenschaftliche Reise, I. p. 94.
20
310
He was
ately
by
immedi-
upon
his convalescence it
him
his
to return to
Rome without
Most opportunely, however, Propaganda some years afterwards transferred to Eome, as we shall see, a certain number of these Chinese students, with the
Chinese studies.
for his wishes, the authorities of the
view of enabling them to complete with greater advantage in the great missionary college the studies
inauspiciously
interrupted
by
The
fatigues of the
re-
two months,) he
constitution,
Happily, however,
his
to
be transferred to
The arrange-
attendance.
311
his disposal.
His position
him
In
its
various modifications, at
command. ForArmenian, Persian, and Turkish, the two learned Meehitarist communities of San Giuseppe and Sant' Antonio supplied abundant and willing .masters. One of these, the eminent linguist Padre Aucher, whose English-Armenian Grammar Lord
Byron more than once commemorates
production,* was himself master of no
languages.
in Navicella,
as their joint
less
than twelve
To the Ruthenian
priests of S.
Maria
The Greek
college of St.
Athanasius, owing to the late troubles in Greece, was then untenanted, but there were several Greek
students in the Propaganda, awaiting
its
re-opening,
Sebastiani,
Rome.
Egyptian
Hebrew
convert,
and a venerable
Don
Georgio
Alabada, supplied
Letters
312
an opportunity of practice
Austrian
Empire,
German, Magyar, Czechish and Polish, but many of its more obscure languages Romanic, Wallachian, Ser-
vian,
varieties of
German, Rhetian,
of
as
this noble
proficiency.
He was on
Abbe
since
Lewis,
Systema Theologicum The Rector of the English College, Dr. (now Cardinal) Wiseman, even then a distinguished
as the editor of thQ
known
of Leibnitz.
orientalist,
in the
Roman
university,
the
Irish
The
He often metM.Bunsen,
;
he was frequently
ambassador, and
Don Manuel
now
Spanish Embassy.
itself
a perfect micro-
313
his principal,
as well as his
P^or his
special
charm
and
and a
partly
half,
in the
among
the students,
among whom he
;
held the
is
and, what
in both
capacities,
forms
of
study
altogether, the
Propaganda was
and ingenu-
He
la-
penance to those
whom
they
or tender exhortation,
lively
those
encoura2:ed
sportive trials of
314
of bis
young
friends
consisted in
endeavouring to
The
idea of these
of " cross-question,"
good-humoured
surprise,
XVI. played off on Mezzofanti soon after his in Rome. The linguist, however, was equal
emergency.
he proved
" Most master of himself, and least encumbered.
When
"One
late,
day,'*
says
M. Manavit,
."
Gregory
XVI.
in an improvised
regular linguistic
tournament.
Among
its
the
mazy
which form
tain
cade.
Pope placed a
cer-
number
students in ambus-
When
came
and, as
they were proceeding gravely and solemnly, on a sudden, at a given signal, these youths grouped themselves
for a
moment on
each in his
and
own
it
jargon of
dialects,
to hear,
much
less to
understand them.
315
uot shrink
from the
cuiiflict.
With
the promptness
to him, he took
them
up
singly,
and
own
language,
all."
he also derived
obscure and
studies,
from the
Rome, and
especially
pared
for
the use
of
missionaries
the remote
Propaganda press
To
all
and
it
can
and
and fluency
in
to the
May
15th, 1833,
First
Mezzofanti was
installed as
Primo Custode,
;
Canonry
warm
it
congratulations which he
all sides,
the
so
office
316
" It
is
to
Pezzana, "
be called
to
succeed
Mgr Mai
:
can Library,
new
brilliancy from
I
the
nor can
overcome
my
few
apprehension
hours of
is
lest
may
gain by
to
my
first
office
may
I
when
is
it
comes
this distinguished
man and
sor.
This
fear,
;
confess,
at
a drawback upon
I
my
will
joy at this
also
happy event
late
but
the
same time,
trust
it
stimu-
so
to
make every effort that the lustre honourable, may not be tarnished in my
to
me
of a position in itself
person.
it
have only
feeling,
gence
my new
me, as
career, which
it
is all
the
fre-
more
furnishes
more
There
is
same period,
but which
not alone his
which
points
to
many perhaps
a
still
appear
trivial,
in
more amiable
and the
light,
unaffected piety and humility, but the homely simplicity of his disposition,
affection with
is
which
been
he cherished
to
his
all
addressed
cousin,
Antonia,
who
has
already
mentioned in a former part of this Memoir, but who, for some years before Mezzofanti's leaving Bologna, had
been
afflicted
with blindness.
On
common
gratulations to Mezzofanti.
moreover,
make
him
had thought
it
expedient to
317
My
es,
my most
all
is
the
one
present which
it is
in
your power
are
it is
to offer
up the
I,
make me, and one which is God as you holy communion for me on one of the
entirely devoted to
'
coining
festivals.
upon
my
part,
will
;
offer
the
Holy
I
Sacrifice for
will
you on the
feast of St.
John
make
I
a special
me
a kindness
which
Pray remember
me
to
whom,
you
as your secretary,
which
in best
am
deeply grateful
to
both.
My
nephews unite
Make
from
me
at
cousin,
Joseph Mezzofanti."
CHAPTER
[1834.]
XI
It
may
together a
number
many
friends,
my
hands.
I shall select
those lan-
arisen.
As my
princi-
linguist's attainments,
neces-
exact philological
arrange-
ment
languages, as nearly as possible in the order of the years to which they belong, reserving for a later
allusions
summary of the results. commence with a language to which some have been made already the "Welsh.
oI9
cited,
Mr. Watts,
has recorded
the British
it,
" a Welsh gentleman, who saw Mezzofanti more than once years that
Museum
in
his later
ficult to reconcile
as the opinion of
Mr. Thomas
Ellis of
he was unable to keep up, or even understand, a conversation in the language of the Cymrj."*
this It is dif-
we have seen
It
in
former page
that,
might perhaps
that in
difficulty,
visit,
and
about
but,
we have now arrived, there are other witnesses who are quite as explicit as Mr.
Harford.
Forster,
an English
modem
with
languages.
He
is
small
man
an
air
We
talked
On
the extraordinary
122.
320
many
man-
As
wished to
test
we should leave Italian for moment, and amuse ourselves by speaking different other languages. Having spoken in French, English, Spanish, Portuthe
guese,
'
I said at last
My
my
stock of
modern
lan-
Well,' said
he,
'
the dead
familiar with.
We
shall not
mind them.
But pray
tell
man me
speak a
little
Welsh,'
'
replied.
'
Good,' said
he,
also
know Welsh.'
peasant.
talk to
me
at
once, like a
Welsh
Some time
Mr. Harford,
too,
when Dr.
Baines,
through that
concluding (erroneously,
to confess,) that
as Dr. Baines
upon
its
language
*
itself f
60
Bruges, 1851.
in
Miss Mitford,
this
her
'<
IL
203) relates
anecdote differently.
two different periods at which Dr. Baines met Mezzofanti the first at Bologna when this incident occurred, the second many years later, when Mezzofanti was Librarian of the Vatican. The anecdote, as related above, was communicated to me by the late Rev. Dr. Cox, of Southampton, who learned it from the bishop himself.
LIFii
OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTl.
821
has put
al-
Another of
though
which,
quaintance with
ing for
its
it,
is
interest-
own
sake.
W.
F. Edwards,
Amedee
In
Thierry, "
On
Man,
tion to History.'*
this
essay,
while combating
the popular notion, that in England the ancient British race has
the coun-
Edwards
alleges
support of his
own
own
physiological deductions.
to the celebrated
Mezzofanti, whom
had the
urging
one.
and
am
glad to repeat
it
it
You
will see in
of
England, which
If there
is
any
characteristic
which
English
is
from
the
other
modern
of
its
languages of
pronunciation.
Europe,
it
the
extreme irregularity
accuracy, even
never
is
The
discussed by Latham,
"The
English
Language,"
vol. I. p.
344
5.
322
pronounce
fantijin
LIFE OF CARDINAL
until
MEZZOFANTI.
Mezzoask him
you have
to
speaking
me
had no necessity
to
English could
and
Saxon
in-
Wales.
my
seeking for
he gave
me
Thus of a new
his
me
the
They had
I
for centuries
beendeemed
by
fea-
What more
is
needed
made through
fies
Welsh
friends,
the result of
me
judgment.
The belief that Mezzofanti knew and Welsh appears to be universal. Mr. Rhys Powel, spoke a Welsh gentleman who was personally acquainted with him, often heard that he understood Welsh, and
I
clergyman of
my
acquaintance.
Aberpergwin, as having
Rome some
3*23
which
submitted
two eminent Welsh scholars, is pronounced by them not only correct, but idiomatic in its structure and pharseology.
With such
attesting
number of
Welsh, I can
Ellis's
impresac-
those casual failures from which even the most perfect are not altogether exempt.
interesting, although
upon a
" It
is
different ground.
to
man who
surpasses
all
content
is
founded.
memory and
the, so to say,
inborn aptitude of his mind for retaining words and their combinations, that he
owes the
facility
all lan-
guages, but to his eminently analytical mind, which rapidly penetrates their genius
and makes
it its
own.
I collect
from himself
through
?
that
their letter.
What do we know
But
if
of the spirit
of languages
to
Almost nothing.
world the
aiise
fruit
the
new
science
amongst
From
Des Caracteres Physiologiques des Races Humaines consideres Par, W. F. Edwards, p. 102.
324
Kome,
of practice in this
and the
One
afforded by his
intercourse with
young student
of
down
for
me
language.
" During
in
my
stay in
Rome
to
He spoke
I
tome
poets, which he
had read.
Nevertheless, 1
fancied that
per-
He
often rejjeated
He
men
of Brussels,
who
I
nence was
Monsignor Mezzofanti,
1,
some of
is,
my
;
me
to
repeat.
It
knew
to
learn them,
ease.
Some days
I
before
my
departure, from
Rome,
in
May, 1835,
met
He
at
Mgr
Malou's admirable
book
On
esting essay
On
Imitation
of Christ,
is
less
known.
325
me
in
Flemish
and,
when
me
it,
my
mixed
with
he
:
said,
The
reproach was
in the
well founded
for T
German
an
Such
not a
a reproof from
who
to a
Fleming, struck
me
as exceeding droll,
and amused
me
little.
This anec-
Cardinal paid to
in the
Italian,
German,
F'lemish, Russian,
Italian.''*
French,
and the
Sicilian
eccle-
to
the
many
it
in
year.
my
in
sojourn in
Rome;
I
that
is to
say, from
1837
to
the
moment
I
of his death.
Rome
first
was
the
had
still
more frequent
Flemish.
that
sj)oke to
him
month.
I
word, and
countrymen.
One day
that
hour
For
of
this
am
oflBces
of Brussels.
32G
him speak-
We
then began a
little
discussion about
German and Flemish. His Eminence The Pope called him 'a
Flemish poetry: and one day
He
also wrote
he gave
me
several
verses of his
own
composition, to send in
whom
knew
he had
confirmed
at
Rome.
Mezzofanti not
only
with
I
its histor>'
He
He
said,
however,
the language
by approxi-
mating
German.
He
knew,
also,
some
He
have
al-
witness.
When
he saw a Fleming, he
;
in his
own tongue
as he indeed
did with
foreigners.
M alines, paid a
little
visit
Rome, and
MezzoFlemish
The
latter
to
have a
Pope
first
two
cardinals
had
talked Flemish
papal
consistorj'.
me
this
The complete success with which he overcame the deficiency that M. Malou had observed in 1831, and
the curious mastery of the
Yan Calven
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
327
"On
to
less kind
and
afiiible
my
cousin,
in
Rome.
to
Being a Belgian, a
at
and a
relative, 1
was
in-
vited
be present
S.
Church of
Peter,
over
the
made a
little
This
little
dibcourse, which
in excellent
all into
French.
was
over,
he called us
we had a
conversation in
ferent dialects
His eminence distinguished the difThus I reof our Belgian provinces perfectly.
Flemish.
member
but,
distinctly that
he said
is
to us
'I
I
the
way
it
you
from
Flanders, pronounce
forget what
at
but
any
rate,
delicate
power of
" discrimi-
various
provinces
of
Belgium," are
attested
by
another
member
of the
same
to
society,
Father Legrelle.
On
asked
the
in his
Cardinal
be so
good as
to write his
name
and
these
Album
de Voyage.
On
his
in F. Legrelle's presence,
Eminence penned
as a souvenir
God
weg
tot
de volkomenheid
myn
Vrieud, de
"
God
calls,
Hearken my
328
One
M.
Legrellc's companions,
now
some verses
But a
"
Tour
to
Rome"*
839, contains so
full
and
M.
Wap's
account of his
visit.
a professor in
now
resident at Utrecht.
He
is of
beginning
to
a piercing
eye,
quick
utterance,
and an
air full of
intellectual, so that
The
time
is
in
the
to
He
to
I
at the
that Mezzofanti
had written
in the lady's
album
four very
grace-
As soon
as the librarian
and carried
it
on, no
He
accosted
naar
Rom
is
in het
Door Dr.
sixty- three.
Jan
J. F.
Wap.. 2
vols, 8vo.,
Breda, 1839.
:
This
a slight mistake
329
and told
to avail
me how
himself
scanty the
in the
study of Flemish.
Flemish gram-
mar
Ten Kate,)
with
whom he was
he had care-
acquainted
fidly read.
and
finally,
whom
He
he inquired whether
the
Dutch
langiiage.
When
that
in-
him
the
characters of the
Al])habet,
undertook
to
send them
to
him,
and
took care
to
redeem
any
my
I
home.*
my
but
earnest desire
further
interviews
with
him
to
Mezzofanti
anticipated
at the
my
wishes, and
invited
I
me
come
it is
Propaganda, as often as
liked.
There
that he spends
students,
own
tongue.
*
find so
^
many
-Jt
Here are assembled a hundred and fourteen students from At my request, the Rector caused
Pater
the
Nostertobe
written
Hero,
evening, in
the midst
to
belong
He
330
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
Dutch with Mr. Steeiihof* of Utrecht.
I
I
easily as he spoke
will
spent there.
The
na-
sation, his
well
visit,
which
so
Amidst
each week
chism, and
many
to the
to the
them the
cate-
The
in
morning
in the
afternoon
he gives lessons
the pupils
to his
he superintends
delivered on
the
Epiphany
almost
all
foreigners
come
to visit
him
in
fine,
he pays his
visits in his
at-
tends at the
Pope's court
when pressing
requires his
presence
and, notwithstanding so
many
he
still
divine ofBces.
for
Who
will
not
feel
such a
man ?
some
lines
which
wrote extempore in
'Wie
ooit
de Pinkstergaaf
Hij eere in
kan strekken.
leest.
Wiens
brien in
Maar
zang akkoorden,
Hun
tongval of
hun
My
*
veritable
impromptu
:
instantly called
forth
this
beautiful
als uw fi'aaj schril't kwam heden voor mijne oogen. Mynheer Door Uw' goedaardigheid was ikheel opgetogen,
En
in't
hart opklom,
mcd
in
vijftig taalen
stom.
Afterwards Professor
Warmond,
in
331
Nu, opdat
Bid
ik
ik niet schijn
in niijn
Joseph .Mczzofanli.
1837.'
if
them
first line,
knowsho\il(l
ing he would reply that that the letter /at the end of a word
lie
justified
by
As
line,
same
he contended that
it
this
word, as
greatly surprised at
sion
to
had
giant of linguistic
especially
me
He
between the words niinmer and nooit, so that he hardly ever used
one
for the other."
* '* Let him who dares to doubt the gift of Pentecost, stand ashamed and confounded before the mind of Mezzofanti. In him, let him honour that man who is fit to be the earth's interpreter whose in-
" Accept, son of the South, ihe respectful salutation of the North.
But
think,
while your
eye
beholds
my poor
address, that
if
the
Batavians' language lacks Italian melody, their tongue and soul are
Sir,
when
first
the day
my
up my mind and
you just
to
my
beg
my
heart."
332
may
be placed a
still
more
lively account
of Mezzofauti
by another
a
Bohemian by
writings.
man
Mezzofanti's skill in
native
Bohemian, contains a slight, but not uninteresting specimen of Mezzofanti's German vocabulary, and,
moreover,
illustrates
attention
to
whose
a distinguished
linguist,
accomplished
and well
" Having
letter
writes
went
to the Vati-
can Library, of which Mezzofanti was the head. His arrival was looked for every moment and I occupied the interval by
;
examining the long, well lighted gallery of antiquities which is outside, and which also leads into the halls that contain the
masterpieces of ancient art in marble.
I
was
in the act
of read-
many marble
'
when a stranger who, except myself, was me; Here comes Montowaids corpulency,
a
An
in a violet
white surplice
He
carried
his
in
his
hand, and
;-
333
to
iiuie
still
I
bis
lively,
features,
lips
and
mingled with
About
to
his
played a smile,
which
afterwards observed
to
be their
sixty.
habitual expression.
He
appeared
I
be not
to
far
from
When
silent
advanced
me
!'
'
with
German,
*
Setjn Sie
mir w'dlkommen
'
(
'
You
that
am .surprised, Monsignor,
I
'
replied,
you address
yet.'
*
me
'
in
German, although
a great
I
Oh,
said he,
many
'
countries
come
I
to visit
me, and
have
said
Routine
should
'
sie,
die
I I
am
sorry, Monsignor.'
this
replied,
'
that
my
ill
fortune
to belie
knack of yours.
am
a native of
is
Bohemia, although
mother tongue.'
.>"
my
To what
nationality, then,
a
do you belong
asked
Mezzo
fanti in
Bohemian, without
moment's
hesitation."
He
reading
room of the Vatican, he found the gay animated Monsignor in the ordinary black dress of a priest
and took
"
this opportunity to present him a copy of his " Colombo," in which he had written the inscription,
Dem
"
'
Sprachen-cliamceleon
Mezzofanti.^''
("
To
compliments paid
(
me
but this
is
s])ick
one,'
funkelnagel-neu.)
Upon
*
this
word he
laid a sj)ecial
emphasis, as
if
to
call
my
of
known
'
he continued,
jou
adopted the
Italian form
Yes,'
replied,
'
the
Germans
nowadays,
for
the
most
part,
do homage
334
'At
'
said
he, with
said,
'
among
the Germans.'
replied Mezzofanti,
'
Well, at
all events,'
the
Germans have
monious.
'
What harmony
the caesura
is
Menschen Erlosung
and yet an
Where
will
s])eaking to you,
it is
in this line ?
Voss,
Italian
hang down
his chin
You know
his elegies
Germans
for a hard-hearted
quoted
for
him
composed
in
ridicule of Schiller's
'
and Goethe's
distichs.
In Weimar und Jenam acht man Hexameter Und die Pentameter sind noch erbarmlicher.'
it
wie den,
He
*
repeated
at
to
wish
to
impress
it
on his mind.
Do you
know,' he pursued,
'
what language
others, next to
Greek and
and
rythmical
harmoniousness
The
Hungarian.
know some
you
took
me
This
completely by surprise.
it
Mark
its
will see in
* is
will fully
The passage is in the Rom," [vol. I. p 48. Paris, 1836.] So hab' ich von Herzen, Rothstrumpf immer gehasst und violet-strumpf dazu.
not quite correctly cited
sixth of
it,
Scream
like the
The
allusion
to 'red stocking'
and 'violet
stoclsing,'
is
one of
335
not
my
prediction.
seem
'
to
It
would be
you
Who
?'
is
there that
made no
reply.
them
of his immense
treasures of science,
"f
Among
I
these less
commonly
cultivated languages,
may
also
class Maltese.
equally at home.
to
As Maltese can
it
possess
may
be
by oral instruc-
from occasional
visitors to
Eome, partly
his arrival.
This
much
at least
lan-
guage
bri, of
and
familiarly.
La
Rome in
that
number
of youths to
whom
The
Magyar
language
recently
Phil.
is
read
Transactions of
t Steger's Erganzungs-Conversations-Lexicon.
is
The
New
Testament
336
ministered the
Vito,
met
his
attached
to
this
church.
to
No
sooner
was Father
Schembri presented
him
Rome
at a later date,
"had
him
in Maltese,
which he spoke
very well."f
I need scarcely observe that, although in the capital
and the principal towns of Malta, the prevailing language is Italian, the dialect spoken by the rural
population contains
elements,
chiefly
To what a
degree the former language enters into the composition of Maltese, may be. inferred from the well-known
literary imposture of Vella,
off a forgery of his
who attempted
as
to
pass
own
an Arabic history of
Sicily
Count de Lavradio, Portuguese 'ambassador in London, and brother of the Marquis de Lavradio, who for many years held the same office in Rome.
of the
It regards Mezzofanti's acquaintance with Portuguese,
t Letter
Veha.
416.
337
from
letters written
by him
in excellent Portuguese
him
to
the
learned
for the
M.
de
oiler
which
de
ouza
h;Kl
made
to
him, of a copy of
1817."
to,
while
The Marquis,
in
Mezzofanti's
over
even the
delicate
forms
of
conversational
phraseology.
letters.
He
was
It
perfect, he said,
down
to the
minutest phrases
CHAPTER
Xil
[1834-1836.]
The Librarian of the Vatican, or as he is more properly called the " Librarian of the Roman Church,"
( Bibliotecario
della
Chiesa
Romaria,)
is
always a
of State.
Cardinal,
nominal
management
practi-
the Library,
who
is
assisted
seven
scrittori,
or secretaries,
among whom
are disSyriac,
tributed
Hebrew,
languages
classified.
to his great
office
of
Secretary,
can.
Mezzofanti's
Secondo
Custode^
orientalist of high
66\)
Hebrew
in
tlie
Roman
University.
St. Peter's,
is
and subject
cation of ecclesiastics,
"whose striking
to
The Rector of
this
is
always a
member
among
their
number.
Pope
as
member
was ap-
of I'iector
till
his ele-
The
office
is
in
great
and Mezzofanti,
in
addition to his
many
would
students,
whose limited
its
means
advantages but
He was
also
and a
arrival in
Rome, he had
l^een received
with
warm and
circle.
residence at the
many
The
most distinguished
professors
340
LII'E
OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
Palma,
He was
and
"Academy of the Catholic Religion," a paper which attracted much notice at the time " On
read in the
:
Church
in
of True Knowledge,
Human
oriental
Mind."
The Pope, Gregory XVL, himself, a great lover of studies, received him into his most cordial
In the one brief hour of recreation which
intimacy.
this great
and zealous
pontiff,
who
retained
even in
of the
his frequent
companion.
all
The
;
privilege of entree
it
was
open to him at
the Pope
times
but
was
specially under-
loved
see
his
an accomplished oriental
Mezzofanti's
scliolar,
lost
no time, on
coming
to
him the intimate friendship which they had contracted during his Eminence's residence at Bologna, as
Cardinal Legate.
Wednesday evening with Cardinal Giustiniani and on one occasion, when Dr. Wiseman called at the Cardinal's, he found them reading Arabic together.
He met
cretary, Bernetti,
341
old
both
known
liiui
at
Bologna.
The venerable
pany.
blies
He was
in
the
palace
Zurla,
known
to
On
Pentecost Sunday,
of
the
Feast
Tongues,
whom
distin-
and
all
the
most
Each of
language
Drach, the learned Jcav, named in a former page,f declared that he had not thought
it
possible for
any but a
Hebrew with
the
fluency
Polish priest
known Mezzofanti
;
him
to be a highly educa-
and he added
e degli
that,
altri
Di Marco Polo,
Signor Drach
is
the
Du
Divorce
Talmud.
J
late
One
Czar
22
342
linguist was,
and
own
Nor was
literature
and language
alone.
many
whom
lived,
he inquired by
what
Avas their
resided,
to
which
this
averse
to every-
although
It
it off
so-called,
and
dialects.
The
distinct
statement
upon the
point,
which
The
to
communicated
me
by Dr. Cox himself, in a letter which 1 received from him a very short time before his death. The gentleman referred to was Count Mazzinghi, the well
343
if
not born
in
England, had
London
for so
thorough
Englishman.
"
On
to the
Vatican
Library
Mezzofanti,
an English familVj
Mezzofanti
people to
me
lor
briiigini^
The genlieman whom I introduced, begged as a favour that he would tell him how many languages he could speak. 'I have heard many ditterent accounts,' he said, but will you tell nie
'
yourself?'
answered,
'
Well
if
you
must know,
'
speak
!'
Forty-five
replied
my
friend.
?'
'
How,
'
sir,
contrived to acquhre so
'
many
cannot explain
it,'
said Mezzofanti.
if
me
this peculiar
power: but
you wish
to
these languages, 1
hear the
never forget
it.'
He
return,
rians to
On
our
young German
'
artist,
who,
he told
to
Constantinople.
am
teaching
him
Greek very
tion.
my
instruc-
had the honour,' he subjoined, of giving some lessons on modern Greek to your poet, Lord Byron, when he was in
I
Bologna.'
"
Cox
" that
frequently heard
him
speak of Byron, and that his criticisms upon his works, and his
reflections
While he thus
344
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
five hmgiiages,
of some of
less perfect
than of others.
Its
Nor
steady,
did
remain stationary at
this limit.
facilities
Wiseman
number
Even
as
and Bolognese."
early as 1837,
reply to Dr.
Wap's Dutch
verses, as
:
we have
seen,
point,
for
of him,
Avhicli
pretensions, published in
"Scientific Tour,''
report,
dialects,
Germany,
in
1837
which
many
Fleck's
and
as
languages
As M. Fleck
in
cilious criticisms
contrived, nevertheless, to
345
in
detail,
it
may
opportunity of judging
"
IVl.
for himself.*
in his
gait," writes
Of middle
size
nevertheless agreeable
and benevolent.
Mai's stead,
is that
to see
him
daily.
His
talent
modern Greek
'
to a
Hebrew with
rabbi or
scriltore'
to
of the
Russian
with a magnate
Latin and
aeologist
the English,
Italian
with many.
a
German he speaks well, bat almost too softly, like Hamburgber; Latin he does not speak particularly well, and
is
his English
just as middling.
There
is
that
reminds
me
of a parrot
is
he does
the
reign language.
if
He
vvill
have been
same
ideas in
conversation.
He
especially at the
ifested
connnencement of
and man-
some weakness
in this respect.
He
told
me
he bad learnin
been
danger
Polonicisnis into
to
Russian.
In the
French
and
the
march of
the Austrians
of the gipsies.
and
a
in a kind of
confusion
He
is
altogether
man
much more
decidedly
He
and
to
re-
346
Naples he went
the educafell
tion of natives of
China
as missionaries,
and there he
dan-
gerously
ill.
He
own language. As a
special
(Verdaungs-stunden), and
is
often invited to
him
in
the after-
seems as
if
born
of a court.
foreigners
He
who
has
the learned
to
visit the
them
in
holidays, on
MSS.
His
pi'e-
so
He has Hamis
;
Even of Wendish he
in
This
is,
but
a gift nevertheless,
and,
when exercised
amazement.
admire
its
more dazand
Mezzofanti un-
The
Italians
this distinguished
and African
;
He
is
said to
all
The Persian
missi-
by Mezzofanti
;
when
in
Rome,
Sebastiani, however,
to
his society,
modern Mithridates, and thought very highly of altogether. In an intellectual point of view, many learned men, even Italians,
are certainly above
him
shallow,
owing
to its
were
to spring
his
347
I
who frequent
ain
therefore unable to
(Iter Iialicuin,1.153,)
Mezzofanti
of his friends.
is
memory
in the
albums
He
wrote in mine
rroXKa
iJjb\,oZ(Si iJ.dr7,'j.
"Ev
Ti 601 hor^vri
I shall
recorded in
all
these pages
it
by
It will be
enough
For
fastidiousness,
the
singular beauty
of Mezzofanti's
was
freely
and universally
the idea
ad-
mitted
came
ficial,
to
that
was obliged
and search-
it
was com-
Wissenschaftliche Raise,
I.
p.p. 93
5.
348
In
like
to proas
midthe
Now
I need hardly
recall
testimonies of Mr.
Harford,
Lady
]\Iorgan,
Lady
English traveller who conversed with him, as completely refuting this depreciatory estimate.
The truth
is,
whom
absence of
all
it
was
so
complete
to
as to render
short conversation,
"
One
day," Cardinal
Wiseman
me,
Avho had
relates, "
after
an
Irish
gentleman called
in
arrived that
left
moment
Rome.
for
I
was
asked
called out,
them together
some time.
On my
replied,
returning, Mezzofanti
took leave.
the other
who he thought
He
^
looking
surprised
"
question,
An
English Priest,
I suppose.'
On
trict,
dis-
We
"
and
I entreated
all
the morn-
Accordingly,
we
349
we
'
do,
not only of
grammar but
'
was in saying,
member," instead of
my
time.'
Once, too,
But when
I
that
my way
and that
Nor was
more
His vocabuit
and
as various as
was
select.
curious example of
this,
lish
me
by Cardinal Wiseman.
One
he and Mr.
Monckton Milnes
Apostoli.
at the time.
said
INIr.
call
what
the German,"
'
sweltering
*'
it is
words was
in great measure
II. p.
203.
350
English,
of phrase
and peculiar
" Spectator," so other foreigners have been struck by finding an Italian model his conversational style upon
One
for a
instance
may
sufiice
as a
specimen.
Upsala,
Professor Carlson
of the university
of
who was
considerable
time
engaged
the papers of
Queen Christina, and was thus thrown for weeks into constant communication with Mezzofanti, assured my
friend
Mr.
'
quite
but
also as regards
language, Avhich
very
difficult.
Danish languages are very much alike, though difiercharacter. widely in accent and musical ing
perfectly
home
their diffisrences.
He
trifle
added, that
if
speaking of Swedish,
:
was perhaps a
too
grammatically accurate
This
as a fault.
may
per-
many words
the plural,
is
in
is
"kanna
;"
351
same
as the
singular.
almost entirely
self-
taught in Swedish
and
his
infer
course
language.
him
with
at
Eome, found him thoroughly familiar with and in general critically acquainted
the masters of Swedish style.
is
Indeed there
more calculated
literatures
to ex-
his
acquaintance
various
of
the
The
it is
impossi-
ble
to
doubt
;
Numerous
I
instances
have been
already cited
but
oriental
languages,
at
random from
many independent testimonies which have been communicated to me by persons who enjoyed his intimacy during the early years of his residence at
Rome.
In a commission for the revision of the liturgical
The Catalogue
It also
(p.
vols.,
8vo., Stockholm,
others.
1826
also the
Scandinavian remains.
352
books
of
LIFE OF CARDINAL
MEZZOFANTI.
the
Armenian
rite
appointed
by Pope
Gregory
XVL,
menian
of the
Abbot
Monastery of
St.
1855, assures
nities
me
of
observation which a
of
He
Armenian with perfect freedom, and in all its dialects." Mgr Hurmuz, the Armenian Archbishop of Sirace, in a letter of May 24th, in the same year, attests that Mezzofanti's Armenian scholarship " was not confined to the knowledge of the language, ancient and modern he also knew the history of the Armenian nation, and of science and art among them, together with their periods of progress and decay."
;
to Mezzoflinti.
Ahmed
way
to
London
in 1836.
After along interview he declared to Father Arsenius, that "Mezzofanti was not only perfectly at home in
the vocabulary, the structure, and the pronunciation,
but
thoroughly
eccellenza) in
being
He
received the
same assurances
as
to
353
Kedschid
both
languages,
at
various
times,
from
A
in
native Syrian
in
whom
Rome
has for
many years
resided at
Latin
whom
he had
not read."
Sicily,
St.
The abate Pietro Matranga,f a Greek of and professor of Greek in the Greek College of
extent.
He
states
had occasion
peat
book into
his
hands
being able
re-
from memory."
Polish priest
named Ozarowski,
Cox.
stated as
much
commentators upon Homer, and of some unpublished Anacreontic poems of the Byzantine period.
CO
that of Sicily, the same abate Matranga that he was equally versed. "
abate, " in repeating from
Sicilian poet,
assures
me
He
memory
among his countrymen, is hardly known even by name outside of his native island.
I
cannot
close,
however,
have not found any evidence of his having being equally familiar with another exceedingly important
literature of the East
the ancient Sy
riac.
Vague
state-
ments
I have
have heard in abundance; but no one to had access could speak with certainty
whom
;
and
department of
and
is
Moore (Diary,
him
as
a Sicilian poet, of
theless, a
whom
He
is,
never-
is
an epic of twelve
little
Don
highly amusing.
CHAPTER
XIII.
[1836-1838.]
Wiseman, meeting
"To
" In
"I have
to
what language
?"
am
teaching
to the Californian
youths
whom we
have there."
" Californian
!"
From whom
"
and now
am
teaching
it to
them grammatically."
faculty
the
manner new to
tized,
in
aids
356
Two native Californians, many Indian tribes of that Rome to be educated at the
Propaganda.
;
One
of
the other,
his
elife.
To
fanti attached himself with all the interest language always possessed for him. *
which a
are
of
the
Californian
peninsula
"VVaicuros,
In the days
of the
was spoken
;f
reducing
it
to
an
intelligible
grammatical system.
Upon
and of reducing
process.
*
it
to
rules.
It
He began by making
in Civilta Cattolica (by
vol.
iii,
See account
F. Bresciani)
part
iii,
569.
p. 180.
357
the general
first
what may be
cles,
called the
to distinguish verbs
adjectives
to
of both.
Having
With him
the knowledge
power
of speaking.
I
conversation
with
these
least
youths,
so
that
his
success
was complete, at
and
far as could be
cations of familiarity.*
Some time
and soon
of these
Californians,
after
Mezzofanti's
coming
to
Since
the
similar has
been mentioned to
me by
of Dublin, also a
A young Mulatto of the Dutch West named Enrico Gomez, arrived about a
He
spoke no language except
the
*'
Nigger Dutch," of
of communication Epiphany) he had not only with him, but had learned his language, and even composed for him A a short poetical piece, which Gomez recited at the Academy
!
Sunday
after
third
case, of three
Albanian youths,
is
mentioned
in
the Civilta
23
358
sent
for
education to the
Propaganda
two North
American Indians, youths of the Ottawa tribe, then residing near Mackinaw, at the upper end of Lake
Michegan.
The
elder of these,
named Augustine
elder, spent
with
great
success,
more
Inconse-
Koman
Catholic Ottawa
dress, in-
converts in general, as
telligence, industry,
"in appearance,
communions," f
and general
civilization, superior
refers in
particular to
''
a well-looking
in
in black, of
sent,
when young,
to be
in
" Shea's
a
Catholic
Missions
interest
among
387.)
work of exceeding
and most
executed.
359
his people."*
This youth,
there
Washington, as one
and especially
and on a
in the
Propaganda,
and
to
whom
am
American Government.
philologer,
M. du Ponceau,
much
and
ability.
It
was from
Ottawa language
le
appended to
cale des
Memoire sur
Systeme Grammati-
Langues Indiennes.^
difficult to
first direc*
ted
languages of North
America.
he
left
Bologna.
communication with
15.
See
his
Memoire
97, also p.
3G0
him
which the
letter
is
wanting
"not," as he explained
lip,
lip
downwards, and
sound of
its
impossible for
them
or
even
his
companion,
it
was the
first
of these
the Ottawas
a variety of which
spoken by
Dr. O'Connor
is
own knowledge.
best,
how-
of a large pro-
geny of
tion
natives, but
of St.
many
years a
missionary
among
in
their
language *
than
Of
See
Du
Ponceau. Meiuoiro,
294
5.
LIFE OF
CARDIXAL MEZZOFANTI.
361
completely master
preciated by those
to
who imderstand
novel
and
a European
entirely
structure
these
languages.
But whatever uncertainty may exist as to manner in which he acquired these particular
guages, there are
it
the
lan-
many
many
re-
indebted for
many
of his
may perhaps
be remembered, that,
when Dr.
Tholuck saw him in 1830, and changed quite suddenly to Arabic in the midst of a conversation in German,
although he replied in that language "without hesitation and quite correctly," yet he " spoke very slowly,
and,
as
it
words one
with
another."
Now
first
coming
to the
Propaganda, he "fas-
whom
*
and that
Not
is
entirely different
from those of
we
altogether peculiar.
is
For example,
in the
Chippewa
lan-
guage there
of
tiie
verbs, by which
Thus
word
art
am
a man,' 'thou
a man,' 'he
man
;'
&c.
So
See
Mrs.
Jameson,
tire
p. 196.
Du
5.
362
LIFE OF CAllDmAL MEZZOFANTI.
opportunity of
instruct in
it
With what
may be
in
Eome
(in
that Mezzo-
knowledge of Arabic,
Another language which Mezzofanti, in 1839, told Dr. Tholuck he had studied, but in which Dr. Tholuck had no means of trying him, was the Albanese.
The
this
late
M. Matranga mentioned
Eome
Propaganda
two years
dinal's
since,f that,
abundant resources.
The
students,
the
first, it
will be recollected,
especial
favourites
in Tur-
and
Letter of
M.
May
4,
1855.
363
grani, supplied
this language,
him with
practice in
Armenian
but to
of cultivating, he
stantly
met
outside.
regards a
an interesting
letter received
from the
but yet
briefly,
languages which
IVtezzofanti
M. Fernando
is
a native of Colombo in
to
He came
Rome
early in
Cardinal Mezzofanti.
"When
I left
Ceylon
little
for
Rome," he
writes,
very
was the
full
stock of
my
knowledge when
a master
Still it
of the Propaganda.
to
From such
was not
A
itself.
my
arrival in college, I
was introduced
to his
Eminence
in his polyglot
library
in the college
Cardinal
Mezzofanti
knew nothing of
the
Cingalese
364
before I
the
Propaganda, yet
in a (ew
days he
for
was
our
able to assist
me
to
My
own knowledge
to
was not
at
warrant
it
my
he spoke
well.
having been
for
the purpose,)
he thoroughly entered
ese language.
Among
as to one.
In
my
who spoke
the
but
who
is
now missionary
a lin-
from
one language
to
another
him speak
studenLS,jaddressing each
in his
own language
and
ease, fluency,
spirit,
it
and so much
used
to
of the character
and tone
own
characteristic
names of many with whom the Moses Ngau (who died in Pegu with Zaccaria Cohen in not long ago) in the Peguan language Gabriel, another Abyssinian, in the Amarina Abyssinian with
may mention
the
menian
Abdo
of a curious and interesting volume of travels " The Sea Nile, Being obliged by ill the Desert and Nigritia," published in 1853,
health to leave the
is
the author
to
Lebanon, he settled
in
London
as a teacher of
One of his
gaged him
365
anj
not so sure)
Mong in Chinese;
Arabagiski in
banian.
Bulgarian
to
with
With regard
can-
who spoke
I
those dia-
my
I
lime.
As
for
the
European languages,
can assure
Polish,
you
that
as I
had frequently
heard
said in
all
Eome
"Hin-
dostani and
needed,
dialects,
(several of which
till
were almost
name
to Europeans,) to assure
I
unknown me that
even
this
by
was a
great exaggeration.
am
The
all
of the San-
in his recent
in
comto the
an expedition
in 1855, that
have been assured by M. Bauer, a student of the Propaganda he often conversed with the Cardinal in Hungarian,
366
parative
grammar
has enumerated under the general designation of Dravidian, nine un-Sanscritic languages of this region
of India,
among which
Canarese,
the best
known
Telugu,
and Malayalim.
There seems
familiarly-
any member of Dravidian family, unless the Guzarattee can be included therein.
M. Fernando's
Auliffe,
of Tamil, induced
lately a
me
to
Mac
had
Missionary
in
who, after
that
Presidency,
who knew
the Cardinal
Dr.
Mac know
Tamil.
M. Fernando's
assures
testimony, and from that of Count Lackersteen of Calcutta, a native East Indian gentleman,
who
mef
him
in Hindostani, in 1843-4.
I
As
to the
Mahratta
dialect,
MacAuliffe's
assurance)
;
been
obtain
any
direct information
chant of Calcutta,
comparative
Family of Languages.
1856.
367
hmguage
the Guzarattee.
Mr.Eyoob saw the Cardinal in the same year with Count Lackersteen, and writes* that, when he was introduced to his eminence as a native of Bombay, the
Cardinal at once addressed him in Guzarattee.
Mr.
in
Eyoob
him
Armenian and
guages his accent, vocabulary, and grammatical accuracy, were beyond all exception.
steen's letter
fully
confirms so
much
ment
with
as regards Portuguese.
The Count
:
Mezzofanti in Persian
but,
as he does
not
on this head
is
not of so
much
value.
By
far
the
fanti's successes
Propaganda was
difficulty of that
his acquisi-
tion of Chinese.
The
language for
it
argued
study.
His
first
progress at
was not
for
wish
See
a most amusing
by Pere
Bourgeois,
in
the
first
An
interesting
is
Chinese language
1697.
found
in Griiber's
Relazione
Florence,
368
was expressed by
that a select
lege
Propaganda
number
should be sent to
Rome
completion of
in Bologna, one of
whom, named
Pacifico
Yu,
of-
Corea, at a period
to
when
al-
martyrdom
but
it
was not
the
Propaganda
was
actually carried
out.
Don
many
;
mission at
their prefect
and professor
and with the assistance of the young Chinese, Mezzofanti resumed the study with new energy. His is admitted on all hands to have been almost success
unexampled.
Certainly
it
China.
In the
conversed
named
Leang
and Mong,
and
my
which he seemed
But
placed beyond
all
doubt by an
attestation forwarded to
who
declares
Chinese,
1837, up
to
the date of
23, 1853,
369
guage."
this lan-
guage.
Father Arsenius
;"
much
it
the ear-language,
worth while
successfully accomplished in a
what
cost
their advantages of
many
years
of labour,
having actually
What Europeans
call
the
Mandarin
language
language.
is
by
It
is
the
Chinese designated
Houan
Hoa, or universal
spo-
marked
ken by instructed persons throughout the Empire, although with a difference of pronunciation in the northern and the southern
provinces.
Besides
this,
minor
dialects.
See
370
It
must not be supposed, however, that, the Pro* paganda was his only school of languages. Not unfrequently, also,
the world,
who
repaired to
of Western Africa.
time a missionary
in Congo.
On
his
arrival
in
Rome, Mezzofanti placed himself in communication with him and Cardinal jReisach, (who was at that
;
language.
of
Congo
comprises
many
distinct
the Epiphany.
Two
Mr. Consul Brande, long a resident at Loango, who pronounces them " to exhibit a correct knowledge of
the Angolese or Biinda language. "f
*
III. part
I.
pp.
20724.
to
f Lettei' of
February
7, 1857.
Dr.
Livingston
all
The
commu-
me
his
own
gent native
as
them to a friend at Loando, to be submitted to an intellibut in whose judgment Mr. Brande has full confidence yet (March 15, 1858,) no reply has reached me.
;
.371
may add
to the
number
of those with
whom
he
was accustomed
to
others mentioned to
first
me by
Cardinal Wiseman.
The
was a learned Chaldean, Paul Alkushi, who had Propaganda, but relin-
The other was a converted Jew, a native of Bagdad, and who, although otherwise illiterate, He spoke fluently Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian.
profession.
in
Rome by
the sobriquet of
The only
able
friends,
which
have been
to procure
in
acknowledg-
his
but
it
it
is
warm
interest
which
Tuscan Universities,
went
to
Gen-
where he
is
now
Librarian.
The
letter
to Veggetti,
re-
372
of Bologna,
interested.
"
out
I
am
delighted that
my
effect,
many
my
do,
care,
pupil of
my
own.
Knowing,
also, the
good understanding
my
whom
if
you consult
it
may
be the same as
if
himself.
I
must confess
am more
if
this
appointment, than
History, a difficult
vances.
the chair of
And
while I
in to
must
not
to
myself on leaving
hitherto entrusted
my own
care.
I will
fail
to profit
by
me."
Dr. Veggetti
still
at
Bologna.
He
CHAPTER
XIV.
[18381841.]
Among
there
is
Roman
Court,
a certain class,
is,
known
as Poste Cardinalizie,
The
chief keepership of
;
is
but
it
and, in a consistory
nized
"
as
with
three
other prelates
in petto "
and Mellini.
well
Priests, as
known,
the
representatives,
in
the
more
modern
constitution of
the
Roman
church, of
priests
the ancient
Preshyteri Cardinales
the
of the principal
(tituli
Their number,
which
five,
at the
end of the
fifth
but the
374
memory
of their
primitive
institution
is
preserved
and which
Presbyters presided.
fiinti
The
title
of Cardinal Mezzo-
was derived from the ancient church of Saint Onuphrius, (Sant' Onofrio,) on the Janiculum, which
probably best
is
known
of the
to
visitors of
Eome
as
the
last resting-place
poet Tasso.
To many
has but
little
Koman
court
a brilliant
dis-
But
to
well
informed readers
the
Pope
in
the
;
general
management
we
of
the
affairs of the
Church
By
all
matters of importance
were considered and discussed in the general meeting of the body, called the Consistory
multiplication
of
business,
;
;
but, in the to
it
became necessary
latter part of
all
See an excellent
di
Ei'udizione
II.
344 and
375
arisen,
^''
by which, as by a
all
administered
of
yet
superintendence
the
Pope
to
and subject,
these
Some
of
congregations, (which
all,)
amount
nearly twenty in
in
almost every
is
of the congregation
Some congregations meet every week, others only once a month but in all the leading
Cardinal.
;
is
weekly meeting
(congresso)
of
the
Prefect
and
affairs
of routine
the
Pope
To each Cardinal,
en ordinary
y
appointment
in
many
and,
the
cases,
the
it
is
is
number
is
afterwards
in
increased;
of these
when
remembered that
many
business
much documentary
canonical
research,
;
and
careful
investigation
form but a part of the duties of a Cardinal ; it will be understood that his position is very far from the
sinecure which the unreflecting
may suppose
it
to be.
376
LIFE OF CARDINAL
MEZZOFANTI.
to
He was named
Prefect
also of the
He
v/as also,
on the same
grounds, appointed a member, not only of the general " Congregation of the Propaganda," but also of the
special one "
On
and
and of
" the
Examination of Bishops."
With a
known
and
visitor
of the
House of Catedestined
for
chiefly
The
for
official
four tliousand
so that
those
cardinals who,
like
Mezzofanti,
possess
for purely
expenditure
is
With
it
suflicient
377
to enlarge
wliich,
also enabled
him
the
unostentatious
life,
charities
XVI, himself
,
state
carriages *
which form
all
the
necessary
equipage of a Cardinal in
processions
and other
He
Palazzo Valenti-
where
his
nephew,
came
to live with
him on
his
nomination to the
The news
public
of his elevation
many
re-
The most
The
Italians are
conservative
of established
as
its
forms
the
friend of
was on
its
way
some
look,
idle
and saying to each other: "Che barcaccia /" (What a shocking old boat !). He was greatly amused at the indignation with which the
coachman resented
378
members
bly
met
in full assem-
inscriptions,
and music,
which Italian
taste is dis-
The congratulatory
addresses, however,
which in England would have been a set of speeches and resolutions, here, as became the " Lovers of
the Muses," took a poetical form
;
and a
series of
and epigrams,
Greek, Latin,
and
Italian,
members.
graceful.
Some of them are exceedingly spirited and They were all collected into a little
taste, is
to his
I
whom
have
who was
A still
*
more
his
Count Marches!
p. 150.
is
given by Mar-
Pagine Monumentali,
De
tuoi versi
il
content,
io sento,
Che
versi
Ma
Che
oime'
E
t
languida da lungi
responds,
Ementissimo Signer Cardinale Giuseppe Mezzofanti, Bolognese, elevato all' Onore della Porpora Romana, Applausi dei Filopieri, 8vo., Bologna, 1838." A similar tribute
The
title
is
"
All'
from the pen of Doctor Veggetti, who had succeeded Mezzofanti Librarian, appeared a short time before, entitled " Tributo
as
di
il
Giorno
Bologna, 1838.
379
was a polyglot
comprising
visit of
party of fifty-three,
their
greetings
in
their various
tongues.
at once
character
fully equal
to the occasion,
in his
own
lan-
and precision.*
him
if
possible,
more
affectionate re-
lations
Among
as
he
have already
and
the
venerable
Cardinal
Pacca.
learned
proclaimed
Stolz, Biografia, p. 7.
which
to the
bon-mot on occasion of Monsignar Mozzofanti's elevation, Cardinal Wiseman, and which is ascribed I heard from
is
the point
380
But, Avith
the exception
of the public
and
cereit
manner
course,
of
life.
The externals
of his household, of
alteration, but his
underwent considerable
the same hour
his
He
continued to
his
at
morning devotions,
His
and entirely
as simple, as
his elevation.
He
persevered, unless
when
official duties, in
paying his
its
affiibility to visitors,
if
possible,
increased.
Above
all,
as
regarded his
which he had been subject. Some one observed that it was strange to see a " Cardinal wearing ear-rings,'' {chi porta orecchini.J
eyes, to
" Not at
uomini
e
all."
"Ci han da
in dignita
essere tanti
asses ears,")
perche non
rings.)
ci ha da essere uno alineno chi porti orecvkini? fearThere are many dignitaries who have orecc/H/jf, (asses-ears),
at least
ear-rings ?"
881
of })er-
new opportunity
fecting or
For years
elevation, he
continued to add
There
is
he had
his
sixty-fourth year,)
he acquired
languages,
and perhaps
no acquaintance.
ted to
me by M. Antoine
d'Abbadie,*
who
visited
Rome.
M. d'Abbadie had
Setting out in
his brother
company with
of
Arnauld,
tra-
White
Nile, he
north
eastern
Africa.
Their
wanderings,
however,
less
proved a mission
of
religion
and charity, no
of
their long
tribes
they
observed
with
painful
and their
first
care was
the character of the people, with a view to the organization of a judicious and effective missionary expePerhaps it is not generally known that the brothers Antoine and Arnauld d'Abbadie, although French by name, fortune, and education, are not only children of an Irish mother, but wtre born, and
spent the
lived
in
first
years of childhood,
till
in
Dublin.
M. Antoine d'Abbadie
letter
Dublin
his
eighth year.
See his
to the
Athcn-
p. 93.
382
dition by
which
their
many
it
capabilities
is
for
good
the
might be developed.
letters,
Hence,
that,
while their
to
reports,
knowledge of
whom
after
and
M. Antoine d'Abbadie,
labours, returned to
Europe in 1839,
and more
syste-
matic exploration.
early
On
of
opportunity
waiting
(and only)
M. dAbbadie himself
;
more or
less extensive,
guages*
of this region
of Africa.
His collections,
also,
on the
and geography, as well as on the religious and social condition of the country, are most extensive and valuable. The work in which he is understood to be engaged upon the subject,
natural history
is
mnch
interest.
When M.
383
spoke
Basque,
;
a language
which was
still
new
to
Mezzofanti
certainly
glottist completely
"
in
1839.
I, in
He
asked
me
in
wished
to speak,
I
and
far
am
from
knowing
in
this
I
idiom well
but, as
transact
my
farmer's business
Basque,
it.
The Cardinal
I
waived
my
me what
African language
the
would speak
language named
word
lo
Latin articulation.
said
:
Amarinna, Mezzofanti
('Have
you
the
knowledge of
Gi-iz
language?')
but
This
that
was well
the
said,
shewed
persons
Cardinal
knowledge of
it
Gi-iz
from
who
in general.
i.e.,
I afterwards ascertained in
to collo-
no person accustomed
this
Rome, during
in
century at
least.
may
here
is
in
is
Europe,
language
Abyssinia,
where
it
it
although
is still
spoken by
Sea.
In
at least
visit
tribes near
I
the
my
Cardinal
Mezzofanti,
had with
Red me two
Amara Abyssines, with whom he could not speak, as neither of them knew Gi-iz enough, and I had not yet learned that lanMy third com])anion was a Galla, who had taught me guage.
his
language,
viz.,
Ilmorma,
I
in
tnost
he
was forced
to elicit
every meaning
I
by a slowly convergent series, of questions, which time he used a word new to me. Some of these had
mained a mystery
first
i)ut
every
until
then re-
lo
me
as the
word
self,
its
existence,
as a
language,
o84
the
Lin: of cardinal
absliaci
t-lass.
I
mezzofanti.
in vain to
all this
same
gel
to
Mezzofanti,
added, that
as a philologist and
father of the
me no
better
me
to
the
meairs of teaching
saved.
my
be
find
for
the
?
nieans of
I
the
word
sonl
have
will
which you
can.'
no
direct answer.
always addressed
guage,
I
me
judge
in
his
knowledge or fluency.
told
Rome,
me
that both
were
suppose now,
to the
Syrian
dialect."
and
in so
many
He wasatthe moment
and
by the way,
busily engaged
in
Armenian
liturgies
a circumstance,
but, a
himself to the
Amarinna with
How
it
ended,
we
shall see.
first
1841, when I
had the
who had
just
come
to
Rome under
Abyssinian mission.
These Abyssinians
were
their
all
understood to
professors
and men of
The
LIFE OF CARDIXAI. .MEZZOFANTI.
385
embarrassment
theirs,
and
his whole
manner, as well as
appeared to
me
(so
without an
that
effort.
Thinking
it
probable,
however,
in
M. d'Abbadie during his second sojourn sinia, must have known something of this
I
Abys-
mission,
thought
it
well to write to
him on the
subject.
He inI
had
to Alexandria, to obtain
triarch (to
whom
Abun, or Primate, of
church.
them
so
to
accompany him
all
to
who were
Amari, Kanfu,
Mikael."
M. d'Abbadie that "Cardinal Mczzofanti conversed very well with him in Amarinna, and that he also knew the Gi-iz language," He had thus learned the ximarinna between 1839
One
and 1841.
am
another
later
acquisition
clining years.
Before the
summer
had
386
Now
at that time
all
impos-
we have
1839.
in
seen,
M. d'Abla-
badie found
him a novice
in
One
of
my
companions in Rome
1841, the
mented Guido Gorres, of Munich, son of the venerable author of that name, and himself one of the most
having
chanced to say
to the
in company.
Their read-
commenced when
I last
saw Herr
likewise
Gorres
He had
its
to converse both
;
in the
Labourdain and
the Souletin
which,
it
One
of the
Some idea, though a faint one,of the difGrammar, may be formed from the number and names words of a Basque verb. They are no less than eleven and
;
(!)
and
Infinitive.
The variety
as singularly
is
very great.
387
"My
in the
friend
a canon
Bajonne Cathedral,
told
the
the ancient
Faubourg
St.
Germain.
This
is
a nice distinction
On
you'
?)
hearing that
said
:
Mingo
shew-
'
Of whence have we
thus
ing that he had mastered the tremendous difficulty of our vernacular verb.
The ensuing
dialect,
the
pure
Labourdain
which
the
Cardinal
him
in
the
Souletin
afterwards shewed to
M. d'Abbadie
a short sen-
is
printed
among
Zu
'
maitatzea da zoriona,
!
Lord
to serve
is
Thee
is
to reign
To
love Thee,
happiness."
M. d'Abbadie,
L. Bonaparte, to
Lewis
it,
whom M.
;
d'Abbadie submitted
'zu
write zure.
is
written
is
and
Letter of
6, 1855.
888
ofM.
zu
Guipuscoan."
to
M. d'Abbadie
subjoins,
that, in addition
the
M. Dassance, for
the Cardinal's
Moreover,
1846, he
in
Kome
in
to
of Astros
and several
M. Manaof
it
the
dialects
In a word,
appears
new language.
is
As the
not
a just portraiture of
in
must
place
contrast with
the judgments of
reader
may
its
be
pen-
bination of both.
It
must be
confessed,
as
set off
against
the
Manavit,
p.
109.
389
I
him any
of
these excellencies.
think,
to proceed
qualified to
ments of a
One
of eminence
involves to
is
it
won-
who
as
did
Mezzofanti,
should have
had
his
gentleman, who
is
saw Mezzofanti a
by Mr. Watts.*
little
M. d'Abbadie,
is
cited
Her
ill-
characteristic
But
as her strictures,
I shall
insert
be
seated.
On me
his first
he was small
in stature, dry, in
monkey-like
We
some time.
is
He
not
speaks
bad.
I
Hungarian
asked him
well
from
whom
he had learned
it
he
said
from the
common
soldiers at Milan.
He had
and Csokonai, Pethe's Natural History, and some other Hungarian book?, but it seemed to me that he rather studies the words than
*
Olaszhoni es
"Wesselenyi
ISO.
p. 121.
25
'
390
reads.
present, he
with
me
he
Wallachian
if I
but
to
my shame
was unable
to
answer.
me He
asked
knew Slowakian.
To
a priest
us,
he spoke
in
asked
knew
fifty.'
for
only speak
!
forty
or
faculty
should in the least be tempted to envy; for the empty unreflecting vvord-knowledge, and
with which he was
filled,
the
reminded
me
rather of a
monkey
up
or a
for the
He
curiosi-
of the Vatican.
parting,
I
"At
if
he would allow
me
first
'
to
My
a
care at
my
'
hotel was
('
to
Balileletekrol
On
1
Prejudices
it,
to
tlie
binder, and
in
few
to
handsomely bound
in
white leather,
whom
it,
found
a hurry to
As
even
!
ascertain
the
name
szep,
of
the author, he
Ah
Szepen van
Aranyos. szep,
fine,
igen
igen
koszonom
(Ah
fine,
very
bound.
it
Beautiful, very
very
fine,
much
;)
and put
away
in a
book-
case.
own
like
Now,
may
safely
in the
Library Catalogue,
p. 138.
391
to
draw from
well enough,"
and that
his pronunciation
Lest, however,
by
these
grudging
Baron Glucky de
who met
the Cardinal in
Rome some
only
testifies
Magyar, but
tongue
the pure
of
Magyar
environs
Eperies,
!"
that
Pesth,
and that of
takes upon
Transylvania
Madame Paget
Baron Glucky
traordinary power enjoyed by the Primate of Hungary, the Baron chanced to allude to his privilege of
Em-
year of the
by which
it
was annulled
!"*
As regards the dashing style in which this lady Magyar reading, which only
works
of
Kisfaludi and
Czokonai,
may
know
that,
June
6, 1855.
392
names thus
slightingly,
com-
cellaneous literature.
strictures
it
strictures be
offer,
observed, which
minutes,
among a crowd
of other visitors
her charge
is
of love of display,
like" exhibition,
many months
in
for a
with
all
to the diversity of
and opinions,
his character
and
his gifts
Eome
I
I
imagine,''
he
writes,
(in
the HistoiischPhillips,
he
was
editor,)
" that
effect
upon
he
grievously mislaken.
is still
Under
same
all
Mezzofanti
natured,
the
plain, simple,
conscientious,
indefatigable, active
that he was,
Volume X. (1842.)
p.
227279-80.
393
relatives "v^ho
is
humblest form,
to gain a livelihood
for the
stored
many
languages,
it
the learned,
shown the
least indication
is
As Prefect
discharges
of the
House of Catechumens he
all
schoolmaster.
He
visits the
In like manner he
still,
relations
Although he
is
day
to
summer an
He
him,
practises
them and
avails himself of
exhort
them
to piety
It is
scarcely
When
pupils, he
is
*****
necessary
to
and
strengthen them
in the spirit
of their calling.
say
that
these
youths
regard
spoke
said to
to
me,
*
It is
not as
Cardinal
go there;
*
it
as
a student
as
a youth
(giovanetlo.)*
*
this
first
He
class
lian,
is
European languages.
classical
And by
the old
is to
say, the
Ita-
Spanish, Portuguese,
his
class, viz.
Bohemian
;
and fourth
are
On my
haj)peniug to
at
mention that
little in
it
Basque, he
once
ahout
together.
Even
the
Ro;
unfamiliar to
him
394
Lapland
although he told
me
He
is
master of
all
the
Indo-German family
the Sanscrit
and
dish, the
he
is
familiar with
all
the
members
Hebrew, Arabic,
the
Syriac,
even
Chinese,
which
As
mark of
forty-three of his
him on occasion
and addressed
to
him a
He
fully
again
really
enjoyed
the
intimacy of the
Cardinal, that,
frequently
as he
in circumstances
which seemed
and
freely as
he contributed to
the
amusement of his visitors by exhibiting in conversation with them his extraordinary acquii*ements, he
Avas entirely free
Madame
With all his high qualifications,'* says the Rev. Ingraham Kip,* a clergyman of the American episcopal
church, " there
fanti
is
"It
his character,'*
all
the ad-
By
the Rev.
ited by the
Rev.
W.
Sewell, p. 175.
"
395
upon
this
extraordinary
gift.
'Alas!'
he once
said to
sharing in the universal curiosity to see this wonderful celebrity, apologized to the
his
European reputation
'
alas
what
languages avail
it is
me
for.
thither
He
had
little
for
merit
he
!"
said,
had
gifted
"What am
would
"
an ill-bound dictionary
He
gifts to
Wiseman
Catherine de Medici,
who when
For
told
'
that Scaliger
is
knew twenty
languages, observed,
!
that
twenty
my
"
On
"
one occasion,
SyriacoB^
When
was not
know behind
me
!"
And when
396
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTL
''
it
was''
pressing his " regret that his youth had fallen upon a
now
re-
garded."
of his
mind
upon upon
in reference to himself,
and
to his
own
acquire-
own
deficiency
his success.
curiosity, with
which
was
re-
performance, and as
little
was
to
exercise
sake.
own
language
relate a lively
To
his hum^ble
and
guileless
mind
itself.
He
retained to his
all
his
of boyhood. in his
was impossible
to
company without
to
feeling
Propaganda
puts
them not
"What
Madame Paget
down
account of
397
was
most boyish
pleasure
spirits,
and of
this simple
and unaffected
good nature.
;
He
ordinary
partly because
was
:
to
amusing relaxation
ses to
but,
among
him
as a motive
of action.
my own
circle,
his
humble
friends,
the
Propaganda.
CHAPTER
XV.
[18411843.]
Although
my own
recollections
of
Cardinal
unimportant that
that I should be
I
experienced
were
T to
from
my
July, 1841.
but,
He was then
his
although
look
and
colour
betrayed
the
ing age.
He was
alto-
His shoulders,
it is
true,
were slightly
399
free,
toleraljly
vigorous,
although
perhaps
too
hurried
for
where
the baldness was but partially concealed by the red zucchettOj (skull cap,) it
was
still
ant.
More than one portrait of him has been published, and several of those who saw him at different times have recorded their impressions of his appearance but
:
pencil
His countenance
Madame
describes
Its character
and
The proportions of the face were The complexion was dead and colourless, and these defects were made still more reThere markable by a small mole upon one cheek.
from regular.
eyelids, too,
air of weakness,
which carried
no
all
and which
portrait
could
adequately embody.
in
:
Raffaelle's
Madonna
di
Foligno
400
any
the
same
"
open
brow of undisturbed humanity," on which no passion had written a single line, and which care had touched
only to soften and spiritualize
playful, yet subdued, humility
spect,
;
the
same quiet
smile,
self-re;
blended with
above
the same
an honest eye
zing look
a and earnest, but not deep, but tranquil, and placing you
full
by assuring you of
own
perfect calmness
and
self-possession.
much
said of childhood
although, with
all this
gaiety and
in his
light-heartedness, there
it
in perfect
which Rochefoucault alludes when he Pen de gens savent etre vieux. And thus he was equally at home among his venerable peers of the
ful old age, to
says
camerata of the
illustrated
Propaganda.
No
old
man
ever
more
clearly that
401
the old
man joung
in
Rome,
in the
summer
at the
of 1841,
at the
Propaganda
Roman Seminary
della
demia
Religione Cattolica
once in his
own apartments.
him speak
whom
he met, and
with each of
English,
whom
With
German,
Romaic,
and
was
Hungarian.
myself his
conversation
always in English.
it
:"
by others
pronounced to be undistinguishable
The
truth,
as in
all
such
admitting at least
the
perfect
fluency
and
strict
grammatical accuracy
conversation
:
of
the
Cardinal's
as
English
to
its
M. Crawford, ex-secretary of the Ionian Islands, told M. d'Abbadie* last year, that Mezzofanti appeared to him to use some un-English To Dean Milman, who was introconstructions. duced to him several years ago by Mr. Francis Hare,
idiomatical propriety.
his
if
learned from
books,
1857.
402
And
Lady-
My own
rived from
many
Lady
Blessington,
Mr.
Harford,
others,
Bishop
who atboth of grammar and test his perfect accuracy of idiom. Mr. Badeley, the eminent lav/yer, who saw him but one year before his death, told me that " he
Baines,
Cardinal
Wiseman, and
visit
way
that
It
is
was not
strictly
being a foreigner
though to
my
ear
were were
or, if
they regarded
language at
all, it
his expressions
more formal
more
like
the periods of
is
common
in the
His pronunciation
t Iial}' I,
403
unerring
;
its
precision being
rule,
more
the
and of
If I
than
were disposed
to
very
strictly, I
as
this
may
l?letely
of a native, it was almost too correct to appear comnatural ; and that its very correctness gave
to it
some
own language
as
I
in the
mouth
of a
stranger,
describe
caricato*
But
never met
whose English
The
my judgment,
so
slight as
known
more than one instance similar to that already related from Cardinal Wiseman, in which Irish visitors meeting the Cardinal for the
first
time, without
knowing
which
*'
who he
I
an English dignitary*
called in
is
Ireland,
the
English accent."
of English pronunciation
think
it
the great
stumbling
was the
late
lin, who, while I myself was in Rome, conversed with Cardinal Mezzofanti under the impression that he was speaking with the
404
block of
mayIt
of the
provincial dialects.
recollected
in 1817,
by
Zumm ersetshire
imitated
for
cabman.
and how successfully he Walsh the slang of a London And a still more amusing example of the
Mr.
been communicated
to
me by
Kev.
Mr. Grant of
Lytham, brother of
this
my
am
indebted for
and
for
many
by the Rev.
guage.
"
'
patois in
Cardinal.
very different
;
so
much
so, that
man
instead of v
vine' in-
And
called, is another
remember very
whom
met soon
pace.
* '
hand upon
his
thigh,
cried out,
'
Oh
excellent
your
405
^viorii:f,'
excellent
' !
'
Now,
to
thero
yon
are
said
Then he went
tending
like
'
that,
'
analogy,
should be pronounced
is
it
gr^ft
that
the diphthong ea
so pronounced
in
alnaost
all, if
stanced
others.
these
words
he said
'
eagle,
meat,
beat, fear,^
and
some
next
And
it
considered
a vulgarism to pronounce
like 'grate.'
I
He
on
Welsh
language
but
really
quite
left
forget
what he said
me
As
literature,
is
very limited.
me
He
expressed
Irish
This
is
a point, however, on
The report of Mr. Harford in 1817, has been already quoted ; Dr. Cox of Southampton, spoke with high
admiration of the Cardinal's powers as an English
critic.
Cardinal
Wiseman
assures
me
style,
and
criticizing
lie
and
its
literature
many an
Englisli
gentleman."
2(3
(in the
406
year 1843,)
member
he
English language
and
"
He
spoke
in English," says
rapidity.
He
Dante, and
of the
Prophets.
On
Gray's
;
Elegy,
of the
Chaucer, he
Boccaccio.
He
added that
Talking of
French
literature,
:
he said
'they have
too
much
of
Mezzo-
that
have heard,
me
by Mr. Badeley, who found him quite familiar with an author so little read, even by I'^nglishmen, as Hudibras
"
The
?'
Cardinal," says
;
Mr.
Badeley,
'
" received
me most
.shall
gracionslv
his
I
first
question was,
we
talk
said,
than
my
Italian,
He
me,
in
natural
manner,
soon
;
turned
lancjuage, and
upon English
literature
some
as Milton,
shewed
me
I
that
We
nary translation
French.
He
quite
started
astonishment.
!'
'Hudibras
hiui that
it
in
French!
so,
impossible
it
cannot be
assincd
was
and
407
'
book.
?
'
Bui how
is it
to tvans-
Jale such a
book
The rhymes,
tlie
the
it
the
material points of
these
as
it
work
and
in
impossible to translat(3
I
them
French
told
him
that,
strange
in
they
the
translation, the
])oint
measure and
He
seemed quite
several
re-
peating
times,
Hudibras
in
French
Hudibras
in
''
French!
Most extraordinary
it
never heard
of such a thing
During the
the
witli
as
me
I
said that
had been
but, that
if
should be happy
accepting
I
it.
send him,
he would do
me
the honour of
Unfortunately, on
my
return to
it
England, before
could find
anybody
to take
charge of
for
*'
him, he died."
to appreciate
mon mastery
How
few even
among
however,
My
first visit to
kindred subject.
He
questioned
me
chiefly
about our
Ireland,
My
sojourn in
It
Rome
occurred
the well-
London, 1737.
known
and
collector,
that name.
in spirit,
The translation
and
in letter
it.
said of
408
at a time
latter
country.
The Tractarian Movement had reached its The secessions from the highest point of interest. ranks of Anglicanism had already become so numerous as to attract the attention of foreign churches.
assertion of catholic principles
The strong
cut by
.vancc
the
in
brought
Hampden Controversy
the
still
tone which
had exhibited
above
the almost
com-
in
England
in
who were
It
enthusiastic
their
my
the
He was
movement
but he
individuals,
much
struck by the
by the justice of
his
views.
He
High
it is
was
history.
you are
England.
of
There
will
be no
general
approximation
the
409
This
is
not the
a,
first
time
tliese |)i-iiu'i|)lGs
wliile in the
English Church.
in the
of
But no general
remained Pro-
movement
lics
;
Many
testant,
iifterwards.''
aticism,
More than once during the many outbursts of fanwhich we have since that time witnessed in England, I have called to mind this wise and farBut, although the Cardinal did not partake in the
seeing prediction.
anticipation, which
ment
of
the
in
interest
was
Mr.
G rattan
me
to
months
which des-
of his
Eminence
to convert
is
a Catholic,
Having
referred,
Thomas More,
man.
as the earliest
More was
"
'
He made
emniy
ol his
King,' said
vl'
he,
'
but
lie
made
it
410
happened
Catholic
that
'
religion,
is
and becunie
Now-a-days/
he,
'
there
no penalty
and
no shame attached
your own day have
to the step
You
countrymen
wards,
in
in
their
age
Ed-
all inviting
}ou
to the
Now
to
will
not be
:
able
your religion
is
the Catho-
dates
It is the religion
of Christ;
head on earth
is
!'
the
Pope
Here he became
of
us by the hand
glistened,
his
he looked up
old eye
is
'
There
'
the place to
make
a friend
Then
Ire-
land
is
a flower in
affected
by
this
remark-
interview
and
may add
that I have
known
him.
With
all
own
religious convictions, he
gentleness and modesty," writes Chevalier (now Baron) Bunsen, " have often struck me. Once, some misrepresentations of Lady Morgan in her book
" His
on
Italy,
vituperation,
he
gently
;
interposed.
" Poor
Lady
Morgan
truth."
!"
said he
" it
is
411
But although
in
glish, yet
in
my
En-
him
a group
who
collected
around him
in
Komaic
;
Avith
in
German
La
in
Span-
ish with a
and in English
was only howvisit to
1
my
companions.
It
Kome
which
I
in the first
six
was
witness, in
I
on
Rome
in the
fes-
hardly necessary, in
speaking of an exercise
that this
now
so celebrated, to explain
series
Academy
consists of a
of brief ad-
form, delivered
by the students
in
all
the
various languages
to
be
The subjects ot these compositions are commonly drawn from the festival and the rapidity itself, or from some kindred theme
represented in
the
;
412
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTL
of tlicm arc
create
To the
number
;
of these re-
are an
unknown sound
;
manner
of the speakers
;
their foreign
and unwonted
intonations
whole proceeding
gave
to the scene
an
which
I received
at
on the evenfarther
At the
end of the
some
view to
effect,
They seemed
the
dawn
of youth to mature
manhood.
varieties
would
of the hu-
space, one
Che
coiiii)ieiider
Da
Some
"
of the
vai-ieties,
is
held in the
41^5
the rest,
it is
true,
till
the
more
;
all
and complexion
classic Indian,
the
stunted Birman,
far as they
qualities,
And
yet in
all,
occasion.
of the
was indeed
;
the feast
his
own
peculiar festival.
lighted up by the
and
it
was
all
God
in
church
and Medes, and Elamites, and the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the parts
of Lybia about Cyrene, and strangers of
also,
Rome, Jews
and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, speak the not, as of old, in one wonderful works of God "
;
own
the
people.
auditory. Below the platform were arrayed The front seats, distinguished by their red drapery, were reserved for the Cardinals, of whom several were
present
Franzoni,
the
414
LIFE OF CARDINAL
MEZZOFANTL
ing spirituality;
the English Cardinal Acton, shrinkfrom the notice which his prominent
ing, as it seemed,
position
he always wore
the
Massimo,*
in animated and evidently pleasant conversation, with two of the Professors, the lamented abate Pal ma and
abate Graziosi
instinct
with intellectuality
every look
But
it
bespeaking
need Scarcely be
tions
for notice
the
as I
He was
and,
was conversing
linguist.
and other
distinguished
orientals.
*
strangers,
many
of
at
them evidently
back included
tlie
Of
is
The marked
Rome
is
celebrated.
The
brothers
were
called,
II
Principe M'ts.simo,
e<l
il
Cardinal Mciiomu."
415
in
most of
the
literary
foreigners
tlian
then
Kouu',
at that time the object of many an anxious prayer and aspiration, of which we have since been permitted
to witness the
happy fulfilment
in their accession to
The
proem
and an epilogue
recitations
but, as these
inchuled
several
varieties of
Latin
of
and
Italian
versification,
number
languages represented
forty-two.
in
Academy was
only
Irish student
the
Most of the
of the
several
languages were
spoken
by
natives
;
was selected
in-
recited by a
Dutchman
;
fell
to a native
of Stockholm
terzine
and the
Tweed
With
German,
some degree
and
re-
me
markably simple, elegant, and in good taste. But for the rest, it Avould be idle to attempt to convey an idea
of the strange effect produced by the rapid succession of unknoAvn sounds, uttered with every diversity of
416
LIFE OF
CARDIAL MEZZOFANTI.
and running through every interval in the musical scale, from " syllables which breathe of the soft
south," to the
Harsh northern
wliistlhii:;,
grunting, i^uitiual,
to hiss,
and
spit,
and sputter
all.
Some
of
the
;
recitations
were
singularly
soft
and haraionious
instructed
ear,
some
a
carae,
even
upon
an un-
with
force
some
in
connexion
Among
known
logue.
in
Endish
literature.
Amon^j the
latter, the
The speakers
tone and
manner
listener.
lic
to pub-
known
to
ancient Chaldee
Armenian;
(1 1.)
(8,)
;
Hebrew; (2,) Syriac; (3,) Samaritan; (4,) Modern Chaldee (6.) Arabic (7,) ancient modern Armenian; (9,) Turkish; (10,) Persian;
(5,)
;
Albanian
(12,)
;
Sabean
a dialect of Syriac, which Adelung (13,) Maltese (14,) Greek; (15,) Romaic;
; ;
Ethiopic
Koordish
coast
; (22,)
Tamul ; Amarina ; (I9) Kunkan, one of the dialects of the Bengal Georgian (23,) Welsh ; (24,) Irish (26,) Gadic ;
;
(17,)
Coptic;
(18,)
(21,)
417
upon these
i\Iany
of
the
pieces,
moreover,
own
by him
paternal anxiety
for
somewhat
the
was
his
Eminence was,
;
in
and
was amusing
in
and
where Car-
At
group was speedily formed around the good-naturedCardinal, to hear his criticisms, or to receive his congratu-
and
what
subsequent occasion
tility
the almost
faculty,
of his wonderful
and
his
power of
each in
;
of thought
(26,) English
itself,
as he
was
addressed
in
(27,) Illyrian
(28.) Bulgarian
(29,) Polish
;
(30,)
Peguan
(31,)
Swedish;
(32,) ancient
;
man
(34,)
;
Swiss
German
;
(35,)
Catalan
(38,)
Portuguese
(39,)
French
In
the
Academy of
proper place.
See
" Academia Poliglotta nel Collegio Urbaiio de Prop. Fide, per I'Epifaniadel 1858," p. 38.
418
succession
;
hardly
ever
hesitating,
or
ever con-
to
me
whom
in
of the speakers
Peguan Dialogue.* I was gratified, too, to see a gap which I had observed in the programme of the
the
exercises
plied by his
curious after-perform-
ance.
me
and
good-humouredly com-
in
and
I
Although
this traveller,
claim
upon
ing
*
my
as
me
This youth, as
He was
;
own
mission in 1850
by an early death.
419
by a young student
County Mayo.
During
my
first visit to
Rome,
many
different languages
I
it
far
from
so wonderful
which
have witnessed.
cannot, at this
number
of
that they
all
but making
been
less
and
do not think
word
Many
very
wonderful
examples
of
the
different
if
Julius Caesar,
listen
w(;
believe
w\as able to
with
his
ears,
read with
and dictate
with his
lips,
at the
same time,
Mordaunt, Earl of
same time, taking down and reading books, consulting papers, and comparing authorities on the difficult points of the history which
to follow.
were
of the same
kind possessed by
420
well
known.*
But
cannot
any
lists
against
all
to "a
language to language
"
was
from one
himself told me," Cardinal Wiseman, " that whenever he began writes
to speak in one tongue, or turned into
it
" Mezzofanti
from another,
he seemed to forget
one.
all
He
has illustrated to
me
to encounter in
these transitions,
'
bv
takin"^ a
it
com-
mon
word, such as
bread,'
and giving
in several
cognate languages, as
Russian, Polish,
Bohemian,
slight,
and
least
difficult to
remember.
When
now
that,
of St. Andrew's,
Dumfries, wlio
*
me
while
he was in
The journals of this week, (.March 18,) relate a most astonishing modern chess-player, Dr. Harwitz. He has just played three games simultaneously, against three most eminent playfeat of the great
ers,
boards,
or even entering
!
tlie
room in which the moves were made, during the entire time won two of the games the third being a drawn one.
He
421
the
how
it
confused them.
turn.
f"
Mezzofanti,
'*
spectacles everything
is
was green
your
eyes.
It
While
am
speaking any
I put on my Russian
and
for the
Russian.
I see all
my
it is
/ have
only
to
change
and
the
phenomenon
so far as I
so far as
it fell
under observation
but,
am
was,
exercise
but there
is
and
language.
A
his
Eminence
Recognizing
27
me
at
once
Maynooth
Irish
:
Professor," he addressed
me
laughingly in
422
Cio5r ^^
"How
knew
stated that he
tually
is ac-
list
of
Had
it
own candour on
the
occasion
in
But on
I
my
able
declaring
my
ina-
go farther, I although he
as,
knew
tion,
much as enabled him to initiate a conversaand to make his way through a book, he had not
so
Nevertheless
its
and
as
grammatical structure,
eral relations with the
gen-
common
Celtic family, I
was
which
Murphy
of Kinsale.
Dr.
and
this
made during
little
amusement to us. During an audience which Dr. Murphy, accompanied by Dr. Cullen, then Rector of
the Irish College, had had a few days before with
the
Pope,
liam
Betham,
is
tempt
Irish
made
to
establish
the
identity
in
of
the
and
which the
423
celebrated
Irish,
Eugiibian
inscriptions
are explained as
who
ties,
much
interested
in
Etruscan
antiqui-
amusement at
ways.
We
is
"His Holiness
is
of
if
anti-
quarians claim.
The Eugubian
tables,
in
different
by others
as a code of laws
by others
no won-
It is
But
I will
if
common
it
and apply
to it
may
explain
and
find
it
make
excellent sense."
On
we
suggestion to the
in the first of F.
We
took the
sentence
have since
I
tried,
and
that
it re-
lated to the ardent desire of our Divine Lord, that Dr. the light of his gospel should shine among men.
*
The
conUined
in
a report by Dr.
his Christianity
and Mankind,
87,
and
foil;
See also
Mommsen's
Unter-italische Dialekten.
424
Murphj, without exceeding in the slightest degree the license which Sir W. Betham allows himself, in
dealing with the
Eugubian
inscriptions,
converted
amusement,
literally rendered,
of his habitation
to Dr.
Murphy during
this
said, that
if he
would
it.
in
Rome.
in the following winter, he formally addressed himself to the study, w^ith the assistance of the late
Rome
but I
This discussion regarding the Irish language naturally suggested a similar inquiry as to the Cardinal's
Gt'^lic.
in
1832, when he
that in
Gaelic language.
He
got
it
to procure
I find
some books
books
425
till
me
knew
spoke
very imperfectly.*
An American
gentleman
whom
in
interview.
am
it
not able
is
now
memory
and
but
One
of his favourite
amusements con-
Few
of
seen, indeed,
There is but little trace of and the sentiments, though imagination in them, But excellent, are generally commonplace enough.
poetical genius.
much
command
many of them which are very prettily turned, and display no common power of versification.
It
is
difficult
to
numbers
of
them
Propaganda
In a sheet of autographs
Letter of January
15,
1857.
426
diflferent
languages.
I shall jot
appendix.
ments of
his classical
my
way.
^rj'j^aaiv.
'EXXdBoi
avdriv
Ou fdoyyo? (p&oyyoim
AXX' dvo
Nl/v ds
rivet,
a/J!,sij3irai, si
fj^ri
6/io7og,
ffufi(pu)V(iiv
yiyvsrai
dp/Movtri.
;
riv
dXXrjv
'H
'Qsov
vderi
bii
fiXUiv
xgaS/jj.'
So again,
name
in
when a visitor begged him to write his an album, he gave, instead, this pretty
couplet.
Pauca dedi
nomen.
te
Tu
sane pauca
petisti,
rogo plura
preces.
In
coelo,
ad
Dominum
tu
On
being presented on
New
Peter Trombetti, of
Bologna, he wrote
Deficit
instante seneeta
Deficit;
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
427
elicited
New Year
legenti,
the following
Cum
node
tu geminas.
aniiis,
me geminaie
preces.
To another of his Bolognese friends, the Canonico Tartaglia, now rector of the Pontifical seminary, who
begged some memorial, he sent the following pretty
epigram
Canuina sed
Unum
Exiguum
accipe
donum
Any
me
in regarding
the
over the
many
languages in which he
this fancy.
is
known
to
have indulged
verses
The
really pretty
Dutch
they arc
elegant in language
me
in reply to Dr.
Wap*s address,
verses
Father Legrelle's
Flemish
were
The American of
was the same
fur
whom
I spoke told
Wap, although
the subject
;
and even
428
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
and which " contained several pretty hSu/irignc" cost him only about half an hour How many of those
!
who
consider
Italian, or
single line
I
themselves most perfect in French, German, have ever ventured even upon a of poetry in any of them ?
must not omit another circumstance which 1 myself observed, and which struck me forcibly as illustrating the singular nicety of his ear, and still
more the completeness with which he threw himself into all the details of every language which he cultivated
;
mean
his
in prodif-
One day
line.
was speaking
to
him
in
to quote to
Si
me
Horace's
paulmn a suinmo
decessit, vergit ad
inuim
of
as
nounced
it,
Italian pronunciation.
He turned
:
at once to Gorres,
and added
" Or, as you would say
Si
powhun
soommo
it
rfe^sessit,
verghit ad
imum,
introducing into
German manner
amusing,
was
ble to note
and
well
known,
inter-
natives
of diiFerent
countries unconsciously
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTl.
429
who seems
to
every refinement of correctness.* The Englishman's "ah !" the Frenchman's " oh !" the whistling interjection of the Neapolitan, the grunt of the Turk, the
were
me
it
all
at his
command.
with
the
My
racter
brief
and
casual
intercourse
aud
disposition, were
not that
my impressions
are but an echo of all that has been said and written
before me, of his cheerful courtesy, his open-hearted
To
all his
of whatever degree, he
gay,
Avas
an
instinct.
It
He would hardly
the kissing of the ring which ordinarily accompanies the salutation of one of high ecclesiastical dignity in
Italy
;
aud
his
demeanour was
to feel at
so entirely devoid of
was
at once
made
home
in his
company.
Cardinal
Wiseman
in
told
me
twenty years
whom
lady
a crowd.
This
may
explain an anecdote
was coming in to dinner, and, on her passing through the ante-room, where Talleyrand was standing, he looked up and exclaimed insignificantly " ah
!"
the exclamation of
" oh"
on her
430
On
one oc-
casion,
was shewing
lat-
by which
it is
illustrated
a moonlight scene
was
in
when Mezzofanti,
my
may
He
delighted, too,
in puns,
in all languages.
He
Rivarola's
orecehini ;*
Italian
pun against
man
allusion
Eminence's
(^Memoirs VIL, p.
5i)
One
is
about
which
single
ac-
coinpany
embody almost every conceivable meaning. Much light is thrown on more than one obscure passage in the Latin classics by the gesticulations which still prevail in modern Italy, especially in Naples. See the Canon De Jorio's extremely curious and learned book, " Mimica degli Antichi investigata nel Gestire Nait,
is
made
to
politano."
Supra,
p. 379.
431
"Ach
!"
with melancholy
" ach
ich,
wie
from
this, that,
among
if
much
the better.
derived from
'ts.v
fisauj
the
discussion
it
to
bably
made
it.)
Probably
was to
this taste
he was indebted
with Hudibras
writer, other-
Badeley by surprise.
The pun
is
less
the
words
iveiss-haar
and
more
I
closely in
might be rendered
" Would
to
God,
that, as
had also
CHAPTER XVI
[1843-1849.]
new
dignity, Cardinal
affliction in the
signor
Minarelli
the
Giuseppino
(Joe)
so
often
commemorated
his uncle to
This ami-
accompanying
brilliant prospects
career
of university
life,
which he had
him
in Bologna.
By
University
and in recognition of
institution, the
first class in
ma?itelletto
the Roman Court popularly styled del had been conferred on him by the Pope.
as is
The Cardinal,
those
of
to
own
was
letters
and
at-
his
Bologna
warmly
in
tached
him.
While
he
lived
Bologna
felt
433
and
studies
which had
always
subsisted
between them.
The
was
home
at Bologna,
and he
His
letters to
her are
all
exceedingly simple
and unaffected
one of
them here
the
latest
which
lias
come
into
my
hands
it
is
merely as a
and
and
We
are on
my
dearest sister.
;
am
to say
Mass on
day
in the
Church of
all
the Servites
but
the fervor of
my
heart that
God may
your
obtain for
to
affliction,
you
you stand
in need.
wish
mark
the occasion
by
little
token of
my
it
affection, to you.
and
It
is
have
mere
will
but
know
that
you
will
it
done
give
person
it,
that
you
value by accepting
as
I
me
in
recommending me,
mighty.
do you,
elder
for
As being
to
my
sister,
little
were children,
pray
your
I
you
to
still
am most
unite
grateful for
it,
and
try
with
me in May God
their aflec-
bestow Lis
The
life
434
Few
foreigners
at
those which
self,
we have
already seen.
content my-
therefore, with
the Cardinal as a linguist, but of his proficiency in the languages of the writers themselves, and in other
commemorated
hitherto.
We
would be unpardonable
"
to pass
them
by.
He
is
He
accent
yet
remarkably
Indeed, I never
for
met
ten
some word with a shade of meaning not exactly right yet, in the long conversation 1 had iviih the Cardinal, I detected He did not use a single expression or word nothing like this.
in
strictly
and idiomatically
correct.
He
In talking about
(juoled
luul
to
an ecclesiastic, 1
he
made much
;
the literature of
these
forty-two
languages
man who
true.
*
manufacturing keys
palaces which
this
and
inquired
whether
was
Try
435
to
endeavourud
do
his works,
in
He
gave me,
the
;
the
quite a discussion on
subject
and of
He
drew a comparison
Italian,
and Spanish
He He
compliments
to the
writers.
had been
evidently
'
those
in
wells of
we had
England.
He
whose name, by the way, is better known on the continent than that of any other American author."
As Mr. Kip,
Avith
he was unable
only one with which he was well acquainted was the Algonquin,
al-
and any
understood Algonquin
instantly disowned
knowledge of the
for
I
of Savages;
that
we should
learned
He
to
Rome, and
enough
He
*
Du
Ponceau* of Philadelphia, on
This
is
a mistake.
at Philadelphia
is
not a
Grammar
of the
43G
It is
right
to
add Mr.
And yet," he
satisjied
me of the depth
and which
so often
in
His acquirements
but
to the
of their possessor.
his
He
of
philosophical in
character
mind
to
excel in
questions of
gives
him a
and a power
surpassed."*
Mr.
somewhat exigeant in
charac-
and
to think that,
some
of them, moreover
as for
a translation
an original woi'k of
Du
Ponceau:
of
German MS.
David Zeisberger.
in 1827.
in 4to.
Du
Christmas holidays
in
437
to
most unlikely
was a
attract a
foreigner, be
little
unreasona-
For
my
part,
And
may add
I
to
what
is
am
the
Glasgow,
intimately
ac;
many
;
of
the
works of AYalter
Burns
as to the Cardinal's
its
want of
philosphi-
cal bearing
ted
to
who
those
1
who
have reserved
place a
me by
low
it
critic.
The reader
will
gather from
I
much
far
of
what
am
from
;
438
scholarship or criticism
looked.
"
I
saw him
first
as
at
Bologna, in 1828,
when
can,
of Prussia.
I
When he came
to
Rome
my
He
of Europe.
to see
When
his
mi-
raculous facility in acquiring languages, with the additional observation that Charles the Fifth
said,
'
as
many languages
*
as a
man
a man,' he replied,
essential to
Well, that
to err,
ought rather
humble us;
for
it is
man
and
therefore, such a
man
I
is
the
more
liable to error, if
Charles the
On
must confess
that I
observation of an Italian
who answered to
the question:
'Nonemir'Si,
di sentire
was a
child as a philologer
He
self-evident elements.
I
He
failure.
Nor has he
left
or published
by
He remem-
439
understood
Roman
Prelate,) that
there was no
knew
well St.
Thomas and
As
to Biblical Criticism,
he had no idea of
it
.His knowledge of
Greek
criticism too
to say)
memory.
all
in this respect.
But the
Let
I
it,
the rest.
all
Honour be
There
ably just
is
:
unquestion-
from which
to
am bound
to dissent
which
I shall
Les Trois
to
Rome.''''
met
M. Gaume,
When
entered, I
to exhibit
it
to
the
inhabitants
of Vannes
me
of two points.
The
is
first
the
fundamental
languages.
This unity
ob-
same or
nearly so in
all
languages.
The second
is
440
in
tlie
LIFE OF CARDIXAL
primitive
MKZZOFANTI.
corres))onding with (he
language
trinity
The
common
stock, as there
Semitic language
and race
of the
by by
all
Thus the unity human kind and the trinity of races, which are established the monuments of history, are found also to be supported
and the Chamitic language and race
that
has
The
Cardinal's
testimony
is
the
more
in portaiil
inasmuch
knowledge.
Of
the
mon
sayings,
adages, and
which
One
da^-
he asked one
'
To Bur'you
?'
'
gundy
know,'
;'
replied
my
friend.
;
'Oh!'
the
patois
to
said
Mezzofanli,
our
friend,
'
Lower Burgundy.'
Whereupon
gundian,
the
a
Cardinal began
fluency
talk
him
in
Lower Bur-
with
which
to the other
M. Manavit found him not only acquainted with the Tolosan dialect,
but even not unread in
its
local
literature.
His
have
with
in the
dialects
of Lorraine,
I
Bearne,
already
speaking
;
Provencal
Madame
me
441
accent of the
Abbe Carbry,
to
it
to,
brought forward,
Spanish.
shall
leaves nothing
be desired.
" I
can
assert
of
his
Eminence,"
writes
Father Diego Burrueco, a Trinitarian of Zamora, who knew the Cardinal during many of
He
could converse
;
in the
able,
Andalusian
also,
he was
to dis-
We
after he
He
is
also stated to
may add
wit-
though
I
is
have
failed
in finding native
nesses, that it
Rome
that he
He had
the
I
Sla-
borne to his
skill in
alread}-^
must
Armenian College
November
9,
Paris,
who
Letter of
1835.
442
knew him
1846.
his
Eminence," writes
this father,
am
able to attest
all
them
with the
Perhaps
of
also,
many
notices
his skill in
it
period,
may
in
To begin with Russian. A traveller of that nation who twice visited him about this time, cited by Mr. Watts, describes him as " a phenomenon as yet unparalleled in
my
presence
;
but, as
he
is
more accustomed
it
to the style
is
necessary to use
him
His passion
for
acquiring
languages
to
is
so
great,
He
and
siting the
Propaganda
of races.
in
I
of
all sorts
a^ked him
to give
me
list
of
all
the lan-
to express himself,
and
he sent
me
the
name
God
written in his
own hand,
in fifty-six
languages, of which thirty were European, not counting their subdivision of dialects,
dialects, five African,
seventeen
Asiatic,
also
without reckoning
fusion
that
annihilated, and
all
443
Mezzofanti
is
Emperor
also
The history
in
him the
cruelty, injustice,
his treatment
is
of the
Catholic subto
here.f
It
need repe-
at the time,
that the Pope*s interpreter in this memorable conference was Cardinal Mezzofanti.
a mistake.
at the interview
was the
few days,
however,
after
this
interview,
M.
to
at
Rome, wrote
Emperor
by
his
and a
still
first
aide-de-camp.
The Cardinal of
Their conversa-
in
The
See also
Remskiya Pisma
(by
M.
p. 144. 4, p. 27.
No.
the Kirchen-Lexieon.
B, IV.,
p.
729.
foil.
444
Emperor was
either of
these languages
would be
difficidt to
manner.*
is
It is
said
As regards the Polish language, however, the year 1845 supplies other and more direct testimonies than that of the Emperor Nicholas. In an extract cited by Mr. Watts from the Posthu-
mous Works of the eminent Polish authoress, Klementyna z Tanskich Hoffmanowa, who visited Rome in the March of that year, it is stated that " the cardinal spoke Polish well, though with somewhat
strained and far-fetched expressions
and that he
was master of the great difficulty of Polish pronunci" although he often that of the marked I ation
forgot
it."
This
little
zyia
zapal
Polish
language appeared in
Mezzofanti had long
Rome during
felt
" The
fire
Mother of God
kindle
it
in
mine."
jp.
148.
445
his eyes
by the
visit of a refugee
become
its
ruling spirit
the
heroic
Makrena
The organized measures of coercion by which the Emperor endeavoured to compel the Catholic population of Lithuania and Poland, and the other Catholic
subjects of the allegiance to the
of their
Holy
See,
the
members
Among
of
order in the
The bishop
will, first
endea-
sisters
by blandto
by open violence
cornpel
sisters,
them
into submission.
to yield
community
marched
in their
and afterwards
to Polosk, where,
446
of which
and
all
by authorities
far
astic institute.*
thrown to the
compelled to break
and earthworks
lodged
;
fed
herrings, without a
drop of water
tried, in a
;
device of cruelty
women
is
of the
after
week
dead in the
three were
drowned
and
five
two
lost
their reason
maimed and
crippled in
various
ways
had numbered
the chief,
See an article
in
XXVIII.
447
retained
the
use of
their limbs
These hero-
ines of faith
and endurance
to transport
difficulties
contrived at last to
it
them
to Siberia
and,
through a thousand
The
fanti's
sufferings
generous heart.
He
and
fitting recep-
my
friend,
Rev. Dr.
him
He
When
Rome
for the
He
" like a
Having ascertained that the abbess had had a considerable packet of papers written by him in Polish, generally on those occasions when he could not come
to her as usual,
I I
was
most anxious
to obtain
them
but
all
was
unfor-
448
when she was driven out of her little convent near Santa Maria Maggiore. This bumble community was afterwards increased by
tunatelj lost in the Revolution,
the arrival of other fugitives from different parts of
till
anxious care, of
all
and temporal
interests.
to
which be devoted
House of Catechumens,
in
Protector.
Rome
the
whom
and there
are few
who
agree
with him* in
more truly worthy of admiration, than delivering his most learned dissertation on the Vedas to the most brilliant company that ever assembled in the halls of
the Propaganda."
In this, and in more than one other charitable institution of Ronie,theCardinal took especial delight in assist-
young inmates and, from thesimple fervour of his manner and the genuine truthfulness of his piety, he was most happy and
of the
;
Communion
Rome
ordinarily,
Manavit,
p. 95.
LIFE OF CARDINAL
MEZZOFANTI.
44^
became
after AJJezzofanti
means a
and
sinecure.
To many
visited
laity,
who
or settled
Rome, he acted as
departure to
director,
Africa.
He was
M. Mouravieff*
mentions an instance in which, having heard of a poor servant maid, a young Russian girl, who desired
to be received into the
visits,
The death
of
1st,
1846)
Mezzo-
was a great
affliction to
whose
of
aflfectionate relations
last.
member
the conclave in
one
of
was comfollowing
"
!
memorated
impromptu by him
:
in
the
graceful epigram
"
sic
protinus orat
Hen
cito
Pastorem
da,
et
Nonas
Quoted by Manavit, p. 98. Another impromptu epigram composed by the Cardinal, while
450
During the
of state
nor did
his
rank or
the
his occupations.
He
all
appointments
and
IX., regarded
had no
part.
No
eign
tion
was by
his posi-
from
political
affairs,
he pursued
his
quiet
1847 and
in
to
these,
1848.
Many
the
visitors
last years
of his
have repeated
me
the
in earlier years.
The
the care of
by a foreigner
Propaganda
above formed
;
all,
his
for
these
of life.
returning from the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, amid the
universal jubilation of
the Papal
Te Patre, Teque Pio, junguntur Principe corda: Ecce Tibi unum cor, Felsina, Roma, sumus
!
451
come
to exercise
all
tolic spirit.
me
Pro-
steps,
them
in their
;
own languages
to a third,
speaking
;
Chinese
to another,
Armenian
Greek
to a fourth, Bulgarian.
now he
would speak
in
in
German,
in Danish, in
Georgian, in Kurdish,
ever
Norwegian,
in Swedish.
Nor was
there
any
risk
that
he should
*
"Every
composing
phany, and
*
to
*
coming
to
*
the
*
after
Rome, even
assist
students
in
Academy
it
of the Epibe-
hold a living
-
emblem
alone
is
Holy
show
blood
forth in
who
of Jesus Christ.
Now
tongues
all
and
the neall,
all,
in
them
in the proper
mode
877.
of reciting
and pronouncing
college
each,
And,
as
Civilta
is
Cattolica VII,
Cardinal
Verona, and
452
when vcrv
sugs;estiug
and
ilie
tones or caaid
would come
to their
by
testing
"*
and
It
to enter into
any
detail of the
The Cardinal had watched with deep anxiety the gradually increasing demands with which each successive generous
it
the furious
the
assassination of De Rossi
the flight of
grati-
He was urged by
his
Naples
through
flight of
upon
years
of late
453
of the year
It
much
was
enfeebled.
From
the beginning
man
that even
all
the terrors
make him
that,
Epiphany; and
he
still
Polyglot
Academy
of the Propaganda.
was
his
private chapel.
While he was in
this state
of extreme debility, he was seized with an alarming attack of pleurisy; and although the acute symptoms
was
ary,
by an attack of gastric
by which the
slen-
The venerable
his condition.
sufferer at once
became
sensible of
From
the very
first
intimation of his
with
all
terised
In
accordance
with
one
of our
beautiful Catholic
customs
at
the sub-
he
at once entered
St.
upon a N'ovena, or
;
Joseph
who,
as,
according
in death
especial
454
he
was
accompanied
by
chaplain,
all,
by
his
by
his niece,
He
and by
his confessor,
Padre Proja,
now
Sacristan of
of his
St. Peter's.
pany and
assist
him
and the
common
alike took part, were filled up with pious readings by Anna Minarelli, and with short prayers of the
"
Dio mio
abbiate pieta di
me
!"
"
My
on
me
!"
was
his
ever
recurring
mingled
occasionally
for the
peace of his
della
distracted
Chiesaf
Preghiamo per
/"
By
but even
still,
with
that deeply
abruptly terminated.
"
Patri" "Let
say,
us finish
to attend to
455
Virgin.
Avould again
summon
end was
by-
them
fast
to
Early in March
approaching.
his
He
still
retained strength
an end in heaven."
his
;
During the
last three
days of
life,
articulation, at times,
was barely
in-
distinguishable
and
eyes,
which betokened
his unceasing
prayer.
From
His
sed end
diso.''^
"i am going
lam goingsoon
Roman
to Paradise!''''
The absence
of the
accustomed ceremonial.
An
offer of the
honours of
But
these,
and
all
other
of such
is
worn by Cardinals,
pre-
45
more
as in-
illustrious deceased.
Without a
ties of
wonted solemni;
a cardinalitial funeral
;
the
cappella ardente
the
lofty catafalque
the solemn
lying in
state
own
members
of his modest
resting-place in
lum
the church
may
of his Cardinalitial
we saw,
en-
Mezzofanti
Laureani
HEIC.
IN.
SEDE.
HONORIS.
E.
SUI.
SITUS. EST.
JOSEPHUS. MEZZOFANTI.
INNOCENTIA.
S.
E.
CARD.
MORUM.
ET. PIETATE.
MEMORANDUS.
CHAPTER XVII
(recapitulation.)
in the narrative of
Cardinal
such
and a scholar,
as a
most
to
diligent
my own
personal admiration
inquiry.
great
eget
name
is
but tarnished
I
by unmerited praise
have
felt
non
mendacio nostro.
Mezzofanti, by exhibiting
I
and
in which I
saw a pros-
from from
I
friendly,
;
from
all,
indifferent,
hostile quarters
from
in a word,
without exception,
whom
knew
or thought likely to
to the solution of
means of contributing
involved
the interesting
mind, which
is
458
sum up
is
the results.
Nor
is it
easy
the marvels of the history, viewed through what Carlyle calls "the
I shall en-
Mezzofanti,
unless
:
but
his,
may
Our
The marvels of
memory which we all have read of; the prodigies of analysis which many of us have witnessed in the mental arithmeticians who occasion^
the faculty of
ally present themselves for exhibition
;
the very
va-,
fol-s
are
is
which Juvenal,
mendax
A\idet in historia
LIFE OF CARD1NA.L MEZZOFANTI.
459
Mount Athos
now
true
and
it is
while no amount
probability
is
an unattested
state-
may
they be
supported by
I.
positive evidence."
{Hist, of Greece^
571.)
to
me
First,
the
number
dinal Mezzofanti
which
his ex-
is
attributable.
wish
of
is
suggestion
my
M. d'Abbadie, by
defining
exactly what
meant by knowledge of a language. But unfortunately, the shades of such knowledge are
almost
infinite.
The vocabularies
of our
modern
tele-
languages contain as
many
words
graph,
of at
ten
On
M. d*Abbadie, make
in his
his
explorations
way without an
460
comprise
in his
quite
six
hundred words
and M. Julien,
suffice
Which
we
to adopt ?
And
how
even
we
fix
of
them,
we apply it to the Cardinal, whereas we can only judge of him by the reports of his visitors, who applied to him, each a standard of his own ?
shall
It is plain
tion,
however
It
would be inapplicable in
sufficiently attained
practice.
by
mon
estimation of mankind.
think a
man may
be truly said to
know
a language thoroughly, if he
;
can read
it
it
fluently
if
he can write
;
correctly
all,
in prose, or
more, in verse
and
above
if
correctly
and idiomatically.
dinal Mezzofanti.
its
to be
master of more
Giordani*s account of
it
him
461
than
this.
number,
to
indicate
ca
greater
total
Stewart Rose, in 1817, speaks of him as "reading twenty languages, and conversingin eighteen." Barou
von Zach,
states, that
in
He
himself, in 1836,
;
M. Mazzinghi
that he
knew forty -five and say that he knew " fifty, and
list
little later,
containing the
name
of
God
languages.
knew
list
communicated
me by
his
Minarelli, by
whom
it
and fourteen
It is clear, however.'that these, and the similar statements which have been current, require considerable
It is
known by him,
statement
his
left
the
similar
com-
prised.
subject
462
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
is
to dis-
home
in all
not enumerate
the
knew
was
common
;
plan
for
acquiring a
number
of
languages,
however
dissimilar.*
At
my
request,
Father
now
as
with any of
it
his compositions,
the Cardinal
burnt
before his
death.
this
search,
however. Dr.
own knowledge
of
partly
from the inspection of his books and papers, a detailed list of the languages with
*
which he believes
Civilta Cattolica,
VII., p. 578.
463
list
This
he
From
its
very
;
makes no pretension to a scientific classification of the languages and it contains several evident over;
sights
and above
all
grammars, dictionaries, and vocabularies, and the marginal notes and observations
critical analyses,
at least of study
which they
its in-
and
which,
clearly
is
twice repeated.
alphabetical.
1.
is
in part
Albanese Epirote.
Arabic.
oi*
2.
3. 4.
5.
6.
Armenian.
Angolese.
Aymara.
Algonquin.
Brazilian.
7.
8.
9.
Mexican. Paraguay.
* I do not
is
here meant.
Perhaps
:
it is
a
it
or possibly
may mean
% This
the
t Possibly Berberica
is
the Barbary dialect of Arabic. probably meant for Concunico an Indian language which
programme of the Propaganda Academy, while
464
29 Cahnapana* 30 Canisiana. 31 Cayubaba. 32 Cochimi. 33 Danish. 34 Swedish. 35 Norwegian 36 Icelandic. 37 Lappish. 38 Tamul.
39 Hebrew.
52 Proven9al. 53 Gothic and Visi Gothic 54 Ancient Greek. 55 Romaic. 56 Georgian or Iberian.
74 75 76 77 78 79 80
Irish.
Welsh.
Italian.
Friulese.
Maltese. Sardinian.
57 Grisons,or Rhetian.
&
40 Rabbinical
41
He-
Tuscan
dialect of Italian.
42 43 44
known
to
the learned.)
62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69
(?)
Hindostani. Malabar.
Malay.
Sanscrit.
84 85 86 87 88 89 90
Mobima.
Moorish.
Maya.
Dutch. Othomi.
Omagua.
'
Australian. Jf 91 Persian.
Kunka,
in the pro-
This
is
certainly
meant
Ameri^
t Probably by these names are meant the two spo^ew dialects of the
orthodox christians of modern Egypt.
learned language of the Liturgy.
X
23.)
is
the
need
am
This
either a repetition of
No. 56., or
it
class of
*|[
Perhaps Misteco
the Mistek;
guages.
Many
them
will be
found
the
in Squier's
* *
Nicaragua.
No. 50
is
modern
t
t If this
likely.
Mezzo-
4G5
Slavo-Ruthenian Siavo-Wallachian
Syriac.
Samogitian,
Lettish.
or
108 Basque. 109 Tanna. 110 German. 111 Tibetan. 112 Turkish. 113 Hungarian. 114 Gipsy.
Such
sult at
is
an examination of
from satisfactory.
gener-
it
is
far
It places
level languages
ically distinct
varieties of dialect.
(as
Angolese and
names.
Above
all,
the
the
ance
icith
each of them.
of
any
explanation
the
evidence
supplied
them which
relies.
||
from more than one missionary something of the lanbut how much I have no means of determining. guages of Oceanica " ForPampanga, one of the languages of the Philippine Islands
It
is
fast
from which
'
it
See Markham's
II
is
meant by
this
name.
See Adelung,
light
I.
language of the
New
Hebrides.
p.
626
on
this point
may
be
;
and
at
Rome, (where
his
library
now
Rome
I have endeavoured in some degree to supply by a careful examination of the catalogue published in But it is so full of in 1851, and often cited in this volume.
466
As
the fundamental
a statement,
when unsupported by
guages,
as
the
evidence
of
it
the
Cardinal's
ascribes to him,
may
be considered
its
just value
and
entirely independent of
and drawn
solely
from the
materials which I
It will,
who
rently tested.
it
were,
and
in prolonged conversations
in others, in
and
answers.
forming any
ascribed to
First,
him
languages
certainly spoken
by
Cardinal
not so complete.
the grossest and most ludicrous inaccuracies, so utterly unscientific,
and
it
can
only be used with the utmost caution, and at best affords but
assistance for the purposes of the
little
Memoir.
4G7
Fourthly,
languages
in
initiate a conversation.
add
Fifthly,
certain
other
languages which
not appear
he had
to
have
spoken.
of
course,
precludes
idea of a scientific
classification* of the
I-.
Hebrew (Supra,
345, 371.)
283, 341,
2 RabbinicalHebrew(283,34I.) 3 Arabic, (283,371,441.) 4 Cbaiaee,(278, 384, 362, 451.) 5 Coptic, (311,441,451.) 6 Ancient Armenian,(352, 441.) 7 ModernArmenian,(352,441.) 8 Persian, (278,352, 394.) 9 Turkish,(226, 31 1,393, 441.) 10 Allmnese, (362,393,451.) Maltese, (336, 362.) 12 Greek, (353.) 13 Romaic, (353.) 14 Latin, (201, 347.) 15 Italian, (passim.) 16 Spanish, (276, 312, 441.) 17 Portuguese, (337, 367.)
1
II,
1
Stated
to
sufficiently tested.
Svriac, (354, 364.) 2 G'eez, (383, 385, 394.) 3 Amarinna, (384, 385, 334.) 4 Hindostani, (364, 366.)
6 Basque, (393, 388.) 7 Wallachian, (216, 244.) 8 Calitornian, (355-7J 9 Algonquin, (360-1.)
5 Guzarattee, 367.
* I should observe that I do not think it necessary to adopt the nomenclature of languages recently introduced. I will for the most part follow that of AJelung.
may
but I
in these, the
common
opinion of his
4G8
Spoken
rarely^
2 3
4
3
IV.
1
Koordish, (394, 431.) Georgian, (231, 394.) Servian (the dialects of Bosnia and of the Bannat,) 394. Bulgarian, (363, 393 441.) Gipsy language, ('244.)
Spoken imperfedJy
V.
1
to
10 Frisian, (282.) 1 Lettish, (394, 451.) 12 Cornish, (old British of Cornwall,) (280.J 13 Quichua, (ancient Peruvian,) (281.) 14 Bimbarra, (Central African,)
4 5 6 7 8 9
(281.)
VI.
1.
HEBREW.
ARABIC.
SPANISH
1
Samaritan, (416.)
2
BASQUE.
Labourdain, (387-8.)
Souletin, (387.) Guipuscoan, (388.)
CHINESE.
Kiang-Si
Hu-quam
MAGSAB.
(^391.)
Debreczeny,
ITALIAN.
Sardinian, (158-9.) Neapolitan, (^324. Bolognese, (247, 344.) Lombard, (464.) Friulese, (464.)
*
GERMAN.
In
this
which
have referred to
it is
Cavalliere Minarelli's
amply sup-
works
it.
in
469
FRENCH,
ENGLISH.
Yorkshire,
dialects,
Somersetshire,
and
Lancashire
(404.)
Lowland Scotch,
(437.)
dialects,
as
the
languages
(the
very
of the for-
Maya
in
reference
I
to
these
languages.
I
For the
majority of them,
cannot find in
them
but
it is
to the
aries
many
printed and
elsewhere to be found.
30
470
Summing
of
all
him
the
as
made
public
ing
genuine reports, as
far
as
possible,
of
many
of
in
appears that,
large
number
minor
dialects,
not
scientiiically,
regarded as distinct
F. Bresciani ascribes to
that he
was
intimately-
acquainted with
that he spoke
to
these
not shown
in all
is
sionally
difficult to
and exchange certain conversational forms in eight others ; and that he had studied the structure and
the elementary vocabularies of fourteen others.
As
in a certain
as I
way some
at least
have learned, there is no evidence that he any of them but with him there
perceptible interval between knowledge of
was
little
471
the
Such
evidence
is
of this
unknown
am far, I confess, from accepting in their strict letter many of the rhetorical expressions of these writers the natural result of warm admiration, however just
and well founded.
in each
first
and
all
the
witnesses say,
;"
**
with
all
priety of a native
them
all,
them
accent."
these, he
On
the contrary, 1
know
that, in several of
made
German conversation
in his Polish,"
manner
Nor
even venture
what point
his
judgment the drawbacks on the undiscriminating praise heaped upon the Cardinal by some of his
biographers, which these criticisms imply, I regard
my
them
as (by recalling it
472
transcends
I
all
these
languages, or perhaps
in
but, re-
standard
with
which
set out, I
knowledge of each
who
in
are
commonly reputed
to
the
speaking
is liter-
nor that
what
have said
been enumerated
this
languages in
whether He-
his
entirely
will
bear
comparison with that of the most accomplished nonnative masters of these languages, even those
who
to
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTL
ber.
473
I
myself
may presume
this
speak,
conclusion, comparing
my
recollections
of the
other
whom
languages.
The
memoir
how immeasurably Cardinal Mezzofanti transcends them all. Taking the very highest estimate which
list
of those
is
Only four
Mithridates,
Pico of
Mirandola, Jonadab Alhanar,and Sir William Jonesare said, in the loosest sense, to have passed the limit
of twenty.
to
To
the
first
tbe
last
Niebuhr,
down
as
known
Montamus, Martin
del Rio,
the converted
down
to ten or
lanflruafjres
twelve
most
of
them
the
ordinarv
It is further to
be
474
languages ascertained.
Whatever of doubt
rests
even
above
instances.
aside,
and
ac-
short of
now
obtainable.
is
The
endless.
The
the
Introductory Memoir,
as
soon as he had an
hj sticking out of it nil those words which were common to it with any of the languages already familiar to him, and then impressing on his memory
]^roGeeded
the
M. Antoine d'Abbadie
to write out,
told
me
that, in the
he had to
was
list
with the
aid of an interpreter, a
conversational forms
"
and then
by the assistance oian intelligent child who of words knew no language hut the one which he was studying ;
because children
best understand,
47
Some
the
commence with
the vocabulary
others, with
With some
:
others proceed
In comparing
if
it
such
does
any of
which
he
employed.
One thing
at least
is
certain,
and
who
are always on
whatever
his system,
and however
it
may have
it
did not
use of
all
means
tion of vocabularies,
It is true
and of practice
he told M.
than
limited
is
generally
of
;
thought
that there
it
is
is
but a
number
points to which
and
that,
when one
master of
these points,
the
facility j"
adding that,
476
"
ten or a
dozen languages
essentially different
little
study and attention, learn any number of them." But he also stated to Dr. Tholuck " that his own way of learning new languages was no other than that of our school-boys, by writing out paradigms and
words, and committing them to memory."
(P. 278.)
The
society
and
one
conversation
less
of
strangers
it
was
might
eagerly
in
almost
appear obtrusively
courted,
and turned to
and verse was
advantage.
lation
maintained.
new language
and
that,
with
extraordinary
is
gifts,
the emi-
nence to
which he attained,
in great part to be
attributed to his
energy,
and
which he continued to
life.
study
time.
his
economical
The great
jurist
which
uiipunctuality in
it
Mezzofanti made
a rule, even
amid
his
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZOFANTI.
'
477
tions, to turn
to
moment
in
how
brief or
how
precarious the
interval, his
And even
when no such
active
ap})liance of study were within reach his and self-concentrated mind was constantly en-
gaged.
tion,
He
by which he
able to concentrate
all
his
faculties
to pursue, this
knew. In
When
diagrams, and to
his mind.
too, of cases
:
like
that of the
of mental
more wonderful.
alone, in each
He had
all
and
succession
so that,
The only
traordinary mental
story which I
phenomenon that
know,
is
have somewhere
read, of a musician
who
known
in
to touch
an
This man,
his
said,
was
C07istantly practising
mind
to
and
his
fingers
be
478
On
it
is
what
this
natural
consisted.
Among
the
faculties
of the
mind
chiefly
analysis, judgment,
and memory
by some
perception,
it
has been
placed
in
of perception
others in his
memory
and by
by
others, in his
power
guished.
rhythm or systematic
to all its forms
supplied a key
unexampled.
Almost
all
great linguists,
it
is
true,
;
have been remarkable for their powers of memory but there are many examples of such memory, unac-
in the
languages.
Still
less
can
it
be ascribed ex-
of analytic
or
synthetic
power.
Perhaps
there
is
no form
in
drously displayed,
phenomena
of
mental arithmetic.
And
yet
am
tinguished as a linguist.
On
the contrary,
many
of
LIFE OF CARDINAL
MEZZOFANTL
latent,
479
res-
and in many
most
creditable,
examples of
guage
as a
calculator
belief,
could never
little
German.
But
in Cardinal Mezzofatiti
all
His memory in
Quick
and tenacious
to a degree
of the faculty,
its
preserved
not alone
the
and forms
which he
it
was
personal occurrences.
and even persons and But there was, above all, one characteristic in which it was distinguished from almost all other memories. Some of those qualities already named were possessed by other individuals in an equal, if not a greater or more striking, degree.
-history, poetry,
single
reading
and the
and
in
every other order, and could multiply them instantaneously by one or two figures at pleasure.
Some
480
indepen-
Pere
meaning names
after hearing
of Mezzofanti's
memory was
its
differ-
and consisted in
extraordinary
readitiess.
Sir
W. Hamilton,
on
guishes
between memory
of intuition,
(f^vrifiri'^
and reminiscence,
of evolution.
(^avdfivriffig'^
ory
tion alone.
for stor-
of holding
them
disti?ict
from
And
and various
assortment of vocabularies which he possessed, he enjoyed a control so complete, that he would draw upon
each and
all
at pleasure, as the
;
medium
for
the ex-
by the shifting of
will, the
neously and at
he illuminates the
Stewart
tells
object of
Dugald
and
the case of a
whose
sole trick of
memory
consisted inconnectingin
LIFE OF CARDINAL MEZZoFANTL
481
the ceiling.
It
if
the
memory
com-
of Mezzofuiiti had
some such
at pleasure, culling
it
or words which
desired,
no matter how
various or
how unconnected with each other. With such a memory as this to guide its
to
action,
and
its
something in
its
own order
like
what Wollaston
call"
led
by a process
which
results
it
is
easy
to understand,
to the wonderful
which this great linguist accomplished. Memory supplied the material with unfailing abundance and regularity. The analytic faculties were the tools which the mind employed in operating upon the
material thus supplied for the use.
But
debted to his singularly quick and delicate organization of ear and tongue.
It
for-
mer
past month,
(February,
482
LIFE OF CARDINAL
MEZZOFANTI.
may
seem,
it is
certain
in addition to its
and shades,
(in
which
it is
infallible
it
beyond
were,
more
in-
tellectual function
that
its office
;
as well as of organization
that he possessed, as
distinct
were,
an inner and
liigher sense,
from the
him
to the structure
and the
rhythm,
its
its
peculiar intonations.
It is difficult
by which
of such
was attained
to
but the
it,
in a great
came what
and the ease with which he overform the main difficulty in the
made
by intuition,
Another element of
was
his
may
about Zvlezzofanti
483
blunders
is
to
which a novice
in
a foreign lan-
guage
many from
to speak
I
Children, as
is
well
known, learn
cannot
in-
suc-
was not
man
so
eminent
Among
the
many
place as a
less
as a philologer.
In some of the
w^as
literary circles of
Rome, Mezzofanti
not popular.
M. Librif
in his regard.
There
is
another which
man
linguists X
of
it
and to undervalue
its
usefulness
and
esti-
how-
who was an
French language,
describe,
my presence. During a jourhim utter one solitary oui ; and a time when he was not aware that I was within
only heard
p.
290.
% p. 78.
484
who
is
of the
German
that of
And
the lin-
although
own
him
and
to dAvell
it
in his opinion
know, yet
dit for his
him
unexampled power
recollections,
as a linguist.
The Baron's
nevertheless,
contain a
summary
time
of the strictures
upon the
literary charac-
ter of Mezzofanti,
which
v/ere current
during his
life-
that
his learning
was merely
superficial
that
all
anything
that he
;
left
that
his theology
was
mere
scholas-
It
for the
honour
literal truth of
knowledge in which he
is
an ordinary
all to
what he
really did
possess,
485
wonder that has ever been ascribed to him nor was any one more ready than the modest Cardinal himself,
not merely to admit
many
He
confessed
that
He
was
bound dictionary."
begun
chest
his
studies at a time
when
this
science
not cultivated.
He
and
other
constitutional
which
He
deplored to Car-
Wiseman,
left
that,
would have
.
own modest
estimate of
himself, I think
enough
will be
of
many unsuspected
to
I
witnesses
embodied in
this
Memoir,
which
strictures, to
Cardinal Mezzofanti
philologer; but
that, while he
had
for those
On shadowy
thoroughfares of thought
in
its
its
He was
31
He
486
may have
Greek
inscription,
to
refers
But
his friends
judgment
The Abate
and
I myself, in
offer
to
;
the depth
and
him
on the
Eugubian
precision,
inscriptions,
and the suggestive spirit which they evinced. Far more unjust, however, are Mr. Hare's remark
still
more disparaging
sayitig,
never saying
The numberless reports of visitors at life, from Mr. Stewart Rose, in 1817, downwards, which are detailed in this volume, put entirely beyond question both his capacity and his actual attainments in general literature. Each visianything."
most
part, found
him
own country.
Very many of
for
them
(as
Hungary*)
their national
most
a
mind
what these
no ordinary com-
whom
P. 391.
487
to
man whose
must dissent
strongly,
expresses
more
and
Theology.
Biblical
criticism,
mainly of the
German
Lachmann. Now,with all their much in the spirit and the language
critic,
of
many
may
specially say, of
Lachmann, against which Mezzofanti's whole mind would have revolted ; and I can well understand that, between his opinions and those of the Baron regarding them, there would have been but
little
sympathy.
But
it is
One
Biblical
scholar and
critic,
While he was still professor at Bologna, the Abate Cavedoni, of Modena, spoke with high The Abate praise of his ability as a biblical critic.
De
Kossi.
him
and Car-
Wiseman, who Avill not be suspected of undervaluing any branch of Biblical science, told rac that, although it is quite true that Mezzo fonti had no love
dinal
p. 291
488
for the
German
critic
critics,
professed
himself, he
conversant
history and
with
the
science,
its principles,
As
high.
to
Rome was
not
Yet
The readers
W. Hamilton will not look on the charge of " scholasticism " as any very grave disparagement ; but I must
add that neither did Mezzofanti neglect the modern
divines,
Italy.
With Guide
known beyond
As
a preacher, Mezzofanti,
in
He
as
and in Rome
only
efforts
preacher,
Communion
duty of the
ministry
to him.
The truth is, that all these criticisms of Mezzofanti, and the impressions as to the superficial character of
his acquirements for the
to
a few
and answers,
own
in
itself,
but
489
long and intimately; who met him as a friend and companion, not as an object of curiosity, and of wonder
;
There
very
is
more truth
in the strictures
upon Mezzois
fanti as a writer.
little
;
known
cal
Panegyric of Father Aponte, and the fugitive poetiexercises in the appendix of this Memoir, can
hardly be said to place him in the category of authors.
is,
with
abil-
In some
it is
life
an
ac-
To
others
it is
a barren and
ungrateful labour
fully
at
his
desk.
The current
thoughts never
On
the conhelluo
lihrorum
the
living
library
tlie
a single line
was of the
delicacy,
latter
490
tional tendency of
and
to
attractive, indisposed
more toilsome
him
positively distressing
mode of communicating
for the purposes of
his thoughts
by writing.
Except
some fugitive piece and, even when he was prevailed on to write at greater length, he was seldom sufficiently
;
satisfied
he made public.
which
Bologna
death
subject,
their title
and
phy of language.
Accordingly, the small figure which he made as a
writer,
and the
little
him up
to
during
career,
life,
as
Many
of his
;
ex-
but
only those
the depth
intimately,
his
could
know
Still,
repinings.
although
it is
regret, he
set
up
whereby
491
to pro-
own
Even
conduct,
as Mezzofanti's
empty or uncon-
we put
life,
and
test
life
him by tbe
of Cardinal
of personal
and of tbe
priest.
Devout almost
to scrupulous-
ness, sincerely
and unexacting
own
in
himself unhesitatingly
the
of
others
warm
in his friend-
to be loved,
and be never
forfeited
Although
bis
Limosiniere, "
a great
him the sobriquet of Monsignor Lord Almoner;' yet it would be My mistake to measure his benevolence by tbe ac
it.
ance
it
administered.
His active
grasped every
detail of this
work of God
struction of tbe young, tbe edification and enlightment of tbe stranger ; nay, the very courtesies of
social intercourse
tbe care
him
all
had
for
cance of a duty; and, while he never offended the sensibility of bis companions by unseasonably obtru-
492
And
life,
of his literary
'*
empty
it
must
never be forgotten
tent
to
even
judge
its
mere
most
utility
and
attractive, as well as
interest,
afforded
him
that
ofiices
of charity
and humanity
many
of
its
new
and
halls
which pauses
measure by so paltry a
man
to see.
As
well might
we shut our
we
eyes
to
the
glory
of those
splendid
human
may
493
affection-
ate admiration, as
ful cultivation of
His creatures
the
man who
has approached
communion
pride,
human
was
up
at Babel
literally
may
be
said, that
forms
Of
APPENDIX.
f^Alltision is made, more than once, in this volume, to Cardinal Mezzofanti's habit of amusing himself and his friends by writing short metrical pieces in vaiious languages, and of composing or correcting the odes recited by the pupils at the annual Polyglot Academy of the Propaganda. In the absence of other data (or judging of his skill as a linguist, these fragments, trifling though they be, are of considerable interest and 1 had hopes of being able to form a little collection of them, as a contribution to the Unfortunately my search for these reenquiry regarding him. mains, trivial and fugitive as most of them must have been, has been very unsuccessful. I am only able to add a few to those which appear in the sheet of fac-similes, or which have been already incidentally introduced in the course of the naiTative. The short pieces recited at the Propaganda Academy, being the property of the pupils theniselves, are not preserved in the college archives. I have only succeeded in obtaining four of these two from Rome, a Greek Anacreontic Ode, and a couple pieces of stanzas in the Grisons dialect ; and two in Angolese from the Rev. Charles Fernando, Missionary Apostolic in Ceylon. The Abbate Mazza, Vice Rector of the Pontifical Seminary at Bologna, has kindly sent me a Hebrew Psalm addressed by Mezzofanti, as a tribute on his Jubilee (or the fiftieth anniversary of his ordination as a priest), to his old friend and master. Father Emmanuel Aponte ; and a Latin Hexameter Poem, descriptive
;
:
of St. Peter's Church at Rome, recited by him in the Accademia degli Arcadi, on his being elected a member of that body. These little pieces, it need hardly be said, are oflTered merely as specimens of Mezzofanti's power as a linguist, and not as possessing any striking excellence, whether of poetry or sentiIt is only just to his memory to add that, judging from ment. his well-known habit of composition, they may all be presumed to be literally impromptu, and are entitled to the full indulgence usually accorded to such productions.]
496
1.
APPENDIX.
to
-|>b3-)
c-'^j
by
iiKa
nw
-iix
,a
n-irnn
-jx:!
mys
iD*ji")N2
naa
.a
hnb
nn:
y^i
D"u;"')2n
nnxi
.n
by Dbiy ^na
T>Dn D1U
Tpr
bxb ^hd
onb
Tnn
nyi\yn naTxb laaa iDb .n la-'Ty -inabi vasb bbsnnb ^nab vbx nu?ab ib nwain iwb cnnn -[bn 3 iiisi ]n bxianrb o-ix nna .1
layiy^-iiyb
nbnn o
n'73bn
-larx
"jab
nr-iyi
ipr
.r
-j-ix ib
^n
aito
Latin Translation.
Josephus Mezzofaiiti.
1.
Nomen
tiium, Emanuel, nomen bonuin, sicut oleum effusum, Et propterea excurrerunt adolescentes, et dilexerunt te. senes ipsi quoque qiigesierunt sapientiam labiorum tuorum,
speciosi fuerunt in insulis pedes tui, evangelizans pre-
\l.
Quam
salutem!
3.
ex eo Luxfulsit in terra nostra, quando \enisti ab oviente tempore magnificasti Igetitiam et multiplicasti scientiaui, et
:
eruditionem dedisti omnibus qiiseientibus intelligentiam; et lumen vultus Domini in omnibus operibus luis videruut
oculi nostri.
1.
habitacula
Do-
mini: et post quinquaginia annos prefers adluic panem et eternum vinum, sacerdos Dei Allissimi, sacerdos in secundum ordinem Melchisedec.
6. Venite
salutis nostrae
quia segregavit senem bonum sanctum sibi. ut accederet ad eum, ut lungerelur sacerdotio, ut ovaiet ante (aciem ejus,
ut piopiliarel siq)er uos.
Tlicre is little originality in tliis piece, tlie words and forms being It is witliout points, but lie occasionally, also, closely scriptural.
employed them
in wiiting
Hebrew.
APPENDIX.
t).
497
Dedisti
Domine Emanueli
in iiitegritate,
7.
Nunc
Rex
Gloriie
illi
Exaudi
!
Da
longitudinem
II.
Greelc Anacreontic
Ode " On
'O
'Oi
i'idav
5'
(I'l
-rr^^ofr^ar
Tiog
6 la
Qidio
xalrjAdsv,
*E^ ipavuv
iiyjv,
aK}^a
<pa\yov.
A'yyiXoc, rra^acldg
'^roi/Mdiv,
didday.it
oAw;
lui
a/x' dvro'ig
"HviyxB
Kioyvw.
lol'
'EyvM
y'do a'Jls
'
Ajjja^iag
xoV/xaf
Ti
dfawuv
A,av=, ;;^a7g
!
"A*!'
"A^ov
d'
a/zajl/aj /ioo
yjxoivis bog
fjjOi
III. Latin
Hexameter Poem,
at
Academy
Rome.
J.
M.
PASTOR ARCAS.
Ronnileas Arces, fulgentia Templa Tonautis Quae fuerant dudum, conscendo niunere vestro, Arcades ; et celsas sedes teneo. Areas et ipse, Et parvi custos neuioris. Sed non ego doclus.
498
Aut calamos
At geminare
APPENDIX.
inflare leves, aut dicere versus
soiios
;
gaudens, et reddere voces, Quas loiiginqua edit gens, aut contennina nostrae.
Hie adsum, florens postquam est exacta juvenla, Tenipoiaque adventans mihi tavdior inficit aetas,
Adsumus
Linquimus
tua munera,
Daedala
tellus
!
Bacclie
Linquimus
111
et turres,
quarnm
Adsumus
hie tandem,
vilta
promit. Seilicet hie nobis suprema e sede benignus, Annuit. iEternam turn nos advenimus Urbem.
Tergemina
Hie vestra assidue lustrans decora alta, Quirites, Quaeque reeens tulit, et quaj prisci teinporis aetas. Vocibus hajc refero, " Vos terque, qualeique beati, Non peritura quibus vulgata est fama per orbem !" Eximia at quoties cerno heic monumenta virorum,
Felsina quos aluit, quosve extulit infula Petri, Quive aedes vestras decorant et Terapla, Quirites, Tunc animus nobis jxitrife exardescit ainore Dulcia tunc nostrum pertentant gaudia pectus
! !
Tum Templum
En mihi
Mira
ingressus,
quo
labores.
senisjf sapiens qui dia volumina pandit Aspice, ut in genua is procumbens corpora toto, Brachia demitlit, languentia lumina torquet, Et capit extrema, eternae sed pabula vitse, Illic cerne modo, ut nialo suspeiiditnr alto Saevi qui morbi contagia depulit Urbe Hinc miles validis incurvat viribus arcum, Atque hinc acer eqnus permissis fertur habenis Difi'ugiunt matres, pueriqiie, ignobile vulgus; Ast Heros ad coelum ardentia lumina tendit, " Nostrum accipe, Christe, cruorem Dicenti similis Protinus en Michael exerto devolat ense,+
,
!
'
* Eumetes was the rame under which, by ancient usage of the Arcadi, Gregory XVI., before his elevation, had been enrolled in their Academy. t Domenichino's Communion of St. Jerome. X Communion of St. Sebastian, also by Domenichino.
APPENDIX.
499
Ac
moiislriim horiendiim sub tristia Tartara mittit, Parte alia occubuit ccelesti percita ainore. Et volat ad superos virgo de germine Petri !*
artis rairacnla,
HsBc praeclara
111 tiia
Felsina prodis,
cum
Sed
En
opus, en
Algarde,
marmore
viiltus
Attilahic,
ille
instant
!
Et Petrus
tatamina Roma; Attila terraruni nietus, et squalentibus annis, HoiTidus, ense ferox ^Alartis, (sic namque putaret, Enseni quem Pastor vitnlse vestigia liEsae, Atra cruore sequens Scythiis invenerat agi'is,) Elatosque gerens animos coelique flage lum, Sese conipellans, sibi totuui adsciveiat Orbem. Ergo suis atrox ermnpit sedibus, atque Bella ciet populis late, crudelia bella Omnia namque furens ferro jjopulatur et igne Efferus incedit per membra fluentia tabo; Respicit, et gaiidet loca jam convulsa ruinis. Immites primum Dacas juga ferre coegit Turn quoque Bistonios, dein Odrysiosque feroces; Illyriumque tuas exin, Gennania, terras Ilium nee Rhenus nee Gallia terrct ovantem Pulsus, proh, remeat, pelagi cen refluit unda Ocius ills donuim rediit ])udor incitat iras;
et Paulus, niagnae
; ; ;
!
Agmina
Ac
dira legit, bellumque ferocius urget, nova Romanse nieditatur praelia genti. Qualis percussus saevo leo vulnere, pugnam
Integral, et late silvas rugitibus implet
Talem Hunnorum Rex gestans in corde furorem, Italiae ingreditur campos el milite complet. Omnis huino fumatjam Aquileja; INIediolanum, Et V^erona ruunt; Ticinum et PaiTna fatiscunt:
Sed
Attila per medias caedes bacchatur et ignes nibil ille actum reputat, dum Roma supersles.
:
Ire parat
Romam
convellit signa,
movetque
!
ALmina; cen apium ducunt examina reges Tunc ilium miles dictisaflatur aniicis. " Quo tibi nunc iter ? Heu acies Alaricus
!
in
Urbem,
Induxit
Connubiumque
Leo.
500
Haec
audit,
APPENDIX.
dubiusque
ha;ret.
Mox
aestuat iia
Dux,
inovet et castra.
Est eadeiw
senteiitia menti,
Cum
Magnus
subito miserisque dolens, et coelitus actus, adest Leo, sacra vitta et veste decorus.
ille tremens, stiipet, et vox faucibus haerei! Verba deinde audit dulci stillantia melle ; Mitescunt animi dictis, et corda residunt. " Attila quo cessere minse, quo spiritus acer ?'' HcEC miles. Contra Hunnorum Rex talia fatur " Nonne duos aetate graves atque ore severo, Delapsos caelo spectas mortemque niinantes,
Constitit
Districtis gladiis
Feror hinc
Jam tollite
:
signa,
Et
patrios fines,
ilia
Mens baud
!"
Haec ait, et nostris excedit finibus Hunnus. Ast iiullae servant latebrae, nullique recessus, Persequitur quos ira Dei. Namque Attila, solvit
Dum metibus sese, parat et dulces hj'ruenaeos, Occubuit proprio suffusus nocte cruore Est Deus in coelis fandi memor atque nefandi
!
At Leo contendit Romam, jussitque lubentes, Et Petro et Paulo persolvere vota Quirites Et Petrus et Paulus resonant per templa, per aedes
;
Tibihsec data sunt munimina ccelo Felix Roma Et dedit Eumetem mitis Deus atque benignus Iniperat Eumetes, et pax dominabitur Orbi Arcades, o Petrum et Paulum celebrate canentes Et vestros repetent septena cacumina versus
! ! !
Vos Petri Paulique fidem servate, Quirites Eternum servate fidem, servabitis Urbem
!
IV. Epiphany Ode in the Angolese language, written for the Academy of J 845.*
Quixixi Quitombi, Quitombi, O vundu, O Riala muca cuffua mucutu, Muca Pnhia
Mu
A ssueta a
*
Skitatu miscino,
Belem,
I fear the
have no knovvleJge of this or the Grisons language, orthography will be fouud inaccurate.
I
As
APPENDIX.
A-beza camona,
501
Camona
cafeli.
Nhi-bula-canu,
Una camona
Ocutanhinha
Zanibi,
ni,
Zainbi ni Riala
Mubundulula
via Quinixi,
u-a-gile,
Hi
the
Academy of 184G.
Monsu
Camona
cafeli.
Ah
Ti
Meinag
Dieu I'olma
!
fideiola
!
Telg da Dieu
o
ti
mig salvader
!
ey sprindrader Gloria al Bab che Ti ha enviau Piugch alg Chrislgang che Ti has Irosligian
!
Cardinal LamVII. [The following epigram was addressed to Immaculate the appearance of his Essay on the bruschini on It is hardly worthy of the subject.] Conception of the B.V.M.
Tota es pulcra,
DEI
Hoc
Omnipotens.
ostro Asserit invictus decus hoc Tibi fulgidus Scriptorem protege, Virgo, tuum. Auctor.
32
; ;
502
The
Italian version
APPENDIX.
which accompanied
it is
Tutta se'bella, o di DIO Madre Sin da principio bella tu se. Cosi addicevasi, e il Sommo Padre Tutto potendo, cosi pur fe.
Or Ti mantiene un
tanto onore.
Ml
:
Chi d' ostro fulgido tra lo splendor, A' penna invitta di grande Aiitore
Proteggi,
Vergine,
il
tuo Scrittor
le
don de
la sagesse
Mais it faut le chercher avec simplicite Pour guide, mes enfans, prenant la Pietd,
E
X. English
*'
verses given to
May
Show
forth by facts what words impart That, by sound words and good behaviour.
You may
man, what
And
END.
ot^ '2-
ih-^yi
LeiA^
'/y
Avenue, Los 405 H-'a^'^^^jJ^^his material to the library borrowed. from which It was
>int uiinard
University of California
,.Iin,f,?.'i.P'^
REGIOrWL
IRRiBV c,r.