FOOTNOTES

FOOTNOTES[1]Works I., p. 42.[2]Mithridates, Vol. II. Einleitung, p. 7.[3]See the whole legend in Huc’s Chinese Empire, II., p. 187-8.[4]Auswahl Historischer Stücke aus Hebräischen Schriftstellern, von den zweiten Jahrhundert bis auf die Gegenwart, Berlin, 1840, p. 10. The book is entitledPirki Rabbi Eliezer, “The chapters of Rabbi Eliezer.” Its date is extremely uncertain. See Moreri Dict. Hist. VII., 361.[5]See Prideaux’s Life of Mahomet, p. 66.[6]According to the account of Pliny, Dioscurias, a city of Colchis (the present Iskuriah,) was frequented for commercial purposes by no less thanthree hundred different races; and he adds that a hundred and thirty interpreters were employed there under the Romans (Hist. Nat.VI., 5. Miller’s Ed. II., 176.) The Arabian writers, Ibn Haukal and Musadi, mention seventy-two languages which were spoken at Derbent. Strabo speaks of twenty-six in the Eastern Caucasus alone. SeeThe Tribes of the Caucasus, p. 14, also p. 32.[7]Dahlmann, p. 47. It would be presumptuous to differ from so 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 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.[8]XVII. 17.[9]This is not Mithridates’s only title to distinction. Perhaps it may not be so generally known that he was equally celebrated for his powers of eating and drinking! Athenæus tells of him that he once offered a prize of a talent to the greatest eater in his dominions. After a full competition the prize was awarded to Mithridateshimself.—Athenæus, Deipnosoph., Book X., p. 415.[10]VIII. 7.[11]Hist. Nat. VII. 24, and again XXV. 2.[12]Life of Anthony. Langhorne’s Plutarch, v. p. 182.[13]It was probably by some such fanciful analogy that Cecrops obtained the name δίφυης, because he knew both Greek and Egyptian.[14]See a long list of examples cited by Bayle, Dict. Histor. I. 943. The legislation on the subject, however, was not uniform; nor is it easy to reconcile some parts of it with each other, or to understand any general principles on which they can be founded.[15]Pænulus, act v., sc. 1.[16]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.[17]See Milman’s Latin Christianity, I., 28-9.[18]In some congregations, as early as the first and second century, there were official interpreters [Ἑρμηνεύται], 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.[19]Stromata, I. 276 (Paris, 1641.)[20]Opp. I. 326 (Paris, 1609.) Hom. in Laudem St. Basilii.[21]See Bayle, Dict. Historique, I. 408. It is curious that the victorious Mussulmen at Jerusalem enacted the very opposite. No Christian was permitted to speak the sacred language of the Koran. See Milman’s “Latin Christianity,” II. 42, and again III. 225. 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.[22]Ep. VI. 27.[23]When the Patriarch Nestorius wrote to Pope Celestine his account of the controversy now known under his name, the latter was obliged, before he could reply, to wait till Nestorius’s letter had been translated into Latin. Erat enim in Latinum sermo 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 Historie der Ketzereien, V. 701.[24]Even Pope Vigilius himself professes his want of familiarity with the Greek language. See his celebratedConstitutumin Hardouin’s Coll. Concil III. col. 39.[25]See the original in Labbe’sConcilia, VIII. 835. Both the original and the translation will be found in Leibnitz’s “System of Theology,” p. 52, note.[26]See Milman’s Latin Christianity, IV. p. 58, and again 367.[27]The titles of nearly two hundred of his works are still preserved.[28]Rohrbacher Hist. de l’Eglise, XIX., 569.[29]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.[30]See the account in Labbe, Collect. Concil. VII. 79. The writer observes; Cum ab apostolorum tempore auditum non sit nec scriptum reperiatur, quemque ad populum eandem concionem habuisse tot ac tam 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 theBibliotheca Hispana VetusII.pp. 149-50.[31]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 word—the much disputed ἐντελεχέια of Aristotle!—See Bayle’s Dict. Hist. Art.BarbaroI. 473.[32]Venice was long remarkable for her encouragement of skill in living languages. It was a necessary qualification for most of her diplomatic appointments; and, while Latin, in Europe, was still the ordinary medium of diplomatic intercourse, we find a Venetian ambassador to England, in 1509, Badoer, capable of conversing like a native in English, French, and German.—See an interesting paper, “Venetian Dispatches,” in the Quarterly Review, vol. xcvi. p. 369.[33]M’Crie’s Reformation in Spain, I. p. 61. See also Hallam’s Literary History, I. p. 197.[34]See the Bibliotheca Hispana, vol. I. pref. p. vii.[35]See Hefele’sDer Cardinal Ximenes: one of the most interesting and learned biographies with which I am acquainted, p. 124.[36]Vol. II., p. 788.[37]Naima’s Annals of the Turkish Empire, translated by M. Frazer, for the Oriental Translation Society. For this fact I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Watts, of the British Museum, but I am unable to refer to the passage.[38]Pilgrimage to El Medinah, II. p. 368.[39]Ibid. I., p. 179.[40]Burton’s Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah. III., 368.[41]Annals of the Turkish Empire, p. 45.[42]A melancholy instance of the capriciousness of this sort of reputation, 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. A 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![43]See his life by Pococke, prefixed to the translation of his workDe Termino Vitæ. 1699.[44]See Dr. Paul De Lagarde’s learned dissertation, “De Geoponicon Versione Syriacâ” (p. 3, Leipsig, 1855). This dissertation is an account of a hitherto unknown Syriac version of the “Scriptores Rei Rusticæ” 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, are, like those already published by Mr. Cureton, of great interest to students of Christian antiquity, although the same drawback—doubt as to their age and authorship—must affect the doctrinal value of them all.[45]This laborious and prolific writer, whose works fill nearly 20 volumes, is said to have used the same pen for no less than forty years, and to have been thrown almost into despair upon its accidental destruction at the end of that period.[46]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.[47]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.[48]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 in 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 islanders of the Egean were held from the earliest times. The reader 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.————Λέριοι κάκοι ὄυκ ὁ μὲν ὅστδ’ όυΠάντες πλήν Προκλέους και Πρόκλεης Λέριος.[49]An elaborate account of them will be found in Neumann’sVersuch einer Geschichte der Armenischen Literatur. Leipzig, 1836. On the exceeding importance of the Armenian language for the general study of the entire Indo-Germanic family, see the extremely learned essay,Urgeschichte der Armenier, ein Philologischer Versuch. (Berlin, 1854.) It is published anonymously, but is believed to be from the pen of the distinguished Orientalist named in page 22.[50]I do not think it necessary to mention (though he is a little earlier) Felix of Ragusa, the principal librarian, or rather book collector, of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary. He is said to have known, besides Greek and Latin, the Chaldee, Arabic, and Syriac languages.[51]Sugli Uomini di gran Memoria, p. 27.[52]The history of this MS. is a strange one. In the sack of Pavia by the French under Lautrec, it was carried off among the plunder. Teseo was in despair at the 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 see its completion.[53]Adelung’s Mithridates, I., 646. See also Biogr. Universelle, II., p. 25.[54]Biograph. Univ. XV. 239.[55]There is another Pigafetta (Felippo), some years the junior of Antonio, who was 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 diplomatic mission by Sixtus V. But I have not been able to find any record of his skill in languages.[56]Thevet’sThresor des Langues, p. 964.[57]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 which should contain the Arabic, Syriac, Persic, Ethiopic, 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.[58]A copy of this work is found in the Catalogue of Cardinal Mezzofanti’s Library, by Signor Bonifazi. It is in 4 vols., fol., Milan, 1632.[59]Conciliatio Ecclesiæ Armenæ cum Romana, ex ipsis Armenorum Patrum et Doctorum Testimoniis. 2 vols fol., Romæ 1658—It is in Bonifazi’s Catalogue of the Mezzofanti Library, p. 20.[60]Feller’s Dict. Biog. art.Galani.[61]The learned Jesuit, Father Giambattista Ferrari, author of theNomenclator Syrus, 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.[62]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 1636.[63]Alcorani Textus Universus.2 vols, fol., Padua, 1698.[64]Biogr. Uni. XV. 263, (Brussels Ed.)[65]He must not be confounded with a German Orientalist, Christopher Sigismund Georgi, who lived about the same time.[66]Biographie Universelle, Vol. XXVI, p. 128.[67]For this 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 preparation.[68]Through the kindness of the Cavaliere Pezzana, Royal Librarian and Privy Councillor of Parma, 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.[69]It is a magnificent folio, entitled “Epithalamia Exoticis Linguis Reddita;” one of the most curious productions of the celebrated press of Bodoni. Parma, 1775.[70]ThePanglossiain 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.[71]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 languages. But his knowledge was very superficial.[72]Theatro Critico, IV., p. 401, Art.Glorias de España.[73]Bibliotheca Hispana, Vol. IV., p. 75.[74]Thus amusingly “Englished” in Wanley’s “Wonders of the Little World,” p. 285:—“A young man have I seen,At twenty years so skilled,That every art he knew, and allIn all degrees excelled!Whatever yet was writ,He vaunted to pronounce(Like a young Antichrist) if heDid read the same but once.”[75]P. 457. The work was printed in the same volume with Peter Martyr’sDe Rebus Oceanicis. Cologne, 1574.[76]Bruce’s Travels, III, 134.[77]Duret refers for some notice of Covilham, to the rare work of Alvarez,De Historia Ethiopum. In the hope of discovering something further regarding this remarkable and little-known linguist, I endeavoured to consult that author; but I have not been able to find a copy. It is not in the British Museum.[78]Galatinus de Arcanis Cath. Veritatis Libri XII. (Frankfort 1572), B. III. c. 6, p. 120.[79]There is considerable difference of opinion as to his birth-place. But Nicholas Antonio, in the Bibliotheca Hispana, says it was Frexenal. Vol. III. p. 207.[80]Enfans Celebres, p. 198. Baillet says it was an edition of Seneca’s Tragedies; but this is a mistake. TheIn Senecæ Tragedias Adversariadid not appear till 1574.[81]Teatro Critico, IV. 401.[82]Feyjoo IV. p. 401. “Seguramente podemos creers in alguna rebaxa.” TheBibliotheca Hispanaenumerates twelve languages, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, French, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, and English. I. p. 207.[83]This is, strange as it may seem, the lowest computation, and rests onLope de Vega’sown testimony, written in 1630, five years before his death. Speaking of the number of his dramatic fictions, he says to his friend,Mil y quinientosfabulas admira.By other authors the number is made much greater. According to some, as his friend, Montalvan, he wroteeighteen hundredplays; and Bouterwek, in his History of Spanish Literature, puts it down at the enormous estimate oftwo thousand. “Spanish Literature,” I. p. 361.[84]Montalvan saysfour hundred. TheBibliotheca Hispanasays (vol. iv., p. 75) “eighteen hundred plays, and above four hundred sacred dramas.”[85]A long list of grammars, vocabularies, dictionaries, catechisms, &c., in more than forty-five different languages, compiled by the Spanish missionaries, is given in the Bibliotheca Hispana, vol. IV. pp. 577-79.[86]M. d’Abbadie assures me that Father Paez is still spoken of as “Ma alim Petros” by the professors of Gondar and Bagënndir.[87]Neale’sHistory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria(London, 1837) II. 405.[88]Letter to M. Le Leu de Wilhem, quoted by Neale, II. 402.[89]Biographie Universelle, IX. 301.[90]Of the latter work I have never seen the Italian original. I know it only from the SpanishCatalogo de las Lenguas de las naciones conocidas, y numeracion, division, y classes de estas, segun la Diversidad de sus idiomas y dialectos. 6 vols 4to. Madrid, 1800-5.[91]Anthony Rodolph Chevalier, a Hebraist of some 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 are inserted in Walton’s Polyglot; but his history has hardly any interest.[92]See Adelung’s Mithridates, I. 646. Postel published in the same year, the first grammar of the Arabic language ever printed. Paris 1558.[93]Thresor de l’ Histoire de toutes les Langues de cet Univers.Cologne, 613, p. 964.[94]Adelung, in the appendix of the first volume of hisMithridates, has enumerated several other Pater Nosters, Thevet, Vulcanius (the latinized form ofSmet), 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 eminent as a speaker of languages; unless we are to presume that 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 the last three names I shall say a few words hereafter.[95]A portion of the edition contains a Latin preface, explanatory of the plan and contents; but the majority of the copies have this preface in Russian; and, in all, the character employed throughout the body of the work is Russian. This character, however, may be 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.An 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 few years later, by Theodor Jankiewitsch de Miriewo, by which it may be seen at once to what language each word belongs. But this digest is described as 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 not unfrequently offered for sale. A copy has been for some years in the British Museum.[96]It is true that some part of its materials have since become superannuated by the fuller and more accurate researches of later investigators, (see Bunsen’s Christianity and Mankind, III. 47.) But it is nevertheless a work even still of immense value.[97]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 inMoreri,voce“Scaliger.”[98]Enfans Celebres, p. 196.[99]An equally eulogistic epigram, by Heinsius, is quoted by Hallam, Literary History, II. 35.[100]Scaligeriana, p. 130. This collection is the first of the series ofanassince so popular.[101]Ibid. p. 232.[102]On Scaliger’s powers of abuse, see M. Nisard’s brilliant and amusing Triumvirat Literaire au XVI. Siecle, p. 296, 302, 305, &c. The “triumvirs” are Lipsius, Scaliger and Casaubon.[103]Feller’s Dict. Biograph., vol. V. p. 312.[104]Mithridates, I. 650.[105]Cologne 1615.[106]I cannot help thinking that Adelung quite underrates this curious work. I 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.[107]Mr. Kenrick, in the preface of his recent work on Phœnicia, confesses that “the most diligent reader of ancient authors with a view to the illustration of Phœnician history, will find himself anticipated or surpassed by Bochart.”[108]Bochart’s death was the consequence of a fit with 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 causèe par notre dispute, sinon en partie.” It is curious that Disraeli has overlooked this in his “Quarrels of Authors.”[109]Feller’s Dict. Biograph., vol. X. p. 476.[110]Perhaps I ought to mention Renaudot’s contemporary, the Jesuit, Father Claude Francis Menestrier, (1631-1704), who although 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 their exact order, without a single mistake or hesitation!—Biographie Univ., Vol. XXVIII.,p.293.A still more extraordinary example of this power of memory is related by Padre Menocchio (the well-known Biblical commentator, Menochius) of a young Corsican whom Muret met 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 thembackwards, and with various other modifications! 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’sStuore, Part III., p. 89. TheStuoreis a miscellaneous collection, 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 weavingmats, 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 Στρώματα [Tapestry], or perhaps the more literal one “Patchwork,” assumed by a popular writer of our own time.[111]Many of the French missionaries in China, of course, were distinguished Chinese scholars. The Dictionary of Pere Amiot, for example, although not published till after his death, is still a standard work. It was edited by Langlés in 1789-90.[112]For instance hisMemoire dans le quel on prouve que les Chinois sont une Colonie Egyptienne; a notion which was warmly controverted by his fellow pupil, Deshauterayes. De Guignes argues from the supposed resemblance of the Chinese and Phœnician characters. His great Chinese Dictionary, with Klaproth’s supplement, (2 vols. fol., Paris, 1813-19) is in Mezzofanti’s Catalogue, p. 6.[113]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 XI., p. 163.[114]Biogr. Univ. XIX., 172 (Brussels ed.)[115]Biogr. Univ., vol. LXX., p. 189-200.

FOOTNOTES

[1]Works I., p. 42.

[2]Mithridates, Vol. II. Einleitung, p. 7.

[3]See the whole legend in Huc’s Chinese Empire, II., p. 187-8.

[4]Auswahl Historischer Stücke aus Hebräischen Schriftstellern, von den zweiten Jahrhundert bis auf die Gegenwart, Berlin, 1840, p. 10. The book is entitledPirki Rabbi Eliezer, “The chapters of Rabbi Eliezer.” Its date is extremely uncertain. See Moreri Dict. Hist. VII., 361.

[5]See Prideaux’s Life of Mahomet, p. 66.

[6]According to the account of Pliny, Dioscurias, a city of Colchis (the present Iskuriah,) was frequented for commercial purposes by no less thanthree hundred different races; and he adds that a hundred and thirty interpreters were employed there under the Romans (Hist. Nat.VI., 5. Miller’s Ed. II., 176.) The Arabian writers, Ibn Haukal and Musadi, mention seventy-two languages which were spoken at Derbent. Strabo speaks of twenty-six in the Eastern Caucasus alone. SeeThe Tribes of the Caucasus, p. 14, also p. 32.

[7]Dahlmann, p. 47. It would be presumptuous to differ from so 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 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.

[8]XVII. 17.

[9]This is not Mithridates’s only title to distinction. Perhaps it may not be so generally known that he was equally celebrated for his powers of eating and drinking! Athenæus tells of him that he once offered a prize of a talent to the greatest eater in his dominions. After a full competition the prize was awarded to Mithridateshimself.—Athenæus, Deipnosoph., Book X., p. 415.

[10]VIII. 7.

[11]Hist. Nat. VII. 24, and again XXV. 2.

[12]Life of Anthony. Langhorne’s Plutarch, v. p. 182.

[13]It was probably by some such fanciful analogy that Cecrops obtained the name δίφυης, because he knew both Greek and Egyptian.

[14]See a long list of examples cited by Bayle, Dict. Histor. I. 943. The legislation on the subject, however, was not uniform; nor is it easy to reconcile some parts of it with each other, or to understand any general principles on which they can be founded.

[15]Pænulus, act v., sc. 1.

[16]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.

[17]See Milman’s Latin Christianity, I., 28-9.

[18]In some congregations, as early as the first and second century, there were official interpreters [Ἑρμηνεύται], 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.

[19]Stromata, I. 276 (Paris, 1641.)

[20]Opp. I. 326 (Paris, 1609.) Hom. in Laudem St. Basilii.

[21]See Bayle, Dict. Historique, I. 408. It is curious that the victorious Mussulmen at Jerusalem enacted the very opposite. No Christian was permitted to speak the sacred language of the Koran. See Milman’s “Latin Christianity,” II. 42, and again III. 225. 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.

[22]Ep. VI. 27.

[23]When the Patriarch Nestorius wrote to Pope Celestine his account of the controversy now known under his name, the latter was obliged, before he could reply, to wait till Nestorius’s letter had been translated into Latin. Erat enim in Latinum sermo 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 Historie der Ketzereien, V. 701.

[24]Even Pope Vigilius himself professes his want of familiarity with the Greek language. See his celebratedConstitutumin Hardouin’s Coll. Concil III. col. 39.

[25]See the original in Labbe’sConcilia, VIII. 835. Both the original and the translation will be found in Leibnitz’s “System of Theology,” p. 52, note.

[26]See Milman’s Latin Christianity, IV. p. 58, and again 367.

[27]The titles of nearly two hundred of his works are still preserved.

[28]Rohrbacher Hist. de l’Eglise, XIX., 569.

[29]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.

[30]See the account in Labbe, Collect. Concil. VII. 79. The writer observes; Cum ab apostolorum tempore auditum non sit nec scriptum reperiatur, quemque ad populum eandem concionem habuisse tot ac tam 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 theBibliotheca Hispana VetusII.pp. 149-50.

[31]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 word—the much disputed ἐντελεχέια of Aristotle!—See Bayle’s Dict. Hist. Art.BarbaroI. 473.

[32]Venice was long remarkable for her encouragement of skill in living languages. It was a necessary qualification for most of her diplomatic appointments; and, while Latin, in Europe, was still the ordinary medium of diplomatic intercourse, we find a Venetian ambassador to England, in 1509, Badoer, capable of conversing like a native in English, French, and German.—See an interesting paper, “Venetian Dispatches,” in the Quarterly Review, vol. xcvi. p. 369.

[33]M’Crie’s Reformation in Spain, I. p. 61. See also Hallam’s Literary History, I. p. 197.

[34]See the Bibliotheca Hispana, vol. I. pref. p. vii.

[35]See Hefele’sDer Cardinal Ximenes: one of the most interesting and learned biographies with which I am acquainted, p. 124.

[36]Vol. II., p. 788.

[37]Naima’s Annals of the Turkish Empire, translated by M. Frazer, for the Oriental Translation Society. For this fact I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Watts, of the British Museum, but I am unable to refer to the passage.

[38]Pilgrimage to El Medinah, II. p. 368.

[39]Ibid. I., p. 179.

[40]Burton’s Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah. III., 368.

[41]Annals of the Turkish Empire, p. 45.

[42]A melancholy instance of the capriciousness of this sort of reputation, 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. A 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!

[43]See his life by Pococke, prefixed to the translation of his workDe Termino Vitæ. 1699.

[44]See Dr. Paul De Lagarde’s learned dissertation, “De Geoponicon Versione Syriacâ” (p. 3, Leipsig, 1855). This dissertation is an account of a hitherto unknown Syriac version of the “Scriptores Rei Rusticæ” 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, are, like those already published by Mr. Cureton, of great interest to students of Christian antiquity, although the same drawback—doubt as to their age and authorship—must affect the doctrinal value of them all.

[45]This laborious and prolific writer, whose works fill nearly 20 volumes, is said to have used the same pen for no less than forty years, and to have been thrown almost into despair upon its accidental destruction at the end of that period.

[46]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.

[47]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.

[48]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 in 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 islanders of the Egean were held from the earliest times. The reader 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.————Λέριοι κάκοι ὄυκ ὁ μὲν ὅστδ’ όυΠάντες πλήν Προκλέους και Πρόκλεης Λέριος.

————Λέριοι κάκοι ὄυκ ὁ μὲν ὅστδ’ όυΠάντες πλήν Προκλέους και Πρόκλεης Λέριος.

————Λέριοι κάκοι ὄυκ ὁ μὲν ὅστδ’ όυ

Πάντες πλήν Προκλέους και Πρόκλεης Λέριος.

[49]An elaborate account of them will be found in Neumann’sVersuch einer Geschichte der Armenischen Literatur. Leipzig, 1836. On the exceeding importance of the Armenian language for the general study of the entire Indo-Germanic family, see the extremely learned essay,Urgeschichte der Armenier, ein Philologischer Versuch. (Berlin, 1854.) It is published anonymously, but is believed to be from the pen of the distinguished Orientalist named in page 22.

[50]I do not think it necessary to mention (though he is a little earlier) Felix of Ragusa, the principal librarian, or rather book collector, of Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary. He is said to have known, besides Greek and Latin, the Chaldee, Arabic, and Syriac languages.

[51]Sugli Uomini di gran Memoria, p. 27.

[52]The history of this MS. is a strange one. In the sack of Pavia by the French under Lautrec, it was carried off among the plunder. Teseo was in despair at the 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 see its completion.

[53]Adelung’s Mithridates, I., 646. See also Biogr. Universelle, II., p. 25.

[54]Biograph. Univ. XV. 239.

[55]There is another Pigafetta (Felippo), some years the junior of Antonio, who was 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 diplomatic mission by Sixtus V. But I have not been able to find any record of his skill in languages.

[56]Thevet’sThresor des Langues, p. 964.

[57]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 which should contain the Arabic, Syriac, Persic, Ethiopic, 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.

[58]A copy of this work is found in the Catalogue of Cardinal Mezzofanti’s Library, by Signor Bonifazi. It is in 4 vols., fol., Milan, 1632.

[59]Conciliatio Ecclesiæ Armenæ cum Romana, ex ipsis Armenorum Patrum et Doctorum Testimoniis. 2 vols fol., Romæ 1658—It is in Bonifazi’s Catalogue of the Mezzofanti Library, p. 20.

[60]Feller’s Dict. Biog. art.Galani.

[61]The learned Jesuit, Father Giambattista Ferrari, author of theNomenclator Syrus, 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.

[62]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 1636.

[63]Alcorani Textus Universus.2 vols, fol., Padua, 1698.

[64]Biogr. Uni. XV. 263, (Brussels Ed.)

[65]He must not be confounded with a German Orientalist, Christopher Sigismund Georgi, who lived about the same time.

[66]Biographie Universelle, Vol. XXVI, p. 128.

[67]For this 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 preparation.

[68]Through the kindness of the Cavaliere Pezzana, Royal Librarian and Privy Councillor of Parma, 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.

[69]It is a magnificent folio, entitled “Epithalamia Exoticis Linguis Reddita;” one of the most curious productions of the celebrated press of Bodoni. Parma, 1775.

[70]ThePanglossiain 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.

[71]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 languages. But his knowledge was very superficial.

[72]Theatro Critico, IV., p. 401, Art.Glorias de España.

[73]Bibliotheca Hispana, Vol. IV., p. 75.

[74]Thus amusingly “Englished” in Wanley’s “Wonders of the Little World,” p. 285:—“A young man have I seen,At twenty years so skilled,That every art he knew, and allIn all degrees excelled!Whatever yet was writ,He vaunted to pronounce(Like a young Antichrist) if heDid read the same but once.”

[74]Thus amusingly “Englished” in Wanley’s “Wonders of the Little World,” p. 285:—

“A young man have I seen,At twenty years so skilled,That every art he knew, and allIn all degrees excelled!Whatever yet was writ,He vaunted to pronounce(Like a young Antichrist) if heDid read the same but once.”

“A young man have I seen,

At twenty years so skilled,

That every art he knew, and all

In all degrees excelled!

Whatever yet was writ,

He vaunted to pronounce

(Like a young Antichrist) if he

Did read the same but once.”

[75]P. 457. The work was printed in the same volume with Peter Martyr’sDe Rebus Oceanicis. Cologne, 1574.

[76]Bruce’s Travels, III, 134.

[77]Duret refers for some notice of Covilham, to the rare work of Alvarez,De Historia Ethiopum. In the hope of discovering something further regarding this remarkable and little-known linguist, I endeavoured to consult that author; but I have not been able to find a copy. It is not in the British Museum.

[78]Galatinus de Arcanis Cath. Veritatis Libri XII. (Frankfort 1572), B. III. c. 6, p. 120.

[79]There is considerable difference of opinion as to his birth-place. But Nicholas Antonio, in the Bibliotheca Hispana, says it was Frexenal. Vol. III. p. 207.

[80]Enfans Celebres, p. 198. Baillet says it was an edition of Seneca’s Tragedies; but this is a mistake. TheIn Senecæ Tragedias Adversariadid not appear till 1574.

[81]Teatro Critico, IV. 401.

[82]Feyjoo IV. p. 401. “Seguramente podemos creers in alguna rebaxa.” TheBibliotheca Hispanaenumerates twelve languages, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, French, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, and English. I. p. 207.

[83]This is, strange as it may seem, the lowest computation, and rests onLope de Vega’sown testimony, written in 1630, five years before his death. Speaking of the number of his dramatic fictions, he says to his friend,Mil y quinientosfabulas admira.By other authors the number is made much greater. According to some, as his friend, Montalvan, he wroteeighteen hundredplays; and Bouterwek, in his History of Spanish Literature, puts it down at the enormous estimate oftwo thousand. “Spanish Literature,” I. p. 361.

Mil y quinientosfabulas admira.

By other authors the number is made much greater. According to some, as his friend, Montalvan, he wroteeighteen hundredplays; and Bouterwek, in his History of Spanish Literature, puts it down at the enormous estimate oftwo thousand. “Spanish Literature,” I. p. 361.

[84]Montalvan saysfour hundred. TheBibliotheca Hispanasays (vol. iv., p. 75) “eighteen hundred plays, and above four hundred sacred dramas.”

[85]A long list of grammars, vocabularies, dictionaries, catechisms, &c., in more than forty-five different languages, compiled by the Spanish missionaries, is given in the Bibliotheca Hispana, vol. IV. pp. 577-79.

[86]M. d’Abbadie assures me that Father Paez is still spoken of as “Ma alim Petros” by the professors of Gondar and Bagënndir.

[87]Neale’sHistory of the Patriarchate of Alexandria(London, 1837) II. 405.

[88]Letter to M. Le Leu de Wilhem, quoted by Neale, II. 402.

[89]Biographie Universelle, IX. 301.

[90]Of the latter work I have never seen the Italian original. I know it only from the SpanishCatalogo de las Lenguas de las naciones conocidas, y numeracion, division, y classes de estas, segun la Diversidad de sus idiomas y dialectos. 6 vols 4to. Madrid, 1800-5.

[91]Anthony Rodolph Chevalier, a Hebraist of some 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 are inserted in Walton’s Polyglot; but his history has hardly any interest.

[92]See Adelung’s Mithridates, I. 646. Postel published in the same year, the first grammar of the Arabic language ever printed. Paris 1558.

[93]Thresor de l’ Histoire de toutes les Langues de cet Univers.Cologne, 613, p. 964.

[94]Adelung, in the appendix of the first volume of hisMithridates, has enumerated several other Pater Nosters, Thevet, Vulcanius (the latinized form ofSmet), 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 eminent as a speaker of languages; unless we are to presume that 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 the last three names I shall say a few words hereafter.

[95]A portion of the edition contains a Latin preface, explanatory of the plan and contents; but the majority of the copies have this preface in Russian; and, in all, the character employed throughout the body of the work is Russian. This character, however, may be 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.An 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 few years later, by Theodor Jankiewitsch de Miriewo, by which it may be seen at once to what language each word belongs. But this digest is described as 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 not unfrequently offered for sale. A copy has been for some years in the British Museum.

An 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 few years later, by Theodor Jankiewitsch de Miriewo, by which it may be seen at once to what language each word belongs. But this digest is described as 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 not unfrequently offered for sale. A copy has been for some years in the British Museum.

[96]It is true that some part of its materials have since become superannuated by the fuller and more accurate researches of later investigators, (see Bunsen’s Christianity and Mankind, III. 47.) But it is nevertheless a work even still of immense value.

[97]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 inMoreri,voce“Scaliger.”

[98]Enfans Celebres, p. 196.

[99]An equally eulogistic epigram, by Heinsius, is quoted by Hallam, Literary History, II. 35.

[100]Scaligeriana, p. 130. This collection is the first of the series ofanassince so popular.

[101]Ibid. p. 232.

[102]On Scaliger’s powers of abuse, see M. Nisard’s brilliant and amusing Triumvirat Literaire au XVI. Siecle, p. 296, 302, 305, &c. The “triumvirs” are Lipsius, Scaliger and Casaubon.

[103]Feller’s Dict. Biograph., vol. V. p. 312.

[104]Mithridates, I. 650.

[105]Cologne 1615.

[106]I cannot help thinking that Adelung quite underrates this curious work. I 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.

[107]Mr. Kenrick, in the preface of his recent work on Phœnicia, confesses that “the most diligent reader of ancient authors with a view to the illustration of Phœnician history, will find himself anticipated or surpassed by Bochart.”

[108]Bochart’s death was the consequence of a fit with 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 causèe par notre dispute, sinon en partie.” It is curious that Disraeli has overlooked this in his “Quarrels of Authors.”

[109]Feller’s Dict. Biograph., vol. X. p. 476.

[110]Perhaps I ought to mention Renaudot’s contemporary, the Jesuit, Father Claude Francis Menestrier, (1631-1704), who although 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 their exact order, without a single mistake or hesitation!—Biographie Univ., Vol. XXVIII.,p.293.A still more extraordinary example of this power of memory is related by Padre Menocchio (the well-known Biblical commentator, Menochius) of a young Corsican whom Muret met 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 thembackwards, and with various other modifications! 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’sStuore, Part III., p. 89. TheStuoreis a miscellaneous collection, 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 weavingmats, 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 Στρώματα [Tapestry], or perhaps the more literal one “Patchwork,” assumed by a popular writer of our own time.

A still more extraordinary example of this power of memory is related by Padre Menocchio (the well-known Biblical commentator, Menochius) of a young Corsican whom Muret met 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 thembackwards, and with various other modifications! 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’sStuore, Part III., p. 89. TheStuoreis a miscellaneous collection, 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 weavingmats, 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 Στρώματα [Tapestry], or perhaps the more literal one “Patchwork,” assumed by a popular writer of our own time.

[111]Many of the French missionaries in China, of course, were distinguished Chinese scholars. The Dictionary of Pere Amiot, for example, although not published till after his death, is still a standard work. It was edited by Langlés in 1789-90.

[112]For instance hisMemoire dans le quel on prouve que les Chinois sont une Colonie Egyptienne; a notion which was warmly controverted by his fellow pupil, Deshauterayes. De Guignes argues from the supposed resemblance of the Chinese and Phœnician characters. His great Chinese Dictionary, with Klaproth’s supplement, (2 vols. fol., Paris, 1813-19) is in Mezzofanti’s Catalogue, p. 6.

[113]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 XI., p. 163.

[114]Biogr. Univ. XIX., 172 (Brussels ed.)

[115]Biogr. Univ., vol. LXX., p. 189-200.

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