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And sights before his eyes aghast
Invisible to them have pass'd,

When down the destined plain
'Twixt Britain and the bands of France,
Wild as marsh-borne meteors glance,
Strange phantoms wheel'd a revel dance,
And doom'd the future slain.-

Such forms were seen, such sounds were heard,
When Scotland's James his march prepared

For Flodden's fatal plain;

Such, when he drew his ruthless sword,

As Choosers of the Slain, adored

The yet unchristen'd Dane.-Sir Walter SCOTT.

LANGUAGES.

LANGUAGES are divided into the dead and living: the former are such as were spoken by nations that no longer exist while the latter are those that are spoken at the present period of time.

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The words of our own language (proper names, and terms of art included) amount to at least one hundred thousand; and, with a view of facilitating a general knowledge of those, grammarians have divided them into " classes," which are designated parts of speech.

There are two languages, the oral and the written. The former is communicated by sound through the medium of the voice; the latter, by means of pen, ink, and paper, which is called the "written language."

The ancients were in the habit of using "certain signs and characters" to make known their thoughts and notions. The ancient languages cannot now undergo any alteration, but the modern are subject to continual changes, as will be seen in the following pages.

With regard to the languages spoken by the first inhabitants of the world, prior to the destruction of the Tower of Babel, we know nothing, as no traces of them remain.*

The languages now called ancient, that have been in use in the different parts of the world, since that period, and the knowledge of which has come down to us, are the following: The HEBREW, as spoken in Palestine, and the borderdering countries.

The CHALDEAN, as spoken in Chaldea.

*Some have affirmed that the original language was the Hebrew, as it is found in the Bible, or at least the ancient Chaldean; but this is mere conjecture.

The SYRIAC, the language of Syria.
The ARABIC, as spoken in Arabia.
The COPTIC, or Ancient Egyptian.

The ancient ETHIOPIAN, as spoken in Ethiopia.
The ancient INDIAN, as spoken in Hindostan.
The ancient PHOENICIAN, as spoken in Phoenicia.

The PUNIC, or CARTHAGINIAN, as spoken at Carthage.
The SCYTHIAN, as spoken in Scythia.

The CELTIC, as spoken by the Celta, anciently a fa-
mous people of Gaul.

The SARACEN, as spoken by a tribe of Arabia.

The ancient SCLAVONIAN, as spoken in Sclavonia.*
The GOTHIC, the RUNIC, the TEUTONIC, the VANDA-
LIAN, and ancient GERMANIC, all of which are dif-
ferent branches of the GOTHIC.

THE GAULIC, with some few others of less note.

The Gaulic language was spoken by the GAULS, an ancient people of France.

The chief of the ancient languages are the Hebrew, Chaldean, Syriac, Arabic, and Coptic; to which may be added the Samaritan, Rabbinic, and Talmudic, and the classical languages of Greece and Rome.

The Hebrew, Arabic, and Chaldean respectively claim the seniority each has its advocates, and the point is not easy to be decided.

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Some of our most zealous divines, however, are inclined to favour the pretensions of the Hebrew; and there are some of them who affirm that it was the language in which God talked with Adam in Paradise.

The first time we find the word Hebrew in that sacred volume of ours, the Bible, is in the 13th verse of the 14th chapter of Genesis; and it is manifest that ABRAHAM and his descendants took that name from the patriarch HEBER.

We have no Hebrew but that contained in the Holy Bible; hence this language must be naturally deficient in many words; nevertheless, "" it is susceptible of all the ornaments of diction, and is very expressive; and, moreover, it is not

* Now a frontier province on the borders of Turkey in Europe, subject to the House of Austria. The Sclavonic language is supposed to be one of the most extensive in the known world.

†The term Runic is of uncertain derivation. The Runic language is that of the ancient Goths, which is more frequently called the Teutonic, from the Teutones, a tribe of Goths, a very ancient people who inhabited the northern parts of Germany.

The language of the Vandals, a barbarous people, descendants of the Goths, who inhabited a district in the northern part of Germany.

so difficult to learn as many have imagined." "* This language is written and read from the right to the left.

The Chaldean, the Syriac, and Arabic are generally considered as dialects of the HEBREW.

The Chaldean language has 25 letters; the Syriac 22; the Arabic 28; all of which are formed differently from the Hebrew. The latter has 22.

The COPTIC is the peculiar language of the Egyptians, but mixed with much of the Greek. This language was very little known till the late Mons. de la Crose made a Grammar and Dictionary of it, which are in MS. in the library of the University of Leyden.

The SAMARITAN is another dialect of the Hebrew. The Samaritans resembled the Jews; and their ancient city Samaria was in Palestine.

There is a Samaritan copy of the "Pentateuch," which differs but little, if at all, in matter from that of the Jews in HEBREW, but it is written in the Samaritan character.

The Hebrew characters are of two kinds; viz. the ancient or square, and the modern or Rabbinical. The latter are so called from the word Rabbi, which means a doctor or teacher among the JEWS. The Rabbinic character is formed from the square Hebrew by cutting off the greater part of its

corners.

The RABBINIC, is the language which the Rabbins have used in their works; the chief body of it is comprised of Hebrew and Chaldaic, with a mixture of Arabic and Greek.

The Rabbinic is held to be a very copious language; and there is scarcely any part of science of which the Rabbins have not treated.

The TALMUDIC is another dialect, or particular idiom, of the Hebrew, in which the Talmud was written. This work contains the Jewish Law, with the comments of the Rabbins. The language of the Talmud differs materially from the pure Hebrew. M. BUXTORF has composed a Chaldaic, Talmudic, and Rabbinic Dictionary, which fully and most ably proves the great difference there is between those dialects.

There are two languages, however, that will require more immediate attention than any of the above: these are the Greek and the Latin, which, by way of eminence, are called the learned languages.

A thorough knowledge of the former of these not only enables us to read the admirable productions of genius of ancient Greece, but also to form a correct judgment of its

* Frey.

antiquities, and of the history of its different ages, which form the most interesting periods of the sciences and polite arts of ancient times.

The latter affords the means of understanding the original texts of all the most celebrated Latin authors; of becoming acquainted with the city, republic, and monarchy of "wide imperial Rome;" and of forming a correct judgment of those precious Roman antiquities, which still remain in many parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.

But that which has given the Latin an advantage even over the Greek itself, and has rendered it indispensable to every man of letters, is, that during the middle ages the learned of "enlightened Europe" made it their common language; so that it now forms, as it were, the natural language of the sciences.

It may be remarked, that all that is written in Greek is not in the same dialect. The Greek language may be divided into what is called the ancient Greek, the Greek of the middle ages, and the modern or vulgar Greek.

The ANCIENT GREEK is a magnificent language. In this language are written the works of Xenophon, Thucydides, Demosthenes, Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Sophocles, &c.; works which have rendered these glorious spirits almost, if not altogether, immortal, and preserved the original language in all its purity.

There are several idioms or dialects even in the ancient Greek: the four principal are, the Attic, which is the most esteemed, the Ionic, the Eolic, and the Doric, the last of which was a kind of rustic or country dialect, in which were written eclogues,* idyls,† and other pastorals. All these dialects are to be found in Homer-the master of song.

The Greek language is very copious, and its inflections are as various as they are simple in most of the modern languages.

It has three numbers, the singular, dual, and plural, and in its verbs many tenses, which afford a greater variety of expression than almost any other.

The use of ancient Greek ceased when Constantinople became the regal capital of the Roman Empire, at which period what is called the Greek of the middle age began to be spoken. From this time the ancient Greek language became greatly

* Pastoral poems, whose scenes are confined to rural life, and whose personages are shepherds.

↑ Short poems, resembling eclogues.

Denoting the number two; so called from the Latin duo, two.

altered and corrupted, and its former natural elegance was no longer to be recognized.

The MODERN GREEK commenced at the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. This is the language which is now spoken in Greece, without any regard to improvement.

The wretched state to which the Greeks are reduced by the Turks renders them but too ignorant, as the policy of the Ottoman Porte does not permit its subjects to apply themselves to study with a view to obtain knowledge.

The difference between the ancient and the modern Greek consists in the terminations of their words.

There are in the modern Greek moreover many words which are not found in the ancient; and a great number of words has been introduced from modern languages.

Therefore, and of consequence, the Greek of the New Testament is very different from that of Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, &c.; and he who only understands the former will not understand the latter.

At the time of the birth of our Saviour, Christ, Greek was commonly spoken in JUDEA; for after the last captivity, the people no longer understood Hebrew; their Greek, however, was corrupted, being mixed with a great number of Hebraisms, by which means it became a vulgar language, in comparison with the ancient Greek. The latter is now become a dead language.

The LATIN is called a dead language. It was originally spoken in Latium, afterwards at Rome, and by means of the Latin Church, and the continued labours of the learned, has been handed down to us.

It is not an original tongue, but is for the most part composed from the Greek, and several ancient dialects of Italy. Like the Greek, it has had different periods of improvement and decay.

Its first age comprehends the ancient LATIN as spoken in Latium, and cultivated at Rome, from its first foundation, under the reigns of its renowned kings, and in the first ages of its republic.

The Latin Language, at the beginning, may be said to have been enclosed within the walls of Rome; for the Romans, in the early period of their power, did not generally permit the use of it to their neighbours, or to the people they conquered: but in proportion as the Romans became polished, and their language refined, they caused it to be used throughout all their conquered provinces, till at last it became almost an universal tongue.

The second age of the Latin began about the time of the

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