Dissertations on the English Language, with Notes, Historical and Critical; / to Which is Added, by Way of Appendix, an Essay on a Reformed Mode of Spelling, With Dr. Franklin's Arguments on that Subject

by Noah Webster

HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL.

[A],] page [42], Text.

The author of the "Specimen of an Etymological Vocabulary," asserts that "the Celtic was demonstrably the origin of the Greek and Latin; of most, if not all the languages of Europe; of part of Africa and the two Tartaries."

Mons. Gebelin, who has, with great industry, investigated the origin of the European languages, is of opinion that the Celtic was spoken from the borders of the Hellespont to the ocean, and from Troy to Cape Finisterre and Ireland. "La langue Celtique, dans son sens le plus extendu, est la langue que parlerent les premiers habitans de l'Europe, depuis les rives de l'Hellespont & de la Mer Egée, jusques a celle de l'Ocean; depuis le cap Sigée aux portes de Troie, jusques au cap de Finisterre en Portugal, ou jusques en Irelande."——Dis. Prelim. art. 2.

From this language, he says, sprung the Greek or Pelasgic, prior to Hesiod and Homer—the Latin or that of Numa—the Etruscan, spoken in a considerable part of Italy—the Thracian, spoken on the Danube, from the Euxine to the Adriatic sea, which was the same as the Phrygian—the Teutonic or German, spoken from the Vistula to the Rhine—the Gaulish, spoken on the Alps, in Italy, on this side the Po, and from the Rhine to the Ocean, including France, the Low Countries, Switzerland, Alemain, and the two Bretagnes—also the Cantabrian, or ancient language of Spain—in short, the Runic, spoken in the North, Denmark, Sweden, &c.

The only pure remains of this primitive Celtic, the same author supposes, are found in Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany in France, where the people still speak dialects of a language which is proved to be the ancient British.

"Separes ainsi du reste de l'univers, ces debris des anciens Celtes ont conservé leurs anciens usages, & parlent une langue qui n'a aucun rapport a celles des peuples qui les ont subjugués, & qui s'est partagée en trois dialectes, le Gallois, le Cornouaillien, & le Bas Breton; dialectes qui ont entr'eux le plus grand rapport, & qui sont incontestablement les precieux restes de l'ancienne langue des Celtes ou des Gaulois."——Dis. Prelim.

"Separated from the rest of the world, these remains of the ancient Celts have preserved their ancient customs, and speak a language which has no agreement with those of their conquerors, and which is divided into three dialects, the Welsh, the Cornish, and the Armoric—dialects which have a close affinity with each other, and which are, beyond dispute, the precious remains of the ancient Celtic or Gaulish language."[128]

In this passage the author seems to contradict what he had just before advanced, that the Celtic was the primitive language of Europe, from which sprung the Gothic or German. Now the Franks, Normans and Saxons, who subdued Gaul and Britain, spoke dialects of the Gothic; consequently there must have been, upon our author's own hypothesis, some agreement between the ancient Celtic and the more modern languages of the Goths, Saxons, and other northern conquerors of the Celtic nations. This agreement will appear, when I come to collate a number of words in the different languages.

Many learned men have attempted to prove that the Northern Goths and Teutones, and the Celts who lived in Gaul and Britain, were originally the same people. Mons. Mallet, the celebrated historian, has composed his "Introduction to the History of Denmark" upon this hypothesis. His translator is of a different opinion, and has generally substituted the English word "Gothic" for the "Celtique" of the original. In a preface to his translation, he endeavors to confute the opinion of Mons. Mallet, Cluverius, Pellutier and others, and prove that the Gothic and Celtique nations were ab origine two distinct races of men. Great erudition is displayed on both sides of the question, and those who have a taste for enquiries of this kind, will receive much satisfaction and improvement, in reading what these authors have written upon the subject.

After a close examination, I freely declare myself an advocate for the opinion of Mons. Mallet, Lhuyd, and Pellutier, who suppose the Celts and Goths to be descended from the same original stock. The separation however must have been very early, and probably as early as the first age after the flood. To say that the Gothic and Celtique languages have no affinity, would be to contradict the most positive proofs; yet the affinity is very small—discoverable only in a few words.

The modern English, Danish, Swedish and German are all unquestionably derived from the same language; they have been spoken by distinct tribes, probably not two thousand years, and almost one half of that period, the sounds have been in some measure fixed by written characters, yet the languages are become so different as to be unintelligible, each to those who speak the other. But, suppose two languages separated from the parent tongue, two thousand years earlier, and to be spoken, thro the whole of that time, by rude nations, unacquainted with writing, and perpetually roving in forests, changing their residence, and liable to petty conquests, and it is natural to think their affinity must become extremely obscure. This seems to have been the fact with respect to the Gothic and Celtic tongues. The common parent of both was the Phenician or Hebrew. This assertion is not made on the sole authority of Moses; profane history and etymology furnish strong arguments to prove the truth of the scripture account of the manner in which the world was peopled from one flock or family. Of these two ancient languages, the Celtic or British comes the nearest to the Hebrew, for which perhaps substantial reasons will be assigned. The Gothic bears a greater affinity to the Greek and Roman, as being derived through the ancient Ionic or Pelasgic, from the Phenician.

Lhuyd, a celebrated and profound antiquary, remarks, Arch. Brit. page 35. "It is a common error in etymology to endeavor the deriving all the radical words of our western European languages from the Latin and Greek; or indeed to derive constantly the primitives of any one language from any particular tongue. When we do this, we seem to forget that all have been subject to alterations; and that the greater and more polite any nation is, the more subject, (partly for improvement, and partly out of a luxurious wantonness) to new model their language. We must therefore necessarily allow, that whatever nations were of the neighborhood and of one common origin with the Greeks and Latins, when they began to distinguish themselves for politeness, they must have preserved their languages (which could differ from theirs only in dialects) much better than they; and consequently no absurdity to suppose a great many words of the language, spoken by the old aborigines, the Osci, the Læstrigones, the Ausonians, Ænotrians, Umbrians and Sabines, out of which the Latin was composed, to have been better preserved in the Celtic than in the Roman. "Lingua Hetrusca, Phrygia, Celtica (says the learned Stiernhelm) affines sunt omnes; ex uno fonte derivatæ. Nec Græca longe distat, Japheticæ sunt omnes; ergo et ipsa Latina. Non igitur mirium est innumera vocabula dictarum Linguarum communia esse cum Latinis." And that being granted, it must also be allowed that the Celtic (as well as all other languages) has been best preserved by such of their colonies, as, from the situation of their country, have been the least subject to foreign invasions. Whence it proceeds that we always find the ancient languages are best retained in mountains and islands."

The result of this doctrine is, that the primitive Celtic was preserved, in greatest purity, in Britain, before the Roman and Saxon conquests, and since those periods, in Wales and Cornwall. Hence the affinity between the Hebrew and British, which will afterward appear.

Wallis remarks that it is doubtful whether many words in the English and German languages are derived from the Latin, or the Latin from the Teutonic, or whether all were derived from the same stock. "Multas autem voces, quæ nobis cum Germanis fere sunt communes, dubium est an prisci olim Teutones a Latinis, an hi ab illis, aut denique utrique ab eodem commune fonte, acceperint."——Gram. Cap. 14.

But I presume that history, as well as etymology, will go far in solving the doubt, and incline us to believe that the Teutonic, Greek and Latin were all children of the same parent tongue.

We first hear of men in the mild climate of Asia Minor, and about the head of the Mediterranean. Soon after the flood, the inhabitants began to migrate into distant countries. Some of them went northward and settled in Bactriania and Hyrcania, thence extending westward along the shores of the Caspian sea into Armenia. From these Asiatic colonies, sprung the Scythians and the numerous tribes that afterwards covered the territory of modern Russia, Sweden and Denmark. The different tribes or hordes of these people were called Cimbri, (perhaps from Gomer) Galli, Umbri, &c. and settled the northern parts of Europe as far as the Rhine.

The northern Greek countries, Thrace and Mysia, were peopled by the descendants of Tiras or Thiras, a son of Japhet. The whole country from Thrace to Peloponnesus was inhabited by the posterity of Javan and Cittim; indeed Ionia, the ancient name of Greece, seems to be derived from Javan, J or I being anciently pronounced as liquid i, or y consonant, and as it is still pronounced in the German ja, yaw. These settlements were made long before the Pelasgic migrations into Greece, which happened at least 2000 years before Christ. The original language of Greece was called Ionic, from Javan or Ion. The Pelasgi were probably Phenicians; and ancient historians relate that they carried letters into Greece; but these must have been in a very rude state, so early after their invention;[129] nor do we find that they were ever much used; at least no records or inscriptions, in these characters, are mentioned by the Greek historians.

Cadmus introduced the Phenician letters into Greece 1494 years before Christ. These letters were introduced with some difficulty, and both Cadmus and his followers were obliged to adopt the Ionic or original Japhetic language, which was afterwards written in his Phenician characters.

The Greeks, at different periods, sent colonies into distant parts of the country. These settled in Thrace, Macedon, on the banks of the Euxine, in Asia Minor, in Italy, Sicily and on the southern shore of the Mediterranean. This Ionic or Japhetic language was therefore the root of the Greek and Latin. It was also the root of the Gothic language, spoken in the north of Europe; and from which, after the revolution of ages, the shocks of war, and the improvements in science, no less than seven or eight different languages are derived.[130]

Profane history therefore warrants us in asserting that the Greek, Roman, and all the modern languages of the north of Europe, and the English, among the rest, had a common stock. But history alone would not silence our objections to this theory, were it not incontestibly proved by a number of radical words, common to all, which are not yet lost in the changes of time. Etymology therefore furnishes a demonstration of what is related in history. When one sees the words γινωσκω and γνοω in Greek, nosco, and anciently, gnosco in Latin, and know in English, conveying the same idea, he is led to suspect that one nation borrowed the word from another. But when did the English borrow this word? The word was used by the Saxons, long before they could have had any knowlege of Greek or Roman authors. It furnishes therefore a strong presumption that all the streams came from the same fountain. But when we examin further, and find many, perhaps a hundred words or more, common to all these languages, the evidence of their common origin becomes irresistible. This in fact is the case.

The authors then who have labored to prove the Greek and Latin Languages to be derived from the Celtic, mistake the truth. The Celtic was not prior to the Greek and Latin, but a branch of the same stock; that is, cotemporary with those languages.

This Japhetic language, I take to be coeval with the Phenician or Hebrew; and there are some Hebrew words in the English language, which must have been derived thro the Saxon or Teutonic. But the old British, as I before remarked, retained the greatest affinity to the Hebrew. The reason which appears probable, has been already assigned; the Celts and Britons in the west of Europe, remained, till the times of Julius Cæsar, less disturbed by wars and revolutions, than the inhabitants of Asia, Egypt and Greece.

But I am inclined to believe further, that the descent of the Britons from the first Japhetic tribes that settled in Greece, was more direct, than thro the Gomerians or Cimbri, who travelled northward along the shores of the Baltic. I suspect that very ancient colonies settled on the shores of the Mediterranean, in Italy and Spain, and thence found their way to Gaul and Britain, before the northern tribes arrived thro Germany and Belgium. This would account for the affinity between the Hebrew language and the Welsh. The opinion however is not well supported by historical facts, and the ancient name of the British language, Cymraeg, denoting its descent from the Cimbric is a weighty objection.[131]

It is certain however that Carthage was settled by Phenicians, about 900 years before Christ. Greek colonies went thither in the following century, and not long after they settled at Marseilles in Gaul. The people therefore on both shores of the Mediterranean were descended from the same stock as the northern nations.

Accordingly we are not surprized to find some radical words nearly the same in all the existing languages of Europe. See Jackson's Chronological Antiquities, vol. 3, with Lhuyd, Geblin, and others.

To illustrate what I have advanced, respecting the first peopling of the world, and the derivation of most European languages from one mother tongue, I will here insert some remarks from Rowland's Mona Antiqua Restaurata, p. 261, with a table of words, evidently of Hebrew original.

"A TABLE, shewing the Affinity and near Resemblance, both in Sound and Signification, of many Words of the Ancient Languages of Europe with the Original Hebrew Tongue.

"For the better understanding of the parallels of this following table, it is to be observed, that letters of one and the same organ are of common use in the pronunciation of words of different languages—as for example, M, B, V, F, P, are labials: T, D, S, are dentals: G, Ch, H, K, C, are gutturals—and therefore if the Hebrew word or sound begins with, or is made of, any one of the labials, any of the rest of the same organ will answer it in the derivative languages. The same is to be observed in using the dental and the guttural letters. For in tracing out the origin of words, we are more to regard the sound of them than their literal form and composition; wherein we find words very often, by the humors and fancy of people, transposed and altered from their native sounds, and yet in their signification they very well fit their original patterns. I shall only exemplify in the letters M, B, and V, which are of one organ, that is, are formed by one instrument, the lip; and therefore are promiscuously used the one for the other, in pronouncing words of one language in another. The Hebrew B is generally pronounced as a V consonant. And the Irish also, most commonly in the middle of a word, pronounce M as a V; as we find the ancient Britons to have made use of V, or rather F, which they pronounce as V, for M and B in many Latin words; as,

Latin.	British.
Animal	Anifail
Turma	Tyrfa
Terminus	Terfyn
Calamus	Calaf
Primus	Prif
Amnis	Afon
Arma	Arfau
Firmus	Ffyrf
Monumentum	Monfent
Firmomentum	Ffurfafen
Lamentor	Llefain
Elementum	Eifen
Memorare	Myfyrio
Hyems	Gauaf
Clamare	Llafaru
Numerus	Nifer
Columna	Colofn
Gemelli	Gefeill
Roma	Rhufain
Scribo	Scrifenu
Liber	Llyfr
Remus	Rhwyf
Domo	Dofi
Rebello	Rhyfela
Pluma	Pluf
Catamanus	Cadfan
Dimetæ	Dyfed
Lima	Llif
Lamina	Llafn, &c.

"We are not to wonder at this analogy of sounds in the primitive distinction of languages. For before the use of writing, which has established the correct form of words, people were only guided by the ear in taking the sound of words, and they pronounced and uttered them again as the organs of their voice were best fitted for it; and it happening that the aptitude and disposition of those organs, peculiar to some people and countries, were various (as we find to this day some nations cannot shape their voice to express all the sounds of another's tongue,) it accordingly affected and inclined some parties of people to speak the same consonants harder or softer, to utter the same vowels broader or narrower, longer or shorter, as they found themselves best disposed to do. And thereupon custom prevailing with particular sets of people, to continue the use of such different pronunciation as they affected, the words so varied came at length to take on them different forms, and to be esteemed and taken as parts of different languages, tho in their origin they were one and the same.[132]

Hebrew.	Derivatives.		English.
Auch	Awch	Brit.	The edge of a sword
Even	Maen		A stone
Agam or Leagam	Lagam	Corn.	A pool or lake
Ivah	Deis-yfu	Br.	To desire
Auor	Awyr		Lightened air
Ano	Yno		Then
Achei	Achau		Brethren or kindred
Aedenei	Gwadnau		The soles of the feet
Calal	Cyllell		To wound or pierce
Domen	Tomen		Muck or dung
Gehel	——		Coal
Sâl	Sâl	Br.	Vile or of no account
Kadal	Gadael		To forsake or desist
Aggan	Angeion	Greek	A vessel or earthen pot
Alaph	'Alphoō		To find
Bama	Boōmòs		An altar
Hag	Agios		Holy
Hadar	Cadair	Br.	Honor or reverence
	Katha	Irish
Hia	Y hi	Br.	She
Goph	Corph		A body, corpse
Deraich	Braich		An arm
	Raich
Dad	Diden	Br.	The dug or udder
Ager	Aggero	Lat.	To heap together
Elah	-Illi, illæ		They, masc. & fem.
Angil	Axilla		The arm pit
Dapsh	Daps		Cheer or dainties
Hen	En! ecce!		Lo! behold!
Phar	Phérō	Greek	To bear or carry
Harabon	Arrhabon		A pawn or pledge
Phalat	Phuláttō		To keep or defend
Pathah	Peíthō		To persuade
Gab	Gibbus	Lat.	Bent or crooked
Dur	Duro		To endure
Laish	Lis	Greek	A lion
Deka	Dekō		To bite
Ephach	Ophis		A serpent
Dath	Deddf	Br.	A law
Denah	Dyna		This, that, there it is
Hissah	Ys taw		Be silent
	Distaw
Cala	Claf		To be sick
Clei	Cleas	Irish	Jewels, ornaments
Devar	Deveirim		To speak
Ein	Ynys	Br.	Island
Hama	Aman	Armor.	Butter
	Ymenyn	Br.
	Im	Irish
Ivo	Nava		His enemy
Beala	Mealam		To be wasted
Vock	Vacuus	Lat.	Empty
	Gwâc	Br.
Aita	Ydyw		Is, or are
Bar	Bar	Irish	Son
Bareh	Bara	Br.	Meat, or victuals
Beram	Verùm	Lat.	But, nevertheless
Beth	Bwth	Br.	A house, booth
Se	She	Irish	He, or him
Gaha	Iachau	Br.	To heal, or cure
Gad	Càd		An army
Boten	Potten	Br.	The belly
Gever	Gwr		A man
Hada	Edō	Greek	To cherish
Boa	Báō		To come
Aniah	Anía		Sadness
Charath	Charâttō		To insculp
Maas	Miséō		I hate
Semain	Semaínō		I shew
Aaz	'Aix		A goat
Aleth	Alaeth	Br.	A curse
Elil	Ellylly		Idol
Allun	Llwyn		A grove of oaks
Amunath	Amynedd		Constancy
Ap	Wep		Face
Itho	Iddo		With him
Atun	Odyn		A furnace
Atha	Aeth		Went, or came
Ische	Yssu		To burn
Emaeth	Ymaith		From him
Barach	Parch		To esteem, or bless
Gobah	Coppa		The top
Geven	Cefn		A ridge, or back
Gedad	Gwiwdod		Excellency
Gaiaph	Cau		To shut, or inclose
Evil	——		Evil
Beasch	——		Base
Babel	——		To babble, cabal; and hablar in Spanish, to speak; Lat. fabula; Fr. fariboles, idle talk
Baroth	——		Broth
Gaah	——		Gay
Dum	——		Dumb
Dusch	——		To dash
Hebisch	——		To abash
Hua	——		He, masc. gend.
Haras	——		To harass
Chittah	——		Wheat
Mesurah	——		A measure
Sahap	——		To sweep
Charath	——		To write
Saar	——		A shower
Aanna	——		To annoy
Phæer	——		Fair
Pheret	——		A part, or portion
Phærek	——		Fierce
Eretz	——		Earth; Sax. hertha
Sad	——		Side
Spor	——		A sparrow
Kinneh	——		A cane
Kera	——		To cry
Shekel	——		Skill
Rechus	——		Riches
Kre	——		A crow
Pasa	——		To pass
Halal	——		A hole
Catat	——		To cut
Ragez	——		To rage
Ragal	——		To rail, or detract
Maguur	Magwyr		Habitation
Madhevi	Myddfai		Distempers
Doroth	Toreth		Generations, encrease
Dal	Tal		Tall and high
Havah	Y fu		Was, or has been
Mahalac	Malc		A pathway, or a balk
Hilo	Heulo		Shining. Apollo, Sol.
Tor	Toar	Irish.	A boundary, or limit
	Terfyn	Br.
Siu	Syw		Resplendent
Achalas	Achles		Defence, Achilles
Machaneh	Machno and Mechain		Places of defence of old in the co. of Montgomery. Penmachno
Chorau	Crau		Holes
Choresh	Cors	Br.	A place full of small wood or reeds
Nodah	Nodi		To make known, or note
Jadha	Addef		To know
	'Oída	Greek
Hathorath	Athrawiaeth	Br.	Discipline
Jch	Eich		Your, or your own
Jared	I wared		Descended
Cha	Chwi		You
Jain	Gwîn		Wine
Toledouth	Tylwyth		Generations
Lus	Llyfu		To go away, or avoid
Caolath	Colled		A loss
Hounil	Ynnill		Gain
Jester	Ystyr		Consideration
Jadadh	Gwahodd		To invite
Cafodoth	Cyfoeth		Honours, or wealth
Cis	Cîst		A chest
Bar	Far	Lat.	Bread corn
	Bara	Br.
Shevah	——		Seven
Dakar	——		A dagger
Hinnek	——		To hang
Shelet	——		A shield
Hever	——		Over, or above
Shibbar	——		To shiver, or quake
Jiled	——		[133]A child
Chœbel	——		A cable
Parak	——		To break
Gannaf	——		A knave, or a thief
Coll	——		All
Hannah	——		To annoy, or hurt
Eth	Etos	Greek	A year, or age
	Ætas	Lat.
San	Cœna		A supper
Nabal	Nebulo		A churl
Mot	Motus	Lat.	Motion
Bath	Batos	Greek	A thorn
Eden	Edone		Pleasure
Kolah	Kleiō		To praise
Sas	Ses		A moth
Phac	Phake		Lentil
Skopac	Scopō		To speculate
Jounec	Jevangc	Br.	A suckling
Hamohad	Ammod		Covenant
Parad	Pared		A partition
Keren	Corn		A horn
Kefel	Cefail		The armpit
Me-Ab	Mâb		Son, or from a father
Luung	Llyngcu		To swallow
Temutha	Difetha		Destruction
Ceremluach	Cromlech		A sacrificing stone
Hamule	Aml		Plenty, or store
Mah?	Mae?		What? where? how?
Magal	Maglu		To betray
Makel	Magl		A staff
Meria	Mêr		Fat, or marrow
Mout	Mudo		To remove
Meth	Methu		To die, or fail
Mar	Maer		A lord
Marad	Brad		[134]Rebellion
Nafe	Nef		Joyful
Taphilu	Taflu		To cast
Hanes	Hanes		To signify
Nevath	Neuadd		Habitation
Jissal	Isel or Iselu		To throw down
Naoaph	Nwyf		Lust
Nadu	Nadu		They moan
Sethar	Sathru		To throw under feet
Heber	Aber		A ford, or passage
Nucchu	Nychu		Being smitten
Nuu	Nhwy		They, or those
Naodhad	Nodded		To escape
Gadah	Gadaw	Br.	To pass by
Niued	Niweid		To spoil
Goloth	Golwyth		Burnt offerings
Mohal	Moel		Top of a hill
Galas	Glwys		Pleasant
Hasem	Asen		A rib, or bone
Garevath	Gwarth		Shame
Taphug	Diffyg		Want, or defect
Phoreth	Ffrwyth		Fruit, or effect
Pach	Bach		A crooked stick
Pinnouth	Pennaeth		Chief, or uppermost
Phinnah	Ffynnu		To prosper
Path	Peth		A part or portion
Philegesh	Ffiloges		A concubine
Caton	Cwttyn		Short and little
Cir	Caer		A walled town
Reith	Rhîth		Appearance
Tireneh	Trîn		To feed and look after
Ragah	Rhwygo		To tear, rag
Rasah	Râs and Rhâd		Grace, or good will
Semen	Saim		Fat, or oil
Saraph	Sarph		A serpent
Sac	Sâch		A [135]sack
Phuk	Ffûg		Disguise
	Fucus	Lat.
Phærek	Ferocia		Fierceness
Pinnah	Pinna		Battlement
Pigger	Piger fuit		Lazy
Naca	Neco		To slay
Ad	Ad		Unto
Nut	Nuto		To nod
Darag	Trechō	Greek	To run to, or come at
Bala	Palai		Some time ago
Hannak	'Agchō		To strangle
	Tagu	Br.
Naar	Nearos	Greek	New or lately
Agab	'Agapaō		To love
Pacha	Pege	Greek	A fountain
Parash	Phrasō		To declare, phrase
Kol	Kalèō G. Galw	B.	To call
Mashal	Basileuō	Greek	To reign
Shareka	Syrinx		A syringe
Bekarim	Pecora	Lat.	Cattle
Ahel	Aula		A hall
Carpas	Carbasus		Fine linen, or lawn
Æsh	Æstes La. Tês	Br.	Heat, or hot weather
Gibar	Guberno	Lat.	To govern
Parah	Vireo		To look green
Ki	Quia		Wherefore
Olam	Olim		Of old
Golem	Glomus		A clew of thread
Amam	Ymam		Mother, mamma
Coaphar	Gwobr		Reward
Cala	Caula	Lat.	A sheepfold
Sarch	Serch	Br.	Lustful
Goliath	Glwth		A bed
Pathehen	Puttain		A whore
Burgad	Bwrgais		A burgess
Terag	Drwg		Bad, or evil
Dasgar	Dysgl		A dish
Shiovang	Sionge		Honorable
Anas	Annos		To instigate
Tam	Dim		Nothing
Pherch	Y ferch		A daughter
Tetuva	Edifar		Penitent
Leamor	Ar lafar		Saying
Casas	Ceisio		To search
Cark	Carchar		To bind; Lat. carcer
Kam	Cammu		To bend
Caffa	Cyff		A beam
Cevel	Ar gyfyl		Near
Dumga	Dammeg		A simile
Tor and Sor	Tarw		A bull; Lat. taurus
Turna	Teyrn		A prince, tyrant
Manos	Myddyn		A mountain
Malas	Melys		Sweet
Palac	Plygu		To fold
Banc	Mainc		A bench
Malal	Malu		To grind
Marak	Marc		A note
Cadif	Gwadu		To tell a lie
Tohum	Eyfn		Depth
Colar	Coler		A neck band, collar
Corontha	Coron		A crown
Berek	Brêg		A breach
Bagad	Bagad		A great many
Arach	Arogli		To smell
Nagash	Yn agos		To approach
Ciliah	Ceilliau		Stones
Gevr	Cawr		A giant
Kec	Cêg		A mouth
Kun	Cwyno		To lament
Natsar	Dinystr		Destruction, or ruin
Pinnah	Pinagl		Pinnacle
Mahalal	Mawl or Moli		To praise
Hedel	Hoedl		Life
Halal	Haul		Sun
Gavel	Gafael		Tenure
Lashadd	Glasaidd		Blueish
Gerem	Grym, grymmus		Bony or strong
Masac	Cym-myscu		To mingle
Gana	Canu		To sing; Lat. cano
Celimah	Calumnia	Lat.	Reproach
Netz	Nisus		Endeavor
Ptsel	Psileō		To make bear
Shushan	Souson		Lilly
Shecan	Sceneō		To dwell in tabernacles
Kalal	Gwael	Br.	Vile
Taffi	Diffoddi		To extinguish
Tselem	Delw		An image
Hoberi	Obry		Men over against
Aen-adon	Anudon		Disclaiming God, or perjury

Here are about fifty English words, which, from their near resemblance to the Hebrew, both in sound and signification, must have been borrowed from the latter in modern ages, or been preserved thro successive generations from Heber to the present times. But they could not have been introduced into English in modern ages, for many of them are found in the other branches of the Gothic, the German, Danish and Swedish; and it can be proved that they existed in the original Gothic or northern language. For example, our word earth is found in Hebrew, and in all the dialects of the Gothic. Hebrew, ert or ertz; Welsh, d'aira; Greek, éra; Latin, terra; Gothic, airthai; ancient German, erth or herth; Saxon, eartho; Low Dutch, aerden; High Dutch, erden; Swiss, erden; Scotch, airth; Norwegian or Norse, iorden; Danish, iorden; Swedish, iordenne; Irelandic, iordu. In the pronunciation of these words there is little difference, except such as is common to the several languages. The ancients aspirated their words more frequently than the moderns; hence the old Germans pronounced the word with h, as appears by a passage in Tacitus, De Mor. Germ. 40. "Nec quidquam notabile in singulis, nisi quod in commune Herthum, id est terram, matrem colunt."—The modern nations of the north generally write and pronounce d where we write th; as erden; and the i of the Norwegians answers to our e or y, so that iorden is pronounced yorden; and it is remarkable that many of the common English people still pronounce earth, yerth.

The Hebrew turna is found in the British teyrn, signifying a prince or ruler. This word is the root of the Greek turannos, the Latin tyrannus, the British dyrnas, a kingdom or jurisdiction, which is still preserved in the modern Welsh deyrnas; and we see the word in the name of the celebrated British commander, Vortighern. Our word tyrant is derived from it, but it is always used in a bad sense.

In the Hebrew rechus or rekus, we have the origin of the English rich, riches, and the termination rick in bishop-rick, and anciently, in king-rick; the word originally denoting landed property, in which wealth was supposed to consist, and afterwards jurisdiction. From the same word are derived the Anglo Saxon ryc; the Franco Theotisc, rihhi; the Cimbric, rickie; the ancient Irish or Gaedhlig, riogda; the Low Dutch, rijcke; the Frisic, rick; the German, reich; the Swiss, rijch; the Danish, rige; the Norwegian, riga; the Swedish, ricke; the French, riche, and the Spanish, riccos, a general name for nobility, or wealthy proprietors of land.

The word Caer seems to have been a very ancient name for a city or town. We probably see this word in a great number of Welsh names, Carmarthen, Carnarvon, Carlisle, &c. This word seems also to be the origin of Cairo, in Egypt; Carthage or town of the horse;[136] the cirthe of the Numidians, and the Caere of the Etruscan. "Inde Turnus Rutilique, diffisi rebus, ad florentes Etruscorum opes Mezentiumque eorum regem, confugiunt; qui Caere, opulento tum oppido imperitans—haud gravatim socia arma Rutulis junxit."—Liv. lib. 1. 2. Here we hear of the word before the foundation of Rome.

But the affinity between the Hebrew and British is much more obvious, than that between the Hebrew and English. There are about one hundred and eighty British words in the foregoing table, which are clearly the same as the Hebrew; and there is no way to account for the fact, but by supposing them to be all derived from the same primitive tongue.

The resemblance between the Welsh, Latin and English may be observed in the following.

Welsh.	Latin.	English.
Y'sgol	schola	school
Y'spelio	spolio	spoil
Y'sprid	spiritus	spirit
Y'stad	status	state
Y'stod	stadium	furlong

The old Britons however might have borrowed these words from the Romans, during their government of the Island; as the English did many of theirs at a later period.

The same remark will not apply to the following:

Welsh.	Latin.	Irish.	English.
Guin	vinum	fin	wine
Guyl	vigilæ	feil	watch
Gur	vir	fearr	man
Guynt	ventus	wind
Gual	vallum	wall
Armoric.
Gosper	vesper	feaskor	guespor
Eng.
Guedhar	weather
Guerth	virtus	worth
Guylht	wild

In this table, we see the different nations begin the same word with a different consonant. The ancient Latin v was pronounced as our w; vinum, winum; hence the English wine. So in the following:

Latin.	English.
Via	way
Venio, ventum	went
Vellus	wool
Vespa	wasp
Volvo	wallow
Volo	will[137]

That the Welsh should pronounce gu, where we pronounce w, may seem strange; yet such is the fact, and an anatomist will readily assign the reason. The French, in the same manner, use g where we write and pronounce w.

English.	French.
War	guerre
Warrant	garrant
Ward	gard
Wise	guise
Wile	guile
Wage	gage
Wicket	guicket
William	Guillaum
Wales	Gales, Gaul, Gallia[138]

A number at least of the words in the foregoing tables, must have existed in the several languages from the earliest times; and therefore must have been derived from the same stock.

In the following words, we trace the common origin of the Greek and Gothic languages.

Greek.	English.
Kardia	heart
Kear
Kiō	hie
Kaleō	hail, call
Koilas	hollow
Kēdas	heed, care
Kerdas	hire
Keras	horn, herald
Axine	ax
Ophrun	frown
Pur	fire
Platus	plate
Xeras	fear
Mignuō	mingle
Eileō	heal, hail
Kairō	cheer
Gonu	knee
Knix	gnat
Zēteō	seek

The reader will find no difficulty in believing these words to be from the same root, when he is told that the Greeks and the northern nations of Europe pronounced with a strong guttural aspirate; and that k among the Greeks was often a mere aspirate, like h. Thus the Romans often pronounced c; for which reason that letter is often omitted, and h substituted in modern English. Curro and hurry are the same word; and so are cornu and horn; Carolus and Harold.

Greek.	Latin.	English.
'Oinos	vinum	wine
Damaō	domo	tame
Zeugos	jugum	yoke
Upper	super	upper
Gnoō	nosco	know
Ginosko	cognosco

Some old people still pronounce the k in know.

In the following, the Welsh differ from the Greek in the prepositives or initial mutes; but they are clearly from the same root.

Greek.	Latin.	English.
Stoma	saman	mouth
Ikanos	digon	sufficient
Arkē	d'erke	beginning
Airō	d'uyrey	arise
Platun	lhydon	broad
Papyrun	bruyn	rushes
Trekō	rhedeg	run
Petalon	dalen	loaf[139]

In the following words, the Welsh are nearer the Greek than the Latin; yet all came from one stock.

Greek.	Welsh.	Latin.	English.
Helios	heil	sol	sun
Hypnos	hyn, heppian	somnus	sleep
Halon	halen	sal	salt
Hamolos	hamal	similis	like
Bounos	ban	mons	mountain
Kleas	klad. Cornish, klas	laus	praise
Pepto	pobo	coquo	cook
Hyle	hely	sylva	woods
Krios	kor	aries	ram

These words are incontestibly the same, with mere dialectical variations. All are branches of the same stock, yet neither can claim the honor of being that stock.

But the most curious etymological analysis ever exhibited perhaps in any language, is that found in Gebelin's works. Take the following specimens.

In the primitive language (of Europe) the monosyllable tar, ter, tor or tro, for it appeared under these forms, signified force. It was composed of t and ar or d'ar, roughness, rapidity. Hence tar expressed the idea of force, with the collateral ideas of violence, rigor, grandeur, &c. From tar are derived, taurus, a bull; torrent, target, trunk, truncare, to cut off; terror, trepan, tare, detriment, trancher, to cut; retrench; tardus, tardy, retard, tergum, because things heavy, that require force, were carried upon the back; intrigue, for it implies difficulties; trop, too much, troop, ter, trois, which originally signified a multitude; for many savage nations have names only for the three first numbers; tierce, tres, very; tresses, a braid or plait of hair in three divisions; triangle, tribunal, tribe, attribute, contribute, &c. trident, trillion, trio, trinity, entre, enter, taken from a relation of three objects, one between two, makes a third; hence internal, external, travers, across; tradition, passing from one to another; traffic, trahir, to draw; traitor, trepidation, intrepid. From tra, between, and es, it is, came the Celtic, treh, a narrow pass, a strait, strict, Fr. etroit, astringent, detroit, strait; distress, strength. The compounds are numerous. Intrinsic, entrails, introduce, extraneous, extravagant, transcendent, transfer, transform, transgress, transact, translate, transmit, transmigrate, transmutation, &c.

Paltroon is from pollex, a thumb, and truncare, to cut off; for cowards use to cut their thumbs to avoid service.

TEM.

Tem signified river, water. Hence tempero in Latin signified to plunge into water. We to this day say to temper iron or steel. To temper, is to moderate. From this root come temperance, temperature, and a numerous catalogue of other words. The river Thames derives its name from the same root.

VA, to go, radical.

From va, the Celtic root, we find a multitude of branches in Greek, Latin, English and French. It is an onomatope, a word borrowed from the sound of our feet in walking. Its derivatives are, wade, evade, evasion, invade, invasion, venio, Lat. and venir, Fr. to come; venia and venial,[140] adventure, avenue, convenio, convenience, convention, covenant perhaps, contravene, intervene, invent, prevent, province,[141] advance, via, way, voyage, convoy, convey, obviate, vex, invective, vein, a way for the blood; voiture, Fr. for a load to carry; evitare, Lat. to shun; inevitable.

To these derivatives, I will just add a comparative view of the verbs have and be in several languages.

HAVE.

English.	Latin.	French.	Germ.	Spanish.	Portuguese.
I have	habeo	ai[142]	habe	he	éy
Thou hast	habes	as	hast	as	has
He has	habet	a	hat	as	ha
We have	habemus	avons	haben	avemos	hamos, avemos
You have	habetis	avez	habet	aveis	éys, evéys
They have	habent	ont	haben	an	ham

The Substantive Verb BE.

English.	Latin.	French.	Germ.	Spanish.	Portuguese.
I am, be	sum	suis	bin	estoy & soy	sou, estou
Thou art, beest	es	es	bist	estas, eres	es, estas
He is, be	est	est	est-es	está, es	he, esta
We are, be	sumus	sommes	sind	estamos, somos	somos, estamos
You are, be	estis	êtes	seyd	estais, sois	soys, estoys
They are, be	sunt	sont	sind	estan, son	sam, estam

It is indisputable that have, in all these languages, is from the same root. But there seem to have been anciently two substantive verbs, or perhaps three, from which modern nations have borrowed; viz, the Greek ειναι or ειμι, or the Latin esse, from which most of the foregoing are derived; the Teutonic beon, whence the Germans have their bin and bist, and the English their be and beest; and an old Gothic or Teutonic word, weorthan, whence the Danes have derived their vœrer, and the English and Germans their were and werden. In the old English phrase, "woe worth the day," we see the same verb.

Having stated my reasons and authorities for believing all the European languages descended from one parent tongue, I will here subjoin the Lord's Prayer in several languages of Celtic and Gothic origin. The affinity between all the branches of the Gothic is very visible; the affinity likewise between all the branches of the Celtic is very obvious, except the ancient Irish. The Cantabrian and Lapland tongues have little resemblance to either of the stocks or their branches.

GOTHIC. |
|
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| | |
| | |
1. Old Saxon, 2. Francic, 3. Cimbric,
or Anglo-Saxon. or Franco-Theotisc. or Old Icelandic.
| | |
| | |
| {1. English. +--1. German, +--1. Icelandic. +--{2. Broad, | or High Dutch (proper.) +--2. Norwegian,
| or Lowland Scotch. +--2. German | or Norse.
| | of Swabia. +--3. Danish. | {3. Belgic, +--3. Swiss. +--4. Swedish. +--{ or Low Dutch (proper.)
| {4. Frisic,
| { or Friezeland Tongue.

Very little affinity is discoverable between the original Gothic and Celtic or their derivatives; yet this is not a proof that they were ab origine distinct languages; for the words in this prayer are few, and it has been proved that there are many words common to both those ancient tongues.

CELTIC. |
+----------------+----------------+
| |
+------------+---------+ |
| | |
1. The Ancient 2. The Ancient 3. The Ancient GAULISH. BRITISH. IRISH. | | |
| | |
No Language fully +--1. WELSH. +--1. IRISH. derived from this is +--2. AMORICAN, +--2. ERSE, or now extant, unless it | or Bas Bretagne. | Highland Scotch. be the AMORICAN, +--3. CORNISH. +--3. MANKS, or a Language which yet the best | of the Isle of Man. authorities derive from the Ancient British, or CYMRAEG.

Specimens of the Gothic Languages.

The ancient Gothic of Ulphilas.

Atta unsar thu in himinam. 1. Veihnai namo thein. 2. Quimai thiudinassus theins. 3. Vairthai vilja theins, sue in himina, jah ana airthai. 4. Hlaif unsarana thana sinteinan gif uns himmadaga. 5. Jah aflet uns thatei sculans sijaima sua sue jah veis afletam thaim skulam unsaraim. 6. Jah ni bringais uns in fraistubnjai. 7. Ak lausei uns af thamma ubilin. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn's Oratio Dominica in diversas omnium fere Gentium Linguas versa, &c.]

The Ancient Languages derived from the Gothic.

I.

Anglo Saxon.

Uren Fader, thic arth in heofnas. 1. Sie gehalgud thin noma. 2. To cymeth thin ryc. 3. Sie thin willa sue is in heofnas, and in eortho. 4. Uren hlaf oferwistlic sel us to daeg. 5. And forgefe us scylda urna, sue we forgefan scyldgum urum. 6. And no inlead usig in custnung. 7. Ah gefriguiichfrom ftie. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 56]

II.

Franco Theotisc.

Fater unser thu thar bist in himile. 1. Si geheilagot thin namo. 2. Queme thin rihhi. 3. Si thin willo, so her in himile ist o si her in erdu. 4. Unsar brot tagalihhaz gib uns huitu. 5. Inti furlaz uns nusara sculdi so uuir furlazames unsaron sculdigon. 6. Inti ni gileitest unsih in costunga. 7. Uzouh arlosi unsi fon ubile. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 61.]

III.

Cimbric, or old Icelandic.

Fader uor, som est i himlum. 1. Halgad warde thit nama. 2. Tilkomme thitt rikie. 3. Skie thin vilie, so som i himmalam, so och po iordannè. 4. Wort dachlicha brodh gif os i dagh. 5. Ogh forlat os uora skuldar, so som ogh vi forlate them os skildighe are. 6. Ogh inled os ikkie i fretalsam. 7. Utan frels os ifra ondo. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 54]

Specimens of the Celtic Languages.

[** hand pointing right]I am not able to produce any specimen of the Celtic, at least any version of the Lord's Prayer, which can be opposed in point of antiquity to the Gothic specimen from Ulphilas, who flourished A.D. 365.—As the Celts were settled in these countries long before the Goths, and were exposed to various revolutions before their arrival, their language has, as might be expected, undergone greater and earlier changes than the Gothic; so that no specimen of the old original Celtic is I believe, now to be found.

The Ancient Languages derived from the Celtic.

I.

Anc. Gaulish.

Of this language I cannot find any specimen which can be depended on.

II.

Cambrian, or Ancient British.

Eyen Taad rhuvn wyt yn y neofoedodd. 1. Santeiddier yr henvu tau. 2. Devedy dyrnas dau. 3. Guneler dy wollys ar ryddayar megis ag yn y nefi. 4. Eyn bara beunyddvul dyro inni heddivu. 5. Ammaddeu ynny eyn deledion, megis ag i maddevu in deledvvir ninaw. 6. Agna thowys ni in brofedigaeth. 7. Namyn myn gwared ni rhag drug. Amen.

[From Chamberl. p. 47.]

III.

Ancient Irish, or Gaedhlig.

Our Narme ata ar neamb. 1. Beanich a tainin. 2. Go diga de riogda. 3. Go denta du hoill air talm in marte ar neamb. 4. Tabair deim aniugh ar naran limbali. 5. Augus mai duin ar fiach amhail maamhia ar fiacha. 6. Naleig sin amaribh. 7. Ach saarsa sin o olch. Amen.

[From Dr. Anth. Raymond's Introduction to the History of Ireland, p. 2, 3, &c.][143]

Specimens of the Gothic Languages.

I. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the OLD SAXON.

I.

English.

Our Father, which art in heaven. 1. Hallowed be thy name. 2. Thy kingdom come. 3. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. 4. Give us this day, our daily bread. 5. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. 6. And lead us not into temptation. 7. But deliver us from evil. Amen.

[From the English Testament.]

II.

Broad Scotch.

Ure Fader, whilk art in hevin. 1. Hallouit be thy naim. 2. Thy kingdum cum. 3. Thy wull be dun in airth, as it is in hevin. 4. Gie uss this day ure daily breid. 5. And forgive uss ure debts, ass we forgien ure debtouris. 6. And leid uss na' into temptation. 7. Bot deliver uss frae evil. Amen.

[From a Scotch Gentleman.]

III.

Low Dutch, or Belgic.

Onse Vader, die daer zijt in de hemelen. 1. Uwen naem worde gheheylight. 2. U rijcke kome. 3. Uwen wille gheschiede op der aerden, gelijck in den hemel. 4. Onse dagelijck broodt gheest ons heden. 5. Ende vergheeft ons onse schulden, ghelijck wy oock onse schuldenaren vergeven. 6. Ende en leyt ons niet in Versoeckinge. 7. Maer verlost ons vanden boosen. Amen.

[From the New Test. in Dutch.]

IV.

Frisic, or Friezeland Tongue.

Ws Haita duu deritu biste yne hymil. 1. Dyn name wird heiligt. 2. Dyn rick tokomme. 3. Dyn wille moet schoen, opt yrtyck as yne hymile. 4. Ws dielix bræ jov ws jwed. 5. In verjou ws, ws schylden, as vejac ws schyldnirs. 6. In lied ws nact in versieking. 7. Din fry ws vin it quæd. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 68.]

Specimens of the Celtic Languages.

II. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the ANCIENT BRITISH, or CYMRAEG.

I.

Welsh, or Cymraeg.

Ein Tâd, yr hwn wyt yn y nefoedd. 1. Sanctieddier dy Enw. 2. Deved dy deyrnas. 3. Bydaed dy ewyllys ar y ddaiar megis y mae yn y nefoedd. 4. Dyro i ni heddyw ein bara beunyddiol. 5. A madde ini ein dyledion fel y maddeuwn ni i'n dyledwyr. 6. Ag nag arwain ni i brofedigaeth. 7. Eithr gwared ni rhag drwg. Amen.

[Communicated by a Gentleman of Jesus College, Oxon.]

II. Armoric, or Language of Britanny in France.

Hon Tad, pehudij sou en efaou. 1. Da hanou bezet sanctifiet. 2. Devet aornomp da rouantelaez. 3. Da eol bezet graet en douar, eual maz eon en euf. 4. Ró dimp hyziou hon bara pemdeziec. 5. Pardon dimp hon pechedou, eual ma pardonomp da nep pegant ezomp offanczet. 6. Ha na dilaes quet a hanomp en temptation. 7. Hoguen hon diliur diouz drouc. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 51.]

III.

Cornish.

Ny Taz, ez yn neau. 1. Bonegas yw tha hanaw. 2. Tha gwlakoth doaz. 3. Tha bonagath bogweez en nore pocoragen neau. 4. Roe thenyen dythma gon dyth bara givians. 5. Ny gan rabn weary cara ny givians mens. 6. O cabin ledia ny nara idn tentation. 7. Buz dilver ny thart doeg. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 50.]

Specimens of the Gothic Languages.

II. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the ANCIENT GERMAN, or FRANCIC, &c.

I.

High Dutch, (proper.)

Unser Vater in dem Himmel. 1. Dein name werde geheiliget. 2. Dein reich komme. 3. Dein wille geschehe auf erden, wie im himmel. 4. Unser taeglich brodt gib uns heute. 5. Und vergib uns unsere schulden, wie wir unsern schuldigern vergeben. 6. Und fuehre uns nicht in Versuchung. 7. Sondern erloese uns von dem vbel. Amen.

[From the common German New Testament, printed at London, 12 mo.]

II.

High Dutch of the Suevian Dialect.

Fatter ausar dear du bischt em hemmal. 1. Gehoyleget wearde dain nam. 2. Zuakomme dain reych. 3. Dain will gschea uff earda as em hemmal. 4. Ausar deglich braud gib as huyt. 5. Und fergiab as ausre schulda, wia wiar fergeaba ausarn schuldigearn. 6. Und fuar as net ind fersuaching. 7. Sondern erlais as fom ibal. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn's Oratio Dominica, p. 64.]

III.

The Swiss Language.

Vatter unser, der du bist in himlen. 1. Geheyligt werd dyn nam. 2. Rukumm uns dijn rijch. 3. Dyn will geschahe, wie im himmel, also auch uff erden. 4. Gib uns hut unser taglich brot. 5. Und vergib uns unsere schulden, wie anch wir vergaben unsern schulderen. 6. Und fuhr uns nicht in versuchnyss. 7. Sunder erlos uns von dem bosen. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 65.]

Specimens of the Celtic Languages.

III. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the ANCIENT IRISH.

I.

Irish, or Gaidhlig.

Ar nathair atá ar neamh. 1. Naomhthar hainm. 2. Tigeadh do riaghachd. 3. Deuntar do thoil ar an ttalámh, mar do nithear ar neamh. 4. Ar naràn laéathamhail tabhair dhúinn a niu. 5. Agus maith dhúinn ar bhfiacha, mar mhaithmidne dar bhféitheamhnuibh fein. 6. Agus na léig sinn a ccathughadh. 7. Achd sáor sinn o olc. Amen.

[From Bishop Bedel's Irish Bible. Lond. 1690. 8 vo.]

II.

Erse, or Gaidhlig Albannaich.

Ar n' Athair ata air neamh. 1. Gu naomhaichear t tinm. 2. Tigeadh do rioghachd. 3. Deanthar do thoil air an ta amh mar a nithear air neamb. 4. Tabhair dhuinn an diu ar n aran laitheill. 5. Agus maith dhuinn ar fiacha amhuill mar mhaithmid d'ar luehd-fiach-aibh.[144] 6. Agus na leig am buaireadh sinn. 7. Ach saor sinn o olc. Amen.

[From the New Testament in the Erse Language.]

III.

Manks, or Language of the Isle of Man.

Ayr ain, t'ayns niau. 1. Casherick dy row dt'ennym. 2. Dy jig dty reeriaught. 3. Dt'aigney dy row jeant er y thalao, myr te ayns niau. 4. Cur d oin nyn arran jiu as gaghlaa. 5. As leih dooin nyn loghtyn, nyr ta shin leih dauesyn tu jannoo loghtyn nyn' oc. 6. As ny leeid shin ayns miolagh. 7. Agh livrey shin veih olk. Amen.

[From the Liturgy in Manks, printed at London, 1765. 8 vo.]

Specimens of the Gothic Languages.

III. MODERN LANGUAGES derived from the ANCIENT SCANDINAVIAN, or ICELANDIC, called (by some writers) Cimbric, or Cimbro Gothic.

I.

Icelandic.

Fader vor thu som ert a himnum. 1. Helgest thitt nafn. 2. Tilkome thitt riike. 3. Verde thinn vilie, so a jordu, sem a himne. 4. Gieff thu oss i dag vort daglegt braud. 5. Og fiergieff oss vorar skulder, so sem vier fierergiefum vorum skuldinautum. 6. Og inleid oss ecke i freistne. 7. Heldr frelsa thu oss fra illu. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 70.]

II.

Norwegian, or Norse.

Wor Fader du som est y himmelen. 1. Gehailiget woare dit nafn. 2. Tilkomma os riga dit. 3. Din wilia geskia paa iorden, som handt er udi himmelen. 4. Giff oss y tag wort dagliga brouta. 5. Och forlaet os wort skioldt, som wy forlata wora skioldon. 6. Och lad os icke homma voi fristelse. 7. Man frals os fra onet. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 71.]

III.

Danish.

Vor Fader i himmelen. 1. Helligt vorde dit navn. 2. Tilkomme dit rige. 3. Vorde din villie, paa iorden som i himmelen. 4. Giff oss i dag vort daglige bred. 5. Oc forlad oss vor skyld, som wi forlade vore skyldener. 6. Oc leede oss icke i fristelse. 7. Men frels os fra ont. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 70.]

IV.

Swedish.

Fader war som ast i himmelen. 3. Helgat warde titt nampn. 2. Till komme titt ricke. 3. Skei tin willie saa paa lordenne, som i himmelen. 4. Wart dagliga brod giff oss i dagh. 5. Och forlat os wara skulder sa som ock wi forlaten them oss skildege aro. 6. Och inleed oss icke i frestelse. 7. Ut an frals oss i fra ondo. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 70.]

Specimens of the Finn and Lapland Tongues.

I.

The Finn Language.

Isa meidan joca olet taiwassa. 1. Pyhitetty olcon sinum nimes. 2. Lahes tulcon sinum waldacundas. 3. Olcon sinun tahtos niin maase cuin taiwasa. 4. Anna meile tanapaiwana meidan joca paiwainen leipam. 5. Sa anna meille meidan syndim andexi nuncuin mekin andex annam meidan welwottistem. 6. Ja ala johdata meita kiusauxen. 7. Mutta paasta meita pahasta. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 82.]

II.

The Lapland Tongue.

Atka mijam juco lee almensisne. 1. Ailis ziaddai tu nam. 2. Zweigubatta tu ryki. 3. Ziaddus tu willio. naukuchte almesne nau ei edna mannal. 4. Wadde mijai udni mijan fært pæfwen laibebm. 5. Jah andagasloite mi jemijan suddoid, naukuchte mije andagasloitebt kudi mije welgogas lien. 6. Jah sissalaidi mijabni. 7. Æle tocko kæckzællebma pahast. Amen.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 83.]

---

A Specimen of the Cantabrian or Biscayan Language, still preserved in Spain.

The Basque.

Gure Aita kerutéan caréna. 1. Erabilbedi sainduqui çure jcena. 2. Ethorbedi çure eressuma. 3. Eguinbedi çure borondatea çerú an becala turre'an ore. 4. Emandieçagucu egun gure egunorozco oguia. 5. Eta barkhadietcatgutçu gure çorrac gucere gure coidunei barkhatcendiotçaguten becala. 6. Eta ezgaitçatcu utc tentacionétan erortcerat. 7. Aitcitic beguiragaitcatçu gaite gucietaric. Halabiz.

[From Chamberlayn, p. 44.]

Here we find many of the same words, with small variations, in all the languages of Teutonic origin. It is however observable that the English have softened some words, by omitting the gutturals. Thus gehalgud in the Anglo-Saxon; geheiliget in the German; gheheylight in the Belgic; and geheyligt in the Swiss, are softened into hallowed in English; taeglich and dagelijcht become daily. Similar omissions run thro the language. Thus nagel, hagel have become in English nail and hail. The gh in might, night are still pronounced by the Scotch; but the English say mite, nite.[145]

The affinity between the ancient British, the modern Welsh, and the Armoric, is very obvious; but in the latter, we find a few Latin or French words—pardon, peichdon, deliur, which we should naturally expect from the vicinity of Britanny to the French language.

I have been at the pains to examin a great number of radical words in the Danish, and find the most of them, amounting to more than four hundred, very little different from the English. Where the English write w, the Danes write v; vind for wind. Where the English write c hard, the Danes, with more judgement, write k; klover, kan, kommer, for cleave, can, come. Where the English write wh, the Danes, with propriety, write hv, v having the sound of w; as hvad, hvi, hval; what, why, whole.

The words, common to the Danish and English, are mostly monosyllables.

As a corroborating proof of the Eastern origin of the Goths, authors produce the resemblance between their religious opinions and the notions of the Magi. The Scandinavian mythology is preserved in the EDDA, written by Snorro Sturleson, an Icelander, a learned judge and first magistrate in the 12th century.

In this there are many notions which seem to bear a great analogy to the doctrines revealed in the Bible.

It is represented in the Edda, that before creation, "all was one vast abyss;" an idea not unlike the scripture account of what we usually call chaos.—"That Surtur, the black, shall come at the end of the world, vanquish the gods and give up the universe to the flames"—a crude notion of the conflagration.—"That Ymer the first man or great giant, slept and fell into a sweat, and from the pit of his left arm were born male and female;" this has some resemblance to the scripture account of the creation of the woman—"That the sons of Bore slew the giant Ymer, and all the giants of the frost were drowned, except Bengelmer, who was saved in his bark;" in which notion we observe some tradition of the deluge.

The opinion that the world will be destroyed by fire seems to have been universal among the Gothic nations. The descriptions of that catastrophe resemble those of the Stoics and of the ancient Magi and Zoroaster, from whom the idea was probably taken. These descriptions all agree with the scripture representation of that event in the material circumstances.

The doctrine of a future state, or of a renovation of the world, was part of the Gothic system. It was taught by Zamolxis, the celebrated Druid of the Getæ and Scythians.—— Herod. Lib. 4. § 95.

In this same Edda, we also find the origin of some customs still remaining among the descendants of the northern nations. The drinking of bumpers is not an invention of modern bacchanals; it is mentioned, fable 25, of the Edda, where it is said Thor challenged one to a drinking match.

The custom of hanging up bushes on Christmas eve is derived probably from the superstitious veneration paid to the Misseltoe by the Scandinavians.

Indeed the festival of Christmas was grafted upon an ancient pagan feast, celebrated at the winter solstice, in honour of the sun and to render the new year propitious. It answered to the Roman Saturnalia, and was probably of as high an origin. The night on which it was observed was called Mother Night, as that which produced the rest; and the feast itself was called by the Goths Iuul.—See Mallet's North. Antiq. vol. 1. p. 130. Hence the old word yeul or yule for Christmas; a word that is still used, or at least has been used till within a century in Scotland and the north of England. "Yule," says that learned antiquary, Cowel, "in the north parts of England, is used by the country people as the name of the feast of our Lord's nativity, usually termed Christmas. The sports used at Christmas, called Christmas Gamboles, they stile Yule Games. Yule is the proper Scotch word for Christmas."——Cowel's Law Dictionary, tit. Yule. The Parliament passed an act for discharging the Yule Vacance, which was repealed after the union by stat. George I. cap. 8. The feast was celebrated from time immemorial among the Romans and Goths; the Christians changed its object and name; tho such is the force of custom, that the Gothic name existed in Scotland till lately, and perhaps still exists among the lower ranks of people.

From the northern nations also we have the names of the days of the week; or at least of some of them. The ancient Goths devoted particular days to particular deities.

TUESDAY was Tyrsdag, from Tyr the God of bravery. It is in the Danish, Tyrsdag, and in the Swedish Tisdag.

WEDNESDAY is Woden'sdag, from Woden, a celebrated warrior deified. In Icelandic, it is Wonsdag; in Swedish, Odinsdag; in Dutch, Woensdag; in Anglo Saxon, Wodensdag.

THURSDAY is from Thor, god of the air. In Danish it is Thorsdag; in Swedish Torsdag.

FRIDAY is from Frea, the earth and goddess of love, answering to the Venus of the Greeks. In some languages it is called Freytag.—— See Mallet's North. Antiquities.

I will just add, it is a weighty argument in favor of the truth of the Scripture history, and of the opinion here advanced of the common origin of languages, that in all the ancient and modern European alphabets, the letters are of a similar figure and power, and arranged nearly in the same order.[146] The true Greek letters were only the Cadmean letters reversed: This reversal took place early in Greece, when the ancient Phenician and Hebrew order of writing from right to left, was changed for the modern order, which is from left to right. The Hebrew or Phenician Alphabet was clearly the parent of the Greek, Roman and Gothic.

[B],] page [52].

The reader will please to accept the following specimen, which will convey an idea of the whole.

Punic.

Yth al o nim ua lonuth! sicorathissi me com syth chim lach chunyth mum ys tyal myethi barii im schi.

Irish.

Iath all o nimh uath lonnaithe! socruidhse me com sith chimi lach chuinigh! muini istoil miocht beiridh iar mo scith.

English.

Omnipotent, much dreaded Deity of this country! asswage my troubled mind! Thou, the support of feeble captives! being now exhausted with fatigue, of thy free will, guide me to my children.

In this example the affinity between the Punic and Irish is striking; and the same runs thro the whole speech.

That Ireland received colonies from Spain or Carthage is probable from other circumstances. The Irish historians say their ancestors received letters from the Phenicians; and the Irish language was called Bearni Feni, the Phenician tongue. Cadiz in Spain was first settled by Phenicians; and cadas in Irish signifies friendship.

The Irish seems to be a compound of Celtic and Punic; and if Ireland was peopled originally from Carthage, and received colonies from thence, the event must have been subsequent to the first Punic war; for this was the period when the Carthaginians adopted the Roman letters, and there is no inscription in Ireland in the Phenician character.

The Hebrew was the root of the Phenician and the Punic. The Maltese is evidently a branch of the Punic; for it approaches nearer to the Hebrew and Chaldaic, than to the Arabic. For this assertion we have the authority of M. Maius, professor of the Greek and oriental languages in the Ludovician university of Giessen, who had his accounts from Ribier, a missionary Jesuit and native of Malta. This fact will account for the correspondence between the Irish and the Maltese, in several particulars. In Maltese, Alla signifies God; in Irish, All is mighty. Baol in Maltese, and Bel or Bal in Irish, signify Chief Deity or Sun. In Maltese, ordu is end or summit; in Irish, ard, arda, are hill, high. These words are probably from the same root as the Latin arduus, and the English hard, implying labor. Bandla in Maltese, is a cord; in Irish, bann is suspension. In Maltese, gala is the sail of a ship; and in Irish, gal is a gale of wind. These Maltese words are taken from a Punica Maltese Dictionary, annexed to a treatise, Della lingua Punica presentamente usitate da Maltese, by G. Pietro Francisco Agius de Solandas.

There is also a correspondence between the Irish and Punic, in the variation of their nouns, as may be observed in the following example.

Punic.	Irish.
Nom. A dar, the house	an dae, the house, &c.
Gen. Mit a dar, of the house	mend na dae
Dat. La dar, with or to the house	la dae
Acc. A dar, the house	an dae
Voc. Ya dar, O house	a dae
Abl. Fa dar, with or by the house	fa dae

In several particulars the Irish bears a close affinity to the Hebrew and Greek. It was the custom with the Hebrews, and it still remains with them, to face the east in the act of devotion. From this practice it proceeded, that the same word which signified right hand, signified also south; the same with left hand and north; before and east; behind and west. This is the case also in the Irish language.

Hebrew.	Irish.
Jamin,[147] right hand, south	deas, the same
Smol, left hand, north	thuaidh, the same
Achor, behind, west	tar, the same
Cedem, before, east	oir and oithear, the same, or rising sun. Latin, oriens

That the Greeks had an intercourse with the islands of Britain and Ireland, or sent colonies thither, is not impossible; and Dr. Todd, not many years ago, discovered, at Colchester, in Essex, an altar dedicated to the Tyrian Hercules, with an inscription in Greek capitals,

ΗΡΑΚΛΗΣ ΤΥΡΕΟ ΔΕΙΟ ΔΟΚΑ ΑΡΧΙΕΡΙΑ.

There is a place in Ireland called Airchil. And it is a remarkable fact, that some fragments of old Irish laws, which, for a long time, puzzled the antiquaries of the nation, are found to be written in a very ancient language, and in the manner which the Greeks called Boustrophedon; that is, from right to left, and from left to right, in the manner that oxen plow. This was supposed to be an improvement on the Hebrew and Phenician order of writing all the lines from right to left, which Cadmus introduced into Greece. This manner of writing in Greece was prior to Homer, and if the Irish copied from the Greeks, which is not impossible, the fact would prove a very early settlement of Ireland by Greek colonies or their descendants. See Leland's Hist. of Ireland, Prelim. Dis.

All these circumstances corroborate the opinion that the Celts came originally from the east, and formed settlements on the shores of the Mediterranean and Atlantic. The affinity between the Phenician, the Punic, the Maltese, the Irish and the British languages, discoverable in a great number of words, makes it probable, that after colonies were settled at Carthage and at Cadiz, some commercial intercourse was carried on between them and the nations at the head of the Mediterranean, and that an emigration from Spain might people Ireland before any settlements had been made there by the Gauls or Britons. It is however more probable that the Punic words in the Irish language might have been introduced into that island by subsequent colonization. At any rate, from the Hebrew, Chaldaic, or Phenician, or the common root of these languages, proceeded the Punic, the Maltese, the Iberian or Spanish, the Gaulish, the British, and the Irish. The order I have mentioned is obvious and natural; and history furnishes us with some facts to strengthen the supposition.

[C],] page [58].

Bishop Hickes, in his Saxon Grammar, which is a vast treasure of valuable learning, has preserved a specimen of the language and of the opinions of the English respecting it, in an extract from a manuscript of one Ranulphus Higdenus, de Incolarum linguis, translated by John Trevisa in 1385, and the ninth of Richard II. Trevisa's stile bears some affinity to that of Chaucer, with whom he was cotemporary.

"As it is knowne how meny maner peple beeth in this land: There beeth also so many dyvers longages and tongues. Nathless, Walschemen and Scotts, that hath nought medled with other nations, holdeth wel nyh his firste langage and speeche: But yif the Scottes that were sometime considerat and woned with the Picts draw somewhat after hir[148] speeche: But yif the Flemynges that woneth in the weste side of Wales haveth left her strange speeche and speketh Sexon like now. Also Englishmen, they had from the begynnynge thre maner speeche, northerne, sowtherne, and middel speeche in the middle of the lande, as they come of the maner peple of Germania. Nathless by comyxtion and mellynge[149]; first with Danes and afterwards with Normans, in meny the contray langage is apayred[150] and som useth strong wlafferynge,[4] chiterynge,[4] hartynge[4] and gartynge,[4] grisbayting;[151] this apayryng[152] of the burthe of the tunge is because of tweie thinges: oon is for children in scole, agenst the usage and maner of all other nations, beeth compelled for to leve hire owne langage, and for to consture hir lessons and here[153] thinges in Frenche and so they haveth sethe[154] Normans came firste into England. Also gentilmen children beeth taught to speke Frenche from the tyme that they beeth rokked in hire cradle and conneth[155] speke and play with a childes brache and uplandissche men[156] will likne hymself to gentilmen and fondeth[157] with the greet besynesse for to speke Frenche for to be told of. [Trevisa, the translator remarks here—"This maner was moche used to, for first deth,[158] and is sithe[159] sum del[160] changed. For John Cornwaile, a maister of grammer, changed the lore[161] in grammer scole and construction of Frenche into Englishe. And Richard Peneriche lerned the manere techynge of him as other men, of Penriche. So that now the yere of our Lorde a thousand thre hundred and four score and fyve and of the second king Richard after the conquest, nyne; and alle the grammar scoles of England children lerneth Frenche and construeth and lerneth an Englishe and haveth thereby advantage in oon side, and disadvantage in another side. Here[162] advantage is that they lerneth hir grammer in lasse tyme, than children were wonned to doo. Disadvantage is, that now children of grammer scole conneth na more Frenche than can hir lift heele,[163] and that is harme for hem an they schulle[164] passe the see and travaille in strange londes and in many other places. Also gentilmen haveth now moche left for to teche here children Frenche.">[ Ranulphus.—Hit seemeth a great wonder how Englishe men and her[165] own longage and tongue is so dyverse of sown in this oon ilande, and the longage of Normandie is comlynge[166] of another lande and hath oon maner soun among all men that speketh hit arigt in England. [Trevisa's remark—"Nevertheless there is as many diverse maner Frenche in the reeme[167] of France, as is dyvers maner Englishe in the reeme of England.">[ R. Also of the aforesaid Saxon tonge that is deled[168] athree and is abide scarceliche[169] with few uplandishe men, is great wonder. For men of the est with men of the west is as it were under the same partie of hevene accordeth more in sownynge of speeche than men of the north with men of the south. Therefore it is that Mercii, that beeth men of myddel England, as it were, parteners of the endes, understandeth bettrie the side longages than northerne and southerne understandeth either other. All the longage of the Northumbers and specialliche at York, is so scharp, slitting and frotynge and unschape that the southerne men may that longage unnethe[170] understande. I trow that is because that they beeth nyh to strange men and nations, that speketh strongliche, and also because the kinges of Englande woneth[171] alway fer[172] from that contray, for they beeth more turned to the south contray, and yif they goeth to the northe contray, they goeth with great helpe and strengthe. The cause why they beeth more in the southe contray than in the northe, for it may be better corn londe, more peple, more noble cities, and more profitable havenes."[173]

On this passage we may make the following remarks:

1. That the third person singular of the verb is invariably used with plural as well as singular nouns; they beeth, haveth. Whereas in Chaucer and Mandeville the same person ends generally in en; they seyn for they say.

The same third person was used for the imperative, by the best English writers,

"And soft take me in your armes twey,
For love of God, and hearkeneth what I sey."

Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 2783.

"And at certyn houres, they seyn to certyn offices,
maketh pees;" that is, make peace.—Mandeville, p. 281.

2. That yif is used for if; a proof that if is a verb, a contraction of gif or yif (for they were used promiscuously) the imperative of gifan, to give.[174]

3. That the subjunctive form of verbs was not used after if; and yif they goeth to the northe contray.

4. That there were three principal dialects in the English; the northern, which was corrupted by the Scots and Picts, and from which the present Yorkshire language is derived; the middle, which came from Germany and retained its primitive purity, and is the true parent of modern English; and the southern, by which is meant, either the language of the southern parts which was corrupted by an intercourse with foreigners; or what is more probable, the language spoken in Devonshire, and on the borders of Cornwall, which was mixed with the old British, and is now almost unintelligible.

5. That the conquests of the Danes and Normans had corrupted the pure language of the Saxons.

6. That this corruption proceeded principally from the teaching of French in schools.

7. That country people, (uplandish men) imitated the practice of the polite, and learnt French, as many do now, to be told of.

8. That Cornwail and others, in Trevisa's time, had begun to reform this practice.

9. That French had almost banished the native Saxon from the polite part of the nation, and that the uplandish or western people alone retained it uncorrupted.

10. That the kings of England resided principally in the southern parts of the kingdom, where the land was most fertile, best cultivated, most populous, and most advantageous for commerce.

[D],] page [59].

Chaucer's particular patron was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. He married Philippa, the sister of Lady Swinford, who before her marriage and after her husband's death, was one of the Duke's family.

"Grete well Chaucer when you mete—
Of dittees and of songes glade,
The which he——made
The londe fulfilled is over all."

Gower.

Gower is said to have been Chaucer's preceptor.

"My maister Chaucer—chiefe poet of Bretayne
Whom all this lond should of right preferre,
Sith of our language he was the lode starre,
That made first to dystylle and rayne
The gold dew dropys of speche and eloquence
Into our tungue through his excellence."

Lydgate.

Chaucer's merit in improving the English language is celebrated by other poets of his time—Occleve, Douglas and Dunbar. They call him the floure of eloquence, the fader in science, and the firste fynder of our fayre langage.

He died in 1400.

It must however be remarked that Chaucer did not import foreign words, so much as introduce them into books and give them currency in writing. It must further be observed that when I speak of the incorporation of Latin words with the English, I would not be understood to mean that words were taken directly from the Roman tongue and anglicised. On the other hand, they mostly came thro the channel of the Norman or Provençal French; and perhaps we may call them with propriety French words; for they had lost much of their Roman form among the Gauls, Franks and Normans.

The most correct account I have seen of the state of the language in the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th centuries, is in the first volume of Bell's edition of Chaucer.

We have the authority of Ingulphus, a historian of credit, for alleging that the French began to be fashionable in England, before the conquest. Edward the Confessor resided many years in Normandy, and imbibed a predilection for the French manners and language. On his accession to the throne of England, in 1043, he promoted many of his Norman favorites to the first dignities in the kingdom; under the influence of the king and his friends, the English began to imitate the French fashions.

But the conquest in 1066, completed the change. The court of William consisted principally of foreigners who could speak no language but French. Most of the high offices and rich livings in the kingdom were filled with Normans, and the castles which, by order of the conqueror, were built in different parts of the country, were garrisoned by foreign soldiers, in whom the king might most safely confide.[175] Public business was transacted in the French, and it became dishonorable or a mark of low breeding, not to understand that language. Indeed under the first reigns after the conquest, it was a disgrace to be called an Englishman. In this depressed state of the English, their language could not fail to be neglected by the polite part of the nation.

But as the body of the nation did not understand French, there must have been a constant effort to root it out and establish the English. The latter however gained ground slowly during the two first centuries of the revolution. But in the reign of king John, Normandy, which had been united with England under the Norman princes, was taken by the French, 1205, and thus separated from the British dominions. In the next reign (Henry III.) some regulations were made between the two kingdoms, by which the subjects of either were rendered incapable of holding lands in the other. These events must have restrained, in some degree, the intercourse between the two kingdoms, and given the English an opportunity to assume their own native character and importance. In this reign the English began to value themselves upon their birth, and a knowlege of the English language was a recommendation, tho not a requisite, in a candidate for a benefice.

It appears also by the passage of Higden before quoted, that the practice of construing Latin into French, in the schools, had closed before his time. This, with the other causes before assigned, contributed to root out the French, and make the English reputable; and in the reign of Edward III. produced the act, mentioned in the text, in favor of the English. This act did not produce a total change of practice at once; for we find the proceedings in parliament were published in French for sixty years after the pleas in courts were ordered to be in English, and the statutes continued in French about 120 years after the act, till the first of Richard III.

It may be observed that the royal assent to bills was in some instances given in English during the reign of Henry VI. Be it ordained as it is asked: Be it as it is axed.[176] But the royal assent is now declared in French.

[E],] page [66] and 34.

Sir William Temple's stile, tho easy and flowing, is too diffuse: Every page of his abounds with tautologies. Take the following specimen from the first page that presents itself on opening his third volume.

"Upon the survey of these dispositions in mankind and these conditions of government, it seems much more reasonable to pity than to envy the fortunes and dignities of princes or great ministers of state; and to lessen and excuse their venial faults, or at least their misfortunes, rather than to encrease and make them worse by ill colors and representations."——Of Pop. Dis.

Fortunes and dignities might have been better expressed by elevated rank or high stations; great is superfluous, and so are lessen and make them worse, and either colors or representations might have been omitted.

"The first safety of princes and states lies in avoiding all councils or designs of innovation, in ancient and established forms and laws, especially those concerning liberty, property and religion (which are the possessions men will ever have most at heart;) and thereby leaving the channel of known and common justice clear and undisturbed." Several words might here be retrenched, and yet leave the author's meaning more precise and intelligible. This is the principal fault in Temple's stile.

"But men, accustomed to the free and vagrant life of hunters, are incapable of regular application to labor; and consider agriculture as a secondary and inferior occupation."—Robertson's Hist. Amer. book 4.

Supposing secondary and inferior not to be exactly synonimous, in this sentence one would have answered the purpose.

"Agriculture, even when the strength of man is seconded by that of the animals which he has subjected to the yoke, and his power augmented by the use of the various instruments with which the discovery of metals has furnished him, is still a work of great labor."—The same.

This sentence is very exceptionable. Is agriculture, a work? Can so definite a term be applied to such a general idea? But what a group of useless words follow! It was not sufficient to say, the strength of man seconded by that of animals, but the kinds of animals must be specified; viz. such as he has subjected to the yoke; when every person knows that other animals are never used; and consequently the author's idea would have been sufficiently explicit without that specification. In the subsequent clause, the words, his power augmented by the use of the various instruments of metal, would have been explicit; for the discovery of metals must have been implied. Such expletive words load the mind with a chain of particular ideas which are not essential to the discourse.

"—And if any one of these prognostics is deemed unfavorable, they instantly abandon the pursuit of those measures, on which they are most eagerly bent."—The same.

Here is an awkward conclusion of the period, and ascribeable to a too nice regard for grammatical rules. They are most eagerly bent on, would perhaps have been better; but a different construction would have been still less exceptionable. There is however a greater fault in the construction. By employing those and most eagerly, the idea is, that savages, on the appearance of unfavorable omens, would abandon those measures only, on which they are most eagerly bent, and not others that they might be pursuing with less earnestness. Why could not the author have said in plain English—"they instantly abandon any measure they are pursuing."

This writer's stile likewise abounds with synonims; as strengthen and confirm, quicken and animate; when one term would fully express the meaning. "Strong liquors awake a savage from his torpid state—give a brisker motion to his spirits, and enliven him more thoroughly than either dancing or gaming."—Book. 4. What a needless repetition of the same idea! The author is also very liberal in the use of all—"all the transports and frenzy of intoxication."—"War, which between extensive kingdoms, is carried on with little animosity, is prosecuted by small tribes, with all the rancor of a private quarrel."

In short, the stile of Dr. Robertson, the great, the philosophic historian, is too labored. The mind of the reader is kept constantly engaged in attending to the structure of the periods; it is fatigued with words and drawn from the chain of events.

The stile of Kaims, tho not easy and flowing, is precise, and generally accurate. The stile of Blair's Lectures is less correct than that of his Sermons; but at the same time, less formal in the structure of the periods.

These remarks, the reader will observe, respect stile only; for the merit of Robertson, as a judicious and faithful historian; and of Kaims and Blair, as critics, is above praise or censure.

In no particular is the false taste of the English more obvious, than in the promiscuous encomiums they have bestowed on Gibbon, as a historian. His work is not properly a "History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire;" but a "Poetico-Historical Description of certain Persons and Events, embellished with suitable imagery and episodes, designed to show the author's talent in selecting words, as well as to delight the ears of his readers." In short, his history should be entitled, "A Display of Words;" except some chapters which are excellent commentaries on the history of the Roman Empire.

The general fault of this author is, he takes more pains to form his sentences, than to collect, arrange and express the facts in an easy and perspicuous manner. In consequence of attending to ornament, he seems to forget that he is writing for the information of his reader, and when he ought to instruct the mind, he is only pleasing the ear. Fully possessed of his subject, he describes things and events in general terms or figurative language, which leave upon the mind a faint evanescent impression of some indeterminate idea; so that the reader, not obtaining a clear precise knowlege of the facts, finds it difficult to understand, and impossible to recollect, the author's meaning. Let a man read his volumes with the most laborious attention, and he will find at the close that he can give very little account of the "Roman Empire;" but he will remember perfectly that Gibbon is a most elegant writer.

History is capable of very little embellishment; tropes and figures are the proper instruments of eloquence and declamation; facts only are the subjects of history. Reflections of the author are admitted; but these should not be frequent; for the reader claims a right to his own opinions. The justness of the historian's remarks may be called in question—facts only are incontestible. The plain narrative of the Scripture historians, and of Herodotus, with their dialogues and digressions, is as far superior, considered as pure history, to the affected glaring brilliancy of stile and manner, which runs thro Gibbon's writings, as truth is to fiction; or the vermillion blush of nature and innocence, to the artificial daubings of fashion. The first never fails to affect the heart—the last can only dazzle the senses.

Another fault in Gibbon's manner of writing, is, the use of epithets or titles instead of names. "The Cæsar, the conqueror of the east, the protector of the church, the country of the Cæsars, the son of Leda," and innumerable similar appellations are employed, instead of the real names of the persons and places; and frequently at such a distance from any mention of the name, that the reader is obliged to turn over a leaf and look for an explanation. Many of the epithets are new; custom has not made us familiar with them; they have never been substituted, by common consent, for the true names; the reader is therefore surprized with unexpected appellations, and constantly interrupted to find the persons or things to which they belong.

I am not about to write a lengthy criticism on this author's history; a few passages only will be selected as proofs of what I have advanced. "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," vol. 3, oct. chap. 17: In explaining the motives of the Emperors for removing the seat of government from Rome to the East, the author says—"Rome was insensibly confounded with the dependent kingdoms which had once acknowleged her supremacy; and the country of the Cæsars was viewed with cold indifference by a martial prince, born in the neighborhood of the Danube, educated in the courts and armies of Asia, and invested with the purple by the legions of Britain." By the author's beginning one part of the sentence with Rome, and the other with the country of the Cæsars, the reader is led to think two different places are intended, for he has not a suspicion of a tautology; or at least he supposes the author uses the country of the Cæsars in a more extensive sense than Rome. He therefore looks back and reads perhaps half a page with a closer attention, and finds that the writer is speaking of the seat of empire, and therefore can mean the city of Rome only. After this trouble he is displeased that the author has employed five words to swell and adorn his period. This however is not the only difficulty in understanding the author. Who is the martial prince? In the preceding sentence, Dioclesian is mentioned, as withdrawing from Rome; and in the sentence following, Constantine is said to visit Rome but seldom. The reader then is left to collect the author's meaning, by the circumstances of the birth, education and election of this martial prince. If he is possessed of these facts already, he may go on without much trouble.

The author's affectation of using the purple for the crown or imperial dignity, is so obvious by numberless repetitions of the word, as to be perfectly ridiculous.

"In the choice of an advantageous situation, he preferred the confines of Europe and Asia; to curb, with a powerful arm, the barbarians who dwelt between the Danube and Tanais; to watch, with an eye of jealousy, the conduct of the Persian monarch." Here the members of the sentence in Italics, are altogether superfluous; the author wanted to inform his reader, that Dioclesian designed to curb the barbarians and watch the Persian monarch; for which purpose he chose a favorable situation; but it was wholly immaterial to the subject to relate in what manner or degree, the emperor meant to exert his arm or his jealousy. Nay more, these are circumstances which are not reduceable to any certainty, and of which the writer and the reader can have no precise idea.

"With these views, Dioclesian had selected and embellished the residence of Nicomedia."—Is Nicomedia a princess, whose residence the emperor selected and embellished? This is the most obvious meaning of the sentence. But Nicomedia, we learn from other passages, was a city, the residence itself of the emperor. Yet the author could not tell us this in a few plain words, without spoiling the harmony of the phrase; he chose therefore to leave it obscure and ungrammatical.

"—But the memory of Dioclesian was justly abhorred by the Protector of the Church; and Constantine was not insensible to the ambition of founding a city, which might perpetuate the glory of his own name." Who is the protector of the church? By Constantine's being mentioned immediately after, one would think he cannot be the person intended; yet on examination, this is found to be the case. But why this separate appellation? It seems the author meant by it to convey this idea; That Dioclesian was a persecutor of the church, therefore his memory was abhorred by Constantine who was its protector; the cause of Constantine's abhorrence is implied, and meant to be unfolded to the reader, in a single epithet. Is this history? I must have the liberty to think that such terseness of stile, notwithstanding the authorities of Tacitus and Gibbon, is a gross corruption and a capital fault.

In description, our author often indulges a figurative poetical manner, highly improper.

"The figure of the imperial city (Constantinople) may be represented under that of an unequal triangle. The obtuse point, which advances towards the east, and the shores of Asia, meets and repels the waves of the Thracian Bosphorus." Here the author soars on poetic wings, and we behold the obtuse point of a triangle, marching eastward, attacking and repulsing its foes, the waves of the Bosphorus; in the next line, the author sinks from the heights of Parnassus, and creeps on the plain of simple narrative—"The northern side of the city is bounded by the harbor."

"On these banks, tradition long preserved the memory of the sylvan reign of Amycus, who defied the son of Leda to the combat of the Cestus." The author takes it for granted that his reader is acquainted with all the ancient fables of Greece and Rome. Such allusions to facts or fables make a wretched figure in sober history.[177]

The author, after the manner of the poets, admits episodes into his descriptions, by way of variety and embellishment. He begins a description of Constantinople; to do justice to the city, he must describe its situation; he therefore gives an account of the Thracian Bosphorus, the Propontus and Hellespont, interspersed with ancient fables, and adorned with poetical imagery. When he arrives at the mouth of the Hellespont, his fancy leads him to the seat of ancient Troy, and he cannot pass it, without telling us from Homer, where the Grecian armies were encamped; where the flanks of the army were guarded by Agamemnon's bravest chiefs; where Achilles and his myrmidons occupied a promontory; where Ajax pitched his tent; and where his tomb was erected after his death. After indulging his fancy on this memorable field of heroic actions, he is qualified to describe Constantinople.

But it is needless to multiply examples; for similar faults occur in almost every page. Most men, who have read this history, perceive a difficulty in understanding it; yet few have attempted to find the reason; and hardly a man has dared to censure the stile and manner.

To what cause then shall we ascribe the almost unanimous consent of the English and Americans, in lavishing praises upon Gibbon's history? In some measure doubtless to the greatness of the attempt, and the want of an English history which should unfold the series of events which connects ancient and modern times. The man who should light a lamp, to illuminate the dark period of time from the 5th to the 15th century, would deserve immortal honors. The attempt is great; it is noble; it is meritorious. Gibbon appears to have been faithful, laborious, and perhaps impartial. It is his stile and manner only I am censuring; for these are exceedingly faulty. For proof of this I appeal to a single fact, which I have never heard contradicted; that a man who would comprehend Gibbon, must read with painful attention, and after all receive little improvement.

The encomiums of his countrymen proceed from false taste; a taste for superfluous ornament. Men are disposed to lessen the trouble of reading, and to spare the labor of examining into the causes and consequences of events. They choose to please their eyes and ears, rather than feed the mind. Hence the rage for abridgements, and a display of rhetorical embellishments. Hence the eclat with which "Millot's Elements of General History," is received in the world. This work is no more than an Index to General History; or a recapitulation of the principal events. It is calculated for two classes of people; for those who, having read history in the original writers, want to revise their studies, without a repetition of their first labors; and for those who have but little time to employ in reading, and expect only a general and superficial knowlege of history.[178] But a man who would know the minute springs of action; the remote and collateral, as well as the direct causes and consequences of events; and the nice shades of character which distinguish eminent men, with a view to draw rules from living examples; such a man must pass by abridgements as trash; he must have recourse to the original writers, or to collections of authentic papers. Indeed a collection of all the material official papers, arranged in the order of time, however dry and unentertaining to most readers, is really the best, and the only authentic history of a country. The philosopher and statesman, who wish to substitute fact for opinion, will generally suspect human testimony; but repose full confidence in the evidence of papers, which have been the original instruments of public transactions, and recorded by public authority.

These strictures are contrary to the opinions of most men, especially as they regard the stile of the authors mentioned. Yet they are written with a full conviction of their being well founded. They proceed from an earnest desire of arresting the progress of false taste in writing, and of seeing my countrymen called back to nature and truth.