That when, in Salamanca’s cave,
Him listed his magic wand to wave
The bells would ring in Notre Dame!”
Roger Bacon’s skill in Arabic and other Eastern tongues was probably one of the causes which drew upon him the same evil reputation. I should have mentioned Bacon among the few notable mediæval linguists. He was “an industrious student of Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and the modern tongues.” (Milman’s Latin Christianity, VI., p. 477). Perhaps I ought also to have named Albert the Great (Ibid., p. 453); but I am rather disposed to believe that the knowledge which he had of Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic authors, was derived from Latin versions, and not from the original works themselves.
[237] Gerbert travelled to Spain with the express purpose of studying in the Arabian schools. See Hock’s “Sylvester II., und sein Jahrhundert;” also Whewell’s “Inductive Sciences,” I., 273.
[238] Duret’s Thresor, p. 963.
[239] Paul IV. is mentioned by Cancellieri, as having known the entire Bible by heart. He names several other men, (one of them blind,) and six ladies, who could do the same; he tells of one man who could repeat it in Hebrew.
[240] Kemble’s Social and Political State of Europe, p. 9.
[241] His full name is “Phra Bard Somdetch Phra Paramendt Maha Mongkut Phra Chom Klau Chau Hu Yua.” Bowring’s Siam, (Dedication.) The account of the king is most interesting.
[242] Valery. Voyage Litteraire de l’Italie, p. 237. I have just met a modern parallel for her. The brilliant Mme. Henrietta Herz, according to her new biographer, Dr. Fürst, knew Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, German, English, and Swedish, besides a slight knowledge of Sanscrit, Turkish, and Malay—“Henriette Herz, ihre Leben und Erinnerurgen,” Berlin, 1858.