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.

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