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The following is from Prof. Hupfeld of Halle. "I contemplate continuing my larger Hebrew Grammar this year by publishing an additional second number (Livraison), containing an essay on the Accents, and thus concluding that part of the Grammar on Hebrew Writing (Schriftlehre). But I doubt whether I shall complete the whole work in the same manner as I have carried it on thus far. I intend to prepare, as soon as possible, a shorter Grammar of the Hebrew language, with the particular view of adapting it to use for lectures at colleges and universities, and for schools; which book will exhibit my system in its fundamental features. I have thought of collecting my detached pieces, etc., yet the execution must be delayed till after the completion of the grammar. Such a collection will comprise partly essays treating on the History of Writing ("Schriftgeschichte") and Palaeography-partly purely grammatical ones; some of them published before, some still manuscripts. I cannot be positive as to the time when I shall prepare a General Introduction to the Old Testament [or: 'a History of Literature of the O. T.' (Literaturgeschichte der A. T.)]; it may rather be at a more distant period, however desirous I am to body forth my views of this department of science. Among the existing only that of De Wette is worthy to be noticed and recommended."

The following extracts are from letters written at Rome.

"Rome, Jan. 11, 1847. This day an academical exercise was held in the college De Propaganda Fide in honor of the Magi or holy kings. Fifty-two young men and lads took part in it, in forty-eight languages and dialects. The exercises consisted of a series of declamations interspersed with several dialogues or colloquies and the singing of chants. The length of the declamations was from two to eight minutes. Some were committed to memory; others were read from Mss. They were in the following languages and dialects: Hebrew, Rabbinic, Syriac, Chaldee, Arabic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Samaritan, Armenian, ancient and modern Georgian, Koordish, Persian, Amharic, Turkish, Maltese, Greek ancient and modern, three in Latin, two in Chinese, Hindoostanee, Tamil, Singalese, Peguan, Angola (African), Wallachian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish, Lapponian, Swedish, Illyrian, Dutch, German, Swiss (a corrupt German, a dialect spoken in canton St. Gall, Switzerland), two in Italian, Spanish, Portugese, French, English, Scotch, Irish, Celtic, and two languages spoken in Chili and Curaçoa, S. America. Most of the speakers are natives of the various countries indicated by the languages which they used. Their ages varied from ten years to twenty-five. Some boys excited much interest by their clever management of their parts and by their pleasant chants. The difference in form, complexion, physiognomy, enunciation was very striking. The interest

1847.1

Buildings of the Propaganda-Mezzofanti.

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would have been increased, if the uniform ecclesiastical dress-a black gown and cap-had been exchanged for the costumes of the countries to which the pupils belonged. The tenor of the performances seemed to be in accordance with the object of the exercise-the visit of the Magi at Bethlehem. The exercise in English, was pronounced by Jeremiah Cummings of Washington, D. C., who closed with an address to England, lamenting her defection from the Catholic faith and congratulating his auditors on the hopeful prospects in that country of a return to the Catholic unity. The number of pupils of the Propaganda present was about seventy. Few spectacles would be more interesting than that of so many young missionary scholars literally assembled from the four quarters of the world, were they preparing to go forth as true missionaries of the cross of Christ. It is to be feared, however, that they will be the heralds of hurtful superstitions, rather than of salutary truth. The room in which the exercises were held, was crowded with about 300 gentlemen, most of whom were strangers at Rome. On the previous day the same performances had been rehearsed to a different audience.

The buildings of the Propaganda lie on a street of the same name which proceeds from the Piazza di Spagna, at the western base of the Pincian hill. The society was founded by Gregory XV, in 1622, for the spread of the Catholic faith. His successor, Urban VIII, completed his plans, and erected the present edifice in 1627. In consequence it bears the name Collegium Urbanum. The chapel was built by Alexander VII. The pupils board and study in this building, or rather in these buildings, which reach the whole length of the street, till they are prepared to depart to their fields of labor. Cardinal Barberini, brother of Urban, contributed largely for the support of the pupils. Printing is now carried on in the building in fourteen languages. Previously to the French revolution, fonts of types were owned in twenty-seven languages. The types carried to Paris, were restored in 1815. The congregation of the Propaganda cousists of a cardinal prefect, now Simonetti; twentythree associate cardinals, a secretary and prothonotary and several subordinates. The college for the education of the pupils is under the control of this congregation. The instruction for a number of years has been under the direction of the Jesuits, from whom the rector is also chosen. In the library are a collection of Chinese books, Coptic Mss., a codex of Mexican hieroglyphics, Greek, Roman and Coptic coins, Egyptian cameos, etc.

“Rome, Jan. 21, 1847. Called, in company with a friend, on the celebrated linguist, cardinal Mezzofanti. He received us with the utmost kindness, seated us beside him, and entertained us with his conversation, till he was interrupted by another call. He said he enjoyed

good health for a man of seventy years, but that he had been unable to pursue his studies to any great extent, since Divine Providence had called him to his present post. He is a man of about the middle height, with benevolent and expressive eyes and of mild and attractive manners. He uses the English language almost with the propriety and fluency of a native, and is wonderfully exact even in matters of idiom and accent. He said he had no difficulty in learning to read English, but great in learning to pronounce it. On this latter point, he thought, the rule which Baretti, the friend of Dr. Johnson gave in an elementary work, was the only useful one, viz. "Let a foreigner go to England with a pair of good ears." He remarked that the language was well spoken by the people of the United States, and with far less dialectic peculiarities than are found in England. His conversation showed an intimate acquaintance with English literature, the earlier as well as modern, with the dialects spoken in England, Scotland, etc. With my companion, who is familiar with German, the cardinal conversed in that language, with the same propriety and ease as in English, and offered to continue it in Low German, from which my friend shrank. He said that he had not derived much benefit from the scholars of the Propaganda, as, in general, they come to Rome when they are mere boys, with no grammatical knowledge of their respective languages, while they often used only a corrupt dialect. E. g. He learned to speak Chinese with an educated native who resided in Bologna. But when the cardinal came to Rome, he could hardly understand a China man whom he met in the Propaganda, while the Chinese could not comprehend him at all. The reason was that in the latter case, a dialect was used. Mezzofanti was the son of a humble tradesman of Bologna, and was, for many years, professor of Greek and oriental literature in the university of that city. He was called to Rome by Gregory XVI. and appointed to a post in the Vatican under Maï. Both were raised to the dignity of cardinals at the same time. At the age of thirty-six Mezzofanti is said to have conversed fluently in eighteen languages. At the present time he speaks forty-two. This knowledge is not of an artificial or mechanical character. It is accompanied with profound grammatical acquisitions and with an extensive acquaintance with the literature of the principal languages which he has acquired. Lord Byron's description of him is well known: "He is a prodigy of language, a Briareus of the parts of speech, a walking library, who ought to have lived at the time of the tower of Babel, as universal interpreter, a real miracle and without pretension too."

Mr. Clark, the publisher of Edinburgh, is about to commence a biblical monthly review. The plan is commended by Drs. Alexander, Brown,

1847.]

Schmitz's History of Rome.

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Cunningham, bishop Terrot and others. The editor is not named. A quarterly biblical publication is also soon to be commenced in London, under the editorial care of Dr. Kitto, assisted by some of the leading contributors to the Biblical Cyclopaedia. The third edition of Elliott's Horae Apocalypticae is in press. Several positions in it have been assailed by Dr. Candlish and others, still its popularity does not seem to be on the wane. A new and enlarged edition of Dr. Pye Smith's Scripture Testimony will appear in a few months. Dr. Davidson, professor in the Lancashire Independent College, is about to publish an Introduction to the New Testament. A part of it is ready for the press.

The Germania and Agricola of Caius Cornelius Tacitus, with notes for Colleges. By W. S. Tyler, professor of the Latin and Greek languages in Amherst College. New-York and London: Wiley and Putnam, 1847, pp. 181. We shall refer to this volume in our next number, not having received the sheets in season to examine them even cursorily. The external appearance is in every way prepossessing. The paper, type, etc. are uncommonly good. The text, with the life of Tacitus, occupies 74 pages; the notes fill the remainder. The editor seems to have availed himself of all accessible sources for the improvement of the edition.

Allen, Morrill and Wardwell have published a history of Rome from the earliest times to the fall of the Western Empire, by Dr. Leonhard Schmitz, Rector of the High School, Edinburgh, 1 vol. 12mo. Within the last thirty years, great light has been thrown on the subject of Roman history, by the investigations of Niebuhr, Arnold, Goettling, Rubino, Becker, Urlichs, Bunsen and others. Much that had long been received as true history, has been clearly shown to be mere legend; and much which has been doubtful, has been proved worthy of credit, or its credibility satisfactorily disproved. The constitution of the Romans, their laws, religion, civil and social condition, have been for a long period subjects of investigation, and are now better understood by the learned than at any time since the downfall of the Roman State. But while all these improvements are accessible to the more mature scholars in the works of Niebuhr, Arnold and others, there has been no work suitable for the use of students in our schools and colleges, which has embodied the valuable advances made in Roman history. The text-books in use still teach many of the old exploded errors, and hence most students who may have devoted sufficient time to the subject, have a very imperfect view of the early history and government of Rome. The work of Dr. Schmitz fully supplies the deficiency which has so long existed. It presents in a pop

ular form the investigations of the most distinguished scholars; it is written in a clear and happy style, giving results without the tedious process by which they have been attained; it distinguishes between legend and true history, where such a distinction is well established; and where there are points of doubt, or points still in dispute, these are admitted to be still unsettled, or "are passed over altogether in order not to confuse the learner." The student knows therefore on what he may rely, and what is still doubtful. Dr. Schmitz had rare qualifications for such a work. He was a pupil and an ardent admirer of the illustrious Niebuhr, and has devoted much time to the study of Roman history in preparing the unpublished lectures of Niebuhr from the notes taken by several of his most distinguished pupils. These advantages together with his wellknown scholarship and habits of original investigation gave him qualifications for preparing a valuable history of Rome, which few of the scholars of Europe possessed. The work, it is confidently believed, will not disappoint the high expectations which have been formed respecting it. It will undoubtedly take the place of every other text-book of the kind, in our schools and colleges.

The library of Harvard University exhibits a gratifying increase from year to year. Within the last year about 1000 volumes have been added. The fund subscribed some time since for this purpose is not yet exhausted. There is also a stated fund which yields a considerable income for the same object. In the course of a year, the new and elegant building, which the Boston Athenaeum are erecting in Beacon Street, will be completed. It is hoped that this pleasant change in the locality of the library will lead to the enlargement of the number of books. Mr. Charles Folsom is the courteous and accomplished librarian. About $2000 have been expended during the last year in the increase of the Library of the Andover Theological Seminary. This sum has been principally devoted to the purchase of works in the English language. Among the purchases are the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana (which can now be procured bound for about £20) 30 vols. quarto, the Edinburgh Cabinet Library, 38 vols.; the Parker Society Publications, 18 vols., 8vo.; Oxford Library of the Fathers, 22 vols., 8vo.; the Calvin Society Publications, 8 vols.; the new edition of Apb. Usher's Works, 14 vols., 8vo.; also a complete sett of the Journal Asiatique, 50 vols., 8vo.; the first series of the Biographie Universelle, 54 vols., 8vo.; and the Encyclopaedia of Ersch and Grüber, now amounting to 84 vols. quarto.

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