times of Elizabeth, James I., Charles I. and the Commonwealth. Early editions of the printed books published by Milton, Goodwin, Cartwright, Baxter, Howe, and other actors and preachers in that period, are still to be found. Yet these, as well as the pamphlets and Mss., are becoming, like the Sibylline books, the more precious as they diminish in number. The controllers of the great libraries in many parts of Christendom are more and more solici tous to obtain possession of these treasures. Several affluent private individuals in the United States are securing at great expense all the productions relating to Puritanism of any value which come into the English market. To our own country the same remarks are in a measure applicable. Much which was ac cessible in 1700 is lost forever. Much which might now be gath ered up will wholly disappear in the lapse of half a century. Those treasures that might now be bought, or procured as a free gift, will soon pass into some public library out of New England or out of the country, or become the property of unknown individuals.

ARTICLE IX.

MISCELLANY - CORRESPONDENCE.

THE following is an extract of a letter which we have received from Prof. Rödiger of Halle, dated April 25, 1847: "I am laboring daily on the last Heft of the Thesaurus which I hope to be able to bring out towards autumn. It will contain not a little new matter which, I hope, will prove to be correct. Lepsius of Berlin is very busily occupied with Egyptian Chronology. I correspond with him on the points which relate to the Bible. He will soon print in the third Heft of the Journal of the Oriental Society a paper on the Decree of Philae, similar to that of the Rosetta Inscription. In the second Heft there is a very good essay by Tuch on the 14th ch. of Genesis, which will be well received in the United States. Thenius of Dresden is laboring industriously on his Commentary upon the Books of Kings. The new edition of Winer's Biblical Dictionary is advancing. Tischendorf is editing the Septuagint,

1 We have in our possession a few numbers of several of the newspapers published during the progress of the civil war, which impart a reality and a truthfulness to those stirring times which no formal history can secure.

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Letters from Germany.

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but this work will exceed his ability, or rather he will busy himself on the small things, e. g. a, ɛ, ŋ and v, and other orthographic minutiae, while the pressing and difficult problem in relation to the Septuagint will remain for a time unsolved. Hitzig's Commentary on Ezekiel will be ready this summer, and though for my taste it will deal somewhat too much in conjectures, yet in acuteness and exact grammatical knowledge it will not be deficient. Petermann will edit a new edition of the Syriac Letters of Ignatius, with the aid of an old Armenian version. When I have completed the Thesaurus, I am thinking, along with other labors, of publishing a small Arabic Grammar for my lectures, since that by Caspari contains things which do not accord with my system and hence would only interfere with my instructions. I have this summer my third course in Arabic Syntax, with the reading of historical texts. A work important for Germany has appeared, on 'Protestantism' by Hundeshagen, which is valued by all parties. The library of our Oriental Society is established in Halle. Religious movements among us are now in the back-ground; the toleration-edict of March 30th has made a pause, and all the public interest is now turned towards politics and to the doings of the Chambers assembled at Berlin."

Another friend writes as follows in relation to the work by Hundeshagen: "A novelty in the literary world, which tells upon the German public,―published in the beginning of this or the end of last year (I forget)-is: der Deutsche Protestantismus, seine Vergangenheit, und seine heutigen Lebenspragen, im Zusammenhange der gesammten Nationalentwickelung, etc., von einem deutschen Theologen. Frankfort on the Maine. (2 R.) [German Protestantism, what it was, and the present vital questions with regard to it, considered and discussed in all its bearings on the whole national development (on all the conditions of the nation as it is developed at present)]. I have not had time to peruse it. So I cannot give an opinion of it.—Another book will appear this year's Leipsic Easter-Fair, which I think is very likely to be much read. Prof. Julius Müller, who you know was a member of the much spoken of Berlin Synod, has gallantly taken up the gauntlet, which, from one quarter by Uhlich, and from another by the Kirchen-Zeitung,' had been thrown down. The former adversary is disarmed before many courses; but the latter needs to be encountered with greater address and skill. His invectives, sneers, misrepresentations, and criminations of the resolutions and principles of that Synod, you will find in a leading article of the Evangl. Kirchen-Zeitung, January 1st, and the following numbers. Prof. Müller in refuting his adversary was obliged to enter more fully into the principle and views, under the influence of which the Synod had been working at its arduous task."

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."

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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 Curaçóa, 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

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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 rebearsed 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, fouts of types were owned in twenty-seven languages. The types carried to Paris, were restored in 1815. The congregation of the Propaganda consists 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 na tive, 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 companjon, 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 Mai. 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,