72 GRAMMAR OF THE LANGUAGE 



labours, which have thrown much light on the languages of 

 hither and farther India. A society established at Paris 

 since 1822 emulates their exertions, and its numerous pub- 

 lieations are highly valuable : among these we cannot help 

 noticing the learned and interesting essay of Mess. Burnouf 

 and Lassen, on the Pali or Bali, the sacred language of the 

 peninsula beyond the Ganges*. The Journal Asiatique, 

 published by that Society, of which nine volumes have already 

 appeared, and the tenth will be completed in June next, is 

 full of instructive matter concerning the languages of Asia. 

 The same may be said of the Melanges Asiatiques of M. 

 Remusatf, and the Memoires relatifs a l'Asie of M. Kla- 

 prothf. The Asia Polyglotta of the latter is a work of great 

 merit§. 



There is also in London, as we are informed, an Asiatic 

 Society lately established, but their memoirs have not yet 

 reached us. 



It is said that the sacred scriptures, or parts of them, have 

 been translated into one hundred and fifty different lan- 

 guages or dialects by the exertions of the British, Russian, 

 aud American Bible Societies. The christian missionaries 

 of different sects and countries, and the European and 

 American navigators and travellers, have immensely in- 

 creased our stock of vocabularies and other specimens of 

 languages hitherto unknown. Among the latter we are 

 bound to notice lieutenant John White of the United States 

 navy, who brought to this country, from Cochin China, 

 a comparative vocabulary of the Chinese and Cochin Chi- 



* Essai stir le Pali, ou langue sacree de la presqu'isle au dela du Gange, 

 avec 6 planches. Par E. Burnouf & Chr. Lassen. Paris, 1826. 



f Melanges Asiatiques, ou choix de morceaux de critique relatifs aux 

 religions, aux sciences, &c. des nations orientales. Par M. Abel Remusat, 

 2 vols, Bvo. Paris, 1815. 



[ Memoires relatifs a l'Asie, contenant des recherches historiques, 

 geographiques, et philologiques sur les peuples de l'orient. Par M. J. 

 Klaproth. 2 vols, 8vo. Paris, 1824 — 1826. 



§ Asia Polyglotta von Julius Klaproth. 1 vol. quarto, with an atlas of 

 languages, folio. Paris, 1823. 



