320 
well worthy of the attention of the 
learned philologist, although its Htera- 
ture be very limited, as being to this 
day the sacred or church language of all 
the people of the Sclayonian race be- 
longing to the Greek church, “and 
amountiiig “to no ‘Yess than thirty-six 
millions ; and ‘even that of the Ronian 
Catholics," called Glagolites,’ in’ Dal- 
matia and Istria. 
dialect’ of the South-Dannbe,’ which 
during ‘the ninth century, from among 
all the Selavonian dialects, was first 
fixed in writing by the brothers Cyrillus 
and Methodius, of Salonica, in Mace- 
donia. As a living language, however, 
it is now extinct, and only studied by 
the priests as the language of their 
worship. 
Of the present three South Sclavo- 
nian dialects, the Bulgarian, the Servian; 
and Windian, the latter seems, both 
historically and /inguistically, most di- 
rectly to be descended from that dia- 
lect of the ninth century. We say 
historically, because Methodius was for 
a long period their archbishop ; and Jin- ° 
guistically, because it approaches the 
church langeage more nearly than either 
of the two other Sclavonian dialects. 
The sacred volumes translated by this 
Arehbishop Methodius (or at least by 
some Sclavonians under his direction), 
came a century after him, together with 
Christianity itself, to the Russians, to 
whom they were, in that dialect’ at 
least, not more unintelligible, than they 
appear now, the dialect having sprung 
from the same parent language as theirs. 
‘Suffice it to say, the archbishop’s, dia- 
lect was on the point of becoming the 
Tuscan or High German of the Scla- 
vonian nations. The Russians adopted 
it as their language of literature, and it 
was in this that their Hestor wrote his 
chronicle (commended by Schloezer), 
about A.D.1100. It was in the same 
language that the Servian Daniel wrote 
his Chronicle of Servia, on Mount 
Athos. The Roman Catholics of Dal- 
matia (Glagolites) even re-wrote Me- 
- thodius’s translation -in a different cha- 
racter, and passed it for a production of 
St. Jerome, their countryman; to say 
nothing of the Views in Bohemia, : writ- 
ten by Glagolite Monks, under Charles: 
IV., and similar productions. But -it 
was decreed by fate, that there should 
not be one language of literature for all 
the Sclavonians; but that, as in ancient 
Greece, every tribe should speak and 
write in its own peculiar dialect.. Thence 
Bohemia, Poland, Russia, Hlyria, Croa- 
Ancient Sclavonian Language. 
This language: is a’ 
[ Nov. I, 
tia, and Carinthia, have each their own, 
more or less extensive, and more or less 
cultivated ‘literature. 
But during and before .the’deyelop- 
ment. of these-new ‘literatures, the sa- 
cred literature, begun bythe two Mace- 
donians in the ‘ancient Windian, - was 
carried on; though for thé) most-part in 
the hands of persens-of whom it was 
not the native tongue,. yet prettyiclesely 
following the type given in Methodius’ 
translations... The. whole, literature of 
this. church-dialecty after. being, well 
sifted, and..duplicates; of;,course,, not 
being included, may . be,estimated. at 
about 100.folio volumes ;-for the;most 
part church-books,, writings, of, the. fa- 
thers, legends, but also..law, hooks and 
chronicles, 
Whilst the Windian dialect was’ thus 
transplanted, the Windians, themselves 
had to contend. against. the calamities 
‘ caused by. ‘the subsequent eruptions of 
the Magyarians, and Buorians. , Their 
literary life only recovered: under,Fer- 
dinand, about. 1550; first in Crain, then 
in Croatia, and ultimately m Hungary. 
After the long vicissitudes of this 
people, Methodius’s. work,. rites, and 
character were no longer applicable. 
The Sclavonian was every where written 
in the Latin character, and, what is 
worse, by a different combination of it. 
There existed some grammars, of this 
ancient language aiiong the Sclavonians, 
but they were generally unsatisfactory, 
and moreover written in the language 
itself which they were to impart.0 = 
Peter Winagradow, a Russian, seems 
to have been the first (AgD:i1814):to 
publish a grammar of the ancient Scla- 
vonian in the Russian language # a work, 
moreover, distinguished for the» general 
ability displayed in it by the ‘intelligent 
author: and: indeed» it. is from Russia 
alone, where numbers of the ‘most-an- 
cient codices only ‘seem! to\wait for an 
explorer, that the best. works on this 
language must be looked for.“ Still; to 
other nations the access to this sacred 
dialect remained shut up; and yet who- 
ever wishes to acquire a thorough know- 
ledge of the Sclavonian, ought to begin’ 
with this dialect, whose literature, at 
least, is the most ancient. It is: there- 
fore a joyful event: forthe literati of 
Europe, that this desideratum has -at 
length been most satisfactorily supplied 
by a most complete grammar of: this! an- 
cient dialect in Latin, from the.penvof a 
iran whose knowledge in the Selayenian 
dialects is most universally: acknow- 
ledged, vis. the Abbé Dobrowsky.. The: 
title 
