Universality of the Latin Language in the Middle JIges. [Dec. 1, 



400 



nore ruin than the interior of Africa at 

 lOF^ J^otlmis 'srnore dilliciilt than to 

 form any tolerable specuhilion or theory 

 as to weather or wuid, however desira- 

 ble or however aniusino'. In Iicland 

 the wind seneraily does halt' the duty ot" 

 Ihe snn, it dries the ti,roiuid and saves 

 the harvest; witiiout.it tlie island vyonld 

 be scarcely hahitaide. Panned by the 

 aepliyvs, «e have the winters of Italj 

 and the suiuiners uf I'cmpe ; otlier coun- 

 tries iu onr hititudc aie perished in 

 spring by east anil, nortli winds, c^iused, 

 byilic melting of the snows on the t\)n- 

 tinenl, or tlie rarefaction of ;the ai^' at 

 the equator — tliis we seldom experienc« 

 to any iiicoiiventcnt dcfrree ; the Sirocco 

 sometimes visits iis, the i]isc very rarely. 

 It is true ovu-Kcphyrs are not aiwayK of 

 the mildest, of which this year has afford- 

 ed sad and fatal proof. When the con- 

 densed va[ioiirs of the Atlanlio a»-c pre- 

 cipitated on the Jlinerald Isle, there is a 

 pressure of the atmosphere, and a dis- 

 engagement of air that often threatens 

 to sweep all before it. C. 



■Dublin; Oil. lU. 



'l:^ j For the Monthltf Magazine. 



OWJ</(« HOTVliRSAllITy vf t/ie LAIW I.AN- 

 l ilSUAGR, itg IIAPID DECLIM'.. nnd -the 

 FORMA ri0\ of a NFAV LA?»Ul"AriK <Wi 

 its KL'JXs; ahslraited from " Cle- 

 •mpnts de la Grammaire de la Lrtog-ne 

 Fomane avant Ian lOtM), par M. 



. KWNOUAKD. 



WHEN tlic Romans fimcicd them- 

 selves destined to conqner the 

 \»ot-ld, tlicy felt the imporfanee of at- 

 lacbiug the vioujinshed nations to the 

 iiictroi>olis: amonp,st the means sii;j;gest- 

 ^d by the Tvisdom of the senate, one of 

 the leadiest and most clliciicioiis %\ as, io 

 6stUl)lish between them social relations, 

 political ties, and a community of lan- 

 gna;jc; and, whenever victory permitted 

 the people-king' to impose laws, they 

 also imposed tlwt of their idiom, (iit. 

 Avc^ust. de Oivit. Dei, \\h. 19, c.7.) 



Tho Roman m?in"islratos alfeeted to 

 use no other in tl>eir intercourse with 

 tlic cities of Greece and Asia; and the 

 more proud they apjieared of knowing; 

 and estcemiriff the Grecian literature, 

 the more iilipeiioiisly they exacted that 

 ttie deseemlaftlls of Miltiades and Aris- 

 tidcRi l)(>rr!)wiH'^ the voice of an inter- 

 preter, siioiikl render homage to the ian- 

 g,ua«ce of the musters of the world. ^ Fa/. 

 Ma.r. lib. 2, cii]). 2.) 



Ah expre«g law eujoinedthci Praetor* 

 to promul^attf their dceiiecs aud edicts 



in Latin only. (L.^Dsvret'a D. lib. 42, 

 tit. 1, tie re judicata.) \ 



Strabo informs us (Edit. Oxon. lib. 8, 

 p. 203), that the Spaniards of Betica, 

 under the Roimui dominion, submitted 

 so far to foreign maimers, tliat they for- 

 got tlicir native idiom. The same author 

 tells US (lib. 4, p. 238), that even under 

 the i;eign of Augustus a great part of 

 Gaid had 'adopted the language and 

 manners of the Eomaiis. 



Such was the force of public opinion, 

 that, an emperor hazarding before tho 

 senate the word Metrnpoiis, borrowed 

 from the Greek, he f:'lt it necessary to 

 m;dve an ajjology for it; ajid that empe- 

 ror wasTiberius. (Siictnn. in Tib. cap. 7 J .) 

 On another occasion lie caused to be 

 erased from a decree of the senate' the 

 word Emhlein, and he ordci^cd a par;t- 

 phrasc rather tliau adinit a lorcigu ex- 

 pression. '.^ 



liy order of tlie Emperor Clandian, f^ 

 governor of the ])rovince of .Greece, 

 highly distinguished, was deprived of'his 

 ollice, and evcir of the rights of oitiavn- 

 ship ; w bat was his crime I He did not 

 tujder.stand Latin. 



The Lyciatis, who had rebelled, sent 

 to Rome one of their couutrynieii as 

 their deputy; he was liouonred with the 

 title of a Roman citizen; but, whoi the 

 above prince found that he did Jiot 

 ktww Latin, he despoiled him of the 

 rights of citizenship, alledging tliat, to 

 be worthy- of participating iu the ))ri- 

 vilcgcs of the Romans, it w;is indispen- 

 sable to underst.aiid ajid speak their lai>- 

 guage. - 



During tlie time of Plutarch he re- 

 garded the Latin as universal. — It 

 was adopted by the province of Afri- 

 ca ; so that the Cartljagiuians entire- 

 ly forgot the Punic, as is evident from a 

 sermon of the ilhistiious Bishop of Hip- 



po. 



'I'here is an old Punic proverb. 



which I will repent to you iu Latin, 

 because none of you understand the Pu- 

 nic ; it ,says, ' If the plague ask of you 

 one piece of money, give him two, that 

 he «my go about his business.' " — 

 Confess, lib. 1, cap. 16. 



Such was the rigour respecting the 

 Latin, that, even alter the tiauslalioH of 

 the .seal of empire, Aicadiusaud llono- 

 litts were obliged to make an express 

 law, permitting the magistrates to use 

 Greek, or Latin. in their judgments. 



The nations subjected to the Roman 

 power at fiv^i learnt L^tin from .neces- 

 sity; but soon cukivate<l it I'nnii clioicc; 

 in learning ttte Jangtiage^of H»<fllotnans 



thuy 



