134 
racters not being sufficiently simple. 
Several new authors have made their ap- 
pearance since the above, and each with 
different pretensions to public recom- 
mendation. A comparative view of their 
respective merits would not only be a 
desideratum to lovers of brachygraphy, 
but a real favour conferred on, 
Greenwich, Your's, &c. 
June 18, 1808. T. Retswer. 
—=a— 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
MONG the numerous readers of 
your valuable Miscellany, there are 
sonie, no doubt, who observe the arrival 
Memotrs of Anguctil Duperron. 
: [Sept, 1,, 
and departure of the Swifts (Hirundo, 
apus); they generally appear in this 
neighbourhood, if thé weather is fine, 
about the 29th of April, and regularly 
leave it on or about the 9th of August, 
after which time none are seen. 
My wish is to be informed, when they 
are first and last seen in the northern and 
southern parts of the kingdom ; if they” 
are observed in large numbers on the 
wing, passing froma colder to a warmer 
climate, and where it is known they emi- 
grate to. ; 
Nezark, Your's, &c. 
Aug. 16, 1808. 11. 0, 
a 
MEMOIRS AND REMAINS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 
account of the LIFE and works of 
MONSIEUR ANQUETIL DUPERRON,MEM- 
BER Of the ACADEMY Of INSCRIPTIONS, 
BELLES LETTRES, WISTORY, and ax- 
CIENT LITERATURE; by MONSIEUR 
DACIER: read at the public strtiNnG of 
the NATIONAL INSTITUTE, JULY 1, 
1808. 
BRAHAM Hyacinthe Anquetil Du- 
. perron was born at Paris Decem- 
ber 7, 1751. His father, under the pres- 
sure of a numerous family, and not pos- 
sessing a great property, wished at 
least to give them such an education as 
might in some degree compensate for 
the want of fortune; and his paternal 
care in this respect had all the success he 
wished. Two of his sons became cele- 
brated in the belles-lettres, and were 
long regretted after their death by all 
literary men; the others merited tlie 
public esteem in the different careers 
they pursued. 
M. Anguctil Duperron, after finishing 
his regular studies with distinction at the 
university of Paris, durmg which he still 
found sufficienttime to acquire athorough 
knowledge of the Hebrew language, was 
placed by M. De Caylus, Bishop of Aux- 
erre, at-first in a seminary in his diocese, 
and afterwards in that of Amersfort, near 
Utrecht, where, in pursuing his theologi- 
cal studies, he found every necessary as- 
sistance for completing himself in He- 
brew, and even in Arabic and Persian, 
from which were derived many of his 
most celebrated works. 
He returned to Paris with an intention 
of dedicating all his time to the. perusal 
ef the best manuscripts in the king’s li- 
brary, to the study of languages, and to 
oriental literature, the latter of which 
seemed to be his prevailing passion. 
His laborious assiduity, his constant 
and intense application, and the warmth 
with which he spoke of the object of his 
studies, inspired the Abbé Sallier, to 
whom the care of these manuscripts was 
‘confided, with the most lively intergst 5 
and the Abbé being one of the most dis- 
tinguished members of the Academy of 
the Belles Lettres, he introduced young 
Duperron to. the notice of MM. de 
Caylus, Malesherbes, and Barthelemy. — 
Knowing that he had little or no for- 
tune, their first care was to procure him 
a situation upon the establishment of the ~ 
library, in the quality of a student of the 
oriental languages; and though the sala- 
ry was but small, it was sufficient to 
meet the wants of a man whose sole pas- 
sion wasstudy. ‘This appointment seem- 
ed to complete all his wishes, and left 
him nothing to desire. , 
New ideas crowded into his mind, and 
he dreamt of nothing but literary achieve- 
ments which should immortalize his 
name. At this time he formed the pro- 
ject of exploring every part of India, in 
the hopes of discovering the sacred books 
of the ancient Persians, supposed to have 
been written by Zoroaster, and which 
some writers do not scruple to as- 
cribe periods anterior to every existing 
monument. He now proposed, there- 
fore, to study the Janguages in which 
those hooks were composed, that he 
might he able to translate them, and make 
Europe acquainted with them. In fine, 
he wished to unfold the ancient archives — 
of 
mt 
