634 
that day, every thing had succeeded to 
my expectations; when, alas! the pre- 
mises were discovered to he in flames, 
which spreading too rapidly to be extin- 
guished, the whole building was presentl 
burnt to the ground. In the midst of 
this misfortune I happily saved all my 
‘books and manuscripts, and the greatest 
part of the punches and matrices; but’ 
the types themselves, having been thrown 
out, and scattered over the lawn, were 
either lost, or rendered useless. 
“ As one accident is often fullowed by 
another, so it was with me; and so many 
untoward circumstances, unnecessary to 
relate, succeeded each other to prevent 
my resuming the prosecution of this 
work, that at last I resolved to give up 
wl thoughts of it. But, within these two 
years, the establishment of the East In- 
dia College at Hertford, by the wise po- 
liey of the Court of Directors of the East 
India Company, induced me to change 
my mind. ‘The stady of the Oriental 
Janguages was one of the principal objects 
of this munificent institution, and that 
of the Sanskrit a desideratum. But as 
there was not any grammar of this to be 
procured, I was called upon, and highly 
encouraged, to bring forward that which 
J had been so many years preparing. I 
accordingly had other letters cast from 
iny matrices, and sent immediately to 
press ; from which it now issues, not the 
worse I hope for the delay.” 
It is not improbable that some readers 
may be at first surprised that a Sanskri'ta 
Grammar should occupy no less than six 
hundred and sixty-two quarto pages: but 
that surprise will probably be lessened 
when they are told, that there does not 
exist even a vocabulary in any European 
language to which reference can be made 
for thé explanation of a word: and those 
which are to be found in the original 
Sanskrit, are left exceedingly defective, 
ufideé the presumption that the student 
is of course already acquainted with com- 
mon terms, and.can of himself form ab- 
stract nouns, derivatives. and compounds, 
according to the rules of grammar. The 
lists of roots and particles, and the great- 
est pat of the chapters Gn etymology, 
which swell the present work, might, of 
course, be spared in future editions, 
should a General Dictionary appear in 
the intervening time, comprising every 
species of words. 
Another of the more valuable works in 
this class will be found in “ The Etymo- 
logical Dictionary of the Scottish Lan. 
guage,” by Dr. JAMirzsoy. Prefixed to 
Retrospect of Domestic Literature—Philology. 
it isa Dissertation on the origin of the 
Scottish Language, in which the idea 
that the language spoken in the Low-lands 
of Scotland.is merely a cozrupt dialect of 
the Anglo-Saxon, seems successfully re-, 
futed. In one respect Dr. Jamieson’s 
plan appears better executed even thar 
that of our own great Lexicographer; in 
as much as every extract from an author's 
work is accompanied by its exact refe- 
rence. We shall select two or three 
short specimens of the work for the en- 
tertainment of our readers : 
“© To BRUIK, BRUKE, BROOK, Vv, a t@ 
enjoy, to possess. 
The fates deny us this propine, 
Because we flaithfu’ are 5 
An they ken best fa’s fit to druik 
Achilles’ doughty gear. 
Poems in the Buchan dialect, p, 14... 
When one is on a familiar footing'with 
another, if the latter has got any new 
dress, it is common to say to him, Wert 
bruik your new, i.e. May you have health 
to wear it; S. 
—— The case sae hard is 
Amang the writers and the Bardies, 
That lang they'll brook the aulg I trow, 
Or neighbour's cry, ** Weel brook the new !* 
Fergusson’s Poems, ii. 89. 
There is no evidence that E. brook, is 
used in this sense, signifying only to beax, , 
to endure. : : 
Bruik is allied to A. S, bruc-an, Frane, , 
gebruchen, Su, G. Isl. bruk-a, . Belg. 
bruyck-en, Germ. brauch-en, to use; 
Moes. G. unbruckja, useless. Mr. Mac- 
pherson refers also to Lat. fruct-us, en- 
Joying, enjoyment, fruit. 
“ Merry-pancers, s. pl. A name, 
givento the Aurora Borealis, or Northern 
Lights, S, 
‘In the Shetland islands, the merry- 
dancers, as they are there called, are the, 
constant attendants of clear evenings, and 
prove great reliefs amidst the gloom of: 
the Jong winter nights.’ Eyeycl, Britt. 
vo. Aurora Borealis. 
These lights had appeared much less 
frequently in former times than in ours, 
and were viewed as pertentous. The 
first instance mentioned by Dr, Halley, 
is that which occurred in England, A, 
1560, when what were called burnin 
speurs, were secn in the atmosphere.— 
Baddam’s Mem. Royal Soc. vi. 209. ° 
Phil. Trans. N. 347. , 
Thev are mentioned by Wyntrion, as 
appearing S, m a very early period: 
Sevyn hundyr wynter and fourty 
And fyva to rekyn fullyly, 
Slernys 
