1864. | The Science of Language. 717 
thorough mastery of grammar, moreover, demanded by the Universities 
paves the way for, and almost demands, some attention for Com- 
parative Grammar. Thus in England lectures on the Science of 
Language both at Oxford and in London are attended by a large and 
varied audience; and we have no doubt that Mr. Picton, at Liverpool, 
received the same attention from the learned societies for his interest- 
ing and instructive papers as Professor Max Miiller obtained for his 
deeper and, therefore to the multitude, less interesting communi- 
cations, written in such English as few Englishmen can hope to attain, 
and delivered with an accent so slightly foreign as to cause in the 
hearer envy of such facility in acquiring a strange tongue. The style 
of the author throughout is so fascinating, so clear, and so well calcu- 
lated to lead one to admire the subject on which he dilates, that it is 
with difficulty we refrain from quoting long passages from this work 
on a subject which most people are wont to think dry and uninterest- 
ing. We are sure the extracts we do give will bear out this remark. 
We can only regret that we must spoil much by abridgment, and we 
hope we may induce our readers to imbibe more copiously from this 
*‘ pure well of English undefiled.” 
The sources whence the science of language expects to receive 
additions are manifold. The languages of remote and barbarous 
peoples—for instance, Southern Africa and Polynesia—contribute 
their share of enlightenment to the missionaries who study them ; but 
nearer home, in the dialects of our own villagers and of our ancestors, 
the more stay-at-home people may find not only amusement but in- 
struction, and may deduce from what they there find, generalizations 
that will throw much light on investigations of subjects less well 
known. Thus the expressions, “ He is a-going, I am a-coming,” &c., 
afford the Professor an opportunity for a dissertation of some pages, 
and a comparison with not only Anglo-Saxon, Gothic, and Old and 
Modern High German, but also with the distinct dialects of French, 
Bengali, and Bask. From these comparisons we may find principles 
that will hold good in the ancient tongues; thus all alike assist in the 
research ; modern forms throw light upon antiquity; agglutinative 
explains inflectional formation; whilst the radical stage of Chinese 
and its neighbours explains the earliest condition of the Aryan and 
Semitic families. The rapid change in the languages of nomadic 
tribes is seldom sufficiently reckoned. Whilst the antiquity of Man 
upon this earth is being supported by every possible argument, the 
yet unbridged gulf between the Aryan and the Semitic families 
affords a specious argument for an enormous lapse of time between 
the separation of these peoples and the subdivision of the families 
themselves. But if this rapid variation of the dialects of nomadic 
tribes be considered, this period should be greatly shortened if we can 
trace any analogy whatever between the tongues. In this matter much 
still remains to be done, yet there are many points of contact that 
cannot be ignored, and when these are more clearly developed, we 
think the enormous ages must be somewhat shortened. Professor 
Miiller does not bring forward this argument, but he gives several 
instances of the peculiar causes which lead to change in unsettled and 
VOL. I. 3c 
