128 



PIRACY IN THE PULPIT. 



FRANKLIN. 



Franklin commenced the study of 

 the languages at twenty-seven years 

 of age. We quote his account of the 

 manner in which he pursued this 

 branch of his studies : 



" I had begun," says he, " in 1733 

 to study languages. I soon made 

 myself so much a master of the 

 French as to be able to read the 

 books in that language with ease. 

 I then undertook the Italian. An 

 acquaintance, \vho was also learning 

 it, used often to tempt me to play 

 chess with him. Finding this took 

 up too much of the time I had to 

 spare for study, I at length refused 

 to play any more, unless on this 

 condition that the victor in every 

 game should have a right to impose 

 a task, either of parts of the gram- 

 mar to be got by heart, or in trans- 

 lations, &c., which task the van- 

 quished was to perform upon hon- 

 our before our next meeting. As 

 we played pretty equally, we thus 

 beat one another into that lan- 

 guage. * I afterwards, with a little 

 painstaking, acquired as much of 

 the Spanish as to read their books 

 also. I have already mentioned 

 that I had had only one year's in- 

 struction in a Latin school, and that 

 when very young, after which I ne- 

 glected that language entirely. But 

 when I had attained an acquaint- 

 ance with the French, Italian, and 

 Spanish, I was surprised to find, on 

 looking over a Latin Testament, 

 that I understood more of that 

 language than I had imagined, 

 which encouraged me to apply my- 

 self to the study of it again ; and I 

 met with more success, as those 

 preceding languages had greatly 

 smoothed my way." 



A FEMALE LINGUIST. 



Maria Gijetana Agnesi, an Italian 

 lady of great learning, was born at 

 Milan, March 16, 1718. Her incli- 

 nations, from her earliest youth, led 

 her to the study of science, and at 

 an age when young persons of her 

 sex attend only to frivolous pur- 

 suits, she made such astonishing 

 progress in mathematics, that when, 

 in 1750, her father, professor in the 

 University of Bologna, was unable 

 to continue his lectures, from infirm 

 health, she obtained permission from 

 the Pope, Benedict XIV., to fill his 

 chair. Before this, at the early age 

 of nineteen, she had supported one 

 hundred and ninety -one theses, 

 which were published in 1738, un- 

 der the title of Propositions Philo- 

 sophical. She was mistress of La- 

 tin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Ger- 

 man, and Spanish. At length she 

 gave up her studies, and went into 

 the monastery of the Blue Nuns, at 

 Milan, where she died, January 9, 

 1799. In 1740, she published a dis- 

 course, tending to prove " that the 

 study of the liberal arts is not in- 

 compatible with the understandings 

 of woman." This was written when 

 she was very young ; she wrote 

 upon mathematics of a high order 

 fluxions and analytics. The com- 

 mentators of Newton were acquaint- 

 ed with her mathematical works 

 while they were in manuscript. In 

 1801, these works were published 

 in two volumes, at the expense of 

 Mr. Baron Maseres, to do honour 

 to her memory, and to prove that 

 women have minds capable of com- 

 prehending the most abstruse stu- 

 dies. Her eulogy was pronounced 

 by Frisi, and translated into French 

 by Boulard. 



PIEACT IN THE PFLPIT, 



DR. SOUTH. 



Webster, in his "great india-rub- 

 ber speech" at Trenton, related the 

 following anecdote : " May it please 



your honours I remember having 

 heard an anecdote of a celebrat cd 

 divine, Dr. South, a man of gival, 

 Icarnine; and virtue. He irlic\<'d 



