417 



demy, a journey to Lithuania, in order to study the language of that 

 country. He had, however, to return to Prague. 



At last, in 1857, his high merits were so far recognized in his native 

 country as to procure him a place, as " Professor Extraordinary," of 

 Comparative Philology at the University of Jena, with the insignificant 

 salary of 1800 shillings a year, ultimately raised to 3000 shillings ; yet 

 he refused several lucrative offers made to him from Russia, preferring 

 a difficult existence in his native land. But the Petersburgh Academy 

 created him one of their members, nevertheless. So he continued to lead 

 at Jena what, in a worldly point of view, seems to have been anything 

 but an envious life, till he was overtaken by the treacherous malady — 

 inflammation of the lungs — to which he fell a victim on December 6th 

 of last year, leaving a widow, with three children. 



Prom this sketch of Schleicher's outward existence, it is pretty clear 

 that he was not rich in the goods of this world. In compensation, he 

 was wondrously rich in the world of ideas. A scholar's true life is, after 

 all, in his thoughts, and the true record of that life is in his books. 



I now, with your kind permission, proceed to say a little of Schlei- 

 cher's more prominent scientific productions. 



The earliest of them, as already observed, is the writing called 

 " Researches contributory to the Science of Languages," divided into two 

 parts, the first copy of which has, in German, the unmistakable title 

 of " Beitrage zur vergl. Sprachgeschichte," but it really treats of Zeta- 

 cism : the second was published in 1848, with the title of u Languages 

 of Europe." 



You will allow me to dwell for some time on this earliest literary 

 achievement of August Schleicher. He was very young at the time, only 

 twenty-seven years of age, when he wrote the second part ; but if ever 

 proverb came true with regard to any man, the Latin proverb did in 

 respect to August Schleicher "Ex ungue leonem." The most cha- 

 racteristic features of Schleicher's mind and Schleicher's opinions are 

 already visible — distinctly visible — in this his first work. 



The writing on Zetacism treats of the changes which consonants 

 undergo through the influence of a y consonant, a w, a v, or a slender 

 vowel following them, and treats of all this with a lucidity and complete- 

 ness which makes you marvel how a young man of twenty-two could 

 possibly have such extensive information on nearly all the then known 

 languages. 



The second part, published in 1848, of the " Researches," bears the 

 modest title, " Languages of Europe." It is in reality a sort of encyclo- 

 pedia of the science of languages, as far as such a thing was possible at 

 the time. The isolating languages (Chinese), the agglutinating lan- 

 guages (Turkish, Mandshu, Finnish, Hungarian), the inflecting lan- 

 guages (our own Indo-Germanic, and the Semitic families), the incorpo- 

 rating languages (American, especially Delaware), and besides some 

 Caucasian tongues, all appear in their turn admirably sketched in such 

 a way as a clever painter gives in a few outlines the true character 

 of the faces of his friends. 



