not

ever since Europeans have known that there was such a language on the globe. The impression of its extreme difficulty was, doubtless, first derived from the accounts given of it by some of the early Catholic missionaries; and one of them, Father Nic. Longobardus, a Jesuit, so long ago as the year 1598, in a letter to his Superior, says, he was congratulated by one of his Chinese friends, on having finished reading two of their books, one De Adultorum Disciplinâ, and the other De Medio Sempiterno, as if he had accomplished a great task; but, though his Chinese friend, with a little national vanity, declared that no person, except a native, could understand those books, the reverend Father adds, very frankly adds, "I found no more difficulty than in going through Cicero or Livy."* The opinion of its great difficulty, however, has been very general to the present day. But this and the other mysteries attendant on it, are now in some measure dissipated. Mr. Davis, whose practical knowledge of the subject is entitled to some deference on this point, withstanding the sad failures in some of his Translations from the Chinese, for which he was too severely criticized on the Continent, Mr. Davis, we say, assures us, that "the rumored difficulties, from the great number and variety of the characters are the mere exaggerations of ignorance"; and Mr. Du Ponceau's investigations have shown, that this language is not so very different from others in many of the particulars in question. It is true, that writers on this subject, from age to age, have continued to tell us of the eighty thousand characters, or words; yet a small part of these are in general use, and the rest slumber quietly in the national dictionaries, as a great proportion of our English words do in the vocabularies of our own lexicographers. Prémare, whose most valuable grammar (Notitia Lingua Sinica) has at length been published by the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca, assures us, that after knowing five or six thousand characters, no book will stop one; and the Chinese themselves agree, that ten thousand are sufficient for a scholar, or lettered man, to know. Rémusat, also, in the Preface to his Grammar says, that the Chinese language "may be learned like any other, and does not require any greater effort of attention or memory.'

* Epist. a P. Nicolao Longobardo, anno 1598, ab Sinis scriptæ, etc.; (in the Latin Collection, published by J. Hayes, 1605.)

Davis's China, Vol. II. p. 141.

It is true, that many characters have the same sound, and this occasions ambiguity. But that happens in all other languages; as in English (to take our examples from Mr. Du Ponceau), when we use the words or characters fain, fane, or feign, the ear can ascertain the meaning by the context alone; and in French, cens, cent, sang, sans, sens, sent, are like so many Chinese written words, having but one sound.*

Again; the want of inflections, and the promiscuous use of the same word as a verb, noun, or adjective, at pleasure, are imagined to be a source of great difficulty; yet in these particulars the Chinese language is not so very different from our own, as we should, without reflection, be led to suppose. Thus, to take an example from Dr. Marshman's valuable Chinese Grammar, (Clavis Sinica,) the word sound, if it follows an article, is a substantive, a sound; if it follows a personal pronoun, it becomes a verb neuter, as I sound, they sound, or, with an object, an active or causal verb, they sound the bell; or, if it is placed between an article and a substantive, it becomes an adjective, as, a sound vessel. So much does the meaning and grammatical character of words in English, as well as in Chinese, depend upon their juxta-position; verifying the just remark of Humboldt, that, in some of our modern languages, especially in English, phrases of considerable length may be constructed which are perfectly Chinese." Ambiguities must, from the imperfection incident to all human language, happen among the Chinese, as well as other nations. We may add, however, as an amusing singularity, that, as no new word can be introduced without the imperial authority, so an ambiguity, even in a man's name, can be removed by the same power; as will be seen by the following curious proclamation from the "Government Gazette," at Pekin,-"Whereas, the names of the Viceroy of Yunnen, and the Lieutenant-General of that province, being pronounced alike, though differently written, may occasion some confusion, it is therefore ordered, that the LieutenantGeneral, Shoo-lin do change his name to Schoo-ching. Edict of May 15th, 1800. Our host of English and American John-Smiths, would soon be extinguished in the Celestial Empire.

* Mémoire, p. 42.

↑ Lettre à M. Abel Rémusat, p. 16.

Many other alleged difficulties might be noticed, if our limits would permit. There are, in the Chinese, Cochin-Chinese, and other languages of that family, delicacies and peculiarities of idiom, accent, and tone, which foreigners never can acquire, any more than a Chinese could learn English so perfectly, as to pass for a native. In the Cochin-Chinese, for example, the natives speak in a singing tone, almost like the recitative of an Italian opera; as Captain White has personally informed us (with an imperfect imitation of the tones), and as is stated by Father Morrone, who says of their mode of utterance, "When they speak, they sing."* These niceties,

however, are wholly unimportant to the philological student, or any other person, who does not intend to reside among the natives, but only wishes to acquire the written language; and this, we are convinced, can be accomplished with very little, if any more labor, than is necessary in learning any other language.

ART. VIII. CRITICAL NOTICES.

1.-American Education; or, Strictures on the Nature, Necessity, and Practicability of a System of National Education, suited to the United States. By the Rev. BENJAMIN O. PEERS. With an Introductory Letter, by FRANCIS L. HAWKS, D. D. New York Published by John L. Taylor. 1838. 12mo. pp. 364.

LET any man, dwelling in the United States, consider this fact; that he is living in the midst of some millions of human beings, having strong bodies, strong wills, clear heads, and mighty passions; let him consider, further, that these millions suffer him to pursue his business, and sleep quietly at night, because they see it to be their interest, or feel it to be their duty, to do so, but that, as soon as they cease to see their interest, or feel their duty, they may pull his house about his ears and hang him upon the nearest tree; and he will feel, to his heart's core, the necessity of wide-spread moral and religious education to his own safety. And, should he go one

MS. Vocab. Dr. Ruschenberger, in his account of the Embassy of Mr. Roberts, says the same.

step further, asking how he could excuse himself were he to close his ears against the cries of boys and girls starving in the streets, and then remember that every crime is the inarticulate groan of a starving soul, and he will feel the necessity of universal religious education upon the nobler ground of his own duties. Religious education; not intellectual education, that of itself protects no man ; not moral education, for morality without religion is for the mass of men impossible ; but religious education is wanted, nay, Christian education. Our government rests upon Christianity, as its basis. Take from man the Christian views of human nature, and liberty, equality, and republicanism would be perfectly farcical; and in no way can we retain liberty and a republic but through the influence of Christian truth.

The

The purpose of the work before us is to make clear the absolute necessity that exists for giving to all our people Christian views and motives. We hear enough of our rights; let us hear something of God's right and of our duties. cry, that our rulers are our servants, rings through the land; let us not be backward in spreading the counter-cry, that we are all servants of Christ. How is this to be done? By the influence of schools, in a great measure. And, to make them effective, we must have teachers of the highest class; and to secure such teachers we must pay them, and, more than all, honor them. The meeting at Exeter, held last August, when some of the first men of New England assembled to do honor to Dr. Abbot, their old schoolmaster, will long be a beacon-light. The time is gone by, when teaching was not one of the liberal professions; it now must take rank with the very highest of human employments.

Such is the faith of Mr. Peers, himself an enthusiastic and excellent teacher. And he has ably set forth the need of Christian instruction; the obligation to give it to all, leaving no soul to perish; and the impossibility of doing it by the means now in use, with teachers whose salaries are barely enough to keep them from the alms-house, and schools in which there are ten children where there should be but one.

But is it possible to educate all? Our author answers, that it is, if we but have it at heart, and will give time, labor, and money to the work. Legislatures cannot do the work, neither can societies; but you, and I, and every man must do it. Do any doubt? We answer, it is not yet proved impossible. And a true man has but one course to tread in any such case. Let him do his utmost fearlessly, heartily, and in good faith, and forget not that there is a God working with him.

This little book by Mr. Peers, we commend to all, as earn

estly and ably written, and as the result of much experience. On some points, we do not agree with him. We think the community called on to do more than educate its members so far as to secure its own safety; and we think, he insists somewhat more than enough upon the necessity of paying, as compared with respecting teachers. But his views are all freely spoken, and made alive by a true Christian spirit. May he find many and interested listeners!

- Life of Joseph Brant, (Thayendanegea,) &c., by W. L. 2 vols. 8vo. New York: George Dearborn

STONE.

& Co.

WHEN we first heard that Colonel Stone was writing the life of the great Mohawk chieftain, we thought it would come forth in a neat duodecimo, and would contain the personal history of that remarkable red man, a chapter or two on the Wyoming affair, in which Brant would be proved to have had no hand, and perhaps a disquisition upon Indian customs and peculiarities. We found, therefore, not without surprise, two large octavo volumes, containing more than eleven hundred pages; and, though the title-page in part explained the size of the work, as it states the contents to be, not only the Life of Brant, but "the border wars of the Revolution, the campaigns of Harmer, St. Clair, and Wayne, and other matters connected with the Indian relations of the United States and Great Britain, from 1783 to 1795," it was not till we opened the volumes that we fully understood their great extent. Then we found, that they gave a general history of all the events which occurred in the United States during Brant's life, with large and original details of those varied scenes in which he, directly or indirectly, took part.

Whether Colonel Stone would not have done more wisely, had he confined himself to the relation of those events in which his hero was concerned, may be doubted. By going over too large a field, he has broken that unity which should be the first thing sought in a work of history; and the result is, that his volumes have in part the character of annals, in part that of narrative. Joseph Warren, and Lord Chatham, and Logan, with his wonderful speech, rise from their graves, and pass before us, and are gone again ere we can say, "Stand!" Lexington, Bunker's Hill, Long Island, and every scene of revolutionary suffering and warfare are named, and left again, with a celerity which supposes an acquaintance with those scenes