Professor Edwards read a Paper on the expediency and practicability of introducing the Hebrew language into the course of study in our Colleges. The following considerations, among others, were urged:

The Old Testament, in the original, deserves to be made a text-book in Colleges for its literary value, aside from the fact of its inspiration and divine authority. There are compositions here which would be sure of immortality, if they were not in the Sacred Books. They constitute a store-house of sublime and beautiful conceptions which are native only in the soil of true poetry. Portions of the Hebrew Scriptures are incorporated into the poetic literature of the whole Christian world. They have supplied the seeds of thought, the germs, the dim conceptions, the primary outline, to some of the sublimest poems, or parts of poems, to be found in modern literature. This point may be more particularly illustrated by adverting to some of the characteristics of Hebrew literature: (1.) Vivacity is one of its qualities. With whatever defects it is chargeable, it is not dull. Its life and vigor are owing to the nature of the language, particularly the verb, to the external life and active habits of the principal writers, to the condensed brevity of much of the poetry, etc. (2.) Pathos,-deep, undisguised feeling, is another characteristic. Some of the causes of this were the tender attachment of the Hebrews to their native land; their pure domestic affections; their religion, which was fitted to awaken the intensest emotions, etc. (3.) Sublimity is another of its qualities. In this, the Hebrew literature is not approached by that of any other people. Its sublimity may be traced in part to the physical features of Palestine; to the fact that the Hebrew poets were children of nature; and to their religion, which placed them at an immeasurable distance above the Greeks and Romans. (4.) Simplicity is eminently characteristic of much of the Hebrew literature. The Book of Genesis, for example, is attractive in the highest degree on this account. In short, the question of the introduction of the study of the Hebrew into Colleges, might be rested wholly on its literary value.

But the Hebrew is to be viewed, also, as the representative of a wide circle of literature; as a specimen of the modes of thought and speech common to the whole Semitic family; as an introduction to the literature of a large part of Western and Central Asia; and as a key to the Arabic and all the other related dialects. These considerations appeal more

and more, at the present day, to the philologist and the general scholar, as well as to the theologian, as Asia is becoming more and more a center of scientific interest.

In reply to the common objection to the introduction of the study of Hebrew into Colleges, that it is important only for that small proportion of the members of a College who expect to engage in theological study, it may be farther urged, that some of the fundamental principles of law and political science are contained in the Mosaic institutes; that if the preceding statements are true, the study of Hebrew literature would yield as much general benefit, to say the least, in some important respects, as that of any other literature; and that it could be no disadvantage to the members of the medical and legal professions, should they become possessed of some knowledge of, and sympathy with, that which lies at the foundation of the theological profession, as the theologian, in his turn, would find a knowledge of the principles of law and medicine eminently serviceable to him in his sphere.

The other and great objection is, that there is no time for the study of Hebrew in Colleges. To this it may be replied, that there is good reason to hope that an opening for a new study will be made, within a comparatively short period, by the more perfect preparation of students for admission into our Colleges, particularly in Latin and Greek. The standard of preparation is every year gradually rising. When the majority of a class enter College with a mastery of the elements of the two classic languages, as a few now do, it would seem to be practicable to prescribe to a Freshman class the study of the elements of the Hebrew a third of the time, for three or four months, so that an ability might be acquired to read, without the aid of a teacher, the easier portions of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is well known that the study of Hebrew is made a part of the prescribed course in the German Gymnasia.*

Professor Gibbs then read extracts from three papers on African dialects, by Rev. Messrs. Bryant and Grout, missionaries among the Zulus, presented to the Society by Dr. Anderson, and accompanied them with some remarks on the cognation of dialects of Southern Africa.

*The writer seems not to have been aware that the Hebrew has been studied, optionally, for a long time, in some of our Colleges.—E. E. 8.

On the recommendation of the Directors, the following persons were chosen members of the Society, viz: Mr. Fitz Edward Hall, now at Calcutta; Rev. George E. Day, of Northampton, Mass.; Mr. Edward Moore, of Newport, R. I.; Professor Tayler Lewis, of New York; and Rev. Mark Murphy, of New York.

The Society then adjourned.

Extract from a private letter to the Corr. Secretary from Mr. J. P. BROWN.

PERA, November 1, 1848.

DEAR SIR,

I at length send you the manuscript of my translation from Suheily, and trust it will reach you in safety. What may be the fate of my little work, I cannot foresee, nor even imagine. It has given me some trouble, yet it has not been without advantage to me, and has served to employ leisure moments which might have been worse spent. In the endeavor to interest, in the study of Eastern languages, such of my countrymen as may take the trouble to read these "Oriental Sketches," I have united the dolce with the utile, and though this is a small beginning for one who has been so long in the East as myself, I offer it as a promise of something better in future.

I enclose Herr Von Hammer-Purgstall's commendation of the work translated; but I prefer the good word of my countrymen, in behalf of it, to that of any foreigner, however learned he may be, or however great his reputation. I feel that I am doing right in sending it to your care, as the Corresponding Secretary of our own Oriental Society; yet I scarce dare venture to ask you to read it over, and if it is found worthy of publication, to offer it to some publisher for me. I have no expectation of profiting by it pecuniarily. I have not attempted to change the book in any respect, but chose rather to preserve it as much like the

i

original as possible. In fact, I thought it would do for once to let the reader see what an eastern book is, from its beginning to its close,index, preface, and ending. I have not even changed its divisions, but have retained them just as they are. Two or three tales or anecdotes I suppressed, as unsuitable to American readers; but I must also add, that I found little of an improper character among the selections of the collector. Some of the poetry may not bear a close criticism, particularly the translations from the Arabic; too often I found the verses of little interest, and yet persevered in translating them, so as to show to the reader even the tastelessness of Arabic poetry. They may be suppressed, if it is thought necessary. You will be struck with the similarity of some of the Sketches to tales in the "Arabian Nights;" and perhaps, for I have not examined, they may have been already woven into that chain of tales. I suppose that, whoever the compiler of the "Arabian Nights" was, he gleaned the contents from Arab and Persian authors, particularly the latter, and threw in some popular tales which have since then been lost, or might again be found in Persia. There are a great number of tales sold and hired out here, among the people of the city, at a trifle by the night, which might be strung together, so as to form "Turkish Nights," almost as fanciful as the Arabian, though not so original in the design. ** It seems to me that the best title the translation can bear, will be "Oriental Sketches," or "Translation of a collection of curious incidents and remarkable occurrences by Ahmed Ibn Hemdem, etc."

**

Extract from the enclosed letter from HERR VON HAMMER.

DEAR SIR,

I never saw such a complication of untoward bibliopolic circumstances as that which has prevented me, till this day, from answering your letter of the 4th of May, in a more satisfactory way than I did at first.

It is by far the most interesting book that has been published at Constantinople for a long time, and you could not hit upon a better one for translating. The historical and amusing interest of the two hundred and seven curiosities, which I might call anecdotes, is so obvious that I think more than one orientalist, getting hold of it, would like to translate it. To prevent such concurrence, I think to render you a service by mentioning, in my report to the Asiatic Society at Paris on the books printed at Constantinople last year, that you are already engaged in translating

this. The work is quite new to me, Hadschi Calfa has it not; and if I had known of it, I certainly would have mentioned it in speaking of Suheily in my History of the Ottoman Empire.

I am, with truest regard and esteem, dear Sir,
Yours most truly,

HAMMER-PURGSTALL.

24th July, 1842.

P. S. I open my letter, already put up, to answer yours received this moment. I can but repeat what I have said, that Suheily's work is a most interesting one, and well worth your presenting it to the Asiatic Society. I doubt whether the Akhlaki Ahmedi, which I do not know, is so interesting.

TO JOHN P. BROWN, Esq.,

Dragoman of the Legation of the United States

at Constantinople.

We publish these extracts from correspondence, in order to awaken an interest in Mr. Brown's translation, to which they refer, which it is hoped some enterprising American publisher will soon secure the honor of bringing out, as the first specimen of an original oriental work, ever introduced to readers in the United States directly from the East. To the recent elegant reprint of Lane's translation of the "Arabian Nights," by Messrs. Harpers of New York, this would be a highly interesting supplement. To the recom mendations of the work in the letter which has been quoted from that distinguished orientalist, Von Hammer, than whom no scholar in Europe, perhaps, has a more cultivated appreciation of the beauties of oriental literature, we will append a translation of the notice of the work, alluded to in this letter of Von Hammer, which we find in the Journal Asiatique for 1843, pp. 265–66.

"The Wonders of Memorials and the Rarities of Anecdotes, by Ahmed Ben Hemdem the kiyaya, known under the name of Suheily, printed in the month of Ramadhan 1256, (October, 1840.) This book is one of the most interesting and amusing which has appeared, since it contains two hundred anecdotes drawn from twenty-five historical works, which are those of the best Persian historians, and two works in Arabic by Ibn El