. s 
 

 
 
 
 fSGKIPm-- 
 
 
 
 i-n 
 
 ’ Kfjtif'^/4 "ravi^"' 
 
 
 
 life ^ 
 
 .1(| » ' . . -W’-wX. , 'V ■• ’ • 
 
 '■*ifr>:':!l' •: fe ■: 
 
 
 
 
 w',- 
 
 , . ■ ^m,,: ■ »fefe’ 
 
 ; . \ .-:\ ' H,,.. ■ ■.• 4 , 
 
 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 https://archive.org/details/accountsextracts12faul 
 
ACCOUNTS and EXTRACTS 
 
 O F T'H E 
 
 MANUSCRIPTS 
 
 IN T H B 
 
 Library of the King of France. 
 
 PUBLISHED UNDER THE 
 
 INSPECTION OF A COMMITTEE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Royal Academy of Sciences at Paris. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. 
 
 O L. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for R.FAULDER,New Bond-street \ T. and J. EGERTON 
 Whitehall 5 and E. and T. WILLIAMS, Strand. 
 
 M;1»CC}LXXXIX* 
 

 
 
 ■ 
 
 V \ -■ 
 
 ■ t' If • 
 
 ■ . . ^ N KT 
 
 
 ■\' 
 
 \ - 
 
 ‘i • b 
 
 %’. T 1 (k 
 
 ?T4I5l^'.e.U 
 
 £!j" ’ 
 
 »«>’•* 
 
 h t 
 
 
 ■V 
 
 4 r - ".-’‘i’ 
 
 s,.T; 
 
 » *. 
 
 
 '■ - 
 
 
 0 
 
 •> 7 
 
 t ' .' .'t 
 
 s' 
 
 
 
 V’ 
 
 ' % 
 «• 
 
 * ■ ’ « 
 
 " l-j 4 a 
 
 U . . 
 
 
 
 ( 
 
THE 
 
 Tranflator’s Preface. 
 
 French monarch, in the publication now 
 
 before us, has fet an example to all Europe, 
 well worthy to be followed. The advantages 
 which are likely to accrue to the learned w^orld. 
 
 fo well explained in the Preface to the ori- 
 
 are 
 
 ginal, as to render it totally unnecelfary to offer 
 any further panegyric thereon. 
 
 The immenfe ftores of information which re- 
 main locked up in various libraries of Europe, 
 has long excited a whli to have them made pub- 
 lic. Few countries can boaft of more valuable 
 repofitories of this kind than our own ; and it 
 is fincerely to be wiflied, that the prefent pub- 
 lication may excite an emulation in thofe, under 
 
 wliofe 
 
ii TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE, 
 
 whofe province it more immediately falls, to 
 imitate fo excellent an example. 
 
 With refpeft to the prefent Tranflation, 
 every care has been taken to render it faith- 
 ful ; yet fome errors will unavoidably have 
 intruded themfelves in the names of perfons and 
 places ; for in the original we find the name of 
 the fame perfon or place frequently fpelled dif- 
 ferent ways. And an additional caufe for error 
 is, the well-known cuftom of the French to 
 affume their own arbitrary orthography for pro- 
 per names, by which they are frequently fo much 
 difguifed as fcarcely to be known. 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
c o 
 
 N T E N T S 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 Page 
 
 Preface, _ . . i 
 
 jin hijioric ejfay on the origin of the Oriental charac- 
 ters in the royal printing-houfe j on the works 
 which have been printed at Paris ^ in Arabic in 
 Syriac^ in Armenian^ & c. and on the Greek charac- 
 ters of Francis L commonly called the King’s 
 Greek. M. de Guignes, - - ii 
 
 Fhe Golden Meadows and the Mines of precious 
 Stones^ an univerfal hiflory^ by Aboul-hajfan-alyy 
 fon of Al-khair^fon of Aly^fon of Abderrahmany 
 Jon of Abdallah^ Jon of Mafoud-el-hadheli^ Jur- 
 named Mafoudi, a writer of the twelfth century 
 of the Chriftian ara. By M. de Guignes, 115 
 A chronological table of the kalifs from Majoudiy 180 
 
 An account of the journal of Burcardy rnajier of the 
 ceremonies of the pope's chapelyfrom Sixtus IV, to 
 Julius II. the firft part under the pontificates of 
 Sixtus IV. and Innocent VI I L By M. de Bre- 
 
 GUIGNV, • - - . 
 
 Fhe 
 
11 
 
 CONTENTS., 
 
 fame, fee ond party under the pontificate of Alex- 
 ander VL By the Jamey - - 229 
 
 "The JamCy third and laft party concerning the ponti- 
 ficate of Bins IIL and the three firfi years of Ju- 
 lius IL By the fame y - - 251 
 
 An account of a Greek Lexicon, By M. de Roche - 
 fort , - _ - _ 269 
 
 An hiftorical chain of countries yJeaSy and fijhesy with 
 a treatife on the Jcience of the Jpheres : a colle£licn 
 of fever al works y and particularly two voyages to 
 India and China in the ninth and tenth centuries of 
 JeJus Chrifi. M. de Guignes, 301 
 
 An account of a manufeript of Efehylus in the 
 kings library y No, 27 8 9, compared with the edition 
 of Paw. M. Vauvilliers, - 313 
 
 An account of a manufeript of Efehylus in the 
 king s library y No. By the fame y 337 
 
 An account of a manufeript of EjehyluSy in the 
 king s library y No. By the fame y 346 
 
 An account of a manufeript of EfchyluSy in the 
 kinfs library y No. By the fame, 361 
 
 An account of a manufeript of Efehylus, in the . 
 
 kings library. No. 2791. By the fame, 369 
 
 An account of an autographical chronicle of Bernard 
 IteriuSy librarian of the abbey of St. Martial de 
 Limoges in the thirteenth century. By M. de 
 Brequigny, ^ _ 33^ 
 
 Lhe book of councils, by Sheik Feriddm-Mahommed- 
 ben Ibrahim-al-Attar-al-Nifchabouri. By M. 
 Silvestre DE Sacy, - “ 41 1 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 AGE 14, line 27, after read the. P. 47, 1 . 6, for 
 
 read <what, P. 64, 1 . 355, for in, read of. P. 99, for 
 having, read have not. P. 146, line 12, for of, read in. P. 180, 
 1 . 3, for exfting, read exifing. P. 240, 1 . 3, dele of. P. 259, 
 1 . 27, after chain, infert vjhich. P. 282, 1 . 3, for ejfential, read 
 effentially. P. 288, 1 . 9, {or explication, read explications, P. 295, 
 1 . 17, for indeed, read inftead. P. 323, 1 . 25, for before, read 
 frjl. P. 371, 1 . 7, for vjas certainly knovun, read certainly knevj. 
 P. 389, 1 . I, {or vollums, read vellum. P. 400, 1 . 28, for reli- 
 gions, read religious. 
 

 \ 
 
PREFACE 
 
 golden aera of fcience and letters is 
 not yet palTed ; the king knows how 
 much thefe can contribute to his glory and 
 that of the nation, and the minifter of the aca- 
 demies, with as much knowledge as zeal, 
 feconds the beneficent intentions of his royal 
 mailer, in perpetuating thefe happy days ; thus 
 exciting an ardour for labour, by powerful en- 
 couragements, diredled to the public welfare. 
 
 A new ellablifliment had juft procured to the 
 Obfervatory, books, inftruments, and a fund 
 fufficient to fecure unremitted inftrudlion, and 
 conftant aftronomical obfervations ; when go- 
 vernment raifed the foundation of another 
 inftitution not lefs important; the defign of 
 which is, to revive the ftudy of the learned lan- 
 guages and hiftoric records ; to difcover to 
 
 B France 
 
s PREFACE. 
 
 France the riches fhe poffeffes and is ignorant 
 of; to point out to her the ufe of them, and 
 to make ail Europe participate of whatever can 
 affift hiftory and literature in the immenfe and 
 valuable colledion of manufcripts in the king's 
 library. And the Royal Academy of belles letters^ 
 to whom this work has been intrufted, has 
 coniidered it as the moft fignal favour received 
 from royal munificence, fince the adminiftrations 
 of Colbert and Pontchartrain. 
 
 The year 1785, is the epocha of this efta- 
 blifhment. The marlhal prince de Beauvau, 
 then prefident of the academy, at the firfl: meet- 
 ing in the month of January, communicated a 
 letter, in which the baron de Breteuil direfted 
 him to inform the affembly of the king’s refo- 
 lution, that for the future, eight academicians, 
 (without interfering with their duty as fuch) 
 fhould employ themfelves to make public, by 
 exa6t accounts and judicious extracis, the ma- 
 nufcripts of his library; to tranflate, and even 
 to publifli, in their original languages, the pieces 
 they fhould think worthy to be printed at 
 large: that three of the academicians fliould 
 examine the Oriental, two the Greek and Latin, 
 and the other three the manufcripts which con- 
 cern the hiflory of France, and in general the 
 
 antiquities 
 
PREFACE. 3 
 
 antiquities of the middle age ; and that each of 
 them fhculd receive an annual appointment for 
 this particular bufinefs. 
 
 That thefe accounts and extracts Ihould be 
 read in a committee compofed of the eight aca- 
 demicians employed in the work, four commif- 
 fioners nominated every year by the academy to 
 affift them, of the annual officers and the per- 
 petual fecretary, each to poflefs the power of 
 giving his advice on fuch readings ; and that the 
 fecretary ffiould therein exercife the fame func- 
 tions, as in the academy, to which this com- 
 mittee is to be confidered as an appendage. 
 
 The king's intention alfo was, that the em- 
 ployment on thefe manufcipts, ffiould not be 
 excluhvely confined to the eight who were to 
 have an appointment for their trouble, but that 
 all the other academicians ffiould conlider them- 
 felves invited to affift therein, and be admitted 
 to the committee, to lay before them the refult of 
 their refearches ; and that thofe feveral extradls 
 and accounts ffiould be printed in the fame fize 
 as the memoirs of the academy. 
 
 In order to afford this inftitution all the 
 extent and utility it is capable of, his majefty 
 was defirous, that the execution ftiould not be 
 confined to the academy, nor to the manufcripts 
 
 B 2 in 
 
4 PREFACE, 
 
 in his library alone, but that the learned, both 
 of the capital and provinces fhould be invited 
 to make known likewife, the manufcripts pre- 
 ferved in the public and private repofitories to 
 which they have accefs, and to tranfmit the 
 fruits of their refearches, under cover of the ' 
 minifter, to the perpetual fecretary of' the aca- 
 demy, who is directed to report the fame to the 
 committee, and to form feparate volumes of 
 them, in which the author of every account 
 fhall be announced at the head of his work ; 
 the latter volumes to ferve as a continuation to 
 the volumes compiled by the academicians, as 
 thofe may be confidered as a fupplement to the 
 Memoirs of the Academy. 
 
 Laftly, his majefty refer ves to hlmfelf, for 
 this time only, the choice of the eight aca- 
 demicians, who are to have a ftipend for em- 
 ploying themfelves in this work, and dired:s 
 that the company fhould be immediately in- 
 formed of this nomination; but hereafter, as 
 thefe places iliall become vacant, the academi- 
 cians may eledl fuch of their members to fuc- 
 ceed, as they fhall judge the befh qualified, and 
 moft difpofed to employ themfelves in fuch 
 works ; the perfons fo eledied fhall be fubmit- 
 ed to his majefty, for his approbation. 
 
 This 
 
PREFACE. ' a 
 
 This new proof of the protection granted by 
 the king to letters, excited the moft lively grati- 
 tude, and the -M. de Beauvau, was requefted to 
 lay at his majefly’s feet the refpeftful fenfe en- 
 tertained of a favour, which his own attach- 
 ment to the academy made him participate, and 
 to communicate their fentiments to the mini- 
 fter who had conceived this plan, not lefs ex- 
 tend ve than ufeful, and who had thus fecured 
 the execution of it. 
 
 A fecond letter from the baron de Breteuil, 
 dated January 15, addrefled to the prefident, in- 
 formed the company, that the eight academi- 
 cians chofen by the king were, meffieurs de 
 Guignes, de Brequigny, Gaillard, de la Porte 
 du Thiel, d’Anffe de Villoiffon, Larcher, de 
 Keralio, and the abbe Brotier. M. Larcher and 
 the abbe Brotier having excufed themfelves, the 
 firft, immediately after his nomination, and the 
 fecond, at the end of fome months, their places 
 were fupplied by M. Vauvilliers and M. Syl- 
 veftre de Sacy. 
 
 A fev/ days after the nomination of the eight 
 academicians, the marflial de Beauvau, who 
 watched over this infant inftitution with that 
 aClive and enlightened zeal, which he has con- 
 ftantly manifefted towards whatever can con- 
 
 B 3 tribute 
 
6 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 tribute to the advancement of letters, or the 
 progrefs of knowledge, called the firfi: meeting 
 of the committee : they then fixed the plan 
 which appeared mofi: advantageous to purfue in 
 the compofition of the extrads and accounts; 
 each of the eight academicians fignified what 
 department he propofed to employ himfelf in ; 
 and the work, thus begun, has not fuffered 
 any interruption, and is continued with the fame 
 ardour. 
 
 This bufinefs differs effentially from the one 
 now carrying on in the king’s library, for the for- 
 mation of a catalogue; it is of much greater ex- 
 tent, and intended to procure the enjoyment of 
 thofe treafures, for which the other ferves but 
 to excite curiofity. The catalogue of the king’s 
 manufcripts can only point out the works by 
 the titles and numbers, or at moft give a fum- 
 mary idea of fonae of the principal objeds therein 
 contained. In fad, it only alTures the exiftence 
 of the works, and leaves the perfons who are 
 neceffitated to have recourfe to them, the trou- 
 ble of confulting and feeking therein, what the , 
 titles feem to promife them interefting, and often 
 unable to make this examination, either by their 
 diftance, or their ignorance of the language in 
 which they are v/ritten. This new eftablifh- 
 
 ment 
 
PREFACE. 7 
 
 ment will in a great degree remedy thefe incon- 
 veniences; a learned foreigner, who has no com- 
 munication with Paris, and the King's Library, 
 may hereafter, even at the extremities of the 
 globe, avail himfelf of the treafures which this 
 library contains, and may know what is com- 
 prized in the numerous manufcripts therein pre- 
 fer ved, that is either eflential in itfelf, or appli- 
 cable to his purfuits. 
 
 We have obferved that this eftablifhment will 
 revive the ftudy of the learned languages and 
 hiftory; this will be at lead; a natural confe- 
 quence of it ; and we have a right to expedt, 
 that among thofe young gentlemen whole incli- 
 nations lead them to the purfuit of letters, fome 
 will apply themfelves thereto with ardour, when 
 they perceive that the ftudy of the Oriental lan- 
 guages, by facilitating their entrance into the 
 academy, and procuring them an honourable 
 employ, may condudl them perhaps, imme- 
 diately, to an ufeful lituation, which does not, 
 like an academic peniion, require years of tedi- 
 ous expedtation ; that others will attach them- 
 felves, with the fame zeal and hope, to the in« 
 clinations they feel for the Greek and Latin 
 languages, and for ancient hiftory; and laltly, 
 that others will enter deeply into the ftudy of 
 
 the 
 
8 PREFACE, 
 
 the monuments and records of the hiftory of 
 France, and in general of the hiftory of the 
 middle age. 
 
 It is fufficient to make known fuch an infti- 
 tution as this : it has no need to be fupported 
 by eulogiums ; no one can be unacquainted with 
 the high character for public utility, which the 
 literary eftablifbments of Lewis XIV. fo juftly 
 claim ; — and this perhaps is the only one of the 
 kind, the glory of which he has leit to his fuc- 
 ceflbrs. 
 
 Whatever advantages we may promife our- 
 felves herein, we muft not however believe, that 
 all the manufcripts in the king’s library are 
 alike worthy of 'notice, or can affora materials 
 equally curious and iiiterefting : it is a mine, 
 where we meet with particles of gold inter- 
 mixed with lefs precious metals ; but perhaps 
 there are not any of thefe manufcripts which 
 do not, in fome refpedts, merit the attention of 
 the learned ; and even if there Ihould be found 
 a large number, from which nothing ufeful can 
 be extrafted, it will ftill be rendering a confide- 
 rable fervice, to point out fuch as are ufelefs, and 
 to fpare others many laborious and fruitlefs re- 
 fearches. Neither muft we imagine that the 
 academicians, employed in this work, have be- 
 
 gun 
 
9 
 
 PREFACE, 
 gun their extradls from the moft important ma- 
 nufcripts. How could they poffibly make fuch 
 a feleftion from works, the greater part of which 
 were abfolutely unknown to them ? They 
 could have no other lights than the titles, and 
 thefe are too often deceitful guides ; befides, 
 why (hould they feledl a few ears, when they 
 have the whole field to reap in ? It is therefore, 
 in IbiTie refpebt, chance alone which will deter- 
 mine what part of this collection (of which we 
 now prefen t the public with the firfi: volume) 
 fhall contain the moft or leafl interefting mate- 
 rials. Thus, all that can be required from the 
 compilers of thefe accounts is, that they pro- 
 portion the extent of the feled:ion to the impor- 
 tance of the work, and that they do nbt infert, 
 as far as they can poffibly avoid, any thing but 
 what may be ufeful or curious. 
 
 The printing a feleclion from the manufcripts 
 in the Oriental languages, makes the ufe of Ori- 
 ental charadiers neceifary. In a variety of inftan- 
 ces. The baron de Breteuil convinced of this, 
 and being informed that there were many forts 
 of thefe different charaders in the royal print- 
 ing-houfe, where they had been negleded for 
 .near a century, direded a fearch to be made for 
 them, and engaged M. de Guignes to examine 
 
 and 
 
lo PREFACE. 
 
 and put them in order.' This academician has 
 not confined himfelf rigidly to the intentions 
 of the minifler, but availed himfelf of every 
 circumftance that could increafe the utility 
 of his labours, of which he has given an ac- 
 count in an efiay at the end of the preface : as it 
 has been thought, that an hiftorical efiay on thefe 
 charadters, on the w^orks publifhed at Paris in 
 Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, &c. and on the Greek 
 charadiers engraved by Garamont, under the 
 reign of Francis I. which were thought to have 
 been loft, but are ftill exifting in the royal 
 printing-hioufe, ought naturally to be placed 
 after the liiftory of the prefent eftablifiiment ; 
 one of the principal objedis of which is, as we 
 have already remarked, to reviveGn France:? the 
 ftudy of the learned languages. 
 
 AN 
 
A N 
 
 HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 
 On the Origin of the Oriental CharaBers in the Royal 
 Printing-Houjey on the Works which have been 
 jirinted at Paris ^ in Arabic^ in Syriac j in Armenian^ 
 and on the Greek Characters of Francis L commonly 
 called the King's Greek. 
 
 By M. de G u i g n e s, 
 
 TTRANCE has, inthe preceding century, feen the 
 fuperb Polyglot of Le Jay ilTue from her prefs, 
 and various other works printed in the Flebrew, Sa- 
 maritan, Arabic, Syriac, and Armenian charadlers ; 
 but has lately been incapable of limnlar publications ; 
 I mufl, however, except the Hebrew charadlers, with 
 which many private printing-houfes are furnifhed : 
 it is the other Oriental charadlers, Arabic, Syriac, 
 Armenian, Samaritan, &c. which are here treated of. 
 What then are become of thofe which ferved to print 
 the Polyglot of Le Jay ? the beauty and elegance 
 of which were the admiration of the learned of 
 Europe. This v/e are ignorant of : it has even been 
 faid that Vitre had deftroyed them, that they inight 
 not be able to print fuch works after his death. 
 
 Thevenot, the traveller, who lived a fliort time 
 after him, in the account of his voyage, ufed Roman 
 charaders, for want of others, in fome Turkilh verfes, 
 
 made 
 
12 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 made by M. Petit de la Croix ; and fmce that time^ 
 they have not printed , any books at Paris in the Ara- 
 bic language. Thefe beautiful charadlers have not 
 fince even been heard of ; and the Bibllotheque Orien- 
 tale of d’PIerbelot, publifhed in 1697^ in which they 
 might have made ufe of them, does not prefent us 
 with a fingle word in Arabic chara6lers. The heur 
 Lambert, the printer, is the firfc and only perfon, 
 v/ho, in an edition of Nebuhr’s Voyages, publifhed 
 in 17795 has printed fome long palTages in thefe cha- 
 racters . Thus, for near a century, the lofs of thofe 
 which were ufed for the Polyglot have been regretted. 
 
 The committee ellabliihed by his majeily in the 
 academiy, requiring Oriental characters for printing 
 fome extrads ; the baron de Breteuil, zealous for 
 the advancement of literature, and convinced of the 
 necelTity, caufed a fearch to be made among the pa- 
 pers in his cuftody, to know if the king had not for- 
 merly been in poiTefTion of fuch chara6ters. Soon 
 after, by his orders, I repaired to the printing-houfe, 
 to lee if they could print fome Arabic titles, in 
 which I had formerly found great difficulty, when I 
 had in vain endeavoured to get fom.e words printed 
 in that language, for the m.emoirs of the academy. 
 
 The director of the royal printing-houfe fhewed 
 me a prodigious quantity of puncheons, or punches, 
 and m.atrices’^ in Arabic, Perfian, Syriac, and Arme- 
 
 * Puncheons, or punches, are the inftrument on which the figure 
 of the letter deligned to be call, is cut in relief, and which being 
 firnck hard on a piece of copper, leave their imprefiion thereon : the 
 latter, which is called the matrix, is fixed in the bottom of the mould, 
 in which the metal defigned for the type is poured in itsfufed ftate. 
 
 man. 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 13 
 nian, with which a great number of chara61:ers might 
 be cad ; for there were not any already cafl in the royal 
 frinting-houje. It is needlefs to remark how great 
 was my furprize, as mud alfo be that of all men of 
 letters. 
 
 They were ignorant at what time, or by whom, all 
 thefe punches and their matrices had been made ^ wlio 
 ordered, or who fuperintended the engraving of them. 
 I immediately conceived the plan of informing myfelf 
 relpedlingthem, and, after having examined thefe cha- 
 ra6lers at the royal printing-houfe, I thought I recol- 
 leded to have feen fomething that refembled them 
 in different printed works : I confulted thefe works, 
 and my refearches were not fruitlefs. I then invef- 
 tigated, as far as was poffible, the origin and pro- 
 grefs of this kind of printing, and of Oriental lite- 
 rature at Paris ; and I enquired how we have been 
 able to reach fuch a degree of perfedtion, as I per- 
 ceived in the Oriental charadters at the royal printing- 
 houfe, which I then faw for the fird time. Thus, by 
 the labour of the committee, we are made acquainted 
 with the treafures of the king’s library, and of his 
 printing-houfe, another monument of the liberality 
 of our monarchs, who have caufed to be colledled a 
 prodigious number of Oriental manufcripts, almod 
 as little known as the charadters I have jud fpoken of. 
 
 I fhall divide this effay into two epochas : the fird 
 from the reign of Francis I. to that of Lewis XIII. 
 included ^ the fecond, from the commencement of 
 the reign of Lewis XIV. until the prefent time. In 
 both I diall make known what has palfed, the mod 
 
 interedi ng 
 
t4 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 interefting with refpedl to Oriental typography, par- 
 ticukrly at Paris. I ihail point out the works that 
 have been printed there, and fome that have been 
 printed in other parts of Europe. A knowledge of 
 thofe books is neceffary to fuch perfons as are defirous 
 to iludy the Oriental languages. 
 
 First Epocha. 
 
 The general council held at Vienna, in 1311 and 
 1 3 1 2, under the pontificate of Clement Y. with a 
 view to re-efiablifli ufeful fcudies in Europe, ordained, 
 that at Rome, at Paris, and in the other univerfities> 
 
 profeiTors fhould be efcabliihed to teach the Hebrew, 
 
 Arabic, and Chaldean languages i thefe profefTors to 
 be maintained at Rome, by the pope ; at Paris, by 
 the king j and in other cities, by the prelates, the 
 monafteries, and the chapters. This tafle for the 
 Oriental languages, which the popes have ever fince 
 encouraged, arofe from our crufades, in which the 
 affiilance of perfons acquainted with Arabic, and 
 other Oriental languages, became necelTary. We 
 find in the Gefta Dei fer Francos^ that, on the occa- 
 fion of a new crufade, the reviving the fhudy of thofe 
 languages is enforced, particularly the Arabic, which 
 was judged neceflary, to converfe with the natives of 
 the country, to convert them to Chriilianity, and to 
 
 inilriKd: them in the fciences. 
 
 a fcheme that would promote the commerce of Eaft 
 and India, v/hich the weftern people carried ^n by 
 Ysizy of A.lexandria, under- the protection, or by the 
 confent of the Muffelmans, who did not permit them 
 to go any farther. But when the crufades ceafed. 
 
 the 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 15 
 the Cliriflians^ v/ho conrer/tcd themfclves with fend- 
 ing mifTionaries into the E.afl:> v/ere defirous they 
 fnould be inilriided in thefe languages ; and, after 
 the difcovery of printing, that they fhould carry witli 
 them fome impreffions of books in Arabic to di tri- 
 bute there. The popes have always aimed at tlie 
 accomplilhment of this, and were the firfl: to eftabli fa 
 a printing-houfe for Oriental characdiers : it was long 
 before the reft of Europe followed their example. 
 Thefe inftitutions, which were defigned for the pro- 
 pagation of religion, and the extenfion of commerce, 
 became in the event ufeful to letters ; and the learned 
 of Europe, with a view to acquire additional know- 
 ledge, infenfibly employed themfclves in the ftudy 
 of the Eaftern languages : they began with the He- 
 brew and Chaldean, without which they could not 
 read the Bible in the original : the Syriac appeared 
 neceftary to them for the knowledge of the New 
 Teftament, whether this book had been written ori- 
 ginally in Syriac or Greek j for, if in Greek, it 
 abounds with Syriac idioms. The ftudy of the Ara- 
 bic ftiewed them the great help that language is of^ 
 to arrive at a perfecl knowledge of the other three, 
 and that all of them ought to be cultivated by thofe, 
 who apply to the ftudy of the Holy Bible. This is 
 what they at firft perceived ; they afterwards found, 
 that, by the Arabic in particular, they mi^ht become 
 acquainted with the hiftory of Aha ^ the difterent 
 empires which have been fuccefiively eftablifned 
 there, and of which we have no clear ideas ; our firft 
 works of that kind being full of errors, not in the 
 
 hlftoric 
 
i6 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 hiftoric part only, but alfo in what relates to the re- 
 ligion, manners, and cuftoms, of the Orientals. The 
 geography of Afia was little known to us, and it 
 became neceflary to confult the Oriental geographers, 
 who alone could correct our errors. The Arabians, 
 the Perlians, &c. have made aftronomical obferva- 
 tions ; the importance of which have been acknow- 
 ledged : they have laboured with fuccefs in the ftudy 
 of phyfic, and in every other part of the fciences and 
 arts. Large colleges, and focieties of learned men, 
 were eftablilh.ed in the Eafl: ; proteded and fup- 
 ported by fuch princes as loved learning. The Ori- 
 entals have explored feas, become acquainted with 
 countries, and attempted difcoveries which are un- 
 known to us : there was reafon therefore to hope, that 
 the iLiidy of their language, which had been lb ufe- 
 ful in commerce, would be equally fo to the fci- 
 ences, Let us be ingenuous : the crufades have 
 eiTeded for us, what the conquefls of Alexander did 
 for the Greeks. By drawing us from our native coun- 
 tries, they have made us acquainted with the people 
 of the Eaft 3 with their arts, v/hich we have brought 
 back with us 3 with their language, that has enabled 
 us to profit of their literary labours, without vifiting 
 their country 3 and with their trade, that we have 
 endeavoured to polTefs ourfelves of, but which they 
 Iiave courageouily defended. This having excited our 
 emnilation, has compelled us to attemipt it by new 
 coiuics, and engaged us in extenfive navigations, 
 which have contributed, more than all the armies of 
 the crufades, to deftroy the Maliomedan trade be- 
 
 tween 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 17 
 tween India and Europe, by way of Egypt and Syria, 
 and to transfer it to the European ports. 
 
 It was Francis the Firft alone, lb juRly efteemed 
 the father and reftorer of letters, that began to 
 put this ancient fcheme in pradtice, by eftablilh- 
 ing profelTors to teach the languages of thofe coun- 
 tries. In 1530, he founded the royal college, but 
 confined himfelf to the eftablilhment of chairs for 
 the Greek and Hebrew only ^ and it was not until the 
 following reigns, that any were appointed for the 
 Arabic and Syriac languages. This eftablifhment 
 of Francis I. much difpleafed the univerfity of Paris, 
 which long exerted itfelf to defeat it. A few 
 years after, a very imperfedl kind of grammar, of the 
 Oriental languages, made its appearance at Paris, the 
 work of the celebrated W. Poftel; and, what is fingu- 
 lar, he miade ufe of proper charadlers, for the He- 
 brew, Samaritan, Ethiopian, Arabic, Syriac, Geor- 
 gian, Illyrian, and Armenian lajiguages. He had 
 travelled into Alia and Africa, where he had learned 
 the Arabic, and purchafed many books. This had 
 impoverifhed him lb much, that he was unable to fup- 
 port the neceflary expences of his workj he foli- 
 cited alliftance without effedl, but he found it in 
 his own zeal and ceconomy. “ Eram cxauftusy' 
 fays he, et reruniy oh lihros coemptos et peregri- 
 nationem nudus ut parum mibi JupereJfety unde banc vi- 
 tam pbilclcgicum tolerarumE However, he caufed 
 thofe charaders to be engraved, many of which were 
 then unknown in France, and^to all Europe. Sculps 
 tor thus nujquam quicquam. tale antea expertis. His work 
 
 C 
 
 IS 
 
IS AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 is intitled, Linguarum duodedm Charaderihus different 
 tiurrij alfhabetum introdudiio ac legendo modus longe fad- 
 limusj at Paris, i vol. 4to. without date, and the 
 pages not numbered; but the dedication, addrelTed 
 to the archbidiop of Vienna, P. Paulmier, is dated 
 1538. Anodier part of this work was publifhed by 
 P. Gomors, bookfeiler at Paris, and dedicated to 
 John Olivier, bidiop of Angers. Poftel gives us the 
 alphabet only of each language, with fome examples 
 for reading, till he coines to the Arabic, when he 
 gives a com.plete grammar. This is the part which 
 was printed by Gomors : the Hebrew characters are 
 correct and eafy to be known, though not beautiful ; 
 as to ail the others, the Syriac, &;c. &c. we may 
 perceive that this art was then in its infancy; and 
 I am doubtful, if in a long work they could be read, 
 being fo very imperfeCt. In the fame volume we 
 find a dilTertation on the origin and antiquity of the 
 Hebrew language, dedicated to cardinal du Bel lay, 
 bifhop of Paris, and a comparifon of the Oriental 
 languages v/ith each other, and even with the Latin 
 and French. This part was printed by P. Vidoue of 
 Verneuil, 1538, and, with the others, fnould form 
 only one volume. This work of Poftel’s, which is 
 as fmgular for its refearches, as for the impreffion of 
 all thefe foreign charaClers, is probably the firil of 
 the kind from the Paris prefs. Under the reign of 
 Francis I. alfo, Giufliniani executed at Genoa a much 
 more confiderable work, a Polyglot pfalter, in FJe- 
 brew, Greek, .Arabic, and Chaldean, vrith Latin ver- 
 fions to each, and notes, i vol. fol. 1516, Petrus 
 
 Paulas 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 19 
 
 Paulus Porrus, Genua in adihus Nicholai JuJliniani 
 Pauli Prejidenti reipuhlica GenucnfiSy fro ferenijjimo 
 Franconm rcge, fre/tdente viro Odiaviano Fulgojoy Anno 
 Chrijiiana Jaluiis, 1516. The charaders in this 
 pfaiter are not better than thofe Poftel made ufe of, 
 and refemble them much in their ill fhape j but, con- 
 fidering the age, both thefe works merit great praife. 
 To judge of men properly, wemuft revert to the age 
 in which they lived ; this undertaking therefore was 
 very difficult, for the time ; it required great know- 
 ledge, and in this more enlightened age, would be 
 executed by the fame men much better, and alfo be 
 more ufefuL 
 
 In France, the hiudy of the Arabic language made 
 little progrefs. Henry III. in 1587, firft founded a 
 chair for that language in the royal college. It was 
 at firil filled by the phyficians who ftudied there, be- 
 caufe that language was judged ufeful for their im- 
 provement in medical knowledge, and in this they 
 were not miftaken : but they have fince ncgledted 
 that ftudy ; and although there are two chairs for the 
 Arabic, the phyficians have not fince filled them. 
 
 They had not yet thought of printing Arabic in 
 France : the charadlers of Poftel had either been 
 loft or negleded, as they deferved to be. Under 
 Henry IV. Cajetan, who publifhed a work, intitled, 
 Paradigmata de quatuor Unguis Orient alihus frecipuis, 
 Arabic dy Armenicd^ Syrd, Eihiopicip Paris, 1596, in 
 quarto, was not able to find types for thefe charac- 
 ters, and thofe which he ufed were cut on blocks of 
 wood. Sometimes he made ufe of Hebrew cha- 
 rafters, to give different paffages in the Arabic, Syriac, 
 
 C 2 Armenian, 
 
20 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 Armeniarij and Ethiopian languages, becaufe he had 
 no types of thofe kinds ; but his Hebrew is beaucifuL 
 This work v/as printed by Stephen Prevofteau, printer 
 to the king for the Greek language, in Greets typogr, 
 regius. They beftow on Cajetan in the licence, the 
 
 title of “ King’s ProfelTor of Oriental languages f ’ 
 but we do not find his name in the lift of royal pro- 
 fefibrs. 
 
 We may conclude from what has been faid, that 
 under Henry IV. there were no other Oriental cha- 
 raders at Paris than the Hebrew j but a few years 
 after, under the reign of Lewis XI I L we perceive this 
 fort of printing brought to a high degree of perfedion, 
 and furpailing, in the beauty and elegance of the types, 
 all the other printing-houfes in Europe, even that of 
 Rome, where they printed Arabic with the greateft 
 fuccefs. 
 
 M. Savary de Breves, who had been ambaftador 
 from Henry IV. of France to Conftantinople, had 
 acquired, during his refidence in the Eaft, a tafte for 
 the Oriental languages, and had ftudiedthe Turkifh 
 fo as to fpeak it, as well as purchafed a great num- 
 ber of fine manuferipts : he was alfo acquainted with 
 the efforts that pope Paul V. made to infpire the dif- 
 ferent univerfitiesv/ith the fame tafte. This pontiff pur- 
 fued herein the plans and intentions of Gregory XIIL 
 who died in 1 595, after having founded fome colleges 
 and a printing-houfe for the Oriental languages, v/ith 
 a view to convert the infidels, in obedience to the de- 
 cree of the council of Vienna. Gregory XIII. had 
 caiifed thefe Oriental charaders to be engraved, and 
 
 direded 
 
21 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 dlreded many books to be printed, feveral of which 
 were publifhed. The death of this pontiff abated 
 the zeal with which the plan had been purfued ; but 
 Paul V. who fucceeded to the pontificate in 1605, 
 revived it : this v/e learn from the preface to an Ara- 
 bic Grammar of John Baptifi: Raymond’s, dedi- 
 cated to him, and printed at Rome in 1610. It is 
 in Arabic and Latin, and compiled by an Arab. 
 The tranfiator, J. B. Raymond, who plumes himfelf 
 much on the fervice which cardinal du Perron ren- 
 dered him on this occafion with the pope, promifed 
 to publifh, afterwards, Arabic, Perfian, Coptic, &c. 
 didtionaries. The Medici, thofe lovers of the fci- 
 ences, had then eftablifhed at Rome an Arabic 
 printing-houfe, typographia Medic^a^ where the gram- 
 mar we havejuft been fpeaking of was printed. 
 
 .M. de Breves*, who was at Rome in the time of 
 Paul V. and who, befides his zeal for letters, enter- 
 tained ideas of conqueft in the Eaft, as may be feen 
 in the relation of his embaffy to Conflantinople, had 
 formed the defign of eftablifhing a fimilar printing- 
 houfe in France, which would contribute to extend 
 Chriftianity in the eaftern countries, and promote the 
 
 * M. de Breves had been ambaflador at Conftantinople twenty-two 
 years. At his return, Henry IV. appointed him ambaflador at Rome, 
 where he remained to the end of the year 1614. In 1615, Lewis XIII. 
 intrufted him with the education of the duke of Anjou, his brother ; 
 but he was deprived of that appointment in 1618. He prefer ved the 
 favour of the king until his death, in 1627. See the account of his 
 travels, at Paris, 1628. There are yet fome defcendants of this cele- 
 brated man exiflingj to whom literature is fo much obliged, though 
 hitherto unknown. 
 
 c 3 
 
 commerce 
 
22 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 commerce of the nation. T o fbccee<i in this^ he em- 
 ployed many able artiils, v/ho were direfled to en- 
 grave the Oriental chara&ers for all kinds of books;, 
 notlparing either trouble or expence. He thought 
 that thofe which were made ufe of at Rome, although 
 beautiful, were not fufhciently fo ; and he fucceeded 
 in furpaffing them, by making ufe of the manufcripts 
 he had colledled for models. I at firfl: imagined he 
 had employed one Le Be^ a celebrated engraver, to 
 cut his punches. This I inferred fi'om a letter of Erpe- 
 nius to Ifaac Cafaubon, in which the formier fays, on 
 fending him his little colledlion of Arabic proverbs, 
 that they were printed ^ypis RaphelengianiSy non La- 
 heanis ut futurum put abas R This letter is dated in 
 March 1614. Le Be had then been employed on 
 M. de Breves’s puncheons ; but in the Hiftory of the 
 Procefs againft Vitre, who lived a little time after, and 
 had all thefe puncheons in his hands, it is faid, M. de 
 Breves caujed them to he made in the Eaft. Perhaps 
 Le Be might have made fome addition to them : 
 however,! have not found any memoir which has en- 
 abled me to clear this difEculty. What may induce 
 a belief that they v/ere made in the Eaft, is, that 
 M. de Breves did not return from his embalTy to Con- 
 ilantinople, after a refidence of twenty-two years, till 
 towards the end of the year i 5 ii. He ftaid only 
 fifteen months in France, and afterwards went to 
 Rome ; where, in 1 6 1 3, he caufed the catechifm of 
 cardinal Bellarmine to be printed in Arabic. Could 
 he have time, in fifteen months, to engrave' at Paris 
 fach a prodigious number of puncheons ^ 
 
 It 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 23 
 
 It appears that there were not workmen in Paris 
 capable of printing Arabic texts ; and it is confirmed, 
 that M. de Breves had his charadlers with him at 
 Rome, with which he began his publications in 1 6 1 3, 
 with the catechifm. In 1614, and at the time Erpe- 
 neus fpeaks of Le Be’s chara 61 :ers, M. de Breves 
 printed at Rome an Arabic pfalter, with a Latin tranf- 
 lation, publiflied by Stephen Paulin : they inferted in 
 the title page. Ex tyfographia Savarmia j which an- 
 nounces this (work to have been printed with the cha- 
 rad:ers of M. Savary de Breves, W e fee alfo, on the 
 fame title page, the arms of France and Navarre, 
 and thefe words : Munificentia illuftr. et excellentijf. 
 D. B. Francijci Savary de Breves^ Regis Chrifiianiffimi 
 a confiliis^ ejujque apud Paulum Voratoris et S. duds 
 AndegavenftSy ejujdem Regis Chrift. fratris amici, guher- 
 natorisR We cannot therefore refufe M. de Breves 
 the glory of having publilhed this work, which was 
 printed under the infpedlion and by the care of Scialac 
 and Sionita, both Marionites of mount Libanus. 
 
 The Arabic title to the pfalter is in magni- 
 ficent characters ; the body of the book fmaller j 
 but ail have a greater degree of elegance than thofe 
 of Rome or Medicis. Thefe two forts of charac 5 ters, 
 in the pfalter of M. de Breves, are exaClly, both in 
 the workmanfhip and fhape, like thofe I found in the 
 royal printing-lioufe ; but this refemblance is not fuf- 
 ficient to prove they are the fame ; let us therefore 
 purfue our enquiry after them. 
 
 C 4 
 
 The 
 
24 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 The following year, 1615, M. de Breves returned 
 to Paris, and brought with him Sionita, and the 
 printer, Stephen Paulin : for, in that year, they there 
 publifhed, in the fame charaders, ‘‘ The Articles of 
 a Treaty concluded in the year 1604, between 
 Henry the Great, king of Fi ance and Navarre, 
 and the fultan Amat, emperor of the Turks, 
 by means of M. Francis Savary, lord of Breves, 
 counfellor of the king’s council of Hate and privy 
 council, then ambalTador from his Chrifdan ma- 
 jelly to the faid eiTiperor,” at Paris, from the print- 
 ing-houfe of the Oriental languages, by Stephen Pau- 
 lin, rue des CarmeSy at the Lomibard’s college, 1615, 
 fmall quarto, of forty-eight pages. On the title page 
 are the arms of France and Navaire. Thus we fee 
 the charaders of M. de Breves tranfported toPaiis, 
 and employed in the pi inting of Arabic. T he printer, 
 Stephen Paulin, did not remain there long; foi in 
 1620 we find him again at Rome, publifliing Marte- 
 lotto’s Arabic grammar ; and, in 1622, a Syiiac dic- 
 tionary. I cannot believe there vvere two Stephen 
 Paulins publifhing Oriental books at the fame time ; 
 one at Rome, the other at Paris. 
 
 The departure of this printer from Paris did not 
 prevent them from publilhing fome v/orks in the Ara'? 
 bic charader : they had undoubtedly found workmen 
 there capable of iiipplying his place. In 1616, Sionita 
 and Hefronita, two Marionites, printed there an Ara- 
 bic grammar, by J erome Blageart, at the Lombard- 
 college, v/ith this note : Ex iypographia Savarlanay^ 
 as on the Roman pfalter. All thefe Arabic cha- 
 
 raders, 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 2^ 
 radlers^ whether large, middling, or fmall, refcmble 
 thole which are now in the royal printing-houlc, 
 and are certainly M. de Breves's, it being probable 
 that he lent them to luch printers as were able and wil- 
 ling to print in the Oriental charadlers. 
 
 From the year 1 591, they had printed at Rome, in 
 the Medicis charadlers, the four Evangelifts, with a 
 Latin tranflation, interlined, in one volume folio. 
 The Arabic charadlers are fine. This edition v;as 
 then regarded only as an attempt. At die end of 
 the volume we read, “ Rem arduum et admodmn dijjl- 
 cilem in hac tyfografhia aggrejji fumusy henigne lettor^ 
 quiyye qua inujitata et nova eft et adhuc noftris majo- 
 r unique ncftrum temforihus non vija imfreftionem niml- 
 rum lihrorum Arahuniy Syronim, Perjarum, ^gypticrum- 
 quey It muft be confefTed that this work, for an 
 
 effay, is a fine edition. The following year they 
 printed, in Arabic, at the famx prefs, the text of the 
 Nubian geography: and this is the v/ork, of which, 
 in 1619, Sionita publifhed a tranflation at Paris, in 
 which he inferred fome names in fmall Arabic, be- 
 caufe he could not tranflate them, the text appearing 
 to him too corrupt. Thefe firiall characlcrs equally 
 agree with the chara6lers in the royal printing-houfe. 
 In 1622, John Baptifc Duval, profefTor of the eaftern 
 languages, gave a Latin- Arabic vocabulary, but re- 
 ferring for the Arabic words to the pfalter of l\i. de 
 Breves, he has only put, in Arabic characters, the title 
 of the pfalms at the end of the work, printed by An- 
 thony Vitre, who takes the title of Lin gu arum 
 Orkhtalium typographus regius- We fliall fee in tlie 
 
 fequel 
 
26 * AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 fequel, it was this perfon who diftinguifhed himfelf 
 moil in this kind of printing. It appears by Duvafs 
 preface, they defigned to print an Arabic dictionary, 
 but wifhed drib to publifii the whole Bible in diffe- 
 rent languages : Unde nojcant omnesd' fays Duvaf 
 
 Gallas noftras aquilas veteresy volatu Juoy non ^qiiajfe 
 modoyjed altius penetraJfeU This is Le Jay’s Bible, 
 which, by its beauty, has excited the jealoufy of 
 foreigners, to that degree, that in my copy of Du- 
 val’s dictionary, they have put a manufcript note 
 in the margin, Imo hcec editio pudor eft Gallia ft 
 words dictated by ignorance and palTion. 
 
 In 1625, the Syriac and Latin pfaiter for tlte ufe 
 of the Chriftians in the Eaft appeared, printed by 
 Viti"e, This is the firit book which he produced at 
 Paris in the Syriac cliaraders, vrhich alfo appear like 
 thofe I found in the royal printing-houfe. 
 
 In 1628, Sionita caufed to be printed a work in- 
 titled, Veteris pkilojophi Syri de Japientid divind pohna 
 enigmaticumft in quarto, of thirty pages y the text 
 Syriac, with a Latin tranflation, at Paris, dedicated 
 to Marillac, keeper of the feals. They then pro- 
 jefted the printing an Arabic diclionary ; a necef- 
 fary work, and then much wanted. This Duval in- 
 foriTiS us. 
 
 ^'M. de Breves had not the fatisfaflion to fee all 
 the utility arife dom his beautiful characters they 
 were capable ofj his death, which happened in 1627, 
 it is thought, v/ould put an end to all the hopes which 
 had been formed from his zeal, and the expence he 
 
 Life of cardinal Riclilieu, by Le Clerke. 
 
 had 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 27 
 
 had been at, for the eftablifhment of an Oriental 
 printing-houfe at Paris. His heirs expofed the ma- 
 terials to fale j and the Englifh, as well as the Hol- 
 landers, who knew their value, treated for, and v/ere 
 on the point of purchafing them; but Vicre, the 
 printer, fecured them for the king, who was defirous 
 to preferve them. Thefe puncheons remained in his 
 hands for many years; and on this occafion anew 
 eftablifhment was ere6ted, which ferved to load the 
 cardinal de Richlieu with honour, v/hiift the name of 
 M. de Breves was almoft forgot. In the epiflie dedi- 
 catory to an Armenian di6lionary, of which I fhall 
 hereafter fpeak, are to be found the praifes prodi- 
 gally beftowed upon the cardinal on this account. 
 
 The Oriental printing-houfe, at Paris, then took a 
 new form : we fhall judge if it was more ferviceable 
 to letters. We learn by different privileges granted for 
 works which afterwards appeared, that ‘‘Lewis XIII. 
 in 1631, thought proper to commit the care and fu- 
 perintendance of the breviaries and church books to 
 cardinal de Richlieu, to whom the privilege > was 
 granted, of making choice of fuch bookfeilers and 
 printers as he fhould judge capable, for the fpace of 
 thirty years, on condition that the faid bookfeilers, to 
 the number of eighteen, fhould at the fame time print 
 the NewTeftament, the catechifm, and grammars, in 
 the Eaftern languages, and give a certain number, gratis, 
 which fhould be lent to the miffionaries in the Eall, 
 to diftribute to thofe who fhall defire to be inftru6led 
 in religion ; to which the faid bookfeilers bound them- 
 felves and we may be affured they kept their engage- 
 ments. 
 
28 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 
 ments. At prelent the method of proceeding for the 
 printing of church bocks;, and for the conditions then 
 impofed, are changed, and religion, as well as lettei-s, 
 have loft the advantages they drew from thence. 
 Thefe advantages had been more confiderable for lite- 
 rature, if this typographic fociety had not been iimitted 
 to books relating to religion only. The firfl: perfons 
 who printed in this ftile at Paris were not confined, as 
 v/c have feen, to church books, for the Oriental con- 
 verts ; but it appears, that after this new ellab- 
 iilliment, they were afraid to print a prophane book : 
 I Ihould fay, a book written by a Muffelmian. Vat- 
 tier, in his preface to the tranflation of the Hiftory of 
 the Caliphs, by Elmacin, publihied at Paris, in 1658, 
 is fearful left they fhould reproach him for having 
 made known all thefe MuiTulman princes, enemies of 
 the Chriftian religion ; and for that reafon, rejebt his 
 book ; ' but diffipates his fears, by obferving, that no 
 one has any fcruple to read the hiftory of the ancient 
 Roman emperors. 
 
 The typographic fociety of Paris printed fome 
 grammars and pfalters in the Oriental languages, 
 Lifeful works to thofe w'ho now learn thofe languages ; 
 and happy they are v/hen they can find them. Fo- 
 reign typographers, lefs fcrupulous, have procured for 
 the learned other methods to improve themfelves in 
 the ftudy of thofe languages, which lead to the know- 
 ledge of the Eaftern people. Erpenius, under the 
 protedlion of the ftates of Holland, eftablifned a 
 printing-houfe in his native country. The Cafau- 
 bons were clofely connected with him: Ifaac Ca- 
 
 faubon 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 29 
 
 faubon greatly encouraged him to apply himfelf to 
 the iludy of the Arabic language^ by procuring him 
 every neceflary affifiance, iia ut JupelleBilem Juam 
 Arahicam^ quam Jatis hahehat luculentamy ultra 7 mhi 
 cfferet et concederet^'' fays Erpenius, in a letter ad- 
 dreffed to Cafaubon's fon, printed in the colle6lion 
 of Arabic proverbs, edit. 1623. In the hrft edition 
 of his Arabic grammar, Leyden, 1613, he expreffes 
 himfelf nearly in thefe terms: Statem cmvem raihi 
 Jupelledlilem Juam Arahicam ultro communicavitA Ca- 
 faubon alfo exhorted him to publifh his grammar 
 quickly. Erpenius^', who alfo praifes greatly Stephen 
 Hubert, profefibr of Arabic in the royal college of 
 France, continued his labours with the greateft fuc- 
 cefs, aided and encouraged by the French literati; 
 who, doubtlefs, were troubled to fee that thofe who, 
 in France, propofed to give the Arabic editions, 
 were for the moft part divines. It feems alfo, that 
 the printers had too much influence in thofe works ; 
 which probably engaged the Cafaubons, and others, 
 to fhew greater favour to Erpenius’s printing-houfe. 
 Such a competition could not fail to be injurious; 
 though probably it would not have taken place, if, 
 like Erpenius, they had given fome original texts of 
 Mahomedan authors. This learned Hollander, him- 
 felf a profelTor of the Arabian language, publiflied, in 
 1613, at his printing-houfe, which was fupported by 
 
 •* He gave a new edition, in 1628; ‘T'hc 7 ?ice Erpbiii rulivie^ita 
 Arabics, accedimt ejujdei 7 i praxis grafiimatica et cofi/dium ds jluJie Ara- 
 bico reate wjUtuendo, In oiSlavo, Leyden, 162S. 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 the States General, an Arabic grammar of his own 
 cornpofition, very diiferent from that v/hich Sionita 
 printed at Paris in i6i6. The latter treats only of 
 the alphabet and reading; this of Erpenius is the 
 mofc methodical that can be, and the mod efteemed, 
 even to this day, having been adopted by all thofe 
 who v/ifh either to teach or learn that language. In 
 1625, he gave the Arabic text of the hiftorian El- 
 macin, v/ith a Latin trandation. It is the firft of 
 the kind that appeared in Europe; and Vattier, 
 profeilor in the royal college of France, tranflated 
 it immediately into French. Erpenius printed fe- 
 veral Arabic editions of it. In 1616, he publifhed 
 an Arabic verfion of the New Teftament; in 1622, 
 an ancient Arabic veriion of the Pentateuch; and in 
 1625, the pfalrns, in Syriac and Latin. Thefe dif- 
 ferent works contributed to infpire the learned of 
 Hailand with a tafle for the Oriental languages, which 
 tiiey have retained ever fince ; and the printing-houfe 
 of Erpenius, next to that of Paris, has furpaifed all - 
 others in the beauty of the characters. 
 
 It appears'^ that many learned men in France did 
 not form an advantageous opinion of the typographic 
 iociety of Paris. M. Galland iuppofes that the works 
 then printed were not with a view to be ufeful to 
 thole annong us who w^anted to learn Arabic; For 
 how (fays he) could they profit by them, at a 
 time when they had neither grammar nor dic- 
 tionary in that language, which they could make 
 
 * Preface to the Oriental Bible. 
 
 ufe 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 31 
 ufe of? But (adds he) they went to this great 
 expence, with an intent to make a trade of thefe 
 books in the Eaft; a defign which at firfb proved 
 abortive, for the Mahomedans would not receive 
 the copies when brought to them. In fadt, they 
 were afraid that in the end they v/ould introduce 
 the Alcoran printed: this would have been re- 
 garded by them as the greateft profanation that 
 could happen to it.’' Such is Mr. Galland’s re- 
 iiedtion. Mean time we fhould remark, that the pri- 
 vilege granted the fociety, diredled that the book- 
 fellers fhould deliver a certain number of copies to 
 the miffionaries gratis \ which is very different from 
 the vile interefted views fome perfons would wifh to 
 find in this eflablifliment. He obferves again, that 
 it was for a political reafon the Turks rejedfed thefe 
 imprefTions. We learn elfewhere, that Selim L 
 emperor of Conffantinople, revived, in 1515', a 
 firmaun of his father Bajazet II. who prohibited 
 the ufe of printed books under pain of death. The 
 Moors were iefs fcrupulous in that refpedb: it is 
 laid that there are printing-houfes in Morocco, but 
 that they make it a point of religion not to per- 
 mit their horfes, corn, or books, to be exported. 
 In the Eaft, an infinite number of perfons, who fub- 
 fift by copying books, would have been reduced to 
 beggary by the introdudfion of printing. They were 
 afterwards willing to eftablifli one, and have printed 
 at Conftantinople many Turkifh books: but itvas 
 
 * MS. notes of the fecretary’s ofiiceof the king's library. 
 
 abandoned ; 
 
32 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 abandoned ^ and die Mahomedans always prefer their 
 manidcript to our printing, although the latter is moft 
 legible. i 
 
 However, the typographic fociety at Paris did 
 not, delay to fulfil their agreement. In 1613, they 
 piiblifned an Armenian didionary, intitled Di5fio- 
 narium Armeno. Latinum, by Francis Rivola, of Milan, 
 hnfenfis Jocietatis typographic^ lihror'iim officii ecclefiaff 
 tici juffu Regis conftitutcCy' one volume, in' quarto, 
 four hundred pages, dedicated to cardinal Richlieu. 
 It ilTlied from the prefs of Anthony Vitre, ivho feems 
 to have applied himdelf to the printing of Oriental 
 books. The impreffion of thefe Armenian charac- 
 ters are like thofe in the royal printing-houfe. They 
 WTie at this tiiPxC employed in printing the grand 
 Polyglot Bible of Le Jay^ which did not prevent 
 Vitre from publifhing, ‘ the fame year, another little 
 work, the fecond edition of the Turkidi grammar of 
 Du Ryer, vrho had been the French vice-conful in 
 Egypt, and who gave the public a tranfiation of the 
 Alcoran, printed in 1634. This grammar was 
 printed by order of cardinal de Richlieu, for the ufe 
 of the millions, and diftributed gratisy at Paris, by 
 Vitre. This bookfeller printed, at the fame time, the 
 Arabic text, and the Latin translation, of the condi- 
 tions impofed by Mahomet on the Chriftians. Du 
 Ryer acquaints us, in the preface to his grammar, 
 that there were at Paris divers perfons who under- 
 flood and fpoke the languages of Afia, Africa, and 
 even of America; fo much were foreign languages 
 then cultivated. 
 
 In 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 33 
 
 In 1635, Vitre publifhed another work, which con- 
 tains the alphabet of the Oriental languages, Hebrew, 
 Rabinical, Samaritan, Syriac, Arabic, Armenian, and 
 Turkifh; with a Greek alphabet, and fome exercifes 
 for reading. Vitre there takes the title of printer to 
 the king and clergy. The Turkilh charadters I now 
 Ipeak of are the fame as the Arabic, which the 
 Turks have adopted. 
 
 In 1638, the typographic fociety publifhed a 
 new edition of the grammar of Erpenius, printed 
 by Vitre. They always had in contemplation the 
 publifhing an Arabic didtionary ; a work with which 
 they ought originally to have begun, but pro- 
 bably there was not any one in a fituation to 
 do it; and this' great undertaking was refer ved 
 for Golius, the fucceflbr of Erpenius. His dic- 
 tionary was printed at Leyden, in 1653. Giggeus 
 had juft publifhed one at Milan, but that of Go- 
 lius has been preferred by all the learned. Before 
 this, there had been publifhed in Europe, only fome 
 vocabularies and fmall didionaries ; works of little 
 life in a language fo copious as the Arabic. We 
 ought here however to except a dictionary, ufeful 
 to thofe who go to the Eaft, and wifh to fpeak the 
 Arabic : it was printed by the Propaganda^ under the 
 title of Fahrica lingua Arabic^f, cum interpret atione 
 Latina et Italicdd" 1639, volume, in folio.^ 
 
 This dictionary of the vulgar Arabic has the Italian 
 firft. 
 
 The typographic fociety at Paris were wholly em- 
 ployed about their grand Polyglot Bible, of which 
 
 VoL. I. D we 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 34 
 
 we have already fpoken. We find, by the different 
 volumes^ that in 16323 1633, and 1635, there wefe al- 
 ready many of them printed i and it appeared in 1645, 
 under the title of Biblia Hebraica^ Samaritana^ 
 Chalddicuy Gr^cay Syriacdy Latinay et Arabica,^ at 
 Paris^ by Vitrc, ten volumes, in large folio, on fine 
 paper. M. Le Jay planned this undertaking, and 
 executed it at his own expence. He had caufed 
 charadters, or puncheons, for the Samaritan, to be 
 engraved : we learn by a letter of his fon, the dean 
 of Vezelay, that the latter fent to the king's library 
 the punches and matrices of the Samaritan and the 
 Syriac, fome matrices for Arabic accents, and fome 
 for the Armenian charadters : but we fhall fpeak on this 
 fubjedt hereafter. I know not whether he caufed to be 
 engraved, the puncheons of the beautiful Hebrew cha- 
 radfers which we fee in his Bible. It is to be re- 
 gretted, that in the enumeration he makes of thofe 
 who have affifled his undertaking, we do not find a 
 word of M. de Breves, not even his name j notwith- 
 fcanding wAich, thefe beautiful charadters were his, 
 by which the Oriental typography was introduced, and 
 the fame wTi^e ufed for the impreffion of the Polyglot. 
 The name of cardinal Richlieu, the inftitutor of this 
 fociety, has caufed that of M. de Breves to be entirely 
 forgotten; but it mufl be confefTed, that without the 
 latter, it had never appeared. This Bible is admired 
 for the imprelTion and beauty of the charadters ; but it 
 wants the prolegomena, and the neceffary dilTerta - 
 tions, which is the reafon it has been little fought 
 after. It is a beautiful work of art, and the only one 
 
 of 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 3 > 
 
 of the fort that we have attempted. The Englifh 
 Bible, v/hich appeared in 1657, in fix volumes, folio, 
 though lefs beautiful, and very inferior to the Paris 
 edition, is yet more complete: they have befides 
 printed the Ethiopian and Perfian texts ; it is alfo 
 accompanied with long prologomenas j and Caftel, in 
 1669, added thereto two- volumes, in folio, which 
 contain a diblionary of all thefe languages. What 
 I have here faid of the beauty of Le Jay's Bible, is 
 confirmed by Wolfius, in his Rabinical library. He 
 expreffes himfelf in thefe terms : Eximium certe hoc 
 eft artis typographic^ Jpecimen et exemplum^ ft et life- 
 rarum et charts elegantiam Jpe&eSy tale cmnino quod ex- 
 teriorum typographorum invidiam et ^emulationem, ex- 
 citahit et Pariftenjes fe^nper Jupra illos coUocahity quihus 
 fine injuria denegari non pot eft h^c gloria quod typogra- 
 phicum ad Jiimmum apicem perduxerintP 
 
 The Polyglot of Le Jay had its merit. The 
 magnitude of the enterprize, the beauty of the 'exe- 
 cution, the re-union of all the texts with their Latin 
 verfions, deferved a different fate. But it excited 
 many envious and jealous people againft tlie author, 
 and from thence had very little fuccefs, which much 
 deranged the affairs and fortune of M. Le Jay, who 
 had facrihced every thing to that work. The Prolo- 
 gomenas, which Watfon put at the head of his Poly- 
 glot, are not equally efteemed by all the learned i 
 the diftionary of Caftel, which accompanied this Bi- 
 ble, is badly conft]'u(fted in the principle, and the 
 Oriental chara6tefs are heavy, coarfe, and little con- 
 necled with each other. 
 
 D 2 
 
 While 
 
36 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 While the prefies of Paris were employed on this 
 edition of the bible, Golius, in 1636, publilhed in 
 Holland, the Arabic text of the hiftory of Tamar- 
 iane, which V attier, of whom I have already fpoken, 
 tranflated into French. In 1639, Lewis de Dieu 
 caufed a Perfian grammar to be printed in Holland, 
 and the life of Jefiis Chrifb in Perfian and Latin. 
 This hiflory of Jefus Chrifl is full of tales and fables. 
 Thus Lewis de Dieu has put in the title, ^^fmulque 
 muites modis ccntaminatad^ It was compiled in 
 Portugueie, by F. Jerome Xavier, a Jefuit, by the 
 order of Akbar, the Mogul emperor, and tranflated 
 into Perfian by Abdel Senarim Kafen, of Labor. 
 
 Such was at this time the Hate of typography 5 and 
 by a natural confeqiience, that of Oriental literature. 
 The learned of France, who wifhed for other Oriental 
 texts, haflened to tranflate them, but the typographic 
 fociety did not print any j yet it was not wholly ufe- 
 lefs to letters, fince they publifhed many books which 
 we make ufe of to learn thefe languages. By all I 
 have juft faid, we fee that the principal aim of the 
 typographic fociety was the converfion of infidels, 
 and that the miffions, that are fo frequently exclaimed 
 againft, have procured us fome ufefnl knowledge, 
 which the merchants have not endeavoured to acquire. 
 Thus the eftablifhment of the miffions of Rome and 
 Paris, eftabliiliments which fome other nations of 
 Europe have adopted, have been the origin and fource 
 of all our Oriental literature. Let us now proceed 
 to the fecond Epoclia under the reign of Lewis XI V . 
 
 Second 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 37 
 
 Second Epoch a. 
 
 T have faid that the chara(5lers in the royal piThting- 
 hoiife, are the lame that were made by M. de Breves; 
 their forms, and the manner in which they are cut and 
 engraved, convince me of it ; but as this is only con- 
 je^lure, more convincing proofs are neceflary, and 
 other fa6ls to fhew us, that M. de Breves’s charac- 
 ters, after palTing through different hands, foine of 
 which are thought to be Englifh, have come into this 
 printing-houfe by the purchafe which was made of 
 them for the king. This is what I am going to eftablifh, 
 from fome authentic documents I have confulted, 
 which M. de Farcey, keeper of the king’s palace, has 
 communicated to me. This precious repofitory, kept 
 with the greateft care, and in- the bell order, is a 
 fource, from which a man of letters, who would em- 
 ploy himfelf in our literary hiftory, and that of the 
 royal printing-houfe in particular, will find a feledion 
 of anecdotes very little known, and interefling ac- 
 counts, which are fo many proofs of the protection 
 which our king’s have conftantly accorded to the 
 fciences. I have alfo fearched into the fecretary’s 
 / office of the king’s library, which contains different 
 pieces of all that is curious concerning the royal 
 printing-houfe. In ffiort, the direCtor, when lie tranf- 
 mitted me all the puncheons of the Oriental charac- 
 ters, alfo intrufted me with fome memoirs relating to 
 this fubjeCt ; fome copies of which, in the king’s 
 library, I had already confulted. 
 
 D 3 
 
 It 
 
38 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 It is from thefe original pieces^ and from different 
 printed works, that I am enabled to give a fhort 
 hiflory of the fate of thefe puncheons, univerfally 
 regarded as maiter pieces of workmanfhip. Thefe 
 refearches, which will confirm the actual exifirence of 
 all thefe chara6ters, will alfo ferve to re-eftablifli the re- 
 putation of one of the moft celebrated printers of 
 France, Anthony Vitre, who publifhed the beautiful 
 Bible ofLe Jay. Let us hear the author of the hiflory 
 of the printing-houfe and library : "The great reputation 
 which he had acquired by this impreJ/ioHy has been in- 
 jured by his maiiccy in caufing the Oriental charabfersy 
 which had Jerved to print that hiblcy to be deftrcyed in 
 his prejenccy to prevent any one at Paris from printing 
 books in theje languages after his deathy which is an 
 cc irreparable lojs to the typographic artP Chevalier 
 goes further, They Jayy and a bcokjeller of Paris has 
 written y that Vitre one day caufed all the puncheons y 
 matrices y and types y which he had in thofe languagesy to 
 be melted and deftroyed in his prefence. This was a great 
 lojs to the univerfity ; we may fay it was as great a lofs 
 to the glory and reputation of the Paris typography'' 
 After fuch affertions, ail the learned of Europe 
 have believed, and continue to believe, that thefe 
 characters, puncheons, and matrices, are no longer 
 in exiftence. Let us purfue the hiitory of them, and 
 we fhall fee them again re-appear at the Paris printing- 
 houfe. Thus Vitre 'has neither deftroyed the pun- 
 cheons, or the matrices, with which all the charac- 
 ters we want may be caft^ and I haften to do him this 
 
 juftice. 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 39 
 juftice, after he has been branded with ill-founded re- 
 proaches for more than a century. 
 
 In 1627, thefe charadters, after the death of M. de 
 Breves, to whom they belonged, and who in his zeal 
 for religion and letters, granted the ufe of them to 
 different printers, that were willing to publifh Oriental 
 books. Thefe charaders, I fay, or rather thefe pun- 
 cheons, with their matrices, were on the point of be- 
 ing fold to foreigners ; but the clergy, with a defign 
 to preferve them for the ufe of the nation and reli- 
 gion, oppofed it, and the king, Lewis XIII, who was 
 defirous to acquire them, direded his printer, Vitre, 
 to purchafe them, which he did. This commiffion, 
 which Vitre executed with the greater zeal, as he 
 projeded great undertakings in this fort of printing, 
 brought on him a long law fuit, which he had to de- 
 fend againft the heir of M. de Breves, who, in de- 
 fault of payment, reclaimed the char aders. This 
 Vitre himfelf acquaints us with in a printed memorial, 
 intitled, * Hifiory of the fuit renewed from time to time 
 
 * This memoir, in ^to. of twenty-eight pages, is printed without 
 either date, name of place, or author} it is by Vitre himfelf, who 
 publiflied it for his juftification. This appears by the memoir itfelf, 
 p. 19. wherein it is faid, that Vitre bequeathed to Mr. Herbert, his 
 reporter in parliament, the two fiift leaves of this hiftory, becaufe 
 thefe only were printed. The pieces that are there reported end in 
 1654., before the clergy took up this affair. I am indebted to Mr. Paf- 
 tefet, counfellor in the court of aids, and affociate of the academy, 
 for the knowledge of this memorial, which becomes a very important 
 piece in this cafe, wdio found it in his library, among a number of 
 reports, and was anxious to acquaint me with it. After having made 
 ufe of it, I thought myfelf obliged to return it to the king’s palace, 
 to be there prefer ved, with other pieces, concerning the royal printing- 
 koufe. 
 
 D 4 
 
 againfi 
 
40 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 agdnji Vitre^ on account of the purchafe which the 
 king had obliged him to make of the puncheons, 
 matrices, and Turkifh, Arabic, and Perfan manu- 
 feripts, that the late M. de Breves had colleded in the 
 Eaft, during his refidence at Conftantinople, and with 
 proofs of the ftate they are in at prefent. W e learn 
 from this memorial, that the king commanded Vitre 
 to take care that thefe fingular things, fo beautiful 
 and admirable, were not fold to foreigners, who 
 would carry them out of the kingdom ; as well be- 
 caufe they might prejudice religion, as that it would 
 deprive the kingdom of one of the greateft orna- 
 ments.*' Thefe exprefllons proved how much they 
 then efteemed all that might conduce to valuable and 
 folid information. A few days after, the cardinal de 
 Richlieu direded Vitre (from the king) to purchafe 
 them at any price, but not to fay they were for the 
 king, Vitre obeyed, and became purchafer, in his 
 own name, for 4300 livres ^ a fum far beneath their 
 value : it v/as purchahng them for nothing. Monfieur 
 deNoyerhad long before offered 27,000 livres for 
 them, on the king’s account, but could not obtain 
 them. The king dire6ted them to be depofited in 
 the chamber of accounts, with the Greek puncheons 
 of Francis L a repofitory where they preferye all 
 valuable things ; but in fuch a manner, that they fall 
 (as I may fay) into oblivion, becaufe they are loft to 
 light, on account of the troublefome formalities which 
 it is neceffary to obferve to have accefs to them. 
 This has been the fituation of the puncheons of Ga- 
 famont, made during the reign of Francis I. 
 
 The 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 41 
 
 The puncheons of M. de Breves, without being 
 placed in that ftore-houfe, have experienced nearly the 
 fame fate, but have undergone greater rilk, and for a 
 longtime have been thought to be loll. Thefe pun- 
 cheons, according to the ftate of them, which I found 
 in the memoir I have cited, are, 
 
 ^24 Large Arabic. 
 
 445 Middling Arabic. 
 
 ^55 Small Arabic. 
 
 353 Perlian, fmall and large. 
 
 16 1 Syriac. 
 
 68V owels, for the Arabic, Perfian and T urkilh. 
 
 1606 
 
 But I believe there are fome miftakes in thefe 
 numbers, fince this account is not agreeable to the 
 one given at the beginning of the memoir, that the 
 'puncheons^ with their matrices all Jirucky amount to ynore 
 than 2000 eachy At prefent, thefe puncheons, 
 
 with a dozen which have been fince engraved, 
 and with 47 Armenian, which Vitre had added, 
 amounted to 1920; a number agreeing better with 
 Vitre’s account. 
 
 A number of Oriental manufcripts, purchafed in 
 the Eaft, were included in the adjudication of thefe 
 charadters of M. de Breves. This forms a valuable col- 
 ledion, which, joined to the puncheons he had caufed 
 to be engraved, prove both his tafte and zeal for the 
 fciences j but all thefe literary treafures, with which he 
 hoped to enrich his country, remained long unnoticed. 
 However, the king iffued an ordinance for 6oco livres ; 
 
 his 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESS AY. 
 his intention, ever direded towards the progrefs of 
 letters, was, that the furplus of the 4300 livres fhould 
 be employed, to caufe puncheons to be engraved, and 
 matrices to be ftriick, in the Ethiopian and Armenian 
 language, which he direfled to be added, to the end . 
 that his majefty might ^pojfejs the char alters of every nation 
 in the world. But to compleat the king's good inten- 
 tion, there are many others at prefent wanted. It is 
 true, that with the Arabic, Perfian, Syriac, and Ar- ^ 
 mcnian, they have thofe of almoft every one of the 
 learned people of Afia ; and in Africa, the Ethiopian 
 are the only books we are acquainted with. We 
 had not then fufficient connexion with the people of 
 tlie fouth, and of the eaftern extremity of Afia, to en- 
 quire into their different languages and chara6ters, as 
 in many countries of Europe they have lately done. 
 Thus, under Lewis XIIL we were in poffeiTion of nearly 
 all the charaders of the Oriental people, who were 
 known, and who had cultivated the fciences. 
 
 From this ftate it appears, that the Armenian 
 charaflers, which v/e now adually have in the 
 royal printing-houfe, belonged to Lewis XIIL and 
 not to M. de Breves, as leems afterwards to have 
 been thought. Vitre immediately made an agree- 
 ment with Jaques de Sanlecque, engraver and 
 letter-founder, to undertake the engraving of thefe 
 new puncheons, beginning with the Armenian ^ but 
 the Ethiopian were not executed, from the difficulty 
 which arofe in the payment of the ordinance.— 
 Sanlecque fent Vitre the Armenian puncheons and 
 matrices, and demanded payment ^ V itre, who had 
 
 not 
 
 4 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 43 
 
 not then received the ordinance, to avoid a law fuit, 
 was obliged to make engagements on terms, which he 
 paid out of his own money. It was not repaid him 
 in 1663, the year in which he publifhedhis Armenian 
 didionary with thefe chara6lers : as they had been en- 
 graved by order of the king, there is no mention 
 made therein of M. de Breves ; but on the king and 
 the cardinal Richlieu the higheft praifes are beftowed ; 
 
 . to the latter the work is dedicated. 
 
 On the other hand, the heirs of M. de Breves pur- 
 fued Vitre for payment for the puncheons, matrices, 
 and manufcripts, of which he had made himfclf 
 purchafer j but having prefented a memorial, he ob- 
 tained an arret of council, dated June 20, 1633, by 
 which they were prohibited from troubling him. The 
 calamities of the times prevented thefe payments j 
 Vitre, on this occafion, complains that he was obliged 
 to pay even the expence of the arret himfelf, as if it 
 had been a concern of his own. The heirs of M. de 
 Breves left him afterwards long unmolefted. 
 
 He had in his poflelTion the puncheons and ma- 
 trices, but the manufcripts remained in the hands of 
 Sionita, who was then confined at Vincennes. Sio- 
 nita, by birth a Syrian, and brought into France by 
 M. de Breves, who had known him at Rome, was pro- 
 felTor of the Arabic language in the royal college, 
 and worked upon the texts which were re-printing for 
 Le Jay’s Polyglot, but was, they fay, of a flow and 
 idle difpofition, more anxious after repofe than 
 honour, and loved good cheer better than labour. He 
 quarrelled with M. Le Jay, and had fomewarm dif- 
 
 putes 
 
44 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 putes with EccheilenfiSj and fome others. This 
 obliged M. Le Jay to carry his complaints to the king^'s 
 council ; and it was on this occafion he was im- 
 prifoned at Vincennes. Cardinal Richlieu^ who wifhed 
 to have the maniifcripts^ caufed an order to be ifiijed 
 to Vitre to redeem them. Then followed a newpro- 
 cefs, on the part of Vitre : a petition prefented to the 
 lieutenant civil ; an ordinance of that magiftrate (of 
 !2oth of January, 1640); a fearch by the officers of ^ 
 juftice, at Sionita's ; and the opening of doors by a 
 iockfmith, in the prefence of witneffes. They found 
 one hundred and ten Oriental manufcripts which the 
 commiffiary Boiffy marked with his initials, and 
 delivered to Vitre, who caufed them to be carried 
 away. He was charged with all the expence of this 
 feizure, and paid it. Some days after, he received 
 an order to bring them to the cardinal’s palace, where 
 the archbiffiop of Rheims, then biffiop of Chartres, 
 received them : they were bound up with the arms of 
 the cardinal, placed in his library, and the king caufed 
 an arret of council, dated the 29th of March, 1642, 
 to be ilTued to difcharge Vitre. 1 have marked 
 thefe tw^o circumftances, of the initials of the com- 
 miffary, and of their being rebound with the cardi- 
 nal’s arms, that they might be identified : befides, 
 Vitre has given a catalogue of them at the end of his 
 memorial. 
 
 1 hefe manufcripts, coilefled by M. de Breves with 
 fo much care, experienced as unfortunate a defidny as 
 the characlers he has caufed to be engraved : thus 
 placeci in the cardinal’s library, they remained there. 
 However, they did not then regard them as be- 
 longing 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 45 
 
 longing to the cardinal, fince, afterwards, the chan- 
 cellor dire6led Vitre to demand them again from 
 the duchefs d’Aiguillon ; they had therefore only 
 been depofited in that library by order of the 
 king. M. Anifibn is in poiTefTion of the origi- 
 nal, inventory of this library, in 1643 and 1644, in 
 tvro large volumes, folio : he did me the favour to 
 communicate them to me, and 1 found thefe manu- 
 feripts mentioned in the firft volume. No. 2542 to 
 2652 ; and although this catalogue is in Latin, and in 
 a manner abridged, I eafily found all the articles 
 pointed out In French, in Vitre's catalogue; and 
 without which, we fhould not have had the leaft know- 
 ledge of this ftore. In faft, in the inventory I have 
 juft Ipoken of, there is nothing to indicate from 
 whence they came ; and they are entirely confounded 
 with the cardinal's other books. Since that time, thefe 
 manuferipts have not been heard of ; and, contrary 
 to M. de Breves's intention, have not been of any 
 utility to the learned, to whom he coiTimunicated 
 them, and for whom he had acquired them ; they 
 have remained entirely forgotten in the library of the 
 Sorbonne, whither that of die cardinal Richlieu has 
 been carried. 
 
 W e muft always regret that the king, who had pur- 
 chafed thefe manuferipts, has been fo long deprived of 
 them : they ought properly to have been carried to the 
 royal library, fince they belonged to the king ; which 
 was not done, although the chancellor, after the cardi- 
 nal’s death, reclaimed them : they did not then look 
 upon them as forming part of the cardinal’s eftefls. 
 
 If 
 
46 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 If thefe manufcripts had been in Hebrew^ and con- 
 cerned the H0I7 Scripture, the place where they 
 wTre might have been proper ; but Turkifh, Ara- 
 bic, and Perfian manufcripts, v/hich have no con- 
 nexion with religion, and for that reafon have 
 remained until this time unknown, ought to have 
 been placed in the king’s library, where the learned 
 could have confulted them. Employed as I was in 
 the I'earch of all the puncheons which M. de Breves 
 had caufed to be engraved, I did not think I ought 
 to negleX this difcovery of the manufcripts which he 
 brought from the E aft into his native country. This 
 is a new motive for our gratitude to the memory of a 
 mian, whofe fervices of this kind have been totally 
 forgotten. 
 
 After the death of cardinal de Richlieu, the heirs 
 of M. de Breves, in 1644, renewed their fuits for the 
 payment of the puncheons, matrices, and manu- 
 fcripts. Ail arrX of council, (dated the laft of March, 
 -1645) which confirms their application as juft, re- 
 mits the parties to the parliament of Paris, and con- 
 demns Vitre in charges: a very extraordinary judg- 
 ment, in an affair which did not direXly concern 
 Vitre, fince he only aXed for the king, and by his 
 orders j and that he afked leave to reftore thefe 
 puncheons to the heirs, (if they did not choofe to pay 
 for them) of whom the Dutch would have bought 
 them. But, in 1647, brought before 
 
 the council, with a prohibition from purfuing it in 
 the parliament. In 1654, there was a new procefs in 
 the parliament, and another arret to bring the affair 
 
 again 
 
AN H I S T O R I C A L . E S S A Y. 47 
 again before the council; and the manufcripts de- 
 pofited in the library of the cardinal, were adjudged 
 to the duchefs d’Aiguillon, his niece and heirefs. 
 
 Vitre, after having (hewed, by all the authentic 
 pieces which he reports, how much he had 
 inilead of the recompence he deferved, and ftew great 
 expences lie had been at, which had hindered him^ 
 from working, concludes, by liipplicating the council 
 to relieve him from the trouble he had been involved 
 in for twenty years, and defires only to be told if he 
 was to plead before the council, or elfewhere. He 
 reprefented that pojlerity would he aftonijhedy that they 
 had not confidered Jufficiently of a thing which was fo 
 Jcarce and curious^ that there does not exift in any part of 
 the world fo fine a collehfion. He (peaks of all the Ori- 
 ental chara6l'ers ; and prays that the beautiful manu- 
 fcripts of M, de Breves might hold their place in his ma- 
 jeftys library^ in cafe the council (hall find, on exa- 
 mining the affair thoroughly, that the duchefs d'Ai- 
 guillon ought to return them. This long chain of law- 
 fuits, which bore hard upon Vitre, v/as in this (fate in 
 1658; when the clergy thought themfelves obliged 
 to alTift him. 
 
 The bidiop of Montpellier* has reprefented to 
 the company that, by the deliberations of the 4th 
 and 6th of 06 fober lad, it was thought unrea- 
 (enable that the fieur Vitre, after the fervice he had 
 rendered the church, by preventing the puncheons 
 and matrices of the Oriental languages from being 
 
 * Mem. du Clerge, anno 1636. 
 
 “ Ibid 
 
48 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 fold to the Huguenots of England or Holland, 
 who were in treaty for them, fhould remain any 
 “ longer in his prefent trouble. That it was necef- 
 ‘‘ fary to accomplifh his difcharge, and provide for 
 the fafety of the faid types, the faid fieur Vitre 
 Jiving caufed them to be brought into the archives 
 “ of the clergy, in exped:ation that the agents would^ 
 apply to the members of the chamber of accounts, 
 to requeft them to fecure, in their poffelTion, the 
 puncheons of thefe languages, along with the 
 Greek characters, which have been preferved there 
 with fo much care, fmce the king, (Francis I.) had 
 caufed them to be depofited there. On which the 
 aflembly, having acknowledged the advantage 
 which the church might receive from them, and 
 the evil which thofe of the pretended religion 
 might caufe, if they had pofTefTed themfelves of 
 the faid puncheons and matrices, and defirous to 
 prevent in future their making ufe of, or drawing 
 any advantage from them ; alfo to provide for the 
 reimburfement of the faid fieur Vitre, as well for 
 “ the purchafe of the faid puncheons, as of the ex- 
 pences he has been at on account thereof; and con- 
 fidering that they could not do any thing more 
 worthy of the clergy, and more ufeful to the 
 church, have ordered that the fieur de Manivilette 
 fhall pay to the faid Vitre, the fum of fix thoufand 
 livres, to reimburfe and indemnify himi ; provided 
 that he fhall depofit the faid puncheons and ma- 
 trices for the types of the Oriental languages in 
 
 “ the 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 49 
 
 the archives of the clergy, where they are to re- 
 main until it fliall be determined what place they 
 can be depofited in with moil feciirity; along 
 with the Greek charaders w^hich have been de- 
 pofited in the chamber of accounts from the time 
 of Francis I. Provided, neverthelels, that the 
 “ agents may lend the faid puncheons (taking proper 
 receipts for the fame) to printers, or others, who 
 fhall caufe any works to be printed in thofe lan- 
 guages, to make ufe of, on condition of putting 
 in the title page of the books which fhall be fo 
 printed, thefe words, "Typs Cleri G alii cam''' 
 
 T he bifhop of Montpellier reported, that he had 
 found the fieur Vitre at the chancellor’s, whither 
 he had been to return him thanks for having 
 “ rejeded an arret (which had been figned) on 
 the fubjed of the puncheons and matrices, for 
 the Arabic, Turkifh, Syriac, Perfian, and Arme- 
 nian charaders, which the faid fieur Vitre had pur- 
 chafed, together with an hundred and ten manu- 
 fcripts in the languages of thele people, by order of 
 the king, in writing, at the lale of the fieur de Breves ; 
 ‘‘ although the chancellor had declared feveral times, 
 “ in public council, that it was reafonable to dif- 
 charge the fieur Vitre, and that he would pay for 
 the faid puncheons and matrices for the ufe of the 
 public, on putting into his hands the manufcripts 
 which had been depofited in the library of the late 
 cardinal de Richlieu, alfo by the command of the 
 kingi and that the faid chancellor had, in his pre- 
 fence, directed the faid fieur Vitre to vifit the 
 VoL. I. E duchefs 
 
f 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 50 
 
 duchefs d'Aigiiillon^ on his behalf, to demand 
 from her the faid manufcripts i that he would fup- 
 ply the money to pay for the whole, and prefent 
 the puncheons and matrices to the king*. 
 
 That this inftance of the chancellor’s generofity 
 merited from this afiembly a particular acknow- 
 ledgment; fince thefe characters were fo fingular, 
 that it 'was impoITible to make the like quantity 
 now; and that if the heretics had obtained pof- 
 felTion of them, as it mull be confeffed they would 
 have done, but for the vigilance and zeal of the faid 
 fieur Vitre, and the care he had taken to prevent 
 it, they might have printed complete editions of 
 “ the Bible v/ith them., as they had already begun to 
 do in the time of the patriarch Cyril ; that they 
 would alfo have caufed other heretical books to be 
 printed, to diilribute in the EafI:, to hurt and cor- 
 rupt the Chriftians of the Greek church, and the 
 poor Turks, Arabians, and Perfians, v/ho fhould 
 be converted to Chrifliianity by the care of thofe 
 milTionaries, who repair to that country from all 
 
 * In the catalogue of the king’s library, Vol. I. p. 27. it is faid, 
 that Lewis XIV. had in faft caufed more than one hundred and ten 
 beautiful Syriac, Arabic, Ttirkilh, and Ferfian manufcripts, to be 
 purchafed of the heirs of M. de Breves. That Anthony Vitre has 
 been charged with that comraifhon ; became purchafer of the faid 
 books, as well as the Syriac, Aiabic, and Perfan charafters, with 
 the matrices all ftruck, which the faid M. de Breves had caufed to be 
 made in the Levant. But we know (they add) ^that thefe manu- 
 fcripts were tranfported into the library of cardinal de llichlieu, as 
 was alfo the public library of Rochelle, after capture of that 
 city.” 
 
 C{ 
 
 parts 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY* 51 
 
 parts of Europe, to endeavour at the converfion of 
 thofe people. 
 
 The faid feigneur de Montpellier has added, on 
 this fubjecl, that he had feen a New Teftament, 
 printed both in the literal and the vulgar Greek, 
 in two columns, quite coiTupted and falfified, which 
 the heretics had caufed to be printed, and had fent 
 the whole impreflion into the Eaft, with an 
 expi'els prohibition to the printer, not to difpofe 
 of any in the Weft. That from hence it was eafy 
 to judge of the injury they might have done to the 
 church, if the faid fieur Vitre had not prevented 
 this collecftion, which includes the charadters of 
 all languages of the Eaftern people, from falling 
 into their hands ; whereas we can now print ortho- 
 dox books, as we had begun to do, by the advice 
 of cardinal de Richlieu, during the reign of Lewis 
 “ XIII. of glorious memory. 
 
 On which the aftembly has requefted the faid 
 ‘‘ feigneur de Montpellier to return thanks to the 
 chancellor, to requeft a continuance of his good 
 intentions, and to teftify to him, that this aftembly 
 think it would be difticult to render a greater fer- 
 vice to the church. 
 
 Many of their lordftiips having acquainted the 
 “ fieur Vitre that they v/ould be happy to view the 
 faid puncheons and matrices, of which M. de 
 ‘‘ Montpellier had fpoken fo advantageoufty, he 
 caufed them to be brought, and placed on the 
 table; and this beautiful work being admired by 
 the whole aiTembly, it was unanimoufty refolved, 
 
 E 2 . that 
 
52 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 that it was neceflary to take care they fhould be 
 depofited in the chamber of accounts^ to be pre- 
 “ ferved with the Greek puncheons of Garamont^ 
 which had been placed there 'from the time of 
 Francis I. and as to the matrices, that they fhould 
 be put in the king’s library ^ where the printers 
 might have the ufe of them, when their bufinefs 
 required, on giving their receipts for them 5 to 
 prevent their being loft, or conveyed to Geneva, 
 or into England, as formerly a great part of the 
 Greek matrices had beenj to recover which, the 
 clergy had given three thoufand livres. And with 
 refpebl to the reprefentation of the fieur Vitre, that 
 it would not be in his power ever to recover the 
 manuferipts out of the hands of the duchefs d’Ai- 
 guillon, to deliver to the chancellor, which would 
 prevent his receiving a difeharge, if he was under 
 the neceftity of having them again, the aftembly 
 requefted my lords of Touloufe and Venice to 
 join M. de Montpellier, to know her final deter- 
 mination^ before they provided for the difeharge of 
 the faid Vitre ^ it not being juft that he fhould re- 
 main any longer in the trouble he had been for 
 fome time, after the fervices he has rendered the 
 church and the king, by virtue of his exprefs com- 
 mands, both verbal and in writing, the latter of 
 which has been infpe6led by m_y lords the com- 
 miftaries.” 
 
 Such v/ere the difficulties which arofe, in courfe of 
 time, on the fubjeft of the acquifition of thefe cha- 
 raders, in defiance of the zeal and eagernefs which the 
 
 clergy 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 55 
 clergy fhewed to preferve them. The endeavours of 
 Vitre, refpe6i;ing the manufcripts of M. de Breves, 
 which had been depofited in the library of the cardi- 
 nal de Richlieu, were, as we have before leen, not at- 
 tended with fuccefs. As to the Arabic, Syriac, and 
 Armenian puncheons, they v/ere not placed in the 
 chamber of accounts, as the puncheons of the Greek 
 characters of Garamont had been, and as the clergy 
 intended. Vkre, it is probable, continued to keep 
 them till his death, which happened in 1674. They 
 afterwards paiTed through the hands ofM. Thevenot, 
 of the king's library. But when Lewis XIV. in 
 1690, eftablifhed the royal printing-houfe of the 
 Louvre on a new conftitution, they tliought proper to 
 depofit all the puncheons, with their matrices, there. 
 
 In 1691, meffieurs Thevenot and Clement, keepers 
 of the king’s library, had orders given them to fend 
 to the royal printing-houfe, the puncheons of the 
 Oriental letters, which' were in the library. Thefe 
 puncheons have ferved to frame the matrices 
 ‘‘ for the edition of Le Jay’s Bible; and will be ne- 
 celTary for the edition of P. Thomailin’s book, (the 
 Glolfary) which the king has permitted to be 
 ‘‘ printed. Thefe are articles belonging to the 
 ‘‘ king’s printing-houfe, to be placed with the others.” 
 The following year, 1692, all thefe puncheons, and 
 their matrices, were carried to the royal printing- 
 houfe, where they have fince remained. We may 
 eafily conceive, that a lapfe of time, and the diffe- 
 rent hands through which they have palfed, have 
 caufed confufion among them. 
 
 Ej 
 
 Bcfldcs 
 
54 an historical ESSAY. 
 
 Befides thefe Arabic and Perfian charafterSj we 
 fee, by the prcccs verbal of the clergy, that there were 
 alfo the puncheons of the other charaflers wPxich Vi- 
 tre had bought of the heirs of M. de Breves, that is 
 to fay, the Syriac and Armenian j thefe laid, however, 
 had been engraved by the king’s order, but they have 
 always fince confufed them with M. de Breves’s, 
 although they are no part of them. I know not 
 v/hether M. le Jay caufed the puncheons of the beau- 
 tiful Hebrew, which w^e fee in his Bible, to be en- 
 graved himfelf: I find no mention made of itj on the 
 other hand, they had long printed Hebrew at Paris in 
 fine charaflers, and Vitre might have fome of his own 
 of that fort. As to the Samaritan puncheons and 
 taatrices, they were made by order of M. le Jay, for 
 the iiTipreffion of his Bible, a work which diew on 
 him miuch jealoufy. We learn from the fon of M. le 
 Jay, the fate of thefe puncheons*. I had always 
 an intention,” fays he, to prefent to the royal 
 “ library, the puncheons and matrices which v/ere 
 ufed for printing my late father’s Bible, as M. Cle- 
 ment, the prefent librarian, well knows, vdiich I 
 did not then do, on account of M. Thevenot, his 
 predecefTor’s ill difpohtion towards me, but which 
 I at laft did, in the beginning of that year, upon 
 the folicitation of the faid M. Thevenot, whom 
 I then found in different fentiments. I gave them 
 to him agreeable to the refoliition I had m.ade con- 
 cerning them. I at Hrfl carried to the king’s library 
 all I had of the Samaritan, which confiffed of 
 
 ^ From a paper in the fecretary’s office of the king’s library. 
 
 “ thirty- 
 
AN HISTORIC AL ESS AY. 55 
 thirty-four puncheons and thirty-three matrices. 
 I afterwards gave him, if I am not miflaken^ one 
 matrice of the above-mentioned language, which 
 had been miflaid, with fixty-one puncheons of the 
 Syriac, and fixty-eight matrices of the fame lan- 
 guage,finifliedj thirty-five Syriac matrices call only; 
 feventeen Armenian matrices, finiflied; twenty-nine 
 matrices of the fame language call only, beiides 
 feven matrices for Armenian accents, finilhed. I 
 lent him my alphabet of languages, printed by the 
 iieur Vitre, and dedicated to my elder brother; alfo 
 the Teflament of Mahomet, in Arabic, the charac- 
 tefs of which Vitre remaembered to have come froin 
 my father. He promifed to return me thefe two 
 books, but I could never obtain them, pretending 
 the eonfufion in which the books were, on account 
 of the removing them out of the king’s library. 
 This I declare is trutlv and that I have never re- 
 “ ceived any thing from him, but promifes of good 
 turns with the dired'ors of the royal library, with- 
 out having heard any more from that time until 
 theprefent.” Paris, September 15, 1692, figned 
 Le Jay, ancient dean of Verelay. 
 
 From, this account, we fee that the puncheons which 
 M. le Jay had caufed to be engraved, were equally 
 expofed to difficulties before they arrived in a fituation 
 where they could be carefully preferved, h the king’s 
 library. Thus Vitre did not malicioufly deflroy them, 
 as was reported. He poffibly melted the types which 
 had been ufed. I will go further ; it does not appear 
 that he had even caufed the types to be melted, which 
 
 E 4 were 
 
56 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 were fit for ufe, fincej after his death, v/hich hap- 
 pened in 1674, Peter le Petit printed, in 1679, a 
 fmail work* in Arabic, with the fame types 3 and it is 
 not unlikely but the- puncheons and matrices, then 
 depofited in the king’s library, might have been lent 
 to him to cafi; types from. Peter le Petit made ufe 
 of thofe of Vitre, which ilill exiiled, and have been 
 infenfinL^ loft, or melted down again 3 there are fome 
 of them even now remaining at the royal printing- 
 houfe. 
 
 This letter of the abbe Le Jay requires, however, 
 fome refiexftions. He at firft fpeaks of thirty-four 
 Samaritan puncheons, with their m.atrices, which he 
 fent to M. riievenot at the king’s library. Thefe 
 puncheons and matrices have ferved to caft the Sama- 
 ritan characters, with v/hich thefe texts of the Poly- 
 glot Bible were printed 5 they are beautiful, and are 
 the firft and only ones of that fort which have been 
 made at Paris. In general this charabler is very fcarce 
 throughout Europe, becaufe the Samaritan is feldom 
 printed there, having, Jonly the Pentateuch in that 
 tongue. We are indebted for them to M. le Jay; 
 but in doing him that juftice, we regret that v/e have 
 not yet been able to find them, although they muft 
 neceftarily have been carried to the royal printing- 
 houfe, at the time the ethers v/ere depofited there. 
 
 - As to the Syriac and Armenian characters, which 
 are mentioned in the letter, I have long been em- 
 barrafied on thefe iubjefts. In the proces verbal of 
 the clergy, it is faid, that Vitre purchafed, by order 
 
 * Hiftory of the Printing-houfe. 
 
 of 
 
AN'HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 57 
 
 of the king, the Turkifh, Arabic, Perfian, Syriac, 
 and Armenian puncheons, v/hich were the property 
 of M. de Breves. Moreover, the Syriac and Arme- 
 nian are found printed with the Arabic charadiers, 
 on iheets which had formerly ferved for lifts ^ they ' 
 have, therefore, met the fame fate vnth the Arabic 
 types, and I found them together in^ the royal 
 prinring-houfe, but in a much greater numiber than 
 the letter mentions. That the Syriac was M. de 
 Breves’s, cannot be contefted. With refpetl to the 
 Armenian, M. le Jay fent only the miatrices; he had 
 no puncheons; they belonged to Lewis XIII. It 
 feems as if they had endeavoured to caufe all that 
 M. de Breves had done, in favour of Oriental print- 
 ing, to be forgotten. Vitre, in the preface to the 
 'T eft ament of Mahomet y expreftes himfelf obfcurely, and 
 feemis willing to flatter M. le Jay, when he fays, Cum 
 lihertate eximia generofi illius viri D. le Jay, typogra- 
 phicum jam ha.bea^n Arahicisy Samaritanis alifque id ge- 
 nus caraAerihus elegantiffmis inftruAumy Neverthe- 
 iefs, in the Syriac Pfalter, printed at Paris, 1625, no 
 mention is made of M. le Jay; befldes, as I have 
 already faid, there are at the royal printing-houfe, a 
 greater number of Syriac puncheons. Perhaps M. le 
 Jay may have caufed other puncheons to be engraved 
 in the room of thofe which vrere loft or broken ; other- 
 vSfe they miuft have been another body of thefe cha- 
 raders v/hich we have not found, or elfe they are fome 
 which he had borrowed long before, to ftrike fome 
 matrices which m.ight then be wanted. It is incon- 
 teftible, that he cauled puncheons to be engraved, and 
 
 to 
 
5§ AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 to be ftruck, for Samaritan charaders that are not 
 now to be founds he might equally have ftruck fome 
 matrices for Armenian charadters and Arabic ac- 
 cents j thefe repairs, and probably the cafliing of all 
 thefe Oriental charadlers, for the edition of the Bible, 
 had afforded Vitre an opportunity to exprefs himfelf 
 in the manner he has done, efpeeially when he was 
 fpeaking to a fon, whofe father he wifhed to com- 
 mend, and who really merited praifes ^ but it is cer- 
 tain that M- le Jay did not caufe the beautiful Arabic 
 and Syriac charadters of his Polyglot to be engraved: 
 thefe belonged to M. de Breves. 
 
 Among the alphabets printed by Vitre, I faw a 
 Rabinical charadter, which I was defirous of finding 
 in the royal printing-houfe : this, with the Samaritan, 
 would have made the Oriental charadlers complete; 
 but there is no mention made of this charadfer, which 
 doubtlefs belonged to Vitre, and made a part of his 
 types. I do not know if they are dill exifting at Pa- 
 ris, but they would be an acquifition worthy of the 
 royal printing-houfe. Foreigners have printed the 
 Ethiopian and Coptic, but I do not believe there is a 
 fingle type of thefe languages in Paris. 
 
 The Hebrew charadcer in the Polyglot ofLe Jay is 
 fine: we know that the Chaldean charadler is the 
 fairie as the Hebrew. V/e have before feen, from 
 Wolhus, that the French furpafTed every other nation 
 in that refpedt, as they have in all the other Oriental 
 charadlers. 
 
 Printing^, in die Hebrew language, is much more 
 
 * V/olfius Bib. Rab. p. 941. 
 
 ancient' 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 59 
 
 ancient than in Arabic^ and was ufed foon after the 
 invention of typography. They had begun to print 
 in Hebrew, in 1475 i it was nojt until 1480, that 
 the Jews of Soncino, a little town of the duchy of 
 Milan, took up that art. The rabbies JoHiua and 
 Mofes, fons of rabbi Ifrael Nathan, of Soncino, 
 printed feveral Hebrew books ^ other Jews, in fe- 
 veral cities in Italy, followed their example. Bom- 
 berg was the firft Chriftian who printed Hebrew; 
 and the city of Venice acquired a certain degree of 
 celebrity in that art, by the multitude of works which 
 were pubiiihed there. Rabbi Gerfon carried this art 
 to Conftantinople; and there printed, in 1530, many 
 Flebrew books. Other Jews alfo eftablifned Hebrew 
 printing-houfes in Theffalonica, and in different cities 
 of the Ottom.an empire. It v/as on this occafion that 
 Bajazet II. in 1580, prohibited, as I have already 
 mentioned, the printing *of Arabic books, under 
 pain of death*. 
 
 At Paris, Vv^iiliam Poftel is the firfl who printed 
 in Hebrew; afterwards Robert Stephen, in 1550, 
 diftinguifiied himfelf in this art by the beauty of his 
 charaflers. We read, that Francis 1 . had contributed 
 towards the engraving of thefe characilers : but befides 
 that, Robert Stephen, in his Alphahetum Hehraicunti 
 pubiiihed in 1550, fays nothing of it, and does not 
 
 * The Jev/s, who lived among the Mahomedans, and who have 
 v/ritten in the Arabic language, have fonnetimes employed, for that 
 purpofe, the Hebrew characters. Pocock, in 1655, publifhed at Ox- 
 ford, a work of Maimenides, intitled, Porta Mc/is," which is in the 
 Hebrew character, but the Arabic language. 
 
 call 
 
6o 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 call them CharaEierii Regiiy as the Greek of Gara^ 
 months are called : they would, if they had been fo, have 
 been fent with the latter to the chamber of accounts. 
 
 Since the eftablifhment of the royal printing-houfe, 
 the king caufed to be printed there, in 1697, the 
 gloifary of P. Thomaffin^ but I fee by the lifts, that 
 they had only fome types, but no puncheons. It is 
 cuftomary, in this printing-houfe, to preferve the 
 puncheons and matrices of the charadlers which they 
 tife there. There is an engraver and workmen em- 
 ployed to make types. By this means the puncheons 
 and matrices never go out of the printing-houfe, and 
 indeed never ought. In 1721, as they could not 
 find any puncheons or matrices there for the Hebrew, 
 the duke of Orleans, the regent, ordered fomx to be 
 made. The abbe Bignon was charged with thefe 
 orders; and.M. Fourmont, the elder, who was well 
 verfed in the Oriental languages, fuperintended the en- 
 graver, named Villeneuve. The beautiful Bible of 
 Athias ferved as a model, and they call four fonts 
 of Hebrew ; one large, one lefs, one ftili lefs, and a 
 fourth for the notes; which foriPicd a numerous body 
 of puncheons, with as many matrices ; to which they 
 added ten moulds. The whole was delivered, in 
 1729, to M. Aniftbn, according to a receipt which 
 exifts in the king’s library. The matrices have been 
 found in good condition; from whence I conclude, 
 the puncheons ought alfo to have been depofited 
 there. The adivity and zeal of M. Aniftfon, in his 
 refearches, give room to hope they will alfo be found. 
 Thefe charadbers, which have never been ufed, v^ere 
 
 made 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. ' 6r 
 made to print fome works of M. Fourmont's, on the 
 Floly Scriptures. I have arranged all thefe ma- 
 trices in the order they fhould be, according to their 
 four fizes. If I here fpeak of thefe lofles, it is, that I 
 would not conceal what our kings have done, at dif- 
 ferent times, for the advancement of letters 5 nor 
 leave the learned in a perfuafion, that the Oriental 
 languages have been fo much negledied by us, that 
 we cannot print any thing of that kind. We fee, by 
 thefe details, that we have been very rich, and are fo 
 Hill; and that government has always prote 61 :ed this 
 kind of literature. 
 
 Let us return to M. de Breves’s Oriental cha- 
 radiers, which have occafioned fo much contention 
 fmce his death. The typographic fociety of Paris 
 have not exercifed the ufeful privilege they were en- 
 dowed with, fmce the printing of the Polyglot: I 
 mean, they have not printed any Oriental book ; at 
 leaf!:, I do not know of any. It was not thefe who 
 gave, in 1651, the Chronicon Orient ale of Abraham 
 Ekkellenfis, in which they ufed the Arabic cha- 
 radters for fome words; but, from the manner in 
 which the charadlers of M. de Breves are printed, 
 we may conjecture they are thofe which Poftel caufed 
 to be engraved under Francis I. They feem to be 
 ufed by chance, as it were, by a v/orkman who was 
 not able to make a proper ufe of them. In 1679, 
 after the privilege of the typographic fociety expired, 
 Peter le Petit, the king’s printer, publifhed a fmall 
 volum.e, entirely Arabic, which contained the feven 
 penitential pfalms, with prayers for every day of the 
 
 inonth ; 
 
62 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 month ; and he does not lay it is from the printing- 
 houfe of the clergy of France,” which the alTembly 
 of 1656 had directed fhould be put on all books of 
 that fort. The characters are the fame as M. de 
 Breves’s, which Vitre made ufe of: but they had not 
 the fame able workman to compofe the Arabic; yet 
 it is not badly printed; only we perceive fome joining 
 ftrokes badly emiployed. Lafliy, I find thefe cha- 
 racters of M. de Breves in a w/ork which has not 
 appeared; the fate of vrhich is fufficiently fingular, 
 fmce part of it exifls in public v/ithout being known. 
 It contains the genealogical table of the eaftern 
 princes, printed only in Arabic. Thefe tables are 
 difperfed in different copies of the coliebtion of voy- 
 ages which Thevenothas publiihed, in two volumes, 
 folio, Paris, 1696, on the back, or reverfe of the 
 geographical charts, which are in that work. It 
 ffiould feem, that when the collebtion was printed, 
 which did not appear till after the death of Thevenot, 
 they having found in his library thefe geographical 
 charts, in large fheets, printed on one fide only. 
 Ignorant of the ufe he eiefigned to make of them, 
 they took them, by way of (xconomy, to print on 
 the back fide the geographical charts for the collec- 
 tion ; and as there did not feem to be any thing re- 
 quiring thefe genealogies, they deemed them ufeiefs ; 
 yet there is, in Thevenot’s colleflion, an abridgment 
 of the Orienr-al Flifcory of hlirkhond, a Perfian au- 
 thor; and perhaps he had an intention to add thefe 
 genealogies to it. At prefent they are difperfed in 
 different copies of the colleblion, but I am not certain 
 if they are compleat. In my copy of Thevenot, I fee 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAV. 63 
 
 an appendix concerning the Seljiic princes j of whom, 
 in fad, Mirkhond fpeaks in the extrad Thevenot has 
 made from him. This is all I can fay of this work; 
 which w^ould have been ufeful, had it not been for 
 this imprudent piece of oeconomy. 
 
 Oriental typography was in a more floiirifhing date 
 among foreigners; which fliev/s us, that the fears of 
 the clergy, with refped .to the editions of the Holy 
 Scriptures, were ill-founded. Thefe editions were 
 certainly lefs beautiful than thofe which mdght have 
 been printed with the charaders of M. de Breves : 
 but they always exiiled; and, at the fame time, other 
 works, ufeful to letters, have been printed with them. 
 
 Gollius, befides his didionary, which I mentioned 
 before, in 1656, publifhed, in quarto, a new edition of 
 Erpenius’s grammar; to which he added the Proverbs 
 of Lockman, and other Arabic texts, with a tranfla- 
 tion and notes, defigned for the ufe of thofe who 
 wifhed to ftudy that language. In 1669, he pub- 
 iiihed the Arabic texts, and a Latin tranfiation 
 which he had made, of Alpherghani, or, as we call 
 him, Alfragan, his treatife of aftronomy; v/hich he 
 accompanied with learned notes relative to geo- 
 graphy. This book, which is much fought after, is 
 become fcarce. 
 
 In i634,Gentius printed, at Amfterdam, the Per- 
 fian text ofGuliftan; a work of the poet Sadi, cele- 
 brated in Perfia. To this is alfo added a Latin 
 tranfiation. 
 
 In England, where they equally diftinguiflied 
 themfelves in Oriental literature, Weelock, in 
 
64 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 1657, piiblillied, at London, the New Teftament, m 
 Perfian and Latin. In 1663, the learned Pocock 
 printed, at Oxford, the Arabic texts, and Latin tranf- 
 iation, of Aboulfaradge's Univerfal ITiitory, two vo- 
 lumes, quarto j the one for the original, the other for 
 the tranfiation.. Pie colle61:ed alfo different paffages 
 ffom Arabic authors, of which he formed a volume 
 in quarto, in 1650, under the title of Specimen 
 Hiftoria ArahumS' They have alfo printed in Eng- 
 land the annals of Eutychius, patriarch of Alexan- 
 dria, in Arabic and Latin; and, in 1661, Vanfleb 
 publifhed, at London, Ludolph's didlionary and 
 grammar of the Ethioipan language. This was a 
 new branch of Oriental literature, vrhich might have 
 been cultivated in France, if they had feconded the 
 intentions of Lewis XIII. fince this prince had or- 
 dered puncheons to be made in the Ethiopian cha- 
 ra6lers. Afterwards they printed, in England, the 
 Armenian hiftory, by Mofes de Khorene, in Arme- 
 nian and Latin. But let us abridge this detail, al- 
 ready too long, and which might be more extended. 
 I leave this taff to thofe who wifli to give a complete 
 hiftory of Oriental literature : what I have faid is fuf- 
 ficient to form an idea ; and my defi^ was only to 
 make k nown our own typography im-this kind, and 
 the ftate of the royal printing-houfe, with refpecl to 
 Oriental charaflers ; but to make this eftay more ufe- 
 ml, I thought nayfelf obliged to point out what has 
 been done in that refpedl: by foreign preffes, becaufe a 
 knowdedge of fuch books is effential to thofe who 
 apply themfelves to the ftudy of thefe languages. 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 65 
 
 If* after Italy, we have given the example to other 
 nations of Europe in this kind of literature and typo- 
 graphy, it mud be confelTed that the latter have con- 
 tinued to cultivate it longer than we have. It is not 
 for Y/ant of a fucceffion of able perfons in the Ori- 
 ental languages, but they then wanted encouragement, 
 Vattier* (of whom I have often fpoke) mentions a 
 new tranflation of the wmrks of Avicena, from an 
 Arabian copy, printed at E-ome, It is,’’ fays he, 
 quite ready, as it were, to appear. It is,” adds he, 
 a work which good^phyficians have long defired to 
 fee, and what no perfon has hitherto either been able 
 or bold enough to give them.” Vattier was a phy- 
 fician, and confequently enabled to nnderftand the 
 text and the fubjedl which is there treated of. This 
 work, not liaving been printed, is loft. 
 
 The learned of France did not negledl the ftudy of 
 the Oi-iental languages, but they appear to have pre- 
 ferred the giving tranQations, which might enable 
 every one to become acquainted with the Orientals, to 
 the fatiguing occupations of editors of originals, 
 v/hich could be ufeful to a few only : perhaps they 
 might alfo find difiiculties in printing fjch originals, 
 either from the workmen, or for want of charadlers 
 which were not then in the hands of printers. They 
 had grammars, didlionaries, and many texts of 
 authors, mmre or lefs difficult to unc^^rfland, and 
 which were confequently within the reach of thofe 
 who eith'er had juft begun, or of thofe who were miore 
 
 * Preface to the IranHation of the hiflory of the Caliphs. 
 
 VoL. L F advanced 
 
66 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 advanced in the fludy of thefe languages. ’ Thus, in 
 France, they applied themfelves to trandations ; and 
 as typography follows the Fate of letters, they did 
 not print any longer in Oriental charaders, which 
 mufc contribute, in fome degree, to caufe the charac- 
 ters of M. de Breves to be forgot. 
 
 M. de ITerbelot, who, without having travelled in the 
 Eall, had read a prodigious number of Arabic, Per- 
 fian, and T urkifh manufcripts, had made confiderable 
 extrads from them, out of which he formed his 
 
 Oriental Library,” printed at Paris, in 1697, in 
 one volume folio. He gives therein a knowledge of 
 all that concerns the different Mahomedan nations in 
 Afia, Africa, and Spain ; their hiffory, fabulous tra- 
 ditions, religion, feds, different governments, laws, 
 cuftoms, manners, fciences, arts, and hiffory of great 
 men of ail forts, and points out their beff works. 
 There had not been before a work on the Eaffern 
 affairs fo extenfive and profound. M. de Herbelot 
 died before the impreflion was finifhed, and it was 
 M. Galand who continued the edition : he alfo 
 was acquainted with the Oriental languages, and 
 agrees that this work is fuperior to all the Ori- 
 ental books in Arabic, Perfian, or Turkilh, which 
 M. de Herbelot had read : in fad, it appears to us 
 fuperior to all that has been done of that kind, not- 
 v/ithffanding the unfavourable judgment M. Petit 
 de la Croix paffes upon it. Is it from the remains of 
 that prejudice which formerly prevailed againff the 
 MuiTelmans tliat this work did not meet in France 
 
 the 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 67 
 
 the reception it merited ? It was negledted, and 
 foreigners, who hrll acknowledged its merit, carried 
 away the greateft part of the copies ; fo that, when 
 we returned from our error, there were fcarce any of 
 them to be fohnd, and thofe very dear. They were 
 able, in many places, to ufe Oriental chara6ters ; but 
 printing in .nat kind, at Paris, was entirely loft. In - 
 thefe latter years they have reprinted it both here and 
 in Holland! but lefs correbt than the firft_ edition. 
 M. de Herbelot alfo compiled a Turkifti and Perfian 
 dictionary, more extenftve than that of Meninfld, 
 printed in Germany. This manufcript work, in 
 three volumes, folio, remained in his family, and we 
 are ignorant if it is ftill in exiftence : in this manner 
 we have loft many ufeful works. 
 
 - M. Petit de la Croix, who died in 1695, and v/ho 
 was the firft French interpreter the king eftabliftied 
 for the affairs and commerce of the Eaft, (for before 
 that, they only employed natives of the country) 
 compiled a hiftory of Genghis-khan from the Oriental 
 writers. He had alfo made a ditionary, French and 
 Turliiili, and another Turkifh and French, which 
 have not appeared. And it was his foil, who fuc- 
 ceeded him in his pofts, that pubiifhed the life of 
 Genghis-khan, in 1710, and alfo tranflated the hiftory 
 of Tam.erlane, in four volumes, twelves, printed like- 
 wife at Paris. This was compofed by Scherfedden, 
 and 13 different from that tranflated by V attier from 
 ArabSchah. The former contains only the praifes of 
 the conquerer ; the latter is an eloquent fatire. In 
 this enumeration, I ought not to emit the abbe Re- 
 
 F 2 naudot 
 
68 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 naudot, ¥/ho has produced an hiftory of the patri- 
 archs of Alexandria, drawn from Oriental manu- 
 fcripts, and tranflated the accounts of two Arabian 
 voyages, behdes having written many other ufeful and 
 efteemed works. 
 
 The eftablilhment of national interpreters gave 
 rife to another inftitution, for children bred up at , 
 Paris to be fent into the E all. In the infancy of this 
 eilablilhment, the miniiler had required, that when 
 they were arrived at Conftantinople, where they were 
 to make themfelves perfebl in the languages, they 
 Iliould fend home various tranilations of Oriental 
 authors. This they did ; but thefe tranflations, which 
 ought to have been printed, and contributed to our 
 inflru61;ion in Oriental literature, fbill remain in manu- 
 fcript in the king's library, known only to a few per- 
 fons : however, a ufeful colleblion may be formed 
 of them. 
 
 We fee by this expofition, that knee Lewis XIII. 
 we have not negledled Oriental literature ; we have 
 tranflated many Oriental books, and have furpalTed 
 other nations in that refpebl. Many of thefe tranf- 
 iations have been printed, others have remained in 
 mahufeript ; and fq me are loii:, for want of being 
 made public ; fuch as the tranllation of Avicena, by 
 Vattier; that of the Alcoran, by M. G aland ; and 
 many others, which, we are not acquainted v/ith ^ yet 
 they were curious to acquire new information about 
 the Eaftern people. Lewis XIV. had fent thither 
 fome able men, to collebl manuferipts, and learned 
 mifiionaries capable of falklling his intentions in 
 
 that 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 69 
 
 that refpect. This has introduced new branches of 
 learning, hitherto unknown, and particularly Chinefe 
 literature. The miffion aides compiled many works, 
 feveral of which ha’^^e not been printed. It is to ^ 
 father de Mailla that we are indebted for the hiftory 
 of China, which is at laft going to be publiflied : it 
 would be too long to cite here all die works of that 
 kind. Moft of the miiTionaries have endeavoured to 
 render themlelves ufeful, but in general we have only 
 publifned their relations j and there ftill exifls a great 
 number of their v/orks. The king’s library contains 
 grammars and didlionaries of different languages of 
 India. There ffiould be many of them found at ^ , 
 Rome] where, in 1632, they printed a grammar and 
 dictionary in the Japanefe language] in 1651, a 
 Tonquinefe dictionary] in 1762, a Thibetine gram- 
 mar ] long before that, a didlionary of the fame lan- 
 guage ] and fince, many little pieces in the Indian 
 languages ] all initiatory . books, and without which 
 we could never arrive at the knowled.ge of the hif- 
 tory, fciences, and arts, of the Oriental people. What 
 treaffires of hiffory, geography, &c. are ftiil locked up 
 in the library of the Propagandas where the)^ appear 
 as if configned to oblivion, becaufe they print thofe 
 only which concern grammars and dictionaries. A ca- 
 talogue that ffiould prefent all the works of the mif- 
 fionaries, printed or manufcript, would form a curious 
 coile6tion, and be well adapted to give us more fa- 
 vourable ideas of the milTions. The Danes have 
 been convinced of the utility of thefe miffions, and 
 
 F 3 have 
 
AN. HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 70 
 
 have eftablifhed them in India, where they have fettled 
 a printing-houfe ; by means of which they have pub- 
 lifhed many v/orks in the Malabar* language ; but 
 thefe books remain moftly in th^t country, and are very 
 fcarce in Europe. W e are, however, indebted to the 
 Danes for a gramm.ar of that language, and a collect 
 tion of very curious memoirs. V/hen in Europe, 
 we began to apply ourlelves to the fcudy of the Ori- 
 .entai languages ; we commenced with fuch kinds of 
 works as were abfolutely necelfary, although not very 
 agreeable ; v/hen more inftrubled, we have tranilated 
 Oriental books. 
 
 Therpyal printing-houfe, to which Lewis XIV. 
 had, in 1691, given a new form, and where the Ori- 
 ental charaders had been depolited, which exifted in 
 Paris ; I mean the puncheons and matrices of M. de 
 Breves ; for they might poffibly at fom.e time have 
 found, in a printing-houfe, fome charaders, the re- 
 mains of thofe which had been call, which wear out 
 and are deftroyed by ufe. The royal printing-houfe, 
 I fay, was long employed with the magnificent collec- 
 tion of the Byzantine hiilorians, in Greek a::d Latin, 
 with notes ; an immenfe work, direded by Lewis XIV. 
 They did not then think of giving Arabic editions. 
 Thus the public, and even the learned, who would 
 have wifhed for fome paffages in Arabic to be 
 printed, infenfibly forgot what became of thefe cha- 
 raders : the minifters, however, never forgot them ; 
 
 * The firfl volume appeared in 1648. 
 
 a nd 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 71 
 and I fee that they gave orders^ from time, to time 
 to have them examined, and put into a condition for 
 life. But their good intentions, and the different 
 operations they have direded, being confined to the 
 inferior department, have not been made public, and 
 have contributed, by degrees, to caufe the exiftence 
 of thefe characters to be unknown : it is therefore 
 neceiTary to expatiate on the fubjed in this memoir, 
 in order to fliew that government has never loft fight 
 of this valuable colledion. 
 
 It appears, that in 1697, they made out a fratement 
 of them, printed on twenty-one pages, in folio ; if we 
 may call it a fi^ttement, being a colledion of cha- 
 raders, placed by chance, without order, mixed one 
 with another, and repeated there four times, or oft- 
 ner, at a great diftance, by Vnich there appears double 
 the number there really is. Even with this apparent 
 abundance, the Ilatement docs not prefent us with 
 all the punches they then had, fince I have found, of 
 the large Arabic alone, a great number which we do 
 not fee there ; yet there are fome in that account 
 which we have not ; and in this it has been of fome 
 life to m>e. This ftatement is now in the royal 
 printing-houfe. 
 
 In coiirfe of time, the rniniffers have often made 
 mention of the Oriental charaders in different orders, 
 the originals of which are preferved at the Maifon dti 
 Roi. I have alfo found there two fummary accounts 
 of the number of all the puncheons of that fort ; the 
 one dated the 14th of May, 1714, made put under 
 
 F 4 the 
 
72 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 the dire6i:ion of the abbe Bignon*; the other in 1725 
 by M.deFoncemagnejj which differs fomething from 
 the other ; and it is thought there is an error in the 
 firfb refpebling the Armenian charadlers. In general 
 thefe lifts have not been made out corredly : Vitre 
 attefts there were more than 2000 puncheons ^ I find 
 at prefent 19205 but a great number of matrices 
 mufl have been loft, fince they had all been ftruck 
 for printing different works publiflied at Paris. At 
 the time they were employed in conveying thefe 
 inftruments to the royal printing-houfe, a workmian 
 ftole a quantity of matrices, the number of which we 
 do not know, nor was the theft imm.ediately dif- 
 covered. It may be concluded that thefe have been 
 fold as old copper, as they did not form compleat fets ; 
 otlierwife thefe chara6ters would probably have ap- 
 peared fmce that time at fome printing- lioufes 5 and 
 their form v/ould eaiily have difcovered them : 
 as to the reft, it is eafy to remedy this lofs with the 
 puncheons that remain. 
 
 * There were then 
 
 Large Arabic, - 329 
 
 Middling and fraall ditto, 889 
 
 Syriac, 
 
 143 
 
 Armenian, 
 
 47 
 
 In another box. 
 
 61 
 
 Perfian, 
 
 444 
 
 f Large Arabic, 
 
 329 
 
 Middling, 
 
 4.26 
 
 Small, 
 
 510 
 
 Matrices 
 
 560 
 
 Syriac 
 
 150 
 
 Matrices 
 
 6t 
 
 Armenian, 
 
 46 
 
 Matrices corrected. 
 
 48 
 
 Perlian, 
 
 445 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Total, 1218 puncheonsi, 
 
 108 
 
 Total, 1265 
 
 M. de 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 75 
 
 M. de ia Croix^ royal profeffor of jArabic, who had 
 travelled in the Eafl:, and died in 1713:, appears to 
 have been the mold proper perfon to examine thefe 
 charadlers ; and he had been directed fo to do before 
 the time of taking the lift, which I ha,ve mentioned 
 in 1697 ; but not having any general ideas of typo- 
 graphy, I perceive by his work that lie did not fufti- 
 ciently reae 61 ; on the nature and courfe of the Arabic 
 writing. He found the puncheons for feveral letters 
 connevfted in a greater or leiTer number, and he con- 
 cludes, that thefe joining or connecting ftrokes ought 
 to have place equally for all letters. Fie was not fenfi- 
 ble that many of thele combinations might even be 
 contrary to the analogy of the language ; and he did 
 not confider, that although we reckon twenty-eight 
 letters in that language, there are properly but fixteen 
 characters, v/hich are increafed by means of points, 
 made ufe of to diftinguifh them. From thefe falfe 
 ideas, he has fuppofed, for every letter, the fame con- 
 nection and combinations ; and hence prefented the: 
 mold extravagant fcheirie that can be imagined. In 
 order to compleat all thefe charaders, M. de la Croix 
 requires miore than 3000 puncheons for a fingle font 
 of Arabic, of which there are three. The minifter^ 
 after a like enquiry, neceftarily confidered thefe cha- 
 radlers as an incomplete remnant which deferved little 
 attention ; fince to make them ufeful, would require 
 the expending of a prodigious fum : beftdes, what an 
 extent of room would they have occafion for to ar- 
 range the letters in metal, which are commonly caft 
 in large quantities, and to place them under the 
 
 hands 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 74 
 
 hands of the workman. The prodigious number of 
 letters would exceed the number of words in the 
 language. 
 
 This examination therefore was of no ufe, but to 
 caufe the puncheons which remained to be abandoned 
 and neglecled. Happily^ however^ the miniflers have 
 not adopted M. de la Croix's plan 5 and in fad^ 
 without this multitude of charaiLers, and even with 
 thofe which v/e now have^ and a iimall addition, we 
 can print complete books. Let us here give a flight 
 view of thefe characters. 
 
 Thofe who, under the diredlion of M. de Breves,, 
 have attended to the compiling all thefe puncheons, 
 after havinn made choice of the moft beautiful manu- 
 
 o 
 
 fcripts, and examined the genius of the Arabic lan- 
 guage, and their fyPcem of writing, have had judgment 
 to regulate the number of the combinations, by two 
 procciTes, abfolutely contrary in the three fonts : in 
 the larger and middling fize, they often fupprefs all 
 the points of diftinftion from the type, which re- 
 duced the fimiple letters to about fixteen ; but thefe 
 may be multiplied by points, call feparate, and which 
 may be added, at pleafure, to any letter. For ex- 
 ample : They have made a fingle type for a, and 
 three other types for . .. The firfi: added thus to 
 a figure a is N ; is B 3 the two points " is T ; 
 
 is I 5 the three points 'I TS. Thefe lame points 
 applied alfo feparately to many other letters, confide- 
 rably reduce the number of punches. The Arabic 
 writing permits the points to be thus detached; but 
 in the Imall charaders, where th^ lines are clofei*, 
 
 where 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 75 
 
 where it is difficult to add this intermediate line of 
 points, they have placed on the fame puncheon, 
 formed of many letters, every point, of which each 
 letter is fufceptible ; and for the compofition or print- 
 ing of a word, they erafe from the type the points 
 which are ufelefs in the word they mean to exprefs, 
 as we take out the accent from e to make it an e only. 
 This method of placing on the fame fmall figure all 
 the points it is fufceptible of, reduced the puncheons 
 to a very fmall nuiriber, and by that, a fingle one 
 ferves for many others. 
 
 M. de la Croix, who comprehended nothing of 
 thefe puncheons with many points, thought they 
 ought to fupprefs all thefe points ; which -is what they 
 ffiould radier guard well againft. I confefs I was at 
 firfi embarraffed ; but on an examination and a com- 
 parifon, which I miade of them with the puncheons for 
 the middling and large Arabic, that prefent the 
 fame letter, but without any points, and to which they 
 are added at pleafure, I found that thole charged v/ith ' 
 a multitude of points, which taken as they appear, 
 do not form any word or fyllable in the Arabic lan- 
 guage, were only made Vv^ith a viev/ to erafe luch part 
 of the faid point from the metal as they chofe. Thefe 
 types, thus cleared of certain points, are not fpoiled ; 
 for they form either a word or a fyllable, really 
 exifting in the language, and which may be ufed on a 
 thoufand other occanons. In the large and muddling 
 characters, there are foime letters where the points are 
 in the middle of the letter ; to exprefs thefe, they en- 
 graved a puncheon on purpofe. There is flill an 
 
 operation 
 
AN HISTORICAL E S S A Y. 
 
 operatioxT which I had feme difficulty to difeover : irl 
 the comparing the pfalter of M. de Breves with the 
 puncheons^ I faw two forts for the fame letter ; that 
 a letter with a joining line^ and one without, I fuf- 
 pedled that this ought to be only one and the fame 
 puncheon of which they thus varied the figure at 
 the cafting of the letter^ which die founder of the 
 royal printing-houfe affured me might be executed. 
 This procefs, which they might formerly uic:, fur- 
 niilies a third part more letters^ and of which the pun- 
 cheons feemed defefilive. Although I do not here 
 enter into a detail refipefting the operation of foundings 
 I thought imyfelf obliged to fay Ibmething of a pro- 
 cefs, vdiich lerves to increafe the number of letters 
 vdthout a nev/ puncheon. 
 
 It is thus they have fought means, by a judicious 
 ceconomy, to reduce the punches to the lowefc num- 
 ber poffible, ftill preferving the beauty and elegance 
 of the wTiting. They have ufed mLiich art in this 
 w'ork : they have made conne6ling ilrokes, which, al- 
 though they refemhle each other, may, with the fame 
 charadler form, by this means, an infinity of letters. 
 In the large Arabic there are fome, as the Riafy for 
 which they have made different puncheons j fome for 
 the letter complete, others for its different parts, in 
 order to afford the workmen an opportunity to em- 
 ploy this letter, to give, under certain circumftances, 
 more elegance to his compofition, imitating, in tiiat 
 reipeeb, an able penman, who takes certain liberty in 
 the fnapeof his letters. Thus a compofitor, who, as 
 in a foreign printing-houfe^ is accuftomed to put one 
 
 charaffer 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 77 
 
 characler after another without any conneclion, would 
 be Hopped here at every Hep, and could not be pro- 
 fited by all the advantages thefe charafters offer, and 
 with v/hich they might vary a compofition : they re- 
 quire much reflexion in the work, and the coiripofitor 
 ought to be acquainted with the whole fyftem to make 
 ufe of them ; for the fimple letters are not fufheient, 
 and vre muff join the compound to them. Thefe 
 puncheons have been made by men who have ex- 
 aiTiined every thing, and have known how to join the 
 needful with the agreeable, plenty and abundance 
 with ceconomy j in this they differ from all the other 
 printing-houfes of Europe, in which 120 or 130 pun- 
 cheons are fuihcient : they alfo differ in the elegance 
 of the fhape, and in their refemblance to the beau- 
 tiful manuferipts. Such is the opinion I have been 
 able to form, v/ithout fear of being deceived ; but the 
 connoiffeurs in the art of engraving will admire the 
 ability of the artift who has executed them ; the 
 beautiful cutting of the letters ; the ingenuity and de- 
 licacy of the ffrokes in the fmall works j and will look 
 on them as a precious work, which muff coff fo much 
 the more, as the punches, for the moff part, are 
 formed of three, four, and five letters, and fomietimes 
 even of fix andfeven ; by v/hich one puncheon coffs 
 as much as many letters : happily, notwithflanding, 
 they have been fo long abandoned, they are pre- 
 ferved. 
 
 In 1720, or thereabout, Mr. Fourm.ont* the elder, 
 w^hofe difciple and pupil I fnall always glory to have 
 
 been. 
 
 * Catalogue of his works. 
 
7S AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 been^ had diredions to infpedt what remained of the 
 Oriental charad'ers in the royal printing-houfe, and in 
 the poirefiion of the widow Grandjean^ engraver to 
 this printing-houfe. He does not fay any more ; but 
 I fee by the ftatement in the repofitory of the king’s 
 palace, and in the king’s library, that they had then 
 the prqjed in view of calling a font of Arabic cha- 
 raders, in order to print fome books. By one of thefe 
 eftimates, they fix the number of charaders to be call ; 
 but it was thought to be made too extenfive. It 
 ieems, that all who have examined thefe charaders 
 have paid no attention to (economy, which has al- 
 \yays duflrated the good intentions of the miniflers. 
 This projed has not taken place : they propofed 
 alfo to engrave about eleven puncheons, with their 
 matrices j and in the flatement of Villeneuve, who- 
 engi-aved the Flebrew puncheons, we find fome Ara- 
 bic v/hich he had adually made ; but we may eafily 
 diflinguifh thefe punches from tlioie of M. de Breves, 
 which are much more elegant. As they had not 
 flu died the fyflem, they did not make them on the 
 fame plan 5 and they feem neither to belong to the 
 large nor middling fonts. Thus government has al- 
 ways hitherto endeavoured to put thefe charaders in 
 a ftate for ufe j but fince that epocha, as the ftudy of 
 the Oriental language has been lefs cultivated, they 
 have, in fome degree, lofl fight of them, and we owe 
 their revival to the defire his majefty has had to make 
 public the manufcripts of his library, and to render 
 them more ihefui. 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 79 
 
 Being charged by the Baron de Br.eteuil to examine 
 all thele charablers:, and which had formerly been 
 done by many very learned men, with little fuccefs, 
 I devoted myfelf entirely to this bufmcfs. M. Anif- 
 fon, (I always name him in this memoir, becaiife the 
 firft time I went to the printing-houfe, his father, 
 M. du Perron, diredled him to give me every necef- 
 fary information) : M. AniiTon, I fay, at firft com- 
 municated to iTiC the impref ions ; but that not fatis- 
 fying mie, he delivered ail the puncheons, which I ex- 
 amined at leifure. I ftudied the compof tion of them, 
 and the art made ufe of to fimplify them. As the 
 different fonts of thefe charablers, and even the dif- 
 ferent languages, were naixed, I began by feparating 
 them ; afterwards I ranged, the puncheons of diffe- 
 rent languages, and of every font, in the alphabetical 
 order they ought to be. I took new irnpreffions of 
 every one of them ; and in order to avoid all con- 
 fjfion among fuch perfons as did not underhand thole 
 characters, I wrapped up each puncheon, which 1 
 numbered, agreeable to the copy of the iinpreffion 
 I had made. 
 
 This impreiTion, which I have made for the royal 
 printing-houfe, is at the fame time an exacb inven- 
 tory of all the characlers of that fort belonging to 
 the king. I afterwards did the lame by the iPia- 
 trices, v/hich I numibered conformably to the pun- 
 cheon, remarking ail thofe which v/ere deficient. 
 After this hate was made, M. Aniffon drew out a fair 
 copy, by taking a fecond iinpreffion of the characters ; 
 in y/hich it appears, on the firh glance, wTat pun- 
 cheons 
 
Bo AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 checns or matrices are deficient ; this M. Perron 
 figned and tranilnitted to the miniiler. I thought my- 
 felf obliged to carry iny attention further, in order to 
 prevent theio charafiters falling again into the oblivion 
 from whence I had drawn them. Befides this memo- 
 rial, wliich comprizes the v/hole hiftory of thefe cha- 
 rafiiiers, I drevv^ up another, more circumilantial, at the 
 royal printing-houfe. It is a kind of logographic 
 grammar, or method, proper to direct hereafter any 
 coiTipofitor, who, knowing howto read Arabic, (wPxich 
 he m^ay eafily learn,) would wiili to inake ufe of thefe 
 charablers, formed as they are on a plan fo very dif- 
 ferent from other printing, that at firft fight they would 
 think them very defective, if they v/ere not acquainted 
 with the whole lyftem. By thefe different methods, 
 which have employed me for a year, I hope they wfill 
 avoid again being reduced to the fituation they have 
 been in for a century. 
 
 Tliere are three fonts for the Arabic only : a large ; 
 a middling, called najkhi \ and a very fmall one, which 
 may lerve for notes. The middling is that which is 
 proper for printing die body of a work ; as to the 
 large, it is only fit for tides, becaufe it would take too 
 much room in prindng. 
 
 As the Ferfians and Turks make ufe, in writing, of 
 the Airabic letter only, except fome points which they 
 add to certain figures, this they have executed, in the 
 engraving of thefe puncheons,, and thefe tiiree fonts 
 ferved equally for the printing of Turkifn, Arabic, 
 and Perfian ^ and diofe who have publifned books in 
 
 Turkifli, 
 
an historical essay. 8i 
 Turldih:, or Perfian, have ufed characters of this 
 fort. 
 
 But befides thefe three bodies of Arabic, M. de 
 Breves caufed a large quantity of puncheons to be 
 made for a fort of Arabic %vriting, called taalk. 
 Thefe chara6lers are on the fame principle as the 
 former j the Turks and Perfians have adopted them 
 for judicial' proceedings. It is a very ioofe method 
 of writing, in which a writer, following his fancy, 
 may feparate, conned:, and lengthen his letters at will, 
 and fmifh them by large and long flrokes, which 
 makes them very difhcult to read. This fort of writ- 
 ing is much efteemed in the Eaft, and is made ufe of 
 m many manufcripts. It is this, doubtlefs, which in- 
 duced M. de Breves to have a body of thefe cha- 
 racters engraved, and Vv^hich certainly is the only one 
 in Europe and I am fure they have never made ufe 
 of thefe puncheons ; fo that they are abfolutely new. 
 Although I have read many manufcripts of that kind, 
 I ccnfefs i have fometimes been hopped to determine 
 the reafon of certain fyilables, or parts of words, thus 
 detached, which I fhould eafily have read in a plain 
 text, becaufe the fenfe would have guided me. We 
 m.ay add aifo, that the diitinguifhing points of the 
 letters are not marked, and we are often obliged to 
 guefs at them. I have alfo arranged this valuable 
 and fingular body of characters j but I think a com- 
 pofitor of a printing-houfe would meet v/ith fom.e 
 difhculties in that refpedt. They have not adopted 
 in thefe taalk^ or Perfian characters, the plan they 
 have follov/ed in the Arabic ; they have made pun- 
 VoL. I. G cheons 
 
82 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 
 cheons for the fimple letter s^, which are all of the fame 
 bignefs; to which they have added larger, for the 
 end of words. They have alfo engraved parts of 
 words, in very finail, and fomethnes imperceptible 
 charaflers; to which they have added fome ftrokes 
 much ftronger, which make them imitato free 
 writing the more. 
 
 I have equally ranged, in alphabetical order, the 
 Syriac and Armenian characters ^ which are not fo 
 extenfive, becaufe they are not fufceptible of fo many 
 combinations, as the Arabic ; but they have not neg- 
 lected to make thofe which were neceflary in the 
 Syriac. M. de la Croix, charged to examine all 
 thefe chara6ters, as I have before remraked, has made 
 the fame reflections and calculations as he had done 
 for the Arabic ; and, after his examination, he con- 
 cludes, there itill remained 3448 puncheons to be 
 made. This is abfurd, and fufficient to make us 
 lofe all hopes of being able to reftore thefe charac- 
 ters, which would require expences equally ufelefs as 
 enormous, fince, with 150 puncheons, they have 
 printed many volumes. 
 
 The Oriental languages, the Hebrew, Samaritan, 
 Chaldean, Syriac, and Arabic, require a method of 
 printing different from that we ufe for our languages. 
 At firft they wrote in the former from right to left, 
 and moft commonly without vowels. In the Oriental 
 languages, conffruCled with more regularity than the 
 W effern, all the radical words are compofed of three 
 confonants; the derivative words which fpring from 
 them, and the grammatical inflexions, are regularly 
 
 formed 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 83 
 
 formed by ocher confonants, which are always the 
 fame for each part of fpeech; fo that thofe who are 
 inftruded in the rules of grammar, eafily fubftitute 
 in reading, the vowel which belongs to each copfo- 
 nanti from whence, commonly, they do not give 
 themfelves the trouble of writing them. This me- 
 thod has exiiled always in the Eaft; we fee it prag- 
 tifed in the mod ancient Phoenician infcriptions : it is 
 even doubtful, if the Oriental people, Hebrews, 
 Arabians, &c. had anciently any charaClers to ex- 
 prefs vov/els. We do not, in general, fee any on the 
 ancient Arabic infcriptions, called koufques', befides, 
 the diftingu idling points of the letters are not marked 
 thereon, which is yet more embarradlng. In adual 
 writing, the writers who want to exprefs vowels, fome 
 place them above, and fome belov/ the line of con- 
 fonants, v/hich forms a middle line, and is what v/e 
 praclifed in the printing of Oriental books. This 
 increafes the labour to the workmen, without pro- 
 curing any advantage to thofe v/ho know the lan- 
 guage, and is of ufe only to commentators. Thus, 
 in general, the Oriental manuferipts are without 
 vowels. A like method would not agree with our 
 language j wherein, if we omit a vmvel, there is 
 often no word remaining. 
 
 . The Turks and Perfians, whofe languages are cop- ' 
 ftrucled different from the Arabic, in adopting the 
 Arabic letters, have alfo adopted their manner of 
 writing v/ithout vowels. This is contrary m the ge- 
 nius of their languages, which have not thofe regular 
 principles to enable them to fubftitute them as eafy 
 
 G 2 
 
 as 
 
84 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 as the Arabic, and they are obliged to trufl much to 
 
 memory and cuflom. 
 
 As to the Armenians, whofe characters we alfo 
 have at the royal printing-houfe, the art of writing 
 among them is not ancient ; they attribute the inven- 
 tion of it to a perfon named- Mefrob, who lived about 
 the time of St. John Chryfoftom. They adopt the 
 i^ame cuftom of writing from left to right as the 
 W eftern people j and their vovrels, which are a part 
 of the alphabet, are ranged in the fame line with the 
 confonants. 
 
 There remains for me to fpeak of the numerals. 
 Am.ong all the Orientals, they make ufe of the letters 
 of the alphabet : this cuflom is very ancient. In 
 courfe of time, the Arabians have borrowed of the 
 Indians a figure ; which, for that reafon, is called the 
 Indian figure., We call it the Arabian figure, be- 
 caufe we took it from the Arabians. It confifls of 
 nine figures only, and a point, which we call our 
 cypher ; and with thefe figures, which are almofl the 
 fame as ours, and in the ufe of v/hich we purlue the 
 fame procefs, they make all their calculations. Mr. 
 Breves caufed two fets of them to be engraved: the 
 laj'ge, of which only one puncheon remains ; and the 
 middling, of which we have the whole. In Sionita’s 
 grammar, printed i with the charadlers of M. de 
 Breves, we lee two other different forts of numxrals, 
 the puncheons of wiiich are loft. 
 
 In general, it is dilticult, if not irnpoffible, to de- 
 termine the number of puncheons which may be 
 'wanted for the three Arabic fonts 3 becaufe thofe 
 
 who 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 85 
 
 who have made them have adopted a plan, by means 
 of which they have multiplied them confiderably, by 
 combining many letters on the fame puncheon ; but I 
 ami far from believing, that this combination has been 
 carried miuch farther than appears by thofe which nov/ 
 remain to us, or that the.lofs is confiderable. There 
 has, however, exifled fome other puncheons j fmce, 
 by the fheet printed in 1697, I fee fome characters 
 of which we do not find the puncheons i but this lofs 
 may eafily be repaired. 
 
 In this enumeration of Oriental charadlersj I ought 
 not to forget the Cliinefe. Under the reigns of 
 Lewis XIV. and Lev/is XV. they caufed a prodi- 
 gious numiber of Chinefe books to be brought from 
 China 5 fo that the king's library is^ without contra- 
 didtion, the richefl in that kind of literature in. Eu- 
 rope 3 and they flill continue to increafe it with the 
 fineft editions that are printed at the emperor’s pa- 
 lace. Thefe books form a numerous colledlionj 
 which are placed among the manufcripts, although 
 they are all printed; for as the Chinefe know the ufe 
 of printing, they do not ufe manufcripts. 
 
 Under Lewis XIV. there arrived in France a 
 Chinefe, namxd Hoamge, who was fecretary to the 
 bifhop of Rofalie. The king defired he mdght be 
 fixed in the library, ^ and that he fliould compile a 
 Chinefe didlionarys a language then unknowm to all 
 Europe., M. Fourmont, wLo completely underftood 
 the Oriental languages, and who had a particular 
 genius for inveftigating their grammatical principles, 
 although the Chinefe had no connediion with thefe 
 
 G 3 languages. 
 
86 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 languages, was direded to guide M. Hoamge in the 
 form^ of the grammar and didionary, and to inform 
 himfelf in that language. The Orientals, in general, 
 are but bad grammarians, obfeure and immethodical 
 in the explanation of their principles i Thus M; Four- 
 mont was obliged to corred the ideas of the Chinele 
 in thatrefped. 
 
 In 1716, this Chinefe died, and the regent direded 
 M. Fourmont to examine his papers, M. Fourmont 
 found therein the beginning of a didionary, fome 
 dialogues, and models of letters, part of the tranf- 
 lation of a romance^ and a fort of vocabulary. He 
 applied himfelf entirely to the fludy of this language ; 
 hoping, with thefe weak helpSj to be able to under- 
 hand it, and to procure the learned the knowledge of 
 the books which we poiTefs. This was the intention of 
 the king, who wanted to introduce into France this 
 new kind of literature. The celebrity of the Chineie 
 then flimulated the curiofity of allEurope. M, Four- 
 mont underwent immenfe labour, which did not fail 
 to draw on him the envy of many people ^ perhaps 
 it fhould be confeffed he gave occahon for it. 
 Some people, who alone thought them fe Ives entit- 
 led to fjpeak of China, others, jealous of the glory 
 
 The abbe Bignon, in a letter dated the i ith of February, 1725, 
 fays, I had engaged the fieurs Freres and Fourmont to become his 
 fcholars. The fiifl has much more genius than the other} but, as 
 “ he has turned himfelf to other lludies, being but too much embroiled 
 “ v.’ith the affairs between the legitimate and illegitimate princes, and 
 the dukes and peers, be has not followed the Chinefe with the fame 
 alTiduity,” 
 
 he 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 he might acquire by this work, faw him with pain 
 emiployed in this new enterprize. They fubje6led 
 him to a thouland embarraffments with the minifter, 
 in order to ftop him. He was obliged to anfwer an 
 infinite number of memorials, more fpecious than 
 folid, prefented by perfons little informed in thefe 
 matters. Among others, they made ufe of a mif- 
 fionary, named Guigue, who could fpeak the Chinefe, 
 and could notread it. The prudence and wifdom of 
 the duke d’Antin, in part, put a flop to thefe contefts. 
 ‘‘ On the whole (he WTites in 1732 to M. Fonce- 
 magne) I believe the fhortefl w^ay is to let him 
 (M. Fourmont) print fomething. ^he fuhlic will 
 do us juftice^ or ^ perhaps, will juft ify him: for there- 
 is certainly fomething to he /aid on what you are ac- 
 quaintedwith.'' In the midfl of fo many difficulties, 
 the king caufed a prodigious number of Chinefe cha- 
 radlers to be engraved, under the infpedtion of M. 
 Fourmont. As. this is what moft concerns the me- 
 morial, fo I ffiall abridge all the other accounts of this 
 literary quarrel; in which feveral perfons, otherwife 
 efleemed for their knowledge, manifefted too much 
 animofity. T hey engraved more than eighty thoufand 
 charaflers ; which, after his death, were depohted in 
 the king’s library, where they are preferved. They 
 have been ufed to print two works of M. Fourmont’s ; 
 in one of which he gives an idea of the Chinefe lan- 
 guage, the other is a Chinefe grammar. ' Notwith- 
 flanding all that his enemies have been able to fay, 
 the two works he publiffied are ufeful to thofe who 
 wiffi to ftudy that language ; and it mufb be confeffed, 
 
 G 4 that 
 
SS AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 that his labours are the ftamina of all the knowledge 
 which we have fince acquired refpeding China. 
 This was going a great way for a firit fcep^, and it 
 was unjufl to require more. At the end of the gram- 
 mar^ we find a catalogue of the Chinefe books in the 
 king’s library again printed^, v/ith the titles in Chinefe 
 charadlersj and the expofition of the works a little 
 more in detail. Father Fourreau, who at that time 
 returned from China, wrote a fevere criticifm upon 
 it, which rem.ains in manufcript. He found fome 
 miilakes in them ; yet, perhaps, he w'ould have miade 
 many more, fince he could not read the Chinefe, 
 
 It is difficult to conceive why fo many perfons, who 
 were ignorant 'of the language, particularly of the 
 Chinefe writing, jfhould fo conilantly have oppofed 
 the labours of M, Fourmont. I do not advance any 
 thing here by chance, fince I have been, witnefs 
 of it. 
 
 We fhall doiibtlefs be alarmed at the prodigious 
 number of charaflers which were then engraved; 
 but the nature of the Chinefe language requires it ; , 
 it has not, nor is fufceptible of an alphabet, like other 
 languages ; every idea has its particular character or 
 reprefentation. Thus thefe kindofhyeroglyphics can- 
 not be reduced to firil elements, to form charaflers 
 thereof for printing ; they would produce only a coarfe 
 and unformed mals, by no means relembling the 
 Chinefe characters. 
 
 All thefe characters, engraved by order of the Icing, 
 are cut in v/ood, and very large ; for it would be an 
 expence too enormous to manufadlure puncheons of 
 
 fteel. 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 89 
 fleei, and afterwards to call a certain number of types 
 in metal of every kind, as in our prkiting-houies, 
 where they make thoufands for every letter. 
 
 The Chinefe, whofe genius is not very inventive 
 in polifhing their language, have confined themfelves 
 in their writing, to rendering their charadiers more 
 agreeable to the fight, by expreffing their various 
 meanings without attending to the methods of fim- 
 plifying them : they even feem to have taken a courfe 
 diaiTietricaliy oppofite. By this means they have in- 
 creafed their charatlers incredibly, and to an extent 
 which the memory is fcarcely equal to; from whence it 
 arifes, that the learmhg thefe charadiers confumes a 
 great deal of time, and confiderably impedes the pro- 
 grefs of knowledge. The Chinefe formerly could not 
 compofe an alphabet ; it is with difficulty they can 
 conceive an idea of it : the nature of their language 
 will not permit them to adopt it now. Whatever 
 they have done refpediing their charadiers, tends only 
 to increafe their difficulty : it is neceffiary therefore, 
 in printing, to conform to their fyilem. They have 
 drawn thefe charadiers, which have been engraved on 
 the Chinefe didlionary, intitled, Fh tje tfien^' which 
 is by found or tones. Thefe charadiers are a little 
 bigger than thofe which are by keys, taken from the 
 table of the fame didlionary ; fo that we poffiefs two 
 fonts of charadiers, and this Chinefe didlionary com- 
 prizes all the charadiers we have. I did not make a 
 particular ilatement of them, to be added to that of 
 the other Oriental charadiers, becaufe fuch a bufinels 
 would have taken up as much time as the printing a 
 
 Chinefe 
 
50 AN HI Sf OR! CAL ESSAY. 
 
 Chinefe didionary. Thefe characters are of no ufe 
 but for printing di6]:ionaries, and they could not be 
 employed in a work of even two llieets, where the 
 fame word is often repeated in the fame page. The 
 Chinefe, who knew the ufe of printing, have expe- 
 rienced this difiiculty, notwithftanding all their in- 
 duftry, and have not been able to overcome it ; that 
 is, they do not print their books with diftind charac- 
 " ters. We fhould not flatter ourfelves with being 
 able to go farther than they have in this refped: ; we 
 mufl: therefore confine ourfelves to imitating them, 
 and engrave plates^ as they do ; they can pro- 
 duce editions, which, although printed by wood 
 plates, can equal, by their neatnefs and exa6lnefs, our 
 finefl engravings : they have them of all kinds, in 
 large characlers, and very fmall, which are equally 
 beautiful. But among them, printing has not en- 
 abled them entirely to difpenfe with writers and 
 copyifts. When they defign to print a book, they 
 caufe the manulcript to be copied, and this copy ap- 
 plied to the block of wood, as the Chinefe paper is 
 very fine, the characlers appear on the reverfe : thefe 
 guide the engraver, and ferve him for a model; fo 
 that the imprefnon depends on the beauty of the 
 writer’s copy, the engraver only following his flrokes. 
 
 Notwithftanding the good intentions of the king 
 for the advancement of letters ; and notwithflanding 
 the minifler’s zeal in aiTifling therein, we are not en- 
 
 * Many raiffionaries affnre us, that for a kind of newfpaper, and 
 other the like objedts, where the fame words are repeated, they have de- 
 tached cbarafters ; but they do not ufe them in general for any book. 
 
 abled 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 91 
 
 abled to print continued texts,' but by means of en- 
 eravine, as the Chinefe do. On the other hand, it is 
 eafier and lefs expenfive to bring the charaders from 
 China, where you may purchafe them at all prices ; 
 but it is not the fame with refped to didionaries. 
 In China they are entirely Chinefe j and as thole 
 we want ought to have the Latin by the fide of it, our 
 charaders only can be made ufe of for that purpofe ; 
 fince, being detached, they may be arranged in co- 
 lumns, and the explanation placed by the fide of the 
 original, in wdiat language we pleafe : they ought 
 therefore to be preferved with the greated care for a 
 like purpofe, and the engraving thefe charaders Ihould 
 be conlidered as an elTential fervice rendered to 
 letters. 
 
 The conted which engaged M. Fourmont fo long, 
 afforded Ruffia an opportunity to anticipate us, not 
 in the intention, but in the ad, in this fpecies of lite- 
 rature. In 1730, they printed, at Peterfburgh, a Chi- 
 nefe grammar and vocabulary, by Bayer. The 
 Chinefe charaders, engraved on brafs, for this work 
 only, and not proper to ferve for any other, are on fe- 
 parate blocks, with references to them ; and it is very 
 inconvenient to the reader not to find the charader 
 by the fide of the word. Moreover, thefe charaders 
 are fo didorted and disfigured, that it is very difficult 
 to find them out : this renders the work almod ufelefs ; 
 an inconvenience that does not attend the king’s cha- 
 raders, which have all been drawn with the greated 
 care from; a real Chinefe didionary, and which are 
 confequently, exadly of the fame proportion, and 
 
 made 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 92 
 
 made to print together. The ftrokes often are copied 
 very faithfully^ and none of them have efcaped the 
 engraver. 
 
 Greek Charakiers of Francis /. called the Kings Greeks 
 engraved by Garamont. 
 
 After having made known all the different Ori- 
 ental charafters v/hich belong to the king, and the 
 life v/hich has formerly, or may again be made of 
 them, it feems to mx neceffary to fpeak of the Greek 
 characters of Francis 1. which the fieurs Etienne 
 made ufe of. Thefe characters, which are engraved 
 v/ith fo much qlegance, that it would be difficult, even 
 at prefent, to form any equally beautiful, ought not to 
 be unknown, fmce they are ftill in the royal printing- 
 houfe. Thus an enquiry into what concerns them, 
 coinciding with the views of the minifter, who pro-' 
 pofes to himfelf to reftore this printing-houfe to its 
 ancient fplendor, and to afford the learned the means 
 of producing forne magnificent Greek editions, I have 
 applied myfelf to this new labour ; and I have col- 
 leded fome fcattered obfervations, which I had throv/n 
 into the preceding account, with an intention to unite 
 and connedl them with fome other anecdotes which 
 I had gathered either in the repofitory belonging to the 
 king’s houfe, or in the fecretary’s office of the royal 
 library ; but I ought hrft to obferve, that I have not 
 performed the fame operation in thefe as on the Ori- 
 ental charaders, becaufe M. Aniffon, who has the 
 care of them*, is now putting them in order himfelf^ 
 and he has drawn out a ftate like that for the Ori- 
 ental 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY 93 
 
 ental characters. M. de Perron has likewife figned 
 this ftate which has been tranfmitted to the minifter. 
 People will be much furprized with what I here fay of 
 thefe characters, w^hich have for a long time been 
 thought to be loft ; but I have feen them, and have, 
 with M. AniiTon, compared them with the printed 
 charaders of Robert Etienne. In a word, thefe are 
 the original puncheons and matrices which that 
 printer made ufe of ^ and the royal printing- hoiife is 
 ftili in pofteftion of the beautiful Greek charaders 
 engraved by order of Francis 1 . This is what the - 
 libraries of France, and of all Europe, were ignorant 
 of-, it has every where been both believed and faid 
 that they were loft. T he fieur Didot, in a work printed 
 in 1786, repeats, after all the learned, Unfortu- 
 nately they are loft ; but we may always judge of 
 “ their beauty by the Greek publication of Robert 
 Etienne.” 
 
 W e are now enabled to refute this general error on 
 the ftate of the characters of Francis I. The detail 
 I am now about to give, v/ill convince the moft incre- 
 dulous in that refpecf. 
 
 Francis I. it is v/ell known, not only loved and pro- 
 tected letters and arts, but was alfo very learned him- 
 felf ; which occafioned a foreign writer, Elubert 
 Thomas, of Liege, who travelled in France, in 1535, 
 to fay, I do not know I ever was at a table fo 
 learned as Francis the FirfFs was: the. readings 
 which they imade, the matters which were treated 
 of, the converfations held there, were fo inftrudfive, 
 that even the moft learned miglit be Improved the. 
 
 moft 
 
94 
 
 A N H I S T O Pv I C A L ESSAY, 
 
 mod intelligent nnilitary man, as well as the 
 learned, might there profit, I dare affirm, if it is 
 permitted me to enter into particulars, that the 
 artift, the gardener, and the labourer, might ac- 
 quire additional knowledge from the king's dif- 
 courfe.’* Belon, who lived about the fame pe- 
 riod, fays, His court appeared as a fine academy, 
 or ancient fchool of philofophy, in which the 
 theory and pradice of every virtue v/ere incul- 
 cated," The fame author acquaints us, that this 
 prince had fent fome learned men into the Eafr, to 
 collect Greek manufcripts ; he names, among others^ 
 J ufle Tenelle^. 
 
 Francis I. who equally loved the arts, a miuch 
 greater admirer of grand defigns than any other,’' 
 fays Belon again, would deliberately have caufed a 
 coloffial Hercules to be caft, and would acStually have 
 done it, if he had not been prevented by death : for 
 the model has long remained at Paris ; which was 
 between hfty-two and fifty-three feet high. He col- 
 lected artifls, and had very able ones of every kind. 
 He eredted a monument, lefs gigantic, but more 
 ufcful, which does not fail to record his name to 
 poitericy throughout Europe. Thefe are the puncheons 
 and matrices of thofe beautiful Greek charaClers 
 which he caufed to be engraved by Garamont, the 
 mofl able artift of his time ; a work v/hich is ftill ad - 
 
 * He had colleWied, at Fontainbleau, a cabinet of antiquities, where 
 there were two ipliinxes, which he had call in imiration of thofe af 
 Rome. 
 
 I 
 
 mired 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 95 
 mired by connoiffeurs. This beautiful monument, 
 buried in fome degree under ruins for more than a 
 century, again re-appears. This we owe to the protec- 
 tion his prefent m.ajefty grants to letters. 
 
 - Under the reign of Francis I. they particularly ap- 
 plied themfelves to the ftudy of the Greek tongue 1 
 but the typography of that language was in its in- 
 fancy in France. 
 
 John Cheradam, in 1527, publifhed fome efiays 
 on the Greek grammar, under the title of, Joannis 
 Cheradami Sagienfis introdu 5 lio Jane qudm utiles, Gr^e- 
 carum Mujarum adyta comyendio ingredi cupientihus 
 Parifiis^ adihus Mgidii GormontiiP The 
 
 following year, 1528, Robert Etienne gave a^G reek 
 and a Hebrew alphabet. About the year 1538, 
 William Poftel publifhed alfo, as I have before faid, 
 a Greek and a Hebrew alphabet. The Greek, in 
 ‘ thefe three works, is fmall, thin, of a difagreeable 
 fhape, and engraved by a workman of little ability in 
 this way: it fhews us only the infancy of the art. 
 The affe6lion Francis I. had for letters, determined 
 him to caufe three fonts of thefe chara61:ers to be en- 
 graved, the elegance and beauty of which afhonifh us. 
 The celebrated Garamont, under the direction of 
 the m.ofc learned men of the age, was employed in 
 this work. T hefe beautiful charafters appeared about 
 twenty years after the alphabet of bad Greek, pub- 
 lifhed by Robert Etienne. W c are aflonifhed, in com- 
 paring the Greek of Cheradam and Robert Etienne, 
 of 1526 and 1527, and that of Poftel, in 1538, with 
 the New Teftamxnt, in folio, of Robert Etienne, 
 
 and 
 
o6 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 
 and his fmali New Teftament, printed in 1549, 
 The art^ in thefe^ new charaders, is carried to the 
 higheft degree of perfedion. Robert Etienne made 
 nfe of them again in 1550, to publilh three Greek 
 alphabets; “ Alphahetum Gr^cum regins trium gene- 
 TUM CdTuBeTihus poftTenw excujuni’, Lut. ex ojficinay R.o- 
 hcrti Stefhaniy 155 ^*’' 
 
 In the New Teftament, in twelves, is the follow- 
 ing eulogium. of Francis L O mirijicam regis noftri 
 op:imi et pr^Jlantiffimifrincifis lihey^alitatem. Minutiores 
 etiam Chara 5 feres Grecos quis deftderari JenJerat ad It- 
 hrcs quam vis magnas in anguftum fpatium comtrahendos 
 exjculpi vcluity fricrihus illis licit omnium pilch erimis ele- 
 gantid pares A Thus it is to the liberality of Francis L 
 we are indebted^, as well for two magnificent fonts of 
 large Greek charaders^ as for a fmaller font, which 
 is not lefs beautiful than the other two. 
 
 Thofe v/ho engraved Greek charaders formerly, 
 under the diredlion of learned men, having applied 
 themfelves to imitate the moil beautiful manufcripts, 
 found feme fine joining ftrokes, and fome abbrevia- 
 tions, vvhlch, being placed at certain diilances, feem 
 defigned to attraT the attention of the readers. This 
 Garamont has done for the charadlers of Francis L 
 and this is feen in the beautiful editions of Etienne. 
 In the latter times, our engravers and printers en- 
 deavoured to avoid thefe abbreviations, by printing 
 ail the letters, as being miuch eafier for the reader. 
 It is on this plan they have publiilied in England a 
 fine edition of Homer: but, it inuft be confefied, 
 
 thefe 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 97 
 thefe charaders appear thin, when at full length; and;, 
 as they have fupprefled the abbreviations, all the lines, 
 which are of equal length, feem v/ithout variety; 
 our modern artlfts, notwithilanding their efforts and 
 pretenfions, not having yet equalled Garamont4 
 Francis L perfuaded that a workfo. v/ell executed 
 ought not to be trufled in the hands of printers, caufed 
 all the puncheons of the three fonts to be depofited 
 in the chamber of accounts, in boxes ornamented with 
 velvet. As to the matrices, which were often wanted 
 to cafl new types, Robert Etienvie had them in his 
 cuflody: and it appears that they remained after- 
 wards in his family; fince Paul Etienne, grandfon 
 of Robert, and fon of Henry Etienne, fold them at: 
 Geneva, for one thoufand crowns. 
 
 Under the reign of Lewis XIIH, the clergy, who 
 propofed to undertake an edition of the Greek fa- 
 thers, prefented a petition to that prince, and re- 
 quefted that the Greek matrices might be repur- 
 chafed, and brought to the univerfity of Paris, 
 Fcr ^^kich purpOjf’e (fay the agents of the clergy, 
 in this petition) Jome ftr angers^ a jloort time ftnce^ 
 purchajed^ of Paul Etienne^ for the price and fum of 
 three thoufand livres^ the Greek matrices that the late 
 Francis I. had caufed to he engrasoed^ for art 
 ornament to his univerfities^ and for the benefit of 
 letter Sj at fo large an expence:, &cF The king, in 
 confcquence, iffued an arret of the 27 th of May, 
 16 1 9, reported in the abls of the clergy, wherein hQ 
 
 VoL. L 
 
 Chevalier origine de rimprimerie. 
 
 H 
 
 diredts 
 
98 , AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 directs that they fhall pay, out of his privy purfe, 
 the film of three thoufand iivres, to redeem them. 
 This was executed: the matrices were brought back 
 to F ranee, and put into the hands of the dire6lor of 
 the royal printing-houfe, where they remained until 
 1691. 
 
 T he puncheons were always locked up at the cham- 
 ber of accounts 3 and they remained there in i68j, 
 at the time Sebaftien Mabre Cramoify bore the 
 title of diredor of the royal printing-houfe. They 
 had, at that time, thoughts of removing them. It 
 is happy that the admiffion to fuch a ftore is dif- 
 ficult, which has preferved to us thefe fine pun- 
 cheons; but it is yet more fortunate, that they 
 were removed in 16833 a long time before the fire 
 which deftroyed the ftore-room where they had been. 
 To remove thefe puncheons, letters patent, couched 
 in thefe terms, were necefiary. 
 
 Lewis, &c. to our beloved and faithful, the 
 perfons holding our chamber of accounts, at Paris : 
 health. Having been informed that there is in the 
 regifrer of our chamber, a trunk filled with pun- 
 cheons and matrices of Greek and other letters, 
 depofited in the faid regiiler a long time fince, 
 which may there receive injury; and that they may 
 ferve in our printing-houfe to cafi: types ; being 
 v/illing that they fliould be placed in the hands of our 
 beloved Sebaftien Mabre Cramoify, dire 61 :or of our 
 faid printing-houfe ; and, for that purpofe, that they 
 fiiali be taken from our faid chamber. For thele 
 reafons, we order and direfl you to caufe the faid 
 
 puncheons 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 99 
 " puncheons, and matrices to be immediately deli^ 
 vered into the hands of the faid Cramoify, the 
 receipt of which he lhall acknowledge at the 
 bottom of the procefs which you fliall caufe to 
 be ilTuedi to be by him preferved in our faid 
 printing-houfe : for fuch is our pleafure* Given at 
 “ Verfailles, the 15th day of the month of December, 
 in the year of grace 1683, and the fortieth of our 
 reign. Signed Lewis f and under, By the 
 king, Golbert/' 
 
 They required alfo, three lettres de cachet 1 6ne 
 for the company, another for the firft prefident, and 
 a third for the advocate and folicitor general. It 
 feems that M. de Louvois was then ignorant whofe 
 trunk this was; fince, by a letter of the 19th of De- 
 cember, 1683, he alks how this trunk has been 
 brought to the chamber : How the fhamher is charged 
 with ity by virtue of what order^ and the copy of that 
 order^ if it can be had^ The trunk in queftion 
 contained eight packets of puncheons, in Greek let- 
 ters (there is no mention of any matrices). After 
 all the neceffary formalities had been complied with, 
 this trunk was delivered. In faft, we find thefe cha- 
 racters in different printed ftatements, of puncheons 
 and matrices for Greek charadlers, of the royal 
 printing-houfe, v/hich belong to the king, furnifhed 
 by the widow of Sebaftien Mabre Cramoify, the 9th 
 of Auguft, 1690. 
 
 The firft leaf prefents the great primer, amounting 
 to 82 puncheons, and 497 matrices. There are 
 
 H 2 fome 
 
100 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 fome puncheons broke;, and they have marked with a 
 P the matrices which have their puncheons. 
 
 The fecond leaf, large Roman, contains 447 pun- 
 cheons. 
 
 ' The third, the firft alTortment of large Roman, 
 contains 614 puncheons. 
 
 The fourth, the fecond alTortment of large Roman, 
 contains 537 matrices. 
 
 The fifth, a firfl alTortment of Cicero, contains 
 481 matrices ^ a fecond alTortment, imperfedf, and 
 350 matrices unforted. 
 
 All thefe different printed Hates and copies, 
 dated the 29th of January, 1691, are figned John 
 Anisson. 
 
 In a general inventory of the royal printing-houfe, 
 and of all its moveables and utenlils, works, engraved 
 plates, &c. of the 8th of February, 1691, figned 
 Muguet and Coignard, we again find the fame detail 
 of Greek puncheons and matrices*. 
 
 * Before the royal printing-houfe was put under the 
 diredlion of M. John Aniffon, they thought of re- 
 pairing v/hat was defedive in the Greek charaders. 
 I found an agreement, dated the 7 th of February, 
 1692, figned by M. de Pontchartrain, and by the 
 fieur Grandjean, an engraver of printing charaders^ 
 by which the latter engages to make 156 puncheons 
 of Greek charaders, of the large Roman lize; alfo 
 to flrike two matrices for each, in fine copper, with a 
 
 * 1 only find there a fmall afTortment of Hebrew, with its points, 
 making a body of St. Augufla, but in types only. 
 
 
lOl 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 fieur de lys marked thereon, as well as on the pun- 
 cheons. One of thefe matrices to be finifhed 
 ao;reeable to the firft alTortment of matrices of the 
 faid large Roman Greek charadlers, and the other 
 for the fecond alTortment of the fame chara61:er. By 
 this we fee that thefe charadlers, in being transferred 
 to the royal printing-houfe, have not been negledled. 
 They propofed to make many other fonts of Greek 
 charafters, as we fee by a memoir which the fieur 
 Grandjean gives an account of. 
 
 The beauty and elegance of the charadlers of 
 Francis I. which they commonly call in the printing- 
 houfe the King's Greeks were fo well known to the 
 learned of Europe, that, in 1700, the univerlity of 
 Cambridge defired to have Tome particular fonts of 
 them. The trullees of the new printing-houfe at 
 Cambridge, addrelTed themfelves to M. Clement, 
 keeper of the king’s library, and requefted a certain 
 quantity of the Greek characters, offering to acknow- 
 ledge the favour in a preface to the firfl book they 
 fhould print, and to pay the value of them in books. 
 They add, alfo, that they were not poffelfed of the fe- 
 cret of making a fnining ink; that this art was in pof- 
 felfion of a fociety, from whom the univerfity bought 
 it: but they promife to regulate it infuch a manner, 
 that the royal printing-houfe may be provided with 
 fuch a quantity as they chofe, on the fame condition 
 as the univerfity purchafe it. 
 
 M. Clement anfwered this letter, That the 
 univerfity of Cambridge would find in France 
 every good dijpofition it could defire, tov/ards a 
 
 H 3 friendly 
 
lOZ AN HlliTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 friendly correfpondence with the royal printing- 
 houfe j in order to labour in concert, and to give reci- 
 procally all the neceflary helps to the advancement 
 of learning. That they would willingly lend them 
 all the fonts, entire and complete, of the cha- 
 rafters of the King's Greek; but on condition 
 they Ihould oblige themfelves to mark their ac- 
 knowledgments, not only in a preface, but alfo on 
 the title page of every work for which thefe cha- 
 " rafters Ihould be employed. 
 
 It is then efpecially defired, that the univerfity 
 of Cambridge lhall promife, that in every work 
 which they fhall print in their printing-houfe with 
 " the Greek charafters they fhall receive from France, 
 they fhall put at the bottom of the title page, 
 “ after thefe words, "Typis Academicism fome other 
 words, which fignify that thefe Greek charafters 
 have been borrowed from the royal printing-houfe 
 at Paiis. CharaEierihus Greeds e typographeio regio 
 Tarienfi, As foon as they fhall have agreed to this firfl 
 condition, the others fhall be no impediment; and 
 It will be eafy to fix the price of the quantity they 
 wiih to have of them, and the manner in which 
 payment fhall be made ; fince they are defirous, 
 above all things, that this money fhall be em- 
 ployed to purchafe books ' to enrich the king’s 
 « library^.” 
 
 By Mr. Prior’s anfwer, dated April the i8th, we 
 find that the earl of Manchefter had addrefl^ed himfelf 
 
 * Letter to Mr. Prior, 
 
 to 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 103 
 to the abbe de Louvois, to whom he had tranfmitted 
 a letter of the duke of Somerfet, chancellor of the 
 univerlity of Cambridge, to folicit this affair. But 
 the abbe Bignon, then charged with the direction of 
 the academy, requiring, with reafon, the condition 
 that they fhould put at the bottom of the title page, 
 Charatleribus Gr^cis e typographeio regio Tarienfi\^ 
 and not being willing to recede in this point, it was 
 abandoned. By this we fee how much thele fine 
 charaders were prized, and that no engraving of this 
 kind, fince Francis I. has been able to exceed it. 
 
 It appears, that when thefe charadlers were re- 
 moved from the chamber of accounts, they were ig- 
 norant that they were thofe of Francis I. otherwife it 
 would have been mentioned in the patent above 
 cited. They were content with calling them pun- 
 cheons of Greek letters, depofited long fince \ and the 
 minifter requiring to be informed of the removal of 
 this depofit, and of many other circumftances, I am 
 inclined to think they removed them without think- 
 ing they were Francis the FirfFs. Thus they conti- 
 nued in public to believe, that thefe letters of the 
 king’s were loft; more efpecially, as they were not 
 informed of the removal the chamber had made. I 
 am led to thefe refledtions by a letter of M. de 
 Foncemagne, dated September 30, 1727; where 
 this learned man expreffes himfelf in terms, which 
 are pofitive, but contrary to all I have juft faid. 
 The fecretary of the chamber of accounts, which 
 the firft prefident had charged to treat with M, 
 Aniffon, for the reftitution of the Greek puncheons 
 H 4 that 
 
Jd4 an historical ESSAY. 
 
 that I have difcoverecj jn the chamber, has been 
 fome time in the country, This affair is not 
 finifhedi and the delay, vrhich I had not forefeen, 
 has prevented my anfv/ering M, Grandjean.’* 
 M. Foncemagne, who knew Francis I. had depo- 
 fited thefe Greek puncheons in the chamber of ac-^ 
 coimtSi Would have fpoken of this depofit, and have 
 foiicited the reftitution of it ^ they would have fought 
 for them, becaufe they might then have forgot what 
 had paffed forty years before. 
 
 On this demand of M. Foncemagne, I have only 
 found this fingle letter, There fhould then have been 
 letters patent, and different formalities, of which I do 
 not perceive any trace. Thus this flep of M. Fonce- 
 magne, which proves his zeal, had no eonfequences ^ 
 but what is decifive, is that the Greek puncheons 
 delivered to Cramioify by the chamber, are exactly 
 the fame as thofe which Robert Etienne m.ade ufe of 
 in his alphabet, and which he calls CharaSferes Regii, 
 M. Aniffon and I are witneffes that every particular 
 puncheon has been examined with the charadters 
 printed by R. Etienne. Befides, thefe fame charac- 
 ters delivered to Cramoify, are printed on fheets or 
 lifts, which the widow Cramoify fent to M. John 
 Aniifon, after the latter had taken poffeffion of the 
 royal printing-houfe. Thus the Greek charaders of 
 Francis L depofited in the chamber of accounts, in 
 1683, delivered to Cramoify, returned to M. Aniffon 
 in 1691, have remained fince that time in the royal 
 printing-houfe. Hence the fearch made by M. 
 de Foncemagne, in 1727, was on a conjeclure that 
 
 the 
 
10 ^ 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 the charafters of Francis I. were in the chamber^ and 
 this fearch had no confequence, hnce they had been 
 removed a long time before. 
 
 Notwithftanding all I have juil faid, as the learned, 
 and the public at large, have not been acquainted with 
 what has paiTed between the minifber and the cham- 
 ber of accounts j as they are yet ignorant of what has 
 paffed betw^een the miniiler and the director of the 
 royal printing-houfe, they have always perfiflied in be- 
 lieving and writing, that the puncheons and matrices 
 of the Greek charaders of Francis I. were loft 3 for 
 we miuft not fpeak of the call types, v/hich are de- 
 ftroyed by long ufe ; they are not in exigence. We 
 can then no longer doubt but all thefe puncheons are 
 in this printing-houle : and the baron de Breteuil, v/ho 
 gives fdch fingular protediion to literature, is defirous 
 it may be knov/n that they are fo; but, it mull be 
 confelTed, that, like the Oriental puncheons, they have 
 beeti long in a (late of oblivion and direii6i:ion. 
 
 To thefe great literary labours, undertaken in the 
 reign of Lewis XIV. labours which, by the number 
 of volumes, and the extent of knowledge which they 
 require, at prefent aftonifh us 3 a tafle has fjcceeded 
 quite oppofite; that is to fay, a dlHike for erudition 
 and for deep refearches. By degrees, we have lefs 
 applied ourfelves to the Itudy of the languages ; even 
 the Greek has been negle6led, and trifling works have 
 been preferred ; otherwife many printers had been 
 furnifhed with Greek chara6lers. From hence the 
 royal printing-houfe was no longer employed in this 
 kind of typography. Thefe beautiful chara6ters 
 
 being 
 
io6 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY, 
 being thrown afide, were not feen, and the changes 
 which naturally happen in a long courfe of years^ 
 caufed them to be forgotten : they would yet have re- 
 mained fo, but for the eftablifhment the king has juft 
 made, of a committee to examine the manufcripts in 
 his library, and but for the zeal of the baron de 
 Breteuil, who, to fulfil the utmoft intention of his 
 majefty, exerts himfelf to renew among us a tafte for 
 erudition, and the ftudy of the learned languages. 
 
 T o thefe three fonts of Greek charadlers of 
 Francis I. let us join the four fonts of Arabic, Turk- 
 ilh, and Perfian, and a font of Syriac charadlers 
 made by M. de Breves, and bought by Lewis XIII. 
 a font of Armenian, made by order of this prince ; 
 another font of Greek charafters, made by order of 
 Lewis XIV. four fonts of Hebrew chara6lers, and a 
 number of Chinefe charadlers, engraved by order of 
 Lewis XV. Such are the helps offered to the 
 learned, who ftiall propofe ufeful works. 
 
 Catalogue of the MANUSCRIPTS brought from the 
 Eaji by M. de Breves, pur chafed after his Death by 
 the King ; depofited in the Library of Cardinal Rich- 
 lieu, and marked with his Arms. On the firft Leaf is 
 the Cypher of the Qommiffary Boijft, who caufed them 
 to be feized and carried from Sionita s. Lhefe Manu- 
 fcripts, vjhich in Courfe of Lime have been recover edy 
 remain in the Sorbonne. 
 
 1. THE great Kamous, or Treafure of the Arabian 
 
 Language, 2 vols. in Arabic. 
 
 2. Expofition of different Sentences j in Arabic. 
 
 3. The 
 
AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 107 
 
 3. The Hiftory of the Ottomans, 2 vols. in Turkifh. 
 
 4. The Lives of the Saints; in Turkifh. 
 
 5. Introdudlion to Jurilprudence ; in Turkifh. 
 
 6. A Treatife on the Manners, Method of Living, 
 
 and Cloathing of the Turks; ‘with Reafons 
 for the Ceremonies of their Religion ; in 
 Turkifh. 
 
 7. Civil Law of the Turks ; in Arabic. 
 
 8. -Inflrudlion for the Judges ; in Arabic. 
 
 9. A Hiftory of the Rebellions that have been raifed 
 
 againft Mahomet ; in Turkifh. 
 
 10. The Grammar named Kajidy with a very ample 
 
 Expofition ; in Arabic. 
 
 11. The Hiftory of Haftan and HofTain, two great 
 
 Captains, both Nephews to Mahomet; in 
 Turkifh. 
 
 12. A Treatife on the Manner of making Contracls ; 
 
 in Arabic. 
 
 13. A Treatife on Jurifprudence ; in Arabic. 
 
 14. Inftrudions to Kings, Princes, and all Sorts of 
 
 Perfons invefted with Authority; in Turkifh. 
 
 15. Inftitytes of the Law of the Turks, and other 
 
 Nations fubjed to the Grand Signior ; in 
 Arabic. 
 
 16. The Life, Ads, and Deeds of Mahomet; in 
 
 Turkifh. 
 
 17. The Life of Alexander the Great; ditto. 
 
 18. The Works of Goleftan, a celebrated PeiTian 
 
 Poet ; in Perfian, 
 
 19. The Introdudion to the Civil Law; in Arabic. 
 
 20. Inftrudion to Princes ; in Turkifh. 
 
 21. The- 
 
io8 AN HI'ST.ORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 21 . The Hiftory of Tamerlane ; in Perfian. 
 
 22 . The Works of Almotannabi, a very celebrated 
 
 Arabian Poet 3 in Arabic. 
 
 23. A Treatife on Marriage, and of the Divifion of 
 
 Inheritances between married Perfons. 
 
 24. A Commentary on fome Chapters of die AP 
 
 coran 5 in Perfian. 
 
 25. A Book of Law; in Turkifh. 
 
 26. The Works of Golellan; in Perfian. 
 
 27. The Manner of interpreting Dreams ; in Turkilh. 
 
 28. Conteft between Laws and Religion ; in Turkifh. 
 
 29. The Fables of Caraman; inTurkifli. 
 
 30. Of the Dignity cF Man ; in Turkifh, 
 
 3 1 . Elements of the T urkifh Law ; in T urkifh. 
 
 32. A Treatife on the Law of the Turks ; in Arabic. 
 
 33. A Treatife on War, by Caraman ; in Turkifh. 
 
 34. The Exercifes of a devout Soul for every Day 
 
 in the W eek ; in T urkiili, 
 
 35. The Hiftory of Hali; in Turkifh. 
 
 36. Many Fables ; in Turkifh.. 
 
 37. Another Colledtion of Fables ; in Turkilli. 
 
 38. The Hiftory of the Kings of Perfia ; in Turkifh. 
 
 39. One Thoufand Fables for One Thoufand Nights 
 
 Entertainment; in Turkifh. 
 
 40. An Arabian Grammar, with the Expofition, in 
 
 2 vols. in Arabic. 
 
 41. A Perfian and Turkifh Di6lionary. 
 
 42. The Amours of a King of Perfia ; in Tartaric. 
 
 43. A Colledion of Poetry; in Arabic and Turkifh. 
 
 44. The 
 
an historical E;SSAY. leg 
 
 44. The Lives and Virtues of the great Turkifli 
 
 Poets ; in T urkifh. 
 
 45. A Treatifeon Good Fortune; in Arabic. 
 
 46. The Turkifli Secretary, or the Manner of writing 
 
 Letters well ; adapted to every Condition ; in 
 T urkifh. 
 
 47. The Civil Law; in Arabic. 
 
 48. The Lives of fome Turkifh Saints ; in Turkifh. 
 
 49. A Commentary on the Invocation to God, which 
 
 is at the beginning of the Alcoran ; in T urkifli. 
 
 50. A Commentary on the Expofition of fome 
 
 Laws ; in Turkifh. 
 
 51. A Difeourfe on Morality and Piety ; in Turkifh. 
 
 52. An Expofition of fome PafTages in the Alcoran; 
 
 in T urkifh. 
 
 53. Facetious Tales; in Turkifh. 
 
 54. A Collection of different Poems; in Turkifh. 
 
 55. A Commentary on fome of the Municipal Laws of 
 
 the T urks ; in Arabic. 
 
 56. A Coile6tion of Letters miffive ; in Turkifh. 
 
 57. An Abridgment of the Civil Laws; in Arabic. 
 
 58. Life, Deeds, and Aftions of Mahomet, in 
 
 T urkifh. 
 
 59. Ifmael on the Civil Law; in Arabic. 
 
 60. Another Book on the Civil Law ; in Turkifli. 
 
 61. A Book of Poetry, called the Ten Birds; in 
 
 Turkifh. • 
 
 62. A little Difhionary in Verfe, for the Ufe of Chil- 
 
 dren; in Perfian and Turkifh. 
 
 63. The Wonders of the World ; in Turkifli. 
 
 64. A Grammar of Kafia, printed. 
 
 65. A Book 
 
I lO 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 65. A Book of Poetry j in Petfian. 
 
 66. A Treadfe on Eloquence; in Arabic. 
 
 67. The Canon of the Empire of the Turks; in 
 
 Turkifh. 
 
 68. The Rich and Poor ; in Turkifh. 
 
 69. A Colledion of different Poems; in Turkifh. 
 
 70. A moral Difcourfe ; in Perfian. 
 
 71. Directions for a devout Life ; in Turkifh. 
 
 7 2. Inflrudtions in the T urkifh Religion ; in T urkifh. 
 
 73. Moral Philofophy; in Turkifh. 
 
 74. Turkifh Poets. 
 
 75. Of the Birth of Mahomet. 
 
 76. Rife and Progrefs of the Ottoman Empire; in 
 
 Turkifh. 
 
 7% A Hiftory of many Kings and Princes; in 
 Turkifh. 
 
 78. Philofophical and moral Difcourfes ; in Arabic. 
 
 79. Small Volume of Poetry; in Turkifh. 
 
 80. Tendernefs for Children ; in Turkifh. 
 
 81. A third Goleflan; in Perfian. 
 
 82. Four particular Chapters of the Alcoran. 
 
 83. The Hiftory of Jofeph and his Amours with 
 
 the Wife of Putiphar ; in Turkifh. 
 
 84. A Treatife on the Law ; in Arabic. 
 
 85. A fourth Goleflan. 
 
 86. Of the Dignity of the Cities of Mecca, Medina, 
 
 and Jerufalem ; in Turkifli. 
 
 87. The Hiftory of the principal Perfian Poets, 
 
 88. The Prailes of the Juft; in Perfian. 
 
 89. The Contempt of the Word ; in Turkifh. 
 
 90. A Colledion of Poetry; in Turkifh. 
 
 91. Points 
 
1 1 1 
 
 AN HISTORICAL ESSAY. 
 
 91. Points of Religion, and Cafes of Confcicnce ; in 
 
 T urkidi. 
 
 92. Of good and bad Fortune; in Turkifh. 
 
 93. A Dialogue; in Turkifh. 
 
 94. A Book for Divination by the Alcoran, and 
 
 to learn what will come to pafs ; in Turkifh. 
 
 95. Fivefmall Volumes of Prayers ; in Turkifh. 
 
 96. The Manner of gaining Pardons, by performing 
 
 a Voyage to Mecca. 
 
 97. Five or fix little Books, bound in Paper only. 
 
J 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 ' \- 
 
 • I 
 
ACCOUNTS 
 
 OF T K F 
 
 MANUSCRIPTS 
 
 t N THE 
 
 KING’S LIBRARY. 
 
 I 
 
[ H5 3 
 
 sr H E 
 
 GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 MINES OF PRECIOUS STONES i 
 
 Ari unlverjal Hijlory^ hy Aboul-Hassan-Aly, Son of 
 Al-Khair, Son of Aly^ Son of Abderrahman, 
 Son of Abdallah, Son of Masoud-El-Hadheli, 
 Jurnamed Masoudi ^ a Writer of the ‘Twelfth Cen- 
 tury of the Chriftian Mra, 
 
 Arabian Manufcripts, No. 598, in Qnarto, of 274 Pages % 
 No. 599, in Quarto, of 394 Pages ; and No. 599, A. in 
 Folio, of 984 Pages: all three on Oriental Paper, 
 
 By M. G u I G N E s , 
 
 A BOUL-HASSAN- ALY, commonly called 
 Mafoudiy defcended from one Mafoud-aE 
 hadheli, who takes the title of Laheb-ar~rafoul, that 
 is, the companion of the ambaflador of God 3” for 
 thus they call Mahomet. M. de Plerbelot fpeaks of 
 this writer in his Oriental library, page 563. 
 
 I 2 
 
 Mafoudi, 
 
ii6 T H E G O L D E N M E A D O V/ S. 
 
 Mafoiidi, furnamed Cothheddin^ wrote about the 
 336th year of the Hegira, A. C. 947, under the 
 khalifat of Mothilillah. According to M. de Her- 
 belot, he died at Cairo, in Egypt, in the 346th year 
 of the Hegira, ten years after having publilhed his 
 work. In the catalogue of the king’s library^, the 
 Mouroudge-ed-dhahab is erroneoufly placed among 
 the treatifes of geography ; it belongs to general hif- 
 tory. It is true the author makes fome obfervations 
 relative to geography 3 but they are only incidental, 
 and defigned to throw greater light on different parts 
 of the hifco’iy. This work is much efteemed in the 
 eafl, whether on account of its antiquity, the author 
 having lived in an age when the Arabians fliil con- 
 tinued to cultivate many fciences 3 or on account of 
 the variety of the objeds, or the extent of the in- 
 quiries contained in it. It is this, without doubt, 
 which determined Mafoudi to give it the fmgular 
 title which it bears ; and, befides, it is the cuflom of 
 the Orientals to give fuch kinds of titles to their 
 V'orks. 
 
 * In the manufcript 59S, the titles of all the chapters have been 
 left blank ; the manufcript 599 is intitled, The Firll Part of 
 Mouroudge-ed-dhahab.” It contains, the hiftory of all the ancient 
 people, except the Arabians. The fecond contains the hiftory of the 
 ancient Arabians j and the third, the hiftory of the Arabians after 
 Mahomet. But this volume is defeftive. The manufcript, No. 599 A. 
 which contains the whole, has not thefe three divificns ; thefe- 
 three manufcripts are on Oriental paper. In the catalogue of the 
 king’s library, this paper is defcribed by the name of Bombycinus j 
 becaufe they fuppofe it made either of cotton or filk, it is not very 
 certain which j confequently I have thought proper to adopt a more 
 general name. 
 
 No. 593,- 
 
T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S. 117 
 No. 598 and 599, which are in the king’s library, 
 are very imperfecl manufcripts i the firfc contains 
 only the ancient hiflory, but it wants a part of the pre- 
 face : the fecond contains the hiflory of the ancient 
 Arabs alfos but it is lefs co.rreblly copied, and in 
 many places they have abridged the author’s text. 
 No. 599 A. which is badly defcribed in the catalogue, 
 where it is without the author’s name, contains the 
 whole work of Mafoudi ; that is, befides thofe two 
 parts which we have juft pointed out, another, which 
 contains the hiftory of the khalifs from Mahomet 
 to our author’s time. It is one of the ftneft manu- 
 fcripts of the king’s library, and although in a fmali 
 and very ftender chara6ler, is very legible ; not how- 
 ever free from many faults of the copyift, which em - 
 barrafs the reader. But what renders it valuable is, 
 that it contains the work complete ; yet what precedes 
 the hiftory of the khalifs' has been confiderably 
 abridged, and it does not afford fo many details as the 
 other two manufcripts : in ail three the text differs. 
 
 In the preface the author renders an account of 
 }iis defign of giving a general hiftory, from the com- 
 mencement of the world to the year 334 of the 
 Hegira, A. C. 945. He propofes to fpeak, 
 
 |. Of the creation of the world, and to give a hif- 
 tory of mankind from Adam to Abraham. 
 
 2. Of the prophets and kings of Ifrael. 
 
 3. Of the fpace of time between the Meffiah and 
 
 Mahometo 
 
 4. Of the Indians, of their kings, and of the fci- 
 
 ences cultivated by thefe people. 
 
 I 3 5 and 6. 
 
Ii8 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 
 5 and 6. Of the land, feas, rivers, mountains, an 4 
 climates. 
 
 7. Of the Ethiopian fea and its extent. 
 
 8. Of the opinions of the flux and reflux. 
 
 9. Of the fea of Roum (the Mediterranean), and 
 
 its extent. 
 
 10. Of the Propontis, and the ftreight of Conflan- 
 
 tinople. 
 
 11. Of Bab-al-abouab (the Derbend), of the D.gior-* 
 
 geen, and feas adjacent. 
 
 12. Of the Chinefe, their kings and cufloms. 
 
 13. Of the wonders that are in the fea, and the 
 
 countries which furround it, 
 
 14. Of the mountain of Phath (orVi6lory); of the 
 
 people of Lan, of Razer, and thofe of the 
 throne of gold j of the T urks and other na'» 
 tions, 
 
 15. Of the Syrian kings. 
 
 16. Of the kings of Mofoul andNineve. 
 
 17. Of the kings of Babel, or the Chaldeans, other 
 
 wife Nabartheans, 
 
 18. Of the kings of Perfia. 
 
 1 9. Of the kings of the Nations^ or the Afchglia^* 
 
 nians (the Arfacides). 
 
 20. Of the origin of the modern Perlians. 
 
 21. Of the kings of Perfia named SalTanides. 
 
 22. Of the Greek kings and their origin. 
 
 ,.23. Of the kings of Roum (the Romans). 
 
 24. Of the kings of Roum, Chriftians, or of Con^ 
 kantinople. 
 
 25. Of 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 119 
 ‘I5. Of the kings of Rouirij after Mahomedanifm 
 began until A. C. 943. 
 
 26. Of the kings of Egypt, of the Nile, and the 
 marvels of that country. 
 
 27.. Of the Soudansy or negroes, and of their diffe- 
 rent races. « " 
 
 •28. Of the French and Spaniards, 
 
 29. Of the Sclavonians, of the country pf Npiik-* 
 
 bard, or Noukirad (Nogorod). 
 
 \Here the manujcrip 598 ends,^ 
 
 30. Of the Arabian kings of the tribe of Ad. 
 
 31. Of the Arabian kings of the tribe of Thamoud^ 
 
 32. Of Mecca and its temple. 
 
 33. Of the earth and its countries, and the charadlers 
 
 of the different people. 
 
 34. Of the opinion of the learned, with refpedt to 
 
 the names of Yemen, Irac, S chain, andHedr 
 giaz. 
 
 35. Of the ancient kings of Yemen. 
 
 36. Of the kings of Hira, aborigines of Yemen. 
 
 37. Of the kings of Scham, or of Syria, alfo abori- 
 
 gines of Yemen, 
 
 38. Of the Arabs of the defert, pr Bedouins. 
 
 39. Of the religion of the ancient Arabs, and of 
 
 their difperfion into different places. 
 
 40. 41, 42, 43, 44. Continuation concerning the 
 
 Arabs. 
 
 45. Of the lands of Saba and March j of thedivifion 
 
 of the country. 
 
 46. Of the years of the Arabs and Perfians; of their 
 
 months 3 in what they differ from each other. 
 
 1 4 47. Of 
 
 i 
 
120 T H E G O L D E N M E A D O V/ S. 
 
 47. Of the Coptic and Syrian months. 
 
 48. Of the Syrian months, compared with thofe of 
 
 Roum j number of days in the year, 
 
 49. Of the Perfian months, 
 
 50. Of the year of the Arabs, and of their months. 
 
 51. Of the nights by v/hich the Arabs reckon^^ and 
 
 of the lunar year. 
 
 52. Of the courfe of the fun and moon. 
 
 5 3.. Of the elements, and of the power of the flars, 
 
 54. Of the moil celebrated temples ; of the Pyrea | 
 of the idols of India ; and of the worfhip of 
 the liars. 
 
 SSy 5 ^^ 57 i S 9 ^ Of the temples of the Greeks, 
 
 the Romans, the Sclavonians, the Sabeans, 
 and the Magi. 
 
 Here the manufcript 599 ends, which contains 
 
 all that we are going to point out. The manufcript 
 
 599 A. ^Ifo contains nearly the fame articles, and 
 
 behdes, 
 
 60, An uni verbal chronicle, from tlye beginning of the 
 world to Mahomet. The continuation in- 
 cludes the hillory of Mahomet, and the kha- 
 lifs, his fuccelTors, as well Omiades as Abaf- 
 fides, to the number of 42, to the khalifat 
 of Mothi, The hillory of each khalif forms 
 an article, The author has added to it a fe- 
 cond chronicle, from the beginning of the 
 Hegira to his own time ; that is, from the 
 m.onth Dgioumadi-el-aoual of the 336th year 
 of the Flegira, A. C. 947, where he fays, he 
 has ended his -v/ork. This chronicle is fol- 
 lowed 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 121 
 lowed by tv/o chapters, one of which treats of 
 the pilgrimage to Mecca from the coiTimence- 
 ment of Mahomedanifm to his own time; ip 
 the other lie gives the names of the principal 
 pilgrims. 
 
 This is a vaft and gives a great idea of Ma~ 
 foudi’s inquiries ; but we ought to obierve, that if he 
 really Ipeaks of all he announces, he often does it in 
 a m.anner fo ccncife, that he confines himfelf fimply 
 to relate fomie paiTages of five or fix lines ; and often, 
 according to the taile and credulity of the Orientals, 
 he maxes many fables, unv/orthy of notice; if we 
 take notice of fom.e of them, it is only with a viev/ to 
 make known the charadlers of thefe writers. 
 
 In the manufcript 599 A. Mafoudi neither points 
 out in detail, as in the other two volumes, the different 
 fubjecls he mieans to treat of, nor of the authors he has 
 made ufe of, but paffes immediately to the formation 
 of the earth and the different feas. In this ac- 
 count, he begins with Ibmie fables, and compares the 
 earth to a bird, of which Mecca and Medina form 
 the head ; Perfia and India the right wing ; the land 
 of Gog the left wing ; and Africa the tail. He fup- 
 pofes the exifcence of an earth aiuterior to this, fituated 
 eifewhere, and which has fubfiiled 7000 years. Not- 
 y/ithftanding we fhould rejedl: thefe fables, we ought 
 not to neglect the works, which contain many curions 
 and interefting details, of v/hich we have no idea, 
 Mafoudi fuppofes alfo, that the earth which we in- 
 habit has been fuccelfively covered with waters, which 
 
 have 
 
THE GOLDEN MEABOWS.. 
 have paiTed off fometimes on one fide^, fomctimes on 
 tlie other. 
 
 Wo fhall not fpeajc of what the author advances of 
 Adam and his fall, and of the firft patriarchs to Noah : 
 his recital is a medley, borrowed from the book of 
 MofeS;, and the fabulous tradition of the Alcoran. He 
 fijppofed, that in the confufion of tongues^ God placed 
 among the branches of Shem feventy-nine languages j 
 of Ham,, twenty-feven 5 and of Japhet thirty-fix | 
 and tliat before that time they fpoke Syriac. It is 
 needlefs to dwell on all this ancient hiftory, pr on the 
 liii of the Jewifh kings. 
 
 What the author fays of the Indians is very fliort; 
 he praife« their wifdom as well as their gentle and ' 
 peaceable character ; he affigns them for a capital, a 
 city called Houza^ which we know nothing of^ bu^ 
 which exifted in his time. According to Mafoudi, the 
 lirff king of that nation was Bramah, in whofe reign 
 they difeoyered mines of iron, with which they made 
 arms : they alfo built temples with twelve towers^ 
 which reprefented the twelve figns of the Zodiac ; 
 and they had drawn thereon the liars, and all the 
 heavens. In his time alfo they made a book^ 
 intitled, S end-kind^ which he explains by calling, 
 the book from age to ages f from which they have 
 compiled two others, one called Ardgihan, the other 
 Almageft. It is fuppofed that the firfl is taken from 
 the Ankend, or Erkend, another Indian book ; and 
 that from the latter, Ptolemy compiled his Almageft. 
 The Indians fay, that according to thefe books, the 
 fun remains 3000 years in each of the twelve figns, 
 
 and 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 123 
 and performs his revolutions in the heavens in 36^000 
 years. In the days of Mafoudi^ A. C. 943, the Brah- 
 mans fay the fun was in T'aurus that when he paiTes 
 through the meridional figns, the world will be re- 
 verfed ; north will become fouth, ai)d fouth become 
 north. The Egyptians, as we learn from HerodotuS;, 
 had nearly the fame opinion. According to the Brah- 
 mans, as Mafoudi reports, 1^1,000 years form a Ipace 
 of time which they call Hazarouam y and they think 
 the world will be renev/ed every 70,000 Hazarouam* 
 Here Mafoudi copies exadtly the Indian notion on 
 the defiiruction a^nd renewal of the world ; and as we 
 amufe ourfelves in Europe with fuch calculations, 
 we fhall not be offended to meet with them in aH' 
 hifforian of the tenth century of the Chrlftian sra. 
 
 - Brahmah, under whofe reign thefe different pieces 
 of knowledge were attributed to the Indians, reigned, 
 according to Mafoudi, 366 years, and from him the 
 Brahmans, fo revered in India, defcended j who, 
 (he adds) to diftinguifh themfelves from other mei^ 
 wore a yellow firing round their necks. Several fages 
 lived in his reign i feven are diftinguiflied, doubtlefs, 
 in imitation of the feven fages of Greece. The dif- 
 ferent dodlrines propofed and publifhed by thefe fages, 
 caufed a divifion to be made among the learned of 
 India. Mafoudi names the fucceffors of Brahmah ; 
 >ve confefs the lift of them deferves little confidence ^ 
 yet, as it is very Ihort, we fhall give it, becaufe it 
 ferves to fhew us that the ancient hiftory of India is, 
 ^n general; little known. 
 
 B abend 
 
124 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 B abend fucceeded Bralimali, and reigned loo years | 
 Zai'mar, reigned i8o years, and, as it is pretended, 
 made war on the Perfians and Chinefe ; Phour, 
 conquered by Alexander, reigned 140 years (this was 
 Porus) } Diflam, or Dabfchlim, reigned 120 years 
 (dtis probably was the T axiles of the Greek hifto-- 
 rians ) ; Yalhith fucceeded him, and reigned 80 years ; 
 according to fome 130 ; Kouros reigned 120 years 5 
 mder him lived Sendbad, author of the book of the 
 Seven Vizir S;, in which they go back to the origin of 
 ^ras. 
 
 This is what is told of the ancient kings of India | 
 but what Mafoudi adds, is more worthy our atten- 
 tion. It is ufual with him to finifh all his relations 
 by declaring the ftate of the country, as it was in his 
 time, and often what he had himfelf feen. This af- 
 fords us a knowledge of that age ; which we find no 
 where elfe, and which the Arabians, who were then 
 great voyagers, could alone procure. 
 
 After the reign of Kouros, whoever he was, the 
 Indians divided, and formed different kingdoms. 
 There was a king in the country of Sind (towards 
 the Indies ) ; one in the country of Kanoudge (to- 
 wards the Ganges) f one in the Kafchmir; one in the 
 city of Mankir, otherwife called the Grand Houza (this 
 mull be near the Guzerat). Mafoudi, and all the 
 Arabian authors, give the prince who reigned there 
 the title of Balhara, This, he fays, is the firfb and 
 moil powerful king of India; where a long race of 
 fovereigns have reigned under this title, and they 
 fiibfifhed in his time. We may here add, that they 
 
 exifted 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 155 
 exlilied alfo in the time of Ptolomy the geographer. 
 We fee here a very important and very ancient di» 
 virion of India, of which we had not the lead; know- 
 ledge. 
 
 As there is little order in this work in general, and 
 Mafoudi fpeaks of the Indians elfewhere, I may be 
 permitted to deviate from his method, in order to 
 draw objects together, which are too much fcattered# 
 He returns to this fubjedl in another place, and fays, 
 that Kafchmir, which forms a part of India^ is fur- 
 rounded on all fides by very high mountains ^ the in- 
 terior part of the country is filled with a prodigious 
 number of cities and villages ; and that it can be en- 
 tered at one place only, which is fhut by a gate^ 
 
 The kingdom of Bourouh, the fame as Ka- 
 naudge, is 1 20 Indian parafangs in extent; The king 
 keeps always on foot four armies^ each of 700,000 
 men; or, according to others, of 900,000 men. 
 With the northern army he oppofes the king of 
 Moiiltan and the MulTulmans; with the fouthern 
 army, the Balhara, ‘who is the king of kings, whofe 
 rendence is eighty parafangs from the fea (towards 
 the coaft of Malabar, to the north). With the other 
 two armies, the king of Kanoudge makes war on his 
 other neighbours. There are many cities and towns 
 in his country; but, in comparifon of the other kings 
 of India, this prince has but few elephants armed for 
 war: they do not reckon more than 1000 of that kind. 
 Such w'as the flate of India in the time of Mafoudi. 
 He tells us alfo, that the Moultan was flill filled by a 
 prince of the family of Sama, fon of Louai, fon of 
 
 Ghaleb ; 
 
126 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 Ghaleb; and that he Was neighbour to the 
 mans,' That there was in his country an idol, to 
 which all the Indians repaired in pilgrimage j they 
 call it the idol of Moultan: his temple is remarkably 
 rich. Mafoudi allures us he had travelled over this 
 country; and adds, that the prince who reigned in 
 his time was named Aboul-doulhat-al-miounbeh, fon 
 of Afad-al-carfchi, the Syrian. When he arrived at 
 another city of India, named Manfou'ra, diflant from 
 Moultan lixty-five Indian parafangs, (Manfoura is 
 near the Indus*) a prince named Aboul-moundar, 
 fon of Abdallah, reigned there* This city of Man- 
 foiira is fo named from Manfour, fon of Dgiambour^ 
 lieutenant to the khalif Ommiades. 
 
 The fame author informs us, that the Muhulmans 
 were much refpe(S:ed by theBalhara; that there were 
 fome well-built mofques in this country, where they 
 prayed five times a day. Theyafcribed the long life 
 of the Balhara, and his numerous pollerity, to his 
 juftice, and the prote6lion he granted the Mufilil- 
 mans. In the ideas we have formed of the Indians 
 and their fciences, we have not confidered their con- 
 nections with foreigners. From the time of Alex- 
 ander the Great, the Romans, the Perfians, and Ara- 
 bians, have fettled in India, and ruled there; and 
 mull necelTarily have contributed to the progrefs of 
 the fciences among the Indians. 
 
 Mafoudi points out, in a few words, fome other 
 countries, more eafterly than Balhara, and ends with 
 
 * In MS, 598, a parafang isfaid to be eightmilesj 
 
 that 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, iz? 
 that o( Hated, contiguous toChina. This muft be a 
 part of Thibet. The prince that reigned there was 
 Tery powerful, and carried war into China: which is 
 exaft; for, in faft, we find that, in the hiftory of 
 China, at that time the nations of Toufan, or of 
 Thibet, were very troublefome neighbours to the 
 Chinefe, whofe frontiers they ravaged. But Ma- 
 Ibudi is not fufficiently clear, and the names he af- 
 fisns to countries are often unknown to us. 
 
 Hitherto we have followed him in his furvey of 
 the northern part of India ; let us fee what he relates 
 of the fouthern. India, (fays he) is a vail country, 
 furrounded by the fea. It borders upon the king- 
 “ dom of Zanedge, or Zindge. The latter is go- 
 verncd by a king, who bears the title of mehradge.** 
 (It is the fame as the maha-raja, or great rhaja, 
 which has fince been borne by the fovereign of the 
 Mahrattas, which name is formed from that of 
 maha-raja.) This mehradge was, according to 
 Mafoudi, the king of the ifles: by which he means 
 the peninfula of India s for the Arabians make ufe of 
 the fame appellation for iiland and peninfula, and 
 confound them together. It is then of the fouthern 
 part of India he treats in this place. This coun- 
 try (fays he) is fituated between India and China, 
 but adjacent to India, properly called; v/hich is 
 confined, on one fide, by the mountains of Kho- 
 rofan. The Zindges differ (adds he) from the 
 “ other Indians in figure, colour, and temper; and 
 they believe the metempfychofys.'" We here fee, 
 that he diftinguifhes thefe people from the Indians, 
 
 properly 
 
t 28 THE GOLDEN MEADOW^, 
 properly fo called, who lived towards the north.- Kc 
 alib fpeaks of the king of Conrad^ or of Cape Go- 
 morin, who was at war with the mehradge. The 
 Arabians, at this time, were perfedtly acquainted 
 with the Indies, and frequented the coafls of Ma- 
 labar and Coromandel \ alfo the whole northern parts 
 of India: but their hiflorians do not defcribe thefe 
 countries fo minutely as we could v/ifh. 
 
 To ‘avoid interrupting the narrative, I fhalb at the 
 end of this account, notice a meafure of the earth, 
 which the author inferts here, and which is only to 
 be found in the two manilfcripts of 598 and 599; and 
 I omit what he relates of China, a country to which 
 the Arabians carried on great commerce, and over 
 every part of vrhich they have travelled. The author 
 makes the Chinefe defcended from Japhetj whofe 
 pofterity at frit fettled in T artary, and, after fome 
 generations, pafTed to China. He names the 
 founders of the nation, and fomie princes that fuc** 
 ceeded them : but thofe names are fo disfigured, either 
 by the.copyiit, or Mafoudi himfelf, that it h impof- 
 fible to decypher them. He fpeaks of a firft king 
 that turned the courfe of the rivers, killed wild beads 
 that infefted the country, and planted trees* This is 
 nearly what the Cliinefe relate of Tao. HisTuccef- 
 fors, which he feems to point out by the generical 
 name of the Dynaities, but which have been much 
 altered, had, he fays, a ciuTomL of placing, in a tem- 
 ple, portraits or figures of their ancedors, which 
 they worfhipped. This correfponds with the manners 
 of the prefent Cliinefe, Under one of thofe princes 
 
 the 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 129 
 the arts were multiplied in the country, T hey con- 
 flruded a veflel, m which they pafled over to India, 
 and to the country of Babylon j which contributed to 
 the farther civilization of the Chinefe. Mafoudi, at 
 iaftdefcendingtohisowntime, fpeaksof a confiderable 
 revolt, excited by a certain Baifchou, who took the 
 town of Khancou, (Canton) fituated on a river 
 larger than the Tygris. The veiTels from Bafra, 
 Siraph, Oman, and from the iflands; from Zanedge, 
 or Zindge; and from Senef, and other places, touched 
 there in great numbers. The rebel, after having 
 made himfelf mafter of the city, put to death a great 
 number of Chriftians, Jews, Magi, and Muflulmans, 
 that were fettled there, or e^me for rrafEci Thus, 
 in the time of the author, all thefe ftrangers fre- 
 quented China, and went freely to the emperor’s 
 court. He cites various perfons who have made 
 that voyage, and aflerts his having confulted them. 
 He fpecifies, among others, one Abouyezid-Moham- 
 med, fon of Y ezid, of the town of Siraph, whom he had 
 feen at Bafra, and who was juft returned from China, 
 where he had been from the year 91 5 of Jefus Chrift. 
 This account of Mafoudi of the Chriftians that were 
 then in China, ferves to confirm the authenticity of a 
 Chinefe monument, which has been fo much con- 
 tefted, and which acquaints us, that before that 
 epocha, the Neftorians and the Chriftian religion were 
 eftablifhed in China. 
 
 Mafoudi paftes then to the different feas, and points 
 out the moft proper feafons to navigate them. In 
 the enumeration he makes, when he fpeaks of that of 
 
 VoL, I. K China, 
 
130 THEGOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 China, which he fays is extremely difficult and dan- 
 gerous, he adds, that they have no notion of any 
 country beyond it, but that which he calls Belad 
 AJfahily i. e. country of SabiP, and fome iflands. 
 He obferves, that there is a way to China by fea and 
 land, and that lie has feen feveral travellers who had 
 even penetrated into it by way of Khorafan and 
 Thibet. He alfo mentions the caravans which go 
 from Khorafan to India. He cites, on this occafion, 
 a country of which we have not the lead; knowledge, 
 and which they crofs in going to India : he calls it 
 Heft an. This country is very extenfive, v/ell inha- 
 bited, and filled with fortified places. It was the 
 kingdom ofPerviz,fon ofKounk,or Kound; and itis 
 thought that thefe people defcended from the ancient 
 Perfians. In relating here another palTage of Ma- 
 foudi, cited below, we find that this kingdom was 
 fituated in the Sezeftan, or Zabouleflan. [There is 
 fome appearance, that after the conquefl of Perfia by 
 the Arabians, feveral Perfian families took refuge in 
 this country, and eflablifhed a pov/erful kingdom.] 
 Mafoudi fpeaks alfo of the kings of Thibet, who, 
 agreeable to other Oriental authors, draw their origin 
 from fome prince of Yemen, who retired to this 
 country. 
 
 In traverfing the different feas, he comes to that 
 which is contiguous to Spain, and fays a few words of 
 that country ; then fpeaks of the fea of Mogrib or 
 
 * Or Sail. De Herbelot, under the word Sdila^ fpeaks of thefe 
 iflandsV 
 
 Africa 5 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. Z31 
 Africa 3 obferving, that one third of the terreftrial globe 
 is inhabited ; that a fecond third confifts of inhabi- 
 table deferts ; and that the other third is covered by 
 thefea. Generally fpeaking, there is but little order in 
 the whole work. Mafoudi fpeaks of fome countries 
 fituated in Africa, as thofe of ^elmejan, Jaharaty FeZy 
 Sous-al-adnayov the nearer, which muft be diftinguifhed 
 from that of Sous-al-acjay or the farther. T he coun- 
 try of the firflSous has an extent of about twenty days 
 journey; beyond it there is a defert of fand, which 
 muft be crofted before we arrive at the city of Nehas, 
 It is in this country that the Kharedgites have begun 
 to appear. Their origin,” fays the author, is not 
 ‘‘ known ; but fome believe, they are Perfians, who, 
 abandoning the environs of Ifpahan, went to fettle 
 in thefe diftant countries. The Aglabites^ came 
 alfo from this part of Afiica.” To avoid as much 
 as poftible the confufion that abounds in this work, 
 we fhall include, in this article, what the author fays 
 elfewhere of fome other people of Africa. Thefe 
 details may appear dry and tirefome ; but let us 
 reftedl that we are entirely unacquainted with the 
 interior part of Africa. There is reafon to believe 
 that Mafoudi, who has been fo exadt on India and 
 other countries, is not lefs fo on this, which his con- 
 temporaries have frequented for trade, and from whom 
 he may have gained information. The fliort details 
 he gives us, added to thofe we can find in other works, 
 will contribute, without doubt, to enlarge our know- 
 ledge of this part of the world. In fpeaking of the 
 
 * In the ninth century of the Chrifti'an aera, the Aglabites reigned in 
 Africa. They made themfeives maflers of Sicily. 
 
 K 2 Sou dam y 
 
132 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 Scudansy or Negroesy he is of opinion, that thofe people 
 defcended from the children of Canaan, who croffing 
 the Nile, went farther on, and difperfed themfelves i 
 fome fettling towards the eaft, formed the Nubians 
 and the Badge ; others, towards the weft, formed the 
 Zaghaove, the Ghafou or Kacou, the Maitak or Mar- 
 bak, the Koukou, the Akma, the Ghabe, and other 
 Ethiopians, and the Damadamians. Some pafled 
 between the eaft and weft; thefe are the Zinges, 
 the Maflcou, or the Berbers: we pafs through their 
 country in going to thofe of Dalhac, of Zila, and of 
 Badia. Thofe people have plenty of fkins of tygers 
 and afles, of which they make their cloaths. Ma- 
 foudi fpeaks of a nation called Ouacouacy which 
 was very powerful : the king bore the title of PhalimSy 
 or A'phlimi ; he was the king of the Zinges*, (or of 
 Zacquebar) and had an army of 300,000 horfemen. 
 There is in this country, wEich is 700 parafangs in 
 extent, neither elephants, mules, or camels ; it bor- 
 ders on that of Sophala, where the veflels of Oman 
 and Siraph refort. The country of Sophala is con- 
 tiguous to that of Ouacouac, and is remarkably rich 
 in gold. At one or two days fail from the country of 
 the Zinges, is an ill and inhabited by Mufllilmans 
 (perhaps Madagafcar). Independent of thefe nations, 
 
 * Ma foudi places alfo in India, a people he calls Zinges. The Zin- 
 ges that came from Africa rendered themfelves powerful in Syria, 
 about the year of the Hegira 270, and of Jefus Chrift S83. 
 
 De Herbelot obferves, that the Perfians called thefe Zinges of Africa 
 Siaphindou ; that is to fay, black Indians, The appellation of Zinges 
 equally attributed to fome people of India, reminds us of the idea of 
 the ancients, who likewife called the Ethiopians Indians. 
 
 we 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 133 
 we learn from Mafondi, that there was a great number 
 of Arabian tribes, who were difperled over the de- 
 ferts of Africa. Thofe details are too much abridged, 
 but they are not to be negledled. 
 
 Mafoudi equally dwells on that vail chain of moun- 
 tains fituated at the weft of the Cafpian fea, and which 
 extends as far as the Euxine bridge. As but a few of 
 our travellers have penetrated into this country, that, 
 or the nations fettled in it, are but little known to us ; 
 we are even in want of a good map of the paiTes of 
 thefe mountains, by which the barbarians of the north 
 have made their incuriions into Afia. Thefe are the 
 fame countries of w^hich Mafoudi leaves us a curious 
 and interefting detail, defcriptive of a ftate in which 
 they v/ere at his time. 
 
 He calls that vaft chain the mountain Al-phajii^ or 
 of the Victory, In this mountainous country they 
 count feventy nations, which had each their peculiar 
 language, and formed feparate kingdoms 5 fuch were 
 the Lan, (Alains) the Khozars, the Bargaz, or Bar- 
 gar, and the Turks. Khofrou-Anoufchirouan, (Khof- 
 roes) king of Perfia, built in this country the town 
 of Bal-al-abouab ; that is to fay. Gate of Gates y (Der- 
 bend) to feparate his dominions from the country of 
 Khozars, who reigned in the north. He joined a wall 
 to it, which on one fide ftretched within a mile of the 
 fea, and the other end touched the mountain, and 
 ftretching towards the weft, about 40 parafangs, reached 
 as far as the caftle called Calaat Kabarefan and everv 
 third mile he placed an iron gate, with troops to repel 
 the neighbouring nations, as the Khozars, the Turks, 
 
 K 3 and 
 
134 the GOLBEN MEADOWS, 
 and other infidels. All that country, to the fea of 
 Gonftantinopie, was very populous ; on the hiore of 
 which Hands the city of Trebifonda, where every 
 year merchants, MuiTelmans, Roum, Armenians, and 
 thofe of the country of Kafchek, refort in great ilum- 
 bers, to fell and purchafe merchandize. 
 
 Khofrou-Anoufchirouan placed in the city of 
 Bal-al-ahouab (or Derbend) a prince v;ho bore the 
 title of Schirouan-Schah \ that is to fay, king of Schi- 
 rouan. He that reigned in 332 of the Hegira, (of Jefus 
 Chrift 943) was named Mohammed^ fon of Yezo, of 
 the pofterity of Bahram-tchoubin, an ancient king of 
 Perfia. Mafoudi mentions fome other princes of 
 thefe countries, who had embraced Mahomedaninr!, 
 and who were all defcended from the kings of Per- 
 Ha s whence we ought to infer, that the inacceffi- 
 ble mountains ferved as an afylum to feverai Per- 
 fian princes, when the Arabians invaded Perfia, and 
 drove out the Saffanides, who reigned there. 
 
 Among ail thefe mountaineers, there were fome 
 Arabian tiibes, three days journey from Bal-al-ahouah. 
 In other places there wereChriflans, Jews, and Muf- 
 fulmans, who carried on a great commerce. Mafoudi 
 points out, about Baki, a mine of white naphta, the 
 only one, as it is thought, in the world at lead, 
 fays he, according to the cuftom of the Arabians, 
 who, when they are not fure of what they advance, 
 fay, God knows it ; for the Orientals, in their dil- 
 quifitions, content themfelves vdth citing the fenti- 
 ments of different authors, and end vvith this for- 
 mula. From this mine iffues a fountain of fire, 
 
 which 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 135 
 which rifes very high, and which may be perceived 
 on all Tides, at the diftance of 100 parafangs*. 
 Mafoudi, by this, means a volcano, and takes this op- ^ 
 portunity to fpeak of feveral others, one of which 
 he places in the country of the Franks, in the land of 
 Mogreb (thus Africa is called, and all that lies to- 
 wards the weft ; he pbflibly means mount ^Ftna, in 
 Sicily). The moft confiderable is that which is to be 
 found in the ftates of Mehradge, in India (in the pe- 
 ninfula). “There are alfofome,” adds he, “ in the 
 “ countries of Kafpha, Hadramout, and Oman', in 
 “ Arabia. At a great diftance one may hear a noife 
 “ that refembles that of thunder. This volcano 
 “ emits ftones out of fight.” 
 
 Thofe who apply themfelves to the ftudy of an- 
 cient hiftory, and v/ho have attempted to fix the chro- 
 nology, would probably be but little gratified with the 
 m.anner of Mafoudi's treating this fubjed ; whereon, 
 notwithftanding our efforts, we have been able to throw 
 but a faint light. The Oriental hiftorians relate many 
 fables of ancient times; which, indeed, they are but 
 
 * There is no mention made of this volcano near the Cafpian fea ; ^ 
 but in the new hiftory of Ruffia, by M. le Clerc, it is faid that Cau- 
 cafus, on that fide, filled with metals, and combuftible materials, emits 
 in different places warm fprings and fources of naptha, of dilferent 
 qualities. There is to be feen native lulphur, or ore of vitriol j 
 elfewhere lakes, which a fubterraneous fire caufes to bubble up in a 
 fenfible manner. From the foot of mount Caucafus, which imme- 
 diately forms the weftern ftioreof the Cafpian fea, fpring two fources 
 of naphta, which is very common in thofe countries. This bitumen 
 flows from mountains, fometimes pure, and fometimes mixed with he- 
 terogeneous fubftances, and falls into that fea by fubterraneous canals. 
 
 K 4 little 
 
136 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 little informed of : they have made lifts of princes, of 
 whom we neither fee the origin or foundation ; or if 
 they have copied Grecian authors, or other writers, 
 the names are fo corrupted by the copiers, that it is 
 not poflible to difcover them. Such is the ftate of 
 their literature, in what concern antiquities ; in ge- 
 neral, they trace the origin of all nations and em- 
 pires back to Noah and his offspring. Mafoudi 
 begins with a lift of Syrian kings, nine in num- 
 ber: he t^lls us that he has drawn it from Sy- 
 rian and Nabathean hiftorians ; but it feems fo 
 vague, fo inaccurate, and corrupted in the names, 
 that I thought it fuperfluous to tranfcribe it here. 
 However, as to Mafoudi's recital, which comes 
 down to his own time, the lift he gives us of the Sy- 
 rian kings may ferve to elucidate an event which is 
 but little known to us. He Ipeaks of a king Akri- 
 moun, or Akrioun, the fourth in the lift : he fays that 
 he was overcome by a king of India, whom he calls 
 ZenhiL This feems to be but a fable; but he adds, 
 that all the kings of that part of India bore the title 
 of ZenhiU and they bore it in his time (A. C. 940). 
 This we were ignorant of. Who are thofe In- 
 dian princes called Zenhil ? Akmacin, in his hiftory 
 of the 8 2d year of the Hegira, (A. C. 701) men- 
 tions a war againft Zenhily king of the Turks. This 
 king of India, according to Mafoudi, and of the 
 Turks, according to Al-macin, the fovereign of a 
 Scythian or Tartar nation, as we think, who about the 
 time of the Chriftianaera fent to take poffeffion of all 
 the countries that lie in thenorthejn part of India; it 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 137 
 IS thefe Scythians which are called Indo-Scythians ; 
 Strabo fpeaks of them. Their empire was ftill llib- 
 fifting, A. C. 701. Cofmas Indopleuftes makes alfo 
 mention, and calls them White Huns. The re- 
 citals of thefe different hiftorians prove the exiftence 
 of this kingdom in thofe age^, but it is falfe that it 
 has exifted in India in fuch difiiant times as Mafoudi 
 would infinuate. This is v/hat we may derive from 
 the fables he relates; and I thought it incumbent on 
 me, in my refearches, not to negledl any thing which 
 might procure us a knowledge of the em.pires which 
 have been eredled in the different countries of the 
 v;orld. 
 
 I 
 
 This hiflorian next names the kings of Nineveh, 
 whom he calls Arthourians (probably the Affy- 
 rians). This lift, that begins with Ninus, fon of 
 Belus, deferves no more attention than the preceding. 
 We lhall only obferve, that he fpeaks of two king- 
 doms, whofe capitals were Mouftbui and Nineveh. 
 He adds, that there were no traces to be feen of the 
 laft city in his time, and that its fcite was taken up 
 by cultivated fields. I alfo haften to pafs over the 
 lift of the Babylonian kings*, which he feems to 
 have copied after fome Greek author. It begins 
 with Nimrod the Giant, or the Brave; for, in the 
 Oriental languages, the word dgiaMar has this double 
 
 f The whole of the ancient hiilory, which is not in the manufcript 
 of 599> A.', is not an addition of fome extraneous hahd, fince Mafoudi 
 refers in different places of his work to it. I fay as much with refpe^l 
 to fome other parts of this hiftory. 
 
 fignihcadon; 
 
138 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 fignification. And the author fixes the duration of 
 their reigns. 
 
 From the Babylonians, Mafoudi pafies to the an^ 
 cient kings of Perfia, whofe origin he traces back to 
 the beginning of the world, to Kaibmors, orKaVomor-- 
 zathi Which fome (fays he) make fon of Adam, not 
 “ admitting of any univerfal deluge ; others the fon of 
 
 Aram, fon of Sem, and fon of Noah.’' W e fupprefs 
 the lift he gives of thofe princes, becaufe we find it in 
 leveral French or Latin works, and efpecially in the 
 Oriental Library. We ftiall only mention two legif- 
 iators, of whom he fpeaks in this enumeration of the 
 Perfian kings. Under the reign of Thamourafp, 
 one of the firft kings of that country, appeared Bqu^ 
 dajpj author of the Sabian religion, or the worfhip- 
 pers of the ftars. He affigns him the country that 
 lies between Wafeth and Bafra, in Perfia, for his ex- 
 traclion. He again mentions him towards the end of 
 the fecond part of his work, when he Ipeaks of the 
 ancient temples. But I thought proper to colledl, 
 under one view, thefe different pafiages, fometimes too 
 much fcatteredin this work. Here Mafoudi pretends 
 that Boudafp appeared in India. He next pro- 
 ceeded to Sejeftan and Zabouleftan, which is the 
 country of Phirouz, fonofKand^ [he has elfewhere 
 called this country Ileftan] thence he returned to 
 India, and the country of.Lian. He calls himfelf 
 the mefienger of God, and the mediator between 
 the Deity and the creatures. He went to Perfia 
 under the reign of Thamourafp; others contend 
 under that of Dgetriy or Hham : and here eftablifned 
 
 the 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 139 
 the worfhip of idols. The king Dgem is, according 
 to fome, the author of the woriliip of fire, the fym- 
 bol of the fun and ftars. Thamourafp was of the 
 dynafty of the Perfian kings called PiJchdadianSy 
 which was fucceeded by another, named Kdiardans. 
 But the whole of the ancient hiftory of Perfia, as told 
 by the Orientals, is very obfcure. 
 
 Mafoudi places, under the reign of Lohorafp, fon 
 of Kifchtarp, the birth of Zerdoufcht, or Zoroafler; 
 he makes him defcend from Manoudgeher, an an- 
 cient king of Perfia. This iegiflator, a native of 
 Abherbidgiane, wrote his work in golden letters on 
 12,000 flcins. The magi, and the kings of Perfia, 
 obferved his precepts down to the time of Alexander, 
 who committed his book to the flames. Under die 
 reign of Ardfchir-Babegan, (Artaxerxes, the firfl: of 
 the SaflTanides) the magi colledled a chapter of it 
 called Efbad, and to this time they 'do not read any 
 other. As to the firfl book, called Boufuah^ (Avefl:a) 
 as it was hard to com.prehend, Zoroafler had made an 
 explication to it, which he called Zend, From this 
 he made another, which v/as named Pazend , and the 
 magi, after his death, made a new explication, v/hich 
 they termed Pazadeh. Till the prelent time, they 
 always carefully preferved thefe books ; every perfon 
 was in poflefTion of one part of them : and now it is faid 
 that a man of Sejeftan has got the whole in his pofTef- 
 fion. This circumflance feems to deferve Ibmc at- 
 tention. Sejeftan was a part of the country of llcflan, 
 where ftill reigned thofe of the Perfian princes, wAo 
 vdthdrev/ thither after the overthrow of their empire 
 
 by 
 
140 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 by the Arabians^ and where they had become very 
 powerfdl. 
 
 Mafoudi then fpeaks of the kings Afchghanians, 
 (Arfacidse) which reigned in Perfia after the death of 
 Alexander, and who were cut off by the Saffanides, 
 whofe hiftory is more certain, and better known [we 
 call them Khofroes]. Thefe nev/ kings of Perfia de- 
 fcend, according to all the Oriental hiftorians, and as 
 Mafoudi 'obferves, from Manoudgeher, one of the 
 ancient kings of the dynafty of the Pijchdadians, Pie 
 gives the fucceffion of thefe princes. 
 
 It is under Behram, fon of Hormodz, (Varenas, 
 fon of Plormifdas) he places Mani, or Manes; under 
 vdiom the Zendig, a kind of heretics, believing in 
 the metempfychofis, appeared. After Zoroafter had 
 compofed his Aveffa, and the different explanations 
 of v/hich we have fpoken, divifions fprung up among 
 the magi: fome, that adhered to the explication, 
 named Zend, were called Zendians’, whence has been 
 made, by corruption, Zendig, 
 
 The author, after having given the lift of all the 
 PeiTian princes, makes a recapitulation, for which, 
 he ftiys, lie had confulted feveral works. 
 
 , From Kaioumarrath, firft king of Perfia, to Jafde- 
 jerd, who is the laf;, he reckons 57 kings, and 
 three queens: in all 60— others reckon 80. They 
 reigned during a fpace of 4450 years. From the 
 fame Kaioumarrath to Manougclicr, ancient king of 
 Perfa, ii92 yenrs; from Manoiidgeher to Zoroafter, 
 580 years; from Zoroafter to Alexander, 258 years. 
 Alexander reigaed 15 years; or, according to the 
 
 manufeript 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 141 
 manufcript 598^ lix years. From Alexander to Arcl- 
 Ichir (Artaxerxes I.) 517 years. From Ardl’chir to 
 the Hegira, 404 years^. 
 
 Thele ftatements, which prefent us the fentiments 
 of the Orientals on the chronology of the ancient kings 
 of Perfia, merit feme attention ; and it is in this 
 view that, notwithftanding the drynefs of the fubjecl:, 
 I judge they ought to be made known. I fliall after- 
 wards cite fome others, which this hiftorian gives us, 
 becaufe we have no exaft idea of the chronology of 
 the Orientals, nor of the manner in which they treat 
 of it. 
 
 Wo pafs over what Mafoudi reports of the Greeks 
 and Romans, which he had lefs opportunity of know- 
 ing : we fhall only mention that he makes the Greeks 
 defeend from Javan, brother of Cathan, who, quitting 
 Yemen, pafled into the weft. The Greeks were 
 delivered from the dominion of the Perhans by Alex- 
 ander, of whom the Orientals have forged many fa- 
 bles. Mafoudi makes this conqueror penetrate even 
 as far as Thibet and China, where he left fome of his 
 Greeks. 
 
 As to the Romans, he derives them from Efau, fon 
 of Ifrael. This patriarch had,” he fays, elpoufed 
 ‘‘ the daughters of the Amalekites, who were Ara- 
 
 bians, and whofe pofterity paffed into the weff.” 
 He fays nothing of the times of the republic. In ge- 
 neral, thefe Romans called mailers of the world 
 are little known to Arabian authors, and ftill lefs to 
 more Oriental hillorians. Mafoudi gives the fuccef- 
 fion of the emperors, from Julius C^efar to his time; 
 
 ♦ Or, according to the manufcript, No. 598, 404 years. 
 
 he 
 
142 T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S. 
 
 he fixes the birth of Jefus Chriil at the 42d year of 
 AogiiftuSj and at the 369th of Alexander; which he 
 fays he had read in the chronicles of the Roums 
 (Roinens or Grecians) at Antiochia. He reckons 
 f'om Adam to the birth of Jefus Chrifl 5550 years. 
 All the names of the emperors are extremiely muti- 
 lated by the inaccuracy of copyifes^ and through the 
 difficulty of expreffing them in Arabic letters. The 
 extent of their reign down to Confbantine is, accord- 
 ing to Mafoudi, 437 years, 7 months, 6 days. 
 
 V I rnuil beff leave to animadvert a irioment on fome 
 
 o 
 
 circumilances concerning Chrifdanity ; perfuaded 
 that none will be difpleafed to hear a muiTulman fpeak 
 of ecclefraftical hiftory. He fays, that Conftantine, 
 who was an idolater, embraced Chriftianity the 6th 
 year of his reign : that his mother, Helena, palTed in 
 the ydi into Syria ; that (he built churches there ; 
 that from thence ftie went to Jerufalem to find out 
 the wood on which the Mdliah had been crucified ; 
 and that having found it, fne caufed it to be orna- 
 mented with gold and filver, and inflituted a holy^ 
 day, called the feafl of the crofs, which coincides 
 with the 14th of themionth Eloul, on which the canals 
 in Egypt are opened. The fame princefs built alfo a 
 diiirch at Homeffa, enriched with four columns, 
 which v/as one of the winders of Egypt : fhe ex- 
 pended iimmenfe fums in Egypt, in Syria, and Greece, 
 towards me building of churches. 
 
 The 17th year of Conftantine, 318 biihops afTem- ' 
 bled at Nicea, being the firf: aiTembly of thofe called 
 iynods ; the Melkites, Neflorians, and Jacobites, ad- 
 hered to this fynod. 
 
 Under 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS 143 
 
 Under Gratian, who reigned 1 5 years, was held the 
 fecond fynod, at Conflantinople: 1 50 bifliops aflifted. 
 
 Under Theodofius was held, at Ephefus, the third 
 fynod i there were 100 bifhops. Marcian and his 
 fpoufe, Pukheria, ordered the feat of the patriarch of 
 the Jacobites to be at Antioch. There was alfo ano- 
 ther in Egypt. 
 
 Under Leo, the fourth fynod was held at Anchrya ; 
 660 bifhops aflifted. In another place, he reckons 
 only 146, That fynod was held concerning the 
 Melkites and the Jacobites. 
 
 Juftinian built the great church of Rohu, (Edefa) 
 which was one of the wonders of the world. There 
 was, fays Mafoudi, in that church a cloth, for which 
 the Chriftians entertain great veneration. They fay 
 that Chrifl:, after having received the baptifm, wiped 
 himfelf with this linen, which was preferved, and de~ 
 pofited in the church of Roha. Afterwards, when the 
 Greeks came to befiege that town, in the year 332 
 of theHegira (943 of J. C.)the MuiTulmans refto'red 
 it to them, w^hich caufed a great joy among them. 
 We fhall not enlarge on what concerns the Grecian 
 empire. Mafoudi reckons from Conflantine, to the 
 year 943 of J. C. 41 Chriftian kings, who reigned 
 during 507 years ; and fince the creation of the 
 world, fix thoufand two hundred and fifty-nine 
 years. 
 
 In the manufcript 599, A. all this part of the 
 ancient hiflory is omitted, although the author cites 
 it on many occafions. It is alfo an imperfedlion in 
 this manufcript, to begin by what refpe6ls the lea and 
 
 the 
 
144 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 the land, after which it paffes to the hiftory of Egypt, 
 This latter is treated of with greater extent than in the 
 other two manufcripts, vdiich, after fome particnlar 
 obfervations, contains only a lift of the ancient kings 
 of Egypt. In this new manufcript the lift is acconn- 
 panied with a long detail, but fo loaded with fables 
 and wonders, that this piece, which Ihould otherwife 
 excite our curiofity, merits no attention: he talks of 
 nothing but of Genii and of Talifmans. The names 
 of the princes are entirely different from thofe w^e are 
 acquainted with. Syncellus has given us the fucceff 
 non after Manetho ; but we muft confefs, that not- 
 withftanding all the efforts of learned men, wc 
 have not yet been able to put them in order; 
 and as it prefents by far too many princes, we en- 
 deavour to make them cotemporaries. This number 
 of kings in Maibudi is much lefs confiderable, and 
 more agreeable to the chronology of the Scripture. 
 Mafoudi counts, among thofe kings, but feven, to 
 w'hich he gives the name of Pharaoh ; he often men- 
 tions the power of the Amalekites, who invaded and 
 poffeffed Egypt ; and he introduces a woman called 
 Dalouka, who was queen of Egypt, and who caufed 
 a great wall to be built, of which, he avers, there 
 were traces to be feen in his time. This wall was 
 called Hhaith-al-adgiouz, that is^ to fay, the old 
 woman’s wall. She caufed alfo to be conftrubted 
 feveral other buildings in Egypt. 
 
 To the time wAen the Perfians made themfelves 
 mafters of Egypt,, Mafoudi reckons thirty-two 
 Egyptian, fifteen Babylonian, and four AiPialekite 
 kings. 
 
 He 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 145 
 
 He concludes what concerns this country, with 
 ibme account of the city of Alexandria, of its Pharos 
 and fome other monuments. He tells of many won- 
 ders of the Pharos, the building of which he afcribes 
 to the fixth Pharaoh* : Alexander did but repair it. 
 He afferts, that they put a looking-glafs on the top, 
 in which the country of Roum, the Hands of the Sea, 
 together with all that palTed among their inhabitants, 
 and the velTels that arrived, might be feen. In the 
 memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, this circum- 
 fiance has been cited from Aboulfeda. Here it is re- 
 lated by a more ancient writer, and ferves to prove, 
 at leaft, that in his time, after rejefting all the mar- 
 vellous events which thefe writers have added, this 
 kind of iooking-glaffes was not unknown to them. 
 
 We further learn from Mafoudi, that feveral Egyp- 
 tian monuments, till then refpedted by the PeiTians, 
 Greeks, and Romans, had been fearched by the Ara- 
 bians, under the reign of Abdolmalik (who died anno 
 705 of Jefus Chrift). His brother, Abdolaziz, who 
 was governor of Egypt, on the advice given him by a 
 private perfon, caufed a flrid fearch to be made in 
 the place pointed out. There they difcovered a fubter- 
 rane ous paffage^ and penetrating farther, they perceived 
 a column with a bird on its top, which cafl a great 
 lufcre 3 it was of gold, and its wings ornamented 
 with precious flones. T hey faw in the fame placQ 
 
 * Thefe details are in the three manufcripts. The author adds, 
 that on a column, which was very high, there was an infcription in 
 Hemiarite letters, on which was written, that an ancient Arabian 
 king, named Schaddad, had drawn it front mountains, and tranf- 
 ported it to that place. 
 
 VoL. 1 . L 
 
 piflures. 
 
146 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 pidures, circles, or fpheres, and figures of all kinds. 
 They looked upon this bird as atalifman, and it was 
 pretended that he clapped his wings and fung, which 
 furprized all thofe that were prefent.— A thoufand 
 men were employed in thfefe works. 
 
 Inprocefs of time, they employed themfelves again 
 in the fearch of thefe fubterraneous places, which Ma- 
 foudi takes to be the tombs of the ancient kings of 
 Egypt, and it v/as thought they contained their trea- 
 fures. In 939 of Jefus Chrifl:, Ikfchid Mohammed, 
 who was then king of Egypt, renewed the fearch, and 
 they found a place Sf^hofe tombs, where there v/ere 
 figures of old men, young people, women, and chil- 
 dren ; their eyes were precious ftones ^ the faces of 
 Ibme were of gold, of others filver. They fearchedalfo 
 in 883 of Jefus Chrift, by the order of Ahmed, fon of 
 Thouloun, king of Egypt. It appears that the fove- 
 reigns of this country, fince. the Arabians made 
 themfeiv'es mafters of it, and v/ho firft withdrew 
 themfelves from the authority of the khalifs of 
 Bagdat, were indebted for their power to the 
 treafures they had found there ^ they were enabled to 
 fet on foot numerous armies, and fome of them un- 
 dertook buildings in Egypt, which v/ere much like 
 thofe of the ancient kings of Egypt. 
 
 After the hifcory of Egypt, Mafoudi dwells a 
 fnort time on the Sclavonians, Francs, and Spaniards. 
 As thofe nations were little known to him, he only 
 fcays to name fome of the Sclavonian princes^. He 
 
 takes 
 
 ^ He fays, that in his time one of the Sclavonian regions, which 
 was VQvy ancient, had a king named Mahakj the latter had taken pof- 
 
 feinon 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 147 
 takes what he fays of the French from a bifhop named 
 Gharber^ or Gherber, who was in Egypt at the time 
 he wTote. Fie begins with Clovis, and his wife Clo- 
 tilda, and names feveral of his fucceflbrs to his own 
 time, which takes but one page of his manufcript. 
 What he relates of Spain is lefs extenhve ^ he makes 
 known the particular caufes which had brought on 
 the war, anno 3 27 of the Flegira, and of Jefus Chrift 
 938, between the Arabians and the Spaniards,, We 
 have feen that this hiftorian always concludes with 
 the tranfactions that happened in his time : this he 
 does here. Abderrahman, fon of Mohammed, who 
 then reigned over the Arabians in Spain, had a vi- 
 zier named Ahmed^ fon of Ifhac, with whom he was 
 diifatisfied, and put him to death. Oumaia, the brother 
 of the vizier, who refided on the frontiers adjoining 
 to the Sjaaniards, hearing of what had juft hap- 
 pened, repaired to Ramir, king of Spain, and en- 
 gao-ed him to wage v/ar on the Arabians. Abderrah- 
 man fet on foot above 100,000 men, to oppofe Ra- 
 mir. A great battle was fought between the two 
 armxies, in the month of Schoual, in the year of the 
 Hegira, (of Jefus Chrift 938)5 the Muffulmans loft 
 50,000 men, and great riches. Some time after, 
 
 feffion of a town called Ifthabouana, The king that reigned then was 
 called Saklanidge. Another Sclavonian nation affuraed the name of 
 Doulaiah, and the king that of Thalia, d he third divifion, was called 
 Nabdgir, or Narndgin, and the king^r^j and the fourth was called 
 Manani, and their king, Zanlbir. All thefe names are disfigured. He 
 alfo makes mention of a country, which, he calls Naukard, or Noakofod, 
 whofe capital vras called Arnkis, and is croiTed by a very large ftreani 
 called Dgidinan. 
 
 L 3 
 
 Oumai'ah 
 
148 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 Oumaiah deferted the Spanifh caiife, and made his 
 peace with Abderrahman, vvAo pardoned him. This 
 prince levied a new army, and from that time the 
 war continued between the two nations. 
 
 All thefe details we have juft related, (except tvhat 
 concerns Egypt) are to be found only in the manu- 
 fcripts 598 and 599. The latter contains, in addi- 
 tion, the hiftory of the Arabians, which, together 
 with that of Egypt, are in the manufcript 599 A; 
 and this piece, in the manufcript 599, feems to form 
 the fecond part of the whole v/ork, but it is very de- 
 fective, and in the greateft diforder ; fo that we muft 
 recur to the manufcript 599 A. In this article, which 
 is very extenfive, the author goes back to the moft 
 ancient Arabians, and makes a digrefiion on thofe 
 v/ho are defcended from Ifmael. But it muft be 
 confeffed, the Arabians themfelves are but little ac- 
 quainted with their ancient hiftory, and they have, 
 on this fubject, incoherent and obfcure traditions 
 only to boaft of, and many of thefe ought to be fuf- 
 pedteck 
 
 The moft ancient Arabians are, firft, thofe of the 
 tribes of whofe pofterity inhabited the country of 
 Hadramout : their firft king was called Ad. One 
 of his progeny, called Schaddad, made vaft con- 
 quefts, and carried war into India. Second, thofe 
 of the tribe of Themoud, who inhabited the country 
 of Hedgiaz, upon the Ethiopian fea. Third, thofe 
 of the tribes of Theiln, who inhabited in Ahouaz, or 
 Perfia. Fourth, thofe of DgiodaVs, who lived in the 
 country of Hou, v/hich is Yemen, between Bakraih 
 
 and 
 
THE GOLDEN M E A D O V/ S. 149 
 and Hedgiaz. Thefe are the four ancient tribes of 
 the Arabians that fubdued Irac. Abraham and 
 Ifmael paffed into Arabia, where they built the tem- 
 ple of Mecca, and the poUerity of Ifmael formed new 
 Arabians. The author gives the fuccelTion of all the 
 princes who have reigned in this country ; fuch are 
 the kings of Yemen, thofe of Dgiorhamides, ofHira, 
 and of Gaffan. From thofe princes the chiefs of Co- 
 lonies fpring; and one among them, called ^Tcbba^ 
 went to fettle in Thibet: this is a tradition gene- 
 rally adopted by the Arabians. Mafoudi Ipeaks 
 then of the Bedouins, or Arabians of the defart, and 
 points out the names of a great number of their tribes, 
 which are dilperfed over Aha and Africa. We might 
 draw fome light from thefe names, to know the dif- 
 ferent nations of Africa j nor does he forget the 
 Kurdes. I^adly, this author gives a flight idea of 
 the ancient religion of the Arabians before Mahomet. 
 Some had embraced Judaifm, others Chriilianity, 
 feveral were idolaters, and others involved in the 
 darkeft ignorance. There v/ere others, who believing 
 the angels to be the daughters of God, worfliipped 
 them, and implored their alTiftance. tie is not fo 
 full on this fubje61: as he ought to be j he dv/ells a 
 moment on the notion's which the ancient Arabians 
 entertained of the foul. Some believed it was only 
 the air and blood, which are within our bodies ^ 
 others, a kind of bird, or a light fubflance, which 
 at the death of a man, took the form of a bird and 
 uttered lamentable cries near his grave. This bird is 
 the owl. The Arabians believed alfo, that there 
 
 L 3 were 
 
150 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 were fome genii, or fabulous animals, wandering on 
 the highefi: mountains of Yemen and Egypt; and 
 they defcribed them by the names of Bgin, or Geniiy 
 Ghouly and Demons. Mafoudi fpeaks alfo of divina- 
 tion and calling lots ; a pra6lice to which the Ara- 
 bians have been at all times addidled. 
 
 What this hiftorian relates of the months and the 
 forms of the year, among different nations, feems 
 worthy of attention ; he fometimes enters into de- 
 tails, of which we know little or nothing : fo that this 
 piece may be interefting for thofe of the readers who 
 apply themfelves to chronology. It begins with 
 the months of the Copths. 
 
 Coptic. 
 
 I. Totj which anfwers to the Syrian month 
 
 Syrian. 
 
 Eioul 
 
 a. Babaj 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Taixhrin, 
 
 3. Hatour, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Tefchrin, 
 
 4. Kaiouk, 
 
 - 
 
 > 
 
 - 
 
 iCanoun 
 
 5. Thouba, 
 
 - 
 
 * - _ 
 
 - 
 
 Kancun, 
 
 6. Afchir, 
 
 - 
 
 - _ _ 
 
 - 
 
 Schebath, 
 
 7. Yarmhat, 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 Adar, 
 
 8. Yarmouda^ 
 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 Nifan 
 
 9, Bafchnafch, 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 Ayar, 
 
 10. Bouna, 
 
 - 
 
 _ 
 
 - 
 
 HouzaVran, 
 
 3 1. Abib, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Thaimouz; 
 
 12. Mafra, 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 Ab, 
 
 Egyptian, 
 (that is, Thot) 
 (Paophi) 
 
 ( Athyr) 
 
 (Choeak) 
 
 (Tiby) 
 
 (Mechir) 
 
 (Phamenot) 
 
 (Pharmouti) 
 
 (Pachon) 
 
 (Payni) 
 
 (Epiphi) 
 
 (Mefori) 
 
 After tliefe months, the Cophts add the five 
 intercalary days, their months giving but 360 days. 
 By this addition, the year contains 365 days; the 
 firfl: day of the year agrees with the twenty-fourth 
 of the Syrian month Ah. All thefe months have 
 thirty days, like the Perfian months ; the firfl of the 
 month Dhct of the Copths, is the firfl Adermak of the 
 
 Perfians, which Mafoudi alTures us he had examined 
 
 m 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 151 
 in the books of The Tal3les of the Stars.’' The 
 Copths add one-fourth of a day, according to the 
 manner of the Greeks, and Romans ; and thus their 
 months differ from the Perfians, and agree with the 
 Greeks, who, by the augmentation of the quarter of a 
 day, have every fourth year an additional day. 
 
 The jera of the Copths takes place from the firfl: 
 year of N abonaffer, of which the firft day is a W ed- 
 nefday. 
 
 The JEra of the Nabatheans, from the firfl: year of 
 the reign of Philip, the firfl day is a Sunday. 
 
 The difference between the sra of Nabonaffer and 
 that of Jazdejerd, is 1399 years three months. 
 
 Between that of Alexander and that of Jazdejerd, 
 950 years three months. 
 
 Between that of Alexander and that of Jazdejerd, 
 942 Roman years and 259 days. 
 
 Between the ^ra of Jazdejerd and that of the He- 
 gira, 3624 days. 
 
 : The firfl of the asras is that of Nabonaffer ; next 
 that of Philip ; then that of the mother of Alexander 
 then that of Jazdejerd ; and laftly, that of the Ara- 
 bians, or the Hegira, which begins at the time Ma- 
 homed fled to Medina : its firfl day is T hurfday*. 
 
 The ^ra of the Perfians begins at the firfl year of 
 the reign of Jazdejerd; its firfl day is Tuefday; 
 Alphergani fixes it the fame day. 
 
 * In the ‘‘ Art of verifying Dates,” it is obferved, that in the 
 civil ftyle, the firft day of the Hegira falls on a Friday, the i6th of July 
 of the year 682 of Jefus Chrift ; but that feme aftronomers tranl'pofed 
 it on Thurfday the 15th ; of which notice muft be taken in reading 
 Arabian authors. Alphergani puts it alfo on a Thurfday. 
 
 L 4 
 
 The 
 
152 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 The asra of the Roums (Greeks) and of the Sy- 
 rians, dates from the firft year from the reign of Alex- 
 ander ; its firft day is Monday 5 Alphergani fixes it 
 likewife on a Monday. As for the reft/’ fays 
 Mafoudi, God knows it” 
 
 The year of the Syrians confifts of 365 days and 
 one quarter, but their months have not all the fame 
 number of days. 
 
 1 . Nifan, 30 days. 
 
 2. Ayar, 31. 
 
 3. Houzairan, 30. ' The 1 8th of this month the 
 
 fun returns from the north, 
 towards the Sind and the 
 Hind (India) 3 it is the longeft 
 day and the fhorteft night in 
 the year. 
 
 31. After this month the heat 
 diminifhes, w^ater becomes 
 frefh, and the nights are de- 
 lightful. This month and the 
 two preceding are regarded as 
 incommodious, becaufe of the 
 heat. 
 
 30. The 5th of this month is 
 the feaft day of Zacharias, on 
 whom is peace. The 13th 
 night is that of the crofs, 
 which is the 1 4th ^ day. On 
 the fame day is opened the 
 canal in Egypt. 
 
 4. Tamouz, 
 
 5. Ab, 
 
 6. Eloual, 
 
 7. Ten- 
 
T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S. 153 
 
 7. Tefchrin-al- In this month happens the 
 
 fiia], or the Meherdgion of the Perfians, 
 
 hrft Tef- who reckon between this day, 
 
 chrin, 31 days, and the Nevrouz, 169 days, 
 T he Meherdgion is among thofe 
 people a feaft, which they 
 pretend to have been inki- 
 tuted to the memory of an 
 eminent king, who was mod: 
 powerful ; and, as his death 
 happened in the middle of the 
 month Mehermak, they gave 
 to the feafl the name of Me- 
 herdgian. The 5th of this 
 month, the Chrikians cele- 
 brate in Jerufalem a feaft, 
 which attradls a great concourfe 
 - . of people to that town, becaufe 
 
 the fire defcends from heaven, 
 and they light tapers at it. 
 Many Muftlilmans go to fee 
 this feaft. This day they cut 
 a leaf of an olive tree. The 
 Chriftians tell many things of 
 this fire ; ^Mt is,'' fays the au- 
 thor, a ftratagem, of v/hich 
 they make a great myftery.” 
 
 8. Tefchrin-al- 
 
 aker, or 
 T efchrin 2, 30. 
 
 9. Kanoun-al- The 17th of this month, 
 
 aoual, or the day is of nine hours and 
 
 Kanoun i, 31. three quarters 3 it decreafes no 
 
 more 3 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 
 more ; the night is of fourteen 
 hours and a quarter ^ it in- 
 creafes no more. The 25 th is 
 the birth of the Mefiiahj on 
 whom may peace defcend. 
 
 The firfl of this month, is 
 what they call Caloundas. In 
 the night the Syrians light bon- 
 fires, chiefly at Antiochia. 
 
 28 days, and 29 every 
 fourth year. The 7th of this 
 month is the firfl: Dgiamra^'. 
 The 14th, in the night, is the 
 fecond. 
 
 12. Adar, 31. 
 
 What the author fays of the months of the Ro- 
 mans, which he calls by the proper names of Janu- 
 ary, &c. is of no ufe to us ; and I confine myfelf 
 to obferving, that he gives to the firfl: day of Janu- 
 ary^ the name of Caloundas. 
 
 T'he months of the Perfians are all of thirty days, 
 but theiry ear is of 365 j of which, we fhall foon fpeak. 
 
 1. Phervardin-mah. Its firfl: day is called Nevrouzi, 
 
 between that day and the 
 . Meherdgian, they reckon 
 174 days J. 
 
 2. Adirbehefcht-mah. 
 
 ^ Dgiamra fignifies a fire coal. They call this a ceremony obferved 
 at the temple of Mecca 5 it is praftifed three times ; and confifls in 
 throwing ftones, as it were, to chace the devil , but here it muft be a 
 ceremony of the Syrians. 
 
 f He faid, higher up, 169. 
 
 10. Kanoun-al- 
 
 akher, or 
 Kanoun 2, 31 
 days. 
 
 11. SchebaL 
 
 3. Khordad- 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 155 
 
 3. Khor dad- mail. 
 
 4. Tir-mah. 
 
 5. Mordad-mah. 
 
 6 . S c h arioLi r- m ah . 
 
 7. Meher-mah. 
 
 8. Aban-mah. 
 
 9. Adar-mah. 
 
 10. Dei -mail. 
 
 11. Bahman-mah. 
 
 1 2. Efphendarmadz-mah. 
 
 The perfians give to every day of the month a par- 
 ticular name. 
 
 1. Hormodz. 4. Scharivar. 
 
 2. Bahrnan. 5. Efphendar-mou. 
 
 3. Ardibehefcht. 6. Khordad, 
 
 * Alpherghani obferves, that thofe five days are the epagomena 
 which are placed between the month Aban-mah and Adarmah. 
 f See, on this fubjedt, Hyde deRel. ^vet, Perf» new edit. p. 249. 
 
 7. Mordad. 
 
 The 1 6th is the Meherdgian. 
 
 In this month they celebrate, 
 during five days, a great feaft, 
 named Phardoudgian^. 
 
 The firfl day they drive out 
 the Koujadge f , and the ftrongefl 
 mules, which is pradl'ifed in 
 Erac, and in Perfia. In Syria, 
 in the Dgezire, and Egypt, this 
 ceremony is not known. In 
 Perfia, during feveral days, they 
 eat dgiazar or ghezer, which 
 word fignifies both garlic and 
 fat meat, to drive away the 
 cold. It is a great feafl among 
 the Perfians. 
 
THE GOLDEN 
 
 M E 
 
 : A D 0 w s. 
 
 7 - 
 
 Mordad. 
 
 19. 
 
 Phervardin. 
 
 8. 
 
 Dibadour. 
 
 20. 
 
 .Behram. 
 
 9 * 
 
 Adour. 
 
 21. 
 
 Ram. 
 
 3 0 . 
 
 Aban. 
 
 22, 
 
 Bad. 
 
 11. 
 
 Khour. 
 
 23 * 
 
 Dibadin. 
 
 3 2. 
 
 Mah. 
 
 24. 
 
 Din. 
 
 13 ' 
 
 Tin 
 
 25. 
 
 Ird. 
 
 14. 
 
 Ghoufch. 
 
 26. 
 
 Afchtad. 
 
 ^ 5 - 
 
 Deibamihir. 
 
 27. 
 
 Afman. 
 
 36. 
 
 Mihn 
 
 28. 
 
 Zamaid. 
 
 17* 
 
 Sourofch. 
 
 29. 
 
 Marifphand. 
 
 18. 
 
 Refch. 
 
 . 30 - 
 
 Aniran. 
 
 They add to the year five days^, which they call 
 in general;, Phouroudgian ^ and which, in particular^ 
 bear the following names: \,Ahnoud-gahy 2, AJchnoud- 
 -gah^ 3. Tamjgahy 4. Mafrougahy 5. KaJa}A\ 
 
 The Perfians infert in thefe 120 years, the fourth 
 month, and then poftpone the Nevrouz one month, 
 (it is to bring up the quarter of a day) in order to 
 avoid certain days, looked upon as unlucky* 
 
 The Arabians have a year of 354 days, which dif- 
 fers from that of the Syrians by eleven days and a 
 cpiarter; but the ancient Arabians, who did not fol- 
 low this method, intercalated every third year a 
 month, which they called Nefiy that is to fay, obli- 
 vion. Their mtonths were relative to the feafons, 
 and the occupations of the people] but at prefent we 
 are not affured enough of this relation to the feafons* 
 
 * The author fays, that the Arabians called them, i. Hair. 
 ^.Harir. Caleb-al-ahr. (or Phahr) . 4. HapheUal-Khoughn. ^.Moud-^ 
 lizah-ahhoar. 
 
 I. Mouhar- 
 
T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S, 157 
 
 1. Mouharram^ y alfo called Tahoud-\. 
 
 IfA this month they did not go to war; and it 
 is for this reafon that it has been called Mouhar- 
 ram, or Sacred. 
 
 2. Sepher or MoiiphdlL 
 
 Sepher fignifies void, becaiife they went to 
 ^var, and the towns were void. 
 
 3. Rabi-aiaioual, or Nadgir. 
 
 4. Rabi-alaz-her, ox AJmah. 
 
 In thefe two months they drove the animals 
 into the fields ; and this is the meaning of the 
 word Rahi. 
 
 5. Dgioumadi-al-aouel, ox Amnahi 
 
 Dgioumadi i. 
 
 6. Dgioumadi-alak-her, Adlah or Adlady 
 
 or Dgioumadi 2. 
 
 In thefe two months the w^aters freeze, or arc 
 very cold. The author believes that there is a 
 tranfpofition of time for thefe months of the 
 firft column. Dgiamad fignifies frigidus con- 
 cretus. 
 
 7. Redgeb, or Lajaa. 
 
 Regeb fignifies dread, becaufe they w^re in 
 dread in this month, which was one of the facred. 
 
 8. Schaaban, Zaher. 
 
 Becaufe of the aifembly of the tribes. 
 
 * At prefent, thofe months oF the firh column, that is to fay, Mou- 
 harram, fall in all feafons, becaufe the year of the Mufl’ulmans, which 
 is loofe, has but 354 days. 
 
 t I have not met, any where elfe, with thefe ancient names of the 
 Arabian months Taboud, Mou/vall, &c. 
 
 9. Ramadlian, 
 
158 T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S. 
 
 9. Ramadhan^ Barth, 
 
 Becaufe of the great heat, 
 ro. Schouah or Ndis, 
 
 Becaufe the animals fight, and therefore the 
 ancient Arabians would never marry in this 
 month, 
 
 II. Dhoulcaada, Mourdis. 
 
 Becaufe they ceafe then to make war. 
 
 T2. Dhoul-hedge, Otiaphad, 
 
 They went then on pilgrimage. 
 
 The facred months of the ancient Arabians were 
 Mouharram, Redgeb, Dhoulcaada and Doulhedge. 
 They had what v/e call a weeky of v/hich the firff day 
 was cdiWtd Aoualy or the firft-, the fecond day Ahouany 
 the third day DgiahhaVy the fourth day DihaVy the fifth 
 day MouneSy the fixth day Arcubay and the feventh 
 Shiar, At prefent the Arabians give to our Sunday 
 the name of dAtfirft dajy becaufe God then began the 
 creation 5 to Monday, that of the fecond , to T uefday, 
 Wednefday, and Thurfday, that of the thirdy fourth y 
 ■and fifth y to pTiday, the day of the affemhlyy becaufe the 
 creatures alTembled on that day ; and to Saturday, 
 that of Sahty becaufe God refted. The ancient 
 Arabians had five feafons, autumn, winter, two llim- 
 mexs, Sdlf and Kihty and the fpring. 
 
 N ot to admit any thing concerning the method of 
 reckoning the time among the Orientals, we will here 
 add an aera vdilch was peculiar to the Arabians, of 
 which Maibudi fpeaks at the end of his lifl: of the 
 kings of Yemen. It is that of the elephant, or the ma- 
 fcers-of the elephant, created on the occaiion of an ir- 
 ruption 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 159 
 ruption of the Ethiopians into Mecca. D’Herbelot 
 ipeaks of it at the word "Tarikh-al-fily or Afoah-al-fily 
 and AJhrahah'y but he does not compare it with any 
 other tera. Mafoiidi informs us, that its firfc day is 
 a Sunday, i6th of Mouharram., of the year 832 of 
 Alexander, and the year 216 of the Arabian ^ra, the 
 beginning of which is Hadget-al-ghadra, or Al- 
 Phadr. 
 
 By this we fee the relation of the asra of the ele- 
 phant to that of Alexander, and with another Arabian 
 «ra v/hich I know not. 
 
 After thefe details, Mafoudi treats, in a few words, of 
 the phafes of the moon ; of the elements, and of the 
 Earsj he relates the fpeculations fome philofophers 
 have made on the duration of the world. / Some of 
 them contend, fays he, that power is now in the feed, 
 (of the Virgin) and that the power lafts 7000 years : 
 this muil therefore be the age of the world in which 
 we liv'e. The feed affifls Moufchtari, or Jupiter, in 
 the government of the univerfe. They pretend that 
 the end of the w^orld mud; happen when the circle of 
 the ruling Ears will be accomplifned^ that then all will 
 recommence as heretofore. They think that the power 
 of Aries is for 12,000 years; that of Taurus 1 1,000 ; 
 of Gemini, 1 0,000 ; Cancer, 9000 ; Leo, 8000 ; Vir- 
 go, 7000; Libra, 6000 ; Scorpio, 5000 ; Sagitta- 
 rius, 4000 ; Capricorn, 3000 ; Aquarius, 2000 ; 
 Pifces, 1000. There are fbme who pretend, that at 
 the renewal, all will be in the fame fliape as before; 
 others the reverfe; that what had been north would 
 
 be 
 
i6o T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S. 
 be Ibuth, and that what was inhabited would be urn 
 inhabitable. 
 
 Mafoudi fpeaks alfo in this place> of the extent and 
 diftance of feveral countries^, but we poftone thefe de- 
 tails to the end of this account;, alfo the meafure of 
 the earth ; and fhall take a view of the chronological 
 table^ y/hich clofes tliis part of the ancient hiflory. 
 Mafoudi alTures us^ that he has taken thefe epochas 
 fi^om the books of thehlagi;, which he had before him; 
 works which we do not know, and probably never 
 fliail know. Thefe magi, fays he, had written their 
 own hiflory, and that of other nations, and have treat- 
 ed of the beginning and end of the world ; feveral 
 among them maintain that it had no beginning, and 
 chat it ilrall never have an end ; others, that it fnall 
 Jrave an end, though it had not a beginning. Mafoudi, 
 who had travelled all over the eail, v/as in a capacity 
 of feeing thofe books which exifted at this time, though 
 perhaps fmce deilroyed. 
 
 Some of the magi reckon (MS. 599, A.) from 
 Zoroafter, fon of Efpentaman, to Alexander, 280 or 
 250 years, 
 
 Alexander reigned fix years. 
 
 From Alexander to Ardfchir (or Artaxexes 1 .) 
 564 years. 
 
 From Adam to the Flegira, 6i26Tears. 
 
 From Adam to the deluge, 2256 years. 
 
 From the deluge to the birth of Abraham, 1079 
 years. 
 
 From the birth of Abraham -to Mofes, (aged 80 
 years) when he went out of Eg/pt, 565 }'ears. 
 
 From 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. i6i 
 
 From the departure out of Egypt, to the fourth year 
 of the reign of Solomon, who built the temple of Je- 
 rufilem, 636 years. 
 
 From the building of the temple of Jerufalem, to 
 the reign of A-lexander, 717 years. 
 
 From Alexander, to the birth of the Meffiah, 369 
 years. 
 
 From the birth of the Meffiah, to that of the pro- 
 phet Mahomet, 525 years* 
 
 From the refurreCtion of the Meffiiah, aged 33 
 years, to the difappearing of the prophet, 546 years* 
 
 Between the miffion of the Meffiah and the Hegira, 
 594 years. 
 
 The death of the prophet happened the year 935 
 of Alexander. ^ 
 
 From David to Mahomet, 1702 years, 6 months, 
 10 days. 
 
 From Abraham to Mahomet^ 27 26 years, 6 months, 
 10 days. 
 
 From Noah to Mahomet, 3720 years, 10 days. 
 
 The total from Adam to the miffiion of the prophet, 
 4011 years, 6 months, 10 days. 
 
 From Adam to the prefent time, that is to fay, to 
 the year 332 of theFIegira, when the khalif Mottaki 
 Billah repaired from Egypt to Racca, 5156 years. 
 
 We confine ourfelves to the pointing out- of thefe 
 different epochas, as we find them in the Arabian au- 
 thor from whom we give this account ; it is the pro- 
 vince of the learned to examine them. It is not con- 
 fiftent with our plan to difcufs the opinions we meet 
 with in the Oriental v/riters, nor to explain the difficul- 
 VoL. I. M ties 
 
iSz T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S. 
 ties which may be found in their writings; a finglc 
 author would then often employ us too long. 
 
 I thought proper to fupprefs in this part of our ac- 
 count^ what Mafoudi reports of the tem.ples among 
 the Perfians, Arabians, Greeks, Romans, &c. He 
 fcarcely gives a defcription of any of thofe monu- 
 ments, and the little he fays of them is loaded with 
 fables. The learned may confult his work, but the 
 details he enters into, ieem to me ufelefs to the gene- 
 rality of readers. At the end of this article, the copy 
 of the manufcript. No. 599, fays, he finifhed his copy 
 on a Friday, the tenth day of Mouharram, the year of 
 the Hegira 964, of Jefus Chrift 1556. The manufcript 
 598, much lefs diffufive, has been written at Sephed, 
 in the mionth of Mouharram, in the year of the Hegira 
 974, and of Jeilis Chrift 1668. In the latter of thefe 
 manufcripts, they have left blanks for all the titles to 
 be written with red ink, which is the reafon it is fo 
 difficult to find out what is fought for there. 
 
 It remains that we fhould fpeak of the latter part of 
 the work of Mafoudi, which comprehends the hiftory 
 of the khalifs ; it is found only in the MS. 599 A, and 
 is the natural confequence of what has gone before; 
 but it is not fuch as we fhould have wifhed. The 
 author, in conformity to the title of Mouroudg-ed- 
 
 dhabab, or the Golden Meadows,” which he has 
 given his work, confiders it only as a meadow en- 
 amelled with a variety of flowers fcattered without 
 order; but he is the lefs cenfurable in this refpeft, as 
 he has compofed two other hiftorical works, the one 
 intitled Akhhar~a%~Zarnanj the other YMah-al-aouJathy 
 
 which 
 
THEiGOLDEN MEADOWS. 163 
 which contain the hiftory of the ancient and modern 
 times, where he relates the tranfadions with greater ex- 
 tent, and to which he refers very often in this 3 which 
 is the reafon why lie commonly abridges his recital, 
 and does not even make mention of fome of the 
 great events 3 therefore, this work ought only to 
 be confidered as a colledlion of particular memoirs, or' 
 rather as anecdotes of the lives of the khalifs. In this 
 view he may be ufeful to any writer who might at- 
 teiTipt an hiftory of thofe princes. Generally, die 
 Arabian hiftorians do not defcribe the tranfacftions and 
 events with the extent and perfpicuity v/e require 5 and 
 it is neceftary to confult many of them to unite the 
 different circumftances which they relate. Thus thofe 
 anecdotes of Mafoudi, if placed at the end of the 
 great tranfadlions which precede them, and of which 
 they are confequent, will ferve to give a greater in- 
 tereft to his work, whereas they are unconne6led; 
 and to underftand them, it is abfolutely neceffary to 
 know what has given occafion for them, which in thi^ 
 account would compel us to inquiries that might 
 carry us too far. Thus we ftiall not be fo copious 
 on this part as we derigned3 elfev/here, we fhall have 
 occafion to fpeak of other hiftorians, in v/hof'e writings 
 the fubjects may be more copious and rich. The 
 work that now employs us, is but an abridgment, 
 on which it is ufelefs to dwell 3 but in this abridg- 
 ment the author, convinced of the neceffity that a 
 precife knowledge of the chronology is neceffary 
 to hiftory, fixes, with the greateft care, the prin- 
 cipal dates of the reigns of the khalifs, and fays, 
 he has confulted for that purpofe, the beft docu- 
 
 M 2 mcnts. 
 
i 64 the golden. meadows. 
 
 ments. This part of the book of Mafoudi fcems to 
 us not to be beneath the attention of thofe that apply 
 themfeives to the Oriental hifcory. His exadlnefs 
 is perceptible in examining the books of the Magi, 
 Nabatheans, and Chriftians, to make known the dif- 
 ferent epochas of ancient hiftory. He has iifed the fame 
 care wdth that of the khalifs, and concludes his work 
 independent of the epochas of each khalif v/ith a 
 chronological table of thole princes, in v/hich he 
 marks the different opinions of the chronologies, when 
 he has any difficulties or doubts. 
 
 He begins with the birth of Mohammed, alias 
 Ahmed; relates his genealogy, as alfo that of his mo- 
 ther, whom he traces back to Adam by a feries of 
 perfonages, whofe names he records. All hifliorian^ 
 agree on the generations, in recounting from Maho- 
 met to Adnan, the 20th of his anceftors; but they 
 differ with refped to thofe that were prior to Adnan. 
 Mafoudi refers to his great work about what particu- 
 larly concerns the latter. 
 
 The hifcory of Mahomet is fufficiently known to 
 us. M. Gagnier has given in England the mod par- 
 ticular account of the life of this legiflator of the Muf- 
 fulmans, and has therein colledied all the Arabian 
 , traditions. Dr, Prideaux has alfo publifhed an hil- 
 tory, but more abridged; we find likewife in different 
 tranfiations of the Alcoran, inquiries more or lefs ex- 
 tenfive on this pretended prophot, fo that Mafoudi can 
 hardly give us any new accounts. However, he iTiakes 
 mention of all the liardfhips Mahomet experienced in 
 his miffion, and of the neceffity he found him- 
 
 felf 
 
T H E G O L D E N M E A D O V/ S. 165 
 lelf under of abandoning Mecca, to take refuge in 
 Medina, which he calls the Hegira or flight, and is 
 now become the tera of the Muflulmans, and of which 
 he makes the firfi: year anfv/er to the 3 2d of Khofrou- 
 Peruiz, king of Perfia, to the ninth of Heraclius, 
 king of the Chriftians, (emperor of Confcantinopie) 
 and to the 933d of Alexander. TheMuiTulman wri- 
 ters are' not ftriclily agreed upon the duration of his 
 life. According to fome he lived 60 years j accord- 
 ing to others 63; and to others 65. 
 
 Mahomet, had for his fucceiTor, Aboubakr ; after- 
 wards Omar, Othm.an, Aly, and FlaiTan, reigned, not by 
 right of kindred, but by eledion of the people. The 
 author refers us for details always to his great work, 
 and dwells only on particular circumftances, for which 
 he often relates the very words of different perfons, and 
 frequently the verfes of feveral Arabian poets, when 
 they have any reference thereto. Thefe recitals 
 are mierely converfations, confequently little interefting 
 to us, though they are often fo to a Mufflilman, as they 
 refpedt his religion ; frequently they are only little 
 tales and adventures among the domefrics, and of- 
 ficers of the khalifs, reported at feme lengthy and 
 even dreams are inferted. 
 
 The author remiarks, in fpeakingt)f Omar, that he 
 was the firil to whom the title of Emir-al-Moumenin, 
 or. Prince of the Faithful^ was given, and the firfi: for 
 w’hom they prayed under that title in the pulpits of the 
 mofques. Wefiiall remark, on this occafion, that at 
 prayers in the mofques, they ufed the Khothha^ a kind 
 of difeourfe, in Vvhich, after they had given praife to 
 God and to the prophet, they naimed the reigning 
 
 3 M khalif. 
 
166 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 khalif, and this nomination was the firfl: mark of his 
 fovereignty j a pradlice which was obferved at all times 
 in that empire ; and the fuppreffion of his name an- 
 nounced a revolt. When Egypt, which had been con^ 
 quered by Omar, ceafed to acknowledge the khalifs 
 of Bagdad, the ufurper curfed the khalif from the 
 pulpit, who, on his part, at Bagdad, caufed him who 
 had taken up arms againii him in that country, to be 
 curfed in return, and himfeif to be proclaimed khalif: 
 
 Omar made great conquefcs, the principal of which 
 tvas Egypt. Mafoudi does not fpeak of it, be- 
 
 caufe,” fays he^ I have made mention of it in my 
 
 book, Ahhhar-az-Zaman^" and that I collebl in this 
 only a few anecdotes that have efcaped me. From 
 hence v/e may judge of this vv^ork. The reign of 
 Aly was full of diiTentions, which occafioned a fchifm 
 among the MuiTulm.anss but fupplied Mafoudi with 
 many details of little moment, which we do not think 
 worthy to be tranferibed ; it would be in truth con- 
 du(d:ing the reader through the barren deferts of 
 Arabia : but many of them are interefting to MulTul- 
 mans, becaufe thofe that a6l therein, are the heroes of 
 their religion, of whom they are inquifitive even after 
 the rnoft trifling aclions. It is known that the khalifs 
 were both the pontifs of MulTulmanifm and the fo- 
 vereigns of the nation ; that they united the two powers, 
 fpiritual and temporal. 
 
 To the death of Aly and HalTan the empire had 
 been elective ; but it became hereditary under Moa- 
 via, fon of Abou-Saphiam, v/ho fucceeded them, 
 and v/ho is the hrll of the family of the Ommiades. 
 
 He 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 167 
 
 % 
 
 He was proclaimed khalif the fbrty-firft year of the 
 Hegira (of Jefus Chrift 66 1), The two princes, his 
 fucceflbrs, veiled with both powers, extended their 
 empire from Spain and Africa as far as India, of 
 which they fabdued fome countries. The Mufrlil- 
 man religion was efrablifhed in all thofe regions, and 
 the devout Muflulmans carried it even farther. In 
 the interior part, this empire was agitated by v/ars, 
 which the partifans of Aiy and his poilerity carried 
 on. This dynafty of the Ommiades was at lafr 
 ilripped of the empire it had poiTeiTed (as Mafoudi 
 fays) for looo months complete, without any addi- 
 tion or diminution, which makes 90 years, 1 1 months, 
 and 1 3 days ; or, according to others, 9 1 ' years, 
 9 months, 13 days j including the reign of Abdallah, 
 fon of Zobair, which lafted 7 years, 10 months, and 
 3 days. 
 
 In the year 132 of the Hegira, (of Jefus Chrift 749) 
 the Abbafndes fucceeded to the Ommiades. Aboui- 
 abbas-abdallah, who was of the family of Maho- 
 met, is the firft of thefe princes. He was upon his 
 pilgrimage to Mecca, when he was proclaimed khalif. 
 On the day of his proclamation, one Daoad, Ion of 
 Aly, afcended the pulpit at Koufa, and harangued the 
 people aftembledin a few words. People of Koufa f 
 fays he, there exifts among you an Irnan mofl elevated^ 
 fucceffor of the amhaffador of God ; it is the fon of 
 Abou-thaleh ; he is arnong you \ it is Aboul-abhas-as- 
 faff ah A All thefe fort of harangues, wliich the 
 Arabians made to the people, are ftiort. Aboul- 
 abbas repaired to the mofque on Friday, and held the 
 M 4 kliodiba 
 
i68 THE GOLDEN M E A D O V/ S, 
 khothba or difcourfe from the pulpit. It was then the 
 cuftom that the khalifs themfelves mounted the pul- 
 pit ; where, after htiving made the ordinary prayers to 
 God and to the prophet, they announced to the people 
 what they had to communicate to them. The Om- 
 miades performed this ceremiony feared ; Aboul- 
 abbas did it ftanding, an adion that was agreeable to 
 the people, fie then promifed to watch over their 
 defence, and to do them feryicej and Daoad, his 
 uncle, who was behind him, added, There has not 
 been among you, fince the prophets, a klialif, or 
 commander of the faithful, greater or more exalted 
 “ than this.” They both defccnded, and went after- 
 wards againii: the Ommiades, who (till m,aintamed 
 themfelves in Syria ; the latter were vanquifned, and 
 a great (laughter was made among them. This 
 prince built die town of Bagdad, which from tliis 
 time became the capital of the empire of the Muiilil- 
 rnans. 
 
 Tiiefe khalifs co.ufcd the fciences to flouriih in their 
 dominions, and a great number of Greek books to 
 be tranriaced into Arabic. The learned and the 
 poets (for the Arabians w^re always fend of j.oct:y) 
 had accefs to them, and were admitted to tLeir com- 
 pany. Thefe princes did not affedt great pomp in 
 their veflments : the Abbafildes were dielTtd in bkek. 
 Mafoudi remarks, that the klialif Motaz, wiio was 
 proclaimed anno 252 of the Hegira, (of jefus ChrifI: 
 866) was the firil who appealed on hoifeback with 
 ornaments of gold; all his predeceirois, as v/ell as 
 the OmiTiiades, had worn filver only. He ufed great 
 
 magnificence 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 169 
 magnificence in his cloaths, and his fubjeds imitated 
 his example j but he was depofed afterv/ards, and pe- 
 riflied miferably in a cellar, where he had been aban- 
 doned. Luxury and effeminacy finifhed the ruin of 
 thefe princes, who eafed themfelves of the care of 
 government, by an officer which they created, and 
 relembles our mayors of the palace, vdiich reduced 
 the khalifs to the mere fun^lion of the prieflihood, 
 without any other authority : they no longer received 
 tribute. 
 
 Mafoudi brings down thefe hiftorical mifcellanies 
 to his own time ; that is, to the reign of Mothi- 
 billah, proclaimed khalif in the year of the Hegira 
 334, and of Jefus Chrift 945. This, in a few words, . 
 is the ftate of the Arabian empire, which fubfifted no 
 more in this nation. Strangers (Mufifulmans, it is 
 true) made themfelves mailers of feveral provinces ; 
 fo that it might be called, with more propriety, the 
 empire of the MuiTulmans. Syria was then ravaged, 
 and in part over-run by fedlaries, called Carmathes, 
 The reft of this country, with Egypt, were under the 
 jurifdiclion of princes named Ikhjchidites, The pre- 
 deceiTor of Mothi had lofl Bagdad, and was thrown 
 into a prifon, where he had been deprived of fight ^ 
 and many other khalifs had been expofed to fimi- 
 lar treatment. The Bouides princes had flripped 
 them of all the eaftern provinces towards Perfia. 
 Mothi, though refiding in Bagdad, did not enjoy any 
 authority ; he had not even a vizier of his own nomi- 
 nation ; an officer placed by the Bouides performed 
 that office. Thefe Bouides, are originally from the 
 
 province 
 
J 70 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS, 
 province of Dilem ; defcended, according to the hif- 
 torians^ from the ancient kings of Perfia. Mafoudi 
 tells US;, that there were in this province a confide- 
 rable number of magi ; they are the fame which we 
 , call now Gbei^resy or worjhippers of the fire : they had 
 fortified themfelves in the mountains, where they were 
 pofTefTed of feveral forts. About the year 301 of the 
 Hegira, (of Jefus Chrift 913) a perfonage named 
 Athroujchy^ defcending from Aly, fon of Abou-thaleb, 
 repaired to Thabareftan and Dilem, where he preached 
 Mahomedanifm : many of thefe magi embraced it, 
 and they built mofques in their countries. ' The Muf- 
 fuimans were at that time mailers of the frontiers 5 
 that is, of the towns of Cafwin, Salous, and fome 
 others. There was in the town of Schalafch a very 
 flrong caflle, which was the refidence of the kings of 
 Perfia : Athroufch introduced Mahomedanifm there, 
 and went fofar as to obtain its demolition. ‘ The Kho- 
 rafan was then ruled by a prince named Akmed, fon 
 of Ifmail, who came to make himfelf mafter of it, 
 as well as Cafwin, Zendgiar, Com, and other places. 
 The Bouides, who occupied Perfia, overcame the 
 princes that reigned in Dilem. Africa and Spain 
 were in the hands of a branch of the family of the 
 Qmmiades, which had eilablilhed themlelves there. 
 Bafra, Vafeth, and Ahouaz, were belonging to the 
 Baridians ; Moufoul, the provinces of Diarrabia, and 
 of Diarbekr, to the Hamadanites. 1 he khalifs, 
 proud of the title of pontif and iman, knew no 
 longer how to command their armies. In the midfl 
 of fo many tempefls, die khalif pafTed his life in ef- 
 feminacy 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 171 
 feminacy and pleafures, in expedation that a revo- 
 lution would foon put another in his place. They 
 v/ere never after able to re-eftablifn themfelves ; and 
 the only mark of authority of which they were not 
 divefledj was that of the priefthood ; they were forced 
 to give the invefdture of provinces when they were 
 demanded ; a cuPcom which was become neceffary to 
 maintain the people in obedience to the new fove- 
 xeign i and a refufal on fuch an occafion often caufed 
 the depcfition of a khalif. 
 
 In collecting the little details related by Mafoudi, 
 which are many, a writer that would comipile the hifv 
 tory of the khalifs, would be enabled perfedlly to learu 
 the character of thefe princes, and that of their offi- 
 cers ; but he would have much to fupprefs. Ma- 
 foudi marks alfo, from time to tiime, the perfonages 
 that have diftinguifhed themfelves in fciences and re- 
 ligion. What he fays is fufficient to a MufTulman 
 already infliru died; but often he does not fay enough 
 to make us acquainted with them. At the end of 
 this hiilory, he fubjoins a chronological table of the 
 khalifs, v/hich will be feen at the concluhon of this 
 account ; and gives the catalogues of feveral diftin- 
 guiffied perfonages who have made the pilgrimage of 
 Mecca uninterefting to us. He ends his work, ac-. 
 cording to the cufbom of the Muffiulmans, with the 
 praifes of God and thofe of the prophet. 
 
 The copyift fays, I have finiffied writing this 
 manufcript 599 A. the 21ft of the month Rabi-al- 
 akher, of the year 1109 of the Hegira, (of Jefus 
 Chrifl 1697.)’^ 
 
 Meajure 
 
172 
 
 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 Meajure of the Earthy reported hy Majoudi, 
 
 Aitronomical obfervations^ and particularly thof© 
 which concern the meafure of the earth, undertaken 
 at different times, by order of feveral fovereigns, ap - 
 pear to us obje6ls too important to be neglefted in 
 thefe accounts ; but we have pofc poned them, in order 
 to avoid interrupting the narration* W e fliall fub- 
 join the diftances of places, and their inmerary mea- 
 fures, which are fo little known, becaufe of the va- 
 riations in different countries, and different ap;es. 
 The Arabs have reckoned by miles, from whence 
 they have preferved, in th-cir language, the word rdly 
 by cubits, by lingers, and by grains : they have alfo 
 a meafure, which comprizes a day's journey : this, 
 they call manzaUy or ftation, but they have no clear 
 idea of a foot, M. Picard, in a colled'ion of different 
 works of mathematics and phytic, of the Royal 
 Academy of Sciences, printed at the Loure, in 1693, 
 folio, has given fome firft effays on thefe meafures. 
 He cites the tefiimony of an Arabian author, named 
 Hapan, which makes the circumference of the earth 
 24,000 mil : this, M. Picard extends to Alexandrian 
 miles, compofed of feven forlongs and an half, or five 
 hundred Alexandrian feet. He again cites Aboul- 
 feda, who fays, that five hundred furlongs make fix- 
 ty-fix mil two-thirds. M. Picard flippofes, that 
 thefe are Alexandrian furlongs, horn v/hence he con- 
 cludes, that the Arabian mile is feven furlongs and 
 an half, and that an Arabian and Alexandrian mile 
 are the fame s the latter, according to him, is com- 
 pofed 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 173 
 pofed of four thoufand five hundred Alexandrian 
 feet, and the Arabian mile of fix thoufand Arabian 
 feet i from whence he concludes, that the Alexan- 
 drian foot is, to an Arabian foot, as four is to three. 
 Edv/ard Barnard has alfo given a treatife, de Men- 
 Juris et Fonderihiis Orient alium^ after M. d’Anville. 
 
 In a fmall work on itinerary meafures, he there 
 fpeaks much of the Arabian meafures ; but he is not 
 always acquainted v/ith the proportions and relations 
 they bear to each other, efpecially as it appears that 
 thofe meafures have undergone many alterations. It 
 is then neceflary, in order to fix our ideas on them, 
 to relate in thefe accounts, all that the Arabian au- 
 thors, according to their different ages, can furnifh 
 us on this fubject, as we fhall review them. I fhali 
 give here what I have found in Mafoudi. This writer 
 relates, with fome extent, the meafurement of the 
 earth, made under the khalifat of Almamoun. We 
 have been ignorant until now, in what country the 
 aflronomers of his time have made this operation. 
 Mafoudi tells us tliat it was between Racca and Pal- 
 myra. Our aflronomers fuppofe it was elfewherej 
 and Golius, in his notes on Alfragan, infinuates that 
 it was towards Nefibin, more' to the north. After 
 the recital of Mafoudi, it appears that thefe conjec- 
 tures are not well founded. M. le Monnier, of the 
 Academy of Sciences, anxious to contribute to our 
 labours, has kindly undertaken to examine this mea- 
 furement of the earth, and to communicate to us his 
 reflections, which we infert after the text. We fhall 
 
 add, 
 
iH THE GOLDEN M E A D O V/ S. 
 add, at the fame time, at the bottom of the pages 
 feme notes, which have appeared to us neceffary. 
 
 Under the khalifat of MaiTxOun, (who died anno 
 833 of Jefiis Chriil) there v/as an obfervation of the 
 fun made in the defart of Sangiar, depending on the 
 province called Diar-rabia, and they found, that 
 the meafure of a degree of the furface of the earth 
 was fifty-fix miles^. They multiplied that mea- 
 fire of a degree j, by three hundred it refulted 
 that the circumference of the earth v/as 20,060 
 miles ; this they multiplied by feven, and found 
 140,420, which they divided by twenty-two^ 
 whence refulted a quotient, that gave the meafure 
 of the earth’s diameter, viz. 6,414 miles, and about 
 the half of ten. T he half of the diameter of the 
 earth is 3,207 miles. 
 
 The fixteen dakika, (a fort of minutes) are a 
 quarter of a mile, and the quarter of a tenth part of 
 
 Aboiilfedha, cited by M. d’Anville, Menfures Iteneraires, page 
 38, eftimates a degree fifty-fix miles and two-thirds. We may confult 
 the notes of Golius Alphergani, page 715 and following, on this mea- 
 fure of the Arabians. But Mafoudi prefents circumltances which he 
 has not. 
 
 f To proceed to this meafure, agreeable to Aboiilfedha, the aftro- 
 nomers, after having exadtbr taken the elevation of the pole, at the 
 place whence they were to depart, divided themfelves into two bands ; 
 the one proceeded towards the north, and the other towards the fouth, 
 each follovv'ing, exactly, the line from which they had departed, un- 
 til thofe that walked northward perceived that the pole rofe, and 
 thofe that went on tov;ard the fouth, fav/ that it defeended a degree. 
 They returned then to the place whence they had departed, and 
 comparing what they had found, thefe had fifty-fix miles and one- 
 third, and the others iifty-fix miles, without a fraction. They took 
 the greater, namely, the fifty-fix miles and one-third of a mile. 
 
 a mile. 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 175 
 a mile. The mile is of 4000 cubits, and thofe 
 which are called ajouady (or black cubits) efta- 
 blifhed by the khalif Mamoun, to meafure fluffs, 
 buildings, and roads. — The cubit is of 120 
 fingers*.” 
 
 O 
 
 On this text M. le Monnier obferves, Firff, that 
 inffead of joo, we fhould read 360: it is perhaps the 
 error of the copyifl. 
 
 Second, Fifty-fix multiplied by 300, gives a pro- 
 duff of 20,160, and not 20,060 miles, as it Hands in 
 the text ; another error of the copyifl, who has forgot 
 the hundred. 
 
 Third, "They divided hy 21, The ordinary rule, or 
 that of Archimacdes, is to find the eflimation of the 
 diameter of a circle, that is to fay, as 22 is to 7, fo is 
 20,160 miles to the fourth member. Now we have 
 jufl hinted, that 20,160, multiplied by feven, gives 
 141,120 to the produff i which divided by 22, would 
 yield but a quotient of 6414 6-1 iths, which comes 
 pretty near to what we find above, viz. 6414 miles, 
 and the half of ten, or the fraction 6-1 iths. 
 
 A little lov/er, Mafoudi relates the fentim^ ent of 
 Ptolemy, on the meafure of the circumference of the 
 earth, fixed at 24,000 miles ; its diameter at 7636 
 miles. They came to this knov/ledge,” lays he, 
 
 ^ M. de Anville Meafures Jteneraires, page 37. ancJ foil, difllngulfiies 
 three cubits ajffiong the Arabians j the ancient 32 fingers, the com- 
 mon of 24 ; the black of 27. He does not fpeak of this, of 120 fingers : 
 he thinks it is the common that was ufed in the meafurement of the 
 earth, under Almamoun, and is willing to refute Goiius, who is con- 
 formable to Mafoudi. M. d'Anville cites often Arabian- authors, 
 without naming the book in which he has found the text. 
 
 “ by 
 
176 T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S. 
 by taking the elevation of the north pole^ in two 
 towns fituated on the fame meridian of the eqiii- 
 nohliai line} as, one fide Tadmor^, (Palmyra) in 
 
 * Abaifedli'a, cited by M. Schiikens in bis Jizdex Geograpincus in 
 ^Sitam Sahdini, puts between Palmyra and Damafcus 59 miles j betvteen 
 Palmyra and Robba 102 miles. 
 
 As it is of importance to fix the pofition cf this place, M. leMon- 
 rder has examined what has been faid of Palmyra, in the Philofophical 
 Tranfahtions, No. 217 ; where we find the relation of the journey of 
 William H alii fax, addreficd to M. Bernard. 
 
 “ Departing on St, Michael’s da}^, 1691, from Aleppo, they employ- 
 ed fix days in eroding the defert to Palmyra. They almoft continually 
 direcled their way fouthward, with a fmall deviation towards the eaft. 
 Arriving at that town, they took fome notice of a cafde, diftant about 
 half an hour’s walk. 
 
 After four days fiaVi they returned by a different way ; they advanc- 
 ed eafiward as far as the Euphrates, and to reach this bream, they em- 
 ployed at firfi; three days, pafiing through a village named Thire, Having 
 arrived the lame night at the Euphrates, they crofied it two days after. 
 They then refided two nights, and employed two days returning to 
 Aleppo. The whole journey lafted ten days.” 
 
 At No. 218 of the fame Tranfadions, we find another journey from 
 Aleppo to Tadmor, begun the i8th of July 1678, and ended the 29th 
 of the fame month. The travellers had compafies, and having fettled 
 their route, they fixed the diftance from Aleppo to Tadmor at 150 
 miles. The diredion being fouth-fouth-eaft, or rather fomewhat more 
 inclined to the fouth, becaufe of the variation of the needle, w'hichwas 
 half a point, or thereabouts, three degrees three quarters more well- 
 ward in thole countries. 
 
 At the Article III. of the Tranfadions, Halley fpeaks of Aleppo and 
 Ibmc ether places, which, fays 'he, are placed by Ptolemaeus, at the 
 thirty-fixth degree, whereas the meridian elevation of the tropic, or 
 Summer folllice, has been deemed to be of 77 degrees in 1680, w'hich 
 gives but 36 degrees 20 minutes; or more exadly, 36 degrees 12 mi- 
 nutes; which agree within three quarters of a degree. A great error 
 in -Kepler, who fuppofed that Aleppo v/as the ancient Antiochia at the 
 foot of Mount Taurus, the latitude of which is prefentedin the Rudol- 
 phian tables, by .37 degrees 20 mihutes ; which has been adopted by 
 fevcral, without fpeakingof Cartefius, who have copied that error, 
 
 - ■ the 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 177 
 the defcrt, which is between Perfia and Syria ; and 
 on the other, the town of Racca. They found 
 that the elevation of the pole in the town of Racca% 
 " was 85 parts and a third, and in that of Tadmor, 
 "84 parts 5 which makes one part and a third dif- 
 ference. They mcafured the interval between 
 Racca and T admor, and found it 37 miles.’* 
 
 In another place of Mafoudi, there is alfo the fol- 
 lowing text, which refpedts the fame fubjedt: The 
 
 eq'uLrio6tial line, which goes from eaft to weft, is 
 vvhat they call thouly or the length of the earth. 
 There is alfo the Zodiac circle Ardhy or its breadth, 
 which is taken from the fan them pole, about which 
 the ftars, called Benatnaajchy or the daughters of the 
 coffiny are turning;” (thefe are the ftars of the Great 
 Bear, fo we fttould therefore read northern inftead 
 fouthern),'* 
 
 The circuit of the earth, at the equinocftial line, is 
 36 degreesf. 
 
 The degree is of 25 parafangs. 
 
 The parafang of 12,000 dheraay or cubits. 
 
 The dheraa of forty- two fingers. . 
 
 • Racca is fituated on the Euphrates, almoft dire£Hy to the north of 
 Palmyra. The latter is at the weft of the Euphrates, M. Schultens 
 cites various Arabian authors, who aver that Mecca lies on the weft 
 Ihore of the Euphrates, between which and Harran, there is three days 
 Journey. 
 
 t Si< and thirty degrees. I doubt whether there is not an error of 
 the copyifts here. They may have divided the fphere in 36 great 
 portions, as the Chaldeans had 36 decani, and each of thefe great por- 
 tions might have been divided in ten parts, which are what Mafoudi 
 calls dgiezz, or feBions, 
 
 VOL. I, 
 
 N 
 
 The 
 
lyS THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 T he finger, of feven grains and two-ninths, ranged 
 the one on the fide of the other. 
 
 That forms 9000 parafangs, viz. the thirty-fix de- 
 grees or portions. 
 
 Finally, to fum up all we find in Mafoudi, concern- 
 ing meafures, we fhall allb tranfcribe what he fays of 
 the diftance of feveral countries, and of their extent ; 
 meafures, which he affirms he has taken from a book, 
 intituled, Ketab-ez-zidge^ and in a poem on die 
 figure of ftars ; the works of Alphazari, or Gazari. 
 
 From Pherghana, and the frontiers of the Khora- 
 dan to Thounfgia, in Africa, 3700 parafangs. 
 
 The breadth of Bab-al-abouab, (Derbend) to 
 Gedda, 600 parafangs. 
 
 From Bab-al-abouab to Bagdad, 300 parafangs. 
 
 From Mecca to Gedda, 32 miles. 
 
 The extent of China in the eaft, 32,000 parafangs,. 
 by 21,000. 
 
 The country of Hind (India) in the eaft, of 1 1,000 
 parafangs, by 7000. 
 
 The extent of Thibet, 500 parafangs, by 230. 
 
 The extent of the country Babel-fchah, of 400 pa- 
 rafangs, by 60. 
 
 The extent of the country of Barghar in the Tur- 
 keftan, 1500 parafangs. 
 
 The extent of the country of Khacan of the Turks, 
 700 parafangs, above 500. 
 
 The country of Khozars and of the Lan, 700 pa- 
 rafangs. 
 
 The country of Bardjian, 1500 parafangs by 300. 
 
 Thefe 
 
THE GOLDEn’mEADOWS. 179 
 
 Thefe countries are omitted in the manufcript 
 599, A; 
 
 The extent of the country of Sekhab, or Sclavo- 
 nia, 3500 parafangs by 420; , 
 
 The extent of the country of Roumi 3000 para- 
 fangs by 700*. 
 
 The extent of the country of Andalous^ (Spain) 
 
 . belonging to Abderrahman, 300 parafangs by 80/ 
 
 The extent of the country belonging to Edris-al- 
 phathemk 1 200 parafangs by 1 20. 
 
 The extent of the country of Phesj belonging to 
 Mountafer, 400 parafangs by 80, 
 
 The extent of the country of S^elmefle^ 2500, pa- 
 rafangs by 600. 
 
 The extent of the country of Ghabe, which is the 
 land of gold, 1000 parafangs by 80. 
 
 The extent of the country Ouaram> 200 pdrafangS 
 by 80. 
 
 The extent of the country of Nakhla (the Palm- 
 trees) 120 parafangs by 60i 
 
 The extent of the country of Aoudge, 6oparafangs 
 by 40. 
 
 The extent of the country of Badgia, 200 parafangs 
 by 80. 
 
 The extent of the country of Nouba, or of Nad- 
 giafchi, (emperor of Ethiopia) 1500 parafangs by 
 400. 
 
 The extent of the country of the Zinges towards 
 the weft, and of Mama towards the eaft, 1600 para- 
 fangs by 250. 
 
 The whole length as 72,480 parafangs, the breadth 
 25,250 parafangs. 
 
 N 2 
 
 Befides 
 
ito THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 Befides a knowledge of meafures, this table ferves 
 alf9 to give us an idea of the different kingdonas 
 e£fling at that time, and which were known to the 
 Arabians; but it is clear they have been but indiffe- 
 rently inflruded concerning Europe. To complete 
 in this place all we can find at prefent upon Arabian 
 meafures, we fhall fubjoin here a text of Ebn-al- 
 ouardi, whofe work he has confulted. The meafures 
 of his time feem to differ from thofe of the time of 
 Mafoudi. He quotes the Almageft of Ptolemeus, 
 on the meafure of the earth, and relates that, agreeable 
 to this Greek writer, the circumference of the earth is 
 180,000 fradia, which are, fays he, 24,000 miles, or 
 8000 parafangs ; the parafang confifling of three 
 miles. The mile is of 3000 dheraa or melikeen, that 
 is to fay, royal cubits. This cubit is of three ajchbar 
 or palms each ajchbar is of twelve fingers, each 
 finger is of five Jchairay or grains of barley, ranged in a 
 fucceffive order; and eachfchaira is of fix hairs of a 
 mule. The fladium is compofed of 400,000 dheraa, 
 or cubits. 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, of the 
 KHALIFS, according to MASOUDI. 
 
 As Mafoudi has related with the greatefr care, and 
 after the molt fcrupulous examination, the different 
 epoclias of the inflallations and deaths of the khalifs, 
 their ages, &c. which is very rarely to be found elfe- 
 where fo colledled; and as it is neceffary to be ac- 
 quainted with thofe princes to underfland thefe accounts, 
 ' 1 thought 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. iSi 
 I thought proper to place, at the end of this piece, a 
 feries of the khaiifs,as it is to be found in his v/ork. It 
 will ferve to inform us, that although as yet we are little 
 acquainted with the Oriental hiftory, we are far from 
 believing it fubjed to fo many difficulties. 
 
 Mahomet. 
 
 The fourteenth year of his miffion is the firfi: year 
 of the Hegira. The tenth was that of his death. We 
 have fpoken more at large of him in the courfe of this 
 account. 
 
 Aboubekr As-sadic; or. The Just. 
 
 He was proclaimed khalif, or vicar of Mahomet, in 
 the cavern of the children of Saida, (Beni Saida) on 
 Monday, the day of Mahomet's death. 
 
 He died in the night of Tuefday, the 8 th day be-r 
 fore the end of the month Dgioumadi-al-akher, the 
 thirteenth year of the Hegira, in his fixty-third year. 
 He was born the third year of the Elephant (a kind 
 of sera among the ancient Arabians) : he reigned two 
 years, three months, ten days. He was interred near 
 the prophet. According to the report of Aifcha, wife 
 of Mahomet, and daughter of Aboubekr, he reigned 
 two years, three months days*. 
 
 Omar. 
 
 He fucceeded tq Aboubekr ^ but at the beginning 
 (if the twenty-third year of the Hegira, while he was 
 (ravelling on his pilgrimage to Mecca, he was killed 
 
 • In his chronological table, at the end of the work, Mafoudj 
 gives him two years, three months, eight days j which makes twelve 
 years, five months, eight days of the Hegira. 
 
 N 3 - at 
 
x 82 the golden meadows. 
 
 at the time of morning prayer, by Phirouz-Aboii- 
 loulou, flave of Mogaira, on a Wednefday, the fourth 
 day before the end of Bhoulhedge : he reigned tea 
 years, fix months, foi?r nights* : aged fixty-three years. 
 He was interred with the prophet, near Aboubekr, 
 having made nine times the pilgrimage to Mecca. 
 
 Qthman, Jon cf Affan, 
 
 He was proclairned on a Friday, the beginning of 
 the moon of the month phoulhedge: he reigned 
 twelve years wanting eight daysf, and was fixty-two 
 years of age. flc y^as buried a|: Medina. 
 
 Aly, Jon i?/ A bouthaleb. 
 
 He was proclaimed on the day of Othman’s ap 
 fafllnation. He 'reigned four years, nine months, 
 eight days ; others lay, nine months, wanting one 
 day ^ or, according to others, five years, three months, 
 and feven nightsj. He was aged fixty-three years 
 when he was killed, in the year 40. Some fay, that he 
 was buried in the mofque of Koufa ; others at Me- 
 dina, near Fhathima, daughter of Mahomed. 
 
 Hassan, Jon of Aly. 
 
 He was proclaimed khalif, at Koufa, two days 
 after the death of his father, in the month of Ramad- 
 
 * In the chrcnologic^i table, ten years, fix rrronths, nineteen days j 
 which makes twenty-two years of the Hegira. 
 
 -j- In the chronological table, eleven years, eleven months, 19 days. 
 
 J-In the chronological table, he reigned four years, feven months; 
 which make of the Hegira thirty-nine years, eight months, feventeen 
 days ; and till the proclamation of Moavia, fon of Abou-fophian, fix 
 months and three days j it is of the Hegira, forty years, two months, 
 twenty days. 
 
 han. 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 185 
 han, the year 40 of the Hegira. He was poifoned 
 at the age of fifty-five years, the fifth day before 
 the end of the month Rabi, in the year 41* * * § . 
 
 DYNASTY OF the KHALIFS OMMIADES* 
 Jon of Abou-sophian. 
 
 He was proclaimed in the month Schoual, in the 
 year 41, at Jerufalem: he reigned nineteen years, 
 eight monthsf, and died in the month Redgeb, in 
 the year 61, aged eighty. He was buried at Damaf- 
 cus, where his tomb is ftill to be feen. 
 
 Yezid, Jon of Moavia. 
 
 He fucceeded to his father, and reigned three 
 years, eight months, wanting eight nights J : he died 
 at Haourain, in the country of Damafcus, the feven- 
 teenth of Sepher, in the year 64, aged thirty-three 
 years. 
 
 Moavia, Jon of Yezid. 
 
 He fucceeded to his father, and died, having 
 reigned only forty days§. 
 
 • Thisis not named in the chronological table j it was a time of 
 quarrels j and his fovereignty was difputed. 
 
 f In the chronological table, nineteen years, three months, twenty- 
 five days j which makes fifty-nine years, fix months, and twenty-five 
 days of the Hegira. 
 
 % In the fame table, three years eight months. 
 
 § In the fame table, three months, two-and-twenty-days. 
 
 N 4 Abdallah, 
 
184 T H E Q O L D, E N M E A D O W S. 
 
 Abdallah, Jon of Zobair ; and Merouan, Jon oj 
 Hakam". 
 
 They reigned together; Merouan four months; 
 Abdallah, Ton of Zobair, eight years, five months, 
 
 Abdolmalik, Jon oJ Merquan, 
 
 Reigned one year, two months, fix days, till Ab- 
 dallah, fon of Zobair, was killed: then, alone, 
 twelve years, four months, five days. 
 
 He was proclaimed the night of a Sunday, the 
 firib day of the moon, , of the month Ramadhan, in 
 the year 65 of the Hegira. He fent Hedgiage, fon 
 ofYoufouph, againft Abdallah, fon of Zobair, whq 
 was at Mecca. Abdallah was killed on Tuefday, ten 
 of Dgioumadi-akakher, of the year 7^, after having 
 reigned nine years, ten nights. 
 
 Oualid, Jon of Abdol-malik, 
 
 Was proclaimed at Damafcus, th^ day of his fa- 
 ther's death. He died in the fame town, in the 
 middle of the month Dgioumadi-al-akher, in the year 
 96, having reigned nine years, eight months*', two 
 nights. At his death he was forty-three years of age. 
 
 SoLiMAN, Jon of Abdol-malik. 
 
 Hp was proclaimed at Damafcus, the day of the 
 deceafe of Oualid, on a Saturday, in the middle of 
 the month Dgioumadi-al-akher, in the year 96. He 
 died in the meadow of Dabec, on the territory of the 
 mountains of Kennaferin, on Friday, the twentieth 
 
 * In the chronological table, nine years, twenty-feven days. 
 
 of 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 1I5 
 pf Sepher, in the year 99. He reigned two years, 
 eight months, five nights* 5 aged at his death thirty-r 
 nine years. 
 
 According to others, he died on Friday the tenth 
 day of Sepher, in the year 99 ; and reigned two 
 years, nine months, and eight days. They do not 
 agree upon his age : fome give him forty-five years, 
 others fifty-three. The author, after having con- 
 fuked thofe that were acquainted with the births of 
 thofe at Damafcus, has adopted thirty-nine years. 
 
 Omar, fon ^ Abdolaziz, fon of Merouan. 
 
 He was made khalif on a Friday, the tenth day be- 
 fore the end of Sepher, in the year 99, which was the 
 day of the deathofSoliman. 
 
 He died in the monaflry of Simeon, on the terri- 
 tory of HemefTe, of the dependance of Kannaferin, on 
 Friday, five days before the end of Redgeb, in the 
 year loi. He reigned two years, five months, five 
 days. He was aged thirty-nine years j his tomb 
 is famed in that place. Some fay, that he was aged 
 forty years \ others, forty-one yeap, They alfq 
 jiifagree on the precife duration of his reignf . 
 
 fo^af K-BDOh-u AhiYiy Jm of Merouan. 
 
 He was inftalled on the day of the death of Omar, 
 op a Friday, fivp days before the end of Redgeb, in 
 the year 10 ij. 
 
 * In the table, two years, five months, thirteen days, 
 
 f In the table, four years, one day. 
 
 * He is not named in the table. 
 
 He 
 
iS6 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 He died in the territory of Damafcus, on a Fri- 
 day, rive days before the end of Schaban, in the year 
 105, aged thirty-feven years, after a reign of four 
 years, one month, and two days. 
 
 Hescham, fon <// Abdolmaltk, 
 
 Was inflalled the day of the death of his brother 
 Yezid, on a Friday, five days before the end of 
 SchouaP, in the year 105. He was aged thirty -eight 
 years, fome fay forty. He died at Refapha, in the 
 land of Kennaferin, the W ednefday, fixth of Rabi- 
 al-akher, of the year 125, aged fifty-three years: he 
 reigned nineteen years, feven months, eleven nights-j*, 
 
 OuALiD, of Y^zid, 
 
 He was proclaimed the day of the death ofFIefcham, 
 on a Wednefday, fixrh of Rabi-ai-akher, in the year 
 125. He was killed on Thurfday, two nights before 
 the end of Dgioumadi-al-akher, in the year 1 26. 
 
 He reigned one year, two months, twenty-two 
 days he was aged forty years at his death s and was 
 buried at the place where he was killed. 
 
 Higher up it is Schaban. 
 
 t In the table, nineteen years, eight months, feven or nine days ; 
 which makes of the Hegira 124 years, three months, fix days, 
 
 X In the table, one year, two months, twenty days ; which makes of 
 the Hegira 125 years, five months, twenty-feven days. There was 
 after his death an infnrredlion, which lafted two months, twenty-five 
 days j which makes 125 years, eight months, twenty-tw'o days of the 
 Hegira. 
 
 Yezid 
 
T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S. iSj 
 
 Yezid Ibrahim, both Jons of Oualid. 
 
 Yezid was inftalled at Damafcus, on a Friday, fe-^ 
 yen days before the end of Dgioumadi-al-akher, after 
 the death of his father. He died at Damafcus, on a 
 Sunday, at the new moon of Dhoulhedge, in the 
 year 126: he reigned five months, and tv/o nights*. 
 His brother Ibrahim was proclaimed the fame day 
 at Damafcus : he reigned four months j others fay 
 two ; and was depofed in an infurredtion. 
 
 Yezid was interred at Damafcus, aged thirty -feven 
 years ; or, according to others,’ forty-fix. 
 
 Merouan, Jon of Mohammed, Jon of Merouan, 
 Was proclaimed at Damafcus on Monday the four- 
 teenth of Sepher, in the year 127; and was killed 
 after a reign of five years, ten days ; others fay five 
 years, three months-]-. His death happened at the be- 
 ginning of the year 132; according to fome, in the 
 month of Mouharram 3 according to others, in Sepher. 
 They difagree much upon the duration of his reign, 
 which, according to fome, was of five years, three 
 months ; according to others, of five years, two 
 months, ten days 3 and even, according to others, 
 of five years, ten days. He was, when killed in Egypt, 
 aged feventy years, or fixty-nine, or fifty-eight. 
 
 * In the table, two months, feven days 5 which makes 125 years, 
 eleven months, one day of the Hegira. 
 
 t In the table, five years, two months j which make 131 years, three 
 months, twelve days of the Hegira. 
 
 DYNASTY 
 
jm THE G O L P E N MEADOWS, 
 
 DYNASTY OF the ABBASSIDES, or 
 HASCHEMIDES. 
 
 Aboul-abbas Abdallah. 
 
 He was proclaimed the night of Friday the thir« 
 |:eenth of Rabi-al-akher, in the year 532; or according 
 to others, in the middle of Dgioumadi-al-akher, 
 pxt fame year. His reign was four years, nine 
 months* : he died at Anbar, a town he had built, on 
 Sunday, the twelfth of Dhoulhedge, in the year 136^ 
 aged thirty-three years 5 or tv/enty-nine, according ta 
 cdiers, 
 
 Abou-dgiafar Ah - MA - NSQui ^ j/on of Aboul-abbas, 
 
 He was on his way with prefents to Mecca, when he 
 heard that on Sunday the twelfth of Dhoulhedge, in 
 136, he had been proclaimed khalif. He was born 
 rn the month of Dhoulhedge, in the year 95, and died 
 oa a Saturday, fix days before the end of Dhoul- 
 licdge, in the year 158. He reigned twenty-tv/o 
 years, lefs nine daysf. He was then on pilgrimage, 
 and arrived at Mecca, aged fixty-three years ; and in- 
 terred at Mecca; v/ithhis face uncovered, becaufe he 
 vas employed in his pilgrimage. There are fome who 
 
 t In the chronological table, he reigned four years, eight months, 
 day? ; vyhich makes of the Hegira 535 years, eleven months, four 
 iiays; to the time of the proclamation of Almanfour, paffed fourteen 
 cays, \vhiyh paakes of the Hegira, 135 years, eleven months, twenty- 
 t ght days. 
 
 •f According to the table, he reigned twenty-one years, eleven 
 r/rjvuhs, fix days: twelve days paffed before the news was brought to 
 Ivialiadi, which makes of the Hegira 157 years, eleven monthSj, 
 u^hteen days, ' 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 fay, that he died at Bathha, near the well Maimoun: 
 was interred at Hadgioun, (a mount near Mecca) 
 aged fixty-hve years. 
 
 Makadi Mohammed, fvn cf Aboul-abbas. 
 
 One of his officers received his proclamation at - 
 Mecca, on Saturday the iixth of Dhoulhedge, in the 
 year 158; and another brought it to him two days 
 after* He was born in the year 127. 
 
 He went out from the city of Peace (Bagdad) the 
 year 169, to go into the land of Pharfafin, of the 
 country of Dinour. He took fome drug, and died, in 
 a village called Ze'in, the night of Thurfday, fevem 
 days before the end of Mouharram, in the year 169: 
 he reigned ten years, one month, fifteen clays'^, 
 aged forty- three years. Haroun Ar-rafchid made 
 the prayers for him ; Moufa-al-hadi was then in 
 Dgiargian. 
 
 MoUSA-AL-HADT, Jon of MAHA"fel. 
 
 He was proclaimed feven days before the end of 
 Mouharram, of the year 169, three days after the 
 death of his father : he was aged twenty-four years., 
 three mionths, and died near Bagdad, in the year 170, 
 the twelfth niglit before the end of the month Rabi- 
 al-aouai. He reigned one year, three monthsf. 
 Haroun had received the proclamation for him, and 
 had it fent to him by a courier. 
 
 * According to the table, ten years, one month, five days. Eight 
 days had pafied, when the intelligence of his death came to Hadi, 
 which makes of the Kegira 168 years, one month, one day. 
 
 t Which makes 169 years, tv/o months, fixteendays. 
 
 Haroun 
 
190 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 Haroun Arrascpiid. 
 
 He v/as proclaimed at Bagdad the night of the 
 death of his brother, the twelfth night before the end 
 of the month Rabi-al-aoual, in the year 170. 
 
 He died near Thous, in a village called Sarad, on 
 Saturday, the fourth night of the month Dgioumadi- 
 al-akher, of the year 193. He reigned twenty-three 
 years, fix months ; others fay, twenty-three years, 
 two months* : he was one-and-twenty years when 
 he was made khalif; and when he died, forty-four 
 years four months. 
 
 Amin, Haroun. 
 
 He was proclaimed at Thous, the day of the death 
 of his father, that is to fay, a Saturday, the fourth 
 night of Dgiournadi-al-aoual, of the year 193 : he was 
 born at Refapha, and killed at the age of thirty- three 
 years, thirteen days; his body was interred at Bagdad, 
 and his head carried to Khorafan. He reigned four 
 years fix monthsf, being fix months younger than 
 Mamoun. From the day of his depofition to his 
 murder, there paffed one year and an half and thirteen 
 days ; he was in prifon two days. 
 
 Mamoun Am all ah j f on ^/Haroun. 
 
 When he was proclaimed, he was twenty -eight 
 years and tv/o months old. He ciied at Balatdoun, 
 
 * According to the table, twenty-three years, two months, fixteen 
 days^ which makes of the Hegira 192 years, five months, fifteen days. 
 
 t According to the table, until his depofition, three years twenty- 
 five days, which makes of the Hegira, 195 years, fix months, twelve 
 days. He was afterwards relnfiated, and w'as killed at the end of a 
 year, fix months, thirteen days. 
 
 or 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS 191 
 or Badandoun*, near the fountain Afchra, whence the 
 river Baladidoun fprings, the name of which, in Roman, 
 is Raca. He was carried to Tharfis, where he was in- 
 terred, in the year a 18, aged forty-feven years. He. 
 reigned twenty-one years. 
 
 Motassem Billah, Jon of Haroun. 
 
 He was proclaimed the day of the death of Ma- 
 moun, on Thurfday the 13th night before the end of 
 Redgeb, of the year 218; he was aged thirty-eight 
 years, two months. 
 
 He died in the year 227, at Surmanrai, at the age 
 of forty-fix years, ten months : he reigned eight years, 
 eight monthsj-. His tomb is in a place called 
 Dgioijac, 
 
 Agreeable to Mafoudi, this prince died in one of 
 his palaces, called Khacani on the Tygris, aged forty- 
 eight years ; or according to others, forty-fix years, 
 
 OuATHEC Billah. 
 
 He was the fon of a Grecian female, named Carathis. 
 He was proclaimed at the death of his father Motaf- 
 fem, on a Thurfday, the eighteenth night of Rabi- 
 al-aoual, of the year 227. 
 
 * According to the table, twenty years, five months, twenty-two 
 daysj which makes of the Hegira, 217 years, fix months, nineteen 
 days. We read at Badendo, near Tharfis. 
 
 t This khalif is the firll that has added to his name the word Billah ^ 
 that Is to fay, in deo ; as we fay, by the grace of GccL 
 
 According to the table, eight years, one dayj which makes of the 
 Hegira 226 years, two months nineteen days. 
 
 He 
 
192 THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 He was aged thirty-one years, nine months ; and 
 reigned five years, nine months,^ thirteen days*. 
 
 They fay he died on a Wednefday, fix days before 
 the end of Dhoulhedge^ of the year 232, aged thirty- 
 four years.' 
 
 Motaouakkel ALALLAHj fm of Motas-sem. 
 
 He was at firfl named Montajer Billah^ and twa 
 days after, they changed this title and gave him that 
 (if Motaouakkel Alallah. 
 
 He was proclaimed khalif the day of the death of 
 his father, a Wednefday, fix days before the end of 
 Dhoulhedge,4 of the year 232. He was aged twenty- 
 feven years and one month, when he was killed at the 
 third hour of the night of Wednefday, third of Schoual, 
 in the year 247, being forty-one years, nine months, 
 nine nights oldf. 
 
 Mountaser Billah, Jon of Motaouakkel. 
 
 He was proclaimed the night on which his father 
 died, being on the night of Wednefday third of 
 Schoual, in the year 247. He was aged twenty-five 
 years: he died in the year 248, after a reign of fix 
 months:!:. 
 
 MosTAm 
 
 ^ According to the table, five years, nine months, five days j which 
 makes of the Hegira 231 years, eleven months, and twenty-four days. 
 
 f According to the table, he reigned fourten years, nine months, 
 feven days j wliich makes of the Hegira, 246 years, nine months, one 
 day. 
 
 J According to the table, he reigned fix months; which makes of 
 the Hegii'a 247 years, three months, one day ; to the depofition of 
 Mofta'm at Bagdad, two years, nine months, three days, which makes 
 
 of 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOWS. 193 
 
 Mostain Billah, Jon of Mahommed, Jon of 
 Motassem* _ 
 
 He was proclaimed on the day of the death of Moun- 
 tafier, on Sunday the fifth of Rabi-al-akher, in the 
 year 248 5 his mother was a Slavonian. He abdicat- 
 ed in favour of Mota2, after a reign of three years, 
 eight months ; or, according to others, three years nine 
 'months. He was killed on Wednefday, third of 
 Schoual, of the year 282, aged thirty-five years* 
 
 Motazz BiiiLAH^ Jon of Mataouakkel* 
 
 He was proclaimed at the depofition of Moftain, on 
 a Thurfday, the fecond night of the month Mouhar- 
 ram; or, according to others, the third of that month, 
 in the year 252: he was aged eighteen years. He 
 abdicated on a Monday, three days before the end of 
 Regeb, of the year 255, and died fix days after, 
 having reigned four years, fix months* He was in- 
 terred at Samara. 
 
 He had been proclaimed twice; the firft time at 
 Samara, before the depofition of Moftain; the fecond - 
 at Bagdad. He reigned four years, fix months, and 
 fome days; and after the fecond, three years feven 
 rnonths. He died at the age of twenty-four years. 
 
 of the Hegira 250 years, fourteen days : till the inftallation of Modtaz, 
 eleven months, twenty days, which make, of tlie Hegira, 251 years and 
 four days j and till his depofition, three years, fix months, twenty- 
 three days ; which make, of the. Hegira, 254 years, fix months, twenty- 
 feven days } and to the proclamation of Mahtadi, 254 years, feven 
 months. 
 
 VoL, I. 
 
 o 
 
 Mohtadi 
 
194 T H E G O L D E N MEADOWS. 
 
 Mohtadi Billah, Jon of Ouathec. 
 
 He was proclaimed on a Wednefday, before day- 
 break;, the lafl night of Regeb, of the year 256^ :• he 
 was aged twenty- five years. 
 
 He died in the month of Regeb, 1 7 9^ aged forty-- 
 eight years, having reigned twenty-three years. 
 
 The year 258, a Thurfday, at the beginning of 
 Rabi-al-aoual, he aflbeiated in the empire,- his bro-^ 
 tlicr Mouaffee Billah.^ 
 
 Motadhed Bill ah,. of Mouaffee.- 
 He was proclaimed the day of the death of Ma- 
 tamed, which was on a Tuefday, the 'twelfth nights 
 before the end of Regeb, of the year 279. He died 
 at Bagdad on a Sunday, feven days before the end" 
 of Rabi-al-akher^ of the year 289. He reigned 
 nine years, nine months, and two days,, aged forty 
 feven years; or, according to the Chronicles, forty 
 years. It is faid he was thirty-one years when he was. 
 made khalif According to others, Motadhed died 
 at the fourth hour of the night of the Monday,; 
 eight days before- the end of Rabi-al-akher, in the. 
 year 289. 
 
 Mostacsi, or Mostasi Billah,,^^)^ of Motadhed, 
 He v/as proclaimed when abfent, on the day of his 
 father's death. He was then at Racca, and returned 
 
 t 
 
 to Bagdad in the month Dgioumadi-al-aker. He' 
 died on Monday the thirteenth of Dhoulcaada,- 
 anno 295, aged twenty-three years and three months, 
 having reigned feven years, feven months, and twen- 
 ty-two 
 
THE GOLDEN MEADOW Si 195 
 ty-rvvo days ; or, according to others, fix years, fix 
 months, and fixteen days. » 
 
 Mactader Billah, Jon of Motadhed; 
 
 He was proclaimed the day his brother died : he 
 was thirteen years old. He was killed at Bagdad on 
 a Wednelday, three nights before the end of Schoual, 
 anno 320, having reigned twenty- four years, eleven 
 months, and fixteen days. 
 
 Caher Billah, Jen i?/ M otadhed* 
 
 He was proclaimed two nights before the end of 
 Schoual, in the year 320, and depofed 322; 
 
 Radhi Billah, Jon of Motadhed. 
 
 He was proclairried the fame year, and remained 
 khalif until the year 329, when he died. 
 
 Mottaki Billah, Jon of Moctader* 
 
 He was proclaimed in 329, and depofed in 333. 
 
 Mostacsi Billah, Jon of Mottaki* 
 
 He was proclaimed in 333, and depofed in 334. 
 
 Mothi Billah. 
 
 He was proclaimed in 334. It appears that the 
 hilforians differ much about the chronology of thefc 
 khaiifs. Mafoudi adds another table as under : 
 
 Mahomet, aged fixty-three years, died the tenth 
 year of the Hegira. 
 
 Aboubekr reigned 2 years, 3 months, 8 days. 
 Omar 19 4 
 
 All 
 
tgS THE GpLDEN MEADOWS. 
 
 Ali is not named^ which muft certainly be a mif- 
 take of the copyift. 
 
 Haflan, fonof Aly, reigned 6 months^ lo days. 
 Moavia reigned 17 years, 8 . 
 
 Ommiades. 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 Months. 
 
 Days. 
 
 Yezid reigned 
 
 3 
 
 8 wanting 8 nights. 
 
 Moavia 
 
 ^ 0 
 
 I 
 
 1 1 
 
 Merouan 
 
 0 
 
 8 
 
 s 
 
 Abdolmalik 
 
 21 
 
 
 0 
 
 Oualid 
 
 7 
 
 
 0 
 
 Soliman . 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 ^7 
 
 Omar . 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 Yezid 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 2. 
 
 Hefcham 
 
 19 
 
 9 
 
 Zl 
 
 Oualid 
 
 - 1 
 
 2 
 
 22 
 
 Merouan 
 
 5 0 
 
 Abassides, 
 
 10 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 Months. 
 
 Days. 
 
 Aboul-abbas reigned 4 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 Manfour 
 
 22 wanting 9 
 
 nights. 
 
 Mahadi 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 IS 
 
 Hadi 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 Q ■ 
 
 Rafchid 
 
 23 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 Amin 
 
 44 ^ 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 Mamoun 
 
 24 
 
 0 
 
 a 
 
 MotalTem 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 0 
 
 Ouathec 
 
 S 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 Motaouakkel 
 
 ' 14 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 Mountafer 
 
 0 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 Moftaifl 
 
T H E G O L D E N M E A D O W S. 197 
 
 Moftain reigned 
 
 Years. 
 
 4 
 
 Months. 
 
 6 
 
 Days. 
 
 0 
 
 Motazz 
 
 ^ 4 
 
 6 
 
 0 
 
 Mohtadi 
 
 0 
 
 1 
 
 0 
 
 Motamed 
 
 23 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 Motadhed 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 0 
 
 Moktafi 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 Modader 
 
 24 
 
 11 
 
 16 
 
 Caher 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 Radhi 
 
 6 
 
 II 
 
 8 
 
 Mottaki 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 18 
 
 Moftakli 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 0 
 
 Mothi to the beginning of the month Dgioumadi- 
 al-aouah in the year 336 of the Hegira, eight months 
 and fifteen days : the author does not fay in what 
 year of his reign he died. 
 
 AN 
 

 M 
 
A N 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 I 
 
 jO .F T H ,£ 
 
 JOURNAL of BURCARD, 
 
 Mafter of the Ceremonies to the Pope’s Chapel, 
 from Sixtus IV. to Julius II. 
 
 FIRSTPART. 
 
 Under the Pontificates of Sixtus IV, and In^ocmt Fill, 
 
 ^ng’s Manufcripts, numbered 5158 and 5159^ in fojio ; and 
 5521, three Volumes, in Quarto; among the Latin Manu- 
 fcripts. 
 
 By M, de Brequigny. 
 
 "rTTE know little of John Burcard, whom fome 
 ^ ^ manufcripts name alfo Burchard, Bruchard, 
 ;and Broccard : the name of Burcard has prevailed. 
 I have not been able to difcover the time of his 
 birth ; almoft all that is known of him is what he 
 informs us himfelf. He tells us he came from Straf- 
 burg; that he was dean of the church of St. Tho- 
 mas, in that city*, &c. He held many employments 
 
 * This is the title he takes at the head of the king’s manufcripts 
 ti l^lher notarum per me Joannem Burcardum Argentinerjem, 
 fedis Apofolica protonatorium^ S. Tlorentias Afclacenfis et B. Marik y 
 et S S. Germini et Rondcaldi Grandis njallis Argentinenfis et Bafdi- 
 “ enfis diacefis prcepofiium," 
 
 o 4 
 
 • at 
 
i 06 BUR CARD’S JOURNAL. 
 
 the court of Rome ; was towards the end of his 
 life bilhop of Horta, and died the i6th of May, 
 1506. The title by which he is moft commonly 
 known, is that of Mailer of the Ceremonies of the 
 Pope’s Chapel.” He was received into this office 
 under the pontificate of Sixtus IV. the 2iil of De- 
 cember 1483, his bulls being dated the 29th of No- 
 vember preceding. We are given to underiland, 
 that they coil him 400 golden ducats, and that he 
 did not enter upon the exercil'e of his office until the 
 26th of January, 1484, 
 
 It was not until fome months after that he became 
 convinced of the utility of keeping a journal of the 
 ceremonial refpecling his office. During the remain^ 
 ing part of the life of pope Sixtus IV. he confined 
 himfelf to fome dry unjnterefting notes, which com^ 
 menced on Chriflmas eve, J483 ; that is, the eve of 
 New Year’s Day, 1484 : for at Rome they then 
 reckoned Chriflmas-day as the firfl day of the year. 
 
 On the death of Sixtus IV, Burcard extended the 
 plan of his journal, and took the liberty to infert 
 many important fa6ls, although they might appear 
 foreign to his principal obje6t, By this, his work 
 was fo replete with anecdotes, that when Leibnitz 
 publiffied extra6ls of it for the firfl time, he announced 
 it under the title of Hijioria arcana Jeu de vita Aletc^ 
 andri VL ex diario' Jq, Burcard^ Hanoveri^^ 
 1697.” 
 
 Burcard wrote in Latin ; his flyle is fimple, and not 
 fo elegant as natural : the minute details he often en- 
 ters into, give him an appearance of exadnefs and 
 
 truth. 
 
20t 
 
 BUR CARD’S JOURNAL, 
 truth, which engages. Befides his jourual, he has 
 left a book of ceremonies, which he more than once 
 cites : it is preferved in the V atican library ; it is not 
 in the king’s library, but we there find feveral manu- 
 icripts of the journal. 
 
 It may be divided into three parts ; the firft con- 
 tains the laft months of the life of Sixtus IV. and 
 the whole pontificate of Innocent VIII. No part of 
 this has yet been publifhed. The fecond includes 
 the pontificate of Alexander VIII. This has been al- 
 mofl wholly printed. The third extends from the 
 death of Alexander VI. to the third year of the 
 reign of Julius II. and to the death of Burcard: 
 two pages only of this has been publiflied, at the end 
 of the fecond part. I propofe to give an account of 
 all three from the manufcripts in the king’s library, 
 and fhall here employ myfelf on the firfl. 
 
 There are three manufcripts in the king’s li- 
 brary, the copies rather modern : the firfl of thefe, 
 No. 5198, is on fmall folio paper; the writing, 
 about the end of the fixteenth century, fmall, but 
 very legible : it contains 224 leaves, befides a table 
 of contents, which is of no great ufe, becaufe the 
 copyifl has not attended to the pages of the copy, 
 but has referred to thofe of the manufcript he 
 tranfcribcd from ; but there are marginal notes which 
 are of fome help to find the fadls we are in fearch of. 
 
 The fecond manufcript I examined. No. 5159, is 
 alfo in folio, but of a larger fize ; the paper and 
 writing are extremely beautiful. It was copied in 
 1668, and contains 1070 pages, befides a table of con- 
 
 tentSj 
 
S U E C A R D ’ s J 0 U R N A J., 
 tents, which is of no more ufe than the laft ; for we 
 do not find any references, nor are there any marginal 
 notes ; otherydfe it appears to me a faithful copy of 
 the find manufcripp 
 
 Thefe two maniifcripts begin in the month of De- 
 cember, 1483, and end June 14, 1492. The third. 
 No. 5521, which remains to be fpoken of, continues 
 £0 the 25th of July following, the day Innocent the 
 Vlllth died ; but it begins at the death of Sixtus I V, 
 otherwife the differences are trifling, as will be feen 
 by the account I am now going to give. The third 
 manufcript is in 4to, and is divided in three volumes ; 
 the paper is bad ; the writing, which appears to be an 
 I talian hand, is of the latter part of the fixteenth cen- 
 tury 5 but it is negligently done, not eafy to read, and 
 full of faults. As this is the firfl manufcript I exa- 
 mined, I fhall always refer to it, unlefs I mention the 
 Number of any other. 
 
 What there is wanting of the pontificate of Six- 
 tus IV. is publifhed in the other two manufcripts, 
 and is fcarce more than a lift of cardinals on the 
 lyth of March, 1484. In thefe two manufcripts, the 
 death of Sixtus IV. is faid to be between the fourth 
 and fifth hour of the night of Thurfday the 12th of 
 Auguft following j but in this, it is faid to be the 13th, 
 without doubt, by attributing the hours after'12 o’clock 
 at night to the 1 2th day ; and* this date has been com- 
 monly adopted. Here follows a detail of what palTed 
 before the election of his fucceflTor. 
 
 As foon as the pope was dead, Burcard, as mailer 
 of the ceremonies, was, with his colleagues, called to 
 
 affifl 
 
B U R C A R D’s JOURNAL. 203 
 
 at the funeral. He then paints the extreme con- 
 fufion that reigned in the palace immediately after he 
 expired. His body having been expofed on a table, 
 they were long before they were able to obtain the 
 pecefiary things to waili and cloath it agreeable to the- 
 cuftom : the domeftics employed them/elves in plun- 
 dering the furniture ^ every thing v/as carried oif in a 
 moment. Eurcard, mean timie, in vain applied to 
 the perfons whom the pope had conferred the greateft 
 favours to procure water, wine, fpices, and linen : 
 at the end of the four hours, a kitchen boy brought 
 him fome water in a kettle, which was ufed to wa£h 
 difnes in 3 a barber, to whofe fnop he repaired, lent 
 him a bafon : they were obliged to make ufe of the 
 fhirt he died in to dry his body, and could not pro- 
 cure another. Burcard cloathed him in his pontifi- 
 cal habit, and confelfes, that in this confufion, he 
 forgot the pope had formerly worn the habit of the 
 order of St. Francis, and in this habit he ought to 
 have been cloathed after his deceafe, as had been 
 pra6lifed on the the death of Alexander V. For want 
 of a paftoral crofs, they v/ere obliged to crofs the 
 fiole bn his breafl : a fapphire ring, of the value of 
 300 ducats, was put on his finger; and fo little could 
 they trull to the refpecl of thofe who camie near him, 
 that guards were placed to prevent their Healing the 
 ring. Thus he was inclofed in a bier of walnut 
 wood, and interred the i8th of AiigufI:, in the church 
 of St. Peter, which he had chofen for his fepulture. 
 I lhall not dwell on many other details of this kind; 
 they will only teach us what we too well know, how 
 
 foon 
 
204 B U R C A R D ’s JOURNAL, 
 foon the great are forgotten after their deaths, when 
 they ov/e the refpedl that is paid them to their power 
 alone. The principal obje6t which employed every 
 one, was the eleftion of a new pope, and the conclave 
 immediately (Auguft 6th) afiembled to proceed to 
 the eletiion. 
 
 Bur card attended the cardinals thither to exercife 
 his office, fo that no one had a greater opportunity 
 to be^ informed of what paffed. He gives the 
 moil: exacl account of all he obferved, both as to the 
 exterior and inferior guard : to him the keys of the 
 gates were intrufted, and the proviftons brought to 
 the cardinals through a wicket, were delivered to him. 
 The cardinals were in number twenty-five; each had 
 two conclavifts to attend him, except three infirm 
 cardinals who had three each ; the chaplain had but 
 one, and that was a favour. Befides thefe, there were 
 two phyficians in the conclave, and two mafters of 
 the ceremonies, of which Burcard was the firft. 
 
 They firft began by regulating the divifion of all 
 that ftiould be found in the conclave, to belong to 
 the perfon who fhould be eledled pope. The fecond 
 day they digefted a great number of articles to which 
 they were to conform ; they are curious, and contain 
 all that can be thought the moft favourable to the car- 
 dinals in general. We find Ibme of diele articles 
 printed in the Annal. Eccl. of Oderic. Raynaldi, 
 ^ss£^3,s fupprefied the greateft part of them. The 
 firft of them obliged the cardinal, who fhould be 
 clefted, to jjiake oath before his eleclion was made 
 public, to obferve purely, fimply, and faithfully, the 
 
 articles 
 
B U R C A R D ’ s JOURNAL. 
 articles which he then agreed to ; and a long form of 
 on oath, in which every thing that could render k 
 iTioft inviolable was inferted; a precaution whicli 
 fuppofes that the future pontiff would be little difpoff 
 ed to obferve, as pope, what he would willingly fub- 
 fcribe to as cardinal, 
 
 T hey afterguards particularized all the conditions 
 he was to fubmit to : he engaged to affign to each 
 cardinal, who did not enjoy 4000 florins ecclefiafti- 
 cal revenue, an annual penfion of 100 florins of gold : 
 to caufe them to be paid all that was due to them by 
 Sixtus IV. and to leave them in poffeffion of the land, 
 caflJes, towns, and even the jewels which that pope 
 had given them as fecurity for money lent : to grant 
 every one of them, for life, fome land, caftle, and place 
 of retreat, in cafe of a contageous diforder, or for a 
 place of amufement. It was agreed, that if any power, 
 difcontent with the future election, fhould take their 
 revenge by feizing the effeds of any of the cardinals, 
 they fhould be indemnified by the church. As the 
 cardinals did not think it decent for them, when they 
 came to an audience of the pope, to mix among the 
 croud, the future pope obliged himfelf to affign a par- 
 ticular room for that piirpofe, to which even the 
 foreign ambaffador fhould not be admitted. 
 
 But the moft Angular, perhaps, of all the articles 
 was, that the future pope fhould grant previoufly to 
 all the cardinals, an entire and unreferved abfolution 
 of all the crimes they might hereafter commit, how- 
 ever enormous ; and even if they were of fuch a na- 
 ture that they could not be pardoned, except by an 
 
 exp r CIS 
 
2o6 B U R € a R D’ s journal. 
 exprefs declaration, the demand of fuch a promifey 
 feemed to contain a tacit and not very honourable ac- 
 knowledgment of the neceffity they thought they 
 Ihould ftand in of iti 
 
 The refolutions containing thefe articles, being 
 prefented to each cardinal, they all fucceffively figned 
 them, except Cardinal Fofcaroy whoretiredj faying he 
 would fign laft; but when they carried the a6l to him 
 for that purpofe, he declared he never would fign 
 them. 
 
 • They digefted other articles, the obfervation of 
 which they likewife fv/ore to. Thefe are all printed in 
 Raynaldi’s Annals; fo I diall content myfelf with ^ 
 eurfory mention of fome of them. 
 
 By the firft; the pope was to confirm all thefe ar- 
 ticles by bulls, having the force of decretals, which 
 were to be publifhed four days after his coronation ; 
 the fecond regulated the contributions of the pope 
 and cardinals, to the expences of a war againil the 
 T urks, if it fhould take place ; by the third, the pope 
 obliged himfelf to reform the Roman couru both in 
 its head and members, within three months after his 
 coronation, agreeable to the advice of a majority of 
 the cardinals. 
 
 By others he declared, that he would not remove' 
 his court from Rome, v/ithout the confenty in writing., 
 Af the greater number of cardinals; that he would 
 immediately call a general council; that he would not 
 create any cardinal under thirty years of age; and 
 their creation fhould always be public; nor would 
 he create more than one of his own family : that 
 
 their 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 207 
 tlicir number fliould never exceed twenty-four, and 
 that no nomination diould take place until they were 
 reduced to that number. 
 
 There were* articles^ by which he was forbid to 
 alienate the patrimony of the church,- to conclude 
 treaties, or to declare war, without the exprefs con- 
 fent of two-thirds of the cardinals ; not to intruft the 
 government of the caftle of Saint Angelo, or of any 
 other ftrong place, or the poft of captain-general of 
 the church, Bcc, to any of his relations. All this was 
 to be ratified before the eledion v/as declared, and the 
 form of the ratification was precfribed ^ thefe articles,^ 
 like the former, were figned by the cardinals. 
 
 A difficulty arofe on the fubjecl of one of the car- 
 dinals (Afcagno Sforza, made cardinal by Sixtus IV. 
 the 17th March, 1584, a little before his death), he 
 had arrived at Rome after the pope’s death, who con- 
 fequently could not poffibly open his mouth \ but it was 
 anfwered, that neither had he Pout it \ and agreeable 
 to former examples, they determined that he had a- 
 right to vote, v/hich he would have been deprived 
 of, had the pope fhiit his mouth, and died before he 
 had opened it. 
 
 To be elected pope, two-thirds of the fuffrages 
 muft be obtained ; the electors were twenty-five : iie 
 who had moil votes on the firfl ferutiny, had only ten; 
 but the 29th of Augufl, the fourth day of the ferutiny, 
 John Baptifle Cibo, cardinal of Malii, had a fufficknC 
 number of fuffrages, and was elected pope. Bur- 
 card does not tell us how the cardinals fettled it 
 among themfelves; he only relates that they had 
 
 feme 
 
iQ$ BtJRGARD’s JOURNAL, 
 fome conferences in the evening, when they were' af- 
 fured of feventeen votes for the cardinal de Malfi; the 
 latter was feen on the following night on his knees be- 
 • fore a table^ where he figned many inftruments 
 which fome cardinals waited for, {landing about himj 
 and the cardinal of Sienna, who was of the numberi 
 ' faid then, How wrong this is j the pope figns on his 
 
 knees, and we who petition are {landing.” Bur- 
 card reports the Italian words v/hich the cardinal 
 made ufe of. 
 
 This nomination therefore was fbrefeen fo certainly^ 
 that in the morning the conclavills had all ftripped their 
 apartments, except Cardinal Malfi, whofe furniture^ 
 according to the agreement, belonged to them.- As 
 foon as the pope was acknowledged, they put on his 
 finger the ring of Sixtus VL placed him on a feat, 
 brought him near a table, and produced to him the 
 articles agreed on ; he had before figned them as car- 
 dinal, and now ratified them as fovereign pontiff, in 
 rJie prefcribed form ; the breach of them was to be 
 deemed perjury, and fubje6l to an anathema, with a 
 claufe, that he fhould not have power either to ab- 
 Iblve himfelf, or caufe himfelf to be abfolved. Imme- 
 diately the cardinal of Seinna, having opened a 
 window, announced the eledfion to the people, who 
 were affembled in the court of the palace. 
 
 ' Mean time the cardinals haftened to prefent diffe- 
 rent petitions to him ; he figned them all as well as 
 thole of the conclaviils, without reading them ; he nor 
 only confirmed to them the furrender of all the move- 
 ables in the conclave which belonged to him, but con- 
 ferred 
 
BUR CARD’S JOURNAL. 209 
 ftrred many other favours. Burcard obtained the 
 provoftfhip of the ehurch of our lady of Saint Gengoul> 
 near Bamberg, which was juft vacant by the pro- 
 motion of Barthold de Henneberg, to the archbifhop- 
 rick of Mayence* 
 
 The cardinal de Malfi took the name of Innocent 
 VIII. From his eledion to his coronation, every day 
 was marked by fome concellions made to the cardinals, 
 agreeable to the convention he had figned. Burcard 
 however adds, that he did not acquit himfelf of all 
 he had agreed to. 
 
 I pafs over the ceremonies of the coronation 5 of 
 which Burcard, who had the diredlion, does not omit 
 any particular. I Ihall only cije two circumftances, 
 which appear to me worthy to be remarked ; the one 
 refpedts the Jews, and the other the pretended pro- 
 bationary chair ; the origin of which is attributed to 
 the adventure of pope Joan* 
 
 The Jews were ac'cuftomed, at the coronation of 
 every pope, to meet him on his paflage, and prefent 
 him with the book of their law, requefting the con- 
 firmation of it. This had been pradlifed not only at 
 Rome, but even at Bade, at the inftallation of Felix V. 
 When it was done at Rome, it was in a public place, 
 through which the new pope pafted, in going to 
 St. John of Lateran to be crowned; but the Jews 
 had often been infulted there. Innocent permitted 
 them this time to prefent the book at the caftle of 
 St. Angelo, from the battlement of the lower wall, 
 which they did. I fhall tranflate the very lingular 
 form of this prefentation, and the pope’s anfwer. 
 
 VoL. I. P « We 
 
210 BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 
 
 We, the Hebrews, in the name of our fyna-^- 
 gogiie, befeech your holinefs to deign to eonfirnr 
 and approve the law of Mofes,, our ihepherd^whklx 
 was given unto him^ for us, upon mount Sinaiy 
 in the fame manner as the predecelTors of your 
 holinefs have approved and confirmed them.” 
 
 The pope anfwered, We refped your law,, but 
 we condemn the manner in which you- obferve and 
 interpret it ; for the church teaches and tells us,^ 
 that he who you fay is yet' to Come, is Jefe Chriff,,, 
 our J_.ord.” 
 
 It is thought that the ufe of the pretended 
 iionary chair ^ ended at the inftallation of Innocent 
 VIII. They cite, on this fubjed, an epigram of 
 the poet Maruilus ; where, it is faid, they had no- 
 occafion to enquire after the fex of this pope, which 
 was evident by the number of his children. Yet Bur- 
 card fays, that one of the ceremonies of his corona-- 
 tion was his fitting ixtjede marmorea nuneupatur ftercora- 
 rids:, which appears to me the fame as the probationary 
 chair. It was a feat of marble^ on which the prior 
 and the canons of the Lateran made the new pope fit 
 down ; the cardinals afterwards railed him up, finging 
 the verfe, JuJcltat de fulvere egenum et de ftercore erigit 
 pauperum : this is clearly what has given this chair the 
 name oi fier cor ary. Now this name conveying an 
 idea very different from that of a feat of honoury 
 they have fought to find a reafon why they ufed fuch 
 a ceremony : and the enemies of the court of Rome,, 
 taking occafion, from the fimilitude of ideas, which 
 gave birth to this equivoque, have fuppofed, that 
 
 this 
 
BUR CARD’S JOURNAL. 2u 
 this chair had been invented to avoid a fimilar error 
 into which they had fallen, in electing a wonnan 
 pope : thus the ftercorary became a 'probationary chair. 
 
 They hiy that the epigram of Marullus turns on 
 their omitting to place pope Innocent VIII. on this 
 chair he Ipeaks of, and that coniequently, what he 
 relates3 cannot apply to the ftercorary chair 5 but, 
 according to Burcard, when the pope was arrived 
 before the palace of Lateran, the crowd and tumult 
 became fo great, that he was in fome danger, and 
 they could not, in the ufual place^ put in pradice the 
 ceremony alluded to. T here was nothing more wanted 
 to give birth to this epigram. There is every reafon 
 to believe, that the ftercorary chair was only an em- 
 blem, like the flax they burnt before the pope, finging 
 ftc tranfit gloria mundi. By this double allegory, they 
 reminded him of the infbability of human -greatnefs, 
 and of the rank to which he had juft been raifed. 
 
 The pope had thrown, or caufed to be thrown, 
 much filver among the populace, during the cere- 
 mony ; particularly when he found himfelf prefied by, 
 the crowd. Vvhen he arrived at the church of Saint 
 Peter, where he was to make his offering, he per- 
 ceived, that neither he or his treafurer had any thing 
 remaining. Burcard gave him all he had, which was 
 a ducat and two florins, and the pope placed them on 
 the altar. But let us here turn thefe details to others 
 of more importance, fuch as concern the rank and , 
 precedence among the princes; of which there is 
 often mention in Burcardls Journal, 
 
 P 2 
 
 lie 
 
212 BUR CARD’S JOORNAL. 
 
 He obferves, that, 06 lober 20, 1484, Alphonfo, 
 duke of Calabria, the eldefb fon of Ferdinand, king 
 of Sicily, being admitted to an audience of the pope, 
 took his place immediately after the cardinal vice- 
 chancellor i but, adds Burcard, It v/as by order 
 of the pope that I placed him there, for that rank 
 is only due to kings, and Alphonfo Ihould only 
 have been placed after the firft cardinal prieft.’’ 
 When Alphonfo quitted Rome, reconduded by the 
 cardinals, to the diftance of a mile, inftead of march- 
 ing between the two ancient cardinal deacons, he 
 went between the cardinal bifhops, which difpleafed 
 mofl: people; for,'’ fays Burcard, “ this rank 
 belongs only to the emperor." 
 
 This author never forgets to declaim againft the 
 honours, which he thinks injudicioufly conferred. 
 Thus he thinks the houlhold of the pope and cardi- 
 nals were wrong, in proceeding to meet the ambaf- 
 fadors of the grand mailer of St. John of Jerufalem, 
 in 1485. 
 
 The emperor, Frederic III. having caufed his fon 
 Maximilian, arch-duke of Auftria, in i486, to be 
 elected king of the Romans, Maximilian's ambaifa- 
 dor attempted to take place of all the other am- 
 bafladors then at Rome. They oppofed it ; and the 
 queftion having been difeuTed in a confiftory, it was 
 determined, that the ambaffador could not fupport 
 his pretenlions, until the pope had acknowledged 
 Maximilian as king of the Romans, agreeable to what 
 had been pradlifed in the times of the emperor Charles 
 IV. and pope Clement VI. 
 
 In 
 
B U R C A R D’s JOURNAL. 21J 
 
 In 1483, the ambafTador of the fame Maximilian, 
 having done homage to the pope, in the name of his 
 mafVer, as king of the Romans eledt, claimed the 
 precedence. This wasxonteflred by the ambafTador of 
 France, who alledged, that his mafter gave place 
 only to the emperor. Burcard fays, the king of 
 the Romans being defigned emperor, had the fame 
 rank as the emperor himfelf. To flop the alterca- 
 tion, the ambafTador being a bifhop, the pope placed 
 him among his affiftants. 
 
 This difpute was renewed Tome time after^ on the 
 arrival of the cardinal of St. Peter-a-vinculis, when 
 the cardinals and ambaffadors met him. The bifhop 
 of Lefcar, ambafTador of France, immediately fol- 
 lowed the cardinals, Maximilian’s ambafTador having 
 in vain requefled him to give place, feized him by 
 his mantle, forced him out of the rank, and took his 
 place : the fame day, at mafs, they gave him incenfe, 
 and Burcard TalutecF-hkn before the ambaffadors of 
 France and Spain. 
 
 The bifhop of Lefcar complained of this, and alfo 
 of the violence ufed againft him, by the ambafTador 
 of the king of the Romans, who, he pretended, had 
 incurred excommunication. The pope did not dif- 
 agree to it, but fufpendedthe conflderation of it during 
 mafs, and direded Burcard to fettle the matter. 
 While the pope was fpeaking to Burcard, the am- 
 baffador of Maximilian went out of the chapel, and 
 the affair, in that refped, had no confequences. 
 
 The ambaffadors of France and Spain on their 
 fide, complained of the incenfe and falutation being 
 
 P 3 offered 
 
214 B U R C A R D’s JOURNAL, 
 offered to the ambaffador of Maximilian before them. 
 The pope did not determine any thing that day on the 
 fubjecl^ but three days after he told Burcard^ that 
 agreeable to the advice of the cardinals, he ought to 
 do honour to an ecclehaftic before a lay ambaffador; 
 and when Burcard attempted to excufe himfelf, the 
 pope added, that the ambaffadors of France and Spain 
 refufed to acknowledge Maximilian for king of the 
 Romans, until he had been approved by the church 
 of Rome. Mean time the ambaffador of Maximilian 
 was permiitted to do homage. As to the reft, the am- 
 baffador of France pretended that he ought not, in any 
 cafe, to give precedence to an ambaffador of the king 
 of the Romans ; and Burcard reports, that, if in 1 1 91, 
 the French ambaffador gave place to the ambaffador 
 of the king of the Romans, it was becaufe it v/as 
 agreed that he was alfo at the fame time ambaffador 
 of the emperor. Burcard’s journal contains m.any 
 circumftances relative to precedence, among other 
 fovereigns; and thofe who are curious in inquiries of 
 this kind, will there find many important ones; but 
 I think I have faid enough on that head. 
 
 This manufcript difcovers many faults in the hiff 
 tory of Tournay, by John Goufin, and which I find in 
 the fecond edition of the New Chriftian Gaul,’' on 
 the fubjefl of John de Moniffart, bifnop of Tournay. 
 We read in thefe two works, that John de Moniffart 
 was confecrated bifliop of Tournay, by Sixtus IV. the 
 i8th of Odober, 1483.- Burcard informs us, he 
 was not confecrated until the 28th of March i486, 
 
 and 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 215 
 snd that it was by Innocent VIII. He gives the ce- 
 jemonies of this confecration at large. 
 
 The hiftorian of Tournay, and the authors of the 
 Nev/ Gaub” add, that this bifhop died in 1484; 
 but according to Eurcard, he did not die until the 
 month of Augufh^ 1490; he was interred the i6th of 
 that month. Bureard defcribes his obfequies, which 
 were celebrated with much pomp ; for he was grand 
 mafter of the pope’s hoiifhold. This prelate is very 
 frequently mentioned in Burcard’s journal. It is re- 
 marked, that he Jhewed himfelf on all occafions, much 
 .attached to the king .of France and the emperor, in 
 hopes tliat thofe princes^ under whofe dominion T our- 
 iiay was, would at laft acknowledge him for bifliop, 
 which they always refufed to do. He remained at 
 Rome the relh of his life, without ever obtaining pof- 
 feflion of his church, which the king of France had 
 bellowed on Lewis Pot, through the means of the 
 archbilhop of Rheims, by virtue of the Pragmatic 
 fandlion. All that concerns Moniflart in the New 
 ChriFian Gaul,” requires much to be re6lifi.ed from 
 Burcard’s jo^arnal. 
 
 This writer recounting, at full length, the canoni- 
 zation of Leopold, marquis of Auftria, by Innocent 
 VIII. the 6tH of January, 1485., reports ,a very fm- 
 £ular proteft made by the pope, before he admitted 
 Leopold among the faints. That by this a6l, He did 
 not intend doing any thing which was contrary to 
 the catholic faith, to the church, or to the honour 
 of God.” This gave offence to the cardinal of 
 S alnt Mark^ and he demanded of Burcard the re afon 
 
 P 4 why 
 
ti6 BURCARD’s. JOURNAL, 
 why he had fuggefted it. It was ill placed/’ fays the 
 cardinal, particularly as it refpedled a canonization, 
 made after the moft exad inquiries, and by the 
 advice of all the cardinals ; if it could have been ap^ 
 plied properly, it muft have been in thofe canoniza- 
 tions to which the pope had been in part compelled, 
 and which had been made without formality.” 
 Burcard anfwered, that a fimilar proteftation had been 
 made in the canonizations of Saint Vincent, Santa 
 Catherina de Sienna, and Saint Bonaventnra; and that 
 it was at all times proper, becaufe the a6ls eftabliihed 
 by the inquiry, proving afterwards to be falfe, the 
 church might have been led into an error. That the 
 pope in truth had not been compelled to canonize 
 Leopold, but he had been ftrongly prelfed to it, if it 
 be true that a cotemporary writer intimates, that the 
 emperor gave him 15,000 ducats to engage him to 
 do it. 
 
 The following year produces a fadl, which appears 
 to me worthy to be felefted. T he 27 th of December, 
 i486 ; it was 1487 at' Rome, becaufe the year be- 
 gan there on Chriftmas^day, the pope returning on 
 “ horfeback, in ftate, from the church of Saint John 
 de Lateran, palTed,” fays Burcard, through the 
 ftreet in which the figure of pope Joan is placed in 
 memory of her lying in,— Now,” fays he, it is pre- 
 tended that the popes in their cavalcades ought 
 never to pafs throught that ftreet, and the pope 
 was alfo blamed by the archbifliop of Florence, and 
 ^^Tome other prelates, for having gone that way.’’ 
 Burcard Ipoke of it tq a bilhop, who anfwered, That 
 
 « it 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 217 
 
 it 'was nonfenle, and that the very mention of it fa- 
 voured of herefy.’' It feems by this, that they then 
 in general, at Rome, believed the Rory of pope Joan, 
 but it was the heretics who particularly gave credit to 
 this opinion. Burcard again relates, that in 1492, 
 the pope paired through the fame Rreet, but he does 
 not make any more reflexions upon it. 
 
 The journal of Burcard makes mention of fome 
 'great political events, in which the pope bore an im- 
 mediate part, or which were notified to him. As thcfe 
 events are well known 3 and as he relates often the dates 
 only, I fhall not dwell upon them. There is one, how- 
 ever, of which I Ihall Ipeak, becaufe Burcard's ac- 
 count differs from that of other hiftorians. It is an 
 event that aflonifhed Europe, the marriage of Charles 
 VIII. with Anne duchefs of Bretagne, We know’- 
 that Charles had promifed to efpoufe the daughter of 
 Maximilian, king of the Romans, and that Maximi- 
 lian had married the duchefs of Bretagne, by proxy 
 indeed, but with every formality that was thought ne- 
 ceffary to render the marriage indiffoluble. 
 
 Charles, however, perfuaded Anne to confent to 
 efpoufe him, without refpeX to this tie. A double 
 difpenfation was neceflfary ; for, befides the obflacle I 
 have juft mentioned, Charles was related to the 
 duchefs in the fourth degree. Some hiftorians fay, 
 he was before hand aflfured of thefe difpenfations ; 
 but Burcard tells us, that the courier of Charles, fent 
 to demand them, arrived at Rome the 5 th of Decem- 
 ber, 1491, and brought advice, that the marriage was 
 already confummated 5 but it was not in reality until 
 
 the 
 
B U R C A R B ’ s JOURNAL, 
 die morrow: and it is known diat the difpenfationS 
 were not granted by the pope until ten days after. 
 Burcard appears much offended at this marriage. In 
 his journal, he gives the duchefs the tide of Queen of 
 the Romans, and in the table of contents, this affair is 
 pointed out under this odious .title, fignal adultery of 
 the king of Franee, 
 
 Another fa6l, of which Burcard reports fome cir- 
 cumftances which are not found elfewhere, happened 
 at Rometofultan Zezim, brother to the Turkifh em^ 
 peror Bajazet 11 . No one is ignorant that Zezim, 
 who had paffed from Rhodes into France in 1489, 
 went from thence to Rome, arrived there the 13th of 
 March, and was received with great honours. Burr 
 card defcribes the whole ceremony of liis entry, of 
 which he was a witnefs, and which was very magnifi- 
 cent. The pope fent to receive him in great pomp^ 
 Zezim was on horfeback, with a turban on his head, 
 according to the cuftom of the T urks : the cardinals 
 who went before him, took off their hats, but he did 
 not take off his turban, contenting himfelf with a flight 
 inclination of the head. 
 
 The Souldan of Egypt, Bajazet’s enemy, had then an 
 ambaffador at Rome, who was come there on account 
 of Zezim, before whom he went with a retinue of ten 
 perfons armed with bows and arrows. The grand 
 prior of Auvergne, and another knight of Rhodes, to 
 whom the grand mafter had intrufted Zezim, would 
 not permit the Souldan’s ambaffador to advance ; but 
 Francis Cibo, one of the pope’s fons, wFo was near 
 Zezim, ordered the ambaffador to advance after he had 
 
 taken 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 
 taken the precaution to make the Turks who follov/ed 
 him, bend their bows. The latter alighted from his 
 horie, at forty. paces f-om Zezim, who continued to 
 advance. When he was v/ithin about fifteen paces, the 
 ambaffador proflrated himfelf, then rifing up, and 
 having walked fom.e fteps, he put his right knee to 
 the ground, touched the earth with his right hand, 
 and afterwards carried it to his mouth: rifing again, 
 and having joined Zezim, he again kneeled, ernbra,- 
 ced the right leg of the horfe, and Zezim’s foot; then 
 rifing up he kiffed his knee ; Zezim extended his 
 right hand on the ambaffador’s neck, who kiffed the 
 prince's habit, and feemed fo much affe6led, that it 
 was thought he fhed tears. The prince received this 
 veneration, with a calm and commanding air : he 
 fpoke only one word to him, to permit him to re- 
 mount his horfe, which he did, and marched a fmall 
 diflance before the prince. 
 
 I fhall not continue the reft of this long relation. 
 On the morrow the pope held a confiftory, to which 
 Zezim was admitted. Burcard omits no circumftance 
 of this audience. It is foid Zezim ought to have 
 fainted the pope, by touching the ground with his 
 hand ; but he refufed to do it, and would not even 
 bend his knee when he approached the throne. He 
 only inclined his head, and fo (lightly, fays Burcard, 
 that it could fcarce be perceived : then going up the 
 fteps of the throne, he kiffed the pope's right arm, 
 who was ftanding. Afterwards he faid to the pope, 
 by his interpreter, That he was charmed to be ad- 
 
 mitted 
 
220 BURCAiiD’s Journal. 
 
 micted to his prefence ; that he recommended him- 
 felf to him, and that, at a proper time and place, 
 he would explain himfelf further in private.” The 
 pope replied, “ That he had long wifhed to fee him 
 at Rome, where he fhould remain in fafety ; that 
 he fnould have no doubt of this, but live quiet } 
 every thing being dilpofed towards a good end.” 
 Zezim thanked the pope, and went out, after having 
 killed the right fhoulder of the cardinals, who re- 
 mained handing in their places. Such was the pride 
 of this unfortunate prince, in a court, where he muh 
 be fenfible he would fooner find a prifon than an 
 afylum. It was of great confequence to the pope, to 
 have Zezim in his hands, as a means to pacify Bajazet, 
 who had threatened Italy. The pope, in return for 
 the grand mailer of Rhodes, D'AubufTon, confent- 
 ing to put Zezim in his hands, had made him a car- 
 dinal, a few days before Zezim arrived at Rome a 
 H e had, at the fame time, created fome other car- 
 dinals. Thus he ill executed one of the articles which 
 he had figned both before and after his eledlion, by 
 which he had engaged not to make any cardinals, till 
 their number was reduced under twenty-four, 
 
 I fnall here infert an anecdote of a different kind, 
 but which I ought not to omit. Many perfons were 
 taken into cuftody the fame year, at Rome, who had 
 forged a great number of bulls and apoftolic letters ; 
 one of them, confeffed to fifty at leaft. They all be- 
 longed to the apoftolic office, and affociated together : 
 they firft cauled fome letters to be drawn up, which 
 were eafily procured ; afterwards having erafed the 
 
 ink. 
 
221 
 
 BURCARD's JOURNAL, 
 ink, with a certain liquid, except the fignatures, and 
 and liich parts of them as they thought proper 
 to leave : in the place of the obliterated claufes, 
 they inferred fuch things as they had agreed with the 
 perfons who employed them. To facilitate their 
 operations, they had different forts of ink, fome of 
 which were eafily taken out. They were paid ac- 
 cording to the importance of the fervice, and were 
 fometimes content with one hundred ducats, but con- 
 feffed they had received as far as two thoufand for 
 a fingle ad. They had carried on this trade for tv/o 
 years, when one of them was difcovered, and be- 
 trayed his accomplices. They manufadured dilpen- 
 fations of all kinds, and declared they had made one 
 for a prieft of the diocefe of Rouen, who was mar- 
 ried, to enable him to keep his wife. They had fome 
 powerful protedors, but the pope was inflexible 5 the 
 guilty were hung, and their bodies thrown into the 
 fire. One of them was a prieft, the other had only 
 received the tonfure. Burcard, who relates this af- 
 fair at length, does not tell us that they obliged them 
 to confefs all the ads they had forged, and which it 
 became neceflary to deftroy. How many of thefe 
 cafes may there be, in which that wife precaution 
 has been negleded, and confequently, how many 
 falfe ads mufl have been handed down to pofterity ? 
 It is not, therefore, without reafon, that the diploma- 
 tifts are on their guard againfl: charters which are pre- 
 fented to them ; fince, independent of thofe which 
 modern rogues continue to fabricate, we have reafon 
 
BURCARD^s JOURNAL; 
 tb believe, there ftill exifts a great number, ^ which 
 their predecelTors have forged. 
 
 The feaft of E after, in the foregoing year, re- 
 newed the quarrel for precedence, between the am- 
 baiTadors of Maximilian^ king of the Romans, and 
 of Spain. The popd adminiftered the communiony 
 and Burcard called thofe who were to receive it, ac- 
 cording to their rank : he called the ambaftador of 
 Maximilian before the ambaftador of Spain; The 
 latter claimed his rank, and, after fome altercation,- 
 refufed to receive the communion, until they would 
 adminifter it to him according to the rank he 
 claimed. 
 
 They had great difficulty this year to fix Eafter- 
 day. The neceftity of reforming the calendar, which 
 had been ufed ever fince the time of Julius C^far,- 
 had been long perceived. The iaft pope, Sixtus IV. 
 had, in 1476, called to Rome the learned Regio- 
 montanus to eftefi this reform, but that pope dying,- 
 the affair was negleded. According to the caien- 
 dar,” fays Burcard, Eafter, in 1488, fell on the 
 6th of April : and the aftronomers pretended, that 
 in conforming to what the church had prefcribed 
 for the fixing that feaft, it ought to be the 30th of 
 March.'’ One half of Lent was expired, when they 
 informed the pope, it was neceftary to ftiorten it a- 
 week, to conform to the new calculation ; the pope 
 judged this would be attended with great inconve- 
 nience, becaufe it would excite general attention, 
 whereas very few people would know that they had 
 celebrated it feven days later than the aftronomers pre- 
 tended 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL, 225* 
 tended to fix it. Thus it was celebrated on the 
 6th of April, and they acted with fo much more pro- 
 priety, as the aflronomers had deceived themfelves, 
 for, in fad, it ought to have been on that day. But 
 we may conclude from hence, that the pope did not 
 think the day of celebrating Eafter was of fuch great 
 importance, though it had formerly caufed fo many 
 difientions in the church. We know,* that notv/ith- 
 ftanding the reform.ation of the calendar, which was 
 effeded under Gregory XIII. there ftiil remains 
 fome inaccuracies, which mull, fom© time or other, 
 occafion a faile indication for Eafter^ The celebrated 
 JohnBernouilli, in 1728, propofed to have Eafter-day 
 hxed, in order to obviate all difficulties j and by the' 
 condud of Innocent VIII. in 1488, it is probable he 
 would have adopted the propofal of Bernouilli. 
 
 Bur card is fomerimes unreferved enough in the 
 recital of the anecdotes he relates. Thus, under the year 
 1489, in Ipeaking of the eldefl fon of an ambaifador 
 at Florence, who died at Rome in his 15th year, the 
 vidim of an exceffive incontinence, he makes ufe of 
 expreffions which I fhall not venture to render in our 
 language. He adds, that the young man was interred 
 in a monaftic habit, which was frequent enough in 
 rhofe times ; and that a funeral oration was made for 
 him.. 
 
 I have already hinted, that fome light might be 
 drawn from the journal of Burcard, to improve the 
 new Gallia Chriftiana. I am now going to give another 
 example; the authors, in fpeaking of Urban of Fiefch, 
 v/ho was nominated bifh<^p of Frejus, in 1477, fatisfy 
 
 themfelves 
 
224 B U R C A R D ’ s JOURNAL, 
 themfelves with faying, that he was ftiii living in 1484^* 
 and that his feat was vacant in 1485, without marking 
 this date more precifely. We learn, from Burcard, 
 that he died at Rome, Sunday the 9th of September, 
 in this latter year. He died of the plague, which 
 was then making a dreadful havock in that capital, 
 and was interred without pomp : he held a confidera- 
 ble office near the pope. It feems that Burcard did 
 not love him, and when he names him, he iligmatizes 
 him as perverfe, wicked, and perfidious. Burcard, 
 who did not write his journal to make it public, did 
 not think himfelf bound to any reftraint in his 
 terms. 
 
 For this reafon, he is commonly looked upon rather 
 as afatyrical author. The firfl: extracts of his Journal, 
 which have been printed, contain feveral fcandalous 
 anecdotes of Alexander VI. We find nothing fimilar 
 in the life of Innocent VIII. If his manners v/ere 
 free from any reproach, it was not before his pontifi- 
 cate. He had many children. Burcard mentions, 
 more than once, what the pope did for the efliablifh- 
 ment of leverai of them ; and we know befides^, that 
 during his whole life, he was too attentive to their for- 
 tune. 
 
 T he eldeft of thefe fons was named Francis ; he had 
 been married to one of the daughters of Laurence 
 de Medicis : her name was Magdalen : fhe was one 
 of the handfomeft women of her time. Fler mother, 
 Clarice de Urfini, carried her to Rome in 1487 ; 
 they both made their entry the 13th of November, 
 
 * The Journal of rnfelTura, on this fubje^t, may be confulted, 
 
 fiifra^ (gL 1948 , 
 
 accom- 
 
BURCARD^s JOURNAL. 225 
 accompanied by her new fpoufe, Francis Cibo ; he 
 was called the nephew of the pope, but was known, 
 to be his fon; and Burcard himfelf never calls him by 
 any other name. It feems by this, that the pope was 
 fomewhat aihamed to confefs himifelf publickly his 
 father i it is therefore an exaggeration of his faults 
 to reprelent him glorying in his numerous pollerity. 
 
 Let us now foeak of fome of his other children^, 
 which Burcard mentions ; he fpeaks of a daughter, 
 called Martina, who had married Alphonfo de Ca~ 
 retto, marquis of Final, and of another named Thea- 
 dorina, who had been given in marriage to a rich 
 Genoefe merchant, called Gerard Ufodomare. ^he 
 latter had a daughter. Burcard relates her marriage, 
 which was celebrated the 17 th of November, 1448, 
 in the prefence of the pope, and of Francis Cibo; 
 adding, in that place, that they were both baftards ; 
 and this formal aflertion of fuch a teflimony of Burcard, 
 contradi 61 :s the 'opinion' of thofe v/ho fuppofed that 
 the children of Innocent might proceed from a legiti- 
 mate marriage, contracted before his exaltation. 
 Burcard excepts againft his conduCt, in admitting 
 women to the nuptial feftivity of his daughter Theo- 
 dorina, which was celebrated in his palace, and was 
 a violation of the cuftom hitherto obferved. This, 
 fays our author, made a great noife in the city. 
 
 Finally, Burcard relates the ceremony of the mar- 
 riage of another daughter of the pope, named BaptiJ- 
 tindy . with Lewis of Arragon, marquis of Geracio, 
 3d of January, 1492. At this marriage was prefent 
 another daughter of the pope, named Perretta: it was 
 
 VoL. I. celebrated 
 
^^26 B U R C A R D’s JOURNAL, 
 ceiebrated in the pope's prefence, by the archbifnop of 
 Ragufa, who was obliged to repeat twice to Baptillina 
 the interrogation, whether J}:)e accepted Lewis of Arra-- 
 gon as her legitimate JpouJe, After Ihe had confented, the 
 married couple approached the pope, who was in his 
 featj and both being on their knees, the hufband put 
 the ring on the proper finger of the left hand of his 
 fpoufe 5 then feveral rings on the other fingers of both 
 hands ; laftly, having both kiffed the feet of the pope, 
 he rofe, and embraced his confort. The ceremonial 
 ended there ; and the pope withdrawing, they each re- 
 turned to their refpedlive houfes. 
 
 A few days before the 31 ft of May> the feaft of the 
 Afcenfion, the pope was taken ill at a procefTion which 
 was made on occafion of a relic, which the emperor of 
 the Turks had fent him. It was the iron of the lance 
 ' that had perforated the fide of Jefus Chrift. The au- 
 thenticity of this relic was fomewhat fufpefled ; for it 
 was contended, fays Burcard, that the true lance was 
 at Nuremberg, where it was fliewn every year; 
 others declared, they had feen it at the Saint Chappelle 
 at Paris i fome however faid, that according to an 
 ancient chronicle, this relic, before the taking of Con- 
 ilantinople by the Turks, had been tranfported to that 
 place;. that a citizen had fecreted it at his houfe, and 
 that the grand fignior had bought it of him afterwards for 
 70,000 ducats; but there were others who reprefen ted, 
 that confidering what that relic was, by whom, and to 
 whom it had been offered, that there was room to ap- 
 prehend it might prove a fubjedl of derifion on the 
 Chriflian religion ; and therefore, that it would be ad- 
 
 vifeable 
 
B U R C A R D’s JOURNAL. 227 
 viieable to accept the pretended relic without any fo- 
 lemnity,and to write to Nuremberg, Paris, and Venice, 
 for information. 
 
 This was the advife of a great number of the car- 
 dinal priefts, and feemed very judicious; but the 
 pope was not willing to fliew any doubt; and accepted 
 of the relic without helitation. I omit all the cere- 
 monial with which it had been received. It was car- 
 ried in procefiion by the pope himfelf, the day of the 
 afcenfion, enclofed in a fhrine of chryftal. The prd- 
 cemon was very tum.ultiious, and the pope became fo 
 fatigued that he fhortened it. The ambaifador of the 
 grand fignior prefented letters to the pope, wherein the 
 relic was addrefied to him. Burcard fays, that they 
 were not publicly read, and people pretended it was 
 on account of their mentioning a prefent of 40,000 
 ducats, with which they had been accompanied. It 
 was certainly a means to do away all fcruple as to the 
 authenticity of the relic ; that, and the money, were 
 both to be the inftruments to render the pope favour- 
 able with regard to Zezim, brother of Bajazet, whom 
 he held in his power. 
 
 The health of the pope was confiderably impaired 
 fince the fhock it had received in 1 48 8 . They thought 
 him dead, and he had been fick for a long time; for 
 he did not appear in public until February following; 
 from that time, he was never perfeclly recovered. I 
 have juft hinted, that he happened to be taken ill at 
 the procefilon, on the 31ft of May, 1492 ; and the fick- 
 nefs augmented, to fuch a degree, that on the 14th of 
 June, it was thought necefiary to take thofe precau- 
 tions which announced the prefling danger in which he 
 
 0^2 found 
 
ssS B U R C A R D’s JOURNAL, 
 found himfelf He lived flili above five weeks, and 
 died on the 25th of What happened after 
 
 his death, is reported by Burcard in his Journal of 
 the pontificate of Alexander VI. of whom there are 
 feveral manufcripts in the king’s library. I fliali 
 give an account of it : that which I conclude here, 
 feems to me fufhcient to excite a wifh for the pub- 
 lication of that part of the Journal of Burcard, that 
 feems hitherto to have been condemned to oblivion. 
 
 Before I end, I muft obferve, that there is a large 
 chafm in the three manufcrips of the king juft men- 
 tioned. M. de Foncemagne, who had examined the 
 manufcript, then numbered 9920, (now 5159) had 
 thought that the blank was from the 14th of June 1491, 
 to the death ofinnocent Vlll.biit I am enabled to fix 
 it at fourteen months complete from the 9th of June, 
 1490, exclufively, to the 8th of Auguft, 1491. So 
 the pofterior dates of 1492, found at the end of this 
 manufcript, are not faults of copyifts, as M. de Fonce- 
 magne had conjedured. The arduous method I pur- 
 fued to afcertain this, has been to combine the days 
 of the week with thofe of the months, (they both be- 
 ing marked by Burcard) and to find out the charac- 
 ter of the year to which thofe days belong. It was 
 important to point out an error which might be a 
 fource of miftakes ; and I congratulate myfelf, having 
 fpared others the trouble I have had in detecting it, 
 
 * Manufcript, Tom. III. fol. 301. Nota, what follows in this manu- 
 fcript, is wanting in the two others, but does not take up above 42 lines 
 of a pretty large wTiting. It fpeaks but of a conference of Profpcr 
 Calonna, and others of the principal lords in Rome, with the conferva- 
 torsofthe people, toafTociate together in the cafe of the pope’s death. 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 JOURNAL of BURCARD. 
 
 SECOND PART. . 
 
 Under the Fontifxate of Alexander VL 
 
 Manufcripts of the King, fuperfcribed 5160, 2 vol. 5161,5162, 
 and 5582, among the Latin Manufcripts. 
 
 By M. de Brequicny. 
 
 "TT THILST the firft part of this Journal, of which 
 ^ ^ I have given an account, remained buried in 
 the libraries, I haftened to publifh the fecond, the more 
 interefting, as it had for its fubjeft a pope, unfortu- 
 nately too much famed for the licentioufnefs of his 
 life, and the abufe of his power. 
 
 As long ago as the year 1649, Denys Godefroy 
 caufed fome extracts to be printed, on the fubje^l of 
 the famous Savanarola, among the proofs of the 
 memoirs of Comines; and his fon produced fome 
 others in 1684, in his obfervations on his hiftory of 
 Charles VIII. they refpeft what had palTed at Rome 
 during the refidence of this prince there, in 1495, and 
 contain only five pages. There is fome ground to 
 believe that he tranfcribed them from a manufcript of 
 
 0^3 the 
 
23 » BURCARD’s JOURNAL, 
 
 i 
 
 the king, No. 8547, among the manufcripts of Be- 
 thune. The fame extra6ls are in French and Latin ^ 
 we find them like wife in French in the volu^ne 8439 
 of the Fame manufcripts. Godefroy intitied them, 
 Extra^s of a Journal of a Mafier of the Ceremonies at 
 the Court of Rome^ without otherwife defcribing the 
 author. 
 
 Oderic Raynaldi mentions Burcard, and made his 
 Journai better known in 1694, by ample extracts, with "^ 
 which he enriched the eleventh voluiTie of his conti- 
 nuation of Baronius : he extracted them from the 
 manufcripts of the Vatican. 
 
 Two years after, Leibnitz publifhed the Secret 
 Hijlory of the Life of Alexander VI. This was not pro- 
 perly Burcard’s Joiu nal, but was rather an abridgment 
 of it, where they had fometimes inferted Burcard's 
 words, and at other times had trandated them into 
 French. Leibnitz had found this manufcript in the 
 library of Wolfenbuttel, and thought the publication 
 of it would be ufeful, inftead 9f the original, which he 
 could not find. 
 
 La Crofc was more fortunate; he found, in 1707, in 
 the libra’-y of Berlin, that part of Burcard’s Journal, 
 v/hich concerns Alexander VI. and haflened to com- 
 municate it to Leibnitz. The latter imnnediately 
 form.ed the plan of publifhingthis piece ; and we learn 
 from, fbrne of his letters, that his defign was to infert 
 it in a colieffion of fecret hiftories ; but although he 
 lived near ten years after, until 1716, his time was fo 
 fully employed by a great number of works and 
 plans, that he had no leifure to execute this. 
 
 The 
 
BUR CARD’S JOURNAL. 231 
 
 The learned George Eccard, liaving again found 
 this manufcriptj printed it in 1723, at Leipfic, in the 
 fecond volume of his Colle6lion of Hiftorians of the 
 middle age ; avows it to be imperfedt in many refpedts ; 
 and that to reftore the order of it, he was obliged to 
 have recourfe to what' Leibnitz had publihied from 
 theWolfenbuttel manufcript, from which he has even 
 taken fome fupplements. V/ c hiall difcern he might 
 have done ‘better, if he had knov/n the manufcripts 
 which are the fubjedl of this account. I have found, 
 in his edition, by comparing itwith thefe manufcripts, 
 more than one hundred omilTions, many of which are 
 important. 
 
 If miy intention was to make public all the manu- 
 fcripts of Burcard, I fhould fay, that there are two at 
 St. Germain des Pers, which, according to M.deFon- 
 cemagne’s evidence, are incomplete and not exadt. I 
 fhould fpeak alfo of the manufcrips in the Vatican, 
 which Oderic Raynaldi often cites 3 it is No. 104. 
 There is another, which M. de St. Palaye had com- 
 municated an account of to the late M. de Fonce- 
 magne, from the library of Chigi ; but 1 ought here 
 to confine myfelf to the king’s manufcripts. 
 
 I have found, from copies of that part of the Jour- 
 nal which concerns the pontificate of Alexander VI. 
 all on paper, and the writing not very ancient. 
 
 The firfi: (No. 5160, 2 vol. fmail folio), of a fine 
 writing, about the end of the fixteenth or beginning of 
 the feventeenth century, extends from the year 1492, 
 to 1503. The pages are not numbered. 
 
 0.4 
 
 The 
 
232 BURCARD’5 journal. 
 
 The fecond, (No. 5161, in 4to.) the writing is of 
 the fixteenth century. This journal of Burcard begins 
 only in 1497, and goes to the end of 1 502 , it has 273 
 leaves ; the reft does not belong to Burcard, and con- 
 tains many extrabts, fome of which concern Caiix- 
 tus III. who, as well as Alexander VI. was of the 
 Borgia family. They are of the fame v/riting as that 
 which precedes them, and appear to have been com- 
 piled by Thomas Tamaijo, of Vargas, in 1634. 
 
 The third (No. 5162, in folio), is in a very fine 
 hand, the fame as copied the firft part of Burcard’s 
 journal, of which I have Ipoken in my firft account, 
 under No, 5159, and of which this, I am now fpeak- 
 ing of, is the continuation. It contains 259 pages. 
 
 The fourth (No. 5162, 4to.) is divided into four 
 volumes. The writing appears in an Italian hand, of 
 the feventeenth century. T he text is full of the copyifl’s 
 faults, but the greater part of them are eafy to cor- 
 red. This imanufcript is much more ample than’ any 
 of the former, v/herein there are a great number of 
 places abridged, and many omifTions, particularly to- 
 wards the end, as if the copyifl, fatigued with tran- 
 fcribing, had endeavoured to fhorten his work. 
 
 The firfl: twelve leaves extend from the 25th of 
 July, 1492, the day Innocent VIII, died, until 
 December the 2d following. It is only from this time 
 the other manufcript, cited at the head of this account, 
 and even Eccard’s edition, begins, But what is want- 
 ing in this place of thefe different copies, are found 
 word for word, in a work of the fame age, publifhed 
 by Eccard. It is a journal of the city of Rome, 
 
 written 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 233 
 written by Stephen InfefTura, who, in 1478, was po- 
 deftat of rhe city of Horta, of which Burcard, his co- 
 temporary, was billiop. This w^ork is not among the 
 manuferipts in the king’s library. 
 
 Innocent vTII. dying the 25th of July, 1692, his 
 obfequies ended the 5th of Auguft, and the cardinals 
 entered the conclave the next day ; and on the nth 
 they elected Roderic Borgia pope, who took the 
 name of Alexander VI. His elediion was not more 
 immaculate than that of his predecefTor. Of twenty 
 cardinals who entered the conclave, we find but 
 three who did not fell him their votes ; Burcard 
 names thefe cardinals, as well as moft of thofe whofe 
 fuftrages he had bought. To make fure of cardinal 
 Afeagnio Sforza, he fent him four miules loaded with 
 fiiver^ another cardinal had received 5000 ducats of 
 gold beforehand j after his election, he gave to fome, 
 houfes furnifned, and to others, large fums. All thefe 
 details, and many others, are omitted in the manu- 
 feripts I have cited, but they are found in the journal 
 printed by Infefiura. 
 
 It would be eafy for me to draw an interefdng 
 picture of the life of Alexander VI. from Burcard’s 
 journal, if it was not to avoid repeating what has 
 been printed in Leibnitz and Eccard’s editions 3 I 
 therefore only defign to colled fome fcattered anec- 
 dotes, which have hitherto remained unknown, from 
 the manufeript I have examined; and I lhali feled 
 thofe which, on many accounts, deferve to be pre- 
 ferved. 
 
 It 
 
234 BURCARD’s JOURNAL* 
 
 It is not iifelefs to be acquainted with the detail of 
 the etiquette of the court of Rome, under the diffe- 
 rent popes, particularly refpedting the honours paid to 
 princes. I ihall therefore report what paffed in the 
 pope’s council, December 21, 1494, when the cere- 
 monial which was to beobferved towards prince Frede- 
 rick, fecond fon of the king of Naples, who was come to 
 Rome to do homage in the name of the king, his 
 father, was there regulated. This part of Burcard’s 
 J oiirnal is omitted in the printed copy. 
 
 The pope having aiTembled all the cardinals, ad^ed 
 Burcard, whom this affair particularly concerned, as 
 m.after of the ceremonies, if prince Frederick ought 
 to rank with the cardinals, or immediately after them ? 
 
 I replied,’/ fays Burcard, ‘‘ that under Innocent 
 “ VIIL Francis, who was only fourth fon of the 
 king of Naples, having come to do homage for 
 the king, his father, was met by two cardinals, who 
 condubfed him to the pope i that this honour did 
 “ not belong to ambaffadors, of homage, but was paid 
 to the fons of kings. As to the rank among the 
 cardinals, he ought to precede the firff. cardinal 
 deacon.” The pope collected the voices of the 
 eardinais, and two aiTiOng them afferted, that Fran- 
 cis, brother of Frederick, took place after all the car- 
 dinal deacons. “ That was not true,” fay Burcard, 
 yet I did not anfwer j I only reprefented, that prince 
 Francis was but the fourth fon of the king, and that 
 “ Frederick was the fecond, which made a difference 
 “ between them.” The cardinal Afcagnio Sforza, one 
 of the two that had oppofed Burcard’s advice, fpeak- 
 
B U R C A R D ’ s JOURNAL. £35 
 ing to him ; who is/' faid he, the greatefl prince, 
 the duke of Milan, or Frederick Any fon of 
 
 a king," anfwered Burcard, is, according to the 
 etiquette of Rome, fuperior to a duke of Milan, 
 or the eleftors of the empire." The duke of Mi- 
 lan fcood in rank next after the cardinals, and the 
 cardinal Afcagnio, who was his uncle, faw, with mor- 
 tification, the greater honours deftined for the fon 
 of the king of Naples. At length, the pope decided, 
 according to the advice of the m^oiity, that the two 
 junior cardinal deacons Ihould accompany Frederick 
 from the apoflolical chamber, and that he fhould 
 have his rank before the laft cardinal deacon j but 
 that, as obedience was now expedled of him, he 
 ihould not fit among the cardinals, but Ihould ftand 
 with the other ambafTadors of Naples, in the place 
 which was generally defigned for them. Matters were 
 accommodated agreeable to this decifion. 
 
 The king of France, Charles VIII. who was then 
 at Rome, was alfo admitted to obedience, and the 
 printed Journal of Burcard makes mention of it, but 
 fuppreffes the principal incidents of this ceremony, 
 of which he gives an idea obvioufly different from 
 that of the narrative in his' manufcript. 
 
 According to the printed copy, the 19th of Janu- 
 ary, 1495, the day appointed for the allegiance, the 
 pope fignified to the king, that he was ready to re- 
 ceive him. The king anfwered, that he did not ex-f 
 pecf the fummons, but that previoufly to his appear- 
 ing before the pope, he was willing to hear mals, and 
 to dine. The pope, acquainted with this anfwer, 
 
 held 
 
236 B U R C A R D ’s JOURNAL, 
 held a council, and fent inftantly two cardinals to the 
 king, whom diey found at dinner ; they acquainted 
 him, that the pope was expediing him in full con- 
 fiflory, whereupon the king departed, walking be« 
 tween the tv/o cardinals. It appears by this, that the 
 pope gave orders, as the fovereign, and that the king 
 obeyed with fubmiffion. But this was nor the part 
 Charles VIIL a6led at Rome. He was in fad the 
 ruler, and he did not negled, occafionally, to fhew 
 it. This appears in the detailed account of Burcard 3 
 of which, the printed copy contains only a mutilated 
 extrad. I am going to tranflate this paiTage from the 
 king’s manufeript. , 
 
 The pope being prepared for die ceremony of 
 allegiance, fent Burcard to inform the king of 
 what he had to fay and do, and of the ceremony 
 of kiffmg the foot ; but he forbid him Ipeaking 
 of the rank in which he was refolved to place 
 ‘‘ the king, either among the cardinals, or after the 
 firfl cardinal. It was known, that this prince was 
 determined, by die advice of his council, not to 
 fit, but to pronounce Handing, on the Heps of the 
 pope’s throne, a Ihort formula of allegiance. 
 
 “ Burcard found the king in his room, where he 
 was finilhing to drefs himfelf ^ and having difclofed 
 to him his commiffion, he added, that the pope 
 was ready, and expeded him. The king anfwer- 
 ed, that he would attend the pope when he had 
 heard mafs, and dined. Burcard did all he could 
 to induce him to go without delay, but in vain. 
 The pope having received this anfwer, convoked 
 
 the 
 
B U R C A R D 's JOURNAL. 237 
 the cardinals, and held a fecret council, which 
 lafted above an Iiourj next, having afiumed his 
 habits of ceremony, proceeded to the room, pre- 
 pared for the public coniifbory, followed by the 
 cardinals and prelates. Burcard, nominated thofe 
 that were to accoiPipany the king, and with them, 
 he repaired to that prince. They halted in the room 
 adjoining to that where he was at table, and he was 
 " informed they were there ready to accompany him, 
 when he chofe to go to the pope, who wa^ expedt- 
 inghim, with the cardinals, in the room of the con- 
 fiftory. 
 
 At the end of half an hour, the king afked for 
 Burcard, and interrogated him on what he had to 
 do he explained it to him. The king defired him 
 to wait a imoment, and palTed into another room, 
 to confult on the mianner he fhould condudt him- 
 felf, which lafted another half hour ; after that, he 
 again called for Burcard, and made him repeat 
 what he had already heard of him; then joining 
 " the cardinals and prelates, he proceeded towards 
 “ the confiftory.” 
 
 I ftiall not defcribe here the order of the proceffion, 
 nor the rendering of allegiance ; the whole proceeded 
 nearly in the lame manner as is related in the printed 
 ‘ copy. The king remained ftanding on the fteps of 
 the pope’s throne, without taking place among the 
 cardinals, and in this refpebl evaded the pope’s in- 
 tention. Burcard having defired the king to pro- 
 nounce the formula of allegiance, ‘^^itis not yet time,” 
 
 faid 
 
23 ^ B U R C A R D ’ s JOURNAL, 
 faid the king. He wanted firil to dictate conditions, 
 which he caufed the firfl prefident of the parliament 
 of Paris to explain. The printed journal reports 
 them ; but what it omits, is the little refpe6l which 
 the French of the king’s fuite manifefced during the 
 ceremony, to the great afflihlion of Burcard; wliich 
 proves how little that ceremony deceived them. 
 Upon the whole, the French condudled themfelves in 
 Rome, as in a conquered town j they took lodging in 
 the houfes of the citizens, and lived in fome relpedt at 
 their ovm difcretion. Burcard complains, that they 
 had intruded themfelves into his houle, and taken his 
 horfes from his ftables to make room for their own : 
 he vcas conilrained to carry his complaints to the 
 king himfelfj and it was with difficulty he could ob~ 
 tainpofieffion of his apartments. — Thefe accounts are 
 not found in the printed copy. 
 
 Burcard made a journey to Naples, in 1494, to 
 affiil as mafter of the ceremonies of the court of 
 Rome, at the coronation of Alphonfo 11 . Dur- 
 ing his flay at Naples, he vifited the environs ^ and 
 we find in his J ournal an account of this journey, of 
 which there is not one word in the printed copy. 
 This piece is interefiing, becaufe it enables us to draw 
 a comparifon between the ftate of thofe places he de- 
 fcribes, as they were three hundred years ago, with 
 the fituation in which they are nov/3 a comparifon 
 the more acceptable, as the foil of the country fpoken 
 of has fince undergone ilrange revolutions. I think 
 it will not be ufelefs to tranflate the whole of this ac- 
 count, which is a real anecdote 3 there are alfo fome 
 
 details 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 239 
 
 details in the fame, of the death of the king of Naples, 
 Ferdinand L 
 
 Tuefday, the 13th of May^ I494> I departed from 
 Naples, in the morning, on horfe-back, to view the 
 antiquities. The perfon whom the king had 
 charged with the expenditure of my houfehold, went 
 with me; he took with him a mule loaded with 
 whne, bread, meats, fweatmeats, torches, and all that 
 iTiight iTioft commodioudy lubfift us, or ferve to the 
 fuccefs of our voyage : iix friends of mine joined 
 company, to fatisfy their curiofity. We arrived 
 “ firft at Aqua-viva, four miles diftant from Naples 5 
 there feveral fubterraneous vaults had been con- 
 “ ftrucled, fo heated by the warmth of the earth, that 
 a man who fpends but half an hour there, returns 
 in a general perfpiration, which has caufed them 
 to be called Judorific baths: they cure various dif- 
 orders ; and there is a place, where the perfon that 
 enters is inftantly fuffocated, unlefs he be thrown 
 direclly into a bath, which is found near it, and 
 “ which reftores him to life. 
 
 At a mile from thence is Lumera, a place where 
 alum is fabricated. They calcine the ftones, which 
 they take from a neighbouring mountain ; they 
 then range them in order, and throw water feveral 
 times over them \ next they boil them in large ba- 
 fons, placed in the middle of an oven ; and, at 
 length, withdraw them, and put them into velTels, 
 where they are, without further operation, con- 
 verted into alum. 
 
 At 
 
•240 B U R C A R D ’ s JOURNAL. 
 
 At a mile and half from. thence^ at the other 
 fide of the mountain, is the Solfatara, where fui- 
 “ phur is found ; it is a plain, nearly circular, 
 about half a mile, cncompalTed on all hdes with 
 final! hills, a little pafTage excepted, which leads to 
 Pozzuolo. There are two ponds to be feen at a 
 confiderable difeance, from each other, whole wa- 
 ters are unceafingly fermenting with great violence ; 
 there is alfo a hole, whence a dreadful fmoke 
 iifues, but no flame, which burfls out with ve- 
 hemence, and a noife. We fee nothing in that 
 place, either mountain or plain, but produces fuN 
 phur; thus the fame mountain, v/hich furnifhes 
 fulphur on one fide, fupplies alum on the other. 
 From hence to Pozzuolo is one mile and an half ; 
 but at the diflance of a mile is, difcovered a mofl 
 ancient edifice of a circular form, like the ColifTee 
 at Rome, and which they call Tulliume The 
 fubterraneous vaults of this edifice might afford 
 room for an hundred horles ; for this reafon, there 
 are racks and mangers placed there. 
 
 At fome diflance from thence, there is a large 
 grotto ; on the fummit of which, are gardens, 
 cultivated and planted with trees. I had an ar- 
 cher of the king’s guard with me, who fhewed 
 me every thing ; it was he whom the king charged 
 to provide me with every requifite at Naples. We 
 dined at Pozzuolo ; we then entered a boat, and 
 proceeded by fea, to a town called Baiai, at a mile 
 and an hair diflance : we found feveral baths there. 
 Three miles farther, we found a very fine fubter- 
 
 rancous 
 
B U R C A R D ’ s JOURNAL. 241 
 raneous vault, which they call the marvellous grotto 4 
 it lias 14 arches in length, and five in breadth, 
 each of them about two Cannes^ or five feet broad. 
 
 On the Other fide, towards the fea, there is a vaft 
 cavern in the mountain \ in the middle they have 
 dug a bath, at the four angles of which, are iike- 
 wife four other baths, of which each has its pecu- 
 liar virtues, for the cure of various diforders. The 
 fides of thole baths were ornamented with tables 
 of marble, on which the properties of each were 
 engraved, but thefe have been removed a long 
 time, it is faid, by the phyficians of Salerno, to 
 whom thefe baths were very prejudicial. 
 
 ‘‘ Afcending a few fteps, we enter a long vault, 
 which is pervaded with exhalations fo hot, that they 
 create an immediate perfpiration. Here is a flone 
 named cavallo. There is a great rifque of being 
 iliffocated by the heat, to any perfon v/ho advances 
 beyond it. On the fide of the entrance are two 
 ‘‘ rooms dug into the mountain, to ferve for ftoves, 
 and five places for beds have been v^rought ; there 
 they undrefs, and after having fveated, they recline 
 on the bed, which every one brings with him. 
 We continued our labour towards a palace, called 
 T repergole* : we faw at the bottom of the fea the 
 “ walls of the aixient Baiai, funk long fince. At 
 Trepergole, feveral falubrious baths are found. 
 
 • There is a village of that name, which was fwallowed up in the 
 earthquake which happened in that part in the month of December 
 1538, when the hill of Monte Nuovo rofe out of the middle of the water 
 of the Lucrinc lake. Voyage to Italy by Lalandey VII, page 
 
 VoL. L R 
 
 but 
 
 
242 BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 
 
 but they are generally filthy. My guide told me, 
 that Tiief'day the 2ifl of January lafr^ the late 
 king of Naples^ Ferdinand, arriving at Treper- 
 gole, and feeling himfelf indifpofed, immediately 
 fet off again for Naples ; that alighting from his 
 horfe, he loft his ienfes, and died the Saturday en- 
 fuing, the 25th of the fame month, without con- 
 feiTion or facraments. That a monk of the order of 
 the Minorites, his confeffor, who was in his room,, 
 cried out publickly to him, to repent of his fins,- 
 and what he might have done againft the church y 
 but that the king gave no fign of repentance. 
 
 Near Trepergole is a lake of fait water, of 
 which no bottom has been found ; it is pretended^ 
 that this water comes from the fea. On the- border 
 "^Ms a fountain of fweet and warm water, enclofed by 
 walls, and on all Tides furrounded by this fait wa- 
 ter. Between Trepergole and Pozziiolo, on the 
 “ left hand, leaving the fea on the right, we faw 
 mount Barbaro, where, it is afferted, there lies a 
 rich treafure concealed ; on the top and the two 
 flanks, there are fom.e remains of a caftle. 
 
 ‘‘ In returning from Trepergole to Naples, by 
 another way, about three miles from Pozzuoio,. 
 '"Mbme other baths are feen, which they call Bag- 
 noli i among which there is one moft delightful, 
 wTich, however, cannot contain above four or five 
 perfons. Between thofe baths, and the ifland of 
 Porcita, the fea forms a Freight of about one mile^ 
 Irlere is the ifland of Nifita, where there is a very 
 ftron.? caftle, and a mountain. There are no houfes 
 
 in 
 
B U R C A R D ’s JOURNAL. 243 
 in that part; we can only fee, from the top of the 
 mountain, the ruins of an ancient caftle : there are 
 alfo the rubbilhi of fome edifices, but it is not pof- 
 fible to conflrud any there. T his ifland lies three 
 miles from Po2zuolo by fea ; the mofc part of the 
 ifland, and the mountain it contains, are hollow, 
 “ and their cavities ferve as a retreat to rabbits and 
 wild cats. 
 
 On the road, half a mile from Naples, there is 
 a public way cut through a very high mountain ; 
 it has about two Cannes in breadth, and one in 
 height, and nearly two miles in length : towards 
 the middle, they have cut in the mountain, on one 
 fide, a crucifix, and on the other, the image of the 
 virgin. A s the thickefl: gloom reigns through this 
 paffage, except near the two appertures, thofe that 
 pafs, carefully walk clofe to the wall at their left 
 in going and coming, left they fiould run againft 
 each other. 
 
 We arrived the fame evening at Naples. At 
 the fame time I aifo went two miles from that 
 town to take a view of the fine palace of Poggio 
 Regale ; it is a fquare, and at each of the four an- 
 gles, there is a fquare tower tw^o ftories high. 
 Within fide, all round, they have conftrufted 
 vaulted galleries for the convenience of walking. 
 Toward the middle they defcend by eight or nine 
 fteps, into a kind of parlour, where there is a wide 
 conduit, which may be filled with water in a mo- 
 ment, at the king's pleafure. His diverfion is, 
 fometimes, to have a table prepared in that place ; 
 
 R 2 and 
 
244 BURCARD»s JOURNAL. 
 
 and when the guefls are feated, he orders the wa-- 
 ter to be let in, with which they are wafhed before 
 they have time to fly. 
 
 Near the ancient walls of Naples, at the gate of 
 Capua, there is a caflle, with fine apartments, and 
 mofl: elegant garden-s. The prefent king built it,, 
 when he was only duke of Calabria. It would be 
 too long to defcribe it ; I fhall content myfelf with 
 faying, that it i-s a mofl; beautiful and enchanting 
 place.’*' 
 
 There are ftill fome other particularities omitted 
 in the printed copy, and related by Burcard,- in the 
 narrative of another journey he made with the cardi- 
 nal Sante Croix, envoy to the emperor, in quality of 
 legate, in 1496. He faw, at AlTifi, in a convent of 
 Francifcans, a tooth of St, Chriftopher, the length 
 of a finger, and the rliicknefs of a hen’s egg ; at Bo- 
 logna, in a convent of Sante Claire, they fliewed him 
 the body of the blelTed Catharine of Bologna (who 
 was fmce canonized by Clement VII). She had been 
 dead twenty-three years, and her face, feet, and hand’s, 
 were in perfedt prefervation. [This body may be. 
 feen at this day in the fame convent ; but it is 
 nothing more than a frightful, black, and dry figure,, 
 like the mummies}. 
 
 Let us fupply fome odier omiflions. Here is an 
 anecdote, which paints at once the licentioufnefs and . 
 ferocious manners, as well as the trifling laws that 
 reigned at Rome, at the end of the fifteenth century. 
 
 There was in that town, in 1498, a courtezan, 
 that is, fays Burcard, an honefl: town girl. They 
 
 ufed 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 245 
 ufed to call ^her Corfetta ; fhe had at her houfe / 
 a Moor, who pafled for^ atid wore the habit of a wo* 
 man, and caufed himfelf to be called Barbara the Spa-- 
 niard. It was thought neceflary to punifh the crimi- 
 iial commerce that fiibliiled between them : they were 
 both condemned to be led through the ftreets of the 
 town i Corfetta drelTed in a black velvet gown, fweep'- 
 ing the ground, but without a falh ^ the Moor in a 
 woman’s drefs, the arms tied behind the back, above 
 the elbow, andfo indecently put on, that under an ap- 
 pearance of ,corre6ling manners, they werefcandaloufly 
 outraged. After this punifhment, the courtezan was 
 fet free, but the unhappy Moor was, a few days after, 
 C';)mmitted to the flames, with circumftances that 
 create horron Here we fee one of the culprits pu* 
 rdlhed with death, and the other only by fhame. 
 The difguifing of the fex was then looked upon as 
 the capital crime, whilft the real erime remained 
 almofl: unpunilhed. 
 
 Although the printed Journal of Burcard con- 
 tains a multityde of trads, which fet forth the excefs 
 of licentioufnefs and diforders of Alexander VI. the 
 king’s manufcripts furnifh^s ftill new ones. I fpare 
 them to my readers, and I mull only obferve, that it 
 is always with more flmplicity than acrirnony, that 
 Burcard relates them. The corruption of manners 
 muft have been at the highefl: pitchy at the court of 
 a pope, who fet decency at defiance. Thus we fee 
 in Buroard’s Journal, cardinals embarking openly 
 with courtezans, and conducing them to France ; 
 
 R 3 others 
 
246 BURCARD’s JOURNAL, 
 others avowing, without a blufh, that they laboured, 
 under the difeafe, which Burcard calls the French 
 difiempeTy and which we ufed to call, with fo little 
 ground, the dijlemper of Naples. They ailedged it 
 without palliation for an excufe, whenever it impeded 
 them from difcharging their fandions. Exceifes of 
 all kinds reigned allb among the people. We may 
 form an idea of it, by a converfation between Bur- 
 card and a penitentiary, in the month of November 
 1500, on occafion of a memorial v/hich the peniten-^ 
 tiaries prefented to the pope at the opening of the 
 Jubilee, foliciting him to extend their powers. This 
 converfation, which occurs only in the manufcripts^^ 
 is curious enough ; and it muft be avowed that the 
 precautions which the penitentiaries took, announce 
 that fome moll extraordinary cafes were laid before 
 him. Burcard quellions one of the penitentiaries 
 on this fubjed, and he reports, with great ingenu- 
 ity, all that he revealed to him, I fhall not mix 
 fcandalous details in this account 5 but I mull remark 
 a lingular circuiTillance, which is not foreign to lite-» 
 rature. 
 
 After a fequel of divers adventures, reported by 
 the penitentiary, Burcard relates one, which is a-kin 
 to that we read in the eighth novel of the eighth 
 day of the Decameron of Boccacio, and dill m.ore to 
 that we find at the end of the thirty-fecond Seree of 
 Bouchet. ^ - 
 
 I mean that of a woman, who had Ihut her lover 
 up in a trunk, to keep him from the eyes of her un- 
 
 expebledly 
 
B U R C A R D ’ s JOURNAL. 247 
 expecledly returned hufoand. The hufband had fent 
 for the wife of the incarcerated hufband, and told her, 
 that he was determined to avenge himfeif by killing the 
 captive, if Ihe did not confent to another kind of ven- 
 geance. She thought proper to confult him who was 
 the moft concerned in it. He anfwered, from within 
 his trunk, that he preferred coming off* with a little 
 fhamie, and accordingly he was delivered. 
 
 Is it from Boccacio, or from Burcard, that Bou- 
 chet, who died in the middle of the fixteenth century, 
 has borrowed this adventure ? or is it not perhaps a fco- 
 ry incorporated in Burcard, by fome copyiil ? I mull 
 pbferve, that it is not found in the maniifcript 5520, 
 and that it is neither in the manufcript 5162, although 
 the rek of the converlation between Burcard and 
 |he penitentiary, is related. 
 
 W e have hitherto feen examples of what the king's 
 manufcripts fupply, towards giving a more complete 
 edition of that part of the Journal of Burcard, which 
 concerns Alexander VI. Let us now ihew, that the 
 fame manufcripts may alfo ferve to render it more 
 correct. 
 
 We read^ in the printed copy, at the 2017th col. 
 feri.i ajiartd vel quinta Decemkrls, which fignifies 
 the Wednefday or Thurfday in December j a loofe 
 date, and altogether contrary to the cuftom of Bur- 
 card, who never fails to cite the day of the month, 
 wdrh the day of the week : alfo we read in the ma- 
 nufcripts, ferid quart d, quinta Decerndris, Wednel- 
 day the hfth of December, vdiich really vv^as Wed- 
 nefday. 
 
 R 4 
 
 The 
 
24S BURCARD's JOURNAL. 
 
 The printed copy declares, that on the eleventh of 
 June, 1500, it was laid, that the king of France had 
 arrived fuit di^fum^ regem Francis Fifas veniffe \ 
 
 the rnanufcripcs fay, that it was a herald of the king, 
 quendum heraldum regis Francis, They add, even that 
 this herald, v/ho was commiflioned to fet up every 
 where in Pifa, the arms of France, v/as killed by the 
 Pifans, or by the Florentines : a fa^ft the printed 
 copy does not notice. It is certain, that in 1500, 
 the king of France, (Louis XIL) did not pafs into 
 Italy. Thus the errors of the edition of Eccard arq 
 manifed. 
 
 There is another fault in the imprelTion equally 
 glarings it is the order which the Genoefe ambaffa- 
 dors obferved at their entrance into Rome. The firft 
 of them marched between tv/o archbiihops, the fe- 
 cond between a prelate of the palace and one of the 
 French ambaifadors. We read afterwards, fimill 
 modoy 35, 48, which gives no meaning; but the text 
 of the manufcript fays, fimili modo tertius^ quartusy 
 quintusy which fignihes, that it was the fame with the 
 third, fourth, and fifth ambaffador; that is, that each 
 of them marched between one of the ambaffadors of 
 France and a prelate. 
 
 In the fame column of the printed copy, we read 
 JaJon MagnuSy inftead of JaJon MaynuSy as in the ma- 
 nufcript. It is known, that Jafon Maynus was a fa- 
 mous Civilian, who was fent to Rome in 1492, to 
 congratulate Alexander VI. on his exaltation to 
 the pontificate; it is of the harangue he delivered 
 , - before 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 249 
 before the popCj on this occafion, that is fpoken of 
 in me place here cited. 
 
 If the editors of the new Gallia Ghriftiana had 
 known the ma.niifcript I cite, they would have foen 
 that JolTe of Selinon, billiop of Sion, after having 
 been fuperfeded in this biihopric, during two years, 
 w^as transferred to that of Grenoble, the twentieth of 
 Augufl:, 1496, which is very different from what 
 they relate. They v/ould likewife have feen many 
 other accounts refpecting this prelate ^ but all this is 
 w^anting in the printed Journal. 
 
 I mufl: confefs that there is an error alfo in the 
 manufcript which I have before me, and which is 
 fuppreffed in the printed copy, either defignedly, or 
 by chance. Burcard reports, that the firft of Janu- 
 ary, 1498, the pope had faid, that his fixty-feventh 
 year was juft expired. The edition of Eccard does 
 not fay more ; but the manqfcript adds, that he was 
 born on the firft day of the week, the firft day of the 
 month, the firft day of the year, and the firft day of 
 the pontificate of Eugenius IV. There is an over- 
 fight, at leaft, as to this latter epocha ; for it is uni- 
 verfally allowed, that Eugenius IV. was eleded pope 
 in the firft part of March j and the pope had juft faid, 
 he was born on the firft day of January. 
 
 I fhall conclude here the account of the nianu- 
 fcript, which contains the fecond part of the Journal 
 of Burcard. That which I have in hand, ends with 
 the year 1502, which extends only to the death of 
 Alexander VI. who lived until November, 1503. 
 The Journal of Burcard is continued in another of the 
 
 king's 
 
BURCARD’s JOURNAL. 
 
 Jcing- 5 maniLifcripts, which relates the death of Aiex-^ 
 ander VI. and includes the fhort pontificate of Pius 
 ill. and the three hrft years of the pontificate of Ju- 
 lius II. to the hxteenth of May, 1506, the date of 
 Burcard’s death. I fhall fpeak of it ip a feparate ar- 
 ticle, and thereby finifh a complete account of 
 Burcard’S Journals; of which, there was but a 
 fmall part, and even that imperfedly known till this 
 time. 
 
 AN 
 
A C C O y T 
 
 q F T H E 
 
 JOURNAL of BURCARK, 
 
 THIRD <JH./ LAST PART- 
 
 Rejpe^fing the Pontificate ofi Pius III, and the three firfi . 
 years ofi that of Julius IL 
 
 Manufcript of the King, indorfed 5163, among the Latin Ma* 
 nwfcripts. 
 
 By M, de BREQuiGNy« 
 
 N othing has yet been printed of what this 
 manufcript contains, excepting about one page, 
 which is at the end of the excradls of Burcard's Jour- 
 nal, publiihed by Leibnitz, after the Wolfenbuttel 
 manufcript; and by Eccard, after Leibnitz. Tq 
 which may be added, fome quotations, which Odoric 
 I Raynaldi has inferred in his annals^', but of which, 
 he feems not to have known the true author. f; as I 
 j fhali have occafion to pbferve, in (fating that the ma-; 
 nufcript, I am going to fpeak of, is the fequel of the 
 
 i * V.aynaldi Annales Bed. Tom. IX, page 54.0, andfajflm. 
 
 : f He cites, Manufcript of the Vatican^ fide 4, without mention- 
 
 t ing the author. When he elfewhere cites the Journal of Burcard, it is 
 1; under the title of Diariutn Burcardi, 
 
 . Journal 
 
^52 BUR c A.JR B Va JOURNAL. 
 
 Journal of Burcard^ of whom J have related the two 
 firfi: parts. 
 
 This may, with much reafoti, feeiooked upon as 
 anecdotes. I find it but in one manufcript of the 
 King’s Library, (indorfed as above^ where it takes 
 Op 163 fheets. The manufcript is on paper, in folio, 
 of a fmall lize, the writing of the i6th century, ap(| 
 in an Italian hand. The fame manufcript contains 
 another copy of the fame v/ork, of a different writing, 
 but of the jame time. It is lefs complete i for the 
 copyift has expunged or abridged feveral places. 
 It Begins only at the death of Pius III. whereas, the 
 copy that precedes it, begins at the death of Alexan- 
 der VL and is an uninterrupted fequel of the two firft 
 parts ofBurcard’s Journal. This fecondcopy is not 
 without its utility, though it is not very corred 5 it 
 has ferved me feveral tfmes to corred many faults it^ 
 the text of the former 
 
 The reft of the manufcript is filled with an ample 
 table of contents, or rather a kind of abridgment of “ 
 a Journal, which may ferve as a continuation to that 
 of Burcard, and extends, from the i6th of Auguft, 
 1506, to Palm Sunday, 1512. I have, found, that 
 the Journal fp abridged, i? that of Paris de Graffis, 
 at firft colleague^ then fuccefipr of Burcard, in the 
 office of mafter of the ceremonies. I intend to give 
 the. account thereof ; but I ftiall only employ myfelf 
 on that of Burcard for the prefent. 
 
 The part that remains to be examined, offers few 
 important fads. Little could be faid of the ponti- 
 ficate of Pius III. who fcarcely enjoyed the tiara. 
 
 T hat 
 
BURCARD’s journal; 25I 
 That of his fuccefTo-r, Julius 11 . lafted almoft tea 
 years; but Burcard did not live longer than the 
 three firft; and this pope had not yet difplayed that 
 ardent and refhlels ambition, that avidity of glory 
 and power^ which rendered his reign fo produ6live of 
 interefting events. One of the rnoU remarkable fub- 
 jeds to be found in the manufcript I am’ examining, 
 belongs to the pontificate of Alexander VI. it is the 
 account of his death. 
 
 Nothine: is more difcordant than the relations of 
 his death, among even contemporary hiftorian&. The 
 moft part have pretended that he died by poifon, 
 which he had defigned for fome cardinals ; that it was 
 prefented to him by miftake, in the vineyard of car- 
 dinal Cornelo, and that he expired immediately after 
 having taken it. On the contrary,- Burcard avers 
 that he died at Rome, after an illnefs which lafted fix 
 days, and of which he relates the progrefs. 
 
 Alexander had been attacked by the ague the 
 1 2th of Auguft, 1500. It appeared at firfl to be a 
 quotidian: he was bled the 15th, and it feemed to 
 prove a tertion; the 17th he took phyfic, but the 
 I next day, the illnefs, •'inflead of fubfiding, augmented 
 fo much, that his life v/as defpaired of. He was con- 
 fefied, and received the viaticum during the mafs, 
 v/hich was celebrated in his cham.ber, and at which 
 five cardinals afiifted. Towards the evening, the ex- 
 treme un6lion was adminiflered to him, and he died 
 a fev/ moments after. 
 
 So circumfcantial an account, feems much to carry 
 an appearance of truth; but the hatred they enter- 
 tained 
 
BURCAkD^s JOURNAL; 
 tained for Alexander VI. was a fufficient reafon fof 
 colie6ling, with avidity, the falfe reports of poifoning, 
 which the fame hatred had doribtlefs fpread abroad* 
 For this reafon, Raynaldi, in his Annals, has preferred 
 the teftimony of Burcard’s Journal, which he cites> 
 to the common opinion of hiflorians, but without 
 naming the author; and only as an ancient journal, 
 which feemed worthy of credit. Thofe that v/rote af- 
 terwards, have added, without any authority, that this 
 was the journal of the family of Borgia ; and it v/as 
 probable, that they had fought to referve the memory 
 of a pope of their family* This is what the eontinua- 
 tor of the Eccleiiaftical Hifcory of Fieury gives us to 
 underfland, who, however, alledges no other autho- 
 rity than the Annals of Raynaldi, where nothing like 
 this is to be met with. It may not then be impro- 
 per to add weight to the teftimony of the journal cited 
 by Raynaldi, to prove that this journal is really Bur- 
 card's, and this v/ill not be diflicult. It is undifputed 
 that it is written by a mafter of the ceremonies to the 
 pope’s chapel; the author reprefents himfelf in every 
 page, as difcharging the functions of that oiHce. He 
 fays, moreover, in divers places, that he was called 
 Now this John, made bifliop of Horta, by 
 Julius II. and who w^as at the fam.e tiine mafter of 
 the ceremionies ; it is exprefsly faid, in a note, where 
 the date of his death f is marked, at the end of this 
 very journal, that his name was John Bur card, 
 
 * Ego Joan?tes Epifcopiis Ortanus, Manufcript, /o/. 133. Cottfecravit 
 *** me Ortanim, See. ManuferipU/o/. 90. <verfo. 
 
 •f- Joannes Brocardiis^ Epifeopus Ortanus. Capellez Smi. D. N. Pap<^p 
 magijler ceresnoyilarum. -S’e,? Manufcrlptj/i/. 261. 
 
 Alexander 
 
B U R C A R D ^ s J O U R N A t. 
 
 Alexander:, in his kil momentsy feems to have been 
 for^ecful of his daughter LuCretia, v/hom he had too 
 fondly loved, and his fon, (who was then (filed the 
 duke of Valentinois) of whom he was fo fond in 
 his life. He did not fee them during the whole 
 continuance of his illnefs, and even forbore to men- 
 tion them. The duke was fick himfelf when his fa-^ 
 ther expired. As foon as he knew of his death, he 
 charged a man who was devoted to him, to lay hold 
 on the treafure which the pope had amaffed. This 
 man, repairing to the palace, well accompanied, fum- 
 moned the cardinal Cafanova, to deliver him the keys 
 of the treafure, threatening to throw him' out of the 
 window. The cardinal terrified, delivered the keys, 
 and the treafure was carried off. There were only two 
 trunks filled with ducats. It was not until after this 
 exploit, that the death of the pope was made public. 
 Immediately, his fervants plundered the furniture of 
 bis chamber, according to cuftom. They fpared,’' 
 fays Burcard, only the tapiftry, chairs, ' and force 
 
 cufiiions.’’ But when they took an inventory, they 
 found in the other parts of the palace, a quantity of 
 jewels and plate. The chapel alone filled eight large 
 trunks, and a fimali box of cyprefs wood contained 
 rings and jewels to the value of 25,000 ducats. 
 
 Alexander v/as become fo much theobjed: of pub- 
 lic refentment, that it was thought neceifaiy to fe- 
 cure his body from outrage, when he was carried 
 into the church of St. Peter. They durft not expofe 
 him in tlie body of the church, but placed him in the 
 choir, of which they took great care to flint the gate. 
 
 Burcard 
 
256 B U R C A R D » s J O U R N A tu 
 Burcard feems to remark an incident, which added 
 flill to the horror of his memory : that immediately 
 after his death, his face v/as covered with a frightful 
 blacknefs ; his lips half open> difcovered a tongue lb 
 fwollen, that it filled the mouth entirely j never,' adds 
 this writer, has fo hideous an afpedl been feen. 
 When he v/as carried to the chapel where he was to 
 be fliut up in his cofhn, he was attended neither with 
 torches nor priell's. The labouring people who car- 
 ried it, bellowed a thoufand marks of infult and con- 
 tempt upon it. The coffin: happening to be too fmall, 
 they forced the carcafe into it by violence. They re- 
 venged themdelves of the forced refpecl v/hich they 
 had paid him during his life. He was expofed in 
 fevere epigrams, where all his crimes were recalled to 
 memory. Burcard relates foioe of them. Shall we 
 believe, that the author who has preferved thofe de- 
 tails, would have falfely devifed the iafl ilinefs of the 
 pope, to conceal from poileiity the iniquitous project 
 to vffiichhis death has been attributed? 
 
 Burcard, who did not write his Journal for the 
 pyblic, fpared no one. His diflinguiffiing charac- 
 tereflic, was an undifguifed veracity. V entura, biffiop 
 of Maffii, trufled with a part of the expenditure of the 
 pope's funeral, and of the enfuing conclave, did not 
 condudt himfelf with fidelity; Burcard is not filerit 
 about it. He reveals, that this prelate permitted the 
 illicit peculations of the workmen, with whom, faid 
 he, I believe he ffiared. V/e have feen in other 
 accounts of his Journal, feveral fpecimens of his can- 
 dour and opennefsv 
 
 I ffiali 
 
B U R C A R D’s JOURNAL. 257 
 
 I fliall not dwell on the obfeqiiies of the deceafed 
 -pope, nor of the preparations of the conclave, to give 
 him a fucceflbr. Thefe details are elTential in the 
 Journal, but I think it not proper to relate them, un- 
 iefs they prefent fome fingularity. I Ihould with more 
 willingnefs expatiate on the diforders that fprung up at 
 Rom.e after the death of Alexander, if they were not 
 defcribed at large by hiftorians. I ihall content my- 
 felf by obferving, that after the cbfequies, the cardi- 
 nals entered the conclave the i6th of September, 
 
 15035 that in the firft ballot, the cardinal of Air.boife, ' 
 that famous minifter of Lewis XII. had eleven voices 
 out of thirty-four ; but that defpairing of fuccefs, and . 
 having united his faction with that of the cardinal of 
 Sienna, Francis Piceolomini, the latter was eledied the 
 a 2d of the fame month, by a majority of twenty-four 
 voices. 
 
 It is known, that this new pope, who was the 
 nephew of Pius IL took the name of Pius III. He 
 had manners and virtues ; but what perhaps contri- 
 buted moft to procure fuffrages, was his old age and 
 infirmity. The pretenders to the tiara preferred the 
 placing it on a head they conjectured would not long 
 wear it. They were not miftaken. Pius IIL eleded 
 the 2 2d of September, was ordained prieft the 29th, 
 confecrated bifhop the id of October; crowned pope 
 the 8th; fell fick the 12th, and died the 17th. 
 
 He had wkndled-a kind difpofition towards Bur- 
 card. He had defigned him for the bilhopric of 
 Horta, permitting him either to keep his place of 
 mafter of the ceremonies, or to give it in exchange of 
 
 \ OL, I, S fome 
 
25S B U R C A R D»s ] O UR N A L. 
 fome other benefice^ but forbade him to fell it. We 
 fhali fee, in a moment, that .this bidiopric was con- 
 ferred on him by the fucceflbr of Pius III. and that 
 he always preferved his place of mafter of the cere- 
 monies. 
 
 The cardinals did not forefee the opening of the 
 conclave to form their cabals. From the 29th of 
 Oftober, Julian of Rovera, cardinal of St. Peter-a- 
 Vinculi, fecured to himfelf the intereft of the duke of 
 V alentinois, and of the fuffrages of the Spanilh cardi- 
 nals. They entered the conclave the 31ft, and that 
 very evening it was refolved, that Julius of Rovera 
 fiouid be elected pope. Every one prefled, during 
 the night, to make his compliments: Burcard did as 
 the others. The promife of the bilhopric of Horta 
 was continued to him. He was moreover promifed a 
 fine mule, a cope, and a rochet, and the promife was 
 fulfilled. It is likely that the compliments of the car- 
 dinals had alfo their reward.. The next day, the elec- 
 tion unanimoufly fell on De la Rovera, who affumed 
 the name of Julius II. They put on his finger the 
 fifherman’s ring, which Pius III. had worn; but im- 
 mediately they prefented him another, with his name.^ 
 They had prepared it before hand, fo aflured were 
 they of his ele6lion. 
 
 Heat firflfhewed himfelf grateful towards thofewho 
 had ferved him, and treated the duke of V alentinois^ 
 well; but he was not long before he quarrelled with him. 
 The confequence of thofe broils being known, I need 
 not fpeak of them. Julius at firfb affedted fome com- 
 plaifange towards the cardinal of Amboife, who, after 
 having been his rival for the tiara, concurred in his 
 
 eledion. 
 
BUR CARD’S JOURNAL. ^59 
 dedlion. T hey deliberated in feveral confiftories 
 upon what they might grant to him. The cardinals 
 ftrenuoiifly oppofed his being nominated legate in 
 France, and wilhed he might be induced to defift from 
 this demand, for the honour of the king of France^ and hi^ 
 owny fays Burcard. Thefe expreflions feem to fup- 
 pofe, that the title of a legate was looked upon as be-^ 
 neath that of the firft minifter of the king of F ranee % 
 yet the cardinal of Amboife had borne it, under the 
 pontificate of Alexander VI. Notwithftanding thefe 
 oppofitions, he again obtained this legation, tg which 
 the pope added that of Avignon. 
 
 Burcard received, at the fame time, new teftimonials 
 of the pope's favour towards him. He had nominated 
 him bilhop of Horta^ and he granted him the dif- 
 tindion to wear the furplice over the rochet, in the 
 chapel, before he was confecrated^ and put him on thq 
 fame eflablifhment as the other prelate of the palace. 
 At lail, the 9th of April 1504, Burcard was confe-^ 
 crated bilhop. He relates the ceremonies with fatis-^ 
 fadion j but as they contain nothing particular, I fhall 
 not dwell upon them. 
 
 I lhall fay nothing more of the coronation of this 
 pope, which took place the ill of December preceding. 
 The whole went on conformable to the coronation of 
 Innocent, of which I have Ipoken e^.w^re. 
 
 We find that theftefcorary chair was not made ufe of 
 at the coi-onation of Pius HI. becaufe of his infirmi-^ 
 ties, was again brought forth. Wealfofee the fuppiica-. 
 tion of the Jews for the confirmation of their laws, 
 A Spanilh rabbi, phyfician to the pope, took thg 
 
 S 2 lead^ 
 
26 o BURCARD’s journal. 
 lead, and delivered a long difcourfe, to which the popQ 
 anlwered in the ufual forin, which I have related in 
 another place. 
 
 I have hitherto given a continued analyfis of the ' 
 manufcript which I am now examining. The reft 
 contains but a few fadls, better known elfewhere, and 
 tedious details, which fev/ readers are curious to know, 
 
 I fhall content myfelf with extradling a few particulars, 
 which feem beft to merit being colledied. 
 
 Burcard makes mention of a prejudice, which un-r 
 doubtedly was then more general than at prefent, but 
 which fubfifts ftill among vulgar prejudices. He 
 thought that the temperature of each month of the 
 year was exadlly prognofticated by that of each of the 
 tv/elve days immediately following Chriftmas ; con- 
 fequently he reports the temperature of thofe twelve 
 days after Chriftmas 1 503 ; but he does pot tell us 
 whether the event juftified his opinion. 
 
 He gladly relates the kaft particulars that per^ 
 fonally concerns him ; and reports them with an un- 
 common franknefs. He lays, that two days after hi$ 
 confecration, aflifting at the diftributlon of the blefled 
 Agnus, he went firft, with the other biftiops, (the mi- 
 tre on his head), to receive the Agnus from the pope’s 
 handj then, taking off his mitre, he returned again 
 to receiye it, as mafter of the ceremonies, which, he 
 adds, made the pope laugh, 
 
 It is with the fame fiinplicity he relates the adven- 
 ture that befel the ambalfador of Yenice on the fame 
 day. This ambaffador, advancing towards the pope 
 to receiye the Agnus, was run againft fo roughly by 
 
 one 
 
feURtARD^s JOURNAL. 261 . 
 che of the firft magiftrates of Rome, that he would 
 have fallen, had not Bureard fupported him* The 
 magiftrate was reprimanded upon the fpot by the 
 pope; but the ambafiador exafperated withdrew, with- 
 out accepting his Agnus. It was in vain that the pope 
 endeavoured to recall him j he anfwered undoubtedly 
 with a little too much humour, That he did not ^ 
 much Care for the wax; that there was plenty atV enice, 
 and that it was from thence that Rome fent to fetch 
 it.’' The pope feemed not affedled by this fpeech 5 he 
 felt that fatisfadlion he owed to the dignity of an am- 
 baflador; and he punifhed the magiftrate, by depriv- 
 ing himi of his office. 
 
 Julius, in the beginning of his pontificate, courted 
 the different potentates, and was not willing to give, 
 offence to any. The kings of France and Naples 
 then both pretended to the kingdom of Naples; and 
 by this title, they both prefented to the pope the genets, 
 which the king of Naples ought to offer as a token of 
 homage on St. Peter’s day. The ambaffador of 
 France offered his firft ; the ambaffador of Spain pre- 
 fented another afterwards, and read a long proteftation 
 he had prepared agaiiift what the ambaffador of 
 France had juft done. The pope accepted the nvo 
 genets, faving, he faid, his own rights and thofe ' of 
 others. 
 
 A conteft, nearly of the fame nature, happened 
 the following year, at an audience which the pope 
 gave to the ambaffadors of allegiance of France. 
 The allegiance was read in French, and then inter- 
 preted in Italian. The king took the titles of king 
 
 S ^ ot 
 
£§2 B tl R C A R D’s JOURNAL, 
 of France, Naples, and Jerufalem, and duke of Mi-^ 
 Ian. The ambafladors of Spain, who were prefent, 
 protefled.againfl it; and reprefented, that the king- 
 dom of Sicily belonging to the king their mailer, who 
 having the invellure and peaceable polTelTion thereof, 
 they could not, without prejudice to him, permit the 
 king of France to alTume the title of king of Naples* 
 The French ambafladors anfwered, that the pofleflion 
 of Sicily by the king of Spain, v/as only polTeflion in 
 a6l, but that the king of France had received the in- 
 vellure, not recently, but from time immemoriah 
 The pope having impofed filence on the two parties, 
 received the allegiance of France ; and it was, adds 
 Burcard, with reafon* I relate this fa6l the more 
 readily, as it contradi6ls what other writers have ad- 
 vanced, that Lewis XII. ceafed to take the title of 
 kingofNaples fince 1503* It was not, if we may men- 
 tion it in this place, until the treaty of Blois, on the 
 ^2d of Oftober, 1505, fix months after the obedience 
 I am fpeaking of, that Lewis XII. confented to 
 abandon the titles of king of Naples and of Jerufa- 
 lem. However, this prince offered the genet once 
 more, as king of Naples, on the day of St. Peter, 
 of the faiTie year, 1505. The ambaffador of Spain 
 alfo offered one the fame day, and by the fame title, 
 as he had done the lall year. This ambaffador, 
 fays Burcard, with his ufuai opennefs, was very 
 bold, very indifereet, and unguarded in his. fpeak- 
 ing. The contefts of the lall year having given ap- 
 prehenflons of fome adlive meafures on his part, the 
 
 precaution 
 
BUR CARD’S JOURNAL. 263 
 precautions were taken to prohibit the ambafTadors 
 from coming with any other retinue, except four per- 
 fons on foot, without arms. The pope himfelf was 
 not willing to receive the homage perfonally. How- 
 ever, all paired peaceably j the am balTador of France 
 delivered himfelf in a few words, that of Spain read a 
 fong proteftation, and the two genets were received 
 as the preceding year, but only by a cardinal in the 
 pope’s name. 
 
 Italy, at the fame time, groaned under various 
 fcourges. T he two firft days of the month of J anuary, 
 1505, there was an earthquake, which overthrew, or 
 conliderably damaged, near 4000 houfes. It might 
 perhaps be of fome ufe to mark the precife dates and 
 effedls of thefe great commotions of the globe, 
 which cotemporary writers mention. I fhall add 
 then, that the 25th of the month of January, there 
 was a dreadful ftorm at Rome, interrupted by inter- 
 vals with an appearance of the ferenefb weather. 
 Burcard, in defcribing it, feems fo terrified, that he 
 concludes his narrative v/ith recommending himfelf 
 to God. 
 
 Another fcourge, more dangerous, fays Burcard, 
 defolated Rome. Burcard fpeaks of feveral confider- 
 able perfons whom the plague carried off this year; 
 the patriarch of Alexandria, at the end of May; and 
 the cardinal Afcanius Sforza, in the month of July. 
 
 This contagion favoured the commiffion of crimes. 
 Burcard mentions a phyhcian, v/ho, after having fuc- 
 celfively feduced his two nieces, poifoned the one, 
 and llrangled the other. He delivered the latter to 
 
 S 4 the 
 
254 B U R C A R D ’s j O U R N A t. 
 the people charged with interring the difeafed car- 
 cafes, as one who died of the plague; but they per- 
 ceived the 'nature of her death. The culprit was ar- 
 relied, and confelTed his crimes. - He was condemned 
 to the punifhment he deferved; but this was mitigat- 
 ed in confideration of his relations^ and he was be^ 
 headed. His name was Perfona, and he had been 
 thirty years phyfician to the cardinal of Saterno. 
 
 I ought not to 'omit Ipeaking, from Burcard, of a 
 medal which Julius II. had ftruck in 1506, on the 
 occafion of building the church of St. Peter. The 
 pope laid the firll fbone the i8di of April of that 
 year. This Hone was a .marble of about thirty palms 
 long, two in breadth, and three fingers in thicknefs. , 
 The following infcription w^as engraved on it : 
 Julius 11. Fontifex Maximus^ hanc Bafilicam fere col- 
 lahentem ref aravit, Anno Dcrnini MCCCGCVI. Po?i~ 
 tificatiis Jut Anno III.'' Under this flone was placed 
 ^ covered velTel, in which two golden medals, of fifty 
 ducats, together with feveral others of brafs, had beer^ 
 put. They exhibited on one fide the head of the' 
 pope, and on the other the figure of the edifice. I 
 do not find it among the collection of medals of the 
 popes, publiflied by Dumolinet and Bonanni. 
 
 Burcard tranfmits us a few particulars of the pri- 
 vate life of Julius. In ipeaking of a report given by 
 the vice-chancellor, wTere, among other guefls, there 
 were hve cardinals and fix women> he fays, that in 
 this number, there was a daughter of the pope, named ' 
 Felicia. Thus the manners’ of Julius have not, at all 
 times been unexceptionabk. ■ However, his ruling' 
 
 pafTion 
 
filJR CARD'S JOURNAL. ^6$ 
 f)afrion was ambition, which did not difplay itfeifin 
 ks full force, until after the death of Burcard. 
 
 The latter, till his death, experienced favours from 
 Julius; he had been made referendary of grace, the 
 9th of April> 1504. Three weeks before his death, 
 he had obtained the appointment to a place of abre- 
 viator, and the pope had gratuitoufly diipatched him 
 the fignature. He apprifes us that he had been robbed 
 fix weeks before. A man had fecretly introduced, 
 himfelf into his houfe, and having forced the lock of 
 his apartments, had carried off his money and jewels 4 
 but he was flopped before he could make his efcape^ 
 and was conftrained to return the whole. Burcard did 
 not bring the culprit to punifhment; and he exprefles 
 the manner in which he fent him away, in terms which ’ 
 manifefted at once the goodnefs of his heart, and the 
 fimplicity of his manners. Feci eum expelli de dome a4 
 Diaholum qui eum conculcet ad meritum Juum, 
 
 Burcard died about two' months after, on the third 
 hour of the night, Saturday, the i6th of May, 1506. 
 
 I find his death mentioned in the article which ends, 
 his Journal. He is ffiled, as I obferved before, 
 bifhop of Horta, and mafter of ceremonies of the 
 pope's chapel : he is there named J ohn Brocard ; it is one 
 ofthe ways his name was written. He was buried the day 
 following in the monaftery of Santa Maria a Populo. 
 This article has been added to his Journal by one of 
 thofe who affifted at his funeral, and who feems to 
 have had the intention of continuing his Journal; but 
 this continuation extends only to the end of May, that 
 
1i66 B U R e A R 3 j 0 U R ^ ^ L* 
 
 is^ during fifteen days, and takes up but two fkeets of 
 
 the manufcript which I have in my hands. 
 
 Nothing remains now to mention concerning the 
 Journal'^ the acCoimt of which I am at this time con- 
 cluding. It has been fhewn, that the principal matter 
 confifts in a narrative of the Ceremonial of the court 
 of Romej and that there occur> at the fame time, 
 fome interefting anecdotes. If this Journal is not 
 equally important to all clafles of readers, by the na- 
 ture of the fadts it has preferved for us, I believe it 
 maybe affirmed at lead:, that it is always valuable, both 
 as to the accuracy of the details, and the authority 
 of the teftimonials. 
 
 As for the reft, the Ceremonial of the court of Rome 
 ought not to be looked upon as totally divefted of 
 importance. There was formerly fo much attached 
 to it, that it was even an objeCl of myftery; and at 
 the time oft Burcard, they ftill held fcrupuloufly fe- 
 cret, the writings that had been compofed on this 
 fubjefl. It was but in 1516 , under Leo X. that a 
 Roman ceremonial was printed for the firft time. 
 The work was pubUlhed at Venice, with the pope’s 
 permiffionj but, Paris de Craffis, who was then mafter 
 of the ceremonies, and who had been fo to Julius II._ 
 jointly with Burcard, oppofed this publication, and 
 contended for nothing lefs than the burning of the 
 book, with the editor; happily, he obtained neither. 
 Curious details may be found thereon, at the be- 
 ginning of the fecond volume of the Mujeum Italkmiy 
 where the learned Mabillon has colleded divers an- 
 cient ceremonials of the court of Rome. Thus, 
 
 though 
 
B U R C A R D’s J O U R N A L. 26; 
 though the Journal of Burcard Ihould not be confi- 
 dered but relatively to the ceremonial, it deferves be-' 
 ing publifhed. 
 
 The learned had defired it a long time; but to p;-o- 
 cure a compleat and corre6i: edition, it would be re- 
 quifite to compare carefully the different manufcripts, 
 and. thofe I have pointed out would be of great fer- 
 ric e. 
 
 AN 
 
f' 
 
 
A N 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF A 
 
 GREEK LEXICON. 
 
 From the King’s Library, Manufcript 2408. 
 
 Par M. De Rochfort. 
 
 XJEFORE I enter into the examination of the im- 
 portant work which I had the good fortune to 
 difcover, I muft beg leave here to fet forth the firfl: 
 objed I had in view, in the fearch of the manufcripts, 
 which brought me acquainted with it. 
 
 We know how much the fables of iEfop, which 
 Planudes has given us, have been disfigured by the 
 monk, who feems to have lived towards the end of 
 the fourteenth century. An Englifli author, Dodfley, 
 at the end of the life of JEfop, written by him, regrets, 
 with reafon, that we have not a more judicious col- 
 ledion of thefe fables, taken from authentic manu- 
 fcripts ; at the fame time obferving, that thefe manu- 
 fcripts were anterior to the age of Planudes. Boyle 
 fpeaks of a manufcript copy of thefe fables of the 
 thirteenth century, which belonged to Voffius, and 
 fays, this manufcript was at, Leyden, This FabrL 
 
 cius 
 
s;o GREEK LEXICON, 
 
 cius doubts of. Father Montfaucon, in his Dlartum 
 Italicum^ had promifed to publifh the life of ^fop 
 with the fables, as they were before Planudes, taken 
 from a manufcript of the roonafcery of Santa Maria, 
 at Florence. Having heard, or read, that there was 
 in die king's library, a manufcript of the fables of 
 j^fop anterior to Planudes, I thought it would be 
 rendering a fervice to literature, could I fucceed in 
 making this manufcript public. After all the necef- 
 lary refearches in the catalogue of the manufcrips, 
 1 found an indication of a manufcript of the year 
 1270, which, among other works, announced fome 
 fables of ^Ibp ; Fahul^ qu^edam ALJopi^ verftbus lam- 
 b/cis, I dew to the manufcript, and examined the 
 index which was at the beginning. This index placed 
 the fables page 217 ; but I .fought them in vain, and 
 did not find them until page 221. They have for 
 title tiiefe words : MoJ'ci I perufed them with 
 
 cagernefs, and I had little difficulty in perceiving 
 that thelb fables, only twelve in number, were fables 
 of iFfop, dreffied in lambic verfes, by Gabrias, or 
 Babrias, or rather by the monk Ignatius, who had 
 publifhed them und'Cr the name of Gabrias. I cpn- 
 fulted the editions of that fabulifli, and found ail the 
 fables of the manufcript, except one. I obferved only 
 in thefe editions, either of Bafil or Oxford, fome dif- 
 ferent leiTons, which were almod; all better, in my 
 opinion, than the manufcript; and I was the lefs re- 
 compenfed for my trouble, as the only fable I found 
 in the manufcripts, which was not in the printed 
 editions, did not feena to me worth mentioning. One 
 
 hardly 
 
GREEK LEXICON. ' 271 
 
 hardly knows how to draw any morality from -them j 
 and as for the ftyle, though it has the obfcure concife- 
 nefs of that of the falfe Gabrias, I do not know it 
 ought to be afcribed to him. Be it as it may, I 
 fhall here offer the fable with ail ^the defedive readT 
 ings of the manufcript : 
 
 Mu? tzipspB (xvvy Bpyou 00^' d(r Hi iixgy 
 
 |3A£7r«v1s?, ii^ocirotv y^Aw?, 
 c* ]u,u? ^oovy ItTTB J'axpuwi/. 
 
 wcr /AUi/ Tpi<pBiv y,^v bucc. 
 
 Here is a literal tranflation of this fable : Mus ex^ 
 fortahat murem evanidum famey quos fabri ^erarii vi-- 
 dentes traxerunt rijurri y mus verb JuferjleSy lacrymis refertus 
 dixit : quod quidem non fotuiftis unum tantum df nutrire. 
 The meaning is, a moufe was carrying out of its 
 hole another moufe ftarved with hunger. Some fmiths 
 happening to fee them, burfl: out into laughter, You 
 have great reafon to laugh,’’ anfwered the furviving 
 moufe, melting in tears, you that have not where-^ 
 withal to nourifh one moufe.” 
 
 This fable is not to be found among thofe of ^fop, 
 or Gabrias; however indifferent it may be, I thought 
 .proper to make it public. 
 
 After being thus deluded in my hopes, I fearched 
 in the manufcript for fomething to indemnify me. I 
 flopped at the moft confiderable work of the volumei, 
 it contains 1 94 fheets, v/ritten on both fides, and the 
 whole manufcript in 4to, has only 228. It is in the 
 account I am now giving of this work, that I fhall 
 examine what refpeds the former age and writing of 
 the manufcript. 
 
 I confefs. 
 
G R E E K L E X I C O N. 
 
 I confefs, that notwithftanding the extent of this 
 work, I Ihould not have thought of producing it, 
 was it not for the Latin trandation of the title, as it 
 ftands in the index, and which I here relate : Colle5iio 
 fa5la esc variis lihris cum Scripura ceteris ac 
 novi l^eftamentii turn externorumy five ethnicorum. This 
 title did not promife any thing interefting for lovers 
 of the Greek language j I wanted to fee the original 
 title, and I read: <rvkXiye7ir(x, Bx 
 
 ^iciipopcov (3iQXuv w 7raXa,i^g rs jct rng 
 
 5 £t dvi fig ^T^TTs Trig rtX’VpaTCiiBVy which may be rendered 
 thus : Cdk^lio verborum fiad a ex variis libris turn veterisy 
 turn mviC fs? quoque fajfim extranet didionis, I make 
 ufe of this term to exprefs the word (pnixiypa(pvy v/hich 
 is obfolete, and compoled of the word which, ac- 
 cording to Hefyehius, dgnifies, verbumy and ypoc(pr,y 
 deficripticy comment atk. This title, which prefented me 
 a collecftion of antique, modern, and even foreign 
 words, excited my curiofity. Yet previous to my 
 elating myfelf with the hope it flattered me with, I 
 proceeded to fee whether the tranflation of the Latin 
 title that ftands in the index; could have been fup- 
 ported by the nature itfelf of the work, and, if totally 
 falfe, as it apparently is, if it might not be at leafl: 
 juftified by the exa6l idea it gave to this vocabulary. 
 I was much furprilfed, when calling my eyes on the 
 
 * It appear? by the word and a npmber of other places of the mam «. 
 
 fciipt where the word is made ufe of to fignify •verbumy thatM.de 
 
 Vilioifon has fuffered himfelf to be deceived by M. Runkeniiis, when he averted 
 jti a note on Apollonius, page S, thal; the word Xeftj denoted a rare and uncomrnap 
 expre/non. 
 
 workj 
 
G R E E K L E X I C O N. 273 
 
 work, I found nothing or almoft nothing, that could 
 refped the Old or New Teftamcnt; I only met to- 
 %y 3 rds the end of the fourth page with fome Hebrew 
 names, as thofe of Abias and Abimeleckj andaclofer 
 infpedirion of the manufcript^ brought to me to feve- 
 ral others fcattered in this vocabulary, but which do 
 not bear any proportion with the multitude of words 
 drawn from Homer, Hefiod, Pindarus, Antiphron, 
 Herodotus, Ariflophanes, Demofthenes, finally of a 
 great part of the ancient authors, which are often 
 quoted with examples taken from their works. Thus 
 I had foon rcafon to know, that the work perfedlly 
 anfwered the original title, and this vocabulary was a 
 colleblion of ancient and modern, and even foreign ex- 
 prefiions, including in this latter clafs, the Hebrew 
 names, v.Tich are generally reported v/ith their figni- 
 fication in Greek, and fome Arabian and Syriac 
 words, as fxccyiCy and even Pheni- 
 
 cians, as the word |3iip, to (ppUp puteus^, 
 
 I alfo found, without difficulty, that it abounded 
 in various expreffions, relating to hifiory, geography, 
 natural hiftory, grammar, philofophy, and even to 
 theology. I further perceived, that the words were 
 often brought back to their original root ; and that 
 the author of this vocabulary had abided clofely by 
 the etymologies. I then no longer doubted that the 
 Greek title of this lexicon, was completely made good, 
 and that the learned, who had tranfiatedit as it is in the 
 
 * The manufcript lays, that this word fAciava Is ancient, and that it is cf the 
 Syrian language. This word is not in Suidas, nor 'in Hefyehius j he does not 
 give the explanation. 
 
 VoL. L 
 
 T 
 
 index. 
 
274 GREEKLEXICON. 
 
 index, had been led into error by precipitation, arsd^ 
 perhaps by a note more ancient than the index, put 
 on the cover of the manufcript, whereupon is written : 
 Di^ionarium veterh Novi T!eflarMnti. Thofe learned 
 men might have taught that this ancient vocabulary 
 was one of thofe Fabricius Ipeaks of^ who- are 
 confined to the explication of words made ufe of in^ 
 the verfion of the Septuagint, and in the Nev/ Tefta- 
 ment, which are alfo to be found in the libraries, 
 under the name Cyrillus of Alexandria. Thus a kind 
 of literary prepofieflTon might have deceived the firft 
 examiners of this manufcript; and their error has hi- 
 therto held the lovers of the Greek language in an 
 indifference,, which left the merit of tliis lexicon ever 
 unknown. 
 
 However, it v/as neceflary, before I could congra- 
 tulate myfelf on this difcovery, to afcertain whether 
 this manufcript was not fimply a new one of Suidas, 
 in this cafe, the fruit of this difcovery would not 
 have been fo confiderable. Great labour was not 
 required to know the fimilitude that exifted between 
 our vocabulary and that of Suidas. Each of the two 
 lexicons prefents at firft the very fame words, and the 
 fame interpretations ; many articles differ only by a 
 greater or leffer length, and frequently the faults that 
 are in one lexicon, are pundlually repeated in the 
 other. But in purfliing the comparifon of the two 
 lexicons, their difference becomes as ftriking, as v/as 
 their refemblance at firfi:. They have no more the > 
 fame v/ord, nor have the fame words always, as we 
 have obferved, the fame extent of explanation. In 
 
 Suidas, 
 
G R E E K i;, E X I C O N. ^ 7 ^ 
 
 SUidas> it is the hiftofical part that predominates j in^ 
 our lexicon, it is grammatical obfervations and etymo- 
 logies. The names of towns are alfo more mul- 
 tiplied in the latter than in the former. 
 
 Yet it is when they feem to incline moft to one 
 another, that variations are to be found in them, which, 
 though flight in appearance, contribute to the forming 
 an eftimate of them. Among a crowd of examples, 
 
 1 take the word A*^piilnv-n, a country of Myfia, ac- 
 cording to the manufcript, which alfo calls it 
 We read, that this name has been given to that 
 country, on account of the nymph Abrotia, aVa 
 d^QoVcc; The reading of Suidas is different s 
 
 he writes aVo ^psVocg but the text of Suidas is 
 
 altogether erroneus. He fays, that is a coun- 
 try called Mylia, A’^perravr, %wp<3j ^5 '‘iva-tccc ; 
 
 our manufcript afferts, that it is a country of Myfia, 
 Muo-i'a?. It is the opinion of Stephen of Byfan- 
 tium, by whom we find the whole fentence as it ftands 
 in the manufcripts. Thus the reading of the manu- 
 fcripts, confirmed by Stephen of Byfan tium, may 
 ferve to correct Suidas. 
 
 In other places we find fo perfeft a refemblance 
 between the manufcript and Suidas, that neceffarily 
 the one muff have copied the others or what, perhaps, 
 is more likely, that they muff have copied fome an- 
 terior colle6tion. I will take as an inflance, the word 
 Byfantium. The manufcript fays, that un- 
 der Severus, the Roman emperor, this town was 
 encompaffed with a fine quadrangular wall, built with 
 milkftones, and that there were feven towers from 
 
 T due 
 
276 G R E £ K L £ X I C a N. 
 
 the gate of Xhracia, ettIsc yizp 'h<Txv tw;/ B’paxfW 
 'rrDxZv TTvpyoi. Here the fenfe is fufpended; fomething 
 feems then to be wanted in the manufcript 3 this ne- 
 cefTary fupplement is found in Suidas, who to this 
 place, is perfectly fimilar to the manufcript, but who 
 adds, from the gate of Thracia Trpk rny ^cixoc(T(rccy 
 Hoc^movTBgy to the fea. Suidas moreover adds, that if 
 •a perfon fpeaks at the foot of one of thofe towers, his 
 voice may be heard at the next. This palTage on By- 
 fantium has been copied from Xiphilin, andKufter has 
 availed himfelf of the reading of this latter hiilorian, 
 to corred the text of Suidas, which is the fame as that 
 of the manufcript. They both write, r^TU)(^is-o 
 yspi/ccTco TTBTTOinfxivop fxvx^Tcp XiB^ccy Kufter cmbtaces 
 
 the writing of Xiphilin, y.vXiBra thus the fame 
 
 fault being common to the manufcript and to Suidas, 
 they muft confequently have copied one another, or 
 rather, that they both muft have copied fome com- 
 piler, that had maimed the pafTage. 
 
 If it was neceffary to eftablifh a refemblance be- 
 tv/een Suidas and the manufcript, we muft not attach 
 ourfelves to words which have a received meaning, but 
 to thole that are fufceptible of various interpretations 3 
 and I will take, as an inftance, the word uXa,, which is 
 commonly expreffed by /al^ and which the manufcript 
 explains by the word citing the verfe 
 
 of Homer, in the Odyfty (L xvii.) 2 (Tu y cr^ 
 
 Longepierre, in his remarks on 
 the Oarifius of Mofchus, obferves, that the ancients 
 made life of the word Jalt^ to fignify the vileft things 3 
 it is the general interpretation. But was fait really an 
 
 abjed 
 
G R E E K L E X I C O N. 277 
 
 nbje6l thing aniong the ancients ? Salt was made ufe 
 of in facrifices, and this is fufiicient why it could not 
 have been deemed vile in their eyes. Suidas gives 
 the word the fame interpretation as the manufcript; 
 Kuftcr, indeed, ieverely cenfures Suidas, and criticifes 
 Calliftratus, who made but one word of aT aAa, and 
 explained this word by n How- 
 
 ever, the interpretation of Suidas, confirmed by our 
 manufcript, would perhaps have fufpended the cen- 
 fure of Kufter ; for, in fa6t, whoever were the authors 
 of the manufcript, and of the lexicon, which we have 
 under the name of Suidas, they were both Greeks, 
 and muft have known the fignification of a word fo 
 common in' their language. The expreflion of Ho- 
 mer, ad’ uXx ooiYiCy proves not more delicate, indeed, but 
 ir is an expreflion that was perhaps already proverbial, 
 and the fbile of proverbs is not commonly the rnofl: 
 elevated. Thus, the reading of our manufcript may 
 ferve to fupport that of Suidas, and to correcl the 
 falfe interpretation of a paflfage of Homer and Mof- 
 chus. 
 
 If we fhould wifh for another ftriking refemblance 
 between Suidas and our manufcript, we may find it 
 in the etymology, which both the one and the other 
 give of the word Agreeable to them, the 
 
 . ancients ufed to fay, u7ro'/cpt'v£?S-a{, inflead of ^ 
 
 and it is hence that the word vTroxpi'lmg 0 xiroxpivo^ivog 
 rep yjpip, is derived. Thus the a6lor, vTroxpiJvgy was he 
 that anfvvered to the chorufTes in tragedies or co- 
 medies. 
 
 Tj 
 
 I only 
 
GREEK tEKICON. 
 
 I only intend hereby, as it may feem, to point out 
 the leaft common refemblances ; the bare opening of 
 both lexicons could furnifh a great number of others, 
 but which would not exhibit any thing peculiar and 
 diftind. I fhall only obferve, that the manufcript 
 and Siiidas, containing equally feveral articles of geo- 
 graphy and hiftory, have omitted the moll known 
 names, and only inferred the moft obfcure. As aq 
 inilance,! will cite A'Qccxccipovy a town of Sicily, A\to7ri- 
 %ovvYi<7oq^ a town of Cherfonefus. Amidft the names of 
 men I could cite AX^m, a grammarian of Phrygia or 
 Rhodes, difciple of Tryphon, and who exercifed his 
 profeffion of fophift at Rome, It is amazing that fuch 
 obfcure names Ihould be preferred in thefe lexicons, 
 while fo many illuftrious ones are excluded, 
 
 But it is lefs the ref^mblance between our manu-r 
 fcript and Suidas, that it is incumbent on me to efta- 
 blifh, than the vafh difparity that fublifts between them. 
 The inftance of this difparity, which I have chofen 
 out of many others, may, perhaps, be of fome confeT 
 quence tov/ards efcablilhing the f^niority of our ma-^ 
 nufcript; for how little foever we turn over this lex- 
 it:on, it appears that moft part of the words are ex^. 
 plained either by analogical terms, or by circumlocu- 
 tions that give the explanation ; for inftance, he de- 
 fines the word fmjericordia.y by thefe v/ords, 
 
 Jyfnpathia ccngruens-i v 
 
 W dA?<olpioig (TvvifcciJLspoigy vel Jpontaneus dolor Juper 
 
 alios male gerentes. Fie afterwards defines the words 
 iMriy. 9 <^vpr}j, £K8<rojj Autt^i Itt dAAorplolg TrocpifociMivVy 
 
 whence 
 
GREEKLEXICON. 279 
 
 ^ence we fee, that the word 'ixsog, and the word 
 have in our manufcript the fame fignifi- 
 cation, and that this latter word IXiriixoa-vj/n^ had not, 
 in the time of the author of the manufcripts, the fame 
 fignification it had in Scripture, where this word fig- 
 nifies alms. It is in this latter fenfe it has been inter- 
 preted by Suidas, who ad4s, that we are punifhed 
 when we do not gife to thofe that are needy. This 
 word is not in Hefychius. Monf de Villoifon 
 feems then miftaken, in looking upon this word 
 fA£»ijuo<rjv)] as abfolutely modern, fince it is not only 
 employed in Diogenes Laertius, but alfo in our ma- 
 nufcript, where it is taken in a different fenfe than in 
 Scripture. We may then conje 6 lure, that the accepta- 
 tion adopted by Suidas, being more modern than that 
 of the manufcript, the manufcript is of older date than 
 Suidas. 
 
 This would not place the author of the manufcript 
 in fo remote an antiquity, fince, according to Kufler, 
 Suidas lived under Alexis Comncnus, at the begin- 
 ning of the twelfth century; but this may require 
 fome diftinftion. Undoubtedly Suidas lived about 
 this epocha, but the vocabulary we have under his 
 name did not come out of his hands, in the ftate it is 
 at prefent ; it is acknowledged to have been confider- 
 ably augmented by later hands ; and it is, in all pro- 
 bability, from this fucceffive augmentation, made by 
 copyifts, or others, that the confufion has fprung, 
 which reigns in it, as Kufter himfelf acknowledges. 
 This learned man remarks, that in a multiplicity of 
 
 T 4 articles. 
 
2So G R E E K L E X I a O N. 
 
 articles, the palTages exrradled from different authors, 
 are foreign to the article in which thty are inferred, 
 and by no means contribute to elucidate the meaning 
 of the word. Hence, as the colledion of Suidas has 
 been fwelled by foreign hands, it is moll likely that the 
 original coliedlion does not wholly belong to Suidas, 
 and that there fubfifced before him fome kernel, which 
 has increafed by his care, and perhaps our manu- 
 fcripts, where we find a part of the words of Suidas, 
 with a plain and lliort interpolation, without being 
 obnoxious to the defects which Kuller reproached the 
 latter with j perhaps, I fay, it includes the firll germe 
 of this collection, which afterwards increafed. The 
 augmentation I am fpeaking of, as not fo much 
 the multiplication of articles, as the increafe of the 
 extent of each article ; for I do not queflion but our 
 manufcript, of which the articles are generally fhorter 
 than in Suidas, contains a greater quantity of words. 
 The ftudy I have beftowed on bothj affords me room 
 to imagine, that our manufcript could prove exceed- 
 ingly valuable to any perfon, that flioyld intend to 
 give a new edition of Suidas. Perhaps this manufcript 
 would ferve to decide, with a critic fyfpended in 
 uncertainty, by the various readings of different 
 editions of this lexicon : for inftancc, Kufter remarks, 
 at the article AXocpi^y that Portus had no notice of the 
 Ed/tk princeps of Milan, fince he has adopted the 
 writing of the editions of Aldus and Bafil, and that he 
 has read, agreeable to thefe editions, Q-vu^ypd:pdJ() 
 g-HuOiW?, and he is of opinion, that 
 
G R E E K L E X I C O N. 281 
 
 it liiould be read SjtuOtvs? inftead of SKuOt'vas'; our ma- 
 nufcript, however, confirms the editions of Bafil and 
 Venice, and v/e may read diftindlly as for 
 
 the red:, the article is very Ihort, and fee ms to have 
 been remarkably augmented in Suidas. 
 
 This is the fate which almod: all the words relative to 
 hiftory in this di6l:ionary have experienced ; but it is 
 not fo with other words, and particularly thofe which 
 refped ancient philofophy; for inftance the word 
 Energy, with all its different acceptations. This article 
 takes up nearly two pages, and would perhaps be curious 
 to know, but not the moft eafy to read and underftand. 
 This word is in Suidas, but a great deal fhorter, and 
 very different. Kuffer remarks, that Suidas has taken 
 this word from feme commentator of Ariftotle; our 
 manufcript may undoubtedly have alfo adopted the 
 interpretation of fome other commentator; it is the 
 fame with feveral other words, as corpus i 
 
 KiWK, motusy ova-'iccy Juhftantia'y deus. This 
 
 latter article is more copious than in Suidas, and very 
 different; they both exprefs the principle perfe6tly 
 conformable to our belief; the manufcript gives for 
 the firft definition of God, outr/a dvdinog a/I/a, a fub- 
 fiance, caufe of all, and without a caufe. He adds, 
 that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, have but one 
 will, one wifdom, one power ; he defines him again an 
 invihble fubftance, a Spirit which our fpirit cannot 
 underftand. This article which merits to be read, was 
 without doubt. borrowed from the writings of fome fa- 
 ther 
 
GREEK LEXICON, 
 
 2%-2 
 
 ther of the church, as the word Energy has been take^ 
 from fome commentator of Ariftotle^. 
 
 If our manufcript and Suidas differ effential in the 
 articles we have juft cited, they axa6lly agree in other 
 articles copied in fome kind from the Vulgate, as 
 thofe of Abias and Abimeleck, which are found at the 
 firft page of the manufcript. There are ftill other 
 articles relative to our religion, as the word TrapaJ'fio-o?, 
 which are ftri6bly fimilar in Suidas and in the manu- 
 fcript. 
 
 - It would Ee too tedious to relate all the different 
 paffages in which Suidas and the manufcript coincide 
 and differ 5 it is fufticient to have pointed out the 
 advantages they reciprocally have to each other. "We 
 fee already that we may fay of our manufcript nearly 
 what Ernefti has faid of Hefychius, that it is lefs in- 
 ftru6live then Suidas as to hiftory, but more copious 
 as to the language. 
 
 This exuberance of term.s which are not in Suidas, 
 but are found in our manufcript, infpired me with the 
 defire of recurring to Hefychius, to compare him 
 in his turn with our lexicon, the better to judge of 
 the advantages this manufcript may be poffeffed of. 
 
 Hefychius, according to Ernefti, compiled in one 
 body the different particular vocabularies, publiftied 
 before him, and digefted a lexicon which forms the 
 
 * I could add to what I have jufl: faid, a number of words relative to phy/jc, 
 which Suidas has not fpoken of, or which he at leaft has not defined as a phyfician. 
 See the words yn avp, Trup, v^cop. You will find the definition of thofe four 
 elements, and in that definition, a medley of ancient philofophy, with the philo- 
 fophy of Mofes, which may claim fome curiofity. 
 
 richeft 
 
G R E E K L E X I C O N. 28^ 
 
 richeft treafure exifting of the Greek language. Fa - 
 bricius pretends, that thefe different vocabularies 
 Hefychius* had made ufe of, were of the fame kind 
 as thofe which are afcribed to Cyriliusf, and whofe 
 object was to explain the words of the Old and New 
 Teftament. The obfervations of thefe two literati 
 augmented my curiolity , and the conformity I began 
 to difcover between the nature of Hefychius’s work, 
 and that of our manufcript, added to my defire of 
 feeing how far this refemblance between thefe two 
 lexicons might be traced. 
 
 I was not long in perceiving that this refemblance 
 was far lefs perceptible then that between our manu- 
 fcript and Suidas, and yet that there w^ere many words 
 common to our manufcript and Hefyehius, which did 
 not exift in Suidas | and vife verja, that there were 
 many words in Suidas and our manufcript, which are 
 not to be found in Hefyehius. 
 
 It would be too long and tedious to relate in this 
 place all the words of this defeription which we have 
 met with ; we fhall confine ourfelves to cite fome of 
 them as they fall within our view, adding a few in- 
 ftances of words common to them both, but where 
 the interpretation is different. 
 
 The firfl: w’ord that occurs is that of Every 
 
 one knows what the Agaps were among the firfb 
 Ghrifbians. Hefyehius profeffed Chriftianky; it is 
 
 •f- Hsfychlus, according to Kufter, lived towards the year 500 of Jefus Chrift. 
 t There is in the library of Bremen, a lexicon in edit, intitiedj KypiXXy, 
 rki i-rropyixvjei' rr,q kylaq See Fahrkius, Bib,. Grae. L. IV. ch. 35. 
 
 p. 54P. de Lexlcis Biblicis. 
 
 then 
 
GREEK LEXICON, 
 
 2S4 
 
 then furprifing that the word fhonld have found 
 
 no place in this lexicon any more than in that of 
 Suiclas. This word is in our manufcript^j it is true 
 that it is not expounded by the fame fignification 
 v/hich the firft attached to it; but the acceptation the 
 lexicon gives it, might probably have drawn on that 
 which it had afterwards. 
 
 The manufcript defines the word ay^TTvi, 
 
 (piXioc. th (piknyAyny and which I would at- 
 tempt to render by a f leafing Jurrender of friendjhip to 
 OUT friend. He adds, that it is a fovereign preference 
 which is given him above all other objeds prefent or 
 abfent : he fays ftill more, he calls it an identity of 
 fouls, He adds ftill, it is a concentration 
 
 of all our thoughts toward a fmgle objecfl which a man 
 prefers to all others. Never undoubtedly was friend- 
 fhip more perfedly defined. How comes it that this 
 Word is not found in the lexicons, and how the author 
 of our manufcript, who has related fo many expref- 
 fions drawn fl'om Scripture and the fathers, has been 
 ignorant of the acceptation which the Chriflians gave 
 to this word ? H0W3 at length, could this word flip 
 tlie memory of Hefyehius or Suidas, If I fhould 
 venture a conjedure, I would fay, that the author of 
 the article of the manufcript wrote before the time 
 v/hen the Chriflians had brought into praclice thefc 
 repails of charity, known by the appellation of agapeSy 
 and that in Plefychius’s, and flill more in Suidas’s 
 time, it had been for ages antiquated, and confe- 
 
 * It is alfo in Cyrillus, but unattended wldi any Greek interpretation, as all the 
 words of that Lexicon. 
 
 quently 
 
dREEKLEXICON. 23^- 
 
 quently loR* its true fignification which it had carried 
 for a fhort duration only, although the verb a.yoLTsxia 
 from whence it comes, was ancient, and has already 
 been ufed. 
 
 It is lefs amazing not to find, in the ancient lexi- 
 cons, the word rn/xa, which the manufcript renders 
 by dliZ'fAa, citing the words of the apoftle, Ka/ o 
 ^ttcVoAoc, (underftood or tXEyBv) h iV/wj 
 
 Tf that is, adds the manufcript, iu mg ^rtog g-a*. This 
 cxprefTion, which is totally obfolete, might have been 
 overlooked by the authors of thefe lexicons. But 
 there are others, which are miffing, although they be in 
 the analogy of the language, as the word 
 
 Asyco. Vv e cannoc find the word jSS^or, the name 
 of a bird, ^ffiich is likely the bos-taurus, which we 
 call in French l^utor; the conformity of the Latin, 
 French, and Greek, appellation, feems to evince it. 
 The manufcript wffiich relates this v/ord, obferves that 
 bulky and heavy people were char adleri zed by 
 'TTspi^mlf, behold the roaming hut or (bittern). Neither 
 is this word, nor the proverb, to be found in any 
 lexicon. 
 
 But thefe examples of terms, which are not in Ke- 
 fychius, are perhaps lefs inftruclive then the articles 
 wffiere we find the fame words with different modifi- 
 cations. The w^ord tyymog, for inftance, fignifies in 
 Flefychius the grandfon, vicg this lexicon gives 
 the fame fignification to the word txyovog. 
 
 The manufcript diftinguifhes thefe words, and pre- 
 tends that the latter expreffes the grandfon, and the 
 other means the fon, and they fupport their different 
 
 fignifications- 
 
GREEK LEXICON, 
 fignifications by the authority of Homer, CiofS-^ 
 
 T£ Aiog ]/£^£?ir}y£pB'Ia.o, 
 
 I might confiderably prolong this chapter, if I 
 Ihould adduce the feveral differences of 'this kind 
 I have met with, but fimple indications are, I think, 
 fufhcient for the illuflration of this account. I fhall 
 pafs now to the words in which our manufcript, agree- 
 ing with Hefychius, as to acceptations, has the ad-- 
 vantage to differ by citations which are not in the 
 lexicon. 
 
 The word eAeoj/, in Hefychius, is here interpreted 
 by, y.uystpiK'n rp^TTi^oc ; the manufcript interprets it the 
 fame, but fupports its interpretation by the authority 
 of Arid: ophanes in citing the paffage of that poet, 
 which Alberti has related in his note, ’l^i di, (the par- 
 ticle h is omitted in the manufcript. The manu- 
 fcript cites moreover, Homer (p. 145.) and adds, 
 that there is a kind of bird which bears the name 
 of lX£0V. 
 
 If thefe kind of references were more frequent, wa 
 fhould almoft flatter ourfelves with finding in the 
 manufcript, wherewithal to indemnify ourfelves for 
 the lofs of thofe which are no longer in Hefychius, 
 ai^d v/hich, if we credit the learned, have been for- 
 merly there in abundance. 
 
 It is, however, thefe citations, fuch as they are, 
 «nd the different acceptations of the words, which 
 render this manufcript very valuable. Independent 
 of the other advantages, of which it reimains ftiii to 
 fpeak, I fhall cite another example, derived from the 
 
 See Clouds of Ariltophanes, A^t. I. Sc. II. 
 
 \vord 
 
GREEK LEXICON.' 
 
 word Hefychius fays that this word anfwers 
 
 to that of ^(xXoXxQbTv ; to prefs the breafts. The manu- 
 fcript acknowledges at firfl: another fignification, which 
 is this ; dirorix^Eiv rS ix'iXirog, fiillare ex melky he agrees 
 in that with Suidas y but he adds, that this word an- 
 fwers alfo to that of 4'^Xx(p£Tuy attreSiare'y and cites a 
 paffage of Crates, [xxXxkov al ripsv ro 
 'A lhXi'fjt.x^ov dvryiv^. DU! qiiam molUm ciiticulaml 
 cttre^aham. This palfage is reported in the Etym. 
 Magn, where it is afcribed to Cratinus; it is not in 
 Suidas. The manufcript adds finally, that the word 
 pXiud^HVy means properly to touch the breaft and the 
 belly, as do thofe that buy birds ^ and cites after- 
 wards thefe three words, without any name of author,, 
 but which .are certain of lb me comic, p?^i^dr%fA£Vy 
 
 £7r;S''j/xW|U.fi/ f , 
 
 Among the words taken by chance in this manu- 
 fcript lexicon, and for w^hich v/e find alfo the quota- 
 tion of ancient authors, we find the word |3ck?ropo^. We 
 fee in our manufcript that there were two Bofphori, 
 the one of the Propontis, and the other of Thracia^ 
 W'-e find then a whole paffage drawn from Phylarcusj 
 it is the adventure of lo, daughter of Cadmus, whom 
 Juno, out of jealoufy, pricked with the (eftrum. lo, - 
 tormented by that fling, like a cow, croffed die Bof- 
 phorus fwimmingj. 
 
 * This diminutive is not in the lexicon. 
 
 f Hefychius gives to this word the fame fignificatlon Indeed, and 
 grounds himfelf on Ariftophanes, in his Comedy of Birds, but with- 
 out any citation. That of Ariftophanes has no conneqlion with the 
 three words cited in the manufcript. 
 
 I This fame paffage is related by the Etym. Magn. and the commen- 
 tators obferve, that inftead of Cad7nus, we muft certainly read l?iackus i 
 bat the fame fault is in the manufcript. 
 
 But 
 
ksa Ci -R E E K L E X I C O N. 
 
 But thefe are not all the advantages of the dta-^ 
 tion; we mufl: look whether the lexicon of Hefy- 
 chius, famed with reafon for the explanation of words 
 the lead common of the language, may not feem fome- 
 times infufficient, and if our lexicon could not in that 
 cafe fupply it. 
 
 If for inftance, to explain the word we 
 
 Ihould recur to Hefychius, we Ihould find for all ex- 
 plication/the words IvocvTTocq/ The note of the edi- 
 tion of Alberti fays, that the lexicon of Cyrillus in- 
 terprets it better. I am ignorant of what lexicon J 
 the commentator meant to fpeak; but I find, in our 
 manufcript, an explication far more fatisfadtory ^ this 
 word is interpreted to ckttq ug Qcc^og and 
 
 this interpretation is the fam.e as that of Suidas. 
 
 The authority of our manufcript may alfo ferve to 
 balance that of Hefychius, or perhaps to throw a new 
 light on the interpretations he has given, as at the 
 w'ord ^ocyvn^ig, load-done. Hefychius fays that it is 
 wrong to give it the name of the ftone of Heracleay 
 becaufe there is this difference between the done of 
 Heraclea and of the load-done, that the former at- 
 tradls iron, and the latter filver. He cenfures Plato 
 for having confounded thems he adds, that the done 
 of Heraclea has received that name from the city of 
 Heraclea, in Lydia; and it is for that, that Sophocles 
 has given it the name of Lydian ftone. At lad, fays 
 
 X It is not in the colleftlon made by father Labhcy the glofTaries 
 of Cyrillus, of Philoxenes, and other ancient lexicons. I fliall ob- 
 ferve here, that this colle61:ion has not the leaft regard to our manu- 
 fcript. Alberti intended perhaps to fpeak of the unpubiilhed manu- 
 fcript of Cyrillus, which is often cited in the notes of Kefychius. 
 
 the 
 
GREEK LEXICON. 289 
 
 tilt one names it and the other 
 
 Here is the article as it Hands in our manufcript: the 
 ioadilone, is a Hone that attradls iron; they 
 
 call it Sideretisy Heracleany and Lydian ; it refembles, in 
 its coiouTj unpolifhed tin*; they call it Fleraclean, be- 
 caufe of its ftrength ; or rather becaufe it has been found 
 at Pleraclea, a town of Pontus; others fay at He- 
 raclea in T hracia. In comparing the two definitions, 
 there will be little hefitation, I believe, in preferring 
 that of the manufcript. All naturalifls have bbferved, 
 that the loadHone, in certain countries, refembles un- 
 polifhed iron; and none of the ancient nor modern 
 authors have fpoken of a: ioadftone that attrad's 
 filver. 
 
 It is alfo in our manufcript that v/e could find where- 
 v^ith to confirm the interpretations of Hefychius, which 
 want the fupport of authorities. We find, for in- 
 Hance, at the word this fingle interpretation, 
 
 c-'jy,x(xivcc TSfy.vuiVy moTus ahjcindens. Alberti, to elucidate 
 this pafTage, cites the words of the prophetic Amos, 
 £ci7ro?.G<; rixni/ (rv}i(X[jt.i]/ccy ca^prarius eraniy morus ah- 
 
 Jcindens, . But the manufcript relates the words of 
 St. Cyril, who fays that the prophet was a goat-herd, 
 ; that is to fay, ' adds the manufcript, 
 cutting the leaves of the mulberry-tree for the food 
 of the cattle.” By this interpretation, the word 
 of the* prophet Amos, and of St. Cyril, leaves no 
 farther embarraffment, I obferve here, by the way, 
 
 * sTiS'JipJtlic, -/jpaxTiEjtt HI lfA<^E^Tig TW %g0iav apj/w m aHa^aprS (ri^npio* 
 
 The article of the Etym. mag. much refembles that of our manu- 
 fcript. 
 
 VoL. L 
 
 U 
 
 that 
 
290 G R E E K L E X I C O N. 
 
 that if the examination of this manufcript could lead 
 us to afcribe it to St. Cyrih the citation of this writer, 
 in the manufcript, did fcarceiy permit ys to infill on 
 this fuppofition. 
 
 In comparing, as we have juH done, Flefychius and 
 our manufcript, and in pointing out the merits it may 
 have over Hefychius, in feveral palfages taken at 
 random, we are far from the intention of inferring 
 that our lexicon is in every refpefl fuperior to Hefy- 
 chius. It is too obvious, what vail labour there 
 would be required, to draw an exact comparifon be- 
 tween them, and to decide of the greater or lefs uti- 
 lity they may be of for the lludy and knowledge of the 
 Greek lang:ua^e.- It would not be lufficient to review 
 all the words of Hefychius, and to compare them 
 with thofe of the manufcript; it is necelfary, not 
 merely to collate the words of each lexicon, but, 
 in fome meafure, to weigh them; we fliould then 
 be enabled to judge of their importance; and when 
 their interpretations happen to be different, to appre- 
 ciate their degree of exaflnefs, and ellimate the merit 
 of the quotation. But how fiall we determine on 
 fuch a matter ? 
 
 If, in the courfe of our examination, we have feen 
 our manufcript fometimes excel Hefychius, we have 
 alfo feen the latter better comprehend the fenfe of 
 certain obfolete words, as which he exprelfes 
 
 by the word <S-p?iv?r, and which the manufcript renders 
 by die words diroxccXiT. To this I fliould Hill 
 
 prefer the interpretation given by Hefychius, of the 
 
 word 
 
GREEKLEXICON. 291 
 
 word abi^sAuKTa, ocfxica^rcc; which die manufcrlpt ren- 
 ders by Ta {j.r, {/.icdi^ovrcc: adding, that it is an ex- 
 preffion adapted to tragedy. Suidas is indeed entirely 
 eonformabie to the manufcripti but as their authority 
 in thefe palTages^ where they agree, is but a Tingle 
 and not a double authority, I fhall not balance to 
 prefer Hefychius to them, when die analogy of the 
 iaawage feems to me to be in his favour. How can 
 we then, in this refpedt, pronounce upon thefe lexi- 
 cons ? But there is in our manufcript other qualities 
 which Hefychius cannot contend with. I am fpeak- 
 jjig of the merit of the etymologies, of which this 
 manufcript abounds. 
 
 Every one knows that the knowledge of etymo- 
 logies is valuable for the underftanding of a language 
 where almoft every word, fprung from a fimple root, 
 extends, multiplies itfelf, and increafes like branches 
 which fhoot into many from the fame ftem. The 
 etymologies of the moil: philofophical language that 
 has ever been fpoken, where the primitive ideas are 
 reduced to a fmall number of hgns, which by combi- 
 nation difplay before us all that poetry and eloquence 
 may have mod: excellent, does not refemble the ety- 
 mologies of the modern languages, nor even the La- 
 tin. The latter, as v/e know, borrowed a great deal 
 from the Greek; the modern languages are, for the 
 mod part, a medley of ancient language, confounded 
 with different idioms of the countries which have had 
 the greatefl intercourfe and relation. The Grecian 
 language drew, in fome manner, all from its own 
 
 U 2 fund ; 
 
292 QREEKLEXICON. 
 
 fund its rootSj, as fimple as the firfb ideas of men^ 
 were the more fruitful as they were not lirnitted to the 
 expreffion of one fingle addon;, but that they ftill re- 
 prefented all the ideas that were analogous. For in- 
 fiance, the only word Bw, according to our manufciipt, 
 had four fignifications, 7rcori(jo [3orpvi/y (^cciVCOy Asyw, 
 
 nutrioy iivam calcoy incedo^ loquor.y and by extenfion, 
 clamo\ thefe kind of roots, almoil all of one or two 
 fyllables at mod, combining amiong themifelves, and 
 uniting with other words of the fame fimplicity, proved 
 fit to exprefs all the modifications of the thoughts; 
 and notv/ithfcanding the alterations they buffered, they 
 always preferved fome analogy Vv^ith their origin. 
 
 In confidering the etymologies in this viev/, a lover 
 of the Greek language would not, without concern, 
 fee a lexicon, where a great number of words are 
 traced to their radix, and prefenting, by their decom- 
 pofition, fimple combined ideas only, convert a 
 word, which conveys nothing effential to the mind, 
 into an energetic picture. For inflance, the word 
 'ZTQo-iJwj/ which is becom.e the proper name of Nep- 
 
 I know that Plato fays, that feveral Greek words were borrowed 
 pf Barbarians ; but thofe were fimple terms, which remounted to the 
 origin of the language, as the word Trijp, he fays, came from the 
 Phrygians. The f rnplicity of the word made a Greek root of it. 
 
 I likewife know that there were feveral Latin Avords which the 
 Greeks, in their intercourfe with the Romans, had appropriated to 
 themfelves , but thefe kind of wwds were not incorporated in the 
 language, and though naturalized, they were alv/ays exotic. How- 
 ever, it would ftill be ufeful to colledl, in one lexicon, all thefe words 
 of Latin origin ; and ours furnifhes feveral examples; as fAiXiov, 
 and many others. 
 
 f Plato gives to this word another etymology ; he derives it from 
 Ua-yoq ; (b TrocraSajv, agreeable to him, exprelTed the powder which 
 Neptune had of chaining the fea. Thofe were puns of Socrates, who 
 w«nted to throw the fophilts into perplexion. 
 
 tune, 
 
GREEK LEXICON. 295, 
 
 tune^ prefents us with no images but if we confider 
 that this word is derived from a-m to according 
 
 to the manufcriptj and all other fcholiafts, then we 
 behold the fea beating the earth with its waves, and 
 this image permits us no longer to forget the word 
 that deferibes it* 
 
 The facility of finding etymologies in the Greek 
 language, has its advantages and its inconveniences. 
 Plato and Socrates ridiculed, with much fenfe, the 
 abufe that v/as made of it in their time, and the 
 grammarians have not been more fparing on this 
 head than the fophifts. Yet the ftudy of etymo- 
 logy will always be the firfb foundation of the Greek 
 language, and a vocabulary as rich as ours ih etymo- 
 logies, will always for that reafon alone be particularly 
 fought for. 
 
 I know that we pofTefs already a lexicon, which, in 
 this refpedl, is a real treafure. The Etymologicon 
 tnagnum feems to leave nothing to with for, cither by 
 the multitude and variety of etymologies, or by abun- 
 dance of terms little known, and which are there 
 colledted, or laftly, by the multiplicity of citations of 
 the ancient authors. However our manufeript might 
 fall have its merit after the Etymologicon magnum^ either 
 by the etymologies not exifling in that vail collec- 
 tion, as that of the word of v/hich it does not 
 
 fpeak*, or by the etymologies oppofed to thofe that 
 are prefented in the other. For inflance, at the word 
 
 The manufeript makes this' word, which anfwers to that of 
 fpring from the word to QAaTrlaj he gives Hill two other 
 etymologies, 
 
 u 3 
 
 
294 GREEK LEXICON,' 
 
 fxccursvuy t!;e maniifcript fays that it comes from 
 TO ^YiTTccy [/.ccTivocy End that it is fi'om thence that the 
 word vatesy is derived, and not from y.ocviocy as 
 
 fome have thought. The author of the Etymolog. 
 magnum has adopted the latter etymology, which the 
 manufcript condemns. It is iiTipoffible to coinpare 
 one moment the Etymologkon- and our Lexicon, 
 without being aware of the refemblance of paflages 
 between them 3 and without finding alfo fome dif- 
 ferences which it is impoffible to account for in fum- 
 mary. 
 
 But as much as our manufcript excels Flefychius 
 and Suidas, by the etymologies it prefents us, fo 
 much it is fuperior to the Etymologkon magnumy and 
 other lexicons, by the grammatical knowledge it in- 
 cludes, and which revive for us a part of the works 
 of the ancient grammarians, as Appollonius, Herodian, 
 Methodius, &c. who are fometimes cited. It will b^j 
 fufficient to read the words artuulus'y p^iJ^ac^ 
 
 verhiim'y pr^pofitioi (T'oKXoL^Yiy Jyllahay &c. to 
 
 get an idea of the refear.ches the ancients had made in 
 the ftudy of the principles of their language. The 
 difficulty of rendering in French the terms made 
 ufe of in the foie definition of thefe words, reflrains 
 me to barely pointing them out. I ffiall only 
 obferve, that the definitives made ufe of, are the fame 
 as thofe our grammarians have continued to ufe. 
 The verb, for inflance, is a part of fpeech which 
 
 f {XM m the Etymologtcon magnum: it is of thofe monofyllabical 
 ■words which remounts to the creation of the language j as bku to 
 and feveral others. 
 
 has 
 
G Fw E E K LEXICON. '295 
 
 has no cafe*; it defigns the time, the numbers, 
 and perfons, and conftitutes adion or paffion, ivipyilvn 
 % 'TTx^o; 7r£^if^(Ttx, All the definitions of the verb are 
 included nearly in this rule ; but thole very few words 
 I tranfiate, evince how difficult it is to render with 
 exadlnefs the lenfe of thofe words taken gramma- 
 tically. ' 
 
 Sometimes the manufeript goes even to define the 
 charafler of the letters, confidered as elements of the 
 language j he fays that the Letter P, of which is formed 
 fiic, has foimewhat humid and foft, and that this 
 letter in a verfe flows like oil. He ftates, very often, 
 the difference which accents put on the fignification 
 of words. For inftance; the word with the 
 
 circumflex on the firfl: and laft, means thofe that 
 frequent the market j whilfl the word with 
 
 the ffiarp accent on the before and lafl, is added to 
 and fignifies the market-day. I know that we 
 have a work of Cyril, which treats this fubjed: in 
 particular; but it is not iefs interefeing, to lee how 
 far our manufeript may relate to Cyrifs, and ho\f 
 much it differs -j-. 
 
 I could fcill add, to enhance the value of this lexi- 
 con in the eyes of grammarians, that very often, at 
 the end of regular or irregular vei bs, we find almofl: 
 ail the tenfes, with their contradions, dialeds, and li- 
 cences, adopted in poetry, following it. I could cite, 
 as an inftance, the word Biwro, which Hefy- 
 
 chius and Suidas have reported, without prefenting 
 
 * A£^$? aTrlst-'To? B7riS'£zriKn re xi ■ar^oTcoTritv, X( 
 
 f Gro’. cum interp* Lat. Cjrillif opufculu?n de diBimibus qua 
 
 mariato accentu mutant fignijicatum, 
 
 U 4 the 
 
296 G R E E K L E X I C O M 
 
 the different modes ; as alfo the word and ^ 
 
 thoufand others ; but this would lead us too far. 
 
 I believe I have faid enough to demonilrate the 
 importance of the work of which I am now giving an 
 account iind reprefented how intereiling it would be 
 to lovers of the Greek language, that a lexicorr 
 v>^hich enjoys in itfelf alone, a part of the advantages 
 fcattered in the three ancient Greek lexicons, and pof- 
 feffing many others, Ihould at iafl* appear in public. 
 If it is momentous to the glory of letters,, to revive 
 a tafte for fine ftudies,, and confequently for that of 
 the Greek language, which has always been the foun- 
 dation, I could not chufe a more efficacious meafure 
 of them than to give the public a work worthy the 
 attention of the learned, in a moment efpecially, when 
 the refearches,, ordered by the king into the manu- 
 fcripts of his library, attra6ling the eyes of Europe,, 
 would not fail to excite a general curiofity for a work 
 brought fl'om darknefs, in which it has been fo long 
 buried. 
 
 It remains ftill that we lliould fpeak of the form, 
 writing, and- age of the manufcript. It is in quartO;^. 
 on vellum, containing in all 228 fheefs, forming 456^ 
 pages; our lexicon alone takes up 388. All the arti- 
 cles are conneded one with another, without any inter- 
 lineation, and are diftinguifhed only by a capital let- 
 ter v/ith red ink, which we fee at the head of the 
 word that begins the article.. The hand is generally 
 fair, though filled v/ith abreviations,. which often- 
 render the reading very difficult. Thefe abbreviations' 
 are much varied, and it is but. a great ufc of the manu- 
 fcript' 
 
GREEKLEXICON. 
 
 . fcript that may render us familiar with them. A part 
 of thofe abbreviations refem.ble thofe we find in the 
 manufeript of Apolloniusj and of which M, de Vil- 
 loifon has explained the principal characters ^ and in 
 this refpeCc we cannot enough regret, that this learnedi 
 man fhould not have been acquainted with our manu- 
 feript, when he publifhed his Apollonius. He would 
 not only have perceived great relations in their writ- 
 ing, but he would alfo have found, where to enrich 
 his obfervations on Apollonius, and perhaps reform 
 fome advances that efcaped him*. 
 
 He would alfo have found how to confirm what he 
 afferts after Ernefti, that the verbs are very feldom 
 put in the firfi perfon of the indicative in the ancient 
 lexicon, but that they are promifcuoufly now in oncy 
 then in another mode, juft as they prefented them- 
 felves to the firft compilators of thofe gloftaries, which- 
 were in the beginning but a coiledion of ancient 
 fcholia. 
 
 It is on this generally adopted opinion/ that I 
 ground myfelf to fliew the difficulty of ftating the* 
 epocha which the author of the lexicon lived in. If 
 we confult only certain words of this lexicon, as the 
 word Vv^e fhoiild think him prior to Con- 
 
 ftantines for Byfantium, in that article, pot feeming 
 
 * Independent of what we have already faid about the interpreta- 
 tion of the w^ord we fee, at the beginning of his Apollonius, 
 that he reprobates the word aaXjev, made ufe of in that lexicon, and 
 that he would fubftitute the w'ord «Atov. If he had known of our 
 manufeript, he would have feen that this word comes from the 
 
 a privative, and from v.'km So aixm anfwers to the word anpals;* 
 
 See alfo Suidas. 
 
 to 
 
29 ® G R E E K L E X I C O N; 
 
 to have changed its name, the author muft have lived 
 before the tranflation of the empire. We fee, in fafl", 
 that in a lexicon, as Hefyehius’s, the author of which 
 is reputed to have lived about the year 500 of J. Cj- 
 the word is rendered by that of 
 
 TtvHTToAiTTji*. If, on the other hand, we confider that 
 the manufeript fpeaks of Bwvo?, commander of the 
 armies in Myfia, who, according to Suidas, lived 
 under Juftinianus, the firfl alTertion proves void and 
 inconfequent ; befides, what is to be inferred from this 
 article of Byfantinm, iince Suidas fpeaks in the fame 
 terms as the manufeript? And it is faid that Suidas 
 lived about the 1 3th century. How can we explain ail 
 thefe contradiflions ? It is becaufe the work of Suidas 
 and cur manufeript were in their origin but a collec- 
 tion of ancient fcholia, which has increafed by pro- 
 grefs of time, and that certain articles mufl have been 
 continued, fubfifting without any alteration, as they 
 had been compofed at firfl. 
 
 If it is then impoffible to affign the time of our i>u- 
 thor's living, we can at leafl indicate the epocha of 
 the manufeript. It feems to be of 1270; it is of the 
 hand of Athanafius of Hamartolus, of whom we pof- 
 fefs fome other manuferipts. I am far from giving to 
 this copyifl the praifes I have given to the v/ork. It 
 has been feen, by what I have cited of the fables of 
 the falfe Gabrias, what careleffnefs. Hot to fay worfe, 
 reigns all over the copy. The verfes are not fet forth 
 line by line, but the beginning of one is generally at 
 the end of the other. Sometimes the fame words are 
 often repeated in different places of the vocabulary, 
 
 and 
 
GREEK LEXICON. tgg 
 
 and interefling articles, as that of are but half 
 
 copied, and the fenfe remains fufpended. This neg- 
 ligence of the copyift, added to a variety of obfeure 
 abbreviations, would afford matter of great trouble 
 to the editor, efpecially if this manufeript, as we have 
 ground to fufped, fhould, like that of Hefyehius, be 
 the only one<. 
 
[ 301 ] 
 
 A N 
 
 HISTORICAL CHAIN 
 
 O F 
 
 Countries, Seas, and Fiflies; 
 
 WITH 
 
 A Treatife on the Science of the Sphere. 
 
 A Colleclion of different Works; and particularly 
 of two Voyages to India and China, in the 9th 
 and loth Centuries. 
 
 Arabian Manufcript, No. 597, in 410. of 290 Pages, Oriental 
 
 Paper. 
 
 By M. DE Guigni^s. 
 
 HIS manufcript, which has exifled in the 
 
 king’s library a long time, but which has not 
 been confulted, except by the abbe Renaudot, coii- 
 tains fundry works, refpedling one of which the 
 learned have flarted doubts ; fome of them have 
 even denied its exiftence. In 1764, I inferted in the 
 Journal des Scavans (of the month of November) a 
 letter on this fubjecl, to which, I think, I opght to 
 refer in thefe accounts, as their objedt is to make 
 known the manuferipts of the king’s library; but 
 if, on the one hand, I abridge -what I have faid in 
 that letter, I fhall, on the other, add new obferva- 
 
 tions. 
 
502 HISTORICAL CHAIN OF 
 tions, which the manufcript, examined in^ another 
 point of view, gives me an opportunity to form. 
 The abbe Renaudot publifhed in 1718, a work in- 
 tituledj Ancient R.elations of India and China by two 
 Mahometan ‘Travellers, who went thither in the (^th 
 Century, tranflated from the Arabic, with Remarks 
 m the principal Parts of thefe Relations, Paris. By 
 John B. Coignard, i voL 8vo. of 398 pages. 
 
 The tranflator, with refpe6l to what is related of 
 the Chinefe in this manufcript, endeavours, in his 
 remarks, to defliroy the high idea which the mif- 
 fionaries have given us of the Chinefe nation. Fa- 
 thers Premare and Parennin thought themfelves ob- 
 liged to refute him ; the former even pretends, that 
 the two Arabian travellers have never been in China. 
 Jn Europe, the learned have carried the feverity of 
 criticifm kill farther ; they have doubted of the ex- 
 iftence of this Arabian manufcript in England, Italy, 
 and France, and fufpedted it to be fpurious. In 
 fa6t, the abbe Renaudot, in his preface, contents 
 himfelf by faying, that it was exiraded* from the 
 library of M. le compte de Segnelay, without mark- 
 ing either the title, or the number 5 fo that it could 
 not be difcovered in the king’s library, whither the 
 manufcripts of Colbert, alias Segnelay, have been 
 transferred. And as the abbe Renaudot has alfo 
 been detected in fome chronological errors, the 
 fufpicion has been increafed. 
 
 At the requeft of feveral learned men, I have 
 fought a long while for this manufcript in the ca- 
 talogue of the library ; I have inquired of all thofe 
 ^ in 
 
COUNTRIES, SEAS, AND FISHES. 3% 
 in which I conje<Slured it might be found, but with- 
 out fuccefs. I then believed, that the abbe Re- 
 naudot had taken from different Arabian authors fe- 
 veral details, concerning India and China, to form 
 thofe relations, which he has afterwards afcribed to 
 the two perfons he names. This anfwer I made in 
 1750 to Mr. Bofcarini, procurator of St. Marc, at 
 Venice. The fame queftion having been put to me 
 afterwards by M. ‘ Morton, then fecretary of the 
 Royal Society of London, who remarked to me, 
 that they were convinced at London, this manujcrip 
 aid not exifi, and that what the ahhe Renaudot had 
 Jaid of it^ was a. mere deception i I made frefh in- 
 quiries, but equally unfuccefsful. It was requifite, 
 that I ihould myfelf fearch among thofe manufcripts, 
 and examined them ocularly. I faw none but thofe, 
 which, like the catalogue, I thought fufpicious. Of 
 courfe, I attempted once more to make new re- 
 fearches in *this reipecS; ; I attended clofely to the 
 circiumftances related by the abbe Renaudot, who, 
 at the end of his work, fays, fome obfervations of 
 the fame nature are to be found on the walls of fe-* 
 veral towms in Syria ; and this is what I have met 
 in the manufcript now before me, which actually 
 contains the two relations, that have excited fo 
 many doubts : but I am , ftill furprifed, that., the 
 abbe Renaudot, who v/rote the account printed in 
 the catalogue, and which is fliiil preferved at the 
 head of the manufcript, in his own hand, has not 
 declared, it was the fame work he had trandated ; 
 or why, at the head of this tranflation, he has not 
 
 related 
 
3®4 HISTORICAL CHAIN OF 
 related the general title of the work, nor pointed 
 out the two other treatifes contained in this vo- 
 lume ; circumftances by which it might have been 
 fooner found out, and might Iiaye enabled the cu- 
 rious to examine it themfeives. Did he want by 
 this, to feclude it from the eyes of the public, and 
 alfo of the guardians of the king’s library ? 
 
 As this work is trandated and printed in French, I 
 fhall give no account of it here ; it is fuhicient^ 
 that I atteft the exiflence of the manufcript in the 
 king’s library, and that it is not an invention of the 
 abbe Renaudot ; and I lhall confine myfelf to 
 fome particular obfervations on the tranflation, and 
 on circumftances related by our two travellers. This 
 manufcript was bought at Aleppo, and in 1673, 
 placed in the library of Colbert. It is a confix 
 derable and very perplexing circumjbance in the 
 arrangem.ent of the matters, to have fo many works 
 on fubjeds fo oppofite, and fometimes written in 
 different languages, and bound together, which caufes 
 a great confufion in the catalogue. Befides, the ma- 
 nufcript itfelf is in a very bad condition, the paper 
 is old, ftained, and worn-out, appears to have much 
 fuffered, and is gnav/ed in feveral places. It con- 
 tains four works : i ft. T wo relations trandated by 
 abbe R.enaudot, but fome pages are wanting at the 
 beginnings otherwife, this whole part is well written, 
 and of a legible chara6ter. 2d. Six dieets, of which 
 fome feem to be, of the fame hand as the relations ; 
 they contain fingl^r the meafures of the length and 
 height pf the wails of feveral towns and caltles of 
 
 Syria^ 
 
CONTINENTS, SEAS, and FISHES. 3^5 
 Syria, without any other account of their conftrudlion. 
 The numbers are fo ill written, that it would be diffi-* 
 cult to copy them exadly ; it begins with the meafure 
 of the walls of Tell-bafcher, of Ai’n-tab, and of ano- 
 ther town, of which I cannot tell the name, becaufe it 
 is obliterated. Afterv/ards a title announces, that it 
 treats of fome mofques, w^hich are in the dominions of 
 Nour-eddin-Mahmoud, fon of Edmad-eddin-zengi ; 
 but he mixes with the detail an account of feveral 
 caftles and towns ; firft of Aleppo, and the diftances 
 of this town from Harem, Manbedge, Mara, Hama, 
 and other places, are given. Thofe Ihort details may 
 be interefting to geography, but I fhould not venture 
 to tranflate it, left I might miftake one number for 
 another, becaufe of the bad condition of the manu- 
 fcript ; and in this line exadnefs and precifion are in- 
 difpenfible. 
 
 The author, whoever he is, fpeaks afterwards of 
 Manbedge, of Schizour, of Hama, of Hemefta, of 
 Damafcus, of Paneas, of Sarkhad, of Bafra, of Oman, 
 of Baalbek, of Roha, of Edefta, of Harran, of Ra- 
 fica. 
 
 This little ftagment, with the help of fome other 
 works, miight be ufeful, and it i$ for this reafon we no** 
 tice it. 
 
 The third piece, very badly written, has neither be- 
 ginning nor end. It treats of heaven and' the courfe 
 of the ftars, according to Ariftotle, who is cited. To 
 this are joined obfervations or explanations ; but as the 
 treatife of Ariftotle De Cceh is fonnd in other Arabian 
 
 VoL. I, X manufcripts. 
 
3o6 historical CHAIN OF 
 
 manufcripts, it is ufelefs to dwell on this, which is in 
 the greatefl confufion. 
 
 The fourth piece wants the beginning 5 it is written 
 in the Arabic characters of Africa, more fquared than 
 thofe ufed in Afia, and in very bad condition. It 
 treats of the anatomy of the human body. At the 
 end we read thefe words: This work, which con- 
 tains the explanation of the human body, the fci- 
 ence of the heaven and the ftars, of the feas and 
 countries, of the meafures of towns and caftles, was 
 finifhed the year of the Hegira 588, (and not 596^) 
 of Jefus Chrill: 1198. This note is in a different 
 hand from that of the v/ork. It refembles, or rather 
 is the fame as the general title which Hands at the 
 beginning of the volume y but it is a very bad one, 
 and feems to be that of a man very little accuftomed 
 to writing Arabic. Neither can we take the date, 
 of the tranfeription of the manufeript, or the time 
 of its compofition, 
 
 But let us lay afide thefe difficulties, which are little 
 interefring, and return to the tranflation of the firft 
 piece by the abbe Renaudot. It feems to be the con- 
 tinuation of fome more extenfive work, and nearly of 
 the fame kind as that of Mafoudi. The firfl: page (pro- 
 perly fpeaking) of this manufeript, contains, befides^ 
 the title, the remains of a defeription of a miarine mon- 
 fter, which the Arabian author calls ankatous. The 
 abbe Renaudot has omiitted it as being imperfect, and 
 
 * There is a date here in the margin, which is of the fame hand tVs 
 the manufeript, and which marks the year 596, in the month Sep^» 
 tember, of Jefus Chi-ill 1199. 
 
 begins 
 
CONTINENTS, SEAS, and FISHES. 307 
 begins at an article intituled The Third Sea is that 
 of Herkend.” This part contains the relation of 
 the journeys of a certain Ebn-Ouahab in India and 
 China, who travelled in thofe countries in the ninth 
 century, and of another named Abouzcid, who tra- 
 velled there fome years after. 
 
 Our travellers point out the road taken at that time 
 to go from BafTora to Canton they give accounts of 
 feveral iflands they met with, and of their produ6]:ions ; 
 they fpeak of the manners and cuftoms of the Indians 
 and Chinefe. One of the travellers penetrates as far 
 as the capital of China, and is prefented to the empe- 
 ror, who feems to know the fovereigns of the Oriental 
 countries, fuch as the emperor of Conftantinople, the 
 khaliff of Bagdad, &c. In one place of thefe voyages 
 a difcovery that was then made is fpoken of. In the 
 Mediterranean, on the coafts of Syria, if we credit the 
 author, they found the ruins of an Arabian veflel, the 
 conftru6lion of which announced, that it was of Siraph, 
 in the gulph of Perfia. He obferves, that there are no 
 vefTels, but thofe of Siraph, whofe planks are not 
 nailed, but joined together in a particular way, as if 
 they v/ere fewed : fuch was that veffel ; whereas thofe 
 of the Mediterranean and of the coafl of Syria are 
 nailed. He infers from thence, that this veffel, built 
 in the gulph of Perfia, and condufled into the Indian 
 fea, might have been driven on the Oriental fide by the 
 fea. He fuppofes it to have made the round of China, 
 whence it might have entered into the fea of Khozar; 
 and thence, by a canal, into the Mediterranean. By- 
 this it appears that they believed the ocean com.mu- 
 
 X 2 ^ nicated 
 
3o8 historical CHAIN OF 
 
 nlcated with the Mediterranean, which, this way, is 
 abfolutely falfe. But if it be true that the veifel de- 
 parted from Siraph, it is more fimple to fuppofe it 
 to pafs towards the well, by way of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, along the weftern coafls of Africa, and to enter 
 the Mediterranean by the Streight of Gibraltar. The 
 Arabians were then great navigators ; they frequented 
 the iflands which are to the fouth of India ^ they 
 v/ere curious in making dilcoveries, as we m.ay fee by 
 other manufcripts ; and I flioiild not be furprifed if 
 thofe of Siraph had paffed into the Atlantic, and then 
 into the Mediterranean, where they might have been 
 wrecked. 
 
 In the comparifon I have foni'ierly drawn betv/een 
 the tranflation and the original, I am affured it is exail ; 
 I have only obferved, that wherever the abbe has 
 tranflated league^ it finoiud be read farajangy as it is 
 in the manufcript ; the league and the parafang not 
 having the fame extent, the name league might eafily 
 be an inducement to error. I place a few obfer- 
 vations in the notes'^. I lhall only remiark here, that 
 page 42, the abbe Renaudot lays, that the Chinefe 
 are addidled to an abomdnable fin, and place this exe- 
 crable debauchery in the number of the indifferent 
 things they do to the honour of their idols.’' We 
 tead in the text, ‘?The Chinefe are addidled to that 
 
 he fpeaks of a mountain he calls Cacenai ; v/eread in the 
 text Khoufchriami. 
 
 Page IQ, he fpeaks of a place called Nelif-bani-el-fefac 5 we rnuft 
 read Saif-bani-elTefac. » 
 
 Pages 20 and 108, the abbe Renaudot names a I;ing of Haraz : 
 there is in the manufcript a king of Dgiourz, 
 
 debauchery 
 
CONTINENTS, SEAS, and FISHES. 309 
 debauchery, inilead of taking the virgins devoted to 
 their idols.” Father Duhalde relates, that the maids 
 Vvho are devoted to the religion of Fo are very licen- 
 tious ; it is of thofe proftitutes our travellers are here 
 fpeakingi fo they ought not to be made to fay the 
 Chinefe commit that crime from a principle of re- 
 ligion*. 
 
 From thefe obfervations it refults^ that notwith- 
 ftanding all the objeclions of the milTionarieSi we can 
 no longer doubt the authenticity of thefe relations, nor 
 of the exiftence of the manufeript. In the fecond 
 voyage, undertaken by Abouzeidiel haffan of Siraph, it 
 fs faid that the firfi; has been made the 237th year of 
 the Hegira, of Chrift 377. In effe( 5 l, this year and 
 the follovdng, China v/as agitated by comunotions, and 
 there was, as the Arabian author fays, a famous rebel 
 who committed great diforders there, 
 
 I ought not here to forget, that what has mod pre- 
 judiced the Chinefe milTionaries againft the Arabian 
 travellers is, that they affert they fell human flefh pub- 
 licly in China in the markets ^ they have of confer 
 quence been accufed of impoilure. I may cite in 
 
 * Page 51. This is only an error of the print. Mr. L’Abbe Renaudot, 
 in tranflating fays, that the taking of Canton happened in the year 
 2(^4- of Jefus ChriH, and of the Hegira 877. Read, on the contrary, 
 the year of the Hegira 264., and of Jefus Chrift 877. 
 
 Page 124., at the end of the work, the abbe Renaudot has forgotten 
 to tranhate fome lines. The author, after having faid that emeralds 
 v/ere carried from Egypt to China, where feals were made out of them, 
 adds, ‘‘ They alfo bring thither the boufad, otherwife called merd- 
 gian, and the hadgion, called alfo dahnadge. Moft of the kings 
 of India fuffer thofe of their country to fee their wives, but they do 
 Rot permit fq^eigners," 
 
 X 3 
 
 their 
 
HISTORICAL CHAIN OF 
 
 310 
 
 their favour the Chinefe annals thennfelves, which at- 
 telt the fa6l, but fix it only in a time of famine. 
 ‘Mn 1240, (it is there faid) they killed men^ in order 
 to fell their fleih in the markets ; fo that people were 
 afraid to go out in the evening, for fear of being 
 feized, killed, and thus expofed to fale.’^ There are 
 many examples in thefe annals, in almoft all the fa- 
 mines, which are frequent in China, they have come to 
 thefe extremities. In a lift of earthquakes, inunda- 
 tions, and famines, which I fhall give in the end, we 
 find a number of examples of it, but always in a fa- 
 mine. 
 
 In general, without undertaking the defence of thefe 
 ftories, which refemble thofe of our firft travellers, I 
 think they are not to be defpifed, and that we may 
 profit by them. They even agree with the Chinefe 
 hiftory. We know that the Arabians and all the Muf- 
 fulmans then repaired thither, and that at Canton they 
 had a cadi. 
 
 In the hiftory of the dynafty of Tang, who reigned 
 at that time in China, they mark the courfe the Chinefe 
 veftels fteered from Canton to Baflbra, and it is agree- 
 able to what our Arabian authors point out. They 
 went from China to Ceylon, doubled Cape Comorin, 
 ran down the coaft of Malabar, pafled the mouth of 
 the Indus, and from thence to Siraph, The Chinefe 
 were acquainted with the Euphrates. From Buflbra 
 the merchandize was difperfed among the Mahomedan 
 countries, and even to the coaft of Africa. It was 
 about this time that the Neftorians caufed a monu- 
 ment to be erecfted at Singanfow, which- they call 
 
 Comdam. 
 
CONTINENTS, SEAS, and FISHES. 31 1 
 Comdam. That is a proof of the exiftence of Chrif- 
 tianity in China. Thefe Chriftians are mentioned in 
 the Chinefe annals, and our Arabian travellers men- 
 tion a o-reat number of Chriftians bein^ killed at 
 Canton. Father de Premau looks on our travellers as 
 impoftors, on account of the name Comdam, which 
 they give Siganfou, then called Tchang-gan. But 
 all thefe objections do not prove any things and 
 whatever this name of* Comdam may be, it is certain 
 it is that which all foreigners, even the Neftorians who 
 erected the monuments, then gave to that city. 
 I ihall not go further in this inquiry. As to the notes 
 of abbe Renaudot, which I fhould wifti to criticife, 
 it would be beyond my limits to examine them ; 
 and I fhall finifh by faying, it were to be wiftied we 
 had alfo many relations of the travels which the 
 Arabians have undertaken, made into different parts 
 of Africa, India, China, and the interior parts of 
 Afia, to which they then traded. 
 
 A N 
 
( 313 5 
 
 A N 
 
 A C C O U N T 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Manufcript of Efchylus, 
 
 In the KING’S LIBRARY. 
 
 No. 2789, compared with the Edition of PAW* 
 
 By M. Vauvilliers. 
 
 /T'HIS manufcript in quarto, on paper of chefix« 
 teenth century, contains the Prometheus, the 
 Seven at Thebes, and the Perfians, without any defi- 
 ciency. The firft; page prefents a life of Efchylus, 
 which, except a few wbrds, is the fame as that we fee 
 printed at the head of Paw’s edition. We may here 
 perceive the chronological knowledge of very modern 
 fcholiafts, or the judgment of the copyifts that have 
 tranfmitted to us their Scholia. The author, who- 
 ever he was, makes Efchylus, to be born at Elu- 
 fina, in the fortieth Olympiad ; to fight at Mai;a- 
 thon, in the fixty-fecond, and at Salamine in the 
 feventy-fifth \ that is, he makes him live one hundred 
 
 and 
 
314 MANUSCRIFT OP ESCHYLtfS. 
 
 and fifty years : and yet he tells us afterwards, that he 
 died at the age of fixty-five; and concludes with in- 
 forming usi that he lived fixty-three years, although 
 he was born in the fixty-third Olympiad, at Decelia, 
 and not at Eleufina, and died in the feventy-eighth 
 Olympiad, aged fifty-nine years, as father Corfini 
 
 Hates, in his Attic Fqfiij in feveral places; 
 
 The manufcript, after having related the infcrip- 
 tion which the inhabitants of Gela placed on the tomb 
 of Efchylus, and which is to be found in the printed 
 life I have jufi: fpoken of, cites another fhorter, in a 
 fingle pentameter verfe. I fhall relate it as it is given i 
 A'irh oi/v^cou rvzs'clg t^oci^sui 
 
 This verfe only exprefies the nature of the poet's 
 death in a very indiftind manner, and has much the 
 appearance of the end of an epigram on the death of 
 Efchylus. Be it as it may, they fhould at lead: have 
 written ; but the number of grofs miflakes that 
 appear in every page evince the extreme ignorance of 
 the copyift : the hand is neither fine nor equal, if it 
 is really the fame with which the v/hole volume is 
 written. 
 
 One form is there common to feveral letters, and 
 the fame figure of abbreviation reprefents different' 
 fyllables, which renders the reading fatiguing and tire- 
 fome. 
 
 Yet it is not without reafon that the learned com- 
 pilers of die catalogue of the king's manufcripts have 
 faid, that this manuicript deferved to be confulted, 
 becaufe of fome intereilwig variations^ 
 
 PRC- 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLtJS* $ 1 $ 
 
 PROMETHEUS. 
 
 At the forty-fecond verfe we read, in our edition, 
 
 A'nt rs (TU, x&s,i B'pcccrHt ttAsw?. 
 
 The particle rl is of no great confequence in this 
 place ; and if it had come from the hand of the 
 poet, I cannot help thinking he would have pre- 
 ferred writing : cchl a-u n-. The manufeript 
 
 reads c&is/ n, which might be rendered in our lan- 
 guage in this manner: “ You have a certain cha- 
 rafter of rudenefs.” 
 
 At verfe 87, which Hands in our editi- 
 
 ons, is a very indefinite expreffion to denote the 
 aftual Hate of Prometheus chained by the hand of 
 Vulcan: rs^urtg, which the manufeript prefents in* 
 Head of charafterifes in a more precife, juH, 
 
 and figurative manner, the fetters forged by a fkilful 
 workman, which Homer calls }iXvrorip(vng, ' Iliad* 
 A. 571. 
 
 * in verfe iii, feems to me without com- 
 
 parifon, more elegant and more adapted to the fub- 
 jeft, then tteovks, which is commonly employed only 
 to defer ibe the quality of an objeft by nature, or by 
 birth. The other expreHion is far more fit to de- 
 feribe the rays of the fun Holen, by Prometheus, to 
 pour into the foul of men the light of fcience, and 
 the arts : 
 
 ' S Ti^vnt 
 
 7rfic(r>3f f^poroTg 
 
 I muH 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS^ 
 
 Bi6 
 
 I mufl; premife, that the v/riter of the rnanii- 
 fcript fcarcely ever puts the lura. fuhjcripium (under'^ 
 written). ' ' 
 
 The variation he relates^ verfe 219^ 
 
 inilead of as it ftands in the text, as well 
 
 as in our editions, is entirely in the ftyle of Efchylus. 
 
 T'^E^syog A\ 1 ycci(Xig uVo, at vei'fc 365, 
 
 would perhaps be better than the received reading 
 IzrvE^svog ; for the poet has already faid, that Typhon 
 had been ftruck by lightening ; he then fays, that he 
 has been reduced to afhes ; IzjvE'^vjog^ placed be- 
 tween thefe two, gives fbill the fame idea in another 
 word. It is, methinks, a repetition, which expofes 
 Efchylus to a fufpicion of barrennefs: »Vk//,£vo? would 
 prefent, under another image, Typhon dallied under 
 the prelTure of jEtna, which Pindar calls Ittov 
 xy^y^o£(T(rocv iKaroyxsipixXoo Tv(piouogy 'pTejJuTamy id eft, OflUS 
 f'l'diceljum centicipitis l^yphoniSy Olymp. 5. lirog fig- 
 nifies properly the trough of a prefs, according to 
 Julius Pollux. Thus the writing of the manufcript 
 would again have the merit of reconciling the ifnages 
 drawn on the fame fiibjecl; by the tv^o poets, th6 
 boldeft of any in metaphors. 
 
 * nayx^aVTg l^^a,gy at verfe 389, faving 
 the omonymie of our editions, xpizlhri '^ccyryoclsTg 
 
 irhotg. 
 
 * at verfe 437, exprelfes with more 
 
 ftrength, the weight of heaven, which caufes Atlas 
 to tremble, than v-uroQocg-dl^Biy which is in our printed 
 editions. ^ . 
 
 'uTpOli'TlXBlJ^SVOUj 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 317 
 
 at veiTe 437> more agree- 
 
 able to the meafiire of the verfe, than 'UTpG( 7 EXEy.£vov, 
 which certainly does not admit of a pyrric, or two 
 breves, inftead of an iambic at the fourth foot of 
 the iambic verfe, but it inclines to a 
 
 very good conceit, if there did exift any example 
 of this compound verb, and w^hich ought, in my 
 opinion, not to be rejedled, though it is no where 
 adopted ^ it alfo affords a fecond conjeclure, which 
 could amend the v/hole, without criticifm, if we 
 read woh rnAa/vtsvoj/, fic quafi ci^pfum fa^iim ; for 
 Prometheus, chained, and immoveable on Gaucafus, 
 would be perfectly reprefented by this image. 
 
 Toi/ i^c/.v.p>jv iSi'ouy at verfe 488, is, v/ithout doubt, 
 preferable to our reading becaufe Prometheus 
 
 did not pretend, that men had palled a long feries 
 of ages in ignorance and infenfibility, from which 
 he had raifed them, by communicating to them the 
 v^armth of the fun; and that in this very fuppofition, 
 the article tov would be a fault; but rather, that 
 they vegetated thus during the whole of their lives'; 
 this alfo is the v/riting of the feeond fcholiaft. 
 
 The reading of verfe 450, r^cccvy is little 
 
 better than our reading Ta-uy, which might be as 
 wed written and v/ould fignify the fame as 
 
 rcTjcv, and is not decidedly preferable to 5 
 
 the ancient grammarians admit them both to fig- 
 nify, /oli expcfitus \ though fome learned rejed ab- 
 lolutely zT^07r,XiiCy as not being in the analogy of the 
 language ; herein I am inclined to embrace their 
 opinion. 
 
 Mr. 
 
pn MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 Mr. Brunck has adopted rio-ocvi as in 
 
 verfe 435 ; he has printed with reafon rot, inftead 
 of riy^ which is alfo the writing of our manufcript, 
 I alfo believe, that AptTra [aoi^ at verfe 475, is 
 better than ra ; but I fhould not hefitate 
 
 preferring the writing s Tronfovy at verfe 479; be^ 
 caufe the fentence, fo as we read it, 
 
 ivy, 7 }]/ OrXi^riiA 
 ^ aJ'e TTifouy ' 
 
 nullum erat remediumy neque efculentUMy non unguentumy 
 neque poculentumy is evidently erroneous, though Mr, 
 Heath pretends, that Efchylus did not amufe him^ 
 felf in fearch of grammatical exadtnefs. In adopt- 
 ing the writing of the manufcript, we might read^ 
 
 ivy ny 'diXvy iilv 
 s « 7^oTi^o^', 
 
 and the fentence would prove ftridlly regular. 
 
 At verfe 638, I fliould not venture to affirm^ 
 that the writing, dg r dTrcyXoiva-aiy is precifely the 
 bed: g but I know, that the common writing is 
 vicious, becaufe it begins an iambic verfe with a 
 trocheus, and that this would produce a fpondeus, 
 T ccTT^yXccvcrcciy being the vafis of to cc 7 royXo(,v(rixi ; how- 
 ever it be, it was of fome import to remark it, be- 
 caufe of the necefiity to corredl the pafTage. M. 
 Brunck has printed wV’ dir oyxeev 0-0,1. 
 
 * x£yXn(T£T<ziy at verfe 839, is better than yXr- 
 ^io-sroi ; becaufe it prefents lo as neared: the glory 
 of giving her name to the Bofphorus. 
 
 At verfe 849, we read, as well as in our edi- 
 tions, luoditvpAov is rdu Aio^ ysyXotvov 
 
 E’Va(poi/j 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 319 
 
 ’E^aipcv, and the interlineary fcholion explains ytv- 
 by rr,g which, being certainly not 
 
 the interpretation of ysnviiAxroovy feems to give room 
 to believe, that the manufcript, which our copyift 
 had before him, contained another word. Mr. Brunck 
 has printed in imitation of M. Walkenaer, 
 
 who quotes a note of Scaliger. However, the con- 
 ception of Epaphus, ought to be afcribed to the 
 mere contact of Jupiter, as the poet fays, iTrxtp^u 
 xx\ (xcyovy I fnould Venture to pronounce, that 
 
 far from being fo abfurd, as what M. Walkenaer ad- 
 vances j the writing yiyynixxruv is, on the contrary, 
 the only true one : Y ou will bring forth Epaphus, 
 
 whofe name alone will recall the extraordinary 
 manner, in which Jupiter begot time f * and 
 and this is the meaning of the explication of .the 
 fcholiaft, T?c 'which here feems very ra^ 
 
 tional. 
 
 At verfe 906, x^^xh (p^ovZy may well enter in 
 comparifon with this reading, -y but 
 I believe, at the verfe 970*, is much 
 
 better than 
 
 yJKi^'xv 'ioixxg ro7c 7rxp^(ri TTYip^xo-iy fays McrCUry tO 
 Prometheus, agreeable to what we read in our edi- 
 tions 3 it is then but a fimple exprelTion : but fub- 
 ftituting 'ur^xyy.xa-iy deliciari videris rerum tuarum Jiatu, 
 becomes a much better irony 3 and the anfwer of 
 Prometheus yXi^o^yrug u^i TXf lyw 
 
 I enjoy ; may I fee my enemies enjoy the 
 fame biifs, becomes a cutting repartee to a cruel 
 irony. 
 
 At 
 
320 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 At verfe 1056^ il ivrv^n would fettle the 
 meter of the verfe, and prevent having recourfe to 
 the conjedurds of Cantere, Stanley, and Paw, in 
 dividing the dipthong lu, in fuch a manner, as to 
 read si raJ'* which would be the plural neuter 
 
 of surv^n^ ; for if we fhould fuppofe it in the fub- 
 jundlive of svrv^socy there mull refult a folecifm, be- 
 caufe the conjundion n is conjugated with the in- 
 dicative and optative only, 
 
 The meafure of the verfe 1070 is alfo deftroyed 
 in our editions, by v/riting of arT lyoo ; the ma- 
 nufcript gives aVIyw, and the meafure is re-eftabi^ 
 liflied. 
 
 The seven at THEBES, 
 
 * At verfe 55, sKittov is not abfolutely necef- 
 fary ; our editions give sXsnrovy and the Grecians 
 often make ufe of the imperfed on thefe occafions^ 
 as well as the Larin, and even the French, I think 
 have proved this in my notes on Sophocles 3 but 
 they do not make ufe of it. 
 
 ^ At verfe 83, we read, printed 3 
 
 s\£^£fj,y(zg TTS^ioijyXcv.rvTTiog 
 
 r iy^pifi-urjslxi |3o«. 
 
 The manufcript TrsdLO’urXoy.TVTro^ rs Sri slaty 
 
 and in the doubtful Sa-t, and in the variation, by all 
 means better than M. Brpnck has adopted. 
 
 Armorum Jonitus tremendus e campo aurihus appro-^ 
 pinquat, 
 
 * At the verfe 104, Trocrayog hog ^o^og } this 
 writing gives a mod regular iambic verfe. 
 
 ^ At 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 321 
 
 ^ At verfe 136, Oo^oov inftead of is doubt* 
 Icfs more poetical. 
 
 At verfe. 178, Trcty^lxa^ has no meaning; 
 pYxwcj as the manufcript has it, is moft exad, 
 xxJet£ TravtffKO)? Hear our prayers according to 
 
 juflice. 
 
 * At verle 250, ^ovco j9^ or wv ; Mars does not 
 fatiate himfelf in the coniternadon, but in the 
 flaughter of mankind, 
 
 * At verfe 274, Troc^ocy^a-oy, 
 
 * At verfe 306, oxplosa-c-ocy ; although the gram- 
 marians admit alfo of Upv6£(r(T0(,y) I do not believe 
 that this exprelTion can agree with our prayers. 
 
 * At verfe 314, fur^a^tVaTov, pleafes me more 
 than ivr^£(pifctTov of our editions. 
 
 I doubt, whether any body know5 the example o£ 
 this form, which may be found in pur 
 
 editions at verfe 503. Mean while, I fhall takp 
 the writing of the manufcript ^'up£iy afflatus 
 
 aiitem martc\ and I fee v/ith fatisfadlion that it i? 
 adopted by M. Brunck. 
 
 * At verfe 667, (pp/'rw is undoubtedly the 
 
 expreflion of Efchylus, becaufe this word being ex- 
 ceeding rare, it is hard to believe the copyift 
 has fubftituted it inftead of ru^w, far more com- 
 monly employed ; and which confequently muft be 
 ipoked upon as an interlineary fcholion of the other^ 
 that has been afterwards inferred into the text; th^ 
 other being defaced^ pr ur^known tp the latter co- 
 pyift. 
 
 * At verfe ico^, ttoi/o?, Icj Y.!xyJ,y pur edid- 
 
 Q^s bear Iw which is, in all proba- 
 
 Vp*;. I, ‘ y bility, 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 322 
 
 bility, owing to the interlineary fcholion 0 Iv ripAVy 
 which afterwards entered into the text with a flight 
 difference. 
 
 * At verfe 1008, TroXvTrovdoroLroiy is not in itfelf 
 better than TroAurovwriSiTOi ; but I take it to be more 
 adapted to the circiimflance. 
 
 * At verfe 1073, r/? h rocZroo Trt^otroy is Certainly 
 a fault in the language : the optative has never 
 any conditional Ifrength without the particle av, as 
 M. Dawes has obferved long ago in his critical mif- 
 cellanies. It is then, with reafon, that our manu- 
 fcript has rfg av hy whence refults an anapeftus 
 dimeter, inftead of an heptemimerus, if we read 
 Tt'? h avy for tranfpofitions are very frequent in ma- 
 nufcripts, and particularly in this ; or if we read 
 with M. Brunck at the beginning of the verfe 
 inftead of Jo-i, which would render the tranfpofition 
 needlefs, and is, at leaft, as good. For w^e muft 
 obferve, that the v paragogium is generally omitted 
 in manufcripts, and, efpecially in this, is fcarce to 
 be found, except in places where it fhould not, be- 
 caufe it breaks the meafure of the verfe. 
 
 -T I-I E 'P E R S I A N So 
 
 As for this piece, . 
 
 xvxXnuTOy at verfe 457, is almoft the only-doubt- 
 fii], truly interefting to thofe who take a part in. 
 a learned difpute on the queftion, whether the Attici- 
 ufed to fupprefs the augmentum of a fyllable in the^ 
 preter tenfe : it is oimitted in our editions j the ma-- 
 ilufcript reftores it, which is the . more obferyable, 
 as this verfe was one of the five or fix, which thofe, ■ 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 323 
 
 who contend for the affirmative produced, or could 
 produce in their favour. Wherefore M, Brunck 
 cannot but be praifed, who then keeping clofer to 
 this fyftem, than he now feerns to do, has yet the 
 authority of the manufcript preferred to his opinion, 
 where he has found the fame writing, and printed the 
 du(p) o’e 
 
 "y.vy,A8UT0y in marking the eliplis of the augmentuni 
 by the apoftrophe ; a form which I think preferable 
 in the verfes of the fcene. 
 
 * TTsXoiyioc; dxk, at verfe 467, is alfo without 
 comparifon better than 7 nXoc(Ty(a,gy a writing adopted 
 in our editions, without ones being able to guefs the 
 reafon of it. 
 
 r It is alfo with fome pleafurC' we read at verfe 
 577, ivvccfocy hyccfo^y inftead of ^wdrocy which is to be 
 found in our editions, and which is furely not the 
 proper expreffion to chara6lerife the monarch of 
 Perlia. The fear of a double confonant after a 
 vowel, which was fuppofed likely to remain breve, 
 has caufed the fuppreffion of the S. M. Brunck 
 has, with his ufual fagacity, pafled over this vain 
 fcruple. 
 
 We cannot pafs TroAfic, at verfe 866, which M. 
 Brunck has printed with reafon TroXig j Trvpyovy 
 at verfe 875, which the learned editor has alfo 
 adopted, indead of Trvpyoiy which he, at lead:, 
 ought to have written in a iingle* word, fo as to 
 fignify what the interlineary fcholialls of our manu- 
 fcript. explain, VlPlTTVpyot, 
 
 Efpecially, dv^op^Bya^y at verfe 878, which forms 
 a fine picture, that could not fail pleafing the tafle 
 
 Y 2 of 
 
324 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLU3. 
 
 of M. Brunck ; maxime placet^ fays he, to denote 
 cities, whofe pride is debafed before the king of 
 Perfia, inftead of the miferable reading £p^o/x£i/a», we 
 have in our imprefiionSi 
 
 For laftly, iVapa at verfe 893; in whofe 
 
 room M. Brunck has reafon to wonder, why the 
 modern editions fhouid have preferred sAo;, as if the 
 ifland of Icarus had ever been called the marih of 
 Icarus 
 
 This is quite fuffecient to enable one to judge of 
 the merit of this manufcript. All the other va- 
 riations, which an attentive reading has enabled us 
 to perceive^ fhall be arranged in the form of an index, 
 without excepting the moft glaring faults; as it is 
 our intention to make our account a fubftitute to the 
 manufcripts, as much as poffible, to readers and 
 editors, for whom faults ’may afford room for a con- 
 jedture, and the fource of a more happy corredlion. 
 
 Thus, although the word dpx<^i 07 rsr^v, at verfe 
 480 of Pimmetheus, be moll: likely a fault of the 
 copyift, who was not able to difcern the abbreviation 
 of dp;^<ziowos 7 rv ; yet it is not againft the analogy of 
 the language, nor contrary to the genius of Efchylus, 
 to exprefs the liability of the glory of Prometheus, 
 and of his brothers, by a v/ord that would lignify it 
 to be as folid as the ancient mountains. 
 
 In the fame piece, at verfe 408, dud-o^y is 
 without doubt a fault ; but which M* 
 
 Brunck has found in the manufcript, and which 
 he has with much reafon printed, is a great deal better 
 than our vulgar reading 
 
 At 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 325 
 
 At verfe 162 of the Perfians, AtoiTa, confuic^- 
 ang the choir of Perfian old men refpedting a dream 
 that had difturbed her during the night, expfcITes 
 herfeif to this purpofe in our editions : 
 
 gg 0 vfji,ixg Ejow 
 
 '^^ocfjt.oog gfj.ccvrv‘; dosiixocvrog, <plXoi^ 
 
 ^*4 fji.g'yccg TrXErQq xovi<T(TO(,g ttq^i 
 
 oAbov, &C. 
 
 AVhich probably fignifies, not being abk to 
 raife myfelf above the fear, that . the great riches 
 (amaffed by Darius) being fcattered on the earth 
 " like duft, will carry along with it happinefs,’' &c. 
 
 The manufcript has aP d^i'ifxxrog, which is an 
 evident fault ; but a man, accuftomed to the read- 
 ing of manufcripts, knows how many times words 
 are ridiculoufly feparated, or confounded, and how 
 often the accents and pundluations are milplaced ; 
 and if he fhould refled:, that the form s/xxvrvg 
 ddgifxxroc^ feems but inadequate to exprefs the fig- 
 niflcation that has been given, how indiflindl and 
 feeble the fenfe, if we fuppofe it to be good, which 
 infers, he might be tempted to read, in following 
 the letters of the manufcript, i^xy^dg gy.xvr^g Za-x 
 aitxxTog^ a nlofl: elegant fentence, which would im- 
 ply, being out of myfelf in fear ; and from a grols 
 fault, he would extra6t at lead a very good one, if it 
 is not the only true one. Therefore we fhall lay be- 
 fore the reader all fuch as we have not yet Ipoken 
 
 As for thofe that have been the objed: of our 
 /cfledions, we have marked with aflerifks all thofe 
 
 which 
 
^26 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLU5. 
 
 ^whlch M. Brunck has adopted in the volume printed 
 at Strafborough, in 1779, when we have-not pointed 
 it out exprefsly. It is with great fatisfadtion, I have 
 feized that opportunity to render a tribute to the rare 
 talents and erudition of the learned editor, whofe 
 labours are in fo many refpedls entitled to the ac- 
 knowledgments of men of learning. 
 
 INDEX of the V^^riations, good or hady whkh 
 are found in the Kings Manufcripts^ No, 2789. 
 
 PROMETHEUS. 
 
 3 * 
 
 E^TTiToXcli;, 
 
 35 * 
 
 
 € 
 
 cc 
 
 38. 
 
 6. 
 
 d^cif^ocflivoi; 7 r£j' 7 ]criy.,* 7 r£- 
 
 48. tcipiXi, 
 
 
 
 50. hiy ah eft. 
 
 8. 
 
 ir 
 
 iOTTCCCri. 
 
 £ 2 , Tw rd J'so’/Ai 
 
 II. 
 
 (pXoiv^podTns^ 
 
 54* ^^dxXiOi, 
 
 12. 
 
 
 55» xocQuutv, 
 
 
 
 5 9. dpf.Yt^dvQVm 
 
 13 * 
 
 (MCCT/iV, 
 
 74. xpiaojcrov* 
 
 18. 
 
 
 75* [j'CY^KpM 
 
 20. 
 
 '^pogTTGcrlccXV'jo-oiio^ 
 
 83. TurpoTi^ei 
 
 
 ^porcQV 
 
 89. , 7 rovra,piov 
 
 21. 
 
 Oswy 
 
 ^0, 
 
 26. 
 
 4 ahefy . , . 
 
 91. ’iha-ft 67 c 6 , 
 
 
 n 
 
 95. <5i£§A£Uff-&;, 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 327: 
 
 !OI. y.cci Ti ri . 
 
 108. iTTi^evy^cci,- 
 I I 3. VTTiSciGg, 
 
 01 / . 
 
 119. 3 -£^V, . 
 
 133. av y.'j'x^ov^ 
 
 135* Trlfp^OTTW. 
 
 1 40. I (Tt J'f crS-f /T. - 
 148. rouq^ abeji^ 
 
 I S S' 
 
 157* >^^*^ 7 /^^* 
 
 162. Otist iTTmOTW^’* 
 
 i68. yuiOTrai’J'aic* 
 
 1 7 3 - rfppfa?, 
 
 182. J'c'J'oia, 
 
 J83, oVjo. 
 
 185* 3 Tra^apci'iS’oi/ , . , Hpoi/^H, 
 1 90^ ropcVfi. 
 
 I 91. 
 
 197. £n.. 
 
 203. <Opgft£,/ 
 
 204. £1/T£u3’£I/ . . 
 
 Ole 
 
 209. EUTl 
 313. <J’, 
 
 <^r,g 
 
 219. . . /x£Xa/vVoa 3 ’'J 5 -, 
 
 229 . XCoS'I^eT . . ^Ol.t^O(Tl 
 233. (punZc-cci, 
 
 235* ro\iJi.r,<;e 
 
 243. 
 
 259. C 50 g>?e 
 
 273* ^ jwaS’OiTf* 
 
 280. ^dxoUe 
 
 25 ' 
 
 284. XfA£u 3 ’W, • * 
 
 292. J/£/X01/>(.’ 
 
 293. yvworj To^’ to? lr?iTt;pc% 
 
 « fAuryiUe 
 
 294. (Ts p^a^iToyAwcKTfrj/, 
 
 301. <Ti^r\^oiAy]\^(x,e 
 
 Awffis 
 
 308. TrXziqoCe 
 328, TTB^lCroip^UVm 
 
 332. 
 
 337. oy(Ly,£yoVe 
 
 341. ' 7 ^^ 0 fjr. 7 i^'lOC <;9 
 
 346. 7 rX£ifOip 
 351* yiXlXOOl/e 
 352. Cl[^ipWV; 
 
 35 S' ^l^^^oc]/ 0 (, 7 (ri yo&p/^friA^pri^^ 
 
 358. 
 
 363* Tra^ow^ova 
 371. 
 
 376. Aw^Jicrw. 
 
 38 I» Z 3 '^ 0 p*,Yi 3 '£lB‘ 0 i'te 
 3^4- T>7 J's t 5) i/o<r(Wa 
 386, J'oxer o-o{, 
 
 394. xpeeva. < 
 
 404. 3'for?Tors-7ra^of • 
 
 414. yxcifn^vscrie 
 420. dp^cc^'iccg. 
 
 428. jTTg/^ofp^OJ/e 
 434. TTlXpoV, 
 
 435 - 
 
UB MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS, 
 
 435 * 
 
 439 * 
 
 . 
 
 457. diV/ir. 
 
 460. spy^ry^k, 
 
 49^* c&XKnkHc* 
 
 495 » JcwAa, 
 
 496. Q(T(pm. 
 
 £lj» Ixipuyy^, 
 
 524. f^iocc, 
 
 534. 
 
 541* $£^yiOjULa*a» 
 
 542. ^Lccxka,toixrjQg» 
 _^4S* OiA)c>f* 
 
 550* oXi^yo^p^yBiC^i/^ 
 55^* AifS^a. 
 
 566. TTOy^?’, 
 
 £68. yap, 
 
 574 * 
 
 578 . TTO TTO- Tra ttqI tt^j, 
 581, ':^Qip<,oi/ar(r-i. 
 
 587* TToAuTrAai/oi. 
 
 590, nXuBig, .(pQsyjMfara. 
 60'l, y-^sno'iy,, 
 
 607. Ul /ATI 
 61 1, a a’ 
 
 614. (^(pnXny^oc* 
 dpy^qT 
 
 616. <y i^oi^ 
 
 620. TO 
 
 622, Op^BG-X^ 
 
 625* CTOS, 
 
 637, T£j 
 639* f-^sAAor® 
 
 646. 7rajA£up4£t/ai* 
 
 661, Tir^ixa-eiy, 
 
 663, Ju(rxjiTSS’. 
 
 681. a' 5 rpoJ'oKi?jT 05 ‘. 
 683. yK 'Srpoj y?i/, 
 
 68 5 » (Tfi^OCV^ 
 
 689, 
 
 692. 
 
 701. roy a$;’, 
 
 706, ayaroAaf, 
 
 718. ^oAi?, 
 
 723. ruyayo^oi. 
 
 725* G'a.^v^nfTkx^ 
 
 726. 
 
 728 , Xt^VOOiq^ 
 
 729. d'pcccrvG'TrXccy^voy^ 
 
 733* AiTraTa, 
 
 734. 
 
 744. ul^ 
 
 759 * < 3 "^^® 
 
 770* 0 AuTT&jy IfA^ 
 
 773 * ^XOCKTI^ 
 
 13 >? 
 
 T £pt£ 
 
 780, IxAucroyroo 
 
 792. xso’S'iiyiis-, 
 
 794. £XTfip4£ya{, 
 
 806, rjiAnpyoy, 
 
 810 . opswy^ 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 32 ^ 
 
 810. opiuu, 
 
 81 1 , iVTTOrO^, 
 
 821. aiOa|U,£S'a. 
 
 828. fxo\ii(rcrcc, 
 
 834. £Vf(rS'at TWJ/ J'f, 
 
 856. XsXoifxfXivoi, 
 
 864. ri'/xfpo 5 -. 
 
 866. y]>u}[x^v , . 
 
 882. X'joryjg, 
 
 894. (Tio?, <2^^. 
 
 896. Iv ycic.[ji.£rx» 
 
 898, ^XTTOCVU^gVOCV. 
 
 899. TTQj/uvy abeji, 
 
 902. r^otr^gpy.oi, 
 
 910. ttot’, 
 
 918. ft? ttJooixoct, 
 
 927. raura. 
 
 933* ^Ayto^. 
 
 937. /AfAAet. 
 
 941. ^oi]/uis. 
 
 943. UTrfpTrtxpwr. 
 
 944. 3-fa? £1/ ??ja£^oi?. 
 
 950. zr^oQocXipg, 
 
 951. roi. 
 
 The seven 
 
 2 . TToXli, 
 
 3 . VO/AWJ^ 
 
 Oi 
 
 5. Tu;)^r. 
 
 964. Karwpacrcft?. 
 
 968. (pnvpci* 
 
 973. TOt'. 
 
 975* IxJ'txw?, 
 
 989. zr^ofp£\p£roii^ 
 
 994, ydfj<>\p£i, 
 
 *y ^ 
 
 £0 7r£Jtt 
 
 997" “ 
 
 999. xaAw? (p^ovliv* 
 1000. TToc^ocyopuv, 
 
 1002, Aji3ui/a?. 
 
 1013- 2ai/ xat Tor?« 
 1020. 
 
 1040. TTOC^oilT^&iV, 
 
 1044. P^OTYi, 
 
 1046. dvrocTcri, 
 
 1057* 7^ 7 rv/^o<rvuocig* 
 1068. frti'. 
 
 1073. ^£U. 
 
 1076. a>£. 
 
 1083. «J? aTTfi^ot, 
 
 1084. iXta-CTHcn, 
 
 1088, ptTTli >!. > 
 
 1091. EAtVorwv. 
 
 AT THEBES. 
 
 6. TToXiV, 
 
 12, |SAart/*ov . . ttoAu. 
 
 14 . TToAtv t’ dygipeiVm 
 16, T£HVOt(rt. 
 
 z 
 
 28. Xgypit 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 330 
 
 28. Xiy^v, 
 
 45. apjiJr' T*t 
 
 46 . TroXn;, 
 
 47. 
 
 48 . (pV^<X<T(T£lV, 
 
 50. 
 
 55 * 
 
 ^ 6 . TTVXoCig. 
 
 58. l^O^Oiq, 
 
 64. 
 
 65* rov^s, 
 
 66 . '^[jCi^oa-Korov, 
 
 67. G-oc(pnvsloi, 
 
 75. 
 
 78. ^psviJLoci, 
 
 82. (rcc(p^(; 
 
 83. IXci^oiixvocgy 
 
 86. tw, tco^ iCO 3 '£ 0 {j I( 
 
 87* opooixsvov, 
 
 91. XsvcrsTOii, 
 
 93. S’SCClUOit/* 
 
 97. PpiTSCiiV ()'; 
 
 99 . ol)iHr\ 
 
 OiV ’ 
 
 10J» ry^v r£» 
 
 109. TToXiv, 
 
 lllj TToXtau^ou 
 
 1 12. »”/«. 
 
 1 13. 
 
 I 15. (JaAotruva?, 
 
 119. oppixi^iyovt> 
 
 123. dpxt'jov* 
 
 125 . 
 
 (poQou, 
 
 127 . 
 
 luJ'o^aK, 
 
 164 . 
 
 aVoAoi/. 
 
 169 . 
 
 fAd^£(Tl. 
 
 176 . 
 
 lTS^O(ppOOVy, 
 
 J 90 . 
 
 B'pocoDg, 
 
 I 9 I. 
 
 ■TTOXiG-E^COV, 
 
 194 . 
 
 (pvXcA) yiv£i. 
 
 208 . 
 
 ax. 
 
 210 . 
 
 OtIo^OU) OT^O^i 
 
 21 I. 
 
 £X.XOC^OCV. 
 
 214 . 
 
 ? » 
 fi?. 
 
 ' '/I 
 
 215 . 
 
 'zirj3U|UV&3'fi/, 
 
 219 . 
 
 vi<poiJ.i]/(x,g» 
 
 222 . 
 
 TTOXi^XlOV, 
 
 227 , 
 
 
 234 . 
 
 xax. 
 
 237 - 
 
 
 239- 
 
 
 243- 
 
 oiXX' *w. 
 
 472 
 
 TrfyAOV^ 
 
 
 U) 
 
 to 
 
 00 
 
 r£r^a.ixfJt,ivH<;. 
 
 252 . 
 
 axao-’ ^yyv. 
 
 256 . 
 
 TToXlV, 
 
 260 . 
 
 s 
 
 ^8Xolg lp/(.L 
 
 263 . 
 
 
 - ^73- 
 
 Ivfxdrcov, 
 
 284 . 
 
 ^opiirXvi’^'^ <, 
 
 285 . 
 
 iTTEV^GpCCCt^ 
 
 286 , 
 
 KotA dy^loiqo . 
 
 i 
 
MANUSCRIPT OP ESCHYLUS. 
 
 UTTfpJ'cJ'oiJta, 
 
 312. ( 2 iz 9 v^ 9 ouac, 
 
 335 * 
 
 337. oAupcpsya?-, 
 
 338. Tol, 
 
 Tracp^a 
 
 345. zr^tza-a-et, 
 
 358. 13 avx‘^i, 
 
 360. ^UVO/XO!/. 
 
 361. AfAnpA/xivoi. 
 
 389, (TXi&iV, 
 
 393* C 7 rs(p^ou, 
 
 (0 
 
 396. or^o^. 
 
 eov 
 
 400. opfj^oiivoov ^iyet, 
 408, r? ^yoioi, 
 
 412. wcJ'\ 
 
 421. o^(x,{pioov, 
 
 433- 
 
 446. 7 roc,^oc<nii\joi(T[Aivog, 
 0 
 
 473- TTTjpyooy lp^ 7 rip<ro(>i, 
 
 475* SH^aAji. 
 
 479 . J'11 tts/uttIou, 
 
 484. Juo , . >tat TO. 
 486. pf^n^iy, 
 
 487* TOiJ'f. 
 
 490* pf'CiCiyo[MO(>!yYi» 
 
 494. lirTTOi/^iSoyroi:, 
 501. irKi'dry^iiOCi, 
 
 dXyiYiy 
 
 504. apx^'j/. 
 
 507* zrpoorx^ 
 
 512. 
 
 514. suAoyo^. 
 
 522. TOJ/. 
 
 529. y£ pf,Xi^ 
 
 533* (^opBxk. 
 
 541* (^vri\ii<TX, 
 
 562. loC(TEi, 
 
 ^ 6 j XXpT-n<T^H» 
 
 XTT'W 
 
 574* (Tcotp^oyefB^ov, 
 
 591* Z-XT^Og, 
 
 £ 94 . TTOkSfAlXm 
 
 608. ttXbTov, 
 
 610. 3'fO'7n;r<y, 
 
 617. zrpotpyig. 
 
 618. | 3 /oi (ppeyx'y, 
 
 X 
 
 619. TToXiy,, 
 
 634. (sr^of, 
 
 636, Jipxyoi, 
 
 637* i^^ofxoy, 
 
 639. y’, 
 
 649. ■srpo(rjit£;«?ij^i)iV£U|«£Kiv, 
 
 650. TEiijj^irw. 
 
 655. r^ 7 n(rn[x, 
 
 yn^xg 
 
 688 . TTE^Xg, 
 
 693. aV??. 
 
 704. jM,i5 iiror^yys. 
 
^32 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 707. 863. r^v. 
 
 712. TTCCpSrmSV* 865. T>JI/. 
 
 l^S* 868 . OCVTiyoVI^Vm 
 
 oli^UTig. 869. aisXcpm, 
 
 between verfe 727 and 888. 
 
 728 we read 
 
 a y^p vvKTCop inKpiTisXsvtrscTO 
 xoci ygyo]/i, 
 
 732-. TTOCl^O^sXSTUp, 
 
 733. KXT^poig. 
 
 734* 
 
 732* o'^ocrnif, 
 
 747. (rvpf.yAy£ 7 ;, 
 
 757* 
 
 a 
 
 775 '®’po'srpU|Uvoi'. 
 
 Xpr<(r<rOT£>Cl/WV 
 790* xpe^fTfrco rv.ivwy^ 
 
 794. (fcpoci. 
 
 803. fipysi. 
 
 806. luJ'optac. ,lu§o^ocyiTOL<;, 
 816. j 3 acps(X jut-lu aAA*. 
 
 818. Koiyug, 
 
 829. TToXta-^^^ov, 
 
 840. jwa. 
 
 842. W?, 
 
 845* ^vtrcpopHg fxopag, 
 
 847. 'srpoS'si^. 
 
 849. TToXty, 
 
 0 
 
 860. yocov, 
 
 861. xparsT^ 
 
 889. (Ti^ipOO, 
 
 892. xoiT£vyp/t.siroc^ ahefi, 
 
 909* . 
 
 917* G-i^yi^oTrXnUTOty £f? 
 
 M- 
 
 921, £iV 
 
 924. ^oiicppcoy eJ'’ 
 
 925. ^a.xpv^£cc i*, 
 
 928. 
 
 930. TToXnocic, 
 
 931 . rlf. 
 
 933* >;• 
 
 935* 
 
 952. ^ccrriTTig. 
 
 962. wocvrpoCp'jp^ 
 
 969. iy.TQ(.V£q, 
 
 978. t’. 
 
 985. jSecpua-^oTSi^Xa^ 
 
 987* ly^(pvyc>cg, 
 
 990. xal Toi^ J'*. 
 
 991 . ‘n-dd'ov, 
 
 992 . ^vg-ovo xoiC 
 
 00 1 . TCOtJ"’, 
 
 # 
 
 1005. tw, 
 
 1006. TTVif^ex. 7 oov £yo^^, nihil 
 
 deinde^ 
 
 IOI7- T'uywv, 
 
MANUSGRIPt OF ESCHYLUSj 5J3 
 
 1025; 1070. TTii/^iripcov, 
 
 IO45. ■ 9 ‘/^£oy yap ’aUTWv; frofAnifxoi, 
 
 to^J. akTt]u-£iCa; 10S4. ccvar^ccrrinv^ii 
 
 1 067* /unVoTfi 
 
 L ESP ERSE 
 
 
 126, T£> aheft> 
 
 6* ^xpeioy£]/i^ ^xptis Jios’. 
 
 I 47‘4 pfu^ct. 
 
 
 148. ^o^mpdvjf. 
 
 8. vorn. ' ' ' 
 
 159- p^oycriOfoASjKfi 
 
 10. OpUTTOXsTrSCl. 
 
 160. Aa^i/a'x’a^oJ/, 
 
 22. dfXTi^g, 
 
 16 li 
 
 32. iTTTrcOV. 
 
 163* xopiVa?. ,ocvaT^s^^. 
 
 37 * (loyvyiiic. 
 
 193* iyioct'cr'vi il’X}* 
 
 38. oip£iO^O(,pSGC» '. 
 
 •'■ ■■ fi) 
 
 40. ava^iGuci/i 
 
 203. jSco^o/. 
 
 43. ^»)T^oya^yjf. 
 
 216. B‘p»(rvy£iv, 
 
 0 
 
 223. yat-, ' ‘ 
 
 44. a^TBvg, 
 
 ^ 39 ' PC^f 0? ^uVerf, 
 
 67. 
 
 ^S 3 * dyfifXni/, 
 
 79 ' 
 
 263* (^re^dySr}, 
 
 82. ^oiyiit ^ipixoi; 
 
 268. erjorloimL 
 
 84. da-vjpiov. 
 
 274* orjo'^oim 
 
 86. a/JT). 
 
 275* OUfXOiTOV^ 
 
 91. dzs-^cconsg. 
 
 278. aVc^Aom* 
 
 92. Aaoc. . • 
 
 280* iV^£, 
 
 96. akAwr/rtev. 
 
 3^* ^<»^ao*<rc 7 fAarxtfli 0$ 
 
 IIO« Aabpw. 
 
 >?ro? 
 
 1 20. KKTC^tUlf, . 
 
 312* ^f| 9 £«rff*£uri?. 
 
 1 21, £(r£Ta». 
 
 3 ^ 3 ' 
 
 V01.. J. 2 A 314. 
 
334 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 JI4. /xETaXXo?. 
 
 ' 'a? 
 
 .315. 
 
 316. TTV^GCV, 
 
 320^. cciJ,(pir^ivg, 
 
 321, cdifthtrci, 
 
 326. crvviorig T£ Tsrpuro^ »\jro^ 
 sig iuil>v^i'izy. 
 
 328. aTToAfTO.-, , 
 
 329. TOJWI/ ^^iZp^OPTUi', 
 
 334* 'f^o^ov . . 
 
 337. (3«/»Capwv. . . i 
 
 341. Hs/jgi)?. ■• 
 
 346. la-o^oTTta 
 
 350. (TDjtxSoA?. 
 
 351* E'XA^ivf? -ur^on^op* 
 JS 2 . ytccTCcxixv^ii (ra?. 
 
 359. iTTOCP^O^OPtBi, 
 
 363. 7 r^ 0 (r(p(t}pli, 
 
 364. T;jx 6 yx,invar.x^^p^^ 
 372. U7r£pS'u/xa. ' 
 
 376. «>’. 
 
 379. l-au. 
 
 388. ‘srpcoTa, 
 
 390. TTST^n?. 
 
 394. Ik. 
 
 398. i[jt.(pocpi 7 g ^ creep, . 
 413. rfi/£«v. . ' 
 
 421. IttA'/J'S'UVOI'. 
 
 430. 
 
 444. J'uo-HAiraTCjj. 
 
 ^ ' •S' ' 
 
 445* ® 
 
 451. 
 
 452 , }ir£ipeiip, 
 
 455- 
 
 459. T^aTTOi/Tau 
 469. irt^a Tf* 
 
 . 474 « ^TT'npV.lCTiV, 
 
 j. 
 
 478. VnWi'. 
 
 479* 
 
 494. TrafxaKV. 
 
 501. xpvfoeX^Trnyx* 
 
 516. si/rAAx. 
 
 517. 6i lyJ, ' • 
 
 540. TiTxa(^^ 
 
 55“2. ttXptx, 
 
 560, >>]£$■. 
 
 563. lxpop(ap, 
 
 565 . XPXKTXt 
 576. UU^VP, 
 
 589. J'fCTTrOO-UI/tJOil^, 
 
 602. IttIaS’o;. 
 
 606. apres ce vers le vers^ 
 609 eft mal place, 
 on y lit : ' xvrj 
 
 r^o^vi^ccriop, 
 
 619. luu^ng KxpTTog, ttcc^ou 
 623. yxTOTrag, 
 
 625. ■nr/>£V|3uf, />; van 
 
 629. yxTup, 
 
 632. 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS, ' 335 
 
 ^ 34 * 
 
 640. 7 rxvrxXo(,vocvcl^n' 
 
 644. fxsyxXxp^v* 
 
 645. liVT\ . 
 
 646. IlEpa-iou , . . •S’fwv. 
 
 X 
 
 665. Tri^viTxcov, 
 
 671. X'xXxiq nq, 
 
 679* x^xprx, 
 
 680, ya rxh, 
 
 689. pod-ix^cuTtq, 
 
 698. -urpl^abeft, 
 
 707. Ce vers eft place 
 apres le 708. 
 710. | 3 /o? 
 
 712. fAgUCTiC'. 
 
 715* Acyw. 
 
 716. fiVo? ftVTiv, 
 
 Qi 
 
 717. 
 
 73 y-x.ri<pxpTX\» 
 
 736- 
 
 737 * TiAtvra. 
 
 738. fV. 
 
 741. Ttr^x^iq TTxt^ , 
 
 743. UT£Tv<rxq, 
 
 753. Trokor. 
 
 761. T11V yap. 
 
 763. friiTZv. 
 
 765. Xt 7 i$oq. 
 
 768. tpycv. 
 
 77 ^* 
 
 784. J/£OJ 
 
 787. EX'’/*'*'' 
 
 788. (pxvi^iy, 
 
 796. Aotjtxw ... .UTiJpTrwAir?.. 
 -797* t£ AfJtT^ev. 
 
 798. £1/, aheji, 
 
 820. vsupcov 
 836. vTTxyrix^iTXi^ 
 
 848. juaAtraf*. 
 
 850. X7r£(Jt.7si^£l, 
 
 ^852. TTXih, . 
 
 <r 
 
 861. aTTO^an/opAiO*. 
 
 866. 'TToXnq, . ,1 
 
 868. xvKoq TTOTXfA 
 ^889. XVT^oq, . 
 
 891, Taf pA£<raxT»?. 
 
 893. 
 
 896. raf. 
 
 909. ^(xn^tyreq. 
 
 910. 7rA»y«r<ri. 
 
 914. £l^£< 9 'f]. 
 
 / 
 
 yyiw^ 
 
 916. |U£A£W}/. 
 
 921. otIotoi 0 xa‘£Xevq, 
 929. ^uVi?. X 
 934. yoku. 
 
 951. Tiyaheft. 
 
 952. TTiyTV^oq, 
 
 954, IcMyiriVt 5 
 
33 * 
 
 MANUSCRIPT 67 ESCHYLUS. 
 
 lr£^a}(.X7)g, 
 
 1016. itxvcayccy ^xtkv, 
 
 562. (pxpcc^axv^f 
 
 1025. TaveTf. 
 
 964. J'o/AiXTfiEf, 
 
 0 
 
 965. x»^ 
 
 1027* ^vcrxvpcov. 
 
 970* •S’avavTa?^ 
 
 I 035 » 
 
 973 ^ (Tf^ayXtjf. 
 
 5036. TrxTTxTy ter. 
 
 974* ^'7rccT(ap. 
 
 1037. ttAsoj/. 
 
 975* MainV^.fifc?. 
 
 1040. (T^ivOTy** 
 
 97 9. 
 
 1048, a'l^orjcroT. 
 
 983* OCTTpClpKO-l, 
 
 1049- 7“^/^ 
 
 984. Twy, 
 
 1050. ay<i;. 
 
 987* (Sarayo^a. 
 
 1051. ipixr^ ip£(r£^ 
 
 990. t’ gXlTTEf. 
 
 1056, orlorloror. 
 
 991. W W, 
 
 1058. 7rXxy6<;. 
 
 998. T£, 
 
 1060, hiXyter^ 
 
 999. fj!.ccp$jQv.var, 
 
 fAX^oioV. 1061. VTTSpd'i. 
 
 1003, 
 
 1066. avia. 
 
 1006. iTToy.£yoq, 
 
 1 075* 
 
 • 
 
 CO 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 1078. ItayJemeL 
 
 
 1081, <r«. 
 
 ACCQUNT 
 
( 337 ) 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Manufcript of Efchylus, 
 
 In the KING’S LIBRARY. 
 
 No. 2790. 
 
 By M. Vauvilliers, 
 
 HIS manufcipt in 4to. on paper^ the writing of 
 
 the 1 6th century, contains the Prometheus of 
 Efchylus, the Ajax of Sophocles, a treatife on dia- 
 led, a letter of the Pythagorean Lyfis, and a trea- 
 tife on anomalous, or irregular verbs, which ends 
 the volume. 
 
 As to the pretended treatife on irregular verbs, it 
 takes up twenty pages, of which fome contain only 
 two or three verbs, others fix or feven, a fingle one 
 fourteen: thus for the number as well as for the 
 choice of words we find in it, this treatife is not very 
 eftimablc. 
 
 The letter of Lyfis to Hipparcus, or Hippafus, 
 is printed, and there is not any di£Ference between 
 that and the manufcript^ but fome faults of the co- 
 pyift. I fay 
 
j 38 MANUSCiilPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 I fay the fame as to the treatife of the dialers. 
 The name of the author does not appear at the head 
 of the work, hut by the reading of it we fhall foon 
 recollefl the work> known by the name of Corinthus, 
 which Aldus printed in his colledlion, intituled, "The 
 Horn of Amaltheay v^hich is to be found in Latin, in 
 the 4th volume of the Greek Treafure of Henry 
 Etienne, and in feyeral qther works in Qreek or 
 Latin. 
 
 W hatever be the name of the aiithor, whom Fa-, 
 bricius believes to he a grammarian of Corinth, 
 named Gregory^ or George, furnamed Fardus, he is like 
 many other grammarians, well acquainted with v/ords, 
 and names of real or imaginary figures. As to the 
 true principles of the language, we need only to read 
 his v/ork, to be convinced how far it is from them, 
 and that to follow his notions, is to renounce the 
 hopes of learning it. This treatife, in itfelf then, is 
 of no great value, and the manufcript which differs 
 from the text, only in its faults, is lefs fo. 
 
 I fhall confine myfelf then to the Prometheus of 
 Efchyius, becaufe I keep the Ajax of Sophocles 
 for the articles, which I intend to dedicate to the 
 manufcripts of this poet. 
 
 We have already hinted, that there are a great 
 many of the errors of the copyifts in this manu- 
 fcript i but the variations are in a very fmall number 
 indeed, but generally better than the writing of the 
 manufcript, they evince a collation made with fe- 
 veral anterior m.anufcripts 5 which gives *a new de- 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 339 
 
 grcc of authority to the good readings we meet 
 with. 
 
 One of this kind is at verfe 87, reading 
 inftead of which we have given an account of 
 
 in the preceding article. 
 
 At verfe 105, confirms the teftimony of 
 
 Hefychius, againll: the authority of feveral learned 
 moderns, who attempted to erafe this word, together 
 with the verb and the primitive fubftantive from the 
 number of words of the Greek language. My note 
 upon this fubjed, on verfe 442 of the Trachiniennse 
 of Sophocles, may be feen ; not that I perfift in the 
 conjedure I have ventured; I have altered fome 
 time ago my opinion on the necelTity of corredling 
 that verfe. As I do not blufh to confefs my mif- 
 takes, when I percerve them, I fhall return to this 
 objedf, and to feveral others, under the articles of So- 
 phocles, in proportion as the manufcripts fhall give 
 me an opportunity. Mean while, I continue to with- 
 hold my belief, that d^vi^y]rnv in Heiy- 
 
 chius, in Panyafis, are as many barbarifms, 
 
 and I confefs, that this profcription appears to me 
 very fevere, in comparing it with the credit the 
 
 olivet enjoy, of which feveral at lead: might be 
 juftly fufpefled. 
 
 At verfe 108, ivs^ivy[j.on is perhaps not inferior to 
 our writing CTrsC^svyi/^oit. 
 
 At verfe 213, V 7 r£^i^cv 70 ^g is preferable to our 
 adopted writing WTrspi^oyreeg. Not that VTn^s^ouraeg 
 offends thofe, who, by rejeding the anapefls of the 
 fourth feet of an iambic verfe, will after incontro- 
 vertible examples believe, that a diort fyliable may 
 
 remaui 
 
MANUSCRIPT OI^ESCHYLUS. 
 
 remain fhort before ^ doubld confonant; but the 
 future is by no means neceffaiy. For if we read this^ 
 verlei either with the elegant cbrredtiort of Mr^ 
 Dawes> or if we expound it as I have done on the 
 165th verfe of the Traehienns of Sophocles. 
 
 it Tsj VTTS^i^ovrccg k^octeTv* 
 
 quod non viy non rchore oporterety Jed dolo iji 5 iores vin- 
 cercy is a way of fpeaking very regular. 
 
 This foie phrafe of the fifth book of Herodotus, 
 chcip^ 965 among others, A\Brtvos 7 dit Trg/xTTHo-tv ig 
 fi&yhxar mijere Ath'enienjes legatos Sardesy qui 
 
 vetarent^ proves, that the future is not neceflary iit 
 thefe circumftanGes* 
 
 At verfe 355, (potov^ fihllans tetroreniy fpeak- 
 
 ing of T yphon, in his fight againft the Gods, is more 
 exad then Goi^ov, becaufe the whiffling of a ferpent 
 caufes a dread, but does not bring death with it. 
 
 In verfe 3 ^ 9 > 7rcc]j>tpa,rs7g }s onc of 
 
 the good variations, the merit of which I have fhewn 
 in the preceding account, as well as -oTrofEvdi^Ei, at verfe 
 430, (^ipv at verle 448, wV* ciTrox/.aOcrai at verfe 639^ 
 
 / h TcxJ^ \\mxyj\ at VCrfc 1057* 
 
 But we muff obferve here, at verfe 41 tj fTroixoi ; 
 my edition has it oVoo-oi tVoixoi/ ^yv'^g AV/ix? v£{J.0VTa.i* 
 As I know of no inftance where this word is em- 
 ployed in the paflive fenfc, 1 have no doubt but the 
 reading of the manufcript gives a neceffary corre6lion, 
 quicumque advenes Jacrce Afice fedem incolunt. 
 
 We ought to dwTll with fome attention on the de- 
 ' ference of the punduation which we obferve at verfe 
 536, and following. My edition has it . 
 
 W 
 
34> 
 
 MANUSCRIPTS OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 Ti^'j Ti S’aptrscXfopK 
 T&v ju-fltxpov Ti'ivfn/ IX'rriO'i^ 
 
 (panstT^ ^\Jlxoy ccX<^xivs<roc]/ iv 
 
 Duke eft jidenti Jpe vitam longam producere^ manifeftis 
 voluptatibus animum oble^antem. T he manufcript dif- 
 places the commas j wc read 
 
 r* ^cfe/JcraXjaif 
 
 TOi/ jfACtxjaov ruvinf (^kv, IXTrrj* 
 
 ^avaK, -S’u.uov oix^xlvis^tKv ly iu^^eo'uvaK* 
 jD«/c^ ^ Jecurlsy inter Jpes manifeftasy longam vitam 
 producere animum ohleBantem in voluptatibus. 
 
 Both lenfes are .good ; the latter might perhaps .be 
 preferable, if the t:oJiftru6tion of it was not a little 
 embarrafled. 
 
 At verfe 866, c&aa’ (tTra/a,bA’jvS’>icrfr^ti yvo!)iJ.nv, 
 
 Laftly, verie 957 is written in this manner. 
 
 rolrov riv§i rov v'jv Y,oiC(x,viivr* 
 
 T&v^£ is an evident fault ; but if we read^ 
 
 $\ Tov Y,oiCB(,y'dyr iTrlipofxpcty 
 
 WC fliall have a very cxa6l verie, inftead of a moft de- 
 fective one, which our editions prefent under this 
 form : 
 
 TftTGV roy yuy r'j^ayykyr* iTroipofxai, 
 
 Which gives a trochee to the third, and a fpon^ 
 dee to the 4th. foot of an lambic verfe. 
 
 B b 
 
 You L 
 
 INDEX 
 
34- 
 
 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 INDEX of other Variations of PrometheuSy of which 
 fever al are very goody and are rejected here only he-- 
 cauje they have been fpoken of in the preceding Account y 
 or in thoje that will follow this in the printingy though 
 they had been frft attentively read in the Committee^ 
 It is to be objervedy that neither the i fubfcriptuniy nor 
 the V paragogicuniy at the End of Verbs or Nouns y are 
 not found in this Manufcript. 
 
 6 , d^{x,fj!.(zvrtvoiO TTi^ocKny 
 h dppri)iTOig Trir^ocig, 
 8, WTracTS, 
 
 20 . T3-^o7r(X(rcrcx,X£V(r(a, 
 
 30. TTE^CCV, 
 
 34. yccpy abeft* 
 
 38. 'arpaJ'coHf. 
 
 42 . olA roi VYiXri^i 
 
 48. oo(pBXs. 
 
 49. BeoTg, 
 
 55* 
 
 58. pf.n$(x,p^7}, 
 
 64. 
 
 67. UTTSp. 
 
 74. y.piKCccrov» 
 
 80. [A iTri'n-XyidcrB* 
 
 87* f.xJiuAiO’S’rjcnic. 
 
 92. ^sogy abeft, 
 
 95. OigOAsoVw. 
 
 103. Wy abeft. 
 
 122. 
 
 U<T\yfo(T\, 
 
 126. 
 
 pUTTxTg, 
 
 133* 
 
 
 134- 
 
 rviV, 
 
 146. 
 
 ilei^Evcri, 
 
 147. 
 
 
 148. 
 
 rx7g d^xiJ.xvro^eTOig, 
 
 150. 
 
 vioyjf.oug J'g H* 
 
 156. 
 
 iTTiysy^S’Bi, 
 
 158. 
 
 ITrl^CCpfAX,, 
 
 164. 
 
 
 166. 
 
 dp'Xoiy TIC, 
 
 174. 
 
 
 191. 
 
 apt6|U,oi/. 
 
 202. 
 
 dvdcrtTYi, 
 
 203. 
 
 'Cephas, 
 
 204. 
 
 TTBl^iTv, 
 
 207. 
 
 y.pXTS^o7g, 
 
 21 1. 
 
 'ar^ou«9'£<r7r/x£(. 
 
 213, 
 
 abejt. 
 
343 
 
 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 216. xpartrok 
 2 1 jU,£Aau^a 3 ’)i$’. 
 
 221. 
 
 229, oxiuoari, 
 
 -33* ^UT£U(r«t. 
 
 235* roX^YiV, 
 
 237 . TTniXOVYKTl, 
 
 238. olxT^x7a-i,' 
 
 241. wJ'’ sppvB'fjt.iary.xi 
 243.' (TUuao-p^aAa. 
 
 246. (piXqtfyiU iXsetuo^f 
 248. ■sr^oa-^ipxEtrd'xi. 
 
 253* (p^oyuf7rcy\i^GVG-iv% 
 
 268. Ti, ahefi, 
 
 269. ycxri(r^vx]^B7(T3’xiy ib, 
 
 7rs^xp(rixig, 
 
 271. ot^vpBcrd'!. 
 
 275* T«UTa. 
 
 281. 0XpV£(r(7Y}, 
 
 292. Et (TOl. 
 
 "^93* £T^^TU/A^ 
 
 294. croj', m/V/i? 1/. 
 
 301. aUTOJCTIf’. 
 
 304. TcJ'f. 
 
 314, TTXpOVrUV, 
 
 330. OUl/£. 
 
 333. SUTrEi^r?. 
 
 341. TT^ofAri^lx^y ib, xvro^, 
 
 345. yap « . EiVEK* a, 
 
 346. TrXeifovg Trnf^oyviu 
 
 34^. i?. - 
 
 350. d’ptoiav . • app^Sof* 
 
 35 ^^’POCTTTXI, 
 
 363* TTX^CCOiipOU, 
 
 369. yvixg. 
 
 379. fAXXQx<TYl, 
 
 384. t^cTe vgC'jt, 
 
 388. |3aAo<. 
 
 404. -S’EOr? TOK TTX^Oi, 
 
 405* h^eiii.vvH xyjKYWt 
 
 409. r£va«ra. 
 
 410. ^ uvu^at^aov. 
 
 41 1. ayi/?jc. 
 
 416. ixdyxi;. 
 
 419. iyaa-iVy obejl, 
 
 420. ccp^xQixg . av3'of. 
 
 422. xau>cacr/a, 
 
 424. O^VWpUOKfl , . £1/, 
 
 425. uXXuv, 
 
 43 S- . 
 
 437. Tr^Oa-YiX^lABVQV, '- 
 
 439- 
 
 493. BTriCoXag, 
 
 450. i7(ra;/. ' 
 
 451. Evvaiov. 
 
 456r dvxroXxg, 
 
 472. TrAai/Tj* 
 
 475* 
 
 489. EUW^Uptif?, 
 
 490. aAATiAa?, 
 
 499, raUra. 
 
 517. i}c(pvyYi» : 
 
 520 
 
 B b 2 
 
344 MANUSCRIPT OF RSCHVLU^/ 
 
 ,520. ^ vvt 7 r £^£ t ^. • ,733. abeft , 
 
 525. • 738. 7 rvxp 8 , • 
 
 534 ‘ • 740 ‘ £ 7 r&)»' 5 V. 
 
 55^* cxiiu* ors r\ 74 ' 2 ' <' cel, 
 
 5 ^ 4 * fi/ ^^r^ivotcTii/ 745 * <^^<7^* xeAfiijyeJ/. 
 
 0/>fci0i?. 
 
 566* TTOil'af, 
 
 57 TTOr, TTOTToT ^ TTcT , 
 
 587. TToAu-TrAai/ot, 
 
 590. ( p^iyfAOLroc TX <; h , 
 607. T»' ^0*, 
 
 612* ^iXoVt 
 
 616, i ^ oijvar , dpixoT , 
 
 638. d ' nroSv ^ SiS '& t , 
 
 747.. 
 
 749* ccTTYiixi ^ yyiv ,- 
 757 * ^^ o ( y.nv ay , 
 
 762, PXaCn oroi , 
 
 777 . (Juori/, 
 
 781 . Jjuoi, 
 
 782% dy ^ ijyaffii ^ 
 
 783 * Autt^v. TrXawiJ/, 
 
 792, 
 
 643. o ^ v ^ o^aiy Var ^ Ohlir ^ v - 79^* ^ pscxovTOfAaXoi ^ 
 
 i/ofAai^ 
 
 646. 7 roXJfji.tvai^ 
 
 648. XJip?), 
 
 662* ayfsAAovT#?# 
 
 668* Try^aTTOj/* 
 
 686* A&yoif, 
 
 689, iv^ay^ 
 
 691, xcsl ^Hfji.ar* 
 
 701, Tov ^^9*. 
 
 706 , £I;3’£V^£. .•* <jej^«T 0 A|if, 
 
 707 . ymaq, 
 
 708 * (THU^TI?* 
 
 714 ^ (^£j • 
 
 799 ' 
 
 8oOt Toisroi/*? 
 
 80 2* Q^urc^o/Aot'f. 
 803. ^ oyZira , 
 
 812, r^iyooya If *, 
 
 818. fj ^ eyroi , 
 
 821. afT«/A£.^«, 
 
 834. etrsa - d'ai • roU 
 
 Vfifa £TI^ 
 
 837? ‘ 7 raAfjU 7 rAot>CT&i(rt» 
 839? KfJcA^VfTai, 
 
 860. ^ dpisrn . 
 
 8^3? Toia^l* 
 
 718 , xavxa(noy, f op^Uj^ ^heji^ 866 . yydfxaiu ( 3 iiXiiB 4 ^£r^f^ 
 
 723* <?s* 880. 
 
 730 , lAaXuTiKQVf 884 . Trviv^O(,ri ^difyipyaheft, 
 
 %qy 
 
'MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS 
 
 37 
 
 5 93 ' / a ’, aheft, 
 
 S96. , iv yoc^irott 
 
 8^8. ^XTrxvoiJ.ivr,)/m 
 899. dXXTiiXt^ 
 
 902. . TT^Oa-^i^KH 
 
 903. f»V i^ro^x, 
 
 ^ 16 . TTV^iTTPaU, 
 
 917. xpKi(rY\, var, i7rxpKi<rn 
 929* ixpiTrlst^, 
 
 933 * 
 
 936, ^WTT&Vffc 
 946, (r’aTivaj* 
 
 952 . (Tif/^yo^og, 
 
 958. xio-yj^x^i* 
 
 962, IfOpiX^. 
 
 964, xxd'up}s<rxi0 
 968. ^yxt, 
 
 970, 'tr^xyiMXTt, 
 
 973- gTTAtTtaf. 
 
 974 * tx^oxirjO0 
 .982. 8x at, in fine V0 
 983. fpfry yap* 
 
 984* rmifA £1/0 
 
 987. t/ fxay var 0 l/x 5 Tiirlv-* 
 (rf(r 3 ’a<, 
 
 988. aJ'eV, 
 
 (TT 
 
 994. yyxxpii . , <ppoi^uy^ 
 
 998. [XXVTXiS, 
 
 1 004. yuyatxo/Ai'jcoif * • 
 
 1005. p*£ TWV. 
 
 1007. [^oe,K^x(rvi, - 
 
 1 01 1, xC^X^SiX 7OO0 
 ^012. 
 
 1020 . fiV* 
 
 1021. 
 
 1028. t’, 
 
 1031, ipiv^yopiTy, 
 
 JO48. (Tu/^WCTfilV fjU£, ' 
 
 1050. a<?»]v. 
 
 u 
 
 1063.. 'jraVrj^, 
 
 I07S. aVa?. 
 
 X080. <raAiufT«** ^ 
 
 1082. , . ^jalefi. 
 
 1 0^:4. £AiV<rif<ri • , , ^£, 
 
 1091, IAjWwJ', 
 

 
 AN ■ - 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Manufcript of EfcKylus, 
 
 Number 2782^ in tbe King’? Library, 
 
 By M. Vauvilliers. 
 
 T his manuliript, in quarto^ of the i6th century, 
 contains the Olympus of Pindar, of which 
 we lhall fpeak elfewhere, a treatife of Greek fyntax, 
 a treatife of the fabulous deities, fo pnonfliroufly 
 disfigured by the faults of the copyift, that we can- 
 not read it; .a tranflation of fome pfalms in Greek 
 verfe, tke, Prometheus of Efchylus, and the Seven 
 chiefs at Thebes. 
 
 Thefe tVv'O pieces have not been better treated by 
 the copyift. 1 may aver, that he not only mifunder- 
 ftood the language, but he did not even know how 
 to read it. There is fcarce a verfe without barba- 
 rifms, and words maimed, either at the beginning, 
 middle, or end. He almoft always doubles ’ the 
 confonahts, where he fhould not, and fcarcely ever 
 
 does 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 347 
 
 does fo, when it is neceffary ; he puts i"s for u's, 
 us for Tj's, £*s for a’s, &c. In a word, the faults are 
 as numerous as they are grofs. Yet we meet in the 
 Prometheus with fome good variations, as we have 
 remarked in the preceding number, and which we 
 have here clalTed in the index. 
 
 We muft only remark at verfe 42, ^ 
 
 ah/ Ti <ru jcal S'pcccTBg TrAewf. 
 
 At verfe 602, on iTraj^jOtEi/ft, TTochTv T I fjt,£ in- 
 ftead of /u-r, as our editions have it. She wifhes to 
 know what Ihe muft fuffer ; and not what Ihe ought, 
 to dread. ' . 
 
 Verfe 638, fcems to me very fuccefsfully re- 
 eilablifhed by the reading in the manufcript. 
 
 ug xa-jroxXaxKrat, xaTroJ'u^ao’S'at rup^a^. 
 
 At verfe 677, y^ef^j^si'acg psog, is the true name of the 
 port of Corinth, called Cenchrea. 
 
 At verfe 866, aTrajW.oAuvS’JicrfTai is the ufuai 
 
 form. Homer fays, dxvyi^^vog> x?p. 
 
 In the Seven at Thebei, which is ftill more ill- 
 treated, if poflible, than the Prometheus, we find at 
 verfe 284, dyvoTg vo[/.oig. Though dyi/oTg J'0^0;?, which 
 is found in our editions, forms a rational fenfc, 
 yet the dwellings of the gods, where the Ipoils of the 
 enemies ought to be offered, are defigned by the words 
 eg-iag S-iwy, by’which means, J'o/aok becomes an ufeful 
 repetition : ayi/o^ 1/0^0^, then expreffes the religious 
 cuftorn of this confecration. 
 
 At verfe 335, '7rE^ipyiy]/vy.ivu>v ^a/}£wv, to reflore the 
 meafure of verfe. 
 
 At verfe 502, £v^£og is the conftruction ufed 
 in like fentences. • • At 
 
548 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 At verfe 630, our editions fay, 
 
 TTOcp (^<T 7 ri§Q^ yv^xnca^iv apiracrat ^opu, which IS in thc 
 tranflation, extra clypeum nudatam arripere hafiamy and 
 which certainly has no meaning. The manufcript 
 has it I the fenfe is quite different : clypeo nudatum 
 corpus haurlre haftd. This variation, was k Angle, is 
 fufficient to prove, that there is no manufcript^ 
 though ever fo bad, from which fomething important 
 for a new edition, nnight not be expected. 
 
 might be added to verfe 766. We read 
 in all bur editions which is upon good rea- 
 
 fons tranQatedby trifulcumy but I confefs that I un- 
 de rftand very well what fulmen trijulcumy or lin- 
 gua trijulca means, but I do not ccH^iprehend at all 
 what is the meaning of of flu^lus trijulcus, I do not 
 recollect ever feeing this in any other place, Ho- 
 mer takes the word xvp.rovy to defign the wave that 
 ^becomes convex in fwelling ; that figni- 
 
 Acs rotunduniy I take it to exprefs the fame image. 
 
 At verfe 772, we read in our modern editions, 
 riA£ix ytxp TraXat^aroi ; the antient Icholiaft 
 remarks, that for the fyntax it fhould have been 
 TsXftai, but that the poet has retrenched the i for the 
 fake of the meafure of the verfe. It is not pofTible 
 to be more unfortunate in a remark ; for rikuxi, is no 
 more neceffary to the fyntax, than trijlis in this fen- 
 tence of Y irgxly trijle lupus Jiakuiis but on the con- 
 trary, the meafure of the verfe requires a long inftead 
 of a jhort one, to give to tlie verfe of the ftrophe, and 
 to that of the antiflrophe their little meter ; and the 
 edition of Aide has, as Mr. Brunk has obferved, 
 TiXfiai, as well as our manufcript. At 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 349 
 
 At verfe 832, our reading aVim cannot end 
 
 an anapeft verfe. The fecond fcholiaft feems to have 
 read and it is the reading of the manufcript. 
 
 Finally, at verfe 832, fxnri which Mr. 
 
 Brunk has adopted, after another manufcript, becaufe 
 it reftores to the anapeft verfe its meafure, disfigured 
 in our editions; where we read crs 
 After which, ttoXituu concludes the line, which 
 is a tranfpofition of verfe 1069. Thefe mifplacing 
 of verfes, or words, are very common in manufcripts : 
 ours here are exceeding bad. At verfe 1073, we find 
 one fomewhat lefs enormous : rig xv h rxurcc 7 rs(%iTo. 
 The meafure of the verfe requires, without doubt, 
 Tr/S-OiTO at firft, inftead of rruS-oiro, and rig m av I but 
 the particle av, which is omitted in our editions, i^ 
 ftill more neceffary to the fenfe than to the meafure : 
 the optative never has the force of a fubjundive in a 
 dired fentence without this conjunction, There arQ 
 however feme examples, but they are only owing ta 
 bad manufcripts ; they are very rare in poets, and 
 never to be amended. 
 
 Cc 
 
 You I. 
 
 INDM 
 
350 
 
 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS- 
 
 INDEX to the other VARIATIONS. 
 
 Promotheus. 
 
 3 . EViToAa?, 
 
 6. ol^(X[Jt.CCVT(vOig TTiVtlflV 
 PVKTOI^ TTiT^CH;^ 
 
 16. TravTOf. 
 
 18. atTrUra. 
 
 20. TD-porTraraAfJow, 
 
 2 1 . B’iuv, 
 
 3S- 
 
 53* £A/i/’joi/Ta 
 
 54 * 
 
 56. 3 ^? 
 
 59* yoip. 
 
 62 . 
 
 66 . UTTSp S"£pi/W„ 
 
 72. 
 
 73* Jta 7 rt 6 ccu(^ct?, 
 
 74. ytpr/.(t)<rov, 
 
 75. 
 
 77» OVTTOTifJ^lTriq^ 
 
 78. ophoAae,. 
 
 80. y.ri TTiTrXnOc. 
 
 81 , i^aAoifii/^, 
 
 86 . sJ'fJ'u 
 87* <5'’£XuAiq-3?!(rt?. 
 
 88 . ^log f, .'AOcroc^^TrlsopOi, 
 
 94 ^ ^tccKVtoyivog. 
 
 98 . (pBVy ^SUtjTTB^p^qyOl. 
 
 103. TrBTxy^oiy^Bvm* 
 
 III. 7 roi(ri,.. 7 rB^vivs, 
 
 II3» 'trccG-BpocXBvy.iifO^^ 
 
 1 15* aipfyfo?. 
 
 1 2 I , dy.TTB'^e^Biqa.q^ 
 
 123* TWk QpOTUV. 
 
 126. uVaK. 
 
 133* 
 
 138. BiXviggofJi.BUis. 
 
 140. lA^igS-B yl. 
 
 141. 7 !r^o(nrccp 7 og. 
 
 1 43* AsuV^t), 
 
 146. Bl(Tli 8 CiV. 
 
 147. TVpOiTOf.VOLiVOyiV^V.^ 
 
 148. ^\abeft. 
 
 150. (Te «!>?. 
 
 I 5 I. xdpioCf 
 152. spBii/. 
 
 153* v^x-po^eyovog 
 155* y^VTTors. 
 
 156. fVf<y£yi? 3 ff. 
 
 Avvyyx Q. 
 
 158. lm^cipy.o(.roc. 
 
 163. d'yvatTrvov. 
 
 164. ^dyvBTXi. 
 
 166. i'Aoi. 
 
 l68i yUOTTg^^S*?, 
 
 85 * xpBvaopc'^fxcdg . . Acc(y,ovs(,ig.l ^ 
 
manuscript op eschylus. 
 
 170 , TOk. 
 
 172. xai art ^fXt'yAWtro'Otfi 
 176. Tikrj. 
 
 1 84» l<T(n^s 7 v, 
 igi, a^iO/AOk. 
 
 J95. 
 
 197. aXyiVA . • . irA 
 
 202. ak«o‘(r>j • » T* aTr^tXik, 
 
 203. 
 
 204. IkS’TuT*, 
 
 213. Tf . . . uVfpIp^oyrar', 
 214 , l/xo/, 
 
 216. /Af. 
 
 219. /A£Af/A^a^n'?“, 
 
 227. fXOl . . /!XS, 
 
 229. Ka.^ 6 T\ 
 
 232. aVeW, aXA*. 
 
 233. 
 
 234. aivTi^oaviv* 
 
 235. 0 r 6 X[AYig IJi^iKrajtATjk. 
 245* >JX'yii 3 ‘»ik. 
 
 250. ia,VTo 7 g . , >W6Twxi(rai. 
 
 251. TOK T^ 
 
 258. Ixili/ca* 
 
 267, dpp-nyuv* 
 
 268. TOI. 
 
 270. ipp -^ pca , 
 
 271. ( MYio ^ v ^ s ^^* 
 
 279. x^(ait 7 rk 0 (ruT 0 k. 
 
 280. S-wxo? . . 
 
 281. TTO^^Ok. 
 
 282. 
 
 290. fyai/afxa^ft. 
 
 293* jWru/Aa. 
 
 294. <roi. 
 
 296. 
 
 301. auTOTix\ 
 
 310, ^’foro'u 
 
 313* xAuff. 
 
 314, pa 6 ^ 9 ov, 
 
 319* TaTTi^a^as. 
 
 327* A«u^oro/A£t. 
 
 328. -zETfjio-ei^pwk* 
 
 332. iA.ri^h, 
 
 333. 
 
 353 * 
 
 354 * ^ TTxa-iy, 
 
 363. was^aw^ak. 
 
 365- ntriv, 
 
 ^6j, TTOTi, ahejl. 
 
 368. $ 0 !> 7 r\oyr^ dy^Q^^ 
 
 369, yuta?. 
 
 371. 3 -£^/A??, 
 
 381. 
 
 383* }tov(p 6 yiS, 
 
 389. Traifx^aTarf. 
 
 394 * ^dvei, 
 
 401. hnf^oc, 
 
 406. 'ar^oTrajat, 
 
 409. r£k3?«J. 
 
 4II. fTTOiXOi. 
 
 420. . • SyS'o^, 
 
 430. UTTOffka^n. 
 
IS* 
 
 432 - 
 
 435' ’■«' • • 
 
 437- oV"- 
 
 440 . rxZrcc^ 
 
 443 . iTTk^oXag, 
 
 450 . 
 
 454 . ^u^oj/ , ♦ }i<x,p7ri(Aii;. 
 
 455 . yvw/ 4 a?. 
 
 456. avaToXa^-, 
 
 460 . [AHfTOfjt.-^Tro^og IpyocTYiVt 
 
 462 . CTKO^OifTl, 
 
 468 . E^fU^OV. 
 
 470 . <Si 7 raXAay^w. 
 
 475 . fxoL 
 481 , 
 
 485 * xAtJ'c^af. 
 
 490. aAAjjAa?:. 
 
 491. (rvva.ii^p{ca, 
 
 504. 
 
 ^10. rautrj tccutt?!. 
 
 512 . (J'u/csK. 
 
 517 * 
 
 519. SI', abejl. 
 
 524. (3.*,-. 
 
 533* ccZroiixi Koyog^ 
 
 534 . jUOi ipx.fJt.SVOl. 
 
 537* 
 
 543 * ^^ocy.ysofj.syQv, 
 
 54 J. iJ'ta yap fjt.71, 
 
 550 * oAiyoJ'pav/av', 
 
 551 . ?. 
 
 558. £5i£/i/^ 0TfT\ . Aar^aKa?. 
 
 560. OfA.Yl7rXT^lOV . . £(^ 
 562, TTlOoU, 
 
 564. irir^tvoiari ro7g ^psioig. 
 566. TroivZ? oXsfisi. 
 
 572* ^oKsiov, 
 
 S7 3* >^CC^‘CCVOVTOi. 
 
 574. trfpw. 
 
 575* ’rXavaTflK. 
 
 583. TTjpftf. 
 
 587. TToAuTrAaxTOU ' 
 
 590* <p^'iyi^O(.r» J'e (twv, 
 
 595 * < 3 t 7 r£i;fi?. 
 
 601. (TXVprYljfJt.UTCCV, , VT^rV^TiV. 
 
 610. 0. , 
 
 61 1, iTrksnov. 
 
 613* (3^0T0Kn. 
 
 618. / 4 £J/, 
 
 627. TaJ'f, aheft. 
 
 628. yiVW( 7 >C£l>'. 
 
 ^33* W(*}pn<r(Cfxsv, 
 
 642. (ra^?. 
 
 651. TT^o <ra . . a-WBcipt^r,. 
 
 ^ 57 ^ wV T£. 
 
 662, dvos.yKKoyTsg. 
 
 668. 3 '£A«. 
 
 671. l^jjAafl-f. 
 
 672. STravdfxoi^s. 
 
 6B3. yj? y?f^ 
 
 688. «Vf (Tp^f 
 
 694. 
 
 701. df’. 
 
 703- 
 
 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 . i«a’. 
 
MANUSCRIPT 
 
 ' OF ESCHYLUS. 555 
 
 703* TrXyivxit 
 
 784* 
 
 705. 
 
 788. jt/ 4 ?i/xocri ^iXroKTi. 
 
 706. cc]/ccrQXu<;, 
 
 7 90. ol]/Oiro?<dg. 
 
 708, yviocq. 
 
 792. CKuOAnr. 
 
 70^. d(pi^ 7 \. 
 
 793. j/£8crj. 
 
 7 1 1 . y\i 7 io^x^» 
 
 794 * 
 
 712. ^^/ 7 r 7 x< 7 (Jt. 
 
 795 * 
 
 713. O’iJ'rj/SWTEHTOP'E?. 
 
 79^* ^VKTO^OC, 
 
 714. (TSj 
 
 79^« ^pocy.oyrof^aXott 
 
 715* TT^OCTTrAaXTCX, 
 
 800. rOlHTOV, 
 
 720. X.pOTd(pO]/, 
 
 803. [^aVUTTOCV, 
 
 724. ycccToiycatri]/, 
 
 804. lzr 7 roB^dy,G]/OC 4 
 
 726, fj.sr^vid. 
 
 809. £/5(pa. 
 
 o§riy^\(T(jc>(H, 
 
 814. 
 
 731* 
 
 815. a-oi^ ah(ft. 
 
 733* y-^''<-Xrirc(,t, 
 
 818. to/, ' 
 
 73 ^* 
 
 821. (^J 7 . 
 
 737. £ 7 r£f 4 £. 
 
 825. /AU-S'Ol/, 
 
 739 * T^P 
 
 828. f/,oXu(ra‘Qc» 
 
 741. £, 
 
 834* Tco;/ J'f 7 r^ 0 (rcLvH„ 
 
 744. TOf'. 
 
 ^ 37 - 
 
 745. T£. 
 
 839. y.2XXY\(jZTCCl, 
 
 749. oc 7 rY\Xdynv» 
 
 840. fXl/Vlx(XTCC, 
 
 75 ^IKTTrfTWl/ . . (Tipsic, 
 
 858. (p 9 oi/Ul/, 
 
 752. 'TTlTT^O^ivYlV, 
 
 870, (pv(riccg. 
 
 754. ^0!, 
 
 876. ico, iWjifAf, ^A£ A£ Afu. 
 
 765. oMTivcc . , 
 
 877* (pp^^o^XcG^iig, 
 
 768. . . 7t?. 
 
 879* ^TTii^og, 
 
 769. 7 rX’^v[ 
 
 880, aocp^ioc. 
 
 773. ysvav. 
 
 885. rvyi^vg. 
 
 77 'TTOt'oK. 
 
 888. i^CCfOC^E^ 
 
 783. yfyovc. 
 
 890. ttAbtw;/. 
 
 VOL. I. *c c 
 
 892, 
 
354 
 
 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS 
 
 892. d^OCflvG-Xl, 
 
 895. TriXHcroiv, Oil a deja 
 vu ce fJA pour //.e 
 
 896. ii/ yy.fxiTo., 
 
 897. ocTB^yccvo^oc, 
 
 898. yccfAO. 
 
 899. dXoiTit<yY\(Tu 
 
 900. oy ah eft, 
 
 901. «J'£ J'tavOjCoi cJ's. 
 
 902. acpiKTov . . 7 r^o(r^pi^y.oi, 
 
 903. £iV ^TTO^OCV, 
 
 904. TTO^KT^O;, 
 
 905. OTra. 
 
 906. dv^OC^Yl (pPOVLOV, 
 
 909. r’ 
 
 91 5 » 
 
 916. TTU^l TT^O. 
 
 917. /A57 HV, 
 
 918. dvOO’^YlTU, 
 
 921, Kpsla-croiv , . (pxdyoc, 
 
 930. y’, abeft. 
 
 947. 
 
 948. dyiyiTYiftcc^, 
 
 950. 7 r^©€aA>i?-. 
 
 962. dpifopsT^, 
 
 964, •Koc^dpiAricroc;, 
 
 970. TT^oiyi/.ocdi, 
 
 978. 7 r^d,a(T&t<;, 
 
 982. o'0\ 
 
 984. uxpiiXooy, 
 
 985 . aVr’ £jW£. 
 
 986* 
 
 991. pfZZTT £0-3-0;. 
 
 992 , XsvxoTrV^oig . . nipd,(ri, 
 993* ^^[^ccrcc, 
 
 994. (p^oilT(T 9 tV, 
 
 1000. pKl, 
 
 1003. 
 
 1004. V 7 r]oid(rix(X(ri, 
 
 1005* /^£ Toji/ . . 7 rcc^ouTO<;, 
 
 1006. Boixa,;, 
 
 1007. 
 
 .,1009. 
 
 10 10 . (TCpO^piUTi, 
 
 1018 . dydXri, 
 
 1019. £XT£A£UT^ 1 ( 7 £K V^^GVOl/, 
 
 1020 . h'*i^£ig X^Tg, 
 
 1025. rot. 
 
 1030. 0, aheft, 
 
 1047. 
 
 1048. (rurp/w(r£d lpK.i, 
 
 105 I. avafx)! g-i^oug ^ixoag, 
 1053* (^OVXHpXOCT* BTTBl, 
 
 1056. £i raT £UTUp^^. 
 
 106 ^, Trio. 
 
 1066. 3 -£Acy. 
 
 1069. p/JxXou, 
 
 1070. ar*. 
 
 1071. 
 
 1073* £/'7r?]3‘’ 0 
 
 1078. £/47rA£/j<,7ry£p^0>3(r£(r3’’. 
 1081, 
 
 1083* xoun?, 
 
 1084. sAfiWao-i. 
 
 ic 86 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLU3. 
 
 1086, 
 
 1 09 1 . \x'kj-(Tuv, 
 
 1090. TTXVTUP S‘£W-I. 
 
 
 L E S SEPT 
 
 A THEBES. 
 
 2. n^at>c- 
 
 84* “^2 ^^iTrlerxt, 
 
 3. POfXKlf • . 1//AI/W. 
 
 87. op^oi^evop dxXeviTxre, 
 
 4. S’fa, 
 
 93* -^^aiviov. 
 
 _ V 
 
 5 . ay. 
 
 97. ppCiireruv 
 
 7. (poi[Jt>oig, 
 
 104, Trarlayo?. 
 
 8. dXs^ni^^kog, 
 
 Ill, 7roXiV(T3^0U 
 
 12, (3?.ccci/uou 
 
 I 2 I. iTTXpTl^, 
 
 IJ, rig. 
 
 122. J'a/w. 1 
 
 14. re t’. 
 
 123* dpxioou. 
 
 20. ^fv/iO'S'c. 
 
 125* tpoQov, 
 
 21. ro <rou 
 
 129. TTvXxog, 
 
 29. vvy.riyopeTcrd'xi, 
 
 140. >cJicJ'f£r£« 
 
 30. roXxg . , TruXxg. 
 
 156. eXxQoi/, 
 
 32. 7rXi^piS]/rxi, 
 
 160, TTXcryeiv, 
 
 36. y,xtx 7 ^Yjoxc, 
 
 168, 'KoXepf.QxpxrQv, 
 
 39. £T£OX.AfC. 
 
 172. TravaAsi^-, 
 
 43. (TCCKOC, 
 
 182. J'f /fairs’’. 
 
 45* (piXepf.urGv, 
 
 183* Ip^v, 
 
 48. 
 
 186. TToXecov, 
 
 49. ^urifxveix. 
 
 188. epocroov. 
 
 55* tAtTTOV. 
 
 1 94, -yuvatK/w (piXca, 
 
 56, ay?!. 
 
 196. ttXhov, 
 
 57. exoirag. 
 
 198. ^isp^oS'/icratr. 
 
 60, cctp^cg. 
 
 201 . TOiaUT* £V. 
 
 64. yfpTarov, 
 
 202, a,xH(Tyirxi. 
 
 68, (Tu ra. 
 
 203. (xirpGi^fJGiou, 
 
 7 I. jacii rr^v'. 
 
 205. 
 
 78. 6p£uaa. 
 
 209. >COI^?. 
 
 CIO, 
 
JS6 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 210. o'^o^ovy his. 
 
 326. Xvroiic, 
 
 214. [J!>* ihm 
 
 328. 
 
 •215. 'ST^'A^VO^iV, 
 
 331. TTOp^is^gyocv, 
 
 218, uAoar. 
 
 332. <%y£(r 3 -| £ £ f £, 
 
 222 . TTOXifJLiOV, 
 
 338. Tol. aheft. 
 
 224, IxAiTTliU, 
 
 339* ^y'^tspoTTOig dv^ 
 
 230. 
 
 Co 
 
 i" 
 
 •N. 
 
 • 
 
 234* ^ 0 (,K'^a,X£TT&^ . . O^fxarix 
 
 " 345* ’^^d(r(r£ig. 
 
 TiAv, Ihid. xmf^yo^i^iyocv. 
 
 347. TTV^pOphc, 
 
 239. ve/Ao/AfS*’, 
 
 348* diyircct olrccy. 
 
 240. op^Awv. 
 
 3 S 3 - ^op^'- 
 
 244, £UX»Ao?. 
 
 355. tukI’. 
 
 243. af/Aa. 
 
 356. ccyri^pocpsT;, 
 
 246. )ipG7roXiy, 
 
 358. ^v^/^^ocXii. 
 
 249. 7ro^oi(r3'£, 
 
 361. X£Xnijy^£yai, 
 
 258. (po^oy. 
 
 364. dyvva. 
 
 260. £/A£. 
 
 366. pvpyci^g. 
 
 263. ^y^pif • • TToXiy, 
 
 377. voac. 
 
 272. G-vixfjyoc^oig, 
 
 378. OlX 
 
 273. aollJ^GGKOVO-OGg^, 
 
 383. ttuA^k. 
 
 274. Tratavicroi/, 
 
 388, G-opyg''', 
 
 279. (J'ipcrx . . ip^tya. 
 
 391. yipovag. 
 
 280. Jli/TUp^&VTWJ/. 
 
 394. pX£yoy^\ 
 
 285. TOi 
 
 400. opjuavwi/ ^iv£i. 
 
 287. /at! 8, 
 
 404. ra, aheft . 
 
 288. iJJ'o/AWe 
 
 406. UTU*’. 
 
 290. fxoXsTy, 
 
 408, M dyoicc. 
 
 294. [xi^il^yocg. 
 
 412. ixccyrEViToci, 
 
 ^62. TWl/ 
 
 413* 
 
 297. 
 
 415. fj ^ dx ^ £Vy ahjuut . 
 
 307. §ioy£yic. 
 
 421. o^xftoov. 
 
 310. ixpfr 4 'a(r 3 '£® 
 
 425. diiJ^ocropopisg, 
 
 313. oo^y* 
 
 ' 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 35r 
 
 429. JcajOtuTTravlu? . . iKixr^ai- 
 
 ■ 566. 
 
 y.ipt.^nTcici, ' 
 
 CIV, 
 
 568, 
 
 du dycGXsvJ^crccip 
 
 43 1 . 0, aheft. aheft. 
 
 572. 
 
 5/ /I / 
 
 £i/f yap. 
 
 434 - 
 
 574. 
 
 rooip^ovig-i^oy^ 
 
 439 - 
 
 577 - 
 
 TToAAa, ahefl. 
 
 440. (p^Gvll* 
 
 578. 
 
 TaaxTO^a, 
 
 442. T^lo’£<r. 
 
 580. 
 
 (poVGV, 
 
 456. T\aheft, 
 
 584. 
 
 rsXsvri^v . . Ii/J'c 
 
 462. JxAaTra^ai, 
 
 591. 
 
 yvioi. 
 
 470. fAvy,ryi^oy.o7rccu, 
 
 598 - 
 
 ydpy ahefl. 
 
 472. 07 rAiiT)i$‘ yiK^i^ocnog C)l[^~ 
 
 605. 
 
 oixiXiya.g^ 
 
 c / 
 
 b:tcr«5‘. 
 
 606, 
 
 xdyXov, 
 
 474, aVwr. 
 
 608. 
 
 rrXliov, 
 
 475. ixQccXv, 
 
 610. 
 
 3 '£ 0 |aiVw* 
 
 479. 7r£iJt.7rT B yio(/.zr3p 
 
 619. 
 
 TToXiy, 
 
 483* •S’a^. 
 
 622. 
 
 olrufAGg, 
 
 484* ^^^pocv. 
 
 631. 
 
 tily ah eft. 
 
 492. TTuXcc; ^XXog ysiroyxg. 
 
 632. 
 
 
 494. liinrotj.'i^oyrog. 
 
 634- 
 
 ‘sr^oCj ah eft. 
 
 495. TToXvUy his. 
 
 648. 
 
 xcciyoTTYiyGcTg, 
 
 497. (rr,y.xyTBpyog y' ap. 
 
 650. 
 
 Tsvyn, 
 
 500. dioXa,. 
 
 654. 
 
 t\ aheft. 
 
 SO 3, [icLY.yJ.v, 
 
 659. 
 
 « 9 ’£Opt£l/iV , , xa], 
 
 507* zrpoorx. 
 
 667. 
 
 ^OiTW, 
 
 514. sp^g. 
 
 671. 
 
 TTw, aheft. 
 
 524, yc’j . . y,ocpT$pdrcx,TGg, 
 
 681, 
 
 
 530. UOoQiOI,Tl, 
 
 687. 
 
 6(X(X,!vny^ 
 
 53^* cibov. 
 
 688 . 
 
 7 rioa.g, 
 
 543 « yopyoy. 
 
 701, 
 
 
 544. cly,GfX(x,f6g, 
 
 715- 
 
 
 559 * 
 
 719. 
 
 dyvo-ig^ 
 
 720, 
 
35^ MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 720. fJ . 7 ] 841. 
 
 723. t’ iTTog. 842. wV, aheji, 
 
 727. a vuHTwp TTi^^axsAfu- 850. abeft. 
 
 (Tocro yiou ysyouBU, 
 
 732. Mr. 
 
 7 J 8 . OTTOCrOC , , (pYi^ivOlfTi, 
 740. (zvrol >iroi]^od(Tiv, 
 
 759 * 
 
 766. r^o^ocXoi/. 
 
 769. £uV«. 
 
 774* T£A0//.fv’ 
 
 776* 
 
 781, Tovr^, 
 
 787. KOtp^lOi, 
 
 7 90* ^p^^'<T<rco ,riy.voov^ 
 
 792. ^ bTTlT^O'W^q, 
 
 796. TTors KT'npAOcra, 
 
 799. ^oXiov, 
 
 801. xXvb‘ovi8, 
 
 803. fipyBi, 
 
 804. IcppB^cc^sJa,, ,pf.ovo[j.oc^(zi- 
 
 G-l. 
 
 807* c^ttoAAoi/. 
 
 808. J'u(r|3ouA£riZ5‘. 
 
 809. ttXboj/, 
 
 8 I I . ^^sm. 
 
 816. IjcIiOf . . (p^oi(T^, 
 
 820. bocyip\j(TB(T^OCl, 
 
 824. £2/ Tcc(pv, aheji. 
 
 828. Jca;, 
 
 834. 7roXBiJ.ocpy^ciig, 
 
 84O, /.aS . , Kp^u. 
 
 851. VXb . . dXoCKTOC ^ 
 
 856, auTOi^ovoy. 
 
 861. XpiXTBU 
 
 867. o ’ lKur . 
 
 868. Isfx'^vr,, 
 
 872. 
 
 874* 
 
 875* 
 
 878. JiAew. 
 
 881 . (ptXoov t ’, 
 
 883. 
 
 885. optwi', abejl, 
 
 892. Ka,rBvyiJ.ocrcc^ abejl, 
 897. T£, abeji, 
 
 906. TraXig - ovog , 
 
 907. fBpy^cri. 
 
 908. ( piXoci /^ pog , 
 
 918. tOtUSy pofttus pojl 
 926. 
 
 921. Ja ccvTEg , 
 
 924. J'’ 8 ( piXBy ( x , 3 ' ng , 
 
 925. J'’ ox. 
 
 927. J'fc-, abejl, 
 
 928. 
 
 930. ttoXItbc , 
 
 931. fix^.gy abejl, 
 
 932. Social , 
 
 ^34. - ur ^ oTrcc ^^ By , 
 
 937 - 
 
MANUSCRIPTS OF ESCHYLUS. 35? 
 
 lriXiVTr,(r£. 
 
 941. TTXUCoXiS'piOi, 
 
 945. 
 
 947. Iio-’. 
 
 952. xpng xpn^, 
 
 958. S’av0jiVavT£5‘. 
 
 959. ^oixh;, 
 
 960. . . d^x. 
 
 964. d7rx]/rxg, 
 
 971. ]U£A£07raS‘£?. 
 
 972. iVw yooc, iVw J'xxpux, 
 973* 'Jj^O(Tyizi(T£rxi, 
 
 976. Id^Jemel) cru, ahefi, 
 977 * au 
 978. T£^ 9 iVx. 
 
 988. rxi^. 
 
 990. XiXi cJ^t. 
 
 991. rdXxiva, xxi Trdd'ou* 
 
 995. ^3^^. 
 
 998. ^(T-S'a, 
 
 1001. twT, 
 
 1003* £^7)ja£i/0? . . i< 
 
 JemeL 
 
 1005. TO TT^OfTW. 
 
 1006. ^vfxyoov, 
 
 1008. TTOXVTTOUOOrXTOl, 
 
 1009. £1' (xVa, ahejl* 
 
 1010. \dy JemeL 
 
 1011. rifxiurdrc/ov* 
 
 IOI3» aTrayffiAo^u 
 
 10 17* ruywv. 
 
 1020. iirifxrxi, 
 
 1023. 
 
 1030. T0& ^ipr\ 
 
 1034. ahejl, 
 
 1035. ahejl. 
 
 1038. abeji, 
 
 1043. raVco. 
 
 1044. xdddQV'rxu 
 1050. TixJ'£. 
 
 I 054 » 0"'^ jw-’i ripi'n^Tfig. 
 
 1057* d]/rxpf.£lQiTXl, 
 
 1061. dxx\ abeJ,ri<j^\ 
 1065. (^‘ncrvi^xi. 
 
 1067, (TEj <3^^. 
 
 1070. 7r£l/6?]T??^/w^, 
 
 1075* 'TOAuVfTx^J?. 
 
 1076. 
 
 1078. a%0?. 
 
 108 I . xa/ T£. 
 
 1084. dvx,r^X 7 rnvxi . , aAo*, 
 
 (IcOTTK. 
 
 D d 2 
 
 A N 
 
9 
 
 ■1 
 
 I 
 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 
A N 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Manufcript of Efchylus, 
 
 Number 2788, in the King’s Library. 
 
 By M. Vauvilliers. 
 
 T his manufcript is in quarto, the writing of 
 the feventeenth century. It contains the Pro- 
 metheus, the Seven Chiefs at Thebes, and the Per- 
 fians. 
 
 Several of the variations we have found in the 
 manufcripts, which we have already given an account 
 of^ are pointed out in the index, and on which, con- 
 fequently, I ought not to dwell. 
 
 I fhall infift, however, on verfe 87 of Pro- 
 metheus. We have already feen in more manu- 
 fcripts inftead oir\i'xvi(;i and we have confidered 
 this variation not only as more poetical, but aifo 
 more expreffive, and truer than the adopted read- 
 ing. 
 
MANUSCRIPT GF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 362 
 
 oVw roouTco Tijcro’ liCKvXicr^'nd'^ 'pClSlo ex hoc 
 artificio evolvaris I 
 
 Whom is this qiieflion of? Of Prometheus; whom 
 force has juft reprefented as capable of finding out 
 refources where there are none ; v 
 
 ^£iyo^ yixfi BupiTy dfjyTi^ccvuv ttq^ou, V. 59* 
 
 Solers enim etiam in inviisviam invenire. 
 
 The irrefiftible power of Jupiter lliould have tri- 
 umphed over the dexterity of an inferior god, 
 
 ri'p^v'A ai/acTX'/i? oi<r^£VB(rri^oc ^aaxpw. 5^3* 
 
 Ars longe inferior neceffitate^ fays Prometheus to the 
 Chorus, who perfuades him to find out, in his fagacity, 
 means to deliver himfelf. In a word, Prometheus 
 fnould have been learned how far the fubtleties of his 
 mind were below the genius of Jupiter. 
 
 tf 
 
 tvoc, 
 
 (To(piG'r^g uv Aiog yooB’icTTB^og, 62. 
 
 Ut dijeat Jove minus Je ejfe Jolertem veteratorern* 
 
 Now, it is npt byohance, but by fuperiority, either 
 of counfels or dexterity, that this plan could have 
 been brought into execution. So Vulcan complains 
 that his excellency, in his art, has occafioned his being 
 chofen for fo odious an employment. 
 
 Z TcoXxZ iJ.i(rnB't7(roc. ^sipcovcc^ioc. V. 45’ 
 
 O midtum ^xofa manuum Jolertia I 
 
 Whereupon Force replies to him, that he is mif- 
 taken in defpifmg his talents, which are by no means 
 the caufe of what happens. 
 
 Twv yvv Tfix^oyrcov xZlv alr[a> V. 47* 
 
 tlarim renm mlh mo do ars caiija eji. 
 
 It 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 363 
 
 It is the triumph of the art of Vulcan over Pro- 
 metheus, that is the a 61 :ual objedl of Force. 
 
 avroj/ yocp o"£ J'f? 
 cVw oxjcuAicrS’Jio'^ 
 
 Ipje indiges Prometheo dccente qua arte ex hac arte 
 extriceris, r't^un retraced in one word appofite to the 
 fubjc6l, all we have jufl faid ; exprelTes nothing 
 but what might not be applied to any other circum- 
 ftance : therefore I fliould not hefitate to prefer it 
 by the authority of the fcholiaft fupported by the 
 confent of the manufcripts. 
 
 The cuftom of the Attici, according to the an- 
 cient grammarians, far from retrenching the aug- 
 
 O'' 00 
 
 mentum of the preter tenfe, is, on the contrary, to 
 add another augmentation to that, which is in the 
 rule of the common language ; this is acknowledged. 
 
 I 00^ o 
 
 Some modern learned are of opinion, that poets 
 indulged fometimes in the fupprefiion, v/hen the 
 verfe required it. 1 truft I have proved the con- 
 trary in my notes on Sophocles ; and I flatter my- 
 felf, mofl: likely vflth fome fuccefs, fince one of our 
 mofl: learned criticks, who looked upon this notion 
 as an abfurdity, agrees now that it happens very 
 rarely, rarijjime Attki augmentum ahjiciunt. It is then 
 unaccountable how in the verfe 245, has 
 
 been adopted in our additions for ; for reallv 
 
 there exifts no necelTity, fince it is one and the fame 
 meafure : the manufcript fixes alfo here the only true 
 reading. 
 
 At verfe 490, in fpeaking of the focieties and re- 
 ciprocal wars of birds, my edition writes : 
 
564 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 TT^og dxX’^Xoig rfusg 
 
 T£ yioa fBpynS'^oiy kqu crvvi^piooi. ^Ucen am inter je cdiei 
 & amoves ^ Jocietates, The cuftom of the language 
 iSy in the like fentence, to make ufe of the accufative 
 and not the dative : the manufcript gives then the 
 good reading, Trfog dixxTiX^g. 
 
 At verfe 874, rocZroc fjt^ocy.pH Xoya^ as write our edi- 
 tions, is undoubtedly a moft exa6l form 5 but that of 
 the manufcript is confeffediy more lively, expreflive, 
 and elegant, b^c vero longi fermonis. 
 
 In the Seven Chiefs at Thebes, the two readings of 
 the greateft import are thefe I am going to relate. 
 
 At verfe 553, we read in our editions ; 
 
 Ucc^hvoTTocTog A'^xccg. The learned were puzzled and 
 divided on the manner of correTing this iambic verfe, 
 which was found, as it was thought, to begin with a 
 trochee. I had animadverted in my notes on So- 
 phocles, that without its making any alteration, the 
 verfe m^ight be very exaht, according to the prin- 
 ciples which I had adopted in a Memoir on Homer's 
 Profody ; and I fliall effedually prove, that it might 
 be read napOsi/oTr^To?, with refpecl to this verfe, in the 
 fimpleft manner. 
 
 I obferved in the preceding account, on verfe 107, 
 that the language required the particle to give the 
 fentence a conditional fignification ; and the manu- 
 fcript of which I had given an account, prefenting 
 r\g h rocunx. 'nrzl^ono : I had obferved, that the mea- 
 fure of the verfe demanded rig kv xv rocvroc Tri^oiro. 
 
 I find again here 7 r£i 3 -oiroj which 4s an error, a§ well 
 
 m 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 365 
 
 in the preceding number ; but I fee a.v placed as I 
 wifli for, riq HU (XU. ^is talibus acquiejeet ! 
 
 In the Perfians, at verfe 159, I believed that 
 s-iocrrix^n; J'o/ah? is a brighter expreflion than the vulgar 
 reading ^^vfBo<rTo\ixHg. 
 
 I Ihould no* more hefitate to follow the manufeript 
 at verfe 753. 
 
 ^e-<J'otXa fX^^TTOXvg frXHTH TTtUOg 
 ovfxog du^puTTOig yiur^Tixi tS ^OacravTO? 
 
 ^imeo m magnis meis laboribus acquiftta opes jiant hmi- 
 nibiis occupantis prada. In our editions we read tto^oc : 
 it is in the fingle expreffion : in Homer it might be 
 preferable ; but who ever has fet a greater price on 
 figures and metaphors than Pindar and Efehylus ? 
 
 But the variation the moft obfervable is the form 
 of the verfe 337, which is read in our editions. 
 
 ^lu exu <rx<p gnar;, pccpGctpHg 
 
 yotZe-h x/jarrjo-ai, which figiiifies : quoad numerum^ certb 
 Jcito barbaros clajfe Juperaturos fuiJJ'e ; and this fentence 
 is certainly compleat. But that of the manufeript 
 feems more animated, concife, and elegant. 
 
 7rAj(3'x? pfXu ?v, caf’ 1V3’, ‘UxTiy (2ccpSccpu:v 
 
 ^od ad multitudinem pertinety eraty certo feiasy barba^ 
 roram navihus vine ere, Thofe that are familiar with 
 Efehylus may not doubt that thefe cut and broken 
 forms, arc quite of his tafte, as well as that of Thu- 
 cidides. 
 
 E e 
 
 VoL, I. 
 
 INDEX 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 36^ 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Prometheus. 
 
 EVtToAaj'. ^ 75 * 
 
 6 . d^aiMOCyTlVCCig Ti^CClOS'iV, 293 # It 9 ?TU/A*. 
 
 Ibid. dpprix.TOi? TfiT^oag. 294. crol^ init. vef* 
 
 19* dt.'Aoyr dytiov (Tf. 
 
 73, (Tg 73 -^og. " 
 
 74 - apiKojcrov. 
 
 78. yv^lBTOCl, 
 
 87. 
 
 III. Trao't . . iri(pnvi. 
 
 1 13* 7 r«(r«A£U(r^£vof, 
 
 122 , fiVip^ysuHtr*. 
 
 123* Twy ?^0Twy, 
 
 133- 
 
 1 50. J'g 
 
 185. xsap J'*. 
 
 189. 
 
 191, a^iS’jWoy. 
 
 198, J'uV'TTOT/AOf. 
 
 202, dy(a(T(Ty\m 
 213* vwpip^oyroi^. 
 
 219. pn.BASfjt.Qaip'n^. 
 
 233* <pyT£UT«f. 
 
 235. lToAjM,>i<r’, l^ipv(jdiJi.w» 
 245. >5AyuyOiiy. 
 
 258. fJCfiyw. 
 
 268. jWTiy TOf. 
 
 27 1 . ^o^v^i3-y. 
 
 339. ^doTiivys. 
 
 37 I* ^tpfdig dnTXufB. 
 
 384, TV VQT'ji. 
 
 394, xpdvBi. 
 
 400. pOC^iVQVm 
 
 425* aAAwy. 
 
 433 * dyyvpp^Tm. 
 
 437. ?r^o«r?iA8jW£yey. 
 
 448^. | 3 /oy. 
 
 450. ^Vay, 
 
 , 475 - 
 
 490. dXKvXa^. 
 
 517* 
 
 534. liAfj.iy&t. 
 
 564. TTET^tyOKTiy opiioi^^ . 
 >590* f^iyi^ocToc. rdgie.. 
 
 598, rl, 
 
 607. .7/ i/.Oi p^^r'.- 
 
 609, T£. 
 
 638. Wf t’ dTroKKaViTCiir.. 
 686. Aoyoif. 
 
 691. 3 tal hipt^ar*. 
 
 729. 3'^a0‘u(r7rAarp^yc)i'. 
 
 839 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 367 
 
 * 39 - X£X\T1<r£T0Ct» 
 
 866. yVOOIMYiV, 
 
 874* ra.'jrx 
 879. KTTii^o;, 
 
 902. 7 r^o(r^£pK£i, 
 
 903 , slg ^tto^oc, 
 
 906. auOaJ'i? ^^ovuv, 
 
 LES SEPT 
 
 78. (p 0 ^£^x T* 
 
 90. 
 
 107. Tai/ T£av yjj/, 
 
 108. 
 
 143. (TfS-fv -yap ctlpc-aTO? 
 
 B'jyur^oq, 
 
 145* ^SOXX^TO I?, 
 
 210 . otJo^oU) hi5% 
 
 232. 
 
 250. ^OVW jS^OTUV* 
 
 284. ^H^iTrXriXTOCt 
 324. ra-S-oiTE. 
 
 358. 
 
 388. ^£ivei, 
 
 400. op/xaii/wy p6£v«, 
 
 475. ExSaA^, 
 
 519. (BeAo? 9£pwi/. 
 
 553‘ 0 TrapS'fyoTraiOf, 
 
 667. ^OiTCC, 
 
 701. <p!Xis yxo l;^ 9 ^a. 
 
 719. dvvTig, 
 
 727. S-egi/. 
 
 730 . C7r0i^£^'J(/.H^, 
 
 E 
 
 932. liW 
 964. xarwpacr^fcf. 
 
 970. TT^ay/xaiTi. 
 
 1056. £i raJ'* £VTVXV» 
 
 1070. ccT £yw AsyWi 
 
 1076. xpvtpfco^, 
 
 1086. CCVTl^eiXVVfJt.£VCC, 
 
 A THEBES. 
 
 732. »]o or^um. 
 
 738. o 7 ro(niv >ca/. 
 
 790. Twi^ xpet(r(roj/uv r£XPUf 
 810. pcca-iXiT^, 
 
 816. fia^picc iJ,eu ccAA* optwf. 
 
 824. roc^u, 
 
 840. xaxoy jwa , , Tr^nriTirlft 
 
 847* TTOCr^iCOi. 
 
 880. liCy/emel* 
 
 901. J'co//,«<r;. 
 
 906. xal TToXiv T£ UTT* oiv^pm 
 937. 
 
 960. abeji, 
 
 991. raAaiva >t«» 
 
 1002. deefi. 
 
 1003. 0 £<p’ j!/x/^ 
 
 1005. Xat TO TT^oirw. 
 
 1006. i'j<nr 61 y.uv» 
 
 1007. iT£OXX£^, 
 
 1008. iw. Iw . . 7 rvXv 7 ro]/ciOTCCTOt 
 
 ' • 
 
 1009. iw, iw . . eV, aheji, 
 
 I o 1 1 , iw, ^/V, 
 
 e 2 
 
 1GI2. 
 
36S MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS 
 
 1012. femeL 
 
 1 044* ccTToca-ovrocri, 
 
 1033- 7 ^* 
 
 1073* rd Trii^oirc* 
 
 1 04 1, jcaxojj/. 
 
 1084. aAAot^aTw. 
 
 LE S 
 
 P E R S E S. 
 
 6. $CC^HoytV^q vlog. 
 
 753. TTOI/O^, 
 
 21 , dpra.(piovY\g. 
 
 857- TrccvTupyugc 
 
 44. ^lOTrloit 
 
 875* '^vp'yoi/. 
 
 84* da'v^ioi/. 
 
 878, dvyo[j.ivoii. 
 
 158. f-pccr^. 
 
 892. eJ'oc. 
 
 159* 
 
 901. IXacvvtov, 
 
 239. TTlTrlst, ' 
 
 902. y£p(riy. 
 
 32^. Totfwi/ J'’ dpyJyTUiV , 
 
 909. dxjj^oca-^tvTBg. 
 
 337 - 
 
 983* d7rcx,(pii(Tt, 
 
 430. 
 
 1026. XerxeSy a-£<ru<Tixii/ 0 Vf 
 
 583. ft' ^ dxpv ( ri , abejl . 
 
 1036. itoLTToiAy femel . 
 
 609. t’ oyYiiJt.ocrciov, 
 
 1065. ifnoXTTliZV, 
 
 634* ' 7 r£p<ra? liiroi. 
 
 1081. TTE/Xll/W roi (Tii 
 
 677* J'ui/afa* 
 
 
 A N 
 
A N 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Manufcript of Efchylus, 
 
 Number 2791, in the King’s Library. 
 
 By M. Vauvilliers. 
 
 HIS volume we are going to give an account 
 
 ofy cannot be aflimilated to the manufcripts 
 we have formerly made known. Thofe, without 
 being unexceptionable, enjoy however the advantage 
 of an original text, more or lefs refpedable, accord- 
 ing to the age and the apparent fidelity of the co- 
 pyift. This, as it has been written a long while 
 after the invention of printing, and as it is pofteric^ 
 to feveral editions of Efchylus, without the author’s 
 giving himfeif the trouble of informing us, whether 
 he copied a manufcript, or an impreffion, ought to 
 be confidered merely as a work of a learned man, 
 who, attempting to work on a piece of Efchylus, 
 has written the text to join an interlineary interpreta- 
 fion and marginal notes. 
 
 The 
 
Sjo MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 The piece in queftion^ the moft mutilated per- 
 haps by copyifts of any of the feven, that remain to 
 US' of Efchylus, is Agamemnon. The author is 
 pointed out at the fecond part of the volume. No. i. 
 by this title : Efchyli Agamemnon^ IJaaco CaJauhon9 
 interprete : cio lo cx. at the fide is written with 
 another ink and hand-writing; cum ejujdem notis et 
 ehjervationihus eruditijjimis. 
 
 Under it a note written in Latin, informs us, 
 that this volume, having been ftolen from the King’s 
 library, was replaced in it in 1729, after having been 
 bought again by M. Rouffelet, then theologift of the 
 collegiate church of Perone. 
 
 And lower down, we read cio iocliii, and under 
 it : Jac-ohi Puteani Cl-audii fiUiiy and at the left 
 margin, ipja eft Jacohi Puteani manus, rath Petri Puteani : 
 titerque Bibliothecae regime cuftos ^ curatory lA Claud- ii 
 Jil-ius, 
 
 This fecond date probably indicates the epocha of 
 the firft depofition of the volume in the King’s li- 
 brary ; for, with reipe6t to the finifhing of the work 
 by Cafaubon, it is evidently ftated by the title, and 
 by the note that ftands at the bottom of page 96 ; 
 ahjolvit IJaacus CaJaubonuSy 5°. Kal-endas mart-iiy 1610. 
 
 This laft note, which is clearly of the fame hand, 
 as the title, the Greek text, and the interlineary 
 tranflation, and a part of the notes and marginal 
 corredlions, feems to announce, that all the parts of 
 the volume have been written by Cafaubon’s own 
 hand ; at leaft the marginal corredions, which are 
 of the fame hand as the text, are accompanied by 
 thefe words : esc mendatione IJaaci Cajauboniy or only 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 371 
 
 MX IJaacQ Cajaubono. However, this diverfity of ex- 
 preflions induces me to believe, that it is not Cafaubon 
 himf€lf,who is thus defcribedi this feems to me ftill 
 more decided by the note on the verfe 1 1 94, where 
 indicating the fubftitution to be made to pn/tiXargVw 
 inftead of a corre6tion adopted fince by 
 
 the critics, we fee this expreflion : ^my^ocri(Tin mdius 
 in dativoy ex If. Cajauhono; fro^rium eji canum a 
 nomine pYi/. Befides, what ufe is that continual re- 
 petition, after having once put his name at the head 
 of the work ? But what determines me in this opi- 
 nion, is, that feveral of thefe corredions, cited in 
 the margin, as belonging to Cafaubon, are found in 
 anterior editions, as thofe of Rebortel in 1552, and 
 of Canterey, in 1580. Now, it is not probable, 
 that Cafaubon was not ignorant of the firft; he who 
 wrote the notes was certainly known of the fecond, 
 fince it is fometimes cited at the margin by the fame 
 hand, and in the fame manner : ex emendatlone Canteri ; 
 and it impoffible to believe, that fuch a man as Ca- 
 faubon fhould have been tempted to afcribe to hiin- 
 felf, another's produdion. I am then of opinion, 
 that this volume is only a fair copy of the manu- 
 fcript of Cafaubon, by fome one, who not having 
 before him all the editions of Efchylus, has afcribed 
 to Cafaubon all the conjedures, he did not recoiled 
 having feen in anterior editions* But to thefe mar- 
 ginal notes are added, or fcattered in different places 
 of the page, or on flieets inferted between thofe that 
 originally compofed the volume, other more cir- 
 cumftantial notes, with more recent ink, and which 
 I take to be written by the fame hand, that wrote at 
 
572 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 tlie bottom of the frontiipiece, Jac-obi Puteani Cl-audii 
 fil-ii \ and as the fmall note informs us, that thefe 
 words are of the hand of Jacques Pitou himfelf; it 
 follows, that more modern obfervations belong to 
 this learned man. A fmall note at the top of the 
 frontifpiece, declares that the volume contains 109 
 fheets ^ we have counted them, and have found 
 no of different fizes, which makes in all 220 pages. 
 The cyphers that Hand at the tops of the pages, do 
 not follow in an uniform fucceflion. The numbers 
 fucceed de re 5 fo in re 5 i 0 y without regard to the back^ 
 in this manner i, 2, 3 ; and then to fuppofe an in- 
 terlineary cypher on the backy as 3, 5, 7, &c. which 
 may be remarked in fever al places in the volume. 
 There are alfo fome tranfpofitions of pages; but the 
 fucceffion of the diredlions, and the references indi- 
 cated by tranfpofed pages, leave no room to fuppofe 
 any blanks. 
 
 The name I have juft mentioned, may be fufH- 
 cient not to exped from me any kind of general cri- 
 ticiflm on the merit of this work, which appears under 
 luch refpedlable aufpices. 
 
 I fhall confine myfelf to giving an account of a 
 great number of articles, oi) which I fhall deliver 
 my opinion, becaufe I think it an obligation, obferv- 
 ing, that feveral remarks, v/hich at that time have 
 been good, neceffary or curious, are deemed at this 
 time, ufelefs, infufficient, or trivial, becaufe we 
 have the advantage of two centuries more, and what 
 is much better^ the combined aififtance of a great 
 number of cri ticks. 
 
 At 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 375 
 
 - At verfe 87, our editions have : dyteXiac; ttsi^oT 
 
 TTi^iTTiiATrloc. Bvo<TyAVB7q j cujus nuncii JuaJu hue illuc mi£a 
 Jacm peragis ! In the margin of our manufciipt, 
 we read Tf'j^oiy and in the note, graviter errant qui 
 TTH^o'i legunt. It feems to me not doubtful, that 
 'TTuS-or might be perfedly well read, eujus nuncii au-* 
 ditu, that is to fay, quo nuncio audito ; but the other 
 gives an exact fenfe, and I would even add, that 
 wiiS-oT expreiTes what the learned critics with, by far 
 better than ttv^oT: for this fignihes but quo nuncio 
 audito, and the other quo nuncio credito* And the 
 chorus does not believe undoubtedly, that Clytem- 
 neftra fhould have ordered facrifices for good or bad 
 news indiferiminately, to which fne would not have 
 given fufneient confidence for engaging in fo fignai a 
 refolution; 
 
 In our editions we read^ at verfe 102 and xo?, 
 
 iATTi,* (poovTi^' dyrKrifOVy 
 
 TVU BufJl.O^OCOV XVTTTig (ppil/CC, 
 
 . 6'pes propuljat cur am immenjam, Jemetipfam exedentem 
 pr^ mcerore animam. The fcholiaft, on the contrarv, 
 pretends, that we fhould tranflate confumptricem animi 
 triftitiam, AuV?!? being, according to him, an hy- 
 pallagy for AuVtii/ (ppsu^g ; and in the margin of the 
 manufeript ^ye readj hypallage dura ^ plane ^Jchyliq 
 vel legendum, auV^d/ (p^si^og ; Jed tamen nihil volo mutare, 
 Thefe pretended grammatical figures, which Paw 
 calls halhutiem meram^ were much in vogue among 
 the fcholiafts ; it is not furprifing, it in learning their 
 language, the greatefl men have been feduced by 
 their authority. They have not even yet ioft all 
 their credit by thofe who believe, that Aurwf AuV^i^aai, 
 VoL. I, 2 F 
 
 at 
 
3s6 manuscript of ESCHYLUa. 
 at verfe 563, of the Trachienn^e of Sophocles, 
 nlhes doloris remedium, as if there was Kv 7 ri^iJ.oiro;^ I 
 who believe, that j KvTv^toif fignifies qua 
 
 ratione haheo dolor em Janahile'm \ as well as 
 iKgVni/ <rwT?f^K3i/, at verfe 500 of the QEdipus to Colonna, 
 fignifies recipere Jupplicem Jalvandum, and who can- 
 not make ufe of thefe pompous words hypallagy and 
 anacolouthy, think, for my part, that thefe yerfes arc> 
 very exact, as to the conftrudtion j and if the meafurc 
 of anapeft verfes does not permit the words, in the 
 order in which we read them, as I believe, it is eafy to 
 remedy it, by reading ^vi^oQo^ov (ppivx Autth? ; for thefe 
 tranfpofitions of words are fo common in the ma- 
 nufcripts, that a like mutation fhould not be looked 
 upon as an infringement of the text. AvTrng is here,, 
 as in many other places, tragic authors, without pre- 
 pofition ; it is an elypfis too frequent, to entertain 
 any difficulty about it. 
 
 It is by a like hypallagy that our learned critic 
 explains, in a peculiar fenfe, verfe 155, and, follow- 
 ing: 
 
 IriccKv, a]/o^ov Tiv, a^ccirovy, 
 
 yayjccv TEXTOva (rvf/.(p'orov» 
 
 Thefe are the words of CalchaSj who, at fight 
 of the omen of the two eagles devouring the fe- 
 male of the hare, at the moment of the departure 
 of the Grecians for Ilium, fays, that he fears leafl 
 Diana fhould demand another dire facrifice, of which 
 the vidim could not be eaten, by thofc that had 
 offered it, and which might be an everlafting fource 
 of difco'rd 1 crvfj^^vrov T£HToi'« fignifies fiatus 
 
 ftmul 
 
MAN 13 SCRIPT OF ESCBfVLUS. 375, 
 
 f,mul -vivens, and confequently, adherens y or perpetuus 
 fabricator dijcordiarim y as at verfe 108, (rv{/.<pvroq diwy 
 fignifies adh^erens mihi at as ; to lay, hac mea fenebtus. 
 But the learned commentatolr underftands it other* 
 wife: It Ihould have been o-u/^jpuTwy, fays he, but 
 to conform to the riile of which we have Ipoken j 
 that is to fay, according to the rule of the hypallagy. 
 Efchylus has written vnyA'u^v tUtovoc, G^jfAipvro]/ in the 
 fame fenfe as ; and he efFedlually explains it 
 
 after this idea, fahrum dijcordiarufn concordijftraarum ; 
 that is to fay^, mtej concordljfimosy nempe Agamemnonent 
 
 Clytefftnejiram, There is, as may eafily be feen, 
 much more than the fuppofition of an hypallage in 
 this interpretation i and Iiconfefs, that'I underftand 
 very well dfcordia ccncorsy to exprefs a diverfity of 
 particular m.otions, whence an> univerfal harmony 
 refults y for it is impolTible to find a fitter exprefilon. 
 But, as for dijccrdia ccnccrrdif/imay fignifying the real 
 difcord of two beings, that have been, or Ihould be, 
 on good terms, this is a fubtilty beyond my com* 
 prehenfion. 
 
 We find again the fame idea at verfe 1207, 
 where irnf^a, Tcetyli^ is, according to the interpreter, 
 the fame thing as Tr'^fxccrog Tray^Woc. There are learned 
 now who pretend that genitives, datives, and nominal 
 tives, may be made to agree with accufatives ; plurals ' 
 with fingulars ; mafcuiines v/ith feminines ; and that 
 tenfes may be indifcriminately fubftituted to tenfes or 
 moods to moods: but the principles of the Greek 
 grammar are fo fingular, that wc muft beg leave to 
 cxpedl a demonftration. 
 
 2 F 2 
 
 On 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 37 ^ 
 
 At verfe 177, 3 -pVo?, it is (d\dy Jemper Jumltur in 
 malam partem y ^ inhonam. Though this dif- 
 
 tin( 5 t:ion has been made by celebrated grammarians, 
 and we find it employed by Plutarch ; the learned 
 M. Dam has judicioufly obferved in his di6]:ionary 
 on Homer, that this poet was a ftranger to it, and 
 that it had not been generally obferved by more mo- 
 dern writers; and this foie paffage in the fecond 
 pythic of Pindar us, will fuffice to prove it. 
 
 piOTCcri fAioc a- 
 
 TTOXSjtAWJ/, o^'sv 
 (pcc^x] X(xl o^f Tixif drii- 
 ^OVOC, ^O^OiV £vp£7v. 
 
 as he alfo anfwers to the obfervation of M. Dawes, 
 who pretends, that the verb f never fignifies 
 
 nanjcifci in the adtive, but only in the media voce, 
 Juventuti auxiliatur fortitudo in gravlhus hellisy unde 
 te offer Oy immenjam gloriam na5ium effe. It is plain, 
 that in this eulogium of Hiero, there is no mention 
 either of rafhnefs nor infolence. So we find likewife 
 3 'paa-of, at verfe 81 1 of the fame tragedy, made ufe of 
 for fortitudo. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive how, at verfe 331, he un« 
 derflands that Tr^oa-ivvi'nroK; is put for £U<;. HiCy fay$ 
 he, appellari ponitur pro effe ; and yet he explains it in 
 his natural fenfe, appellaveris vel dixeris ; and the fea- 
 tence is fo clear that nobody ever miflook it. 
 
 oiv a (piXooq '^^oo’evviTroig, 
 
 Difcordantia non amiccy id efty hoftiliter dixeris. 
 
 The fame remark is found again on the word 
 at verfe 1072, audh'^Cy fays he, pro effe. It is true, all 
 verbs that fignify to underftand, to be named, are em- 
 ployed 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS 377 
 
 ployed in an acception which may fometimes be blend- 
 ed without any contrary fcnfe to that of the verb to be : 
 x»Xi 7 toc,i Jio? fpeaking of Pyrrhus, may be 
 
 rendered without any inconvenience by ^lius ejl Achil- 
 Us, But, as there is a fenfible difference in Latin be- 
 tween audit homsy and bonus eft^ becaufe one may en- 
 joy the reputation of a good man, without being fo 
 fo in Greek, thefe expreffions convey always a diffe- 
 rent fignification, unlefs they are conne6led by the 
 faft itfelf; and in this phrale fxxivsrcd y£ y,a,] nocam xXva 
 (ppBi/uu : Injanit certe-y ^ pravcs menti obtemperatj it feems 
 impoffible to be miflaken; and the learned interpre- 
 tor has not deceived himfelf in this interlineary inter- 
 pretation. 
 
 The remark which we fee at verfe 369, we find 
 in Pollux, in the mafculine, inflead of 
 
 <yocy[xy.ou in the neuter, deferves fome attention, 
 though it be grounded on bad editions, as I think 
 with fever al learned men. Moreover, it is not to 
 be found in Pollux, but in the Large Etymologicum, 
 And if the author w^ould have ftopt there, it would be 
 a piece of erudition, as there are feveral in thofe 
 notes, which I avoid relating, becaufe what the learn- 
 ed were ignorant of in thofe times, thanks to the 
 labours of modern critics, people now know a long 
 while before they pretend to learning. But he adds, 
 it might then be read here yayfa/Aoi/a, inflead of 
 yayfa/xoi/, which will not do. 
 
 (/.eyoc 
 
 yoiy[(xy/ov arri? ■7r(x,va,X(CTii, 
 
 Magnum Jervitutis retOy calamitatis omnes capientis. 
 f/Aysc an adjedive neuter, agrees very well with yxyfGcpt.ov 
 ^ 2 F 3 but 
 
S7S MANUSCRIPT OR ESCHYtUS. 
 
 but it cannot agree with mafculine and 
 
 the difficulty would not be removed in ruppofing 
 we could alfo read fj-iyotvy becaufe [xiyos, hXiiocq is aa 
 anapeft verfe, as all others of thele pieces, and the 
 meafure would be broken by (j^iyav, Wernuft there- 
 fore regard this addition as an inadvertency of the 
 learned. Let us add, that this obfervation would 
 deftroy the authority borrowed from Pollux, becaufe 
 the paffiage where he pretends to find in 
 
 this lexicon is precifeiy this 3 where, becaufe of the 
 word arwe, which follows yayfay^oi/j fome copiefts have 
 written ya^ylcL^gvot. ri]?. Others aVuj, But the 
 
 paflage of Efehylus, taken in the whole, decides the 
 queftion, and gives even room to believe, that in the 
 great Etymologicum, it might eafily be an error^ the 
 original of which would be owing to the rnanufeript 
 of Pollux,^ 
 
 Pie has been more fuccefsful in the note on verfe 
 290, where he informs us that Euftathius and Suidas 
 read uyUpa Try^d?, inftead of cdyhAa, which our editions 
 prefent. it is true, that at the time of this expedi^ 
 rion the Pei fiaa word was not yet in yfe among 
 
 the Greeks, who had not yet an intercourfe with 
 Afia> So the ufe of this word in the mouth of 
 Ciytsmneflra, is an anticipation that might be cen- 
 fured as an anachronifm, 5 but expreffion being lefs 
 common, appears more agreeable to the tafte of 
 Efehylus ; and the opinions of Euftathius, Suidas, 
 and the great Elymolgin, united together, are here of 
 lefs authority than the rnanufeript. 
 
 I do not comprehend how, at verfe 333, he under- 
 {lands, that fignifies both a viSory and de^ 
 
 feat. 
 
379 
 
 MANUSCRIPTS OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 xa) rxt xal xpccTna-acuTCL'i/ 
 
 fOoyfaf dxo'jnv iTTfl o-u/x^opa? 
 
 ' Et captorum & Vincent ium contrarjas voces audire licet ^ 
 propter duplicem eventum. Hoc verhum, fays the com- 
 mentator, hic medium eji ; nam fignificat duplicem even- 
 tum ^ calamitatem eorum qui vi 5 li Junt^ & felicitatem 
 corum qui vicerunt. Firft, hic is a fault , it does not ftand 
 in this paflage, when by itfelf is every where 
 
 a general exprefllon, which fignifies happinefs or mlf- 
 fortune, according to circumftances. There are re- 
 lated in the notes of Sophocles feveral paffages, where 
 alone, without an adjedive, fignifies, at one 
 time, profperity, at another, a misfortune. Secondly, 
 in thofe verfes, the idea of a double event belongs 
 not to but properly to 
 
 . There are fome more important errors he may be 
 charged with j but which are involved in the fubtilty 
 of the ancient grammarians, who expounded all they 
 did not comprehend, by appellations of unaccountable 
 figures, or fuppofitions of poetical licences. Does 
 not Euflathius fay, in his Commentary on Homer, 
 fometimes it is a folecifm, but it gives elevation to 
 the fentence ; fometimes it is an error in quantity, but 
 that the merit of the verfe lays in it ? Does not he 
 even extol it and Madame Dacier after him.' Has 
 fhe not praifed this pretended ambiguity of expreflion 
 as an effort of genius, in this verfe of the fourth book 
 of the Iliad? which is however very plain. 
 
 Cq d£ X aVYlp CCTTO OOU £TSp iiiflTiXty 
 
 if ^£i 306. 
 
 F f 4 
 
 From 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESGHYLUS. 
 
 380 
 
 From hence it follows, that the wnfeil among the 
 Greeks had given an order to fight ; in the execution 
 of which, his troops would have deftrcyed each other, 
 i lore is what we read in the margin of the manufcripf 
 at verfe 7 iq. 
 
 oV tot * ETT^pphTTfi/ 
 
 •ya,^Qco7(riv 
 
 Secundum ccmmiirtem loquendl formam ofcrtuijjet pone.re 
 ck ; Aljchylusoq ponere vcluit licentid foeilcd. Tliere is 
 however no poetical licence taken in this fentence. Hyy^ 
 menceus, quern mcuhuit cognatis canerey or qui ccgnatis iur. 
 ciihuit cahiy di e iurms equally regular in all languages. 
 It is good to do that, or that is good to be done. 1 vrould 
 afk on which fide the poetical licence lies ? I'he in- 
 finitive by the Greeks, as vrell as in our language j and 
 as the gei LUxd, and aifo often the infiniti ve, in the Latin 
 language, ate continually taken in an adive or paffive 
 figiiification, only more fi^equently by the Greeks. 
 T. he poets, the writers in prbfe, and particularly 
 Thucydides, furnifh 14s with innumerable examples. 
 
 That is aifo a very common fentence, of w^hich wp 
 find an example at verfe 1380, 
 
 slddcct xvp'duS'* j and It is per- 
 fectly rendered by an interlineary verfion : uf 
 cue Atridem JclamuSy habentcm Je quomodoy id efty quomodo 
 Je haheat, vVhat fignifies then that note : participiuni 
 pro verbcj pro sled a, ^ xuphg and the addition of another 
 hand, but inherent to the firft propofition : ottc^ aiitem 
 hie alleno loco pofitum eft ; unlefs the authors of thele 
 obfervations have not attained the meaning of the 
 fentence, they are giving an account of. 
 
 . It is the fame wijrh the remark on verfe 1418,: 
 here is the verfe of Efchyius. 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 fTi w yxvx^ ^9ovor^£!pU 
 
 i^xuoif S TTOTOV 7ra<ra/A£i/a, pucrsts* 
 
 £0 aAo? o^6[/.£Vou, 
 
 And here is the remark : deefi i metri caujd ; mm 
 fDportehat ^ fed metri caujd omtjfum eft illud 
 
 But fuppofe firfl, that this particle was necefiary, what 
 difi'erence would it be to Efchylns, to write ? aAo?, 
 as they write rii ’vo/a, infcead of ri? dvot^y lyd \iyoo, for 
 iyd d?Jyco : and how can they conceive that a Greek 
 fhould ever have been at a lofs for the metre of a 
 vei fe ? But the fad is, that it here is unnecelTary, 
 and would only deftroy the fenfe : quodnam venerium^ 
 0 muUery a terra nutritumy ejculentum vel poculentumr 
 hauriensy a rugcjo mart prolatum. The author of thefe 
 remarks thought that the diftribution might thus be 
 formed, ejculentumy vel poadentumy vel a marl prolatum. 
 This is not a confequence, yfovo'v anfwers to pucraf 
 £? aAo? opc^asK/j/, terra nutritumy a mart prolatumy and fo 
 \^(xvlv to TTOT&i/ j a comma muft then be put after 
 p^OokOTOfipk, and read as in a parenthefis, I^olvIv ^ 
 7 roc'ra,fA£i/xy and the fentence will fignify, quonam venenoy 
 muliery terrenoy marinoy ejculento vel poculento ajjumpto. 
 
 Let us conclude what we have to fay on' thefe re- 
 marks with an obfervation, not of grammar, but of 
 tafte, and which feems to belong to Cafaubon, be- 
 caufe it is of the firfl hand. It is about the dif- 
 courfe of Clytemneftra, in receiving Agamemnon, 
 which begins at verfe 865, and end at verfe 922; 
 The remark is the following: Videtur in hdc parte 
 par urn decorum Jervaffe MJchyluSy cum tarn frigide Cly- 
 temneftra Agamemnonem maritum excipiat, Efchylus 
 fhought otherwife, fince he has taken the precaution 
 
382 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 to make Clytemneftra excufe the warmth with which 
 file exprefles her love. In fad, what can fiie fay 
 more ? Her eyes are exhaufted with tears, of which 
 the fight of her hulband dry up ; evil dreams have 
 unceafingly difturbed her : when opprefied by fatigud 
 (he yields to fleep j the buz of a gnat was fufficient 
 to awake her ; defpair has often made her attempt her 
 life, to put an end to her grief, and often have her 
 female attendants untied the knots Ihe had preffed 
 about her neck. She adds to thele exprefiions, cares 
 and honours, which Agamemnon himfelf finds excef- 
 five. This is enough, I believe, to anfwer the remark 
 of the learned critic. 
 
 If then obfervations do not give a very favourable 
 opinion of thefe notes, that is by no means appli^ 
 cable to the conjedures, by which the learned critic 
 has attempted to corred the text of the tragedy. 
 They are very numerous, for there never was a text 
 worfe treated ; and if they are not always neceflary, 
 if they are not always in the altered paflages fo ne- 
 eflary as we could wifh, they are always damped 
 with tho^haraders of erudition, tafte, and fagacity : 
 fo that if the name of the author did iiot Hand at 
 the head of the work, it feems impofiible to place any 
 other but that of the excellent Cafaubon. There is 
 more than one or two where it might be faid, qmndoque 
 ionus dormitat Homer us. Of this kind, for inftance, is^ 
 the fubftitution of inftead of in thofe verfes.- 
 
 c- / \ 
 
 ^vy,(p^ovo(> TOt^yot^v 
 
 rrsy.’UTV} ...... 
 
 ^^0; opvig, V, 109,' df feq. 
 
MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 381 
 
 ^lomodo Achivorum duos regesy Greed a florem^ 
 Concordes duces mijerit ales rapidus. 
 
 Jc feems plain, that would fay no more 
 
 than the word which precedes it, would have 
 
 amply expreiTed ; whereas E*AAaJ'o? UCay, is the eulo- 
 gium of Agamemnon and Menelaus, who is called 
 ^he flower of Greece, as the fcholiaft of Ariftophanes 
 faid, dx/xvi/ TTvu vioTY\Ta.. Ariftophanes, in his comedy 
 of the Frogs, cauflng Euripides to cite fev^ral verfes 
 drawn from that piece of Efehylus, reads eVa^^©? 
 and that is fufficient to decide the queftion. It is 
 not to be fuppofed that the manuferipts of Efehylus 
 Ihould be altered in his own time : the explication of 
 his fcholidft proves the contrary. I only obferve, 
 that Stanley is miftaken, when he fays, that he feems 
 to have read inftead of i for this fentence, 
 
 TVJ vtorriToty fignifies that the word literally 
 
 tranflated by vdrriqy is taken metaphorically, in the 
 fenfe of juventus perroyflos. 
 
 Whatever Paw may fay, who feems to: be deter- 
 mined not to approve of any thing, not even the moft 
 fnrewd ideas, unlefs they are his own, we cannot 
 avoid applauding the fagacity of the critic, when in 
 this phrafe : 
 
 TTCcp^sviB ppy^ 
 
 Tr£topywf 
 
 Ts/xif. 
 
 We fee coming from his pen l7rir0tviJ.iT 
 Virglneum Jarigumem cupity 
 VehementiJJime appetit Diana, 
 
 For befides, the text of our editions is abfolutely 
 without meaning: it is not Themis^ who has never 
 
 demanded 
 
3S4 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 demanded the blood of Iphigenia, but certainly Ar- 
 temis or Diana Stanley has ventured the fame con- 
 jeflure in his notes. 
 
 We cannot pretend to determine on all the cor- 
 redlionsj which the margin of our manufcript holds 
 out in the different parts of the chorus, which fpeaks 
 from verfe 359 to verfe ^97, They are too nume- 
 rous, and the text too prolix to enable us to give 
 a precife idea of them. It would be requifite befides 
 to fee how he expounds every detail, and to make 
 the particular comparifon with the whole. It is 
 enough to fay, that a great number of thefe conjec- 
 tures have been fince fupported by different critics. 
 The glory of Cafaubon will be to have found the. 
 firfl, if he did not even open the way to thofe that 
 came after him. Stanley, in the preface of his editi- 
 on, fpeaks of the attempts on Efchylus, which 
 Cafaubon has announced in his notes op Strabo, as 
 of a work that has not been executed, or which has, 
 been loft. We cannot fufpeft this great critic of 
 having intended by this piece of cunning to hide a 
 plagiarifm. It is true that we meet frequently in hia 
 notes, with the fame cpnjeftures we read in the ma- 
 nufcript 3 and even fome of them., where the coinci- 
 dence feems ilirprifing : fuch, for inftance, is this, at 
 verfe 1130, and following. 
 
 fOCyUVy UTB KOcl ^O^iCC TTldodl^Ot 
 
 ^vmocwtbI (Sfa ^vvTog aiiyoug, 
 
 Mr. Heath pretends to underftand them as they 
 are ; he is moft likely fingle in his opinion. But 
 without entering the lifts with him, let us be con- 
 tent 
 
MANUS CkiPT Of ESCHYLUS. 
 tent to fay, that the conjedure of Cafaubon ren- 
 ders this pafTage extremely clear: inftead of oo^U 
 TTiua-i^uocy this learned man reads J'o^l ; from 
 
 whence this meaning refults : Incurrit in cor Ji ilia pal- 
 lida y qualis in hello cadent es oculoSy deficient e vita comitaturi 
 which exprefles very well the iituation of the heart, 
 on hearing the dire oracles of Caffandra. A drop of 
 pale blood retires to my heart, producing a cold 
 moifbure, as it happens to a man wounded with a 
 lance ; when the laft drop growing cold, the eyes 
 grow dim, and life exhales. Now, I find in the notes 
 of Stanley, Ugirnus TrlccG-fi.oig. This conformity, 
 which we remark in a great number of articles, is 
 neverthelefs not fufficient to pronounce it a plagiarifm. 
 Two men like Cafaubon and Stanley, muft necefiarily 
 fometimes coincide in opinion; and if Stanley had 
 known of the manufcript of Cafaubon, he would have 
 oftener profited by it. 
 
 To judge of the merit of the conjedlure, of which 
 J am going to fpeak, we mull fee under what fornn 
 Agamemnon prefents the doom pronounced by the 
 gods againfi: Ilion, 
 
 1; ocitxotrTi^ou tbv^o; b 
 
 IhurOy 824 . 
 
 In vas fianguine plenum calculcs immifierunt : 
 
 This word does not prefent to me either the 
 
 idea, or form of conftrudliion, that fully fatisfies mie. 
 Cafaubon fubftitutes yjdxoqy fipes autem alteri vaficulo 
 fie admovehaty labia non implenti. This comparifon 
 of the vain hopes of the Trojans and their unavail- 
 
 in-f? 
 
3^5 MANUSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS. 
 
 ing efforts ; with a thirfty man, who put his lips to^ 
 ward a veiTel, without being able to quench his 
 thiidl, feems to me a mail elegant image : we find it 
 likewife in the notes of Stanley. Paw prefers 
 vidua. But I cannot fee what the meaning of wi- 
 dowed hope is, approaching to a veffel that is not fil- 
 led ; and I verily believe, that if fome other perfonr 
 had not rifked the conjedure of Paw would 
 
 not have failed to prefer it. 
 
 At verfe 636, the fubflitution of f'p/Oo?, for 
 feems to me very judicious : it is not to be foundr 
 in Stanley, but at verfe iiio. It does not feem to 
 me fo well placed, and Stanley gives it in his notes ; 
 which confirms, I believe, what I have faid, that he 
 does not appear to have known the manufcript of 
 Cafaubon. 
 
 In the firfl paffage xon/h tempejias 
 
 cdiofa pernicies exercituSy is, I believe, better than the 
 reading of our editions. The author of the 
 
 notes cites the authority of Hefyehius, reading in that 
 paffage xotvov ^x^og^ and explaining tx^og for ncc^ov peftisy 
 which would be of a great weight ; but I have not 
 been able to verify it, becaufe of the citations not 
 being accompanied with any note. 
 
 At verfe iiio, on the contrary, 
 rl ToJ'f yioy dy^og 
 
 iy J'o/xoKTt roTg^s [jJMtoh Kizroy 
 d(pspToy ; 
 
 ^amnam novam hanc calamitatemy magnanty magnoinr 
 domibus hijee perniciem meditatuTy intolerandam ! The 
 epithet d(pBprovy which properly fignifies an infuppor- 
 table weight, perfeftly uniform, the pidure prefented 
 
 by 
 
MANUSCRIPT* OF ESCHYLUS. 387 
 
 by which properly fignifies a weight, though it 
 
 defigns figuratively all kind of adverfity and grief i 
 and this analogy protedls the common reading. 
 
 Let us conclude with an extract, which gives at 
 once the idea of what is to be done by the critics on 
 this piece ; from what Cafaubon has done, and of the 
 fuccefs which may be hoped for by following his 
 fteps. 
 
 After the fcene of the interview between Agamem- 
 non and Clytemneftra, and their withdrawing from 
 the theatre, the chorus remains ftruck with fadneik 
 and terror ; for which it cannpt account, and exprelTes 
 itfelf as follows. - ' 
 
 TiTT/g fAOl TOO ifATTiOug 
 
 h7yfji.oo 7r^0fcx,r^^iov 
 xccpilxg TroTurxi ; 
 
 jUavTiTToATt dyAXsvfo<; 
 uixigo; doi^a, 
 
 aTroTrluera? J'txxk 
 
 9xp(ro^ guTTiOe? 
 
 ^pEpo^ ^(Xov B’^ovop, 
 
 ' in this fentence, not mentioning the reft, we find 
 the mafculine, feminine, and neuter, agreeing to- 
 gether, as well as they can ; for they may always 
 do fo by the help of the hypallages, of the anaco- 
 louthies, and other the like figures ; but thofe who 
 do not underftand that myfterious language, are 
 without hope of ever comprehending fuch verfes, 
 which are only expounded by riddles. Cafaubon 
 fliall be their CEdipus 5 he reads ; 
 
 rtTrls 
 
jgs MANRSCRIPT OF ESCHYLUS.' 
 
 TiTrJs jW. 0 * roJ' ffxTTiJ'co^ 1 
 
 zT^Qfo.rv^tov , 
 
 ri^acTKo'uj'H Trorxroci ;• 
 
 ^.ccvriTToXH J'’ dyJXsvfou 
 c^ju.ifS’oW dciJ'uu^ 
 stf cc7ro7rlv<rc>iu aiycixv 
 ^virn^ircov ouei^drcc^ 
 
 ^ocp(To; lUTTirxnq 
 ^pivog (ptXov d’^ouoVd 
 
 ^are ergo fnihi conjianter terror adhcerenSi anmum 
 frcejagum circumvolitaty canenSy quafi vates injujfusy car^ 
 men nullo fretio remunerandum y nec repellensy ut Jomnta 
 non facile judicanday fidticia cert a mentis tronum inftdetl 
 Certainly nothing can be clearer, nor better con- 
 necled ^ every word is applicable to the matter, all 
 ai*e in their places; and if thefe conjedures were 
 variations, found in a manufcript, we fliould not 
 hefitate to adopt them ; and the manufcript that fhould 
 have furnifhed them, would be looked upon as a pre- 
 cious treafure* They have not fuch authority, and 
 it is for this reafon that I have contented myfelf with 
 relating only a few ; but I trull they will have 
 merit in the eyes of tile learned ; and I think, that if 
 the nature of this work does not permit us to fpare^ 
 them the trouble of reading it^ there will not be one, 
 who, after having read it, that will not 6nd his hours-, 
 well employed, and return from the reading with a 
 greater idea of the talents and erudition of its ex- 
 cellent author. 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
ACCOUNT 
 
 OF AN 
 
 Autographical Chronicle 
 
 o f 
 
 BERNARD ITERIUS, 
 
 Librarian to the Abbey of Saint Martial of Li- 
 moges, in the Thirteenth Century. 
 
 Numbered 1338, amongft the Latin Manufcripts in the 
 King’s Library. 
 
 By M. de Brec^igny. 
 
 ''T^HIS manufcript in vellum^ contains two 
 hundred and fixty-two leaves in quarto. It 
 is one of the manufcripts of the library of the 
 abbd^ of Saint Martial of Limoges, and came 
 into the pofTeflion of the king in 1730, with the 
 other manufcripts of that library* The volume 
 contains two works of different kinds, and writ- 
 ten in different ages : the firfl, is a colle6i:ion of 
 hymns or their tunes, in the writing of the eleventh 
 century j the mufic is noted by the figns then in 
 ufe j that is, by points, whofe pofition being more 
 or lefs elevated, marked the degree of raifing 
 or lowering the voice, but without precifion or 
 diftindtion of meafure. This work, purely litur- 
 Vol. I. G gic. 
 
3^0 AUTOGRAPHICAL CPIRONICLE OF 
 gicj takes up a hundred and forty-three leaves. 
 It is followed by a treatife on logic, in the 
 writing of the twelfth century, which occupies 
 the reft of the manufcript, except, that on the 
 back of the 139th leaf, there is a lift of lucky and 
 unlucky days, and the 140 and 141 leaves, con- 
 tain, a fnnall colledtion of enigmas, with their ex- 
 planation. Thefe are both in the writing of the 
 eleventh century. 
 
 But the hiftorical and chronological notes, with 
 which the margins and the two laft leaves are 
 filled, form the moft interefting part of the manu- 
 Icript. They are written by Bernard Iterius, who 
 was librarian to the abbey of St. Martial of Li- 
 moges, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, 
 and two of his fucceiTors. By collecting thefe 
 notes, which are fcattered and witjiOuc order, we 
 obtain a chronicle, extending from the creation 
 pf the world, to the year 1297 of the Chriftian 
 jera ; but which is not equally full of events 
 throughout. , . . 
 
 .Of this chronicle, I purpofe to give a more 
 circumftantial account, as it may ftill be con- 
 fide red as an anecdote, Indeed, the authors of the 
 twelfth volume of the collection of French hif- 
 torians have pubiifh^d«a fragment of it; but it 
 does not contain one p^ge, and they made ufe of 
 an imperfedt and inaccurate copy. I think it 
 may be ufeful therefore to give an exact account 
 of the autographical copy, with , which they were 
 unacquainted, as it may be of fervice to their 
 
 conti- 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. 391 
 
 continuators, either for correding the part that 
 has been publiflied, or giving the fequel corredlly. 
 
 In^this chronicle, three different parts may be 
 diftinguilhed. iff. The chronicle of Bernard 
 Iterius, containing the events that paffed in his 
 time, and which he wrote as they occurred : 2dly. 
 A fupplement, for the time preceding, going back 
 as far as Adam : 3 dly, The continuation by two 
 religious of .St. Martial, w^ho fucceeded Iterius 
 in his office of librarian. . 
 
 To thofe who are accuftomed to examine ma- 
 nufcripts of the middle age, it is known, that in 
 the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it was not 
 uncommon to fill the margins of manufcripts, 
 that were confidered as of little importance, with 
 notes entirely foreign to the fubjedl of the manu- 
 fcripts. Bernard Iterius, in more inftances than 
 one, followed this pra6lice. I fhall have occa- 
 fion to fpeak of feven or eight manufcripts of the 
 library under his care, in which are found fcat- 
 tered notes in his hand- writing, in the margins, 
 or on the leaves at the beginning or end of the 
 manufeript. He even wrote the catalogue of the 
 library of his abbey, in the margins of a book of 
 anthems of the eleventh century, of which, I fhall 
 alfo fay fomething. But to return to the chro- 
 nicle in queftion. 
 
 The lefs interefting is the matter we are to 
 expe6t from the refearches I am about to make, 
 the more requifite are perfpicuity and order. I 
 (hail therefore lay down the method I purpofe 
 to follow. I flaall prove firft, that the two firfr 
 
 G 2 parts 
 
AUTOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF 
 
 39 ^ 
 
 parts of this chronicle, are by Bernard Iterius, 
 librarian of the abbey of St. Martial : 2dly. That 
 in the manufcript I am examining, they are writ- 
 ten in his own hand: jdly. I fhall collect what 
 information I can, concerning Iterius himfelf, and, 
 his other writings : 4thly. I fhall give an account 
 of the two continuations that form the third part 
 of the chronicle, comprifed in this manufcript : 
 5thly. I fhall give fome examples of the utility 
 of this chronicle: 6thly. I fhall fpeak of the 
 manufcript copies that have been made of it; and 
 I fhall fhew the inaccuracy of that of Don Ef- 
 tiennot, the only one which 'the editors of the 
 twelfth volume of the French hiftorians had for 
 their guide, by publifhing the fragment they took 
 from it. 
 
 I. The author of the chronicle here mentioned, 
 tells us his name : he has compiled, he fays, by 
 Bernard Iterius, who was afterwards librarian^. In 
 another place, he fpeaks in the firft perfon, and 
 fays, that the office of librarian was beftowed on 
 him, in 1 204 : injulfum eft mihi officium armariatus. 
 It is probable, that it was at this period he began 
 to write his chronographical notes on one of th^ 
 manufcripts in his care. It is likely he had no 
 other view at firft, than to preferve the remem-. 
 
 * Bernaraus Iterii, armanius pojla fa^us, qui hanc chronicam 
 Fol. manufc. 163, refto; he is cominoiily called 
 Bernardus Iterius, but he calls himfelf, Bernardus Iterii, This 
 name, being in the genitive cafe, undoubtedly implies that it 
 was a family name, the name of his anceftors. We lhouI 4 
 call him in French, Bernard d'ltkr. 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. / 393 
 
 'brancc of thofe occurrences, fince the eleventli 
 century that feemed to him the moft interefting : 
 but the work increahng inlenfibly, he formed the 
 projed of compleating the chronicle, by carrying 
 it back to the remoteft times. In fad, he began 
 to write at foL 9, re5fo pf the manufcript, com- 
 mencing from the year 1007, and continued in 
 this manner to his own time, always on the right 
 fide of the leaf. Then going back, he fet down 
 on the other fide of the fame leaves, the principal 
 events that took place from the creation to the 
 end of the tenth century of the Chriftian a?ra. 
 This is the chief caufe of the apparent irregu- 
 larity of his chronological notes, from one end to 
 the other. 
 
 From the moment in which he began to fill 
 the pnargins of this manufcript with thefe notes, 
 even to the eiid pf his life, he continued to fet down 
 occurrences at the time ip which they took place. 
 Thus, in givipg a lift of the preachers he had 
 heard for thirty- three years, he fays, that he wrote 
 it after the end of the year 1210 : hoc jeripft anno 
 gratlce 1210 jani terminato. In another place, he 
 remarks that he wrote in the rnonth of May, 
 1213, feyeral events of that date. This coinci- 
 dence of time, is worth pbferving : it gives the 
 greater certainty to the dates, and induces us to 
 put more confidence in the fads he relates. 
 
 The irregularity alone of the articles of this 
 chronicle, written thus at different periods, and 
 fcattered as it were by chance, is a fufticient indi- 
 G j cation 
 
59i AUTOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF 
 cation of its being the original. Is it his own 
 hand-writing ? Of this we cannot doubt. Ite- 
 rius’s hand-writing is known to us by means of 
 another of the king's manufcripts, which alfo be- 
 longed to the abbey of St. Martial de Limoges : 
 it is an hymn-book of the eleventh century, with 
 the chant noted by the marks then in ufe. 
 
 Bernard Iterius, tells us in the firfl page, that, 
 being librarian to the abbey of St. Martial, he 
 thought proper to employ this manufcript, which 
 was of no ufe, for the purpofe of writing a cata- 
 logue of the library of the abbey, in order to 
 render the book ufefuk Hec eft noftrorum defcripio 
 fa5ia lihronm^ Bernardus Iterii; hujus loci armarius 
 in hoc volumine ideo intitulavity quia liber ifte inu- 
 tilis eft- ad legendum, & ftc non erit inutilis. 
 
 In fad, the catalogue of thefe books is in the 
 margins of this manufcript, It perhaps would 
 deferve to be publiflied, with notes that might be 
 curious ; but I confider it here only as a piece to 
 be compared for the purpofe of afcertaining the 
 hand of Iterius in the chronicle, which is the ob- 
 jed of this account. The lines I have quoted, 
 and the whole catalogue that follows them, are 
 evidently in the fame hand: this chronicle, there- 
 fore, is the autograph chronicle of Iterius. 
 
 Ill, We are now to colled fome information 
 refpeding his perfon and works. This we fhall 
 the more willingly do, as his name is barely rhen- 
 tioned by a few writers, and his writings are ftill 
 lefs known. His family name was Iterius. His 
 
 father 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. 
 
 395 
 
 father was called Peter Iterius* : he died in 1 188. 
 In that century, there were feveral perfons of 
 confidcrable rank in the church of the name of 
 Iteriusj amongft others, a bifhop of Laon; but 
 I know not if he were of the fame family, as the 
 perfon of whom we are fpeaking of. This, at 
 leaft, is certain, that the family of the latter was 
 not deftitute of property : in 1 206, one of his 
 brothers bought a vineyard, and a wine-prefs that 
 coil him ten thoufand fous : a pretty large fum at 
 •that time. 
 
 The chronicle of Bernard Iterius informs us, that 
 he was born in 1 1635 that at the age of 14 he be- 
 came a religious in the abbey of St. Martial of Li- 
 moges, where he was admitted into the number of 
 young ftudentsf : that he went to Portiers in 1 1 86, 
 and fpent there more than three years J. He was 
 ordained deacon atBourges in 1185^ took priefts 
 orders in 1189, and was appointed treafurer of 
 -the abbey of St. Martial the fame year, which 
 place he held three years and three months. He 
 does not forget to obferve that during that time 
 he caufed a clock to be made for the abbey, and a 
 
 • Or, Petrus Iterii, fol. 188, of the king’s manufcript. 
 Sec the note to page 392, on this name being ufed in the 
 genitive. 
 
 t In monachum receptus ftth puer fcholarh, Fol, MS, 177, 
 reao. The abbey of St. Martial is of the order of Benedict 
 tines. 
 
 t Three years, four months and an half. U./oL MS, i86, 
 relto, 
 
 G4 
 
 handfome 
 
39^ AUTOGRAPHICAt CHRONICLE OF 
 
 handfome golden crucifix, for the fervice of good 
 Friday. 
 
 He became fub-librarian in 1195, and librarian 
 in 1204: he was made prior of Tharn the fame 
 year, being the third prior. In fa6t the priory of 
 Tharn was founded but two years before, and the 
 priors were annual. He made feveral journies 
 the following years: in 1208 he went to Clunz, to 
 Clermont, &:c. and on his return was taken dan- 
 geroufly ill. In 1 2 1 6 he made another journey to 
 Poitiers.* Careful to inform us of the minuteft 
 circumftances concerning himfelf, he mentions the 
 folemn maffes he chanted the fermons he preached, 
 and the ornaments he caufed to be made for the 
 church. He was not willing that we fhould even 
 be ignorant of his having inftituted a practice of 
 devotion, in 1214, which confided in reciting a 
 fhort prayer to the virgin fifty times a day. This 
 prayer he gives us. 
 
 In the year i2i2, he fpeaks of two of his bro- 
 thers, Audierius and Elks, who were both married. 
 Their two wives were brought to bed within four- 
 teen days of each other, both of twins : but the 
 two children pf the youngeft died the day after 
 they were baptized. 
 
 iterius himfelf died the 25th of January 1224-5, 
 after having continued his chronicle to the conquefl 
 pf Aquitaine hy Louis Wll, in 1224, 
 
 * Don Efli^nnot, in the extracts he has given of the chroni- 
 cle of Iterius, fays Perigueux: this is wrong. I kail Ipeak of 
 thefe extrads of Don Eftiennot farther on. 
 
 expedition 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. 
 
 397 
 
 expedition which that Prince undertook, in order 
 to make himfelf mafter of it. Thofe who fucceed- 
 ed him in the office of librarian of St. Martial, 
 took care to continue this chronicle on the mar- 
 gins of the fame manufeript, in which he began to 
 write it. But before I Ipeak of his continuators, 
 I ought to notice many other of his writings lefs 
 known than his chronicle. 
 
 He had preached many fermons : I find one on 
 the fcaft of the Afcenfion among the king^s manu- 
 ffiripts marked 1813 : his chronicle mentions it in 
 the events of the year 1212. I alfo find fomc 
 writings in his hand among the king’s manuferipts 
 numbered 3719; and many appear to be fragments 
 of fermons^. Other leaves contain moral reflec- 
 tions, philofophical difeuffions after the fcholafflc 
 method, hiftorical extrads, and even verfes, 
 amongft which are an epitaph on an abbot, who is 
 not named, and a pretty long piece on the number 
 feven. Thefe pieces have been written at differ- 
 ent times, as is apparent from the difference of the 
 inks. At the bottom of the lafl: leaf is the date 
 
 ^ The king’s manuferipts, number 2037, contain alfo (fol. 
 1.) a fermon on the feaftof the Affumption, written in the hand 
 of Iterius, which has led the authors of the printed catalogue 
 of the king’s manuferipts, to fuppofe that the fermon was his. 
 But it is St. Bernard’s: this is pointed out at the head of the 
 manufeript, where we read, in an ancient hand, B. Ber- 
 nardi abbatis, I have collated this fermon with thofe of St. 
 Bernard on this feaft, and find no difference worth remarking. 
 This manufeript is fmall folio, in vellum, 1 80 leaves, the writ- 
 ing of the twelfth century. It contains chiefly different works 
 of St. Auftin. 
 
 of 
 
59S xWTOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF 
 
 of 1210, in the hand of Iterius, as is alfo what 
 precedes it: and fome pages before, wc find in 
 the fame hand, B, Iterii armarius Jcripftt h^ec omnia, 
 
 Amongft other things of little importance that 
 he has written on iome leaves of the manufcript 
 marked 5505, there are other notes on the number 
 Jeven, We find alfo a kind of genealogy of the 
 feven deadly fins, which are the children of pride, 
 and parents of all the other vices. The author 
 diftinguifhes ten principal ones, of which we are 
 to beware, in the number of which he places the 
 Ipirit of chicanery in monks. But what is more 
 conliderable is an entire office in honour of the 
 faints, Vv^hich he fays he wrote and compofed him- 
 felf, afTuring us that whoever ffiould recite it every 
 ,day, would be well recompenced 'by the faints and 
 angels. 
 
 T o give an idea of the kind and degree of know- 
 ledge Iterius polTefTed, 1 ffiall cite fome of his hif- 
 tofical extracfls and philolbphical difeuffions. 
 
 In relating the genealogy of the kings of France, 
 he goes back to Pharamondi then going down to 
 Clotarius II. he mentions, as his daughter, Blitilda, 
 who he fuppofes was married to Anfbert, father of 
 Arnaud, who had a fon Arnoiil. This latter, who 
 afterwards became biffiop of Metz, had been mar- 
 ried to Begga, daughter of Pepin, mayor of the 
 palace; by her he had Anfegifilel whofe fon was 
 Pepin, the father of Charles Martel and grandfa- 
 ther of Charlemagne. Such was the opinion ftiil 
 received, in the time of Iterius of the origin of the 
 
 fecond 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. 
 
 399 
 
 fecond race of our kings ; it had been afTerted long 
 before the as:e in which he lived, but has been re- 
 futed by modern critics. 
 
 The opinions of Iterius on natural philofophy 
 and metaphyfics were not more juft. In a frag- 
 ment, in which he examines what conftitutes the 
 truly wife man, it is, he fays, thefe three things, 
 the mind or intelled, judgment, and memory. 
 Now, according to him, thefe three faculties refide 
 in the head, for there are, he fays, three cells in the 
 brain. That which is before is the feat of the in- 
 tellecft, the middle one is that of the judgment, 
 and the third, which is behind, that of the memory. 
 Thefe aflertions he pretends to prove by inftancing 
 wounds of the head which have fometimes occa- 
 Tioned the lofs of one o( thefe faculties, without 
 injuring either of the others. 
 
 I ftiall not reckon among the works of Iterius, 
 the catalogue of the books of his abbey, which 
 is merely a dry nomenclature. This catalogue, 
 however, as I have already obferved, might npt 
 be without its ufe, if publifhed with notes on the 
 v/orks of which he gives a lift. T o form a com- 
 pleat idea of the writings of Iterius, it would be 
 neceftary to fet forth the different notes in his 
 hand, that may be found in many other manu- 
 fcripts of the library that had been entrufted to 
 him. The fcarcity and dearnefs of vellum in 
 his time, or, perhaps, the fear of his notes being 
 loft, if they were written on loole leaves, in- 
 duced him to v/rite his remarks on the margins 
 or blank leaves of the firft manufcript that came 
 
 to 
 
400 AUTOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF 
 to hand, without troubling hirnfelf ' whether th^y 
 were at all qonnedted with the fubjedl of the 
 manufcript. I lhall now point out feveral ma- 
 nufcripts, of which he has made this ufe^ I do not. 
 however pretend to be acquainted with all of 
 them. 
 
 I ft, There is a pretty long note in his hand, 
 at fo). 71, of the king’s manufcript, marked 
 1248. He relates in it many occurrences of 
 the year 1197: amongft other things, there is the 
 precife date of the eledlion of the bifhop of 
 Limoges, Jqhn de Yairac, the 26th of May. 
 This date is doubtfully mentioned iri the new 
 edition of La Gaule Chrctienne^. Wq hnd alfo the 
 date of the death of the biihqp of Poitiers, Wil- 
 liam Tempersf, and a lingular note on the cha- 
 radler of this bifhop, who worked miracles after 
 his death, though no one entertained too good 
 an opinion of his fandity during his life. 
 
 2d. Number 1012 affords \is another note, at 
 fol. 66, re^o, where many perfons are mentioned 
 to have been killed by a clap of thunder, at 
 Souterraine, the laft day of July, 1219. The 
 raifing the feige of Touloufe, is alfo mentioned, 
 and he fays, there were near twenty bifhops at 
 that feige. 
 
 3d. In the manufcript, nriarked 2400, we read 
 a lift of names of the religio&lof St. Martial, in 
 1223, to the number of eighty-one. There 
 
 • Joannes de V eiraco jam erat epifeopus anno dveiter /• 
 
 II. eol. 
 
 4 The firftof ApriL 1197^ 91. 
 
 arc 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. 40I 
 
 aiT alfo many necrological notes, one of which 
 places in this year, the death of William, brother 
 to Guy vifcount of Limoges, and of Adhemar 
 only fon of the vifcount. There are fome other 
 dates that do not always agree with thofe which 
 are commonly adopted, refpeding the fucceflion 
 of the bilhops of Limoges. 
 
 4th. In the manufcript 2768, on the back of 
 the laft leaf, Iterius mentions a fmgularly plen- 
 tiful and early vintage in the year 1221. They 
 began to gather the grapes on the day of 
 Affumption, and finifhed on the feftival of St. 
 Pardulfe (6th of Odober). I muftobferve here, 
 that P. le Long, in his new hiftory of Laon, 
 under the year i559> mentions vintages in France, 
 in the month of July, and adds, that the wine 
 proved good. In the fame note of Iterius, is 
 mentioned a very violent war, which Guy, vif- 
 count of Limoges, waged at that time with the 
 abbey of St. Martial. 
 
 What I have juft faid is fufticient to ftiow, that 
 the colleding of thefc notes would not be without 
 its life. Let us now proceed to the continuation 
 'of the chronicle of Iterius. 
 
 IV. I have faid that it was continued on the 
 margins of the fame manufcript on which Iterius 
 >vrote it. If t}^ epocha or commencement of 
 the continuations were not known by the dates, 
 the change of writing would inform us of it. 
 That of the firft continuator is in a very fine 
 hand: he tells us that his name was Stephen dc 
 SalvanieCi that he was fub-librarian in the time 
 
 of 
 
40A AirrOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF 
 of Iterius, and became librarian after him. His 
 firft note fixes the death of Iterius, on the 29th of 
 January, 1224-5, I have related above. 
 
 I have been able to learn but very little con-‘ 
 cerning Salvanlec. He was prior of Vigeois, in 
 1229, when he affilled at the refignation of the 
 abbey of Vigeois, by Raimond. He was alfa 
 prior of St. Martial^ this office he held in 1254, 
 as we are informed by a note in another hand. 
 Is it that of his fucceflbr as librarian ? Or did he 
 keep that place together with the office of prior ? 
 This point is of fo little importance that 1 fhall 
 not enter into it. I fhall only obferve, that we 
 find no notes of Salvaniec,.in the manufeript I am 
 examining, but during the fpaee of about fifteen 
 years: and that in 1264, the writing of a new con- 
 tinuator, of the chronicle of Iterius, like him li- 
 brarian to the abbey of St. Martial, is diftin- 
 guifliable. He was called Elias du Breuil : his 
 hand-writing is very badly formed, and difficult 
 to read, particularly on account of the bad 
 quality of the ink. He informs us that he was 
 made a monk in 1243, and that he was chanter 
 and librarian in 1265. He was very affiduous in 
 taking care of the library. In 1265 he caufed 
 t wenty volumes that were in a bad condition to be 
 bound. The note that tells us this circumflance, 
 is not of his own writing, and <only gives him the 
 title of chanter. Five years after, he had all the 
 books of the library new bound. We find one of 
 his notes, dated 1285, in which he fets down the 
 
 death 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. 
 
 403 
 
 death of his brother Peter du Breuil, to whoiia 
 he gives the title of Miles. 
 
 . We meet with fome notes of Elias du Breuil 
 dated in 1286^ but the manufcript affords us 
 only one after that period, which is of 1297. It 
 relates to Gerald, abbot of St. Martial, who had 
 at that time fome difputes with the chapter. 
 
 Thefe notes, as well as all thofe of the chro- 
 nicles of monafteries, chiefly relate to monaftic 
 hiftory: but we fometimes find circumffances in- 
 terefting to general hiftory, ecclefiaftic and civil 1 
 and it is well known what lights have been thrown 
 upon our hiftory, as far as the fourteenth cen-f 
 tury, by chronicles. I ought to prove this to have 
 been the cafe, in particular, relpedting the chro- 
 nicle of Iterius and his continuators : I fliall con- 
 fine myfelf to a few examples. 
 
 V. The authors of the new edition of La Gaulc 
 Chretienne, find it difficult to fix the time of the 
 death of Aldhuin or Hilduin, bifhop of Limoges, 
 which they place at the lateft in 1012. The 
 chronicle of Iterius fixes it in the year 1014. 
 
 The fame authors place the death of Geraud, 
 fucceffor to Hilduin, in 1020: the chronicle, 
 in 1023. 
 
 Anthrius, abbot of St. Mardal, about the mid- 
 dle of the eleventh century, has been omitted in the 
 continuation of the chronicle of Ademar de Cha- 
 bannois; and D. Mabillon hashot included him in 
 the lift of abbots of that monaftery. The authors 
 of the new Gaule Chretknnce have not omitted him ; 
 but they confefs themfelves unable to fay any thing 
 
 rcfpc(fting 
 
404 AUTOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF 
 refpedHrig the time of his adminiftration, and con- 
 tent themfelves with obferving that it was of 
 fhort contirtliance. The chronicle refers his death 
 to the year 1 245, and that of his predecefTor to 
 1040* 
 
 The authors of UHiJiorie lAteralre de France^ 
 affirm, that, Ademar de Chabbanois, one of our 
 moft celebrated chronicle writers, was dead in 
 1031, and they ground their opinion on his not 
 being at the council of Bourges, held that year, 
 where the queftion, concerning the apoftleffiip of 
 St. Martial was debated. If he had been alive, 
 fay they, he would not have failed being there, 
 and would have diftinguiflied himfelf on the quef- 
 tion. Our chronicle fays, that he did not die till 
 1034, and that he died at Jerufalem; and this 
 journey accounts for his not being at the council 
 of Bourges in 1031. 
 
 Though Iterius, like the other chronicle writers 
 of thefe times, relates fa6ls in a fummary way, 
 and without difeuffing them, it appears, however, 
 that he does not admit them altogether without 
 Lnimadverfion. Thus, in fpeaking of a removal 
 of the body of St. Martial, in the year 994, under 
 the abbot Jofredus, he informs us, that he be- 
 lieves it to be a miftake, and that this event 
 ought to be placed in the time of another abbot 
 of the fame name, but different from him who lived 
 in 994^: but, fays he, I can only write what I 
 
 * Anno gratia juxt a ^eritatem chronica, Veracius mihi 
 
 cuidstur temporibus aherius Joffredi* Sed non pojjumus feriber^ 
 nifi quod in examplaribus reperimus, Fol, 150 , merfo^ , 
 
 find 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. 405 
 
 find in that copy of the chronicle, which I make 
 ule of. 
 
 . Our Chronicle alfo aflifls us both in teftifying 
 and perfe(^ing the chronology of the firil abbots of 
 Grammont, which is not fuificiently clear in the 
 new Gaule Chretlenney as well as that of the hiftory of 
 the ancient vifcount of Limoges, and of civil and 
 general hiftory, to the end of the thirteenth cen- 
 tury. I might eafily give examples but for the fear 
 of rendering this account too long: I will how- 
 ever quote two paflages calculated to clear up the 
 point of chronology, and which add fomething to 
 what has been faid by the learned D. Clement in 
 the Diftertation prefixed to his new edition of the 
 Art of afcertaining Dates. • 
 
 It is on the fubjed of the Vidorine period, or 
 pafchal cycle, a revolution of five hundred and 
 thirty-two years; at the expiration of which, the 
 charaders of the years during fuch a revolution, 
 will be fimilar to thofe of the correfponding years 
 of the preceding one. D. Clement has very 
 juftly obferved that Vidorius, the inventor of this 
 period, made it begin at the year 28 of the Chrif- 
 tian sera; but that Dennis le Petit, who adopted 
 and perfeded it, made it go back one year beyond 
 that sera : fo that the fecond revolution began in 
 the year of Chrift 532. This is in fad noted in 
 the chronicle of Iterius*: but two other paftages 
 are found in the fame Chronicle, prpvjng that in 
 
 ♦ Anno gr, D XXXII Dionyjius pafchales fcripjit circuhs, in-i 
 tipkns ab anriQ pranotato, f ol. 78, reSto^ 
 
 Vol. J. H 
 
 the 
 
4^6 AUTOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF 
 the time of Iterius a very different commencement 
 was given to this revolution. 
 
 Don Clement agrees that in fad we mull admit 
 different commencements for this cycle, and he 
 mentions feveralj but he feems to exclude that 
 which M. Blondel fuppofes in his Calendrier Ro~ 
 main. According to this fuppofition, the firft 
 revolution commenced 457 years before Chriflj 
 the fecond, in the year of Chrifl, 765 the third, 
 in the year 608; and the fourth, in 1140. Now 
 Don Clement afferts, that M. Blondel rather 
 marks what might have, than what has been done. 
 But the chronicle of Iterius proves in the moft 
 pofitive manner, that what M. Blondel fuppofes, 
 was adually done, and that in the time of the 
 former it was the cuflom, at leafl, at Limoges, 
 to begin the cycle of 532 years, at the periods 
 Blondel has mentioned. Thefe are the paffages 
 in Iterius: anno gratice 608, incepta eft tabula qut 
 continet annoSy conjummata eft anno 1139. 
 
 And farther on : anno gratice 1 140, incipimus tabulam 
 quw continet ayinosy 532. Thus calenders were then 
 ccnfiruded conformably to this revolution, refer- 
 ing then to thefe epochas, which it is of fome 
 importance to eftablifli, for the fake of afcertain- 
 ing the dates, employed in charters and other re- 
 cords. 
 
 VI. I truft, I have fufficiently fliewn in what 
 refped the chronicle may be ufefuL It remains 
 to fhew, how far it may be confiderqd as anecdote. 
 It is certain, that it has long been known and 
 even quoted by different perfons, as Baluze in his 
 
 hiftory 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. 
 
 407 
 
 hiilory of Tulle, Lebeuf in his DiiTertation on the 
 State of the Sciences in France, to the time of Phi- 
 lip-le-Bel, &c. There are alfo copies of it in exifl- 
 ence : the Literary Hiftory of the order of St. Bene- 
 dict, publiflied at Vienna in 1754, quotes two; one 
 extending from ii6i,to 1220, and confequently, 
 incomplete; the other, where the continuation is 
 carried to 1310, which goes farther than the auto- 
 graph : Don Eftiennot tranfcribed the greateft part, 
 beginning alfo in 1161 : this copy, which I have 
 feen, is preferved in the library of St. Germain des 
 preis. It is from this, as I have faid above, that 
 Don Clement has taken a part of this chronicle, 
 which he has inferted in the twelfth volume of the 
 Colle6lion of the Hiftorians of France. He has 
 fince affured me, that he knew Iterius only from 
 the extracts of Don Eiliennot. If this writer, no 
 lefs celebrated for the accuracy than extent of his 
 knowledge, had known that the autograph of Ite- 
 rius's chronicle was preferved in the king’s library, 
 he would have been capable of giving with more 
 correftnefs the part of it, which he has publifhed ; 
 and he would have found, in going through the 
 whole chronicle, other circumilances refpedling 
 Iterius, beiides thofe given in his notes. 
 
 It rem.ains for me, to quote fome examples of 
 the different kinds of errors to be found in the 
 copy of Don BTtiennot, which has been made ufe 
 of in the Colledlion of the Hiftorians of France. 
 
 I ft. I fhall remark a tranfpofitlon which could 
 only arife from extreme negligence. The article 
 which Don Eftiennot’s copy places in the year 
 
 H 2 
 
4o8 AUTOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF 
 1172, ought to be a century later ; for in the origi- 
 nal, it is very diftinftly anno do 7 nini, MCCLXXII. 
 Befides, this article is in the hand of Elias dii 
 Breuil, the fecond continuator of the Chronicle, 
 who did not begin his continuation till 1265. 
 Lafbly, he there fpeaks of James, prior of Chalais^ 
 then eleded abbot of St. Martial. Now, this was 
 in 1272, as is mentioned in the fecond volume of 
 La Gaule Ch^etienney which is fufficient to point out 
 the mifliake \ yet, it has not been adverted to in 
 the printing of that article, in the twelfth volume 
 of the collection of the hiftorians of France. 
 
 2d. In the year 1188, the Chronicle reports, 
 that Philip king of France, and Richard king of 
 Pingland, crolfed themfelves, crozaverunt fe, Don 
 Fftiennot writes coronaverunt Je^ as if it had re- 
 lated to the coronation of thefe princes. The 
 reading of the rnanufcript requires no defence. 
 
 3d. Under the year 1209, the copy of don Ef- 
 tiennot, fpeaking of a maflacre in fome city, ex- 
 preffes itfelf thus : triginta G? oBo homines in ea 
 tnicidantury 'propter hereticoSy & Ipsi Deficiijnt. 
 The meaning of thefe laft words, is aukward and 
 obfcure; but in the original, they run thus; C? 
 ipje domlnus civltatis\ v/hich makes very good fenle: 
 thers were thirty -eight men killed y and among ft th'emy 
 the lord of the city. 
 
 4th. Under the year 1219, the Chronicle men- 
 tions robbers, v/ho, having got into the church of 
 
 * We fhould read de Chalefio, not de Calefio, as don Ef- 
 tiennot does. 
 
 the 
 
BERNARD ITERIUS. 409 
 
 the abbey of St. Martial, took away feveral things 
 of value, and ftrlpt the two chanters ftaves. This 
 evidently means, that they took off the plates of 
 metal, with which thefe ftaves were covered. The 
 original fays : baculos officiales duos excoriaverunt : 
 don Eftiennot’s copy fays, baculos officiales duos ex^ 
 conmunicavirunty which is ridiculous. 
 
 This is, in my opinion, more than fufticient to 
 prove the neceffity of having recourfe to the origi- 
 nal, if we would make any ufe of this chronicle. 
 I ftiall here finifh my account, with repeating 
 what I think we may conclude from it. It ap- 
 pears to me, to follow, that the chronicle of which 
 I have been fpeaking, has hitherto been little 
 known, and that it deferves to be more fo : that 
 the very fmall part that has been publifhed, has 
 been taken from a mutilated and very incorredl 
 copy : that the king's manufcript, on which I have 
 juft been employed, being the autographical origi- 
 nal of this chronicle, it is indifpenftbly neceffary 
 to have recourfe to it, in order to give a complete 
 edition ; and I will add, that, with notes, pointing 
 out the errors, it would difcover to us in many 
 other writers, it would be of fome value to the 
 admirers of our ancient hiftory. 
 
 H3 
 
 THE 
 
w' 
 
 ’ i s' 
 
 •9 
 
 
THE 
 
 BOOK of COUNSELS, 
 
 By the Scheik Ferideddin Mohammed ben 
 Ibrakin alattar alnifchabouri. 
 
 Perfian Manufcripts, No. 261, in 410, 329, and 343, in 
 8vo, without dates. 
 
 By M. Silvester de Sacy. 
 
 H E Pend-nameh, or book of counfek, a 
 
 moral poem in Perfian verfe, compofed by 
 the fcheik Ferideddin Attan, may be confidered as 
 an abridgment of the moral and religious rules 
 of the moll devout followers of the law of 
 Mahomet. This work, at the fame time, deferves 
 to be ranked amongft the daffies, the perufal of 
 which is extremely proper for thofe who would 
 acquire a knowledge of the Perfian language. 
 Its ftile, whilft it pofTeffies elegance and beauty, is 
 free from thofe difficulties and obfeurities that 
 characlerife moft of the works of this kind, fuch, 
 for inflance, as the Methnevi. This confideration 
 has determined me to undertake the tranflation of 
 this poem, which I propofe to give the public, 
 accompanied with the Perfian text, if clrcum- 
 fiances do not prevent me from carrying my 
 proje6l into execution. 
 
 Ferid^ldin 
 
411 THE BOOK OF COUNSELS. 
 
 Ferideddin Mohammed ben Ibrahim alniicha- 
 bouri, author of the Pend-nameh, is better known 
 by the name of Attars th^t is^ the performer, 
 becaufe in his youth he followed this bufinefs in 
 the city of Schadbakh, where his father had been 
 a performer before him. When he quitted the 
 world to embrace a contemplative life, he paffed 
 many years in the eXercife of penitence and de- 
 votion, under the guidance of the molt celebrated 
 men of his time, and collecled the hikories of the 
 lives and adlions of many dervifes renowned for 
 their fandity and virtues. Ferideddin was arrived 
 at the highell degree of perfedion, and had pene- 
 trated deeper into the fecrets of fpirituality than 
 any of thofe who preceded him, when he fell by 
 the arms of the Moguls, in the invafion of Geng- 
 hifichan. He died in the year 627, (1229-30 of 
 J* C») at the age of one hundred and fourteen 
 years, being born in the reign of the fultan Sandjar 
 Melicfchah, in the year 513, (i 119-20.) A 
 chapel was ereded over his tomb, that became the 
 objed of very frequent pilgrimages. 
 
 \ Attara has left a great number of works, both 
 in profe and verfe. His moft known poetical 
 works are in number twelve. 
 
 Thefe titles are, 
 
 1. Afrar-nameh. 
 
 2. Ilahi-nameh. 
 
 MafTibat nameh. 
 
 D i e waher- all udhd hat . 
 
 W alTiyat-nameh* 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6. Si-ah-nameh. 
 
 7. Mantak-attair. 
 
 8. Bulbul-nameh. 
 
 9. Mokhtar-nameh. 
 
 10. Haidar-nameh. 
 
 11. Ghul-on-Hormuz. 
 
 12. Schutur- nameh. 
 
 The 
 
THE BOOK OF COUNSELS. 4t5 
 
 The fifth of thefe works, is the fame the 
 Pend-nameh. This is, without doubt, the moft 
 celebrated of his poems. It contains more than 
 eight hundred verfes (beit) ; the poet begins with 
 celebrating the greatnefs of God, the wonders he 
 has performed in favour of his fervants, and the 
 omnipotence with which he dire6ls all events, and 
 diftributes to his creatures good or evil, according 
 to his will. He afterwards lings the praifes of 
 Mahomet, and the moll; celebrated imans. After 
 thefe preliminaries, he treats in fucceflion, but 
 without order of the charadbers of true piety, of 
 found devotion, of religious perfedtion, of renoun- 
 cing the goods of this world, of virtues and vices, 
 of their elFedbs, and the figns by which they arc 
 known. He feems every where to addrefs himfelf 
 to a favourite difciple eager for inllrudbion : he calls 
 him his friend, his brother, but more frequently 
 his fon. There is fcarce one of the precepts he 
 gives him, which is not mentioned feveral times 
 under different forms. This repetition, which 
 would perhaps render a tranflation monotonous 
 and lanquid, is lefs difgufting in the original, on 
 account of the concifenefs of the ftile, the break 
 of the verfes, the rhime and^V^^;^' ds motSy of which, 
 the inhabitants of the call; are very fond. Virtue 
 is not the foie objedt of the lelfons of our philofo- 
 phical poet : he occafionally gives his pupil pre- 
 cepts of policy, cleanlinefs, health, decency, and 
 urbanity. To include in a few words all that can 
 be faid of this little moral poem, which will not 
 admit of an extradb, I would add, that though it 
 
414 the book of counsels. 
 
 be fometimes disfigured with fupcrftition, and an 
 affedled fpirituality, yet we fhall more frequently 
 difeern in it the friend of virtue and humanity^ and 
 the defers of it will not prevent us from reading it 
 with pleafure. 
 
 The mofl corredl of the three manufeript copies 
 of this work in the king’s library, is that num- 
 bered 329, in which the Perfian text has a tranfla- 
 tion and commentary in the Turkifh language. 
 Omar ben HofTein, the author of this commentary, 
 in a fliort preface, gives an account of the motives 
 that determined him to undertake that work, and 
 dedicate it to Zirek-aga, one of the favourites of 
 the fultan Morad (Amu rath*,) In this manufeript 
 each Perfian verfe is diflinguifhed by a red ftroke 
 over the line, and is followed by a literal tranfia- 
 tion in the Turkifh language; when any difficult 
 paffage occurs in the text, the commentator adds a 
 more particular explanation. He frequently gives 
 valuations, and explains the author’s thought by 
 other Perfian verfes. This commentary is of great 
 ufe, by explaining many terrns that are employed 
 in a fpiritual or myftical fenfe, Vvffiich might other- 
 wife ftop the reader’s progrefs. There is alfo a 
 Latin verfion in the margin of this manufeript, 
 which has been made from the Turkiffi, rather 
 than the Perfian, as appears from many mifin- 
 terpretations, to which the ambiguity of fome 
 Turkiffi words has given rife, and that would have 
 been avoided, if the tranflator had confulted the 
 
 * I know not which of the Ottoman princes of this name 
 he fpeaks. 
 
THE BOOK OF COUNSELS. 415 
 
 original. The frequent and grofs errors that occur 
 in this tranflation, will not permit us to fuppofc 
 that it is by M-. Galland, to whom this manufcript 
 belonged. 
 
 The two other copies, marked 261 and 343, 
 are well written, but lefs corred, particularly the 
 laft. The order of the chapters, is tolerably uni- 
 form in thefe two manufcripts, but very different 
 in the copy marked 329. In this copy, there is 
 a very ’flriking tranfpoiition, which could only 
 have been occafioned by the defects of the manu- 
 fcript from which it was copied. A proof of this 
 tranfpofition is, that we find a chapter beginning 
 with thefe words ; there are four other things, &c. 
 without four things analogous to thefe having 
 been mentioned in the preceding chapter. There 
 can be no doubt, therefore, of the order of the 
 manufcripts 261 and 343, being preferable to that 
 of No. 329, Nothing, however, is more fubjed' 
 to variation, than the order of the chapters of this 
 poem. I have alfo in my pofieffion, a copy which 
 differs in fome places from the king’s manu- 
 fcripts. 
 
 The manufcript 261 contains, befides the Pend- 
 nameh, fome models of letters in the Turkiih 
 language, written on the five firfl leaves. This 
 colledion has been left unnnifhed, and there are 
 many blank leaves between thefe firif, and the be- 
 ginning of the Pend-nameh. The poem takes 
 up twenty-three leaves : in the margins, and at 
 the end of the Perfian poem, are fome Turkiih 
 verfes, that appear to have been written fince the 
 
 reft 
 
4i6 the book of counsels. 
 
 reft of the manufcript. It is not perhaps fiiper- 
 huous to remark, that each leaf is formed of two 
 leaves, glued together, but eafiiy feparable. 
 
 In the manufcript 343, the poem of Attar is 
 preceded by a leaf, containing a fhort account, in 
 the Turkifh language, of the life of Sadi, a PeiTian 
 poet, author of Ghuliftan. The Pend-namch takes 
 up forty- one leaves, and is followed by a fragment 
 of another poem of the lame author, intitled Butbul- 
 namchy that is, the book of the nightingale. I 
 know not how many verfes this poem ought to 
 have, but it appears to me evidently, incomplete : 
 the ftagment fills fifteen leaves and a half. This 
 poem, in my opinion, is much inferior to the 
 author’s reputation, nor is it eafy to allign to it 
 any diftindl moral defign. 
 
 Ail the birds appear before Solomon with com- 
 plaints agalnft the nightingale, whofe unremitting 
 fongs are troublefome to them, and who generally 
 Teems in a delirium and intoxication from which 
 nothing can recall it. Soiomen calls the kawk 
 and orders him to find the nightingale and bring it 
 before him 3 but to take care not to hurt it. The 
 hawk, after a long journey, finds the nightingale. 
 This amorous bird was at that moment finging 
 the charms of the rofe and the pleafures it tafted 
 in the enjoyment of its mlftrefs. The meftengcr 
 of Solomon, having heard with extacy his tender 
 notes, tells the fubject of his errand. The nightin- 
 gale will not obey the king’s orders ^ but the hawk, 
 tired with his refiftance, feizes the nightingale in 
 his claws and carries it to the king’s palace. So- 
 f lorn on 
 
THE BOOK OF COUNSELS. 417 
 
 \omon charges the nightingale with the deliriuin of 
 which it has been accufed by the birds, and afcribes 
 it to drunkennefs, the dangers and fatal confe- 
 quences of which, he fets before it. The nightin- 
 gale pleads its caufe before the king, and afferts 
 that the tranfports of love are the foie caufe of the 
 delirium which is imputed as a crime. Solomon 
 then upbraids the other birds with their cowardice 
 and the filence they keep in prefence of tho night- 
 ingale, whilft in his abfence they were exclaiming 
 againft him with all the eagernefs of hatred and jea- 
 loufy. Ail the birds being then affernbled, the 
 nightingale, after having adrelTed the king, un- 
 dertakes to confound the pride of his accufers. 
 He addreffes himfelf fucceffively to the fimorg, 
 the hawk, the pai-roquet and the peacock. The 
 firff he upbraids with the continual fecrecy in 
 which he conceals himfelf, that gives room even to 
 doubt of his exiftence : the hawk he upbraids wdth 
 the captivity and blindnefs to which he is condemn- 
 ed by kings who make him the inftrum.ent of 
 their pleafures ; the paroquet, with the lofs of his 
 liberty, which he facrifices to the foolifh pride of 
 uttei-ing a few words in imitation of man: and 
 laftly, the peacock, with the uglinefs of his feet, 
 which he contrails to the pride with which he is 
 infpired from the richnefs of his plumage. 
 
 Here ends this fragment, which contains many 
 fabulous {lories or apologues, employed by Solo- 
 mon, or by the nightingale in proof of their afTer- 
 tions. The hrfe is the hillory of the angels Ha- 
 rout and Marout, mentioned in the Alcoran. [Upon 
 
41 S THE BOOK OF COUNSELS. 
 
 on this fubjedl, confult the fourth part of the 
 
 Prodrome of Maracci, page 82.] 
 
 The fecond, is that of a man called Manjour, 
 who, in a fit of intoxication, infpired by excefs of 
 divine love, believed himfelf abforbed into the 
 fubftance of the fupreme being, and in his madnefs 
 cried, / am God for which he was put to death as 
 a blafphemer, notwithftanding the reditude and 
 purity of bis intention. 
 
 The third, is a fable of a rat, who, having drank 
 a few drops of wine, infolently boafled of the 
 ftrength and number of his troops, and threatened 
 to caufe the cat, that deftroyer of his race, to be 
 hanged. But this enemy, whom he defpifed, com- 
 ing on a fudden, feized upon him 3 and notwith- 
 ftanding his promifes and fine fpeeches, the cat 
 would neither grant him his liberty, nor his life. 
 
 The ftile of this little poem is prolix, and fome- 
 times obfcure; but I am inclined to believe this 
 obfcurity to be generally owing to the faults of 
 the copyift, and that it would be removed, if we 
 could confult other copies. 
 
 End of the first Volume. 
 

 
 
 if 
 
 
 
 \ 0 
 
 
 ii' 
 
 4ero