Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-07-24

nal when he died, in lS45. Not only was he fa'
miliar with languages proper, IL We may use the
words, but with PATHS. lie knew that peculiar
sort OF England dialect called "IummerEotshiro,
and his biographer intimates that he knew English
generally as well, perhaps. rs he did his native
Italian Here is a short extract from the Lile,
which shows the variety aud accuracy Of his Eng
fish knowledge.
"'You have many patcis in the English Ian.
guage,' said the Cardinal. For instance, the
Lancashire dialect is very different from that spok-
en- by the Cockueys he used this word so much
so, that some Londoners would find considerable
difficulty in understanding what a L1nca, hire
man SAID. The Cockneys always use . instenG of
10, aud 10 instead Of .: so that they say vine in'
stead Of wine; he gave this examplol And then
the Irish brogue, as 1t is called, is another variety.
| remember very distinctly having n conversation
with an Irish gentleman whom | met soon after
the Peace, and he always mis-, pronounced that
word. calling it '~p1ce'-lIere f.. Kelleher broke
out into n horse laugh, and, ~slapping his hand
upon his thigh, cried out, Oh excellent your
Eminence, excellent Now, there you are
wrong said Mczz0fNntij you ought not to say
excellent, but EXCELLENT Then he went off into
a disquisition on the word great contending that
according to all analogy, it should be pronounced
like greet for that the Dip thong ca is so pronounce
ed in most, II lot in eyeyy word in which it occurs;
and he instanced ~the'wOrds; ea7ie. meat, beat, tear,
and some others. And he said Lord Chesterfield
thought the same, and considered it II v%ulgarism
" pronounce ~ lihe grave At neat eUOhe uDou'
the Welsh laDguage-but | really quite forge
what he said | only emember that the i'm
preston left on me was that he knew Welsh
also"
Here, also, is an amusing anecdote, which i,
related on the authority Of NJ, Manavit;
zone day Gregory XVI provided an agreeable
surprise for the polyglot preiate, and IA rare treat
for himself, in an improvised conversation in va
rious tongues-a regular linguistic tournament
Among the may alleys Of the Vatican gardens
behind one of the massive walls Of verdure which
form its peculiar glory, the Pope placed a Ger
tain number of the Propaganda students in am
buscade. When the time came for his ordinary
walk, he Invited Mezzofanti to accompany him
ana, as they were proceeding gravely and solemn
ly, ON a sudden, at a given signal, these youths
grouped themselves for a moment on their knees
before his Holiness, and then, quickly rising, ad
dressed themselves to Mezzofanti, each in his owr
tongue with such an abundance Of words and such
a v~olubliity of tone, that, in the jargon of dialects
II was almost impossible to hear, much less to un
derstand, them. But Mezzofanti did not shrink
from the conflict. With the prOmptness and ad
dress which were peculiar to him, he took them
up singly, and replied to each in his own Ian
guage, with such spirit and elegance as to amaze
them ALL"
Yet when this mans great attachments are con
sidered, there Immediately ARISES the question
On bono. vi what advantage to mankind was al
this astonishing erudition? His biographer says
that Mezzoianti was aware Of the little use t.
which he had put the talent entrusted to him,
The following shows this:
"Ie used to speak freely Of his requirement as
ono OF little value, and one especially for which
he himself had little inertia mere physical en-
dowment-a thing of instinct, and almost of rou.
tine. God, he said, had gifted him with a good
memory and a quick ear. There lay the secret of
his success. What am L. he would pleasaptly
say, but an nl-bound.d dictionary - lie used to
d~lsparage his gifts to me- says Cardinal Wiscman,
and he once quoted a saying ascribed to Catha-
rine de Medlci, who, when told that Scaliger
knew twenty languages, observed That's twenty
words tor one idea For my part | would rather
have twenty ideas for one word On one occa.
sion, after the publication of Cardinal Wiseman's
Hor@ SyridcCe, MezzofantI said to him, you have
put your knowledge OF language to some purpose.
/ When | go, | sball;not leave a trace of what | know
behind me- And when his friend suggested that
d II was not yet tov late, he shook his head and said
n it was which he also repeated to Guido CORES,
# earnestly expressing his regret that his youth had
!, fallen upon u time when languages were not sud.
led from that scientific point of view from which
, they are now regarded"
u Mezzoianti had a system by which his ready
acquisition OF knowledge was immensely facilitated
d put ne ieit no trace OF it for future searchers
alter learning. lie was a wonderful conversation.
list, from the number of books lie had read, the
e number Of men of all climes he had spoken with,
and the wondrous memory which retained and
e could reproduce at will whatever he had once
e heard or read-but his recolleciions, like his &C
4ulrements persisted with him. 4 critic on hi,
i life has ~sensibly sad: "What keys of ethnologica
r caskets did he possess! He enjoyed the treasures
8 exhibited them to his friends and favorites, ana
n carried those keys 'Gth him to the tomb. A single
c volume, combining the subject OF ethuology ant
philosophy, from a scholar so gifted, might have
J smoothed q path for thousands who will nov hav,
to YEARLY climb, and, perhaps, never attain t.
such a vantage ground as that from whose height
I Mezzoianti might have been a beacon to tn,
ID world