The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1879-03-20
T:E LEsEyEJ HLs"ESETG.


al. i.,- II. i;u-rits iL.i r.;a;ir--
g.: t..-a ys.t--t sister. .ir- ..UI.--
.--t, .rl. Wl.- .s Professor d. !. saw
"f. ..--t.4,-ist Cd. -=' t!.i-sgr Ei;=T-
-it --laa "a i-isl-. -iiri Aal.s y. tsyst-
a..i--- -i-1. .a. sg. wda aslJ iI 80
ir -IH. .t.t ti-, t,esisiugs was =
"tusll-s- - 5-...Es ..rJtEsT. is.iJaH,
distinguished .s, -. .-s-rauCMer, II
iHorr especially a. IL" l';aJT of Eur
u-Ls tagiapLy Il thc Heavens.
WLlcu MAS as Il ;i.1rc :l;u thirty
years as 4 textbook IL UIoS. al tie .f.-
nlsi- seIIlH.'Eia-s Ii tie cYualry. y
representative 80 tlIS paper c.-g=! Ui-
uH Professor l'It Ar-. ,-.iNyrT :,ai
Mrs. Ge,!dInGa 10 thcir nome, No. SOS
tt.sSi! e.. ri;a-. last 5-.s-,.I!-r ;s-i,: ,.i.-
l.;il,,s l3HcL Las.l - H1t -l.taiHc.. ia
tii- above A!JElI?i:. "a cue nature "
i.Isi,.riiiS %. -. DI.E!. !, lie, estimates
"a Aia character and tdlclitS. al OF
J when WgE:I naturally bc Tr3n-irsijer,d
ay AID CON. from ;uugc WIZ knew
IiUl i'La;, ;.ld who Nerc most dc.pig
I attached 10 him.
AiTs. sawyer, In referring To her
. BROTHER .s--!y years, I!i.; the eyidrIi-
. Ccs Ui Youthful p.CcJyiJg GiIica marx
I e-i that .ssTiJd OF hiS lie, spoke - his
a7tuNlslli![ iritS ia mental arithmetic.
I fOr which iIs. ill-s, cyiucCd Il liking sim
I liar N lis intensity 10 that afterwards
I bestowed on linguistic pursuits. Of
I ten and 8ftyE W--id lie figure up IN
I his head how .asuy seconds uist d..
I was, and. with sYJ,hful pride, Inform
I hiS rlirri or thr i,.uli. lie E0gii a.
SO calculate mentally how many yards
/ Ui cloth j. would ,iSe 10 reach FROM
/ the earth TO the sJu, the nIInlcr of
/ harlcycUrils it would require t. reach
around the world, aTt utlieg curious
( ani, Tor hi5 age, rather pIZZling PROB
/ lcins. When, later on, hU worked at
/ the smoking forge, ne m.Elc = SYSTEM
I ATTIC division OF the day, a!Id adhered
I IT, il for wears. Eight hours were de-
voted 10 study. eight 20 sleep ;i;II eight
I - work, ana even then j; WAS his
wont tD have an old Greek grammar
near him during his labOrs in the
/ shop and TO cOHjug9te those fearful
and wonderful Greek verbs which
/ have proved the J3ae 0f many Il col
! leTc boy. While the iron was redGcE-
/ ing IL the Goals, he would refer To the
! snOke-begTimed old Textbook. and, ise-
| tween the sturdy strokes of tho ham
/ mer on the iron as it iiy On tine anvil,
| he would 90 throWGa with his c0Hiu-
jatlOn of tho atIhbOTn WCTi, The ill
| cideGt Teiatel Of him in the above BIZ
! Uzraphy of his letter to tie Royal An
| tiqulrian Society III the Celt0-BretOn
language was characteristic. Pre-
ViOusiy ignorant Of tAat strange tongue,
| he concluded that it would be u
/ fine thing to write such cOmmunica-
tiOn, and with him to will was II do,
and it was only a qucStIGa uf time
/ brief at that-fUr hiIa to acquire the
/ language and :ndite the celebrated let
/ ter. his Industry, his Intense appli-
| cation To given pursuit, were phe-
| nOIaenal. IL was his habit, aS Mrs.
| Sawyer and Mrs. GeddingS state. to
/ regularly take what he called Sab
/ bath-llay'S journey, viz: selecting y
chapter in the Bible and reading it i'll
twenty different languages, or, rs he
| expressed i, travelling from Iceland to
! lilndUStan. In later years, when his
! fame was spread abroad, it was the
/ fashion of certain class of c3ptiOuS
| critics TO say that. lcarn1l as he was,
/ he could not coEyls2 IN the tongues
which l.G TrOfessed to have at his conf
, n.aHd. 1t twas Il sufficient answer 10
this wOndrOuS discovery to say that he
never prOfeSScd To converse IN these
/ different languages, but simply 10 be
( ahle-aa he N;lS-=tO read and translate
| them,
Speaking further of his linguistic
| talents. his sister recalled an incident
| which is Of considerable interest in
| this connection. Some years a,ga Il
Will was sent to this country from the
/ West Indies, written IN Danish. The
! manuscliht was one of the most diff
/ cult To decipheT that could we'll be
| imagined, and it went the rounds of
! several of the leading colleges without
meeting with anybody who could
solve the riddle and give tho inter-
probation thereof"
Finally it was referred 10 Mr., Bur-
ritt. He was then working at the forge,
! but, With his usual determination,
| he made up his mind that he would
master it. He was then acquainted
! with the Danish tongue, but that was
only half the task. The bl lly-writtan
manuscript must be deciphered. lie
worked at it two weeks, employing his
spare time, and success cFOWGed his
efforts III 2 field where all before him
! had failed. When he sent the will
| back, translated with absolute correct
ness, he said e would only charge
the gentlemen who baa assigned him
The task Of interpreting II just what
he would have earned ut the forge in
the time bestowed upon the transla-
| tlOn.
His linguistic accomplishments,
briefly stated, made him master of fif-
! ty-twO languages and dialects.-Chi-
edgO Tribune.