lians should have had no names for martial, and the Cascans no words for agricultural occupations before they came into contact with each other. Secondly, the observation which Niebuhr made with regard to Latin and Greek, applies with equal force to all Indo-european languages. They all exhibit the most striking coincidences in words expressive of the first peaceful occupations of mankind, while the terms connected with chase and war are mostly peculiar to each. There is no reason, therefore, why these words which the Greeks and Romans have in common, should be called a Greek element in Latin. Since the same words occur in all the Indo-european languages, they can only be considered as a common Arian element, that is to say, as words which existed before the Arian family was broken up. Many of these words have even preserved a more primitive form in Latin than in Greek. We could hardly imagine that ovis should be taken from ois, if we see that the original form of this word is avis in' Sanskrit, awis in Lithuanian, and eovu in Anglo-saxon. The Latin pecus is much nearer to Sanskrit pas'u, Prussian pecku, and Gothic faihu, than to the Greek Tov; nor could we call the Latin canis a derivative from the Greek Kúwv, if we see how much more closely the Latin word resembles the Sanskrit s'van, and the Sclavonic kon'. Besides some of the so-called martial Cascan words are not peculiar to Latin, and though they do not occur in Greek, they are found either in Sanskrit, or in other Arian dialects, as, for instance, ensis, which is the Sanskrit asis, a sword; scutum which is the Lithuanian skyda, a shield, and is derived from the same root from which we have the Greek σKUTOs, a hide; for scutum means originally a dressed or tanned hide, the material which was used by the ancients for making shields.

But while in this case Comparative Philology must discountenance the historical conclusions which were drawn from too partial evidence, it enables us on the other hand to reconstruct on a firmer basis the oldest history of the whole Arian family, that is to say, on the evidence derived from an accurate and systematic comparison of all Indo-european languages.

There are words which form, so to speak, the common heirloom of the Arian family. These old relics are to be found among the tribes now settled in India, as well as among the nations of Europe, that is, among races who have had no lasting intercourse with one another since they first started from the common centre of mankind. If properly decyphered, these words might be made to furnish historical documents for times when neither Greece nor India were peopled by the Arians,— when neither Greek nor Sanskrit existed as separate languages,

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-for times previous to Homer, the Zendavesta, and the Veda. For this primeval period, which is far beyond the reach of written history, single words, which have been scattered all over the earth like Sibylline leaves, if carefully gathered as historical documents, and decyphered by the help of Comparative Philology, may still be found to contain the faint traces of the earliest civilisation of the human race. The process by which these obliterated traces can be brought out and construed into historical evidence, does not form part of Comparative Grammar; and it would lead us too far to enter fully into a subject which, as yet, has remained almost untouched. One instance of the curious results which may thus be obtained, will suffice.

It is a question of deep interest to know whether any religious ideas can be discovered among the wandering tribes at that early period of history, when the mythology of the Arian nations-not yet separated-was following the impulse of its gradual development. Questions of this kind have usually been answered in a very vague manner, or according to theories which rested on preconceived notions, but not on facts. In the absence of all other historical documents, we can deduce such facts from language only; and we shall see how far Comparative Philology is able to supply them.

There are three words in the modern languages of Europe, which express the idea of God,-one belonging to the Romance dialects, the other to the Teutonic, the third to the Sclavonic family. From an historical point of view, these words must be looked upon not as modern productions, but as the most ancient relics of language. It has been very truly observed that the modern nations of Europe are the oldest nations of the world. Their history, if more deeply investigated, if considered as the result and natural consequence of all previous history, discloses to our eyes a picture, where, behind the living foreground of the present generation, we see all the former stages in the progress of the human race arranged in true perspective, so as to form together one uninterrupted whole. Wherever we look around us, we are living among the ruins of a by-gone world; and if we attempt to read in History the biography of the human race, the ancient world forms but the prelude, with the interesting scenes of our childhood and youth, while each successive century brings us nearer to what may be called our manhood or old age. As in the life of the individual the experience of later years is everywhere interwoven with the early impressions of childhood, the Historian sees the image of the earlier ages of the world's history reflected in that of his own time. And, if he endeavours. to trace the aggregate experience of the present day to its first

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beginnings, he finds himself carried back to the very dawn of history, before he can lay his hand on the roots of the old Tree of knowledge. Looking only at the principal elements of modern society, we see that the Law of the present day, in spite of all innovations and revolutions, flows in its main channels either from the sacred customs of the Teutonic race, or from the codes of Roman emperors. These codes again were based on rogations, which at an earlier period of history were carried in the Senate or in the noisy forum of Rome; nay the laws of succession and inheritance, of paternal authority and filial duty point back to still more remote times, when Numa was listening to Egeria, and when the mythic ancestors of the Latin people immigrated into Italy. The high-roads of our commerce which are now mapped down in the guide-books of peaceful travellers, follow in many cases the footsteps of Roman armies or Phoenician caravans; and the purest models in our modern school of art, what are they but the very creations which we hear the joyous people of Athens applauding at the foot of the Parthenon, fresh from the chisel of Phidias and Praxiteles? But nowhere is this view of modern history more strongly confirmed than if applied to language. There is an uninterrupted continuity in the growth, or, so to say, in the life of language, much more than in any succession of historical facts. For although it is in the power of one individual to change empires, to abolish laws, to introduce new customs, new forms of government and new ideas, no King or Dictator has ever been able to change the smallest law of language. Language belongs in this respect to the realm of nature, whose laws are invariable, and can be deduced as such, by repeated observation. The laws of history on the contrary are not invariable, or, at all events, it is impossible to deduce them by observation ever so

'The phenomena of our globe declare, that the laws of Nature, or the operations of secondary causes, physical or physiological, have not been invariably uniform, or absolutely similar; some peculiar to the nascent world, all more intense; the collective life of all classes of animated beings endued with the vigour and flexibility of individual youth. Species and their varieties seem to have been produced by an inward nisus, which decreased with the advancing age of the world. The like with respect to languages. The process of linguistic formation did not suddenly terminate. A certain degree of vitality, now lost to us, was still subsisting; somewhat also of the generative energy of speech, "until" about the era when the Canon of Holy Scripture was closed by the last mysterious book of Prophecy.' Palgrave's History of Normandy and England, vol. i. c. 2. On the Roman Language.' Where is the evidence of

this until'?

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minute. Moreover the history of man is retrogressive as well as progressive. It is in the power of one generation to bring an art to the highest pitch of perfection, while the next generation may allow it to relapse, till a new genius takes it up again with increased ardour. This is not the case with language. New languages have arisen, but like the young shoots round a decayed trunk, they are but new forms of the old stock. As far as we can follow the history of the world, there has never been an absolutely new language, nor has any addition been made to those radical elements by means of which languages are formed. It is only out of the tombs of dead languages that new languages arise, like new towns, built on the ruins of ancient cities. The bricks with which the modern city of Baghdad is built on the borders of the Tigris, bear all, as Colonel Rawlinson* tells us, the cuneiform legend of Nebuchadnezzar, stamped upon them, for they had been taken from the ruins of the ancient cities built by this Assyrian monarch. In the same way, if we examine the structure of modern dialects, we shall find that each word bears still the unmistakeable stamp of an older language whose decayed fragments have furnished the materials for a new

structure.

These preliminary observations were necessary in order to determine the point of view from which we may look on languages whether ancient or modern, as historical documents, and they will explain how it is possible, by laying hold of the nearest points of our own language, to communicate, as it were telegraphically, with the remotest antiquity of the human race.

We begin with the Sclavonic word for God, which is 'Bog.' This word, which is used by the different branches of the Sclavonic family to express the idea of God, was employed by

'It was a custom, borrowed from Assyria, that the bricks used in building the ancient cities on the Lower Tigris and Euphrates should be stamped with the name and titles of the royal founder. With regard to Babylonia Proper, it is a remarkable fact, that every ruin from some distance north of Baghdad, as far south as the Birs Nimroud, is of the age of Nebuchadnezzar. I have examined the bricks in situ, belonging, perhaps, to one hundred different towns and cities within this area, and I never found any other legend than that of Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopalassar, King of Babylon. At Baghdad itself the right bank of the river within the town is formed for the space of nearly one hundred yards of an enormous mass of brickwork, which until lately was supposed to be of the time of the Caliphs, but which I found on examining the bricks to date from the age of Nebuchadnezzar.' On the Inscriptions of Assyria and Babylonia. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,' vol. xii. p. 476.

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the early inhabitants of the Russian Empire as a name of their heathen deities. According to Schaffarik, in his excellent work on Sclavonic Antiquities, it can be proved that the old Sarmatic tribes worshipped a supreme God, -the creator of heaven and earth, though they admitted at the same time several lesser gods, who were the mediators between man and the Supreme Being, and who received sacrifices, consisting of cattle and fruits. The old Slaves believed in a resurrection, and in rewards and punishments after death. Now this name Bog, which we find spread over the immense area of the Sclavonic empire, has its origin not in the steppes of Russia, but in the valleys of Northern India. It is known that the Sclavonic dialects belong to the Arian family, and, in Sanskrit, Bhaga means originally the sun. For instance, Rig-veda, i. 136. 2. The wide-shining Dawn has been seen ascending to the sky,the path of the Eternal is full of rays; full of rays is the eye of Bhaga.' Bhaga is, indeed, among the principal deities of the Veda; and in the epic poem, also, his name is by no means forgotten. The word bhaga is derived from a root bhaj, to divide, and signifies the divider, distributor, or ruler. There are many similar names given to the sun by the old nations of the world, who looked upon this celestial luminary as the emblem of order, the divider of day and night, the author of the seasons, the source of time, and the ruler of the heavens. But the same word bhaga is also used in the Veda as a general term for deity; and in the Zendavesta, where it occurs as baga, it has entirely adopted the abstract meaning of God. The same form, baga, is found again on the rock inscriptions of the Persian kings. The upper inscription on the sepulchre of Darius at Nakshi-Rustam, begins with the following words: Baga wazarka Auramazdá, hya imám bumim adá, hya, awam asmánam adá, hya martiyam adá, hya shiyátim adá martiyahya, hya Dáryavum khsháyathiyam akunaush, aivam pauruvanám khshayathiyam, aivam paruvanám framátaram.' 'A great God is Ormazd, who created this earth, who created that heaven, who created man, who gave life to man, who made Darius king,—the only king of the people, the only lawgiver of the people.' In the inscription of Behistun, which Colonel Rawlinson has decyphered with such singular ingenuity and so vast an amount of learning, we find the same word

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*There are even traces of human sacrifices among some tribes on the shore of the Baltic. But Schaffarik thinks that this barbarous custom does not occur among the pure Russians, that it had been introduced from without, and, at all events, that it did not last for a long period.