'A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English; with a Dissertation on the Languages, Literature, and Manners of Eastern Nations' [‎27v] (59/1826)

XXXV111
DISSERTATION.
rational to conclude, that a considerable part of
those tongues, which still exist, did actually pre
exist in that aboriginal language; and that the
variety of lost idioms, which, in early times,
prevailed in Lower Asia and Egypt, were either
the immediate derivatives from that language, or
dialects of its most diffusive branches? Those
tongues in particular which Mr. Bryant mentions,
if they ever did live, have certainly long since ex
pired ; where then shall we search for a discovery
of their characteristic traces ? where but in the
Hebrew, in the Arabic, in the Syriac, in the Per
sic ? which were unquestionably spoken in the
same or in the surrounding countries ; and either
gave them birth, were derived from them, or
claimed one common source. Can any stronger
presumption be furnished of the truth or proba
bility of this position, with regard especially to the
Arabic and the Persian, than the unconstrained
meanings, which have been brought from those
languages, for almost every radical particle, chosen
by this learned gentleman, as the basis of his
system ? Could this be the effect of chance ? Is
it not a striking proof of their antiquity and utility ?
And do not such etymons carry far more forcible
conviction to our understanding, than dark and
unsatisfactory derivation from unknown tongues ?
A system of evidence, which proves either too
much or nothing at all; for if one writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. is allowed
to roam through the regions of fancy, and fix
arbitrary interpretations to a favourite class of
words, another and another have an equal right;
and every ingenious critic may then, like Archi
medes of old, require only some transmundane
station on which to rear his engines ; in order to
shake to pieces the reason of man, as that famous
Syracusan boasted he could have done our globe,
had another world been found on which to fix his
great mechanic powers. 68
To touch slightly on the extensive subject of
Eastern manneis, and to trace, in a few instances,
their probable influence on those of modern Eu
rope, will now be the subject of a short inquiry.
1 am sensible that we may refine too much, by
deriving every resemblance of customs, in one
country, from the apparent counterpart in another.
In different quarters of the world, a similarity of
habit has been discovered amongst people, in other
respects wholly dissimilar; and mankind, in parallel
situations, will often think alike, without the least
communication of sentiment. We may not, at the
same time, reason always justly, in looking only
to the era of great events for the influx of novel
customs. We are stunned by the rolling of a tor
rent, whilst the humbler stream glides unnoticed
by; and many circumstances may have been placed
to the account of revolution and conquest, which
possibly originated from simpler causes, and flowed
in by less perceptible channels. How far the fol
lowing theory may be found just, will depend
therefore upon its probable coincidence with the
history and habits of mankind : in such remote
inquiries we can hardly hope for more. 69
Romantic fiction has long been considered as of
Eastern origin ; and, to fix the period of its intro
duction into Europe, has given rise to many sys
tems. The Saracen conquest of Spain, and the
Crusades, have been chiefly built upon ; and the
hypothesis of Oden's fight from the Euxine to Scan
dinavia, has of late been adopted, by an intelligent
and pleasing writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. , to account for its early pre
valence amongst our Gothic ancestors. It is cer
tainly evident that not only romance, but many
customs and modes of thinking, apparently Asiatic,
were found amongst those fierce invaders, before
their irruption into the Roman empire; yet, as
there is no probability in the tale of Oden, I shall,
after assigning a few reasons for refusing my assent
to this wonderful expedition, hazard some conjec
tures on the channels through which those charac
teristic Eastern manners may possibly have flowed
into our Western regions. 70
Many learned northern antiquaries, from tradi
tions in old Runic poems, and other suspicious
materials, have framed a historical system with
regard to their great hero Oden; which though
evidently intended to heighten the character of
that famous Scandinavian lawgiver, proves the