Page images
PDF
EPUB

But as it would have been unjust to have withdrawn from their studies and employments men of genius and learning, without some remuneration, the King took this point into consideration, and, upon the representation of the Duke de Montausier, agreed to defray the expense (which, upon a fair calculation, was estimated at about 3 or 400,000 francs) of bringing the plan to perfection. It is highly to the honour of M. Colbert's taste, that he distinguished himself on this occasion, by throwing open the treasury to defray these expenses, with liberality and with a good grace. I was employed in the superintendence of the plan, and I fixed at forty the number of the classical authors who were to compose the collection; but in the search which I had next to make, to find as many able critics to put them into the desired shape, I found much greater difficulty. We were obliged to take such as could be met with, who, of course, differed very much from each other in point of ability. This opportunity, however, suggested to me the idea of giving to each of these authors an index of all the words which the work contained-knowing, as I did, the great advantages derived to literature from the few indexes of the same kind we already possessed. I even carried my views farther, and proposed to melt all these into one, when finished, so as to compose a general index, which should contain, and circumscribe, as it were, the limits of the Latin language, By this method, one would be enabled to find at glance, and with certainty, the birth, age, usage, signification, fortune, duration, decay, and extinction of each word. Never would the language and antiquities of Rome have received a more effectual

support, or a more certain preservative against the influence of ignorance and the advances of barbarism; but the length of the enterprise, the laziness of those employed, and the marriage of the Dauphin, which occasioned the cessation of his studies, stopt us in the midst of our course, and put an end to the plan.

[blocks in formation]

I know not how I came to forget, in my Evangelical Demonstration, to notice that the fable of Hercules, related by Lycophron, and other ancient writers, that he was swallowed by a sea dog, and retained for three days in his stomach, from which he escaped with only the loss of his hair, is just the story of Samson, absorbed by his love of Dalilah, who cut off his hair to deprive him of his strength.*

[ocr errors]

LXXXVI. ARABIAN NUMERALS.

It is an established opinion, not only among men of literature, but among scholars of the first order, that the numeral characters in use among us, have been introduced into Europe through Spain; that Spain received them from the Moors, the Moors from the Arabs, and the Arabs from the Indians. I agree with the supposition, that Spain received them from the Moors, and the Moors from the Arabs; but I cannot admit that the Arabs received them from the Indians. I maintain, on the

contrary, that the Indians received them from the Arabs, and the Arabs from the Greeks, as they have done all their learning; some branches of which they have brought to perfection; but the greater part of which they have deteriorated and

*The story of Jonah would seem to be as german to that of Hercules.

altered. The numeral characters which they borrowed from the Greeks have been subjected to this alteration; and so effectually, that without particular observation, we can scarcely perceive any traces of their origin. But when we make the comparison carefully, and without prejudice, the traces of the Greek characters are sufficiently obvious. The Greek numerals were merely the letters of their alphabet. A small comma or line was the mark of unity. The ß, with its extremities cut off, has produced the 2. If we bend they a little to the left, cutting off the foot, and rounding the left horn a little towards the left, we form a 3. The A has produced the 4, by raising the left side of the triangle perpendicularly, prolonging it a little below the base, and lengthening the base on the left side. The has formed the 5, by turning the lower semicircle from left to right. The 6 has been formed from the 5, by rounding the bottom, and retrenching the top part. The 7 has been formed from the Z, by cutting off the base. If we connect the four corners of the H, we form an 8. The forms the 9, by slightly opening one of the sides. The cipher was merely a point added to the other units, in order to multiply their value 10 times. It was necessary to mark this point strongly; and in order to form it distinctly, it was first represented by a circle filled up in the middle: afterwards the filling up of the circle was neglected. Theophanes, the historian of Constantinople, says, in plain terms, that the Arabs retained the Greek letters, having no characters in their language to mark numbers. The Greeks, in their numbers, retained the decimal progression as the Arabs have done.

LXXXVII. DECIMALS.

It is at first sight surprising, that in the progression of numbers, and in calculation, the number of ten, and the decimal progression, should have been preferred to all others. The cause of this preference is, that it corresponds with the number of our fingers, in which all men are accustomed to reckon from their infancy. They count, in the first place, the number of their fingers. When the nnits exceed the number of their fingers, they pass to a second ten. If the number of tens increases, they count these also on their fingers; and when the number of tens exceeds the number of their fingers, they recommence on their fingers a new sort of calculation; that is to say, of tens of tens, or hundreds; and afterwards, of thousands, and so on. Thus, it is the number of the fingers with which nature has furnished man, as an instrument always ready to assist him in his calculations, which has led to the adoption of this number-a number, in other respects less useful, and less fitted for the purpose, than the number of twelve, which is more susceptible of division; for 10 is divisible only by 2 and by 5, while 12 is divisible by 2, by 3, by 4, and by 6.

The Roman ciphers afford a proof of the origin which I have just stated. They express units by the I's, which represent the fingers. Five is represented by a V, which represents the first and last fingers of the hand. Ten is represented by an X, being two V's united at their bases, and expressing the contents of both hands. Fifty is marked by an L, the half of the letter E, which is the same as C, and represents a hundred. Five hundred by

a D, the half of the letter O, which is the same as M, and represents a thousand.

LXXXVIII. THE GARLAND OF JULIA.

Never did love devise a piece of gallantry more ingenious, more refined, or more original than the Duke of Montausier's new-year's-gift to his mistress Julia d' Augennes, when he sought her in marriage. He had a selection of the finest flowers painted separately in miniature, on vellum, of the same size, by an excellent painter. Beneath each picture he made the artist leave sufficient space to write a madrigal on the subject of the flower, and in praise of Julia. He prevailed on all the wits of the time, most of whom were his personal friends, to undertake the composition of these little pieces, after reserving a reasonable share of the best subjects to himself. He then had the madrigals written beneath each flower by a person at that time. much celebrated for the beauty of his handwriting. The whole was then finely bound. Two copies exactly alike were formed, and each inclosed in a covering of Spanish leather. This was the present which Julia found on her toilet on New-year's-day 1633, or 1634, (for it was shortly after the death of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden.) I notice this epoch because it is alluded to in the imperial crown, one of the flowers composing this garland. As I had merely heard of its existence by report, I often asked permission to see it; Madame d' Usez at last procured me this pleasure. She locked me up one afternoon along with the garland; she afterwards went to attend the Queen,

• An elegant madrigal composed by Chapelain, author of "The Pucelle.'

« PreviousContinue »