Egypt since the time of Pharoah. He thought proper, like Pharoah, to declare himself entitled to honor due only to the Divinity; he commanded that his subjects on the bare mention of his name should testify their veneration of him by rising up on their feet, and this was practised throughout all his dominions, and even in the sacred territories of Mecca and Medina, but the inhabitants of Cairo especially were compelled to bow the knee to him-not only the people in the streets, but all strangers of every description. He was proud of heart, obstinate, and like the devil, extremely double-faced and deceitful both in his words and actions. He demolished the Christian churches in Cairo, and afterwards rebuilt them-and he acted in the same manner with the Cupola of the Sanctuary (or the Tomb of Mohammed).—Neither before nor since his time have the Mussulman laws allowed the building of churches in the land of true believers-nor, according to the book entitled Sebki Alejmaa, even if an ancient church should go to decay, is it lawful to rebuild it in Mussulman countries. Among the number of his capricious wickednesses, I shall mention his building of schools, and placing in them learned teachers these he afterwards put to death and ruined the schools. Another of his strange inconsistencies was, ordering that the citizens should keep their shops open at night and shut all day. Among his infamous actions we must record his exercising in person the functions of a police officer, riding about the streets upon an ass, and ordering his black slave Masood to punish any delinquent, whom he found, in a manner most obscene and unnatural. He forbade women to go out of their houses, or to look from the windows or terraces-he ordered that the shoemakers should not furnish them with shoes, and at last he prohibited their going to the baths; and several women, who disobeyed this order, he put to death, and caused many baths to be destroyed. He would not allow the herb Melukia to be used in cookery, and commanded the seed and plants of it to be burnt. By these and various other extravagant and wicked actions, he became odious to the people, who revenged themselves on him by satires. Once they made the effigy of a woman, clothed with a mantle and shoes on her feet, holding in her hand a leaf on which were written many severe and bitter reproaches against him-this image was placed in the street, and El Hakem passing by, thought it was some female who had suffered oppression and wished to present a memorial to him— he took the paper and having read the satires which it contained, he was enraged and ordered his slaves to kill the woman, but when he discovered that it was only a lifeless image, he commanded that Cairo should be burnt and sacked-a horrible carnage ensued in consequence of this order, and during three days the palaces and houses were in flames; the women flew for shelter to the Mosques and held up the sacred volume of the Koran, in hopes of obtaining divine mercy. But the evil continued until one third part of the city was consumed, and a multiplicity of women killed and violated by the black slaves of the Tyrant. The historian Ebn al Jouzi relates that the madness and wickedness of El Hakem increased to such a degree, that from his desire of being reputed divine, a troop of fanatical wretches, whenever they beheld him, impiously exclaimed-" O thou the only one! thou who makest alive! thou who art immortal!”

In our own times, there was a prince named Ardimar Altóweil, whose religion nearly resembled that of the Tyrant El Hakem-he endeavoured to obtain the chief command and aspired to the kingdom. If God had permitted this, he would have equalled El Hakem in his actions. He disclosed to me what were his intentions, and he recommended to me the private adoption of his faith, which he wished that I should keep secret until he could seize on the government, and then by the sword he would compel all men to profess his religion. I was grieved and scandalized at this, and I did not cease to pray that God might damn him and not permit him to rule over Mussulmans. I also recommended myself to the Prophet, and at last he was slain and the true believers rescued from their danger.-The historian Ebn Fadlallah relates, that El Hakem having falsely accused his own sister of adultery, she laid a plot for taking away his life. One evening, when he went up to Mount El Mokaddam to observe the stars, for he was much addicted to astronomy, two slaves attacked and killed him-they then dragged his body to the house of his sister, who caused it to be buried, in the year of the Hegira 411 (of the Christian Era 1020).

NOTICE OF GRAMMATICA GRÆCA AB AUG.

MATTHIE.

Grammatica Graeca suis partibus expleta et explicita, ab AVGVSTO MATTHIAE, Philosophiae Doctore, Directore Gymnasii et Bibliothecae Ducalis Altenburgensis, Socio Academiae Scientiarum Erfordiensis, Societatis Latinae Jenensis, et Societatis Moguntinae Scientiarum et Artium Sodali Honorario. Lipsiae. apud Siegfr. Lebr. Crusium. 8. pagg. 975.

QUAMQUAM hujus libri auctoritatem aliquoties citavimus in Supplemento ad alteram editionem Selectorum ex Historicis Græcis, et in Annotatione ad Platonis Phædonem; tamen debemus ei uberiorem commemorationem, cum propter ipsius præstantiam, tum propter necessitudinem inscriptionis; qua nobis eum dicavit cruditissimus ejus scriptor, consuetudinis ac familiaritatis caussâ, quæ nobis ante hos sedecim annos Amstelodami eum eo intercessit, quum, pædagogus ornatissimorum adolescentum Guilielmi et Danielis Willinkiorum fratrum, cum his in nostras scholas ventitaret. Qui quum suam in Græcis Literis facultatem jam per alia scripta doctis hominibus probasset; hoc libro. idem officium præstare voluit Græcæ Linguæ studio, quod Latina Scellerus in Grammatica sua præstiterat, qui item hoc Ger

manicum adjectivum addiderat : quod nos circumlocutione Latine reddidimus: siquidem illa, amplus, copiosus, latus, longus, largus, fusus, uber, plenus, locuples, explanatus, enucleatus, suis numeris absolutus, perfectus, alia aut parum aut nimium significant; et hoc postremum majus etiam est quam id quod aliquando cognomen nova editione se huic libro additurum sperat, ut in fine præfationis scripsit auctor: atque ipsum illud, quod in titulo posuimus, plus esse videtur, quam auctores voluerunt; ut fortasse addito aut subaudiendo, quoad ejus fieri potuit, temperandum sit. Hunc autem titulum, qui copiam, diligentiam, elaborationem, quantam fieri potuit, maximam profiteatur, in hunc Matthiæ librum vere convenire, ita magis intelligent lectores nostri, si antea de ipsius Grammaticæ notione, vi, fine, officio, formis, partibus, monuerimus. Ergo Græcum nomen Grammatica, universe, quidem idem sonat quod Latinum Literatura, de quo supra diximus, omnemque Literarum scientiam complectitur. Hæc quum ad aliquam Linguam adstricta sit, quæ duobus modis addiscatur, arte et usu, ars ejus Linguæ proprie dicta est Grammatica. Ejus duo sunt Capita: alterum Elementare; quod est de singulis literis, syllabis, quantitate, accentu, tum de vocabulis, partibus Orationis, Nominibus et Verbis, Articulis, Pronominibus, Adverbiis, Declinationibus, Conjugationibus, Participiis, Præpositionibus, Conjunctionibus, Interjectionibus: horum denique omnium formatione et etymologia. Alterum est Caput de Syntaxi, id est de Compositione seu Constructione partium orationis ad quamdam sententiam: quæ ipsa pluribus continetur generibus. Est enim vel ligatæ orationis, quæ metrica, vel solutæ, quæ prosa dicitur. Porro, vel solam spectat puritatem ac perspicuitatem orationis, quæ simpliciter dicitur Syntaxis grammatica: vel simul cum puritate ac perspicuitate propositas sibi habet suavitatem ad delectandum et gravitatem ad commovendum, idque vel in prosa vel in ligata oratione; unde novæ artes duæ existunt, Rhetorica et Poëtica. Hujus autem libri Syntaxis, recte finibus continetur Grammaticæ et tamen alterum tantum paginarum Capitis Elementaris, id est duos trientes totius libri, explet. Hunc enim auctor non tironibus ac novitiis, quippe quibus epitomen hinc factam parat, sed provectioribus destinavit iis, qui se ad Scriptores Græcos cum grammatica et critica diligentia legendos cognoscendosque dare volunt. Itaque utroque Capite complecti studuit, omnem summatim materiam, præcepta, observationes, cum doctissimorum in hoc genere hominum indagatione in lucem proditas: tum a se ipso iterata Scriptorum, qui ante Alexandrum Macedonem fuerunt, lectione collectas. Qua copia illud spectavit eruditissimus auctor, ut lectores suos apparatu et instrumento augeret; cum ad interpretandos veteres Scriptores, tum ad Græce scribendi exercitationem: quæ exercitatio, quod ait auctor, recentiore ætate, tam

frequente commendatione, ut discentibus utilis et doctis necessaria, celebrata est, ut supervacaneum sit de ejus laude quidquam addere. Quod nos auctori plane assentimur. Græce enim scribere in puerilibus scholis publice quondam institutum, paulatim in plerisque defecit; magistrorum cum errore, inutilem hanc exercitationem putantium, quod ad scribendos libros et communem eruditorum usum non Græca, sed Latina frequentatur lingua: tum ignorantia, qui, quod ipsi nesciunt, discipulos docere nequeunt. Memini me puerum, sub pædagogo, Nepotis Vitas Græce vertere, adolescentem sponte Xenophontea e Græcis Latina et rursus e Latinis, seposito libro, Græca fecisse. Postea ipse docens ad hanc exercitationem studiosissimum quemque discipulum adhortari et singulatim juvare solebam: nuperrime idem in schola factitare institui, non sine magno discentium fructu; qui sic in primis ad promtam accuratioremque Syntaxeos, Conjugationum, Declinationum, ceterarumque orationis partium, et Accentuum, cognitionem confirmantur. Quæ omnia negligentius animadvertuntur ab iis, qui sola lectione Scriptorum contenti sunt: contra multo firmius percipiuntur ab iis, qui lectioni scriptionem adjungunt, qua singula quæque Nomina et Verba eorumque partes et compositio sub acumen stili judiciique vocantur. Illud etiam in hac Grammatica probamus, quod in materia linguæ Græcæ certa et propria versatur, eaque ad veterem a Grammaticis traditam rationem digeritur: nec e sententia Lennepii, viri ceteroquin eruditissimi, Aoristus secundus Activi, ad imperfectum vetustioris formæ redigitur, veluti ruzov ad Imperfectum Verbi τύπω: aut Aoristus Primus Passivi ἐτύφθην a vetere et ignoto Verbo Túnu ducitur: et alia Tempora ab aliis diversis vetustioribus primitivis formis repetuntur. Quæ ratio nil habet, quo se nobis commendet. Neque enim aut discendi viam faciliorem reddit, aut per se aliquam adfert verisimilitudinem. Nam et primitivæ formæ sic in quovis Verbo multiplicatæ innumerabiles fiant; quas paucas fuisse credibile est : et multo rationi magis consentaneum est, Modorum Temporumque formationem talem exstitisse qualem adhuc omnes Grammatici arbitrati sunt, Præsentis Indicativi Activi v. c. Túto per terminationes et augmenta variando : : quæ est eadem causa Latinæ et aliarum linguarum: et item flexionis Nominum per terminationes; nisi forte et Casus quosque ab aliis Nominibus, exstitisse contendamus. At vero tuemur illam ab Hemsterhusio ostensam, a Valckenario illustratam Analogiam, cujus Specimen editum est in Lennepiano libro, qua simplicissima Verba constituuntur, ut origines ceterorum ex his producendis. augendisque formatorum: hanc igitur tuemur ut veram et, undecumque tandem ortam, certe constante Linguæ observatione confirmatam ut fructuosissimam denique ad plurima in Græcis libris desiderata vocabula restituenda: et vero, ad plurium etiam, quam

sumeret.

vis servatorum, tamen minus intellectorum veram significationem definiendam. Sed est item quidam ejus abusus: de quo diximus in commemoratione libri Lennepiani, B. Crit. Vol. III. Part. II. p. 123. Nos hujus Analogiæ in hac Grammatica aliquanto majorem rationem habendam fuisse existimamus, certe hactenus, ut ei singulare Caput sub nomine Etymologie daretur: quamquam ejus partes quasdam attigit et scienter explicuit Scriptor in Capite de Verbis Defectivis. Hoc etiam caute egit, ut locos confirmandis præceptis ex iis, qui ante Alexandrum fuerunt, Scriptoribus, Tametsi enim post Alexandrum Græca lingua non tam cito corruptelam suscepit, quam Latina post sæculum primum nostræ Æræ: et Menander, Philemon, Diphilus, Apollodorus, Philippides, poëtæ Novæ Comœdiæ, in classicis auctoribus habiti lectique sunt ab Aristarcho: et Scriptores ad Justiniani ætatem usque, exceptis Christianis doctoribus, Græcæ puritati Atticæque elegantiæ studuerunt, quo tempore Latine puritas et elegantia linguæ dudum evanuerat; ut certe Apollodorus, Dionysius Halicarnassensis, Dio Chrysostomus, Aristides, Lucianus, et haud scio an Themistius, Julianus, Libanius, Synesius, tamquam testes puræ dictionis rite laudari possint; pertinuit tamen ad auctoritatem hujus Grammaticæ in testimoniis adferendis se intra fines primæ illius ætatis plerumque continuisse. Dicimus plerumque; nam est etiam ubi aliquid ex hac severitate legis remittitur : veluti p. 153. citantur Polybius, Plutarchus, et Herodes Atticus: quorum duo priores ne voluerunt quidem elegantiæ studuisse videri. Ultimo loco accedit Appendix de Quantitate et Accentu, brevis quidem sed diligens et perspicua: in qua illud etiam recte monetur et apposito diagrammate musico ostenditur, accentum pronunciationi melodiam adferre syllabis variandis acutis, gravibus, circumflexis, Ex toto deinceps opere titulos capitum referre quum infinitum nec opus sit, sententiam paucis complectamur. Igitur in priore volumine omnis materia elementaris, Nomina, Verba, ceteræ orationis partes, per Declinationum, Conjugationum, Dialectorum, variam formam, dilucide explicatur, per tabulas etiam oculis quasi subjicitur: in altero volumine, eadem materia, eodem ordine, recensetur eo consilio ac modo, ut ratio ostendatur, qua ad sententiæ declarationem construatur et componatur: itaque non solum ordinaria et communiş, sed etiam exquisitior proprietas Compositionis, quos vulgo idiotismos vocant, ellipses, pleonasmi, anacoluthiæ, particulæ, aliæque formæ explanentur: in utraque autem tanta sit et præceptorum diligentia ac subtilitas, et vero exemplorum ex optimis Scriptoribus collectorum copia, ubertas, perspicuitas, et, quod addere non dubitamus, suavitas, quantam in alia Græcæ linguæ Grammatica, quod quidem sciamus, nos non deprehenderimus.

(MISCELL. DOCTR. VOL. II.