The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. IX, Part 67

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 440

USA > Pennsylvania > The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. IX > Part 67

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The Mithridates delineates the grammatical character of thirty-four of the Indian languages, and among them all, Du Ponceau avers that he has not discovered a sin- gle idiom which does not partake more or less of the po- lysynthetic structure. With otheraid than that derived from Professor Vater, he has been able distinctly to in- stance the Iroquois or language of the five confederated nations, the Chippeway, the Cherokee, the Chickasaw, and the Wyandot, or Huron, as eminently polysynthe - tic. It is true, Du Ponceau does not allege that excep- tions may not exist among those Indian idioms which are unknown, but the assertion is several times repeated, that, whenever he possessed sufficient data to form any opinion of the structure of the grammar, the polysylla- bic combinations were discernible. Two wonderful in- stances of this similarity in grammatical form, are ad- duced. One is selected from the Araucanian language, which is spoken by a tribe residing near the southern extremity of South America, and the other from the Delaware language, prevailing among the Lenni Le- napes inhabiting the banks of the river Delaware. In the former idiom, the word "iduancloclavin" is trans- lated, I do not wish to eat with him; and in the latter, the term "n' schingiwipoma" is rendered, I do not like to eat with him. Such a coincidence in verbal combina- tion, between people separated by an immense distance from each other, and so many warlike nations, is most remarkable and striking. From the numerous exam- ples adduced, we may assume it as a fact passing almost the propriety of a question, that the Indian dialects, from Greenland to Cape Ilorn, are constructed upon the same model.

These tongues, thus identified as belonging to each other, or as displaying a family likeness, do not appear to bear a very strong analogy to many of the languages of the eastern hemisphere. Du Ponceau has divided these into five classes, for obvious reasons, which we shall endeavour very briefly to disclose.

It is well known, that, in the easternmost parts of Asia, there prevails a class of dialects very similar, in construc- tion, to that which was spoken in China before its con- quest by the Tartars. This language is very meagre in words, is composed entirely of monosyllables, and is very deficient in grammatical forms. As far as a judg- ment can be formed, by means of the excellent gram- mars of this idiom in our possession, its phraseology conveys to the mind merely the prominent ideas of a discourse, either leaving the accessary ideas to be infer- red by the person to whom it is addressed, or rendering necessary auxiliary modes of explanation where ambi- guities occur or precision is desirable. According to Du Ponceau, this language, which is the type of many others prevailing in its neighborhood, is so distinguished from its kindred idioms, that he thinks it entitled to form a genus in his general classification, by the name asyntactic. The Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, and even the German and English, are placed in the second class under the title analytic. These languages vary from the former in their possessing sufficient grammatical forms for all the purposes of connexion and intelligence, but so organized that each distinct idea, and each shade of · an idea, requires a separate word for its expression. Thus are instanced the phrase " of the man," which is expressed in a single word by the Latin "hominis;"

the locution "I will not," or I am not willing, by "nolo;" the verbal form, I will go, by "ibo," &c. The third class, denominated synthetic, consists of those languages in which one word, by a synthetical operation of the mind, frequently conveys several ideas. Such are the Oriental, Latin, Greek, Slavonic, and other languages of that description. The French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, with their various dialects, form a fourth class, which he calls mixed, since conquest and other causes, by intermingling the peculiarities of the second and third classes, have rendered their modes of speech a little heterogeneous or compound.

The languages of our aborigines are thus character- ized by this philosophic linguist: "In these various classes I have not found a place for the Indian languages, which richly deserve to form one by themselves. They are synthetic in their forms, but to such a degree as is not equalled by any of the idioms which I have so de- nominated, and which are only such in comparison with others where analytic forms prevail. That they deserve to form a class by themselves, cannot be doubted. They are the very opposite of the Chinese, of all languages -the poorest in the world, as well as in grammatical forms, while these are the richest in both. In fact, a great va- riety of forms necessarily implies a great multiplicity of words; I mean compound forms like those of the In- dians, compound words in which many idcas are includ- ed together, and are made to strike the mind in various ways by the simple suhtraction or addition of a single letter or syllable. In the Chinese much is understood or guessed at, little is expressed; in the Indian, on the contrary, the mind is awakened to each idea meant to be conveyed, by some one or other of the component parts of the word spoken. These two languages, there- fore, as far as relates to their organization, stand in di- rect opposition to each other; they are at the top and bottom of the idiomatic scale; and, as I have given to the Chinese and its kindred dialects the name of asyn- tactic, the opposite name, syntactic, appears to me that which is best suited to the languages of the American Indians."

Professor Vater, whose philological acumen and ex- tensive lingual acquirements eminently fitted him for the task, undertook to compare almost every known language with those of the American aborigines. His inquiries terminated in the belief that the grammatical systems of the Basque of Europe, the Tschukstchi of Asia, and the Congo of Africa, presented points of clos- er approximation to the Indian than any others. Du Ponceau has clearly demonstrated that, between the Indian and these languages, there prevail the most de- cided characteristic differences. The Basque is very peculiar, and entirely unlike the dialects around it. He selects a single trait of the Indian idiom, to prove their separate and independent character. The Indian lan-" guages do not possess any words that abstractedly ex- press the ideas for which the verbs "to have" and "to be" are employed, while the Basque uses these auxilia- ries in an almost endless multiplicity of forms. Of the Tschukstchi there are two distinct nations; the one is called the settled or sedentary Tschukstchi, the other the wandering or rein-deer. The former speak a dialect of the Karalit or Eskimaux; and as they inhabit the northeasternmost peninsula of Asia, which is divided by a narrow strait from the American continent, they may be considered as an American colony. Their nomadick neighbors use a dialect of the Koriah Tartars, and as far as we are acquainted with the idioms of the Siberian Tartars, and Samoyedes, inhabiting the northern parts of Asiatic Russia, there appears nothing to warrant the presumption of approximate affinity between their lan- guage and those of the Indians. The Congo dialect is too imperfectly known for the purposes of satisfactory comparison. The synthetic forms, it it certain, exist to a certain extent; and it would be a strange and curious event, as Du Ponceau observes, if the languages of the red and black races of mankind, were found to be con-

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LIFE OF CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY.

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structed upon similar principles. The Congo indeed possesses the transitive form of the Indian verb, but it is susceptible of too many variations or anomalies to in- ducc the supposition that a general similarity prevails. The Congo expresses the cases of substantives by in- flexions of the article, whereas no article is employed in the [American languages. They differ too in regard to adjectives, the former using the genitive case of sub- stantives, as water of fire for hot water, while the latter are surprisingly copious in epithets. Other marks of fundamental differences exist, but they need not be in- dicated.

With regard to the derivation of the Mexicans from the Chinese or Japanese, so confidently asserted, by Du Pratz, very little can be found to sustain the notion, on the score of grammatical analogy. In truth, he seems to beg the question instead of proving it: " It were greatly to be wished," says he, " that the first con- querers of this new world had preserved to us their (the Mexican) drawings; for by comparing them with the characters used by other nations, we might perhaps have discovered the origin of the inhabitants. The knowledge which we have of the Chinese characters, which are rather irregular drawings than characters, would probably have facilitated such a discovery; and perhaps those of Japan would have been found greatly to have resembled the Mexican; for I am strongly of opinion that the Mexicans are descended from one of those two nations. In fact, where is the impossibility (!) that some prince in one of those countries, upon failing to raise himself to the sovereign power, should leave his native country with all his partizans, and look for some new land, where, after he had established himself, he might drop all foreign correspondence? The easy navigation of the South Sea renders the thing probable; and the new map of the eastern bounds of Asia, and the western of North America, lately published by M. De Lisle, makes it still more likely. This map makes it plainly appear, that between the island of Japan, or northern coast of China, and those of America, there are other lands, which to this day have remained un- known, and who will take upon him to say there is no land, because it has not yet been discovered? I, there- fore, have good grounds to believe, that the Mexicans came originally from China or Japan," &c. Ile then adduces, by way of. corroboration to this splendid theo- ry, the fact of the Chinese MS., which, in truth, is the only argument brought to support the hypothesis. If it be necessary to combat reasoning so flimsy, we may repeat, what the quotation from Du Ponceau has alrea- dy exhibited, that the Chinese and Indian idioms are directly in opposition, and bear no sort of resemblance. The account, we may just observe, which that learned gentleman gave in his correspondence with Ilcckewel- der, in 1819, of the monosyllabic structure of the Chi- nese language, has been lately iterated or confirmed by" himselfin his admirable letter to Captain Hall, original- ly published in the London Philosophical Magazine. Our acquaintance with the Mexican hieroglyphics, all must acknowledge, is too limited to justify a determi- nate conclusion. But, conceding a general similarity between the two people in manners, customs, religious rites, and pictorial illustrations, does that furnish suffi- cient basis for an inference that the one is derived from the other? These are ever undergoing perpetual changes; and it is scarcely probable that the Indians, after a residence of so many centuries in America, should preserve many of the customs of the country from which they descended. A stronger similitude, in point of manners, is observable between them and the ancient Germans, as described by Tacitus, than between them and the Chinese; and who has ever contended that we should look for their origin there? A rude aristocracy in the form of government-eagerness for military enterprizes-political and personal independ- ence-neglect of the useful arts-implacability in re- sentment, and desire of vengeance-are the distinguish-

ing traits of both. The extent of this similarity, if it be carefully examined, will be found almost without a parallel in the history of nations .. As it can be ac counted for upon other principles than those of descent from the same line of ancestry, it is certainly inade- quate, considered in the light of demonstrative reason- ing. But, without losing ourselves in a knotty disquisi- tion, it may be enough to observe, that it is a fact well established by history, and ton universally known to render elucidation necessary by particular examples, that local circumstances and political institutions have a potent influence in assimilating the manners of different nations, however distant from each other in situation, or existing in ages however remote. In all probability some new light will be shed upon this obscure subject, by a promised publication of Professor Rafn, of Co- penhagen. Ile has made, it is understood, a complete collection of all the ancient MSS. relating to the know- ledge possessed by the Scandinavians of North America prior to the time of Columbus. They will be publish- ed with a Latin translation. What these MSS. will eli- cit, we cannot now conjecture; but the accounts of the old Scandinavian voyages have received a new confirma- tion in the recent discovery of a Runic stone bearing the following inscription: "Erling Sigvatson and Bi- jarne Thorderson and Endride Oddson Saturday before Gagnday(the 25th of Fourth month, )erected these heaps of stone and cleared the place 1135."

From what has been said it seems evident, that, though the analogy pervading the Indian languages au- thorizes the belief of a common origin, yet in the pre- sent condition of our knowledge, it would be improper to assign them a particular genealogy. It is indeed true, that so far as Frcd. Adelung, in his additions to the Mithridates, has described the language of a people of Asia, called the Grusianians, a surprising resemblance has been discovered in the forms of its verbs to those of the American Indians. The language is too imperfect- ly known for the purposes of full collation, but should the likeness continue, upon further examination, it would be most remarkable. The Grusianians reside in that part of Asia which has always been considered as the cradle of the human race!

J. R. T.

[ Ta be Continued.]

From the Blairsville Record. SKETCHES, No. V. Of the Life, and Military and Ilunting Adventures of CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY. (Continued from page 207.)

The incursions of the Indians had become so fre- quent, and their outrages so alarming, that it was thought advisable to retaliate upon them the injuries of war, and carry into the country occupied by them, the same system of destructive warfare with which they had visited the settlements. For this purpose, an adequate force was provided, under the immediate command of General Broadhead, the command of the advance guard of which was confined to Captain Samuel Brady.

The troops proceeded up the Allegheny river and had arrived at the flat of land near the mouth of Red- bank creek now known by the name of Brady's Bend, without encountering an enemy. Brady and his ran- gers were some distance in front of the main body, as their duty requiring, when they suddenly discovered a war party of Indians approaching them. Relying on the strength of the main body, and its ability to force the In- clians to retreat, and anticipating, as Napoleon did in the

* See Appendix to Robertson's History of Charles V. foran extended comparison of the ancient Germans with the Indians.

238

THE MAID'S HUSBAND.

[APRIL

battle with the Mamelukes that when driven back, they } lighter description ;- with this view, I now send a would return upon the same route they had advanced piece of poetry, written by a lady of Pennsylvania, about the year 1766. on, Brady permitted them to proceed without hindrance, and hastened to seize a narrow pass, higher up the river; where the rocks, nearly perpendicular, approach the THE MAID'S HUSBAND, river; and where a few determined might successfully VERSIFIED AT THE REQUEST OF A FRIEND. combat superior numbers.

In a short time, the Indians encountered the main bo- dy under Broadhead, and were driven back. In full and swift retreat they pressed on to gain the pass be- tween the rocks and the river, but it was occupied by their daring and relentless foe, Brady and his Rangers; who failed not to pour into. their flying columns a most destructive fire.

" At once there rose so wild a yell Within that dark and narrow dell, As if the fiends from heaven that fell, Had pealed the banner cry of hell! Forth from the pass in tumult driven Like chaff before the winds of heaven, The Indians appear:

For life! for life! their flight they ply- And shriek, and shout, for battle cry Are maddening in the rear."

Indeed I have been told by an officer in the American army, who is no stranger to Indian battles, that, Walter Scott's description of the battle of "Beal An Duine," from which I have ventured to make the above extract, would suit very well for that of any battle with the In- dians,by changing a few names, and substituting plumes for bonnets, bayonets for spears, and so forth.

Be that as it may, the Indians on this occasion were broken, routed, and forced to jump into the river. Ma- ny were killed on the bank, and many more in the stream.

Our aged friend Cornplanter, chief of the Senecas, then a young man, saved himself by swimming, as did several others of the party.

After they had crossed the river, Brady was standing on the bank wiping his rifle, an Indian, exasperated at the unexpected defeat, and disgraceful retreat of his party, and supposing himself now safe from the well known and abhorred enemy of his race, commenced a species of conversation with him in broken English which we call blackguarding. Calling Brady and his men cowards, squaws, and the like, and putting himself in such attitudes, as he probably thought would be most expressive of his utter contempt of them.

sat down by an ash sappling, and taking sight about | Nor loosely wild by reason unrestrained;

When Brady had cleaned his rifle and loaded it, he three feet above the Indian, fired. As the gun cracked the Indian was seen to shrink a little, and then limp off. When the main army arrived, a canoe was manned, and Brady and a few men crossed, to where the Indian had been seen. They found blood on the ground, and had followed it but a short distance till the Indian jumped up, struck his breast, and said "I am a man." It was Brady's wish to take him prisoner, without doing him further harm.

The Indian continued to repeat ." I am a man." -- " Yes,'said an Irishman, who was along,-"By S-s, you're a purty boy"-and before Brady could arrest the blow,sunk his tomahawk in the Indian's brains.

The army moved onward, and after destroying all the Indians' corn, and ravaging the Kenjna flats, returned to Pittsburg. KISKEMINETAS.

Communicated for the Register of Pennsylvania.

The editor of the Register of Pennsylvania, to whom (in the humble opinion of his correspondent) the state is much indebted, will probably be pleased to have his pages of historical document, and important, though dry, statistical details, relieved occasionally by articles of a

From the " World," Vol. 2d, No. 80.

To SOPHRONIA.

Sophronia, here behold the perfect man! Such be your lot,-and find him-if you can! The maiden's whim, dres't by poetic art To charm the fancy, and engage the heart.

HIS PERSON.

To fix it lasting thus, in him be seen The graceful gesture, and the noble mien, His sparkling eye the ray of beauty wear, And on his cheek the glow of health appear; O'er his whole face, the lively lines dispense The cheerful lustre, and the striking sense, His manly form, the better mind reveal, His motion easy and his step genteel, Far from the giddy Coxcomb's fluttering air Or from the solemn Fop's affected leer, His thoughts refined, and every action free From stiff reserve,-or wanton levity.

His MIND.

To this bright form,-unitedly be joined The rich improvement of the worthy mind. Each innate feature glow with decent pride, His genius sprightly-and his knowledge wide, . Nor only books the pedant's thought engage, But study nature in the instructive page- Whose forming hand in him shall pleasing blend The soft companion and the improving friend. Cheerful, not vain, each well bred action be, Learned without pride,-and without folly, free; His converse charm, and every turn display The happy mixture of the grave and gay; Free flow his thoughts, not deep by study gained,

Simple as nature in her first estate, And formed by culture, delicately great.

HIS SOUL.

So charm the mind-and on his soul impres't, (If such distinction critics can digest, ) Smile every virtue, every grace reside With lustre glow,-and by example guide Triumphant reason, mark the instructive plan, And sway the just, humane, and generous man. Generous, without the wild profusive scene, And without weakness of the mind, humane. Kind without folly, just-but not severe, And every passion reason's signet wear. To the fair partner of his heart express The generous care and manly tenderness, Each social duty cheerful to perform, To man benevolent-in friendship warm, Reason and Nature thus uniting here Shall guard the open heart with prudent care: Diffuse-without the wild luxurious waste,

1832.]

ANTIQUITIES OF PHILADELPIIIA.

239

Nor yet with avarice curse the human breast, And due respect, his passion still restrain, Nor lose the lover in the husband's name; His tender care with soft complaisance join'd, Shall win the affections and engage the mind, Guard every act-and every thought improve, To fix the conquest-as he gained her love.

Some vulgar minds in nuptial bands allied, Support their title by tyrannic pride, The soft address, and well-bred grace exclude, In morals brutish, and in manners rude; Not so the man be formed that shall command, The gay Sophronia's gentle heart and hand; By education taught, and reason's light, Tho' free as friendship, yet as courts polite; And what in others, is but fancy blind, In him be judgment, solid and refined.

HIS RELIGION.

But incomplete, my friend, the man appears, Unless his soul religion's lustre wears; This heavenly flame shall from the dross divide, Guard every thought, and every action guide, Direct, illumine, warm the human span, And glow with love to God, and love to man: Genuine and pure his whole devotion be, From bigot's modes and superstition free, His pious mind in bright example wear, The cheerful spirits and the engaging air, And tell the world 'tis blest religion's soil, That gives the christian legal right to smile. No sour moroseness on his brow be seen, In stiff reserve and discontented mien, Let him disown such ties-disdain to wear The soul untaught by charity-severe, Nor fly his species, quit the social road And in the gloom of darkness seek his God. His nobler mind, (a more enlighten'd scenc) Shall paint th' Almighty, 'midst the sons of men- Nor seek his God in vain-diffusive here His active goodness-providential care, Thro' all his wide extended empire seen In goodness perfect and in power supreme. While thus, religion's flame his soul shall warm, Reason his conduct regulate and form, Nobly consistent every act shall prove, That claims devotion-or demands his love; Secure salvation's grand important plan And wing each duty that relates to man.

FIDELIA.

ORIGINAL LETTER

From Peter Collinson to Governor Thomas Penn.

LONDON, SEPT. 20, 1733.

Dear Friend-THOMAS PENN:

" Many are the acts of Government, which I shall not pretend to enumerate or to dictate to thee, I shall only beg leave to offer a few hints, which have occurred from the observations I have made in various readings.

"It is a received general maxim, that religion awes, and civilizes the minds of the populace, more than cor-

poral punishments. This was prudently foreseen by all the wise and cminent legislatures, that have been in the world. Amongst the Jews, Grecks and Romans, this maxim was principally cultivated. In the first in- stitutions of their governments, whilst this obtained, all the moral virtues flourished, and the people were kept within the bounds of government, with ease and tran- quility.

"But when their Principals and Chiels fell from their religious duties, the people too, soon followed their ex- ample-piety and virtue took their flight, and left them at large, (like a ship without a rudder,) to their unbri- dled lusts and passions; the fatal consequences were, ty- ranny and oppression which soon raised factions and par- ties to the ruin of the State and Government.

" Thee art now happily placed I'rincipal and Chief of a religious and industrious people, rendered so in great measure by the pious example of thy illustrious Father, and hy the excellent laws he gave them-thy treading in his steps, will be an undoubted means to continue your felicity.

"Thee art now to consider thyself no longer as in pri- vate life; but in thy public exalted station, the eyes of all the' people are on thee, and thy example will in- fluence them either to virtue or vice. But to keep them in their love and duty to thec, and in unity and peace one with another, I recommend to thee a strict religious decorum, and as example is beyond precept, thy con- stant frequenting our religious meetings, on all appoint- ed days for worship, will be very commendable, a good example, and very much contribute to heget religious sentiments, civilized principles, and an awful regard in the minds of the people of all persuasions, and tend to increase the public tranquility and lasting peace. "

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The Register of Pennsylvania : devoted to the preservation of facts and documents and every other kind of useful information respecting the state of Pennsylvania, Vol. IX, Part 67

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870 Publication date: 1828 Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ; Number of Pages: 440

Author: Hazard, Samuel, 1784-1870
Publication date: 1828
Publisher: Philadelphia : Printed by W.F. Geddes ;
Number of Pages: 440