REMARKS ON THE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF THE TAMILS.

BY SIMON CASIE CHITTY, Esq.

THE Tamil language has been justly considered one of the most copious and elegant in the Eastern hemisphere, and is classified in the Nigandu under the head of " eighteen original tongues" of the terra cognita of the Hindoos.

Some writers, amongst them Fre Bartolemio, suppose it to be a dialect of the Sanskrit, but this is obviously an error; for "its peculiar structure, wholly dissimilar from Sanskrit, its deficiency in aspirated consonants, its possession of letters and sourds not found in Sanskrit, its division into dialects, one of which contains but few words of Sanskrit derivation; and lastly, its locality at the southern extremity of India would seem to indicate an independent origin, and one of at least equal antiquity with the San3krit itself."-Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. II. p. 264.

The Tamil language is divided into two dialects, viz. Shen Tamil, or high dialect and Kodun Tamil, or low dialect. The former comprises thres further divisions, of which the first is termid Eyet Tamil, prose Tamil; the second Issei Tamil, poetical Tamil; and the third Nudaga Tamil, dramatic Tamil.

The Alphabet consists of twelve vowels and eighteen consonants, and, like the Greeks, the Tamils ascribe the invention of the whole of them to the gods.

No language in India, if we except the Sanskrit, can rival the Tamil in grammatical accuracy. To Agastya it is chiefly indebted for its high state of refinement, and as that philosopher happened to dwell on the mountain called Podiyamalei, in the south of the Peninsula, and was on that account addressed by the title of Dekshana Moorti, or the sage of the south, it has hence obtained the name of Ten Mozlie, or the southern dialect. Agastya was the first who framed rules concerning the Tamil grammer, but in the lapse of time they have been lost. After his time several persons wrote on the subject, but their works have likewise perished, excepting the one by Tolkappiyen, who was one of the disciples of Agastya. This, however, from its studied brevity, has been rendered scarcely intelligible, which led Pavanandi Vidwan, at the request and during the reign of the King Siyagangen of Madura to write a commentary upon it under the title of Nunnool, i. e. Literae humaniores. Beschi, speaking of this production observes that "although every one is familiar with the title, few have trod even on the threshold of the treatise itself." Though Fawanandi Vidwan had in his introduction to the Nunnool proposed to treat of all the five parts of the grammar, namely, Letters, Words, Matter, Versification, and Embellishment, he wrote only on the two first, and the defect was supplied by Narkavirája Nambi, Amirdaságaren and Tandi, who each composed a treatise on a part. Different commentaries have been written on the Nunnool in modern times; but that which emanated from Beschi and called Tonnool Vilakkam, has thrown them all into the shade.

With regard to dictionaries, the Tamil language boasts of many, among which the one entitled Nigandu, the production of a Jaina King Mandala Purusha is the best and most esteemed; like the Amera Cosha, it is composed in verse to be committed to memory, and is divided into twelve chapters, the contents of which are: 1st the titles of Deities, 2nd the names of Men, 3rd the names of Beasts, Fowls and Fishes, 4th the names of Plants, 5th the names of Places, 6th the names of Metals and Minerals, 7th the names of different objects, 8th and 9th names of Physical objects and actions, 10th the Verbs, 11th the Synonymous words, 12th Homonymous words.

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The Saður Agarådi by Besdie was chiefly compiled from this work and as he has arranged the words in Alphabetical order on the principle of European diction. aries, it has proved very useful to Tamil students.

It is a fact, attested by the numerous works still in existence on the liberal and mechanical arts, that the Tamils had made considerable progress in literature in the earliest period of their history. From the fourth century be fore, to the eleventh century after CHRIST, establishments for learning were in high repute amongst them, and there was a college at Madura, in which every literary production was received and approved. The Kings of the Chola and Pandiya dynasties who then reigned over the Peninsula, were themselves men of great learning, and made it a point to cherish and distinguish every genius by particular acts of munificence. The present generation, however, scarcely feel any desire to add to the stock, or improve it; and I doubt whether the Hindoo Literary Society of Madras by the mere printing and publishing of some M.S.S. especially on Mythology, will ever be able to reviv● the national literature.

ORIGIN OF BUDDHISM.

IN THREE LETTERS FROM THE REV. N. GILBERT TO SIR WILLIAM COLEBROOKE, COM. MUNICATED BY THE HON'BLE GEORGE TURNOUR, Esq.

(Continued.) LETTER 2ND.

Gilbert's, Antigua, May 4th, 1839.

TO SIR WILLIAM COLEBROoke,

MY DEAR SIR, I cannot permit myself to receive your very interesting Communications of the 2d and 3d of May, and not return you my best thanks for the same.

I take the opportunity also of sending you a few remarks on the origin of language. This subject has been suggested by your and Mr. Read's observations on the derivation of the words 'Buddhist' and 'Magi'-It is a subject which has frequently occupied my attention, but respecting which I have not been able to come to any decisive conclusion. At the same time facts-and they are very numerous-seem to point out the truth of the theory.

I do not, however, state it as my own, for many learned men have adopted it, although from deficiency of proof, or rather of demonstration, it does not appear to have met with very general acceptance.

I believe language to have been given to Adam by divine inspiration, and that that language was the Hebrew. We might imagine this a priori, as it is the language in which the ALMIGHTY has thought fit to reveal himself to his creatures, and which he made use of while on earth. The Greek of the New Testament, is, humanly speaking, rather that of the Apostles than of CHRIST; although doubtless, like the Hebrew, dictated by immediate inspi ration. That Adam must have been taught to speak by insipiration (or as some may prefer to call it, instinct) there can be no doubt, or he would not have been able to converse with his CREATOR as he appears to have done,

on the first day of his existence; and that a language so inspired should be the most suitable to convey from the infinite intelligence of the CREATOR to the finite comprehension of the creature, all that it was requisite for him to know and practice, is a conclusion in itself so natural and reasonable that few will probably be inclined to dispute it.

That this language was the Hebrew may not however be so readily con. eded; but we have tolerably good evidence on this point also. The oldest writings in the world-far, very far the oldest-Moses having concluded his history just where Herodotus begins-are the Hebrew Scriptures; and this is, not only an argument in favor of this opinion, but ought in all fairness, until some mode of accounting for it be devised, to be admitted as a proof,,

But the language itself contains almost indubitable evidence of the fact. We are informed in the 2nd of Genesis that the LORD GOD brought every living creature to Adam, to see what he would call them; and that whatso. ever Adam called each, that was the name thereof. Now it is very remarkable that in the Hebrew all of these names are significant, and in fact, like all our modern attempts at nomenclature, descriptive of the thing named. The leopard is named from his spots, and the bear from his murmuring or groaning. Buffon calls it, 'un gros murmure,' and Cuvier says 'their voice resembles groaning.' The camel is named from a very peculiar quality in his disposition, and one which we must suppose to have lain dormant in Paradise; and consequently that Adam could only have given it by inspiration-the same word in Hebrew meaning camel and revenge; and this name of Camel appears to have passed into almost all the languages both of the east and of the west,

Another reason for supposing the Hebrew to have been the original lan. guage is to be found in the immense number of words, which in all other languages, are derived from it; and a third reason in the original significa. tion of such words, I will illustrate both of these arguments by a simple example.

The word wine in Hebrew-jin or yin, is derived from a verb which means to squeeze or press, and I believe that there is no other language in the world which thus expresses its mode of manufacture; consequently this language exhibits a claim of originality-seeing it not merely names but DESCRIBES things-which no other possesses.

But the argument deducible from this one word does not end here. There is scarcely an ancient or a modern language that does not derive the name of wine from the same Hebrew root, viz. Greek oinos, Latin vinum, Italian and Spanish vino, French vin, Welch givin, Cimbric uin Danish vien, Dutch wün, Saxon vin, and English wine.

I will only add one other reason, and that in the words of the Foreign

Quarterly. The faet that no language but the Hebrew preserves a trace of the confusion of tongues, is an argument of their formation subsequent to that event, and that the Hebrew is the sole original.

You will now perceive-admitting the truth of the foregoing observations,➡ how my derivation of the word Budd is not at all inconsistent with that which you have suggested. It follows also that when we have once traced up a word to the Hebrew, we have arrived at the fountain head; all other derivations being, so to speak, only resting places that we meet with in our journey. Indeed the account which is given in Genesis of the origin of other languages at Babel, does not imply a new creation of tongues, but only the confusing of them-Bel, from which word Babel is derived, merely signifying to mix' or mingle;' and perhaps a more striking instance of this confusion cannot be found than occurs in the two cognate languages, the Hebrew, and the Chaldee, with respect to this very word; for Bel in Chaldee, instead of meaning confusion, means heart, and this appears to have arisen from a mere inversion of the letters, the Hebrew name for heart being Leb.

Hence supposing the Buddhists to have derived their name originally from their being set apart, like the Nazarites, as more holy than the rest of mankind, and admitting that they were-as there seems every reason to believea branch of the Magi, we can at once perceive how their name came to be admitted into the language of the east as synonymous with wisdom. The doctrine they taught was styled gnósis, (and hence in fact arose the Gnostic heresy,) as containing the only true wisdom, the knowledge of GOD. Indeed the very same process took place with respect to the word Magoi, our own translators having actually styled them wise men,'

I cannot find any thing at all satisfactory respecting the origin of this latter word in Greek lexicons (of which I have here only two) or in Calmet or Parkhurst. They all seem to think that it was a Persian word; but Ainsworth does not hesitate to derive it from the Hebrew. Mege, which is itself a substantive, formed from a word which signifies to meditate or study. Ainsworth gives it meditans, MUSSITANS. This last word of explanation-mussitans, muttering or grumbling-has proved very interesting to me, as I had some months since written an Essay on the prophecy of the four beasts of Daniel, and had there explained the second beast-tho bear to be the representative of the Magian religion, and descriptive of its progress through the world, and its connection with the Christian Church. The bear, I have observed in a preceding part of this letter, is named from its grumbling or murmuring voice-its groaning as Cuvier calls it. And, as the Magian religion consisted in a perpetual, struggle between good and evil, and in mortifying the body-as it was not monstrous, like the other symbolic beasts of the prophetic vision, but perfectly natural-teaching as far

as it went, the true knowledge of GOD, but always lamenting and mourning over the impossibility of attaining that degree of holiness, which was the ultimate object of all the efforts of its followers-the emblem appears to have been most appropriately selected. The fact, therefore, of the very name of Magi, according to the derivation of Ainsworth, thus including these two ideas of meditation and groaning, I cannot but look upon it às a singular confirmation of an idea adopted at first on very different grounds; and I would add, that this mourning or groaning does not imply any thing at all inconsistent in itself with the true religion. Isaiah uses the very allusion in reference to the Church: "We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves," and St. Paul says, "ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body."

To what length these speculations-perhaps I should rather say researches¬ may ultimately conduct us, it is impossible to anticipate. But when I connect the prediction of Daniel, that at the time of the end' many shall ruą to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased, with the discoveries of Prinsep, Champellion, Wilkinson, and Captain Lockett's Babylonian cylinders, not to mention a great variety of others, I cannot but think that I perceive the shadows of forthcoming events, of a magnitude and importance, to the moral, social and religious world, not only unexampled but astounding,

If the magificence and energy of accomplishment is to be at all proportionate to that of preparation, I see not how the world can contain, or humanity achieve the purposes which are now in agitation, and the work that must shortly be done. The very elements of human society are melting with fervent heat; and there is not a single earthly principle left that can hind communities together. Fear, love, interest, are all alike impotent: justice, truth, and patriotism are despised. When a member of the British Parliament can boldly assert that he would vote black to be white in order to support his party; and when a minister of France can declare that treaties offensive to the people are not to be kept, because rulers and subjects aro naturally at variance with each other; I do not see how intercourse, either social or national, is to be maintained. We are driven by necessity to seek some higher principle, which shall in fact overtop and overpower every other, and this principle is only to be found in religion. But when we see churches as well as states tottering to their fall, and when of scripture, as the following, yet once more I shake not only earth, but heaven' and hear a Bishop of our own Church, so learned, sober, and judicious as Horsley, declare from the words of prophecy, that "all establishments will be laid aside. From the toleration of the most pestilent heresies, they will proceed to the toleration of Mahomedanism and Athiesm; and at Jast to a positive persecution of the truth of Christianity."-What refuge hars

we reflect on such passages