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    the gospel history . Of this , or of the greater portion of it , a manuscript has latel y been discovered to remain at Bamberg . A duplicate , formerly belonging to King Canute , is in the British Museum ; but to the disgrace of our antiquaries , it has never been published here , though considerable progress has been made with the work in Germany .

    At the council held at Mayence in 847 , were renewed the canons of that ' of Tours above alluded to , containing particular injunctions to the bishops to get composed in the Romance or Romahe language , and also in the Francic , homilies and familiar books of religious instruction upon the essential points of Christianity . Of these works , expressl y formed for so benevolent and useful a purpose , a great number remain in the latter tongue .

    We may quote the text of one of these ( the creed ) , to give , especially to the German student , some idea of the then state of the language : * ' Kilaubu , in Kot Fater Alinachticun , kiscaf himiles endi erdu * enti in jhesum Christ , sun sinan ainacim , unscran Truhttn , " &c . With similar views , Otfrid , a Benedictine monk of Weissembourg , about the middle of the ninth century , made a noble effort to accustom his countrymen to the use of their native tongue for religious purposes , by compiling a rhymed version of the gospel . He has himself prefixed dedications ,

    the first to Louis the Germanic , the second addressed to Liutbert , Arcfobishop of Mayence , in which he explains the objects and difficulties of the undertaking * He states himself to have commenced his task at the request of religious friends , for the purpose of supplying better materials for popular amusement and instruction . " It will , " he observes , ** be pleasing to Christians to receive tbe lessons of wisdom in their own tongue , which had been too little cultivated , and could with difficulty be submitted to

    grammatical rules . " " Strange / ' he adds , " that men so wise and good and holy should neglect the cultivation of their own language ; should give all the glory to that of foreigners ; and should not even use the Scriptures in their own tongue 1 Why ( let its defects be what they may ) should they not use it to sing the praises of their God ? It pleases by its very simplicity ; and will not its sounds have a new charm when used to celebrate the goodness of the Creator ?"

    . In the same century appeared a Francic translation of the Harmony of the Gospels usually distinguished , though erroneously , by the name of Tatian of Alexandria ; and there are other monuments of the same endeavours tp fix , and adapt the , language to literary purposes with a religious design , extending downwards to the period when the work was accomplished , and thp vernacular tongue * enriched with new formations , words , and ideas , had become susceptible of all the adaptations required for the medium of communication of a great people , and was copious enough for the polished songs of the Minne-singers , and for their bitter invectives against the disorders and political intrigues of the church itself . We shall pursue this topic in . our next number , addressing ourselves . more p articularly in conclusion to the subject of Mr . Conybeare ' s labours .

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    SI 6 Review . —Cbnybea ^ s Anglo-Saxon Poetry .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1828, page 316, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2560/page/28/