OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

113

(he barriers of the monarchy, and even of the ca-pital, had been trampled under foot, the variousbarbarians had doubtless corrupted the formand substance of the national dialect; and am-ple glossaries have been composed, to interpreta multitude of words of Arabic, Turkish , Scla-vonian, Latin, or French origin.* But a pureridiom was spoken in the court, and taught in thecollege; and the flourishing state of the languageis described, and perhaps embellished, by a learn-ed Italian , 1 who, by a long residence and noblemarriage, 1 was naturalized at Constantinople about thirty years before the Turkish conquest.“ The vulgar speech,” says Philelphus," “ has

1 In the first attempt, Meursius collected SCOO Graeco-barbarouswords, to which, in a second edition, he subjoined 1800 more; yetwhat plenteous gleanings did he leave to Portius, Ducange , Fabriotti,the Bollandists, &c. (Fabric. Bibliot. Grsec. tom. x, p. 101, &c). SamePersic words may be found in Xenophon, and some Latin ones in Plu-tarch ; and such is the inevitable effect of war and commerce: but theform and substance of the language were not affected by this slightalloy.

1 The life of Francis Philelphus, a sophist, proud, restless, and ra-pacious, has been diligently composed by Lancelot (Memoires de 1’Aca-demic des Inscriptions, tom. x, p. 691-751) and Tiraboschi (Istoriadella Letteratura Italiana, tom. vii, p. 282-294), for the most part fromhis own letters. His elaborate writings, and those of his contempora-ries, are forgotten: but their familiar epistles still describe the menand the times.

1 He married, and had perhaps debauched, the daughter of John, andthe grand-daughter of Manuel Chrysoloras . She was young, beauti-ful, and wealthy; and her noble family was allied to the Dorias ofGenoa and the emperors of Constantinople .

“ Grmei quibus lingua depravata non sit .... ita loquuntnr vulgohac etiam tempestate ut Aristophanes comicus, aut Euripides tragicus,

ut oratores omnes ut historiographi ut philosophi.litterati autem

homines et doctius et emendatius .... Nam viri aulici veterem ser-monis dignitatem atque elegantiam retinebant in primisque ipsa nobilesmulieres ; quihus cum nullum esset omnino cum viris peregrinis cum-VOL. XII. I mereium,

CHAP.

LXVI.