28th. In a letter from Mr. Duponceau, respecting the publication of my lectures on the grammatical structure of the Chippewa language, he communicates the latest philological news in this and other parts of the world, respecting the Indian languages.

“You will not be a little astonished that a translation of the Bible is now making at Rome into the Algonquin (which I presume to be the same, or nearly the same as the Chippewa) language, under the auspices of the present Pope, Gregory XVI.  The translator is a French missionary, who has long resided among those Indians in Canada.  He has written a grammar and dictionary of that idiom, which he writes me he is shortly going to put to press.  It will be curious to compare that grammar and that dictionary with your own, and to see how far the two languages, the Algonquin and the Chippewa, agree with or differ from each other.  When I was in Canada I heard much of this Mr. Thavenet, the name of that missionary.  He enjoys a great reputation in this country, and it seems he has obtained the favor of the Pope.

“We have in this city a Mexican gentleman, Don Manuel Najera, a man of letters, well skilled in the Mexican and other Indian languages of that country.  He says they are all, as I call them, polysynthetic, and resemble in that respect those of the Indians of the United States.  One only he excepts, the Othomi, and that, he says, is monosyllabic, like the Chinese.  He has translated into it, from the Greek, the eleventh Ode of Anacreon, which I am going to present to the Philosophical Society.  He has added grammatical notes, which are extremely curious.  He has also written in Latin, several interesting dissertations on other Mexican idioms, also for the society, which I expect will be published in their transactions, either in the original or in a translation.  He is greatly pleased with your specimen of a Chippewa grammar.  He understands English very well, also French, Italian, and, of course, his native Spanish.

“The philosophy of our Indian languages has become very fashionable among the learned in Europe.  The Institute of France has offered a premium of a gold medal, of the value of 1200 francs, for the best essay on the grammatical construction of the family of North American languages, of which the Chippewa, the Delaware and Mohegan are considered the principal branches, of course including the Iroquois, Wyandot, Naudowessie, &c.  The premium is to be awarded on the 1st of May next.  I would have informed you of it at the time, if it had not been made a sine qua non that the memoirs should be written in Latin or French.  I have, therefore, ventured on sending one, in which I have availed myself of your excellent grammar, giving credit for it, as in duty bound.  I have literally translated what you say at the beginning of your first and of your second lecture, which will be found the best part of my work, as it is impossible to describe the character of those languages with more clearness and elegance.”