invariably no other fate than to be buried in continental public
libraries or in the literary collections of the learned and
curious; from which it is manifest that the Lord smiled not upon
their undertakings. They thought not of His glory but of the glory
of their order, and the consequence has been that 'He has put down
the mighty from their seat and has exalted the humble and meek.'

A few days since I called upon Mr. Lipoftsoff, and to my surprise
discovered that he was totally unaware of any plan being in
agitation for the printing of his translation of the Scriptures.
He said that he had had no communication with Mr. Schmidt for
several months; and far from being able to furnish me with any
information respecting the probable destiny of his work, he asked
questions of me concerning it. He is a gentleman rather advanced
in years, probably between sixty and seventy, but is nevertheless
surprisingly hale and robust. He was very kind, and promised to
give me any assistance in his power towards acquiring a thorough
knowledge of the Mandchou; and, permit me to say, that Petersburg
is the only place in Europe where such a knowledge can be obtained,
for the manuscripts and printed books in that tongue are very
plentiful here, and there are moreover several individuals who
speak and write it. I of course most gladly accepted such an
offer, and shall endeavour to turn it to the best account. Mr. L.
speaks no European language but Russ, which I am not sorry for,
because frequent conversation and intercourse with him will improve
my knowledge of that language. It is a great error to suppose that
a person resident in this country can dispense with Russ, provided
he is acquainted with French and German. The two latter languages,
it is true, are spoken by the French and German shop-keepers
settled here. French is moreover spoken (to foreigners) by the