Note 236 — MEMOIRS OF EMINENT LINGUISTS. (continued 3)
Reading edition
P. 15. The example and patronage of Frederic tended much to promote the revival of Oriental studies. Many of the earliest versions of the works of Aristotle from the Arabic, were made under his auspices or those of his son Manfred; among others (compare Jourdain’s “Recherches sur les Traductions Latines d’Aristote,” p. 124, Paris 1843; also Whewell’s “History of the Inductive Sciences,” I., p. 343;) that of Sir Michael Scott of Balwearie, a learned Orientalist and an accomplished general scholar, although his traditionary character is that of “the wizard Michael Scott.” His namesake, Sir Walter, has immortalized him, not as a scholar, but as
“A wizard of such dreaded fame, That when, in Salamanca’s cave, Him listed his magic wand to wave The bells would ring in Notre Dame!”
Roger Bacon’s skill in Arabic and other Eastern tongues was probably one of the causes which drew upon him the same evil reputation. I should have mentioned Bacon among the few notable mediæval linguists. He was “an industrious student of Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, and the modern tongues.” (Milman’s Latin Christianity, VI., p. 477). Perhaps I ought also to have named Albert the Great (Ibid., p. 453); but I am rather disposed to believe that the knowledge which he had of Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic authors, was derived from Latin versions, and not from the original works themselves.