the most exalted genius. And even their polemical essays, except when directed against the Monophysites, towards whom they harbour an innate dislike, are devoid of that rancour so common among the ancient and modern controversialists of the west.
Enough has already been said upon this subject; more especially because in the numerous extracts contained in this volume, the reader will have abundant matter from which to form a correct judgment of the merit of Nestorian compositions, provided that a just allowance is made for the loss which they have necessarily suffered by translation into a language differing so widely from the original. His attention is more particularly called to the treatise contained under Appendix B, to which reference will hereafter frequently be made, but which is given entire in order that it may serve as a specimen of Nestorian literature in the thirteenth century.
Most deeply is it to be regretted that so few of these valuable records of Nestorian talent and learning have survived the vicissitudes of the times. The Church books, from being kept constantly in use, have been preserved, and not any of those required for the celebration of divine service and other holy rites are missing. But even these are gradually diminishing in number, and are in a fair way of disappearing altogether, especially in the villages where no episcopal supervision is exercised, and where the poor inhabitants are left to shift for themselves, and to perish in their poverty and ignorance. The long extinction of parochial schools, once a matter of great importance with the Nestorians, as appears from the decrees of many provincial synods ordering their establishment and maintenance, caused a dearth of transcribers, and ultimately led to the loss of many useful works, from the simple fact that there were few or none capable of re-writing them. At the present day there can scarcely be found twelve individuals among the Nestorians able to copy an old Syriac manuscript with any degree of correctness. Unacquainted with grammar, and possessing no critical knowledge of the language, as is the case with the most intelligent among them, their copies are generally replete with inaccuracies, and require to be thoroughly revised before they can be confidently relied on.
