The Slavic Race and Languages; the Eastern and Western Stems; the
Alphabets; the Old or Church Slavic Language; St. Cyril's Bible; the
Pravda Russkaya; the Annals of Nestor.
THE SLAVIC RACE AND LANGUAGES.--The Slavic race, which belongs to the
great Indo-European family of nations, probably first entered Europe from
Asia, seven or eight centuries B.C. About the middle of the sixth century
A.D. we find Slavic tribes crossing the Danube in great multitudes, and
settling on both the banks of that river; from that time they frequently
appear in the accounts of the Byzantine historians, under different
appellations, mostly as involved in the wars of the two Roman empires;
sometimes as allies, sometimes as conquerors, often as vassals, and
oftener as emigrants and colonists, thrust out of their own countries by
the pressing forward of the more warlike Teutonic tribes. In the latter
half of the eleventh century the Slavic nations were already in possession
of the whole extent of territory which they still occupy, from the Arctic
Ocean on the north to the Black and Adriatic seas on the south, and from
Kamtschatka and the Russian islands of the Pacific to the Baltic, and
along the banks of the rivers Elbe, Muhr, and Ruab, again to the Adriatic.
They are represented by early historians as having been a peaceful,
industrious, hospitable people, obedient to their chiefs, and religious in
their habits. Wherever they established themselves, they began to
cultivate the earth, and to trade in the productions of the country. There
are also early traces of their fondness for music and poetry.
The analogy between the Slavic and the Sanskrit languages indicates the
Oriental origin of the Slavonians, which appears also from their
mythology. The antithesis of a good and evil principle is met with among
most of the Slavic tribes; and even at the present time, in some of their
dialects, everything good and beautiful is to them synonymous with the
purity of the white color; they call the good spirit the White God, and
the evil spirit the Black God. We find also traces of their Oriental
origin in the Slavic trinity, which is nearly allied to that of the
Hindus. Other features of their mythology remind us of the sprightly and
poetical imagination of the Greeks. Such is the life attributed to the
inanimate objects of nature, rocks, brooks, and trees; such are also the
supernatural beings dwelling in the woods and mountains, nymphs, naiads,
and satyrs. Indeed, the Slavic languages, in their construction, richness,
and precision, appear nearly related to the Greek and Latin, with which
they have a common origin.
Following the division of the Slavic nations into the eastern and western
stems, their languages may he divided into two classes, the first
containing the Russian and the Servian idioms, the second embracing the
Bohemian and the Polish varieties. The Slavi of the Greek faith use the
Cyrillic alphabet, so called from St. Cyril, its inventor, a Greek monk,
who went from Constantinople (862 A.D.) to preach to them the gospel. It
is founded on the Greek, with modifications and additions from Oriental
sources. The Hieronymic alphabet, particularly used by the priests of
Dalmatia and Croatia, is so called from the tradition which attributes it
to St. Hieronymus. The Bohemians and Poles use the Roman alphabet, with a
few alterations.
St. Cyril translated the Bible into the language called the _Old or Church
Slavic_, and from the fact that this translation, made in the middle of
the ninth century, is distinguished by great copiousness, and bears the
stamp of uncommon perfection in its forms, it is evident that this
language must have been flourishing long before that time. The celebrated
"Pravda Russkaya," a collection of the laws of Jaroslav (1035 A.D.), and
the "Annals of Nestor," of the thirteenth century, are the most remarkable
monuments of the old Slavic language. This, however, has for centuries
ceased to be a living tongue.