I notice of the Rev, Dr. Baini. of IMinburgli. This learn-
I ed gentleman interested himself in Murray, and his sub-
MURRAY
sequent progress was made comparatively easy. In the course of two years he obtained a bursary, or exhibition, in the University of Edinburgh ; and never relaxing in his pursuit of knowledge, he soon made himself ac- quainted with all the European languages, and having formed the design of tracing up all the languages of mankind to one source, he began a work by which he will be known in the literary world. But though it is distinguished by profound and various learning, it is both imperfect and posthumous. It appeared under the aus])ices of the Rev. Dr. Scot of Corstorphine, and is entitled A IJistory of the European Languages, or Researches into the Affinities of the Teutonic, Greek, Cel- tic, Sclavonic, and Indian Nations (1813). An extensive acquaintance with these languages convinced Murray that all the European languages were closely connect- ed ; and in the work now named it was his object to show that they all derive from and may be traced to nine euphonic primitives, which primitives he states to be " ag, bag, dwag, gwag, lag, mag, nag, rag, and swag." " By the help of these nine words and their compounds," he says, "all the European languages have been form- ed." The work was, however, nothing but a most des- perate and unsuccessful attempt at generalization. Dr. Noah Webster says that " it presents one of the most singular medleys of truth and error, of sound observa- tion and visionary opinions, that has ever fallen under my (Webster's) notice" (Pref. to his Diet. [ed. 185"2], p. Ixxiv). By the advice of his friends he prosecuted the studies necessary for the Church ; was finally ordained ; and in Dec, 180(5, Murray was appointed assistant and successor to Dr. Muirhead, minister of Urr, in the stew- artry of Kirkcudbright, a charge to which he in 1808 succeeded as full stipendiary. He still, however, con- tinued his philological pursuits. la 1811 an incident occurred which brought him into prominent notice as a linguist : on the recommendation of Mr. Salt, envoy to Abj'ssinia, he was applied to by the marquis Welles- ley as perhaps the onlv person in the British dominions qualified to translate a letter, written in Geez, from the governor of Tigre to his Britannic majesty; and he performed the task in the most satisfactory way. The following year a vacancy occurred in the chair of Oriental languages in the University of Edinburgh, and, as suited to Murray's tastes and habits, he was invited to fill it in order to bring him to Edinburgh, where his literary labors could be both estimated and enjoyed. He was elected on the 8th of July, 1812; on the 15th the university conferred on him the degree of doctor in divinity; and on the 26th of August he was formally inducted to the chair. He began to lecture on the 31st of October following. Soon after that he published, for the use of his students, a small work en- titled Outlines of Oriental Philologg (1812), which is known to have been both composed and prepared for publication after his arrival in Edinburgh : the subject indeed was perfectly familiar to him. He continued to teach his class with little interruption till the end of February or the beginning of March, his health then failing him ; and he lived but a little while to enjoy the distinctions which had just come in recognition of his industry and talent. He died April 15, 1813. His body was interred in the Gray Friars' church-yard, at the north-west corner of the church. His acquire- ments as a linguist pointed him out to Constable, the well-known publisher, as a fit person to superintend a new edition of Bruce's Travels ; and in the prepara- tion of that work he was employed for about three years, from September, 1802, Murray residing during that time chiefly at Kinnaird House, where he had ac- cess to the papers left by the traveller. He was also at diflferent times employed in contributing to the Edin- hurgh Revietv, and other periodicals, evincing by his writings not only a superior linguistic knoAvledge, but also much reading and study in other fields of learning. It has been well said that, laboring under so many diffi- culties in early life, his acquirements were simply pre-
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MURRAY
parator\' to the work which he might have accomplished, and that he was taken a^vay just as he had completed the preparation for valuable work. See Chambers, Bior;. Diet, of Eminent Scotchmen, div. vi, p. 72-77 : Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties, vol. i ; Scot. Magazine, Julv, 1812 ; Engl. Cgclop. s. v. ; Lord Cockburn, Memoirs of his Own Time (1856), ch. iv. (J. H. W.)
Murray, Alexander (2), a Presbyterian minis- ter, was born in the State of New York Sept. 2, 1806. He received a good academical education ; graduated at the Associated Reformed Seminary at Canonsburgh, Pa., in 1842; was licensed and ordained in 1844 as pas- tor of Ohio church, and subsequently of Kerr's Creek church, in the Presbytery of the Lakes. Here he died, Oct. 8, 1860. Mr. Murray was a man of the most ardent piety and sincerity. As a preacher he stood high in the estimation of the brethren. See Wilson, Fresh. Hist. Almanac, 1861, p. 209. (J. L. S.)