than elsewhere, and prove that at the time they were written, the Israelites had become acquainted with the Assyrians and Babylonians, (who used this language,) as we know they must have done during their captivity in Babylon, which commenced about 600 years B. C. As we go back from this period, we find fewer Chaldee words, though some are occasionally inserted in the earlier historical and prophetical books, their frequency or infrequency varying in proportion to the intimacy subsisting between the two countries. Thus we see that the different languages of the original Scriptures prove their antiquity by fixing their chronology to the several eras when such languages were in use among the nations whose affairs they relate. This is especially remarkable in the books of Ezra, (ch. iv. 8, to vi. 19, and vii. 12-27,) and Daniel, (ch. ii. 4, to vii. 28,) who give verbatim et literatim the speeches, edicts, instruments, and letters, emanating from, or connected with, the personages whose history they are writing. I shall illustrate these last remarks by an example. When the Saxons came over to this country, about the year 450, they seem to have been a rude and unlettered people; but, from various causes they became more polished in their manners and dialect towards the time of Alfred the Great. His paraphrase of Boethius is considered as a specimen of Saxon in its highest state of purity, containing scarcely any words from the Roman dialect, and this answers to the pure Hebrew of the early books of the Old Testament, or those written between the times of Moses and David, which has been described as the golden age of the language. When, however, a more intimate connection with their classic neighbours led them to cultivate the elegances of literature, the Saxons interlarded their own rude tongue, with words, idioms, and phrases of Roman origin, as in the instance I shall here transcribe. On Herodes dazum Judea cÿn incger pær sum SACERD on naman Zachariar ofAbian tune The preceding characters express, in later Saxon, the fifth verse of the first chapter of St. Luke's gospel-" In Herod's days, of Judea, the king, was a priest (sacerd) by name Zacharias, of the line of Abia, and his wife was of Aaron's daughters, and her name was Elizabeth." Your classical knowledge, my dear boy, will inform you that the word sacerd in the original is a purely latin term, and has no relation whatever to the Saxon preost, which would have been used instead of it by a person not conversant with the former tongue. The interpolation, then, of this foreign word, proves the Saxon writer to have been associated with a people using the latin tongue, and thus affords an easy means of fixing the date of his manuscript. In like manner the occasional occurrence of Chaldee terms in the Hebrew Scripture, shews us that the individuals who employed them were at the time of their doing so, in connection with a nation to whom that dialect was natural, and in the same way settles the cotemporaneousness of their writings with the facts which they record. I have already referred to the pure Hebrew of the Old Testament, or that which was in use before the captivity. But even this language, like every other that is long in use, had its changes and modifications. You know that many English words used in our own translation of the Scriptures are now old-fashioned, or obsolete, in the sense in which they were originally employed; many idioms are almost unintelligible, and some sentences have a meaning directly opposed to that which they once bore. So it is in French. In the old books of that country, and in many older monuments in England, you will find not only that several words are differently written, but that the rules of grammar have been altered. Here is an old epitaph copied from the walls of Fobbing Church, in Essex. × PVR •LAMVR IESV. ARIS. · IASV· PRIAZ⋅ PVR ST·AUMA · 21ⱭI:GIST · PATER NOSTAR · AT ασ · πνα· THOMAS DE ARAWⱭpand-FYGAPAKA The character and language are indeed so uncouth, that I much doubt if you will be able to make it out at all. The meaning is this-"For the love of Jesus Christ pray for his soul who lies here a paternoster and an ave. He was called Thomas de Crawedene." You will observe that in the first line of the inscription, the words pour, for, and amour, love, are both spelled without the letter o; whilst the words &me, soul, and gît, lies, have each one letter more than we now use in writing them. The pronoun sa, in the second line, is made to agree with the gender of the noun which follows it, in defiance of a well-known modern exception, which provides that where it precedes a vowel (as in this case) it shall be changed into son. Now similar archaisms, or old-fashioned words, and changes of gender, are remarked in the older parts of the Bible, plainly shewing that all the books which comprise it are not of the same age. If, therefore, we fix the time of the latest of these at about 600 B. C. the others must be older, in proportion to the differences observable in the language. We thus ascend to a very high antiquity indeed. It is moreover worthy of remark that in the books of Moses, one or two words occur which have no root, as it is called, in Hebrew—which neither belong to the language, nor are derivable from it; they are, in fact, old Egyptian terms, picked up in that country, where, as you know, Moses himself was born. Their occurrence consequently proves that these books were written by some one, who though a Hebrew scholar, had some connection with Egyptian literature, and this exactly answers the character of the Jewish lawgiver, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt. If you have been accustomed, my dear Wilberforce, to reason as closely as I am anxious you should do in all matters of such importance as the present, you will perhaps detect, as I before hinted, many flaws, and some weak points in the preceding argument. But in contending with such antagonists as those to whom you refer, it were useless to put forth all our strength at first. When they have said as much to substantiate their claims, but not till then, I shall cheerfully, if you wish it, do all that lies in my power to supply the missing links, or confirm any that may suffer by the test applied to them. I am, my dear Wilberforce, Your most affectionate father, T. T. LETTERS FROM BELGIUM AND THE RHINE.- No. II. BRUSSELS, August 4th, 1842. MY DEAR H.-Although my last was dated from Bruges, it contained no account of that quiet old town, formerly the central mart for the principal commerce of the Low Countries; but I must not allow this capital of West Flanders to pass entirely without notice. It derives its Flemish name, Brugge, from the number of bridges which cross the canals, and is one of the most ancient towns in the Netherlands. In the seventh century it held the rank of a city, and very early attained to considerable commercial eminence. The order of the Golden Fleece was instituted to commemorate the high degree of perfection to which its citizens had carried the woollen manufacture. Its present population is above 40,000, but in the days of its greatest prosperity it was nearly double that number. The general aspect of the city is neat and clean, and many of the houses have an appearance of grandeur, which attests the opulence of their former inhabitants. We wandered first into the church of St. Salvador, which is considered a fine specimen of the old light-clustered gothic architecture, and very superior to the cathedral of Notre Dame; the day was exceedingly hot, and the delicious coolness of the churches presented an agreeable contrast to the external heat during our walk through the city. We were, however, soon tempted to leave the cathedral by an opportunity unexpectedly presented of witnessing what was to us a novel manifestation of the spirit and practice of popery. The priest had been summoned to administer the last rites of the church; he appeared in one of the side aisles, bearing the holy wafer; and the procession having been formed, left the cathedral. First walked the suisse of the church, carrying in one hand a lantern, and with the other ringing a bell; then came four little boys, each carrying on a pole a glazed lantern with a lighted taper in it, and the officiating priest followed. As the sound of the bell was heard, the people ran to their doors; men took off their caps, and knelt till the priest had passed, then reverently crossing themselves, rose and pursued their way. In one street a gentleman with his man servant both knelt; and in S a square, inhabited principally by artizans, we counted more than seventy individuals on their knees at once; there was the little child of four years old, turning from its companion or its toy, and the troop of school-boys suddenly arrested in the midst of their game; the servant girl put down her broom, the carpenter dropped his saw or his axe, the blacksmith suspended the stroke of his heavy hammer, and the old woman, whose fingers had been busied at her cottage door, laid aside her pillow of lace. For a moment all were kneeling, and the sight was impressive; but the priest had hardly turned the corner of the street ere the previous occupations were resumed, while the hum of busy voices, and the boisterous laugh, almost drowned the distant echo of the sacred bell. We proceeded to the old Town House which is a very singular building; the principal tower is very lofty, perhaps 300 feet high, and has a chime of very sweet bells which are constantly playing. Through a gate under the tower you enter a quadrangle, on the sides of which the different markets are held. The Town Hall is not far distant, and presents a very pretty object; it forms one side of a square, the upper part of which is planted with trees, and furnished with seats, which are very acceptable on a hot day. Adjoining the hall are the police offices and guard house, &c., which, together with the hall, are considered very good specimens of the light florid gothic. As the hall door was open, we entered, and proceeded up stairs to a large ante-chamber and hall of assembly; here we found several good pictures, one of which represented Napoleon received in this same room by the Mayor of Bruges; a door conducted us to a large library, in which there appeared to be a considerable number of books well arranged. We had a good dinner at a restaurant, and then proceeded to take our places by the eisen-bahn, or chemin de fer, for Brussels. The railroads appear throughout Belgium to be entirely under the control of the government, and are exceedingly well regulated. The first object with a passenger is to have his luggage weighed, it is then ticketed, and placed in the proper van; a corresponding ticket is given to the passenger, specifying the weight and price, which is not delivered up until the luggage has been accounted for by the proper officer. Repairing to another bureau, |