"LOCAL ANTIQUITIES."

A PAPER

READ TO THE MECHANICS' INSTITUTE, JEDBURGH,

ON THE 4th OF FEBRUARY, 1852.

BY ALEXANDER JEFFREY, ESQ.

JEDBURGII, PRINTED BY WALTER EASTON,

ABBEY PLACE.

LOCAL ANTIQUITIES.

Or late years the study of antiquity has been cultivated with an energy which bids fair to send it on its way like a giant refreshed with new wine. In the estimation of many it is not inferior to any one of the sciences. The astronomer, when he turns his telescope to the starry vault of heaven, becomes enraptured with the sublime subjects opened up to him for meditation: There he sees

"The Book of God before him set,

Wherein to read his wondrous works, and learn

His seasons, hours, or days, or months, or years."

He is permitted to soar upwards to other worlds, and to trace out, amidst a seemingly unordered maze, beauty and regularity the most perfect-to have within his field of vision thousands of silvery suns whirling in their orbit, and joining in the universal chorus which all creation offers to the mighty mover. Such a scene cannot but afford grounds for reflection, that man,-whether considered abstractedly or in relation to the universe-so small, so weak, and insignificant, should be permitted to grasp within his comprehension part of that grand plan by which "we live, move, and have our being."

While the heavens may well fill the astronomer with admiration of the power and glory of God, the wondrous fabric on which we stand is not less instructive, while a study of it may be more useful. We can trace in its bowels the existence of various classes of beings which have successively inhabited the earth before it was deemed a fit habitation for man. On its surface we have the memorials of many peoples who have one after another flitted across the stage of life, and disappeared for ever. Many of these memorials have been discovered of late years; and, although found in regions of the world known to us, yet we have no previous account whatever of their existence;-their day had been before history, and at a period too old for tradition. From the buildings and sculptures left behind, we are enabled to judge of their civilization and their attainments in the arts. We have the most undoubted evidence that these were not limited; but at the same time we have ample proofs of the causes of their disappearance from the earth. They were IDOLATORS. They did not fulfil the purpose of their creation, and the earth was cleared for the reception of another, and it is to be hoped, a better race. The land is yet desolate-the rivers flow through tangled wildernesses-the once splendid cities, with their halls and temples filled with the pomp and power of the day, are now covered with the trees of the forest, and in them the wild animal has its lair. It is melancholy to reflect upon these things. But what has happened to these peoples may at no distant day be

the fate of the people of our own land if we do not do our duty. If we do not do every thing in our power as individuals, and as a nation, to improve our physical and moral condition, what can be looked for than that the land which at one time led the van of improvement shall descend again into the darkness of night? The prediction of the great politician may come to pass sooner than any one may imagine. A traveller from a distant land may stand on the ruins of London Bridge and survey the remains of perhaps the most mighty city that ever existed on the earth. If perchance his steps tend hitherward, a few hillocks may only be seen to mark the spot on which we dwell, or our beautiful vale may again be covered with the waters of a great lake. But the people, what of them? Unlike the past, no memorials of the present age will exist to convey to those of a future day-our manners and customs. The finger is already pointing to the wall, and unless the nation rouses itself to action, the same fate will overtake us that has already engulphed previous empires and kingdoms, whose rulers imagined were founded on a rock, and stable as the mountains. GOLD worshipping is as hateful as the worship of the Sun.

Our own locality affords abundant evidence in support of these observations. Who can turn their eyes to the Wattling Street or Roman Road, which crosses the land from the Humber to the Forth, and part of it within our own parish, without reflecting that it was formed by a great and mighty people, who, at one time, held in their hand the destinies of