founded by Ninus, more than 1,300 years before the revolt of Arbaces the Mede, which occurred B. C. 821, thus placing the establishment of the Assyrian monarchy in the twenty-second century before Christ. According to Firdúsí, the Peshdádian dynasty had been on the throne 800 years before the invasion of Tazís under Zohák: Mr. Dickenson refers this to the year B.C. 1341, giving for the establishment of the Persian monarchy the year B C. 2141, twenty years only before the era assigned by the Greeks to Ninus, which accounts are strikingly borne out by the Hebrew history. Mr. Dickenson considers Ninus to have been cotemporary with Kaiomars, to whom Assyria was allotted in the division of the earth; and supposes it probable that he was the grandson of Ashwr, the son of Shem, and that the kingdom of Assyria took its name from him. The second part of the paper, investigating the fate of the Ten Tribes of Israel, after the fall of Samaria, was reserved for the next meeting. The second Meeting was on 21st of January: Richard Clarke, Esq., in the chair. Amongst the donations to the Library presented, were, from Dr. C Lessen, his Translation into Latin of the Gita Govinda. From the Royal Society of Edinburgh, its Transactions, Vol. VIII. Part 2. From Solomon Bennett, Esq. several of his works on Biblical Criticism. Mr. Dickenson's enquiry into the location nf the Ten Tribes of Israel, after the fall of Samaria, was read. The writer refutes the opinion of Bochart that the Israelite captives were carried to Calcehæna, a town in the N. E. of the Assyrian empire; to Chaboras, a mountain, and Ganzania, a town still further to the north, in the direction of the Caspian Sea, and to Aria, which Bochart supposes to be put for Media. The writer finds, in the geographical work of Edrisi, the names of certain places in Mesopotamia, in accordance with those in the Scriptures. He considers the opinions of Sir William Jones, that the Afghans are descended from the captives of Samaria, to be without foundation, as in the histories and traditions of the Afghanɛ, no mention whatever is made of Samaria, or of the Assyrians; but, on the contrary, they consider themselves descended from the captives of Jerusalem. After referring to other opinions, as to the location of the Ten Tribes, Mr. Dickenson mentions the idea once warmly advocated by the early settlers in the New World, that the North American Indians are of Hebrew origin; and considers that their opinion is deserving more countenance than has been given to it of late. In concluding his Essay, however, the writer thinks it must be admitted that the foundations on which the several opinions are based, are too slight to satisfy us that the children of Israel have been preserved as a separate body; and that, therefore, it is in vain to seek for their descendants either in the present day, or anywhee within the reach of historical record. It was probable that many of them adhered to the faith of their fathers till the capture of Jerusalem, and the fall of Judah; and that then, when the Jews were scattered throughout Persia, and were, by the toleration of the Persian, princes allowed to form themselves into separate communities, or to return, if they preferred it, to their native land, we may suppose that the hopeless exile of Israel would endeavour to avail himself of the indulgence thus granted to his brethren of Judah; and, as national animosity would be buried, for the time, beneath the weight of general calamity, they would gradually be incorporated in the tribe of Judah, and consequently fall under the general denomination of "Jews." CRITICAL NOTICES. A Letter to the Right Hon. Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Bart. M.P., President of the India Board, &c., on Steam Navigation with [to] India, and suggesting the best mode of carrying it into effect via the Red Sea. By Captain JAMES BARBER, H. C. S. London, 1837. Richardson. WE have entered very fully into the subject of Steam Communication with India this month. Captain Barber urges the same or similar topics as Captain Grindlay, and calls Sir John Hobhouse's attention to the plan, now before Government, of carrying this international communication into effect by a chartered company. History of the Reformation. By the Rev. HENRY STEBBING, M.A. Vol. II. Being Vol. LXXXVI. of Dr. Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopædia. Longman and Co. Taylor, MR. STEBBING has in this volume brought to a close his able, temperate, and interesting work. In a truly Christian spirit, with the fidelity of an impartial historian, and in a pure and elegant style, he conducts his reader through the "alternate light and darkness" which diversify the struggle between the Christian church and its various enemies. In the present volume, the most important events of the Reformation are discussed; the transactions in Germany and Switzerland; the progress of the Reformed doctrines under Henry VIII. in England; the Council of Trent, with its endless theological debates respecting doctrine and discipline. The characters of the eminent men connected with the Reformation are sketched with impartiality and force,Wolsey, Erasmus, Luther, &c. We join in the concluding ejaculation of Mr. Stebbing: "Happy will be that generation, in which the labours of the wise, the love of the good, and the united prayers of all classes of believers, shall be seen to clear away the stumbling-blocks and the barriers which have been piled up before the portals of the church, in old times by the corruption, in later ages by the neglect, of truth in the Roman church by pride; in the church of the Reformation by disunion of purpose, and worldliness of spirit." Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. A Romaunt. By LORD BYRON. London, 1837. Murray. THIS is one of the most elegant little books, externally and internally, we ever met with, and as cheap as it is elegant. The text, which is beautifully printed, is copiously illustrated with notes; and the engravings are worthy of a work of twice its cost. The Student of Padua. A Domestic Tragedy, in Five Acts. 1836. We suspect that this is a first attempt in dramatic composition. The author's next, we have no doubt, will be more successful. The dialogue has some bold passages. The play is printed for private circulation merely. Oliver and Boyd's New Edinburgh Almanac and National Repository, for the Year 1837. We are astonished at the mass of matter comprised in this volume, which, besides the Kalendar, embraces useful tables, and a variety of information commercial, agricultural, legal, statistical, &c. &c., which must have cost a prodigious labour to compile and compress into 500 pages. The Lady's Cabinet Lawyer; being a familiar summary of the exclusive rights and liabili– ties, legal and equitable, of women, as infants, unmarried; as single women of full age; as wives; and as widows. By a Barrister of the Middle Temple. London, 1836. Van Voorst. A very useful little vade-mecum. LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. Mr. B. E. Pote announces "Remarks on Egyptian Antiquity," in which he claims to demonstrate the Shepherd Kings, their language and descendants. Capt. James Fawckner's Travels, with Narrative of his Wanderings and Sufferings on the Western Coast of Africa, are in the press. Rambles in Egypt and Candia, with Details of the Military Power and Resources of those Countries, and Observations on the Government, Policy, and Commercial System of Mohammed Ali, by Capt. C. Rochfort Scott-preparing for publication. Capt. J. E. Alexander, author of "Travels in the East," announces an Exploratory Voyage along the West Coast of Africa, and Narrative of a Campaign in Kafferland in 1835. Modern India, or Illustrations of the Resources and Capabilities of Hindoostan, by Henry H. Spry, Esq., of the Bengal Medical Staff, is in preparation. THE ORIGIN OF THE EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE PROVED by the ANALYSIS of that and the HEBREW, in an INTRODUCTORY Essay; By DR. L. LOEWE, Member of the Société Asiatique of Paris. The learned have ventured to decypher those Egyptian writings, which have transmitted to our days convincing evidence of the power and magnificence of a civilized and ancient people, by reference to agriculture, astronomy, and the extraordinary precepts of Egyptian deities; but how grievous has their error been in decyphering the alphabet of a great language, which contained definite and indefinite, masculine and feminine articles with different symbols, must be easily discerned by all who are willing to sacrifice their prejudices at the shrine of truth. Some writers have asserted, that a reference was necessary to a Chinese dictionary, and others have alleged, that all the different images of animals, plants, and furnitnre, which are termed Hieroglyphics, are merely ornaments instead of writing. What a deplorable loss would it have been to every branch of literature and science, if, in country which has been the cradle of the arts, and whose inhabitants erected such time-conquering monuments of glory, skill and power, we had no traces of their history or a capacity for understanding words which they placed before us, not with the feeble traces of a pen on paper (which might have suffered from fire or water), but with iron chisels upon primitive and everlasting rocks! The fortunate discovery of the Rosetta stone, which is now in the British Museum, and the vast erudition of Dr. Young, Ackerblad, Sylvestre de Sacy, and Champollion, to whom the literary world are so much indebted, have lifted the thick veil which had so long shut out the tide of light. It has been proved that images of plants, animals, furniture, &c., are real characters, and have reference to the Coptic language, which is the same as the ancient Egyptian. Those images have, with a very few exceptions, been transmuted into Greek characters, that the Ptolemies might learn the Egyptian language, by putting down the sounds in their Greek characters, just as they had heard them from the natives. They were then preserved in a Greek dress for the promulgation of new laws and dogmas. The subject to which I now invite attention from the learned, has by some public writers been understood but superficially, and others of eccentric dispositions have entirely misconceived it; I mean the nature of the Egyptian language and its etymology, which unfortunately has not sufficiently engaged the mind of those great antiquaries, who acquired such reputation by the decyphering of the Rosetta stone. Since the time of Scaliger, the first who gave attention to the Egyptian,* Leonard Abela the Maltese, was sent by Pope Gregory XIII. to Egypt, and was supposed to have acquired some knowledge of the language.+ Jean Baptiste Remondi proposed to publish a Bible in the Egyptian and * Sibrand Lubbert, apud Colomes, Gallia Orientalis, p. 116, ed. Fabricio. Asiat.Journ.N.S.VOL.22.No.87. Ꮓ nine other languages, but was unsuccessful.* The learned Peiresk paid a great deal of attention to this subject,† and engaged Samuel Petit and Saumaise to cultivate a full acquaintance with it. He committed to their care the manuscripts which he possessed; but Saumaise alone acquired a knowledge of the language. About this time Pietro de la Valle returned from the East, with numerous Egyptian manuscripts, an Egyptian-Arabic lexicon, and a grammar.§ He, unfortunately, gave his books and papers to P. Thomas de Navarre (or Thomas Obicinus, as he was sometimes called), with a view to their translation; the latter, however soon expired,|| and in a letter which Peiresk received, it was asserted, that no other Coptic books or manuscripts were found amongst the papers of the deceased. Peiresk, being anxious to bring the manuscripts of Pietro de la Valle before the public, had asked them from the latter, but he met with a refusal, and they were given to Kircher, who, with their assistance and that of others, which he found in the great library of the Vatican, was enabled to publish his Prodromus Ægyptiacus (Romæ, 1636), and La Lingua Ægyptica Restituta, in 1643, which latter was well received by all the literary world,¶ although it contained numerous mistakes, which, with the exception of his introducing words not found in the original, might be deemed excusable, when we consider that it was a subject presenting many difficulties to the author. Kircher's opinion was, that the Greek was derived from the Egyptian. Gessner in his Mithridates,** collected some Egyptian words, which are transmitted to us by the ancients. Hottinger++ gives several details of the Egyptian language. Theodore Petræus, during his sojourn in Egypt, studied the language with great application, and collected many manuscripts. Unfortunately, his circumstances did not enable him to lay them before the public; and he only published the first psalm in the Egyptian language, with an Arabic translation and a Latin version, under the title of “Psalterium Davidis in Lingua Coptica seu Egyptiaca, una cum versione Arabica, nunc primum in Latinam versum et in lucem editum, a M. Theodoro Petræo; Lugd. Batav. sumtibus auctoris," 1663, in 4to. There is in Sion College, London, the first verse of the first chapter of the Psalms, and a few words of the second verse, in the Egyptian language, with its pronunciation as he heard it when in Egypt. The page is very scarce, and so little known, that I shall give it in the same shape and characters at the termination of this essay, just as I found it in a book which contains many portions of the Bible in Ethiopic. The imprint of the page is Londini, Types Thomæ Roycroft, clɔ loc. lix. A learned person, who evidently had not seen the work, supposed that Leyden was the Lelong, Bibliotheca Sacra, t. i. p. 3. ↑ Peireskii Vita, authore Gassendo; ed, 3. Hagæ Comitum, 1655 in 4to. p. 152, 186. + Salmasii Epistolæ. p. 164 &c. § Antiquitates ecclesiæ Orientalis, p. 167. Leo Allatino. Apes Urbana, Hamburgi 1711, p. 348 et 349. Mem, sur le die ion. Copt. Journal des Savans, 1774, Juin. ** Es. Wasero. Tiguri, 1610. tt Smegma Orientale. Heidelbergæ, 1658 p. 38, 57, 89, 90. Woide, Journal des Savans, 1774. Wilkin's Præfat. in nov. test. Copt. p. iv. Tromler. Specimen bibliotheca Copt.-Jacob. p. 26 et 27. place of publication, and that London had been subscribed through mistake; he also thought this page contained the whole chapter. Petræus translated into Latin from the Egyptian text, Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. This is to be found in the library at Berlin, to which his MSS. were all presented after his death. In the Bodleian library at Oxford, are some Egyptian MSS., which Huntington collected when in Egypt and Syria.+ Marshall, the Rector of Lincoln College, intended to have published the New Testament in the Egyptian language, which was announced in the Preface to the History of the Copts; but unfortunately death prevented the accomplishment of his object. Thomas Edwards devoted a considerable portion of his time to the study of this language with success; but, finding not so much patronage as he expected, he would have thrown his manuscripts into the fire, had not Picques and other friends dissuaded him from destroying them. His Coptic Dictionary is preserved in the University of Oxford.§ Ed. Bernard was considered a good Egyptian scholar. His copy of Kircher, containing numerous corrections in its margins, is preserved in the Bodleian library, and Witsen, the famous burgomaster of Amsterdam, presented through him the punches of Coptic and Ethiopic to the Oxford Press. || P. Bonjour had great success in his attentions to the language of Egypt, and left many manuscripts, which are in the Augustinian Convent at Rome, and they include a Coptic-Arabic psalter, an Egyptian lexicon, and a literal translation of the prophet Hosea. He proposed to publish the Pentateuch in Coptic, but unfortunately had not leisure to complete his task. T In 1715, Pope Clement XI. sent the learned Jos. Sim. Assemani to Egypt, for the elucidation of its language.** Pfeiffer devoted himself to its study in Germany, and wrote some verses on the birthday of an elector, which are published in Blumberg's Fundamenta Lingua Copticæ, p. 99. André Muller studied the same language, but without much success, and two days after his decease, his MSS. were burned.++ André Acolothus, a clergyman at Breslau, devoted some attention to the language, but with what advantage to the learned public will appear by a brief outline of his system. He supposed the old Egyptian language had no connexion with the present Coptic; but that the modern Armenian would furnish us with the means of understanding the language of the Pharaohs. The modern Armenian, he says, offers an etymology, sure as well as natural, of all the Egyptian words which have been transmitted to us by Greek and Latin authors, and the usage by the Armenians of their capital characters, by figures of human beings or animals, is the emphatical proof or sign that it is Thesaurus epistolicus, Lacroz. t. III. p. 241. + Woide, Journal des Savans, 1774, p. 333. Huntingtoni Vita ed. Thomas Smith p. xvii. Millius, Prolegomen. in Nov. Test. Oxon. 1707 p. clii. Wilkin's Præfatio in Nov. Test. Copt. p. iii. Masch. Bibliotheca Sacra, p. 187. P. Georg. Præf. in fragm. Evangel. Joh. p. v. et vi. Josephi Abudacni Hist. Jacob. seu Coptorum. Oxon. 1675. § Woide, Commercium litterarium, Lud. Picques, p. 334. 1 Ed. Bernardi Vita, p. 44. P. Georg. Epistol. ad Hwiid. p. ix. Id. Præfat. in fragm. Evang. S. Johan. p. iv. De miracul. S. Coluthi, 1793; praef. p. ccxvii. ** Præfat. in Biblioth. Orient. Steph. Evod. Assemani. Præfat. in acta martyr. Oriental. p. xxxi. et xxxii. + Leibnitii Opera, t. vi. p. 124. |