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representing the population as following the northern course of the river. Again, then, we are presented with a coincidence. Egyptian and biblical antiquity concur in describing the migratory movement in the Nile valley as proceeding from the circumference towards the centre of the circle of ancient civilization.

The numerous points of agreement which have been shown and illustrated, may enable the reader to judge of the degree of folly which is rebuked by Osburn in the following terms, and to the prevalence of which he justly ascribes the very limited success which has attended the attempts to read and explain the remains of Egyptian antiquity: 'Another cause has been more efficacious in keeping us in the dark as to the true nature of these reliefs. Those who have occupied themselves with Egyptian antiquities, seem, by common consent, to have rejected the aid of the Bible (the only book in existence which professes to be contemporary with them), and to have relied upon the classical authorities, the earliest of which dates at least a thousand years later than the temples in which those reliefs occur, so that they could not possibly contain anything beyond vague and obscure traditions of a period so remote. This, as we hope to show, has been the principal cause of their failure.'t

*

An impartial criticism would probably declare that Mr. Osburn has allowed the reactionary force of this suicidal method to carry him too far in the opposite direction. If others refuse the Bible a place in the Egyptian antiquarianism, he finds the Bible everywhere in the same department of learning. A judicious medium is to be preferred, and that medium is gained by the aid of impartial inquiry and sound scholarship.

It may serve to prepare the reader's mind for the comparisons and coincidences which ensue if we borrowed from Mr. Osburn the following correct and eloquent passage: A very interesting and important part of the remains of ancient Egypt consists of the vast reliefs which represent the conquests of the Pharaohs over their enemies. The walls of the temples and palaces which are covered with these Cyclopean pictures, are often 80 feet high, and extend for more than 800 feet. Three separate actions are generally represented in them. The first scene is the battle and the victory. The conqueror, who is always a monarch of Egypt, and his armies, are trampling upon their fallen enemies, riding over heaps of slain, slaughtering them in vast multitudes, and taking their strongholds by storm. The next scene is the repose after the victory. The conqueror sits in his war chariot, and calls upon his troops to rejoice, while the prsioners of war are brought to his feet, and the right hands of his fallen foes are counted before him. The third grand scene is laid in Egypt, and in the temple in which the picture occurs. The conqueror offers to the gods of the temple the spoils he has collected,

*This remark does not hold good of Mr. Kenrick's valuable work on Egypt, which is a storehouse of Biblical and Egyptian Comparisons.

+ Egypt's Testimony to the Bible, pp. 35, 36.

and drags to their feet a long line of captives tied together with one cord, which passes round the neck of all of them. Their arms also are tied together in cruelly distorted postures, in a manner plainly denoting their intention to inflict torture, and that the cries of the wretched sufferers formed an important accessary to the diabolical ceremony. In all those scenes the physiognomy, the complexion, the costume, and the arms of the conquered nations are carefully depicted. The geographical situation of the countries also of which the captives were inhabitants, is denoted by the tassel of the cord by which the conqueror is dragging them. Those which lay to the south and west, against which an expedition would have to set out from Upper Egypt, were led by a cord terminating in the bud of the lotus, which was the symbol of that division of the kingdom. The nations of Asia and Europe, on the other hand, lying across the Isthmus of Suez, could be invaded only by an army from Lower Egypt, and were therefore denoted by a tassel representing its hieroglyphic, which is the culm of the papyrus rush. (Pp. 31-33.)

Pursuing his inquiries with zeal and learning, Mr. Osburn has made important discoveries. Though we are not prepared to assent to every one of his conclusions, we shall here set down the most important biblical names which he claims to have found on the monuments of Egypt. In all, these identifications amount to nearly one hundred. This can scarcely be mere fancy. In the main, we believe the deductions are valid. If, however, we surrender two-thirds of them, the discovery on the walls of Egyptian temples and tombs of some twenty scriptural names, is a very high service to the cause of revealed truth, and ought to substantiate the general tenor of biblical history, even in the eyes of those who prefer the testimony of stone and of sculpture to the everlasting testimony of the written letter, and the Divine Spirit. Among the names thus believed to be identified, are these-all of great importance in an historical point of view-namely, Jebusite; Amalek; the land of Canaan; the Amorites; the Hittites; the Hamathites; the two Rabbahs, the capitals of Ammon and Moab; the city of Salem; Sidon; Tarshish; Manasseh; Barnea, or Kadesh; Bethshan; the Gadites; Megiddo; the valley of Hinnom; Beth Rimmon; Bethlehem; Issachar; Hebron; kingdom of Judah; Baal; Ashteroth. Now let any careful reader of the Bible calmly consider how large and varied a portion of the scriptural history these names bring up to his recollection. Here we find geography, history, religion, idolatry, all bearing a biblical character and hue. Each one of these names is a link to scriptural associations, most important in kind, and most abundant in matter. They are all full of suggestion and implication. Found on the monuments of Egypt, they carry the mind to the Arabian peninsula, and the hills and vales of Palestine; and, as with a spring, open before it historical points and vistas, which, in their ultimate bearings, leave little of the biblical history untouched or untold. What a rich revelation of the Roman period of British history would be made, if some Roman city or monument were now

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disinterred, bearing names of districts, towns, men, princes, and divinities, connected with the ancient Britons. Not less valuable is the decyphered memorials of ancient Egypt, which thus seems to adopt biblical terms in order to confound unbelief, and affirm, with the solemn voice of a remote antiquity, the substantial truth of the scriptural records.

Words for the Wise.

'Faithful are the wounds of a friend.'-SOLOMON.

'Ego autem neminem nomino; quare irasci mihi nemo poterit, nisi qui ante de se voluerit confiteri.'-CICERO.

XI. CANT TERMS.

JOHN FOSTER has enriched our Christian literature with an essay 'On the aversion of men of taste to evangelical religion.' It is to be hoped that some men of taste' have read this treatise with advantage; and much more is it to be desired that all religious men would read it too, and see how significantly it holds up the mirror to themselves. It cannot be, that this admirable essay should have run through so many editions, without effect; and yet there are good men in the Dissenting churches, who indulge, to the present hour, in those mischievous follies which it seeks to brand. Why should this be? Why should piety choose to sun herself in the grotesque garb of absurdity? Why should these good men make a point of using that barbarous dialect, which, like the speech of poor Peter in the Judgment Hall, still bewrayeth them?

Known indeed for what he is, the Christian should be; nor will the obliging world be slow to furnish him with the means. For, if anything under the sun could be conspicuous in an age, when all things, say the newspapers, are finding their level,' it would surely be a simple, honest, earnest Christianity, lived out to day in London, by one of the noblemen of the Almighty. Nay, the humblest of the humble amongst true Christians will not fail of recognition, even at the hands of men. He will be deemed troublesome, it may be,prudish, precise, contentious even, and sadly wanting sometimes in charity; but by those very tokens he will at least be known.

Very different, however, are those signs which have been selected as a badge of discipleship by the good people to whom I refer. They may honour integrity, inculcate the necessity of faith, and endeavour after purity; but they make their stand upon language. They resolutely translate everything into their own peculiar patois; and insist upon being known by their inveterate attachment to a phraseology,

which the rest of mankind either wholly repudiate, or are content to employ according to the proper signification of the words.

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What, indeed, would any but the initiated be able to make of some of the choice barbarisms which, in certain circles, are the mode? Take, as a sample, that brief but significant interrogatory, Will you engage?' What thinkest thou, O innocent reader, may the meaning be, of this inquiry? Does the questioner ask the questionee to impawn his honour, or to stake his reputation? To enlist a company of soldiers, or to draw some welcome guest into a party of pleasure? To win a lady, or to gain a friend? To make a contract, or to fight a battle? Nothing of the sort. He wishes him to offer prayer to God. This is the way in which he proffers the touching request, addressed by Paul to the Thessalonian Christians, Brethren, pray for us.'

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In the same brogue, a religious service was once an opportunity; ' and at meetings for devotion the Almighty was asked to presence himself' with his worshippers. The midst of us' was improved into 'our midst,' and even, as I have been informed, our little midst,' when the assembly was not numerous. Minds were solemnized,' instead of anniversaries and matrimony; doctrine became marrow,' and all who did not worship in the cave of Adullam,' were 'very dark! The cares and struggles of a poor man's life were nothing, if they did not name them his experience; ' and when he died, the event had always to be duly improved,' as the harvest annually was-to the great satisfaction of a farmer, on one occasion, who had a short crop. All must be done, however, in a prayerful' way; and, if possible, by a talented' man,-who would call attention to the subject, much as one might call spirits from the vasty deep.' There is warrant enough, I am sorry to say, now-a-days, for this last phrase; for the Times' itself, which calls so many names in the course of a year, calls attention,' I do believe, the oftenest of all. Has the Thunderer been to school, I wonder, in the conventicle? If so, I commend to his consideration the example of the late George Robins. George, who, in penning his advertisements, dealt, as is well known, rather extensively, like my friend Heaviside, in adjectives, was once upon a time, so the story goes, at a loss for one. Put in "important," Mr. Robins,' said the agent at his elbow. No,' rejoined the man of experience in posters, not that word; I leave "important" to the Dissenting ministers.' It is to be hoped that this remark was not levelled at Tritissimus; whose pulpit topics, I observe, are almost always declared to be interesting and important.'

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Quitting, however, this field of observation, as savouring somewhat, says Discipulus, of hyper-criticism, there are two words yet behind, which appear to be regularly employed in a sense it must sorely puzzle the uninitiated to understand, and even the initiated themselves, I suspect, to define. These words, good reader, are 'Cause' and

'Interest.'

A cause, what is it? Shall we impanel a jury of the metaphysicians to answer that question for us? Shall we invoke the shades of Hobbes, Cudworth, Newton, Liebnitz, Locke, Kant, Hegel, and the

rest, and bid them troop into the jury-box? In the first place, then, will these have to agree upon some theory of causation. Now shall the learned court have its ears filled with their vocal endeavours to express that hypothetic quality, which has puzzled them all; as energy, faculty, influence, capacity, ability, virtue, force, power, possibility, fitness, aptitude-but no, enough, enough, dear sirs; you go too far about. To the matter in hand. What is 6 a cause ?'

"cause

Put John Walker in the witness box, and swear him. Now, sir, upon your oath, remember, what is a ? 'A cause is that which produces or effects anything-in fact, the efficient.' 'Is that all?' The word is used likewise, in spite of the logicians, to signify the reason, the motive to anything.' For nothing further?' Yes. The lawyers in Westminster Hall have a kind of tendre for another signification of the word, which they have made peculiarly their own; and a cause" with them means no end of consultations, parchments, pleadings, and fees.' Has the word no other sense?' The word is some

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times used to denote a party.' You may step down.'

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The worshippers in the cave of Adullam' have spoken wiser than they are 'ware;' for as there are, unfortunately, so many as three parties in that Hebrew retreat, there are, on John Walker's evidence, not one merely, but at least three causes in the cave of Adullam.'

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Let'cause' pass therefore for what it is worth. There yet remains 'interest.' Against this word Veridicus entertains a particular spite. It reminds him, he says, in the unpleasantest manner of an investment he once made in the Quicksilver Quicksands,' which has never yielded him a single farthing of interest,' in years more than he likes to count. In common fairness, however, we must not lay too much stress on this truly inveterate grudge. There may be other meanings of the word beside the usurer's. The Reverend Flexible Redtape, for instance, is said to have a large interest' in the lucrative trade of a respectable house in the city. Dr. Pliable has an undoubted interest in the continued prosperity of the Town and Country Stars.' His youthful son, moreover, aspires to an interest' in the affections of his rich deacon's daughter. Said rich deacon, again, who desires to serve God and Mammon, has an interest' in believing that religion and respectability are well nigh convertible terms. But beyond these last-named meanings, we may scarcely advance a step. Already we feel that the word has been invested with a dignity, to which it can make but slight pretensions. Do what we will, it smacks strongly of the purse and the till; and even young Pliable, perhaps, has an eye in his love-making to the deacon's savings. Yet is this very term, used apparently in some pseudo-religious sense, continually on the lips of Christians. Flexible Redtape, for instance, has been at a watering-place preaching for some society.' Pliable greets him on his return with the question, Is there a good "interest "there?' What can he mean? Is it the meeting-house, or the worshippers, or the doctrine, or the minister, or the imagery, or the pew-rents, or all these in one? Let Redtape and Pliable, and the simpler but better men who make use of it, answer this question; and let them beware how they repulse the scoffer from

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