scholis Christianorum notissimo illo edicto suo interdixit: Cumque necessitate compulsi Gregorius Nazianzenus et Apollinaris suis quæ recens composuerant Græcis carminibus vellent veluti succedaneis illum defectum sarcire, mox sublato Juliano et edicto illo abolito, libenter iterum ad vetera ista tanquam meliora-quantumvis Ethnica, sed ad propositum et institutum suum aptiora redierunt: Quis igitur non miretur idem, quod Julianus olim nominis. Christiani hostis, ut Christianis noceret, edixit, idem esse inter Christianos, qui specie pietatis nobis sive persuadere, sive injungere cupiant? Quod autem innoxia possit esse Ethnicorum scriptorum in Scholis tractatio, imo utilis pietati etiam, si idoneus doctor accedat, non minus certo sum persuasus, quam posse ali Epicureismum et hypocrisin etiamsi quis Schonæi, vel alterius Christiani hominis scripta prælegat: Testantur hoc exempla innumera virorum omni ætate præclarissimorum, qui sive imbuti in scholis linguæ Latinæ atque Græcæ tirociniis ex Cicerone, Terentio, Horatio, Curtio, Homero, Demosthene, nihil tamen Ethnicismi, nihil irreligiositatis ex illis imbiberunt; sive alios ex iisdem instituentes, quominus ulla impietatis semina teneris simul animis instillarent, caverunt quam diligentissime: Memini ipsemet atque de utroque possum testari: non modo enim, quod Dei agnosco beneficium, in juventute ejusmodi magistris sum usus, atque ex illis scriptoribus, quantumvis Ethnicis, ne unum quidem animo hæsisse sceleratum axioma sentio, vel impiam aut propudiosam sententiam menti se meæ ex illorum tractatione insinuasse, sed etiam quando ipse deinde adultior scriptores illos exposui adolescentibus, in illis quam plurima sese offerebant recta, præclara, bona, hortationes egregiæ, sententiæ insignes, exempla laudatissima: In hoc inquam, Deus enim Ethnicis non intestatum se reliquit, in hoc habent quod imitentur, in hoc etiam quod erubescant licet melius longe edocti Christiani, in hoc danda est opera ne ab Ethnicis Christiani vincamur: Si quæ vicissim, ut evenit interdum, sed rarius, occurrant dicta nequam, et falsa, sententiæ minime probabiles, illa detestatus, has confutans, ostendi quantæ sint sine Christo etiam sapientum hujus mundi et quam crassæ tenebræ, quanta sit nostra felicitas, quos rectius sapere Christus docuit, quanta obligatio ut tam divino Doctori sincero studio obsequamur, neque ethnicis contaminari nos patiamur sive erroribus, sive libidinibus: Quod porro utiliores sint ad scopum quem sibi Schole proposuerunt scriptores in lingua Græca Latinaque optimi quique ac vetustissimi, debebat quidem pertinaces etiam constans doctissi morum tot sæculis virorum judicium convincere, sed res quoque ipsa evidenter hoc arguit: Ipsos illos scriptores legere posse et intelligere magna eruditionis pars habetur; ipsi enim sunt, a quibus non modo linguarum ipsarum, sed etiam rerum gestarum et scienVOL. XIX. Cl. Jl. NO. XXXVIII. 2 A

tiarum notitiam haurire licet et convenit. lidem principes ingeniorum sua ætate, in suo quique dicendi genere accurati et elegantes, consensu omnium ætatum probati et classici, sive primæ classis, ad quos tanquam ad normam scripta recentium exiguntur, ubi cultus et castimonia sermonis quæritur. Quid itaque agunt, qui, his rejectis, ad recentiores nulla auctoritate scriptores amandant juventutem? quid agunt aliud, nisi ut adultioribus deinde factis seras querelas exprimant, merito mirantibus quod ad imitandum sibi non optima quæque, sed longe inferiora perverso docentium judicio fuerint proposita. Nam qui phrasibus et verbis solis putant veterum pretium ac decus omne constare et causas, ob quas legendi ipsi sint, his solis definiunt, quas adeo in recenticrum etiam scriptis putant posse inveniri, illi vehementer falluntur. Ciceronis certe qui phrases et verba omnia tenuerit ad unguem, is ne umbram quidem Tullii · habebit, nisi colorem etiam ipsum orationis, inveniendi, et argumentandi copiam, rerum pulcherrimarum delectum et ubertatem, vim divinam ingenii, dignitatem denique et honestatem sententiarum ejus cognoverit Schonæus autem quo minus Terentio præferatur, non modo eruditionis, sed etiam pietatis judicio interesse: Videant illi, qui argumenta sanctissima per comœdias juventuti proponendas existimant, mihi res magis seriæ videntur, quam ita per ludum ac jocum tractandæ, ut deinde narrationes verissimas pueri in sacris literis legentes procul absint ab illa debita divinis veneratione, sed fabulam aliquam Comicam vel Tragicam legere sibi videantur." H. S. Reimari Commentarius de Vita et Scriptis J. A. Fabricii, Hamburgi, 1737. p. 340-5. E. H. B.

On the Persea of the Ancients.

[An Extract from the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Sciences.] LES anciens parlent beaucoup d'un arbre de l'Egypte auquel ils donnent le nom de persea, qui ressemblait à un poirier, mais dont les feuilles duraient toute l'année, dont le fruit à noyau était trèsdoux, et très-sain, et dont le bois dur et noir avait une grande valeur. On trouve encore, dans les auteurs arabes du moyen âge, des descriptions d'un arbre qu'ils appellent leback, et qui offre tous les caractères attribués par les anciens à leur persea; mais aujourd'hui cet arbre est devenu si rare, au moins dans la BasseEgypte, que les botanistes ne l'ont pas reconnu avec certitude: les uns, comme Lécluse, et Linnæus d'après lui, ont donné le nom de persea à une espèce de laurier; opinion d'autant moins admissible que ce laurier vient d'Amérique. D'autres, comme Schréber, ont

cru le retrouver dans le sébestier (cordia mixa), dont le fruit visqueux est tout différent. M. Delisle a été plus heureux : ayant observé dans un jardin du Caire un individu de l'arbre appelé par Linnæus ximenia ægyptiaca, il lui trouva la plupart des caractères du perséa: une hauteur de dix-huit à vingt pieds, des branches épineuses, des feuilles ovales persistantes, longues d'un pouce à dix-huit lignes, traits qui ont pu donner lieu à la comparaison avec le poirier ; un fruit de la forme d'une datte, doux lorsqu'il est mûr, contenant un noyau un peu ligneux, etc. Parvenu dans la haute Egypte, M. Delisle en rencontra deux autres, et il apprit, par les habitans des contrées supérieures, que l'espèce est commune en Nubie et en Abyssinie, et très-estimée dans le Darfour; cependant il n'a pu savoir si le cœur du bois est noir comme le disent les anciens de leur perséa.

Cet arbre se nomme aujourd'hui, en Nubie, eglig. M. Delisle lui trouve des différences assez marquées pour le séparer des autres ximenia, et il en fait un genre sous le nom de balanites.

On the philosophical meaning of the words βιος, κινημα, ενεργημα, and αισθημα.

The following explanations satisfactorily show the necessity of studying the commentaries of the Platonic and Peripatetic philosophers that have been preserved to us, as the accurate signification of the above words is only in these writings to be obtained.

Concerning the first of these words therefore, Proclus observes as follows in Tim. p. 229, Ψυχης γαρ οικειότατος ο βιος. ει δέποτε και επι νου λέγοιτο, καθαπερ εν Φιληβῳ, την ιδιοτητα σημαίνει της ζωής. δυο γαρ ο βιος ταυτα δήλοι, το, τε ιδιον εκαστου της ζωής είδος, και την ανελιξιν της αιρεσεως αφ' ης έχει την προοδον. λεγεται ουν κυρίως μεν επι των ψυχών. εν ταύταις γαρ η ανελιξις. i. e. « The life signified by the word Blog is most adapted to the soul. For if at any time this word is used in speaking of intellect, as in the Philebus, it signifies the peculiarity of the life. For Bios manifests these two things, viz. the peculiar form of each life, and the evolution of the choice, from which it has its progression. It is properly, therefore, asserted of souls: for in these there is an evolution [of choice]." What is here said by Proclus, that Bios signifies the evolution of choice, is confirmed by the following passage from the 10th book of the Republic of Plato. Αναγκης θυγατρος κορης Λαχέσεως λόγος. Ψυχαι εφημεροι, αρχη αλλης περιόδου θνητου γενους θανατηρίξουν ουχ υμάς δαίμων λήξεται, αλλ' υμεις δαιμονα αιρήσεσθε· πρωτος δ' ο λαχων, πρωτος αιρείσθω βιον, ο συνεσται εξ ανάγκης" αρετη δε αδεσποτον, ην

τιμών και ατιμάζων, πλεον και ελαττον αυτής εκαστος έξει" αιτια ελομε You Beos avartios. i. e. "The speech of the virgin Lachesis, the daughter of Necessity: Souls of a day! The beginning of another period of men of mortal race. The dæmon shall not receive you as his lot, but you shall choose the dæmon. He who draws the first, let him first make choice of a life (Bos), to which he must of necessity adhere. Virtue is independent, which every one shall partake of more or less, according as he honors or dishonors her the cause is in him who makes the choice, and God is blameless." The evolution of lives which follows this speech, is therefore evidently the evolution of choice. And the word Bios perpetually occurs in the whole of what is said by Plato about the different lives of the human soul.

In the next place, we are informed by Simplicius in his Commentary on the 6th book of Aristotle's Physics p. 230, that ximpa signifies the boundary or end of motion. For he says, oμoiwç de xus το νυν του χρονου, και το κινημα της κινησεως. καλουσι γαρ ουτω το της κινησεως περας. i. e. “ The now of time, and the κινημα of motion, are similar. For thus the end or boundary of motion is called." In like manner eveρyna, which occurs in Proclus on the Parmenides, and also on the Timæus, is the boundary of energy. For in the latter of these Commentaries p. 233, he says, Xoyou de ενεργημα το λέγειν, ως νου το νοειν, ως φυσεως το φυειν. i. e. “ Το speak is the evepynua of reason, in the same manner as to perceive intellectually is the evepyna of intellect, and to germinate, of nature.” Thus too, in the last place, aiona, which occurs in the MS. Commentary of Proclus on the Parmenides, is the boundary of asons, or sensible perception. And as apa, being the termination of sensible perception, is an impression of it in the sensorium, that which is analagous to this must be conceived to take place in κινημα and ενεργημα. For the now, or an instant, is, as it were, an evanescent impression of time, and xvjx may be said to be an impression of motion. For the latter is analogous to a point which marks the end of the flux of a line on another line. THOMAS TAYLOR.

Manor Place, Walworth.

On Mr. Bellamy's Translation of the latter part of the 9th and 19th Chapters of Genesis.

In his translation of these two passages, Mr. Bellamy has entirely done away the account of Noah's drunkenness, and of Lot's incest. Will any of your readers oblige the world with a minute criticism of the alterations in question? Mr. Bellamy has

been severely treated by some of the periodical Journals; and many seem to have considered it to be their duty to reprobate his translation. If in any instance he has wilfully perverted the meaning of the sacred text, he deserves all that he has received. If he has been guilty only of those mistakes and errors which are the lot of all, the severity of his critics will be a lasting reproach. The whole question with the world, and with posterity, will be, "Is Mr. Bellamy right, or wrong?" "Has he thrown any light on obscure passages, or not?" I have fixed on these portions of his version, in which he has so materially departed from the received translation, as a criterion, by which a Biblical scholar may judge if his claim on the attention and approbation of his countrymen be well founded.

A CONSTANT READER.

PALINDROME.

From Táxi and Spoμéw, a word, line, or sentence, which is the same, read backward or forward. Thus constructed is an inscription round the font of the church of Sandbach, in Cheshire, and at some other places:

ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜΗΜΑ ΜΗ ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ.

Similarly constructed is the Latin verse:

Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor.

And the English line :

Lewd I did live, evil did I dwel.

The word Madam is a palindrome.

It is related, that a noble lady, who had been forbidden to appear at the court of Queen Elizabeth, on account of a suspicion of too great familiarity with a certain lord high in her majesty's favor, chose for a device upon her seal the moon partly obscured by a cloud, with this palindrome for a motto:

Ablata, at alba.

A lawyer is said to have taken for his motto:

Si nummi, immunis.

The following line is a refinement upon the palindrome, for each word is the same, whether read from the first letter, or the last:

Odo tenet mulum, mappam madidam tenet Anna.