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dominion. To Etruria she owed that stern theocratic discipline which so deeply coloured, though it did not originally inspire, her greatest national virtue-the devoted patriotism of her children. From Etruria Rome derived that idea of the omnipresence of the Divinity, and that love of ceremonial ordinance, which contributed so powerfully to rivet the traditional creed upon the popular mind. But the Roman character was built upon too wide and varied a foundation to allow of the tyranny of any single principle in its constitution. Unlike the partial and one-sided type which distinguished the Grecian communities, the qualities of three races mingled in its formation; the nobler and simpler worship of his Sabine and Latin ancestors saved the Roman from the dogmatic formalism which enchained the people of Tarquinii; from the caste-like distinction of priests and people, and the formal civilization of Etruria; and above all, from the rapid degeneracy of religion into superstition, and then of fanaticism into hypocrisy, which had sapped Etruscan morals before the era of the Roman conquest. Where shall we find the Etruscan original of those admirable maxims, which Tully quotes with honest pride in his treatise on the laws? which bade the Roman propitiate' the Deity, not with sumptuous offerings, but with the incense of a virtuous life; which prohibited all unholy and licentious objects of adoration; which taught the indwelling of the Divinity in the minds of the good; and, for ages, sacredly maintained the principle of an hereditary national religion, both against the waywardness of private dissent, and the torrent of Greek and Oriental corruptions? Where are we to recognise the Etruscan rivals of that long triumphal train of senators, warriors, and patriots, the glory of the Roman name, the grandest fruit of any heathen system-of that splendid literary array, that disputes the palm with Hellas-of that immortal legacy of jurisprudence, which has been the admiration and despair of posterity?

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Let us not, however, forget the beautiful lesson taught by the Etruscan tombs-the lesson of veneration for the dead! Let us mourn over the glorious wrecks so thickly strewn upon the bosom of that exquisite land, once studded with fair and blooming cities; where now the moss-grown heights she once crowned scarce bear a vestige of Tarquinii; while the very

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'Cicero de Legg. ii. viii. Ad Divos adeunto caste: pietatem adhibento: opes

amovento.

2 Ib. ib. Nulla Vitiorum sacra solennia obeunto.

3 Ib. xi. Deos ipsos in animis suis collocatos putent.

4 Ib. viii. Separatim nemo habessit Deos: neve novos, nisi publicè adscitos, colunto. Foreign Deities could only be admitted within the Roman Pantheon by a decree of the Senate.

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'site of Volsinii is forgotten; silence has long reigned in the crumbling theatre of Ferentum; the plough yearly furrows 'the bosom of Vulci; and the fox, the owl, and the bat, are the 'sole tenants of the vaults within the ruined walls of Cosa.' (Vol. ii. p. 193.) Let us not forget, too, how the loveliness of Nature has survived the decay of art, the fall of empire. The snow-white pinnacles and towers, the fairy scene that greeted the eye of the voyager Rutilius, as he turned his prow towards the far-famed harbour of Luna, have long been numbered with the things of yore. Not so the gifts of Nature to that glorious bay! Still the purest of waves mirrors 'pine-crested convents

luxuriant groves-storm-defying forts-castled crags'proud headlands-foam-fretted islets-dark heights, prodigal of wine and oil-purple mountains behind-and naked marble'peaked Apennines over all, (vol. ii. p. 80,)

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"Islanded in immeasurable air."

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Still the green Maremma (unhealthy only in the summer) expands its sunbright waste of beauty'-its lawns and wasteness wild,' that inspired Dante's imagination with his picture of the Infernal Wood-matted with a dense and almost tropical luxuriance, where the boar, the buffalo, the roebuck range unscared by the foot of man. And what shall eclipse the scenery on the verge of the Faliscan plain, where the cliffs, broken into fantastic forms, and hollowed into caves of mysterious interest, display the richest hues of brown, red, orange and grey; wood hangs from their every ledge, and even crests their brows-a wood as varied in mass as in tint-olive, ash, ' alder, oak, chestnut-matted together with ivy, vines, clematis and honey-suckle; a stream winds brawling through the hollow, here spanned by a rustic bridge, there sinking in a mimic cascade; now struggling among the fallen, moss-grown crags, now running riot through some lonely mill, half hid by foliage.' Vol. i. p. 154.

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ART. IV. "The Kings of the East;" an Exposition of the Prophecies; determining, from Scripture and from History, the Power for whom the Mystical Euphrates is being "dried up ;" with an Explanation of certain other Prophecies concerning the Restoration of Israel. London. Seeleys. 1849.

AMONG the signs of that desire to penetrate the secrets of futurity which lies so deeply enshrined in the heart of man, whether Pagan or Christian, civilized or uncultivated, it is no marvel that investigation of the fortunes of God's ancient people should occupy a very marked and prominent position; for the conversion of the Jews to Christianity has long been looked for as the Church's last great labour of love-the sure token of the immediate return of her Lord to judgment. Among living divines, who have expressed their concurrence in such belief, it may suffice to name Archdeacon Grant and Canon Wordsworth; within the last three centuries it has been proclaimed by theologians of the most opposite communions, as, for instance, Estius and Vitringa; in the Middle Ages it appears to have been held by the latest of the fathers, S. Bernard, and by the greatest of the schoolmen, Aquinas; in earlier times it may be found associated with the very noblest names of saints and doctors-Gregory, Hilary, Cyril of Alexandria, Jerome, Augustine, Chrysostom. It may be indeed that S. Jerome wavers and is not quite consistent with himself; the 'goldenmouthed' Archbishop of Constantinople (herein followed by Aquinas and Cajetan) may proceed to the extreme length of asserting that none among the descendants of Abraham after the flesh shall in those last days remain in unbelief; while S. Gregory more reasonably supposes that a large and signal conversion would satisfy and adequately fulfil the promises of ancient prophecy. But these are minor points, diversities such as we must expect to meet with in any enunciations of belief upon subjects of large extent, and of necessity somewhat obscure and undefined and so far are they from weakening the effect of the general agreement, that they may fairly be considered rather to increase its weight and influence.

There has been, however, by some writers (and more especially in the present day), combined with the expectation of a great Jewish conversion in the last times, a further hope, amounting in some cases to a positive conviction, that Israel and Judah will be collected from all quarters of the globe, and enjoy

territorial possession of their long-lost homes in Palestine. The supporters of this view appeal, for proof of its correctness, to the undying hopes and sentiments of the race of Israel, the language of certain among the primitive fathers, and the words of Holy Scripture itself.

We propose to devote some pages to the consideration of this two-fold subject. If any approximation to a thorough sifting of the evidence be not merely far beyond the limits of an article, but likewise greatly exceed the bounds of our knowledge and ability, it may yet be possible, (with the aid of learned men, who have indicated the best places for research,) to extract so much material as may supply a basis for argument, and a help towards the formation of an opinion, on the part of such as feel any interest in the inquiry.

And firstly, with reference to the belief in a large and a very general conversion from the ranks of Judaism before the consummation of all things. That belief, however vague and indefinite-however much infused into the general mind of Christendom rather by a floating kind of tradition, than as the result of strict inquiry-yet certainly seems to be originally based upon the sure warrant of Holy Scripture. The great men who have from time to time enunciated their views concerning it, invariably appeal to the words of Prophets and Apostles; and although we must beware of the error of erecting interpretations of prophecy into articles of faith, yet that must be a strange and unenviable frame of mind which can treat such a consensus lightly. A few of the most obvious and prominent passages of Scripture shall presently be set down, and the comments of the leading Fathers will be quoted in the course of our investigation. But it may be well to commence with a brief notice of the objections which have been urged against these interpretations of prophecy.

Some of these objections, which have been sought from Holy Scripture, savour less of conviction on the part of the objectors, than of that scholastic ingenuity which loved to create a difficulty for the sake of solving it. (1) Few unbiassed readers of the 69th Psalm would be inclined so to press the force of the word 'ever' in the 24th verse, (and ever bow thou down their backs,' 'et dorsum eorum semper incurra,' Vulg.) as to argue that it shut out the objects of the divine malediction from all hope of the erect countenance and clear vision of faith. (2) In like manner the marked distinction between Israel and Judah, in Hosea i. 6, 7, (fulfilled in the return of the two tribes and dispersion of the ten), can hardly be thought seriously to militate against the possibility of Jews from every tribe returning to their King before He comes to judgment. (3) The same may

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be said concerning the words of the Prophet Amos (ii. 4-16): as a threat of chastisment they are clear, and have been, and are still being, most signally and terribly fulfilled; but to make them into an edict of perpetual exclusion from God's Church, appears sadly strained and unnatural. (4) And as regards the very strong expressions employed by S. Paul concerning his countrymen in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians (ii. 15, 16), it may be observed, that even the rendering of the Vulgate, to the effect that wrath is come upon them even to the end,' usque in finem, is by no means incompatible with the supposition that their repentance should be almost coincident with the termination of the world's great drama; although most scholars and critics would, we think, consider the English version of the Apostle's eis Téλos (to the uttermost') to be a far more adequate expression of his meaning. (5) There are, however, two sentences pronounced by our Lord himself, which have been thought adverse to any spiritual hopes of Judaism. One of these is a remarkable saying recorded by S. John (v. 43);' the other, the curse upon the barren fig-tree, which has always been recognised as a type and figure of the Synagogue. Now there is no doubt but that the ancient interpretation of our Lord's announcement, that one coming in his own name would be received, applied the words to the Antichrist who should appear in the last days. In this interpretation (which, by the way, seems accepted by Lord Bacon) we may concur, and further may likewise admit that it appears to hint that this 'last foe of the fold' will be welcomed and believed in by the Jews. Yet this acceptance need not prove so large as to involve the entire race of Israel, nor again so complete as to leave no opportunity for change of sentiment; while the type of the fig-tree, however fully admitted, must yet be subjected to the limitations imposed upon all types, and not be forced into an utter exactitude of resemblance. The literal fig-tree was indeed dried up from the roots, and withered away, but it does not thence follow that the figurative one shall know no second life.

And if we are disposed to weigh the authority of great human testimonies, the scantiness of the list of those who adopted what we may term the negative side, is most remarkable. Among ancient authors, there is probably one alone who has opposed the general concurrence of opinion-Cæsarius, the brother of S. Gregory Nazianzen. But his name, though a holy and respected one, cannot be reckoned in the first rank of the Church's doctors, and is not of sufficient weight to claim great

''I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.'

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