The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-03-12 00:00:00

THE SCIENCE OF RELIGION.

In London, on Saturday last, Professor Max Muller
delivered Ms third lecture on the above subject before
the members of the Royal Institute. There wea a
very large attendance. Prince Christian and Dean
Stanley were again present.
The lecturer began by explaining the Intimate connection
between language and religion, particularly ill ancient times,
and he proceeded to show that the clasallication which had
been adopted in the science of language was equally appli-
cable to religious. He vet iblished for the continent of Asia
and Europe three families of religion—the Aryan, the
Semitic, and the Turanian—and detailed some of the
characteristic features of each. lie then endeavoured
to show that by collecting a number of words, which
have the same form and the same meaning in Sanskrit,
Greek, Latin, Celtic, Teutonic, and Slavonic, it was possible to
put together some kind of mosaic picture exhibiting the state
of civilization of the Aryan family before it was broken up
Into different languages, religion., and nationalities. Pert
of that picture embraced the religion of the Aryan nations
during that pre-historic period, anti It was shown that the
worship of Jupiter had been established before Sanskrit WRS
a separate language, or Greek, Latin, Celtic, Teutonic, and
Slavonic. By applying the same method to the Semitic
languages, certain conclusions were arrived at which showed
what the tendons sentiment of the Semitic family must
have been before it WWI broken up Into its three branches
—the Northern or Aramaic, the Southern or Arabic,
and the Middle or Hebraic. Several names of Semitic
Jo,len were shown to leave existed during that prehistoric
periid, but the names of Elohim and Jehovah were supposed
to have been peculiar to the Jews. Laatly, a description was
given of the primitive religion of the Turanian race.; and it
was stated that before the Chinese had been separated from
the Tungusic, Mongolic, Tataric, and Finnic tribes, a wor-
ship of the Spirit of Heaven, of spirits of nature, and of an-
cestral spirits had existed, traces of which could be dis-
covered scattered about in the religion and the mythology of
the North Turanian or Altaic races.

DREADFUL ACCIDENT IN ITALY.
A terrible scold, nt took place a few days ago on the
occoaion of a meeting held by the Working Men's
Society at Siena. The members were summoned for
the purpose f electing one of their body to the office
of accountant, and everything was proceeding in the
usual manner, when, from some as yet unexplained
cause, the floor of the room gave way in the centre,
and about a hundred and sixty persons, or about half
the number weembled, suddenly disappeared from
view amidst a deafening crash that was instinctively
taken for the shock of an earthquake.
The scene was a most extraordinary one, and some
time elapsed before those who remained unhort could
form any clear idea of what had occurred. The noise
of the cracking rafters, mingled with the piercing
shrieks of the sufferers; the dense clouds of dust raised
by the crumbling rubbish; the terror and bewilder-
ment of the bystanders; the rapid hurrying to and
fro of the people in the streets; the sLouts for help ;
the smashing of windowpanes to obtain a breath of
air; the frantic stampede that followed among those
who found themselvf s upon the brink of the yawning
gulf ; the horrible sounds that issued from the writhing,
heaving, struggling mass of confused humanity be-
neath, combine to form an appalling picture for the
imagination, however words may rebel from the task
of describing its several features of anguish and con.
sternations