Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-04-17
ffcm ne lEiasai~gscn LTnan.
EIy. eriilf,Cl's Lectures.

DAY night; bat, in consequence Of the IN.
cienercy OF the weather, 1t was not afteu-
dcd by as numerous an audience as its sin.
grlsr merits deserved. No country is
more Interesting TO the whole human race
tlInn Egypt, l'ecanse ofits wonderful anti
quities. essociatad % they are with some OF
the hrst anihea,ic records ftnan; and ccr-
iainly no one has evcf visited the United
States so well qualified, by his long resi-.
denco in EGYPT, his oxtensiyc researches.
his incesssnt study Of the works Of other
archmoloeists, has familiarity in leoiuring,
to do full justice 10 thisin,cres,iag subject.
as Mr.. Giiddon. Hia second lecture win
be delivered this evening; and with the
view Of preparing the minds Of those who
were not present at his first lecture TO IN
dcrsiand and enjoy bis second exhibition,
we lay fun sketch it before our rea-
dors. ~
Mr.. Giddon's protection opened on
Tuesday iight with comparison between
the point reached in various fields Of dis.
covery when he hast lsctured at Washing
ton, in lS4i, sad that attained by ecienca
in 1851. Tho anriierous discoveries in
Cahiornia--the successful operation Of tho
electric telcgroph--the excavations in AS
syfia, which hnveresusciiateca ancient Baby
Ion and Nineveh--and, nloveall the food
ofliEht poured upon the history oi the an
cient world by the lahors Of Lepsius in E.
gypt. and lbs colleagues in Eprope---wore
all passed IN review as the fruit which the
aet aeven years had brought forth. The
anti. Abrahamio lisioryoi Egypt---an utter
blank seven years ago--had siaco been
broughtto light BY means Of Egypt'e monu~
ments. MI. G. alluded TO the relative an
iiqpjty Of certain ancient nations. and cntc,.-
ed into a definition and explanation of the
word archaeology, and the duiies OF m ar
chuoloeist, The acieucc Of arehssology.
he said, was induciiye---as much 20 ps the
Baeopiap philoGophy, Il dedcced certain
results fcem prcmises which were well os.
toLIshed; differing irom antqualianism,
which coAientsd itself with rnorcly discov-
sriug objects Of cniiqpity, and fixing their
&tes. Arc@olapy hore the same relation
q li.;ory thar ostcolaay does 10 compare
tiyeanatomy--being. soto cay thebaek5enc
ofhistore scitaccs. Ii had been the fashion
before the days c! Clompollion for hislo-
rians 10 begin nj the rreuticn, and como
downwerds 70 tic niaoccnth century,
Archaeology reversed ,his process. 1t com.
rnenced with the present era, followed the
stream of ti,re upwards and backwards to-
wards It's source.
Classical literature, az regards the ;rars.
n1ission Of manassifts, goes bnek as FAR as
the Alexandsian school, established about
two dcH,Hiios and halt before Christ, aud
cndiug With uio obstruction ofihc Alcxan-
dtian library by the saraccua under Am.
ron, a general OF tho Calf Omar, ubont the
year If Chriat G50. An literature ppssin.t
through tLis school bong copies Of copies
n copies &c.--hayirg uuliiplied the ono
from tie other-iherc IN, OF course. every
chance for corruption Of the original.
| through tie ignorance or caFelessnrss ~
trense'ibes Even in thcse days, any man
who had bren in the habit Of correcting
proofkncw the difficulty Of making himself
understood by the printer. Amusing ex-
ainples Of his own experience were Given
by the leeturcr--amoug ihoh, how Menc;,.
| the first Pharaoh Of Egypt, aleu- Of being
| translated "he who walks with Ammon"
was printed 'who walks with Afammorf"
And again: Memnon, whom Mr.. G. had
| spoken Of as "Hesiod's denii- god" wns
ruetamorphcsci into Heyods demyiohnt
All literature tcfmed classical has come
down to us through the Alexandra school.
or its affiliations. Yet Of the post. Chris
tan Aleyan3tincs, ns far ~ we are able to
gathcr, Clemens Alexandrines alone seems
to have had any idea Of liieroglyphics. Ii
there were others who had any proper
conception Of them, thtir works persisted
when the Alexondiian library was Destroy
ed. Whaf hes survived is all but useless
to us. In those days, beyond the limits Of
the Roman empire, geographcrs knew but
| very small portion Of the world. Ken
nicoit and De Ressi long ago established
that there docs not exist a copy Of tho He.
brew sciip;urcs--older thpn the llth CEN
tnry after Christ, Or of the Greek versions
dating further back then tie 9TH or 9th
century Of the came era These are CO
pies Of older MSS now lost, and we pos
sess no originals Contrast these facts
with the ages Of Egyptian 27apyrt--mtlti-
tudes Of which cxist-dstirg back rs far as
the 10Th, l5fh, and 14th centuries before
Christ. Mr.. Gliddon said that the mummy
teforc the audiel ce had one attached as
old as 900 3. c., Or 275l years ago. The
Greek and Latin classical MSS. in preser-
vation are generally from tho OH century
Of our era downwards A fragment Of
| copy Of Ligy, in the museum Of Berlin, is
the Oldest Latin MSS. in the world. Ito
date il tire 1si century ofthe Christian era,
ard i ii therefore 1900 years Old.
Ia order to aid biz hearers il The proper
appreciation ofthe value to be attached TO
Egyptain resuscitat;one, Mr.. 6 then point
ed out the boundaries 10 which the history
of several ancient nations lnergeo into fa-
ITALY.--Noi exeopGng the tofnbs and
yascg Of the Eiruscans, all Of which arc
more recent, we cesse to tread upon his
torical ground after passing tho last King
Of Rome a city not founded prior to 3. G.
754.
GRErcr--IIatory dcgcuogatcs into fable
after passipe tlieiirst otympiad, B. G. 776.
The era Of Homer Gsupposed TO be 800 is
disputed.
JuDEA--including Phonicia. Carthage.
Syria. Asia Minor, and Arab;s--does not
furnish strictly chroneloeical data before
the reign Of Solomon, 3, G. 1000 Mr. 9.
pointed outthc earliest syI caronisr1 between
Judaic chronicles and Egyptian hierogly-
phics in Shesaaak OF The monuments, TIE
iShishak ofScriptuue, who conquered Re-
holoaai Id the year o7l B. G. Bunson.
Ewald, and Lepaius have proved that III
current chronology pTofessing to 60 beyond
this Is legacy ofthc sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuiics--compntaiions not two
hundred and fifty years old. Prior to
the ao-, IF Go1of,1r, the cltrouoloQical ele-