The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-01-06
THE LECTURE SEASON,



Miss Bacon on the Hebrews.
On Tuesday morning, at II A. NJ, Miss Bacon
delivered the ninth lesson Of her course Of histor
cal instruction, At the Stuyvsssnt Institute-mb-
ject "The Fourth Group in the Primitive Ststes-ths
Hebrews" The fair lecturer said:-l have divided
the primsval States Of Oriental antiquity into four
groups-thst vast chain of people which extends
from India, the east Asd SOUTH to tho States OF
Asia Minor, on the north aud west, being arranged
N one the Indo Germanic group, the States on the
Tgris and EuPhrsses, and tho coast Of the Medi-
terrsnesn, with that State Of Syria which forms the
connection between them, constitutes the second
group, and did not complete the description Of the
States Of southwestern Asia. You will notice that
the first Of this group collections Of States
from the outermost rsrge Of tho civilized States
Of western Asia, which, In its northern and eastern
limits, extends beyond the others The Assyrian
constitutes narrow range, which IL bounded by
the others. l pass from these two to Africa and
the States upon the Nile, in Egypt. stated At the
time that / hid q reason for the emission of that
nucleus Of States which existed In ancient times
in the southwestern corner of Asia India Persia,
Armenia, Chaldea, Assyria, Syria, and Phanssia,
have perhaps exerted upon our time directly no ap-
pveciAble naaenoe-no direct influence which In very
obvious to the worlds observation. These people
and nations have exsrted most important inau-
ense upon and arc continually doing but it is
. transmitted influence, for the mest part, which
does not generally affect But Am now going to
shsw the great historic product of this Oriental era,
to which all these States made to contribute.
There Is . direct influence FROM that time which We
have felt ever spce We were born, and which
has moulded rs unoonsciOusly during the whole
period Of eur moral existence. We como now
% tho most extraordinary people that history
has n~hy al I~I
their primitive charac ,eristios race, and also in
their history These people belong to the Semitic
race, whose characteristics have already sxplained
bat they differ, in the most particulars,
fism all the other branches of that race which we
have noticed. | am speaking OF the Hebrew race,
whore history is such to embrace the produsts OF
all those nations which have been presented to you;
bat can only now show them in the relief which
the developer ents Of the contemporary States pre-
sent. did not fully complete the view which
have before taken Of Egypt, give you any ade-
quate idea OF the spendors OF that Egg ptian civil
satien which existed In those ages spoke Of tenn
pies here and there Of separate centres Of civizs
tion, which grew and united until Egypt became
one; bat / did not speak rs fully IS / should
have done, on the influences of the peoulisri-
ties Of that country upon their national char
Aeteristics and their national history. / did not
speak to you % l should have done Of the In.
nHenoe Of that river in history which rises in the
mountains Of Ethiopis-whicn invsdes the Great
Desert Of Sahara with long tract Of fertility and
beauty The tracks of rivers and the tracks Of his
tory In the East, and that mighty river furnished
the means Of rapid and continual communication
between those little States which grew in its valley
and contributed to that remarkable and peculiar
development which Egypt exhibited In history;
aud We find all along its Oh ores colossal remains
which sh0w NJ what that ancient civilization WAS.
But the links that connected these splendid monu-
ments are broken; yet tAere remains enough Of
them to show that in that far of antiquity the Nile
was long stream OF spendor In order to apprs-
ciate the subject have to present to you, you
must call upon your Imagination to build
ranges Of noaas.ns and on the east and vest
10 shut out by mounsstn walls That upon
the east contains the most inexhaustible quarry
for these great colossal forms which man
man ts0k down the natural mountains, and raised
artificial ones in the valley. There 10 no strength
in eur time like the strength that was exhibited in
followed and oss.d down the Nile. for temple Of
tho god in the delta. The Holy scriptures, ], 500
years before Christ, exhibits the state Of arts which
existed then, and tho grandeur Of the civilization
several verses from the Book of Exodus relating to
the civilization among the gyptiaas, and the pow
or Of men in that time. The monuments that
remain Of Egyptian civilization, exhibit seve.
raj different races One Inhabited tho pastoral
districts, whose habits Of lite differed entirely
from those who inhabited the cite, Of the valley.
They drove their fooks wherever they could find
pasturage for them; and these wandering habits Of
life led TO totally different characteristics 10 the
people, and they came down. a. such races always
co. upon the rich inhabitants Of the CITY, in those
predatory excursions, for wnatever they could Sod
They naturally hated each other; and this il par
tcslsry exhibited in the story of Jossphs fret ap-
pearsncs in Egypt. One Of these wandering shsp-
herd races was the Hebrews ..Out Of Egypt have /
called my servant" Aeses is tho earliest cotem-
porary historian and hero, therefore, is the place
where search for he history Of this wonderful
people must CONNIE noe; and no must look ut them
of those races that bad settled in Egypt At
tIacted thitAer by the fertility Of its soil and other
circumstances They hsd been tneie for ages when
the voice Of history begins to present them to NJ.
Moses does not content himself by giving .
story Of his own wonderful tune for with Moses
the national existence of the Hebrew begins; but
the story Of the Hebrew DOES not begin there. 1t
10 groat chsractsristic Of this people that they
isek . national whole rbeg not content With
little fra gnent Of time In which their own expert
ense oscnrs but their wants ars 20 large that they
must 90 back - the beginning Noses collects from
materials within bis reach and complies s;ory of
the whole, and the book Of Genesis gives tho pre-.
oediDg history Of the Hebrews; and It Was that pre-
vous history, and tbo,e traditional recollections,
which, 1T that time, distinguished them from all
other people. They had not always lived in Egypt;
they had their share in building those great monu-
ments to the gods Of Egypt; but tho memory Of an
earlier and ancestral story preserved them
from the loss Of their nsdonal pscuiiarities.
What is 70 marvellous ann 20 unaocounta
bio, upon ordinary principles, is to find
that this people, living for ages in the midst OF that
nation and splendid civilization, kept themselves
10 reand kept their natural sharactsrsies 50 free
from admixture The country 70 which they were
ultimately destined Ess situsted between the Ea-
pirates and the Tigria. Il vas midway between
these two wonderful civilizations. They knew their
homo was there, and they travelled from the Hu-
pirates 70 the ssast Of the Mediterranean, and
wandered for centuries there, . pastoral people,
among the mountains Of Jades. Then the provi-
Dental movement oams and placed them for ages
under the Egyptian civilization After that they
appear ~ wanderers again, for generation, In the
Arabian dsseIt and the peculiar cvilisstisn which
existed In that time IN Arabia was also absorbed
int their culture Are not right, then, In say
ing that this people present to us the result
Of Oriental sivtisstisn. They we're led fro a place
70 place, and absorbed the culture Of each nation,
and through that people We have the Of
that Oriental age coming ino our own / do not
speak now Of the civilization which comes from
Christianity, for thai Is different thing-but the
direct influence Of the Hebrew civilization is upon