The Washington union., 1858-03-11
l. OCA l. NE w 3.

ing by Ect. Df. MeIlyaire pt iochcstcf, nc" ioih
The subject explanation Of The key by which the
meaning of the inscriptions in the arrowhead characters
wits determined The lecturer remarked, commencing
that il Il worthy of observation that the bulk of these
inscriptions remained inbedcd in the earth until the
key fur their Interpretation discovered. In any
other situation tley you'd have been subject to deacc
ncnt and probably altogether lost Enrash were, how
ever exposed to arouse curiosity and inquiry concerning
them.
The different antiluaIans and philologcans who had
aided IN developing the key were mentioned, and the
results Of their abols ,ted Meme OF their efforts were
successful to any extent, until C6fo'sii Afterwards Sf
Henry Rawlinson, commenced his Investigations ~ 'oa9
Stationed at military post in Persia it appears that to
while away his leisure hours he undertook the ardoua
task OF decphcrng these characters although aborns
under great difficulty because Of his total ignorance OF the
Investigations OF hls predecessors in this field and his de-
licicncy of ingua knowledge nc only understood the
English and French languages and had s'pcssta' nc
auaintance with Latin and Greek But this was more
tbon COMPENSATED for by the fact that his intercourse
with the people among whom he was living enabled him
to acquire slight krowlcdge of their dialect
Colonel r. copied the first coiutt ~ two inscriptions,
and on comparing them found that with the EXCEPTION OF
four groups they we're exactly alike He then took still
another inscription like these two except in two groups
Acting on the hypothesis that these varying groups
were propcr taiics hA selected the Of Darius,
Ahasucr,is and lstaspcs On cotating these, in the
original language with the letters in the varying s,o"ps
he found the number of letters to be alike Assuming
that these were the n,nes meant, he conmcnced the
elimination OF letters on this slight basis Carrying this
system farther and using still other inscriptions, Col r.
was enabled finally to eliminate thirty nine letters
These were subjected 10 careful comparison and corrcc
ton and the inscriptions were next reduced TO Roman
letters The meaning of the words subsequently OBJ
!t,s,,, of
2cl and modern Persian languages af;a thus we're rem
decd nteIlsblc what had always before been esaftssd
as tie ncxpcabTe and useless remains of people who
att ii avo sscd from the theatre OF life and whose
very existence Is almost mythical Tic other columns
ofthe inscriptions have since been asceraned to s epe
ti,ions of the same matters in other languages.
The next lecture at the Institute will be on Monday
evening,
Mtrpop,sr Epla,orAI CONFERENCE Sccath Dry. AT
ter the customary morning dcvoon, exercises, Bishop
Ancs took Tic chair and announced the following com
miltces and appointments
Executive Cytuintse Of the Missionary Society --Rcss
b H. Brosn wm., ,ljist, Wni. krels, no Brooke, r.
+. Dashiell II. G. Wtstwood ard Isaac Gibson
Committee OF Examination Of g6uiiy Ministers First
year Rcys j. NJ Gi,ndin John n. Coo.il,s, and A, W
Wilson second year. Rcvs. David Thomas, j. 5. Drh,
and J. f. Armstrong; third year. Rcys. d. = Hawiey'
j. Thrush, and S Rogers fourth year, Ieys I, r. Nor
t.. f. y
To preach The ttst ANNUAL Missionary scrmon--Iev
Dr. Hamilton.
Trustees OF the Wesleyan Female Institute s.aanson
Va Reys, f. H. yeech, J. S. Martin T. 7. Phelps >.
v Blake, G.. q. Brooke and f. O. Icbs,
Visiting Committee Eevs. A. Dnhrman, j. Il. Wheel
! or, and j. N. Davis
vs!g Committee Of the Valley Female Institute
Rcvs W. G.. Egglcston, 3. N-hul'en, and ~ Wilson.
Piedmont Academy -l.eys. d. Ihof'l's n,a j. r.
| Wheeler.
| Visiting Committee Dickinson College Revs D. H.
| Nadal and X. l.. Dashicll.
Trustees of the Baltimore Female College -y-Reys. VIM
Hamilton w. 4. d. Glenn, VIM. liiist H. /. Brook, and
! T. Israel Visitors--T w Monroe and Il. A. Morgan.
| Trustees OF Odn and Preston Institute -Ecvs j. s
Martin. Isaac Gibson, D. W. Arnold, j. W. Swan, H. A
/ Gaver, and J, Il. Armstrong.
Isv Mr. Vaitch presented the report Of the committee
on The Metropolitan church, which was IL have been
erected in this city. 1t states that only 500 had been
collected during the year. and that debt Of 81 500
| impending which the trustees unable to pay The
committee recommended that the said property bc leased
for term of years in order to liqu,lac the said debt
Ind if that scheme should f then to sell said property
and invest the surplus III such manner as to let it in
crease be applied to the purposes of the church at
some future day. After some slight amendment the
/ report adopted
The report OF a coniiiticb on TIE " National Maga-
| zine recommending It's discontnuance, adopted
The proposition that the conference pro rata
|
College, was lost.
| Memoirs Of the late Bishop Beverly Waugh, ID D.
Rev job Guest and Rev. John L. Lctherbcrry pre-
scntcl and adopted, Bishop Ames cloqucntly endorsed
! the memoir of Bishop Waugh
| LIFE IS WtsnispfoN.--We are pleased To learn that
the many friends of accomplished contributor, Miss
Windle, have proposed her publishing in volume, by
| subscription, her sketches of "Iic in Washington,
which have been so widely copied throughout the entire
country Miss Windle is chiefly known by these fin
shed pictures of society and her contributions to the
| magazines of the day
Professor John S. HART LII d., of Philadelphia, in his
Femalc Prose Writers of America, says in his bio
graphical sketches Of Miss W. ''Miss Windlc's merits
| as writer arc great and varied. Much command of
language purity of style and fascinating descriptive pow
CTS characterize her productions. Feminine grace and
modcsty arc likewise leading features and one can
read even the smallest of her sketches without full con-
viciion that they could proceed only from the pen of
know not which most to admire the fancy the ,lclicacy
the tenderness and sweetness of her descriptions the
grasp and rmncss of her dclineatons In the last there
is sparkling yivdncss which has the life and color of
painting Purity and tenderness SEEM however, The pc
culia characteristics Of her writings pcryadng the
oepton the thoughts. and the tliction. We may add
that she is less the foritc of the society she
quistey depicts and adds to her claims of lal pety
and private worth.
W,suNcroS TnrArRr,- MIR Mathcwss exhibition Of
| ~ -. ,h.f,