Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-08-17
ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS,
Ana How MIR. Shapiro obtained the
Book of Deuteronomy.

| From the London Npws1
:
Is there any reason to suppose that al
the ancient manuscripts of famous classica
books have becn discovorod Of c,,re
o'c'F one must nope mat There are discover
les still to he made. The lost books of Liv,
we confess the world cip su(ror IN In Ice,
A ,,o-,. O''
'o'y s'''' "'"' VI hwy sun survives quit'
cuoueh lof all purposes. Mcnander is Il fa
more cruel loss, for not only was NIenande,
by general consnn, ,ho ,,roo,oe, ,oo, -,
oo,,nI,, ~. -, $500 po'' VI
40 VIZ 'oia'"o' co''cuy, out III MN
would probably be found the earliest literary
form OF plots which have been used by
fIautus, Terence, Molicrc, and their follow
crS. III IL lc true that "al the stories have
occn 'old'' they must have been told very
lnS ago, for we can scarcely go so far
pack IN Egyptian or Chinese literature, but
we ma Inc Old stories, obviously with great
pHl behind them even then. Most of us arc
| hins.ihc enough 10 he more interested in the
carly history OF our own and the Jewish sac
Ieu BOOKS tlnn in the minor Latin poets
anu people VINO learn with disappointment
sha' INC recent discovery OF the ark is not
l'ec from Suspicion may congratulate them
sciVcs tllat Mr. shapiro has discovered n new
Una, Is, an excessively old codcx of the
l BOOK OF Deuteronomy. A number of learn
Gu orIen'allsts have examined the precious
fragments, though apparently they have ar
rived at no very definite conclusion. Things
from M0aD 90 not always turn out as well
Us could DC wished. The Moabitc stone is
schcraIlY respected, Dut The Dloabitc pot
eeciy appears 10 nave been made in Stat
iorushlic' some years ago Scholar IN
olienta scnolar at Oxlord, was known
as INC Dad samaritan. A Samaritan
manuscript OF much interest had been brought
" NE hotlce, ana lie was, according to le-
scnu, qullc plcascd with this ancient trca-
SURF But Tue manuscript turned out to be
"a "a, WORK OF inc nineteenth century A. ID.
ihclc'orc' VIC must not accept all Oriental
manuscripts as genuine without thorough ex-
"'n IN
Inc treasure now In London consists of va
llous small and dirty scraps of parchment
vi oi lealhef' oh some oil them Phnncan
letters arc visible 10 ihe naked eye Other
craps reveal fh%niclan letters after being
Masncu over WIN spliiis OIL wine. The writ
lns Is s'tiu 10 os US olu as Inc AloaOte stone,
wnich IS ua'cu au III oOo years before Christ.
VI eouise manuscript OF deuteronomy
mI'ttcu ooo years before Chrlst would silence
.nc hiShe' crlticish when she assigns TO De-
terohomy very much later date. Apart
from TINS cIilical interest the man
uscript would he probably the oldest,
not Egyp'ial' Which we possess on
any soit material. llerodotus says
that III ancient times me lonlans wrote on
SKINS p'it none OF the skins have descended
10 US, which Is fortunate Tor the theories of
Mr. Ia!cy SKINS, oil course, are very per-
lshnoie opleclS'and so (out OF the dry climate
OIL ESYpD are manuscripts written on papyrus.
w nave E3lpt"npalyrl OF extreme anliqui-
y, nul thG oiuest aiphaOctic semitic writings
Illiicitp hhoWh arc inscriptions on stones
anu rocks, ana occasionally on silver bowls
anu "a othcr nara materials. Inc new codex of
deuteronomy therefore would be practically
unique IL would establish the fact that the
Jews c0uld wrlte consecutive narrative on
soft ana portable material 2IOO years ago,
ao1n, inc date commonly assigned to Homer