So, too, Luke, the disciple of Paul, commences his λóyos a' (the Gospel) with a strictly classic period: ἐπειδήπερ πολλοὶ ἐπεχείρηour, x. v. 2., and in like manner his λóyos P' (the Acts) with: zov μὲν πρῶτον λόγον ἐποιησάμην. Indeed, the latter draws the picture of the diffusion of Christianity from the smallest beginnings to its dominion over the whole of the then civilized world (from Jerusalem to Rome) upon so systematic a plan, and with so classic a finish, that it may truly be compared with Thucydides. Let me now be permitted to add one closing remark. If the great Apostle was not ashamed, in furtherance of the end he had in view, to learn something from the Attic orator, can it be unbecoming for our clergy to refresh and fertilize their minds by the study of the ancient classic writers? What Luther thought upon this subject is known to all. Yet in our day it would almost seem that many preachers considered the symbolic teaching of the church to be alone worthy of their diligence; and, as a general thing, knowledge, strictly so called, is now placed by theologians far too much in the background. It would be lamentable if this tendency should continue to predominate; for a thorough historico-critical searching of the Scriptures (John 5: 39) is the life-breath of Protestantism. ARTICLE VI. THE GENIUS OF HEBREW AND OF ROMAN LEARNING.1 By P. B. Spear, Professor of the Hebrew and Latin Languages, THE claims of sacred and classical learning as an essential part of a sound and liberal education, have been so able advocated by scholars and divines, and so fully acknowledged in our college halls and churches, both in this country and in Europe, that little additional argument is necessary. Viewed mentally 1 A Discourse delivered at the last Commencement at Madison University. or morally, practically or theoretically, whether for the preacher, teacher or advocate, for the judge, statesman or diplomatist, it is granted by men best qualified to judge, that that education is not complete, however extensive, in which Hebrew, Greek and Latin studies have not constituted to some extent an elemental part. Regarding these claims, then, as well established, we shall aim, not so much by close argumentation, as by the simpler process of comparison, to develop something of the genius of Hebrew and of Roman learning, whether this learning be considered subjectively, as to the respective nation that furnishes it, or objectively, as to the scholar who acquires it. Our subject, as we view it, resolves itself into two parts: Hebrew and Roman learning treated, first, comparatively with the Greek; secondly, comparatively with each other. We design so to treat these divisions that the genius of the two departments of learning, which we represent, shall appear by the successive impressions made upon the mind of the hearer, rather than by distinct and formal inferences drawn by the speaker. I. Hebrew and Roman Learning treated comparatively with the Greek. The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, as the grand trio among the languages of antiquity, as the sacred three in the inscription on the cross, have so long been associated in the minds of men of letters, and so intimately inwrought into the soundest scholarship, that we may be allowed to some extent to view them together. In doing this, we observe, in the first place, that the Greek is intermediate, both as to the period to which it belongs and as to its general character, and, therefore, may properly be used by comparison to fix more definitely the relative position and character of the Hebrew and Latin. Secondly, that the Hebrew, in one aspect, is above all comparison. It is the language of Divine inspiration. It is the vehicle of God's word to man. Do not, therefore, understand that we bring this language down to a level with Latin and Greek, or with any merely human language. The names of Jerusalem, Athens and Rome have, to the Christian and scholar, a sort of talismanic power to call up the mantled shades of generations of men, reaching, in a long line, far back into a gray antiquity. As centres of action for three mighty national minds, these cities cluster around them most of those literary and archaeological attractions, which have engaged the learned, since light broke in upon the darkness of the Middle Ages. When they, with the countries around them, the men and manners that graced them, and the genius that exalted them, became the object of earnest inquiry, the mind awoke from the slumbers of a long night, and began to expand itself into the thousand forms of enterprise that have carried man upward along the highway of modern civilization. Human society was slumbering, as if unconscious of its glorious destiny, until the spirit of the past coming up from men of renown, breathed into it new social, intellectual and moral life, and, by a new resurrection, brought upon the stage of action men who had the spirit and power of the heroes of the old world. Phoenicia with the Holy Land, Egypt and Babylonia with their letters, their wisdom, or magical skill, embodying, in their learning, not only the infancy of society, but much also of its manliness and strength, had contributed not a little to form the Grecian mind. Greece, in plastic art, in a nice literary taste, and in the true philosophic spirit, far outstripping all the nations that preceded her, had contributed still more largely to form the Roman mind. The Roman mind, by nature practical, strong, unyielding, steady in its action, in ability to rule never surpassed, has moulded the world, has infused itself largely into all the nations of Europe, stamping them much with its own impress and form. Still, we should observe, that, since the revival of learning (A. D. 1266), the minds of mark among the Italians, Spaniards, French, Germans and English, were not moulded exclusively by the infusion of the Roman, or of the Greek, or Hebrew element, but all these, combining with native genius, have given to scholars of modern times their characteristic greatness. Among the Italians, DANTE (1265-1321), the author of the "Divina Comedia," the first to quote familiarly from the writings of Livy, Virgil and Cicero; then PETRARCH (13041374), "the great restorer of classical literature," the man who led the way in drawing the classics from the dungeons in which they were immured; then BocCACIO (1313-1375), who transcribed with his own hand most of the Latin poets, orators and historians; then POGGIO (1380-1459), who spent fifty years, with untiring perseverance and wonderful sagacity, in searching out and collecting manuscripts from monasteries, convents, or VOL. XI. No. 43. 45 rotting in the bottom of dungeons; then the MEDICI: COSMO first, who spent his immense wealth in patronizing learned men, and in gathering manuscripts of Latin classics, securing in particular complete copies of Virgil, Cicero, Seneca, Ovid and Tibullus; and after him, more especially, LORENZO (1448-1492), who sent messengers into every part of the globe for the purpose of collecting books, and spared no pains or expense to promote classical learning; then MACHIAVELLI (1469-1527), the first to become distinguished among the Italians for a pure classical style; then TASSO (1544-1595), who was a prodigy of learning at ten, and at twenty-two planned his great work of "Jerusalem delivered;" all these and many more who were associated with them, seizing on the Greek, the Latin, and the oriental tongues, becoming imbued with their spirit, and infusing this spirit into the wide social and political circles in which they moved, waked up Italy to a new life, and created for it an era that in learning, in arts and commerce, almost rivalled the age of the Caesars. Princes began to vie with each other, not in wealth or dominion, but in literary taste and elegance; and their mansions were the abodes of the learned. Spaniards and Portuguese also feel the effect of this awaken. ing, and drawing, first from Italian and Grecian sources, then from oriental as introduced by the Saracens from the south, develop their own intellectual character: in the twelfth century, through the author of "THE CID" (the Hero), or the great national epic, that celebrates the victory of the Christian over the Mussulman; in the thirteenth century, through ALPHONSO X., "the Learned," who reformed the laws, made astronomical tables, wrote chronicles, published miscellanies, and instituted chairs of law and philosophy at Salamanca; in the fifteenth century, through VILLENA and SANTILLANA, both men of high rank, who pour forth their eloquence against the inquisition, and write histories, commentaries, translations and poems of no small merit; in the sixteenth century, through Christopher Columbus, whose letters and Journals, as coming from the most learned and celebrated navigator of the age, awakened a profound interest, and through CASTILLO, who collected one hundred and thirty lyric poets; in the seventeenth century, through CERVANTES, the author of " Don Quixote," or the " Adventures of the Hero of La Mancha," and through LossA DE VEGA, the "Prodigy of Nature," "the Phoenix of Spain," who, besides other writings, wrote more than two thousand dramas; through these, and a long list besides that might be added, the south-western peninsula assumes a new literary life. In the mean time, the German, French and English, drinking from Hebrew and classic fountains, send forth, in every department of learning, hosts of distinguished men, too many to be even mentioned, as poets, historians and philosophers, antiquarians, philologists and divines, mathematicians, statesmen and orators, whose influence will be felt, and whose fame will grow, till the latest ages. A glance at history is sufficient to show, that the revival of learning throughout Europe went hand in hand with a close study of Hebrew and classical learning; nor is it difficult to show that the high position of German, English and American scholars at the present day, is owing to their taking advantage of this lofty stepping-stone; that, had they despised this and confined. themselves to native resources, there is nothing in their genius to exalt them above their predecessors. Nay, in all that belongs to a lofty excellence, to a true civilization, they probably would never have reached the eminence occupied by the Hebrew lawgiver, historians and bards, or by the German and Roman philosophers, orators and poets. It is too late to affect to despise the wisdom of the past, or the media - the language and literature — through which it is drawn, or the strength, grace and enlarged discipline which the thorough study of the ancient languages is fitted to impart. Eight periods mark somewhat distinctly the intellectual development and progress of man. The first, second and third are respectively the Hebrew, the Greek, and the Latin periods. The fourth began about the middle of the first century (A. D.), when the New Testament authors and the Apostolical Fathers, as Barnabas, Clemens of Rome, Ignatius and Polycarp, lived, labored and wrote, and, by their inspired words and holy thoughts, began to sway the literature of the Roman world. The fifth, very closely allied to this, is the period of the Christian Fathers, as Jerome, Augustine and Chrysostom, who flourished near the close of the fourth century, and others both earlier and later, who, by their sublime sentiments and pious effusions, though mingled at times with unreasonable austerities and stoical absurdities, have secured a high seat in the empire of mind. The sixth was the golden period of Saracen learning, memorable for |