June 15. Mr. URBAN, ACCORDING to promise (see May Magazine, p. 400), I now send you sketches (Plate II.) of the most interesting of the articles named in my account of the Roman remains recently found in Southwark. Indeed, I consider it to be a duty incumbent on all those who are in the habit of referring to your pages for information, to communicate in return any well-authenticated accounts of discoveries that may add to the stock of your valuable records. No. 1 is a small earthen vessel of a stone colour, very hard in its texture, the diameter 54 inches. There is a similar-shaped vessel in the British Museum, formed of a metallic substance, and suspended by three chains after the manner of a censer. 2. A globular-shaped vessel, the substance of which is of a pale stonecoloured earth, but the exterior dark brown. The height of this vessel is 7 inches, and it is remarkable for its slight make, the substance being barely the eighth of an inch in thickness: there appears to have been a small handle attached to the neck. 3. A fragment of a vase. dark brown. Colour 4. A small vase of slate-coloured earthenware, diameter at the widest part 54 inches. 5. A copper key in a very fine state of preservation. Were it not for the decided Roman character of the lower part of this key, the form of the upper part would lead to the supposition, that it was of the middle or Gothic age; but the best guide to forming a correct opinion, is the depth at which it was found, and the accompanying deposits. It was found on the Roman level, and among Roman remains. It is about 3 inches in length; that part of the key containing the wards is placed horizontally to the shaft. 6. A vase similar to No. 4. I have fragments of several others differing a little in shape, the outlines of some peculiarly beautiful; these I suppose to be sepulchral. 7. A ring probably of copper or brass, being much corroded: this was found among coins in a heap of ashes. 8. A fibula of copper or brass, perforated with a small hole at each end. 9. A brass pin, the head ornamented. 10. A very curious instrument of GENT. MAG. July, 1832. brass, beautifully finished. Similar ones have been found in lachrymatories, but this could not have been used for fluids, as that portion of it resembling a spoon is hollow only one way, that is, in the form a bent card would assume. 11. An instrument of brass, probably a stylus. 12. Is also a brass instrument. 13. A Roman bead or amulet, of a blue colour; scored on the surface. 14. A beautiful little vessel of the Samian pottery, imperfect. 15. A patera stamped with the potter's mark OF. IABIO. * the diameter is 64 inches. 16. A cup of Samian ware, potter's mark OF. MOI. 17 and 18. Fragments of vases, found in constructing a sewer opposite the gates of St. Thomas's Hospital; these are of a pale stone colour. With them was found a beautiful fragment of a bowl-shaped Samian vessel, highly enriched with the most splendid ornament. With the exception of the two last named, these remains were all found on or near the site of the tavern, at the north-east angle of St. Saviour's Church. The fragments of Samian pottery are generally highly enriched, and it is worthy of a passing remark, that on one of the pieces found on the site of the tavern, is a figure of Bacchus, bearing in his right hand a bunch of grapes, and on his head a basket of fruit: the figure, which is well drawn, is under a Roman arch, and would form a suitable device for any sculpture or decoration for the building which is now in progress. Yours, &c. Mr. URBAN, WILLIAM TAYLOR. Paris, June 25. THE probability of letters having been known to the antediluvians, has been so ably argued by your correspondent Mr. Oliver,† that I feel some hesitation in attempting to renew discussion on that interesting subject; and though it is not my intention to controvert his assertions, I cannot in *This cannot be the reading. The Roman potter's marks are often very imperfectly impressed. OFFICINA LABIONIS is probably intended by the abbreviation, Mr. Taylor will find his i an L.-ED. + Vol. C. part ii. pp. 9 and 116. troduce the subject of this article, without alluding to his deep research. My present object is to offer some ideas upon a passage in Josephus, declaring Seth to have inscribed the particulars of his astronomical discoveries on columns, of which, adds the Jewish historian, one still remains in the Syriad." There is reason to suppose that Josephus was influenced by a desire to maintain the high antiquity of his nation, and was thus induced to bring forward, as a corroboration of the Mosaic history, a testimony which, if not entirely unfounded, is at best of very equivocal authority. This subject has been deemed worthy of examination by many critics; but, whatever reasons may be adduced for supposing the knowledge of letters anterior to the Deluge, none have been discovered for investing this obscure tradition with any degree of confidence. A learned Genoese of the seventeenth century pronounces it a fable: Forse non sono men favolose, le colonne di Giuseppe, che quelle d'Alcide.* Most probably the notion of Seth having erected a column, was brought to Jerusalem by some of the companions of Jeremiah and Baruch, who were conducted by Johanan into Egypt. During their stay in that country, they became acquainted with the Egyptian traditions, founded on the writings of Hermes, Thot, or Mercury I. who, according to Manetho, had left inscriptions in the sacred character on columns in the Syriad ; which inscriptions were at a later period transcribed in common characters by his successor and homonyme, Mercury II. To establish the entity and identity of the first Thot, would be a task of some importance, as he is said by Sanchoniatho to be the son of Misor, Mesroes, or Mizraim, grandson of Noah; while oriental writers consider him the same as Enoch. M. Delaborde mentions three Hermes; the first of whom was antediluvian, and the last lived about two centuries before Moses.§ Mascardi, dell' art' Istorica, p. 12. † Jeremiah, ch. 43. For the authorities see Mr. Oliver's communications, vol. C. part 2. § Hist. de 80 Peuples d'Antiquité, 4to, Paris, 1798. Writers of different nations seem agreed in the opinion that letters were known before the Deluge, as they nearly agree in the method by which the antediluvian records were preserved. The Chaldean Sisuthros was instructed by Chronos, or Saturn, before the flood, to bury his accounts securely in the temple of the Sun at Seppara. Plato relates that Thot wrote his discoveries on 42 pillars, deposited in caves near Diospolis; and Manetho differs from him only by placing those columns in the Syriad. Ammianus Marcellinus who flourished while Manetho's history was still extant, after describing the pyramids of Egypt, writes: "There are besides caves, and long subterranean passages; men versed in the ancient religious rites, made these retreats to preserve the memory of the ceremonies from being lost upon earth by the Deluge, which they knew was not very remote: they engraved on the walls of these vaults what they called hieroglyphic character."|| Thus Manetho concurs with the Greek philosopher, respecting the person who erected the columns; with Josephus, with regard to the place; and with the Chaldean account, as to the purpose of their erection. But where was this land of Syriad? which has been very improperly rendered Syria, by some translators. Joseph Scaliger, in his notes upon Eusebius, declares he cannot ascertain where it is situated: nobis ignota est, quærant studiosi. Huet, Bishop of Avranches, ¶ supposes that the columns of Josephus were astronomical tables of the ancient Chaldeans; but admits that he had been at a loss to decide upon the situation of the Syriad, until he heard of the idea suggested by Isaac Vossius. The name of that country is variously written in the different editions of Josephus, Συριάδα, Σιριάδα, and Σηιριαδ. In the Latin version of Epiphanius we find in terrá Siriada; and Mr. Bernard has put in a note upon this part, in Siriade tellure. The Jesuit Bonfrerius, who also published an edition of Josephus, pretends that it is the Seirath mentioned in Judges, chap. iii. ver. 26, whither Ehud fled after killing Eglon. The word rendered quarries in the English Bible, is thus given in other versions: in the Septuagint, ra yλʊñта; Vulgate, locum idolorum; Luther's, den Gotzen; of the French translators, Marten of Utrecht and Osterwald of Neuchâtel agree with the English by giving the word carrières, while De Sacy and Genoude follow the Vulgate. In the Latin marginal translation of the Chaldee, we meet with transiit statuas, et salvatus est ad Seghir; the Syriac gives the Hebrew word o (pesilim), as a proper name, and the Arabic changes it into Palestinam. I learn from a person connected with the German Synagogue of this city, that pesilim is the plural of pesel, a word used in the second commandment, to designate an idol. Moses Mendelssohn, in his Commentary on Judges, has translated it Steinhaufen, which, meaning literally a heap or number of stones, would apply to the Druidical places of worship, and probably to the groves of Baal. The LXX have, however, translated pesel in Exodus, by εἴδωλον, which is definite; while the meaning given to pesilim in Judges is vague: for yλunta may be rendered sculptilia, which is equally applicable to an inscription; and from the latitude allowed by this translation, Calmet, Vossius, Marsham, de Valois, and Huet, are of opinion that the Seirath mentioned in the book of Judges is the same as the Syriad of Josephus. But as the testimony of the Jewish historian appears based rather upon Egyptian tradition, the situation of the Syriad ought perhaps to be ascertained by an etymology derived from that country. If the person who engraved the supposed records was an Egyptian, the place where they would be deposited would be near the Nile, sometimes called Sihor, and Siris; in Lybia there was a town named Seres; and a river called Ser falls into the Red Sea. Besides which, the dog * Memoire sur la langue Phenicienne, par le Marquis de Fortia. Simon, Bibliotheque Critique, vol. III. I have borrowed largely from this work; which was first published under the assumed name of Sainjore, as the freedom of Mr. Simon's remarks gave offence to the French clergy. star Sirius being a great object of veneration among the Egyptians, the place of deposit may have been in a temple so dedicated. Mr. Simon, after a laborious investigation, concludes by supposing that the Jews and Egyptians, in their desire to prove their superior antiquity over each other, have invented some accounts, and falsified others. The Egyptian priests fabricated statements respecting their shepherd kings, which the Hellenist Jews applied to the early Hebrews. But in attributing to Seth the honour of erecting the column in question, the Jews could not pretend to any other descent than that through Noah, which was common to the Egyptians, as well as themselves, unless the deluge be considered only partial; an inquiry upon which I W. S. B. cannot venture. THE ENDEAVOURER.-No. III. Mnemon of Constantinople. "Si brachia forte remisit, Atque illum in præceps prono rapit alveus amni." VIRGIL. AT the time when Libanius, the sophist of Antioch, taught wisdom and eloquence to the youth of Asia and of Europe, his school was attended by Mnemon of Constantinople, a young man of honourable family and splendid fortune, endowed with versatile talent and exact judgment, devoted to philosophy and contemplation, and eager for the honours of learning and wit. His genius and ambition, during his early years of study, were fully equalled by his diligence and perseverance. He rose early and retired late. He made excursions into every department of learning; and read, on every subject, not only the common authors, but the more rare. He suffered no difficulty to escape him unexamined, and neglected no means by which his researches might be furthered. He laboured his compositions with care, and was ever ready to subject them to the hand of criticism. He thus became admired and esteemed; he was beloved by his tutor as a pupil who would one day do him honour, and reverenced by his fellow students as a superior being. He was sulted by the young for direction, and con |