beneath the level of the sea, and have rendered the basin the receptacle of alternating deposits of sand and clay, and may thus have produced the strata of sandstone, or limestone, which occur between seams of coal. As each deposit was formed it may have been covered, either wholly or in part, by a lagoon, when the same succession of vegetable growth and deposit may have ensued."-(Richardson's Geology and Palæontology, by Wright, pp. 440-442)

The accuracy of these views appears to be fully proved by the fossils found at Burnley. Their existence here, and in so many other localities, together with the thick coal measures beneath, indicate a luxuriant vegetation during the Carboniferous period, with which even that of the present tropical regions will scarcely admit of comparison. Some idea, however, of the magnificent Flora which then abounded in these districts may be formed from what is here advanced; but the contrast which this presents to that afforded by the woods and forests which now grow on the surface, is not more striking than the discrepancy which exists between the Zoology of the Paleozoic formations and those which now form the crust of the habitable globe.

ON COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY CONSIDERED AS AN AID TO HISTORY.

By Rev. Arthur Ramsay, M.A.

(READ 12TH FEBRUARY, 1857.)

It has more than once been observed that, in our ordinary conversation and writing, we are prone to use the term History in a somewhat partial and restricted sense. We are apt to apply it either to a mere profitless biography of kings and queens, men and women differing in little, except in position, from more ordinary mortals; or to an account of the political schemes and petty intrigues of rival statesmen, together with a bare, dry record of battles fought, towns and provinces taken and retaken, treaties made and broken, the cabals of Parliaments, the enactments of laws, and the disputes of theologians; or, at best, to a dull detail of disconnected facts and dates, occasionally intermixed with, and relieved by, brilliant and highly-wrought pictures of extraordinary scenes and characters. Such, however, is not the manner in which History should be conceived of, or written. We may possess a perfect knowledge of the events of a nation's life, and the order of time in which they occurred; we may understand the outward form of its political, legal, and civil institutions; we may follow the march of its armies, and accompany the settlement of its colonies, and yet be profoundly ignorant of its history. For History, in its truest and most comprehensive sense, must be something more than this. It must not merely narrate the occurrence of certain facts and events, but set in order, animate, and give expression to these; unfold their origin and point out their connection; show how they are hooked and linked together in the "never-ending still beginning" chain of causes and consequences; and, above all, trace the working of the motive power which underlies them all. It must reflect the spirit of the nation whose career it depicts; lay hold of the salient points of its character; examine the principles and passions by which its people were swayed and agitated; investigate the various turns and windings of the national current of thought and feeling; enter into, realize, and in some degree sympathize with these, in order more fully to understand their influence and develope their working. Moreover, it must

not omit to bring into view somewhat of the inner, as well as the outward life of the people whose fortunes it follows; to enquire into their mould of mind and tone of thought; to trace the gradual progress of their literature, science, and art; the growth of their commercial and manufacturing industry; and to give vivid and graphic pictures of the peculiar manners, the domestic, familiar, and daily habits and feelings prevalent at different stages of the nation's life, as illustrating its social and individual development.

When taken in this wide and expansive sense, History may stretch forth her tendrils, and derive nourishment and support from almost every department of knowledge. In short, there is hardly a single branch of science or art which may not contribute its quota to the enlargement and elucidation of History.

Poetry and mythology, sculpture and painting, geography, geology, and astronomy, archæology, ethnology, and philology, may all be brought to bear upon this study, and each in its turn may assist in unravelling its intricacies, throwing light upon its dark points, and clearing away the mists in which prejudice, party spirit, or the lapse of time may have enveloped it.

With regard to the first of these-Poetry-it is itself the earliest form of History; much ancient History is known to us in no other form; and it has been asserted in a paradox, which has more truth in it than at first sight appears, that Poetry is truer than History. We have already seen that a great historian must have several of the mental characteristics of the poet; above all, must have the poet's imagination; must be able to pass out of his own time and his own feelings, and to throw himself into the times and the feelings of the people about whom he is writing; and we may observe that several of the greatest historians, Herodotus, Livy, and our modern historian of England, have had much of the poet's character and disposition about them. We must, moreover, all of us have experienced the service which Poetry may render to History, in giving vividness and distinctness to our conceptions of the men who lived, and the deeds which were done in other days. Thus it has come to pass that there are few portions of History more familiar to the majority of Englishmen than those which are treated of by Shakespeare in his historical plays. For through that marvellous power which he has of transplanting himself, heart and soul, into other times, he enables us to realize the characters of the men and

women of those days, and the scenes through which they passed, in a manner which the elaborate descriptions of Hume, Smollett, and Lingard never can do. As has been well remarked, "Poetry has a precious power of its own for the preservation of historical truth; can so revivify the past; can put such life into it as to make it imperishable.”

But independently of this faculty of irradiating and elucidating history, Poetry has an historical value of its own; for Poetry is the expression of the spirit of the age, as History is of its facts. Poetry is, as it were, the pulse of society; it represents the various currents of a nation's thoughts and feelings; for the poet is the man of his time, the man who gives the most distinct utterance to the deepest and strongest passions and feelings of his time. Thus Shakespeare, Dryden, Pope, Byron, Coleridge, and Tennyson are all types and indices of their ages. They speak out clearly and forcibly that which the educated mass of the nation are most wanting to speak; they give shape and substance to the dreams of many minds, and express the wants of many hearts; and thus, in studying a nation's poetry, we are studying, at the same time, its inner history.

Mythology contains the preface and germ of much positive history; and the legendary lore of nations has always filled a large space in their historical literature. We have, in our own day, seen a great historical mind clearing away, with wonderful skill and sagacity, the mists and shadows which gather round the mythological fountain of a nation's history; and actually making discoveries of historic truth in what used to appear so inextricably fabulous as the early history of Rome.

Geography has been termed both the "Handmaid of History," and " one of the eyes of History;" and certainly, without some knowledge of Geography, History cannot be properly understood. Our conceptions of the great events in a nation's history must necessarily be both indistinct and imperfect, unless we have some knowledge of the country in which they occurred. But it is not merely for the clearer conception of facts and events that Geography is useful. Without some acquaintance with physical Geography we can hardly read aright a people's character,-can hardly understand why certain nations have played certain parts in the great drama of the world's history, and exercised certain lasting influences on mankind in general; why certain places have been the scenes of particular actions; how advantage of position, configuration of surface, and peculiarity of

climate affect a nation's habits, manners, tone of thought, and individuality of character, and, consequently, affect its actions and its history. With such knowledge, we can the better understand why certain nations took a certain course in their migrations; how Athens became the " Mother of arts and eloquence," Rome the "Mistress of the world," Venice the Bride of the sea," and London the "Capital of the universe;" why certain towns were founded at particular spots, and have become celebrated for their architectural, commercial, or manufacturing pre-eminence; we may realize how much Athens owed to her climate, and England owes to her insular position.

Ethnology again is, equally with Geography, so intimately connected with History as to form almost a part of it.

Geology and Archæology of late years have also asserted their claims, and vindicated their titles to be expositors and illustrators of Historic Science.

I have not spoken of Painting or Sculpture, merely because it appears sufficiently obvious to the most superficial thinker that these are visible and powerful aids and exponents of History, appealing, as they do, to our senses, and placing the most striking scenes of former times, and the most remarkable actors in them before our very eyes.

But beyond those which I have already noticed, there yet remains another of these above-mentioned aids of History, which I have reserved to the last, because, as the title of my paper indicates, I intend to dwell principally upon it. Though one of the most important, it is, at the same time, one whose value is, or at least hitherto has been, least recognised.

Philology-for such is the science I mean-is a term which may be used in two somewhat different senses. It may mean a deep research into, and an extended knowledge of, ancient and modern languages, enabling its possessor to interpret the one by the other accurately and elegantly; and since much historical literature is written in languages different from our own, it is manifest enough that the study and knowledge of these is not only an aid, but an indispensable requisite to him who would clearly examine and fully understand the history of foreign nations.

But there is another sense in which the term Philology is and may be used, namely, a research into the origin and formation of different languages, and different dialects of the same language, together with a