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has thus blessed us with such an eminent incitement , impress us likewise with the , obligation which accompanies it , and cause the light that shines so brightly from his servant ' s character to lead us on to glory . "—Pp . 20—24 .
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Art IV , — Edinburgh Cabinet Library , Vols . III . and IV . View of Ancient and Modern Egypt . By the Rev . JVL Russell , LL . D * Palestine \ or the Holy Land , By the Rev . M . Russell , LL . D . 1831 . We have never wondered at what is
thought bv many fhe infatuated spirit of enterprise which has led men of all European nations to sacrifice ease and health and fortune , and sometimes life , in exploring the burning regions of Africa , or encountering the barbarous usages of Palestine in its modern state . If the very name of Egypt thrills us as we sit by our fire-sides , calling up conceptions of its buried temples , combining all that is vast , mysterious , and
grotesque ; if the mere mention of the Holy Land feasts the imagination with images of its palm-groves , its wells in the desert , its blossoming valleys and rugged wildernesses , we cannot wonder that those who hare the power should hurry away to see these things with bodily eyes , and to realize what is to us but a gorgeous dream . This species of enterprise is of a different and higher kind than that which leads men
northward , and unships them among the Esquimaux . The scientific interest and the personal ambition which may be common to both , is combined in the case of the oriental traveller not only with associations belonging to antiquity , but with the religious emotions which
no superstition can wholly degrade , and no scepticism totally annihilate . To stand on the banks of the Nile , where the infant race of the chosen people once stood , and to mark how oblivion has crept over the stupendous institutions of tlie land till it owes its
immortality only to its ancient connexion with that abused race of bondmen ;—to issue thence into Palestine and trace its former spiritual glories amidst its present barbarism , as we draw out the sacred truth which emanated thence from the superincumbent errors of ages , is enough to stir the spirit and melt the soul of the quietest and coldest . No wonder , then , that any whose feet are not chained to their native soil should disregard danger and difficulty for the sake of observing
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and feeling as they could no where else observe and feel . '» All . works of oriental travels or research have , from these sources of interest , a claim to popularity antecedent to their merits ; and the consequence is , that we have a great many such works which have little or no merit , la proportion to their number should be
our gratitude for such books as the two before us . They are very complete as regards their matter , and finished as regards their style . They treat fully and attractively of the natural and civil history , ancient and modern , of the countries they describe ; of the literature , sciences and arts , and of the customs and manners of the inhabitants . The
whole is enriched by a pervading spirit of philosophical analysis , and set off by a considerable degree of pictorial power . We must substantiate our judgment by an extract from each work . " The fascination attending this review of the monuments of ancient art
has perhaps carried us somewhat farther than is quite consistent with our plan , which compels us to abstain from minute details , however interesting and agreeable . There is no other nation in the world , if we except those on the eastern borders of Asia , —whose real history has not yet been made known to
the European reader , —which could present such a retrospect at the same early period , or gratify the traveller with the display of so much magnificence and beauty . Nor must our opinion of Egyptian science , art , and general civilization , l * e limited to the rigid inferences which alone an examination of their
actual remains might appear to justify . On the contrary , we are entitled to assume the most liberal rule of reasoning in regard to the acquirements of a people who surpassed to such an extent all their contemporaries westward of the Arabian Desert , and to conclude that in other matters , the memorials of vvhicli could not be conveyed to posterity by the architect or scul ; tor , the priests and sovereigns of the Nile had made a
corresponding progress . For example , we are told that , in the time " of Moses , the land of Egypt was celebrated for fine linen , a notice which * -to a hasty reader , conveys only that simple fact , but which , to the philosopher who has reflected on the slow and gradual steps by which nations advance to maturity , suggests a state of improvement inseparable from an established government and the exercise of good laws /* - ^* ' Many arts must have arrived at great perfec-
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784 Critical Notices . —Miscellaneous .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1831, page 784, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2603/page/60/
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