the dead in the worship of fire they turned themselves to the south, of air to the east, of water to the west, of the dead to the north. So in the circumambulation of individuals by the Hindús and Gaels there was a prescribed mode, which was according to the course of the sun; and we may remark, with reference to the worship of the dead towards the north, that those holy mountains, which were the fabled residences of deities, were situated in that direction, as Gesenius has luminously shown. With respect to the worship of wind towards the east, the Malays by above the wind mean eastward, and by under the wind westward. Hence flowed the notion of attendant or ministering genii. Grant, in his Superstitions of the Highlands, states that each Highlander believes a spirit to be allied to him, and to be his helpmate not only during his life but during a certain period after his decease. That spirit resembles him in his features, complexion, aspects, and habiliments; it grows with his growth, and strengthens with his strength.' Allied to such were the Penates and Lares; the latter the Romans considered the guardians of their bed-chambers. Thurinum (scil. Augustum) cognominatum satis certâ probatione tradiderim, nactus puerilem imagunculam ejus, æream, veterem, ferreis ac penè exolescentibus litteris hoc nomine inscriptam, quæ dono à me Principi data inter cubiculares colitur' (Suet. Oct. Aug. 7). Puer, qui curæ Larium cubiculi ex consuetudine assistens, interfuit cædi' (Suet. Dom. 17). The Penates were also accounted guardian divinities, to which some, without a sufficient authority, have compared the Teraphim. 6 Some of the wild Indians left the faces of their dead uncovered for a time, that the intercourse between the body and the good spirit might be facilitated. The Gütische Lar of the old Germans belonged to this protecting class. The counterparts to him were These ideas were not unknown to Horace,— numerous. 'Scit Genius natale comes qui temperat astrum, Here, in mortalis, we observe the Oriental idea, that this genius departed at the death of the individual; but the clearest development of it was in the Furuher of the Persians. Creuzer considers the numberless Furuhers as prototypes of ideas, through whom one and all live in Nature-the patterns of every being transcribed from the Being of Ormuzd-who keep watch in Heaven against Ahriman, and convey to Ormuzd the prayers of the righteous, b Cf. Ammianum Marcellinum, 1. 21; Censorinum de die Natali; and Plutarchum, De Defectu Oraculorum. purifying purifying them from all evil. Being united with bodies on earth, they fight against evil spirits; and even Ormuzd himself has a Furuher. For although self-subsistent, he clothes his thoughts in the Almighty Word, and the expression of them is his Furuher. The ideal world being thus filled with them, we probably may detect the source from whence came Plato's doctrine of ideas in the Divine Mind. We have observed in other instances that the dominant notion is the same, although the expression of it may vary in different places. What is the pelting away of the, or washer of corpses in Persia, who is merely allowed to enter villages, that he may perform his office, but the one a custom, and the other a person allied to the Paraschites and his treatment in ancient Egypt? Trembling and a sensation of cold were the general effects of apparitions; and nowhere are those effects so vividly described as in Job iv. 12-17. So in Firdausi, when Sam saw his son Zal in a vision, as he was on the road to Elborz, with a Múbid holding his left hand, and a sage his right, the poet writes, پیش اسار آمدي زمين دو مرد زبان برکشادي بكنتار سرد to which 6 Obstupui, steteruntque comæ, et vox faucibus hæsit' will be no inapt paraphrase. Those customs and opinions show more or less the belief in a future state. Thus, some occasionally slept in sepulchres under the idea that the souls hovered over the bodies, and under the expectation of a revelation of futurity by them in dreams. Isaiah (lxv. 4) has been supposed to have referred to some such custom. With several of these notions the Jews probably became acquainted during the captivity in Babylon and their intercourse with the Persians, and with others after the establishment of some of their nation in Egypt. The Apocryphal books disclose strong evidences of corresponding opinions. Many German writers have fully proved the assertion. So whilst we can retrace one class to perverted traditions of Biblical events or doctrines, we can account for the rest by the history and circumstances of the people. ULPHILAS, ULPHILAS, AND HIS GOTHIC VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES. By DR. SERGIUS LOEWE. [1. Ulfilas Veteris et Novi Testamenti versionis Gothicæ fragmenta, quæ supersunt, ad fidem Codd. castigata, latinitate donata, adnotatione critica instructa cum Glossario et Grammatica linguæ Gothica, conjunctis curis ediderunt H. C. de Gabelentz et Dr. J. Loebe, ii. vol. 4. Lips. 1836-47. 2. Ueber das Leben und die Lehre des Ufila; i. e. on the Life and Doctrine of Ulfila. By Geo. Waitz, Hanover, 1840. 4. pp. 62.] THE almost universal wish expressed in modern days, to know in how far the study of ancient German or rather Gothic literature may become subservient to the researches made in the province of sacred archæology and biblical criticism, and in some measure to a right understanding of the original text of the Holy Scriptures, has given rise to inquiries on this subject, which have been crowned in some instances with a degree of success, surpassing the most sanguine expectations of its most zealous and sincere votaries and advocates. It might, however, be fairly asked: Are the monuments of ancient Gothic literature of so interesting and important a character, and so numerous, too, as to guarantee a reward for the attention and labour which a study of them might demand? We candidly confess, that we are not quite prepared to answer this question with that precision and confidence which it deserves. Yet we do not hesitate to say, that while the literary monuments of a purely' sacred character may be found as amounting to only a few, those of a profane character, on the other hand, which are more or less connected with the former, are unquestionably very numerous; there being a profusion of most interesting and invaluable compositions. However, as our main object is to point out with as much precision and clearness as circumstances will admit of, the innate character and merits of Ulphilas' translation of the Holy Scriptures, we shall abstain from offering any remark on Gothic profane literature, except in so far as it may have a direct or indirect bearing on the subject under consideration. For this reason we shall inquire, in the first place, into the early history of Gothic culture and civilization; and, in the second, into the origin of Gothic sacred literature, and explain in this manner the important change which took place in the moral and religious character of the Goths, about the middle of the third century after the removal of our blessed blessed Redeemer, the consequence of which was a most extraordinary phenomenon, namely, their being among the first nations of antiquity that embraced the Christian doctrine. The degree of civilization which the Germans had attained among the nations of antiquity, is in point of science and art inferior to that of the Greeks and Romans. But they were nevertheless intelligent, and possessed very superior mental and moral qualifications, so that they cannot be regarded, strictly speaking (and were it only for this reason), as rude and uncivilized, although they were anything but free from certain passions and foibles, which, as belonging to a hation, were peculiarly their own. In a moral point of view, however, they were by no means inferior, but most decidedly superior to many, even the most refined nations of that and subsequent ages. For had it been otherwise, why should Tacitus recommend them to his own nation as a model? The source of the spiritual and moral culture of the Germans was their religion, simple manners, and good habits. Ancient historical writers tell us that they loved honour and freedom, and were brave, faithful, chaste, and hospitable,-virtues, which are praised in them by Tacitus, Cæsar, and other writers of that date, and which they continued to foster even after they had entered upon a close connection with the Romans; so that, while the latter were distinguished at one time for gross sensuality, effeminacy, and corrupt morals, the former preserved the integrity of their national character in its pristine purity, and kept aloof from the vicious habits of their allies. In the fidelity with which the German was attached to his leader, in the veneration which the women experienced in private and public life, and in the characteristic features just mentioned, we see the first germs of that chivalrous life, which developed itself in subsequent ages through-out the whole of the West; while in the basis of their religion, the regard they had for the law, and the administration of justice, we discover the elements of a true Christian character. b Their whole worship of gods, the numerous god and ghost-like beings, down to the very water, mountain and familiar spirits, giants and elves, was based upon deep and sincere feeling, because their whole moral being was penetrated by lofty ideas concerning beings of a higher order, and a continuation after death. They worshipped not their gods in the form of images, idols, or symbols, but as invisible spirits; their spiritual ideas were free from materialism; and, although temples were not unknown to them, yet the free and open nature, or their so-called 'sacred groves,' were their most favourite places for worshipping them. Hence we find among a Tac. Germ. 13, 14. b Ibid. 18, 19, e Ibid. 9. them them no despotic priestly cast (much as the priesthood was esteemed by them) who dared encroach upon, or interfere with the freedom and privileges of their private life. Neither were the minds of men kept in that constant state of terror and thraldom, which is ever the result of an hierarchical system, and as was the case with the Celts and other ancient nations. Nature herself was the centre and sole object, upon which the German conferred the greatest amount of reverence, and which he regarded with a sort of religious shyness and awe. 6 That such a people should be particularly fit for the reception of the glad tidings,' and the truth as it is in Jesus,' is most obvious. Nor was it long ere the Divine light began to shine upon it. The Western Goths, or Wisigoths, were the first who embraced Christianity, the precious seed of which seems to have been sown among them by some Christian priests, whom the Goths had made prisoners in Asia Minor, from whence they were brought to Europe about the middle of the third century after Christ. From the Wisigoths Christianity proceeded to the Eastern Goths, or Austrogoths, from whom it came to the Vandals and Gepidæ, with whom the former were related by language and manners; so that in progress of time the Germanic races, who benefited mankind in so many other ways, even promoted at a very early period the growth of Christianity throughout the whole of Europe. There is a passage in Fichte's Characteristics of the Present Age which has a close bearing upon this subject, and which is so full of truth and beautiful ideas, that we cannot resist the temptation to give at least a part of it :— 'It was necessary,' says this philosophical writer, that the fundamental elements of the new state should further bear the general European national characteristic — a keen sense and love of right and freedom-in order that they might not return to Asiatic despotism, but willingly admit the principle of equal rights for all, which had been previously developed among the Greeks and Romans. They would have to combine with this general characteristic the particular feature of a delicate sense of honour, in order that they might be accessible to the legitimate influence of Christianity upon public opinion, which we have already pointed out. Precisely such elements as we have described were found among the Germanic races, as if they had been expressly reserved for this great purpose. I mention only these; for the devastating inroads of other races had no enduring results, and those kingdoms of other origin who are incorporated with the republic of nations now existing in Europe, have for the most part received Christianity and culture by means of the Germanic tribes. These Germanic tribes—who were apparently of similar descent to the Greeks, and must have held intercourse with them at an earlier period, as a strict examination of the respective languages might incontestably prove,-probably occupied the same stage of culture in their forests, as the Greeks in their |