tion, as it now exists, was found by Dr. Baylies and Mr. Goodwin. But this adds nothing to what we had before, except a cross-bar, on the top of the first, and through the middle of the last character. All of the characters in the first line, must therefore have existed as they are now found, more than one hundred years, and then bore such evident marks of antiquity, as to be thought more ancient than the settlement of the country by the whites.

In regard to the meaning or value of these characters, it should be remarked, that the first, F, is a common form of the letter C, among the Northmen in the middle ages. The last character M, is evidently a combination of letters, and appears to include the three following, to wit: NAM. It has all the lines necessary to compose these, and cannot well be made to include any other letter. The inscription, therefore, is, CXXXI NAM. If this be a genuine work of the Northmen, then those letters should have some meaning in Icelandic, which was the language of those adventurers. And such is the fact. Nam, is the first or third person singular of the past tense of the Icelandic verb at nema, to take, hold, possess, and signifies took, held, or possessed. The numerals CXXXI, in Icelandic, would denote either 131, or 151, as the Northmen had two kinds of hundreds, the common, or lesser hundred (100,) and the larger, or as they called it, storrhundrede, (=120). If this latter be the true value of C, then the value of all the numerals would be 151, which was the number of men that Thorfinn had, when he landed at Vinland, or more properly, these numerals denote the precise number of men which Thorfinn had when he landed at Vinland, according to the history of Thorfinn, whatever might be the value of the hundred. The oldest manuscript account of the voyage to, and settlement in this place, says they had when they left Greenland, in all "40 manna ok hundras" forty and a hundred men. (Antiq. p. 137. Hist. Thorf. c. 7.) And another manuscript à century and a half later says, “fjörutigi manna annars hundraðs," forty and an hundred men. (Antiq. p. 169). And another manuscript has, "rl manna oc c." (Antiq. p. 385). And we learn from the same history, (c. 8. p. 143,) that Thorhall with eight men, left Thorfinn, before his arrival at Vinland. He had, therefore, upon his arrival at that place, "rrri manna oc c," thirty-one and an hundred men, according to the manuscripts, and CXXXI. according to the Assoonet Rock inscription. The value of " the

hundred," therefore, no way affects this question, and need not be considered in this place. This, in connection with the person sketched, and against whom the numerals in question are placed, would seem clearly to indicate that the person sketched, together with CXXXI others, took possession of, or possessed the place where the inscription is found, and made the inscription in the Icelandic tongue, in commemoration of that event. We are conducted thus far, by facts which seem to us, to be above just suspicion; and when we connect these with the acknowledgement, that Vinland was probably in this vicinity, we cannot possibly resist the conviction, that the view taken of this subject by the Northern Antiquarian Society is the true

one.

We have thus far left out of consideration the name inscribed on this rock; but even this we think has more in its favor, than against it. The P is on the copy of 1768, which is vouched for as early as 1740, by Prof. Winthrop. The O and R are on the copy of 1790, and that of 1807, adds, INX. But in 1830, an F is found between the R and I, and consequently it was omitted by Mr. Kendall. It also turns out, that what Mr. Kendall took to be an X, was an ancient form of the S; and the shape of the O, is such as was used some seven or eight hundred years ago. Added to this, the letters and numerals occupy the central part of the inscription; but do not interfere at all with the hieroglyphics. Consequently, if the letters and numerals are later than the hieroglyphics, then a place was left unoccupied in the centre of the hieroglyphics, sufficiently large to receive them. In order, therefore, to make out the forgery of the letters and numerals, we are obliged to suppose numerous things altogether unlikely and improbable. How came it to pass, we would ask, that just space enough was left to receive this inscription? And how came the forger to make his inscription correspond with a history, the very existence of which, was at that time unknown? How came he to hit upon the very name of the man who commanded the company that settled at Vinland? or to ascertain the precise number of men that were with him? And how came he to describe this in the Icelandic tongue? and in characters peculiar to the age of Thorfinn? All this we are obliged to suppose was done" by some idle boy, or more idle man," or else we must allow them to be very ancient, and probably genuine ves

tiges of the Northmen. To our minds, the idea of their forgery carries with it by far the greatest improbability.

Another objection alluded to by Mr. Schoolcraft, is "the far-fetched and cabalistic interpretation of Prof. Finn Magnusen." This objection might be sound against the conclusions of Prof. Rafn, the editor of the Antiquitates, but for the fact, which Mr. Schoolcraft does not appear to have noticed, that the interpretations of the two men, were made from different copies of the inscription; Prof. Magnusen using the copy of 1790, and Prof. Rafn, that of 1830. Hence, though it is true that the letter of" Professor Magnusen recognizes the opinion of Prof. Rafn," it can hardly be said to "exhibit a synopsis of the reasons which led the learned society to its conclusions in regard to this inscription." This is especially true of the supposed Latino-Gothic 11 (n), and the Runic Y (m), as they do not appear on the copy of 1830, used by Prof. Rafn. And the OR, by proving to be part of a name, ceased to be subject to the criticism of Prof. Magnusen. Consequently the phrase norroenis men, northern men, and the possessive or, our, as read by Prof. Magnusen, are dissipated; and in room of them we have the name of Thorfinn.

The objection of Mr. Schoolcraft, that the Roman letters are not Runic characters (p. 444,) loses its force as soon as it is known that no one ever supposed them to be; and hence it is evident why" they spell nothing in the ordinary Runic, either backward or forward." (p. 445). That they are not Runic, but common letters, and that as such, they do spell something, we have already shown.

The other objection of Mr. Schoolcraft that "the names of the father and mother of the captured boys; and of the chiefs. of their band, are not of the Algic vocabulary," seems not to have been duly considered. These names, as given by the Northmen, are written with letters whose powers are different from those of the English. Take for example the name of the father, given in the text, Uvage. (Ant. pp. 162, 182. Hist. Thorf. c. 13). The readings of the different manuscripts give Ovagi, Vagi, Egi, and Ova. Now the Icelandic u is nearly like our oo; the a answers to our ah; and the Icelandic v is generally supplied in the Anglo-Saxon and English by w; and a after v in Icelandic, like a after w in English is usually broad. And g in Icelandic, as well as in Anglo-Saxon, is guttural, and pronounced nearly like y in York, when it comes be

tween the letters a, e, i, or y. Putting the foregoing name, therefore, into an English dress, it would be written Oo-waye; than which, nothing could be more Indian-like. In like manner the mother's name, Vethildi, or Veinhildi, becomes Wa-thel-de, or Wane-hel-de; and the names of the chiefs Avalldania, and Avall-didia, become Ah-wall-dal-ne-ah, and Ah-wall-de-de-ah. But after all, it is matter of some uncertainty, whether these Indians were Algic, as they were not taken at Massachusetts, but "at Markland," (Hist. Thor. Karl. c. 13. pp. 161, 182), now Nova Scotia. Besides, it is very questionable, whether the orthography of the Northmen, conveys to us any true idea of the pronunciation of these words by the natives.

We have confined these remarks entirely to a consideration of what has been considered the doubtful part of the inscription; and though it would be more than we should be justified in assuming, to say that there can be no doubt of its genuineness; yet we feel that we are fully authorized to say, that its genuineness is more probable, than its forgery. Nor do we see, that the character of the hieroglyphics has any bearing upon this point; for if it should turn out that these were made by the Indians, it would throw no light upon the origin of the letters and numerals. Indeed it seems to us not at all unlikely, that if the Northmen graved the letters and numerals, the Indians did the rest. If the Northmen selected this rock, on which to record their possession of the country; what more natural, than that the natives should choose the same rock on which to record their expulsion from it? Why then, may it not be probable, that the portion which the Indians could not, but which the Northmen could have made, was actually made by the Northmen, and the remainder by the Indians? This supposition will account for the fact, that the letters and numerals occupy the central part of the inscription, without interfering with the hieroglyphics, and affords a sufficient reason for the tradition among the Indians, at the time the country was settled by the whites, concerning the people of another nation, which there fought the Indians with great success. While, therefore, we are not fully committed to its genuineness, we would not reject it without sufficient cause; for if genuine, it is certainly an important relic of antiquity.

ARTICLE XII.

REVIEW OF SELECTIONS FROM GERMAN LITERATURE.

Selections from German Literature. By B. B. Edwards and E. A. Park, Professors, Theol. Sem., Andover. Andover and New York: Gould, Newman & Saxton, 1839. pp. 472.

THE value of such a work as this is not to be measured by the attractiveness of its topics, nor merely by the importance of the ideas it may contain. The thoughts which a book suggests are often of higher worth than those it expresses; and often too the form of a thought is worth more than its substance. To one who has been accustomed to contemplate the truths of science or of morals as pure logical abstractions, and who thus keeps them alien and distant from his life, let the same truths be presented by another in whom they are the product of meditative inquiry, and have grown up in his heart no less than in his understanding, and these same truths, which before had been barren and unfruitful, shall become living andlife-giving. The abstraction shall become real, the phantom shall put on true armor, and fight side by side with him in the battles of daily life.

A true thought is an expression of one's entire humanity. Not the understanding alone forms it, nor reason, nor imagination. Each has its part in this mysterious generation, and every sentiment and affection aids to control and determine it. Our judgments are not simple but complicated of many influences, formed by many observations and the experience of years, lighted by every gleam of sunshine that has cheered, and shaded by every cloud that has darkened our life. The death of a friend may mingle hyssop in our cup of cheer, and long poverty make our life a wearisome pilgrimage; and the afflicted shall grow sad and murmur over his untasted banquet, and the wantstricken shall curse an unequal Providence; yet the mourner but yesterday saw only blessing in the order of the world, and the rich of the last year praised Him that giveth liberally. If our judgment of these high doctrines may be changed by the changes of our outward state, much more will our opinion of