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    Sbpi ? b ^ b ^^ 2 ^ 18 »] THE IiJ&APEB ,. 94 $

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    nafairiUpUenome ^ wtensified ^ . the argument that they fell upon Egypt at SSSS ^ m worth , vexy little . Moseswaa kkely to recognise theSrecSr oS such events , and to make use-of his knowledge . When cSSSesu-ed to awe into obedience the Carih nation ,, he announced , to their- cfaiefc that if they resisted , his desires he w » uld darken the sun , and by an approaching eclipse he , was : enabled- to fulfil ' his threat . It may be . that such an illustration mil find no favour in the sight of a commentator so determined as Dr ; Kaiisch , ; but reviewing the phases of tJiat . unhappy period in- their historical , sequence , it is not difficult to understand how the second was a . natural consequence of the first ,, and so forth to the pn < i The NUe ^ the Egyptian river of life—was corrupted , the nsh died , tainted air

    swarms of frogs were bred in the polluted channel . In the gnats and other noxious insects were propagated , tormenting the flocks , and consuming the fruits of the land . The cattle became victims of the pestilence , which ° spread to human beings ; the grass was eaten up by locusts—though , if we must be bound to a technical interpretation , " all the grass had already been destroyed by hail ; a fearful gjoom—Egyptian darkness—overspread the valley , and the people ,, with their means of life poisoned or extirpated , were smitten with great mortality . Dr . Kalisch . does not venture to explain how , with all these calamities occurring in one year , none but the first-born should have died of the final plague . Indeed ^ while writing upon the " miraculous character" of these visitations , Dr . Kalisch does not satisfy us as to the meaning of the word miraculous . Evidently , he does not accept it as an infringement ,, for a special purpose , of a natural law , since the entire series ( including the transubstantiatoon of the Nile ) supposes in his view a conformity with circumstances belonffinff to the natural system of Egypt . What ,, in the Mosaic sense , is a

    miracle ? Hume would say , " a violation of the laws of nature . Is it not rather—the scriptural critics say—a variation from the general order of nature ? What , however , is the order of earthquakes , pestilences , great conflagrations ? What the order of the Nile ' s change of colour , of murrain among cattle , of locust swarms , or the multiplication of frogs in Egypt ? Is a fulfilled prophecy a miracle ? There have been versions of this history which have represented the plao-ue as types of seditions , conflicts , and social revolutions in Egypt , translating the destruction of the first-born into the abolition of the law of primogeniture . Dr . ] Kalisch , we have said , chooses a course between the extremes of literal and figurative interpretation . It is difficult to comprehend , however , how a critic who insists upon the absolute change of the Nile water into blood , can introduce modifications of the text in other

    passages of far less surprising import . If a river of water become a river of blood , why so much labour to identify the diseases or the vermin which afterwards afflicted the people ? Bats might become bulls as easily . Dr . I Kalisch refers to but one authority for this tremendous assertion—a text in the Bible which he describes as dealing in poetical hyperbole . But when , he has to prove that insects sting , severely , or that the hot winds of the East bring darkness with , them , he quotes historians and travellers . By this method we are to believe that which is inconceivable upon a vague statement , in a highly-rheto-1 rical narrative , while we are presented with , accumulated evidence in proof of is facts which are perfectly natural , and by no means miraculous . Without ex-! pounding any judgment upon the issue as it stands between the literal and ii the metaphorical translations , we are bound to say that Dr . Kalisch deserts 'I his lo » ic with suspicious celerity . He has collected a prodigious mass of

    ' useful and interesting illustrations ; he throws upon the scriptural history I light enough to render it clear and intelligible ; he then ridicules the logical results of that plain method , and affirms a proposition only to be enforced by the ecclesiastical dogma— " It is written "—in Hebrew , and translated into * English : whether according to the intentions of Moses is another matter . Many scholars will agree with the commentator , that , " in general , the scientific interpretations must recur to miraculous expedients , only after all attempts at a rational interpretation have failed . " This course is followed with reference to the pillar of cloud and flame ; but when the Hebrew army traverses the Red Sea , Dr . Kalisch attempts only to mitigate the wonder . Were the waters parted by a miraculous agency ? " Yes , " writes Dr . Kalisohthere was " a miraculous stand-still of the waves on both sides of

    , the , marching Israelites . " Then why suggest natural circumstances , as if to render a divine miracle easy ! The sea at Kolsoum , near Suez , was only 757 double paces across ; its bed is sandy and free from weeds . Indeed , at that point , Christopher Foyer and Jacob Seyer , of Nurnberg , crossed it in 15 G 5 ; Niebuhr in 1762 , on horseback , though his Arab attendants accompanied him on foot ; , Napoleon in 1798 , and many others have done the same . Alexander once crossed the Pamphylian Sea with an army , and Arrian , Appian , and Menandor exalted the feat as a miracle . Thus also Scipio Ajricanua forded with his troops a channel of the sea ; while in the Sea of A « of , the waters occasionally retirG and leave 11 path from Taganrog to the ODnoaite shore . From these analogies and from other facts and traditions ,

    Din Kalisch concludes that it was possible for the Jewish army to cross the Gulf of Suez " in a natural way . " Nevertheless , though " all attempts at n , National interpretation" have not failed , his " scientific interpretation resorts to a . miraculous expedient . " The Egyptians descended into the dry channel in pursuit of the fugitive army ; but the waters returned and overwhelmed their host . Without tracing further the critical investigations of Dr . Kalisch , we will hand . oweir his , volumes to " the studious reader . " They contain an encyclopaedia mass of illustrations , collected witli Gorman industry , and systematized with German care . Sometimes , as wo have indicated , the commentator declines the requite of hiaown researches ,, and rovortsfrom a plain proof to a bowildorina hY < BQ « taais » . The body of his work , however , ia composed of facts , drawn

    fiXMU aU . WHWQefti wluoh testify to the character of tho Hebrew common wealth , aiwl it » infJUuanpa , upon external nations . Dr . Kalisch is a scholar , if not a logician * , and whenever his commentary is free from the disturbing agency « f " mi « riujJb » , ap $ reeja , tea * * W" ' ° ^ philosopher tno eventa ° f , } 1 } - gtfJtar , kMrtovw aoatwued in tho second book of the Pentateuch . His diligence ,-and , hi * integrity deserve tho respect of those who are tho least inclined to udop 4 jbi » wjwkms .

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    DUELS . AND DUELLING , Noteson DueUkandMntelling . By Lorenzo . Sabine . Sampson Irqwy Son , andj Go . Amebicaw writers have a talent for compilation ; and ! some good ' collections 5 of scrap * and trifles * " unuonsidered" here have been sent to us fi ? OB » t&e other side , the " right of piracy" coming in aid of the literary chifibmrien . Mr . Sabine writes with clearness and without verbiage ; but the book bears evident marks of imperfect materials . Some duels of little or no general ; interest are amply narrated , some of the most celebrated duels ofT modern times are unnoticed or recorded in a few lines . Thus the duet between Colonel Faweett and Lieutenant Munro , the latest affair of any note in' Eng » - landi , is not recorded ; and the still more " interesting" duel between ^ Emile

    de- Girardm and Axxnand Carrel is disposed of in three lines . On the other hand , some silly American' duels , which neither " point a moral nor adorn- atale , " swell out in narratives twenty pages long . To these defects we must add many errors of fact . We do not , however , attribute the general deficiency of the- book solely to the faults of the author ; there are inherent difficulties in the subject . Many of the facts are the materiel of that chancemedley composition—" contemporary history , " and to that " no-man ' s-land , " entitled " twenty or thirty years ago ; " a domain not yet seized by any responsible historian * and still haunted by the ghosts of penny-a-liners " lying" for their bread . We therefore thank the author for what is good in what he sends .

    Jn a historical essay prefixed to the alphabetical account of the duellists of all ages , we find some passages that bear repeating . The following brings down to a late date that remarkable institution , the " judicial duel : " In 1818 we hear again of th& judicial duel in England . William Ashford accused Abraham Thornton of the murder of his sister . Thornton threw down his glove , according to ancient custom , and claimed to disprove his innocence by combat . A case so remarkable in the nineteenth century attracted universal attention , and in due time it was carried before Lord Chief Justice Ellenborough , and the other judges of the highest tribunal of the realm , for decision . At the . hearing , the judges were in their robes , the lawyers in their gowns and wigs . The court affirmed Thornton ' s right ; but Ashford was a boy , and declined the challenge . The year following ( 1819 ) the Wager of Battle was abolished by an Act of Parliament . The following extracts give some idea of the Americanisms , both in time and sty le * of the book : —

    It will suffice to remark here , that during the reign of George III . ( nearly sixty years ) , about one hundred and seventy duels are known to have been fought in the British Isles ,, or by British subjects who were absent in , or repaired to , other countries . ^ Barrington numbers two hundred and twenty-seven " during Ma grand climacteric . " Our English brethren are very careful to remind us of our sins in this behalf , and are constantly commenting upon the quarrels of our statesmen in Congress and . elsewhere ; forgetting , in their anxiety to reproach us , that the Dukes of York , Norfolk , Richmond , and Wellington , Lords Shelburne , Talbot , Lauderdale , Townshend , Camel ford , Maiden , Paget , Londonderry , Castlereagh , Belgrave , and Thurlow , and Fox , Pitt , Sheridan , Canning , Wyndham , Tiernay , Hastings , Francis , Grattan , Curran , Burditt , and many other orators and statesmen , are among their own duellists .

    The measures of tlie British Government claim a passing notice ; Queen Elizabeth attacked duelling by restricting fencing schools . James , her successor , relied ' principally upon proclamations , Cromwell ' s Parliament , proceeding , a step—on parchment , enacted a law . Charles II . proclaimed that the survivor of a duel should not receive the royal pardon . And Queen Anne mentioned the " impious practice of duelling" in . a speech from the throne . In 1719 , in the following year , Sir Joseph Jekyll made an . effort to procure efficient legislation , but was opposed in the House of Lords , and failed . To kill in a duel had been a capital offence for centuries ; but , with two or three exceptions , the penalty has never been enforced .

    In 1844 , Mr . Turner moved a resolution in the House of Commons , in the'hope of inducing the repeal of the existing enactments , which are practically obsolete , and substituting a provision that the survivor of a duel should be liable to . pay the debts of a deceased antagonist . He was opposed by several members of influence , and tho movement was unsuccessful . Sir Robert Peel , according to Wade , distrusted the efficacy of legislative changes , —relied rather on the state of public opinion , —and especially objected at that moment , in consequence of the recent formation of an association of distinguished naval and military officers to discountenance duelling ; while Sir Henry Hardinge would not disturb the statute book , because , a few days previously , the articles of war had been amended in a manner to provide a remedy in

    the military arms of tho service . There is perhaps an undue proportion of Irish duels , which may be accounted for partly by the fertility of Ireland in that produce , and partly by the fact that the descendants of actors in the encounters have carried the stories across the Atlantic without any diminution by the way . The tales are told in a dry style , and even the old jokes connected with tho Hibernian duels , appear matter-of-fact enough when related in the unscrupulous assertion of tho transatlantic artist ' s manner . Tho preliminary disquisition on the morale of duelling at tho commencement , is mea « rc enough . Wo encounter many of tho old arguments against tho practice , ° uch as that honour ia not satisfied , nor delicate feeling soothed bv Dlaciiv two men opposite each other with deadly tubes . Tho same kind

    of argument may bo applied against tho highest of our feelings , and a moral atheism . ini « ht be justified if we accepted this fragmentary logic . Falatafl asks " Can honour sot a leg ?"—and if wo limit the consideration solely to the surgical question respecting the leg , tho query is final . So the bravery of Windhani in tho Kedan , the other day , might bo characterised by Mr . Gladstone as tho courage of tho burglar . But where logic and law see only straight linos , and cutting of throats , Honour and Patriotism see tho bravery of the gentleman who leaves his carpeted home to rush with flushed cheek and boating heart on a parapet bristling with death . A due ^ ma / bo nothing but an organised murder ; but it may bo tho act of u sup ° r ' "'»»> driven to this primitive mode of retribution . That winch looks tho most direct , is not always truest : the lino of beauty is not always a rigM 1 10 . But the fact ia , that the duel is justified not on the score that , it «™* J / V question logically , still less on tho ground that * ; »^ X , T of a dispute . What it docs , s to place . diapu tanta » P < " Xo K potion , rative equality , and to substitute 11 denned JP ««*™ J 2 ? & * P legitiwhioh , from some circumstance or other , is mto e \^' r _ - imod buify a mate termination . A very feeble man opposed by a liigtowaeu ouuy ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 29, 1855, page 943, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2108/page/19/