weight of flesh-this part shall be cut in pieces, and shall be roasted-as well as the skin, the intestines, and the feet. The rest shall be left to him that offers the sacrifice.

"For a he-goat, or a she-goat, perfectly strong and full grown; if these animals are perfectly healthy, there shall be given to the priests a shekel and two oboles* for each of them, and for the piece to be used, there shall be offered to them thirty shekels weight of flesh. This piece shall be cut up, and roasted, as well as the skin, the intestines, and the feet. The rest shall be left to him that offers the sacrifice.

"For the young one of a roebuck, if it is redolent with perfect health, if it is remarkable for its swiftness at the chase, and endowed with a beautiful form, there shall be given to the priests three-quarters of a shekel of money, and two oboles per beast, also the intestines and the feet. The remainder shall be left to him that offers the sacrifice.

"For a bird, or for the hallowed first fruits, for an oblation of food, or of oil, there shall be given to the priests a piece of money, and ten oboles for each of these things.

"For every piece that shall be waved before the gods, there shall return to the priests a part, which shall be roasted. As to the priests...

"For a libation of milk, of fat, and of every species of sacrifice that a man can offer for sacrifices.

"For every sacrifice that one, who is poor in the possession of beasts or of birds, shall offer, there shall be nothing assigned to the priests.

"Every leprous person, every one attacked by the scurvy, and whoever shall petition the gods, all those who would sacrifice. . . .

* An ancient Carthaginian coin.

"For every dead man, the offering for each sacrifice shall be conformably to the regulation established by the law, as inscribed.

"As to the offering which he (that offers the sacrifice) shall present, he shall place it on a he shall place it on a piece of the victim, and he shall give it agreeably to the writing which . . . th Cheletzbaal, son of Bodashmoun and their colleagues.

Every priest who shall cause to be given for an offering anything more than such as shall have been roasted, or deposited on the piece of the victim, shall be condemned to give a fine....

"As to the money to the master of the sacrifice who shall have offered it, he shall give (the double of) the offering which...."

The above is a faithful translation of the recently discovered Phoenician inscriptions in this place. I have only time now to tell you that the intrinsic merit of the inscription, in the Abbé's opinion, is the passage referring to the sacrifices for the dead. A tacit confession that Romanism must go to heathenism for the derivation of its practices. The following are M. Bargès' words :-" Ce que ce passage contient et de remarquable et de précieux à la fois, c'est qu'il constate chez les Phéniciens l'usage d'offrir des sacrifices pour les morts, usage que l'on voit également en vigueur chez les Hébreux du temps des Machabées." p. 60. The same is repeated in p. 75. The Abbé seems to forget that the Hebrews do not acknowledge that the Maccabees or any of the Apocryphal books are inspired. However, this controversy is not my present business. I purpose writing a long letter, explanatory and analytical, on the inscriptions, to Dr. Elrington,* which will complete all I have to say

*The letter to the late lamented Dr. Elrington is too abstruse and too long to interest the generality of readers; the author therefore omits its insertion here; it is his intention to publish it in

Looking at the three

and at the fourth still

on the last discovery in Marseilles. sheets, closely written, before me, under my pen, I think I have fully redeemed my promise to you. Now then, you go and do likewise. I shall look out for a letter from you, whilst at Tunis.

I am, my dear Dr. McCullagh,

Yours faithfully, &c., &c.

Since the winged bull and lion have attracted so much attention of late, by the publication of Mr. Layard's invaluable discoveries at Nineveh; it may not be out of place here to mention that sculptures, somewhat similar to those of ancient Chaldæa, existed in Marseilles. The accompanying sketch represents a sort of Taurobole, which was

discovered about two centuries ago. The first author who took notice of the interesting relic, was Grosson.* But the Hebrew Professor of Osborne has favoured the

the shape of a separate volume, for that class of readers who take an interest in such dry productions.

* Recueil des Antiquités et Monuments Marseillois.

French public with a few recondite remarks upon it, which I deem worthy of translation in this place; they are the following:

"This monument, the execution of which discovers a skilful hand, and which is in white marble, was found at the bottom of the fortress of Notre Dame de la Garde, where it was imbedded in the lower part of the vale, which runs by the staircase, leading to the drawbridge; but it was brought away from thence about eighty years ago, and it was placed at the end of the ascent of the same drawbridge where it was used as a font. Grosson, from whom we gain these particulars, says, that in his time it was literally neglected. From the description of it, which he has left us, this monument represented an altar supported by a bull; a divinity was seated upon a throne, with his hands raised towards heaven; around the niche, where he was installed, were to be seen Phoenician characters. 'I have shown,' says Grosson, 'these characters to persons well versed in the knowledge of the ancient languages: I have obtained no explanation; I then readily imagined that they were Phoenician, by the relation which I have observed between them and the characters engraven on various Phoenician medals which had been given to me. This opinion appeared to me so much the more probable, as the ancient Marseillians, by means of its maritime commerce, had a close connection with Phoenicia, and above all, with the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon. Would it be surprising if some individual of this nation had got sculptured, after the custom of his country, the monument which I describe, on account of a vow made to one of the divinities, to whom the Marseillians had dedicated temples.' Although the characters of the inscription are disfigured in the drawing, which this antiquary has placed at the beginning of his work, it is, however, easy to

decipher some of them, and to perceive that they belong to the Phoenician tongue. As to the idol which is engraven on the monument, we are inclined to recognise in it, not one of the Greek divinities, to whom the Marseillians had dedicated temples, but the god Moloch, who was adored by the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians; for according to the author of the Yalkout,' Rabbi Simeon, the idol Moloch, which served at the same time as an altar, was a hollow statue, which contained seven apartments: in one there was offered to the god, flour; turtle-doves were sacrificed in the second; sheep in the third; rams in the fourth; cakes in the fifth, and bulls in the sixth; as to the seventh cell, it was opened when they were going to sacrifice children. The appearance of this idol, adds this learned Rabbi, was that of a bull; it had hands so disposed as to receive what the offerers were about to present.

"For his part, the celebrated traveller, Benjamin of Tudela, relates in his 'Itinerary,' that a day's journey from Tripoli to Syria, in a place called Djebel, or Biblus, on the confines of the ancient territory of the children of Ammon, there was discovered in the ruins of a temple, the idol which had been formerly worshipped there. This idol, he adds, was seated on a chair, and this seat bore the name of a throne. It was marble, and covered over with plates of gold; before it was raised an altar, upon which, from the time of the Ammonites, sacrifices were offered and incense burned. According to Selden, this idol was that of Moloch, the tutelary divinity of the Ammonites. Besides, the monument described by Grosson presents along with this image of Moloch the most striking marks of resemblance; such as these, it exhibits a divinity seated on a throne; three empanellings sculptured upon the sides of the altar, on which was placed the statue, representing one of the doors of three cells, and it is very likely that there was