322 
W. O’Brien Esq. A.M., read a paper containing an In- 
quiry into the original Language of the Phoenicians. 
He observes that the explanation given by Bochart and 
others of the Punic scene in Plautus, by means of the 
Hebrew, is much more natural than that derived from the 
Trish by Vallancey, who palmed some words upon that lan- 
guage which do not belong to it, and some from the modern 
Irish, which are English. He thinks that, even if the ori- 
ginal language of the Phcenicians was not the Hebrew, they 
must generally have spoken that tongue at the time of the 
colonisation of Carthage, since the language of the multitude 
must always predominate over that of the few ; and in the 
time of Solomon, the Israelites ‘‘ could not be counted or 
numbered for multitude.” Hence he infers that the ancient 
language must have been circumscribed within the very nar- 
row limits of the few walled cities, and that the greater part 
of the adventurers after the first colonisation, must have 
spoken the Hebrew language only. Upon these grounds 
he concludes, that the Carthaginian language is no more an 
indication of the original language of the Pheenicians, than 
the English is of that of the ancient Britons or Irish. He 
considers, however, that we are not left without another clue 
to this language, besides that of the Carthaginians : since, 
although languages are obliterated, traces of them remain in 
the names of persons, places, rivers, mountains, &c. Thus, 
British names survive in England, in spite of the several 
conquests by Belge, Romans, Saxons, and Normans : and 
although these names are often much corrupted, a philologer 
of skill and discretion will be able frequently to see through 
the veil, and discover the original word. He shows that this 
view exactly corresponds to that taken by the celebrated 
Leibnitz, in his work on the origin of nations. 
He then proceeds to investigate the roots and meaning of 
nearly forty of the names of places and tribes in Palestine. 
He professes to admit no derivation, which is barely conjec- 
