1822] 
of old hock, is also described, and the 
wine is compared, in the words of 
Klopstock, to the German character— 
“ Glowing, not boisterous, clear, strong, 
and void of empty foam.” 
Fragments of a~journey in Hoiland 
succeed, which are dated in 1806. As 
characteristic of the religious turn of 
the people, it is stated, that a Family 
Bible, edited with explanatory notes 
by the learned orientalist, Dr. Palm, at 
Leyden, had been subscribed for by 
3000 persons. A vessel, with guupow- 
der on board, -blew up on the canal of 
Delft, in our author’s hearing ; more 
than 700 houses were injured by the 
explosion. After visiting Amsterdam 
and Rotterdam, Mr. Niemeyer em- 
barked at Helvoetsluys for Harwich, 
which he reached in fifty-six hours. 
He lands, laughs at the Martello 
towers, dislikes the squat compactness 
ofan English dwelling, complains of 
the troublesome precautions imposed 
by the Alien bill, but ascends, with 
great admiration and delight, the Lon- 
don coach, of which a vignette engrav- 
ing is given. The ever-thickening 
throng of houses, carriages, and men, 
which announce the approach to the 
metropolis, producesa shining impres- 
sion. The foot-pavements and the shops 
dazzle in their turn. At length, the 
general features grow familiar, and the 
details of admiration succeed. 
In a chapter on Manners, some curi- 
ous remarks occur on the singular way 
in which the English spend their Sun- 
day. No other Protestant nation, no 
other Christian nation, keeps the sab- 
bath in so unjewish and unscriptural a 
manner. The literary ignorauce of 
John Knox appears to have occasioned 
this unclassical blunder, which is now 
consecrated by habit and by law.” The 
Jews at all periods have interpreted 
thedecalogue, as commanding a merry 
holiday on the sabbath, a relaxation 
from toil, a suspension of cares, an ex- 
hilaration of the spirits, a cheer to the 
bodily frame. They danced at the feast 
of the Lord in Shiloh, (Judges xxi, 19.) 
and the exhibition terminated not un- 
like those dances with which Romulus 
entertained the Sabine women. These 
early dances of worship did not at all 
accord with later ideas of decency ; 
for when David brought up the ark of 
God from Obed-edom (2 Samuel, vi, 20) 
the daughter of Saul reproached the 
king with having, like one of the vulgar, 
uncovered himself shamefully. After 
the building of the temple, a greater de- 
The German Student.—Niemeyer's Travels. 
125 
gree of refinement and decorum was 
introduced, and the sacred dances were 
confided to an appropriate trained band 
of dancers ; but these ballets were con- 
tinned asa part of weekly worship ; and 
some of the psalms were set to minuet 
and jig tunes, for the purpose of being 
performed during the dance; for in- 
stance, the 149th (see *Lorin’s commen- 
tary,) and the 150th. These dances, 
accompanied with songs, were gra- 
dually improved into operas, which 
were regularly exhibited on sabbath- 
days in the temple itself; and some of 
these operas had so Aristophanic a cha- 
racteras to have represented the scourg- 
ing of Heliodorus. After the conquest 
of Judea by Alexander and his succes- 
sors, the Greek language became so 
prevalent at Jeiusalem that these sa- 
cred dramas were given in Greek, and 
among the Apocrypha bas been pre- 
served a chorus of one of them, en- 
titled the Song of the Three Holy Chil- 
dren. Ezekiel, a Jewish poet, who 
flourished about forty years before 
Christ, composed a tragedy on the Exo- 
dus of the Israelites from Egypt, of 
which fragments remain. The Spanish 
mystery Las Profetias de Daniel has 
perhaps traditionally preserved another 
canvas as ancient as christianity. 
There is no reason to suppose that 
the early christians in the least swerved 
from the notorious practice of the Jews, 
or that they objected to sacred dramas 
and mysteries on Sundays, when these 
were compatible with their own reli- 
gion. All temples were then theatres ; 
and it was against frequenting pagan 
temples that the declamations of the 
fathers were directed. Christianity was 
first taught throughout the north of Eu- 
rope, by means of the stage. The mys- 
teries and miracle-plays of the first 
missionaries had familiarized the pro- 
minent incidents of biblical history, 
long before the art of reading could 
have been called in to communicate the 
chronicles themselves. If modern mis- 
sionaries had as much zeal and sense 
as those of the church of Rome, they 
would adopt in savage nations the same 
method of address, and would repre- 
sent, chiefly in pantomime, and with 
illustrative scenery, the Creatiou, the 
Deluge, the Exodus, the adventures of 
* In utroque psalmo nomine chori in- 
telligi posse cum certo instrumentohomines 
ad sonum ipsius tripudiantes : and again 
de tripudio, seu de multitudinesultantium 
et concinnentium, minime dubito. 
David 
