U R Y A N T. 





Bryant. Bryant was not of the number of those scholars who 

 v ' have too frequently issued from the English univer- 

 sities, whose minds are made the receptacle of mere 

 vocfitifi-s, or the measures of rytln ieal quantities : he 

 endeavoured to apply his great erudition to some use- 

 ful purpose, and to benefit the world, whilst he in- 

 dulged his propensity for literary and philological in- 

 vestigations. 



His first work was entitled, " Obscnwtions mid 

 enquiries relating to various parts of ancient history, 

 containing Dissertations on the wind Enroclydon, and 

 on the island Melite : together with an account of 

 F.<:i/j>t in its most ancient state, and of t/ie Shepherd 

 Kings. This work was published in 1767. Theaccount 

 of the shepherd kings is extremely curious ; and it is 

 much to be regretted, that the deficiency of materials 

 prevented him from prosecuting the subject so far as 

 could be wished, whilst it compelled him to fill up 

 many chasms with ingenious, but unauthorised con- 

 jectures. Indeed the excellencies and defects of Mr 

 Bryant's works are to be ascribed to the same cause, 

 viz. that fearlessness of discussion, which prompted 

 him, on the one hand, to shoot beyond the timid in- 

 vestigations of his predecessors, and on the other, 

 made him too little scrupulous in admitting his own 

 conjectures, when facts were wanting to confirm his 

 theory. It had been doubted whether Melite, the 

 island on which St Paul was shipwrecked, is the mo- 

 dern Malta ; because it is said Acts xxvii. 27. that 

 Melite is situated in Adria, or the Adriatic. But 

 Mr Bryant has shown, by conclusive evidence, that 

 the name Adria was applied to almost all the sea ly- 

 ing between Sicily and Africa, and that, therefore, 

 we ought not to argue on the restricted meaning 

 which we now assign to that term. 



His next and greatest work was the Analysis of 

 Ancient Mythology, wherein an attempt is made to 

 divest tradition of fable, and to reduce truth to its ori- 

 ginal purity. In this work it is difficult to say, whe- 

 ther the ingenuity, the learning, or the industry of 

 the author are most conspicuous. At the same time, 

 we admit that imagination has often supplied the place 

 of facts, and confident assertion been substituted for 

 authentic history. We scarcely know any work in 

 our language whose defects and whose excellencies are 

 so conspicuous, nor any to which we could allow so 

 many abatements on the score of inconclusive reason- 

 ing, and yet have so much left to demand our unqua- 

 lified admiration. It exhibits so many new views, 

 and so many elucidations of obscure transactions, that 

 no man who wishes to be acquainted with the more 

 remote history of our species, can safely be ignorant 

 of the Analysis of Ancient Mythology. It might na- 

 turally be expected, that a work containing such no- 

 vel speculations, would excite much opposition, and 

 much admiration. Accordingly we have seen several 

 succeeding mythologists, who, preferring Mr Bry- 

 ant's unauthorised speculations to the solid facts 

 which he adduces, have carried his mode of reasoning 

 to the utmost pitch of extravagance, so as to prejudice 

 the sober-minded even against his most rational con- 

 clusions : whilst others, taking advantage of a few 

 errors in point of fact, or a few slips in point of ety- 

 mology, have endeavoured to throw discredit on his 

 whole labours, and to represent every part of them as 



equally uncertain and unsatisfactory. Amongst the 

 latter, Mr Richardson, author of the Fenian I) 

 rifiry, in a dissertation prefixed to that work, has suc- 

 cessfully exposed some of his etymological mistakes, 

 with regard to words of eastern origin. This was, 

 indeed, Mr Bryant's weak side, as he wa* very im- 

 perfectly acquainted with the oriental languages, and 

 it is to be feared, had but a superficial knowledge of 

 the Hebrew, and other ancient dialects of the East. 

 He has a favourite theory with regard to the Amoni- 

 ans, the original inhabitants of Egypt, whose name, 

 as well as descent, he derives from Ham. Nobody 

 would have found fault with him, had he rested satis- 

 fied with the latter conclusion : but Richardson has 

 stated an insuperable objection to the derivation of 

 the name : for though the Greeks and Latins used 

 Ammon and Hammon indifferently, yet the Htth in 

 Ham, is a radical, not mutable or omissible; and had 

 the Greeks or Latins formed a word from it, it would 

 have been Chammon, and not Ammon, even with the 

 aspirate. 



The memorials respecting the deluge, which Mr 

 Bryant has collected from the mythology and history 

 of various nations, are extremely curious and interest- 

 ing. One of these is the Apamean Medal : (see that 

 article, ) his dissertation on this subject was severely 

 attacked in the Gentleman's Magazine. Mr Bryant 

 successfully repels this attack, in an essay, printed in 

 the last edition of his works. The medal, indeed, i* 

 so very remarkable, that, were we absolutely certain 

 as to its genuineness, we would have very little hesi- 

 tation in adopting Mr Bryant's conclusions. 



Another of Mr Bryant's works, which made a great 

 noise, and excited great opposition, was his observa- 

 tions on M. le Chevalier's description of the Troad. 

 In this work he endeavoured to show that the Trojan 

 war had no foundation but in Homer's imagination ; 

 that no expedition was undertaken by the Greeks ; 

 and that no such city as Troy ever existed in Phry- 

 gia. In this notion he stood almost alone, though he 

 was not without plausible arguments to support his 

 opinion. But every thing connected with Troy has 

 been so long consecrated by the concurring testimo- 

 ny of antiquity, and by the charms of Homer's muse, 

 that it was deemed a kind of sacrilege to doubt the 

 reality of this far-famed city, and its memorable siege. 

 We have no wish to enter the list in this hazardous 

 contest ; as some apology, however, for the aberra- 

 tions of exalted genius, we would suggest that the 

 testimony of antiquity goes for nothing in this case, 

 as the whole depends on the authority of Homer ; 

 and unless authors can be cited anterior to him, or 

 coeval with him, or who did not derive their infor- 

 mation from him, or some of his transcribers, the 

 whole history of the war must rest on his authority ; 

 and if his authority were equal to his genius, the 

 transactions which he records would stand in need cf 

 no other support. But certainly as the subject stands 

 at present, were the alternative proposed to us, we 

 would rather reject the whole as a fable, than receive 

 the half as authentic history. 



Mr Bryant published a vindication of Josephus's 

 testimony to Christ, which Dr Priestley confessed 

 had completely convinced him : though he did not 

 show the same deference. to a work which Mr Bry- 



