vi.] ADDRESS. 179 



Northern Europe. But I believe it may be asserted that 

 no object characteristic of the Bronze Age has ever been 

 found in a Roman tomb ; none have been met with at 

 Pompeii ; and those Italian archaeologists whom I have 

 been able to consult, all agree that they are undeniably 

 Pre-Roman. 



If indeed the Bronze swords and daggers were of 

 Roman origin, they ought to be more numerous in Italy 

 than in the north. Now what are the facts ? The 

 museum of the Royal Irish Academy contains no less 

 than 300 swords and daggers of Bronze. As regards 

 other countries, M. Chantre, who has been collecting 

 statistics on the subject, has been good enough to inform 

 me that the French Museums contain 409, those of 

 Sweden (including poniards) 480, and of Denmark 600, 

 while in Italy he knows of 60 only. These numbers 

 seem to me to militate very strongly against the views 

 of those who would ascribe those weapons to the Romans. 

 When, then, was the Bronze Age ? We know that Iron 

 was known in the time of Homer, which seems to have 

 been, as regards the South of Europe, the period of 

 transition from the age of Iron to that of Bronze. In 

 the Pentateuch, excluding Deuteronomy (which prob- 

 ably belongs to a much later date) Brass, that is to say 

 Bronze, is frequently mentioned, while Iron is only 

 alluded to four times. 



Coins were first struck 7 800 B.C. as some say by 

 the OEginetans under Pheidon, King of Argos, though 

 Herodotus ascribes them to the Lydians. 



It is true that the use of iron may have been known 

 in Southern Europe long before it was introduced in the 

 north. On the whole, however, I am disposed to think 



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