1876.] The Cradle of Civilisation . 457 
might not have been invented by an accomplished literary 
forger of the present day. We might naturally have ex- 
pected that a people so civilised as the early Frisians are 
represented, even 2000 years before the Christian era, would 
have had something definite to communicate concerning 
their own origin and early history. But except the mythical 
account of their descent from Frya, and the laws received 
from her by revelation, we are left greatly in the dark. 
Whence came the Frisians ? Were they truly aborigines, 
created or evolved upon the spot? We feel the more dis- 
posed to ask this question because, if the “ Oera Linda 
Book ” is to be trusted, our present views on the history of 
civilisation and on ethnology must be reconsidered. This 
work decidedly combats the prevailing view that Europe re- 
ceived its civilisation from Asia, culture being gradually 
extended westwards. On the contrary, it represents Eastern 
Europe and Western Asia as receiving arts, letters, and laws 
from the North-west. Surely before views thus contrary to 
well-known faCts can be ascertained, the strictest scrutiny 
must be demanded. 
There is a further consideration drawn, not from the con- 
tents of the book, but from its alleged history. Had the 
manuscript been lying, overlooked and forgotten, in the 
library of some convent or university, or in the muniment- 
room of some old or rarely-visited castle, its resurrection in 
the latter part of the nineteenth century would not have 
been, prima facie , improbable ; but it is described as in the 
custody of a private family who knew of its existence and 
ascribed to it no little importance. It is specially bequeathed 
to the present holder by his grandfather. And all this in a 
highly educated country which has been for centuries 
honourably distinguished for its intellectual activity, and 
where men of learning abound ! Can we imagine the pos- 
sessors of this mysterious document feeling no curiosity as 
to its contents ? Would they not naturally have consulted 
some archeologist or philologian, and would not the world 
long ago have been in possession of the secret ? 
That the book is interesting, and that the sentiments ex- 
pressed are of a highly moral — we might almost say of a 
suspiciously moral — tendency, there is no occasion to 
dispute. 
What may be the true origin of the “ Oera Linda Book ” 
we do not profess to decide. It may be a romance, a hoax, 
or an intentional and downright imposition. Or it may be 
a saga adroitly interpolated and manipulated. But we cer- 
tainly cannot accept it as a genuine and authentic historical 
record. 
