rarely mentioned. Hebrew must be undertaken by aspirants for theological degrees, but Syriac has few devotees.
I was requested by my authorities to follow the course of Hebrew under M. Van Hoonacker. In the old province of Grey Friars in England there had always been a professorship of Hebrew, and a desire was felt in certain quarters to emulate the glory of our ancestors in that respect. Taking advantage of a temporary interruption of my course of philosophy, through a re-distribution of our studies, the offer of a year at Louvain was made to me. Weary with struggles against doubt and with premature ministerial activity, I eagerly accepted and made my way to the monastery of our order at Louvain. To the course of Hebrew agreed upon I merely added a course of Syriac (in virtue of which I fondly hoped to disturb my Anglican brethren over the Peschito version of the New Testament), an elementary course of Biblical criticism, and a higher course of scholastic philosophy; much to the disgust of my colleagues, who thought it an insult to their great university not to spend every hour of my available time in its lecture rooms.
The lectures on Hebrew and on Biblical criticism were both given by the young but very able professor M. Van Hoonacker, an efficient teacher and erudite scholar, who crossed swords (with more courage than success) with the great Kuenen. An abler professor
