The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-03-01
Nif!nls'5pIaai 'Bisp5attHt,,'
THURSDAY MORNING. M ARCH :, ,scc.
Rmwlins0n.s AerodotwS.


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Rawiinssn's Herodotas.
In the lxat number Of the Ea,nbssxA Reri<"
IL a critical notice Of this work, the Joint pro
sinc,ion OF GEORGE RAwLrxsoS, late Fellow
and Tutor Of Exeter COLLEGE, Oxford, Oolone
SIR HENRY RAwLIKscH, the famous interpre
ter OF the Chaldaic inscriptions, and Sir GAR
DINER WILKINSON the Egyptian traveller ant
Hierorlyphtcai scholar. This work professe,
10 bring to bear upon the text Of the autho,
all the discoveries which have resulted from
the lAbors and Researches Of modern scholar,
and explorers, in those countries Of which 1
especially treats. The advantages which suct
work, properly executed, would offer 70 tn.
student OF the present day, are too obvious tt
b. overlooked. Within the present century
more has been learned of these coun tries than
had been known to all the generations sue
ceeding that in which II EROpoTUs lived. Their
geography has been more accurately ascer-
tanned, their mon uments more thoroughly
examined, and their history, by these means,
rendered more Ineligible and brought
more within the scope OF modern studies
The discovery of the method OF interpreting
the Egyptian hivrogiyphics and the cuneiform
inscriptions of AssyIia, Babylon, and Persia,
has thrown a flood of light upon the early his
tory OF mankind. The Information which
they convey has been used rs test to try the
credibii,y Of the father Of history, and he
seems TO have come out like refined gold when
subjected TO the action Of the crucibie, only
the more pure and the more unsuspec ted from
the trial The doubts that have hi iherto chung
10 his narrative disappear fast the light
Of truth is let in upon the obscuriiy OF pri-
me,ai history; the shadows, that once hung
over his reputation, pass away one after the
other with each successive discovery and it
Is now known that his rival CrEsiAs, who
first cast doubts upon his veracity, was the
first 10 turn back history into the region of
fable, and to faisify whenever it suited not
his purpose To speak the language Of truth
Astounding AS the history OF AkRoDorus does
in fables aud impossible it is to be OBJ
served that he never makes statements the
least doubtful upon his own authority. He
plainly tells the reader, that he has been told
such and such thing, by such aud such per-
sons-by All Egyptian priest or Persian
Magus, or a Babylonian soOthsayer For him.
self he sees no prodigies, and is present At the
working OF no miracles. Credulous he is, il
IL true but he makes attempt TO work up
on the credulity of others. He leaves the
matter entirely open to the judgment of all
il those who hear it of him think the source
a creditable one, or otherwise, it is q matter of
indifference to him. He makes no attempt to
induce them to believe. or dis believe He tells
the tale, gives his authority, and leaves it
without comment.
1t Is the fashion in these latter days TO talk
about "irrepressible conflicts" The most
lrrepressiple of all conflicts is that dimly fore.
Swallowed by NOAH, when he says, God
Snail enlarge JAPHET, and he shall dwell in
the tents on SHEN.' From the earliest his
torical times this conflict has been raging, and
We are enabled to catch a glimpse OF it, in the
dim region that separates fable from history,
through the immortal poem of HOMER 1t
sent the Greeks to Troy, and it brought
AERxEs. with two millions and half of fight
ing men. upon Greece. 1t carried ALExAN.
DER to the borders of India, and il brought
ArriLA into the healt of Europe. 1t impeiied
the Romans to the conquest of Asia, and it
LED MAHoNET IL. TO the overthrow of the Bv-
zantine Empire. 1t "precipitated Enron.
upon ASIA" in the Crusades and brouoh,
Asia upon Europe during the Saracen con.
quests. In one age it led to the disastrous
expedition OF JULIAN, in another, and a far
distant age 1t destroyed the Iegions of Ma.
PoLEoN amidst the SHOWS Of Russia Itpro
duced the conquest of Spain in one age. and |
Inc suolugatlOn Of India in another The
representatives of SHEM and JAPHEr were ar.
Iayeu against each other before the walls OF !
Seoastopoi, and ON the plains Of Hindos tan
transferred 10 remote corner of the pIohe
even now the conflict IS preparing to break forth
WIN renewed fury at the mouth Of the Pe,ho
ana around the mystical walls of Naukin.-I
Ihougn II may sometimes slumber this pi.
sahtic struggle never fairly sleeps. An Asi.
ATTIC power has been suffered to plant itself
win ali Its Aslatic traditions of absolute au
tnoriiy and AFFECT obedience, In the North of
Europe, and already its dark shadow reaches
10 the Mediterranean. What the end is tn Ina |
we are assured by the very prophecy which
we have quoted from book Astounding in
prophecies, net one VI which has ever vet fall
en- 10 the ground. The children of JApsrr
VIII ultimately prevail; they will possess
themselves OF the tents OF SHEM. European
science, int lligence, and freedom of thought
hhali eventually triumph over Asiatic abso
lutisin and serviiity. But the end is long
way from teins yet, and what miserie.. what
wars, what bloedshed, the world shall wit.
ness before the "irrepressible coufictn shall
nave been "lrrepressiDle " no longer it passes
Tue imagination OF man to conjecture
The student Of history who does not wish
merely u encumber his mind with the lumber
OF 1acts and dates, should take his stand upsn
The table land offered him by tn. Scriptures
ana "atch the majestic procession of the hu |
man race, as they issue from the ark grow
into families, swell into tribes and disDerse
from the cradle OF the species in Western
Asia, throughout all the earth, dividing and
s"o-oiViding into innnmerable nations and
peoples, aud Yet all subject to a classification
WHICH orlaSs them distinctly under three
Aeaos, answering to the three sons OF NOAH,
" no, we are assured, are the progenitors OF US
AL. He Will observe that rs between two Of
these. the sons OF SHkM and the sons of IA.
fhhT, there never has been, nor can there evsr |
De, any community or congeniaiity of feeling
lhe turk Is still stranger in Europe wher.
no mas been encamped tor four hundred wears |
lhe Englishman is still as much detested in |
India, As he was when olive first established
Inc supremacy Of England one hundred wears
Axo. Europeans rack their brains in vain n |
nn" OUT what led to the massacre in India
three years ago. 1t was but q continuance of
'nA' 'r'epress'bie conflict, which we have rem.
resented Ia never sleeping, though it soms.
times slumbers. The Indian colo,;s,. a..
bound by a law Of their natur. ~ 49,. 6
NJ nv" as the Ionian colonists in Asia
"'c oo"nd 70 hate the Persiaus two
.Ao"'"ho years ago. The only sensible reason
'.' you oe gwen ior 1t Ia, that the Indians ara
" shkA. and the English Of -.
heeping IN view this great fact ws ar a
'n"oleo 70 account for many things ia his,o-v
Wv" o'"er"ise would be wholly unaccoun, a