The New York herald., 1872-12-21
The site OF Homor's Troy-Dr. Sci
mann's Excavations.

The deeply interesting letter to the HERALD
from DR.. Henry schliemann. respecting his
vast labors in search of the olden Troy. and
which we print in another column, needs but
little introduction to our readers. The Ger
man scholar and archaeological enthusiast tells
his story with clearness and simplicity. If he
does not exhaust the subject in all its bearings
he explains what he has achieved in manner
which cannot fail to awaken keen interest IN
the continuance of his labors. That the
subject matter might be better understood we
present map of the locality where the patient
savan has labored 80 successfully to find the
lion or Troy of Homer's great epic 1t is
fitting phase Of this progressive, inventive age
that amid the mighty struggle for light upon
tho subtle secrets of physics and the applica-
ton of knowledge thus acquired to the daily
wants of life, so much interest can be centred
in the dim past In this growing desire for
knowledge of epochs beyond the reach OF
those we term historic, the modes in which the
hunt for information is pursued are character
istic. The records on which the learned for
ages relied for their knowledge of these remote
times are now merely the often unreliable
| guide books which the scientific searcher uses
to indicate how and where to set about his
work. The huge mounds by tho banks of the
Tigris that Xenophon passed in his fight
twenty-three centuries ago, without knowing
any more than the Arabs of Mesopotamia OF
twenty-three years SINCE that they contained
the ruined palaces of Nineveh, were reserved
for the spades Of Botta and Layard In
few years Of persistent excavation more of the
glory Of the Empire Of Assyria was made
known than in all the twenty-three cycles that
preceded After the pioneers of the spade
Comes the more profound labor Of the COM
parative philologists who learn to decipher
cuneiform inscriptions and read from them
the stories Of the peoples who graved them
thousands of years before. The same diligent
inquiry and work have lately led to the disen-
tombment Of the Ephesian marbles from the
great buried temple of Diana. From the same
spirit and the same toll we see appear before
us the sculptured treasures from the island Of
Cyprus. Among the greatest Of these per-
formances will rank the triumph Of DR..
Schliemann in fixing the site Of Troy. For
found an abiding place in the land made
sacred to poetry and heroic glory in the Iliad
and Eneid Byron could wander among
the marshes of the Scamander and dream Of
lion in its glory. Even the soldier Oppression
and mathematics, Won Moltke, could find
tirA to speculate upon its military strength.
But the scientist did not let his dreams or
,vo&
his trench, and, as result, the sceptics, who
pronounced the wars of the heroes upon the
plain all but myth, are brought up against
the great tower of nion itself after it had
hidden its head for over three thousand years.
The settlement of this question is not,
however, the only contribution to our
knowledge. In the process of laying bare the
remains of ancient Troy DR.. Schliemann dis
covered successfully the traces of four sue
ceeding peoples who had dwelt on the same
spot, and whose cities were destroyed by fire,
as Troy had been. peoples in regular
strata!' 1t is a curious thought, wherein
science and sentiment may meet More than
this, by the relics Of pottery, arms,
implements and symbols, he is enabled
to state of what race were the men
and women who dwelt in those
cities. The widespread and unmistakable
religious symbols of the Aryan race, the cross,
simple and crotcheted, were there. The sun,
the stars, the mystic rose and the holy soma
tree, each told their tale Of race and belief
Refinement in the heroic age he found sue
ceeded by rudeness in the next then rudeness
by semi-barbarousness, and then by almost alb
solute barbarism Next he traces in the rub
bish the coming Of the Hellenic colony, which
is called historic, but which must have COM
menced existence twenty-four hundred years
ago. He traces backwards from the present
inch by inch, instead Of year by year, and
finds heroic Troy upon the virgin soil or the
solid rock some forty-six feet below. There is
| . suggestiveness in this idea of century of
history in q foot and half Of rubbish far
deeper than the thought Of "Imperial Cesar,
dead and turned to clay" While the deci-
pherers Of the arrowhead writings of Nineveh
are discovering corroboration of the Bible
story of the Deluge it is curious to find proof
of the foundation in fact of Homer's epic
coming to light at the same time.
A work Of the character of DR.. Schliemann's
requires that patience and perseverance which
nothing but enthusiasm can supply There
is, however, something more needed, and that
is money. Dr. Schliemann has carried on the
vast work thus far at his own expense, and
now appeals for help. For reward he asks
nothing beyond permission to rebaptize the
scenes ef his labor with the names which
Homer gave them. We heartily recommend
to our readers his unvarnished narrative. of the
search among the ''mournful monuments OF o
nation whose glory is immortal"
ANOTUrp TrNarTrr I'm RorrNnK -Thn ~