The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1873-01-01

....ss..-
The deeply intetseting lssIs The
New York Herald; Henry
6Shliasnann, respecting stsst ia66rs
in:seafch % tho oldens Troy heeds but
littleihsrodu to out readsts The
German scholaxan srchs ssolog gical enthu..
siast tells isstory. with elearnesa and
simplicity. !f.he does not exhanat the
subject in ell its hearings. he explains
cann0s ifail 70 awaken Keen interest In
the continuance OF his labors. It is
fitting phase of this progressive, inven-
tive age, that amid the mighty struggle
for light upon the subtle secrets of ply.
sizes aud. the applica,ion Of. knowledge
thus acquired to the daily wants Of life,
so much interest can be centred III the
dim past. In this growing desire for q
knowledge Of epoohs beyond the reach
of those We term historic. the modes in
which the hunt for information is pur-
sued are characteristic. 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 the banks of the Tigris, that Xano-
phon passed in his fight twenty.threo
centuries ago, without knowing any
more than the Arabs OF Mesopotamia OF
| twenty three years since. that they con
tained the ruined palaces of Nineveh,
were reserved for tho spades OF Botta
and Layard. In few years of persist.
ent excavation more OF the glory Of the
Empire OF Assyria waa made known than
in all the twenty three Cycles that pre-.
ceded. After the pioneers of the spade
comes the more profound labor Of the
comparative philologists who learn to
de1ipher ouneiform inscriptions aud
read from them the stories of tho people
who engraved them thousands of years
before. The same diligent inquiry and
work have lately led to the dlsentomb.
ment of the Ephesian marbles from the
great buried temple OF Diana. From
the same spirit and the same toll We see
appear before us tie sculptured trea-
sures from the island of Cyprus. Among
the greatest of these performance will
rank the triumph of Dr.. Schliemann in
fixing the site OF Troy. For ages the
enthusiasm OF cultivated minds has
found an abiding place in the land nude
sacred to poetry aud heroic glory in the
Iliad and EIeid. Byron could wander
Iamong the marshes of the Scamandel
| and dream OF Ilion in its glory.
Even the soldier OF precision and mo
thematics, Won Moltke, could lind time
to speculate upon its military strength
But the scientist did not let his dreams
or his specnlntions interfere with the
digging of his trench, aud, as result,
the sceptics, who pronounced the wart
OF the heroes upon the plain all but 6
myth, are brought up against the great
tower Of Ilion itself after it had hidden
its head for over 5000 years. The set
tlement Of this question is not, however
the only contribution to our knowledge
In the process OF laying bare tho re
mains of ancient Troy. DR.. Schliemanr
discovered successively the traces of foul
succeeding peoples who had dwelt OF
the same spot, and whose cities were dc
stroyed by FIRE, as Troy had been
'Peoples in regular stratai'' It is Gu
rious thought, wherein science and cen
timent may meet. More than this, b,
the relics of pottery, arms, Implement
and symbols, he is enabled to state O
what race were the men and women wht
dwclt in those cities. The wide spreat
and unmistakable religious symbols o
the Aryan race. the cross. simple ant
orotcbeted, were there. The sun. th,
stars, the mystic rose and the holy som,
tree, each told their tale Of race and be
lief. Refinement in the heroic age h,
found succeeded by rudeness in the next
then rudeness by semi-barbarousnos
and then by almost absolute bnrbarism
Next he traces in tho rubbish the com
ing of the Hellenic colony, which i
called historic. but which must hav,
commenced existence 2,400 years ago
He traces back wards from tho presen
inch by inch, instead Of year by year
and finds heroic Troy upon the virgi,
soil or the solid rock some forty six fee
below. There is q suggestiyeness in thi
idea Of century Of history in foot ant
q half of rubbish far deeper than til,
thought of "Imperial Ce 3ar. dead ant
turned to clay" While the decipherer
of the arrowhead writings OF Ninevel
are discovering corroboration Of th'
Bible story OF the deluge, it is curious t.
find proof of the foun lation in fact o
Homer's epic coming to light at the same
time.
A work of tho character Of DR.. Schlic
mann's requires that patience and per