The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1876-11-29
NJ. Geoyge Smith aud His Genius.

.s.=e@b ~. Geoyge Smith and His Genius.
H. U. swinne'tou. in n T. Observer.
MT. George Smith, the young and
surprising Assyrian scholar, whose
brilliant genius first flashed out upon
the world at large in the publication
of hisAssyrian account Of the Deluge,
has fallen in the fields of his labors
and tliOmphs. The mysterious letter
on Babylon brick seemed the natural
channel OF thought to his mind. The
absGruse and unsolved secrets Of that
curious alphabet became plain before
him. Other men labored for years to
evoke few rays OF dim intelligence
from an inscription which he seemed
to penetrate without effort. The
hoary mysteries buried in the ruins
OF Assylian palaces, which troubled
the mind OF Herodotus and of all Gu
rious explorers since, became lumi.
nous under his glance. He brought
out revelation which the world sup.
posed did not exist-dumb but un-
shakable witnesses to the truth of
things which, it had been presum ed,
must forever rest upon simple faith
for their credence stories OF the cre-
alton, of the Apostacy in Eden, Of the
bui lding Of the Tower of Babel, of the
Deluge; written long centuries before
Moses was born, and perhaps when
Abraham was still a child at Ur of the
Chaldees. These things had been read
for ages in the Bible, but the world
had long ago given up all expectation
of ever finding anything more direct
in confirmation Of them than the
vague illusions and incidental hints of
precarious tradition. Believing minds
felt that they bore the impress of
truth, and the corroborative facts
were multitudinous and convincing,
from their mass but there was pain
fully little in the way of succinct and
circumstantial statement. But Mr..
Smith saw the tens of thousands of
fragments of clay-tablets, cylinders,
sealed sculpture-all written over
with the Wedge-shaped characters,
many so infinitely engraved as to re-
quire the use OF magnifying glass;
he looked into them and, by an in
stinct peculiarly his own. began to
draw out their buried secrets.
lie was a poor and slenderly educated
boy. whom the strain OF narrow cir
cunstances had taken from school al
fifteen, to be apprenticed to an engrav-
er. Not far from the place was the
great museum in which England takes
such honorable pride. He went there
at noon, pinching off half hours after
hastily eating his dinner, as the insti-
cation was closed at shutdown. Ruin
mag!ng amouy Assyrian tablets and
Babylon bricks, he seemed to have dis
covered his natural hone, the true
field of his genius. His quick sight
and earnest inquisitiveDess drew the
attention OF Sir Henry Rawlinson and,
with little help he soon knew more
OF the language than those who had
studied il longest. His marvellous in
s'gat pierced through the complica-
tjo1s OF the involved alphabet; he
would penetrate the meaning Of an OBJ
Bcure passage or complete the lost part
OF a mutilated inscription with read
mess that was like inspiration and
with the certainty Of q native dealing
with his own language, perfectly con-
vlncing in It's correctness. even where
lie could not clearly explain his in
depreciation according to grammatical
rule.
Next in righteousness to the en-
doWment OF this remarkable man, is
the decree Of providence which ordei-
ed his death. At the age Of thirty
seven. although he has done so much,
his wolk is scarcely more than begun.
A vast literature still remains locked
up in these clumbling earthen tablets.
secrets that have been hid from ages
and generations. His accurate eye
never made mistake in discerning
letter or copying it out his wonderful
memory could identify aud match to-
gether unerringly any Of those myriad
broken shreds. When will man arise
who can take up his work and complete
It?