Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1878-01-04

gehIIeman's IDlse0re
Dr. Henry SchIieman's = aiivea or
his researches and di2c0ver1k II N.Y.
eene, which causes 10 great stir IN
the learned, literary snd scieEs. { world,
have Just been published Eth2E S to sag.
| the first American edition Nas been
brought outl in New York. 1he story
Of Agamemnon and bis peers told by
Homer In the Iliad, and . = y
/ lf0f 35nx filne teen esSs.s II ~
majority OF scholars and antiqnarisns as
having but slender foundation IN his
torical fact. and to have been composed
more in compliment to the national van
ity of the Greeks, 10 which race the
poet was supposed to have belonged
So much obscurity hung over the poem
that nothing whatever has survived Of
the personality Of the author, and il
has been even doubted II the words at
tributed to bis name were all the COM
position of the one and the same indvid-
ual. The accuracy of the geographi-
cal descriptions contained IN the poems
were a warrant that the author was
familiar with the scenes where he loca-
ted the battles of the Iliad and the wan
derings OF Ulysses, but the kings and
chiefs, finely Disseminated as they
were in character and accurately de-
scribed as 10 their homes, powers, pos
sessions and other local belongings,
were credited for their origin and exis-
tence solely TO the fertile brain, the
creative power Of which all critics, an
cient and modern, have agreed to have
been marvellous.
DIR. Schlieman had none Of these
doubts. With brain all on FIRE with the
splendid and tragic imagery Of the Iliad,
he first sought the site Of Troy, and as
our revolutionary fathers devoted their
lives and fortunes TO the establishment
of American independence. he devoted
his to the verification of the magnificent
poem, by digging out and bringing 10
the know ledge ofmankind the veritable
ruins of the forever famous city of Priam.
How he succeeded in digging up at
depth of thirty feet Of the remarkable
ruins OF an ancient city, and which may
have well been Troy, and how he set
all the savans in Europe and elsewhere
to disputing over the value and authen-
ticity OF his discoveries, has passed into
history. Not satisfied with achIeve-
ments and renown, which would alone
have made him famous Eogseentnries,
he goes nexfto Mycene where Homer
says Agamemnon, the leader of the
Greeks, ruled, was murdered and en-
tombed, and where Pausanias says he
saw bis tomb century or two after the
Christian era. The country had been
sacked, narauded over and desolated
for more than two thousand years by
Greeks, Romans, Goths, SaraceEs, Turks
and Christians, who each in turn carried
off all that was portable or valuable, and
only tailed to mntilate and destroy what
they could not steal from laziness and
carelessness. Yet none of these so
much as suspected the hidden wealth
Of treasure that lay within their
easy reach and which was reserved
Tor the glory of Schlieman to discover.
They were not students of Homer or
Pausaniaus, and lacked the talisman of
learning and burning faith. Right here
il may be observed that mind sUscep-
tible Of glowing impressions sees inf
nitely more in favorite author than
mere bookmen and scholars. Of the
thousands that have poured over the
pages OF Homer .heir lives through, not
one, until Schlieman, found in his lore
the road to fame and fortune. Schlie-
man saw in his glowing mind the very
form and impression of the things that
Homer described, and he went straight
across an ocean and continent like
man who had clue, and put his finger
upon the very spot where lay the walls,
the fombs and the treasure. He found
Agamemnon lying in state beside Cly-
temnestra and Csssandra, his wife and
mistress, and CIytemnestra also lying
beside her husband and Egisthas her
lover, quite snug and comfortable, where
they had been tucked away, all OF them,
by the pious care Of their murderers and
survivors, looking as peaceful and haF-
monious, If not quite so cheerful, as
Barnum's happy family. He found
their swords and daggeTs, jeEelled
combs, head dresses, necklaces brace
lets-in fact quite an assorted variety
OF what Tom Sayers would have called
in his lingo, ''bigotry and virtue"-all
sorts OF articles of luxury and conve-
nience, such as the sweIls and coquettes
of Homer's day delighted in ''to make
them beautiful and keep them neat.
Apart from the incalcuiabfe value of
these discoveries from an aesthetic and
antiquarian point of view. their weight
In gold and silver were considerable
enough to have furnished return car.
go for Sinbad the Sailor, and to have
made the defunct Romans. Gothk, Pashas
and Crusaders turn uneasiIy IN their
graves in thinking ol what they bad 50
nearly missed finding in their maraud-
ing days, aud OF the good luck that had
beiailen q pale-laeed German scholar
with spectacles on nose, who had never
slaughtered his thousands, uprooted CT
ties, countries, and taught his fellew
mortals 10 tremble al his name Perhaps
the most interesting feature Of Schlie.
mans discoveries al Maceng were the
gold Mosques, that i 10 say the reverse
Of casts, found in each tcmb and sup
posed 70 have been taken On the faces
Of the deceased occupants From the
masqne Of Agamemnon, and from the
body found IN the tomb and the size Of
the arms with them, it Is seen that the
chief Of the Greeks was . tall, stately
and handsome man, even ~ Homer