Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-09-06
A VOICE FROM THE PAST.


Professor Flinders Petri, the great
Egyptologlst. in a lecture delivered be-
fore a London audience a short time
ago, set forth proofs which In his opln-
ion established the very high an
tlquity Of man upon this earth
lie cOntended that there Is an un-
broken chain of historic record going
back to 5000 years before Christ, and
objects of art and industry dating 1000
years further back. But this does not
he argues, make the beginning Of his
tory. Civilization came to Egypt from
some other country. Early graves have
pictures OF race resembling Bush
men, and beyond these there are pic
lures Of women captured. belonging to
still earlier race, living probably in
the palaolithlc age.
The world has witnessed great
change lately in It's ideas about the age
Of man on earth. To some the evil
dences Of archaeology seemed to fur
nlsh destructive weapons against the
reliability OF the historical statements
Of the Hebrew records. But It is clear
that there Is good deal Of theoriZing
about the correct deductions from the
finds OF scientists, az there has been
about the chronology Of Moses. And 1t
Is safe TO conclude that It is at least as
difficult 70 read correct chronology
from the finds in the different strata
Of the earth, as IT Is to construct such
| a chronology from the recorded ages
Of the prominent figures in sacred writ,
or the earliest historical records Of any
people. why the conclusions of archie
ologlsts on chronology should be so
much more lnfallble than those OF
Biblical students is not apparent Prob
ably both need adjustment, and N all
probability, when all the facts are
known and correctly understood, there
will be no discrepancy between them,
1t is now customary among a great
many to think Of man as appearing at
first as very little removed from the
"anthropoid" ape from which
he had evolved" From this begin
ming he gradually grew and attained
the physical. intellectual and moral per-
lection he now possesses. This growth
was slow, and ages, It is assumed, must
lie between the first humble beginning
and the present result. Some scient-
lists seem TO have tendency to inter-
pref archaeological finds to 1T this
theory; their deductions have, on that
account by no means the same value
as their statements OF facts,
1t Is proved, we believe, that no one
has as yet found any remains Of that
man Just evolved from the ape. And
yet he must have roamed the earth
FOR ages, before he was capable Of
evolving q sim higher type The ear
Hest human skull ever found seems to
be about as wei developed as that Of
the average human being Of today, No
matter how far back We go, human
conditions seem TO be very much as
they are at present We find evidences
OF civilized and less civilized races; Of
people with only common capacities.
and occasional genluses In various
branches Of activity. The existence Of
man on this earth. with his capacity
Tor thought, sentiment religion and
progress. must remain a profound mys-
terry, unless We can accept the sacred
accounts that represent him as the
child Of God. sen, TO inhsbit this part
Of His vast mansion. for Infinitely wise
and good purposes
There is one plain lesson that comes
to Us both from history and the monu-
menis OF antiquity. and that Is this.
that unless the spiritual needs Of hui
man society are cared for as well as
the physical wants. there win Doe an
evolution toward barbarlsm. encrvation
Of body and soul. and destruction by
harder races Palaces. monuments
schools Of learning and affairs q wor-
ship are buried under the dus, Of ages
| because those who reared them gave