Assyrian Discoveries.

Egypt Moses drew all his wisdom ; there he borrowed his laws , and even the holy mystery of the great ' I Am AVho I Am ' Avas imparted to him by Egyptian priests . " Yet Bayard Taylor failed to account for an institution like the Sabbath , standing almost in the centre of the Mosaic laws , Avhile the Egyptian week consisted of ten clays instead of seven , nor for other A'ery essential differences in the rites and forms

of temple-Avorship and priesthood . Besides , Bayard Taylor seemed to be unaware of the fact , ascertained by modern critics beyond all doubt , that the Mosaic laAvs could not have been written before the

prophets , Avith their sublime monotheism , had , after many hundreds of years' struggle , prevailed over the idolatrous people of Israel . However this may be , Egyp tian civilization , shining forth like an oasis out of a barren wildernessfar from explaining the

, remote past , offers merely a puzzle more to historians . No single star moves unless influenced by another one ; nor is growth manifested anywhere except by the interchange of forces working upon each other . HenceEgypt points to another centre of

, culture , acting and reacting upon its OAVU . Really , her earliest monuments speak of conquered nations in the north of Asia bringing fine works of metal as tributes . Her metals , her horses and Avaggons , bear

in their very names the stamp of a Semitic culture . Her art , at its very beginning , shows a perfection Avhich , instead of progressing , degenerated into stiff and stereotype forms . All this , taken together Avith the language and the physiognomy of the Egyptiansboth betraying a mixture of

, African and Asian people , tends to accumulate proofs of the existence of a country rivalling Avith Egypt in culture and antiquity . This , with ihe help of the Assyrian disclosures , has now been found , aud thf veil lifted from the very dawn of culture .

But , before giving you the results of these studies , let me first show you how these invaluable discoveries were brought about . At the close of the last century the attention of scholars Avas directed

to-Avards a curious kind of inscriptions found on the ruins of Persepolis , the old Persian capital , first , L believe , by English travellers . The fresh breeze of the sea , with the aspect of its unsteady Avaves , S'lems ever to induce people to lieAV undertakings and

explorations . At last Niebuhr , the German historian , copied these inscriptions . But nobody kneAv what to make of these curious signs , which looked neither like our alphabet , nor like the Egyptian , the Chinese , and Mexican picture-writings , but consisted of strokes in the shape of Avedges , combined

in various forms to represent some kind of letters . Finally , the unremitting efforts of a German professor named Grotefend , who devoted a life ' s study to their deciphering , was croAvned Avith a success which assured to him the honour of being to

these cuneiform inscriptions Avhat Champollion was to the hieroglyphics . His task Avas even more difficult than Champollion ' s , as the latter had a Greek inscription at his command , helping him to find out the names of Cleopatra and Ptolemy , which he used as a clue for his further researches .

while Grotefend , without any clue , pried into those signs , until , after many years ' labour , he arrived at the track of the royal names of Xerxes and Darius . But his fame was soon eclipsed by the fame of an English scholar , whose name you are undoubtedly acquainted with , Major Henry

Rawlinson . Being employed in the service of the British army in the East , he succeeded in first reading and translating the famous inscriptions of Darius and Artaxerxes on the table-work of Beihistun , in Persia , Avhile other scholars established a scientific method of the old Persian

language . Thus far , however , only half of the task AA'as accomplished , as tho inscriptions , presenting besides the Persian two other ones of an entirely different character , offered neAv problems to solve . Still the work Avas easier , since the Persian could be used as

a key to decipher the others . Again Grotefend sounded the key-note in recognizing the one as an Assyrian inscription , aud trying a rudimentary solution . But Rawlinson carried off the laurel , offering a tolerable reading , and was soon followed by Dr . Oppert , a Jewish-German savan at Paris , AVIIO presented a method and a

grammar . In the meantime , while scholars pondered over these dry readings , the mine of Assyrian treasures , long looked after under the sand of Mesopotamia , was opened by Botta , a French Consul . Grappling Avith many difficulties , laid in his Avay both by the superstition of the Arabs , Avho looked upon