REV. HASKETT SMITH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2179, 28 November 1895, Page 41

REV. HASKETT SMITH.

Powerful attractions notwithstanding, the first lecture delivered in Dunedin by the Rev. Mr Hasketb Smitb, who is visitirjg the colony under the management of Mr R. S. Smythe, attracted a good attendance at the City Hall on Thursday evening. Bishop Nevill presided and happily introduced the lecturer, who, in speaking upon the topic of " The Crescent and the Cross " and conducting his audience on a journey illustrated by a serien of admirable lantern sl'des from photographs through the greater part of Palestine, was dealing with a subject which he has literally at his fingers' tips, for he hts visited the Holy Land more frequently, perhaps, than the majority of the residents of Dunedin have been as far away from home as Oamara. The subject is one which can be made peculiarly interesting, in proof of which it is only necessary to remind the public of tha fascinating interest of similar lectures given in the Garrison Hall some years ago by Miss Yon Finkelsteißi whom also tha indefatigable celebrity-

hunter responsible for Mr Haskett Smith's presence amongst ua introduced to New Zea« land. The rev. gentleman who is now in D tined in is not oiily thoroughly conversant with his subject, but he, too, has such apowtroC description and command of language as enables him to mako it absorbingly attractive. Yet is there uo straining after effect in Mr Hftskelt Smith's talk, but his descriptions of the sacred scenes, representations of which were thrown on the screen, were for all tbat remarkably vivid throughout the whole of the journey on which he asked his audience to accompany bim, from Jaffa aud Jericho, and thpnr-e to the sourc. s of the Jordan at Dan abd Ctesarea Pbilippi. Many humorous stories, introduced into the lecture, descriptive largely of curious, types of humanity ci cmtitored by Mr Smith, oL>ly increased its attractiveness. In thi courea of the explanatioi s of Biblical narrative given by Mr Smith, it was hia duty to shatter one or two fond romaucts whiih earnest, devout people have in the pss"; cherish d. Thus, ia connect on \v ; th a view ol tbe Br< ok of Cherith, the refuge of Elijah, it was exp'a'ned thai the raven* tbat ted the p"opheL were not biro's but Bedouins, thcms.-lves outlawed by Kuig Ahab, and williug enough (o sSeltergand succour Elijah. Mr Haskett Smith was. explicit alto in elating that not Mouut Taboc but Mount Hermon it is th*t is now generally admitted to have been tbe scene of the transfiguration. Among the views showu by him were photographs or many authentic sites, including Jacob's well at Sychar, Mount Ehal (the baron Li'l of cursing), Mount. G^zim (the fruitful mount of blessing), and the lull* of. Oreb and Zeeb [the raven and wolf) where the skeikhs of the freebooting nomads, well-named ravens and wolves, who Jived in that rugged region, were put to death by Gidaon. Ao . interesting feature of the lecture wao Mr Haskett Smith's vindication of t ho geographical def criplious given in the Bible, their remarkable accuracy being emphasised by Lien. Tha lec'ure lasted for abcuttwo hours, aud the time p»need so pleasantly, yet profitably, that it was difficult to rcaliie wheu the conclusion was reached that the ltcture had occupied st long.

Probably no more interesting lecture has be on delivered in Dunedin than the R»v. Ha>kotb Smith's "Land of the Pharaohs," given at the City Hall before a Urge audience, which manifested the deepest interest ia the subject from the introductory sentence to the closo of the lecture. The ninetteutb. .century will for all ages be remembered as the period ia which the mysteries which have for thousand* of years surrounded the his'ory of ancient Egypt were unravelled. The revelations which have resulted from the vigorous explorations of the sites of its buried cities, the p»i<iM akh g and triumphantly 6uc<Ußsful efforts to decipher the hieroglyphics on the walls and monuments and tombstones wLi<:h for centuries had either remained undiscovered or bafflad all attempt* to penetrate their mysterious messages, will remain for all time as a crowning monument to the untiring researches auti determined efforts of tbe scientists and arcbaaologists of the present day. The whole subject is an intensely fascinating one, and Mr H»sketl Smith has made himself master of it. Aided bj numbers of deeply interesting photographs taken by himself, and treating his subject with fluency and a wealth of interesting detail, the two ancf n-quarre? hours of the lecture passed quickly by. As Mr Smith explained, the 1 subject is so vast a one that he was unable in the cem'pasS of a single lec'ure to do more than touoh on its merest fringe. And yet he managed to tell his audience many deeply interesting and instructive thirjgs. He carried them back to a period 7000 years ago, when the civilisation of Egypt whs as great aa it ia at the presc-nfc day— "" a period when it possessed a university with no less than 11,000 graduates of the bcveral learned profession?, and of which "nothing now remains but a hieroglyphic-covered obelisk which hai fctood the storms of agca, and vast mounds.'of sun-dried btici-s cover ing a square acre of ground and testifying to the vastness of this geat of ancient learning. To add interest to this part of his lecture, the statue of the chancellor, found in the course of the explorationr, was pictorially thrown on the scene, ai well as that of the princess of a royal houu whom he loved, and courted, and married, These stvtues, the lecturer explained, are in the great museum at Cairo, and a gr*phi« description was given of the marvellous nkill ol the sculptor. Tokiog his audience rapidly with him through numbers of interesting features of his subject, Mr Smith, with clearness and conHdenoe, gave what he is certain ia the true exp'anation of the Pyramids, sweeping aside the ide* that thty have Borne mysterious connection with astronomy, and the other theories which have formed the subject of speculation and argument among scholars and mystery mongers. Mr Smith's explanation is that they arc ucquc-ttionably monuments raised to per' petuate the memory of kings who lie buried in chambers in the rock 40ft below theic-founda-tion?, and by photographs and information given to bis audience ho clearly demonstrated tha soundness of his view. The lecturer's pictures of the mummies of the Pharaohs, now carefully preserved in the Great Museum at Cairo, and a description of the incident of hi* actually shaking hands with the great King Ruoeseß, a contemporary of Moses, were iotereiting features (among many that time and space will not allow us to dwell on) of a lecture that will long live in the recollection of those who had the good fortune to be present.

•'The Eternal City, or the Beauties ol Damascns" formed the mbjeofc of the Rev. Haskett Smith's third lecture. Although the weather was very ut>favourable there w*s a good attendance, and, judging by the frequent applause, those present were not only greatly interested in the subject of the lecture, bub were highly s&tisßed with the lecturer's treatment of it. Damascus, Mr Smith said, would hardly under any conceivable circumstances fail to be picturesque, and certainly the many beautiful views of mosques, cloister, and the interiors of the bouses of some of the richer citizens fully bore cut; these remarks. The mo.-fc interesting parts of the lecture were probably when the views of places mentioned in the Scripture? were shown and descriptions of these given. Sometimes quite a n^w light wai thrown by the lecturer on incidents mentioned in the Scripture*, which he said those present could not hope to understand unless they had visited Oriental lands or had explanations given them by some one who had done so. In showing a view of a dome in which he said there had been locked up for many hundreds of yean manuscripts of the early churches, the lecturer remarked that this would one day be opened and still farther light ' would be thrown on Scriptural matters. The ir.anuers aod customs of the people wera described, and the lecturer had something to say abont the Mohammedan religion. Valuable views of the proceneion of pilgrims to Mf cca, obtained with muoh difficulty, were exhibit.

The rev. gentleman also delivered most interesting lectures on Saturday afternoon and evening, choosing as his subject's " Toe Oity ol the Great King, and Round about Jerusalem," and "The Laud of LoDg Ago, and ttc "KTaw velloua Ruins of Eastern I'Alcstino,' 3