IN THE GLOAMING OF THE PAST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2565, 13 May 1903, Page 72

IN THE GLOAMING OF THE PAST.

By a Banker

Looking backwards down the long and evernarrowing vista, of the dim past, peering down into those long-buried palaces and mausoleums which, one by one, are being so frequently discovered and exhumed from the accumulated sand and earth of ages, and perusing the many records left by those old autocrats and despots — records of cruelty, of rapine, and of revenge — we must congratulate ourselves that wo live in an age when, at anyTato in countries ruled by Christendom, the laws of equity, of charity, and of good-will hold sway. Perhaps a visit to the great museums of the world, especially the British Museum, tha Louvre, and the splendid Boulak Museum at Cairo, will enable us the better to carry our thoughts back to thoso remote ages. Hera we are in an atmosphere of antiquity; the rust of ages is all around us; we are surrounded by the long-sepultured memorials of the dead past, some so well preserved that they appear almost as if chiselled but yesterday. Here is a series of panoramic bas-reliefs showing the mighty Assyrian monarch Sennacherib besieging the Jewish city of Lachisb, his general Rabshakeh receiving his commands', while numbers of captives, with unmistakable Jewish physiognomy, are crawling towards him on hands and knees to sue for mercy. Piles of heads and piles of hands are being counted by a scribe; captives impaled on high sharp posts hang in agony, while here and there a soldier is beheading or stabbing a recalcitrant prisoner; the cuneiform inscription even mentioning King Hezekiah by name. , Herein, long rows of cases are arranged numberless baked clay tablets; one recording the great flood, another containing the code of regulations for the Sabbath (which these ancient Assyrians observed far more strictly than we), but mostly being record* of slaughter and of ravage. But now we are in the midst of the dead; rows and rows of all that is mortal of monarchs and generals, queens and maidens: the Pharoah who built that mighty third pyramid; the great Pharoah who so oppressed the Israelites, his striking lineaments indicating poweT and masterful determination; the beautiful daughter of Pharoah, upon whose breast a lotus flower has been placed, which, was quite fresh when, thousands of years afterwards, the casket was recently opened, but withered away aftci a few minutes' exposure ta the air. But more interesting than all is (in the British Museum) the preserved body of a man, discovered in Egypt, who, judging by the stono implements by his 'side, lived long before the very first of the Pharoahs. His skin ia still of a fair, ruddy complexion, and his hair bright red. And it is probable that as we gaze on that recumbent form, we are in the presence of one of the antediluvian inhabitants of tho earth ; possibly even of one who had conversed with Adam himself, and heard from; his own lips the story of the Fall. But if anyone perishes through that fall it is entirely his own fault. For though throughAdam all die, yet through Christ shall all be made alive who accept Him as their Redeemer. For He has paid the penalty for sin, and by. His stripes we may, if we will, be healed. A. C, Hawera, writes:— "As a subscriber and reader of many years, I would like to express my thanks and warm appreciation of the articles 'By a Banker.' Speaking seriously, I think they are one of the very best thingu that appear in the "Witness in diction, style, thought, and regular models of composition. Well may the youth of Dunedin read them; even for that. I hope he may be long spared to write them."