SKETCH OF JAMES FEBGUSSON. 121 



a confused mass of conflicting theories and dreams, that no facts or 

 dates were so established that they could be treated as historical. The 

 materials which had been collected on this subject were, therefore, 

 worked into another book, which appeared in 1872, as " Rude Stone 

 Monuments." Its character was rather argumentative than histori- 

 cal ; it presented the view that the style of architecture to which the 

 monuments described belong " is a style, like Gothic, Grecian, Egyp- 

 tian, Buddhist, or any other. It has a beginning, and middle, and an 

 end ; and though we can not make out the sequence in all its details, 

 this at least seems clear that there is no great hiatus ; nor is it that one 

 part is historic, while the other belongs to prehistoric times. All belong 

 to the one epoch or the other. Either it is that Stonehenge and Ave- 

 bury, and all such, are the temples of a race so ancient as to be beyond 

 the ken of mortal men, or they are the sepulchral monument of a peo- 

 ple who lived so nearly within the limits of the true historic times that 

 their story can easily be recovered." The author's belief was that 

 they were of Roman and post-Roman times. These conclusions were 

 disputed ; Sir John Lubbock pronounced some of them hasty and un- 

 tenable, and some seemingly inconsistent with one another ; but for all 

 that he accorded the book " the merit of being a rich and trustworthy 

 storehouse of facts." Another critic, Mr. S. P. Oliver, while he ac- 

 cepted Sir John Lubbock's verdict, predicted that the book would 

 doubtless become a text-book on that section of archeology which per- 

 tains to megalithic structures. 



In his treatise on " Tree and Serpent Worship," which was pub- 

 lished in 1868, and in a second edition in 1873, Mr. Fergusson, avail- 

 ing himself of the results of his laborious researches in India, pre- 

 sented some original views respecting the symbolism of the ancient 

 religions, and the primitive conceptions from which they may have 

 arisen. 



Another line of work in which Mr. Fergusson distinguished him- 

 self by his diligence and the novelty of some of his conclusions, wag 

 that of Jewish, Assyrian, and classical antiquities, the fruits of his stud- 

 ies in which were presented in a variety of publications and shapes. 

 In the "Topography of Jerusalem " he set forth some theories in regard 

 to the true site of the temple which appear to have been set aside by 

 later explorations. This was followed by other papers and articles 

 respecting Jerusalem and its sites. In " The Palaces of Nineveh and 

 Persepolis restored " he attempted an exposition of the architecture of 

 Western Asia from the earliest period to the age of Alexander. By 

 papers and suggestions he advised and assisted Sir Henry Layard in 

 restoring the plans and explaining the designs of the temples of Nine- 

 veh ; and he did a like service for Dr. Schliemann in unraveling the 

 plans of Troy, Mycenae, and Tiryns. The value of these services was 

 freely acknowledged by Dr. Schliemann, who, dedicating his " Tiryns " 

 to him, styled him " the historian of architecture, eminent alike for his 



