io6 



THE MUSEUM. 



tant himself. The person thus view- 

 ing so strange a phenomenon would 

 naturally turn his thoughts to a consid- 

 eration of the questions which would 

 at once suggest themselves to an en- 

 quiring mind. How did that house 

 get there.' When and by whom was 

 it built.'' In order to solve these ques- 

 tions, the stranger would minutely ex- 

 amine the house itself. He would 

 bring to his aid all his previous knowl- 

 edge of the different modes of con- 

 structing buildings in different ages 

 and in different countries. He would 

 note the style of architecture — of what 

 period; he would examine the stone 

 and other materials of which it was 

 constructed, and thus ascertain from 

 whence each had been obtained. 

 There might even be peculiarities 

 about the workmanship by which he 

 would ascertain not only the national- 

 ity, but even the workshop of the 

 builder. He would examine the inter- 

 ior — the furniture, carvings, and the 

 kind of wood each article was made 

 of. There might be coins found in 

 the drawers, with dates of coinage, 

 and other matters which might enable 

 such a visitor to write as perfect a his- 

 tory of the house named as if he had 

 known its history fiom written or oral 

 account. 



Roman coins, tesselated pavements, 

 tumuli, vases, pottery, and implements 

 of war have been dug up from the 

 ground in different parts of Great 

 Britain, which tell us as distinctly of 

 the Roman invasion and occupation of 

 Britain as history can give it us. And 

 if no history had been written of it, 

 these relics would have told us nearly 

 as much as we at present know on the 

 subject. We have no complete his- 

 torical record handed down to us of 



the destruction of Hercuianeum and 

 Pompeii, yet after these two cities had 

 lain beneath the accumulated lava for 

 seventeen centuries, we are told that 

 in 1738 workmen were excavating a 

 well and struck upon the theatre of 

 Hercuianeum, and in 1750 Pompeii 

 was disencumbered of its volcanic 

 ashes, presenting to view a once mag- 

 nificent city, its temples, its forums, its 

 amphitheatres, its tombs, its shops of 

 traffic and of arts, — its houses, furnit- 

 ure, pictures, personal ornaments, 

 streets, pavements — wheelmarks worn 

 in its streets, — its wine, food, its dun- 

 geons and skeleton prisoners chained 

 to the walls, with here and there a vic- 

 tim in positions as if overtaken in their 

 attempt to escape the storm of fire 

 which at the time enveloped the city. 

 What more perfect history could be 

 told of this great calamity than the- 

 ruins themselves tell us.' 



In the same manner we reason re- 

 specting the physical phenomenon of 

 our planet. The structure of the 

 planet itself, the materials of which it 

 is composed, the position of those ma- 

 terials, the fossil remains of plants, 

 fishes, reptiles, birds, and animals 

 found embodied in them, and their 

 gradual development from early per- 

 iods up to our present time, lay them- 

 selves out like the leaves of a book be- 

 fore the scientific mind, and disclose as 

 perfect a history of themselves as a 

 written history could give us; and )et, 

 if in a science so young, and having so- 

 much yet to explain and attain to, is 

 shown to present a counterpart to that 

 short and concise introduction to sac- 

 red history which we find in the first 

 chapter of our Bibles, how marvelous, 

 and in what a striking manner must 

 the authenticity of that book present. 



