AS RELATED TO INTELLECT. 13 



mere stone brittle slabs of mingled clay and gyp- 

 sum ; their mystic cones meaningless, their carving 

 uncouth, their inscriptions some idle vaunt of vain- 

 glorious kings, only equaled by the senseless self- 

 laudations of the " Brother of the Sun." But in 

 every line upon those old marbles there is the 

 record of a thought ; and whatever its value or 

 worthlessness, we wish to throw its light on the 

 great background of human history. It is the 

 search for thought that dignifies the labor among 

 the mounds of Nineveh, that redeems it from the 

 charge of childish folly, and makes each new dis- 

 covery a matter of universal interest. It is not the 

 value of the new stone, nor the value of its inscrip- 

 tion in bringing to light new views in morals or 

 philosophy, nor new facts in science ; but there is 

 there another thought, collected rays of thought in 

 the figure, the position of the marble, and in its in- 

 scription, that can together throw light on the great 

 historic perspective where the converging pillars are 

 lost in darkness. It is thus, and for this reason, that 

 we seek to gather from the mounds of our own 

 country the relics of a lost people. We gather their 



0? 



[UITI7BRSITY 



